Filed under: Doctrine
The written record of God’s revelation is the Bible, which means the book, or the books. The Bible is also called the Holy Scriptures. Scripture as a word simply means writings.
The Bible was written over thousands of years by many different people. It is divided into two testaments or covenants. These words signify agreements, pacts, or we might say, “deals.” The two basic covenants are the old and the new; each has its own scriptures. As a book, the Bible contains many different kinds of writings: law, prophecy, history, poetry, stories, aphorisms, prayers, letters and symbolical visions.
The Old Testament
The Old Testament scripture begins with the five books of the Law called the Torah/Pentateuch, which means the five books; also means the Law. Sometimes these books are also called the Books of Moses since they are centered on the exodus and the Mosaic laws.
In the Old Testament there are also books of the history of Israel; books called the Wisdom books such as the Psalms, Proverbs, and the Book of Job; and books of the prophecies which carry the names of the Old Testament prophets. A prophet is one who speaks the Word of God by direct divine inspiration. Only secondarily does the word prophet mean one who foretells the future.
The Moorish Orthodoxy also numbers among the genuine books of the Old Testament the so-called apocryphal books, meaning literally the secret or hidden writings.
The New Testament
The center of the New Testament part of the Bible is the four gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John who are called the four evangelists, which means those who wrote the gospels. Gospel in Greek is evangelion which, as we have seen, means the “glad tidings” or the “good news.”
In the New Testament scripture there is also the book of the Acts of the Apostles, written by St. Luke. There are fourteen letters called the epistles (which simply means letters) of the Apostle Paul, though perhaps some, such as the Letter to the Hebrews, were not written directly by him. Three letters are also ascribed to the Apostle John; two to the Apostle Peter; and one each to the Apostles James and Jude. Finally there is the Book of Revelation, also called the Apocalypse, which is ascribed to St. John as well.
For Moorish Orthodoxy, the Bible is the main written source of divine doctrine since God Himself inspired its writing by His Holy Spirit (see 2 Tim 3:16 and 2 Pet 1:20). This is the doctrine of the inspiration of the Bible, namely that men inspired by God wrote the words which are truly their own human words — all words are human! — but which nevertheless may be called all together the Word of God. Thus, the Bible is the Word of God in written form because it contains not merely the thoughts and experiences of men, but the very self-revelation of God.
The center of the Bible as the written Word of God in human form is the person of the Living Word of God in human form, Yahshua the Messiah.
Filed under: Doctrine | Tags: apostle, moorish christians, orthodox church, Revelation
Revelation
Every morning at Sabbath Mass Service the Divine Kingdom Ministries meet in memebrs houses to proclaim that ”God is the Lord and has revealed Himself unto us; blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord” (Ps 118:26-27). The first foundation of Moorish Orthodox doctrine is found in this biblical line: God has revealed Himself to us.
God has shown Himself to His creatures. He has not disclosed His very innermost being, for this innermost essence of God cannot be grasped by creatures. But God has truly shown what men can see and understand of His divine nature and will.
The fullness and perfection of God’s self-revelation is found in His Son Yahshua the Messiah, the fulfillment of the revelation of God in the Old Testament. Yahshua is the one truly “blessed … who comes in the name of the Lord.”
The first title given to Yahshua by the people is that of Rabbi, which literally means teacher, in the English New Testament the word Master also issued in relation to Yahshua in the sense of one who teaches, such as in schoolmaster or holder of a master’s degree. Yahshua’ followers are also called disciples, which literally means students or pupils.
Yahshua came to men first of all as the Teacher sent from God. He teaches the will of God and makes God known to men. He reveals fully–as fully as men can grasp–the mysteries of the Kingdom of God.
The coming of Yahshua as teacher is one aspect of his being Christ the Messiah. The word Christ in Greek is the word for the Hebrew Messiah which means the Anointed of God. For when the messiah would come, it was foretold, men would be “taught by God” (Is 54:13, Jn 6:45).
Yahshua comes to men as the divine teacher. He claimed on many occasions that his words were those of God. He spoke as “one having authority” not like the normal Jewish teachers (Mt 7:29). And he accused those who rejected his teachings as rejecting God Himself.
He who believes in me, believes not in me but in him who sent me. And he who sees me sees Him who sent me. I have come as light into the world … for I have not spoken on my own authority; the Father who sent me has himself given me commandment what to speak. What I say, therefore, I say as the Father has bidden me. (Jn 12:44-50)
Yahshua taught men not only by his words, but also by his actions; and indeed by his very own person. He referred to himself as the Truth (John 14:6) and as the Light (Jn 8:12). He showed himself not merely to be speaking God’s words, but to be himself the Living Word of God in human flesh, the SPIRIT who is eternal and uncreated, but who has become man as Yahshua of Nazareth in order to make God known to the world.
In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God; all things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.
In him was life and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
The true light that enlightens every man was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world knew him not.
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth; we have beheld his glory, glory as of the only-begotten Son from the Father.
And from his fullness have we all received, grace upon grace. For the law came through Moses; grace and truth came through Yahshua.
No one has ever seen God; the only-begotten Son who is in the bosom of the Father, he has made him known.
(See Jn 1:1-18. Gospel Reading in the Orthodox Church)
Yahshua, the divine Word of God in human flesh, comes to teach men by his presence, his words and his deeds. His disciples are sent into the world to proclaim Him and His Gospel, which means literally the “glad tidings” or the “good news” of the Kingdom of God. Those whom Yahshua sends are called the Apostles, which means literally “those who are sent.” The Apostles are directly inspired by God’s Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth (Jn 15:26), to “make disciples of all nations” teaching them what Christ has commanded (Mt 28:19).
The early Church, we are told, “devoted themselves to the apostles’ doctrine” (Acts 2:42). Doctrine as a word simply means teaching or instruction. The apostles’ doctrine is the doctrine of Yahshua and becomes the doctrine of the body and Church. It is received by the disciples of every age and generation as the very doctrine of God. It is proclaimed everywhere and always as the doctrine of eternal life through which all men and the whole world are enlightened and saved.
At this point it must be mentioned that although God’s self-revelation in history through the chosen people of Israel–the revelation which culminates in the coming of the Messiah–is of primary importance, it is also the doctrine of the Christian Church that all genuine strivings of men after the truth are fulfilled in Yahshua. Every genuine insight into the meaning of life finds its perfection in the Gospel. Thus, the Holy Fathers of the Church taught that the yearnings of pagan religions and the wisdom of many philosophers are also capable of serving to prepare men for the doctrines of Yahshua and are indeed valid and genuine ways to the one Truth of God.
In this way considered certain philosophers to have been enlightened by God to serve the cause of Truth and to lead men to fullness of life in God since the Word and Wisdom of God is revealed to all men and is found in all men who in the purity of their minds and hearts have been inspired by the Divine Light which enlightens every man who comes into this world. This Divine Light is the word of God, Yahshua of Nazareth in human flesh, the perfection and fullness of God’s self-revelation to the world.
It cannot be overstressed that divine revelation in the Old Testament, in the Church of the New Testament, in the lives of the Saints, in the wisdom of the Fathers, in the beauty of creation … and most fully and perfectly in Yahshua The Messiah, the Son of God, is the revelation of God Himself. God has spoken. God has acted. God has manifested Himself and continues to manifest Himself in the lives of His people.
If we want to hear God’s voice and see God’s actions of self-revelation in the world, we must purify our minds and hearts from everything that is wicked and false. We must strive to love the truth, to love one another, and to love everything in God’s good creation. According to the Orthodox faith, purification from falsehood and sin is the way to the knowledge of God. If we open ourselves to divine grace and purify ourselves from all evils, then it is certain that we will be able to interpret the scriptures properly and come into living communion with the true and living God who has revealed Himself and continues to reveal Himself to those who love Him.
The ongoing life of God’s People is called Holy Tradition. The Holy Tradition of the Old Testament is expressed in the Old Testamental part of the Bible and in the ongoing life of the People of Israel until the birth of Christ. This tradition is fulfilled, completed and transcended in the time of the Messiah and in the Christian Church.
The New Testamental or Christian Tradition is also called the apostolic tradition and the tradition of the Church. The central written part of this tradition is the New Testamental writings in the Bible. The gospels and the other writings of the apostolic church form the heart of the Christian tradition and are the main written source and inspiration of all that developed in later ages.
This Christian tradition is given over from people to people, through space and time. Tradition as a word means exactly this: it is that which is “passed on” and “given over” from one to another. Holy Tradition is, therefore, that which is passed on and given over within the Church from the time of Christ’s apostles right down to the present day.
Although containing many written documents, Holy Tradition is not at all limited to what is written; it is not merely a body of literature. It is, on the contrary, the total life and experience of the entire Church transferred from place to place and from generation to generation. Tradition is the very life of the Church itself as it is inspired and guided by the Holy Spirit.
Not everything in the Church belongs to its Holy Tradition for not everything in the Church is done by the grace of the Holy Spirit, and not everything in the Church pertains essentially and necessarily to the Kingdom Of God. Some things in the Church are just temporal and temporary things, merely human customs and traditions of no eternal and everlasting value. Such things in themselves are not sinful or wrong. On the contrary, they may be very positive and very helpful to the life of the Church as long as they are not taken to be what they are not. Thus, it is very important in the Church to make the distinction between traditions which are merely earthly and human and passing away and the genuine Holy Tradition which pertains to the heavenly and eternal Kingdom of God.
It is also important to recognize that there are also things in the Church which not only do not belong to Holy Tradition, but which are not even to be counted among its positive human traditions. These things which are just sinful and wrong are brought into the life of the Church from the evil world. The Church in its human form, as an earthly institution, is not immune to the sins of its unholy members. These deviations and errors which creep into the life of the Church stand under the judgment and condemnation of the authentic and genuine Holy Tradition which comes from God.
Among the elements which make up the Holy Tradition of the Church, the Bible holds the first place. Next comes the Church’s liturgical life and its prayer, then its dogmatic decisions and the acts of its approved churchly councils, the writings of the church fathers, the lives of the saints, the canon laws, and finally the iconographic tradition together with the other inspired forms of creative artistic expression such as music and architecture. All of the elements of Holy Tradition are organically linked together in real life. None of them stands alone. None may be separated or isolated from the other or from the wholeness of the life of the Church. All come alive in the actual living of the life of the Church in every age and generation, in every time and place. As the Church continues to live by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, the Holy Tradition of the Church will continue to grow and develop. This process will go on until the establishment of the Kingdom of God at the end of the ages.
Filed under: Updates
Divine Kingdom Ministries is an Apostolic Orthodox Outreach through Divine Works, Prayer and faith will help Build Live and Maintain the “Kingdom of God.” Our staff is working diligently to introduce the Moorish Orthodox faith to the world. Be sure to visit often as we update our site regularly for everyone’s benefit.
For as the body without the spirt is dead, so is faith without works is dead also.
James 2:26
Thank You and God Bless
Rev. Apostle Nzrh Ali
