“Have love; for what salt is to food, love is to every virtue.”
Saint Euthymius the Great
Class Lessons
Instructions: After you have registered with Fr. Deacon Charles by contacting him via email, you can begin the first lesson. Read and view the material presented on the lesson page. When finished, copy the questions and paste them into an email. Add your brief answers and send to Fr. Charles. The link for his email will appear on the Question page. You will shortly receive a reply from him with a few comments added for clarification. When you receive this back from him, you can go onto the next lesson. In this way you can go through the class at your own pace.
For those who want to become members of the Orthodox Church at Saint George, you will need to arrange to meet with FatherTom Pistolis, the Dean of the Cathedral, for final instruction after you have completed this class. You must have completed all the lessons.
Be sure to include all your questions in your responses. It is important to have them all addressed.
Saint George Greek Orthodox Cathedral
406 N. Acadamy Street
Greenville, South Carolina
864-233-8531
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Lesson 1 - Introduction
In the first lesson you will find a brief introduction to the course. Then there will be questions relating to your religious background. This is necessary to have the proper context for your answers and questions.
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Lesson 2 - Aim of a Christian Life
It is always important to have a clear purpose. In this lesson you will gain clarity on the purpose and aim of an Orthodox Christian life.
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Lesson 3 - Faith
This first step is faith. This is the foundation of an Orthodox Christian life. In this lesson you will learn about the true nature of faith.
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Lesson 4 - Fear of God
We begin with an understanding that God is love. In this lesson we will learn why it is also proper to fear God.
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Lesson 5 - Creation
In this lesson we review the way God has created everything out of nothing and all He created is good. You will learn how this provides the foundation of our understanding of Him and what He expects of us.
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Lesson 6 - The Fall
In this lesson we learn about why we need to be saved. This is found in the story in Genesis about Adam and Eve.
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Lesson 7 - Preparing The Way - Old Testament
In this lesson includes a brief overview of some of the events in the Old Testament. We can see how our merciful and patient God prepared the way for the Incarnation.
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Lesson 8 - Preparing the way - Incarnation of God
Next, we review the Gospel story of the New Testament. God sends His Son who takes on flesh, becoming fully human while remaining fully God. Learn how Man now has a way to become reunited with God.
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Lesson 9 - Redemption
In this lesson we will learn how the life, death, and Resurrection of Christ saves us? .
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Lesson 10 - History of Doctrine
In this lesson we review the history of the Church. You will learn how the Truth about God and His Son has been preserved unchanged in the Orthodox Church.
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Lesson 11 - Orthodox Way of Life
Having completed our study of doctrine we now turn to the life of an Orthodox Christian. In this lesson you will learn about the passions that make it difficult to become like Christ. You will learn the reason behind the ascetic practices that are part of an Orthodox way of life.
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Lesson 12 - Prayer
An essential discipline in our life is daily prayer. In this lesson you will learn how to pray according to Orthodox tradition handed down to us from the Apostles.
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Lesson 13 - Fasting
Another important discipline taught to us by Jesus is regular fasting. You will learn how and when to fast.
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Lesson 14 - Worship
In this lesson we cover Orthodox worship. You will learn about the Divine Liturgy and the liturgical life of the Church.
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Lesson 15 - Repentance & Confession
The Orthodox life is one of continual repentance. In this lesson you will learn about the sacrament of Confession and how to prepare for it,
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Lesson 16 - Death and Afterlife
What happens at death? How do we need to prepare for this certainty? These and other questions about this great mystery will be answered in this lesson.
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Lesson 17 - Scripture and Holy Tradition
The foundation in the Church is found in Holy Scripture as well as Holy Tradition. You will learn where it came from and how to study.