I absolutely cannot believe what I am reading. The Bible is inaccurate. I definitely have the vapors because such a concept is earth-shattering for me. :) And, it's not just that. No. For your claim about the holiest document of the Christian faith, you rely on Israeli scholars! You are worse than the SCOTUS relying on foreign law. :)
And still, we are not yet done. No. Not only do you rely on Israeli scholars, but your source is none other than the most respected, most revered, most vetted, most tested, most honest, most reliable website in the history of internet research, ... WIKIPEDIA!
Please tell me that the Orthodox think the Bible is more than just a book with "some" good stuff in it. Please tell me that Orthodoxy says that it was God inspired and not subject to any error (to blazes with Wikipedia!). Tell me that God would not confound His own dearest children with error in His holiest book, one of His MAIN revelations to us.
I do not understand your teaching that the Bible is flawed and have not heard this idea from anyone else on any side in this thread. I suppose the thing to do is to just honestly ask you if there are any authorities in your own faith that support your idea that the Bible is flawed.
There are two issues here, FK. One, the meaning of "flawed," and two "authorities." First, let me assure you that neither the "authorities" in the Orthodox communion nor the laity believe that the Bible is flawed. This may come a s a surprise to you, but neither do I for that matter.
The Bible says a lot of things that are factual errors, translational errors, omissions, additions, etc. None of these errors diminish or change the spiritual inerrancy of the message.
It makes no difference if king Ahaziah was 22 (2 Kin 8:26) or 42 (2 Chron 22:2) when he became king, or if Michal had no children (2 Sam 6:23) or five (2 Sam 21:8), or whether Job really lived or is a narrative with an inspired message.
So, there is no doubt that the Bible, as we know it, contains less than complimentary information which, nonetheless, does not affect the spiritual inerrancy of its message. Where I do disagree with the majority of my brethren is where do we draw the line. I tend to take the extreme view that it is the message and not the facts that make Bible inerrant; others may say that minor factual errors do not matter but larger ones, such as discovering what the Israeli scientists claim, is "too much."
In October 2005, a group of Catholic bishops of England, Wales and Scotland, issued the following statement:
“We should not expect to find in Scripture full scientific accuracy or complete historical precision."
What the Bible teaches spiritually is what God's word is all about; it's the truth we recognize in our hearts. It's not an encyclopedia. Remember that it is God's word expressed in human language.
But, to answer your question more broadly, the Fathers always maintained that the Bible is not within everyone's grasp. This is not an act of arrogance or pride, but of their deep spiritual understanding that Scripture is not for everyone. Specifically, +Gregory of Sinai, warned that Scripture must not be read literally, "in a 'Judaic' manner," as many a Protestant does.
Finally, I will state that it makes no difference whether Christ walked the earth in Israel or America, whether He had long hair or short hair, whether He was a carpenter or a shoemaker, whether Bararaba existed or not, whether He had 12 or 24 disciples (as it turns out there were more than 12 anyway), but it is what He says in the Scripture that matters.
The Bible becomes holy only if we believe in it, and our belief does not come from the Bible but from our encounter with God. The Bible only expands on that belief by providing us with the details of God's love. Thus, Job is a story that teaches us something about not giving up our faith. If Job lived, he was indeed righteous and someone we should emulate. But if he didn't we should try to be like him anyway (as much as possible) — because it's the righteous way to be. :)