I’m excited to announce our next adult education class, which will also act as a catechism for inquirers and catechumens. This class will be different from all the others we’ve done. It will be a series of lectures on the book of Genesis.
If we don’t understand where we came from, then we will have difficulty knowing who we are and what we’re destined for. In this series of classes, I plan to work through as much of the book of Genesis as we can. In some classes, we might cover just a few verses, in others, a few chapters.
I’ve refrained from labeling this a “Bible study,” since that tends to imply people sitting around asking each other, “What do you think this means?” Instead, we’ll review what the Church Fathers wrote about Genesis. The Fathers were ancient spiritual giants who were inspired by the Holy Spirit and left us enlightened commentaries. So, they are worth paying attention to. We’ll also dive into symbolism, typology, and foreshadowings of Christ and the Church. All that said, I welcome your questions and input during the class.
WHO, WHEN, AND WHERE?
This class is open to everyone: members, regular attenders, and visitors. It’ll be held at the Blue Ridge Public Library (28 Avery Row, Roanoke, VA 24012) in the Bonsack area, which has a meeting room that can hold up to 53 people.
We’ll meet most Tuesday evenings at 6pm throughout the summer. The first class will be June 20.
Due to the library scheduling with other groups on Tuesdays after August, we’ll meet on Wednesdays starting in September.
PREPARATION & DISTANCE LEARNING
You can prepare for the first two classes by reading St. Basil the Great’s Hexameron. The third class will cover Origen’s commentary on Genesis and the fourth class will review St. Gregory of Nyssa’s On the Making of Man.
If you can’t make it to the class in person, but you want to join us in the study, please let me know. A streaming link is available upon request as well as audio recordings of the class. Recordings of the classes can be viewed on Fr. Jeremy’s Rumble page.
Sources
- Hexameron – St. Basil the Great (NPNF, public domain)
- The Anglo-Saxon Hexameron – Aelfric of Eynsham (public domain)
- Hexameron, Paradise, Cain & Abel – St. Ambrose of Milan (Fathers of the Church Series, Catholic University of America Press)
- Hexaemeron – St. Anastasius of Sinai (Pontificio Istituto Orientale, out of print)
- Hymns on Paradise – St. Ephrem the Syrian (SVS Press)
- Selected Prose Works – St. Ephrem the Syrian (Fathers of the Church Series, Catholic University of America Press)
- Nisibene Hymns – St. Ephraim the Syrian (NPNF Series, public domain)
- Commentary on Genesis – Ven. Bede (Translated Texts for Historians)
- Homilies on Genesis (three volumes) – St. John Chrysostom (Fathers of the Church Series, Catholic University of America Press)
- Glaphyra on the Pentateuch, Vol. 1 Genesis – St. Cyril of Alexandria (Fathers of the Church Series, Catholic University of America Press)
- The First Created Man – St. Symeon the New Theologian (St. Herman Press)
- Homilies on Genesis – Origen (Fathers of the Church Series, Catholic University of America Press)
- Catechetical Discourse – St. Gregory of Nyssa (SVS Press)
- On the Making of Man – St. Gregory of Nyssa (NFNP, public domain)
- On the Cosmic Mystery of Jesus Christ – St. Maximus the Confessor (SVS Press)
- Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, Vol. 1-2, Genesis – Various Fathers – Edited by Thomas C Oden (Intervarsity Press)
- Beginnings: Ancient Christian Readings of the Biblical Creation Narratives – Peter C. Bouteneff (Baker Academic)
- The Language of Creation: Cosmic Symbolism in Genesis – Matthieu Pageau
Comments are closed