When we think of fire in the Bible, we may come up with images of hellfire, the judgement of God and a casting away from His presence. In actuality, fire is used in scripture as a way of God revealing Himself and His holiness. Fire is God's presence which humans encounter, which refines and purifies - and in this way, it's not wrong to think of fire as being God's judgement. Could it be that those fires of hell are not a sign of God's absence, but rather of His presence? In the Orthodox tradition, we reframe our understanding of all fire in light of this.
Fr Geoffrey and Fr Yuri discuss this pattern that we see in the Scriptures, and how it is also found within our liturgical services.
In this seventh public season of Enacting the Kingdom, we are releasing a series on the Your Liturgical Bible that was previously only available to our patrons. If you like what you hear, and would like access to much more, please consider supporting our project by heading to patreon.com/enactingthekingdom and choosing a tier of support. We would love to have you join our growing community!
★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★