My beloved spiritual children in Christ Our Only True God and Our Only True Savior,
CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE.

SOME ORTHODOX BELIEFS AND THEIR BIBLICAL FOUNDATION (Part II)

Does the Orthodox Church place Holy Tradition above or equal to Holy Scripture?

The Church sees the Holy Scripture as inspired and authoritative Holy Tradition: the Logos/Word of God. It is crucial to understand how the word "tradition" is used in the New Testament, which condemns the tradition of men but calls us to follow Apostolic or Holy Tradition.

Tradition of Men

First of all, Jesus warned against holding to the "tradition of men" and "your tradition" in the strongest possible terms (see Mark 7:6-16). All Christians agree: The Holy Bible says "no" to man-made religious teachings and traditions.
Secondly, Saint Paul warns in Colossians 2:8: "Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ." Here again, we notice the phrase "tradition of men," which the Orthodox Church CONDEMNS.

Holy Tradition

In distinction to the tradition of men, the Holy Bible calls us to obey tradition which has God as its source. In 2 Thessalonians 2:15, Saint Paul writes, "Therefore, brethren, stand fast and hold the traditions which you were taught, whether by word or our epistle."
In contrast to man-made tradition, Apostolic Tradition is the foundation in the Church.
Further, in 2 Thessalonians 3:6 we read, "but we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you withdraw from every brother who walks disorderly and not according to the tradition which he received from us." Here again, we are dealing with Apostolic Tradition, the tradition which God planted in the Church. Thus, the Church is "the pillar and ground [or support of the truth" (1 Timothy 3:15).
All True Tradition comes from the same source: the Holy Spirit in the Church. The same One Who inspired Holy Scripture prompted all the teaching of the Holy Apostles, whether written or oral (2 Thessalonians 2:15). Further, it was on the basis of Church Holy Tradition that the Biblical canon was determined.
Tradition, as G.K. Chesterton wrote, is "giving our ancestors a vote." It is walking in the "paths of righteousness for His Name's sake" (Psalm 23:3). Or, as Jeremiah writes, living by Holy Tradition is a call from God himself. "Stand in the ways and see, and ask for the old paths, where the good way is, and walk in it; then you will find rest for your souls" (Jeremiah 6:16). Thus, there are two kinds of tradition: that of God and that of men. It is to the former only that the Orthodox Church is committed.

Do the holy icons of Orthodoxy border on idolatry?

In the Orthodox Christianity, holy icons are never worshiped, but they are honored or venerated.

The Second Commandment says, "You shall not make for yourself any carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that it is the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth" (Exodus 20:4, 5). The warning here is (1) that we are not to image things which are limited to heaven and therefore unseen, and (2) we never bow down to or worship created, earthly things such as the golden calf. Does this condemn all imagery in worship? The Holy Bible speaks for itself, and the answer is no.
Just five chapters after the giving of the Ten Commandments, God, as recorded in Exodus 25, gives His Divine blueprint, it you will, for the tabernacle. Specifically in verses 19 and 20, He commands images of Cherubim to be placed above the mercy seat. Also, God promises to meet and speak with us through this imagery! (Exodus 25:22). It is not true imagery which is condemned in Holy Scripture but false imagery.
In Exodus 26:1, Israel was commanded in no uncertain terms to weave "artistic designs of Cherubim" into the Tabernacle curtains. Are these images? Absolutely! In fact, they could well be called Old Testament icons. And they are images which God commanded to be made.

From the beginning the Church has made images of heavenly things brought to earth: Christ Himself, the Cross (Galatians 6:14), and the Saints of God (Hebrews 11:12). Worship is reserved for the Holy Trinity alone. But we honor the great men and women of the Faith by remembering them in the Orthodox Church via visual aids, called icons or "windows to heaven." (Source: Orthodox Study Bible)

(To be continued)

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"Glory Be To GOD For All Things!" - Saint John Chrysostom

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With sincere agape in His Holy Diakonia (Ministry)
The sinner and unworthy servant of God

+Father George