Orthodox Among the Nations: A Handbook of Religious Toleration

Though its roots extend to the Enlightenment and beyond, the notion of “tolerance” has grown increasingly popular over the past several decades. But what precisely is tolerance, and what role, if any, does it play in the life of the faithful ruler, the bishop, and the ordinary believer? In this treatise beloved by Saint Nektarios of Pentapolis, Archbishop Evgenios Voulgaris (1716–1806) engages a question as relevant to our age as to his own. Addressed in part to the philosopher Voltaire and the Russian Empress Catherine the Great, the work sets its sights on the salvation of all and presents true toleration as a golden mean between fanatical zeal and fashionable indifference; Voulgaris’s portraits of both extremes remain strikingly familiar today.

In addition to On Religious Toleration, our publication, Orthodox Among the Nations, also includes a confession of the Orthodox faith composed by Voulgaris at the behest of the Ecumenical Patriarchate. Originally written to provide a concise yet comprehensive account of the faith for an inquiring Western clergyman, it was first published in Amsterdam (1767) for a European audience, then republished in the nascent Greek kingdom (1828) as a ready reference for believers seeking to profess their faith amid a diversity of confessions.

This handsome volume is a true handbook, both in size and utility, ready to help every Orthodox Christian navigate the delicate balance of a life lived “among the nations.”