The article presents a specific ecclesiastical interpretation of the Bible within Orthodox theology and shows some difficulties of this approach from the point of view of Western theological thought. The article discusses the problem of the Orthodox biblical canon and the main difficulties associated with the division between „canonical” and „non-canonical” books. Then the text presents specific elements of Orthodox biblical exegesis, with emphasis on the community of the Church as its primary context. The article also touches the problem of biblical language, and especially importance attached to the text of the Septuagint as well as critical evaluation of certain modern translations of the Bible by Orthodox theologians. The text reveals the elements of the Orthodox approach to the interpretation of the Bible that are valuable for all Christian theological traditions as well as the main theological problems related to it.
PL
Artykuł przedstawia specyficzną dla teologii prawosławnej kościelną interpretacje Biblii oraz ukazuje trudności tego podejścia teologicznego z punktu widzenia teologii Kościołów i Wspólnot na Zachodzie. Omawiany jest problem kanonu biblijnego w prawosławiu oraz trudności wiążących się z podziałem ksiąg na „kanoniczne” i „niekanoniczne”. Następnie ukazuje się specyficzne elementy egzegezy biblijnej, której podstawowym kontekstem jest wspólnota Kościoła. Wiąże się z tym także problem języka biblijnego, a w jego ramach – znaczenie przypisywane tekstowi Septuaginty oraz krytyczna ocena przez teologów prawosławnych niektórych współczesnych przekładów Biblii. Elementy cenne dla wszystkich chrześcijańskich tradycji oraz główne trudności wysuwane przez teologię zachodnią zestawia zakończenie artykułu.
The article is a description of main methodological guidelines of the canonical approach according to Brevard S. Childs, a former professor and specialist of the Old Testament at Divinity School of Yale University (New Haven). This new interpretation of the Bible, brought forth by the Pontifical Biblical Commission in The Interpretation of the Bible in the Church has arisen as the basis of critique of several assumptions in regard to the historical critical method connected with the insufficient use of theological dimension of biblical texts in exegesis. Main methodological issues of canonical approach are characterized by the in- terpretation in faith; canon the as norm and border in explanation of biblical texts; emphasis on final form of canonical text; serious treatment of canonical context and unity of the Bible in exegesis. The fundamentals of canonical approach presented let us define it as a “third way” in exegesis, leading through bridge between history and theology.
The author depicts a holistic model of the biblical theology in the New Testament. This model renders the Person of Jesus in the following three dimensions: historical-eschatological, literary, and canonical. His solution is placed against the backdrop of the current debate that is taking in contemporary biblical studies. The debate concerns the shape of biblical theology, especially its methodology and role in interreligious dialogue. The model of biblical theology under study is based on the holistic conception of Revelation, which may be reduced to the following three theses: Revelation arouses faith, it is taking place in history, it is confirmed in sacred texts, and it has an ecclesial and canonical character. The above assumptions are applied to the holistic model of the biblical theology of the New Testament. This theology is based on the „memory of Jesus” and „memory about Jesus”.
PL
The author depicts a holistic model of the biblical theology in the New Testament. This model renders the Person of Jesus in the following three dimensions: historical-eschatological, literary, and canonical. His solution is placed against the backdrop of the current debate that is taking in contemporary biblical studies. The debate concerns the shape of biblical theology, especially its methodology and role in interreligious dialogue. The model of biblical theology under study is based on the holistic conception of Revelation, which may be reduced to the following three theses: Revelation arouses faith, it is taking place in history, it is confirmed in sacred texts, and it has an ecclesial and canonical character. The above assumptions are applied to the holistic model of the biblical theology of the New Testament. This theology is based on the „memory of Jesus” and „memory about Jesus”.
The author depicts a holistic model of the biblical theology in the New Testament. This model renders the Person of Jesus in the following three dimensions: historical-eschatological, literary, and canonical. His solution is placed against the backdrop of the current debate that is taking in contemporary biblical studies. The debate concerns the shape of biblical theology, especially its methodology and role in interreligious dialogue. The model of biblical theology under study is based on the holistic conception of Revelation, which may be reduced to the following three theses: Revelation arouses faith, it is taking place in history, it is confirmed in sacred texts, and it has an ecclesial and canonical character. The above assumptions are applied to the holistic model of the biblical theology of the New Testament. This theology is based on the „memory of Jesus” and „memory about Jesus”.
Artykuł jest głosem w dyskusji na temat doktryny Pisma Świętego, czyli teologicznej refleksji nad naturą, atrybutami i misją Pisma Świętego. W tekście ukazano bliski związek regula fidei z Pismem Świętym, a zarazem niemożliwość utożsamienia reguły wiary z kanonem biblijnym. Reguła wiary odegrała rolę w ustaleniu chrześcijańskiego kanonu i w całym czasie Kościoła służy ochronie przesłania Pisma Świętego. Treści wyrażone w regule wiary nie pochodzą z ukrytej Tradycji, zaś Tradycja stała się wewnętrzną zasadą Nowego Testamentu i regula fidei. Kluczem do Pisma Świętego jest wiara Kościoła, której jednym z wyrazów jest reguła wiary. Pozwala ona uchwycić porządek prawd wiary (harmonia veritatum) oraz ich hierarchię (hierarchia veritatum). Pierwotna reguła wiary zrodziła się w wyniku recepcji objawienia Bożego i razem z Pismem Świętym pozostaje na służbie Nowego Przymierza.
EN
The article is a voice in the discussion on the doctrine of Scripture, that is, the theological reflection on the nature, attributes and mission of Scripture. The text shows the close link between the regula fidei and Scripture and, at the same time, the impossibility of identifying the rule of faith with the biblical canon. The rule of faith has played a role in establishing the Christian canon and throughout the Church’s time serves to protect the message of Scripture. The content expressed in the rule of faith is not derived from hidden Tradition, and Tradition has become the internal principle of the New Testament and the regula fidei. The key to Scripture is the faith of the Church, one expression of which is the rule of faith. It allows us to grasp the order of the truths of faith (harmonia veritatum) and their hierarchy (hierarchia veritatum). The original rule of faith was born out of the reception of divine revelation and, together with Scripture, remains at the service of the New Covenant.
In the Church of the first centuries some Fathers of the Church used the Apocrypha. But, the general tendency, which we can notice in the fourth century theology, is resignation from using them. It was connected, among other things, with creating the biblical canon. In Priscillian’s opinion, it is allowed to use the Apocrypha. The bishop of Avila propagating the right to use them contributed to spreading them, especially in Spain and Mediterranean Gaul. Priscillian was favourable to these texts, but careful, and so were some of the Fathers of the Church. In spite of it, it was reading the Apocrypha that contributed to accusing him of Manichaeism and Gnosticism. Mani and his followers also took advantage of the Apocrypha using novel extracts in which a fight for purity dominates and characters’ indomitability is shown. The anti-Priscillian literature unanimously condemned reading the Apocrypha by Priscillianists. The synod in Toledo does it as well as the first synod in Braga, the popes Innocent I and Leon the Great and the writers Augustinian, Orosius, Turibius. The Priscillianists refering to the Apocrypha created sabellian conception of the Holy Trinity. Various texts presumably edited by the Priscillianists (Monarchiani Prologues, The Revelation of St. Thomas, Pseudo-Titus Letter) contain references to the Apocrypha. It should be noticed that the Priscillianist exegetic principle was to explain canon books by means of other texts. Besides, D. de Bruyne presents the Apocrypha ascribed to the Priscillianists; this collection comprises the following texts: Collectio de diversis sententiis, Apocalypsis, Sermo S. Augustini Episcopi, Homilia de die iudicii, De parabolis Salomonis, Liber ,,canon in Ebreica” Hieronymi presbyteri. He also made an attempt to establish a probable list of the Apocrypha which the Priscillian community might have used.
Saint Augustine, whose influence is visible in terms of his approach to the Bible and Its interpretation, is a key figure of the Church and Western culture. He described his entire perspective on the Bible in his work De doctrina christiana, which still deserves attention and a place among the contemporary interpretations of the Bible. Among the topics dealing with the text of the Bible, which Augustine discusses, the most significant are the questions of the truth and authority of the Septuagint, the canon of the Holy Scriptures, biblical inspiration and the spiritual interpretation of biblical texts as well as the qualities of Christian orator. Augustine’s extensive consideration of these issues and his creative development of them, also making use of the rhetorical tradition drawn from Roman thinkers, above all Cicero, helped to establish a creative dialogue between the Church and classical culture becoming a model for its continuation in later eras. In his approach to the biblical text, Augustine remains a creative influencer, demonstrating the vitality of the biblical tradition and its cultural significance.
PL
Święty Augustyn jest kluczową postacią Kościoła i kultury zachodniej, którego wpływ widać także w podejściu do Pisma Świętego i Jego interpretacji. Całość swojego spojrzenia na Biblię opisał w dziele De doctrina christiana, które nadal zasługuje na uwagę i na uwzględnienie jej we współczesnych interpretacjach biblijnych. Wśród tematów dotyczących tekstu biblijnego, które podejmuje Augustyn, pierwszorzędne miejsce odgrywają zagadnienia prawdy i autorytetu Septuaginty, kanonu Pism Świętych, natchnienia biblijnego i duchowej interpretacji tekstów biblijnych oraz przymiotów mówcy chrześcijańskiego. Szerokie uwzględnienie tych zagadnień i ich twórcze rozwinięcie, także przy wykorzystaniu tradycji retorycznej zaczerpniętej z myślicieli rzymskich, przede wszystkim Cycerona, przyczyniło się do nawiązania twórczego dialogu Kościoła z kulturą klasyczną, a także stało się modelem do jego kontynuowania w późniejszych epokach. W swoim podejściu do tekstu biblijnego Augustyn pozostaje nadal twórczym inspiratorem, pokazującym żywotność tradycji biblijnej oraz jej znaczenie kulturowe.
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