Catechism 101

God “restarts” creation through Noah by unleashing chaotic floodwaters, preserving a remnant in a three-deck ark, and establishing a new covenant marked by the rainbow as God’s bow turned toward heaven with the promise never to destroy the earth by flood again; he notes flood stories also appear in many ancient Near Eastern texts. Sin persists as Noah gets drunk and Ham “uncovers” his father’s nakedness, leading to the curse of Canaan. The Tower of Babel retells humanity’s attempt to reach heaven “without God,” prompting God to confuse languages and scatter people, a desire later fulfilled rightly at Pentecost when the Spirit reunites languages.
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This lecture explains "the fall" as the devil’s attempt to destroy communion and drive humanity into despair. After Adam and Eve eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they become aware of shame, hide from each other and from God, and refuse repentance by shifting blame—Adam to Eve (and implicitly God), Eve to the serpent. God’s judgment includes the Protoevangelium: enmity between the serpent and the woman, with her seed ultimately defeating the serpent, understood as Mary and Jesus. The consequences fracture creation itself, making work painful and barring access to the tree of life until restoration. The script then covers Cain and Abel, contrasting halfhearted vs first-fruits offerings, God’s warning that “sin is lurking at the door,” Cain’s anger and self-pity, and the rapid unraveling into murder, setting up Noah next.
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Abbot Ankido emphasizes covenant as the key to Scripture because covenants form family, arguing an implied covenant with Adam and Eve later “renewed” with Noah and clarified by Luke’s genealogy calling Adam “son of God.” Adam’s vocation is framed as priest, king, and prophet—charged to “till and keep” the garden as priestly duty and to offer himself in obedience—yet he fails by allowing the serpent’s temptation. This lecture begins unpacking Genesis 3, highlighting the serpent’s subtle distortion of God’s character, the half-truth about death, and the temptation to “be like God” through owning morality (moral relativism/autonomy).
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Abbot Ankido begins his new series on the Old Testament and hyper-focuses on Genesis 1–3 as the foundation for the rest of the Bible: God creates the world from nothing (creatio ex nihilo) and humanity is created in God’s image with a unique breath of life. The lecture contrasts Genesis with other ancient creation myths and explains Eden’s three-part “temple” structure. Adam is described as priest, prophet, and king, but fails these roles during the serpent’s temptation, leading to spiritual death, broken relationships, and disorder in creation. Fr. Ankido also frames the rest of Scripture as God restoring the broken covenant and ultimately bringing “new creation.”
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In the final lecture on the Creed, Abbot Ankido explains how the Nicene Creed was expanded at the Council of Constantinople (381 AD) after Nicaea (325 AD) to definitively affirm the divinity of the Holy Spirit against those who denied it, and why the added lines about “one holy Catholic and apostolic Church,” “one baptism,” and the resurrection describe the Spirit’s effects in Christians.
Using John 20, Genesis, Ezekiel’s valley of dry bones, and Acts 2, he argues the Spirit is truly given to believers, reversing sin’s rupture with God and others, empowering the apostles, and making Pentecost the Church’s “birthday.” He contrasts sacramental life with symbolic-only approaches, explains baptism’s indelible mark and why it isn’t repeated, describes the Spirit as the Church’s “soul” (Augustine/John Paul II), and connects the Communion of Saints to prayer to saints and the Church as God’s family.
Next week, Abbot Ankido will begin his lecture series on the Old Testament.
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New episodes drop weekly. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify for the audio versions, or visit the Qurbana Media YouTube channel for video: https://youtu.be/Yue3Tz6Wj8E
 
 

This lecture moves from the Nicene Creed’s Christological section into the Holy Spirit, explaining how the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed was developed at Nicaea (325) and Constantinople (381), and why the early draft barely mentioned the Spirit. It introduces the post-Nicaea heresy of Pneumatomachianism (“spirit-fighters”), which denied the Spirit’s divinity and personhood, and highlights the Cappadocian Fathers’ defense.
Abbot Ankido defines divine personhood through Trinitarian relations and describes the Spirit as the eternal love “breath” between Father and Son. Using Scripture from Matthew, John, Acts, and Paul, he argues the Spirit acts and speaks as a person, transforms believers through baptism, and empowers the Church beyond mere moral virtue. The episode also previews the Filioque controversy and frames “from the Father through the Son” as a key formulation.
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New episodes drop weekly. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify for the audio versions, or visit the Qurbana Media YouTube channel for video: https://youtu.be/S4VGPrCf7HQ
 

This lecture continues the Creed’s teaching on Jesus, emphasizing that his Resurrection is not a mere resuscitation like Lazarus or Jairus’s daughter but a real, glorified bodily life animated by the Holy Spirit, shown in appearances to Mary Magdalene, the Emmaus disciples, Thomas touching Jesus’ wounds, and Jesus eating with the apostles. It then explains the Ascension as Jesus taking authority at the Father’s right hand and, drawing on Hebrews, presents Jesus as the true high priest who enters the heavenly Holy of Holies, offering his once-for-all sacrifice. The Mass is described as sharing in that same offering on earth, uniting heaven and earth and giving a foretaste of the Second Coming in the Eucharist. Abbot Ankido concludes with Jesus’ return to judge the living and the dead, early Christians’ longing for his coming, and Romans 8’s assurance of no condemnation for those in Christ.
New episodes drop weekly. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify for the audio versions, or visit the Qurbana Media YouTube channel for video: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLAM4wC7YYq_Wbkre-UuApoIWTzKdAQHJX

Abbot Ankido Sipo continues his lecture series on the Creed by moving from the Incarnation to the Paschal Mystery—Christ’s passion, death, burial, resurrection, and the Apostles’ Creed line “He descended into hell.” He argues sin is more than breaking a rule: it fractures communion, producing fear of God, shame, blame, and alienation, as seen in Adam and Eve. Salvation reverses this through Jesus as the new Adam, whose voluntary death is an act of love that restores relationship with God and others. He explains the Bible’s developing view of the afterlife, describing Sheol/Hades as the realm of the dead and using Jonah’s prayer “from the belly of Sheol” as a sign of life as communication with God. Citing the Catechism, he presents Christ’s descent as preaching to the dead, defeating death, and opening communion through the Eucharist.
New episodes drop weekly. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify for the audio versions, or visit the Qurbana Media YouTube channel for the video: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLAM4wC7YYq_Wbkre-UuApoIWTzKdAQHJX

This week's lecture continues a walk through the Nicene Creed by focusing on Christology, especially the lines affirming Jesus as “true God from true God” and “consubstantial with the Father” as the Church’s response to Arianism. It explains how Scripture presents Jesus’ divinity in a Jewish way (Alpha and Omega, Son of Man from Daniel, “I am,” calming the storm) while also insisting on the full reality of his humanity and warning against diminishing either nature. Abbot Ankido connects this to salvation: sin fractures relationships, and the Incarnation begins reconciliation by uniting God and man in one person. It also explores “through him all things were made” as the Logos/blueprint of creation (with reference to Pope Benedict’s Regensburg address), reads Colossians 1 and Hebrews on Christ as creator and perfect priest, and briefly discusses the Virgin Mary and the Immaculate Conception.
New episodes drop weekly. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify for the audio versions, or visit the Qurbana Media YouTube channel for the video: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLAM4wC7YYq_Wbkre-UuApoIWTzKdAQHJX

This lecture gives background on the Nicene Creed’s origins in response to Arius’s claim that Jesus is not God, noting the Council of Nicaea (325) and completion at Constantinople (381), and explains the Creed’s Trinitarian structure and sacramental roots in baptismal profession. Abbot Ankido then focuses on what the Church means by “I believe,” contrasting modern “belief” as personal opinion with faith as a form of knowledge rooted in trust and relationship, illustrated by everyday reliance (driving, flying) and marriage. It argues we can know God exists through reason by reflecting on the world’s ordered complexity and the human person’s unique capacities, while mysteries like the Trinity require revelation. The talk highlights Gospel scenes where Jesus responds to faith, and concludes that proclaiming one God rejects idols and political “gods,” culminating in the Creed’s personal claim: God is Father.
New episodes drop weekly. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify for the audio versions, or visit the Qurbana Media YouTube channel for the video: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLAM4wC7YYq_Wbkre-UuApoIWTzKdAQHJX