Searching The Book for ...

LISTING #3.  RELEVANT TO YOU - APPLICABLE?
      continuation from 2

[Top conclusion, #6] "The patristic approach should be a clear indication that attention should be diverted to a careful study of the identity of the Old and New Testaments, in both their therapeutic asceticism and Christo-centricism.[3]"
      The Testaments are bound in a single book. Christ is there and now He is not - 'here a little, there a little' (the mystery of it all)? He is not the words. Searching the Book for spiritual help, growth, and therapy; not realizing, this obsession is part of a healthy denying-of-self discipline with directives in the Book to do that which i am doing in the Book. So ignorant when we first start! What is a nous?, where is mine? Well, i've been to the river and i've been baptized - maybe that will help. Jesus said, 'search the scriptures; they are they that testify of me'.

"One cannot fulfill the commandments (of Christ) unless he undergoes the cleansing and illumination of his noetic faculty and reaches the threshold of glorification.[4]"
      There are thousands of commandments and directives in the Bible. A physical therapist for my broken leg and a heart therapist for my broken heart. All the kings horses and all the kings men could not put humpty-dumpty together again, but the God of the Bible is the exception.

"A person with broken legs cannot run in the race no matter how much he wants to;" until his "legs have healed and have been restored to a competitive degree of power.[5]"
      In getting up to run after Christ which can become like running into a wall over and over (an experience for some) - He is perfect and i am not. Did He not send me an invitation and meet with me?

"The commandments of Christ cannot be fulfilled by any simple decision to do so or by any confidence in having been elected.[1]"
      It is time to pick and try one command of Christ, with the idea of getting that one down and then adding others. 'Except a man deny himself' (asceticism) will be my first choice. Now in prayer and quiet-time my inner voice has one precious word that i can't quite make out ... ?

"To take the shape of asceticism without its heart and core and to apply it to a system of moral precepts for personal and social ethics is to produce a society of puritanical hypocrites who believe they have a special claim on God's love because of their morality, predestination, or both.[2]"
      The heart and core of true denying-of-self take-up-your-cross discipline is not the Bible, but rather the faith-tradition the Bible was built around and points out to its readers. The cure for man's condition as seen in the Bible has never failed when applied, except in those few maintaining a fatal rare condition - hardening of the heart.    

Biblical tradition "is a therapeutical asceticism (denying-of-self discipline) which is not daunted by any degree of malady of the heart or noetic faculty, short of its complete hardening.[3]"
      There are many moral systems and systems of ethics that declare the Bible as their foundation, however their authors often misunderstood the nature of the Bible completely.

[Top conclusion, #5) The biblical tradition as preserved by the Fathers (of the Church) cannot be identified with or reduced to a system of moral precepts or Christian ethics.[4]"
      The spirituality of true glory is not identified or verified by some self-promoting psychic, but rather carefully preserved and passed on with the help of one saint to another.

True "Orthodox spirituality was believed to be and indeed is an identifiable and verifiable phenomenon.[5]"
      When the ruler(s) of a nation choose true Christianity to minister to her citizens, to heal the ills of her societies, certain laws and legislative principles are solidified to exercise the Church, yet remain separate from the Church.

"Great impetus to identical doctrinal expression was given during the time Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire and accommodated the government's need to distinguish genuine therapists from quack therapists in the same manner that government agencies have the responsibility to distinguish genuine members of the medical profession from quack doctors ... for the protection of its citizens.[1]"
      True prophets that are raised up from various geographical areas in a nation easily present a united front when deciding how to best express their experiences in genuine spiritual elevation.

"When they (those gifted through illumination and glorification) do meet they readily agree on uniformity of doctrinal expression of their identical experience.[2]"
     It stands to reason that that which true prophets use to point others in the right direction (doctrinal expressions); if from different times, places, or environments, need not be expected to have the same manner of expressing themselves or to have the same descriptors of the Indescribable.



.... CONTINUED FROM THE PREVIOUS LISTING ...
[1]. Search for any partial string between any set of quotation marks to follow my sources.
[2]. ALL MY SOURCES ARE ON LINE.
[3]. All My Sources Are On Line.
[4]. All My Sources Are On Line.
[1-5]. John S. Romanides, Romanity.org