Back to Bible Basics for Orthodox Christians Session 1

Back to Bible Basics for Orthodox Christians

Session 1 – History, Structure, and Use of the Bible

Patristic Reference: Saint John Chrysostom Homilies 1 & 2 “On the Obscurity of the Old Testament”

Prayer before reading of the Holy Scriptures: Shine within our hearts, loving Master, the pure light of Your divine knowledge, and open the eyes of our minds that we may comprehend the message of Your Gospel. Instill in us also reverence for Your blessed commandments so that, having conquered sinful desires, we may pursue a spiritual life, thinking and doing all those things which are pleasing to You. For You, Christ our God, are the light of our souls and bodies, and to You we give glory, together with Your Father who is without beginning and Your all holy, good and life giving Spirit, always now and forever and to the ages of ages.

  1. Language – Hebrew/Aramaic and Greek
    1. History influences language and themes
    2. As political conquests spread languages affect each other and adapt to each other
    3. Slow movement from Hebrew to Greek was finalized by 200 BC (LXX)
  2. Text
    1. Text on scrolls eventually to books by 1st century AD
    2. No ‘original’ OT text exists – this explains so many variants
    3. MT vs LXX – Hebrew Bible ‘recreated’ in 3rd century AD
      1. Jews accused Christians of corrupting Scriptures
      2. Qumran Scrolls confirm more LXX than MT variants
    4. Received Text VS Critical Text begins 6th century AD
      1. Critical Text is a system of ‘math’ from 1000+ OT and 8000+ NT manuscripts
      2. Eventually the ‘standard’ become the Received Text
      3. Variants can be caused by errors and/or ‘interpretations’ by scribes
      4. Translations are used to ‘verify’ older versions
    5. Latin OT derived mostly from Jewish Bible – MT (inherited by West)
  3. Authority and Structure
    1. What books are ‘in’ vs ‘out’ established by St Athanasios the Great 367 AD
      1. Orthodox OT = 49 Books, NT = 27 Books
      2. Protestant OT = 39 Books (based on MT), NT = 27 Books
      3. Roman Catholic OT = 48 Books, NT = 27 Books
    2. Chapter/Verse ‘numbers’ did not exists prior to 1455 (Guttenberg Press)
    3. OT Structure
      1. The Torah (Law and History)
      2. The Prophets
      3. The Writings
    4. NT Structure
      1. Gospel/Acts (Law and History)
      2. The Writings
      3. Prophecy
  4. Use – Central but not superior role in the Church
    1. NT Lectionary dates to 3rd century AD – Entire NT excluding Revelation is read each year using ‘daily readings’
    2. OT Lectionary – only limited form exists for Great Feasts and Great Lent and Holy Week
    3. Prayer – The Book of Psalms is the ‘original’ hymnal of prayer
      1. Psalter – Psalms divided into sections
        1. Version 1 – Read once per week throughout the year
        2. Version 2 – Read twice per week during Great Lent
        3. Version 3 – Read daily during Holy Week
      2. Various readings are incorporated into specific services (Liturgy/Sacraments etc)
    4. Learning – We read the Scriptures to ‘be’ corrected
      1. SJC “The reason we comment on Scripture is not only for you to get to know Scripture but for you also to correct your behavior: If this does not occur, we are wasting our time in reading it out, we are wasting our time in explaining it.”
    5. Evangelism – The Scriptures were translated to reach more people
      1. SJC “Three hundred years before the coming of Christ, remember, when Ptolemy was still king of the Egyptians, the OT was translated into Greek for pressing reasons of usefulness and necessity. You see, as long as it was addressed to one race of the Jews, it remained in the Hebrew tongue: nobody at that time was likely to be interested in it, the rest of the human race being reduced to utter savagery. But when Christ was due to appear and call the whole world to Himself, not only through the Apostles but also through the OT authors (they too guide us to faith in the knowledge of Christ) then it was that He caused the OT words like some entrances and paths, previously closed by the obscurity of language, to be opened up to all-comers through translation so that all who come flooding in all directions from the nations and traveling these paths might succeed through them in coming to the knowledge of the inspired authors and adoring the Only-Begotten Son of God.”
  5. Interpretation is difficult but belongs to the Church! (cit Acts 8.30-36)
    1. Purchase a quality Bible. I personally recommend the Orthodox Study Bible (OSB) but many quality translations exist. In choosing a translation, you should pay close attention to WHO is the publisher or sponsor. Since there is ALWAYS something lost in translation, how an edition chooses to handle “difficult” words will affect the theology presented. (REF 2 Thess 2.15)
      1. Original Greek Ἀρα ουν, αδελφοί, στήκετε και κρατείτε τας παραδόσεις
      2. NKJ Therefore, brethren, stand fast and hold the traditions
      3. NIV So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the teachings
      4. BBE So then, brothers, be strong in purpose, and keep the teaching
      5. NLT With all these things in mind, dear brothers and sisters, stand firm and keep a strong grip on everything we taught you
      6. GNB So then, our friends, stand firm and hold on to those truths
      7. AB So then, brethren, stand firm and hold fast to the traditions and instructions
    2. If the OT had been more precise the authors would have been punished more
      1. SJC “So in case the Jews should hear this clearly from the beginning and maltreat those saying so, they concealed the prophecies under the difficulty of interpretation and imparted to them great obscurity in the contents, ensuring by the obscurity of the reports the safety of the reporters. Where does this emerge? An explanation is required of us, after all, even if we are among friends when we speak: perhaps there are also present many of those who are not friends. So let them also learn this so that they in turn may become friends. I said that if the Jews heard the evils that were due to overwhelm them, and that on account of Christ Jerusalem would be taken captive in this undying captivity that is unchanging, if they heard this from the inspired authors unmistakably, they would immediately have killed those telling them this.”
    3. Inexperience of the Scriptures makes us afraid of what is heard
      1. SJC “What occurs in the case of the sea, then, and happens with the mind is realized also in explanation of the Scriptures; there is need to be alarmed, disturbed when we go out on the ocean, not because the ocean is fearsome, but because we are inexperienced mariners. It is possible, you see, that a text, simple by nature, becomes difficult through the inexperience of the listeners.”
    4. We are reading the Scriptures in translation which increases our confusion
      1. SJC “We do not have the OT written for us in our native tongue: while it was composed in one language we have it read in another language, and whenever a language is rendered into another language, it involves great difficulty. All those who are versed in many languages are aware of this, how it is not possible to transfer the clarity naturally contained in the words when moving to another language.” 
    5. We are protected by God’s grace through obscurity

SJC “That is to say, Moses did not have a veil on his account: it was because they could not bear the glory of his countenance; when we turned his grace to the Lord, for instance the veil was taken off.”