Scripture Readings - New Testament Readings

New Testament Readings

The books of the Bible which contain the revelation of God since the coming of Christ: the four Gospels, the Acts of the Apostles, the seven General Epistles, the fourteen Epistles of Saint Paul, and the Book of Revelation (Apocalypse).

The center of the New Testament part of the Bible is the four gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John who are called the four evangelists, which means those who wrote the gospels. Gospel in Greek is ‘evangelion’ which, as we have seen, means the “glad tidings” or the “good news.”

In the New Testament scripture there is also the book of the Acts of the Apostles, written by St. Luke. There are fourteen letters called the epistles (which simply means letters) of the Apostle Paul, though perhaps some, such as the Letter to the Hebrews, were not written directly by him. Three letters are also ascribed to the Apostle John; two to the Apostle Peter; and one each to the Apostles James and Jude. Finally there is the Book of Revelation, also called the Apocalypse, which is ascribed to St. John as well.

For the Orthodox, the Bible is the main written source of divine doctrine since God Himself inspired its writing by His Holy Spirit (see 2 Tim 3:16 and 2 Pet 1:20). This is the doctrine of the inspiration of the Bible, namely that men inspired by God wrote the words which are truly their own human words—all words are human!—but which nevertheless may be called all together the Word of God. Thus, the Bible is the Word of God in written form because it contains not merely the thoughts and experiences of men, but the very self-revelation of God.

The center of the Bible as the written Word of God in human form is the person of the Living Word of God in human form, Jesus Christ. All parts of the Bible are interpreted in the Orthodox Church in the light of Christ, since everything in the Bible leads up to Christ and speaks about Him (Lk 24: 44). This fact is symbolized in the Orthodox Church by the fact that only the book of the four gospels is enthroned on the altars of our churches and not the entire Bible. This is so because everything in the Bible is fulfilled in Christ.

Reading Read Time Hit Count
Ephesians 6:10-17 (27th Sunday after Pentecost) 1 min 4,907
Ephesians 6:10-17 (Saturday After the Theophany) 1 min 5,840
Ephesians 6:18-24 (18th Friday after Pentecost) 1 min 3,907
Galatians 1:1-10,20-2:5 (14th Thursday after Pentecost) 2 mins 3,912
Galatians 1:11-19 (20th Sunday after Pentecost) 1 min 4,206
Galatians 1:11-19 (Saint James) 1 min 4,968
Galatians 1:11-19 (Sunday after Nativity) 1 min 5,958
Galatians 1:3-10 (25th Saturday after Pentecost) 1 min 4,232
Galatians 2:11-16 (15th Monday after Pentecost) 1 min 4,098
Galatians 2:16-20 (21st Sunday after Pentecost) 1 min 5,169
Galatians 2:21-3:7 (15th Tuesday after Pentecost) 1 min 4,331
Galatians 2:6-10 (14th Friday after Pentecost) 1 min 3,958
Galatians 3:13-14 (Great and Holy Saturday) - 4,721
Galatians 3:15-22 (15th Wednesday after Pentecost) 1 min 6,428
Galatians 3:23-29 (Eve of the Nativity) 1 min 5,319
Galatians 3:23-4:5 (15th Thursday after Pentecost) 1 min 4,068
Galatians 3:8-12 (Saturday Before the Nativity) 1 min 5,232
Galatians 4:22-31 (St. Anna) 1 min 4,794
Galatians 4:28-5:10 (16th Monday after Pentecost) 1 min 3,941
Galatians 4:4-7 (Nativity of Our Lord God and Savior Jesus Christ) - 7,937
Galatians 4:8-21 (15th Friday after Pentecost) 1 min 4,106
Galatians 5:11-21 (16th Tuesday after Pentecost) 1 min 3,984
Galatians 5:22-26;6:1-2 (saints) 1 min 8,427
Galatians 6:11-18 (22nd Sunday after Pentecost) 1 min 4,515