Beginning Nov. 15th (the beginning of the Advent/Nativity Fast), we will once again be embarking on our annual challenge event to read through the entire New Testament (aloud) by Christmas! This is a great endeavor and exercise and you should join it! Read with your spouse as an Advent discipline! Join the many of us who do this every year and prosper your soul in the effort. You won't be the same. Remember, we begin Nov. 15th! If you are a … [Read more...]
The Church in the New Testament
July 14, 2011 By 2 Comments
By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos With the incarnation of Christ we have the manifestation of the Church. The Church becomes the Body of Christ and acquires its Head, Who is Christ. Let us recall the passage in Clement of Rome which we mentioned before, according to which the Church was "first created spiritual from above, before the sun and moon, and being spiritual, was manifested in the flesh of … [Read more...]
The Case For Byzantine Priority: Part 4
July 9, 2011 By Leave a Comment
by Maurice A. Robinson Principles to be Applied toward Restoration of the Text The Byzantine-priority position (or especially the so-called "majority text" position) is often caricatured as only interested in the weight of numbers and simple "nose-counting" of MSS when attempting to restore the original form of the NT text. Aside from the fact that such a mechanical and simplistic method would offer no solution in the many places where the … [Read more...]
The Case for Byzantine Priority: Part 3
July 7, 2011 By Leave a Comment
by Maurice A. Robinson The essence of a Byzantine-priority method Any method which would restore the original text of the NT must follow certain guidelines and procedures within normative NT text-critical scholarship. It will not suffice merely to declare one form of the text superior in the absence of evidence, nor to support any theory with only selected and partial evidence which favors the case in question. The lack of balance in such … [Read more...]
The Case for Byzantine Priority: Part 2
July 5, 2011 By Leave a Comment
by Maurice A. Robinson A Problem of Modern Eclecticism: Sequential Variant Units and the Resultant "Original" Text Modern eclectic praxis operates on a variant unit basis without any apparent consideration of the consequences. The resultant situation is simple: the best modern eclectic texts simply have no proven existence within transmissional history, and their claim to represent the autograph or the closest approximation thereunto … [Read more...]
New Testament Textual Criticism: The Case For Byzantine Priority
July 1, 2011 By Leave a Comment
by Maurice A. Robinson During the month of July, Preachers Institute will be republishing an article in ten installments on Byzantine Textual Priority in New Testament Textual Criticism, from TC: A Journal of Biblical Textual Criticism. Now, I know that this is only peripherally related to preaching the Gospel, but I also know that many of you clergy have an intense interest in this topic - as in all Biblical Studies, and as a result, we offer … [Read more...]
Hell According To The New Testament
June 3, 2011 By 3 Comments
Though Bishop N.T. Wright is not Orthodox (he's the Anglican Bishop of Durham), he explains very well the Orthodox/New Testament teaching on hell. This was originally entitled "N.T. Wright and the Orthodox View of Hell." This is only 3 minutes long, but a very nice treatment of a contentious topic - at least, contentious since the middle ages and the publication of Dante's Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradisio. The 'tiered' understanding of the … [Read more...]
Was Adam an Actual or Symbolic Figure, According to the Fathers of the Church?
May 22, 2011 By 13 Comments
From the Orthodox Outlet for Dogmatic Enquiries. There are thousands of patristic references to Adam - an immeasurable chaos. However, it will be hard to locate a verse that refers to Adam in an absolutely univocal manner; i.e., a verse that cannot but imply a specific person. An endeavor like this is a difficult one, for two reasons: a) Because the Fathers had no cause to outrightly state (per our rationale) that Adam "is not a symbolic … [Read more...]
Confession of Sins in the Bible and Beyond
April 13, 2011 By 3 Comments
For those struggling with the necessity of confession, or who need to preach about it, here is what the Scriptures and the Church Fathers say about the necessary participation in this Holy Mystery. This was taken from the St. George Church of Prescott website. Confession of sins is very much a part of Biblical Faith and especially Biblical Christianity, and was closely related to the worship of the True God. From the Old Testament on, it is … [Read more...]
On The Septuagint In The New Testament
March 16, 2011 By 3 Comments
Bible scholars and students! Since most contemporary preaching is primarily either therapeutic or exegetical, especially during Lent, we offer this little list for your exegetical homilies. These are principle examples of why the Septuagint Old Testament is the 'official' Old Testament of the Orthodox Church (that and the fact that the Masoretic text didn't even exist until 1,000 a.d.). Enjoy! Of the approximately 300 Old Testament quotes in … [Read more...]
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