REV. DR. EUGEN J. PENTIUC
Scripture’s polyphony is a pastorally more efficient way to cope with the tough questions of the suffering of the just and the silence of God than any flat statement such as creatio ex nihilo. When Tradition fails to give an adequate explanation, untamable Scripture through its ambiguous, enigmatic language and imagery offers us alternative routes of inquiry and further meditation that may at least provide an authorized word on the reality of evil.
As does R. W. L. Moberly, we may characterize the relationship between Scripture and Tradition observed here in these ruminations in terms of a “hermeneutical dialectic of biblical text and post-biblical faith.”5
Tradition, notices Moberly, is moribund unless vitalized by a frequent return to Scripture. The Church has been formed and informed by the Scripture since her inception. It is the continuous responsibility of the Church to interact with the sacred text in order to keep the Tradition alive.
Perhaps ironically, it is precisely such deep engagement with Scripture-never a mere drone-like parroting of doctrinal formulas-that we find as the model provided to us by the greatest Fathers of the Church, whose examples deserve to be imitated even more than they are quoted. That is to say: Orthodox Tradition itself urges us to give central place to the reading and interpretation Scripture.
To conclude, we may take to heart the following insightful words of Fr. Theodore Stylianopoulos:
The Church does not possess the Bible in such a way that it can do it pleases with it, for example through virtual neglect or excessive allegorzation ….In its canonical status, Scripture occupies the primacy among the Church’s traditions ….The Bible as the supreme record of revelation is the indisputable norm of the Church’s faith and practice ….The neglect of the Bible and silencing of its prophetic witness are inimical to the Church’s evangelical vibrancy and sense of mission in the world … The Church in every generation is called to maintain the primacy and centrality of the Bible in its life, always attentive, repentant and obedient to God’s word.6
5. The Bible, Theology, and Faith: A Study of Abraham and Jesus (Cambridge University Press, 2004)
6. “Scripture and Tradition in the Church,” in the Cambridge Companion to Orthodox Christian Theology, edited by M. M Cunningham and E. Theokritoff (Cambridge University Press, 2009), 25.
Rev. Dr. Eugen J. Pentiuc is Professor of Old Testament and Hebrew at Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology. He is a Senior Fulbright Scholar and Lilly Faculty Fellow. He has published several books and numerous articles in the areas of biblical studies and Near Eastern languages and civilizations. Fr. Pentiuc has just completed his latest book, The Old Testament in Eastern Orthodox Tradition, to be published by Oxford University Press.
~Praxis, “Theology Matters,” Vol. 12, Issue 1, Fall 2012
