01 - The Beginning: What Scripture is
Welcome to the Bible in 15 Minutes
The podcast where we go through the Scripture in 15 minute increments. St Paul writes to St Timothy that all Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works. We ask the Lord to give us His wisdom and to speak through the mouths of His servants.
This is Episode 1.
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. (Genesis 1:1)
Genesis is the first book of the Bible. The beginning, if you will. It is originally written in Hebrew, and as with all of the Hebrew texts, their names come from the first few words in the text. So its name in Hebrew is Beresheet which means "In the beginning." The name Genesis comes from the Greek "ϯⲅⲉⲛⲉⲥⲓⲥ" which also means "the beginning." And this is a good summary for what the Book of Genesis is - the beginning.
In the book of Genesis, we will find many beginnings and many firsts - some good, and some bad: The beginning of time and matter; the beginning of Creation; the first Man and Woman; the first sin and the Fall of Man; the new beginning in the time of Noah; and many more.
But before we delve into the text, we should talk about Genesis in the context of the rest of the Scripture! And before we do that, we should talk about the Scripture in general.
What is Scripture? Well, you heard it in the introduction from the man himself! St Paul writes to St Timothy that all Scripture is given by inspiration of God. Another common translation for that is that all Scripture is God-breathed. Scripture is the breath of God; the word of God; God's words. It is a message of God to each individual that is profitable for doctrine, for reproof and for correction.
But hang on, let's take a step back... who is God? God is Trinity: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. There is One God. They are not three gods, but rather Three Persons (or Hypostases) of the Trinity. To put it simply, the Father is not the Son; the Father is not the Holy Spirit; the Son is not the Holy Spirit. The Father is God. The Son is God, The Holy Spirit is God. It is a mystery ineffable, incomprehensible by the human mind. And if you think about it... of course it is! If I could fit God in my mind, He wouldn't really be God, would He!
Back to Scripture. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God. St Gregory of Nyssa comments on this, saying "The Scripture is of the Holy Spirit, and its intention is the profit of men." When I was young, being Coptic Orthodox, I was always taught that God, the Holy Spirit, is the "author" of the Scripture. But it wasn't until I grew up that I really understood what that meant. The words of Scripture were penned by human authors - Moses, King David, King Solomon, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, St Paul, etc. They recorded the real events as they saw them happen, or as they were received by them through an oral tradition. They wrote to specific audiences and for specific purposes. They had their own writing styles. So where is the work of the Holy Spirit in all of this? God, the Holy Spirit, illumined the minds of the Biblical Authors. And although we can recognize these different writing styles of different Biblical Authors, we can also recognize the consistency of the Message. The common thread that runs through every book, every chapter and every verse. The Lord Jesus Christ told the disciples that when they received the Holy Spirit, then the Holy Spirit would teach them all things and bring to their remembrance all things that He had said to them. This same Holy Spirit - God - worked through these men to compose what we call the Scripture, which is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, and for correction.
So how do we glean this Message from the Scripture?
The first step should be pretty obvious. Read it! Open the Scripture and read it! Meditate on its words. Choose a lesson for yourself to apply in the coming day or week or month. As the Prophet Jeremiah writes: "Your words were found, and I ate them, and Your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart." (Jeremiah 15:16). We often want to pick up the newest books or commentaries, listen to many sermons or podcasts, watch lectures, etc. But we must make sure not to fall into the trap of not reading the Scripture.
The second step is to STUDY the Scripture. St John Chrysostom in his 53rd Homily on the Gospel of John says this: "If we are willing to examine the Scripturas in this way, carefully and systematically, we shall be able to obtain our salvation. If we unceasingly are preoccupied with them, we shall learn both correctness of doctrine and an upright way of life." Studying is NOT the same as reading.