Required Texts

• The Law of God by Archpriest Seraphim Slobodskoy

• The Longer Catechism of St. Philaret of Moscow

• HVPC Catechism 

• The Holy Scriptures (See notes on "Choosing a Bible")

Highly Recommended

• Prayer Book – there are several good Orthodox prayer books available but you can’t go wrong with one of these two:

  • The Jordanville Prayer Book – created and sold by ROCOR’s monastery and seminary in Jordanville, NY.

  • Orthodox Christian Prayers – a beautiful and very well laid-out prayer book distributed by St. Tikhon’s Monastery.

• Liturgy Book

  • The Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysosotom - Slavonic and English  – a PDF version is available on our Resources page.

  • Service Book – The Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom this book is the same one used by the clergy and contains both the parts of the liturgy the laity hear and the “secret” parts of the priests’ prayers, in both Church Slavonic and in English.

About our Reading List

This reading list for our Foundational Orthodox Christianity class is subject to revision and improvement over time. This is not an exhaustive list for the Orthodox Christian as it is primarily focused on the needs of those learning the fundamentals of the faith.  Many of these books are offered in our bookstore but, in case you cannot find them there, I am adding links to stores where they may be purchased.

The “required texts” will be reviewed throughout the class and each student should have and read them. The “highly recommended” are books that are good for every Orthodox Christian to have, such as prayer books and service aids. The “additional recommendations” is a very abbreviated list of key writings of Church Fathers and helpful modern theologians to get you started (there are many, many books of high value that are not listed here).

Finding the right books to read is very important to our growth in the faith but knowing what you may wish to avoid is important, as well.  There is a lot of great Christian writing available today... and a lot that is terrible. As a rule of thumb, we highly recommend that the Orthodox Christian “read deeply of the Orthodox saints or those authors who quote them constantly."  Read other Orthodox theologians with a little more care to always backstop their writings against the views of the Fathers. Finally, be very cautious in reading authors outside the Orthodox faith, especially as the catechumen and the layman may not, yet, be able to discern the differences in Western theology vs. Orthodox beliefs.