An Overview of the Holy Bible and Our Relationship to It
His Holiness Pope Shenouda III presents a practical and spiritual conception of the Holy Bible: how we possess it, read it, understand it, meditate on it, memorize it and act upon it, and why the Coptic Church gives a special liturgical and educational place to listening to, reading, and honoring the Word of God as a life guide and a living Spirit.
📚 Possession and Organized Reading
His Holiness recommends always owning the Holy Bible (in the pocket or the bag) and regular, deliberate reading, not just superficial, cursory reading.
🧠 Understanding and Meditation
He stresses the necessity of understanding the book: opening your minds to know what is in it, and meditating on verse by verse to extract the spiritual meaning and apply it practically in daily life.
✍️ Application and Memorization
After understanding and meditation one must do what is in the Book and memorize useful verses gradually to be a weapon in spiritual battles and a light that guides the way, choosing verses that confirm doctrine and confront doubts.
⛪ The Place of the Book in Church Life
He explains that the Church made the Book the center of the rites (liturgies, the Agpeya, readings in Holy Week, the Psalms) and out of respect for the Gospel everyone stands at its reading, candles are raised, and priests act with special reverence.
🔎 The Word as Spirit and Life and Its Symbols
His Holiness insists that the Lord’s Gospel is not mere words but “Spirit and Life” and that many texts of the Old and New Testaments are understood in a symbolic sense (sacrifices, feasts, animals, prophetic figures) and not everything is taken literally.
🛡 The Book as a Weapon Against Heresies and Intellectual Battles
He shows that memorizing the book and being familiar with it protects from error and heresies, and one can answer objections because combining verses reveals the full meaning of doctrine.
🙏 A Call to a Life-Pattern
In conclusion: the Holy Bible is a life-pattern that must fill the mind and heart; from possession, reading, understanding, meditation, memorization to application, so that the Word of God within you is a lamp and a light that steadies your spiritual steps.
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