Religious Education - San Francisco Metropolis of the Greek Orthodox Church

St. John Chrysostom Oratorical Festival 2008 Topics

The Junior Division is for students between grades 7-9. The Senior Division is for students between grades 10-12. Parish Festivals are held between January and March. Top speakers then move to District and Metropolis Festivals, which are held between April and May.

The National Archdiocese Festival, with the top speakers from each Metropolis, will be held June 6-8, 2008 and will be hosted by the Metropolis of Boston. In a few weeks the “Topic Tips” and bibliography will be ready for release. The topics can also be found on the St John Chrysostom Oratorical Festival website.

1. The Lord said, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” (Matthew 5:8) Discuss the difficulties of being “pure in heart” in the contemporary world where there is corruption, moral impurity, and temptation to yield to conditions that have nothing to do with purity of heart. Further discuss how a person with a pure heart can see God.

2. In a world with war, terrorism, and violence, discuss how Orthodox Christians might observe the following: “The Lord said, ‘Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.’” (Matthew 5:9)

3. The Lord said, “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hid. Nor do men light a lamp and put it under a bushel, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 5:14-16) In what sense is a Christian the light of the world today? In what sense do good works constitute a light to the world? How do the good works of a Christian become a reason for the people who see him or her to glorify God?

4. “For we are lovers of beauty yet with no extravagance and lovers of wisdom yet without weakness. Wealth we employ rather as an opportunity for action than as a subject for boasting; and with us it is not a shame for a man to acknowledge poverty, but the greater shame is for him not to do his best to avoid it.” (Thucydides, “Pericles’s Funeral Oration,” History of the Peloponnesian War, 2:40) Explain why the main ideas in this passage, which describes the civil life of ancient Athenians, constitute an excellent guide for a healthy society.

5. Discuss the struggles Orthodox Christians can face trying to balance private and public lives as described in the following: “To praise virtue in public with brilliant words and with long drawn out speeches, while in private preferring pleasures to temperance, and self-interest to justice, finds an analogy on the stage, for the players frequently appear as kings and rulers, though they are neither, nor perhaps even genuinely free man.” (St. Basil the Great, Address to Young Men on the Right Use of Greek Literature)

1. “So every one who acknowledges Me before men, I also will acknowledge him before my Father who is in heaven; but whoever denies Me before men, I also will deny him before my Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 10:32-33) Discuss how a Christian today could openly and strongly acknowledge Christ in his or her work, society, and family environment. Explain why denying Christ has the terrible consequences described in this passage.

2. From the following passage, discuss the characteristics of the servant and service (diakonia) that the Lord commands of His followers: “And Jesus called them [the disciples] to Him and said to them, ‘You know that those who are supposed to rule over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them. But it shall not be so among you; but whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. For the Son of man also came not to be served but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.’” (Mark 10:42-45)

3. Why is the ancient Platonic definition of virtue and vice, included in the following passage, also valid and desirable for contemporary people? “Virtue (ar?te), then, as it seems, would be a kind of health and beauty and good condition of the soul, and vice (kakía) would be disease, ugliness, and shame.” (Plato, The Republic, Book IV, 444d)

4. In our daily lives, we as Orthodox Christians are called to be genuine “imitators of God.” Cite cases from the lives of saints exemplifying the highlights of this passage: “If you love Him [God] you will be an imitator of His kindness. And do not wonder that a man may become an imitator of God. He can, if he is willing. For it is not by ruling over his neighbors, or by seeking to hold the supremacy over those that are weaker, or by being rich, and showing violence towards those that are inferior, that happiness is found; nor can any one by these things become an imitator of God. But these things do not at all constitute His majesty. On the contrary he who takes upon himself the burden of his neighbor; he who in whatsoever respect he may be superior, is ready to benefit another who is deficient; he who, whatsoever things he has received from God, by distributing these to the needy, becomes a god to those who receive [his benefits]: he is an imitator of God.” (Epistle to Diognetos, 10:4-6, author unknown, second or third century a.d.)

5. “To be pleasing God, this is to be a human being.” (St. John Chrysostom, Homilies on the Gospel of John, PG 59, 36). Why, if a person is “pleasing” God, is he or she truly and fully a human being? How does one really please God? What is the meaning of the phrase “to be pleasing God”?