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From a podcast by Presv. Jeannie Constantinou*
Patristic interpretation refers to the ways the early Church Fathers read, explained, and applied Scripture within the life of the Church. These techniques show that biblical interpretation was not limited to historical facts or literal wording, but also included spiritual preparation, attention to context, recognition of literary style, and the search for Christ-centered meaning throughout the whole Bible. Here are fifteen techniques Presv. Jeannie identifies in studying the Scripture: Scripture Emerges from the Church's Life
The New Testament was not handed down as a finished book but grew organically out of the Church's worship, preaching, and apostolic memory—"Scripture in Tradition" rather than Scripture separate from it. The earliest Christians relied solely on the Old Testament (in its Greek Septuagint form) as "Scripture," while the apostles' own writings and oral teaching were circulated and read aloud in local congregations but not yet called "Bible". St. Paul's first letters (c. 50-51 AD, likely Galatians or 1 Thessalonians) began this process, and the last books, including John's Gospel, his epistles, and Revelation, appeared by the end of the first century. Source: Orthodox Dogmatic Theology: A Concise Exposition by Protopresbyter Michael Pomazansky
The spiritual principle in man which is opposed to the body is designated in Sacred Scripture by two terms which are almost equal in significance: “spirit” and “soul.” The use of the word “spirit” in place of “soul,” or both terms used in exactly the same meaning, is encountered especially in the Apostle Paul. This is made evident, for example, by placing the following texts side by side: Glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s (I Cor. 6:20); Let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit (II Cor. 7:1); and, We are not of them who draw back unto perdition, but of them that believe to the saving of the soul (Heb. 10:39). Copyright 2002 St Tikhon’s Orthodox Theological Seminary Press
23. The Gifts of the Holy Spirit Until we have been cleansed from the passions, the gifts of the Holy Spirit received during the Mystery of Holy Chrism aren’t fully manifested, although they too work in a covered way through each virtue. But once the passions which cover them are removed, the gifts of the Holy Spirit blaze up in our consciousness, from the hidden part of the heart, in all their brilliance. Strictly speaking, in distinction to the grace of Baptism which directs the work of mortifying the old man and of the general growth of the new, they are intended to remake and intensify the powers of the knowledge of the soul and of courageous perseverance in God, after he has known Him. They are first of all the gifts for enlightening the mind, and precisely because of this, gifts for its fortification in its orientation toward God. Therefore they show their full efficiency only when our intellectual powers, which work with them, have been sufficiently developed. They are the fruits of a Mystery which imparts to us the gifts of the Holy Spirit; they are meant to open the spirit in us and to make rich the life “in the Spirit,” but this can’t be realized before purification from the passions. |
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