Ephraem's most outstanding characteristic as a teacher is his
close adherence to the Bible. His attitude to Scripture is reverent, for the
Divine books have been given to us from God through the Holy Spirit. They are
the means of our salvation. The mysteries of the holy books and their wonderful
harmony are accessible only to those who approach them with faith. On the
twenty-two streams a tree grows forth which bears many fruits, and its branches
extend beyond the bounds of the earth. Ephraem uses the Old Testament text of
the Peshitta and only rarely cites the Septuagint, probably
referring to a Syriac translation or relying on a glossary. Occasionally he
mentions the Hebrew text or Hebrew commentary, but he never quotes these
directly.
Ephraem begins by examining the literal meaning of the Biblical
text before exploring the significance of the events and characters of the Old
Testament, including Adam and Eve, the patriarchs, the flood, and so forth, as
prototypes and prefigurations. He interprets the narrative of the six days of
creation literally, and in the tradition of Hebrew exegesis he understands the
"Spirit of God" in Genesis 1:2 as a powerful wind which moved and warmed
the waters. God created man not by a simple command, in the way that He created
the rest of the world, but with circumspection, through a kind of exchange of
ideas among all the members of the Trinity. Man, like other incorporeal spirits,
is created by God with a free will and a free choice between good and evil. In
order for man to recognize God as his Creator and Master, God gave him His first
commandment and prohibition. In Ephraem's conception the forbidden tree is a
simple tree, but there is no other command that God could have given. God could
not have told the first man not to kill, or steal, or commit adultery, or that
he should love his neighbor because as yet there were no other people.
Man's likeness to God is revealed in his freedom. Because man
contains the image of God within himself, man's thought possesses a kind of
omnipresence and is capable of embracing all places. The first man was adorned
with a "robe of glory" and with "heavenly garments" and the bliss and grandeur
of man's state before the fall surpass description. We lost these through the
lust and arrogant disobedience of the first Eve, but they are returned to us
through the second Eve, the Virgin Mary. Our first paradise is restored to us in
the Church, and the tree of life is here replaced by the Eucharist. Ephraem
interprets all Messianic references as prefigurations.
Source:
No comments:
Post a Comment