"Inquirer: Is Holy Scripture sufficient in order to guide man to salvation?
"Elder Cleopa: "No, it is not sufficient to guide man to salvation, (1)
inasmuch as, firstly, it wasn't given to man from the beginning and,
secondly, when it was given it wasn't the only authentic text, with
regard to the salvation of human souls, because before it there was the
Holy Tradition. Many years before Moses began writing the first books
of the Old Testament, there was sacred piety in the community of the
people of Israel. Similarly, the books of the New Testament began to
be written ten years after the formal foundation of the Church, which
took place on the day of Pentecost. The Church chose and sealed as
inspired by God the books of the two Testaments over one hundred
years later. (2) These then comprised the declared Canon of the books
of Holy Scripture. Thereafter the Church maintained this Canon of
Truth, inasmuch as it is the very "pillar and ground of truth" (1 Tim.
3:15). The Holy Spirit operates within all of this for the preservation of
the truth about salvation. Where the Church is, says Saint Jerome,
there also is the Spirit of God and where the Spirit of God is, there
also is the Church and all grace -- since the Spirit is truth" [pages 50-
51: THE TRUTH OF OUR FAITH: Discourses from Holy Scripture on
the Tenets of Christian Orthodoxy. by Elder Cleopa of Romania.
Translated from Greek and Edited by Peter Alban Heers. Thessalonica,
Greece & London, Ontario, Canada: Uncut Mountain Press, 2002.].
Notes.
1. "We cannot assert that Scripture is self-sufficient; and this is not
because it is incomplete, or inexact, or has any defects, but because
Scripture in its very essence does not lay claim to self-sufficiency ... If
we declare Scripture to be self-sufficient, we only expose it to
subjective, arbitrary interpretation, thus cutting it away from its sacred
source. Scripture is given to us in tradition. It is the vital, crystallizing
center. The Church, as the Body of Christ, stands mystically first and is
fuller than Scripture. This does not limit Scripture, or cast shadows on
it. But truth is revealed to us not only historically. Christ appeared and
still appears before us not only in the Scriptures; He unchangeably and
unceasingly reveals Himself in the Church, in His own Body. In the
times of the early Christians the Gospels were not yet written and could
not be the sole source of knowledge. The Church acted according to
the spirit of the Gospel, and, what is more, the Gospel came to life in
the Church, in the Holy Eucharist. In the Christ of the Holy Eucharist
Christians learned to know the Christ of the Gospels, and so His image
became vivid to them".
2. "By the end of the first century ... the Church possessed the four
Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Although they were not
perhaps as yet collected into one volume, each had been accepted by
the group of churches for which it was written. Very soon afterward
they were combined in one quadripartite Gospel, and in the middle of
the second century the Christian apologist Tatian composed the first
harmony, or code, of the Gospels. .... The appearance of the New
Testament in the Church as a book, as Scripture, was therefore not a
new factor, but a record of the founding tradition. Just because it was
identical with the original tradition as the Church already knew it, there
appeared at first no need of a canon, or precisely fixed list of accepted
records of Scripture" [Fr. Alexander Schmemann, The Historical Road
of Eastern Orthodoxy; p. 44.]. In fact, for the western Church it was
not until 419 AD at the Council of the 217 Blessed Fathers assembled
at Carthage that the entire New Testament as we know it today was
irrevocably canonized (Canon XXIV)" - Editor.
"Elder Cleopa: "No, it is not sufficient to guide man to salvation, (1)
inasmuch as, firstly, it wasn't given to man from the beginning and,
secondly, when it was given it wasn't the only authentic text, with
regard to the salvation of human souls, because before it there was the
Holy Tradition. Many years before Moses began writing the first books
of the Old Testament, there was sacred piety in the community of the
people of Israel. Similarly, the books of the New Testament began to
be written ten years after the formal foundation of the Church, which
took place on the day of Pentecost. The Church chose and sealed as
inspired by God the books of the two Testaments over one hundred
years later. (2) These then comprised the declared Canon of the books
of Holy Scripture. Thereafter the Church maintained this Canon of
Truth, inasmuch as it is the very "pillar and ground of truth" (1 Tim.
3:15). The Holy Spirit operates within all of this for the preservation of
the truth about salvation. Where the Church is, says Saint Jerome,
there also is the Spirit of God and where the Spirit of God is, there
also is the Church and all grace -- since the Spirit is truth" [pages 50-
51: THE TRUTH OF OUR FAITH: Discourses from Holy Scripture on
the Tenets of Christian Orthodoxy. by Elder Cleopa of Romania.
Translated from Greek and Edited by Peter Alban Heers. Thessalonica,
Greece & London, Ontario, Canada: Uncut Mountain Press, 2002.].
Notes.
1. "We cannot assert that Scripture is self-sufficient; and this is not
because it is incomplete, or inexact, or has any defects, but because
Scripture in its very essence does not lay claim to self-sufficiency ... If
we declare Scripture to be self-sufficient, we only expose it to
subjective, arbitrary interpretation, thus cutting it away from its sacred
source. Scripture is given to us in tradition. It is the vital, crystallizing
center. The Church, as the Body of Christ, stands mystically first and is
fuller than Scripture. This does not limit Scripture, or cast shadows on
it. But truth is revealed to us not only historically. Christ appeared and
still appears before us not only in the Scriptures; He unchangeably and
unceasingly reveals Himself in the Church, in His own Body. In the
times of the early Christians the Gospels were not yet written and could
not be the sole source of knowledge. The Church acted according to
the spirit of the Gospel, and, what is more, the Gospel came to life in
the Church, in the Holy Eucharist. In the Christ of the Holy Eucharist
Christians learned to know the Christ of the Gospels, and so His image
became vivid to them".
2. "By the end of the first century ... the Church possessed the four
Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Although they were not
perhaps as yet collected into one volume, each had been accepted by
the group of churches for which it was written. Very soon afterward
they were combined in one quadripartite Gospel, and in the middle of
the second century the Christian apologist Tatian composed the first
harmony, or code, of the Gospels. .... The appearance of the New
Testament in the Church as a book, as Scripture, was therefore not a
new factor, but a record of the founding tradition. Just because it was
identical with the original tradition as the Church already knew it, there
appeared at first no need of a canon, or precisely fixed list of accepted
records of Scripture" [Fr. Alexander Schmemann, The Historical Road
of Eastern Orthodoxy; p. 44.]. In fact, for the western Church it was
not until 419 AD at the Council of the 217 Blessed Fathers assembled
at Carthage that the entire New Testament as we know it today was
irrevocably canonized (Canon XXIV)" - Editor.
