The Oxford Handbook of the Bible in Orthodox Christianity Edited by Eugen J. Pentiuc

Half a century ago, Alexander Schmemann, surveying Russian theology between 1920 and 1972, observed that ‘Biblical studies represent the weakest area in modern Russian theology’ (St Vladimir’s Theological Quarterly 16 [1972], p. 176). His remark could apply to most of Orthodox theology after the fall of the Byzantine Empire, indeed up to the late twentieth century. While his observation may still be valid for Russian theology, it no longer characterizes Orthodox theology more broadly, as this book amply illustrates. The 41 essays collected here, plus the editor’s introduction, demonstrate that Orthodox biblical studies have come of age. Thirty-two of the 42 authors are Orthodox (26 Eastern Orthodox and six Oriental Orthodox). Greek and Romanian biblical scholars dominate—but no Russians are represented. The essays are distributed in five loosely defined sections covering the biblical text, canon, Scripture within tradition, ‘toward an Orthodox hermeneutics’, and ‘looking to the future’. For many centuries after the Reformation, Orthodox biblical studies, even reading the Bible outside liturgical services, were discouraged. As John Fotopoulos remarks, quoting from the 1672 Confession of Dositheus of Jerusalem: ‘Should the Divine Scriptures be read commonly by all Christians? Response: No. … it should not be read by all, but only by those who with the proper investigation have inquired into the depths of the Spirit, and who know which ways the divine Scripture should be investigated and taught, and generally read’ (p. 323). Why? For one, the Reformation sola scriptura doctrine was considered a direct challenge to Orthodox insistence on tradition as the foundation of the Church of Christ, conveyed in the teachings of the Apostles, recollected in the New Testament, and explored and refined by the Fathers of the Church and church councils. Even now, personal reading and study of the Bible is popularly considered a ‘Protestant’ practice, incompatible with Orthodoxy: ‘direct study of the Scriptures is rarely done among Orthodox Christians today—whether by laity or clergy’ (p. 332).

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