Reading for 12 July 2009

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

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

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

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

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

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. Orthodox Theology and Science, by Metropolitan Hierotheos, is a fairly good overview of such issues.

And on Angels...

1. 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

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

Some questions for reflection:

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

The Mountain of Silence

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.