But, being inspired by God, the Bible is at the same time humanly expressed. This is a whole library of various books written at different times and by different people. Each book of the Bible reflects the appearance of the era in which it was written, and the features of the author's views. For God does not deign to do anything apart from people: the grace of God acts in harmony with human freedom, God does not abolish our personality, but completes and perfects it. So it is with the writing of the God-inspired books of the Old and New Testaments. Their authors were not just a passive tool, a stenographic device that recorded someone's words. Each author of the Holy Scriptures brings his own human talent to his work. In parallel with the divine aspects in the Holy Scriptures, there is also a human aspect. We must value both.

Each of the Gospels, for example, has its own characteristics. The Holy Evangelist Matthew emphasizes the importance of Christ for the Jews, while paying special attention to the Kingdom of Heaven. The Holy Evangelist Mark gives vivid details of Christ's ministry, His care for people, which others do not have. The Holy Evangelist Luke expresses the all-encompassing side of Christ's love, His infinite compassion, which extends equally to both Jew and Gentile. In the writings of the holy Evangelist John there is a more inward-turned attitude towards Christ; at the same time, the divine light and the indwelling of God in believers are especially emphasized. One should fully enjoy and study this life-giving multiplicity of the Bible.

Since the Holy Scriptures are thus the word of God transmitted in human language, a conscientious study of the Bible is permitted in the study of the Bible. By mastering the human aspect of the Bible, we can make full use of the reason given to us by the Lord God. The Orthodox Church does not exclude a scholarly discussion of the historical origin and authorship of the books of the Bible.

However, along with these human details, we dare not lose sight of the divinity of the Holy Scriptures. These are not just books created by a number of earthly authors. We hear in the Holy Scriptures not just ordinary human words, distinguished by a greater or lesser degree of skill and insight, but the eternal, miraculous Word of God Himself, the divine Word of salvation. Therefore, when we turn to the Bible, we turn not just out of curiosity to obtain information. We turn to the Bible with a specific question, each with a personal question about himself: "How can I be saved?"

The Holy Scriptures, being God's word of salvation in human language, should awaken in us a sense of awe. Do you sometimes think, reading or listening, that all this has become too familiar? Has the Bible become boring to you in some way? We should constantly purify our souls, so that our perception does not become dull, and in amazement, with new eyes, we should look at what the Lord reveals to us.

Some time ago I had a dream which I remember distinctly. I was back in the house where I had lived for three years in a boarding school as a child. In the dream, I first passed through rooms that were already familiar to me. Then the companion who had guided me through the building led me to others that I had never seen before - spacious, beautiful, full of light. Finally, we entered a small chapel with flickering candles and dark golden mosaics.

In the dream I said to my companion, "How strange, for I have lived here for three years, but I never knew of the existence of these rooms." And he answered me: "But it always happens."

I woke up... And what - it was a dream.

It is the awe, the anticipation, the wonder, and the joy of the miracle that I experienced in my dream that I should feel toward the Bible. There are many rooms in the Holy Scriptures that we have never entered before. There is still a lot of depth and grandeur to be discovered in it. This consciousness of the sensation of the miraculous is an indispensable element of our responsive obedience.

If obedience means awe, it also means listening. This is the original meaning of the word in both Greek and Latin

As a student, I used to listen to a multi-part humorous program on the radio. In one episode, I remember, the phone rings and the hero stretches out his hand to pick up the phone. "Hello," he says, "hello, hello." The volume of his voice increases: "Who is speaking?" A voice on the other end: "It's you who say." "Ah," he answered, "I thought it was a familiar voice." And he hangs up.

Unfortunately, this is a parable about something that all too often happens to us. We're better at talking than listening. We hear the sound of our own voice, but we do not stop to hear the voice of the interlocutor. So, when reading the Bible, the first requirement is to be silent and listen, to listen with obedience.

When we enter an Orthodox church, painted in the traditional style, and look in the direction of the altar, to the east, we see there, in the apse, the Mother of God with Her hands raised to heaven. This was the custom in the former ancient Biblical times (and today the priests of the Orthodox Church raise their hands in this way) - so we must inwardly tune in when reading the Holy Scriptures with our hands invisibly raised to heaven. Reading the Bible, one should be like the Most Blessed Virgin Mary, for She is supremely the One Who listens. On the day of the Annunciation, She obediently listens to the Archangel and answers: "Let it be unto Me according to thy word" (Luke 1:38). She would not have been able to receive and bear God the Word in her womb if she had not first listened to the Word of God in her heart. After the worship of the newborn Jesus by the shepherds, it is said of Her: "But Mary kept all these words, laying them in Her heart" (Luke 2:19). And when the Most Holy Leo finds Jesus in the temple, it is said once again: "And His mother kept all these words in Her heart" (Luke 2:51). The same need is emphasized in the last words of the Mother of God, which the Holy Scriptures tell us, the words spoken at the wedding in Cana of Galilee: "Whatsoever He saith unto you, do it" (John 2:5); She bequeaths this to the servants and to all of us.

In all these cases, the Blessed Virgin Mary is a reflection, a living image of a Biblical Christian. We must become like Her by listening to the Word of God, meditating on it, keeping everything in our hearts, and observing everything that the Lord Jesus Christ tells us. When God speaks, you should listen with obedience.