8th Grade

Grade 8: The First 800 Years

Curriculum Covered: The History of the Church From the First to Ninth Centuries.

Scripture – Biblical Knowledge
NT: Acts 2: Pentecost, Acts 16:9-10,14-15 ; Scripture related to the Creed.

Doctrine/Dogma
Witness/Martyrdom & Salvation

The Church as being Conciliar in nature. Formulation of the Nicean/Constantinopolitan Creed Iconoclasm

Church History/Holy Tradition
Missionary journeys of St Paul and the Apostles, Peter, Andrew, Thomas and Matthew.

The persecution of the Church in the 2-4^th centuries.

The conversion of Constantine and Edict of Milan.

Rise of monasticism in the 4^th century.

Ecumenical Councils – 4-8^th centuries. Formulation of the Creed Missionary Labors of Sts Cyril and Methodius in the 8^th Century.

Lives of Saints: Saints Peter & Paul, St. Lydia, St. Stephen the Protomartyr, St. Catherine of Alexandria, St. Ignatius of Antioch, St. Thekla, Equal to the Apostles, Sts Constantine and Helen. , St. Anthony the Great, St. Irene of Chrysavolantos, St. Gregory Palamas, St. Andrei Rublev, St. Athanasius of Alexandria, St. Basil the Great, Righteous Empress Theodora, Sts Cyril and Methodius and Saint Herman of Alaska.

Prayer – Liturgical/Personal
Exposure to the Following Prayers/Hymns: O Heavenly King, a Prayer of Saint. Constantine, Tropars for Pentecost, the Holy Cross, Saint Anthony the Great and Saints Cyril and Methodius.

Ethics/Morality
Students are reminded of the power of personal holiness and its impact on the lives of others in discussing the quote from Sts. Seraphim of Sarov, Save your own soul and thousands around you will be saved.

Vocation
Students learn about the Christian’s vocation to take up one’s Cross in life, especially in the monastic vocation and the calling to be modern day evangelists and witnesses of the faith.

My Body, My Spirit

Curriculum Covered: This text deals with human sexuality from an Orthodox perspective.

Scripture – Biblical Knowledge
OT:      Creation of Adam and Eve (Genesis 1:26-28); Temptation of Joseph,

(Genesis 39: 6-18) Story of David and Bathsheba (2 Samuel 11:1-27)

NT: St Paul’s epistles relating to youth, temptations, purity and holiness: excerpts from 1 & 2 Timothy, 1 Corinthians, Titus, Ephesians, Galatians, Romans, 1 Thessalonians. Excerpts from the Epistle of the Apostle Peter and chapter 5 of the Gospel of St. Matthew.

Doctrine/Dogma
The Fall of Adam and Eve

Church History/Holy Tradition
Immorality in first century Corinth as compared to the 21^st Century.

Life of St. Mary of Egypt.

Prayer – Liturgical/Personal
Exposure to the Following Prayers/Hymns: Kontakion of The Righteous Joseph From Holy Week, Psalms 46 and 51, Tropars of the Apostle Timothy and St. Mary of Egypt.

Students discuss in the seventh lesson the Holy Sacrament of Marriage, and are exposed to writings of St. John Chrysostom on marriage and sexuality.

Ethics/Morality
Textbook focuses on the pivotal understanding that the human body is a temple of the Holy Spirit and that humanity was created to be perpetually united with God. Sin and evil are by-products of the fall of Adam and Eve. Significant emphasis is placed on understanding the beauty of human sexuality and its holiness when exercised within the community of marriage. Topics such as avoiding temptation, and why pornography and lust, which arouse the passions are harmful to the spiritual life. The four classifications of love are also explored, agape, philia, eros and storge.

Vocation
Students learn about the vocation of marriage and the Christian family as constituting the Little Church