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Tradition - Pascha Cycle - Scripture
Chi-Rho from the Book of Kells
Please make sure that you have read the main
"Tradition" page first
Setting the Scene
To summarise, here are some key understandings of Scripture in Orthodox
Christianity:-
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The Bible is the Church's book or
rather collection of books. It represents that part of Tradition which
has definitive status within the Church's dogmatic corpus of writings.
Much of Scripture was originally an oral revelation inspired by the Holy
Spirit and handed down as the spoken Word of God within the community.
It was later written down and collected into a canon of authoritative
writings to preserve its integrity and permanent character. In this
process the Church of both the Old and New Testaments was guided by God to
preserve its own witness that has its ultimate source in God himself.
-
Since the Scriptures crystallised
out of the oral tradition which is ongoing, it cannot be separated from that
nor can that wider Tradition be separated from or set against Scripture.
The Scriptures, therefore, need to be interpreted within this framework of
Holy Tradition and cannot be rightly understood by any single exegete no
matter how knowledgeable, holy and skilled that person might be.
Moreover, because we believe that other Christian traditions have distorted
both Tradition and Scripture, an Orthodox Christian will place a primary
value on an Orthodox approach to the Word of God preferring that all times
to any other.
-
The Scriptures testify to the Living
Word of God Himself, the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity or Logos who
as Christ has become flesh. The authority of Scripture therefore
derives from Christ, the living Lord. The Bible therefore has a
personal as well as ecclesial dimension within the life of the Orthodox
Church, pre-eminently in worship where the living Tradition, the Church and
Scripture continue to interact under the guidance of God.
-
Based on this ecclesial, personal
and doxological aspect, the interpretation of Scripture proceeds on many
levels and although differing schools of interpretation have from time to
time emphasised various approaches a true Orthodox approach should integrate
all established methods. So in addition to the historical dimension
(favoured by Antioch) we must add the spiritual and allegorical (favoured by
Alexandria) and the typological (favoured by the Syriac fathers). The
limits to interpretation have been set by the conciliar decisions of the
Church, most notably in the Ecumenical Councils and Creeds.
-
The Orthodox Church believes that
the Holy Scriptures, thus understood, are the patrimony of all the baptised
and that all the faithful may and should profit from their prayerful and
careful study to the greater glory of God and His Kingdom.
Here is a useful article written by Fr.
George Florovsky:-
"Scripture and Tradition - an Orthodox point of view."
Let St. Jerome speak from the 5th
Century, (from his commentary on Isaiah):-
"I interpret as I should, following the command of Christ:
Search the Scriptures, and Seek and you shall find. Christ will
not say to me what he said to the Jews: You erred, not knowing the Scriptures
and not knowing the power of God. For if, as Paul says, Christ is the power
of God and the wisdom of God, and if the man who does not know Scripture does
not know the power and wisdom of God, then
ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ."
Practical
Discuss with your catechist and priest a scheme of Bible reading that will use
the Church's lectionary and your own spiritual needs and opportunities to grow
in faith. Perhaps your Church has a Bible Study group that you could join.
Is there a bookstore? Use it for such resources as commentaries, patristic
texts and study Bibles. Do not neglect the Word of God.
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