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In 1 John 3:21-4:6 the beloved are told not to believe every spirit but to test them, since many false prophets have gone into the world. Fr. Paul, commenting on prophecy in Thessalonians, notes that the faithful are not to accept every prophecy but
A daily note from the team at OCABS.ORG, drawing on the published works of Fr. Paul Nadim Tarazi, with citations to his books and lectures.
Readings: 1 John 3:21-4:6; 1 John 4:11-16; 1 John 4:20-5:5; John 21:15-25; 1 John 4:12-19; 1 Corinthians 14:20-25; Luke 4:31-36.
In 1 John 3:21-4:6 the beloved are told not to believe every spirit but to test them, since many false prophets have gone into the world. Fr. Paul, commenting on prophecy in Thessalonians, notes that the faithful are not to accept every prophecy but must "test and search them," holding fast to what serves the common good while abstaining from what does not come from God's Spirit.
In 1 John 4:11-16 love perfected in one another is the sign that God abides in us, since no one has ever seen God. Fr. Paul cites this same passage as the ultimate meaning of the divine commandment, summed up in the words "he who does not love does not know God; for God is love." He further explains, from his comments on Corinthians, that knowledge of God always comes second to being known by God first, quoting "We love, because he first loved us," so that those already known by God bear "a special obligation to love those lesser then they."
In 1 John 4:20-5:5 the one who says he loves God while hating his brother is called a liar, for love of the unseen God is bound to love of the brother who is seen. Fr. Paul observes that John presents this not as a "new" but as the "old" commandment "from the beginning," and he hears it echoed in Paul's word to the Galatians that the whole law is fulfilled in the single command to love one's neighbor, against whose fruit "there is no law."
The root pair of the day · י-ד-ע yod–dalet–ʿayin, יָדַע yadaʿ · و–د–ع wāw–dāl–ʿayn, مُسْتَوْدَع mustawdaʿ · know; learn to know; perceive. The root yadaʿ and mustawdaʿ carries the sense of knowing, matching gignosko and oida that thread through these readings: "by this we know," "test the spirits," "he who knows God listens to us." The note's stress on testing prophecy and on being known by God before knowing him echoes this same root of perception and recognition. cf. The Consolation of Consonants
Sources: Tarazi, I Thessalonians: A Commentary, p. 197; Tarazi, Land and Covenant, p. 293; Tarazi, 1 Corinthians: A Commentary, p. 151; Tarazi, The Rise of Scripture, p. 349.
Opening music: Taksim Arbi, Bichi Slama, oud (Tunis, Archives de la Parole, 1930s), public domain. Source: gallica.bnf.fr / BnF.
A daily note from the team at OCABS.ORG, drawing on the published works of Fr. Paul Nadim Tarazi, with citations to his books and lectures.
Every day: the readings of the Orthodox lectionary read in full, a short note on them, and a root pair from the Consolation of Consonants, Hebrew and Arabic, chosen for the day’s readings. About five minutes a day, from OCABS on the Ephesus School Network. Read each note, with its citations, at ocabs.org.