THE HOLY BIBLE AND CHURCH WORSHIP

FR. TADROS Y. MALATY

 

 

 

 

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THE  HOLY  BIBLE  AND  THE  ALEXANDRIAN CHURCH

Since her inception, especially starting from the second
century, the Alexandrian Church has been known for her
School which concentrated on the study of the Holy Bible
and was interested in its allegorical interpretation. This
method of interpretation was received by Origen from his
teacher, St. Clement, and from his predecessors. Origen had
put its principals and bases and explored its aim, to the
extent that the allegorical interpretation of the Bible all over
the world is owed to him. Origen exaggerated in using this
method but he had left many disciples, directly or through his
writings, among church leaders, and his influence remained
clear even over his opponents.

 

I do not intend here to enumerate Origen's faults because they have been exposed before, but I wish to elucidate the role of the Holy Bible in the Alexandrian Church and her School, particularly as related to church worship.

 

 

 

 

 

 

1. The School of Alexandria paid attention to science and
philosophy, and therefore did not show any hostility towards
philosophers, on the contrary, for some of the churchmen
were students in the philosophical School "the Museum" and
they attracted many of its leaders - the philosophers - to
Christianity. Yet at the same time the School of Alexandria
did not look to the Holy Bible with a philosophical view for
mere satisfaction of the mind, or for the sake of arguments
and debates. She looked at the Bible as the experience of
meeting with the Word of God and a true enjoyment of the
Holy Trinity's work in the life of the community and in the
life of each member therein. According to the Alexandrian
thought the soul enters - through the spirit of prayer and
piety - into the presence of God that He might raise her
above the deadly literal meaning, ascends her to His heavenly
chamber, and reveals to her His divine mysteries which
cannot be expressed in human language. Thus the Holy Bible
in its essence is a discovery of the incarnate Word of God,
our Lord Jesus Christ, who is hidden behind its words, who
leads us to experience the communion with the Father
through Him, by the Holy Spirit. In other words, studying
and meditating on the Holy Bible is a spiritual worship and
an enjoyment with the Holy Trinity, as we experience our
sonship  to  the  Father  and  His  Fatherhood  to  us,  our
steadfastness in the Only Begotten Son and the attainment of
the fruit of the Holy Spirit.

 

2. The Holy Bible is considered as an encounter with God
and an interaction with Him in a spirit of worship and piety,
so worship, common or private, is an expression of flowing
love from hearts which have encountered God and yearned
to enter into new depth in order to stay with Him, in His
bosom, forever, enjoying His mysteries and glories. In other
words worship is also an enjoyments of the evangelic life,

 

 

 

 

understanding the Holy Bible and a discovery of the words
secrets.

 

Here we acknowledge church life which is inflamed with
love, as one integral life, containing on one hand the spirit of
worship, and on the other hand the spirit of studying the
Holy Bible. Worship is a practical entrance to the Gospel,
and  the  study  of  the  Bible  is  a  true  experience  of
worshipping. Every worship outside the Bible is fruitless, and
every Bible study without the spirit of worship distorts the
soul.

Therefore, it is needless to say that church worship -
common and private - is correlated to the Bible, not only
because it includes excerpts from the scriptures, but also
because it carries the spirit of the Bible, every breath of love
to God through our worship. Worship is inspired by the
spirit of the Bible and at the same time the Bible reveals the
spirit of worship and the depth of its mysteries on a heavenly
level.

 

3.  All church liturgies,  common,  family,  and  private
worship include readings from the Old and New Testaments,
particularly from the book of Psalms, the Epistles of St. Paul,
the Catholic Epistles and from the four Gospels. Such
readings are included in the liturgy of catechumens, the
liturgy  of  blessing  the  water,  the  celebration  of  Holy
matrimony, blessing the baptismal water, funeral services,
prayers for bathing the baby at the eighth day of his birth,
prayers for blessing new homes as well as at the daily
Canonical Hours. Thus the church offers thanksgiving to her
God in every occasion in a spirit of worship through reciting
verses of the Holy Bible, and at the same time she urges her
children to sit with God's word, enjoy and meditate on it.

 

 

 

 

4. Church life is not only a life of worship in an evangelic
way or a biblical life in a spirit of worship, but it is one,
inclusive and integral life, which includes the practical daily
life with good behaviour, the ascetic practice and the desire
of the heart to witnessing and preaching. In other words, our
Bible study is worship, practical behaviour, asceticism and
preaching. Truly some members may be gifted in depth with
certain  talents.  For  example  some  may  be  involved  in
studying the Bible, others in practising asceticism, and others
in preaching etc., yet all members have to live in the one
whole spirit in order not to deviate from the aim of the Bible
and the spirit of the church.

5. Moreover, the Alexandrian Church recognised that the mystery  of  the  Scriptures  is  uncovered  through  three essential and related matters:

a. Study and research: Origen collected the texts and translations of the Bible and arranged them in six columns (Hexapala). If a verse is obscure, the scholar may refer to other texts to elucidate it. Thus Origen from the second century - was ahead of his time.

b. Prayers and pious life: The Alexandrian students were men of prayer and asceticism. They believed in the need of the Divine Revelation to the soul through purity in Christ to understand the Bible.

 

c.  Discipleship: The scholar cannot fully enjoy the biblical
spirit through his own individual private studies. In order not
to deviate, he needs to be disciple of a spiritual father to
attain the delivered biblical thought, besides the need of
being disciple of the Early Fathers through their writings.