Lesson 17: Scripture and Holy Tradition

This lesson is about the relationship of Holy Tradition, the Bible and the Orthodox Church. It is important to know about the Bible’s source and its authority for the Truth. The New Testament is a collection of books from Apostolic times. The books that ended up in what we now know as the New Testament were given authority by the Church. So it’s important to think of the Church as the foundation and keeper of the Truth. The Church was not created by New Testament Scripture, but this Scripture was passed on to us from the authority of the Church. We must remember that the Church is not a building or an organization as commonly thought so often in today’s secular word, but it is the Body of Christ on Earth. It is sacred. It is mystical. Its head is Christ Himself.

For several hundred years the Church relied on Tradition based on what the Apostles had been taught by Christ. When Holy Tradition is combined with the Scripture we have a more complete understanding of the Truth of the Christian Faith.

View the Video below.

A video from a recent class on Holy Tradition and Scripture at Saint George Greek Orthodox Cathedral in SC. https://youtu.be/avT_0XjV8dY?si=bl7dxDl7CD3QHIsb. It discusses the issues raised by Protestant doctrine of Sola Scripture and how it tried to destroy Holy Tradition and the authority of the Church.

Video:

Another good video on this topic: https://youtube.com/watch?v=rLwbUOikyT0&feature=shared by Father Stephen Klund

 After you have viewed one or both of the videos, answer briefly these questions: