When Orthodoxy speaks of a "return to the sources", this has not so much to do with a return to the past as with a firm adherence and fidelity to the revealed Truth. This revealed Truth judges not only the past, but also the present and the future of both the East and the West. One of the most basic problems of theologians today is to know how to make the distinction between the Sacred Tradition of the Church on the one hand and the human traditions which echo this revelation only imperfectly and which even often oppose it and obscure it.

The aim of this book will therefore be twofold: On the one hand, to present the Orthodox Church to Western readers, who with very few exceptions have little knowledge of it, and on the other hand, to urge the Orthodox themselves towards an absolutely necessary control of conscience their. This book is not an attempt to systematically present the Orthodox faith, but rather a general introduction and introduction to the Orthodox Church.