Tag Archives: St. John the Divine

Genesis? Romans? Or First Corinthians?

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This 19th century Russian icon, known as the “Apostle John the Theologian in Silence,” shows the apostle contemplating the beginning verses of his gospel: “In the beginning was the Word….” Any icon of St. John which shows his fingertips on his lips– like a librarian saying, “Shhhh!”–is a warning to keep silent when approaching God if we hope to begin to understand even a little of divine revelation. Which biblical book should we begin to quietly contemplate next week?

Which is it to be? I am thinking about my next series of blog posts. Too many choices! But I have narrowed the selections down to three possibilities–a series about the book of Genesis, or about the epistle to the Romans, or the first epistle to the Corinthians.

That’s quite a short list, isn’t it?! It’s traditional to begin reading the book of Genesis in the post-Epiphany season and continue reading it until Holy Week approaches. So much of Genesis sets the stage for the drama of redemption in Jerusalem that our understanding of Christ’s Passion-Death-Resurrection can only be enhanced by understanding more about the book of Genesis.

Romans is always interesting–and frequently controversial. Many theological debates and battles have been sparked by someone reading a portion of Romans, sharing their insights, and someone else arguing, “That’s not what it means!” Struggling with Romans is to struggle with some of the most basic and yet sophisticated theological ideas.

Then there is the first epistle of St. Paul to the Corinthians. Corinth was a cesspool of a city in the first century; a friend recently described it as “the Las Vegas of the first century!” The first Christian parish there had many difficulties, reflecting the difficulties in the city. There were several letters from church leaders to the parish in Corinth in the first two centuries, each urging the Corinthian Christians to get their act together! St. Paul’s first epistle to the Corinthians is the first salvo in that series of epistles that attempt to deal with the problems in Corinth.

Which series would my readers be most interested in? What do you want to read a series of blog posts about? This is certainly not a democracy–I will make the final decision! But I am interested in knowing what you–my readers–think. Let me know which series you might be most interested in reading. Then see which one begins next week.

Or do you have another idea for a different series altogether? Let me know!

Moses Atop Mt. Tabor and Mt. Sinai

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The Transfiguration of Christ: Part of an iconostasis from Mt. Sinai in the style of Constantinople (mid-12th century). We see the Prophet Elijah as an older man beside Christ and Moses, holding a copy of the Law given to him on Mt. Sinai, on Christ’s other side. St. Peter kneels below Elijah, with St. John the Divine below Christ and St. James below Moses.

Christ took the apostles Peter, James, and John the Divine to the top of Mt. Tabor to pray. The apostles fell asleep. When they awoke, they saw Christ transfigured–more brilliant than the sun–and Moses was there, with the Prophet Elijah, speaking with Christ about the Passion that Christ would soon experience in Jerusalem. (Moses and Elijah–the primary representatives of the Law and the Prophets of the Old Testament–were also representative of the living and the dead as Elijah was taken alive into heaven by the chariot of fire and Moses died on Mt. Nebo just outside the Promised Land.)

Although seen by the apostles on Mt. Tabor, Moses is more commonly associated with Mt. Sinai. The famous monastery of St. Catherine (a treasure trove of manuscripts and icons) marks the place on Mt. Sinai where Moses is said to have encountered God–his own face shining more brightly than the sun afterwards–and Moses gazes out at the congregation in the monastery church from the Transfiguration mosaic behind the altar-table; the church on Mt. Sinai is dedicated to the Transfiguration, underscoring Moses’ connections with both Sinai and Tabor.

The oldest record of monastic life at Sinai comes from the travel journal written in Latin by a woman named Egeria about 381–384. She visited many places around the Holy Land and Mount Sinai, where, according to the Old Testament, Moses received the Ten Commandments.

The monastery was built by order of Emperor Justinian I (reigned 527–565), enclosing the Chapel of the Burning Bush (also known as “Saint Helen’s Chapel”) ordered to be built by Empress Helena, mother of Constantine the Great, at the site where Moses is supposed to have seen the burning bush. The living bush on the grounds is purportedly the one seen by Moses. The place where Moses is said to have received the Ten Commandments is further up the mountain, behind the monastery.

The library at the monastery preserves the second largest collection of early codices and manuscripts in the world, outnumbered only by the Vatican Library The large icon collection begins with a few dating to the 5th-6th centuries; these icons are unique as the monastery was untouched by Byzantine iconoclasm, and never sacked.

A view of St Catherine’s Monastery on Mt. Sinai
Apse mosaic of the Transfiguration from Saint Catherine’s Monastery, Mt. Sinai, AD 565–6.