The spread of Christianity to the West and the rise and prominence of its twin centers in Rome and Byzantium is well known. Less known, however, is the distinctive cultural, religious, and literary heritage of the Christian traditions indigenous to the Middle East, Armenia, Georgia, and Ethiopia. Preserved within these literary traditions are significant original contributions to fields such as exegesis, hagiography, history, liturgy, mysticism, philosophy, poetry, and theology. Nevertheless, the inaccessibility of the sources and the remoteness of the languages they used are often impediments to scholars and students in their efforts to appreciate this important heritage.

Brigham Young University is therefore pleased to announce the Library of the Christian East. The Library is a comprehensive collection of introductions to important Eastern Christian authors and their writings. Each volume will include a substantial introduction to an author's life and work, and a representative selection of the author's writings. The Library will also include a number of volumes surveying important topics and themes in Eastern church history and thought. Many of the texts included in the collection will have never before been translated, and for almost all there will be no other available modern English translation.