From Michael Ruse:

Behold, I show you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet.

Our study of Volume II on the doctrine and teaching of the Orthodox Church will come to an end this Saturday evening.

In our study of Orthodox teaching and doctrine, we saw how we are all called to hold fast to sacred tradition and scripture as Metropolitan Hilarion explained in Chapter 1 when he quotes from the Apostle Paul in 2 Thessalonians (15). Although the only substantial change that Orthodox Christians seem to be comfortable with is the final change, we do look forward to how, “the hierarchical structure of the universe will disappear in the future age” (576).

Metropolitan Hilarion’s short, multilayered chapter looks at the idea of how God is “all in all,” taken from I Corinthians 15. Although God will transfigure all of creation, it is not quite the same as apokatastasis (restoration) that we read about in chapter 30. We also see that the final transformation of humankind and creation is multifaceted.

Metropolitan Hilarion reminded us in Chapter 2 that, “In Orthodox services the Gospel appears not just as a book for reading, but as an object of liturgical worship” (23). So join us to learn how this chapter serves as a foundation for understanding Volume III on the Orthodox Church’s architecture, art, icons and music because it shows us how God is “all in all” and how we can live the Orthodox mysteries and teachings.