The Church as a commentary on Scripture...

I recently visited the most excellent Eastern Orthodox blog "Glory to God in All Things" (the author is, I believe, a collegue of The Pontificator) and read this fascinating (and thankfully not too long) post called Rethinking Reading.

The basic premise, drawing from several passages of the Bible, is that the Church of God is the Interpretation of Scripture.

This idea, as he fleshes it out, has really captivated my mind. He notes that in many corners of the Church (and this is not limited to American Evangelicalism, where it happens to be prevalent) the Church is seen as a sort of voluntary collection of believers who come together primarily in order to strengthen one another in the faith as they (individually) pursue sanctification and a closer (individual) walk with Jesus.

In contrast to this he presents a more Biblical, communal, and mystical view of the living Church of the Living Christ: the Body of Christ, the Bride of Christ, the Pillar and Foundation of the Truth, the Holy Temple of God, and so on (there are, now that I think of it, many Biblical images that fly in the face of this popular and individualistic conception).

Check it out!