Monday, November 2, 2026 8PM (EET) online

Eastern Orthodoxy claims to have an unbroken line of continuity from the apostles to the present-day. In fact, though, the history of every modern tradition includes twists and turns, and Eastern Orthodoxy is no exception. In my opinion, there have been three major shifts in Eastern theology that have placed modern Eastern Orthodoxy at somewhat of a distance from both biblical Christianity and the early Greek fathers. This lecture seeks to explain these shifts and their implications for Protestant ministry in Orthodox areas.

Speaker:

Donald Fairbairn 

Donald Fairbairn is the Robert E. Cooley Distinguished Professor of Early Christianity at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, as well as Professor of Historical and Systematic Theology at Union School of Theology (Wales). He holds degrees from Princeton University (A.B.), Denver Seminary (M.Div.), and the University of Cambridge (Ph.D.), has served as a missionary in France, Soviet Georgia, and Ukraine, and has taught throughout Europe and North America, as well as in Africa. He is the author or co-author of twelve books being translated into nearly twenty languages, including Grace and Christology in the Early Church and Christology and the Logic of Grace in Fifth-Century Gaul (both published by Oxford University Press, in 2003 and 2024), The Global Church—The First Eight Centuries (Zondervan, 2021), The Story of Creeds and Confessions (Baker, 2019), and Life in the Trinity (IVP, 2009). He is married to the former Jennifer Katona, and they have two adult children, Trey and Ella, as well as a daughter-in-law, Trey’s wife Abigail.