Editorial

For The Word Of God Is Living And Powerful

and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. (Heb 4:12)

The main field of sin activities is the human mind; and through it sin penetrates the soul to the subconscious, where it controls the behavior and thoughts of man. Sin is not merely an act of transgression, but the experience of sin stains the human soul with tough irremovable blemish. The stigma of sins darkens the vision and confuses our communications. Hence, man sees everything in life through his corrupt experience of sin, which puts an opacity on the inner eye of the soul, and paralyzes its movement towards truth and inner freedom. There is no man on earth that can avoid being overwhelmed by sin and its bitterness. Also, there is no human solution to stop its sweeping current that thrusts everyone.

In facing the tangible fact of sin, the only action that we can take is to mask ourselves to hide its shame. When our sins are exposed, we try to present them in the prettiest dress possible. We falsely beautify ourselves with lies and hypocrisy to cover our cowardice, greed, treason, deception, selfishness, envy and hate, which diffuse its rotten thoughts inside the poor imprisoned soul.

Through the anguish of sin, Christ calls: “…He knocks, saying, ‘Open for me, my sister, my love, my dove, my perfect one’ ” When I hear His voice, I feel more reluctant due to the apathy of soul. St. Paul tells us: “For the word of God is living and powerful...” When we allow the Word to penetrate the soul, He shines with glorious light, forcing all the bugs of sin to flee to the deep hidden trenches of the soul to find refuge. Thus, we cry out with Peter saying: "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!" (Lu 5:8). But, “Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence?” (Ps 139:7). The word is powerful and piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, where the human will is centered and all decisions are originated. The function of the Word of God is not only diagnostic, to show the rebellion of soul against spirit, but it also aligns the goals of soul with demands of the spirit, to reconcile soul with spirit and unifies them. The Word is powerful, and also He is alive and life giver: “…but you will see Me. Because I live, you will live also.” (Jon 14:19). Accordingly it is “sharper than any two-edged sword”; one edge is powerful to destroy the evils inside the soul, the other is a life giver and creator of a new enlightened creation for eternal life.      

The effectiveness of God’s Word is not limited to the division of soul and spirit, but it pierces and fills up the soul, up to the joints and bone marrow. Its power reaches the hidden dark areas and the narrow paths of the soul. “And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all the things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account” (Heb 4:13). When the Word penetrates, it cleans, purifies, heals and builds the soul.

The Word of life is also discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. It is needed for the maturity of soul and the illumination of spirit. It gives the necessary wisdom for salvation and discernment to differentiate between the origins of good and evil.

The “Word of Life” prepares a place in our hearts for Him to rest, through His living and powerful word.

                 F. Y.

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In this Issue

The English Section: In the 5^th Part of “Introduction to the Book of Psalms”, by Fr. Tadros Malaty, we continue to post the “Literary Forms of the Psalms.” We received questions from readers, thus we postponed the article of “Saint Mary in the Coptic Lectionary” to future issues, and instead we post “Questions of the Readers On Apocrypha”

The Patristic Section: Interpretations of the scriptures according to ‘St. Cyril The Great’ by Professor, Fr. George Dragas, Ph.D. The current posting is “On Cain and Abel.”

The Arabic section: The first Article is “The 1^st Epistle of Peter” Chapter 1, by Guirguis A. Ibrahim, Ph.D. We were expecting this article for long time; hence we postponed the article of  “The Church & Israel” to future issues. The second article is “On The Holy Spirit” by George Awad, from the teaching of “St. Cyril The Great.” The third Arabic article is “The Books of Prophets (2)” by Fouad N Youssef.

We thank every person that offered help in the translation, and revision, asking the Lord to reward them with His heavenly blessings. Also, we ask for your continued prayers for this service.