St. Nikolaj D.

Velimirovic

THE FAITH OF THE HOLY:

THE ORIGIN AND THE SOURCE OF THE ORTHODOX FAITH

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Where is the origin of our orthodox faith?
In God’s revelation.

From which sources can we find more about the fair or about the God’s
revelation?
From two sources: Holy Bible and Holy tradition.

1. HOLY BIBLE
What is Holy Bible?
A collection of books composed of Old and New Testament is called a Holy Book or a
Holy Bible.

Why is it called Holy Bible?

Because the most holy God has inspired and
guided the holy men in writing of these books with
the aim to teach us how to live a holy life.

What does word Bible mean?

It is a Greek word meaning books. However, this
word is not meant to reflect the quantitative of
books, but to reflect the quality of Bible - the books
of the books, which are at the top of the pyramid
above all of the books in the world.

A) OLD TESTAMENT BOOKS

What are the Old Testament books composed of
They are composed of for sections: books of law,
historic books, instructive or moral and prophetic
books.

Which are the Old Testament’s books of Law?

They are the five books of Moses:
1. Genesis – the book of Creation
2. Exodus – the book of Exodus
3. Leviticus – about the priest and the sacrifice
4. Numbers – the book about the numbers
5. Deuteronomy – the book about laws

What does the book of Creation teach us?

First, it teaches us about God’s almightiness and the unlimited wisdom in the creation of
the world through His Word (Logos); secondly, about His majestic love in creating a
man in his image; thirdly, about God’s perfect justice during the casting out of our
ancestors Adam and Eve from the paradise, who were led on by Satan and thanklessly

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turned away from Creator and towards their destructor. That is the cause of the human
tragedy.

What do the Old Testament’s books of Law teach us?

They show us how God taught people through the necessity of the law of Justice in
order to be prepared for accepting the law of Love through Christ the Saviour.

Which are the historic books of the Old Testament?

Book of Joshua, Judges, Ruth, First Samuel, Second Samuel, First Kings, Second
Kings, First Chronicles, Second Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah and Esther.

What do we learn from these historic books?

We learn about God’s active involvement in all important events with well-intentioned
aim to heal human depravity through law, and to turn people away from satanic plots of
idol-worshiping and to bring them back to Himself, the only true and man-loving God.

Which are the instructive or moral books of the Old Testament?

The book of Job,
David’s Psalms,
Proverbs,
Ecclesiastes,
Song of Solomon

What do we learn from these instructional or moral books?

We learn how to deal with the everyday challenges, how to act in respect to all life
changes and not to forget our God nor His law.

Which are the prophetic books of the Old Testament?

Books of four big prophets:
Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel and

Books of twelve small prophets:

Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah,
Micah, Nahum,
Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai,
Zechariah, and Malachi.

Other books used in the Church are:

Solom’s Wisdom and Cyrah’s wisdom.

Is this division of Old Testament books strictly determined?

No. Law and prophetic books contain history, as well as prophetic books contain laws
and history. Psalms have a special place among the other books. Even though they are

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placed among instructive or moral book, they are full of prophecies about Jesus Christ.
Above all, Psalms are considered to be the biggest prayer-book of the whole Bible.

B) NEW TESTAMENT BOOKS

Of how many books does the New Testament consist?
New Testament is practically one book, because it reflects one central subject from its
first to its last page.

Who is the central subject?

It is an exceptional individual – that is our Lord
and Saviour Jesus Christ.

Of how many small books is the big book

of New Testament composed?
Twenty seven books

Could they be individually considered as

books?
Yes, but in respect to their importance and not
their quantity. Amongst them are epistles of
Apostles which are only one page long.

Which are New Testament the books?

They are:
1. Four Gospels:
According to Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John
2. Writings of Apostles;
3. Seven Epistles: According to James (1),
Peter (2), John (3) and Jude (1);
4. Fourteen special epistles according to Paul
5. Revelation by John.

What does word Gospel mean?

Gospel is a translation from the Greek word EVANGELION. – Evangelion means good
news or peaceful news.

Why is named like that?

It is based on the image of Jesus Christ who is the PERFECT GOODNESS and
PERFECT NEWS in the human history.

Who is the first one to use the word Gospel in the New Testament?
Lord Jesus Himself has told people during his first sermon: “Repent and believe the
Gospel” (Mark 1, 15).

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What do we learn from the Gospels?
We learn that all of the promises, which God has given to people in the Old Testament
as well as the prophecies from Adam and on, have been fulfilled in Jesus Christ.

What else does it teach us?

From one standpoint it teaches us about the perfect characteristics of Jesus Christ, far
more perfect than any of us can imagine, about His nobility and perfect love towards
humans, about His readiness to forgive and help out, about His humility and external
poverty, about His sacrifice and suffering because of humans; from the other standpoint
about His perfect Deity, about His supernatural birth, supernatural deeds, supernatural
wisdom, power and love, about His supernatural resurrection and ascension.

What else?
From the Gospels we learn about all main
truths of our Lord and salvation.

How could we name the Gospels in

respect to the other books of the New
Testament?
We could call them the Books of main truths.

What do we learn from the Epistles of the

Apostles?
We learn about the coming of the Holy Spirit
on the apostles, about the everlasting deeds
of the apostles and Christ’s preaching of the
Gospel, the organizing of the Church,
performing the miracles in the name of Jesus
Christ, and also we learn about the lives of
the first Christians and Christian
communities.

How could we name the book of Epistles in respect to the Gospels?

We could call it an APPLICATION of the main truths in the Gospels.

What do we learn from the Epistles of the Apostles?

We learn about the explanation of the main truths contained the Gospels.

How should we then name the Epistles in respect to the Gospels?

They are an EXPLANATION of Jesus’ main truths.
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What do we learn from the book of Revelation by St. Apostle John the
Theologian?
We learn about the difficult battle of the Church against the beasts of the world and hell
and the final triumph of Christ, the Lamb of God, over all these brutal forces of
darkness.

How should we then name the book of Revelation in respect to the Gospels?
It should be called the book of the final VICTORY of the main truths contained in the
Gospels at the END OF THE WORLD DRAMA, in which the main hero from its
beginning has been Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour.

2. HOLY TRADITION
What is the Holy Tradition?
It is the sum of all spiritual treasures which
we have inherited from our holy ancestors,
and are in the perfect harmony with the
Holy Bible which help us to correctly
understand the Holy Bible.

Which is older: Holy Bible or Holy

Tradition?
Holy Tradition.

Which is more extensive?

Holy Tradition. St. John the Evangelist
confirms this, saying: “And there are many
other things Jesus did that if they were
written, I think, even in our own world could
not fit in the books.” (John XXI, 25)

What is especially included in the Holy Tradition?

Holy Tradition includes:
1. Short presentations and formulations of our Orthodox faith;
2. Teaching about the seven holy mysteries, and on how they are performed;
3. Apostolic rules (canons);
4. Rules (canons) of seven ecumenical councils, which were held in:
I Nicaea in 325AD with 318 holy fathers
II Constantinople in 381 A.D. with 150 holy fathers
III Ephesus in 431 A.D. with 200 holy fathers.
IV Chalcedon in 451 A.D. with 630 holy fathers
V Constantinople in 553 A.D. with 160 holy fathers
VI Constantinople in 680 A.D. with 170 holy fathers, and
VII Nicaea in 787 A.D. with 367 holy fathers

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(During the seven ecumenical councils a total of about 2,000 representatives of
Christian churches from around the world took part);
5. Canons and rules of some local Synod or Assembly;
6. The rules of church discipline by St. Basil the Great and other saints;
7. The writings of the holy Church fathers;
8. Liturgy and other church worshiping;
9. Lives of Christian saints and martyrs;
10. Pious practices, signs and symbols as expressions of our faith, hope and love.

Could the Holy Tradition be separated from the Holy Bible?

No, they are inseparable because in the light of the Holy Tradition we correctly
understand the Holy Bible and in the light of the Holy Bible we respect and love the Holy
Tradition.

What could be the consequences if the two (Holy Bible and the Holy Tradition)
were to be separated?
Terrible consequences of this separation were noted as: misinterpretation of the Holy
Bible, disputes, heresy, schism, and, finally, steering away from the Holy and Apostolic
Church.

Who was invited to hold the text of Scripture and the purity of sacred tradition so
they do not to become corrupt?
CHURCH, which according to the apostolic words is, “the pillar and fortress of truth”;
(I Tim. III, 15). Primarily, this is the duty of the church hierarchy.

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