THE PERSON OF CHRIST
Video Series
WHAT IS “THE PERSON OF CHRIST” VIDEO SERIES?
Who is Jesus Christ? The question requires us to stop and reflect. As Christians, we want to be sure that the answer given is worthy of the holiness present in the question. How would you answer?
The Metropolis of Chicago invites you to ask and answer the question for yourself through a new video series “The Person of Christ”. Delivered by Fr. Alexis Torrance, the Archbishop Demetrios Associate Professor of Byzantine Theology at the University of Notre Dame, the video series is intended for Orthodox Christian faithful, as well as faith seekers, to deepen knowledge of and relationship with Jesus Christ.
The series currently contains 12 short (apx 4-5 minute) episodes and is the first production from the Living Waters program.
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View the announcement Press Release HERE
HOW TO VIEW THE SERIES:
The Person of Christ offers both a spiritual and intellectual understanding of Jesus Christ, one that is best cultivated within a religious community. We highly recommend viewing the videos and discussing them in a group setting. Ask your parish leaders to organize a meeting group focused on the video series, or to incorporate a discussion as part of an existing meeting group such as a Bible study group. It is recommended that they be watched in order, but it is possible to view each as a stand-alone entity.
We hope you enjoy The Person of Christ video series, subsequent discussions you will have, and through them, a deeper, richer understanding of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Are you a Parish Leader? Click below for a packet of info on how to:
1. Create a stand-alone study group
2. Incorporate the series into an existing study group
3. Direct independent study
4. Share with those who are interested in converting or getting married in the Greek Orthodox Faith.
5. Inform your parish about the program (info for Sunday announcements, ads for your weekly bulletin etc).
Download the Sunday Bulletin Ad HERE
WHO IS FATHER ALEXIS TORRANCE?
Alexis Torrance received his undergraduate and graduate training in Theology at the University of Oxford. He has held research fellowships at the Notre Dame Institute for Advanced Study, the Seeger Center for Hellenic Studies at Princeton University, the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, and Dumbarton Oaks in Washington DC. He has been a member of the faculty at Notre Dame since 2014. His research interests gravitate around the fields of Greek Patristic, Byzantine, and Orthodox Theology, with a special focus on the areas of Christology, theological anthropology, ascetic thought, and East-West relations. He is currently developing a project on the nature and practice of theology in the middle and late Byzantine periods, with a view to bringing the findings into conversation with modern Orthodox thought. He was ordained to the priesthood in the Patriarchate of Constantinople in 2020 and is a Protopresbyter of the Ecumenical Throne.
EPISODES
EPISODE ONE
The person of Christ: Introduction; Who do you say that I am?
The person of Christ is the very basis of our faith. We can never tire of learning more about Him. He is the cause of our wonder. As Christians we often hear his names and titles. Some are more familiar to us, others less so: Lord, Son of God, Son of Man, Temple, Light, Shepherd, King, and so on. In this course we will look in more detail at some of these titles.
RUN TIME: 4:25
WORKSHEET:
Reflection/Discussion Questions & Further Reading
EPISODE TWO
The Power of the Name: Jesus
The Bible begins and ends with the idea of naming. Genesis 2 describes humanity being entrusted with the task to name the animals. Revelation 2 speaks of a new name given to those who believe in Christ. Names are powerful because they indicate a relationship. When we take a name in vain, especially the Lord’s name, we are rupturing a relationship. This episode explores the importance within the act of naming.
RUN TIME: 4:17
WORKSHEET:
Reflection/Discussion Questions & Further Reading
EPISODE THREE
Jesus THE Christ
Christ. Messiah. Anointed One. Three titles that share the same meaning. This episode explains what definitively separates Jesus as the Christ from any other “anointed one” (like King David); the fact that he is both the one who is anointed, and the one who anoints.
RUN TIME: 4:14
WORKSHEET:
Reflection/Discussion Questions & Further Reading
EPISODE FOUR
The Stone the Builders Rejected: The Cornerstone
On the basis of Psalm 118:22, the New Testament identifies Christ as the Cornerstone five times (see Matthew 21:33–46; Mark 12:1–12; Luke 20:9–19; Acts 4:5–12; 1 Peter 2:1–10). This is a forgotten title of Christ, but a very important one. The stone comes from Israel, for it was from this chosen people that salvation would come for all. Yet the stone is disallowed and rejected by the religious authorities. This does not prevent the stone giving shape, however, to a new edifice, hewn out of Israel, but for all nations.
RUN TIME: 4:24
WORKSHEET:
Reflection/Discussion Questions & Further Reading
EPISODE FIVE
Temple: Jesus Christ, the Church, Your Body
Temples have long been a focal point for human contact with the divine. Fr. Alexis Torrance shares the many appearances of temples in the Bible before exploring the way that Christ “became our temple to make us His temple” and what that means for us.
RUN TIME: 4:18
WORKSHEET:
Reflection/Discussion Questions & Further Reading
EPISODE SIX
Priest: Jesus Christ, Clergy, Every Believer
In this episode, we learn more about the role of the “Priest”. We compare and contrast the priesthood of Christ with the Old Testament priesthood. The awe-inspiring priesthood of Christ is given to His followers in two ways: first in the “royal priesthood” of every believer, and second in the ordained priesthood of the Church as a specific ministry.
RUN TIME: 4:23
WORKSHEET:
Reflection/Discussion Questions & Further Reading
EPISODE SEVEN
Whose Son? Son of Man or Son of God?
Jesus is repeatedly identified as the Son of Man in the New Testament, yet he is also identified as the Son of God. In this video we learn the essential meaning of calling Jesus Christ both the Son of Man and the Son of God; that he is both fully human and fully God.
RUN TIME: 5:02
WORKSHEET:
Reflection/Discussion Questions & Further Reading
EPISODE EIGHT
Peace: Not as the World Gives
We often think of making peace through compromise, or just in terms of fleeing conflict and bowing to outside pressures. But some pressures, above all the pressure to sin, must be completely resisted. In this episode we explore the nature of Christ’s peace.
RUN TIME: 4:16
WORKSHEET:
Reflection/Discussion Questions & Further Reading
EPISODE NINE
Truth: Who is it? What is it?
We often connect the idea of truth to knowing as many facts about things as possible. But facts about the created world are not absolute truth. They point us towards their source (God), but they are not themselves God, and so they are not absolute truth. To come into contact with Christ is to come into contact with absolute truth.
RUN TIME: 4:00
WORKSHEET:
Reflection/Discussion Questions & Further Reading
EPISODE TEN
Light
Each of us is summoned by Christ the Light to be enlightened with His own divine life. This episode explores the way in which we experience this light. We focus on the light that shone from Christ at the Transfiguration and its meaning.
RUN TIME: 5:14
WORKSHEET:
Reflection/Discussion Questions & Further Reading
EPISODE ELEVEN
I AM that I AM: the Existing One
The Divine Name revealed to Moses on Mt Sinai is applied by Christ to himself. God simply is, without beginning or end. But God is also personal, not an impersonal idea or abstraction. Christianity proclaims belief in the Holy Trinity as the God of all: One God in Three Persons. God is thus inescapably the personal God.
RUN TIME: 4:52
WORKSHEET:
Reflection/Discussion Questions & Further Reading
EPISODE TWELVE
Love: God Himself
To cheapen love is to mock Christ, since he is Love itself. In this final episode, we seek to understand the proper perspective on the meaning of love. When we reduce love to a fuzzy sentimental feeling and think that cultivating those feelings is the same as truly loving, then we dishonor the God of love.
RUN TIME: 5:05
WORKSHEET:
Reflection/Discussion Questions & Further Reading