1-Spiritual teaching
Orthodox teaching is based on a true understanding of both Testaments of the holy Bible. Our holy fathers adhered to the spirit and letter of the Bible and followed it in their daily lives. St. Anthony the great obeyed one Biblical verse only and so became a monk and a father to all the monks of the world. Augustine, the philosopher, who lived removed from God, heard a divine voice in the life of St. Anthony and from the verses in Romans 13: "Now it is high time to awake out of sleep...."
We know that St. Didymus and other fathers learned whole books of the Bible by heart. Moreover, the fathers explained most of the books of both Testaments and set the rules for church readings with all the excellent Christian theological thought that they include. We now read a vast number of chapters and books of the Bible during Holy Mass and on the different church occasions such as Holy Week (Paskha), Advent, and during the rituals of the different sacraments.
The Gospel is always on the altar and is always raised above our heads. When His Holiness the Pope reads the gospel, he removes his crown to indicate that the Lord Jesus is speaking in person.
The icon-bearer is lit up during the reading of the gospel and two lighted candles are held on both sides of the gospel to show that it is the Divine Light that enlightens the minds of men and leads them to salvation. Everybody accepts the gospel with love, for it is the Good News that enables us to enter into life with Christ and to walk in the way of the eternal Kingdom.
All the doctrines of the Church are taken from the Holy Bible.
All the Church rites include many chapters from the Bible. All the Church prayers quote the words of the two Testaments. That is why the Orthodox teacher is keen about reading the word of God and studies it every day. He is
eager to understand it through the thought of the fathers and their interpretations of the Scriptures. He abides by it in his daily life, then presents it to people in all purity. The Church has designated a
special rank among the ranks of deacons for the reader of the Holy Bible. It is the rank of the 'aghnostos' or 'reader' and it commands him to do the following: f To serve at the altar with humility and faithfulness. f To study the Bible privately and at church. f To read the Bible from the lectern. f To offer the word of God to people in the services.
It is a well known fact that both the Testaments of the Holy Bible are studied as one unit. "For the Old Testament is revealed in the New, and the New Testament is hidden in the Old", says St. Augustine.
We have learned from His Holiness, Pope Shenouda III, the danger of "the text taken out of context", for we should not take one text only and extract a doctrine or principle from it, but should study the spirit of the Bible as a whole and the sum total of its texts in order to arrive at a sound understanding of the word.
For example, some people say that sickness, poverty, academic failure, delay in marrying, and childlessness are all curses sent by God in punishment of
sinners and that the generations inherit them! This teaching is derived from the Book of Deuteronomy when the people were in spiritual infancy, unable to learn except through their senses and when God's covenant with them was: "If
you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land; but if you refuse and rebel, you shall be devoured by the sword." (Isa. 1: 20,21). The curses and blessings of this covenant were material and
tangible. In the new covenant, however, the real curse of sin is a spiritual curse, the separation from God, spiritual destruction, and eternal perdition. The real blessings of repentance is union with God, spiritual growth, and
eternal inheritance. Sickness, poverty, and academic failure are trials and not curses that are sent to the children of God in order to purify them, establish them, and keep them from pride. The apostle says: "Let no one say when
he is tempted, 'I am tempted by God, for God cannot be tempted with evil and He Himself tempts no one, but each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire, when it has conceived, gives birth to sin, and
sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death." (Jas. 1:13-15). This applies to the evil trials that are caused by sin, and that are not accompanied by peace or growth, except if the individual repents.
As for the other trials such as sickness, poverty, and failure, the apostle says: "My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience."
(Jas 1: 2,3); "Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been proved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him."
(Jas 1: 12). That is why the saints endured sickness with thanksgiving and never felt that it was a curse! On the contrary, they felt it was a blessing and a fellowship with the Crucified!
Orthodox teaching is Scriptural and takes the Bible as a whole. The Church passed it on to us, as it was lived by the saints and explained by the fathers!
The Characteristics of Orthodox Interpretation: The Bible is a huge sea and a vast ocean. It is enough that it is
the word of God and His Holy breath. That is why interpretations and opinions differ in accordance to the reader of the Bible and his intellectual, spiritual and temperamental circumstances. The Bible is infallible but open to the
exertions of the interpreters. However, our Christian doctrines remain governed by the thought of the fathers, the laws of the councils, and the traditions of the Church which have been passed down to us. Our
Coptic Church deals with its children in this area with balance and equilibrium. It does not forbid its children from meditating on the Bible directly, but it also does not give them the freedom to infer doctrines. It gives them
the opportunity to be spiritually filled with the world of God without their deviating in teaching or doctrine, and within the sound framework of what has been delivered and that which our fathers have struggled greatly to preserve for us.
The Scriptures were partially revealed through the prophets and priests. The meanings of the Psalms, the prophecies, and their religious practices did not become clear except in Christ. That is why, after the Resurrection, the apostles needed the Lord : "to open their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures." (Lk. 24: 45). That is why St. Augustine said: "The Old Testament is revealed in the New, and the New Testament is hidden in the Old."
1. Christ Interprets the Books to Us: St. Luke says of the Lord that: "And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things
concerning Himself." (Lk.24:27). Thus, the Lord was the first to interpret the Scriptures and He asked us to do the same. If we want to understand the word of God well, we have resort to its Author and Inspirer, the Lord
Jesus Christ. We have to deepen our fellowship with Him to be enlightened by His Spirit in order to understand what the Spirit says to the churches.
2. The Church Interprets the Books to Us: We have to receive the sound interpretation from the holy Church in which the Holy Spirit resides, in which the fathers lived in
the godly truth that is recorded in the Gospel, and where there is sound understanding of the word of God as a result of being enlightened by the Holy Spirit.
This should not upset us in any way. It can only upset our intellectual pride which will lead us nowhere. "You have concealed it from the wise and those who have understanding and have revealed it to the children."
St. Augustine said: "When I was a young man, I sought to understand the meaning of the holy books through my intellectual
powers and not through humble petition to God.... and so I closed the door leading to God with my pride and arrogance. Instead of knocking and having the door opened to me, my search was the reason for the door's closing.... I demanded
with pride that which only the humble can obtain." He also said: " I believe only in the Gospel as directed by Church authority." Therefore, God reveals Himself to the simple who are more able to
interpret the purpose of God than to the proud who imagine that they are wise!! The Holy Bible is part of the tradition delivered to us by the Church and it is the arbiter of every doctrine, ritual, or tradition.
That is why our Coptic Church honors the Bible, reading it, studying it, and living it. It quotes its texts in its prayers and doctrines, and offers it to its children as explained by the fathers and as lived by the saints.
3.The Apostles Awareness of the Correct Interpretation: The
apostles were totally aware of and alert to the soundness of interpretation and of Christian teaching. Christianity rose on the ruins of paganism with its practices and philosophies, and on Judaism with its theology and its
teachers. It was inevitable that those should try to interfere in Christianity to corrupt it, or at least, to remove its basic message, which is "the salvation of man through Christ." The apostles were careful to
preserve the Christian truth and wrote refutations of the heresies of Judaizers and Agnostics, which are two false ways of salvation. The first offers salvation through belonging to the Jewish faith and observing its dead and symbolic
rites, and the second offers salvation through human rational thought. Both are false and were refuted by the apostles in their writings and epistles such as Romans, Galatians, Colosions, and John. In the epistle to the Romans, the
apostle Paul explains the essence of justification by faith working through love. In his epistle to the Galations, he fought the Judaizers and the return to a weak basis. In Colosions, he fought the Judiazers, the Agnostics,
the worship of angels, and the mortification of the flesh; all of them destructive pagan beliefs. As for St. John, he defended the truth of the incarnation of Christ against the heresy of the Dusitians who conceived the body of the Lord
to be ethereal or imaginary, thus depriving us of the most precious blessings of the incarnation which is union with God and sharing in the Divine nature.
4. The Awareness of the Fathers of the Church and Sound Interpretation: The great fathers of the Church drew inspiration form the Bible in all their works, their asceticism, and the way they lived. That is why
their lives were enlightened and evangelical. Their interpretation of the Bible was not scientific or intellectual, but practical aiming at our salvation and the growth and guidance of our spirits. Thus, St. Anthony says:
"The holy books are sufficient for our edification." It is said of one the epistles of St. Pakhomios that it seems to be "a summary of the Holy Bible". His disciple, St. Tadros, used to extract chapters from the Bible
for his children that were applicable to their circumstances. St. Amoun recounts that his children used to come to him asking him to reveal their shortcomings to them and he would recall for each of them a chapter of the Bible and read it to
them, so that each of his sons would return with a repentant heart and tearful eyes.
They loved the Holy Bible; they lived it and read it regularly until they learned it. Thus, their lives became shining gospels. History quotes St. Anthony: "If I want to read, I read God's Book." St. Sisoy said: "I read the old books, then turn to the new." Hence, we realize that the fathers held both Old and New Testaments to be equally holy, in contrast to some claims made nowadays.
The fathers did
not limit themselves to the interpretation of the Bible from a spiritual and life angle only, but some of them specialized in the interpretation of the holy books in a scientific and intellectual way also. Thus, many of the fathers wrote
exegeses of most of the books, such as: Clement of Alexandria and Origen, in the third century, Eusebius of Cesarea, Cyril of Jerusalem, Athanasius the Apostlic, Basil and Gregory of Nizanze and Nicea in the fourth century, and John
Chrysostom, Cyril of Alexandria, Jerome and Augustine in the fifth. Although some commentators, influenced by Greek philosophy, attempted to deprive Christianity of its simplicity and make of it a philosophy (like
Origen), the church was alert to this and preserved its Christian teaching from any distortion or spuriousness, even if it should be unintentional. Furthermore, the resolutions of the world councils were the best protection of the
integrity of Christian teaching and of the accuracy of exegesis.
The Summary:
We get our interpretation of the Holy Bible from: 1- Jesus Christ Himself: His life, work, our fellowship with Him, and the light of His Spirit within us. 2- The Apostles: they
were alert to the importance of preserving Christian teaching from all Jewish or pagan influences. 3- The Church: the body of Christ, so that no one should stray because of his own personal ideas.
4- The Fathers of the Church: they lived the gospel in their daily lives; they interpreted it intellectually, and kept the holy teaching. 5- The Council Laws: these defined the Christian teaching legally so
that it is preserved from any corrupting influences.
Therefore, let us be filled with the Bible, contemplating its words and nurtured by its teaching. Let us swim in its seas, but within the confines of the vast heritage that the Church has delivered to us. We do not start from a vacuum.
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