The Vision of God and Its Ethical Trace
In this course, Fr. Bogdan Bucur guides students through a focused exploration of that intersection between spiritual experience and ethical formation. Reading key passages from the Old Testament and the New, alongside two powerful 20th-century Orthodox witnesses, you will discover how authentic spirituality is tested, clarified, and confirmed by a life formed in mercy, humility, and faithfulness.
What You’ll Learn
By the end of the course, you will be able to:
Understand the traditional link between mystical encounter and ethical formation
Recognize how Scripture connects communion with God to responsibility toward neighbor
Identify how spiritual claims can be tested by the moral “trace” they produce
Discern how Orthodox witnesses help distinguish authentic from false spirituality
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Course Information
Course Description
4 Recorded video lecture by the professor
4 PowerPoint Slides
Optional Readings
This is a wonderful opportunity to hear from and work with the dynamic faculty of St Vladimir’s Seminary.
About The Instructor
V. Rev. Dr. Bogdan G. Bucur is Associate Professor at St Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary. Born in Romania, he studied Orthodox Theology at the University of Bucharest before moving to the United States in 2000. He completed an MA (2002) and PhD (2007) in Theology at Marquette University and taught Bible and Patristics at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh from 2007 to 2020.
Fr. Bogdan is the author of Angelomorphic Pneumatology: Clement of Alexandria and Other Early Christian Witnesses (Brill, 2009) and Scripture Re-envisioned: Christophanic Exegesis and the Making of a Christian Bible (Brill, 2019), as well as numerous scholarly articles in biblical reception, history, and patristics. He is a priest of the Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese and brings his scholarly and pastoral experience into conversation in his teaching.
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The Vision of God and Its Ethical Trace
Discover How True Spirituality Shapes the Way We Live
Lecture 1: “Walk before me and be blameless”: The God of Abraham (Genesis 17–19)
Begin by clarifying the meaning of “covenant” and the binding promises God makes to Abraham. Then turn to Genesis 18–19 to explore what “blamelessness” entails, and how a relationship with God cannot be separated from responsibility toward neighbor.
Lecture 2: “The Face of the God of Jacob”: The God of Jacob (Genesis 27, 32, 33)
Follow Jacob’s estrangement from both God and his brother Esau, and God’s persistent pursuit of him. Reflect on the mysterious struggle in Genesis 32 and the reunion that follows, as a window into reconciliation, transformation, and renewed vision.
Lecture 3: “When did we see you, Lord?”: Learning to see like the Samaritan (Luke 10; Matthew 25)
Study the parables of the Good Samaritan and the sheep and the goats to see how the New Testament intensifies the link between encountering God and rediscovering neighbor, especially as God becomes our brother in Christ.
Lecture 4: The Vision of God’s Face and Its Ethical Trace: The Witness of Steinhardt and Stăniloae
Read St Dumitru Stăniloae’s “Tenderness and Holiness” and excerpts from Fr Nicolae Steinhardt’s Journal of Joy. See how two 20th-century confessors articulate the same spiritual and ethical truths, and how genuine spirituality can be tested and clarified.