Fr. Tom Hopko of blessed memory gave a talk in 2008 about teaching doctrine. At that point, he had been a priest for over 50 years, been the dean of St. Vladimir’s Seminary for a long time, and had probably taught hundreds of thousands of people (including laity, clergy, and bishops) about the Orthodox faith. Over the decades, he discovered many shortcomings in the way we teach doctrine (both at the parish and seminary levels). His biggest concern was biblical illiteracy.
Even in seminary, he found students studying to be priests who had never read the New Testament. In the parish, it was (and still is) quite common to have people who had never read the Gospels. So, he felt the very first thing any inquirer, catechumen, or Orthodox Christian should do is read the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke – preferably three times through. During this time of spiritual formation, he also felt there were several rules that we should follow with our lives (which we’ll discuss in the first class).
Without knowing the Gospel or following basic rules of Christian life, we can’t possibly understand the deeper doctrine and theology of the Church. The Church Fathers lived in the Orthodox tradition; they converted every aspect of their lives – not just their Sunday mornings. We too are invited to dive into that way of being. Such a life purifies the heart so that we can perceive God and spiritual truths.
So, we’re going to read the Gospels and discuss them – particularly with the focus of keeping the commandments of Christ as St. Ignatius taught in The Arena. Hopefully time will permit us to also briefly discuss a spiritual topic each week (such as prayer, spiritual warfare, etc.). The assigned reading is one chapter a day from the Gospels, which is quite doable if we set our mind to it.
I look forward to seeing you all in person or online!
(For those who are not members of St. Ambrose, we hope to publish recordings of the classes on Rumble and/or YouTube)
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