There are three Scriptures that I would consider important to the ongoing debate over infallibility.
Ephesians 2:19-22 – “Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.”
2 Timothy 3:15-17 – “. . . from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.”
1 Timothy 3:15 – “. . . I write so that you may know how you ought to conduct yourself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.”
Let me put in a quotation from the Confession of Dositheus. As I have mentioned in another post, it was approved at an Orthodox synod in Jerusalem in 1672. Though this was not an Ecumenical Council, it is important because it is a confession approved by most of the Orthodox Churches, and it specifically states its beliefs using some of the language current at the time of the Reformation. This makes it easier to compare Eastern Orthodox beliefs to both Roman Catholic and Protestant beliefs.
“We believe the Divine and Sacred Scriptures to be God-taught; and, therefore, we ought to believe the same without doubting . . .”
I put the particular quote from the Confession simply to stop the hints that the Orthodox Church does not believe in the authority of Scripture. Of course we do. Simply because someone does not agree with your interpretation does not mean that they do not believe in the authority of Scripture. Now, what is true is that we do not believe in Sola Scriptura as an interpretative principle. Sola Scriptura as an interpretative principle only dates back to the Middle Ages. I am using the following definition of the principle:
Sola scriptura is the assertion that the Bible as God’s written word is self-authenticating, clear (perspicuous) to the rational reader, its own interpreter (“Scripture interprets Scripture”), and sufficient of itself to be the final authority of doctrine.
In contrast, let me put in another quote that speaks somewhat to the Eastern Orthodox view of Holy Tradition. Please read carefully, because there are a couple of vital differences with Roman Catholicism.
Holy Tradition, for the Eastern Orthodox, is the deposit of faith given by Jesus Christ to the Apostles and passed on in the Church from one generation to the next without addition, alteration or subtraction. Vladimir Lossky famously described the Tradition as “the life of the Holy Spirit in the Church.” It is dynamic in application, yet unchanging in dogma. . . . The Orthodox Church does not regard Holy Tradition as something which grows and expands over time, forming a collection of practices and doctrines which accrue, gradually becoming something more developed and eventually unrecognizable to the first Christians. Rather, Holy Tradition is that same faith which Christ taught to the Apostles and which they gave to their disciples, preserved in the whole Church and especially in its leadership through Apostolic Succession.
OK, now, would you believe that all those quotes were simply setup? Yep, having read though all that, you will have to wait until tomorrow for me to speak about how I put these quotes together.
Leave a Reply