Finally, the works of Sts. prophets, who acted after the division of the kingdom and the captivity of Babylon, made up the fourth section of the Holy Books, the Prophetic Books. This section includes books: Fr. Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations of Jeremiah, Epistle of Jeremiah, pror. Baruch, Ezekiel, Daniel, and the 12 minor prophets, i.e., Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zaphoniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi.

This division of the Bible into Legislative, Historical, Didactic, and Prophetic books was applied to the New Testament as well. The Gospels are legislative, the Acts of the Apostles are historical, and the Epistles of Sts. The Apostles and the Prophetic Book is the Revelation of St. John the Theologian. In addition to this division, the Holy Scriptures of the Old Testament are divided into canonical and non-canonical books.

Why Scripture Is Dear to Us

The Old Testament writings, first of all, are dear to us because they teach us to believe in the One True God and to fulfill His commandments, and they speak of the Savior. Christ Himself points to this: "Search the Scriptures, for you think through them to have eternal life, but they bear witness to Me," He said to the Jewish scribes. In the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, the Savior puts into the mouth of Abraham the following words about the rich man's brothers: "They have Moses and the prophets, let them listen to them." Moses is the first five books of the Old Testament Bible, and the prophets are the last 16 books. In a conversation with His disciples, the Savior pointed out, in addition to those books, the Psalter: "All things must be fulfilled which are written in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms concerning Me." After the Last Supper, "having sung, they went to the Mount of Olives," says the Evangelist Matthew: this indicates the singing of psalms. The words of the Savior and His example are enough for the Church to treat these books with all due diligence – the Mosaic Law, the prophets and the Psalms, to preserve and learn from them.

In the circle of books recognized by the Jews as sacred, in addition to the Law and the Prophets, there are two more categories of books: a number of teaching books, of which one is named the Psalter, and a number of historical books. The Church accepted the circle of the sacred Jewish books in the Greek translation of the Seventy Interpreters, made long before the birth of Christ. This translation was also used by the apostles, since they wrote their own epistles in Greek. This circle also included books of sacred content of Jewish origin, known only in Greek, as they were compiled after the establishment of the official list of books by the Great Synagogue. The Christian Church joined them under the name of non-canonical. Jews do not use these books in their religious life.

In addition, the Holy Scriptures are dear to us because they contain the foundations of our faith. Millennia separate us from the time when the holy books of the Bible were written, so it is not easy for a modern reader to transport himself to the environment of that time. However, when the reader becomes acquainted with the era, with the task of the prophets, and with the peculiarities of the language of the Bible, he begins to understand more deeply its spiritual richness. The inner connection between the Old Testament and New Testament books becomes obvious to him. At the same time, the reader of the Bible begins to see in the religious and moral issues that concern him and modern society not new, specific problems of, say, the 21st century, but the primordial conflicts between good and evil, between faith and unbelief, which have always been inherent in human society.

The historical pages of the Bible are still dear to us because they not only truthfully recount the events of the past, but put them in a correct religious perspective. In this respect, no other secular, ancient or modern book can be compared with the Bible. And this is because the assessment of the events described in the Bible is not given by man, but by God. Thus, in the light of the word of God, mistakes or correct solutions to the moral problems of past generations can serve as a guide for solving modern personal and social problems. Becoming acquainted with the content and meaning of the holy books, the reader gradually begins to love the Holy Scriptures, finding more and more pearls of Divine wisdom during repeated readings.

By accepting the Old Testament Holy Scriptures, the Church showed that she was the heir of the extinct Old Testament Church: not the national side of Judaism, but the religious content of the Old Testament. In this inheritance the one is of eternal value, and the other is extinct and has meaning only as remembrance and edification, as, for example, the statutes of the tabernacle, of sacrifices, and the precepts of the daily daily life of the Jew. Therefore, the Church disposes of the Old Testament inheritance completely independently, in accordance with her fuller and higher worldview than that of the Jews.

Of course, the great distance of centuries separates us from the time of the writing of the books of the Old Testament, especially its first books. And it is no longer easy for us to be transferred to the order of the soul and to the environment in which these divinely inspired books were created and which are presented in these books themselves. From this arise perplexities that confuse the thought of modern man. These perplexities arise especially often when one wants to reconcile the scientific views of our time with the simplicity of biblical ideas about the world. General questions also arise about the extent to which the Old Testament views correspond to the New Testament worldview. And they ask: why the Old Testament? Are not the teachings of the New Testament and the New Testament Scriptures sufficient?

As for the enemies of Christianity, the protests against Christianity have long begun with attacks on the Old Testament. Those who have gone through a period of religious doubt, and perhaps religious denial, point out that the first stumbling block to their faith was thrown to them from this area.

For a believer, or for a "seeker" to find it, the Holy Scriptures are a lifelong science: not only for a young student, but also for the greatest theologian, not only a layman and a novice, but also of the highest spiritual rank and a wise elder. The Lord commands the leader of the people of Israel, Joshua: