To be taught on Feb 29, 2020:
On this leap day, we jump from Volume 5 back to Volume 1 in which Metropolitan Hilarion discusses the history and canonical structure of the Orthodox Church.
Nearly two years ago, the St Thomas school began and our first study was with Volume 2 of the Metropolitan’s 5 volume set. Circling back and completing Volume 1 will take us through the first complete cycle of this work.
One cannot be a Christian without being a member of the Church
So starts this volume.
In the first sections of chapter 1, which is the topic of the class this week, the Metropolitan discusses early Christianity, specifically Christ, the founder of the Church and the apostolic community.
Following Christ has always meant being part of a community of disciples, the body of Christ. Christianity is indeed a set of teachings and rules, but to reduce it to that is to miss Christ Himself. Quoting Florovsky, the Metropolitan writes: “Christianity is not only the teaching on salvation, but salvation itself.” Through the Church, the body of Christ, Christ “reveals himself to the faithful…with the same fulness he once revealed Himself to His disciples…” No one can be a Christian by oneself.
Moving to the early apostolic community, the Metropolitan points out that the small community of Christ’s original followers was the original Church. The first task given by Christ to this community was to imitate Him. Their central teaching was not moral or spiritual; rather, it was the Good News of the death and resurrection of Christ. There was no news crew filming the resurrection; early believers were invited to experience Christ just as Christ Himself had invited His first followers to participate in His life: “Come and see.”
These first few pages mark an extraordinary beginning to this volume on the Church. Come and see with us.