The man Jesus Christ in the Bible

What does ‘Christ’ mean? The word comes from the Greek ‘Christos’, which means anointed. There is no doubt that Jesus was anointed by the Holy Spirit to do the works of God. Now, whether this anointing took place upon his baptism in the river Jordan or at the end of his forty-days’ fasting in the wilderness, where he overcame all temptations, we cannot be sure.   We know, however, that if someone is anointed by God, he has been vested with power to do miracles. And there is no doubt that Jesus was anointed, i.e. baptized “with the Holy Spirit and with fire”.

Let us now examine what the Scriptures say about the characteristics and the offices that Christians attribute to Jesus.

I: Born of a virgin 

It is an article of the Christian Creed that Jesus was born of Virgin Mary and that his Father was the Holy Spirit! Some people argue that believing or not in this doctrine would be irrelevant to one’s spiritual walk. In my opinion, this doctrine is not completely harmless. Indeed it has some negative...

God is One in the Bible

To rightly describe God, the Ultimate Reality, the Absolute Light, the basis of all existence, requires divine wisdom, communion and perfect union with the Almighty. It requires entering into the very Essence of God! This, of course, presupposes absolute purity of one’s heart and mind, something that can be attained by freeing ourselves of everything that is born of ignorance.

Being aware of my personal limitations, I proceed to the first chapter of this blog with awe. Anyway, I am convinced that nobody can really know God through the description of others – even if those were some of the Bible writers – although all this admittedly helps. We can enter into the true knowledge of God only when we transcend the ego-consciousness,...

In quest of Biblical Truth

When I seriously started searching for God, trying to find enlightenment, strength, meaning and purpose in my life, the Bible was the first book I turned to, with great awe and expectation. This was natural for me, a nominal Greek Orthodox up until that time, as in my school I had been taught that the Bible, both the Old and the New Testament, was the foundation of Christianity.

Hungry for spiritual food as I was, I threw myself into studying “the Word of God” diligently. However, I was soon to realize that a systematic inquiry into the Bible wasn’t going to be an easy task. Particularly the study of the Old Testament proved rather difficult. Quite often I lost patience in the process, as I had to search through lengthy historical accounts and ceremonial descriptions before finding some spiritual “germs” here and there, which nourished my soul and lifted up my spirit. 

There were even instances when I dared to murmur, “NO! This cannot be the Word of God”,...