Of course He is. He is addressing scribes and priests, FK. It was their job to read the scriptures.
Ah, the old contained message ploy. So, I suppose that all He said to them at the end of chapter 11 through here is also not for us, but only for them and your leaders? Further, it appears that your fair reading of this is that Jesus never tells us to read the scriptures, but luckily, we have the hierarchy of your Church to thank for their permission to do so. Now, if this is true, what is the value to us in reading all these contained messages, if none of them are directed to us? How could a layman POSSIBLY know, verse by verse, which verses apply to him and which are only for your leaders? (You told me earlier that as far as pronounced dogma goes, your leaders have only put forth a very limited amount.) I mean, if Jesus never talked to the crowds, all the other times He spoke He was only talking to specific people, so, what is left over for us and how would we know it?
FK: "John 10:35 : If he called them 'gods,' to whom the word of God came — and the Scripture cannot be broken—...[If Jesus says that scripture cannot be broken, is it possible He thinks we should follow it?]"
If the scripture cannot be broken, it doesn't matter if we follow it or not, does it? Besides, one does not read the scriptures in order that he may believe, but because he already believes.
That's true, but it does support my position that Jesus is telling us to read and follow the scriptures. We do not need the permission of your leaders to know it is right to do so.
FK: "James 2:8 : 8 If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture , "Love your neighbor as yourself," you are doing right...[James seems to think we should follow scripture]"
He is addressing the believers too who, by definition, already follow the scripture.
OK, so I hope we can now agree that the Bible is clear on this by itself.
The Orthodox Church recognizes that the scriptures are God-inspired human creation, expressing inerrant spiritual truth, but not free from human error.
Oh, OK. I didn't know that the Church's position was that the Bible is spiritually correct, but is nonetheless a fallible, man-made document.
The Jews believe that Torah was dictated to Moses word-by-word and therefore actually "written" by God using Moses' hand and therefore free from any kind of error. I am pretty sure the Protestant/Baptist communities believe the same for the entire Bible.
We do believe that the Bible is free from any kind of error, but we also recognize that the personalities of the authors do work their way into the writings. So, the authors wrote, and every word they wrote was first approved by God. When Jesus spoke of not altering a jot or a tittle, it was not because man was lucky enough to get it right to the extent of his contribution. The only way for it to be perfect, (I believe the original Bible is perfect), would be for God to be in full control of its writing.
My point was that God never tells us "read the Bible." The quotes you give me use the Bible as the proof of what He was saying. Not an invitation to read the Bible.
Well shoot, I thought we agreed after the James quote. :) So I take it then that all glory should be given to your hierarchy for their permission and instruction to read the scriptures? :)
We go through biblical verses in the Divine Liturgy, through our prayers, and through the readings of the Epistles of +Paul and the Gospels. Not all of the NT is read throughout the year. The OT readings are done at through the year at Vespers (Saturday evening prayers) and during the Great Lent (40 days).
That's true, but it does support my position that Jesus is telling us to read and follow the scriptures
He is not telling ordinary people to read the Scripture. That's not how Judaism operated. ordinary people did not have access to biblical scrolls.
OK, so I hope we can now agree that the Bible is clear on this by itself
Inasmuch as those who believed Jesus believed what He said was in Scriptures. There are many things Christ taught that was not in Scriptures that they believed as John tells us and is not written down but is obviously the same as Scriptures. The people then believed the Church and the NT and the OT to interpret both correctly and trusted the Church to compile in Judaism or Christianity -- until of course, the Reformers.
We do believe that the Bible is free from any kind of error
A cursory study of the Bible reveals that your belief is wrong. The Christian Bible has undergone massive and radical alterations in its