I realize that a lot of you guys come from Protestant background, so here's a little reading on how to defend AGAINST Protestantism—specifically Sola Scriptura. Know first that Holy Orthodoxy does not deny the authority of Holy Scripture; we simply reject the idea that it is the sole infallible rule of faith. The claim of Sola Scriptura—that Scripture alone is the only necessary and sufficient source of Christian doctrine—is not actually taught in Scripture itself. Where does the Bible say that it is the only rule? It doesn't. In fact, Holy Scripture points to the authority of the Church and its Apostolic Tradition. The Apostle Paul commends the Thessalonians for holding fast to the traditions he taught them, "whether by word or our epistle" (2 Thessalonians 2:15). This passage clearly shows that the spoken, oral tradition had equal authority to the written tradition (Scripture) for the early Church. The Apostle Paul calls the Church the "pillar and ground of the truth" (1 Timothy 3:15). If the Church is the pillar of truth, then the Church must have been established before the New Testament was completed and compiled. The New Testament was written by Apostles and their disciples within the living Tradition of the Church, not dropped out of heaven as an instruction manual centuries later. It was the Church, guided by the Holy Spirit, that determined which books belonged in the Bible canon, centuries after the Apostles died. If the Church had the authority to declare what is Scripture, then the Church's authority must be prior to and equal to** the Scripture it defined. The Orthodox understanding is Holy Tradition (Greek: paradosis) which is the life of the Holy Spirit in the Church, encompassing Scripture, the Ecumenical Councils, the Nicene Creed, the Liturgy, and the writings of the Holy Fathers. Scripture is the highest expression within Holy Tradition, but it is not a separate entity outside of it. Therefore, we hold to the principle that Scripture is rightly understood within the context of the Holy Tradition that gave birth to it.

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