Ioannis D.
Karavidopoulos
From
Jesus Christus als die Mitte der Schrift. Studien zur Hermeneutik des
Evangeliums. Herausgegeben von Christof Landmesser, Hans-Joachim Eckstein
und Hermann Lichtenberger, Walter de Gruyter, Berlin-New York, 1997
II. The Church and the Bible
All of the main features of Orthodox scriptural
interpretation converge in the recognition of its ecclesiological basis. But
according to modern scholarly research as well, especially in the field of
the Gospels and most specifically of their background (the so-called
Formgeschichte), it is generally accepted, beyond the individual
differentiations of the researchers, that the ecclesiastical community and
its tradition take chronological precedence, as far as time is concerned, in
comparison to the recording of the Gospels, and, of course, of the rest of
the books of the New Testament. It is therefore not right to over-emphasise
the superiority of the Bible against the Church, nor, on the other hand,
does emphasis on the absolute power of the Church against the Bible find any
justification. Exaggerations in one or the other direction during the
historical process of Christianity have created situations that are alien to
Orthodoxy. Of course, the Church without the Bible resembles a ship without
a rudder, yet the Bible without or outside the Church remains
un-interpreted. Within the Church, the interpretive function in the Holy
Spirit ensures the rightness of the interpretation, on condition, of course,
that the interpreter carries out his significant task "in a searching way
and not neglectfully" (ερευνητικώς και ου παροδευτικώς), as, for that
matter, the 2nd canon of the 7th Ecumenica1 Synod demands.
At the same time, we must not forget that the Church
itself recognizes and considers the Bible as a "canon" which regulates the
right faith and life of its members. St. John of Damascus writes
accordingly: "Ώσπερ γαρ δένδρον παρά τας διεξόδους των υδάτων πεφυτευμένον,
ούτω και η ψυχή τη θεία αρδευομένη Γραφή, πιαίνεται, και καρπόν ώριμον
δίδωσι, πίστιν ορθόδοξον, και αειθαλέσι τοις φύλλοις, ταις θεαρέστοις φημί,
ωραΐζεται πράξεσι· προς τε γαρ πράξιν ενάρετον, και θεωρίαν αθόλωτον, εκ των
αγίων Γραφών ρυθμιζόμεθα. (= For just as the tree planted by the channels of
waters, so also the soul watered by the divine Scripture is enriched and
gives fruit in its season, viz orthodox belief and is adorned with evergreen
leafage, I mean actions pleasing to God. For through the Holy Scriptures we
are trained to action that is pleasing to God, and untroubled contemplation)5.
Προηγούμενη /
Επόμενη σελίδα
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NOTES
5 Johannes Damascenus, Expositio accurata fidei
orthodoxae IV, 17, in: PG 94, 790-1228: 1176.
ΘΗΣΑΥΡΟΣ ΤΗΣ ΚΑΙΝΗΣ ΔΙΑΘΗΚΗΣ
