Didaskaleion Center
PURPOSES AND METHODS
The greek word for “gospel” is “evangelion”, meaning “good news”: the Christian announcement.
Now, how to bring this announcement to today’s people?
What method and which words have to be used to communicate the simplicity and the greatness of such ancient good news?
The Didaskaleion's teaching method springs out from history: the rigorous study of the ancient documents.
These documents tell us of a man who really existed, Jesus of Nazareth; that man declared to be the Son of God and to speak in His Name, to reveal humankind the meaning of life.
That same man brought - as a proof of what he asserted to be true - his own resurrection from death.
His disciples testified he actually resurrected.
On this fact - St. Paul declares - is thoroughly based Christian religion.
Without resurrection Christian religion would be an empty shell, it would melt away.
For more than 30 years Rev. Piero Ottaviano, Salesian Priest, taught Christian religion according to the ancient method of the School of Antioch, in Syria. Schools of this kind, especially the School of Alexandria of Egypt, were called “Didaskaleion”: a “place of teaching”. Rev. Ottaviano used this ancient word to name his Center: not a community, not a group neither an association, but a center of study and evangelization.
A school then, in the simplest and strongest meaning of the word.
A school attended over the years by more than 35000 students - people willing to listen, to “see” with their mind, to understand.
The Didaskaleion Center teaches, first and foremost, the fundamentals of Christianity, starting from scratch and incrementally building the student’s knowledge by documents analysis and reasoning.
Once the fundamentals are assimilated, students may choose among a list of advanced courses, focused on specialized and deepened topics concerning Christian faith.
A large amount of documentation, monographs, books, videos and registrations are available in support of the Center’s courses.
The school’s newsletter, “Anàstasis” ("Resurrection") provides information concerning the Center’s activities, which also include study’s retires and instruction travels (very "cheap and basic") in the Holy Land.
Everything, obviously, for free: “Freely you have received; freely give”.
To Receive and to Convey: two important verbs - strongly tied together as for the most important of all Announcements: “Christ is risen!”.
Rev. Piero Ottaviano, founder of Didaskaleion Center, was driven by the mission of devising the best way to transmit this Announcement in a clear and genuine way, and to everybody. This quest occupied his whole life, until the Lord called him to His side, on August 30th 2005.
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