In answer to your question about the correct understanding of the Bible, I want to draw your attention to the term "Tradition." Sectarians of various trends for the most part do not have a correct idea of this concept.   Cultist: No! On the contrary! We have an idea of what tradition is. Christ said: "... why do you also transgress the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition?" (Matt. 15:3); and again: "...

you have removed the commandment of God by your tradition. Hypocrites! Isaiah prophesied well of you, saying, These men draw near to me with their mouths, and worship me with their tongues, but their hearts are far from me. but in vain do they worship me, teaching doctrines, the commandments of men" (Matt. 15:6-7). You, Orthodox, unfortunately, still hold to the tradition of the elders (Mark 7:5)

, "teaching doctrines, commandments of men."   Orthodox: Speaking of Tradition (Holy Tradition), we, first of all, have in mind not the traditions of the elders and teachings, the commandments of men, but the Apostolic Traditions and the Teaching of the Church. The New Testament says enough about the apostolic tradition and its significance. Let us consider some of these texts: "I praise you, brethren, that you remember all my things, and keep the traditions as I have handed down to you" (1 Corinthians 11:2).

Here we see that the Apostle Paul encourages with praise those who adhere to Tradition.   Sectarian: I want to check this text on the translation of Novy Mir. Look, it is said here somewhat differently than in the Synodal translation: "I praise you for remembering me in all matters and holding fast to the traditions as I handed them down to you."

In some English translations, the word "tradition" in this text (1 Cor. 11:2) is replaced by the word "teaching".   Orthodox: This substitution is not valid. Let's look at the ancient Greek version of this text: ejpainw '   de ; uJ ma'"  o { ti  pa v nta   mou   me v mnhsqe  kai v ,  kaqw; "   pare v dwka  u J mi ' n ,   ta; "   parado v sei"   kate v cete.

The literal translation would be: ejpainw ' (praise) de (zh) uJ ma'" (you) o { ti pa v nta   mou (that all is mine) me v mnhsqe (you remember) kai v, kaqw; " (and how) pare v dwka (I have conveyed) u J mi ' n (you) ta; "Parado v sei" (tradition) kate v cete (hold). "I praise you, brethren, that you remember all that is mine, and, as I have handed down to you, keep the tradition.

As we can see, we are not talking here about traditions or teaching. Teaching and tradition can be created and established by any person personally, in contrast to tradition, which is accepted and passed on. An example of this is the following words of the Apostle Paul: "For I have received from the Lord Himself that which I have also delivered to you" (1 Corinthians 11:23). St. Vincent of Lirin taught: "Tradition is what you have accepted, and not what you have invented."

  Sectarian: And what if the apostolic traditions are the very Scriptures of the New Testament?   Orthodox: No. Tradition, first of all, is oral instruction. It is said: "Therefore, brethren, stand fast and hold the traditions which you have been taught, either by word or by our epistle" (2 Thess. 2:15). As we can see, the word comes first, and the message follows it.

Holy Tradition is primary, and Holy Scripture is secondary. There is many confirmations of this from the Word of God itself: the first Scripture was the Pentateuch of Moses (Hebrew Torah). It contains the Law of God —the doctrine of clean and unclean animals, the law of tithes, sacrifices, and so on. However, we learn from the Book of Genesis that sacrifices were performed before God's written Law.

We read: "After a while, Cain brought a gift to the Lord from the fruits of the earth, and Abel also brought of the firstlings of his flock, and of their fat..." (Gen. 4:3-4). This text shows that the ancient people knew not only the law of sacrifices, but also the ritual subtleties of the features of their offering : "from the fruits of the earth a gift to the Lord...", "from the firstlings of their flock and from their fat".

Noah knew which animals were clean and which were unclean. We read: "And of the clean birds, and of the unclean birds, and] of the clean cattle, and of the unclean beasts, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth" (Gen. 7:8). Abraham knew the law of tithing. It is said: "[Abram] gave him (the priest Melchizedek) a tenth of all things" (Gen. 14:20). Jacob also knew the law of vow tithes, he said: "...

and of all that Thou, O God, givest me, I will give Thee a tenth" (Gen. 28:22), etc. D.. On this issue, St. John Chrysostom wrote: "In fact, with Noah, Abraham and his descendants, as well as with Job and Moses, God conversed not through writing, but directly" (Commentary on Matthew, vol. 7, p. 5).              The very authority of Holy Scripture is confirmed by the authority of Holy Tradition.

Who told us that the Gospel of Matthew was written by Matthew, and the Gospel of Mark was written by Mark? Who established the number of the Epistles of the Apostles Peter, John and Paul. The canon of the New Testament and Old Testament books of the Bible is the work of the Church, and therefore of Tradition. On the other hand, all the Words of God do not fit into the biblical code. It is said: "Many other things did Jesus do; but, if we were to write about this in detail, then, I think, the world itself would not be able to contain the books written..." (John 21:25).

Not all prophetic books and apostolic epistles have been preserved. In the Epistle of the Apostle Jude, a fragment from the Book of Enoch is quoted: "About them also prophesied Enoch, the seventh from Adam, saying: 'Behold, the Lord is coming with thousands of His holy angels...'" (Jude 1:14); and in the first Epistle to the Corinthians we find these words: "I wrote to you in the epistle..." (1 Cor. 5, 9), that is, he wrote earlier.