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FOS SUMMARY: The Word XP
Presented by: Rev. Dr. Frank Marangos
Summarized by: Dorothy Poli & Helen Tellas & Daniel Padovano
CREATION, SEPARATION, RESTORATION AND ETERNITY
God created humanity out of love. Love exists only when people are free to make their choices. Humanity, through the free will of Adam and Eve, broke its relationship with God and distorted His image and likeness in us. Jesus comes to re-establish the relationship and access to God. Our struggle is to return home to Him from our earthly exile so that He can restore us by resurrection from our brokenness back to the potentiality of His image and likeness in us. In doing so, we can be in closer and closer relationship with God and live with Him eternally as a family, as He originally intended it to be, in union with Him and with one another and in harmony with His creation.The Old Testament and the New Testament both focus on the agreement between God and human beings. (“Testament” or “Covenant”, “Diathiki” in Greek, conveys agreement more so than contract.) The agreement is that God blesses us as stewards of His creation over which He gives us dominion to enjoy and create. We, in turn, acknowledge Him as Creator, i.e. Source of all creation. This original covenant or relationship was broken by Adam and Eve when they stole and enjoyed creation and without acknowledging God thus initiating separation from Him. This was “Original Sin.” When we enjoy creation without God, i.e. without acknowledging that it came from Him and giving thanks and praise to Him for His gift, this is our sin. (It is akin to adopting a position of entitlement in that everything we have is of our own doing alone thus becoming our own god.)The New Testament or Covenant is the reestablishment of access and relationship to God through the Incarnation, Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ. “God becomes man, so man can become god.” God reveals Himself through Jesus. Jesus comes not to set up new rules and guidelines but to "make dead people alive", i.e. to resurrect us and reconnect us to the Source of Life. He says to the Jews, "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” ( Matthew 5:17-20). The way back to relationship with the Father is through Jesus; following Him to the Cross by taking up our cross so we can participate in Death (the death of our self-centered ego) and Resurrection. And if necessary, withstanding suffering, persecution, injustice, knowing and trusting as Jesus did that God, the Father, is with us in any of those difficulties sustaining us through them.In Judaism, broken agreements were rectified by a blood sacrifice, cutting an animal in half and passing between it. Jesus represents the New Covenant by becoming the blood sacrifice and “pays the ransom”, the required assessment of the Old Testament, by shedding His Own Blood. He became broken for us representing the image of breaking and tearing apart. The remedy for breaking the original covenant can only be provided by God because following the Law alone (i.e. our doing and work) does not save. Only Jesus saves by His work and acceptance by us of that truth.The Divine Liturgy expresses the re-establishment of the covenant. The Death and Resurrection of Christ is reenacted as a bloodless sacrifice. We participate in it when we receive Christ in us through Holy Communion. We demonstrate acknowledgment of God's creation in the Divine Liturgy when the priest offers on our behalf the corporate offering of bread and wine, i.e. creation, back to God in the Holy Eucharist, the culmination of the Liturgy. This is proper use of creation versus the misuse of creation by Adam and Eve. When we misuse creation we again break the relationship; proper use reestablishes the relationship with God. God then transforms and gives back to us this offering for our benefit, protection and sanctification. After Liturgy, we share an “agape” love meal (i.e. coffee hour) together. Ultimately, the true test of how much we love God is how much we love each other.THE BIBLE AS BENCHMARK
The Bible teaches us who we are in relation to God, to each other and to creation. The specific task of the Bible is to address these questions: Who created us? What does our Creator look like characteristically? Can we grow in His image? What is our purpose and how are we living it? Throughout history, the study of medicine, law, and theology (the queen of the sciences) coincided with these questions posed by the Bible:1) What is our relationship to God? ---- Theology
2) What is our relationship to each other? ---- Ethics/Law
3) What is our relationship to creation? ---- Science/MedcineThe two recurring core themes throughout the Bible underlying how we are to be and live are:
1) Faith plus works - Faith is first and this compels works. To believe in the promise given to us by Christ, we must rely on our faith and trust in His integrity for all things.
2) Total dependency on God - The failures of the Israelites and other significant figures are constant reminders that any of our accomplishments are based first on God’s power.Many people are good people and do good works by human standards. We can never be good enough by God’s standards. Therefore, we need His mercy which He lovingly offers. It is not enough do good works. We need His power and it is this power that works through us to accomplish His work. And, it is not enough to just have knowledge to know God. To know God is to experience Him and for that we need His Grace. Grace enlightens “the eyes of our minds” to come closer to comprehending the mystery of God.Scripture gives us the measurement with which we are to live. Our task is to move up along the measuring rod and re-align who we are with the image of God in us through Christ.THE OLD TESTAMENT
The books of the Old Testament are used in various parts of the Liturgy and other church services. They are categorized by four themes:Law: The first 5 books of the Old Testament are the Law, basically “guidelines” (how the world should be.) Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy.History: The second part, the History books which cover the time period from the settlement of Canaan to the end of Temple period. Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 and 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, 1 and 2 Chronicles, 1 and 2 Ezra, Nehemiah, Tobit, Judith, Esther, 1,2, and 3 Maccabees.Poetry & Wisdom: These books of “repentance” act as a guide for how to live our lives. The books are intended for the people to reflect and not make the same mistakes. Individuals, specifically King David and King Solomon, who took part in “messing things up” and what they learned by their mistakes authored these writings. Psalms, Job, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Wisdom of Solomon, Wisdom of Sirach and Song of Solomon.Prophets: The role of the Old Testament prophets was to preach repentance, i.e. to change our ways and turn back to God. God chooses prophets to give messages and warn the people who have created chaos by following their desires alone. The purpose is to bring them back in line in order to find harmony and life again with Him and fulfill the deepest human desire which is ultimately a longing for God. Hosea, Amos, Micah, Joel, Obadiah, Jonah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Baruch, Lamentations, Epistle of Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel.THE NEW TESTAMENT
Twenty-seven all written in Koine Greek comprise the New Testament. They are: 1) four Gospels – Matthew, Luke, Mark and John; 2) twenty-one letters or “epistles” mostly written by Paul to the various new Christian communities; 3) the Acts of the Apostles; and 4) Revelation. The letters, written for purposes of Christian counsel, leadership and way of life including conflict resolution are the oldest, written after Jesus’ Death through 65 AD. The Gospels are dated 65 AD to 90 AD. The Book of Acts is the youngest book dated in the 2nd century. Revelation is the second youngest book.TESTS FOR INCLUSION IN THE BIBLE
Books included in the Bible passed three Canonical tests. A Book had to be 1) written by a disciple or an apostle; 2) authenticated by an ecclesiastical community at the time it was received; and 3) consistent with the life of the Church.WHY SO LITTLE ON CHRIST’S EARLY LIFE? The Gospel writers knew and cared more about Jesus’ ministry, Death and Resurrection than about His early years. Naturally, He had more followers after the start of His ministry and more people knew of Him at the end of His life on earth.SUMMARY OF THE MAIN MESSAGE OF THE BIBLE: Love God, one another and creation and humbly acknowledge and depend on God as Father and Source of Life.
FOS Summaries are synopses of a session presentation by Fr. Frank and also includes points in the dialogue and Q&A between Fr. Frank and FOS participants. Past summaries can be found at http://www.thecathedralnyc.org/pdf-fos-summaries
