St Andrew’s Students Challenged to Re-centre Theology on the Crucified Christ

As part of their ongoing formation program, Bachelor of Theology students at St Andrew’s Greek Orthodox Theological College attended a lecture delivered by the Sub-Dean, Associate Professor Philip Kariatlis, on the topic “Theology’s Greatest Mystery: Dying to Live.”

At the outset, A/Prof. Kariatlis reminded students that a great temptation in theological study is to become absorbed in its many disciplines—history, patristics, liturgics, biblical studies, dogmatics—while forgetting the focal point that gives meaning to them all: the crucified Christ. He stressed that theology is not an abstract pursuit but a call to nurture a daily relationship with the Lord, who reveals through His Cross that it is in dying that we truly live.

The lecture drew richly on Scripture and the Fathers of the Church, including St Athanasius and St Isaac the Syrian, to illuminate the mystery of the Cross as the door to divine knowledge and the supreme revelation of God’s love. Students were encouraged to see the Cross not only as a historical event but as the very centre of their studies and lives, the place where death is overcome and the Resurrection made manifest.

The session left a lasting impression, reinforcing that the study of theology finds its ultimate meaning when it leads to deeper communion with Christ crucified and risen