Orthodox Worship and the Holy Scripture

There are certain relatively new, more contemporary Christian denominations in North America who proudly proclaim they are more authentic than other Christians groups. Some of them do this by subtle means. A common argument to advance this claim is their supposedly stronger devotion to the Holy Scripture. This logic is expressed in the names of their churches, with some, for example, using the word "Bible" in the name of their church, and others contending they are a "Full Gospel" church. The inference is that the glass is "half full" for the rest of us — or even much less. These Christians even say that their churches are "Bible-believing" and "based on the Bible," while alleging that the Orthodox Church is not. They go "right to the source," they say, while we use "man-made" prayers and a liturgical style of worship that stifles the congregants and keeps them from knowing Scripture.

The contention that Orthodox Believers regard the Bible with less importance than certain other Christian churches is, obviously, false and could not be further from the truth. The Bible is treated with great respect by the Orthodox Church and is a part of our Holy Tradition. The Book of Gospels has a special place of honor on the altar of every Orthodox Church, and is carried in processions during Matins and the Divine Liturgy. Worshippers even kiss it, as does the clergy. Moreover, the Holy Bible is the primary source for the worship services of the Orthodox Church. The Psalter is used extensively during Matins and Vespers, especially during Lent and before the great feasts of the Church. But, the best example of the Holy Scripture being used in Orthodox Christian worship is contained within the primary worship service of the Orthodox Christian Church: The Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom.

Bishop Kallistos Ware, in his classic text The Orthodox Church, asserts that ".....the whole text of each service is shot through with Biblical language, and it has been calculated that the Liturgy contains 98 quotations from the Old Testament and 114 from the New." In fact, some Old Testament scriptures served as a basis for New Testament language, and both figure in our liturgy. The Very Rev. Peter Gillquist, in his stout defense of the Orthodox Church in his much-quoted pamphlet Making America Orthodox, gives two examples of liturgical prayers in the Bible in which the New Testament passage is based on the Old Testament Scripture. The first example is included in the Divine Liturgy. In Isaiah 6:3, we hear the heavenly angels sing: "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory." Orthodox Christians hear these words sung during the Liturgy before the priests prays over the Holy Gifts of bread and wine. This prayer is even repeated in Revelations 4:8. Another example given by Fr. Gillquist is in Luke 1:46-55, when Mary prayed what is known by some as "The Magnificat," upon hearing the angel's proclamation that she would bear the Son of God. Mary actually prayed most of Hannah's prayer, which is found in 1 Samuel 2: 1-10.

Perhaps the most concrete example of how Orthodox Christianity respects the Holy Bible is its literal use of Scripture in that part of the Divine Liturgy which is the focus and most important part of Orthodox worship: Holy Communion. When the priest does pray over the Holy Gifts, he recites the following words from Matthew 26: 26-28: "Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed, and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, "Take, eat; this is my body (which is broken for you)." And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, "Drink of it, all of you; for this is the blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins." It is especially interesting from the Orthodox Christian perspective when one reads 1 Corinthians 11:23-26. As Fr. Gillquist again points out, we see that the apostles kept the tradition handed to them by the Lord, because the Apostle Paul used essentially these same words of institution that the Lord established for communion.

The document below, entitled "The Scripture in the Divine Liturgy", is a detailed cross-reference between the sections of the Divine Liturgy and portions of both the Old and New Testament contained within them, cited by chapter and verse. It was compiled by the Very Rev. John J. Matusiak, a priest of the Orthodox Church of America. You are encouraged to print it out, examine the verses for yourself and even share it, when appropriate.

Icon of St. John Chrysostom writing the Divine Liturgy
courtesy of www.eikonografos.com used with permission