Reading the Word. An ecclesiastical interpretation of the Bible in the Orthodox church and its difficulties from the point of view of the Christian West Cover Image

Czytać Słowo. Kościelna interpretacja Biblii w prawosławiu i jej trudności z punktu widzenia chrześcijańskiego Zachodu
Reading the Word. An ecclesiastical interpretation of the Bible in the Orthodox church and its difficulties from the point of view of the Christian West

Author(s): Marcin Składanowski
Subject(s): Christian Theology and Religion, History of Church(es), Comparative Studies of Religion, Eastern Orthodoxy
Published by: Polskie Towarzystwo Teologiczne
Keywords: Bible; Church; orthodoxy; exegesis; biblical canon;

Summary/Abstract: The article presents a specific ecclesiastical interpretation of the Bible within Orthodox theology and shows some difficulties of this approach from the point of view of Western theological thought. The article discusses the problem of the Orthodox biblical canon and the main difficulties associated with the division between „canonical” and „non-canonical” books. Then the text presents specific elements of Orthodox biblical exegesis, with emphasis on the community of the Church as its primary context. The article also touches the problem of biblical language, and especially importance attached to the text of the Septuagint as well as critical evaluation of certain modern translations of the Bible by Orthodox theologians. The text reveals the elements of the Orthodox approach to the interpretation of the Bible that are valuable for all Christian theological traditions as well as the main theological problems related to it.

  • Issue Year: 67/2014
  • Issue No: 3
  • Page Range: 229-244
  • Page Count: 16
  • Language: English