{"id":4516,"date":"2016-10-16T10:00:31","date_gmt":"2016-10-16T14:00:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stmichaelarchangel.org\/?p=4516"},"modified":"2016-10-12T15:41:21","modified_gmt":"2016-10-12T19:41:21","slug":"gaining-a-deeper-understanding-of-the-new-testament-20161016","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stmichaelarchangel.org\/?p=4516","title":{"rendered":"Gaining a Deeper Understanding of the New Testament — 20161016"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Holy-Napkin\"<\/a>In the last issue I introduced the Eastern Church\u2019s idea of Theoria <\/em>with regard to the Bible. Thus it is obvious that the interpretation of the Scriptures according to Theoria <\/em>mandates not only a recognition of the Bible\u2019s inspiration, but that we too, as students of the Bible, be enlightened by the same Spirit. Before Pentecost, even the Disciples were often confused as to the exact meaning of many of Christ\u2019s words. Truly, how can one ever discern the spiritual meaning of the Scriptures without the Spirit\u2019s inspiration? Today we too will become confused if we try to interpret the Scriptures in disregard of the Spirit\u2019s ministry.<\/p>\n

God\u2019s Word is not bound by ink or held captive by bookbinding. His Word existed before the invention of books and would continue to exist even if e3very Bible were destroyed. God\u2019s Word is the \u201cLiving Voice\u201d which those who have united themselves to Christ can bear witness to as being of God. Thus, God\u2019s Word is understood in relationship, <\/em>not in reading. The early Church was in deep communion with God\u2019s Word not because they had a Bible, but because they had a New Covenant relationship with the Living Word, Jesus Christ. <\/em><\/p>\n

The Truth of God\u2019s Word has been revealed not only to <\/em>God\u2019s people but in <\/em>God\u2019s people. This gives the members of the Church alone the ability to understand the Scripture as <\/em>Scripture. This divinely orchestrated marriage of Spirit and humanity makes the Bible truly sufficient in the Church. Unlike the heretics, the Church\u2019s members recognize its true message, for the \u201canointing of truth\u201d which rests upon them lets them know the teaching. The Bible is their <\/em>book and they are of the \u201clike Spirit\u201d with it. Their Christian life and experience, which includes the experiences of their brethren before them, attests to the Bible\u2019s true teaching.<\/p>\n

Without question, the Scriptures are an invaluable and essential expression of Divine Tradition. But when they are set apart from the Holy Spirit\u2019s ministry in the Church, they are no longer \u201ca sure foundation.\u201d Outside the Church, the Bible\u2019s stabilizing legs are cut off by contradictory interpretations of \u201cindividuals\u201d. Our call to understand the Scriptures in concert with the Church prevents such an abuse. But this attentiveness to the Church is not an exhortation to sleepily submit to an ecclesiastical court. It is a call to take responsibility: to evaluate the reasons behind our present beliefs instead of accepting them without question. Hopefully this has brought some light to you on inspiration!<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the last issue I introduced the Eastern Church\u2019s idea of Theoria with regard to the Bible. Thus it is obvious that the interpretation of the Scriptures according to Theoria mandates not only a recognition of the Bible\u2019s inspiration, but … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4516","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-a-look-at-the-new-testament"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stmichaelarchangel.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4516","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stmichaelarchangel.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stmichaelarchangel.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stmichaelarchangel.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stmichaelarchangel.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4516"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/stmichaelarchangel.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4516\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4517,"href":"https:\/\/stmichaelarchangel.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4516\/revisions\/4517"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stmichaelarchangel.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4516"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stmichaelarchangel.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4516"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stmichaelarchangel.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4516"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}