“In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth”. At first glance, one might think that this refers to the blue sky above us and the ground beneath our feet. Moving on to the second verse, however,
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor,
A certain wise man, when enumerating which blessings are the most important included a wife and husband who live in harmony (Sir. 25:1). In another place he emphasized this:
When we teach our children to be good, to be gentle, to be forgiving (all these are attributes of God), to be generous, to love their follow men, to regard this present age as nothing, we instill virtue in their souls, and reveal the image of God within them. And then,
“God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female, He created them.” (Genesis 1:27). At the first glance, it seems that it should read “men” or “humans” because there are two. However,
If Peter had not failed to catch anything during the night’s fishing (cf. Lk 5:5), he would not have caught anything during the day. And if Paul had not suffered physical blindness (cf. Ac 9:8), he would not have been given spiritual sight. And if Stephen had not been slandered as a blasphemer, he would not have seen the heavens opened and have looked on God (cf. Ac 6:15; 7:56). As work according to God is called virtue, so unexpected affliction is called a
Numbers 16:46-50: “And Moses said to Aaron, Take your censer, and put fire therein from off the altar, and lay…
An the word of Lord came to Elijah: “What are you doing here, Elijah?” He replied,…