Orthodox Christian Formation
Basics of the Orthodox Faith and Life — a complete one-year curriculum for catechumens and inquirers
Introduction
The ancient faith once delivered to the saints
→Scripture, Tradition, and the living memory of the Church
→Prayer, fasting, and almsgiving — the three pillars of Christian living
→Doctrine & Holy Tradition
One God in Three Persons — the foundation of all Christian truth
→Creator of heaven and earth, visible and invisible
→The Word became flesh and dwelt among us
→From Bethlehem to the Garden of Gethsemane
→The heart of the Gospel — the Pascha of the Lord
→The Giver of Life who proceeds from the Father
→The Body of Christ on earth — her nature, her mission, her marks
→How the Church defined and defended the faith
→Worship & Sacraments
Heaven on earth — the central act of Orthodox worship
→Born again of water and the Spirit — entrance into the Church
→The personal Pentecost — the seal of the gift of the Holy Spirit
→The Body and Blood of Christ — the medicine of immortality
→The second baptism — healing of the soul through forgiveness
→The mystery of two becoming one — an icon of Christ and the Church
→The priesthood of the Church — servant leaders in apostolic succession
→Anointing of the sick — healing of body and soul
→The conversation between the soul and God
→Scripture & History
The preparation of the world for the coming of Christ
→The fulfillment of all promises in Jesus Christ
→From Jerusalem to the ends of the earth
→The flowering of the ascetic life — the theology of the heart
→1054 and the painful division of Christendom
→The friends of God — witnesses to the possibility of holiness
→Windows into heaven — the veneration of holy images
→Time redeemed — the year as a journey through the life of Christ
→From Jerusalem to Russia, Africa, Alaska, and beyond
→The discipline of the body as a path to freedom of the spirit
→The Life of Faith
God's gift of the moral law — the foundation of a just life
→The charter of the Kingdom — blessed are the poor in spirit
→Acquiring virtue and overcoming the passions through grace
→The heart of the Gospel — the return to the Father
→The prayer Christ gave us — an inexhaustible treasury
→The home as a little church — where faith is first learned and lived
→Everything belongs to God — we are managers, not owners
→The mystery of suffering in the light of Christ's Cross
→The last enemy and its defeat — what Orthodoxy teaches about death
→The future restoration of all creation — the new heavens and the new earth
→The coming of the Judge — the consummation of all things
→The final state of all souls — eternal life or eternal separation
→Already and not yet — the presence and the promise of the Kingdom
→Preparation for Reception
The path from inquirer to catechumen to full membership
→Your heavenly companion — the saint whose name you bear
→The general confession before reception — a clean beginning
→The culmination of initiation — union with Christ in the Eucharist
→Practical wisdom for sustaining the life of faith
→The local body of Christ — your spiritual family
→The lifelong deepening of Orthodox faith and knowledge
→The ancient faith — the fullness of life in Christ
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