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Dr. Constantinou continues her exploration of the gospel accounts of the nativity of Christ and focuses on the Annunciation to the Virgin Mary and her visit to Elizabeth. What elements in the account echo the prophetic promises of the Old Testament? Why isn't Mary punished for asking a question, but Zecharias was? Why do the Fathers say that Mary prophesied?

Dr. Constantinou begins a study of the infancy narratives of Christ with a close look at the Annunciation of the birth of the Forerunner John. Why does Luke begin his gospel this way? Why was John so important? What valuable lessons does this story have for us? How does it reflect and anticipate the birth of Christ?

Dr. Constantinou finishes her discussion of the titles that were applied to Christ during His lifetime. Did people really call Him "Lord"? Jesus was certainly recognized by many people as the Messiah, but what did they expect the Messiah to be? How well or how poorly did He meet their expectations? Did you know that there was a Jewish tradition of a suffering Messiah? How did that idea fit in with a glorious conquering king like David?

We continue our look at the titles of Christ in the gospels as we anticipate our study of the infancy narratives. What did the term Son of Man mean? Why did Jesus use it and why wasn't it used later by the Church? Did Jesus actually refer to himself as the Son of God, or was that simply a title that was given to him by the Church later? In some Bibles, people address Jesus as "Lord," but in other translations, people address him as "sir." Why? Did anyone actually call Jesus "Lord" during his lifetime?

Dr. Constantinou finishes the Crash Course on the Gospels and begins discussing key titles which we see used to describe Jesus in the gospels. What does "Son of Man" mean? Were people calling Jesus "Lord" during his lifetime? Did Jesus call himself the Son of God or was that a title which the church applied to him later?

Dr. Constantinou continues her dive into the remarkable gospel of St. Luke as part of our Crash Course on the Gospels. The third gospel contains many stories which are not found in any other gospel. What are they and why does Luke include them? How has his gospel impacted our view of who Jesus is?

Dr. Constantinou continues her side-by-side comparison of the same stories as told in the Gospels of Matthew and Mark. How and why do they differ? Luke's Gospel will also be introduced as she continues her Crash Course on the Gospels in preparation for a detailed study of the Infancy Narratives of Christ.

Dr. Constantinou compares the Gospels of Matthew and Mark side by side to illustrate the unique characteristics and style of each. She then turns her attention to some interesting listener questions.

Dr. Constantinou delves into the particular characteristics of St. Matthew and his gospel. What motivated him? What concerns and challenges did his early Christian community face? What was Saint Matthew trying to convey to us about the person of Jesus Christ? Matthew's presentation is quite different from that of St. Mark. How is it different and why?

Matthew and Mark's gospels are very different in tone, style, and purpose, even though they often present the same stories and sayings of Christ. What accounts for these differences?