Twelve questions chosen at random. A new selection appears at each visit.
Q045The Books of the Bible
Within the corpus of the Bible, and even within the New Testament, one group of books occupies a supreme place: the Holy Gospel, proclaimed in the four books of the Evangelists, Matthew, Mark, Luke,…
Read the answer →Q147The Second Article: Jesus Christ
The real and only issue behind the use of “essence” (ousia) in theology was to safeguard the absolute difference between created and uncreated. To confess the Son homoousios is to confess that he stands,…
Read the answer →Q509On the First Commandment
The impulse to please others, or to place our trust in another rather than in God, is dangerous: when the one whom we seek to please, or in whom we trust, causes us to…
Read the answer →Q468The Sixth Beatitude
Sincerity, which feigns no good dispositions foreign to the heart, but shows the heart’s truly good dispositions in good deeds, is only the first degree of purity of heart. Purity itself is attained by…
Read the answer →Q077The First Article: God
The Apostle Paul writes: “Without faith it is impossible to please God, for whoever comes to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him” (Heb 11:6; see Q003,…
Read the answer →Q049The Books of the Bible
The four Gospels are historically reliable accounts of the life of Jesus Christ, as St Luke himself declares of his method: “having followed all things closely for some time past, to write an orderly…
Read the answer →Q467The Sixth Beatitude
They who would be blessed must be pure in heart, the qualification the Psalmist names for approaching God himself: “Who shall ascend the hill of the LORD? And who shall stand in his holy…
Read the answer →Q270The Ninth Article: The Church
Orthodox Christians confess that the church is “catholic” and that “catholic” remains the fundamental and authoritative attribute and name. As St Raphael of Brooklyn reminded his flock: “We are Catholics. The Orthodox Church is…
Read the answer →Q279The Ninth Article: The Church
In Orthodox theology, the church is the localized body of Christians, constituted and manifested by the celebration of the Eucharist, which in turn requires the ministry of the bishop with his presbyters, deacons, and…
Read the answer →Q071The Creed of the Orthodox Christian Faith
The conciliar model comes from the Holy Scriptures, specifically from the example of the Apostles, who held a Council in Jerusalem (Act 15) under the presidency of James, the local bishop of Jerusalem. The…
Read the answer →Q067The Creed of the Orthodox Christian Faith
The Creed of Nicaea-Constantinople, commonly called the Nicene Creed, is reproduced below and should be memorized: 1. I believe in one God the Father, Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, and of all things…
Read the answer →Q358Holy Orders
Even as Christ Jesus is the “chief Shepherd” (1Pe 5:4; see Q259, Q306), those who serve after his likeness share in the same task: to care for the Lord’s spiritual sheep and protect them…
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