Holy Scripture

Holy Scripture is the name given to the collection of books written by holy men at God's inspiration. From Adam to Moses the books of Holy Scripture were not written, but were handed on by means of Holy Tradition. The Lord Jesus Christ too taught the apostles orally. Thus Holy Scripture came into being later than Holy Tradition.

The establishing of Holy Scripture took place in the following way: it was examined whether the Holy Tradition of all the Churches held this or that book to be a book of Holy Scripture, and only those books were recognised as books of Holy Scripture which were held to be such by the Holy Tradition of all the Churches. But of the books which only the Churches of a few countries recognised, and not all, it was decided that they should not be held to be books of Holy Scripture.

In the year 360 the ecumenical church council held at Laodicea established which books were to be reckoned as Holy Scripture in the Eastern Church, and in the Western Church this was done by the church council held at Carthage in 416; besides this, both councils decided that in church, at the time of the Divine service, only the books of Holy Scripture should be read. The 68th canon of the Sixth Ecumenical Council determined that we ought to treat the books of Holy Scripture with reverence, as befits what is holy.

Besides Holy Scripture, the Church is guided by Holy Tradition as well, because Holy Scripture does not contain the divine revelation in full, and without Holy Tradition it would be impossible to understand certain places in Holy Scripture. We learn this from Holy Scripture itself — in the Gospel of the holy Apostle John it is said: “And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written” (John 21:25).

Were it not for Holy Tradition, no one would know what Holy Scripture is. Holy Scripture itself says that it does not contain everything; therefore whoever does not acknowledge Holy Tradition does not know much of the divine revelation, and their religious life is one-sided and imperfect.

Much has come down to Christians from oral tradition: for example, that we make the sign of the cross on ourselves, that at prayer we stand facing the east, where the sun rises, how we are to receive the holy mysteries, with what words to address God so that He may bless and change the bread and wine offered, how water is to be blessed, and so on. That is why the holy Apostle Paul reminded the Christians at Thessalonica: “Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle” (2 Thess. 2:15). What the Apostle Paul taught in his sermons was oral tradition. But what he taught in his epistles is the teaching of the epistles and forms part of Holy Scripture. That the Christian faith spread chiefly on the basis of oral tradition is entirely understandable. In the epistle of the Apostle Paul it is said: “And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also” (2 Tim. 2:2). For almost twenty years after the ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ the Church had not a single book of the New Testament and was obliged to use only oral tradition; but despite this it acted, celebrated the Divine services, laboured and spread everywhere, resting upon oral tradition and keeping it as a heavenly treasure.

Part of the books of Holy Scripture were written before the Nativity of Christ, and part after the Nativity of Christ. The books written before the Nativity of Christ we call the books of the Old Testament, and those written after the Nativity the books of the New Testament.

The Old Testament prepares people to receive the New Testament, and the New Testament is the fulfilment and the completion of the Old Testament.

The Old Testament contains the following books:

1. Genesis — in it is told the creation of the world and of man, the life of the first-created people, the fall into sin, the life and labours of their descendants, and also the end of Joseph in Egypt (abbreviated: Gen.).

2. The book of Exodus — in it is described the hard life of the Hebrews in Egypt, Moses' contest with Pharaoh, the exodus of the Hebrews from Egypt under Moses' leadership, their journey in the wilderness, the receiving of the tablets of the covenant on Mount Sinai and the building of the tabernacle (Exod.).

3. The book of Leviticus — in it are written the rules of the Divine service of the Old Testament priests and Levites, and the household and civil laws (Lev.).

4. Numbers — in it is described the general census of the Hebrew people, at which, besides the Levites, 603,550 grown men were counted; then the duties of the Levites are explained in detail, and the people's murmuring against Moses and the death of Aaron are told (Num.).

5. Deuteronomy — in it Moses, before his death, once more briefly repeats to the Hebrew people the law which God gave them, gives thanks and blesses the people; at the end are described Moses' death and his burial (Deut.).

6. The book of Joshua, the son of Nun — in it is told the coming to the promised lands and their division among the twelve tribes of Israel (Josh.)

7. The book of Judges — in it is described the life of the Hebrews in the time of the rule of the judges (Judg.).

8. The book of Ruth — in it is told the story of a certain Ruth, who was the great-grandmother of King David.

9–12. Two books of Samuel and two books of Kings — in which is told the life of the Hebrews when kings ruled over them, and in which the building of the magnificent temple in Jerusalem is especially described (Sam. and Kings).

13–14. Two books of Chronicles — which fill out the books of Kings (Chron.).

15–16. The books of Ezra and Nehemiah — in them is told the return of the Hebrews from the Babylonian captivity, the building of the new temple and the restoration of Jerusalem (Ezra and Neh.).

17. The book of Esther — in it is told of a God-loving and courageous Hebrew woman who saved her people from destruction in the time of the reign of the Persian king Artaxerxes (Esth.).

18. The book of Job — in it is told of the God-pleasing life of righteous Job, who in the time of the greatest sorrow and affliction kept firm faith in God and showed the greatest patience and wisdom (Job).

19. The book of Psalms — which contains 150 spiritual songs, or psalms, the great majority of which belong to the holy King David (Ps.).

20. The Proverbs of Solomon — which contain the wise sayings and counsels of King Solomon for the leading of a righteous life in this world (Prov.).

21. Ecclesiastes — in which King Solomon preaches about the meaning of life and shows us that happy is only the one who strives not after material well-being but after the fulfilling of God's commandments (Eccl.).

22. The Song of Songs of Solomon, in which he tells prophetically of Christ's holy love for the Church, through the example of the love of the bridegroom and the bride.

23. The book of the prophet Isaiah — in it the prophet foretells much from the life of the Saviour. Several events of His life are described so exactly that it is as though he beheld it all with his own eyes. He says also that the Saviour will be born of a Virgin. For this reason the prophet Isaiah is called the evangelist of the Old Testament (Isa.).

24. The book of the prophet Jeremiah — in it are set out many prophecies about the future of the Hebrew, or Israelite, people and about the Saviour (Jer.).

25. The book of the prophet Ezekiel — likewise contains many prophecies (Ezek.).

26. The book of the prophet Daniel — in which his life in the Babylonian captivity is described, and in which a prophecy about the birth of the Saviour is also uttered (Dan.).

27–38. The books of the twelve minor prophets: Hosea (Hos.), Joel (Joel), Amos (Amos), Obadiah (Obad.), Jonah (Jon.), Micah (Mic.), Nahum (Nah.), Habakkuk (Hab.), Zephaniah (Zeph.), Haggai (Hag.), Zechariah (Zech.) and Malachi (Mal.). In these books too many prophecies are uttered about the Messiah, the Saviour. For example: the prophet Micah foretold that the Saviour would be born in Bethlehem (5:2); the prophet Zechariah foretold the Saviour's glorious entry into Jerusalem (9:9) and His passion (13:7); the prophet Malachi declared that the Messiah would have a forerunner, St John the Baptist (3:1).

The first five books of the Old Testament are also called the Pentateuch of Moses, the books of the law and the books of the covenant.

In some editions the first book of Samuel is called the first book of Kings, and the second book of Samuel the second book of Kings. In that case the first book of Kings is called the third book of Kings, and the second book of Kings the fourth book of Kings. The prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Daniel are called the major prophets.

The Orthodox Church calls the said books of the Old Testament an inheritance which it received from the Old Testament church of the Hebrews, for to the Hebrew people was entrusted the word of God, as the Apostle Paul says of this in the epistle to the Hebrews (3:1–2), and the Church of the New Testament received these books from the Hebrews.

In some editions Holy Scripture contains also the following books: a) the book of Tobit; b) the book of Esther; c) the Wisdom of Solomon; d) the book of Jesus, son of Sirach; e) the prophecy of Baruch; f) three books of Maccabees; g) the third book of Ezra. The Orthodox Church permits the reading of them as of other religious books, but does not reckon them among the canonical books of Holy Scripture.

The New Testament contains 27 books:

a) The Gospels:

b) 5. The Acts of the holy apostles (Acts)

c) The 14 epistles of the holy Apostle Paul:

d) 7 epistles of other apostles, namely:

e) 27. The Apocalypse, or Revelation of the holy Apostle John (Rev.)

In the Gospel are described the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ into this world, His life, His preaching, His labour and His passion, and all that He took upon Himself for our salvation. The word “evangel” is Greek and means “good tidings,” for the teaching of Christ — the reconciliation of man with God and eternal blessedness — is the greatest consolation. The first three Gospels were written between the years 50 and 70 from the Nativity of Christ, and the Gospel of John was written about the year 90.

In the Acts of the Apostles is told the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the apostles, their labour in spreading the Christian faith, and the martyrdom which the first martyrs Stephen and James had to taste in the carrying out of the apostolic labour, as well as the council of the apostles and the life of the first Christians. The Acts of the Apostles was written about the year 64.

The epistles are the letters which the holy apostles wrote to the various flocks founded by them. In the letters they explain the Christian faith and show people how to order their own life and the life of the flock in agreement with the faith.

In the Apocalypse is described the vision that was given to the holy Apostle John concerning the future of the Church, the work of the antichrist, his destruction and the end of the world.

Holy Scripture is also called the Bible. The word “Bible” is of Greek origin and means “book.” In its significance it is a special book: it contains the revelation of God. The Bible has been translated into almost every language. Since Holy Scripture tells of eternal life, it is also called the book of life.

The books of the Old Testament were written in Hebrew and were translated into Greek already before the Nativity of Christ. Of the books of the New Testament only two were written in Hebrew: the Gospel of Matthew and the epistle of the Apostle Paul to the Hebrews.

Holy Scripture was translated into Latin only in the 2nd century. It was translated into Slavonic in 862–885 by St Cyril and St Methodius. It is supposed that the Gospel was translated into Georgian immediately after the conversion of Kartli (337). In “The Martyrdom of Shushanik” by Iakob Khutsesi the existence of the Gospel (“evangele”) is attested. Palimpsests of the 5th–6th centuries contain fragments of the Gospel. According to George the Athonite, there existed the khanmeti and the Sabatsmida recensions. The oldest dated Georgian manuscript of the Gospel is the Adishi Four Gospels (897). To the 10th century belong the Four Gospels of Urbnisi (906), of Opiza (913), of Jruchi (936) and of Parkhali (937). Later the Gospel was translated by Euthymius and George the Athonites and by Ioane Chimchimeli. The translation of George the Athonite gained canonical right in the practice of the Georgian Church and was universally used.

Into the other languages of Western Europe the Gospel was translated in the 12th–15th centuries.

All the books of Holy Scripture are divided into chapters, and each chapter into verses. When a verse is referred to, abbreviations are used. For example, if the words “The heavens declare the glory of God” are quoted from the Psalter, which are written in the first verse of the 19th psalm, it is indicated thus: Ps. 19:1; and if 1 Cor. 11:25 is written, this means: the first epistle of the Apostle Paul to the Corinthians, chapter 11, verse 25.

Every Christian should have Holy Scripture. People would be transformed if in every family the Bible were read every day for even a few minutes, or even on Sundays and feast days. The attentive and reverent reading of Holy Scripture ennobles a person, for at that time God Himself is speaking with them.

“The Answers of the Orthodox Church to 1141–2407 Questions of the Spiritual Life” (part two), Tbilisi, 2003. Translator (into Georgian): Tsitsino Mchedlishvili