Many of these parables are really part and parcel of our culture. People even use biblical terminology and don’t even know that they are using it. How do these parables affect us? There is an inner meaning and an outer meaning to these parables. Why did our Lord speak in parables? Why did He say
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Interpreting the Scripture (III)
“For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and spirit, of joints and marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And before him no creature is hidden, but all are open and laid bare to the eyes of him
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Interpreting the Scripture (II)
The Fathers of the Church recognize that the written Scriptures require interpretation. The written texts occasionally are self- evident in their meaning and can be read at face value, but often they contain within them the prophecies and revelations of God hidden in familiar images, events, and in the language of the text. First, one
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Interpreting the Scripture (1)
In this blog series, we are exploring what it means that Jesus Christ is the Word of God incarnate (John 1) while simultaneously we also refer to the Bible, the written text as the Word of God. Orthodoxy in its hymns certainly places an emphasis on Jesus being the Word of God incarnate. The Word
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Icons and the Seeds and the Good Soil
In any Orthodox Church, we are surrounded by icons of the saints. These saints are described in Christ’s parable of the sower as the “good soil” on which when the seed, the Word of God, “grew, it produced a hundredfold.” As Jesus teaches, the saints “are the ones who, when they hear the word, hold
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WAS THE PROPHET JONAH REALLY SWALLOWED BY A WHALE?
Many Christians are inclined to interpret the story of Jonah in the Old Testament as an allegory that was never meant to be understood as actual history. However, allegories or parables in the Bible are always either said to be so, or made evident in the context. The Book of Jonah, however, is written as a
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MEET THE CHRISTIANS WHO LOVE THEIR ENEMIES, EVEN WHEN IT’S ISIS
On the outskirts of Fallujah, just weeks after Islamic State had been driven out of the city by the Iraqi army following two years of jihadist rule, a team of Sunni and Shia Muslims visited a compound where hundreds of people who had fled the city were being held. They brought supplies – food and
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Is the Orthodox Church Biblical or Something More?
Orthodox Christianity is without a doubt more than Biblical. It is a living embodiment of Christ Himself. It leads us to become joined in Union with God. The Bible was given to us by the Church to make sure we clearly understand the nature of God as shown to us by the incarnation of God
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