Lecture by metropolitan Elpidophoros of Bursa

     

The word of Holy Scripture is indeed timeless; it belongs to the ages and yet is always timely. It is, after all, the essential and life-giving Word of God that responds forcefully to the fundamental questions of young people, to the existential problems of all human beings. I believe that Holy Scripture should not be studied as any other book that merely satisfies our reason. It provides solid food for the soul. Its study resembles prayer. It is the Book par excellence of the Church, the Body of Jesus Christ. “The Christian Church is, above all, a scriptural Church. Although methods of interpretation may have varied from Church Father to Church Father, from ‘school’ to ‘school’ and from East to West, nevertheless, Scripture was always received as a living reality and not a dead book,” as Patriarch Bartholomew said in the aforementioned address (11). This is precisely why Sacred Scripture can be understood and interpreted correctly only when one acquires the “mind of Christ,”(12) as St. Paul reminds us. This implies the acquisition of an authentic ecclesial mentality, such as this exists in the sacred tradition of the Church and is expressed and reflected by our God-bearing Fathers (13). The study of Sacred Scripture with such a mentality and with these presuppositions can offer strength to our personal struggle; it provides courage to the life and direction of Orthodox spirituality. Anyone who approaches Holy Scripture in this manner will agree with the prophet-king David who said: “How sweet to my taste are your teachings, more than honey and the honeycomb in my mouth”(14).

The systematic, continuous and in-depth study of Holy Scripture will inform us that our shepherd is the most benevolent God, our Creator, while we are the rational sheep that receives God’s blessing, the gift and the opportunity to be led and guided by the Good Shepherd, our Lord Jesus Christ. Into His flock, namely the Church, we entered through Baptism. And our pastoral care in the Church is never-ending. Within this flock, we find protection, security, benevolence and fearlessness. Self-shepherding is always dangerous, leading to isolation and error. The crucified and resurrected Christ is the selfless and self-sacrificing shepherd who does not suffer from vanity, self-aggrandizement or concealed arrogance.
The shepherd must be wise, clear, good, pure, true, honorable, sincere, solid and full of love. Orthodox spiritual life cannot but possess all of these characteristics. If it contains any signs of unwise conceit, impurity of egotism, lack of genuineness or sincerity, bitterness and resentment, or perhaps feigned humility that incubates a false pharisaic attitude and hypocritical talk about love, then what we have is an unholy performance, a well-presented theatre, which sooner or later will expose the mask-bearing actor as a fraudulent distorter of the spiritual life.