An Orthodox person is called for continuous spiritual improvement, learning the truths of Christian doctrine, and working on his moral qualities. One of the aspects in studying the basics of the Orthodox faith and the main moral criteria is reading the Bible.
For the Orthodox Christian, the Bible is the most important book; it is no coincidence that in the Christian tradition it is called the Holy Scripture. Texts written in the Bible are inspired. They were written by holy prophets and apostles inspired by the Holy Spirit.
The Bible itself is a collection of many sacred texts. It consists of two bodies of holy books called the Old and New Testaments.
The Bible tells about the creation of the world, man, the fall of people. In the Holy Scriptures the history of God's chosen people is given, the granting by God of the Ten Commandments and the Old Testament moral law, holy prophecies about the Messiah (Jesus Christ). These narratives are contained in the Old Testament. The very word "covenant" can be understood as "union." That is, the Old Testament is the first testament (union) between God and man. All books of the Old Testament were written before the coming of Jesus Christ into the world.
The books of the New Testament describe the coming into the world of the promised Messiah and Savior of the Lord Jesus Christ. The gospels of the New Testament describe how the Lord accomplished the salvation of mankind through His death on the cross, and tells of the miraculous resurrection of the Savior Jesus Christ. The New Testament is a kind of proclamation of the salvation of mankind, the good news directed to people. The New Testament books also describe the public ministry of Christ, his miracles and sermons. In addition, the New Testament corps of the Bible includes the messages of the holy apostles to various churches and the prophecy of the Apostle John the Theologian about the fate of the world.
In the modern Synodal Bible, which is a priority issue in Russia, 50 books of the Old Testament and 27 books of the New Testament are printed. The Old Testament includes the Pentateuch of Moses, books on the history of the Jewish people during the periods of Israeli judges and kings, books of the Old Testament prophets. The New Testament includes four gospels, seven conciliar epistles of the apostles Peter, John, James, and Judah, fourteen epistles of the apostle Paul, and the Revelation of John the Theologian.
The attitude of an Orthodox person to the tests of the Bible should be reverent. The text itself is read with special attention and mood. Through reading the Bible (especially the New Testament texts), the Orthodox person, as it were, communicates with the Lord Himself. It is in the Holy Scriptures that a Christian can draw important and vital values for himself, find answers to many everyday questions. The biblical texts of the New Testament are the foundation of all Christian Orthodox dogma. Therefore, a person who considers himself Orthodox must have the desire to read the sacred texts as much as possible. For the Orthodox Bible is not just a book that you can read and put dust on a shelf. This is a real gift. After reading the texts of the Holy Scripture, the believer is able to discover new truths that are useful in the spiritual and moral perfection of his personality.
