Questions
Copy these questions into an email, provide brief answers, and send to Fr Charles who will comment on them. After you have received you comments, then you can go onto the next lesson.
Questions for Lesson 15: Repentance and Confession
Repentance in Orthodoxy is not merely admission of wrongdoing, but a lifelong return to God—a healing movement of the heart called metanoia. Through repentance and the sacrament of Confession, believers are restored to communion with Christ and strengthened to overcome sin. This chapter explores repentance as spiritual medicine, guided by humility, spiritual fatherhood, and synergy with God’s grace, leading toward transformation and renewed life in Christ.
I. Repentance as Healing
1. What does repentance (metanoia) mean in Orthodox Christianity, and why is it understood as a change of heart and direction rather than merely feeling sorry for sins?
2. Why does Orthodoxy describe repentance as spiritual healing rather than legal pardon, and what is being healed within us?
II. Awareness and Responsibility
3. Why is self-awareness essential for repentance, and how do we begin to recognize our sins, passions, and inner patterns?
4. How do shame, fear, and pride prevent true repentance, and what role does humility play in spiritual restoration?
III. Confession as Sacrament
5. What is Confession in the Orthodox Church, and how does it restore communion with God and the Church?
6. Why is Confession practiced before a priest, and how does spiritual guidance help protect us from self-deception?
IV. Change and Transformation
7. Why is repentance not complete without effort to change, and how do prayer, fasting, and spiritual discipline support this transformation?
8. How does repetition—returning again and again to repentance—reshape the heart, habits, and even the mind over time?
V. Grace, Freedom, and Synergia
9. How do God’s grace and human freedom work together (synergia) in repentance and spiritual growth?
10. Why does repentance remain a lifelong process rather than a one-time event?
VI. Living a Repentant Life
11. How should repentance shape daily life—our relationships, thoughts, choices, and prayer?
12. What practical steps can you begin taking now to live a life of repentance and cultivate a repentant heart and deeper communion with Christ?
Integrative Reflection Question
13. How does understanding repentance and confession as healing—supported by humility, spiritual guidance, sacramental life, and cooperation with God’s grace—reshape your approach to spiritual growth and daily life in Christ?