A Lamp for Today
Light from the Readable Books 28: 4 Maccabees, God’s Reason, and the Passions
We read 4 Maccabees, a book on the very edge of the canon, in the light of what St. Gregory Nazianzen says, as well as in light of Hebrews 11, Acts 22, and Revelation 12. In it are poignant examples of martyrdom, and strong encouragement to not be ruled by our passions.
Friday, September 5, 2025
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About
Join Edith Humphrey in reading Old Testament passages designed to bring to life the weekly Gospel and/or Epistle reading for the Divine Liturgy. The apostle Peter, speaking of these books, called them a “lamp,” confirmed in Christ, which we must heed until the very return of our Lord (2 Peter 1:19). Discover how the apostles and the New Testament writers followed the pattern of Jesus in their understanding of the “Holy Scriptures” of the early Church—the Law, the Prophets and the Writings.  See what happens as we “read backwards” from the New Testament to the Old, just as the evangelists do: here is a quest to see the continuity between the testaments that will both encourage and challenge. As Jesus opened the Old Testament to the two on Emmaus, their “hearts burned within them:” can we afford to ignore words that so powerfully witness to our Lord Christ, through which the Holy Spirit still speaks today?
English Talk
An Introduction to the Schism, Part 2