From under the sands of the desert, archaeologists have brought to the surface remarkable monuments of forgotten cultures - sanctuaries and tombs of pharaohs, as well as the ruins of temples and royal palaces of Khorsabad, Nineveh, Babylon, your, Ugarit and many other ancient cities of Mesopotamia and Syria. Countless written documents, literally entire huge libraries and archives were found in the excavations. For example, in the ruins of the palace of the Assyrian king Ashurbanipal in Nineveh, 30 thousand clay tablets with cuneiform texts have been preserved: there are diplomatic correspondence, treatises, prayers, literary monuments, and religious pagan myths of past centuries, including the epic of Gilgamesh, which contains a story about the Flood.

In the middle of the last century, archaeological excavations also began in Palestine. Most of the cities have already been discovered, the names of which we previously knew only from the Bible. In the ruins of these cities, confirmation of the authenticity of a number of facts mentioned in the Bible was found. Thanks to the efforts of archaeologists, the remains of buildings from the time of Saul, David, and Solomon, as well as traces of the devastating invasions of Palestine by the Aramaeans, Assyrians and Chaldeans, appeared to the surface of the earth from under the thickness of dust deposits and debris on the surface of the earth.

All these extraordinary archaeological discoveries are dear to us because they are closely connected with biblical history, and not only shed a lot of new light on it, often clarifying its most difficult pages, but also provide miraculous confirmation of many biblical facts and events that could previously be rejected with impunity by criticism of skepticism. All this suggests that our faith in the truth of the biblical stories is not blind, and especially in our skeptical age it is confirmed by many archaeological finds. The words of our Lord Jesus Christ are truly true, that stones will glorify God if human hearts become incapable of this! (Luke 19:40).

Introduction

The Holy Bible is a book of books.

The sacred chronicle of mankind is contained in the Holy Bible. Among the greatest books that exist in the literary treasury of mankind and serve its spiritual enlightenment, the Holy Book of Books - the Bible - occupies an absolutely exceptional position. Any book contains the word as the embodiment of the spirit or mind of man, and the higher and more perfect the spirit or mind of man, the more highly his literary word is valued and the more precious his book itself becomes for us. But the Book of Books contains the Divine Word as the embodiment of the infinite Spirit and the all-perfect all-embracing absolute Mind. Hence the Holy Bible is as much higher than all other books as the Divine infinite Mind is higher and more perfect than the finite, limited human mind. Therefore, the Bible occupies a more important position among the greatest lights of literature than the sun among the planets. Not only has it always been the source of true spiritual light, the rays of which shine through only occasionally and faintly in simple human books, but for centuries and millennia it has illuminated the mind of mankind with supernatural light, revealing to its spiritual gaze such truths as it vainly wanted to comprehend by its own efforts.

When reading the Holy Bible, one must always remember that it is not a scientific treatise or a philosophical doctrine, but a Book that contains divinely revealed truths about the salvation of mankind. The Bible does not tell us how the heavenly bodies move, but how we ascend to the spiritual heaven. It tells us how and what the Lord did in His love for mankind through the people of Israel in order to give salvation to all nations and all people. Those who want to get acquainted with natural science and history should read natural science and history books. But whoever wants to know how to be saved must read the Bible: on these questions we will not find a single error or contradiction in the Bible. If one sometimes thinks of seeing errors and contradictions in the Bible on religious matters, it is not in the Bible, but in people who misinterpret the Bible.

About the Holy Bible, about this priceless spiritual treasure that mankind received from God, there are numerous remarkable sayings of the great lights of human thought.

For example, the famous novelist Walter Scott, during his last illness, asked to read something from a book. When he was asked, "From what book?" - The great writer, who himself wrote so many beautiful books and read entire libraries, replied: "For me now there is only one book: the precious Bible. What it offers, what it gives to a man who feels his needs and seeks its rich treasures: it gives him a truth that never decays, eternal riches, joys that can never be satiated, a crown that never fades, relief from sorrow and deliverance from fear, the blessed hope of eternal life. It's God's gift to people who love and honor His Word."

Величайший поэт Байрон хорошо знал содержание Библии и любил её. В своей карманной Библии он собственноручно записал следующие слова: "В этой святейшей Книге - тайна всех тайн. О, счастливы среди всех смертных те, которым Бог даровал милость - слушать, читать, с молитвой произносить и благоговейно воспринимать слова этой Книги! Счастливы те, кто в состоянии открыть двери Библии и решительно идти по ее путям. Но лучше было бы никогда не рождаться тем людям, которые читают ее только с той целью, чтобы сомневаться и пренебрежительно относиться к ней".

"Множество книг, написанных людьми, - говорит Спурджон, - давным-давно умерли или же сохранились такими безжизненными, как египетские мумии; время, протекшее с их появления, обесценило их, их учение отвергнуто, и они не имеют жизни для нас. Отройте их в библиотеках, если хотите, но они уже не заставят биться человеческое сердце, не согреют его душу. Но эта благословенная Книга Бога, хотя существует среди людей уже тысячи лет, бессмертна в своей жизни и неувядаема в своей силе. Роса её молодости ещё и теперь на ней, ее слова и теперь падают с неба, свежие, как дождь; ее истины - вечно живое утешение. Никогда ни одна книга не говорила так, как эта Книга; её голос, как голос Бога, могущественен и полон величия всегда"

Наш русский поэт И. С. Никитин так писал о "Новом Завете":

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