Yeshue
FAITH OF THE SYRIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH OF ANTIOCH
Chapter 1: Class 5
Written by:
Chev. Dr. K. O. Mathew Konkara(Rtd Supdt of Police)
It's history, faith and liturgy and It's position within the church history
The Church is Holy
The fourth mark of the Holy Church is that it is holy as Christ established it. As He is, so is His Church (We have seen from the earlier classes that Church is the body of Christ ). Christ sanctified His Church by baptism and word, and gave Himself for it to make it holy, without blemish, without spot, and without any defect, to present it to Himself as a glorious Church (Ephesians 5:26-27).
He sent the Holy Spirit to His disciples on the day of Pentecost to remind them of what He had said and to guide them into all truth (John 16:13). Thereafter, all that they spoke and did was through the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit works in the Church, and the perfection of the sacraments are through Him. Without the Holy Spirit, the Church will not exist. Therefore, the Church, where the HolySpirit works, is holy.The Son of God incarnated to renew the human nature, - corrupted by sin- to elevate man to his original holiness through baptism and other holy ceremonies which are established by Christ himself. He founded His Church as the continuation of His incarnation. The Church is the body of Christ, consisting of holy members, - departed and living - to become a saved community. It is the source of holiness, and it nourishes its members in holiness. Therefore, the Church is holy.
The Church is founded on the rock of true faith and stands on the faith of the incarnation mystery. It rejects heresies and condemns them. It has preserved its faith by uprooting all heresies that have arisen over time. The children of the Chuch shall not listen to others who teach differently, from the teachings of the Church. All the Church's sacramental acts come directly from Christ, through the Holy Spirit, through the apostles, and through the saints of the Church. The Holy Spirit works in the Church, and those who teach otherwise are cursed (Galatians 1:8). The children of the Holy Church of Antioch shall not be attracted to false or misinterpreted gospels. Following the invention of printing by Guttenburg, during 15th century there began printing of hundreds of Bibles many of which are contradictory to the verses of the original hand written Bible. It was difficult to compare those printed Bibles with the hand written original Bible that was written in another language - Peshitho Syriac - Also it was not easily avilabe and was also not possible to take the original hand written Bible to all places where Bibles were printed during 15 th century for comparison.Then how could anybody who had not seen the original Bible, know that the thousands of verses printed are exactly similar with that of the hand written original Bible? As a result during the translation of the Bible into English and other languages lot of errors were crept in. Some of the verses were either twisted, misinterpreted or omitted.Since the original Bible was not easily available and traceable for comparison there ocured lot of misinterpretation of the verses which resulted in the emerging of different faith, different Churches having different liturgies.
An example can be seen in psalms Chapter 88 verses 10 to 12.This portion is written differently from what is written in the Peshitho Syriac Version.Faith,doctrines,holy sacraments, rituals and all spiritual ceremonis are being followed by the Church from its very beginning, were originated centuries before the compiling of the Bible that is available now. The original Bible was compiled by the holy fathers of this Church in the beginning of the fourth century AD. The Children of the Church have differences from ordinary people, since they have been chosen and sanctified by holy baptism, and anointed with holy Chrism - holy mooron - which contain the holy blood of Jesus and thus sealed in holy Spirit-. They have a special status, and they are the body of Christ, with Christ as the head (Ephesians 1:21). This is an invaluable status of the children of the Church established in Antioch. Saul was a prophet and preacher of this Church. He was ordained by the laying of hand by Holy Spirit in this Church and his name changed to Paul. ( Acts 13: 1 - 9)Christ the bridegroom, has promised His bride, the Church, that He will come quickly to take her to His Father's kingdom. (Revelation 22:11-12). Therefore the children of the Church should live in holiness, observing the sacraments and, obeying the commandments, and shoud wait with zealous for the bridegroom's return.Because this bride - Church - had been chosen by the Lord God even before the foundation of this world. So is written in
Ephesians: 1:3 " Blessed be God, the father of our Lord Jesus the Messiah, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in heaven through the Messiah just as God, previously chose us in the Messiah from before the foundation of the world so that we might be holy and "blameless" before him. "
Those who teach easy ways to heaven, for their own gain,or prosperity will be cursed (Galatians 1:7-9). The Church's children should be beware of such people and only drink from the fountain of wisdom and knowledge that the Church has, rather than listening to heretics.
The Church is holy in its origin, nature, and purpose. It is the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit, and those who enter it are sanctified. It stands as a fortress against sin, and its members are separated from the world and sanctified. Therefore, the Church's members are holy, and they are called saints in the New Testament, reminding them of their duty to live a holy life."