Too much to learn? Too little time?
Why read Scripture? Certainly important
reasons are as numerous as readers; however, the simplest answer comes from
Christ, Himself. Almost all of His words come from ancient Jewish scriptures.
To look more like Him, we have to do as He did. Understood in this way,
embracing Scripture makes us more Christlike.
Still,
isn’t it true that the Bible has been hyped, interpreted, reinterpreted, and
misused many times so much so that it seems to cause more confusion than it
solves? Is there something a little dangerous about it?
This is
also true. So Reading God’s word should be intimidating for us, or more
accurately, utterly awesome. In fact, the Church continuously participates in a
profound discipline of study, reflection, wonder, patience, and humility before
the words of God in Scripture. However, the modern critical intellect is
slippery and trained to question this received reverence. We can’t casually
sidestep significant issues: Is the Bible fallible or infallible? Is it history
or myth? poetry or an instruction manual? Did God write it or not? Wouldn’t I
have to be a fanatic or a saint or a Greek professor to read it? Why does the
Bible have such unpredictable effects?
The
Church’s answers fill libraries, largely because the concerns are not new.
Debates have raged around them for two thousand years. Unfortunately, the
vastness of this discussion only worsens our modern dilemma. How can busy Orthodox
Christians really hope to figure it all out? Where do we begin?
In this
context, The Bible and the Holy Fathers for Orthodox, edited and compiled by
Johanna Manley, comes to the rescue. Inside one convenient cover, the text
offers readers a solution that has been used throughout Orthodox history.
Unlike a
Bible, this volume presents Scripture passages in an order appointed by the
Church for prayer and meditation each day for a year. In this sense, it is a
lectionary. Over time, two sorts of lectionaries developed in the Greek
Orthodox church. The Bible and the Holy Fathers for Orthodox Christians
principally follows the Synaxarion and therefore is based on the liturgical
cycle in which the Church continually represents Christ’s life from Pascha through
Holy Week. Three appendices add elements of the Menologion, which contains
readings for various saints’ and Church festivals on the Byzantine civil
calendar, beginning September 1.
In turn,
the commentaries on each text are simply this: windows into the minds of
saints. No higher recommendation can be attempted. Though individually brief as
a collection the passages reveal an ever-flowing tide of Orthodox theological
thought, consistent in terms of rationality, faith, and love, but highly
diverse in terms of pulse and tone.
Consider,
for example, these poignant words from Saint John of Damascus, reflecting on
the paradoxes of existence: “God made man…a sort of miniature world within the
larger one, another adoring angel…earthly and heavenly, passing and immortal,
visible and spiritual, halfway between greatness and lowliness…” (Saturday in
the Third week of Great Lent).
In
contrast, the same paradox moves Saint John Climacus to brittle irony: “He who
has lost sensibility is …a self-contradictory windbag, a blind man who teaches
others to see…He praises prayer but runs from it like the plague. He blesses
obedience, but he is the first to disobey. He praises detachment, but is not
ashamed to be spiteful and to fight for a rag.. .All the time he is his own
accuser, and he does not want to come to his senses I will not say cannot”
(Thursday of the same week).
In
general, however, the straightforward, clear explanations of Saint John
Chrysostom dominate, providing overall continuity and thoroughness to this
introduction to patristic thought. Nevertheless, the book’s Index of Holy
Fathers and Authors notes more than sixty commentators representing Orthodox
thought from Saint Justin the Martyr (+165 AD) through our own time.
What the
commentaries lack in completeness by being excerpted, they more than make up
for in ease of use and access. Beyond that, references and study helps provide
a solid starting point for further inquiry. Serious Orthodox who have time and
leisure will prefer to read these selections and others not represented from
original, unabridged sources, but for the majority The Bible and the Holy
Fathers for Orthodox provides a much-needed resource for daily study of
Scripture within the Orthodox tradition.
As a
caution, The Bible and the Holy Fathers is not a substitute for a Bible. Bible
study within the Church is vitally important for understanding the theology,
history, personalities, and complexities of Scripture as a whole. This text is,
however, an outstanding devotional aid and highly recommended for any Christian,
especially read prayerfully in conjunction with Church worship, sacraments, and
hymnody.
The Bible
and the Holy Fathers for Orthodox: Daily Scripture Readings and Commentary for
Orthodox Christians. Compiled and edited by Johann Manley. Menlo Park, California:
Monastery Books, 1990.
From the American Orthodox Journal "Praxis",
v. 2
Source: http://pemptousia.com/2017/07/reading-holy-texts-a-solution-for-busy-orthodox/
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