On the reasons for the lack of understanding oft he Holy Scripture and liturgical texts by the laity

The article is devoted to a problem that is relevant for Orthodox theology, but poorly studied at the scientific level - the reasons for the misunderstanding of the Bible and liturgical texts by modern native speakers of Russian. In this work, various cases of misunderstanding of sacred texts in Church Slavonic are systematized and, on their basis, a typology of hermeneutical failures (situations of misunderstanding) is created. The first group includes situations of misunderstanding associated with difficulties in perceiving unfamiliar speech by ear, the cause of which is non-compliance with the rules of church singing and reading. The second group includes reasons for misunderstanding caused by ignorance of the grammar and vocabulary of the language of the original text of the Bible and liturgical books, which can lead to incorrect translations of the latter into the target language. The main reason for the misunderstanding of the Holy Scripture and liturgical texts, according to the authors, is the lack of awareness of many laypeople in the sphere of Orthodox doctrine, as well as the lack of personal spiritual experience of people who begin to read the Holy Scripture and liturgical texts in Church Slavonic. The authors have come to the conclusion that the disclosure of the main reasons for the misunderstanding of liturgical and sacred texts will allow some additions to be made to theological education, in particular, to make the process of studying the Holy Scripture and the perception of worship by laypeople more conscious.