Three Hierarchs Adult Education (St. Nicholas Church)

20 February 2011 Reading

2011-02-13T06:31:00.000-08:00

We'll be continuing our reading of Way of the Ascetics: The Ancient Tradition of Discipline and Inner Growth, with chapters 21 and 22. Go here if you do not have a copy of the text.

Remember, too, that if you're looking for good lenten reading, and we're now on the first preparatory Sunday for Great Lent, you might check our previous post for recommended books. Also, you might look at my favorite podcast, Speaking the Truth in Love, by Fr. Thomas Hopko.

13 February 2010 Reading

2011-02-06T06:16:00.000-08:00

We'll be reading chapters 19 and 20 of Way of the Ascetics: The Ancient Tradition of Discipline and Inner Growth. If you do not have your own copy click here for the text we'll be reading for this lesson.

As we move into the pre-lenten season, here is some recommended reading:
Great Lent: Journey to Pascha
The Lenten Spring: Readings for Great Lent

Reading for 6 February 2011

2011-01-30T06:21:00.000-08:00

We will be reading chapters 17-18 of Way of the Ascetics: The Ancient Tradition of Discipline and Inner Growth. If you do not have your own copy, you can go here for the text.

Reading for 30 January 2011

2011-01-30T06:17:00.000-08:00

We will be reading chapters 15-16 of Way of the Ascetics: The Ancient Tradition of Discipline and Inner Growth. If you do not have your own copy, you can go here for the text.

23 January 2011 Reading

2011-01-16T05:44:00.000-08:00

We'll be reading chapters 13-14 of Tito Colliander's Way of the Ascetics: The Ancient Tradition of Discipline and Inner Growth. If you do not have your own copy, you can go here.

16 January 2011 Reading

2011-01-16T05:39:00.000-08:00

For 16 January, we'll be reading chapters 11-12 from Way of the Ascetics: The Ancient Tradition of Discipline and Inner Growth, by Tito Colliander. If you do not have a copy of the text, you can go here.

Readings for 9 January 2011

2011-01-09T06:40:00.000-08:00

We continue our reading of chapters 8 and 9 of Way of the Ascetics: The Ancient Tradition of Discipline and Inner Growth. If you do not have a copy, you can go here.

19 December 2010 class - Old Testament and Christmas

2011-01-09T06:26:00.000-08:00

Continuing with our annual tradition, we set aside our catechism and look at the Old Testament references to Christmas. Attached here are my notes and copies of some of the texts we reviewed.

12 December 2010 reading

2011-01-09T06:22:00.000-08:00

We continue our reading with chapters 5 and 6 of Way of the Ascetics: The Ancient Tradition of Discipline and Inner Growth, or you can go here if you do not yet have a copy of the book.

Reading for 28 November 2010

2010-11-21T06:38:00.000-08:00

On 28 November, we'll be discussing Chapters 4-5 of Way of the Ascetics: The Ancient Tradition of Discipline and Inner Growth. If you do not have your own copy of the book, you can find our reading assignment here.

We celebrate one of my favorite saints here on November 30, the Apostle Andrew. And, generally, even pious Christians in America do not know much of the story of these men beyond what we find in scripture. Sure, we all know something of the life of St. Paul, who features prominently in the Book of Acts, but even then we don't know what happened to him after that book concludes. You might like The Lives of the Holy Apostles: Saints Peter, Paul, Andrew, James ... from the Menology of St. Dimitri of Rostov in Russian and the Great Synaxaristes of the Orthodox Church in greek, which gives extensive lives of these holy men after the Ascension of our Lord.

Reading for 21 November 2010

2010-11-14T06:29:00.000-08:00

For November 21, we'll be reading from Way of the Ascetics: The Ancient Tradition of Discipline and Inner Growth. If you don't have a copy otherwise available for you, you can get a copy here of Chapter Two: On the Insufficiency of Human Strength.

Tomorrow (15 November) begins the Nativity Fast, aka Advent, St. Philip's Fast, or St. Martin's Fast. Here's a great book of meditations for the season by one of my favorite modern, Orthodox writers: The Winter Pascha: Readings for the Christmas-Epiphany Season, by Fr. Thomas Hopko.

November 21 is the feast of The Entrance of the Most Holy Theotokos into the Temple. There is a richness of theology made available to us for this feast, and I hope that everyone will try to delve into it. A great reference for the feasts of the Mother of God in general is The Life of the Virgin Mary, the Theotokos, which is mostly an attempt to highlight some of the more interesting passages from the feasts. I highly recommend it.

Reading for 14 November 2010

2010-11-14T06:13:00.000-08:00

Today we begin our reading of Way of the Ascetics: The Ancient Tradition of Discipline and Inner Growth. This is a GREAT book that you should really consider buying, but if you haven't yet or can't, take a look here at Chapter One: On a Resolute and Steadfast Purpose.

Reading for 24 October 2010

2010-10-17T06:37:00.000-07:00

On Oct 24, we will be discussing the feasts of Transfiguration and Annunciation. The text we are reading is from Worship: An Elementary Handbook of the Orthodox Church (The Orthodox Faith, Volume 2). But if you do not have the book, you may find just the text for this class here.

Readings for 17 October 2010

2010-10-10T06:14:00.000-07:00

Next week we'll be discussing the Nativity of Christ, Epiphany (aka Theophany) and the Meeting of the Lord in the Temple. Our readings are from Worship: An Elementary Handbook of the Orthodox Church (The Orthodox Faith, Volume 2). If you do not have the book, you can go here for the text we'll be reading.

Reading for 8 August 2010

2010-08-01T06:13:00.000-07:00

On Aug 8, we will be discussing Baptism, Chrismation and Churching. Our reading is from Fr. Hopko's The Orthodox Faith, vol ii: worship. If you do not have the text, you can go here.

Probably one of the better sources in English on Baptism is St. John Chrysostom's "Baptismal Instructions." These are the homilies he gave to prepare and follow up on the baptism of those coming into the Church. While some of this is general teaching, he does spend a lot of time talking about baptism itself. And this is the rare decent translation of Chrysostom.

31. St. John Chrysostom: Baptismal Instruction (Ancient Christian Writers)

Reading for 1 August 2010

2010-07-24T22:14:00.000-07:00

Continuing our review of Orthodox worship, we will be discussing icons, vestments and christian symbols, in Fr. Thomas Hopko's The Orthodox Faith, vol ii: worship. You can buy it here. Or, you can find this individual text here.

These Truths We Hold - The Holy Orthodox Church: Her Life and Teachings. This was a great book for being able to look up a lot of the various symbols, wonderworking icons, vestments and so on that can be found in the Orthodox Church. As of right now, its not available on Amazon, but you might check this link down the road, because its a great resource for your home library.

Readings for 18 July 2010

2010-07-10T21:44:00.000-07:00

Next week we will be discussing the last four sections of the Nicene Creed. These sections include a discussion of the Church, Baptism, and the Resurrection of the Dead. If you do not have the book, go here for the reading.

The question of "what is the Church?" should be at the forefront of every American Christian's search for the "true Church." As always, Holy Scriptures should be our first place to look for this, and both the Gospels and Epistles certainly address the issue.

St. Ignatius of Antioch is the next of our classical sources for understanding the Church. Here is his letter to Smyrna, which is particularly relevant to this discussion, and here is an article (a little heady, perhaps), which helps pull together some of his teachings on the Church.

St. Cyprian of Carthage is another saint who wrote about the nature of the Church. St. Vladimir's Seminary Press has published a book of his writings "On the Church," which you can buy on Amazon here.

Readings for 11 July 2010

2010-07-03T21:28:00.000-07:00

Next week we will discuss the mysterious Holy Spirit. If you do not have Fr. Hopko's text on this subject, go here.

There is a classic text (besides the Bible!), by St. Basil the Great, called On the Holy Spirit. You can get it from Amazon, here. St. Basil is one of the classic Orthodox teachers.

Maybe a little more accessible: try Fr. Hopko's discussion of St. Seraphim of Sarov's famous Conversation with Motovilov, about the Holy Spirit. Here's the podcast. You could read the very accessible conversation on your own (and should), here.

Readings for 4 July 2010

2010-06-27T05:46:00.000-07:00

We have one of our usually more interesting catechism lessons coming up: The Judgment and the Kingdom of Heaven. Read here if you don't have Fr. Hopko's The Orthodox Faith: vol. i, Doctrine. How do we reconcile fire and brimstone, the worm that never dies with a loving God who died for our salvation? In the Kingdom of Heaven are we all going to sit around with wings on our backs playing harps - please, tell me it will be something a little less boring! Come and talk about it with us next Sunday.

Readings for 27 June 2010

2010-06-20T06:17:00.000-07:00

Next Sunday, we will discuss the Resurrection and Ascension of our Lord. Go here for the reading if you do not have Fr. Hopko's book.

Readings for 13 June 2010

2010-06-05T21:53:00.000-07:00

Forgive my not keeping this up to date.

Next week we will be discussing the incarnation of our Lord. The text for you to read ahead of time from Fr. Hopko is here.

The dominant text for discussion on this subject in the Orthodox Church is St. Athansius' On the Incarnation.

Christ is in our midst!

Readings for 9 May 2010

2010-05-01T21:20:00.000-07:00

9 May 2010, we will begin working our way through the Nicene Creed. We will continue following Fr. Hopko's book on doctrine, the sections on The Nicene Creed, Faith, and One God the Father Almighty.

I would also like to point you to two of my favorite podcasts, both by Fr. Thomas Hopko, Speaking the Truth in Love and The Names of Jesus. These podcasts present great information to help explain the feasts, but they are also a great tool for learning our theology. Fr. Hopko brings together teachings for diverse Orthodox sources to show the same, single Orthodox teaching of the Church. Enjoy.

Also, next week we will celebrate our patronal feast. If you are not yet familiar with the life of St. Nicholas, you should consider at least reading this short life. We will sing his vigil Saturday night and divine liturgy and our parish feast Sunday morning.

For Next Week

2010-04-25T06:23:00.000-07:00

For next we'll be reading the first section of Fr. Thomas Hopko's The Orthodox Faith, vol. i: doctrine, the section on Sources of Doctrine. If you don't have a copy, you can go here.

Today, we discussed basics of Orthodox practice that newcomers to the faith need to know immediately. These are things that are difficult to pick up on by yourself, and inquirers or catechumens should not hesitate to ask a clergyman or more experienced Orthodox Christian if any questions come up. We want you to feel comfortable in our worship, and we know that our worship can be both a little complicated and is completely new to most of you.

We also reviewed Fr. Thomas Hopko's 12 must-do's for those trying to learn Who God is.

We also looked at a list of good books for beginners. I'm including that here, with my notes for today's discussion.

Reading for 1 November 2009

2009-10-24T22:34:00.000-07:00

On 1 November 2009, we'll discuss the church cycle of prayers: vespers, matins, hours, compline and nocturne.

Being that its also his feast, we might sneak in a discussion of St. John of Kronstadt, perhaps even some readings from his My Life in Christ.

reading for 4 October 2009

2009-09-26T22:30:00.000-07:00

Here is the reading for next week. Next week, we will discuss Unction, Orders (Ordination) and Marriage. This is also in The Orthodox Faith, volume ii: worship, by Fr. Thomas Hopko, pp. 40-50.

Reading for 27 September 2009

2009-09-19T20:35:00.000-07:00

Next week, we will be discussing the Eucharist and Confession in the Orthodox Church. Click here for those preparatory readings.

Also, my mom swears by this book about confession by Fr. Hopko, which helps you prepare for confession.

I like this book, which is more of an explanation of why we confess and a broad overview of how to prepare.

Fr. Andrew likes this one, which is a little more geared towards priests and how they hear confessions.

Reading for 20 September 2009

2009-09-12T21:21:00.000-07:00

For 20 September 2009, we will be discussing Baptism and Chrismation in the Orthodox Church. Here is the reading from Fr. Hopko's book. You can also find it on pp 28-33 of The Orthodox Faith, volume ii: worship, by Fr. Thomas Hopko.

Reading for 13 September 2009

2009-08-29T21:45:00.001-07:00

Please note that we will not have class on Labor Day Weekend, although we will have hours and typika.

When we return on 9/13/09, we will have, I hope a great discussion on icons, vestments and Christian symbols.

Also, go here for video of the relics of St. Alexander of Svir, who we talked about today.

Reading for 30 August 2009

2009-08-22T20:13:00.000-07:00

We're getting a little wild and crazy here, publishing information about the reading assignment a week ahead of time for the class! I guess that's a tongue in cheek apology for my laziness in posting reading assignments.

Here's the reading for next Sunday, which you can also get from Fr. Thomas Hopko's The Orthodox Church, volume ii: Worship, pp. 3-11.

So you should also know that we've moved to the next book in the series, which I don't believe is in the bookstore yet. Of course, get with Josh to see about getting a copy, but if you're as impatient as I can be, then you might look at Light and Life Publishing for it here.

Reading for 23 August 2009

2009-08-22T20:04:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow we'll be discussing the concluding paragraph of the Creed. Here is that reading, or you you can read from Fr. Hopko's The Orthodox Faith, volume i: Faith, pp 123-134. This will conclude our doctrinal section of the adult education class. We will not be discussing the section on the Holy Trinity, as most of this has come up in our discussion of the Creed.

Today's Reading

2009-08-16T06:00:00.000-07:00

Late, but here's today's reading on the Holy Spirit. If you have a hard copy of Fr. Hopko's Doctrine, it's on pp. 118-120.

Reading for 12 July 2009

2009-07-07T20:11:00.000-07:00

We've covered the Incarnation, so now we're going to cover the other popular topic of apostolic preaching: the Resurrection. Click here for the reading.

Material for 21 June 2009 Class

2009-06-13T21:40:00.000-07:00

The Reading for 21 June will cover the Incarnation of God. Click here or read pages 70-85 in The Orthodox Faith, volume i: Doctrine by Fr. Thomas Hopko.

This is a long reading, and the material is critical to understanding Orthodox and, really, just Christian theology, but you don't really hear these issues being discussed outside the Orthodox Church.

You might also look at some very well done podcasts that will cover some of these same issues by the same author. I find them to be very well done.

Please make a point to attend this class if at all possible. If you do not understand this about Orthodox theology, you are missing one of the two points that every apostle, bishop and prophet wanted people to understand. And, its the key to your salvation!!!!!

Reading for June 14

2009-05-24T05:38:00.000-07:00

We will not have adult education class on May 31 or June 7.

When we meet on June 14, we will discuss pages 61-69 in Fr. Hopko's The Orthodox Faith, volume i: doctrine. If you do not have the book, you can also find that reading here.

Next Week's Reading

2009-05-16T23:50:00.000-07:00

Here's next week's reading. If you have the book, this is pp 52-60 of Fr. Thomas Hopko's The Orthodox Faith, volume i: Doctrine.

Extra Reading on today's discussion

2009-05-16T22:15:00.000-07:00

In our discussion of The Creation, there are several important texts worth looking at:

The Hexaemeron of St. Basil the Great is a commentary on the verses in Genesis that review the six days of creation. This is probably the most commonly reviewed text for questions on The Creation.
Genesis, Creation and Early Man, by Fr. Seraphim Rose, has been a very influencial book in the last 30 years and supports a creationist approach based on patristic writings.
Orthodox Theology and Science, by Metropolitan Hierotheos, is a fairly good overview of such issues.

And on Angels...

On the Celestial Hiearchies, by St. Dionysius the Areopagite, is the definitive text on the angels, but all the writings of St. Dionysius are not the simplest to get through.

Reading for Next Week

2009-05-10T06:26:00.000-07:00

Reading 3 on Creation, Angels and Fallen Spirit, click here.

Some questions for reflection:

With what did God create the universe? How is this different from how we create things?
What does the Devil want? How has he spent the last several thousand years? How have the holy angels and archangels spent that time?
What is the "good counterpart" of the Devil? Is it God or, perhaps, the Archangel Michael?

The Mountain of Silence

2009-05-09T21:55:00.000-07:00

Today, I will read a short passage from the book The Mountain of Silence, by Kyriacos Markides. This book is an easy-to-read introduction to the Orthodox faith, and I think that beginning readers could get quite a bit out of this book today.