The Servant’s Library · DGTH

Dogma & Comparative Theology

What the Church believes, why it matters, and how the Orthodox faith answers the questions of every age.

6 units23 lessons177 review questions
Download subject book PDF · 229 pp · 3.6 MB
Christ Pantocrator
DGTH 100Foundational
  1. 1 Faith, Dogma and Knowledge of GodSuppose a well respected servant suddenly leaves the Orthodox Faith for a non-sacramental church. Upon inquiring why, the servant challenges you to read scripture and find God’s vision on the sacraments, implying… 22 min · 6 q
  2. 2 The Holy TrinityThe concept of the Holy Trinity has been a focal point of theological discourse throughout the history of Christianity, sparking debates and occasionally leading to the emergence of heresies. Within the Coptic… 19 min · 10 q
  3. 3 The Nature of ChristThe nature of Christ has been a contentious issue throughout history, with numerous heresies emerging to challenge its significance. One of the most notable divisions within the church occurred in 451 AD… 18 min · 12 q
  4. 4 The Holy SpiritAt the heart of Christian belief about God is the question of who the Holy Spirit truly is. Is the Holy Spirit merely a divine power or influence, or is He truly… 31 min · 15 q
  5. 5 Divine Providence and TheodicyGod actively cares for, guides, and oversees the world He created. He, in His love for His creation, provides. This is Divine Providence, which teaches us that God is not distant from… 22 min · 10 q
Download DGTH 100 unit book (PDF · 997 KB)
DGTH 101Foundational
  1. 1 Christology and the Grace of GodChristology is the heart of Christian confession, and in the Coptic Orthodox tradition no name guards that heart more faithfully than St. Cyril of Alexandria, who taught the Church to confess 'the… 22 min · 10 q
  2. 2 Salvation in the Orthodox PerspectiveSalvation, in Orthodox theology, is not man reaching for God; it is God bending down in love toward man. You don't climb a ladder to heaven by merit or effort — the… 30 min · 10 q
  3. 3 The Second ComingThe Church confesses that the Lord Jesus Christ 'shall come again with glory to judge the living and the dead, whose kingdom shall have no end.' This lesson studies the Second Coming… 18 min · 3 q
  4. 4 PredestinationFew doctrines have divided Christians more painfully than the doctrine of predestination. In one direction it has been pressed into a determinism that empties the Cross of its universal love; in another… 16 min · 4 q
Download DGTH 101 unit book (PDF · 728 KB)
DGTH 102Foundational
  1. 1 Ecclesiology — The ChurchTo speak of the Church is to speak of the Body into which every believer is baptized and from which every servant serves. Ecclesiology is therefore not an abstract chapter of dogmatics… 25 min · 2 q
  2. 2 ProgressivismA movement has arisen in our generation that calls itself Christian, speaks with a reverential tone about Jesus, and even claims a love for the Scriptures, while quietly re-interpreting every central doctrine… 18 min · 6 q
  3. 3 Moral RelativismThe last lesson of this unit confronts what has become, in our generation, the default ethical atmosphere of the Western world. Moral relativism teaches, in its many forms, that there are no… 16 min · 5 q
Download DGTH 102 unit book (PDF · 556 KB)
DGTH 201Intermediate
  1. 1 The Concept of Free WillFree will is the first of the ideological questions servants must learn to handle, because nearly every modern error — hedonism, determinism, moral relativism, and the gospel of self-expression — collapses at… 18 min · 7 q
  2. 2 The Problem of Pain and SufferingNo question is more frequently hurled at the Church than this: if God is all-powerful and all-good, why does He permit pain? The question is ancient, but it comes to you with… 20 min · 5 q
  3. 3 Heresies: UniversalismUniversalism is the teaching that every soul, without exception, will ultimately be saved — some versions extending the claim to Satan and the demons. It has returned in our time with new… 15 min · 6 q
  4. 4 Heresies: ModalismModalism is one of the oldest distortions of the Christian confession of God, and it has never fully gone away. Under various names — Sabellianism, Modalistic Monarchianism, and, in our own time,… 13 min · 5 q
Download DGTH 201 unit book (PDF · 575 KB)
DGTH 202Intermediate
  1. 1 Orthodoxy & CatholicismComparative theology, rightly practiced, is not a contest. It is the work of knowing our own faith well enough to recognize what others hold, to honor what is true in them, and… 18 min · 10 q
  2. 2 Mormonism/Latter Day SaintsOf all the groups that present themselves as Christian in the public square, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints — popularly called the Mormon Church — has cultivated one of… 15 min · 10 q
  3. 3 Hinduism, Buddhism, HumanismWe turn now from groups that claim the name of Christ to worldviews that do not — or at least, worldviews that assign to Christ a place entirely foreign to the Gospel.… 21 min · 10 q
  4. 4 Jehovah's WitnessCharles Taze Russell, the founder of what would become Jehovah's Witnesses, began his religious journey in a period of significant religious ferment in America. In contrast to the apostolic origins of ancient… 24 min · 9 q
Download DGTH 202 unit book (PDF · 653 KB)
DGTH 301Advanced
  1. 1 The AngelsFirst, Scripture assumes that we know them. The Bible opens with the cherub at Eden's gate and closes with the angel of Revelation, and across the sixty-six books in between the ministry… 24 min · 7 q
  2. 2 The Intercession of the SaintsHaving confessed the angels, we now turn to our elder brethren in the faith — the saints who, having completed the course and finished the race, now stand before the throne and… 18 min · 5 q
  3. 3 MariologyMariology is the branch of dogmatic theology that studies St. Mary — who she is, what the Church confesses about her, and why. Before we go further, it's worth asking yourself a… 32 min · 10 q
Download DGTH 301 unit book (PDF · 700 KB)
Full subject book (PDF · 3.6 MB) Teaching slides Search these lessons