How the Church Responds to the “Difficult” Passages of Holy Scripture

Metropolitan Nektarios (Tsilis) of Hong Kong

 

 

In public discussion, passages of Holy Scripture are often cited as proof that Christianity “legitimizes” institutions and practices that are condemned today: slavery, violence, the devaluing of women. The Orthodox Church, however, does not treat the Bible as a simple rulebook detached from its historical context, nor as a text interpreted solely by private judgment. She reads it within Tradition, in the light of Christ, with the commandment of love at the center and the salvation of the human person as the goal.

Holy Scripture reveals God’s pedagogy within history: God meets real people in specific societies and gradually leads them from spiritual immaturity to the fullness revealed in the person of Christ. For this reason, the Church distinguishes between the description of historical situations and the divine will as the final measure of life. The complete criterion is Christ.

1) Slavery

Indeed, the Old Testament contains regulations concerning slavery (e.g., Exodus, Leviticus, Deuteronomy). The existence of such provisions does not mean that God “establishes” slavery as a good order of things. Rather, in societies where slavery functioned as a given institution, Mosaic legislation limits harshness, sets boundaries, and introduces elements of protection for the vulnerable (e.g., specific time limits, the master’s responsibility, prohibitions against extreme mistreatment, reminders of Israel’s memory of slavery in Egypt).

Above all, the biblical experience of the Exodus remains foundational: God is revealed as Liberator and calls the human being to a life that is not identified with oppression and humiliation. In the New Testament, the Apostles move within a Roman Empire where slavery was a social system. They do not propose an immediate political revolution, but they sow something deeper: the ecclesial reality in which the other person is not a thing, but a brother. The Epistle to Philemon is characteristic: Onesimus is to be received “no longer as a slave but more than a slave, a beloved brother” (Philem. 16). This evangelical ethos—where every human being is an image of God—is incompatible with exploitation.

The Orthodox Church regards every form of human trafficking and enslavement as a grave blow against human dignity and freedom.

2) War and Violence

Old Testament narratives connected with warfare or severe judgments are among the most difficult points for the modern reader. The Church does not “triumphalize” them, nor does she turn them into models of behavior. First, these texts are read as part of the history of the Old Testament economy, in which God educates a people so that they may be guarded from idolatry and the way may be prepared for the coming of the Messiah. Second, we must recognize the literary manner of antiquity: it often uses hyperbolic expressions, generalizations, or “sacred language” that attributes events to God as they are received through the experience of a people.

Above all, the full revelation of God’s character is seen in Christ, who rejects violence as a means of imposing power and teaches love for enemies (Matt. 5:44). The Church, following the Fathers, also reads many of these passages spiritually: as images of the struggle against sin and the passions, not as permission for acts of hatred. The true “battle” of the Christian is the purification of the heart.

3) Women and Devaluation

The Old Testament often reflects the patriarchal structures of its time. This does not mean that God “theologizes” devaluation, but that biblical history records societies that had not reached the measure of evangelical fullness. Even within this framework, Scripture highlights women with spiritual authority and a decisive role in the history of God’s people.

For certain legal provisions that cause discomfort today, careful wording is needed. For example, Deut. 22:28–29 is often discussed by scholars regarding whether it refers to rape or to a case of seduction/sexual relations without the lawful procedure; in any case, the text reflects an ancient legal environment that does not coincide with Christian pastoral practice and the modern understanding of justice for protecting the victim. The Church is not called to “justify” every social regulation of antiquity, but to show where the Gospel leads: to the restoration of the person.

In the New Testament, Christ treats women with dignity and freedom, breaking social stereotypes: He speaks publicly with the Samaritan woman, accepts the ministry of women, heals, forgives, and after the Resurrection the first witnesses are women. The Apostle Paul states a fundamental ecclesiological truth: “there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Gal. 3:28).

As for the reference to “submission” (Eph. 5), the Church understands it within the framework of the preceding exhortation: “submitting to one another in the fear of Christ” (Eph. 5:21). The measure for the man is not power, but self-sacrificial love: “as Christ also loved the Church” (Eph. 5:25). This is a call to a cruciform relationship, not a legitimization of oppression.

And of course, the Church’s veneration of the Most Holy Theotokos and the countless women saints is not a “symbolic gesture,” but a witness that holiness and the glory of human nature have no gender.

4) Christian Ethics

Christian ethics is not primarily a list of permitted and forbidden things. It is the fruit of a relationship with God and the transformation of the human being. Its center is not a law, but a Person: Christ. For this reason, the Church does not isolate phrases of Scripture, but integrates them into her overall ethos, her liturgical experience, and patristic interpretation.

Christianity’s contribution to the history of humanity is not identical with every act of people who called themselves Christians. There have been failures, distortions, and dark chapters. Yet the Gospel introduces foundational principles: every human being is an image of God; love is the path of truth; authority is judged as service; and freedom is a calling to communion, not a right to exploit.

Holy Scripture is not read properly when it is treated as an isolated collection of “examples” to imitate or reject. The Orthodox Church reads it Christocentrically (with Christ at the center), distinguishing between historical description and evangelical fullness. Thus, the difficult passages do not become an alibi for violence or inequality, but an occasion for deeper understanding of God’s pedagogy and of Scripture’s purpose: to lead the human person to the healing of the heart, to love, and to holiness.

 

Source (Greek and English): https://anastasiosk.blogspot.com/2026/03/blog-post_47.html