Another fundamental principle, which the author constantly took into account in the preparation of the lectures, is formulated in the 19th canon of the Sixth Ecumenical Council. It reads: "... if the word of the Scriptures is examined, then they should not explain it in any other way, except as the luminaries and teachers of the Church have set forth in their writings, and by this they should be more convinced than by the compilation of their own words, lest, if they lack skill in this, they deviate from what is proper. For, through the teaching of the above-mentioned Fathers, people, having received knowledge of what is good and worthy of election, and of what is useless and worthy of abhorrence, correct their lives for the better, and do not suffer from the disease of ignorance, but, heeding the teaching, urge themselves to distance themselves from evil, and, by fear of threatening punishments, work out their own salvation."

One of the features of patristic exegesis is the idea of Holy Scripture as a whole, so it is very important to instill in students the ability to analyze a particular passage based on the context of the entire Bible, and not just a specific book or chapter.

The author is deeply grateful to those who contributed to the appearance of this manual, as well as gave their recommendations for improving the text and inspired further work.

Do not neglect, friend, the honeyed hearing of the Divine Scriptures. The devil's trickery is a trick that does not allow us to see the treasure, so that we do not acquire riches. "Hearing Divine thoughts brings nothing," says the enemy, so as not to see the deeds that come from this hearing.

The Monk Isidore Pelusiot

Introduction

On the Necessity and Benefits of Studying the Holy Scriptures. St. Seraphim of Sarov said that it is of great benefit for a person to read the entire Bible at least once intelligently. So let us not neglect this advice of the monk. Unfortunately, experience shows that very many modern Orthodox people consider the reading of the Old Testament to be completely unnecessary, useless, and, in comparison with numerous pamphlets of pious content, consider it a waste of time. Although theoretically, probably, each of you imagines that this is not the case and that the commandment to study and delve into the Holy Scriptures has been handed down to us from the Savior Himself, the Apostles and the Holy Fathers. For you and me, it is first of all a witness to Christ, a witness to God. And if we try even a little to keep the commandment of God: "And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might" (Deuteronomy 6:5); "this is the first and greatest commandment" (Matt. 22:37-38), then, probably, the Holy Scriptures, as a book about Him Whom we have loved with all our heart, with all our mind, with all our strength, should be dearer to us than any other book. We also call Holy Scripture Divine Revelation, since it contains what God was pleased to reveal to us about Himself, about His action in the world, about His relationship with man, so from this point of view, of course, the Word of God is extremely important for us.

In fact, our entire course will be based on this first commandment, and if I manage to instill in you even a little love for reading the Bible, I will be very happy and will consider my goal achieved. To inspire you, I want to read you a little bit from the writings of the Holy Fathers. St. John Chrysostom in one of his sermons tells his listeners about how much attention they pay to mastering some secular crafts, taking care of their home, household, and then says: "Tell me, if I ask any of you present here, who can read one psalm or some passage from the Holy Scriptures? Of course, no one, and not only this is bad, but the fact that, not caring about spiritual things, you are faster than fire in satanic deeds: if anyone wishes to visit you about the devil's songs, about voluptuous melodies, you will find that many know them firmly and pronounce them with great pleasure. And how are they justified if you accuse them? They say that I am not a monk, but I have a wife and children, I take care of my home, and this is why all the harm comes out of it, that you consider the reading of the Holy Scriptures proper only for monks, while you yourselves have a much greater need for it. Whoever lives in the world and receives new ulcers every day is especially in need of healing, so to consider reading the Scriptures superfluous is much worse than not reading them – such a thought is satanic suggestion. Do you not hear what Paul said, that all these things are written for our instruction?" He goes on to say the following: "When you talk about worship, if you don't even have time to read the Scriptures at home, why don't you listen to them during the service? Listen and be horrified: the deacon stands from the face of all and, shouting loudly, says: "Let us hear" – and this repeatedly. This voice that he pronounces is the common voice of the Church, but no one listens. After it, the reader begins: "The reading of the prophecies of Isaiah" – and again no one listens, although the prophecy contains an inhuman teaching. Then he proclaims aloud to everyone: "This saith the Lord" – and no one hears either, but what I say: something terrible and terrible is read further, but even at the same time no one listens. And what do many people say against this? "Always," they say, "the same thing is read," but this is what especially destroys you. If you knew all this, how much more should you not neglect it. For even in spectacles it is always the same, but you do not know satiety in them. What do you dare to speak of the same thing, when you do not even know the names of the prophets? Are you not ashamed to say that you do not listen because you always read the same thing, when you do not even know the names of the writers you read, although you always listen to the same thing, for you yourself said that you read the same thing? If I were to say this to your condemnation, then you should have turned to another justification, and not to the one that serves to condemn you" [30, pp. 34-36]. "Let us not, beloved, neglect our salvation – all this is written for us for our instruction, in which the ends of the ages have reached. The great defense against sins is the reading of the Scriptures, and ignorance of the Scriptures is a great rapids, a deep abyss; The great destruction for salvation is not to know anything of the divine laws. This ignorance gave rise to heresies, it introduced a depraved life, it turned everything upside down, for it is impossible for one who is constantly diligently engaged in reading the Scriptures to remain without fruit" [30, pp. 93-94]. These are the persuasive and powerful words in which St. John Chrysostom addressed his listeners more than 1500 years ago. But since then, unfortunately, we have not made much progress.

In the lives of the saints we encounter the fact that some saints, being absolutely illiterate and never having studied anywhere, by the height of their podvig acquired that they knew the Scriptures by heart and always quoted it to the point. Let us recall, for example, the Life of St. Mary of Egypt; of the Egyptian desert dwellers – the Monk Patermuphius, the Monk Orus, of whom it is said that they received knowledge of the Holy Scriptures in a supernatural way. This is also a possible way.

St. John Chrysostom gives an explanation of it in his discourses on the Gospel of Matthew: "In truth, we should not have need of the help of the Scriptures, but should lead a life so pure that instead of books the grace of the Spirit would serve our souls, and so that both those written with ink and our hearts would be written with the Spirit, but as we rejected such grace, then we will use at least the second way" [29, vol. 7, book 1, p. 5].

The same saint, objecting to the words of his listeners that they sometimes read the Scriptures, but could not understand anything in them, says the following: "Let us not, I beseech you, neglect the reading of the Scriptures, but whether we understand what is contained in them or not, in any case, let us turn to them as often as possible. Constant exercise in reading imprints indelibly in the memory what we have read, and often, what we could not understand today when reading, we suddenly understand when we start reading tomorrow, because the loving God invisibly enlightens our mind." Such statements are often repeated in many Holy Fathers that God's zeal for the study of Holy Scripture, dissolved by humility, is always rewarded by the enlightenment of his mind.