The Bible and the Holy Fathers for Orthodox, Edited by Johanna Manley

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Does anything have thoughts that they would like to share about this book? I have been looking for a reliable scripture commentary from the Eastern perspective and due to the varying response to the OSB, I have stayed away from that one. I am a Latin Rite Catholic and while I have no interest or plan in switching rites or moving to Orthodoxy, I do think there is much to learn from the Biblical tradition that exists in Orthodoxy and would enjoy finding something to complement by Bible study from that perspective.

The reviews for this text seem positive from what I can tell but it never hurts to ask. One question I do have however is, does this text cover the entire Bible or not? I know in Roman Catholocism, we do not cover the entire Bible in our liturgical readings but I am unfamiliar with how Orthodoxy handles their liturgical year.

Here is a link to the text in question for those who may be unfamiliar with it: LINK

Thanks in advance!

Peace,

Jason
 
Here’s one listing:

bombaxo.com/greek.html

I’d check the Google Books version I linked above to get a sense of what’s in the text. I have a copy of the book and have enjoyed using it as a devotional for Scripture reading.

There’s a whole series:

The Psalter:

books.google.com/books?id=JPevnZLKL_gC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

Isaiah:

books.google.com/books?id=y17fkvqXOBcC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

Job and other OT books:

books.google.com/books?id=tL_oEbqa8pQC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

Peter
 
It’s actually a magnificent text which any Christian can read and benefit from.

Alex
 
I believe the majority of the New Testament is covered in the Eastern Orthodox/Catholic Lectionary. The entire Psalter is traditionally recited weekly (if memory serves me correctly), but this is mostly only done today by monasteries. Not much of the Old Testament is covered. I once asked someone how Eastern Christians learn the Old Testament if it is rarely read during the liturgical services, to which he replied, “We read it.” 😛

There are a couple of online radio programs on Ancient Faith Radio that are dedicated to understanding the Scriptures from an Eastern/Byzantine perspective. I recommend both. The “Coffee Cup Commentaries” are very nicely done and rather short, ranging anywhere from 20 - 40 minutes. “Search the Scriptures” is done by a biblical scholar, Dr. Eugenia Constantinou. It is essentially her Intro to Scripture university course. A word of caution with her program, however, is that she tends to be VERY polemical against Catholicism, and her polemics very much betray her lack of knowledge of Catholicism despite having gone to Catholic school and being taught by the nuns (of course all Catholics, myself included, know that attendance at a Catholic school does not mean one received a good Catholic education).

St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press also has a number of books by Orthodox biblical scholar, Fr. Paul Nadim Tarazi. I’ve not read them as of yet, but I get the sense that his work is very good and he seems to take a similar approach as Dr. Scott Hahn.

St. Herman of Alaska Press has recently published a book of daily Scripture meditations written by St. Theophan the Recluse meant to accompany the Lectionary. Although I do not yet own it, I cannot recommend it highly enough. St. Theophan is in every way a profound author and he possessed deep insight into the spiritual life. His writings have been a heavy influence on my own spiritual life, and I look forward to the day that I can add this book to my ever-expanding and shrinking library.
 
jwinch2 said:
I know in Roman Catholocism, we do not cover the entire Bible in our liturgical readings
Click to expand...
Actually since the revision of the Missal and Lectionary the Roman Church reads pretty much the entire Bible in a three-year cycle, unless you also attend daily Mass in which case you will hear practically the entire Bible in one year! This is one of the great strengths of the reform begun by Pius X and brought to a certain amount of fruition under Paul VI (although of course the reform continues even to this day). From what I’ve read and from what my professors have taught me it was the tradition of nearly the entire Church, East and West, to read almost the entire Bible throughout the liturgical year. Whether it was divided up in a three-year cycle or not I do not know.
 
jwinch2 said:
How much of the Bible is covered in the Orthodox liturgical year?

Thanks!

Jason
Click to expand...
It is as the Master Beadsman (Mr. Rolfes) has said. The Old Testament prophecies and the like are read on major feastdays, but the OT is not read in its entirety in the liturgical services.

All Christians, especially Orthodox monastics, should have the standard rule of reading one chapter of the Four Gospels and two chapters of the rest of the New Testament daily and this gets on through the New Testament four times a year.

St Seraphim of Sarov and others read the NT every wee.

Alex
 
Alexander_Roman said:
It is as the Master Beadsman (Mr. Rolfes) has said. The Old Testament prophecies and the like are read on major feastdays, but the OT is not read in its entirety in the liturgical services.

All Christians, especially Orthodox monastics, should have the standard rule of reading one chapter of the Four Gospels and two chapters of the rest of the New Testament daily and this gets on through the New Testament four times a year.

St Seraphim of Sarov and others read the NT every wee.

Alex
Click to expand...
Any idea how he broke it up?
 
Phillip_Rolfes said:
Actually since the revision of the Missal and Lectionary the Roman Church reads pretty much the entire Bible in a three-year cycle, unless you also attend daily Mass in which case you will hear practically the entire Bible in one year! This is one of the great strengths of the reform begun by Pius X and brought to a certain amount of fruition under Paul VI (although of course the reform continues even to this day). From what I’ve read and from what my professors have taught me it was the tradition of nearly the entire Church, East and West, to read almost the entire Bible throughout the liturgical year. Whether it was divided up in a three-year cycle or not I do not know.
Click to expand...
The Roman church does read the majority of the NT but there is a massive portion of the OT which is not covered in the daily or weekly Mass readings. I know that it had been increaesd, but it is still not completely read.

Thanks,
 
ciero said:
Any idea how he broke it up?
Click to expand...
The traditional Slavic system for reading the New Testament [edited from an e–mail by the V. Rev. John R. Shaw of the Russian Orthodox Church (now Bishop Jerome of Manhattan), to ustav@egroups.com, Monday, August 23, 1999]

In the margins of the Church Slavonic Gospel and Epistle books are divisions for use in reading the New Testament privately (“in one’s cell”). This system results in the Epistles (minus the Apocalypse, which is not printed in the liturgical Epistolary) being read through in eight weeks, and the Gospels being read through in four weeks. Since the Revelation (Apocalypse) of St. John is prescribed to be read in some seasons at the Night Vigil, and is in the Church Slavonic Bible, it is included in the table below.

If read consecutively, the entire New Testament would thus be read through in 14 weeks, or about four times a year. NOTE: Thus far, the introductions to each of the New Testament Books that are in the Church Slavonic Epistle and Gospel books have not been published in English; but, for now, one can substitute comparable introductions, such as those found in the Orthodox Study Bible, or elsewhere.

The Gospels

Week 1
Monday: Matthew 1:1–7:18
Tuesday: Matthew 7:19–12:38
Wednesday: Matthew 12:38–18:35
Thursday: Matthew 19:1–24:26
Friday: Matthew 24:27–end

Week 2
Monday: Mark 1:1–4:23
Tuesday: Mark 4:24–7:24a
Wednesday: Mark 7:24b–10:16
Thursday: Mark 10:17–13:29
Friday: Mark 13:30–end

Week 3
Monday: Luke 1:1–5:24
Tuesday: Luke 5:25–9:42
Wednesday: Luke 9:43–14:14
Thursday: Luke 14:15–20:18
Friday: Luke 20:19–end

Week 4
Monday: John 1:1–5:22
Tuesday: John 5:23–8:28
Wednesday: John 8:29–12:17
Thursday: John 12:18–16:33
Friday: John 16:34–end

Epistles

Week 1
Sunday: Introduction–Acts 3:2
Monday: Acts 3:3–5:18
Tuesday: Acts 5:19–7:47
Wednesday: Acts 7:47–10:16
Thursday: Acts 10:17–42
Friday: Acts 10:43–13:11
Saturday: Acts 13:12–15:3

Week 2
Sunday: Acts 15:4–17:2
Monday: Acts 17:3–19:2
Tuesday: Acts 19:3–20:27
Wednesday: Acts 20:28–21:38
Thursday: Acts 21:39–24:21
Friday: Acts 24:21–27:1
Saturday: Acts 27:2–end

Week 3
Sunday: James 1:1–4:4
Monday: James 4:5–I Peter 2:10
Tuesday: I Peter 2:11–4:7
Wednesday: I Peter 4:8–II Peter 3:1
Thursday: II Peter 3:2–I John 3:8
Friday: I John 3:9–end
Saturday: II John 1:1–end

Week 4
Sunday: Romans 1:1–3:17
Monday: Romans 3:18–6:20
Tuesday: Romans 6:21–9:3
Wednesday: Romans 9:4–11:33
Thursday: Romans 11:34–15:15
Friday: Romans 15:16– I Corinthians 1:26
Saturday: I Corinthians 1:27–5:10

Week 5
Sunday: I Corinthians 5:11–8:6
Monday: I Corinthians 8:7–11:20
Tuesday: I Corinthinas 11:21–14:24
Wednesday: I Corinthians 14:25–16:55
Thursday: I Corinthians 16:56–II Corinthians 2:11
Friday: II Corinthians 2:12–7:2
Saturday: II Corinthians 7:3–10:10

Week 6
Sunday: II Corinthians 10:11–12:21
Monday: II Corinthians 13:1–Galatians 2:19
Tuesday: Galatians 2:20–5:18
Wednesday: Galatians 5:19–Ephesians 2:20
Thursday: Ephesians 2:21–5:33
Friday: Ephesians 6:1–Philippians 2:12
Saturday: Philippians 2:13–Introduction to Colossians

Week 7
Sunday: Colossians 1:1–3:15
Monday: Colossians 3:16–I Thessalonians 4:1
Tuesday: I Thessalonians 4:2–II Thessalonians 3:1
Wednesday: II Thessaonians 3:2–I Timothy 3:10
Thursday: I Timothy 3:11–II Timothy 1:8
Friday: II Timothy 1:9–4:28
Saturday: Introduction to Titus and Titus 1:1–end

Week 8
Sunday: Introduction to Hebrews and Hebrews 1:1–3:16
Monday: Hebrews 3:17–6:19
Tuesday: Hebrews 6:20–9:6
Wednesday: Hebrews 9:7–10:34
Thursday: Hebrews 10:35–12:10
Friday: Hebrews 12:11–end
Saturday: If desired, Revelation 1:1–2:2

Week 9 (optional)
Sunday: Revelation 2:3–3:2
Monday: Revelation 3:3–4:4
Tuesday: Revelation 4:5–5:5
Wednesday: Revelation 5:6–6:7
Thursday: Revelation 6:8–7:8
Friday: Revelation 7:9–8:9
Saturday: Revelation 8:10–9:11

Week 10 (optional)
Sunday: Revelation 9:12–10:11
Monday: Revelation 11:1–19
Tuesday: Revelation 12:1–13:18
Wednesday: Revelation 14:1–15:18
Thursday: Revelation 16:1–17:18
Friday: Revelation 18:1–20:8
Saturday: Revelation 20:9–end
 
Phillip_Rolfes said:
I believe the majority of the New Testament is covered in the Eastern Orthodox/Catholic Lectionary. The entire Psalter is traditionally recited weekly (if memory serves me correctly), but this is mostly only done today by monasteries. Not much of the Old Testament is covered. I once asked someone how Eastern Christians learn the Old Testament if it is rarely read during the liturgical services, to which he replied, “We read it.” 😛

There are a couple of online radio programs on Ancient Faith Radio that are dedicated to understanding the Scriptures from an Eastern/Byzantine perspective. I recommend both. The “Coffee Cup Commentaries” are very nicely done and rather short, ranging anywhere from 20 - 40 minutes. “Search the Scriptures” is done by a biblical scholar, Dr. Eugenia Constantinou. It is essentially her Intro to Scripture university course. A word of caution with her program, however, is that she tends to be VERY polemical against Catholicism, and her polemics very much betray her lack of knowledge of Catholicism despite having gone to Catholic school and being taught by the nuns (of course all Catholics, myself included, know that attendance at a Catholic school does not mean one received a good Catholic education).

St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press also has a number of books by Orthodox biblical scholar, Fr. Paul Nadim Tarazi. I’ve not read them as of yet, but I get the sense that his work is very good and he seems to take a similar approach as Dr. Scott Hahn.

St. Herman of Alaska Press has recently published a book of daily Scripture meditations written by St. Theophan the Recluse meant to accompany the Lectionary. Although I do not yet own it, I cannot recommend it highly enough. St. Theophan is in every way a profound author and he possessed deep insight into the spiritual life. His writings have been a heavy influence on my own spiritual life, and I look forward to the day that I can add this book to my ever-expanding and shrinking library.
Click to expand...
I agree whole heartedly with your comments regarding the “Coffee Cup Commentaries”, now that Fr. Farley is taking a break prior programs are being rebroadcast. I believe that he did somewhere around 360 podcasts on scripture and I hope they keep repeating them all.

I had to stop listening to “Search the Scriptures”, the anti-Catholic lectures were off topic and misguided.
 
jwinch2 said:
Does anything have thoughts that they would like to share about this book?
Click to expand...
I actually have that style orthodox bible, I like the Final Prayer of the Divine Office in the back index. It’s useful for your prayer corner.
 
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