[On behalf of Father Peter Farrington]
Free Orthodox Online Catechesis Course - Discovering Orthodoxy
The London School of Orthodox Christian Studies is launching the first units of a FREE Orthodox Catechesis course on the 1st January, 2013. This course is designed for anyone w
ho wants to learn about the Orthodox Faith for the first time, or who wants to understand their own Orthodox Faith more completely. It is being created as a pan-Oriental Orthodox course and will provide a suitable introduction to the Orthodoxy of the Oriental Orthodox communion of Armenian, Coptic, Ethiopian, Eritrean, Indian, Syrian and British Orthodox Christians.
Contributors to the course will include bishops, priests, theologians, academics and qualified deacons and laity from a wide range of Orthodox communities and congregations. Each unit will consist of approximately one hour of reading materials, audio and video content, together with suggestions for further study. This page provides an overview of many of the topics which will be covered during the course.
This is a FREE course and we invite you to register for it now so that you can take up your studies on the 1st January.
http://www.lsocs.co.uk/orthodox_catechesis.php
Comments
Free Orthodox Online Catechesis Course - Discovering Orthodoxy
Already over 135 students have registered in preparation for the launch, and they represent people from 18 different countries.
The London School of Orthodox Christian Studies is launching the first units of a FREE Orthodox Catechesis course on the 1st January, 2013. This course is designed for anyone who wants to learn about the Orthodox Faith for the first time, or who wants to understand their own Orthodox Faith more completely. It is being created as a pan-Oriental Orthodox course and will provide a suitable introduction to the Orthodoxy of the Oriental Orthodox communion of Armenian, Coptic, Ethiopian, Eritrean, Indian, Syriac and British Orthodox Christians.
Contributors to the course will include bishops, priests, theologians, academics and qualified deacons and laity from a wide range of Orthodox communities and congregations. Each unit will consist of approximately one hour of reading materials, with audio and video content, together with suggestions for further study. The list on this catechesis page provides an overview of many of the topics which will be covered during the course.
This is a FREE course and we invite you to register for it now so that you can take up your studies on the 1st January.
To make sure that we can offer this programme for free to all those who would benefit, please consider making a small sponsorship contribution.
http://www.lsocs.co.uk/orthodox_catechesis.php
Free Orthodox Online Catechesis Course - Discovering Orthodoxy
Already over 280 students have registered in preparation for the launch, and they represent people from 19 different countries.
The London School of Orthodox Christian Studies is launching the first units of a FREE Orthodox Catechesis course on the 1st January, 2013. This course is designed for anyone who wants to learn about the Orthodox Faith for the first time, or who wants to understand their own Orthodox Faith more completely. It is being created as a pan-Oriental Orthodox course and will provide a suitable introduction to the Orthodoxy of the Oriental Orthodox communion of Armenian, Coptic, Ethiopian, Eritrean, Indian, Syriac and British Orthodox Christians.
Contributors to the course will include bishops, priests, theologians, academics and qualified deacons and laity from a wide range of Orthodox communities and congregations. Each unit will consist of approximately one hour of reading materials, with audio and video content, together with suggestions for further study. The list on this catechesis page provides an overview of many of the topics which will be covered during the course.
This is a FREE course and we invite you to register for it now so that you can take up your studies on the 1st January.
To make sure that we can offer this programme for free to all those who would benefit, please consider making a small sponsorship contribution.
http://www.lsocs.co.uk/orthodox_catechesis.php
I dont know all the people that will be involved but I think it will be a wide variety if hierarchy and clergy from the orthodox church in the UK and around the world. Perhaps even some EO clergy. I know that the Council of Reference for the London School includes Metropolitan Seraphim of the Coptic Orthodox, Bishop Vahan of the Armenian Orthodox and Metropolitan Thimotheos of the Indian Orthodox so I guess they will all be contributing and probably other clergy from those churches.
I can't really say if you yourself will learn something new but I think the idea is to help us consider what we know all over again. It is certainly a spiritual course rather than a narrowly educational one.
If this is true, I do not agree that this is the best medium to reach this objective. Any catechism or theological course must be pure OO designed, written and delivered by OO theologians.
I visited the site http://www.lsocs.co.uk/orthodox_catechesis.php and have not seen any involvement of the Coptic Church as an entity with this school.
I am sorry if i have come across and brash and harsh but please do not disrespect my fathers and their endeavours. When we have true teachers of Orthodoxy (unlike some of our hierarchs who i will leave unnamed) we must learn from them and their wisdom and not call into question their endeavours to spread the word of God.
I want to respectfully say to Imikhail that Fr. Peter Farrington and the LSOCS has so much more knowledge and wisdom than you, its not even comparable. Fr. Peter Farrington and the counsel of reference H.E. Metropolitan Abba Seraphim, His Grace Bishop Vahan Hovhanessian, and His Grace bishop Dr. Mathews Mar Thimothios are astute theologians and have a much better handle on true ORTHODOX theology than you do. Fr. Peter Farrington is one of the leading experts on the theology of St. Severus and St. Severus' christology and in fact i would say probably no other copt knows any comparable amount to Fr. Peter on St. Severus and his work on both the council of chalcedon and the OO understanding of it and St. Timothy Aelurus' theology thereafter are groundbreaking and monumental works. No one at LSOCS needs to prove their Orthodoxy to you and I dont think your opinion is even relevant.
I am sorry if i have come across and brash and harsh but please do not disrespect my fathers and their endeavours. When we have true teachers of Orthodoxy (unlike some of our hierarchs who i will leave unnamed) we must learn from them and their wisdom and not call into question their endeavours to spread the word of God.
I am not disrespecting anyone and have not bashed anyone. May be you need to show where I am wrong in saying that there is nothing Oriental about the site. Just because it mentions some Oriental names does not make it Oriental.
The site is no par to the the true and authentic theological seminaries of Australia, Southern United states and others run by the Coptic Church.
http://tsp.suscopts.org/
http://sacotc.vic.edu.au/
I do appreciate the effort Fr. Farrington is doing but the site needs to be formally Oriental not just claiming to be one.
Yes LSOCS doesnt stand up at all to the courses of the SUS site which has its courses hosted over a long weekend.... (sarcasm)
Fr. Peter teaches true theology, given the fact that you have disagreed with him in the past numerous times I would hazard that you are not familiar with true OO theology bur rather the unpatristic ideas of theology we have today
Yes LSOCS doesnt stand up at all to the courses of the SUS site which has its courses hosted over a long weekend.... (sarcasm)
Fr. Peter teaches true theology, given the fact that you have disagreed with him in the past numerous times I would hazard that you are not familiar with true OO theology bur rather the unpatristic ideas of theology we have today
So you have taken all the courses on LSOCS and all the courses offered by the other institutions and you came to the conclusion that Fr. Farrington teaches true theology and the others teach fake theology.
May the Lord have mercy on us.
Again the fact that LSOCS does not have any backing by any OO hierarchy is doubtful and would not be a place to study true OO theology. Merely citing names without having an explanation of how these people contribute to the course material does not make this a place to study true OO theology. This is my opinion.
Again the fact that LSOCS does not have any backing by any OO hierarchy is doubtful and would not be a place to study true OO theology. Merely citing names without having an explanation of how these people contribute to the course material does not make this a place to study true OO theology. This is my opinion.
Please forgive me...
But your quick, reactive level of cynicism is intolerable.
Don't you know that this is just starting out? Things don't grow overnight.
A bit quick to undermine the work of your OO brethren...don't you think?
✞✞✞
[quote author=imikhail link=topic=13852.msg161407#msg161407 date=1353706150]
Again the fact that LSOCS does not have any backing by any OO hierarchy is doubtful and would not be a place to study true OO theology. Merely citing names without having an explanation of how these people contribute to the course material does not make this a place to study true OO theology. This is my opinion.
Please forgive me...
But your quick, reactive level of cynicism is intolerable.
Don't you know that this is just starting out? Things don't grow overnight.
A bit quick to undermine the work of your OO brethren...don't you think?
✞✞✞
Any theological school must be under the umbrella of the Church. I do not see that with the London School.
[quote author=✞TheGodChrist✞ link=topic=13852.msg161408#msg161408 date=1353736467]
[quote author=imikhail link=topic=13852.msg161407#msg161407 date=1353706150]
Again the fact that LSOCS does not have any backing by any OO hierarchy is doubtful and would not be a place to study true OO theology. Merely citing names without having an explanation of how these people contribute to the course material does not make this a place to study true OO theology. This is my opinion.
Please forgive me...
But your quick, reactive level of cynicism is intolerable.
Don't you know that this is just starting out? Things don't grow overnight.
A bit quick to undermine the work of your OO brethren...don't you think?
✞✞✞
Any theological school must be under the umbrella of the Church. I do not see that with the London School.
Please allow me to elucidate this point for you:
The British Orthodox Church is within the Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate.
His Eminence Metropolitan Seraphim is affiliated with this program, and is on the Council of Reference.
Since His Eminence Metropolitan Seraphim is a member of the Holy Synod of the Coptic Orthodox Church, and has given this program his blessing, it is under the umbrella of the Church.
Many programs such as these tend to start out at the local Church level, then grow and expand over time into something Diocese-wide.
✞✞✞
[quote author=imikhail link=topic=13852.msg161409#msg161409 date=1353737437]
[quote author=✞TheGodChrist✞ link=topic=13852.msg161408#msg161408 date=1353736467]
[quote author=imikhail link=topic=13852.msg161407#msg161407 date=1353706150]
Again the fact that LSOCS does not have any backing by any OO hierarchy is doubtful and would not be a place to study true OO theology. Merely citing names without having an explanation of how these people contribute to the course material does not make this a place to study true OO theology. This is my opinion.
Please forgive me...
But your quick, reactive level of cynicism is intolerable.
Don't you know that this is just starting out? Things don't grow overnight.
A bit quick to undermine the work of your OO brethren...don't you think?
✞✞✞
Any theological school must be under the umbrella of the Church. I do not see that with the London School.
Please allow me to elucidate this point for you:
The British Orthodox Church is within the Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate.
His Eminence Metropolitan Seraphim is affiliated with this program, and is on the Council of Reference.
Since His Eminence Metropolitan Seraphim is a member of the Holy Synod of the Coptic Orthodox Church, and has given this program his blessing, it is under the umbrella of the Church.
Many programs such as these tend to start out at the local Church level, then grow and expand over time into something Diocese-wide.
✞✞✞
I understand all what you said above. However the site does not reflect that information. The site merely mentions Bishop Seraphim and other names. This does not make it official.
Here is the info off the site under "About Us"
"The London School of Orthodox Christian Studies has been established to provide high quality distance-learning programmes to support the theological education of students in London, the United Kingdom and around the world.
The London School of Orthodox Christian Studies is rooted in the Orthodox tradition of the Oriental Orthodox communion, and the activities of the LSOCS will include the participation of members of these other Churches."
This information dos not reflect any of what you said above. The school to be legitimate has to convey under what auspice it is running.
I know Fr. Peter. Others may not ... and it would seem that it is run only by a priest who, God forbid, might be illegitimate.
Back on topic: I would love to take this course if it was going to be very much non-chalcedonian.
Edit: Sorry, my comment had nothing to do with the OP, but with the fact that this thread was derailed by someone's ridiculous logismoi.
Back on topic: I would love to take this course if it was going to be very much non-chalcedonian.
And hence my suggestion that the site need to convey under what auspice, it at all, it is running.
that it is OO, but not one of those OO courses that seek to upset EO people.
it is an official OO course, running with the full support of abba seraphim,
and if the website does not explain that well enough, it is because the web master
is too busy writing course material!
i would very much recommend it.
:)
I would LOVE to be upset, but I don't think it's possible! :) In fact that's why I'm here, but nobody's done it yet! I'm serious.
?
[quote author=arsenios link=topic=13852.msg161588#msg161588 date=1354233836]
I would LOVE to be upset, but I don't think it's possible! :) In fact that's why I'm here, but nobody's done it yet! I'm serious.
?
What I mean is this: Instead of seeing how much we (EO and OO) have in common, I would love to see the things we DON'T have in common. I would love for those things and differences to be so stark and clear that they give me a clear and rational reason to start permanently attending the local Coptic church. But for the life of me, I don't really see where we're all that different, which, in ecumenical terms is a good thing. I wish I would be truly convinced that there is no salvation outside the OO Church.
I don't really want to be made "upset." But I would like to be given very solid reasons why I should stop being EO, and to start being OO. But I've not been given any. So here I am.
Do you see what I'm saying?
I understand all what you said above. However the site does not reflect that information. The site merely mentions Bishop Seraphim and other names. This does not make it official.
Here is the info off the site under "About Us"
"The London School of Orthodox Christian Studies has been established to provide high quality distance-learning programmes to support the theological education of students in London, the United Kingdom and around the world.
The London School of Orthodox Christian Studies is rooted in the Orthodox tradition of the Oriental Orthodox communion, and the activities of the LSOCS will include the participation of members of these other Churches."
This information dos not reflect any of what you said above. The school to be legitimate has to convey under what auspice it is running.
I know Fr. Peter. Others may not ... and it would seem that it is run only by a priest who, God forbid, might be illegitimate.
The very last message Fr Peter wrote before he left this site was to respond to your cynicism and doubt. You posed the same argument back then that the London School is not legitimate because it isn't backed by the hierarchy. Fr Peter's response showed the school is supported by the Coptic Church and yet you still attack the London school and consequently Fr Peter himself. You have repeatedly ignored the school's auspice and patronage by Metropolitan Seraphim.
Additionally, how do you know any school or program that might be under the Southern US diocese website (or any Coptic Orthodox diocese website) is not "run by a priest who is illegitimate"? Is it simply because it is on the official website that it is automatically above reproach? I'm not saying any Coptic diocese school is run by a knavish rogue but a website certificate of auspice or patronage does not automatically equate to a freedom from reproach or dishonesty.
If you have a problem with BOC's disclosure on their London School website, why don't you email Metropolitan Seraphim and ask him directly if the London school is legitimate, Oriental Orthodox and sanctioned by the Coptic Church. Otherwise, stop wasting our time with your cynicism and unscrupulous comments. This type of fanaticism is exactly why people like Fr Peter no longer come here.
1) Woot
2) Woot
Ray
[quote author=imikhail]
I understand all what you said above. However the site does not reflect that information. The site merely mentions Bishop Seraphim and other names. This does not make it official.
Here is the info off the site under "About Us"
"The London School of Orthodox Christian Studies has been established to provide high quality distance-learning programmes to support the theological education of students in London, the United Kingdom and around the world.
The London School of Orthodox Christian Studies is rooted in the Orthodox tradition of the Oriental Orthodox communion, and the activities of the LSOCS will include the participation of members of these other Churches."
This information dos not reflect any of what you said above. The school to be legitimate has to convey under what auspice it is running.
I know Fr. Peter. Others may not ... and it would seem that it is run only by a priest who, God forbid, might be illegitimate.
The very last message Fr Peter wrote before he left this site was to respond to your cynicism and doubt. You posed the same argument back then that the London School is not legitimate because it isn't backed by the hierarchy. Fr Peter's response showed the school is supported by the Coptic Church and yet you still attack the London school and consequently Fr Peter himself. You have repeatedly ignored the school's auspice and patronage by Metropolitan Seraphim.
Additionally, how do you know any school or program that might be under the Southern US diocese website (or any Coptic Orthodox diocese website) is not "run by a priest who is illegitimate"? Is it simply because it is on the official website that it is automatically above reproach? I'm not saying any Coptic diocese school is run by a knavish rogue but a website certificate of auspice or patronage does not automatically equate to a freedom from reproach or dishonesty.
If you have a problem with BOC's disclosure on their London School website, why don't you email Metropolitan Seraphim and ask him directly if the London school is legitimate, Oriental Orthodox and sanctioned by the Coptic Church. Otherwise, stop wasting our time with your cynicism and unscrupulous comments. This type of fanaticism is exactly why people like Fr Peter no longer come here.
You just like to attack given the tone of your message. You basically responded without understanding the jest of my message.
For other people who may be reading this, please pay attention to the last line I wrote:
"I know Fr. Peter. Others may not ... and it would seem that it is run only by a priest who, God forbid, might be illegitimate."
It is the image I am referring to not whether the school is in fact legitimate.
What I mean is this: Instead of seeing how much we (EO and OO) have in common, I would love to see the things we DON'T have in common. I would love for those things and differences to be so stark and clear that they give me a clear and rational reason to start permanently attending the local Coptic church. But for the life of me, I don't really see where we're all that different, which, in ecumenical terms is a good thing. I wish I would be truly convinced that there is no salvation outside the OO Church.
I don't really want to be made "upset." But I would like to be given very solid reasons why I should stop being EO, and to start being OO. But I've not been given any. So here I am.
There is a difference between looking for and accepting or rejecting differences and using these differences to justify unnecessary proselytizing. I'll give you an example. My children are completely different from my brother's children, just like I am completely different from my brother. We are physically, psychologically and spiritually different. Let's assume I found out that my entire brother's family's favorite color is blue and my family's favorite color is red. I would not use the difference to justify removing my nephew from my brothers house. I would be guilty of trying to proselytizing my nephew and breaking up God's family. If, on the other hand, my nephew is constantly looking for reasons to leave his family because he no longer likes blue, I think it's my obligation to instruct my nephew to look at the bigger picture. Blue and red are both colors. Technically, there is a difference. But it is more beneficial to look for things that unite rather than divide. This is ecumenism and it is a commandment from God (John 17:21)
If you personally are looking for reasons to stop being EO, I would first question if there are deeper psychological reasons that have nothing to do with theology. If on the other hand, God is guiding you to the Coptic Church than there is no reason to find a difference to begin with. Returning back to my hypothetical family situation, if my nephew wanted to live in my town and live with me, I don't need to find a fault with my brother to justify removing my nephew. My nephew would always be welcomed and I would work something out with my brother. That's how true Christian brothers do things. It is a function of finding unity and not letting division grow among families.
I hope this helps.
[quote author=arsenios link=topic=13852.msg161590#msg161590 date=1354234973]
What I mean is this: Instead of seeing how much we (EO and OO) have in common, I would love to see the things we DON'T have in common. I would love for those things and differences to be so stark and clear that they give me a clear and rational reason to start permanently attending the local Coptic church. But for the life of me, I don't really see where we're all that different, which, in ecumenical terms is a good thing. I wish I would be truly convinced that there is no salvation outside the OO Church.
I don't really want to be made "upset." But I would like to be given very solid reasons why I should stop being EO, and to start being OO. But I've not been given any. So here I am.
There is a difference between looking for and accepting or rejecting differences and using these differences to justify unnecessary proselytizing. I'll give you an example. My children are completely different from my brother's children, just like I am completely different from my brother. We are physically, psychologically and spiritually different. Let's assume I found out that my entire brother's family's favorite color is blue and my family's favorite color is red. I would not use the difference to justify removing my nephew from my brothers house. I would be guilty of trying to proselytizing my nephew and breaking up God's family. If, on the other hand, my nephew is constantly looking for reasons to leave his family because he no longer likes blue, I think it's my obligation to instruct my nephew to look at the bigger picture. Blue and red are both colors. Technically, there is a difference. But it is more beneficial to look for things that unite rather than divide. This is ecumenism and it is a commandment from God (John 17:21)
If you personally are looking for reasons to stop being EO, I would first question if there are deeper psychological reasons that have nothing to do with theology. If on the other hand, God is guiding you to the Coptic Church than there is no reason to find a difference to begin with. Returning back to my hypothetical family situation, if my nephew wanted to live in my town and live with me, I don't need to find a fault with my brother to justify removing my nephew. My nephew would always be welcomed and I would work something out with my brother. That's how true Christian brothers do things. It is a function of finding unity and not letting division grow among families.
I hope this helps.
I would accept this explanation if there were no real differences between the EO and the OO. However, there is a fundamental differences and they are standing in the way for the two families to be united.