The Church’s history records the progress of Christ’s work throughout the course of the human experience. History in Orthodoxy has a theological importance because of the Incarnation of Jesus Christ, that just as God chose to become a physical, living, breathing human being, he also chooses to work in and through human history to bring about salvation. Thus, the Church’s history becomes a sacred history, not in the same sense as the Biblical history which forms the salvation story, but rather as a witness to the continued effects of the salvation story in the experience of mankind.

History is also a record of the Church’s experience through time, applying the one, unchanging Gospel of Jesus Christ across the centuries and across continents. It is because of this experience that we turn to the guidance of the saints for practical direction on how to live the spiritual life, primarily in the writings of the Church Fathers, holy men throughout Orthodox Christian history whose word may be trusted on how the Bible should be interpreted, how worship is to be conducted, and how to repent of our sins and grow in holiness. It is because of their personal experience of God that they are trustworthy guides.