Editing Eastern Orthodox Church (section)

=== Bible ===

[[File:Miroslav's Gospel 001.jpg|thumb|285px|upright|[[Miroslav Gospel]], a 12th [[Serbian language|Serbian]] [[illuminated manuscript]] [[Gospel Book]]]]

The official Bible of the Eastern Orthodox Church contains the [[Septuagint]] text of the [[Old Testament]], with the [[Book of Daniel]] given in the translation by [[Theodotion]]. The [[Patriarchal Text]] is used for the [[New Testament]].<ref>{{cite book|editor1-last = Collins |editor1-first = John Joseph |editor2-last = Flint |editor2-first = Peter W. |editor3-last = VanEpps |editor3-first = Cameron |page = 586 |date = 2002 |title = The Book of Daniel: Composition and Reception |volume = 2 |chapter = The Textual History of Septuagint-Daniel and Theodotion Daniel |first = Alexander A. |last = Di Lella |chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=kvtbNQtMqEUC&pg=PA586|publisher = Brill |isbn = 9780391041288}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1 = Geisler |first1 = Norman L. |last2 = Nix |first2 = William E. |date = 2012 |title = From God to Us: How We Got Our Bible |publisher = Moody Publishers |isbn = 9780802428820}}</ref> Orthodox Christians hold that the Bible is a verbal icon of Christ, as proclaimed by the [[Second Council of Nicaea|7th ecumenical council]].{{sfn|Ware|1991|p=209}} They refer to the Bible as [[holy scripture]], meaning writings containing the foundational truths of the Christian faith as revealed by Christ and the [[Holy Spirit in Christianity|Holy Spirit]] to its divinely inspired human authors. Holy scripture forms the primary and authoritative written witness of [[holy tradition]] and is essential as the basis for all Orthodox teaching and belief.{{sfn |Ware|1991|p=209 (quoting [[John Chrysostom]]): "It is impossible for a man to be saved if he does not read the Scriptures."}}

Once established as holy scripture, there has never been any question that the Eastern Orthodox Church holds the full list of books to be venerable and beneficial for reading and study,<ref>Pomazansky, Michael, Orthodox Dogmatic Theology, pp. 33–34.</ref> even though it informally holds some books in higher esteem than others, the four gospels highest of all. Of the subgroups significant enough to be named, the "[[Anagignoskomena]]" (ἀναγιγνωσκόμενα, "things that are read") comprises ten of the Old Testament books rejected in the [[Protestant canon]],<ref>including the [[deuterocanonical books]]</ref> but deemed by the Eastern Orthodox worthy to be read in worship services, even though they carry a lesser esteem than the 39 books of the [[Hebrew Bible|Hebrew canon]].<ref>{{cite book| author = S.T. Kimbrough | title = Orthodox And Wesleyan Scriptural Understanding And Practice | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=q-vhwjamOioC&pg=PA23| year = 2005 | publisher = St Vladimir's Seminary Press | isbn = 978-0-88141-301-4| page = 23 | access-date = 20 February 2016 }}</ref> The lowest tier contains the remaining books not accepted by either Protestants or Catholics, among them, [[Psalm 151]]. Though it is a psalm, and is in the book of psalms, it is not classified as being within the Psalter (the first 150 psalms).<ref>Orthodox Study Bible, St. Athanasius Academy of Theology, 2008, p. 778, commentary.</ref>

In a very strict sense, it is not entirely orthodox to call the holy scripture the "Word of God". That is a title the Eastern Orthodox Church reserves for Christ, as supported in the scriptures themselves, most explicitly in the [[John 1|first chapter of the Gospel of John]]. God's Word is not hollow, like human words. "God said, 'let there be light'; and there was light."<ref>Bible: {{Bibleverse|Genesis|1:3|NKJV}}</ref>

The Eastern Orthodox Church does not subscribe to the Protestant doctrine of ''[[sola scriptura]]''. The church has defined what Scripture is; it also interprets what its meaning is.<ref>Ware, Bishop Kallistos (Timothy), [http://orthodoxinfo.com/phronema/ware_howto.aspx ''How to Read the Bible''], retrieved 11 June 2013.</ref> Christ promised: "When He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth".<ref>Bible: {{Bibleverse|John|16:13|NKJV}}</ref>

Scriptures are understood to contain historical fact, poetry, idiom, metaphor, simile, moral fable, parable, prophecy and [[wisdom literature]], and each bears its own consideration in its interpretation. While divinely inspired, the text still consists of words in human languages, arranged in humanly recognisable forms. The Eastern Orthodox Church does not oppose honest critical and historical study of the Bible.<ref name="Ware1991">{{harvnb|Ware|1991|pp=210–215}}.</ref>