“And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force.” –Matthew 11:12
For this entry I would like to explain about exegesis and give an example from the verse in the Bible, Matthew 11:12. Exegesis is the way that the Bible has been interpreted from the beginning of the Church. The Holy Tradition has shown the interpretations coming out from exegesis. Meaning that the interpretations of a specific verse are almost always the same in all the Orthodox Churches, the verses aren’t open to new interpretation because Our Lord, God, and Savior Jesus Christ is “The Beginning and the End,” therefore the Holy Tradition carried down by the Apostles to their successors and so on, has the same meaning and understanding.
This is evident by the writings of the Church Fathers, but the Holy Spirit showed to them some deeper things such as the passage from 1 Thessalonians 4:3-4 “For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality; that each of you should know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor.” Some Church Fathers, based off the way that they received the Holy Tradition understood the vessel mentioned here to be you, while others your spouse. The interesting thing is that though the two may appear different, they are not but rather a revelation of God some other way that leads to the same meaning because in the Orthodox Church, through the Sacrament of Matrimony and the words mentioned in the Book of Genesis and cited by our Lord, the two become one in Matrimony. I will talk more about the Holy Tradition in another entry, but for now exegesis.
The word exegesis is a Greek word which means “interpretation.” It is combined from two other words which literally mean “To guide out.” Hence exegesis uses the text only, and uses it in context when interpreting. This can be especially helpful to us, who for the most part do not know the language in which the Bible was written. Translations help out, and do not take away or add any meaning at all, although there are some verses which are difficult to understand when they are translated and also there are subtleties in the original language that are very profound which usually cannot be carried over in translation.
The Church applies this difficult verse to St. Abba Moses the Black, as the Coptic Synaxarium says on his feast day, on the 24 of Paona (Coptic Month), “On this day, St. Moses the Black, whose life story is remarkable, was martyred. This saint took the Kingdom of Heaven by force, exactly as our Lord Jesus Christ said: The Kingdom of Heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force. (Matthew 11:12).” From reading it for the first time it will seem this verse is very difficult, at least in English, and the application here to St. Moses the Black won’t be appreciated unless the verse is clarified through exegesis.
The beginning of the verse, “And from the days of John the Baptist,” are exactly the same in Greek and don’t need further explanation. “Until now,” however, is significant because the word used in the Greek for “now” is “arti.” There is another word that means “now” in Greek and it is “nyn.” But “arti” has the implication of having a reference point somewhere in the past and meaning up to the exact second, not just the present time and events. Another interesting thing is that it might have been derived from the Greek word which means “bread,” this would open up more profundity for this verse, but now the objective is the meaning of the verse as applied by the Church.
The next part of the verse, “The Kingdom of Heavens,” has no need for further explanation; it is the same as the English. But the following part, which says, “suffers violence, and the violent take it by force,” is what causes a lot of difficulty as to the meaning of the verse. The word translated as “suffers violence,” comes from the Greek word “Biazetai,” which is very hard to translate because the verb simply means “to be energetic or lively.” The issue is in the form it is in, which is passive. Passive means that the object, “The Kingdom of Heaven,” is receiving the action of the verb. That is why the word suffer was put in front of violence.
The word in question, does not mean “violence,” and the word used for “violent,” also does not mean violent, there are two other Greek words (as far as I know that are used in the New Testament), that mean violent, but this is not one of them. This word’s root comes from the word “Bios,” which means “life,” or the “State of life,” as opposed to “life” in general, which is “zoe.”
So these two words, “suffers violence,” and “violent.” Come from the word for “the state of life.” So it doesn’t mean violent but should rather mean the ones who are enthusiastic for the Kingdom of Heaven, or rather those who are zealous are the ones who will take the Kingdom of Heaven. The final word which means, “take it by force,” comes from the Greek word “harpazo,” which is the same word used for the Rapture mentioned in 1 Thessalonians 4. This word implies the taking for oneself, and by force.
I have a friend who was wondering about the meaning of this verse because he was reading a spiritual book and he came across it, he looked it up on a couple of interpreters but all said that it was difficult. I told him to meditate on it, and then he remembered that in Arabic those words when translated come closely to meaning “to race.” This accords closer and better than the English, but through that he was able to understand the verse. The verse then applies perfectly to St. Abba Moses the Black because then the meaning, in a nutshell, is “And from the days of John the Baptist up until now, the Kingdom of Heaven is taken by force unto the zealous in their zeal.”
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Friday, March 20, 2009
St. Patrick
We just had the feast day of St. Patrick the Bishop of Armagh and the Enlightener of Ireland, and it might be that not many people know the story of this saint, so I have decided to write a little about Patrick’s life based off his own work, The Confession.
St. Patrick was born in Britain to Calpurnius the deacon, and his grandfather, Potitus was a priest. At the age of sixteen, pirates captured Patrick and took him to Ireland where he became a slave. He had not really known the true meaning of Christianity and had not had a relationship with God when he was captured. One day as he was shepherding his sheep he came to believe. From that day on he began to pray long hours of the day and also in the night. He sat on mountains that were filled with snow and under freezing rain when he prayed.
One day, he heard of a ship going back to Britain, and he decided to board it. He ran away from his master whom he had served for six years. When Patrick arrived, the sailors didn’t want to take him. He turned aside and prayed, and when he came back they asked him to board the ship. After three days they arrived on land, but it was uninhabited. They kept wandering for twenty-eight days and ran out of food then they started asking Patrick that if his God was all powerful why he was leaving them to die. Patrick told them that if they believed, God would save them. He turned aside and prayed and then they received food and ate until they were filled. When they ran out of food the second time, it happened to be that they finally reached inhabited land.
Patrick went back to his family in Britain with his Christian faith. One day, as he was asleep, he received a vision: “And, of course, there, in a vision of the night, I saw a man whose name was Victoricus coming as if from Ireland with innumerable letters, and he gave me one of them, and I read the beginning of the letter: ‘The Voice of the Irish’; and as I was reading the beginning of the letter I seemed at that moment to hear the voice of those who were beside the forest of Foclut which is near the western sea, and they were crying as if with one voice: ‘We beg you, holy youth, that you shall come and shall walk again among us.’ And I was stung intensely in my heart so that I could read no more, and thus I awoke.” Now, God speaking to him to go preach to the Irish, Patrick became a Bishop and went back to Ireland.
Patrick is most famously known for using the Shamrock or the Three Leafed Clover to teach the Irish about the Trinity. The Shamrock, even though it has three leaves, has one stem and is one plant. Patrick, in his work the Confession, always gives glory to God the Trinity. In his icons, he is usually holding the Shamrock in his right hand. Here is something that Patrick wrote concerning evangelism, “According, therefore, to the measure of one’s faith in the Trinity, one should proceed without holding back from danger to make known the gift of God and everlasting consolation, to spread God’s name everywhere with confidence and without fear.”
Overall, Patrick is a good example of prayer, obedience, and evangelism. He prayed regularly and whenever he was in trouble, instead of just being discouraged. Even though he loved his home country of Britain and wanted to travel abroad to Gaul (France), he obeyed when God in a vision told him to go and preach to Ireland. This is a prayer that Patrick said that we should all share in and say, “I pray God that he gives me perseverance, and that he will deign that I should be a faithful witness for his sake right up to the time of my passing.” Let us learn from this saint’s example.
May his prayers be with us and glory be to God both now and ever and unto the age of all ages. Amen.
St. Patrick was born in Britain to Calpurnius the deacon, and his grandfather, Potitus was a priest. At the age of sixteen, pirates captured Patrick and took him to Ireland where he became a slave. He had not really known the true meaning of Christianity and had not had a relationship with God when he was captured. One day as he was shepherding his sheep he came to believe. From that day on he began to pray long hours of the day and also in the night. He sat on mountains that were filled with snow and under freezing rain when he prayed.
One day, he heard of a ship going back to Britain, and he decided to board it. He ran away from his master whom he had served for six years. When Patrick arrived, the sailors didn’t want to take him. He turned aside and prayed, and when he came back they asked him to board the ship. After three days they arrived on land, but it was uninhabited. They kept wandering for twenty-eight days and ran out of food then they started asking Patrick that if his God was all powerful why he was leaving them to die. Patrick told them that if they believed, God would save them. He turned aside and prayed and then they received food and ate until they were filled. When they ran out of food the second time, it happened to be that they finally reached inhabited land.
Patrick went back to his family in Britain with his Christian faith. One day, as he was asleep, he received a vision: “And, of course, there, in a vision of the night, I saw a man whose name was Victoricus coming as if from Ireland with innumerable letters, and he gave me one of them, and I read the beginning of the letter: ‘The Voice of the Irish’; and as I was reading the beginning of the letter I seemed at that moment to hear the voice of those who were beside the forest of Foclut which is near the western sea, and they were crying as if with one voice: ‘We beg you, holy youth, that you shall come and shall walk again among us.’ And I was stung intensely in my heart so that I could read no more, and thus I awoke.” Now, God speaking to him to go preach to the Irish, Patrick became a Bishop and went back to Ireland.
Patrick is most famously known for using the Shamrock or the Three Leafed Clover to teach the Irish about the Trinity. The Shamrock, even though it has three leaves, has one stem and is one plant. Patrick, in his work the Confession, always gives glory to God the Trinity. In his icons, he is usually holding the Shamrock in his right hand. Here is something that Patrick wrote concerning evangelism, “According, therefore, to the measure of one’s faith in the Trinity, one should proceed without holding back from danger to make known the gift of God and everlasting consolation, to spread God’s name everywhere with confidence and without fear.”
Overall, Patrick is a good example of prayer, obedience, and evangelism. He prayed regularly and whenever he was in trouble, instead of just being discouraged. Even though he loved his home country of Britain and wanted to travel abroad to Gaul (France), he obeyed when God in a vision told him to go and preach to Ireland. This is a prayer that Patrick said that we should all share in and say, “I pray God that he gives me perseverance, and that he will deign that I should be a faithful witness for his sake right up to the time of my passing.” Let us learn from this saint’s example.
May his prayers be with us and glory be to God both now and ever and unto the age of all ages. Amen.
Monday, March 9, 2009
The Great Lent
The Great Lent is the holiest time of year, and also the longest fasting period of the Church. We should then make the season holy by devoting whatever time we can to God, through prayer of course, almsgiving, and service to Him.
St. Athanasius called the Great Lent, “The Holy Season,” and again it is a period full from start to finish with fasting. We should consecrate the fast, as we should for other fasts, for something we need or would like to do in our spiritual life. If we need to pray more often, let’s consecrate the fast to pray more often; if we need to read the Bible more often, let’s consecrate the fast to read the Bible more often.
In the Bible sacrificial worship is described in three contexts; Prayer, Fasting, and Almsgiving.In the Great Lent, these are meant to be united, not only in our spiritual life at once, but also by the Church altogether so our will would be one.
When Bishop Serapion was at St. Demiana Coptic Orthodox Church, on the eve of the beginning of Jonah’s Fast in 2008, he said something that started to make the church think about the way we organize things. He said, “In the Old Testament they had the Law, (and they obeyed it), and in the New Testament we have the organization, so let us be of one mind and all of us would fast together from the beginning of the Great Lent.”
In the Early Church, in the Book of the Acts of the Apostles, it said of the Church, “Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common, and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need. So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.” -Acts 2:44-47
So we should be of one accord during the Great Lent, and if we work we should give, because if it wasn’t for him, we wouldn’t receive anything. So we should have all things in common, most importantly our accord (our oneness in mind). Just as our examples, the Apostles and the early Christians were.
Finally we should consecrate this time to God, and the only way to do that is through prayer, because it is only through prayer that we speak to God. Although don’t get it confused as to what prayer is, prayer is not just one activity, it is a variety. The degree of prayer that most people are familiar with is when you say “Our Father,” or recite Psalms, or to ask God for something, but prayer really covers much more than that. Prayer is a life, and if you make your life with God, your life is a prayer life. You can pray by reading the Bible, you can pray by doing what your supposed to do as the Book of Sirach speaks of those who hold various jobs, says, “And their prayer is in the practice of their craft.” –Wisdom of Sirach 38:34. You can pray by singing hymns and spiritual songs, you can pray by reading spiritual books. There is more to prayer, but I won’t get into that now. But keep your thoughts lifted up, as it said in the liturgy, “We have them [our hearts] with the Lord.” St. Ephraim the Syrian said, “Virtues are formed by prayer,” and St. Isaac the Syrian said, “Prayer is superior to all other virtues.” And as Solomon says, “Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the difficult days come.” -Ecclesiastes 12:1
So let us set aside all our excuses (because there can be no excuse when talking to the Creator) and remember our Creator and make Him the focus of our lives. We might complain because of certain things, but remember, you wouldn’t even be here to complain about those things if he hadn’t given us the gift of life.
So let us make Him our focus, and pray.
St. Athanasius called the Great Lent, “The Holy Season,” and again it is a period full from start to finish with fasting. We should consecrate the fast, as we should for other fasts, for something we need or would like to do in our spiritual life. If we need to pray more often, let’s consecrate the fast to pray more often; if we need to read the Bible more often, let’s consecrate the fast to read the Bible more often.
In the Bible sacrificial worship is described in three contexts; Prayer, Fasting, and Almsgiving.In the Great Lent, these are meant to be united, not only in our spiritual life at once, but also by the Church altogether so our will would be one.
When Bishop Serapion was at St. Demiana Coptic Orthodox Church, on the eve of the beginning of Jonah’s Fast in 2008, he said something that started to make the church think about the way we organize things. He said, “In the Old Testament they had the Law, (and they obeyed it), and in the New Testament we have the organization, so let us be of one mind and all of us would fast together from the beginning of the Great Lent.”
In the Early Church, in the Book of the Acts of the Apostles, it said of the Church, “Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common, and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need. So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.” -Acts 2:44-47
So we should be of one accord during the Great Lent, and if we work we should give, because if it wasn’t for him, we wouldn’t receive anything. So we should have all things in common, most importantly our accord (our oneness in mind). Just as our examples, the Apostles and the early Christians were.
Finally we should consecrate this time to God, and the only way to do that is through prayer, because it is only through prayer that we speak to God. Although don’t get it confused as to what prayer is, prayer is not just one activity, it is a variety. The degree of prayer that most people are familiar with is when you say “Our Father,” or recite Psalms, or to ask God for something, but prayer really covers much more than that. Prayer is a life, and if you make your life with God, your life is a prayer life. You can pray by reading the Bible, you can pray by doing what your supposed to do as the Book of Sirach speaks of those who hold various jobs, says, “And their prayer is in the practice of their craft.” –Wisdom of Sirach 38:34. You can pray by singing hymns and spiritual songs, you can pray by reading spiritual books. There is more to prayer, but I won’t get into that now. But keep your thoughts lifted up, as it said in the liturgy, “We have them [our hearts] with the Lord.” St. Ephraim the Syrian said, “Virtues are formed by prayer,” and St. Isaac the Syrian said, “Prayer is superior to all other virtues.” And as Solomon says, “Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the difficult days come.” -Ecclesiastes 12:1
So let us set aside all our excuses (because there can be no excuse when talking to the Creator) and remember our Creator and make Him the focus of our lives. We might complain because of certain things, but remember, you wouldn’t even be here to complain about those things if he hadn’t given us the gift of life.
So let us make Him our focus, and pray.
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Blog
This blog will be about Orthodox Christianity and will address Orthodox Christian Youth in specific. It will talk about contemporary and cultural issues along with teaching about Orthodox Christianity. This blog is designed to be for edification of Christians. This blog will usually be updated weekly, but might be more often than that. So keep watch over this blog.
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