The One, Holy, Catholic & Apostolic Church & the Pan-Heresy of Ecumenism

This course will provide an introduction to the Dogma of the Church, or Ecclesiology, through a survey of the historical and theological “landmarks” of Church history and Tradition which helped formulate the spiritual experience of the Mystery of the Body of Christ, including Holy Scripture, patristic treatises and conciliar declarations.

This course seeks to enhance theological understanding of the Dogma of the Church, the Body of Christ. In particular, to explore the nature of the Church, its holiness, unity, catholicity, and apostolicity, its boundaries and the presuppositions of entering within, the unity of the Mysteries [sacraments] with the mystery of the Incarnation, of which the Church is the continuation, as well as the Patristic witness and canonical tradition with respect to the state of those outside of the Church.

To understand the interrelation and inseparability of the marks of the Church.

To study the historical sources of the doctrine of the Church.

To understand the presuppositions of participation in the Mystery of the Church.

To discern the errors of modern “ecumenical ecclesiologies” and how they contribute to the forming of the “religion of the future.”

Meets: Tuesday evenings, 9 PM EST, 6 PM (PST), 11 AM (Wed.) (AEDT).

February 16, 23; March 2, 9, 17[Wed],* 23, 30; April 7[Wed], 13, 20.*Please adjust for daylight savings time - we“spring forward” after March 14th.


Lesson 1: February 16th: Introduction, What is the Church?

Lesson 2: February 23rd: The Unity of the Church and The Mystery of Baptism

Lesson 3: March 2nd: The Church in St. Augustine, Nestorius and Chalcedon

Lesson 4: March 9th: The Church in Ss. Maximos and John of Damascus, and the 6th and 7th Oecumenical Councils

Lesson 5: March 17th* [Wed.]: The Church in the 8th Oecumenical Council & Great Schism

Lesson 6: March 23rd: The Church in Ss. Symeon the New Theologian, Nicholas Kabasilas, Gregory Palamas, Symeon of Thessaloniki, and Aquinas and Trent

Lesson 7: March 30th: The Church in The Kollyvades Fathers, St. Hilarion (Troitsky) and Fr. George Florovsky

Lesson 8: April 7th** [Wed.]: The Church in St. Justin Popovich, Vladimir Lossky and Fr. Alexander Schmemann

Lesson 9: April 13th: The Church as Presented in Vatican II and Modern Ecumenism

Lesson 10: April 20th: The Church Before the Face of the Religion of the Future

*Moved to Wednesday to accommodate the services of the first week of Great Lent.

** Moved to Wednesday to accommodate the vigil service for the Annunciation (on the church calendar).

The Course texts will be distributed electronically beginning with the first lesson.

Please submit your questions ahead of each lesson. Questions can be submitted directly to the Crowdcast page of the particular lesson, which is preferable, or under the announcement in Patreon for each lesson. All questions submitted during the lecture will be answered at the Question and Answer session on Thursday evening.

The Ecclesiological Renovation of Vatican II: An Orthodox Examination of Rome’s Ecumenical Theology Regarding Baptism and the Church by Archpriest Peter Heers and The Missionary Origins of Modern Ecumenism: Milestones Leading up to 1920 by Archpriest Peter Heers, available from the instructor.

This list is indicative of the material which the instructor will assign for reading and present but is not exhaustive. Likewise, due to time constraints, there may be material which will not be covered.

Week 1, February 16th: Introduction - What is the Church?

1. Introduction: What is the Church? Scriptural References; St. Paul’s Doctrine; The Symbol of Faith; Romanides: An Outline of Orthodox Patristic Dogmatics (Selections); St. Justin Popovich: “Attributes of the Church.”

2. Second Century: St. Ignatius of Antioch, The Epistles; The Ecclesiology of St. Ignatius of Antioch by Fr. John Romanides; St. Irenaeus, On the Apostolic Preaching, Clement of Alexandria, The Pedagogue, 1.6.25.1 and 1.6.26.2–3 (PG 8.280B), St. Dionysios the Aeropagite, Selections from On Ecclesiastical Hierarchy

Week 2, February 23rd: The Unity of the Church and The Mystery of Baptism

1. Third Century: St. Cyprian of Carthage, On the Unity of the Church; St. Firmilian of Caesarea, Epistle 74 in the Letters of St. Cyprian; Pope Stephen of Rome; The Anonmymous Treatise on Rebaptism; Selections from Zizioulas’ Eucharist, Bishop, Church.

2. Fourth Century: Synod of Arles, canon 8; St. Basil the Great, Canons 1, 20 & 47; St. John Chrysostom, Homily on 1 Corinthians, 1–2 (PG 61, 250–51), Homily on 1 Corinthians 3:9 (PG 61:73), Homily 17 (sec. 6) on Hebrews, 9:24-26, Homily 3 (sec 2) on Ephesians 1:23 (PG 62:26), Homily 11 on Ephesians (PG 62:84.28,38 & 62:85.20,25); St. Athanasius the Great, Second Discourse Against the Arians, §§ 42–43, (PG 26.237B); Canon 7 of the Second Oecumenical Council.

Week 3, March 2nd: The Church in St. Augustine, Nestorius and Chalcedon

1. Fifth Century: St. Augustine of Hippo, Selections from Against the Donatists; Chapters 1-4 in The Ecclesiological Renovation of Vatican II; Nestorius and the response to him by Ss. Hypatios, Cyril and Leo; The Fourth Oecumenical Council of Chalcedon: the Christology & the Church.

2. Sixth Century: Fifth Oecumenical Council (or Second Council of Constantinople) and the censure of Virgilius, Pope of Rome;

Week 4, March 9th: The Church in Ss. Maximos and John of Damascus, and the 6th and 7th Oecumenical Councils

1. Seventh Century: St. Maximos the Confessor, Question 15 from Questions from Thalassius; The Sixth Oecumenical Council (or Third Council of Constantinople) and the condemnation of Honorius, Pope of Rome; The Quinisext Council (or Council of Trullo), Canons 1, 95.

2. Eighth Century: St. John of Damascus: Selections from On the Orthodox Faith and Against Heresies; The Seventh Oecumenical Council in Nicea and the Ecclesiological Stance of the Patriarch, St. Tarasius.

Week 5, March 17th: The Church in the 8th Oecumenical Council and the Great Schism

1. Ninth Century: The Eighth Oecumenical Council and the Condemnation of the Filioque; The 1st-2nd Synod, canons 13, 14, and 15.

2. The Great Schism and the ecclesiological implications; The early Orthodox and Latin responses to schism and (re)baptism; The Council of Florence, St. Mark of Ephesus’ stance and response; The Council of Constantinople (1484), the Service for the reception of Latins.

Week 6, March 23rd: The Church in Ss. Symeon the New Theologian, Nicholas Kabasilas, Gregory Palamas, Symeon of Thessaloniki, and Aquinas and Trent

1. Eleventh - Sixteenth Centuries: St. Symeon the New Theologian: The Church and the Last Things (Selections); St. Nicholas Kabasilas: Selections from The Life in Christ.

2.; St. Gregory Palamas: The Treatise on the Procession of the Holy Spirit (Selections). St. Symeon of Thessaloniki: Against All Heresies (Selections)

3. The 13th c. scholastic view of church boundaries: Thomas Aquinas’ break with Augustine; The Ecclesiological Renovation of Vatican II, ch 5-6; Council of Trent, canon 4 on Baptism.

Week 7, March 30th: The Church in The Kollyvades Fathers, St. Hilarion (Troitsky) and Fr. George Florovsky

Eighteenth - Twentieth Centuries: The Kollyvades Fathers on the Baptism of the Latins; The Council of the Three Patriarchs in Constantinople (1755/6); Metallinos: I Confess One Baptism; Dragas: “Manner of Reception”.

Alexei Khomiakov: The Church is One; St. Hilarion (Troitsky): On the Unity of the Church; The Missionary Origins of Modern Ecumenism.

Fr. George Florovsky: “On the Limits of the Church;” Bishop Athanasius Yevtich: “Fr. George Florovsky on the Limits of the Church.”

Week 8, April 7th: The Church in St. Justin Popovich, Vladimir Lossky and Fr. Alexander Schmemann

1. Twentieth Century: Fr. Alexander Schmemann: “Unity, Division & Reunion in the Light of Orthodox Ecclesiology”; The Ecclesiological Renovation of Vatican II, ch 7-8;

2. Vladimir Lossky: The Mystical Theology of the Eastern Church (Selections).

3. St. Justin Popovich: The Orthodox Church & Ecumenism, Orthodox Faith & Life (Selections)

Week 9, April 13th: The Church as Presented in Vatican II and Modern Ecumenism

1. Twentieth Century: The Ecclesiological Texts of Vatican II: Unitatis Redintegratio; Lumen Gentium (Selections)

2. Analyzing Vatican II: The Ecclesiological Renovation of Vatican II: Part 2 introduction, chapter 9.

3. Analyzing Vatican II: The Ecclesiological Renovation of Vatican II: Chapters 10-11.

Week 10, April 20th: The Church Before the Face of the Religion of the Future

1. Analyzing Vatican II: The Ecclesiological Renovation of Vatican II: Chapters 12-14, Conclusion; Tselengides: “The Function of the Unity of the Church & the Fallacious Theological Presuppositions of Papal Primacy.”

2. Romanides: Patristic Theology; Empirical Dogmatics (Selections). Tselengides: “On the Surpassing Value of the Spiritual Unity of the Church.”

3. Metropolitan Hierotheos (Vlachos): Entering the Orthodox Church (Selections)

4. Elder Athanasius Mitilianaios: Commentary on the Book of Revelation

https://www.amazon.com/Church-Treatises-22Popular-Patristics-22-Patristics/dp/0881413127

https://www.amazon.com/Church-Select-Letters-Popular-Patristics/dp/0881413135

On the Mystical Life, The Ethical Discourses: Volume I: The Church and The Last Things (SVS)

https://www.amazon.com/Mystical-Life-Ethical-Discourses-Church/dp/0881411426

https://www.amazon.com/Apostolic-Preaching-Irenaeus-Saint-Bishop/dp/0881411744

http://www.tertullian.org/fathers/areopagite_14_ecclesiastical_hierarchy.htm

Ἔργα θεολογικά, Ἁγίου Συμεὼν ἀρχιεπισκόπου Θεσσαλονίκης, 1416/17-1429 (Theological works of St. Symeon, Archbishop of Thessalonika, ed. & intro. David Balfour. (Thessaloniki, 1981).

https://www.amazon.com/Life-Christ-Nicholas-Cabasilas/dp/0913836125

http://orthodoxinfo.com/inquirers/sthilarion_church.aspx

http://bookstore.jordanville.org/9780948298172

Orthodox Ecclesiology: The One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church