1 / 8

Orthodox Theology Part I - Introduction

Orthodox Theology Part I - Introduction. St. Mary & St. Mina Coptic Orthodox Church Servants Meeting December 2, 2017. Summary ?. What is “theology”? Why study “theology”? Divisions of Theology Apologetics Dogmatic Theology Sources of Theology. Sources of Theology & Dogmas. Two sources

charlesfox
Download Presentation

Orthodox Theology Part I - Introduction

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Orthodox TheologyPart I - Introduction St. Mary & St. Mina Coptic Orthodox Church Servants Meeting December 2, 2017

  2. Summary ? • What is “theology”? • Why study “theology”? • Divisions of Theology • Apologetics • Dogmatic Theology • Sources of Theology

  3. Sources of Theology & Dogmas • Two sources • Sacred Scripture • Sacred Tradition • Sacred Tradition is that which comes from the ancient church of the apostles. The ancient church carefully guarded the inner life of the church from those outside. • St. Basil the Great writes • "Of the dogmas and sermons preserved in the Church, certain ones we have from written instruction, and certain ones we have received from the apostolic tradition handed down in secret".

  4. Where to find Sacred Tradition • The canons of the Holy Apostles • The liturgies, rite of Baptisms • Ancient acts of the martyrs • Ancient records of the church • Works of the ancient fathers and teachers of the church.

  5. Theology & Faith • Apologetics: • Removing barriers to faith • Showing that there are rational grounds on which faith is based • Dogmatic theology is for believing Christians. In itself, it does not inspire faith, but presupposes that faith already exists

  6. Faith • Faith is the path on which an encounter takes place between us and God. It is God who takes the first step. • Faith is both a mystery and a miracle

  7. Faith • People come to God in diverse ways • Sometimes the encounter is sudden and unexpected • Sometimes conversion is the result of meeting a true believer • To be born in a believing family, and to be raised a believer • Conversion Stories

  8. From the sayings of the fathers • “How happy are we Christians ! What God is ours. How much to be pitied are those who do not know God. O, unhappy, erring peoples! They cannot know what true joy is … But our joy is Christ. By His sufferings He has inscribed us in the Book of Life, and in the Kingdom of heaven we shall be with God for ever, and we shall see His glory, and delight in Him. Our joy is the Holy Spirit, so pleasant. He bears witness to the soul of her salvation”

More Related