What is the bible made of. Correct Understanding and Interpretation of the Bible

Christian doctrine is built on the Bible, but many do not know who its author is and when it was published. To answer these questions, scientists have a large number of research. The spread of Holy Scripture in our century has reached enormous proportions, it is known that one book is printed every second in the world.

What is the Bible?

Christians call the collection of books that make up Holy Scripture the Bible. He is considered the word of the Lord, which was given to people. Behind long years much research has been done to understand who wrote the Bible and when, so it is believed that the revelation was given different people and records have been kept for many centuries. The Church recognizes the collection of books as inspired.

The Orthodox Bible in one volume has 77 books with two or more pages. It is considered a kind of library of ancient religious, philosophical, historical and literary monuments. The Bible consists of two parts: the Old (50 books) and the New (27 books) Testament. There is also a conditional division of the Old Testament books into law-positive, historical and teaching.

Why is the Bible called the Bible?

There is one main theory proposed by biblical scholars that answers this question. The main reason for the appearance of the name "Bible" is associated with the port city of Byblos, which was located on the Mediterranean coast. Through him, Egyptian papyrus was delivered to Greece. After a while, this name Greek came to mean a book. As a result, the book of the Bible appeared and this name is used only for the Holy Scriptures, which is why they write the name with a capital letter.

Bible and Gospel - what's the difference?

Many believers do not have an accurate idea regarding the main Holy Book for Christians.

The gospel is part of the Bible, which is part of the New Testament.
The Bible is an early scripture, but the text of the Gospel was written much later.
The text of the Gospel tells only about life on earth and the ascension to heaven of Jesus Christ. The Bible provides a lot of other information.
There are also differences in who wrote the Bible and the Gospel, since the authors of the main Holy Book are unknown, but at the expense of the second work there is an assumption that its text was written by four evangelists: Matthew, John, Luke and Mark.
It is worth noting that the Gospel is written only in ancient Greek, and the texts of the Bible are presented in different languages.

Who is the author of the Bible?

For believers, the author of the Holy Book is the Lord, but experts can challenge this opinion, since it contains the Wisdom of Solomon, the Book of Job and more. In this case, answering the question - who wrote the Bible, we can assume that there were many authors, and each made his own contribution to this work. There is an assumption that it was written by ordinary people who received divine inspiration, that is, they were only an instrument, holding a pencil over the book, and the Lord led their hands. Finding out where the Bible came from, it is worth pointing out that the names of the people who wrote the text are unknown.

When was the Bible written?

Already long time there is debate as to when the most popular book in the world was written. Among the well-known statements, with which many researchers agree, the following can be distinguished:

Many historians, when asked when the Bible appeared, point to VIII-VI century BC. e.
A huge number of biblical scholars are sure that the book was finally formed in V-II centuries BC. e.
Another common version of how old the Bible is indicates that the book was compiled and presented to believers around II-I century BC. e.

Many events are recorded in the Bible, thanks to which it can be concluded that the first books were written during the life of Moses and Joshua. Then other editions and additions appeared, which formed the Bible as it is known today. There are also critics who dispute the chronology of the writing of the book, believing that the text presented cannot be trusted, since it claims to be of divine origin.

What language is the Bible written in?

The majestic book of all times was written in ancient times and today it has been translated into more than 2.5 thousand languages. The number of editions of the Bible has exceeded 5 million copies. It is worth noting that the current editions are later translations from the original languages. The history of the Bible indicates that it was written for more than a dozen years, so it combines texts in different languages. The Old Testament is mostly represented in Hebrew, but there are also texts in Aramaic. The New Testament is almost entirely presented in ancient Greek.

Given the popularity of the Holy Scriptures, it will not surprise anyone that research was carried out and this revealed a lot of interesting information:

The Bible mentions Jesus more often than others, and David is in second place. Among women, Abraham's wife Sarah receives laurels.
The smallest copy of the book was printed in late XIX century and for this the method of photomechanical reduction was used. The size was 1.9x1.6 cm, and the thickness was 1 cm. To make the text readable, a magnifying glass was inserted into the cover.
Facts about the Bible indicate that it contains approximately 3.5 million letters.
It takes 38 hours to read the Old Testament, and 11 hours to read the New Testament.
Many will be surprised by the fact, but according to statistics, the Bible is stolen more often than other books.
Most copies of the Holy Scriptures are made for export to China. At the same time, in North Korea Reading this book is punishable by death.
The Christian Bible is the most persecuted book. Throughout history, no other work is known against which laws were issued, for the violation of which the death penalty was imposed.

Bible(from Greek βιβλία - books) or Holy Bible- a collection of Books (Old and New Testaments), compiled by the Holy Spirit (ie God) through the chosen, sanctified from God people: prophets and apostles. The collection and erection into a single book is accomplished by the Church and for the Church.

The word "Bible" is not found in the sacred books themselves, and was first used in relation to the collection of sacred books in the east in the 4th century by St. and .

Orthodox Christians, when talking about the Bible, often use the term "Scripture" (it is always written with a capital letter) or "Holy Scripture" (implying that it is part of the Holy Tradition of the Church, understood in a broad sense).

Composition of the Bible

Bible (Holy Scripture) = Old Testament + New Testament.
Cm.

New Testament = Gospel (according to Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) + Epistles of St. Apostles + Apocalypse.
Cm. .

The books of the Old and New Testaments can conditionally be subdivided into law-positive, historical, teaching and prophetic.
See diagrams: and.

The main theme of the Bible

The Bible is a religious book. main theme Bible is the salvation of mankind by the Messiah, the incarnate Son God's Jesus Christ. AT Old Testament it speaks of salvation in the form of types and prophecies about the Messiah and the Kingdom of God. The New Testament sets forth the very realization of our salvation through the incarnation, life and teaching of the God-man, sealed by His death on the cross and resurrection.

Inspiration of the Bible

All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.()

The Bible was written by over 40 people who lived in different countries ah: Babylon, Rome, Greece, Jerusalem… The authors of the Bible belonged to different social strata (from the shepherd Amos to the kings David and Solomon), had different educational levels (Ap. John was a simple fisherman, Apostle Paul graduated from the Jerusalem Rabbinic Academy).

The unity of the Bible is observed in its integrity from the first page to the last. In their diversity, some texts are confirmed, explained and supplemented by others. In all 77 books of the Bible there is some kind of unartificial, internal consistency. There is only one explanation for this. This Book was written by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit by the people chosen by Him. The Holy Spirit did not dictate the Truth from Heaven, but participated with the author in the creative process of creating the Holy Book, which is why we can notice the individual psychological and literary characteristics of its authors.

Holy Scripture is not an exclusively Divine product, but a product of the Divine-human co-creation. Holy Scripture was compiled as a result of the joint activity of God and people. At the same time, man was not a passive tool, an impersonal instrument of God, but was His co-worker, a partner in His good action. This position is revealed in the dogmatic teaching of the Church about the Scriptures.

Correct Understanding and Interpretation of the Bible

No prophecy in Scripture can be resolved by itself. For prophecy was never uttered by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke it, being moved by the Holy Spirit. ()

While believing in the divine inspiration of the books of the Bible, it is important to remember that the Bible is a book. According to the plan of God, people are called to be saved not alone, but in a society that is led and inhabited by the Lord. This society is called the Church. not only retained the letter of the word of God, but also possessed a correct understanding of it. This is due to the fact that, who spoke through the prophets and apostles, continues to live in the Church and lead it. Therefore, the Church gives us the right guidance on how to use her written wealth: what is more important and relevant in it, and what has only historical meaning and not applicable in New Testament times.

Let us pay attention, even the apostles, who followed Christ for a long time and listened to His instructions, could not themselves, without His help, comprehend the Holy Scripture in a Christocentric way ().

Time of writing

Bible books written in different time for about 1.5 thousand years - before Christmas and after His birth. The former are called the books of the Old Testament, and the latter the books of the New Testament.

The Bible consists of 77 books; 50 is found in the Old Testament and 27 in the New.
11 (Tobit, Judith, the Wisdom of Solomon, the Wisdom of Jesus the son of Sirach, the Epistle of Jeremiah, Baruch, 2 and 3 books of Ezra, 1, 2 and 3 Maccabees) are not inspired by God and are not included in the canon of the Holy Scriptures of the Old Testament.

Language of the Bible

The books of the Old Testament were written in Hebrew (with the exception of some parts of the books of Daniel and Ezra, written in Aramaic), the New Testament - in the Alexandrian dialect of the ancient Greek language - Koine.

The original books of the Bible were written on parchment or papyrus with a pointed reed stick and ink. The scroll looked like long ribbon and twisted on a tree.
The text in the ancient scrolls was written in large capital letters. Each letter was written separately, but the words were not separated from one another. The whole line was like one word. The reader himself had to divide the line into words. There were also no punctuation marks, no aspirations, no stresses in the ancient manuscripts. And in the Hebrew language, vowels were also not written, but only consonants.

Bible canon

Both Testaments were first reduced to canonical form at local councils in the 4th century: the Council of Hippo in 393. and the Council of Carthage in 397.

The history of the division of the Bible into chapters and verses

The division of words in the Bible was introduced in the 5th century by the deacon of the Alexandrian church, Eulalius. The modern division into chapters dates back to Cardinal Stephen Langton, who divided the Latin translation of the Bible, Vulgate in 1205. And in 1551, the Genevan printer Robert Stephen introduced the modern division of chapters into verses.

Classification of books of the Bible

The Bible books of the Old and New Testaments are classified into Legislative, Historical, Teaching and Prophetic. For example, in the New Testament, the Gospels are Legislative, the Acts of the Apostles are Historical, and the Epistles of Sts. Apostles and the Prophetic Book - Revelation of St. John the Evangelist.

Bible translations

Greek translation of the seventy interpreters – – was started by the will of the Egyptian king Ptolemy Philadelphus in 271 BC. Orthodox Church since the apostolic time he has been using the sacred books according to the translation of 70.

Latin translation - Vulgate- was published in 384 by the blessed Jerome. Since 382, the blessed one translated the Bible from Greek into Latin; at the beginning of his work, he used the Greek Septuagint, but soon switched to using the Hebrew text directly. This translation became known as the Vulgate - Editio Vulgata (vulgatus means "widespread, well-known"). The Council of Trent in 1546 approved the translation of St. Jerome, and it came into general use in the West.

Slavic translation of the Bible made according to the text of the Septuagint by the holy Thessalonica brothers Cyril and Methodius, in the middle of the 9th century A.D., during their apostolic labors in the Slavic lands.

Ostromir Gospel- the first fully preserved Slavic manuscript book (mid-11th century).

Gennadiev Bible - the first complete handwritten Russian Bible. Compiled in 1499 under the leadership of the Novgorod archbishop. Gennady (until that time, biblical texts were scattered and existed in various collections).

Ostrog Bible - the first complete printed Russian Bible. It was published in 1580 by order of Prince Kons. Ostrogsky, the first printer Ivan Fedorov in Ostrog (the estate of the prince). This Bible is still used by the Old Believers.

Elizabethan Bible - Church Slavonic translation used in the liturgical practice of the church. At the end of 1712, Peter I issued a decree on preparations for the publication of the corrected Bible, but this work was completed already under Elizabeth in 1751.

Synodal translation – the first complete Russian text of the Bible. It was carried out on the initiative of Alexander I and under the leadership of St. . It was published in parts from 1817 to 1876, when the complete Russian text of the Bible was published.
The Elizabethan Bible came entirely from the Septuagint. The synodal translation of the Old Testament was made from the Masoretic text, but taking into account the Septuagint (highlighted in the text in square brackets).

Introduction

The Bible is the holy book of two religions - Judaism and Christianity. This word itself is taken from the ancient Greek language and means “books” (in ancient times, a papyrus scroll was called a book, on which a text was placed, approximately equal in volume to a modern book chapter). If we open the modern edition of the Bible, we will see that this thick volume contains several dozen different works, each of which has its own title.

The Bible consists of two parts: the first of which is called the Old Testament, the second - the New Testament. The word "covenant" here means "union" - we are talking about friendship and alliance, which in ancient times God concluded with one of the peoples - the ancient Jews. The Old Testament, that is, the "old union", Christians called that part of the Bible, which describes the events before the coming of Jesus Christ to the people, when the union with God was concluded again. Therefore, the second part of the Bible, which tells about Christ, is called the New Testament.

The Jews recognize the sacred character of only the Old Testament, since they do not consider the New Testament Jesus of Nazareth to be the true Christ, i.e. Messiah, Savior. Of course, they do not use the very name "Old Testament", for them God made an alliance with his chosen people once and for all. Therefore, they simply refer to “their” part of the Bible as Scripture. Christians, since their religion arose on the basis of Hebrew, now called Judaism, consider both parts of the Bible sacred.

The purpose of the work is a detailed study of the structure of the Bible.

The first 5 books of the Bible are called in Judaism the Torah (the Hebrew word "Torah" - the law), and in Christianity - the Pentateuch of Moses. Their authorship is attributed to the prophet Moses. The books tell about God's creation of heaven, earth, all living things and man; about the primitive paradise and the fall of Adam and Eve, their expulsion from paradise, the Flood and the election of the Jewish people by God as the people of God. After that, in the Torah, as in the entire Old Testament, only the Jewish people and their relationship with God are told. In this light, the history of the Jewish people is described from its God's chosen people to the 5th century BC (in non-canonical books - up to the 2nd century BC). Along with religious and historical legends, the Old Testament includes religious-poetic, philosophical and ritual nature, as well as prophetic. In the books of a dozen prophets, God's warnings to believers are expressed, and events of the future are outlined. In these prophecies, the authors of the New Testament read the predictions about Jesus Christ, and modern preachers and believers - the prediction of our events and the coming days.

In the New Testament, all Christian churches include 27 books: the 4th Gospel, the Acts of the Holy Apostles, 21 Epistles of the Apostles and the Apocalypse (Revelation of John the Theologian). The Ethiopian and Coptic Christian churches add a dozen more books to these books. All the books of the New Testament speak of Jesus Christ and on his behalf set forth the essence of the Christian doctrine.

And the last book of the New Testament is Revelation. Sometimes it is also called the Apocalypse. In this book, John recorded the visions that God revealed to him about the future fate of mankind. Not everything in this book is easy to understand. But even what is stated quite clearly in it is of great importance for understanding the present and future events of world history.

Despite the fact that the New Testament was written almost two thousand years ago, its words are extremely relevant for modern people. That is why he is the most readable book in a world that no bestseller can match.

Conclusion

Thus, the Bible is a collection of a wide variety of texts that contain myths, legends, stories about real historical events, a kind of prediction of the future, lyrical works of a religious and secular nature. The Old Testament is distinguished by the greatest wealth of mythological subjects.

Since the Bible played a special role in the formation of world civilization, biblical myths, like ancient ones, entered the treasury of human culture to a greater extent than, say, Chinese, Japanese or Australian ones. Therefore, many mythological or legendary plots of the Bible need to be commented on for the modern reader. When it is necessary to clarify or supplement a biblical story, a commentary on it, as a rule, is given in italics and enclosed in square brackets.

Bibliography

Borisova G.V., Belyanin D.N., Gavrilova N.P., Evdokimova L.N., Osipov V.A., Pravda V.L. Culturology. Tutorial. - Kemerovo: KuzGTU, 2012.- 178 p.

Melerovich A.M., Fokina M.A. Russian phraseology. Textbook - Kostroma: KSU, 2015.- 77 p.

Stefanenko N.A. The study of biblical stories and hagiographic literature in elementary grades in the classroom literary reading. Guidelines for teachers primary school- Kostroma: KSU, 2011.- 28 p.

Encyclopedia for children. V.6, part 2. Religions of the world - 2nd ed., Rev. / Edited by M.D. Aksenova. – M.: Avanta+, 1996. – 688 p.

Christian doctrine is based on the Bible. What is the Bible? This word has Greek roots and comes from "biblos" and "biblia", which means - a book.

What is the Bible made of?

This sacred book consists of 2 main parts - the Old Testament (this includes 50 books) and the New Testament (consists of 27 books). The Bible combines works of various genres - visions, romantic and edifying stories, historical works, laws, sermons, mythological traditions.

What does the Bible mean for Jews and Christians? The Church believes that this “Book of Books” (as the Bible is also called) was written through the people chosen by God according to the revelations of the Holy Spirit. It contains the entire spiritual and moral experience of mankind, which gradually accumulated over many centuries.

Bible authors

The "Book of Books" was created over 15 centuries, so it has more than 40 authors. These are doctors, shepherds, peasants, fishermen, statesmen, priests and kings. Because of such an author's kaleidoscope, an incredible harmony between the most different topics that runs from beginning to end. This can only be explained by the fact that the real author is God, who inspired those people who wrote the Bible. The result was the holy and blameless Word of God.

Central personality

The main character of the Bible is Jesus Christ. The entire book is about Him. In the Old Testament, his coming is foreshadowed and preparations are underway for this coming. The New Testament describes the Coming of Christ and his sacrifice (work) to save our world, mired in sins.

Jesus Christ is not an easy historical figure. This is God in the flesh, and his Coming in the history of our world was the most significant event. Thus, the prophecy of the Old Testament was fulfilled - God came into the sinful world in the image of Jesus Christ, lived an impeccable life in it, died in order to become a Savior, and rose from the dead.

– Often, we Orthodox are reproached for not reading the Bible as often as, for example, Protestants do. To what extent are such accusations justified?

- The Orthodox Church recognizes two sources of knowledge of God - Holy Scripture and Holy Tradition. And the first is an integral part of the second. After all, initially the sermons of the holy apostles were delivered and transmitted orally. Holy Tradition includes not only Holy Scripture, but also liturgical texts, resolutions of the Ecumenical Councils, iconography and a number of other sources that occupy an important place in the life of the Church. And everything that is said in Holy Scripture is also in the Tradition of the Church.

Since ancient times, the life of a Christian has been inextricably linked with biblical texts. But in the 16th century, when the so-called “Reformation” arose, the situation changed. The Protestants abandoned the Holy Tradition of the Church and limited themselves to the study of the Holy Scriptures. And therefore, a special kind of piety appeared among them - reading and studying biblical texts. I want to emphasize once again: from the point of view of the Orthodox Church, Holy Tradition includes the entire volume of church life, including Holy Scripture. Moreover, even if someone does not read the Word of God, but regularly visits the temple, he hears that the entire worship service is permeated with biblical quotations. Thus, if a person lives the church life, then he is in the atmosphere of the Bible.

How many books are included in Holy Scripture? What is the difference between the Orthodox Bible and the Protestant Bible?

- Holy Scripture is a collection of books, different books and by the time of their writing, and by authorship, and by content, and by style. They are divided into two parts: the Old Testament and the New Testament. The Orthodox Bible has 77 books, while the Protestant Bible has 66.

- What is the reason for this discrepancy?

- The fact is that in the Orthodox Bible, more precisely in the Holy Scriptures of the Old Testament, in addition to 39 canonical books, there are 11 more non-canonical ones: Tobit, Judith, Wisdom of Solomon, Wisdom of Jesus, the son of Sirach, the Epistle of Jeremiah, Baruch, the second and third books of Ezra, three Maccabees. In the "Large Christian Catechism" of St. Philaret of Moscow, it is said that the division of books into canonical and non-canonical is caused by the absence of the latter (11 books) in Jewish primary sources and their presence only in Greek, i.e. in the Septuagint (translation of 70 interpreters). In turn, the Protestants, starting with M. Luther, abandoned non-canonical books, erroneously assigning them the status of "apocryphal". As for the 27 books of the New Testament, they are recognized by both Orthodox and Protestants. It's about about the Christian part of the Bible written after the birth of Christ: the New Testament books testify to the earthly life of the Lord Jesus Christ and the first decades of the existence of the Church. These include the four Gospels, the book of the Acts of the Apostles, the epistles of the apostles (seven of the catholic and 14 of the apostle Paul), as well as the Revelation of John the Theologian (Apocalypse).

How to study the Bible correctly? Is it worth starting knowledge from the first pages of Genesis?

— The main thing is to have a sincere desire to learn the Word of God. It is better to start with the New Testament. Experienced shepherds recommend getting acquainted with the Bible through the Gospel of Mark (that is, not in the order in which they are presented). It is the shortest, written in simple and accessible language. After reading the Gospels of Matthew, Luke and John, we move on to the book of Acts, the apostolic letters and the Apocalypse (the most complex and most mysterious book in the entire Bible). And only after that you can proceed to the Old Testament books. Only after reading the New Testament, it is easier to understand the meaning of the Old. After all, the Apostle Paul did not say in vain that the Old Testament legislation was a schoolmaster to Christ (see: Gal. 3:24): it leads a person, as if a child by the hand, to let him understand for real what happened during the Incarnation, what is the incarnation of God in principle for a person ...

— And if the reader does not understand some episodes of the Bible? What to do in this case? Who to contact?

- It is advisable to have books on hand that explain the Holy Scriptures. Creations to recommend blessed Theophylact Bulgarian. His explanations are short, but very accessible and deeply ecclesiastical, reflecting the Tradition of the Church. The conversations of St. John Chrysostom on the Gospels and the Apostolic Epistles are also classic. If you have any questions, it would be nice to consult with an experienced priest. It must be understood that reading the Holy Scriptures is part of a spiritual achievement. And it is very important to pray, to purify your soul. After all, even in the Old Testament it was said: wisdom will not enter into an evil soul and will not dwell in a body enslaved to sin, for the Holy Spirit of wisdom will move away from wickedness and evade foolish thinking, and will be ashamed of the approaching unrighteousness (Wisdom 1: 4-5) .

“So, it is necessary to prepare for the reading of the Holy Scripture in a special way?”

– Experienced elders in monasteries gave the novice a rule: before studying the Holy Scriptures, you first need to familiarize yourself with the works of the holy fathers. Bible reading is not just the study of the Word of God, it is like prayer. I would generally recommend reading the Bible in the morning, after prayer rule. I think it's easy to set aside 15-20 minutes to read one or two chapters from the Gospel, the apostolic epistles. So you can get a spiritual charge for the whole day. Very often, in this way, answers appear to serious questions that life poses to a person.

- Sometimes there is such a situation: I read it, understood what it was about, but it doesn’t suit you, because you don’t agree with what is written ...

- According to Tertullian (one of the church writers of antiquity), our soul is a Christian by nature. Thus, biblical truths are given to man from the very beginning, they are embedded in his nature, his consciousness. We sometimes call it conscience, that is, it is not something new that is not characteristic of human nature. The main postulates of the Holy Scriptures are the voice of God that resounds in the nature of each of us. Therefore, first of all, you need to pay attention to your life: does everything in it agree with the commandments of God? If a person does not want to listen to the voice of God, what other voice does he need? Who will he listen to?

- Once they asked St. Philaret: they say, how can you believe that the prophet Jonah was swallowed by a whale, which has a very narrow throat? In response, he said: “If it were written in the Holy Scriptures that it was not a whale that swallowed Jonah, but Jonah swallowed a whale, I would have believed it.” Of course, today such statements can be perceived with sarcasm. In this regard, the question arises: why does the Church trust the Holy Scriptures so much? After all, the Bible books are written by people...

— The main difference between the Bible and other books is the revelation of God. It's not just a piece of art outstanding person. Through the prophets and apostles on accessible language the voice of God Himself is reproduced. If the Creator addresses us, how should we treat this? Hence such attention and such trust in the Holy Scriptures.

What language were the Bible books written in? How did their translation affect the modern perception of sacred texts?

Most of the Old Testament books are written in Hebrew (Hebrew). Some of them have survived only in Aramaic. The already mentioned non-canonical books have come down to us exclusively in Greek: for example, Judith, Tobit, Baruch and Maccabees. The third book of Ezra in its entirety is known to us only in Latin. As for the New Testament, it was mostly written in Greek, the Koine dialect. Some biblical scholars believe that the Gospel of Matthew was written in Hebrew, but no primary sources have come down to us (there are only translations). Of course, it would be better to read and study biblical books, relying on primary sources, originals. But this has been the case since ancient times: all the books of the Holy Scriptures were translated. And therefore, for the most part, people are familiar with the Holy Scriptures translated into their native language.

- It would be interesting to know: what language did Jesus Christ speak?

- Many believe that Christ used the Aramaic language. However, when talking about the original Gospel of Matthew, most biblical scholars point to Hebrew as the language of the Old Testament books. The debate on this topic continues to this day.

— According to Bible Societies, back in 2008 the Bible was fully or partially translated into 2,500 languages. Some scientists believe that there are 3 thousand languages in the world, others point to 6 thousand. It is very difficult to define the criterion: what is a language and what is a dialect. But with absolute certainty we can say: all people living in different parts of the globe can read the whole or part of the Bible in their own language.

- Which language is preferable for us: Russian, Ukrainian or Church Slavonic?

- The main criterion - the Bible must be understandable. Traditionally, Church Slavonic is used for worship in the Church. Unfortunately, in general education school it is not being studied. Therefore, many biblical expressions require clarification. By the way, this applies not only to our era. This problem also arose in the 19th century. At the same time, a translation of the Holy Scripture into Russian appeared - the Synodal Translation of the Bible. He has stood the test of time, had a huge impact on the development of the Russian language in particular and Russian culture in general. Therefore, for Russian-speaking parishioners, I would recommend using it for home reading. As for the Ukrainian-speaking parishioners, the situation here is a bit more complicated. The fact is that the attempt of the first complete translation of the Bible into Ukrainian language was undertaken by Panteleimon Kulish in the 60s of the XIX century. Ivan Nechuy-Levitsky joined him. The translation was completed by Ivan Pulyuy (already after Kulish's death). Their work was published in 1903 by the Bible Society. In the XX century. the translations of Ivan Ogienko and Ivan Khomenko became the most authoritative. Many people are now trying to translate all or part of the Bible. There are both positive experiences and difficult, controversial moments. So, it would probably be incorrect to recommend any specific text of the Ukrainian translation. Now the Ukrainian Orthodox Church is translating the Four Gospels. I hope that this will be a successful translation both for home reading and for liturgical reading (in those parishes where Ukrainian is used).

- In some parishes, during the divine service, a biblical passage is read in their native language (after reading in Church Slavonic) ...

— This tradition is typical not only for our parishes, but also for many foreign parishes, where there are believers from different countries. In such situations, liturgical passages from Holy Scripture are repeated in their native languages. After all, spiritual food should be given to a person in the form in which it can bring spiritual benefits.

— From time to time, information appears in the media about some new biblical book, which was allegedly previously lost or kept secret. It necessarily reveals some "sacred" moments that contradict Christianity. How to treat such sources?

- In the last two centuries, many ancient manuscripts (manuscripts) have been discovered, which made it possible to coordinate our view of the study of the biblical text. First of all, this concerns the Qumran manuscripts found in the Dead Sea region (in the Qumran caves). Many manuscripts have been found there, both Biblical and Gnostic (that is, texts that distort Christian teaching). It is possible that in the future many Gnostic manuscripts will be found. It should be recalled that even during the 2nd and 3rd centuries. The church fought against the heresy of Gnosticism. And in our time, when we are witnessing a craze for the occult, these texts appear under the guise of some kind of sensation.

What criteria can be used to determine positive result from regular reading of the Scriptures? By the number of memorized quotes?

— We read the Word of God not for memorization. Although there are situations, for example in seminaries, when such a task is set. Biblical texts are important for the spiritual life, to feel the breath of God Himself. Thus, we partake of those grace-filled gifts that are in the Church, learn about the commandments, thanks to which we become better, we draw closer to the Lord. Therefore, the study of the Bible is the most important part of our spiritual ascent, spiritual life. With regular reading, many passages are gradually memorized and without special memorization.