Orthodox Bible Study error?

mikeforjesus

On page 345

It says When God said to abraham so shall your descendants be.. it was not plural but singular about Christ

But I don't agree with this.. since God told Abraham to look at the stars and number them if he can

obviously the LORD was talking about his many physical seed or his children who by faith are made his children...



Maybe it is important to agree with this commentary for salvation.. maybe there is something I have not considered

mikeforjesus

Can someone explain Romans 3:9 -31 for me?

From other parts in the bible it seems we must believe and do good works to be saved.. parable of the talents and five foolish virgins, 

noone sexually immoral , .... shall inherit the kingdom of God

Is there any other parts?  I know of the book of James.. faith without works is dead

yet this part of Romans seems to say we are saved just by faith..

yet the church has never believed this from the beginning .. this maybe came about approx 16th century


Can a person even have faith without works?

pope shenouda says if I am correct.. if a person does not have works his intellectual faith will be taken from him also if he had it before

from his commentary on "... even what he has will be taken from him" from the parable of the talents

FROM
MANY YEARS
WITH PEOPLE’S QUESTIONS
PART III
SPIRITUAL AND GENERAL QUESTIONS
By
H. H. POPE SHENOUDA III

http://www.stmarkla.org/component/option,com_docman/task,doc_download/gid,124/

Unknown

[quote author=mikeforjesus link=topic=5278.msg70632#msg70632 date=1178336164]
On page 345

It says When God said to abraham so shall your descendants be.. it was not plural but singular about Christ

But I don't agree with this.. since God told Abraham to look at the stars and number them if he can


The Septuagint reads "outwV estai to sperma sou" which means "Thus shall your seed be."

So the commentary is correct in saying the word is singular.

I checked the Hebrew text as well. It reads "zar3ekha." My knowledge of Hebrew is pretty much non-existant, but I know plural is indicated by the word ending in "im". However it says zar3ekha and not zar3eimkha, so also the Jewish text has it in the singular.

It is the same word as is found in Genesis 3:16 when God says "And I will put emnity between thee and the woman and between thy seed and her seed...."

The Fathers of the Church clearly interpret Genesis 3:16 as refering to Christ.

However, in 15:5 it seems to be as you say, that it refers to the many descendants, since it talks about the number of stars.

What we must bear in mind is that prophecy is rarely singular in its meaning, and one verse can have several different meanings. So Genesis 3:16 might refer specifically to Christ dying, and through His death crushing the head of the serpent (death). But it is also refering to the constant struggle that exists between the descendants of Adam and Eve and sin and death.

Likewise, 15:5 seems to be refering to Abraham's descendants - the nation of Israel - but that does not mean it cannot be specifically applied to Christ. For as St. Paul says: "Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his Seed. He saith not, “And to seeds,” as upon many; but as of One, “And to thy Seed,” Who is Christ." (Galatians 3:16).

mikeforjesus

Thanks alot for your reply