On the interpretation of the Bible in Orthodoxy. Tradition of interpretation of the apocalypse Interpretation of the scriptures of Optina

Lesson twenty-one. Interpretation of some sayings of St. Gregory about the holy martyrs. It is good, brothers, to sing the words of the holy God-bearers, because they always and everywhere try to teach us everything leading to the enlightenment of our souls. From these very words sung in

Word of St. John Chrysostom on the Nativity of the holy prophet, forerunner and baptizer of the Lord John. The day of celebration and general joy is opportune, on which the ministry of Gabriel and the priesthood of Zechariah came to my mind, and I think about the one condemned to muteness for unbelief. You heard

Word of Saint John Chrysostom on the day of the beheading of the holy Forerunner of the Lord John Again Herodias rages, again is embarrassed, again dances, again demands from Herod the lawless beheading of the head of John the Baptist. Jezebel is plotting to take the vineyard again

Interpretation of St. John Chrysostom on Psalm 10. The great power of trust in God and the powerlessness of enemy intrigues and attacks. – Why do many of the wicked overcome others? -What is the weapon of the righteous against the wicked? - "He who loves falsehood hates

1. Orthodox worship as the Tradition of the Holy Apostles and Holy Fathers of the Church Orthodox worship is a source of joy and a subject of praise for every Orthodox soul. It was formed gradually, starting from the first years of the existence of the ancient Church, through the works of

Interpretation of the Bible, understanding its meaning is called exegesis (Greek). Orthodox exegesis has its own rules of hermeneutics (from the Greek ermeneuen - to explain) and methods:

2. The interpretation must be in accordance with the dogmas and teachings of the Church.

3. The Old Testament must be evaluated in the light of the New.

4. It is necessary to be guided by the interpretations given to the Holy Scriptures by St. Fathers. They are of great value for the Orthodox interpreter, who, however, must also take into account the differences in the interpretation of the Fathers. Orthodox biblical scholars also turn to the church-liturgical (liturgical, iconographic) interpretation of the Holy Scriptures, elucidating the general church exegetical tradition

5. Exegesis is combined with textual criticism. The word "criticism" in this case means scientific and literary study.

• New Testament Documents: Are They Reliable?- Frederick Bruce
• “And these shall go into κόλασιν (cut-off) αἰώνιον (eternal)” (Matthew 25:46). About the fate of those who do not live according to Christian laws and will find themselves on the left side at the Last Judgment. - Vitaly Miguzov
• Essene hypothesis- Peter Brant
• The Myth of the “Pretty” Language of the New Testament- Pavel Begichev
• Why is the Hebrew Bible different from the Greek?- Mikhail Seleznev
• The Didache is an early Christian monument containing unique information about church life, theology and moral teaching of the apostolic era- Alexander Tkachenko
• Talent and contribution, not mine and eurocent(explanatory dictionary of biblical words) - Yuri Pushchaev
• Sacred play on words. What languages ​​did the apostles speak?- Deacon Mikhail Asmus
• Betrayal of Judas(priest's answer to the question) - Abbot Feodor Prokopov
• Prophets and Prophecies of the Bible- Vitaly Kaplan, Alexey Sokolov
• Canaanite religion- Abbot Arseny Sokolov
• Why is the Old Testament so petty?- Andrey Desnitsky
• Day of the Holy Trinity. Pentecost. Interpretation of the Gospel - Archpriest Alexander Shargunov
• The resurrection of righteous Lazarus. Patristic interpretations of difficult passages- Anton Pospelov
• Why do Christians need “cursing psalms”?- Archpriest Sergiy Arkhipov
• Does the Bible tell the truth?- Andrey Desnitsky
• Biblical genealogies and world history- Priest Andrey Shelepov
• Jeroboam's sin- Abbot Arseny Sokolov
• “And Isaac went to mock the field”: a little educational program- Agafya Logofetova
• Rabid feminist attacks on the Bible are baseless- David Ashford
• What is "inspiration"? Did the evangelists write from dictation?- Andrey Desnitsky
• Why does a Christian need the Old Testament?- Andrey Desnitsky
• "Let our children accept the gift of faith." Conversations from the series "The Family Life of the Old Testament Patriarchs"- Archpriest Oleg Stenyaev
• “Salaphiel begat Zerubbabel...” Why does Christ need genealogies?- Andrey Desnitsky
• Reflections on difficult parts of the Gospel- Abbot Peter Meshcherinov
• Women of the Old Testament- Grigory Pruttskov
• The Book of Genesis and some data from linguistics, genetics and ethnography- Evgeny Kruglov, Alexander Klyashev

Greek Four Gospels, XII–XIII centuries, parchment. Constantinople

Five Basic Methods of Exegesis

Thanks to the works of the Fathers and Teachers of the Church and later exegetes, the meaning of Holy Scripture from era to era is revealed more and more fully in its spiritual inexhaustibility and depth. There are five main methods of exegesis, or interpretation, of the Old Testament, which do not exclude, but complement each other. “Some things in Scripture,” notes St. John Chrysostom, “should be understood as they say, and others in a figurative sense; others in a double sense: sensual and spiritual” (Conversation on Ps 46). Likewise, Rev. John Cassian the Roman pointed out that the interpretation of the Bible “is divided into two parts, that is, into the historical (literal) interpretation of Holy Scripture and the spiritual (sacramental) understanding.

Method of allegorical interpretation i originated among the Jews of Alexandria and was developed by the famous religious thinker Philo († c. 40 AD). Philo and his predecessors borrowed this method from ancient writers. Allegorical exegesis was adopted by the Christian school of Alexandria - Clement and Origen (II-III centuries), and then St. Gregory of Nyssa (332-389). They all proceeded from the idea that the Old Testament contains much more than can be found in its literal understanding. Therefore, exegetes sought, by deciphering the allegories, to explain secret, the spiritual meaning of Scripture. However, for all its fruitfulness, the Alexandrian method lacked reliable criteria for an accurate understanding of the ancient Eastern symbolism used in the Old Testament, and this often led to arbitrary guesses. The great merit of the Alexandrian school was the attempt expound the teachings of the Bible in theological language.

Literal method interpreted It boiled down to imagining, as coherently and clearly as possible, the course of biblical events and straight the meaning of the teachings set forth in the Old Testament. This method was developed in the 3rd and 4th centuries by the Syrian Fathers of the Church (Antiochian and Edessa schools), of which the most famous is St. Ephraim the Syrian (306-379). The Syrians were closely familiar with the customs of the East, which allowed them to reconstruct the picture of the biblical world better than the Hellenistic authors. But the fact of the polysemantic meaning of Scripture often remained beyond the sight of these exegetes.

The methods of the two above-mentioned schools were combined by the Fathers of the Church, who proposed moral homiletical interpretation of the Old Testament. It pursued primarily the goals of edification and preaching, emphasizing the moral and dogmatic aspects of Scripture. The highest example of such interpretation are the works of St. John Chrysostom (380-407).

Typological, or educational, method of interpretation I. This method is based on the fact that the Bible contains polysemantic prototypes (Greek typos - image, prototype) of the history of salvation, which can be attributed not to one, but to its various stages. So, for example, in the exodus from Egypt they saw a prototype of the return from captivity, and later - a prototype of the exodus from slavery to sin (the waters of the sea are a symbol of the waters of baptism). This method is already used in the Gospel (John 3:14), in St. Paul (Gal. 4:22-25) and is present in almost all patristic writings, starting from St. Clement of Rome (c. 90). Closely related to prototypes are prophecies about the Messiah, scattered in explicit or hidden form throughout the Old Testament. The typological method plays a big role in understanding the spiritual integrity of the Bible, which speaks of the actions of one God in a single history of salvation.

From the correspondence of St. Ignatius (Brianchaninov), XIX century.

Are you asking why reading the Holy Fathers is necessary? Wouldn’t it be enough to be guided by Holy Scripture alone—the pure Word of God, in which there is no admixture of human words?

I answer: when reading Scripture, it is absolutely necessary to read the Holy Fathers of the Eastern Church. This is what the holy Apostle Peter says about the Holy Scriptures: Every prophecy is not written according to its own telling (Russian translation: no prophecy in Scripture can be resolved by oneself). It was not by the will of man that prophecy came to pass, but by the Holy Spirit the holy words of God were enlightened to men (2 Pet. 1:20-21). How do you want to arbitrarily understand the spiritual word, which was not pronounced arbitrarily, but according to the inspiration of the Spirit, and itself prohibits arbitrary interpretation of itself. The Spirit spoke the Scriptures, and only the Spirit can interpret them. Inspired men, prophets and apostles wrote it; men inspired by God, the Holy Fathers, interpreted it. Therefore, anyone who wants to acquire true knowledge of the Holy Scriptures needs to read the Holy Fathers. If you limit yourself to reading one Holy Scripture, then, of necessity, you must understand and explain it arbitrarily. Due to the same necessity, it will be impossible for you to avoid errors; because a natural man does not accept the Spirit of God, and cannot understand, he strives for spiritual things (Russian translation: a natural man does not accept what is from the Spirit of God, and cannot understand, because it must be judged spiritually (1 Cor. 2 14).No one knows the message of God, but the Spirit of God.

The heretics of all times especially hate the writings of the Fathers: the writings of the Fathers reveal the direct meaning of the Holy Scriptures, which the enemies of the Truth would like to distort to confirm their false ideas. The heresiarch Eutyches expressed his dislike of the Fathers at the local Council of Constantinople. “The Holy Scriptures,” he said slyly, “should be respected more than the Fathers,” and he said because then the writings of the holy patriarchs of Alexandria Athanasius the Great and the recently deceased Cyril clearly exposed his blasphemous error.

The Universal Church, on the contrary, has always had special respect for the patristic writings: these writings preserved church unity, for which a universally accepted, true, grace-filled explanation of Scripture is necessary. Ecumenical councils always began with the reading of those patristic writings in which dogma or tradition were set out in particular detail, the consideration of which was the subject of the council’s meetings. And relying on the Scriptures of the Fathers, the Council denounced heresy and pronounced Orthodox teaching and confession.

In the same way, in private life, holy ascetics were initially educated by the writings of their fathers; only then did they move on to reading primarily the Holy Scriptures, when they had already achieved special spiritual success. “The sea of ​​Scripture is deep,” said Saint John of the Climacus, “and the mind of a silent person does not rush through it safely: it is dangerous to swim in clothes, and to touch strange theology” (Homily 27. On Silence). This danger, this disaster obviously lies in an arbitrary interpretation, in a false concept of Scripture, which is why many monks have fallen into a disastrous error.

In vain do the heretics display their imaginary respect for the Holy Scriptures, insidiously hinting that the Orthodox Church has little respect for it, overly respecting the Holy Fathers, whom they reject, whom they shower with slander and shameless and unscrupulous abuse. The respect of heretics for the Holy Scriptures is false, hypocritical; What kind of respect is there for the Word of God when it is left to everyone, no matter how depraved he may be, to understand and interpret it arbitrarily?

The Holy Church, accepting the gracious interpretation of the Holy Scriptures by the Holy Fathers, thereby proves its deep respect for the Holy Scriptures: it honors it as the word of God should be honored. She teaches her children not to be impudent in relation to the word of God, to keep them from proud self-will and lawlessness, commands them to be brought up by reading the Holy Fathers and, with their guidance, to penetrate into the wonderful light of the Word of God, striking with blindness those who dare to look at it without proper preparation, with an unclean mind and a sin-loving heart. One has only to pay attention to the worship of the Eastern Church to be convinced of its deep reverence for the Holy Scriptures. The Gospel - the all-holy book containing the words spoken to people by God Himself incarnate - is always present on the holy throne, vividly depicting Christ Himself. Only sacred persons are allowed to read it publicly; when it is read, everyone listens to it, as if it were Christ speaking; when it is taken out of the altar, lighted candles precede it. It is taken out and placed on a lectern in the middle of the church: then all Orthodox Christians present reverently kneel before it, as before the word of God, kissing it with fear and love.
And at this time the heretic, who had just boasted of his respect for the Holy Scriptures, is seduced by the reverence of the children of the Holy Church for the Gospel, mockingly calling their worship of the word of God idolatry, the worship of paper, ink, binding; poor blind man! he sees in this book only paper, ink, binding - he does not see the Gospel of Christ. The public reading of the Apostolic Epistles is performed by deacons and readers; the reading of other Holy Scriptures is performed by the readers in the middle of the temple. Church hymns, composed by the Holy Fathers, contain a complete course of dogmatic and moral theology.

Glory to God, who has preserved His Church in purity and holiness! Glory to the holy Eastern Church, the only holy and true! All traditions, all its customs are holy, fragrant with spiritual anointing! Let all who oppose her, all who separate themselves from union with her, be ashamed.

Have reverence for the Holy Scriptures, the reverence due to a true son of the true Church; have due trust and reverence for the writings of the Fathers. The same Spirit of God that acted in the prophets and apostles acted in the holy teachers and pastors of the church: the witness of this dogma is the holy Apostle: God forbid, he says, in the Church the apostles are first, the prophets second, the teachers third.

In accordance with the words of the Apostle, the words of the Holy Scriptures and the instructions of the Church, the first place in your pious reading should be occupied by the writings of the apostles. Among the writings of the apostles, the Gospel occupies first place. To correctly understand the New Testament, read the holy teachers of the church, read the Psalter and other books of the Old Testament. Purify yourself with the Gospel commandments and pious deeds. According to the purity of the soul, God appears to it, God’s Word is revealed to it, for carnal eyes covered with an impenetrable veil of human words.

Christians have one Bible, but there are so many interpretations of it. Every sect that breaks away from Christianity claims to strictly follow the Scriptures, but is it really so? Can anyone interpret the Bible, or does it require a certain knowledge, a certain gift from God? Today we will try to understand these and many other issues, and the candidate of theology, teacher of the St. Petersburg Orthodox Theological Academy, secretary of the department of biblical studies of the St. Petersburg Orthodox Theological Academy Dmitry Georgievich Dobykin will help us with this. The conversation is conducted by Vitaly Yurievich Pitanov, an employee of the Orthodox apologetic center “Stavros”.

P.V.: Before we begin discussing interpretations of the Bible, I would like to touch upon the topic of its translations. After all, often people who arrogate to themselves the right to interpret the Holy Scriptures do not realize at all that any translation is an interpretation of the original text, that the original biblical text always carries more shades of meaning than any good translation is capable of conveying. Dmitry, could you demonstrate with specific examples how much the meaning of a biblical text can change depending on the translation, and can a person unfamiliar with biblical languages, in your opinion, even claim to interpret the Bible?

D.D.: First, as an example, I would like to offer you a text that is probably well-known to everyone - the Beatitudes. I suggest reading it in the Synodal translation, which is the most widespread and in the translation of another author, I will not name him, but that is what it is. So: blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven; Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted; blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth; Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied, etc., I will not read to the end. And another translation: how happy are those who are poor for the sake of the Lord, the Kingdom of Heaven is for them; how happy are those who mourn, God will comfort them; how happy are the meek, for God will give them the earth to possess; how happy are those who thirst for the fulfillment of the will of the Lord, God will quench their thirst, etc. Our synodal translation uses such an archaic word “blessed”, the new translation uses the word “happy”, but in fact, the word that stands and behind the word “blessed” and behind the word “happy” there is a Greek word, it is broader than the word “happy” and when our translators used the word “blessed”, it is quite archaic, but they still put more meaning into it. This is not only happiness, it is something more. When we read this translation, we have a feeling of “well, yes, happy, joyful,” but the word “blessed” conveys more shades of the teaching that Christ expounded during the Sermon on the Mount.

Now the second question, you asked: “Can a person who does not know the ancient languages ​​try to interpret the Bible?” First of all, he may be able to try to interpret the Bible, but he cannot engage in translation, in any way. There is a translation called the “New World Translation” of the Holy Scriptures, it is available in English, Russian, and many other languages. It is positioned as the best translation, as the most correct translation currently existing, but if the names and track record of those who created this translation are known, we will be very surprised; among these people there was not a single person who knew the Hebrew language, in which the Old Testament was written and there was only one person who knew a little Greek. These people undertook to translate the Holy Scriptures; the text is indeed very difficult to translate and understand. If you are seriously going to engage in translation and interpretation, knowledge of languages ​​is simply a must.

P.V.: That is, in fact, we must say that any translation is always an interpretation, and when we select some word similar in meaning, there are always variations, and there is always the possibility that the original word in the Greek text or will the Hebrew be more ambiguous than the word chosen in the Russian translation?

D.D.: Yes, absolutely true. We cannot think that we will be able to create a perfect translation, this is impossible, it will still be imperfect, only the original text is ideal.

P.V.: That is, if a person does not know biblical languages, but tries to interpret the text in some way, one must always understand that he will interpret it within a narrower framework than if he interpreted it knowing the original text, knowing the nuances of the language of the original text , which, unfortunately, will simply be inaccessible without knowledge of biblical languages?

D.D.: You are partly right, yes, if he knows languages, he will understand the text more deeply, but where is the guarantee that, even knowing this language, he will correctly understand not only words and sentences, but also the thoughts of the author? Therefore, in order to correctly interpret the biblical text, knowledge of languages ​​alone is not enough; you need to know the rules for interpreting the biblical text.

P.V.: Hence my next question: is it possible to say that the meaning of the Bible can be easily understood by anyone without interpretation? What does Holy Scripture itself teach about this? Often encountering, for example, various neo-Protestant groups, I hear that the Bible interprets itself, that it is enough to read the Bible and understand its meaning, although studying, for example, the history of the same Protestantism, I know that Luther initially proclaimed the principle of “solo scriptura” ( only Scripture), and by the end of his life he allowed the study of the Bible only by people who studied biblical languages, and he advised ordinary peasants to study his small catechism. As a matter of fact, he limited access to the Bible, please note, this was not done by an Orthodox Christian, not a Catholic, this was done by Luther, the father of the Reformation. That is, he believed that not every person can read and interpret the Bible.

D.D.: We can partly agree with the Protestants. If we open the Holy Scriptures and begin to read, then its general meaning will be that God exists, sin exists, that Christ is the Savior, we can understand this. But in order to understand the whole message of the Bible, the whole teaching of the Bible, deep knowledge, and deep faith, and rules of interpretation of the Holy Scripture are necessary, otherwise, we must understand that the brain of every person, the mind of every person is limited and, by reading the Bible, we are simply We add into it what is not written there. That is, we do not interpret it, but we reinterpret it, so by giving a person the Bible in his hands, we can be sure that he can simply create his own sect, which will be based on his understanding of the Holy Scriptures.

P.V.: Indeed, returning to the history of the Reformation, we know that even in those days, even the classics of the Reformation, for example, Luther and Calvin, interpreted some points of the Biblical text completely differently. For example, the concept of Communion, Calvin said that it was a symbol, Luther understood that it was the real Body and Blood of Christ, and the verse that they interpreted was one and the same.

D.D.: You see, this is evidence that if we do not abide in some tradition, in some teaching, in some rules, then we come to differences of opinion. And if it were secondary, then it would not be so scary, but this difference of opinion touches the depths of the Christian faith. The issue of Communion is still not a secondary issue in Christian theology.

P.V.: This is the heart of Christianity, in fact.

D.D.: It turns out that one and the same verse, two different people – two different teachings. There is a joke: three Baptists and four opinions.

P.V.: Please tell me, in the text of the Holy Scripture itself, is it possible to find anywhere moments where it is said that the Bible alone is not enough to find the meaning of the Holy Scripture?

D.D.: There is a very good quote there, which actually does not talk about Holy Tradition, about some additions, but it is very important. This quote is in the Gospel, and it says that Christ opened the minds of His disciples to the knowledge of the Holy Scriptures. The Scripture that is named there is the Old Testament, that is, the Jews and, including the apostles, read the Old Testament all their lives, they studied it, they memorized it, but the grace of Christ was needed for them to fully understand, what is written there. Accordingly, if the disciples needed grace to understand the Old Testament, then, naturally, we Christians also need grace so that we understand all of the Holy Scriptures, and the Lord really gives this grace to people who correctly interpret the Holy Scriptures. I emphasize the word “correctly” interpreted, and we Christians, turning to these correct interpretations, recognize them, consider them adequate and call them the Holy Tradition of the Church. So you can understand from the Bible that the Bible really needs interpretation.

P.V.: Please tell me what biblical disciplines exist that search for the meaning of the Bible?

D.D.: There are five of them: the first discipline is textual criticism, which restores the original text and generally analyzes the history of the existence of the biblical text. The second discipline is called isagogy, which translated means “introduction to the Holy Scriptures.” Isagogy deals with issues of authorship, the date of writing of the book, to whom this book was written, how it was written, why it was written. Then she examines what interpretive literature exists on this book. The next science is called hermeneutics. Hermeneutics is a Greek word that translates as “interpretation” and this science develops rules and principles for interpreting biblical text. The next science is called exegesis. Exegesis means “deduction,” if isagogy is an introduction, then exegesis is a deduction, the derivation of meaning from the Holy Scriptures. Exegesis uses the rules and principles that hermeneutics has developed and, with the help of these rules and principles, interprets the biblical text. And finally, the last science is called biblical theology, which systematizes the knowledge contained in the Holy Scriptures. I would like to remind you that the Bible is not a textbook on dogmatic theology, and not a textbook on moral theology. The biblical authors chose a different style, this is a narrative, these are laws and prophecies, poetic instructions, and all the doctrine of the Bible is not collected in one place, in one quotation, on one page, it is located in all books, and the task of biblical theology is to collect this information and create some kind of harmonious system. These are the sciences that study the Holy Scriptures.

P.V.: Tell us about the rules of interpretation that Orthodox biblical scholars adhere to?

D.D.: Not even rules, but principles, let’s call them that. Before I begin to talk about these principles, I would like to talk about some rules for the interpretation of Holy Scripture, which, oddly enough, are the same for everyone: Orthodox, Catholics, and Protestants. Modern Protestants often say that if you take the Bible and use certain rules and read it using these rules, you will understand the teaching of the Bible, and this teaching will be the same as in our organization or church or community. You know, the Orthodox say the same thing, the rules are the same, but they are just rules. We need to understand that when we approach reading the Bible, we approach it with certain principles, with certain views of the Holy Scriptures. And these are the principles that Orthodox biblical studies – the science of Holy Scripture – adheres to. Well, first of all, the first rule is the belief that Holy Scripture is inspired, that is, it is inspired by God. The second principle is that the Holy Scripture is a divine-human text; we know that the Bible is the word of God, but which is written in human words. If these are human words, then they are understandable to other people. If it is the word of God, then it is correct, it is true, it is inerrant, in other words, everything that is written in the Bible is all true. The third principle is the connection between the Old and New Testaments. When we read the Bible, we see that there is an Old Testament and a New Testament. Many people think that these are two different books bound under one cover. In fact, there is no division, both are the word of God. In the Epistle to the Hebrews, in the first chapter, in the first verse, there are these words: “God, who at times and in various ways spoke of old to the fathers by the prophets, has spoken in these last days to us by the Son.” In ancient times God spoke to the fathers, but now He continues to speak in the Son. Both are the word of God, both are important for Christians, this is the relationship between the Old and New Testaments. The next principle is the Christ-centricity of the entire Bible, i.e. the main figure of both the Old and New Testaments is our Lord Jesus Christ. In the Old Testament He is predicted, He is foretold, in the New Testament He is revealed, one and the same figure, one and the same God, invisible there, visible here. The next principle is very important - the connection between reading the Holy Scriptures and Christian life. In order for us to understand the Holy Scripture, we must be a believer, so that after reading, after studying, after interpreting the Holy Scripture, we must use what we received in the Bible in our lives. That is, we do not study the Holy Scriptures in order to learn something new or to stroke our pride, we study the Holy Scriptures for one thing - to live as Christians. This is the purpose of Scripture. And finally, the most important principle is the interpretation of Holy Scripture in the light of Holy Tradition, in the light of the Christian Orthodox tradition. This principle is probably the most controversial for our Protestant brothers, who believe that we interpret in the light of tradition, but they say that they interpret in the light of Holy Scripture. In reality, unfortunately, this is not the case. When the Orthodox say that we interpret in the light of the Orthodox tradition, they are telling the truth. When Protestants begin to say that they interpret Holy Scripture in the light of the Bible alone, they are not speaking entirely correctly. In fact, they also interpret the Holy Scriptures in the light, but only of their own tradition. Rules of interpretation of Scripture, rules of context, rules of literary genre, there are so many of them, I will not go into detail about them, there is special literature that can be studied. The rules of both Orthodox and Protestants are the same, but the principles are different, so we come to different conclusions. Baptist interprets in the Baptist tradition, Adventist in the Adventist tradition, Jehovah's Witnesses in the tradition of Jehovah's Witnesses.

P.V.: Here we can agree, because there are many organizations, they all say that the Bible is the most important thing for them, that they all set out the true meaning that is revealed in the Holy Scriptures, for example, Jehovah's Witnesses and Baptists, relying on the same the text draws exactly the opposite conclusions. For example, Baptists adhere to the doctrine of the Holy Trinity, Baptists believe that Jesus Christ is the God-man, and Jehovah's Witnesses, for example, relying on the text of the Bible, conclude that Jesus Christ is the Archangel Michael, and that the doctrine of the Holy Trinity is generally absent in the Bible. Please note that the text is the same, but the conclusions are exactly the opposite. Well, then the question arises: if the text is the same, but the conclusions are opposite, then the problem is in the methods of interpretation, in the principles of the approach to interpreting the text. And that means there is a certain system: Jehovah’s Witnesses have their own system, Lutherans have their own system, 7th Day Adventists have their own system, Baptists have their own system, Orthodox Christians have their own system, etc. And therefore, when they say, we live according to the Bible, and the Orthodox live according to the Holy Tradition - this is a kind of deceit; in fact, there are no people who live strictly according to the Bible. All Christians or all sects that arose on the basis of Christianity live according to certain principles of interpretation of the Bible, but the Orthodox speak about this directly, and many so-called neo-Protestant groups are not aware of this fact. It is sad.

D.D.: There are people who already deeply understand the Holy Scriptures among Protestants, they say: yes, we live in a tradition called the Baptist tradition of interpretation of the Holy Scriptures. When did it arise? 300-400 years ago.

P.V.: Some people live in a system of interpretation of Holy Scripture that arose 300 years ago; Orthodox Christians prefer to live in a system that arose during the time of the apostles and will exist until the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.

Could you explain in more detail what role the Holy Tradition plays in the interpretation of the Bible, and please also remind us what the Holy Tradition of Orthodoxy is?

D.D.: I will not give the definition of Sacred Tradition, which is in the catechism in dogmatic theology, I will try to explain it to a person who, perhaps, has never heard what Tradition and the tradition of the Church in general are. Look: the Lord sent His Holy Spirit, who taught the apostles to write the Holy Scriptures. They wrote it down, but the Holy Spirit, Who taught the biblical authors what to write, He did not leave the Church, He continues to be in the Church and, choosing righteous people, teaches them how to correctly interpret the Holy Scriptures, how to extract the truth from it. Of course, the Holy Spirit cannot contradict Himself, that is, the interpretation of Holy Scripture that the saints have does not contradict the Bible. Yes, it reveals those depths that are only mentioned in Holy Scripture, and Holy Scripture and Holy Tradition are the fruit of the One and Same Holy Spirit, Who first taught the apostles, and then teaches the holy fathers. The Church, seeing that this interpretation is correct and true, preserves this interpretation and calls it Holy Tradition. The Holy Spirit did not leave the Church either after the apostles, or after the 5th, 7th, 10th centuries; He continues to live now and He continues to teach the holy teachers the correct understanding of the Holy Scriptures. Therefore, for an Orthodox person, Holy Tradition is a kind of living tree that continues to grow and develop. Therefore, we can say that there was such a holy father, John Chrysostom, who wrote an interpretation of the Holy Scripture, and in the 19th century there was such a saint Theophan the Recluse, who also wrote an interpretation of the Holy Scripture, both of which are Holy Tradition and for Christians it is authoritative . Why? Because in both John Chrysostom and Theophan the Recluse there was the Holy Spirit. This is the very essence that Holy Tradition is the correct interpretation of Holy Scripture, tested and certified by the Church, and the Church accepts it and lives on the basis of this interpretation.

P.V.: I would also add, it seems to me that one of the main mistakes of people who criticize the Holy Tradition is that they do not understand the nature of this phenomenon, because in their interpretations, I personally heard, they understand the Holy Tradition as something invented by people , and not inspired by God, but we remember that on the day of Pentecost, when the Church of Christ appeared, when the Paraclete, the Comforter Spirit came, He really did not disappear anywhere, and life in the Church is life in the Holy Spirit, but if the Holy Spirit , if the Lord is present among us and in us, then His creativity continues. Indeed, one of the criteria that the Spirit is present in us is that He does not contradict Himself and does not give ideas, does not teach doctrines that did not exist, say, a thousand years ago. Why do Orthodox Christians cling to dogma? Because dogma is the quintessence of the revealed truths that are present in our Church, and they cannot change, because God is unchangeable. If yesterday He said that one is good and the other is evil, then tomorrow He cannot say that what was good yesterday suddenly became evil today. If indeed the neo-Protestants: Baptists, Adventists, etc., know more deeply what exactly the meaning is meant by Orthodox Christians when they talk about the Holy Tradition, then perhaps there will be fewer problems. Because I think that not a single Protestant will object that the Holy Spirit, Who lives now, can inspire our contemporaries to understand the deep meaning of the text that we find in the Bible. Has the Holy Spirit disappeared, is He not present now? And if so, then why do we limit His power and capabilities?

D.D.: For example, the same Protestants also agree that there is a correct interpretation of the Bible, and there is a wrong interpretation. But the correct, incorrect interpretation of the Bible is a correct tradition or an incorrect tradition. Either they accept one interpretation or they deny another interpretation of the Bible. Why do they think that the Orthodox interpretation of the Bible is fundamentally wrong? We just call this tradition Sacred Tradition, that’s all.

P.V.: We touched upon the issue of spiritual life, the life of the Holy Spirit in Orthodox Christians. I would like to develop this topic further, because Christianity is not just a set of some purely formal knowledge, it is a practical experience in the implementation of communion with God. This raises a more serious question: can biblical studies as a science exist within the framework of only a purely academic rational system, or can we only talk about the correct understanding of the Bible when there is some kind of spiritual inspiration, when the Lord enlightens the minds of biblical scholars? And then biblical studies can only be within the framework when a person is a believing Christian who leads a lifestyle that does not contradict the commandments that are set out in the Bible, lives according to biblical teaching? What clear criteria can we identify to distinguish a person who is engaged in fantasizing about the Bible from one who actually has all the characteristics of a person capable of interpreting the real meaning of Scripture?

D.D.: The answer to this question will be, first of all, the answer to the question: “What is the nature of the Bible?” After the invention of printing, and some other events, we perceive the Bible as a book that can be bought in a store, as a book that can be given as a gift, the Bible has become easily accessible, but by its nature it is not just a book. First of all, the Bible has its addressee - the Church, i.e. The Bible is not written for all people, it is written for the Church, or rather, it can be said, a book for internal use. But since it has its addressee - the Church, then it is addressed to the members of the Church, to those inside the Church. Accordingly, a person who studies the Bible outside the Church reads someone else’s letter, it was not written to him. Secondly, a person who is external to the Church can understand something in the Bible, because the Bible is written in human words, but he will not be able to fully, to the depths, understand what is written there for one simple reason - reading the Bible and understanding hers is an act of faith. For a person to understand Holy Scripture, he must believe that it is the word of God. But if this is the word of God, he must believe that everything is written there correctly, and the Bible says that you need to come to Christ, come to the Church, and if he is outside the Church, then the Bible for him is not the word of God.

P.V.: I studied various texts, for example, occultists; in the specific area of ​​my studies, I am engaged in sectology, studying the so-called modern sects, and both atheists and occultists, when they talk about faith, give the following interpretation of this concept, they say: “Faith is uncritical perception of certain information, certain statements.” Could you explain more deeply what meaning the Orthodox put into the concept of “faith”, because the occult-atheistic interpretation and the Orthodox understanding of the word “faith” are, to put it mildly, not the same thing at all?

D.D.: The definition that the Holy Scripture itself gives about faith is: “Faith is the substance of things hoped for and the certainty of things not seen.” We expect something and it happens, seeing that what we expected happens, we can assume that what we are just waiting for will happen and we assume that there is a certain force called God, and He carries out these changes in our lives and in the lives of all humanity.

P.V.: That is, faith is not just some kind of uncritical attitude towards any information, but faith is, rather, a certain experience of communication with God, an act of communication with God?

D.D.: Yes, we see that God acts in our lives, that He acts in the life of all humanity. In fact, the Holy Scripture invites readers to come and see, to come and understand, any word that comes from a person, we must check whether it is really the word of God, or whether it is the word of man, the Bible offers such a test and it withstands this test.

P.V.: I would add, because very often they say that Christians are such gullible people, they believe and are not critical, etc. In fact, Orthodoxy speaks of sobriety, but sobriety is a deeper concept, sobriety also includes critical assessment of those truths, those spiritual experiences, that spiritual experience that a person actually receives. Therefore, to say that Orthodox Christians are uncritical of their spiritual experiences is a complete lie. For example, within the framework of Orthodoxy there is a teaching about delusion, about false spiritual states, and Orthodox Christians say that there is inspiration from God, spiritual experiences from God, and there are experiences from heated feelings, from the influence of certain demonic forces, when under the influence of these forces begins the Holy Scripture is falsely interpreted, various theosophical teachings appear, Agni Yoga, such a concept as “esoteric Christianity” is given, which never existed in nature and does not exist, when, under the guise of Christianity, ideas alien to historical Christianity are presented. We must clearly understand that Christianity is a kind of practical spiritual experience, and Christianity manifests itself in certain rational sources, such as the Bible, which can be read, churches, icons, which also have a physical nature and which can be seen , feel, touch, look. But there is something that really regenerates a person’s mind, a person’s soul, which really feels like some kind of experience of contact with God. This experience lives in the Church, lives in the physical manifestations of the Church such as churches, icons, books of the Holy Fathers, and lives in the same Bible. And within the framework of this spiritual experience, Orthodox Christians perceive the Bible and receive the practical skill of distinguishing where this experience is false, that is, not from God, but where this experience is really from God. But this is not just a set of some rules, etc., this is a practical experience of experiencing. For example, if you ever taste sugar, and then they give you salt, you may not be able to tell the difference externally - it’s also white, it’s also powder, but as soon as you taste it, you can clearly tell where the salt is and where the sugar is. And when Orthodox Christians feel the presence of the Holy Spirit and understand when He inspires them and gives them an understanding of the text, they can clearly say what is from the Holy Spirit and what is not from the Holy Spirit and, based on this practical spiritual experience, they can say that, for example , the interpretation of John Chrysostom is inspiration from God, and the interpretation of Annie Besant, Blavatsky or the Roerichs has absolutely nothing to do with God.

D.D.: Yes, absolutely true.

P.V.: The topic that we touched on in our conversation is very broad, you can study it all your life, and even a lifetime is not enough to study it. Naturally, in the framework of this short conversation we touched only on certain aspects that, in our opinion, are fundamental, but the topic itself is more global. Please tell me, if someone wants to deepen their knowledge, which authors, which books, maybe specific book titles, can you suggest in order to do this?

D.D.: First of all, I would recommend a wonderful interpretation of the Holy Scriptures, which, although published more than 100 years ago, is an explanatory Bible edited by Lopukhin, it exists in electronic form, it can be downloaded, you can buy, perhaps the most complete interpretation of the Holy Scriptures as of today. I would also recommend the book “Introduction to the Holy Scriptures” by Yungerov, it is also available in electronic form, and after reading Yungerov’s second book, and starting to get acquainted with Lopukhin’s Explanatory Bible, a person will already have an idea of ​​how the Orthodox interpret this or that passage from Holy Scripture. I named offhand the two most complete and interesting books, and so I recommend looking for Orthodox libraries where there is such literature, asking librarians, asking in bookstores, asking specialists and looking for good books on the Orthodox interpretation of the Bible, they exist, are available and, with With a little effort, you can find them.

P.V.: Tell me, in addition to the interpretation of Orthodox authors, are there any books written by non-Orthodox interpreters, but which, in principle, an Orthodox person can read and somehow accept?

D.D.: Yes, there are such books, very good ones, especially various dictionaries, encyclopedias, biblical atlases, everything is very useful for studying the context of the Bible, that is, the conditions in which this or that biblical event took place. If someone wants to get acquainted with the rules, not principles, but namely the rules of interpretation of Holy Scripture, I can recommend two books written by Protestants, but there is nothing anti-Christian in them - in the middle of the conversation we came to the conclusion that it is not the rules that separate us, and certain principles, a tradition of interpretation of the Holy Scriptures - one book by Henry Weckler “Hermeneutics”, the other has a very strange title “How to read the Bible and see all its value”, one of the authors of this book is Gordon D. Fee. The books are very good, I would recommend reading them; when you see them, you will understand that there is nothing anti-Orthodox in them.

Vitaly Pitanov

Understanding the Bible as a whole does not present insurmountable difficulties for people. Simply put, there is nothing in the Holy Book that is completely beyond the understanding of a person of average mental ability. “The grace of the Holy Spirit,” wrote St. John Chrysostom, “for this purpose used tax collectors, fishermen, tabernacle workers and shepherds, simple and unlearned people, to write these books, so that none of the unlearned would complain about the difficulty of understanding...”

At the same time, we know many sayings of the fathers and teachers of the Church, who say that in the Bible everything is a mystery, every story contains a great, hidden meaning, which can only be understood by the chosen ones, those initiated into the mysteries of the Spirit. How to combine these two extreme points of view, and where is the truth in this case?

The Bible, as a work of a special kind - as the Revelation of God, contains some sublime truths that are difficult for the earthly human mind to understand. In order to see the high heavenly meaning with our earthly eyes, special guidance is needed. Where can one look for such guidance?

There is an ancient saying: “to understand a poet, you need to go to the poet’s country.” To correctly understand the Bible, you need to go to the Church - that is, turn to the interpretations of the Church. The Holy Book appeared in the depths of the ancient Church. The Church preserved and passed on great texts from century to century.

Modern scientists, based on the latest research methods, have proven that the text of the Bible has reached us without distortion, without replacing meanings, etc. Through the works of unknown copyists, the holy words of the Bible have retained their meaning. Of course, when translated into some languages, including Russian, the meaning of individual expressions may change slightly. But today this is not a serious problem. Nowadays, there are many interpretations of ancient and modern authors, adding to this modern information retrieval technologies, we get that a modern seeker of truth can easily understand the meaning of the Eternal Book.

Why is it necessary to seek explanations of the Scriptures, first of all, from the Holy Fathers? The king's word is better understood and explained by the king's servant. The Word of God is better understood and explained by a man close to God. The Holy Fathers of the Church are humble and pure in heart, faithful disciples of Christ. Many of them, from early youth, sought divine truth in the Scriptures, in the works of the holy apostles, and God revealed His secrets to them.

The Holy Fathers interpreted Scripture, guided by the tradition that came to them from the apostles. Sometimes the apostolic teachings were transmitted orally from student to student, in other cases they were written down. Thus, Saint John Chrysostom in one of his teachings says: “Do not be embarrassed if what I said is strange to you; I speak here not my own words, but the words of our fathers, wonderful and famous men.”

The Holy Spirit, abiding in accordance with the promise of Christ in the Church, at all times chose holy men, and through them preserved, and to this day preserves, the true interpretation of the Holy Scriptures.

“Come and become partakers of incomparable wisdom: learn from the Word of God and know the eternal King! The Word of God penetrates our souls with its power. Oh, what a messenger of peace this is for you, warrior soul! What a means to tame the most violent impulses of passion! This power does not make us into poets, philosophers, or famous poets; but it leads us to higher concepts, it makes us mortals immortal and accompanies us from this world to the next,” wrote St. Justin the Philosopher (†166) about the meaning of the Holy Scriptures.

St. John Chrysostom († 407) gives a deep and unexpected explanation of the need for Holy Scripture: “Indeed, we should not need the help of Scripture, but should lead a life so pure that instead of books, the grace of the Spirit serves our souls, and so that, just as those were written with ink, so our hearts were written with the Spirit. But since we have rejected such grace, we will at least use the second path. And that the first way was better, God showed this both in word and in deed. In fact, God spoke with Noah, Abraham and his descendants, as well as with Job and Moses, not through writing, but directly, because he found their minds pure. So, God did not give the Apostles anything written, but promised instead of writings bestow the grace of the Spirit. “He,” He said to them, “will remember everything to you” (John 14:26). And so that you know that this way (of God’s communication with the saints) was much better, listen to what he says through the prophet: “I bequeath to you a new covenant, giving my laws in my thoughts and in my hearts, and I will write them all, and they will all be taught by God.” “(Jerem. 31, 31-34; John 4, 45). And Paul, pointing out this superiority, said that he received the law (written) “not on tablets of stone, but on tablets of the heart of flesh” (2 Cor. 3:3)

“But since, over time, some deviated from the true teaching, others from purity of life and morality, the need for written instruction arose again. Think about what kind of folly it will be if we, who should live in such purity as to have no need for Scripture, but instead of books present our hearts to the Spirit, if we, having lost such dignity and having a need for Scripture, do not take advantage of how must, even with this second medicine!”

The Word of God is necessary for man in all circumstances of life.

After receiving the sacrament of Baptism, each person enters the Church and becomes a disciple of Christ. “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; "(Matthew, 28, 19-20.) - this is the command of the risen Christ to the apostles, and through the apostles - a commandment to all Christians. - learn the truths of faith. And learning is possible only through listening and reading the Holy Scriptures, and first of all, the Gospel.

The experience of the Church says that every Christian eventually accepts the need to read the Holy Scriptures. A convenient, high-quality edition of the Bible can be a good help in this matter.

The Kreshcheniye.ru website will help you choose a good edition of the gift Bible, with a design that you will like, with a convenient, pleasant font, and a suitable format. We have a great edition to choose from. Leather-bound Bibles — it will be literally an eternal book that can become a family heirloom. A good binding will keep the pages in good condition. Most leather Bible editions come with several leather bookmarks, which is very convenient when studying several Scriptures at the same time.