The Bible: Introduction

Faith Study Series: 1

The Bible: Introduction

 

What is Bible?

The most important book of Christianity is the Bible. It has invaluable importance in a Christian’s life.

 Origin:

The English word ‘Bible’ came from Greek words ‘Biblus’ or ‘Biblion’ meaning ‘The Book’.

 Availability:

The Bible, nowadays, is readily available with a number of different versions and translations. But, it was not so in the past centuries. After the Reformation, the Protestant Missionaries has tremendously worked on bringing the Bible to common people. The availability of Bible is very important for Christians. This is the biggest treasure preserved by the ancient church Fathers for the later generations to live in faith. The missionaries understood its purpose and started working on making it available to the common people. Printing started in the 15^th century. Before that, handwritten copies were circulated amongst the faithful.

 The most popular Bible we use today is the Protestant Bible. The name Protestant Bible is due to a very small difference from the original Orthodox and Roman Catholic Bible. The Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches use a slightly different version of the Bible, which contains a couple more books known as Apocrypha.

 The Scripture:

All religions rely on their particular scripture. It is the scripture which is the basic text on which the Faith is based on. Bible is the official authority of the Christians. Christians who follow ‘The Book’ are called ‘The People of the Book’. The religions teach and grow based on the scripture.

 History of the Bible:

Even though many books were available from the first century itself, a primary form of the Bible we have available now, was formulated in the 4^th century, in the Nicea Synod. The books were scattered around the believers and churches before that. It was necessary for the church to codify the Bible due to the heretics who produced books against the true Gospel of Jesus Christ. An e.g. is Gospel of Thomas which was written in the 2^nd century. Many heretics began to teach under the authority of church, and the necessity to formulate the true books together grew. The Holy Fathers came together and formulated a list of true Christian books. Some were rejected due to several reasons. One of them is the lack of authenticity of certain books. Gospel of Thomas is an example.

 The Bible is a true guide to us. As we read in the psalms, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.” (Ps 119: 105). The word of God enlightens everyone. Whenever we are confused in our life with different issues, it teaches us about our morality, our ethics, and our ways of conducting ourselves. We have to read, understand and live based on that, and the Holy Bible is set for that purpose. Therefore, the Orthodox faithful, kiss the Bible first before opening it to read. We understand it as the divine witness of revelation of God. God has revealed Himself in the course of time to the humans, and Bible is the witness of this revelation. In Heb 1: 1, 2 we read, “In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe.” The Holy Bible consists of the ‘True Truth’ and the ‘Perfect Truth’.

 Errors:

There are some historical and literal errors in the Holy Bible. But the message of the Bible as a whole is the relationship between God and Man through centuries, and the ways in which God has revealed to them from time to time, and how man lived comfortable and peaceful life in this world because God revealed to him. Man is not capable of understanding the entire mystery of God. It is impossible even to understand the mystery of the created things in front of us. Then, how much can we understand the mysteries of God? The divine inspired material written by human beings has some human made errors.

 Orthodox Church and the Holy Bible:

We are a worship community and the Holy Bible is itself the main source of our worship. 100% of all Orthodox prayers and worship are formulated from the Bible. Each prayer is from the Bible. The monastic community, while living in seclusion, used the Bible to make the prayers. They prayed 7 times a day, and learned the truth of the Bible through the worship and prayers. The Bible was understood through the worship itself. Our worship itself explains and proclaims the Gospel of Christ.

 Why read and study Bible:

Through the Bible, we understand how exactly God wants to speak to us, and to understand His will. We have Bible readings scheduled for different occasions, and times based on its importance. We are the people of ‘The Book’ and therefore, Bible readings cannot be avoided in our daily lives. Read and meditate upon the word of God at least once, or more everyday. It is the centre of our church and our lives.

 Authority:

The church has the authority to handle the Bible within the church and not outside the church. The revelation that came from the Bible is capable of making us understand that we are the creation of God in this world, and to grow closer to Him through that understanding.

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Faith Study Series: 1, by Rev. Fr. M. K. Kuriakose, at St. Thomas Indian Orthodox Church, Philadelphia, PA, on Feb 8^th, 2008

 Compiled by St. Thomas OCYM