Stop being Rational!

"Both read the Bible day and night, but thou read black where I read white."
-William Blake

There is a pernicious idea abound that the correct interpretation of Scripture can be found if only the correct scholarship is applied: a scholarly understanding of Hebrew (or Greek), an understanding of ancient Jewish culture, of the history of the 1st century Holy Lands, or even what St. John might have been eating while on Patamos. With a good grasp of these background details, the correct, orthodox, meaning of a passage can be teased out - the truth can be discovered.

It's called exegesis and it must stop! This is not what the faith of our fathers is built upon!

The opposite of exegesis, is eisegesis, a word so derogatory that it is used as an insult all on its own in certain academic circles. Eisegesis is reading into scripture presuppositions; not coming to the Bible with an "open mind."

But consider this:

In the second chapter of his gospel, St. Matthew tells us with confidence that Jesus flight into Egypt as a boy (and his eventual return to Galilee) fulfilled Hosea 11:1, "Out of Egypt I called my son." But Hosea 11:1 is simply describing the Exodus; it is a passage that is not predictive of Christ's coming but retrospective of Israel's disobedience. Or so would say any half-decent Biblical scholar.

Or consider Paul's use of Isaiah 59:20 in his letter to the Romans, where he finishes an argument by announcing, "And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: 'The deliverer will come from Zion.' " But Isaiah says something quite different: "The Redeemer will come to Zion." This is how a scholar would read the verse, painstakingly examining every word of the original text.

So who do we believe? Apostle or scholar?

Many of the Church Fathers have been, throughout history, responsible for the grossest of eisegesis. Quite right too. Matthew ate with, lived with, touched, Jesus Christ, God made flesh. Paul was physically blinded by the revelation he received, and then healed by the love of one of Christ's disciples.

You don't just put that experience aside and get out your interlinear for a long, hard, study session. Even Thomas Aquinas, who wrote the favourite "theological proof" of all Western scholastics (even many Protestants) put down his pen before it was finished after receiving a revelation, declaring the whole thing "of little value" compared to what God directly imparted to him. So this is how I take the Church to be infallible in matters of faith. Not because she has the best scholars, but because her members pray, and pray, and pray, until spiritually they are caught up in heaven, just as St Paul described. From these people miracles flowed, healings flowed, prophesies, visions, and for some their own blood.
These are the saints of the Church I listen to, and trust. This is my proof.

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The time for looking at things in a calm, reasonable, manner is long gone. It's later than you think!

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Let It Be

In those days, Elizabeth the wife of Zacharias conceived and for five months she hid herself, saying, "Thus the Lord had done to me in the days when he looked on me, to take away my reproach among men." In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary.

And he came to her and said, "Hail, O favored one, the Lord is with you! But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and considered in her mind what sort of greeting this might be. And the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there will be no end." And Mary said to the angel, "How shall this be, since I have no husband?" And the angel said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God. And behold, your kinswoman Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. For with God nothing will be impossible."

And Mary said, "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word." And the angel departed from her.

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"It is truly right to bless you O Theotokos, ever blessed and most pure and the Mother of our God. more honorable than the cherubim, and more glorious beyond compare than the seraphim. without corruption you gave birth to God the Word: true Theotokos we magnify you"

Islands of Faith

In church, during the Liturgy, is when God can best speak to us, or rather, we are better able to listen. This is where we are immersed in the mysteries of faith, and in constant prayer. It is here where any of us can receive the call of Ss Paul and Barnabas, or even receive revelation as the Beloved Apostle did whilst in the Spirit, upon Patamos.

In the past prayer-life could continue outside, as even our secular life was orthodox. Now, the black waters of the world lap against the very steps of the outer sancturary. Our church is but the smallest of islands in a sea of iniquity. But the Christian way is not to hide away, wrapped in the incense and hymns of church. Find strength in her, and then, renewed in your faith, step out onto the waters like St Peter and with faith in Christ we will not drown.

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+ Holy Cross +

When the angelic powers appeared at Your grave, the soldiers guarding it feared and became as dead. And standing by the sepulcher was Mary who was seeking Your immaculate body. You devastated Hades, not afflicted by it. You went to meet the virgin, and granted eternal life. You resurrected from the dead. O Lord, glory to You.

With the help of God, we have almost reached the middle of Lent, where our strength has been worn down through abstinence, and the full difficulty of the labour set before us becomes apparent. Therefore our holy Mother, the Church of Christ, now brings to our help the all-holy Cross, the joy of the world, the strength of the faithful, the staff of the just, and the hope of sinners, so that by venerating it reverently, we might receive strength and grace to complete the divine struggle of the Fast.

'The Lord said: "If anyone wishes to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it; and whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it. For what does it profit a man, to gain the whole world and forfeit his life? For what can a man give in return for his life? For whoever is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of man also be ashamed, when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels." And he said to them, "Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God come with power."'
-Mark 8:34-38; 9:1