How do you interpret the Scriptures?
What we call the 'Scriptures' is a collection of books written by men and inspired by the Holy Spirit of God. It did not fall out of the sky, as it was created through the work of men who took pen to parchment and produced it using their knowledge of linguistics and, at that time, the Greek language. It was the work of men through the grace of the Holy Spirit when it was decided which of the available and circulated writings were authentic and most beneficial for the faithful in Christ.
This, however, took literally centuries before it was finalized as a collection and an established canon was ordained as a measuring stick to the Christian teachings. Until then, there was no collection of books as an authority and there were no mass produced King James Bibles which we find today in most homes and inns. In fact, for the majority of Christians living under the spiritual guidance of their local Bishop, there was oral tradition and liturgical prayer. There were sermons and epistles and hymns of worship. Before the Bible, there was the Church which is the living vessel of the Holy Spirit in the world. Not the only living vessel of the Holy Spirit, for He is in all places and in all things. But it was ordained the Bride of Christ, the Body of Christ, the authoritative communion of holy believers who have held on to the apostolic deposit of faith. The Church was and remains the 'pillar and foundation' for truth and of the faith.
This was the belief of those early Christians gathering in homes and celebrating the Eucharist on the Lord's Day (the Eighth and Eternal Day of the New Aeon in the Kingdom of Heaven).
These Christians, the first generations of Christians, did not refer to a Bible to get the correct interpretation of the Jewish Scriptures simply because there was no Bible! They sought to find those prophets, bishops, deacons, priests, and teachers who had been ordained by the Holy Spirit in apostolic succession in order to get the correct interpretation of the Scriptures. And they learned by the oral preachings and teachings, those things the Apostole taught us to hold on to and carry down to the next generation as the deposit of faith.
It was through the lens of the Risen Christ whereby these Saints gave their witness to. And their wisdom and knowledge from learning from the fathers of the faith, the Holy Apostles commissioned by Christ. Above all, the grace imparted on the them by the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost whereby the hidden meanings and truths of the Old Testament could be perceived and understood. Through the personal experience and wisdom of a living holy body of believers could the reliable and correct exegesis of the words of the Prophets be received. And they did so through their worship in assembly, for it is in the worship of the Church, in her prayer, whereby you will find the faith of the Church, lex orandi, lex credendi.
How do we today get the correct understanding of the New Testament books? To whose interpretation and experience do we open our minds to help shape and form our own?
Do we place value in what the Christians believed and how they worshiped? Does this have any worth in our own understandings of the Christian faith?
And if we say that some do and some don't, then we ask, who is making that decision? Who is the authority who is determining which teachings are true and authoratative and which are not?
I think you can see where I am going.
If I want to know the original intent of the US Constitution I would believe that the writings of Samual Adams would give more truthful interpretation regarding the original intent than a two-time Obama voting liberal who is giving interpretations which would make Thomas Jefferson's grave spin.
I would read the writings of the Founders of this Nation to get the most truthful information about what the essential meanings and interpretations are of this Nation's Constitution.
Likewise, for the truths of the Christian faith, I will seek to learn from those who compiled, transcribed, and passed down for centuries the Scriptures before there was even a 'Bible'. John Calvin has some new ideas? Really? But St. Ignatius the Bishop of Antioch and student of St. John, who became head of the most populace Church of the first century in around 60's AD at a time when most of the Apostles were still living, he confesses to a teaching and interpretation MUCH different from John Calvin.
Why would I chose the innovative teaching of someone from the 16, 17, 18, 19, 20th century over what St. Ignatius taught, a brother of the Apostles in the greatest Church in the middle of the first century?
And the only reason why we even remember this man is because it was the CHURCH, that is, the VOICE OF THE PEOPLE, the Amen ! and affirmation of the believers spread everywhere which have memoralized him for speaking the truthful and Spirit-filled teachings of the "faith which was once delivered unto the saints'.
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