Scripture has never been just a text. In the Orthodox Church, it is a way of life.
In The Life of Our Fathers, Fr. Silviu Bunta shows how Scripture functions in the Orthodox Church. Rather than giving a method to interpret Scripture, he points to the way Apostolic Christianity has always engaged biblical revelation—by living the ascetical and liturgical life of the Church. There is no distance between reader and text, and the Bible is not an object of study and analysis but a reality that we participate in through the life of the Church in her services and ascetical practices. As we put off the old man, and with it the crushing weight of our fallen egos, the words of Scripture become our own speech and we ourselves are transformed and made new.
Born from talks given to lay audiences, this book remains deeply accessible. It challenges common assumptions about how to approach Scripture, showing us a far deeper and richer path of participation. This is not a call to interpret better, but to live differently. For anyone seeking to understand how Scripture functions in the Orthodox tradition, The Life of Our Fathers offers a rare and timely guide.
About the Author:
Rev. Silviu Nicolae Bunta, Ph.D., is Senior Scholar in Scripture at the University of Dayton, where he taught from 2007 to 2022. He now serves as a priest at St. George Orthodox Church in Pharr, Texas, while continuing his research and writing. His scholarly work spans the Hebrew Bible, the ascetical and mystical traditions of early Judaism, and the ancient Christian and Orthodox interpretation of Scripture. With both academic depth and pastoral experience, Fr. Silviu brings a unique and compelling voice to contemporary conversations about the life of Scripture in the Orthodox Church.
