Kosta: The Orthodox Church does not teach that. We believe that the Holy Spirit influenced the writers. The Church teaches that the Holy Scripture is the "most authoritative part of the Holy Tradition." It doesn't say "inerrant," or "infallible," or "God-dictated."
I don't see how that can be. It was my understanding that the Consensus Patrum, with the consent of the laity, was infallible. THAT, by definition, would make it more authoritative than the Bible as you describe above.
"A better view is the so-called "dynamic view" of the cooperation between man and the Holy Spirit in the case of the Bible. In any case of "synergy" (cooperation) between God and man, God leads, and man follows; God works, and man accepts God's work in him, as God's coworker in subordination to Him. So it is with divine inspiration in the case of the Bible: the Holy Spirit inspires, and the sacred author follows the Holy Spirit's injunctions, utilizing his own human and imperfect ways to express the perfect message and doctrine of the Holy Spirit." [all quotes from From the Grk. Orth. Archdioc. of America (GOARCH), Dogmatic Tradition of the Orthodox Faith]
That's a nice sounding model, but of course in Orthodox thinking man DIDN'T follow, in MOST cases as a matter of fact, when it comes to the authors of scripture. That is, unless you want to say that God led into error, and I know you won't touch that. :) See the problem? What you and Kolo have been saying does not match the above.
The expression of revealed truth is imperfect because man is imperfect. But the Church trusts, that is, has faith, that God is perfect and that his message was perfect even if not understood or relayed perfectly.
What kind of God is that Who would allow such pollution? Does God not want us to have His perfect message? Does God prefer for us to have a watered down, error prone version of His message? What's the deal? :) I mean, did God hand down His message, knowing it would be polluted by fallible men, and that was fine with Him because He knew that hundreds of years later other men, your men, would come along and use their free wills to repair the damage??? :)
“It was my understanding that the Consensus Patrum, with the consent of the laity, was infallible.”
You’ve got it wrong, FK. The “consent” of the laity involves the dogmatic declarations of Ecumenical Councils. The Consensus Patrum is just what it says, the consensus of The Fathers on a given subject. It has nothing to do with the “Great Axios” of the people.
“Does God not want us to have His perfect message?”
The Revelation of God is Christ...Perfect!