The Old Testament has various major themes:
1.
Adam
and his exile from paradise (as experienced in vespers),
2.
Preparation
for a new Adam who will bring humanity back from exile to paradise (as
experienced in matins).
3.
Events
that are examples of the future life of humanity in paradise (Moses ascent up the
holy mountain[1]).
The second part of this library is
the New
Testament, written by the Church to the Church in order to
reveal that God has come into the world as a man in Christ, and has saved the
world. As such, the Bible is primarily a guide for those in the Church to enter
into Christ’s salvation.The New Testament has various major themes:
1.
God the
Word comes into exiled humanity by assuming flesh- the new Adam (incarnation).
2.
God the
Word destroys sin and death – The new Adam recapitulates all things (crucifixion,
resurrection and ascension).
3.
God
the Word brings humanity back into paradise the faithful – the new Adam is the
Savior King (life in the Church).
4.
God
the Spirit provides his own energies to help bring about the recovery of
humanity (by illuminating, purifying, and deifying to Christ-likeness).
The whole bible contains pieces that comprise a mosaic of the God man, Jesus Christ, who creates, preserves, and restores all things to Himself. The Bible is the written Word of God made up of human words inspired (lit. exhaled) by God Himself, and is without error or contradiction regarding the relationship between God and creation. One of the Bible’s authors, the apostle Paul, tells us that the Bible is the genuine Word of God for those who he calls “the people (man) of God”. Jesus Christ abides in His Church by the Holy Spirit and opens human minds to understand the Bible (Jn 14.26, 16:13). The same apostle Paul contends that when the bible is read by those outside the One Church, a “veil” hides its true meaning from them “because only through Christ is it taken away” (2 Cor 3:14).
No comments:
Post a Comment