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The Orthodox Church in America’s Department of Christian Education [DCE] recently released a series of review and study questions based on the text of Spirituality, one of four volumes of the late Protopresbyter Thomas Hopko’s series The Orthodox Faith. Resources for two other volumes—Doctrine and Scripture and Church History—are already available, while resources for the fourth volume, Worship, will be completed this spring, fulfilling Father Thomas’s request that the DCE provide these resources for his series.
“The questions, which are keyed to the pages in the book from which they are taken, offer readers a way of reviewing and reinforcing what they have read,” said Matushka Valerie Zahirsky, DCE Chair. “A separate document provides answers, also taken from book.
“If the book is being used in a discussion group, the leader might give participants the questions for a chapter before they read it, and they can then find the answers as they go through the text,” Matushka Valerie suggested. “Those who read the book on their own, rather than as part of a group, will find the questions and answers helpful in the same way. Several answers also offer points for further reflection.”
The Spirituality volume deals with many intriguing topics and questions, including what is the noonday demon, how does the Orthodox Church define “spirituality,” is it ever appropriate to hate ourselves, what in God’s eyes is the most vile of all human evils, and is there a difference between being tolerant and being merciful.
“Great Lent would be an especially appropriate time to reflect on the elements of Christian spirituality presented in this book,” Matushka Valerie added. “But at any time, it offers an inspiring picture of what it means to ‘do all to the glory of God’ [1 Corinthians 10:31].”
Visit the DCE web site for a wealth of additional educational resources and study units on a variety of topics.
