Interpreting the Bible the Orthodox way

This is a short introduction to the Orthodox view of the Bible. Orthodoxy here refers to the Eastern Orthodox churches. The Greek Orthodox Church and the Russian Orthodox Church are the two most prominent. The author is a member of the Orthodox Church in America (OCA). To a Protestant or secular Western outsider, many Orthodox practices look broadly similar to those of the Catholic Church.

John Peck begins by arguing that the Bible is a product of the Church, rather than the other way around. The New Testament is a codification of Church beliefs and practices which existed already before the “canon” was officially decided upon. Protestants usually believe the opposite. (An Orthodox believer I met a few years ago actually said: “The Protestants seem to think that the Bible just fell from the sky, in French leather binding”!)

As for the Old Testament, the Orthodox Church regards the Greek translation, the Septuagint, as the correct version, since it was used by Jesus and the apostles. Since the Church existed before the Bible (or at least before the NT), it can only be interpreted by the Church, more specifically by appeals to the Church Fathers and the ecumenical councils.

Peck further argues that the Bible has four different levels of meaning: the literal sense, the typological sense, the moral sense and the eschatological sense. Finally, he emphasizes the need to participate in the Orthodox Church liturgy, since the way the Scripture is used in it points towards the correct interpretation and also the correct “feel” or “attitude” towards things Biblical.

To sum up, the individual believer can't interpret the Bible for himself, nor is there a “plain” meaning in the Scriptures obvious to everyone (at least not in the Protestant sense). The Bible is to be interpreted through Church tradition, and can ultimately only be approached through participation in the Church's rituals.

I'm not a Christian, and I could therefore criticize both the Protestant and Orthodox views, but I pass in this review. Overall, this is actually a quite good “introduction 101” to the Eastern Orthodox view of the Bible, and I therefore give it three stars.