The Law of God 978-0-88465-044-7 cover image

The Law of God

For Study at Home and School

By Seraphim SlobodskoyTranslated by Susan Price

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Description

This is the English edition of the classic Russian textbook designed for parents to teach their children “all the fundamental points of the Orthodox Christian faith and way of life.” Because children are growing up quickly in a society that raises serious and agonizing questions the author does not teach in naive stories that remain stories only. It offers an overview of the whole of the Old and New Testaments as well as instruction on prayer, worship and what it means to live by the teaching of the Ten Commandments and the Beatitudes.  Well illustrated with black and white photographs and icons. The 2011 printing has a green cover and a notch binding for durablilty.

Additional information

Weight 1 g
Dimensions 153 × 235 in
Author Name

Seraphim Slobodskoy
Format

BB
Publication Date

19930101
Imprint

Pages

651
Publisher

Translator

Susan Price
Language

English
Book Dimensions

235 × 153 mm × 26 mm
Format Detail

Hardback

Author Biography

Archpriest Seraphim Slobodskoy was born on September 11, 1912, in Cherntsovka, Russia, where his father served as rector of a parish church. Growing up in the Church, Seraphim served as an altar boy, and also became an expert in the art of bell-ringing. His family suffered persecution under Bolshevik rule. Father Alexei, Seraphim’s father, was forced to go into hiding, serving the spiritual needs of his parishioners from the homes of the peasants who housed him. Eventually, Fr Alexei moved to the town of Petushka in the Vladimirskaya province until he was exiled without right of correspondence. He is believed to have died in the gulags, one of the many New Martyrs under the communist regime.

Because his father was a priest and he himself was faithful to the Orthodox Church, Seraphim was denied the privilege of a higher education. Nevertheless, upon graduating from middle school he was allowed to train as a painter. When Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union in 1939, he entered the military. Sent to the front, he was captured and sent to a German POW camp, where he spent the rest of the war. While in this POW camp, Seraphim began to dream of building a church, should God preserve him. Although he was supposed to be repatriated to the Soviet Union, he managed to avoid returning to Russia, and ended up living in Munich. There, he met Princess Elena Alexeevna Lopukhina, who became his wife. While in Munich he organized a youth group devoted to discussing religion and philosophy from an Orthodox perspective. The popularity of this group led to Archbishop Benedict (Bobkovsky) of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia to encourage him to consider ordination. After prayerful thought, Fr Seraphim was ordained by the Archbishop on April 22, 1951.

Shortly after his ordination, Fr Seraphim was sent to the United States to serve as the second priest at Holy Fathers Church in New York City. A short while later he was transferred to Holy Protection Community in Nyack, New York, a suburb of New York City.

It was here that Fr Seraphim was to fulfill his wartime dream of building a church both physically and spiritually. Physically, Fr Seraphim joined his parishioners in working on the construction, including laying cement blocks and hauling wheelbarrows. More importantly, he devoted his time and energy to nurturing the spiritual needs of his parishioners and the community, especially among the youth.

A zealous pastor, Fr Seraphim rarely took a vacation, and when he did, he was not idle, but worked towards educating youth as the spiritual father of Camp NORR (Association of Russian Explorers Outside of Russia). As the parish grew, he and Matushka Elena developed a parochial school to educate the children and youth as Orthodox Christians and Russian-Americans. The most significant of his endeavors, however, was the writing of his catechetical book Zakon Bozhiy (The Law of God). Working late at night, he described the faith of the Orthodox Church with simple and profoundly lucid explanations. Published in 1966, this was, and remains, an influential catechetical text for Russians both abroad and in the Soviet Union, where numerous copies were smuggled in and copied by hand. Intended originally for youth and children, it became a respected work among adults as well, and was finally translated into English in 1992. According to Patriarch Alexei II of Moscow, “the legacy created in the Diaspora was republished in Russia in enormous editions — Archpriest Seraphim Slobodskoy’s Law of God alone, for instance, is used by hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of children in Sunday schools, while teenagers use this book to prepare for seminary.” Many believe that it is one of the finest simple overviews of the Orthodox faith written in modern times.

For his work in producing this book, Fr Seraphim was awarded a gold pectoral cross. Elevated to the rank of archpriest, he also received the kamilavka for his pastoral work, followed by a palitsa for 20 years service as a priest.

Constant exertion in the service of his parishioners undercut the strength of Fr Seraphim, and in 1971, at the age of 59, he reposed.

Contents

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Forward

PART I BASIC CONCEPTS

1. The World

2. About God

3. The Attributes of God

4. Prayer

5. Sin

6. The Sign of the Cross

7 Standing and Bows During Prayer

8. Different Types of Prayer

9. When God Hears Our Prayer

10. Where and How We Can Pray to God

11. The Church Building

12. The Priest’s Blessing

13. Icons

14. Why We call Ourselves Orthodox Christians

PART II PRAYERS

1. Short Prayers

PART III THE SACRED HISTORY OF THE OLD

AND NEW TESTAMENTS

Introduction to the Sacred History of the Old and New Testaments

The Old Testament

1. The Creation of Heaven, the Invisible World

2. The Creation of the Earth, the Visible World

3. How God Created the First People

4. The Life of the First People in Paradise

5. The Fall into Sin

6. The Results of the Fall into Sin and the Promise of a Saviour

7. Discussion of the Fall into Sin

8. Cain and Abel

9. The Flood

10. The Life of Noah and His Children 1

11. The Building of the Tower of Babel and the Scattering of the Peoples

12. The Appearance of Idolatry

13. Abraham

14. The Appearance of God to Abraham in the Form of Three Strangers

15. The Destruction of Sodom and Gomorah

16. The Offering of Isaac as a Sacrifice

17. The Marriage of Isaac

18. Esau and Jacob

19. Jacob’s Vision of the Mystical Ladder

20. Joseph

21. Joseph in Egypt

22. Joseph’s Meeting with His Brothers and the Moving of Jacob into Egypt with His family

23. The Story of Job the Long-Suffering

24. Moses

25. Pascha (Passover) and the Exodus of the Hebrew People from Egypt

26. The Hebrews Pass Through the Red Sea and other Miracles

27. God Gives the Law on Mt. Sinai

28. The Tabernacle

29. The Forty-Year Wandering of the Hebrew People, the Bronze Serpent

30. The Entry of the Israelites into the Promised land

31. Judges

32. The Story of Ruth

33. Saul, First King of the Israelites

34. King David

35. King Solomon

36. The Division of the Israelite Kingdom into Two: Judah and Israel

37. The Prophets

38. The Downfall of the Israelite Kingdom

39. The Fall of the Babylonian Kingdom

40. The Median-Persian Empire. Prophet Daniel in the Lion’s Den

41. The Return of the Jews from Captivity in Babylon and the Construction of the Second Temple

42. The Greek Empire The Translation of the Books f the Old Testament into Greek

43. The Roman Empire. The Universal Expectation of the Messiah

The New Testament

1. The Nativity of the Holy Virgin Mary

2. The Entry into the Temple of the Most-Holy Virgin Mary

3. The Announcement of the Angel about the Birth of the Forerunner

4. The Annunciation to the Holy Virgin Mary

5. The Visit of the Most-Holy Virgin Mary to the Righteous Elizabeth

6. The Nativity of John the Baptist

7. The Nativity of Christ the Saviour

8. The Meeting of the Lord

9. The Flight into Egypt and the Slaying of the Innocents. The Return to Nazareth

10. The Saviour in the Temple as a Youth

11. The Preaching of st. John the Baptist

12. The Baptism of the Lord Jesus Christ

13. The Lord Jesus Christ in the Wilderness and His Temptation by the Devil

14. The Lord Jesus Christ Appears to the People. His First Disciples

15. The First Miracle of Jesus Christ

16. The Merchants are Banished from the Temple

17. The Conversation of Jesus Christ with Nicodemus

18. The Conversation of Jesus Christ with the Woman of Samaria

19. The Healing of the Paralytic at the Pool of Bethesda

20. The Lord Chooses Twelve Apostles

21. The Sermon on the Mount

22. The Power of Faith and Prayer for Others-The Healing of the Paralytic in Capernaum

23. Parables/The Parable of the Sower

24. The Stilling of the Storm

25. Raising of the Daughter of Jarius

26. The Beheading of St. John the Baptist

27. The Miraculous Feeding of the People with Five Loaves

28. Christ Walking on the Water

29. The Healing of the Daughter

of the Canaanite Woman

30. The Confession of Peter. The First Prediction of the Lord about His Forthcoming Suffering,

Death and Resurrection

31. The Transfiguration of the Lord

32. The Parable of the Good Samaritan

33. Jesus Christ with Martha and Mary

34. The Saviour Accuses the Pharisees of Sin-Blasphemy Against the Holy Spirit. Glorification by Christ of the Mother of God

35. Healing of the Man Born Blind

36. The Parable of the Rich Fool

37. The Parable of the Prodigal Son

38. The Raising of Lazarus

39. The Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem

40. The Parable of the Wicked Tenants

41. The Betrayal by Judas

42. The Mystical (Last) Supper

43. The Prayer of Jesus Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane and His Being Taken Captive

44. The Sanhedrin’s Judgement of Jesus Christ

45. The Apostle Peter’s Denial

46. The Trial of Jesus Christ Before Pilate

47. Pilate’s Last Judgement over Jesus Christ

48. The Crucifixion and Death of Jesus Christ

49. The Taking Down from the Cross and Burial of the Saviour

50. The Resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ

51. The Appearance of the Risen Jesus Christ to Two Disciples on the Road to Emmaus

52. The Appearance of the Lord to All the Apostles and the other Disciples, except

the Apostle Thomas

53. The Appearance of the Lord to the Apostle Thomas and the Other Apostles

54. The Ascension of the Lord

55. The Descent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles

56. The Life of the First Christians

57. Persecution of the Christians by the Jews-The First Martyr St. Stephen

58. The Dormition of the Mother of God

59. The Apostolic Council in Jerusalem

60. A Short Summary of the Preaching and Lives of the Holy Apostles

61. The Worldwide Persecution of Christians.

The Destruction of Jerusalem

62. The End of Persecution. The Elevation of

the Cross of the Lord

63. New Enemies of Christianity

64. The Ecumenical Councils 4

65. The Fall of the Roman Church.

The Enlightenment of the Slavs 4

PART IV CHRISTIAN FAITH AND LIFE

1. The Purpose of Man

2. Supernatural Divine Revelation. Holy Tradition and Holy Scripture

3. Short Summaries of the Ecumenical Councils

4. The Christian Faith

5. Christian Life

6. The Ten Commandments of God’s Law

7. The Nine Beatitudes

8. Contemporary Teachings and Faith in God

PART V THE DIVINE SERVICES OF THE ORTHODOX

CHURCH

1. The Concept of Serving God, Divine Services

2. The Church Building and its Arrangement

3. The Clergy and Their Sacred Vestments

4. The Order of Divine Services

5. Divine Service Books

6. Reflections on the Major Services.

The Various Liturgies and Their Basic Rubrics

7. The Divine Liturgy

8. The Most Important Actions During the Serving of the Mysteries, and Reflections on Their Significance

9. Great Lent

10. The Sundays of Great Lent, Their Significance and Basic Rubrics

11. The Feast of Pascha, the Radiant Resurrection of Christ

12. Concerning Monasticism and Monasteries

13. Bells and Russian Orthodox Peals

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