Fr. Joseph Allen

In the third and final lecture, Fr. Joseph investigates how the interface of our narrative story and that of Jesus Christ works, such that we can see the presence of God through that interaction. We all have a unique story we hold up to His, but we must be ready to hear what His story demands of ours through patterns centering on transformation, celebration, assumptions, and rebirth.

Fr. Joseph, in the second lecture, explains how we attempt to show God’s presence using narrative theology. The master narrative is that of Jesus Christ, but we must lift up our story to interface with it, whether through admiration, imitation, or explanation.

In the first lecture of the series, Fr. Joseph discusses how we experience God, who dwells at a summit always beyond our reach, and what is involved as we continually scale upward toward that height, in the transformative process of finding the Kingdom.

The Gospel according to St. John, as Fr. Joseph explains, is the most unique, powerful, and majestic of the four. Jesus Christ’s actions in St. John are never simply acts but are always imbued with deeper meaning. Fr. Joseph notes that this is the “cosmic Gospel”: all of life is involved, and when God penetrates all of life, it is given a new dimension. The bond of faith between disciples and the Messiah is key, and the command to love is the person of Jesus Christ.

Fr. Joseph explores “Luke-Acts” in the fourth lecture, noting the continuity of apostleship between the two books. This structure aligns with the central point of St. Luke, who emphasized the deep connection between Christology and Ecclesiology. Fr. Joseph discusses multiple distinctions of the Gospel according to St. Luke and the Book of Acts, including the use of time and space, interesting character appearances, focus on the Life of the Spirit, proclamation of universal salvation, emphasis on prophesy, and criticality of the Eucharist.

In the third lecture, Fr. Joseph turns to the Gospel according to St. Matthew, describing him as the biblical scribe that brings forth things old – Jewish tradition, i.e., Christ’s fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets – and things new, in the historical context of the trauma of the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem. Fr. Joseph explains that St. Matthew focuses on three ministries preached by Christ to His disciples: bearing fruit; exercising discernment; and practicing reconciliation and forgiveness.

As Fr. Joseph explains in the second lecture, the Gospel according to St. Mark links discipleship with the suffering and Cross of Christ. Discipleship in St. Mark is always “beginning”: His followers – including us – constantly stumble and fall, but Jesus always enters into their pain, lifts them up anew, and ultimately liberates them from death.

Fr. Joseph introduces us to the study of the Gospels. He delves into the remarkable features of Jesus Christ’s ministry across the four Gospels; probes how each defines the relationship between the Lord and His followers; and begins the exploration of why the writers chose different emphases in their works.

In the fourth and final lecture in the series Living by Trust, Fr. Joe delves deeply into what it means to have a trusting relationship with God and with one another: the line from the Prophecy of Habakkuk “The just shall live by faith” could just as easily have been written “The righteous shall live by trust.” Trust, Fr. Joe reminds us, is a risky venture; it requires struggle to grow in trust in God rather than leading a dark and suspicion-filled life. God is trustworthy, even as we ourselves must be - life is not about being “successful” but being faithful and trustworthy. The definition of trust, and of living a Christian life, is to do what is just, to love loyally, and to walk humbly with your God

What part do we play, and what part does God play, in the repair of our broken relationship with Him—how are we justified before God’s face? This is the question Fr. Joe poses in the third lecture on Living by Trust. Fr. Joe reviews Martin Luther’s answer, its basis in St. Paul’s Letter to the Romans, and the history of the Protestant-Catholic divide. However, as Fr. Joe explains, even if we are justified by a righteousness that is not our own but that of Jesus, what the Protestant approach forgets is the role man must play in choosing to accept God’s grace. We are not justified by faith alone but by Christ alone; we are justified by grace through a living faith that issues forth in good works.

In the second lecture on Living by Trust, Fr. Joe delves into the story of Abraham and the sacrifice of Isaac—a story that reveals how we must undergo human experience and risk to come to real trust in God, and that to live by trust in God does not remove pain and human struggle. Centuries later, another Only Son was offered up: the Isaac story is one of radical trust in God, but the parallel story of Christ on the Cross is God’s new covenant with us - through which we are shown that we can trust Him

In this first lecture of the series Living by Trust, Fr Joe introduces the subject of trust, and why faith, and trust in God, are one and the same. He reviews where Western society is in terms of how it understands faith; how it arrived at this understanding; and how Orthodox Christianity responds. He concludes with a story from the life of Abraham, demonstrating not only how Abraham’s trust in God was reckoned to him as righteousness, but how God “cut” a covenant with Abraham, swearing by His own divinity to keep His promise.

In this lecture, Fr. Joseph discusses the Old Testament story of Job, renowned for his patience and hope in God. The lecture was the last in the Profiles in Faith series, which Fr. Joe delivered at St. Anthony Church circa 1987. It is perhaps the most relevant of his lectures for a world in crisis.

Fr. Joseph delivers a lecture on the very human “Doomsday Prophet” Jeremiah. Jeremiah’s story, as Fr. Joe explains, reminds us all - clergy and laity alike - that our engagement with God is measured in terms of fidelity, not “success.” Fr. Joe presented the lecture in 1987 at St. Anthony’s Church as part of his Profiles in Faith series.

In this lecture, Fr. Joseph relates the dramatic story of Esther, Queen of Persia, an Old Testament heroine whose bravery in the face of death saves the Hebrews from destruction. Fr. Joe presented the lecture at St. Anthony’s Church in 1987 as part of his Profiles in Faith series.

In this two-part lecture, Fr. Joseph Allen discusses two key prophets of the Old Testament whose stories are inseparable: Elijah and Elisha. Part two is focused on Elijah’s disciple Elisha, whose own story of faith, Fr. Joe explains, begins when God presents the young man with the free choice of whether or not to pick up the mantle of his departed master. Fr. Joe delivered the lecture in the late 1980s at St. Anthony’s Church as part of his Lenten series, Profiles in Faith.

In this two-part lecture, Fr. Joseph Allen discusses two key prophets of the Old Testament whose stories are inseparable: Elijah and Elisha. Part one focuses on the “radical” Prophet Elijah. As Fr. Joe reveals through the story of Elijah, although God may present Himself in the spectacular, stories of faith are more often found in quieter moments of personal crisis.

In this lecture, Fr. Joseph explains King David as the Old Testament’s great “Renaissance Man” and, more importantly, a “man after God’s own heart.” The lecture was one of those Fr. Joe delivered as part of his Profiles in Faith series at St. Anthony Church circa 1987.

Fr. Joseph presents the story of Deborah, a one-of-a-kind biblical leader and the Old Testament’s answer to Joan of Arc, in this lecture. Fr. Joe delivered the lecture at St. Anthony’s Church circa 1987 as part of his Profiles in Faith series.

Fr. Joseph in this lecture speaks about Joshua, the military genius who conquered Canaan but never forgot—despite his prowess—who he was as the humble servant of God. Fr. Joe delivered the lecture in the late 1980s at St. Anthony’s Church as part of his Profiles in Faith series.

In this lecture, Fr. Joseph introduces us to Moses, the mediator of Old Testament law whose greatness shines through his meekness before God. Fr. Joe presented the lecture - the first in his Profiles in Faith series—in the late 1980s at St. Anthony’s Church.