Customised for You

AIOCS organises short courses such as the sample on display, Ways of Knowing God, for customers within Australia and abroad. Courses can be tailored to suit the interests and needs of private persons, independent groups, parishes, and other organisations. The courses can be delivered face-to-face, at your premises, or online via Skype or Zoom, being accompanied by PPT slides, select bibliographies, and handouts. For an example of customised lectures, please check out the two-day seminar, The Creed: A Summary of Orthodox Faith and Life, held on 17-18 May 2019.

The courses are offered by Protopresbyter Dr Doru Costache, an Orthodox priest, author, and lecturer who has more than twenty years in ordained ministry and in various systems of tertiary theological education.

The following courses, usually going for six lectures each, can be delivered as such or customised to your needs. They merely suggest a logical progress within the curriculum, but other topics can be tailored at your request.

Please send us your initial enquiries at info@aiocs.net

The Orthodox Faith Series

  • Ways of Knowing God
  • God’s Inner Life and Outward Activity
  • The Universe between Alpha and Omega
  • Humankind’s Destination
  • The Mystery of Christ
  • The Economy of the Spirit
  • The Church and the Kingdom
  • Modern Orthodox Theologians

Sample course outline: God’s Inner Life and Outward Activity

Description This series of lectures explores the mystery of God’s inner life and activity. It introduces the doctrine of God as Trinity and Unity, and its various implications for other Orthodox teachings. It introduces technical notions such as the shared and not shared characteristics within God, together with addressing the topic of how do human beings and the creation participate in the divine life.

Learning outcomes Upon successful completion of this course you will:

  • Develop a complex understanding of the Orthodox teaching about God as Trinity and Unity
  • Be aware of the connections between the trinitarian doctrine and other aspects of Orthodox theology
  • Be able to distinguish what pertains to the shared and not shared characteristics within God, together with what pertains to God’s inner life and outer activity
  • Be able to assess the difference between the various ways in which created beings participate in the life of God

Content

  • Drawing a line: God’s inner life and outward activity
  • The Orthodox teaching on God as Trinity and Unity: An historical outline
  • The Orthodox teaching on God as Trinity and Unity: A systematic outline
  • The revelation of God as Trinity and Unity in creation and history
  • Patristic, liturgical and iconographical insights
  • Participating in the divine life

Resources Primary texts, PPT slides, and other materials accompany each lecture

Intended audience Whereas the complexity of the addressed topics may be at times challenging, the lectures remain widely accessible to a mature audience. Taking first the course Ways of Knowing God is recommended but not absolutely necessary.

The Patristic Studies Series

  • The Second and Third Century
  • The Fourth and Fifth Century
  • The Sixth and Seventh Century
  • The Eighth and Ninth Century
  • The Tenth and Eleventh Century
  • The Twelfth and Thirteenth Century
  • The Fourteenth Century
  • From the Fifteenth Century to Modern Times

Sample course outline: The Second and Third Century

Description This series of lectures explores the beginnings of the patristic tradition, from the disciples of the apostles to the end of the third century. It considers canonical sources of mainstream early Christianity, such as the literature of the apostolic fathers and apologists, martyrologies, and the output of the early theologians of tradition.

Learning outcomes Upon successful completion of this course you will:

  • Develop an understanding of the complex landscape represented by the early Christian centuries
  • Be aware of the differences entailed by the patristic discourse directed towards ecclesial and nonecclesial audiences
  • Be able to distinguish the mode of operating of the early Christian writers in various historical and cultural contexts
  • Be able to assess the ways in which the wisdom of the early Christian authors can guide the life of the Church today

Content

  • Methodological aspects: Church fathers/mothers, early Christian writers and the ecclesial approach
  • Aspects of the ecclesial life: The apostolic fathers
  • Engaging the world: Martyrdom literature and the apologists
  • Towards a canon of orthodoxy: Irenaeus of Lyon and Theophilus of Antioch
  • The early Alexandrians: Clement and Origen
  • North-African Christianity: Tertullian and Cyprian of Carthage

Resources Primary texts, PPT slides, and other materials accompany each lecture

Intended audience Whereas the complexity of the addressed topics may be at times challenging, the lectures remain widely accessible to a mature audience. Awareness of the basics of Orthodox faith is recommended but not absolutely necessary.

The Scripture in Tradition Series

  • Hermeneutical Principles
  • The Liturgical Space
  • Holiness as a Hermeneutical Criterion
  • The Narrative of Creation
  • The Narrative of Paradise
  • Through the Lens of the Great Canon
  • Past Wisdom and Contemporary Challenges

The Science and Theology Series

  • Early Christian Approaches
  • Byzantine Approaches
  • Modern Orthodox Theologians

Philosophy as a Way of Life

  • The Early Christian Centuries
  • The Byzantine Era
  • The Wisdom of the Philokalia
  • Modern Experiments