Introduction
Orthodox teaching about the Church
Properties of the Church
Pentecost
Grace
Holy Sacraments
Holy Virtues
Church hierarchy
Church services and holidays
About God the Judge
Part 2. Ecumenism
Ecumenism
Humanistic and divine-human progress
Humanistic and divine-human culture
Humanistic and divine-human society
Theanthropic and humanistic enlightenment
Man or God-Man
Humanistic ecumenism
A way out of all hopeless situations
Part 1. Orthodox teaching about the Church
Introduction
Ecumenism is a movement that contains numerous problems. And all these problems stem from one thing and merge into one thing - a single desire for the True Church of Christ. And the True Church of Christ has and must have answers to all the questions and sub-questions that ecumenism poses. After all, if the Church of Christ does not solve the eternal questions of the human spirit, then She is not needed. And the human spirit is constantly replete with burning eternal questions. And every person seems to be constantly burning in these issues, consciously or unconsciously, voluntarily or involuntarily. His heart is burning, his mind is burning, his conscience is burning, his soul is burning, his whole being is burning. And “there is no peace in his bones.” Among the stars, our planet is the center of all eternal painful problems: problems of life and death, good and evil, virtue and sin, world and man, immortality and eternity, heaven and hell, God and the devil. Man is the most complex and most mysterious of all earthly creatures. And moreover, he is most susceptible to suffering. That’s why God came down to earth, that’s why He became a perfect man, so that as the God-man He would answer all our eternal painful questions. For this reason, He remained entirely on earth - in His Church, of which He is the Head, and she is His Body. She is the True Church of Christ, the Orthodox Church, and in her is present the entire God-man with all His promises and with all His perfections.
What ecumenism represents in essence, in all its manifestations and aspirations, we can best see if we consider it from the position of the One True Church of Christ. Therefore, it is necessary to outline, at least in general terms, the basis of the doctrine Orthodox Church about the True Church of Christ - the Apostolic-Patristic Church, the Church of Sacred Tradition.
Orthodox teaching about the Church
The mystery of the Christian faith lies entirely in the Church; the whole mystery of the Church is in the God-Man; the whole mystery of the God-man is that God became flesh (“The Word became flesh”, “The Word became flesh” - John 1:14), included in human body His entire Divinity, all His Divine perfections, all the mysteries of God. The entire Gospel of the God-man, the Lord Jesus Christ, can be expressed in a few words: “The great mystery of godliness: God appeared in the flesh” (1 Tim. 3:16). The tiny human body completely contained God with all His countless infinities, and at the same time God remained God and the body remained a body - always in one Person - the Face of the God-Man Jesus Christ; perfect God and perfect man - perfect God-man. There is not just one mystery here - here are all the secrets of heaven and earth, merged into a single mystery - the mystery of the God-man - into the mystery of the Church as His Theanthropic Body. It all comes down to the Body of God the Word, to the incarnation of God, to the incarnation. This truth contains the whole life of the Theanthropic Body of the Church, and thanks to this truth we know “how we ought to act in the house of God, which is the Church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth (1 Tim. 3:15).
“God appeared in the flesh” - this, says Chrysostom, the evangelist of the Gospel of Christ, is the entire structure of our salvation. Truly a great mystery! Let us pay attention: the Apostle Paul everywhere calls the economy of our salvation a mystery. And this is rightful, for it was not known to any people and was not even revealed to the Angels. And it is revealed through the Church. And indeed, this mystery is great, for God became man and man became God. Therefore, we must live worthy of this mystery.
The greatest thing that God could give to man, He gave to him, becoming a man himself and forever remaining the God-man in both the visible and invisible world. The tiny human being completely contained God, incontainable and limitless in everything. This indicates that the God-Man is the most mysterious being in the entire world surrounding man. St. John of Damascus is right when he says that the God-man is “the only new thing under the sun.” And we can add: and always new, so new that never grows old either in time or in eternity. But in the God-man and with the God-man, man himself became a new being under the sun, a being Divinely important, Divinely precious, Divinely eternal, Divinely complex. The mystery of God was inextricably united with the mystery of man and became a twofold mystery, the great mystery of heaven and earth. And so the Church began to exist. God-man = Church. The second hypostasis of the Most Holy Trinity, the Hypostasis of God the Word, having become flesh and the God-man, began to exist in heaven and on earth as the God-man - the Church. By the Incarnation of God the Word, man as a special god-like being was exalted with Divine greatness, for the second Hypostasis of the Most Holy Trinity became his Head, the eternal Head of the God-man The body of the Church, God the Father, by the Holy Spirit, placed the Lord Jesus Christ - the God-man "above all, the head of the Church, which is His Body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all" (Eph. 1:22-23).
Having the God-man as its Head, the Church became the most perfect and most precious being of heaven and earth. All the God-Man qualities became her qualities: all His Divine powers and all the resurrecting, all transforming, all deifying powers, all the powers of the God-Man - Christ, all the powers of the Holy Trinity - forever became her powers. And what is most important, the most wonderful and the most amazing is that the very Hypostasis of God the Word, out of incomprehensible love for man, became the Eternal Hypostasis of the Church. There is no such wealth of God, God's glory and God's goodness that would not become ours forever, the property of every person in the Church.
God especially showed all the incomprehensibility of His power and love for mankind by the resurrection from the dead, His ascension to heaven above the Cherubim and Seraphim and all the Heavenly Powers, the foundation of the Church as His body, of which He resurrected and ascended the ever-living God-Man - the Head. God wrought this boundless miracle “in Christ, raising Him from the dead and seating Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and authority and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in that which is to come, and all subjected Him under His feet, and made Him above all things, the head of the Church, which is His Body, the fullness of Him that fills all in all" (Eph. 1:20-23).
Thus, in the resurrected and ascended God-man, the eternal plan of the Trisagion of the Divinity was realized, “to unite all things in heaven and earth under the head of Christ” (Eph. 1:10) - realized in the Theanthropic Body of the Church. Through the Church, His Divine-Human Body, the Lord united everyone into a single, ever-living organism: angelic beings, people and all God-created creatures. Thus, the Church is “the fullness of Him who fills all in all” (Eph. 1:23), that is, the fullness of the God-man Jesus Christ, who as God “fills all in all,” and as man and the Eternal Bishop gives us, people, to live with all its fullness in the Church through the holy sacraments and holy virtues. This is truly the fullness of all that is divine, all that is eternal, all that is godlike, all that is created by God. For it is the Church that is the container and fullness of Divine Truth, Divine Justice, Divine Love, Divine Life, Divine Eternity; the fullness of all divine perfections, as well as human perfections, for the Lord Jesus Christ, the God-man, is the dual fullness of the Divine and human. This is the Divine-human unity (Church), which has acquired immortality and eternity due to the fact that its head is the Eternal God-Man Himself, the Second Hypostasis of the Most Holy Trinity. The Church, as the fullness of the God-human Body, lives by the immortal and life-giving Divine powers of the incarnate God the Word. This is felt by all true members of the Church, and most fully by saints and angels. This receptacle of the Theanthropic perfections of Jesus Christ is “the hope of His calling” and “His inheritance for the saints” (Eph. 1:18). The Church is not only the goal and meaning of all creatures and things, from Angel to atom, but also their single highest goal and highest meaning. In it, God truly “blessed us with every spiritual blessing” (Eph. 1:3); in it He gave us all the means for our holy and blameless life before God (Eph. 1:4); in it He adopts us through His Only Begotten Son (Eph. 1:5-8); in it He revealed to us the eternal mystery of His will (Eph. 1:9); in it He united time with eternity (Eph. 1:10); in it He accomplished the deification and spiritualization of all creatures (Eph. 1:13-18). Therefore, the Church represents the greatest and most holy mystery of God. Compared to other mysteries, it is an all-encompassing mystery, the greatest mystery. In it, every sacrament of God is good news and bliss, and each of them is paradise, for each of them contains the fullness of the Sweetest Lord, for it is through Him that paradise becomes paradise and bliss becomes bliss; it is by Him that God is God and man is man; it is through Him that truth becomes Truth and justice becomes Justice; It is through Him that love becomes Love and kindness becomes Kindness; It is through Him that life becomes Life and eternity becomes Eternity.
The main gospel, which contains all-encompassing joy for all creatures of heaven and earth, is this: the God-man is everything and everyone in heaven and on earth, and in him is the Church. And the main gospel is the head of the Church - the God-man Jesus Christ. And indeed, “He is before all things, and in Him all things consist” (Col. 1:17). For He is God, the Creator, the Provider, the Savior, the Life of lives, the Being of beings and the Being above the existing: “all things were created by Him and for Him” (Col. 1, 16). He is the purpose of everything that exists, All His creations were created as the Church and constitute the Church, and “He is the head of the body of the Church” (Col. 1:18). This is the Divine unity and Divine purposefulness of creation under the leadership of the Logos. Sin split off part of creation from this unity and drowned them in godless aimlessness, in death, in hell, in torment. And therefore, for their sake, God the Word descends into our earthly world, becomes a man and, as the God-man, accomplishes the salvation of the world from sin. His Theanthropic economy of salvation has its goal: to cleanse everything from sin, to deify, to sanctify, to return again to the Theanthropic body of the Church and, thus, to restore the universal Divine unity and purposefulness of creation.
Having become a man and founded the Church on Himself, by Himself - in Himself, the Lord Jesus Christ exalted man immeasurably and like never before. With His divine-human deeds, He not only saved man from sin, death and the devil, but also elevated him above all other creatures. God did not become either a God-angel, or a God-cherub, or a God-seraphim, but a God-man, and by this he placed man above the Angels and Archangels, and all angelic beings. The Lord through the Church subjugated everything and everyone to man (Eph. 1:22). By the Church and in the Church, as in the Divine-human body, man grows to the heights above the Angels and above the Cherubs. Therefore, the path of his ascent is further than that of the Cherubim, Seraphim and all the Angels. Therein lies the mystery above the mysteries. Let every tongue be silent, for here begins the ineffable and incomprehensible love of God, the ineffable and incomprehensible love for mankind of truly the only Lover of mankind - the Lord Jesus Christ! Here begin the “visions and revelations of the Lord” (2 Cor 12:1), which cannot be expressed in any language, not only human, but also angelic. Everything here is above the mind, above words, above nature, above everything created. As for the mystery, the Church contains the great mystery of man in the great mystery of the God-Man, who is the Church and at the same time the Body of the Church and the Head of the Church. And with all this, a person who is included in the Church and is a full member of it, a person who in the Church is part of the God-man Jesus Christ, is part of the Holy Trinity, a member of the Theanthropic Body of Christ - the Church (Eph. 3, b), the most holy and precious the mystery of God, the mystery above the mysteries, the all-encompassing great mystery. The Church is the God-man Jesus Christ through all centuries and through all eternity. But with man and after man is the God-created creature: everything that was created in heaven and on earth by God the Word - all this enters into the Church as its body, whose head is the Lord Jesus Christ, but the head is the head of the body, and the body is this is the body of the head; one is inseparable from the other, the fullness of one and the other is “the fullness of Him who fills all in all” (Eph. 1:25). By becoming a member of the Church through Holy Baptism, every Christian becomes an integral part of the “fullness of Him who fills everything,” and is himself filled with the fullness of God (Eph. 3, 19), and thus achieves the all-perfect fullness of his human being, his human personality. To the extent of his faith and grace-filled life in the Church, every Christian achieves this fullness through the holy sacraments and holy virtues. This remains valid for all Christians of all times, Everything is filled with the fullness of Him who fills everything in everything: everything in us, people, everything in Angels, everything in the stars, everything in birds, everything in plants, everything in minerals, everything in all God-created creatures for Where the Theanthropic Divinity is, there is His humanity, there are all the faithful of all times and all beings - Angels and people. It is in this way that we, members of the Church, are filled with “all the fullness of God” (Col. 2:9): The theanthropic fullness is the Church, the God-man is its head, the Church is His Body, and throughout our entire existence we are completely dependent on Him, as body from head. From Him, the immortal Head of the Church, grace-filled life-giving forces flow throughout the Body of the Church and revive us with immortality and eternity. All the Theanthropic feelings of the Church come from Him and in Him, and by Him. All the holy sacraments and holy virtues in the Church, by which we are cleansed, reborn, transformed, sanctified, become part of the God-man Lord Jesus Christ, the Perfect God, part of the Holy Trinity, and thus are saved, come from the Father through the Son in the Holy Spirit, and this thanks to the hypostatic unity of God the Word and our human nature in the wonderful Person of the God-man our Lord Jesus Christ.
Why does the God-man Lord Jesus Christ, the Second Person of the Most Holy Trinity, appear as everyone and everything in the Church? Why is He the Head of the body of the Church, and the Church His body? In order that all members of the Church “through true love will return everything to Him who is the head, Christ... until we all come into the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God, into a perfect man, to the fullest measure.” full age Christ" (Eph. 4:15, 13). This means: the Church is the workshop of the God-man, in which each person, with the help of the holy sacraments and holy virtues, is transformed into the God-man by grace, into God by grace. Here everything is accomplished by the God-man, in the God-man, according to the God-man - everything is in the category of the God-man. With His Theanthropic Person, the Lord Jesus Christ embraces, permeates, penetrates everything and everywhere where human beings live; descends into the darkest places of the earth, into hell itself, into the kingdom of death; ascends above all heavens, so that by Himself to fulfill everything and everyone (Eph. 4:8-10; Rom. 10:6-7).
Everything in the Church is led by the Lord Jesus Christ. And this is how the Divine-Human body grows. The God-man is growing! And this miracle is continuously happening for the sake of us, people, and for the sake of our salvation. The Body of Christ - the Church - is growing. It grows with every person who becomes a member of the Church - an integral part of the Theanthropic Body of Christ. And this growth of every human person in the Church comes from the Head of the Church - the Lord Jesus Christ, as well as through His saints - His God-bearing co-workers.
The loving Lord gave Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Shepherds, and Teachers - “for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the Body of Christ” (Eph. 4, 11, 12). And from the Lord Jesus Christ, as from the head of the Church, “the whole body, which is composed and joined together through all kinds of mutually fastening ties, when each member acts in its measure, receives increase” (Eph. 4:16),
What is the hope of our Christian knowledge? - In our union with the Lord Jesus Christ, and through Him with those who are in Him, in His Theanthropic Body - the Church. And His body is “one body” (Eph. 4:4), the incarnate body of God the Word, and the spirit in this body is “one spirit” (Eph. 4:4) - the Holy Spirit. This is the Divine-human unity, it is more perfect and complete than any unity. In the earthly world there is no more real, more all-encompassing and immortal unity than the unity of man with God and with other people and with all creatures. And the means to enter into this unity are available to everyone - these are the holy sacraments and holy virtues. The first holy sacrament is baptism, the first holy virtue is faith. “There is one faith” (Eph. 4:5), and there is no other besides it, and “one Lord” (cf. 1 Cor. 8:6; 12:5; Jude 1:4), and there is no other except Him (1 Cor. 8:4); and “one baptism” (Eph. 4:5), and there is no other besides Him. Only in organic unity with the Body of the Church, only as a member of this wonderful organism, does a person come to full sensation, awareness and conviction that, in reality, there is only “one Lord” - the Most Holy Trinity and only “one faith” - faith in the Most Holy Trinity ( Ephesians 3:6; 4:13; 4:5; Jude 3); only “one baptism” - baptism in the name of the Holy Trinity (Matthew 28:19) and only “one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in us all” (Eph. 4:6; cf. 1 Cor. 8, 6: Rom. 11, Zb). Saint Damascus;
“There is one Father over all, who is through all by His Word that proceeds from him, and in all by the Holy Spirit.” To feel this and to live this means to act worthy of the Christian calling (Eph. 4:1; cf. Rom. 12:2; Col. 3:8-17: 1 Sol. 2:7). In a word, it means to be a Christian.
Through Jesus Christ, all people: both Jews and Greeks who do not know God, have “access to the Father in one Spirit,” since only through Christ do they come to the Father (Eph. 2-18; John 14:6). By His economy of salvation, the God-man opened access to God in the Trinity for all of us (cf. Rom. 5:1-2; Eph. 3:12; 1 Pet. 3:18). In the Theanthropic economy of salvation, everything comes from the Father through the Son in the Holy Spirit. This is the supreme law in the Theanthropic Body of the Church, in the life of every member of the Church. For what is salvation? - Life in the Church. What is life in the Church? Life in the God-Man. What is life in the God-man? - Life in the Holy Trinity, for the God-Man is the Second Person of the Most Holy Trinity, always One in Essence and One Life with the Beginning Father and the Life-Giving Spirit (cf. John 14, 6-9; b, 23-26; 15.24-26; 16,7,13-15; 17.10-26). Thus, salvation is life in the Holy Trinity.
Only in the Lord Jesus Christ did man first appear completely one in essence, triune. And in this God-like trinity, he found the unity of his being, and immortal god-likeness, and eternal life - therefore, eternal life lies in the knowledge of the Triune God (cf. John 17: 3). To become like the Triune Lord, to be filled with “all the fullness of God” (Col. 2:9-10; Eph. 3:19), to become perfect like God (Matthew 5:48) - this is our calling, and in it is the hope of our knowledge - “knowledge of the holy” (2 Tim. 1:9), “knowledge of heaven” (Heb. 3:1), “knowledge of God” (Phil. 3:14; Eph. 1:18; Rom. 11:29). Only in the Church of Christ do we feel vividly and immortally that we are “called to one hope of our calling” (Eph. 4:4). One title for all people, and one hope for all people. This calling lives and is directly experienced by the Church and in the Church “with all the saints through the holy sacraments and holy virtues” (Eph. 3:18-19). And we then experience “one body and one spirit” “with all the saints.” “So we, who are many, are one body in Christ” (Rom. 12:5), “for we were all baptized into one body by one Spirit, and we were all given one drink of one Spirit. And the body is not made of one member, but of many. There are many members , and the body is one (1 Cor. 12, 13-14, 20, 27). “And you are the body of Christ, and individually members.” (1 Cor. 12:27). Hope, led by the faith and love of the gospel, leads us to the realization and awareness of our calling, our goal, our calling - divine perfection. And all this can only happen in the Theanthropic Body of Christ (Church) through His Theanthropic powers, by which all members of this one holy body live, in which there is one spirit - the Holy Spirit The Spirit of Truth (John 15:26) is the Uniter of all Christian souls into one soul - the conciliar soul, and all hearts - into the conciliar heart, and all spirits - into one spirit - the conciliar spirit of the Church, into one faith - the conciliar faith of the Church This is the union and unity of bodies, and the unity of spirit, in which everything comes from the Father through the Son in the Holy Spirit, for “there is one God. producing all things in all" (1 Cor. 12:6; cf. Rom. 11:36).
“Even so we, who are many, are one body in Christ” - only in Christ (Rom. 12:5). Through the holy sacraments and holy life in holy virtues, we become members of the one body of Christ, and there is no border, no gap between us, we have all lived together and are connected by one life, just as the members of the human body are connected to each other. Your thought, as long as it is “in Christ,” forms “one body” with the thoughts of all the holy members of the Church, and you really think “with all the saints,” your thought is graciously, organically united with their thoughts. The same applies to your feelings, while they are “in Christ,” and your will and your life, while they are “in Christ.” There are many members in our body, but one body - “so is Christ” (1 Cor. 12:12). “For we were all baptized into one body by one Spirit” - (1 Cor. 12.13), and one Spirit leads us to one Truth. In His Theanthropic Body, from which and in which the Church exists, the Lord Jesus Christ united all people by the Cross (Eph. 2:16). In this eternal God-human Body “there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit” (I Cor. 12:4); The Spirit who acts through all the holy gifts and dwells in all members of the Church, uniting them into one spirit and one body:
“For we were all baptized into one body by one Spirit” (1 Cor. 12:13).
"What is this 'one body'?" - asks the godly-wise Chrysostom and answers: “The faithful from all corners of the Universe, who now live, and who lived, and who will live. Also, those who before the coming of Christ pleased God constitute one body. Why? Because they also knew Christ. How can this be seen? It is said: “Abraham your father rejoiced to see My day; and he saw and was glad" (John 8:5b) and also: "If you had believed Moses, you would have believed Me, because he wrote about Me" (John 5:46). Indeed, they would not have written about that, about that they would not know what to say, but since they knew Him, they revered Him as the One True God, For this reason they constitute one body. The body is not separated from the spirit, otherwise it would not be a body. In addition, about things that are connected to each other and have a strong connection, we usually say: they are like one body. Also, when we are united, we constitute one body under one head.”
In the Church everything is Divine-human: God is always in first place, and man is always in second place. Without Divine power, Christians cannot live the God-human gospel life, much less improve themselves. For everything that is Divine-human, man needs God’s help. Only having been clothed with “power from above” (Luke 24:49; Acts 1:8), the Divine power of the Holy Spirit, can people live on earth according to the Gospel. That is why the Savior revealed at the Last Supper the great Divine truth about the Holy Spirit as the Perfecter and the Executor of human salvation by the power of His Divine activity in the Theanthropic Body of the Church (cf. John 14:16-17, 26; 15:26; 16:7-13). The Lord Jesus Christ, by the Holy Spirit, dwells in man, renews and sanctifies him, makes him a part of Himself (Eph. 3:16-17). Without the Holy Spirit, the human spirit disintegrates and turns into countless non-existent and imaginary elements, and human life turns into countless deaths. The Holy Spirit came into the world for the sake of Christ and by Christ and became the soul of the Body of the Church; It is given to people only by Christ and for the sake of Christ. This means: the Holy Spirit lives in people only for the sake of Christ and through Christ. Where there is no God-man Jesus Christ, there is no Holy Spirit; there is no God there, for there is no God in the Trinity. As Christ is by the Holy Spirit in the Church, so is the Church by the Holy Spirit in Christ. Christ is the Head of the Church, the Holy Spirit is the soul of the Church.
By His divine power, the Holy Spirit unites all the faithful into one body, into the Church: “For we were all baptized into one body by one Spirit... and we were all given one drink of one Spirit” (1 Cor. 12:13). He is the Builder and Creator of the Church, According to the divinely inspired saying of St. Basil the Great, “The Holy Spirit creates the Church.” By the Holy Spirit we look closely, are included in the Church, become part of her body, by Him we are embodied in Christ's Theanthropic Body of the Church, we become His partakers (Eph. 3, b). By the Holy Spirit not only began to exist, but also continually created the holy Theanthropic Catholic Body of the Church, which is always one and indivisible. There is no doubt: only by the Holy Spirit do we become Christ’s through the holy sacraments and holy virtues. For where the Holy Spirit is, there is Christ, and where Christ is, there is the Holy Spirit. In a word, the entire Holy Trinity is here. And everything is from Her and in Her. Proof: the holy sacrament of baptism - through it a person is united with the Holy Trinity, so that during his life, through evangelical deeds, he can completely become part of the Holy Trinity, that is, to live from the Father through the Son in the Holy Spirit. By receiving the holy sacrament of baptism, a person puts on the Lord Jesus Christ, and through Him, the Holy Trinity.
Having become through baptism a member of the Church of Christ, this eternal Theanthropic Body of Christ, a Christian begins to be filled with holy Divine Theanthropic powers, which gradually sanctify, transform, and unite him with the God-Man throughout his entire life and throughout his eternity. In him, more and more new qualities are continuously born and created, which are Christ’s, and what is Christ’s is always new, for it is always immortal and eternal. Our eternal joy lies in the fact that the wonderful Lord Jesus Christ is not only the Savior and Almighty and Provider, but also the eternal Creator, and therefore the eternal Wonderworker. That is why He says: “Behold, I am making all things new” (Rev. 21:5). And His first new creation in the Church is our baptism, our new birth, our new being (cf. Matt. 19:28; John 3:3-6).
A Christian is a Christian because by holy baptism he has become a living, organic part of the Theanthropic Body of the Church, its member, embraced and permeated by God on all sides, outside and inside, embodied with Him, His Divine fullness. By Baptism, Christians are called to live in God incarnate and God incarnate, our Lord Jesus Christ, to live in the Church and
The Church, for she is “His body” and “the fullness of Him who fills all in all” (Eph. 1:23). A Christian is called to realize in himself the eternal plan of God for man (Eph. 1:3-10). And Christians realize it through their lives in Christ and Christ, life in the Church and the Church.
In the Theanthropic Body of the Church, the Holy Spirit, by the grace of the holy sacraments and holy virtues, holds in unity all the baptized faithful who constitute the body of the Church. In the Church, the communion and unity of each member of the Church with all other members is mediated by the Holy Spirit, who is always one [Eph. 4, 4). All gifts in the Church, all services, all ministers of the Church:
Apostles, prophets, teachers, bishops, priests, laity - constitute one body - the Body of the Church. Everyone needs everyone, and everyone needs everyone. They are all united into one conciliar Divine-Human Body - the Holy Spirit, the Connector and Organizer of the Church. The Supreme Law of Theanthropic Conciliarity in the Church: everyone serves everyone and everything serves everyone, every member lives and is saved by the help of the entire Body of the Church, through all members of the Church: both earthly and heavenly; the whole life of Christians is nothing more than life"with all the saints" in the Holy Spirit and by the Holy Spirit; unceasing service, continuous worship with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, all your being. The Holy Spirit lives in Christians in such a way that it participates in all their life: they feel through Him both themselves, and God, and world; They think about God, and about the world, and about themselves; everything they do is done by Him: they pray to Him, they love Him, they believe in Him. They act by it, by it they are saved, by it they are sanctified, by it they are united with the God-man, by it they become immortal (cf. Rom. 8:26-27). In fact, in the Theanthropic Body of the Church, the entire feat of salvation is carried out by the Holy Spirit. He is the One who reveals the Lord to us in Jesus; He is the One who through faith brings the Lord Jesus Christ into our hearts; He is the One who, through the holy sacraments and holy virtues, unites us with Christ; He
The one that so unites our spirit with Christ that we become “one spirit with the Lord” (1 Cor. 6:17); He is the One who, according to His All-Wise Divine Providence, divides and distributes divine gifts to us; He is the One who confirms and perfects us in His gifts (1 Cor. 12:1-27); He is the One who, through the holy sacraments and holy virtues, unites us with Christ and the Holy Trinity, so that we become part of Them. And one more thing: He is the One by whom everything that is Christ’s, the entire Divine economy of salvation is realized in the human world, for He is the soul of the Theanthropic Body of the Church. This is the reason that the life of the Church as the Theanthropic Body of Christ began with the descent of the Holy Spirit and continues forever with His presence in it, for the Church is the Church only by the Holy Spirit. Hence the Theanthropic gospel of the holy and God-bearing Father of the Church, Irenaeus of Lyons: “Where the Church is, there is the Spirit of God, and where the Spirit of God is, there is the Church and all grace.”
But with all this, we must never forget that everything that we, Christians, have from the Holy Spirit, as well as the Holy Spirit himself, is all done for the sake of our wonderful and humane Savior, the Sweetest Lord Jesus Christ, for “His For this reason the Holy Spirit also came into the world" (Acath. to the Sweetest Lord Jesus Christ; cf. John 1b, 7-17; 15, 26; 14, 26). For His sake He continues His saving theanthropic work in the Church. For if the Lord Jesus Christ, truly the “Only Lover of Mankind,” had not come to our earthly world and had not accomplished the great humane feat of salvation, then the Holy Spirit would not have come into our world.
With the appearance of the Lord Jesus Christ into our earthly world and through His Theanthropic economy of salvation, everything Divine became human, earthly, ours, and this is our “body,” our most immediate reality. “The Word became flesh” - man (John 1:14), and with this people received the greatest and most precious gift that only the God of love can bestow. What is this ““gift of Christ” (Eph. 4:8)? Everything that the Lord Jesus Christ as the God-man brought to the world and accomplished for the sake of the world. And He brought the “fullness of the Godhead” so that people would participate in it as His gift and live would be in her and by her, and would fill themselves with “all the fullness of the Godhead” (Eph. 3:19; 4:8-10; 1:23; Col. 2:10). And He also gave people the Holy Spirit, so that they with the help of His grace-filled powers, they would infuse themselves with the fullness of the Divine. And all this constitutes the main gift of the God-man Jesus Christ to the world, the great gift - the Church. And in it are all the gifts of God in the Trinity. All this “grace is given to each of us according to the measure of the gift of Christ" ( Eph. 4:7). But it depends on us, on our faith, love, humility and other deeds - how much we will use and accept this gift and how much we will live in it. Out of His immeasurable love for mankind, the Lord Jesus Christ left Himself to everyone and everyone , all His gifts, all His perfections, all His Church.To the extent that a person enters the Church, becomes part of the Church, unites with Christ and becomes a part of Him, to the extent that a person has a part in His gifts. And His main gift is eternal life. That is why the Apostle preaches: “The gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 6:23).
In the Theanthropic Body of the Church there is present all the grace of God in the Trinity, grace that saves from sin, death and the devil, regenerating, transforming, sanctifying us, uniting us with Christ and the Trinity Divinity. But each of us is given grace “according to the gift of Christ.” And the Lord Jesus Christ measures grace according to our work (1 Cor. 3:8): according to work in faith, in love, in mercy, in prayer, in fasting, in vigil, in meekness, in repentance, in humility, in patience and in the remaining holy virtues and holy sacraments of the Gospel. Foreseeing with His Divine Omniscience how which of us uses His grace and gifts, the Lord Jesus Christ distributes His gifts “to each according to his ability”: He gives one five talents, another two, and a third one (cf. Matt. 25:15). However, our place in the life-giving Theanthropic Body of Christ - the Church, which extends from the earth and above all the heavens above the heavens - depends on our personal labor and the multiplication of the Divine gifts of Christ. The more fully a person lives in the fullness of Christ’s grace, the more the gifts of Christ are in him and the more abundantly they are shed upon him as a partaker of Christ, the theanthropic powers of the Church of Christ, the body of Christ - the powers that cleanse us from all sin, sanctify, adore, and unite us with the God-man. At the same time, each of us lives in everyone and for everyone, therefore he rejoices in the gifts of his brothers when they are greater than his own.
For the sake of the Church's implementation of the eternal plan of the Trinity Divinity for the human race, the Lord Jesus Christ gave the Church Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Shepherds, and Teachers (Eph. 4:11). He “gave” them to the Church, and gave them all the necessary Divine-human powers, with the help of which they become what they are. There are different gifts, but there is one Lord who gives them, and one Spirit who unites them. An Apostle is an Apostle who lives, thinks and acts by the Theanthropic grace of apostleship, which he received from the Lord Jesus Christ; the same is true for both the Evangelist and the shepherd and the teacher, in that the first of them lives, thinks and acts by the Divine-human grace of the gospel. the second - the Theanthropic grace of shepherding, and the third - the Theanthropic grace of teaching, which we received from the Lord Jesus Christ (cf. 1 Cor. 12:28, 4, 5. 6, 11; Eph 2:20). For the Lord Jesus Christ is the apostleship of the Apostle, and the prophecy of the prophet, and the holiness of the saint, and the faith of believers, and the love of those who love. Who is an Apostle? Church worker. What is apostleship? Service to the Church. So this, “according to God’s economy,” is salvation (Code 1, 25). This is the Divine-human economy of the salvation of the world, for salvation is the service of the Church. Submission to the Lord Jesus Christ in everything out of love is the supreme law of theanthropic life in the Church.
Why did the Lord give holy servants? - For the work of ministry, “for the edification of the Body of Christ” (Eph. 4:12). What is the work of ministry? - In the creation of the Body of Christ, the Church. In this holy work, the Lord appointed exclusively holy people as leaders and leaders. What about Christians? All Christians are called to sanctify themselves through the powers of grace that are given to them through the holy sacraments and holy virtues.
How is the “building up of the Body of Christ” accomplished? By increasing the number of members of the Church: every Christian, through holy baptism, is integrated into the Body of Christ, the Church, and becomes its participant (Eph. 3:6), and this is how the increase, growth and creation of the Church occurs. The Divinely inspired Apostle says that Christians are “living stones” from which the Spiritual Spirit is built - the Church (1 Peter 2:5). But there is also another way to build the Body of Christ: it lies in spiritual growth, improvement, and the creation of members of the Church - partakers of the Body of the Church. Every member of the Church works to build the Body of the Church, carrying out some kind of evangelical feat. For every feat is built into, grows into the Church, and thus its Body grows. It grows with our prayer, our faith, our love, our humility, our meekness, our mercy, our prayerful state - it grows with everything that is evangelical, that is virtuous, that is Christ-loving, that is Christ-like, that draws us to Christ. We are growing the Church spiritually, and thereby it is growing. Therefore, “let all things be done for the building up” (1 Cor. 14:26), for the building up of the Church of Christ, for we are all called to be built into a dwelling place of God by the Spirit (Eph. 2:22). Who are Christians? "You are God's building" (1 Cor. 3:9). With each of his grace-filled gifts, with each of his virtues, with each of his deeds, a Christian “builds the Church” (cf. 1 Cor. 14, 4, 5, 12, 26). We all grow toward heaven through the Church, and each of us grows by all, and all by each. Therefore, this gospel and commandment applies to everyone and everyone: “Let the body (of the Church) grow to build itself up in love” (Eph. 4:16), And the creative power is the holy sacraments and holy virtues, in the first place - love: “love creates, builds, edifies” (I Cor. 8:1).
What is the purpose of building the body of Christ and our spiritual growth in it? - May we “achieve everything”: 1) “in the unity of faith and knowledge of the Son of God”; 2) “to become a perfect husband”; 3) “to the measure of the stature of Christ.”
1) One can come to the unity of faith and knowledge of Christ only in unity “with all the saints” (Eph. 3:18), only through the conciliar life “with all the saints,” under the supreme leadership of the holy Apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds, fathers, teachers. And they are sacredly guided by the Holy Spirit, from Pentecost onwards, through all centuries, right up to the Last Judgment. The Holy Spirit is that “one spirit” in the body of the Church (Eph. 4:4). In Him and from Him it exists “the unity of faith and knowledge of the Son of God,” our Lord Jesus Christ. The whole truth of the apostolic, Orthodox faith in Christ and the knowledge of Christ is found in the Spirit of Truth, which leads us into this truth, the one and only (cf. John 16:13; 15, 26; 14, 26). He unites our experience of Christ with the collective heart of the Church and our knowledge of Christ with the collective knowledge of the Church. The body of the Church is one and has “one heart” and “one soul” (Acts 4: 32). In this one heart, the conciliar heart of the Church and into this one soul, the conciliar soul of the Church - we enter and unite with them through the gracious action of the Holy Spirit, humbling our mind before the conciliar mind of the Church, our spirit - before the Holy Spirit of the Church, and so we create in to ourselves the everlasting feeling and consciousness that we have the same faith in the Lord Jesus Christ with all the holy Apostles and prophets. fathers and righteous - we have one faith and one knowledge of the Lord.
Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and knowledge of Him are an essential, inseparable unity. And these two are one in the Church, and are given by the Holy Spirit for humble deeds and, above all, for humility. “Unity of faith means: to be united in the dogmas of faith. The unity of knowledge is the same.”
Saint Chrysostom: “Unity of faith means: when we all had one faith. For this is the unity of faith, when we are all one and when we all understand this union in the same way. Until then, you must work to achieve this, if received the gift of feeding others. And when we all believe equally, this is unity of faith." 8 Blessed Theophylact writes: “Unity of faith means that we all have one faith, without disagreeing in dogmas and having no discord among ourselves in life. The unity of faith and knowledge of the Son of God is true when we Orthodoxy confess the dogmas and live in love, for Christ is love.” 9 .
2) Achieve a “perfect husband.” But what is a perfect person? Until the God-man Jesus Christ appeared on earth, people did not know what a perfect man was or who he was. The human spirit was unable to imagine the image of a perfect man, either as a plan, or as an ideal, much less as a reality. From here only wanderings occurred in search of an ideal person and such outstanding thinkers of the human race as, for example, Plato, Socrates, Buddha, Confucius, Lao Tzu and other pre-Christian and non-Christian seekers of an ideal, perfect person. Only with the appearance of the God-Man in the human world did people learn what a perfect man was, for they saw Him in reality, among themselves. For human consciousness there is no more doubt: Jesus Christ is a perfect man. As for truth, it is all in Him and so all in Him that outside of Him there is no truth, for He Himself is the Truth; as for Justice, it is also all in Him and so completely in Him that outside of Him there is no Justice, for He Himself
Justice. And all the best, the most sublime, the most Divine, the most perfect - all this was realized in Him. There is no good that a person, having desired, would not find in Him. In the same way, there is no sin that a Christ-fighter could invent and find in Him. He is completely without sin and full of perfections, and therefore He is a perfect man, an ideal man. If not, then show another who would be at least approximately similar to Him. But of course, no one can show such a person, because he does not exist in history.
The question is, how can one achieve a “perfect husband”? But the uniqueness of the One and Only consists precisely in the fact that He gave everyone the opportunity to exclusively the only way not only to come into contact with the “perfect man,” but also to become His partakers, His members, co-owners of His body: “of His flesh and His bones” (Eph. 5:30). How? - Only together “with all the saints,” through the holy gospel virtues, through the holy conciliar life of the Church. For the Church has appeared as nothing less than a “perfect man” on her way in all ages to the final realization of God’s plan for the world. It is in this way that the least among us, the most despised and the most wretched, are given the opportunity together with all the saints through the Gospel to achieve virtues in a “perfect husband.” For it is said: “Until we achieve everything into a perfect man.” This means that this is given not to a proud individual, but to a humble participant in the Church and is given in community “with all the saints.” Living “with all the saints” in the God-human body of the “perfect man” - Christ, every Christian, according to the extent of his exploits, achieves this perfection himself, and becomes a perfect man himself. So, in the Church the Divine ideal becomes accessible and feasible for everyone: “Be ye therefore perfect, as your Father in heaven is perfect” - God (Matthew 5:48). The Holy Apostle especially emphasizes that the goal of the Church is “to present every person perfect in Christ Jesus” (Col. 1:28). The God-man transformed Himself, “a perfect man,” out of boundless and incomprehensible love for mankind into the Church, so that all who would become its members , transform into perfect people. This is the goal of God’s entire human economy of salvation: “That the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work” (2 Tim. 3:17).
3) To reach “to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.” What does this mean? What constitutes the height, the fullness of Christ? What is it full of? - Divine perfections. “For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily” (Col. 2:9), living within the boundaries of the human body. By this the Savior shows that the human body is capable of containing the fullness of the Divine, and this, indeed, is the purpose of human existence. Therefore, “to reach the full stature of Christ” means to grow and become one with all His Divine perfections, to unite spiritually with them by grace, to unite oneself with them and to live in them. Or: experience Christ and the fullness of the Divine abiding in Him as your life, as your soul, as your highest value, as your eternity, as your highest goal and your highest meaning. To experience Him as the One True God and as the one true Man, in whom everything human is brought to the pinnacle of human perfection. To experience Him as perfect Divine Truth, as perfect Divine Truth, as perfect Divine Love, as perfect Divine Wisdom, as perfect Divine Life, eternal Life. In a word, this means experiencing Him as the God-man, as the great meaning of all God-created worlds (cf. Col. 1:16-17; Heb. 2:10).
How is this possible? This is again possible only in unity “with all the saints.” For it is said: “until we all reach the measure of the full stature of Christ,” - not only me and you, not only us, but everyone, and only under the guidance of the holy Apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds, fathers and teachers. Only the saints know the way, have all the holy means and give them to all who thirst for God, so that they may grow “to the measure of the full stature of Christ.” And what is the age (height) of Christ and the depth of Christ, if not His Theanthropic Body - the Church? And therefore, to reach the measure of the age of Christ is nothing more than to become a real member of the Church, for the Church is “the fullness of Christ,” “the fullness of Him who fills all in all” (Eph. 1:23). If you are a member of the Church, this means that you are constantly in unity “with all the saints,” and through them, in unity with the wonderful and miracle-working Lord Jesus Christ. And with Him you are all infinite, all light, all eternal, all love, all truth, all truth, all prayer; all of yours enters into one heart and into one soul “with all the saints”; you have a united mind, a united heart, a united soul, a united truth, a united life. All things are united by the Holy Spirit, and you are all united; you are not your own, you are in everyone and through everyone, and everything is in you and through you. You have nothing of your own, for in reality it is yours only through all the saints; and you are not yours, but Christ’s, and only through Him, and yours only “with all the saints.” With inexpressible joy they make you Christ’s, and fill you with the fullness of Christ, from Whom and for Whom’s sake and in Whom are all things (Col. 1:16-17). - So, through the Church and only in the Church people achieve the goal and meaning of human beings in heaven and on earth,
Growing with the age of Christ “into a perfect man,” a person gradually emerges from spiritual childhood and spiritual weakness, gains strength, matures in soul, mind and heart. Living by Christ, he grows entirely into Christ, into the Truth of Christ, becomes akin to it, and it becomes the eternal Truth of his mind, his heart and his soul. One can say with confidence about such a person; he knows the Truth because he has the Truth. This living Divine Truth is in him and serves him as an infallible standard for distinguishing between good and evil, truth and lies in the human world. Therefore, no human science can captivate or seduce him. He will immediately feel the spirit of any human science that is offered to him. For he knows man, knows what is in man, and knows what kind of science he can create and propose. Is not every human science that does not lead to Divine Truth concocted from lies? What human science determines the true meaning of life and explains the mystery of death? - None. That’s why it is a lie and a deception - both in what it says and in what it offers as a solution to the issue of life and death. The same thing, there is no human science that would explain to us the problems of man and the world, the soul and conscience, the mystery of good and evil, God and the devil. And if they don’t tell us this, then don’t they confuse us with their petty, meaningless speculations? and are not led into labyrinths of destructive trifles? In the human world, only the God-man Jesus Christ solved all the main questions of the world and life, on the solution of which depends the fate of the human being in heaven and on earth (in this and the next world). Whoever has Christ has everything that a human being needs, not only in this temporary, but also in endless, eternal life. No wind of human science can shake a person living in Christ, much less carry him away and tear him away from Christ. Without faith in Christ and without affirmation in the Truth of Christ, every person is truly a reed, shaken by every wind of false human teachings (Eph. 4:14).
Therefore, the God-wise Apostle advises and commands Christians: “Do not be carried away by different and alien teachings, for it is good to strengthen hearts by grace” (Heb. 13:9). More often, unwittingly than intentionally, people deceive themselves with various sciences. And thus they deceive themselves with sin, which through skill has become their thinking power and has entered into human nature so much that people cannot feel and see how sin leads them and guides them in speculation and science, and how through sin they are guided by the creator of sin - the devil, for in countless skillful and very subtle ways he introduces his seductions and deceptions into human sciences, which remove people from the True God. Moreover, through the logic of sin, he completely introduces all his cunning and cunning into these human sciences, and thereby skillfully seduces and deceives people, and they, being in self-deception, deny God, do not want God, or do not see God, or turn away and protected from God. Sin is, first of all, a mental, rational, intellectual force, like a thin liquid, spread throughout a person’s consciousness and conscience, throughout the mind, throughout the soul. according to reason, and it acts through consciousness and conscience as a constituent force of consciousness and conscience, therefore people completely accept all the temptations and deceptions of their consciousness and conscience as their own, human, natural, but cannot feel and discern, being in a state of self-deception and rigidity, that this is the devil’s cunning, the devil’s cunning, with which the devil plunges the human mind, consciousness and conscience into all death, then all darkness, from which they cannot see God and God, therefore He is often denied, blasphemed, and rejected. From the fruits of these sciences one can clearly conclude that they are truly the teachings of demons (1 Tim. 4:1).
All philosophies “according to man,” “according to human tradition” (cf. Col. 2:8) are permeated with this rational fluid of demonic deceit, voluntarily or unwittingly, and therefore they do not know the Divine Truth about the world and man, about good and evil. , about God and the devil, but deceive themselves with subtle demonic untruths, while in the philosophy “according to Christ” - the God-man, the whole truth of heaven and earth is contained without a trace (Col. 2, 9). Philosophies “according to man” “deceive the hearts of the simple with flattery and eloquence” (Rom. 16:18). There is no doubt that all human philosophies can ultimately be divided as follows: into philosophies “according to man” and philosophy “according to the God-man.” In the first, the main cognitive and creative factor is the devil, and in the second, the God-man Jesus Christ. The basic principle of philosophy according to the God-man: the God-man is the measure of all beings and things. The basic principle of “humanistic” philosophy on man is that man is the measure of all beings and things.
In philosophy according to the God-man Jesus Christ there is all the Truth, the eternal Divine Truth, for in Christ “all the fullness of the bodily Divinity” is present in this world, and through this fullness the Eternal Truth itself is present in this world, is present bodily in the God-man Jesus Christ, who at the same time there is both a perfect God and a perfect man, a real God in everything and a real man in everything. In philosophies according to man, there is, one way or another, a lie, which is connected by every nerve with the father of lies and always leads to him. Therefore, it is necessary to preserve yourself day and night in the most important organ of the human being - in conscience, so that this lie does not penetrate into you, into me, and does not plunge us, our mind, our thought into the kingdom of lies, into hell. Therefore, the Holy Scripture gives the commandment: “Be mature in mind” (1 Cor. 14:20). And you will, if you grow “into a perfect man, to the measure of the full stature of Christ,” for then your mind will graciously and sacredly unite with the mind of Christ, with the conciliar, holy and theanthropic mind of the Church, and you, together with the holy Christ-bearer, will be able to proclaim: “We have the mind of Christ" (1 Cor. 2:16). Then no wind of human science through deception and the cunning of the devil will be able to shake us and mislead us, but we will remain with our whole being in the Eternal Truth, which is the Lord Jesus Christ Himself - the God-Man (John 1b, 6, 8, 32,36; 1 ,17).
If truth were anything other than the God-man Christ, it would be relative, insignificant, mortal, transitory. It would be like this if it were: a concept, an idea, or a theory, a scheme, reason, science, philosophy, culture, man, humanity, the world, all the worlds, someone else or something, or all of these together , But Truth is a Person, and this is the Person of the God-man Jesus Christ, and that is why She is perfect, and imperishable, and eternal. For in the Lord Jesus Christ Truth and Life are of the same essence: Eternal Truth and Eternal Life (cf. John 14:6; 1:4,17). Whoever believes in the Lord Jesus Christ constantly grows through His Truth into its divine infinities, grows with all his being, all his mind, all his heart, all his soul. Moreover, he constantly lives by Christ’s Truth, therefore it constitutes life itself in Christ. In Christ we “live truly” (Eph. 4:15), for life in Christ is truth, constant abiding with our whole being in the Truth of Christ, in the eternal Truth. Such a Christian’s abiding in the Truth of Christ is generated by his love for the Lord Jesus Christ; in it he grows, develops and exists continuously and forever, never festivities, for “love never ceases” (1 Cor. 13:8). Love for the Lord Jesus Christ encourages a person to live in His Truth and constantly keeps him in It. It brings about the constant growth of a Christian in Christ, when he grows into all His Theanthropic heights, breadths and depths (cf. Eph. 3:17-19). But he never grows alone, but only “with all the saints,” that is, in the Church and with the Church, for otherwise he cannot grow “into Him who is the head” of the Body of the Church, Christ (Eph. 4:15). And when we abide in the Truth, we abide in it together “with all the saints,” and when we love, we love “with all the saints,” for in the Church everything is conciliar, everything is realized “with all the saints,” for all constitute one spiritual body, in in which we all collectively live in one life, in one spirit, in one truth. Only through “true love” (Eph. 4:15) with all the saints can we “all grow into him who is the head, Christ.” The immeasurable powers required for the growth of all Christians in the Theanthropic Body of the Church, the Church receives directly from its Head, the Lord Jesus Christ, for only He, God and Lord, has these immeasurable powers and disposes of them wisely.
In the Church, in the God-Man Christ, all Truth was embodied, united with man and became human, became a perfect man - this is Who Christ is, and What Christ is. And if all truth could be embodied and was embodied in man, then man was created to be the body of Truth, the embodiment of Truth. This is the main promise of the God-man: to be nothing other than the embodiment of Truth, the embodiment of God. That is why God became a man and forever remained a man, and therefore life in Christ - life in the Church - is life in the whole Truth.
The Lord Jesus Christ is Entire in the Church: with all the being of the Word and the God-Man, with all His Truth, with all His Life, with all His Truth, with all His Love, with all His Eternity - in a word: with all the fullness of His Divinity and with all the fullness of His humanity. Only from Him, the God-man, do we, people on earth, and even Angels in heaven, know that He is the Truth. The gospel is true: “The truth came through Jesus Christ” (John 1:17). This means that Truth is the God-man Lord Jesus Christ, Truth is the Second Hypostasis of the Holy Trinity, Truth is the Personality of the God-man Jesus Christ. In our earthly world, Truth is nothing other than the whole Person of the God-Man Christ. She is neither a concept, nor a thought, nor a logical scheme, nor a logical force, nor a person, nor an Angel, nor humanity, nor anything human, nor anything created, nor all the visible and invisible worlds, but she is incomparably and immeasurably above all this: Truth, Eternal and All-Perfect Truth in our earthly world, and through it in other visible and invisible worlds, is the Second Person of the Most Holy Trinity, the very historical Person of the God-man, the Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, the Lord Jesus Christ preaches to the human race about Himself: I am the seven Truth (John 14:6; cf. Eph. 4:24, 21). And since He is the Truth, then the Truth and His Body are the Church, of which He is the Head. Hence the wonderful and joyful gospel of the Apostle;
“The Church of the living God is the pillar and ground of the truth” (1 Tim. 3:15). Therefore, neither the Church nor its Truth can be ruined, destroyed, weakened, or killed by any opponents, no matter where they come from: on earth or from hell. By the God-man Jesus Christ, the Church is all-perfect, all-powerful, all-divine, all-conquering, immortal. Being such, she frees every human being with the power granted to her from the Lord from sin, death and the devil - this triune lie - and by it she grants each person individually and all of us together eternal life and immortality. And she does this by sanctifying human beings. making them part of the God-man Christ, through the holy sacraments and holy virtues. Hence the saving gospel from the Divine lips of the Savior: “And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:32) from sin, death and the devil, will justify you, and will grant you all the blessings of heaven. Rightly said the blzh. Theophylact: “Truth is the content of the Church. And everything that happens in it is true and saving.”
So, God incarnate, God in the flesh, the God-man Jesus Christ is the Truth of all New Testament truths; with Him stands or falls the entire Church, the entire Divine-human economy of salvation. This is the soul of all New Testament and church deeds, deeds, virtues, events, this is the gospel above all gospels, or rather, the great and all-encompassing gospel, and it is the measure of all measures. It, as the most reliable standard, measures everything and everyone in the Church, in Christianity. This is the essence of this truth: whoever does not recognize the incarnate God, the God-man Jesus Christ, is not a member of the Church, is not a Christian, and moreover, he is the Antichrist.
The holy Apostle and God-seer John the Theologian preaches about this infallible standard; “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. Know the Spirit of God (and the spirit of error) this way: every spirit that confesses Jesus Christ, who has come in the flesh, is from God and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not from God, but it is the spirit of Antichrist, about whom you have heard that he would come and is now already in the world" (1 John 4:1-3; 2:22; 1 Cor. 12:3).
So, all the spirits that inhabit our globe are divided into 2 types: those that are from God, and those that are from the devil. From God are those who acknowledge and confess that Jesus Christ is God the Word incarnate, Lord and Savior; but those who do not recognize this are of the devil. This is the whole philosophy of the devil: not to recognize God in the world. not to recognize His presence and influence on the world, not to recognize His incarnation, His incarnation in the world; repeat and preach: there is no God, neither in the world, nor in man, nor in the God-man; it makes no sense to believe that God became incarnate in man and can live as a man; man is completely without God, a being in which there is neither God, nor God, nothing Divine, immortal, eternal; man is completely transient and mortal, by all indications he belongs to the animal world and is almost no different from animals, therefore, they say, he lives naturally, like animals, who are his only legal ancestors and natural brothers...
Here it is, the philosophy of the Antichrist, who at any cost strives to take His place both in the world and in man, to replace Christ. In all centuries, countless forerunners, confessors and admirers of the Antichrist have appeared. “Every spirit” - and this spirit can be a person, a teaching, an idea, a thought, a person, an Angel or the devil. And all of them: every teaching, personality, idea, thought, person - if they do not recognize that Jesus Christ is God and Savior, God incarnate and the God-man - come from the Antichrist and are Antichrist's essence. And there have been many such personalities, teachings, etc. since the very appearance of the Lord Jesus Christ in the world. Therefore, the holy seer and Apostle John the Theologian says about the Antichrist that “even now he is already in the world.” One way or another, the Antichrist is the creator of every anti-Christian teaching, and all teachings can be divided into two types: teachings from Christ and teachings from the Antichrist. In the end, a person needs to solve one problem in this world: to follow Christ or against Him. And every person, whether he wants it or not, does nothing but solve this problem - and each of us is either a Christ-lover or a Christ-fighter, or a Christ-worshipper and a devil-worshipper, there is no third option.
The Holy Scripture defines for us, people, the main task and goal of our life: we “should have the same feelings that were in Christ Jesus,” we should “set our minds on things above” in the risen and ascended God-man Lord Jesus Christ (Phil. 2 , 5; Col. 3, 1-4). And what is “higher”? - Everything that He, as the Eternal Truth, is and that He contains in Himself as God the Word: all Divine properties, values and perfections, And also everything that He as an incarnate man. The God-man, the Lord Jesus Christ, has and contains in Himself: all His human characteristics, thoughts, feelings, exploits, experiences, deeds - His entire life from Christmas to the Ascension, and from the Ascension until the Last Judgment, and from the Last Judgment to the entire Divine Eternity. Thinking about this is our first, main duty, the necessity of every moment of our life. In other words, does a person think about truth or error, about life or death, about good or evil, about truth or untruth, about heaven or hell, about God or about the devil - if he thinks about all this not “in Christ Jesus,” in other words, if a person’s thoughts about all this do not turn into thoughts about Christ, they will certainly turn into meaningless and suicidal torment. If humanity does not think about society, the individual, the family, the nation “in Christ” and by Christ, then it will never be able to find the true meaning or correctly solve at least one problem
To think about everything “in Christ” or by Christ - these are the main commandments for every Christian, this is our categorical Christian imperative of the theory of knowledge. But you can think like Christ if you have the “mind of Christ.” The Holy Apostle says: “We have the mind of Christ” (1 Cor. 2, 1b). How to buy it? - Living in the Theanthropic Body of the Church, of which He is the Head, for life in the Church through the holy sacraments and holy virtues unites our entire being with the essence of the Church, unites our mind with the Theanthropic mind of the Church and teaches us to think according to Christ, to have the same feelings as also are in Christ Jesus." Thinking with the mind of Christ, the collective mind of the Church, Christians can have “one mind,” one feeling, “have one love,” be one soul and one heart, “of one mind and of one mind” (Phil. 2:2; 3:16; 4, 2; Rom. 15:5; 1 Cor. 1:10). God and Lord Jesus Christ descended from the heavenly Divine heights and even became a man Himself, so that people could have “the same feelings that were in Christ” and live “worthy of God” (Phil. 2:6). The Holy Fathers say that God became man in order to make man God; or God became man so that man could become deified. - This is the whole Truth of the Church, the Divine-Human Truth, earthly and heavenly Truth, immortal, eternal.
The body of the Church is the most complex that the human spirit knows. Why? Because this is the only Divine-human organism in which all Bos are contained
Modern secular society has formed the opinion, taken up by neo-pagans, that the ideal of a Christian is self-abasement, passivity and lack of initiative.
In their books and articles directed against Orthodoxy, neopagans very often exploit such images, contrasting the “humble Christian” with the “free pagan.” In this regard, let us consider what the Orthodox doctrine actually says about man and his purpose, and also examine some concepts that are misinterpreted by atheists.
Is it possible to become a god?
The first lines of the Bible tell us about God's creation of our material world. The crown of His creative plan was man: “And God said: Let us make man in our image, after our likeness, and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on earth. And God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female he created them.” (Gen. 1:26–27).
A modern Greek theologian, commenting on this text, wrote: “Creation in His own image was such a gift that God endowed only with man and with no one else in all visible creation, so that he became the image of God Himself.” This gift included reason, conscience, free will, creativity, love and desire for perfection and God, personal self-awareness and everything that puts a person above the rest of the visible creation, making him a person. In other words, everything that makes a person a person is given to him in the image of God.”
In the New Testament, the Apostle Peter says the following words, addressing Christians: “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation...” (1 Pet. 2:9).
The Orthodox Church, unlike many other religious movements, views man as the crown of God's creation, the purpose of whose creation is very high. , who lived in the 4th century, wrote: “Know your nobility, namely, that you are called to royal dignity, that you are a chosen race, sacred and a holy language.”
Theologians today have exactly the same opinion on this issue. Missionary and theologian Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh wrote: “If you want to know what man is... look to the throne of God, and you will see sitting there at the right hand of God, at the right hand of Glory of the man Jesus Christ... only in this way can we know how great man is, if only he becomes free..."
Constant monitoring of one’s personal sins, remembering that a person is a “slave to earthly passions” protects a person from vanity and pride, that is, spiritual blindness. The Creator made man the master of the Universe and subordinated all creation to him. For the sake of man and his salvation, God, the Creator of the visible and invisible world, incarnated into an earthly, material body, accepted death and was resurrected, making man capable of deification.
A person must realize all his abilities in creativity and love in order to become like God through this, for “the limit of a virtuous life is likeness to God,” as St. Gregory of Nyssa says.
“Man is a magnificent imprint of a magnificent image, sculpted in the image of an ideal Prototype,” wrote Philo of Alexandria. These words are in perfect agreement with the thought of St. Gregory of Nyssa: “The end of a valiant life is assimilation to the Divine, and therefore the valiant with all care try to succeed in the purity of the soul, removing themselves from any passionate disposition, so that with an improved life, some traits of the highest nature will be formed in them.” ..."
Man was created by God as a free being, called to rise to the divine status bestowed by God by His grace, since man is called to realize in himself the likeness of God, literally created to become god. wrote that man “is placed separately from all creation, being the only creature that is capable of becoming a god.”
“Man is predestined to become God... The Divine Logos did not become a God-angel, but a God-man”
Church historian and theologian Archimandrite Cyprian Kern, in a study about St. Gregory Palamas, also points out: “Angels are given only to be reflectors of Light, but man is predestined to become God... The Divine Logos did not become a God-angel, but a God-man.”
According to the words of St. Irenaeus of Lyons, “God became man so that man could become god” - these words contain the entire dogmatic essence of the Christian teaching about man. The Holy Fathers especially emphasized the need to realize this. Thus, Saint Gregory the Theologian said: “If you think low of yourself, then I will remind you: you are a created god, going through the suffering of Christ to imperishable glory.” Based on the above, we agree with the conclusions of the modern theologian Father Andrei Lorgus, who, reflecting on Christian anthropology, wrote: “The path of Christian self-understanding lies not through the recognition of one’s insignificance, but through the recognition of one’s dignity, against the background of which even a small sin is noticeable.”
Asceticism is only a tool for personal ascent, but not the goal of life.
An Orthodox Christian, like an athlete in training, places himself in obviously worse conditions necessary to achieve personal perfection.
Who called whom a slave
As we see, the doctrine of human dignity and destiny in Christianity is extremely high. However, concepts such as “servants of God”, “meekness”, “fear of God”, etc. often become a stumbling block.
Speculation on this topic is widespread on the Internet in the form of numerous demotivators and discussions. Let's look at what Christians actually mean by these concepts and whether there is anything offensive and humiliating in them.
Spiritual freedom is the power of the individual over himself, over his egoism, his passions and sinful inclinations
In Christianity, they worship God, who is the Creator of the entire Universe, possessing all positive properties. He is absolute Good and Love. God endowed people with free will. The concept of freedom is fundamental in Christianity. The Apostle Paul calls: “Stand fast in the freedom that Christ has given us... You, brothers, have been called to freedom” (Gal. 5: 1-13). As religious scholar Archpriest Andrei Khvylya-Olinter writes, “Orthodoxy honors the internal freedom of will of a person, for this is a gift of God that is the cause of itself. Spiritual freedom is the power of the individual over himself, over his nature, over his egoism, his passions and sinful inclinations.”
Slavery literally means submission and loss of freedom. For example, an alcoholic or drug addict becomes so captivated by a destructive passion that he can no longer give it up on his own, although he understands that this will lead to his death. “For whoever is overcome by someone is his slave” (2 Pet. 2:19). It is from such slavery that Christianity protects.
The example of alcohol addiction is very indicative, however, passions are varied, but their effect is the same - enslavement of human freedom. To be someone's slave means complete independence from everyone else. That is why Christians call themselves “slaves of God,” recognizing the power of the Creator of the Universe Himself over themselves, but thereby becoming independent from any other manifestations that limit human freedom. In this context, the Apostle Paul says: “...just as you presented your members as slaves to uncleanness and to lawlessness, to do wicked works, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness, to do holy works. For while you were slaves to sin, then you were free from righteousness. But now that you have been freed from sin and become slaves of God, your fruit is holiness, and the end is eternal life.” (Rom. 6:19–22).
In a personal sense, Christianity does not imply any slavery. Christ conveys to all believers a prayer in which everyone addresses God as the Father - “Our Father” (see: Matt. 6: 9-13).
Christians are children of God, which is confirmed many times in the pages of the Bible
Christians are children of God, which is confirmed many times on the pages of the Bible: “To those who believe in His name he gave the power to become children of God” (John 1:12); “Look what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God. The world does not know us because it has not known Him. Beloved! we are now children of God; but it has not yet been revealed what we will be. We only know that when He is revealed, we will be like Him, because we will see Him as He is” (1 John 3: 1-2).
Christ especially clearly indicates this in the words: “And pointing His hand to His disciples, He said: Behold My mother and My brothers; for whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother, and sister, and mother” (Matthew 12: 49–50). Nothing like this exists in other religions, especially among neo-pagans, who, flaunting loud phrases like “My god didn’t call me a slave,” logically receive the answer: “Of course, a tree stump doesn’t know how to talk.”
Authentic Slavic paganism had completely different ideas about the gods, who were worshiped with slavish humiliation and reverence. A modern apologist cites several historical evidence confirming this: “The Arab traveler Ibn Fadlan at the beginning of the 10th century describes the veneration of gods by the Slavs as follows: “So, he approaches a large image and worships it... He never ceases to make requests to one image, then to to another, asks for their intercession and humbly bows before them.”
And here’s how the German “The Tale of Otto of Bamberg” describes the reaction of the Western pagan Slavs of the 12th century when they unexpectedly saw a man with a shield dedicated to the god of war Yarovit, which no one should touch: “At the sight of the sacred weapons, the inhabitants in their rustic simplicity imagined, that it was Yarovit himself who appeared: some fled in horror, others fell prostrate to the ground.”
The Slavs experienced fear, humiliation and complete dependence at the sight of their idols. It is not surprising that Christianity was accepted so easily and freely by our ancestors.
A few words should also be said about slavery as a social phenomenon. Since ancient times, it has been quite commonplace that a person can be in a position of powerless property of another person. In antiquity, slavery was widespread. Slavery existed in pre-Christian times among the Slavs, contrary to the opinions of atheistic Soviet historians, who mistakenly linked the emergence of the slave system among the Slavic peoples with the beginning of Christianization.
Christianity never openly opposed this fundamental phenomenon of the ancient world. However, it was Christianity that destroyed its ideological basis with the words of the Apostle Paul: “You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus; all of you who were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is no longer Jew or Gentile; there is neither slave nor free; there is neither male nor female: for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Gal. 3:26-28). Literally this means that the slave and the master are the same and are brothers in Christ. Therefore, it is not surprising that slavery, with the gradual Christianization of popular consciousness, came to naught in all countries. And it flared up again with a departure from Christian morality, as, for example, happened in Rus' during the reign of Peter I and Catherine II, when serfdom took on monstrous forms.
An army without fear or reproach
Now consider what Christianity says about fear and courage. Such a concept as “fear of the Lord” also, as a rule, causes bewilderment. wrote: “Whoever fears the Lord is above all fear, he has eliminated and left far behind him all the fears of this age. He is far from all fear, and no fear comes close to him.” A believer who loves God does not fear Him Himself, but does not want to move away from him or lose communion with God. Holy Scripture says the following: “He who fears is not perfect in love” (1 John 4:18).
“Demons consider the timidity of the soul to be a sign of its complicity in their evil.”
But regarding cowardice and timidity, the holy fathers spoke very impartially: “Cowardice is an infantile disposition in an old, vain soul. Cowardice is a deviation from faith, in anticipation of unexpected troubles... He who does not have the fear of the Lord is often afraid of his own shadow,” wrote St. John Climacus. Blessed Diadochos of Photikius said: “We who love the Lord should wish and pray so that... we may not be involved in any fear... because... the demons consider the fearfulness of the soul as a sign of its complicity in their evil.”
Saint Theophan the Recluse warns: “Your fears are the enemy’s trick. Spit on them. And stand courageously."
Evagrius of Pontus calls for courage: “The point of courage is to stand in the truth and, even if confrontation is encountered, not to deviate towards what does not exist.” And Abba Pimen wrote: “God is merciful to those who carry a sword in their hands. If we are courageous, He will show His mercy.”
From the life of St. Basil the Great we know his conversation with the prefect Modest. After many convictions to renounce Orthodoxy, Modest, seeing the saint’s inflexibility, began to threaten him with deprivation of property, exile, torture, and death. “All this,” answered Saint Basil, “means nothing to me: he does not lose his property who has nothing except these old and worn-out clothes and a few books, in which all my wealth lies. There is no exile for me, because I am not bound by place, and the place where I live now is not mine, and wherever they send me will be mine. What can torment do to me? I am so weak that only the first blow will be sensitive. Death for me is a blessing: it will sooner lead me to God, for whom I live and work, and to whom I have long been striving.”
Elder schema-abbot Savva (Ostapenko) answered the question: “What passions are the most destructive for modern man? - answered: “Cowardice and timidity. Such a person always lives a dual, false life. He cannot complete a good deed; he always seems to maneuver between people. The fearful one has a crooked soul; If he does not overcome this passion in himself, then suddenly, under the influence of fear, he may become an apostate and a traitor.”
Christians are called to sacrifice themselves without fear for the sake of their neighbors: “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13). Following it, Christian warriors were distinguished by their special courage and perseverance, often saving their comrades at the cost of their lives.
Among the saints of the Orthodox Church there are a huge number of warriors who, through their deeds and exploits, showed how Christians fulfill the commandment to protect their neighbors. Everyone knows Saints Demetrius Donskoy, Alexander Nevsky, Ilia Muromets. But there were a great many great warriors who achieved holiness.
For example, someone who lived during the times Mongol invasion Saint Mercury of Smolensk, at the command of the Mother of God who appeared to him, went alone to the enemy camp, where he destroyed many enemies, including the giant Tatar military leader, who instilled fear in everyone with his strength. Single-handedly, Saint Mercury put the entire Tatar camp to flight, but he himself was killed in an unequal battle.
Saint Theodore Ushakov, personally commanding the Russian fleet, won many victories over the Turks, who at that time had a fleet that was several orders of magnitude stronger and more numerous. All of Europe feared his victorious fleet, but he himself remained alien to pride and vanity, realizing how little a person can do without the help of God.
Saint Michael the warrior was born in Bulgaria, he served in the Byzantine army. During the war with the Turks, Saint Michael inspired the entire squad with his courage in battles. When the Greek army fled the battlefield, he fell to the ground and prayed for the salvation of the Christians. Then he led his soldiers against the enemy. Having burst into the middle of the enemy ranks, he scattered them, brutally striking the enemies without harm to himself or his squad. At the same time, a thunderstorm suddenly arose to help the Christian soldiers: lightning and thunder struck and terrified the enemies, so that they all fled.
Images of meekness
Neo-pagans like to post on their Internet resources photographs of Orthodox people kneeling in churches - in their opinion, this is the apotheosis of self-deprecation; usually in the comments they start talking about slave psychology, etc. It is not clear why neo-pagans claim that this reverence for God extends to other relationships.
However, for example, the word “Islam” literally translates as “submission”, and Muslims do not even kneel during their prayers - they lie prostrate, but among the neo-pagans there are no daredevils to tell Muslims to their faces about their “slave psychology”. And although Muslims are very militant, Orthodox Russia has defeated Muslim states many times. Orthodox Christians are called to fulfill the commandment: “Worship the Lord your God and serve Him alone” (Matthew 4:10). The Orthodox reverence the Almighty Creator, recognizing His boundless Greatness, but this commandment does not apply to anyone other than God.
A modern parish parable tells: “A boorish-looking young man comes into the church, approaches the priest, hits him on the cheek and, smiling maliciously, says: “What, father?! It’s been said: if they hit you on the right cheek, turn the left one too.” Father, a former master of sports in boxing, sends the insolent man into the corner of the temple with a left hook and meekly says: “It is also said: with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you!” Frightened parishioners: “What’s going on there?” The deacon is important: “They interpret the Gospel.”
This story serves as a good illustration of the fact that, without knowing the essence of Christian teaching, one should not make bold generalizations. These words of Christ simply abolished the ancient law of blood feud and reminded us that it is not always necessary to retaliate for evil with evil. I would also like to especially note that although atheists and neo-pagans are very fond of throwing scraps of quotes from the Bible at the Orthodox, demanding their literal understanding, the Christian teaching about the Holy Scriptures speaks of something completely different. The Holy Scriptures should be understood only in the context of the interpretations of the Holy Fathers. Saint Gregory of Nyssa wrote on this subject: “The interpretation of what is written that appears at first glance, if not understood in its proper sense, often produces the opposite of the life revealed by the Spirit.” Therefore, one must “revere the authenticity of those who are testified by the Holy Spirit, remain within the boundaries of their teaching and knowledge,” and the Fifth-Sixth Trullo Council of 691–692, in its 19th canon, decided: “If the word of Scripture is examined, then not otherwise they do not explain it except as the luminaries and teachers of the Church expounded in their writings.” Therefore, non-believing interpreters of the Bible are not a decree for Orthodox Christians at all.
Now let's look at such Christian virtues as meekness and humility. IN modern society these words evoke a disdainful grin, although in fact there is nothing shameful in these concepts, just the opposite. Meekness is the opposite virtue of unbridled anger and rage. Meek man never loses inner peace, does not allow emotions to overwhelm his mind, and is distinguished by self-control and composure. It is not surprising that many holy warriors were involved in this virtue. For example, King David, the famous Old Testament commander, was of a very meek disposition. The holy Emperor Constantine, the founder of Constantinople, who won a considerable number of battles, also possessed meekness. And the Orthodox Church calls Saint Nicholas “an image of meekness,” who beat a heretic who blasphemed God.
Humility is the opposite virtue of selfishness and pride: it defeats self-obsession
The concept of “humility” also causes a lot of misunderstanding. In our opinion, a very accurate definition was given by the Orthodox apologist Sergei Khudiev: “Humility is not the downtroddenness of a person who has nothing better left; this is a voluntary preference for the will of God, a willingness to serve, sacrifice and give instead of demanding service for oneself, being exalted and taking. This is a virtue opposite to selfishness and pride. Humility overcomes self-obsession.”
Modern patrolologist and apologist priest Valery Dukhanin notes: “Genuine humility, meekness, and goodness are not weakness of character; on the contrary, it is the ability to control oneself, one’s passions and feelings, which presupposes internal strength and willpower. On the one hand, this is the ability to control one’s own anger so as not to throw it out without reason. And on the other hand, the ability to give the enemy a worthy rebuff when you need to protect your loved ones.”
So, we examined the Christian teaching about the destiny of man, analyzed the concepts of Christian ascetic thought and some passages of Holy Scripture, consciously or unconsciously distorted by neo-pagans. Christianity demands a lot from a person, it requires constant personal improvement, but the result of this path is disproportionately high.
Over the past decade, regular church-wide conferences devoted to the most important and current theological topics have become a good tradition. Such meetings make it possible to unite the efforts of theologians, church scientists, professors of theological schools of our Church and other Churches. Together we discuss the ways of development of theological science in the modern historical period, taking into account the best achievements of the past. This work is necessary for the Holy Church to fruitfully carry out its witness in the world.
The organizer of church-wide conferences is the Synodal Theological Commission of the Russian Orthodox Church, formed by decision of the Holy Synod in 1993. As is known, its immediate task is to study current problems of church life and coordinate scientific and theological activities. On the eve of the two thousandth anniversary of the coming of Christ the Savior into the world, the Commission turned to the bishops of our Church and the rectors of theological schools with a request to express their opinion on the most important theological problems for the Church. Having brought the received feedback into the system, the Commission builds its work precisely on this basis, also fulfilling some other instructions of His Holiness the Patriarch and the Holy Synod. Plenary meetings of the Commission are held regularly, and, as necessary, extended meetings are held at which issues of a theological nature relating to the daily life of the Church are discussed.
Taking this opportunity, as Chairman of the Synodal Theological Commission, in the face of such a representative meeting of theologians and scientists, I express my filial gratitude to the Primate of our Church, His Holiness Patriarch Alexy of Moscow and All Rus', for his tireless attention to the work of the Commission and for supporting its initiatives throughout the entire ten-year period of our activity and inspiring us assessment of our work is far from perfect.
In 2000, at the next conference, the conciliar mind gave a general assessment of the state and prospects for the development of Orthodox theology on the threshold of the new century. Then thematic conferences were held dedicated to theological anthropology: the Church’s teaching about man and, together with the International Society of Christian Philosophers, the doctrine of the Holy Trinity. For several years, the Theological Commission has regularly held joint seminars with the Institute of Philosophy of the Russian Academy of Sciences, during which a fruitful dialogue between philosophers and theologians takes place on issues of common interest.
The process of work of the Theological Commission led us to the need to turn to the topic that will be discussed at the current meeting: “Orthodox teaching about the Church”.
One can hardly doubt how important this topic is in modern conditions of church life.
Relevance of ecclesiology
Self-understanding of the Church
Ecclesiology, as is known, represents a section of theological science within the framework of which the Church comprehends itself, that is, the self-understanding of the Church is formed. This task for theological thought is difficult not only because this scientific discipline is complex and includes, to one degree or another, all aspects of theology. The difficulty of the ecclesiological approach is also due to the fact that essentially the entire life of Christians, including the activity of the believing mind, is church, for it happens in the Church.
On the other hand, the Church itself in its visible, earthly aspect is the community of Christ’s disciples. This is a gathering of the faithful, which in the Sacrament of the Eucharist - through Communion of the life-giving Body and Blood of the Savior - is itself transformed into the Body of Christ, so that the head of the Church is the God-man and our Lord Jesus Christ.
The theanthropic nature of the Church means that the task facing ecclesiology is a theological task par excellence. Ecclesiology cannot be reduced to issues of external church structure, to the rules of church life, to the rights and responsibilities of clergy and laity. These questions fall within the realm of canon. At the same time, without clear theological criteria it is impossible to discuss the forms and methods of the Church fulfilling its calling in the world. Ecclesiology precisely identifies such criteria, turning to Holy Scripture and Holy Tradition, analyzing the historical experience of the Church and being in dialogue with the theological tradition as a whole.
In connection with the question of the place and significance of ecclesiology in the system of theological sciences, attention should be paid to the following circumstances.
It is rightly said that, turning to the era of classical patristics, we are faced with a kind of “ecclesiological silence.” There is no doubt that some of the works of the Holy Fathers can be called ecclesiological in content, but in general the theology of the ancient Church does not distinguish ecclesiology as a separate direction, as a special section of church science.
This is due to the fact that during the period of widespread Christianity, everything was perceived in a new light and precisely through the prism of churchliness. For Christians, the Church was a great divine-human, cosmic event and embraced the whole world, in which the saving act of God took place in Christ Jesus.
Later, during the Middle Ages, the Church also for a long time did not feel the need to define itself. At that time, the need had not yet matured to single out the actual church from the general life of the world, society and culture, which has already become Christian. The situation changed in modern times, when non-Christian, secular and quasi-religious worldview systems began to be present in society, and sometimes even dominate.
The paradox of secularization
In the 19th and especially in the 20th centuries, inter-Christian ties intensified; In the last century, a regime of militant state atheism was established in a number of historically Orthodox countries. In such conditions it arose urgent the need to formulate Orthodox teaching about the Church. In this regard, much has already been done, but today the need for further development of Orthodox ecclesiology, taking into account the theological results of the past, is felt even sharper. Globalization processes are intensifying in the world; The world is becoming increasingly smaller and interconnected. In the public space, not only different Christian denominations, but also different religions - both traditional and new - meet face to face.
At the same time, today it is necessary to realize and comprehend what can be called paradox of secularization. On the one hand, the secularization of culture in the historically Christian part of the world is an indisputable fact. We Christian theologians must soberly assess the reality with which we are dealing. In the sphere of political decision-making, cultural creativity, and public life, secular values and standards dominate. Moreover, secularism is often understood not as a neutral attitude towards religion, but as anti-religion, as a basis for ousting religion and the Church from public space.
However, on the other hand, it can be argued that secularization - as a process of de-Christianization of culture, and ultimately the complete destruction of religion - did not take place. Many people are believers, although not all of them actively participate in church life. The Church continues to live and fulfill its mission in the world, and in some countries and regions there are signs of religious revival. The role of the religious factor in politics and international relations is increasing. In this situation, which is characterized by new historical circumstances, the responsibility of the Church also increases.
Practical meaning of ecclesiology
The Church is always identical to itself - as a Divine-human organism, as a Path of salvation and a place of communion with God. At the same time, the Church resides in history and is called to fulfill its missionary task in the specific social and cultural conditions in which it carries out its witness. Therefore, ecclesiology has not only theoretical, but also practical, missionary significance.
The general theological task in the field of ecclesiology is to build a coherent system of ideas in which all aspects of church life would find their place. This is the task of socio-theological synthesis.
The core of the ecclesiological concept should be the dogmatic teaching about the Church. At the same time, it is important to emphasize the exclusivity of Christianity as a religion. Only in Christianity, if we consider it in comparison with other religious traditions, there is both the institution of the Church and the phenomenon itself called the Church. Strictly speaking, Christianity from its inner meaning there is a Church. In other words, as Hieromartyr Hilarion (Trinity) formulated in the title of his famous work, “there is no Christianity without the Church.” This is the Orthodox point of view, and it needs to be clearly expressed, as well as consistently explained and disseminated in society. After all, one of the results of secularization and the prolonged persecution of the Church was the loss in culture, in society, and even in the minds of many people who consider themselves Orthodox, of the correct understanding of the Church, its nature and mission.
From a missionary point of view, it is important to show the dynamic nature of the Church, to draw attention to the fact that the establishment, or better yet, the spiritual birth of the Church was an event in Sacred history, that it was a revelation of the Divine will for the salvation of the world in Christ. The Church living in history is The Kingdom of God Coming in Power(Mark 9:1) into this world for the sake of its transformation. Despite its two thousand years of age, Christian church and now there is a place of renewal of the old man, she is forever young and always shows the world the newness of the Gospel, because in essence the Church is always a “modern” meeting of God and man, their reconciliation and communication in love.
From a theological point of view, the Church cannot be reduced to a “religious institution,” to a national-cultural custom, to a ritual. God Himself acts in the Church; it is the House of God and the Temple of the Holy Spirit. Scary place cue, because the Church is a judgment seat in which we must give an answer about our lives before the face of God. The Church is also a hospital in which, by confessing our sinful illnesses, we receive healing and gain unshakable hope in the saving power of God’s grace.
Aspects of ecclesiology
How does the Church, headed by the Savior, carry out its saving ministry in the world? The answer to this question should be that part of the ecclesiological concept, which provides a theological interpretation of various aspects not just of church practice, but of church existence itself.
Firstly, there is the liturgical aspect.
It includes church sacraments and other sacred rites. However, they should not be viewed in an abstract scholastic way, but rather as stages and recurring events in the sacramental life of the Church: entry into the Church, the Eucharist as a revelation of the conciliar and theanthropic nature of the Church, the daily, weekly and annual liturgical rhythm, and other sacramental actions. Ecclesiology reveals the theological meaning of both public and private worship, paying attention to its catholic, general church significance.
Secondly, this is a canonical, church-legal aspect.
In this case we are talking about the theological understanding of the canonical tradition of the Orthodox Church. Only in light of that dogma about the Church, which ecclesiology identifies and formulates, we will be able to resolve many problems of the modern church structure and canonical regulation of church life on the scale of both Local Churches and Ecumenical Orthodoxy.
It is known that many church rules were adopted in the very distant past and in various historical circumstances. At the same time, we feel the need for our church life to be built on solid canonical foundations. Therefore, today the question arises about the need to begin serious work on the creation of a pan-Orthodox ecclesiastical legal code.
Undoubtedly, it is impossible to carry out such work without a preliminary theological understanding of the nature and functions of church laws as such. And this relates to the field of ecclesiology.
Thirdly, this is the moral and ascetic aspect.
Theological thought faces many problems when missionary tasks are taken into account. Briefly they can be described as follows.
Ecclesiology must compare, connect, and, where necessary, distinguish between different forms of churchliness. Individual asceticism, deeply personal spiritual work, on the one hand, and conciliar liturgical service, the joint participation of Church members in the Eucharistic sacrament of communion with God, on the other.
The spiritual and moral efforts of a Christian, aimed at coordinating his sinful will with the will of God, must be coupled with his participation in the Sacraments of the Church, in which the believer is given the assisting grace of the Holy Spirit. For without the perception of the grace of God, according to the teaching of the Fathers, neither the creation of good nor the transformation into the image of the God-man Jesus Christ, our Lord, is possible.
In other words, ecclesiology is intended to warn Christians against becoming confined to individual religious experiences. The Church is a common being. In the church All included in the love of God, which embraces everyone people All humanity. God addresses each person personally, but at the same time creates, builds a single Church, in which everyone finds his place - in the community of believers and faithful.
Therefore, we can talk about one more thing - social-aspect of Orthodox ecclesiology. The Church in this world is a community of people who are united not by pragmatic interests, not simply by the unity of “beliefs and views,” not by common blood or cultural tradition. Christians are united by their shared experience of life in communion with God. And therefore, the Church, as a community of Christ’s disciples, is called to show the world the possibility and reality of transformation of both man and society by the power of God’s grace, according to the word of the Savior: So let your light shine before people, so that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.(Matthew 5:16).
Alas, Christians do not always fulfill this God-ordained mission to the extent that they should fulfill it. But without understanding this maximum task given to us by God, it is impossible to comprehend the essence of the Church.
The paradoxical being of the Church
What is this essence of the Church, which can be called paradoxical?
The fact is that the Church in its sociological capacity, that is, as a community of Christians, is not separated from society as a whole and is part of it, since it is made up of full members of society.
But at the same time, the Church is not a social organization, but something immeasurably greater: it is a human community, the member and Head of which is the God-man and Lord Jesus Christ, who is still among the faithful. For where two or three are gathered in My name, there am I in the midst of them(Matthew 18:20), says the Savior. - I am with you always, even to the end of the age.(Matthew 28:20).
The Church lives and acts in the world and in society, but at the same time offers the world its own social ideal. This was well expressed by the late Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh: “One can imagine the construction of a society where everyone could get along, but the City of God, which should grow out of the city of man, has a completely different dimension. The City of Man, which could open up so as to become the City of God, must be such that its first citizen could be the Son of God, who became the Son of Man - Jesus Christ. No human city, no human society, where God is cramped, can be the City of God.” .
Ecclesiology as “applied” theology
Thus, modern ecclesiology is called upon to reflect the multidimensional reality of the Church: both its essential theological characteristics and its missionary activity and church service to the world. We must avoid the biggest mistake - inattention to what is happening today in society, in culture, in the minds of people living in conditions of secularism, sometimes aggressive.
Therefore, we need, so to speak, applied ecclesiology, that is, the theology of culture, social theology, even, perhaps, the theology of management or economics. The starting point for such a theological approach can be precisely the doctrine of the participation in the history of humanity of God and man, that is, of the Church as a community of the faithful.
In the Church and through the Church, God participates in the life of the world. Through the incarnation of the Son of God, He entered the complex fabric of the historical existence of human society, not violating human freedom, but calling him to spiritual deepening, to the realization of his superior dignity. And the earthly Church is a response to the call of God. The Church is that place- as a rule, unnoticed by the world - where the Creator and Provider enters into real communication with the inhabitants of the world, giving them abundant grace that transforms man and the world around him.
But we would be theologically inconsistent if we limited ourselves to these general considerations. Our ecclesiological task is to provide answers to many particular questions that can only be satisfactorily resolved from a general theological perspective.
This is the question of how the church community should be built correctly and what is the importance of the laity in it compared to the importance of the clergy. And in a broader sense - the question of collaboration and joint service of the hierarchy, clergy and laiks as the people of God in a single church organism.
This is a question about the special ecclesiological status and vocation of monasticism and monasteries, which must acquire new meaning in the modern situation.
This is also the question of what church worship should be like in modern cities and towns so that it corresponds to the pastoral and missionary calling of the Church.
This is a problem of clergy and counseling, that is various forms spiritual nourishment of believers, which is aimed at strengthening their faith and knowledge of the will of God.
Finally, this is a more general problem of overcoming phyletism, that is, the identification of the church community with the ethnic and national one, which occurs in different countries and is the cause of church schisms and intra-church confrontations.
In a short introduction it is impossible to list all the specific issues of an ecclesiological nature that concern us. Their discussion is precisely the task of our conference. For my part, I would like to once again emphasize the main thing: the theological understanding and comprehension of the Church should be oriented towards helping to resolve specific, pressing problems of church life, in particular, overcoming internal church discord.
The significance of any theory, including theological, lies in its vitality, that is, in the ability to provide answers to the demands of the time, based on the eternal, enduring laws of the existence of the world and man. This, in fact, is the meaning of the church theology.
The development of ecclesiology is a pan-Orthodox task
In conclusion, I would like to say one more thing. Among us are representatives of the Local Orthodox Churches, hierarchs and theologians. We are grateful to them for considering it possible to take part in our work. It is very important that we can exchange views on the issues under discussion. However, the most significant thing in this case is something else.
The development of modern Orthodox ecclesiology, based on fidelity to Tradition and at the same time oriented towards church service to the world, is impossible within the confines of one Local Church. This is a pan-Orthodox task.
Its “ecumenical” character becomes even more obvious if we remember that, as a result of historical cataclysms and mass migrations, Orthodox communities now exist throughout the world, far from the canonical boundaries of the Local Churches. These communities live in different socio-political and cultural conditions, they belong to different ecclesiastical jurisdictions, but at the same time they are parts of the single Catholic Orthodox Church. Ecclesiology must take into account this new scale of Orthodox presence in the world and place special emphasis on the unity of world Orthodoxy.
In the face of globalization processes, cultural unification and new conflicts on religious grounds, Ecumenical Orthodoxy must consolidate. The Orthodox Churches must resume constant consultations - both on theological and on church-practical issues. It is necessary to return to the process of preparing a pan-Orthodox Council, regardless of when and how such a Council can take place.
Concluding my speech, I would like to express a few thoughts regarding the work of our conference. Let me be clear: we did not gather for a diplomatic reception or to make ritual speeches. Our task is to openly and honestly identify the most acute, pressing problems of the daily life of the Church, but from the point of view of their theological understanding.
I invite all participants to a free exchange of opinions and to express different points of view on the issues under consideration. The significance of the current conference for the life of the Church will depend on the productivity of our discussion, on the depth and balance of arguments and assessments.
I appeal to all its participants for God’s help in the upcoming labors.
Over the past decade, regular church-wide conferences devoted to the most important and current theological topics have become a good tradition. Such meetings make it possible to unite the efforts of theologians, church scientists, professors of theological schools of our Church and other Churches. Together we discuss the ways of development of theological science in the modern historical period, taking into account the best achievements of the past. This work is necessary for the Holy Church to fruitfully carry out its witness in the world.
The organizer of church-wide conferences is the Synodal Theological Commission of the Russian Orthodox Church, formed by decision of the Holy Synod in 1993. As is known, its immediate task is to study current problems of church life and coordinate scientific and theological activities. On the eve of the two thousandth anniversary of the coming of Christ the Savior into the world, the Commission turned to the bishops of our Church and the rectors of theological schools with a request to express their opinion on the most important theological problems for the Church. Having brought the received feedback into the system, the Commission builds its work precisely on this basis, also fulfilling some other instructions of His Holiness the Patriarch and the Holy Synod. Plenary meetings of the Commission are held regularly, and, as necessary, extended meetings are held at which issues of a theological nature relating to the daily life of the Church are discussed.
Taking this opportunity, as Chairman of the Synodal Theological Commission, in the face of such a representative meeting of theologians and scientists, I express my filial gratitude to the Primate of our Church, His Holiness Patriarch Alexy of Moscow and All Rus', for his tireless attention to the work of the Commission and for supporting its initiatives throughout the entire ten-year period of our activity and inspiring us assessment of our work is far from perfect.
In 2000, at the next conference, the conciliar mind gave a general assessment of the state and prospects for the development of Orthodox theology on the threshold of the new century. Then thematic conferences were held dedicated to theological anthropology: the Church’s teaching about man and, together with the International Society of Christian Philosophers, the doctrine of the Holy Trinity. For several years, the Theological Commission has regularly held joint seminars with the Institute of Philosophy of the Russian Academy of Sciences, during which a fruitful dialogue between philosophers and theologians takes place on issues of common interest.
The process of work of the Theological Commission led us to the need to turn to the topic that will be discussed at the current meeting: "Orthodox teaching about the Church".
One can hardly doubt how important this topic is in modern conditions of church life.
Relevance of ecclesiology
Self-understanding of the Church
Ecclesiology, as is known, represents a section of theological science within the framework of which the Church comprehends itself, that is, the self-understanding of the Church is formed. This task for theological thought is difficult not only because this scientific discipline is complex and includes, to one degree or another, all aspects of theology. The difficulty of the ecclesiological approach is also due to the fact that essentially the entire life of Christians, including the activity of the believing mind, is church, for it happens in the Church.
On the other hand, the Church itself in its visible, earthly aspect is the community of Christ’s disciples. This is a gathering of the faithful, which in the Sacrament of the Eucharist - through Communion of the life-giving Body and Blood of the Savior - is itself transformed into the Body of Christ, so that the head of the Church is the God-man and our Lord Jesus Christ.
The theanthropic nature of the Church means that the task facing ecclesiology is a theological task par excellence. Ecclesiology cannot be reduced to issues of external church structure, to the rules of church life, to the rights and responsibilities of clergy and laity. These questions fall within the realm of canon. At the same time, without clear theological criteria it is impossible to discuss the forms and methods of the Church fulfilling its calling in the world. Ecclesiology precisely identifies such criteria, turning to Holy Scripture and Holy Tradition, analyzing the historical experience of the Church and being in dialogue with the theological tradition as a whole.
In connection with the question of the place and significance of ecclesiology in the system of theological sciences, attention should be paid to the following circumstances.
It is rightly said that, turning to the era of classical patristics, we are faced with a kind of “ecclesiological silence.” There is no doubt that some of the works of the Holy Fathers can be called ecclesiological in content, but in general the theology of the ancient Church does not distinguish ecclesiology as a separate direction, as a special section of church science.
This is due to the fact that during the period of widespread Christianity, everything was perceived in a new light and precisely through the prism of churchliness. For Christians, the Church was a great divine-human, cosmic event and embraced the whole world, in which the saving act of God took place in Christ Jesus.
Later, during the Middle Ages, the Church also for a long time did not feel the need to define itself. At that time, the need had not yet matured to single out the actual church from the general life of the world, society and culture, which has already become Christian. The situation changed in modern times, when non-Christian, secular and quasi-religious worldview systems began to be present in society, and sometimes even dominate.
The paradox of secularization
In the 19th and especially in the 20th centuries, inter-Christian ties intensified; In the last century, a regime of militant state atheism was established in a number of historically Orthodox countries. In such conditions it arose urgent the need to formulate Orthodox teaching about the Church. In this regard, much has already been done, but today the need for further development of Orthodox ecclesiology, taking into account the theological results of the past, is felt even sharper. Globalization processes are intensifying in the world; The world is becoming increasingly smaller and interconnected. In the public space, not only different Christian denominations, but also different religions—both traditional and new—come face to face.
At the same time, today it is necessary to realize and comprehend what can be called the paradox of secularization. On the one hand, the secularization of culture in the historically Christian part of the world is an indisputable fact. We Christian theologians must soberly assess the reality with which we are dealing. In the sphere of political decision-making, cultural creativity, and public life, secular values and standards dominate. Moreover, secularism is often understood not as a neutral attitude towards religion, but as anti-religion, as a basis for ousting religion and the Church from public space.
However, on the other hand, it can be argued that secularization - as a process of de-Christianization of culture, and ultimately the complete destruction of religion - did not take place. Many people are believers, although not all of them actively participate in church life. The Church continues to live and fulfill its mission in the world, and in some countries and regions there are signs of religious revival. The role of the religious factor in politics and international relations is increasing. In this situation, which is characterized by new historical circumstances, the responsibility of the Church also increases.
Practical meaning of ecclesiology
The Church is always identical to itself - as a Divine-human organism, as a Path of salvation and a place of communion with God. At the same time, the Church resides in history and is called to fulfill its missionary task in the specific social and cultural conditions in which it carries out its witness. Therefore, ecclesiology has not only theoretical, but also practical, missionary significance.
The general theological task in the field of ecclesiology is to build a coherent system of ideas in which all aspects of church life would find their place. This is the task of socio-theological synthesis.
The core of the ecclesiological concept should be the dogmatic teaching about the Church. At the same time, it is important to emphasize the exclusivity of Christianity as a religion. Only in Christianity, if we consider it in comparison with other religious traditions, there is both the institution of the Church and the phenomenon itself called the Church. Strictly speaking, Christianity from its inner meaning there is a Church. In other words, as Hieromartyr Hilarion (Troitsky) formulated in the title of his famous work, “there is no Christianity without the Church.” This is the Orthodox point of view, and it needs to be clearly expressed, as well as consistently explained and disseminated in society. After all, one of the results of secularization and the prolonged persecution of the Church was the loss in culture, in society, and even in the minds of many people who consider themselves Orthodox, of the correct understanding of the Church, its nature and mission.
From a missionary point of view, it is important to show the dynamic nature of the Church, to draw attention to the fact that the establishment, or better yet, the spiritual birth of the Church was an event in Sacred history, that it was a revelation of the Divine will for the salvation of the world in Christ. The Church living in history is The Kingdom of God Coming in Power(Mark 9:1) into this world for the sake of its transformation. Despite its two thousand years of age, the Christian Church is still a place of renewal of the old man, it is eternally young and always shows the world the newness of the Gospel, because in its essence the Church is always a “modern” meeting of God and man, their reconciliation and communication in love.
From a theological point of view, the Church cannot be reduced to a “religious institution,” to a national-cultural custom, to a ritual. God Himself acts in the Church; it is the House of God and the Temple of the Holy Spirit. This place is scary, because the Church is a judgment seat in which we must give an answer about our lives before the face of God. The Church is also a hospital in which, by confessing our sinful illnesses, we receive healing and gain unshakable hope in the saving power of God’s grace.
Aspects of ecclesiology
How does the Church, headed by the Savior, carry out its saving ministry in the world? The answer to this question should be that part of the ecclesiological concept, which provides a theological interpretation of various aspects not just of church practice, but of church existence itself.
First, there is the liturgical aspect.
It includes church sacraments and other sacred rites. However, they should not be viewed in an abstract scholastic way, but rather as stages and recurring events in the sacramental life of the Church: entry into the Church, the Eucharist as a revelation of the conciliar and theanthropic nature of the Church, the daily, weekly and annual liturgical rhythm, and other sacramental actions. Ecclesiology reveals the theological meaning of both public and private worship, paying attention to its catholic, general church significance.
Secondly, this is a canonical, church-legal aspect.
In this case we are talking about the theological understanding of the canonical tradition of the Orthodox Church. Only in light of that dogma about the Church, which ecclesiology identifies and formulates, we will be able to resolve many problems of the modern church structure and canonical regulation of church life on the scale of both Local Churches and Ecumenical Orthodoxy.
It is known that many church rules were adopted in the very distant past and in various historical circumstances. At the same time, we feel the need for our church life to be built on solid canonical foundations. Therefore, today the question arises about the need to begin serious work on the creation of a pan-Orthodox ecclesiastical legal code.
Undoubtedly, it is impossible to carry out such work without a preliminary theological understanding of the nature and functions of church laws as such. And this relates to the field of ecclesiology.
Thirdly, this is the moral and ascetic aspect.
Theological thought faces many problems when missionary tasks are taken into account. Briefly they can be described as follows.
Ecclesiology must compare, connect, and, where necessary, distinguish between different forms of churchliness. Individual asceticism, deeply personal spiritual work, on the one hand, and conciliar liturgical service, the joint participation of Church members in the Eucharistic sacrament of communion with God, on the other.
The spiritual and moral efforts of a Christian, aimed at coordinating his sinful will with the will of God, must be coupled with his participation in the Sacraments of the Church, in which the believer is given the assisting grace of the Holy Spirit. For without the perception of the grace of God, according to the teaching of the Fathers, neither the creation of good nor the transformation into the image of the God-man Jesus Christ, our Lord, is possible.
In other words, ecclesiology is intended to warn Christians against becoming confined to individual religious experiences. The Church is a common being. In the church All included in the love of God, which embraces everyone people and All humanity. God addresses each person personally, but at the same time creates, builds a single Church, in which everyone finds his place - in the community of believers and faithful.
Therefore, we can talk about one more thing - social- aspect of Orthodox ecclesiology. The Church in this world is a community of people who are united not by pragmatic interests, not simply by the unity of “beliefs and views,” not by common blood or cultural tradition. Christians are united by their shared experience of life in communion with God. And therefore, the Church, as a community of Christ’s disciples, is called to show the world the possibility and reality of transformation of both man and society by the power of God’s grace, according to the word of the Savior: So let your light shine before people, so that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.(Matt. 5:16).
Alas, Christians do not always fulfill this God-ordained mission to the extent that they should fulfill it. But without understanding this maximum task given to us by God, it is impossible to comprehend the essence of the Church.
The paradoxical being of the Church
What is this essence of the Church, which can be called paradoxical?
The fact is that the Church in its sociological capacity, that is, as a community of Christians, is not separated from society as a whole and is part of it, since it is made up of full members of society.
But at the same time, the Church is not a social organization, but something immeasurably greater: it is a human community, the member and Head of which is the God-man and Lord Jesus Christ, who is still among the faithful. For where two or three are gathered in My name, there am I in the midst of them(Matthew 18:20), says the Savior. — I am with you always, even to the end of the age.(Matt. 28:20).
The Church lives and acts in the world and in society, but at the same time offers the world its own social ideal. This was well expressed by the blessedly reposed Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh: “The construction of a society where everyone could get along can be imagined, but the City of God, which should grow out of the city of man, has a completely different dimension. The city of man, which could open up so as to become The City of God must be such that its first citizen could be the Son of God, who became the Son of Man - Jesus Christ. No human city, no human society, where God is cramped, can be the City of God."
Ecclesiology as "applied" theology
Thus, modern ecclesiology is called upon to reflect the multidimensional reality of the Church: both its essential theological characteristics and its missionary activity and church service to the world. We must avoid the biggest mistake - inattention to what is happening today in society, in culture, in the minds of people living in conditions of secularism, sometimes aggressive.
Therefore, we need, so to speak, applied ecclesiology, that is, the theology of culture, social theology, even, perhaps, the theology of management or economics. The starting point for such a theological approach can be precisely the doctrine of the participation in the history of humanity of God and man, that is, of the Church as a community of the faithful.
In the Church and through the Church, God participates in the life of the world. Through the incarnation of the Son of God, He entered the complex fabric of the historical existence of human society, not violating human freedom, but calling him to spiritual deepening, to the realization of his superior dignity. And the earthly Church is a response to the call of God. The Church is that place- as a rule, unnoticed by the world - where the Creator and Provider enters into real communication with the inhabitants of the world, giving them abundant grace that transforms man and the world around him.
But we would be theologically inconsistent if we limited ourselves to these general considerations. Our ecclesiological task is to provide answers to many particular questions that can only be satisfactorily resolved from a general theological perspective.
This is the question of how the church community should be built correctly and what is the importance of the laity in it compared to the importance of the clergy. And in a broader sense - the question of collaboration and joint service of the hierarchy, clergy and laiks as the people of God in a single church organism.
This is a question about the special ecclesiological status and vocation of monasticism and monasteries, which must acquire new meaning in the modern situation.
This is also the question of what church worship should be like in modern cities and towns so that it corresponds to the pastoral and missionary calling of the Church.
This is the problem of spirituality and counseling, that is, various forms of spiritual care for believers, which is aimed at strengthening their faith and knowledge of the will of God.
Finally, this is a more general problem of overcoming phyletism, that is, the identification of the church community with the ethnic and national one, which occurs in different countries and is the cause of church schisms and intra-church confrontations.
In a short introduction it is impossible to list all the specific issues of an ecclesiological nature that concern us. Their discussion is precisely the task of our conference. For my part, I would like to once again emphasize the main thing: the theological understanding and comprehension of the Church should be oriented towards helping to resolve specific, pressing problems of church life, in particular, overcoming internal church discord.
The significance of any theory, including theological, lies in its vitality, that is, in the ability to provide answers to the demands of the time, based on the eternal, enduring laws of the existence of the world and man. This, in fact, is the meaning of the church theology.
The development of ecclesiology is a pan-Orthodox task
In conclusion, I would like to say one more thing. Among us are representatives of the Local Orthodox Churches, hierarchs and theologians. We are grateful to them for considering it possible to take part in our work. It is very important that we can exchange views on the issues under discussion. However, the most significant thing in this case is something else.
The development of modern Orthodox ecclesiology, based on fidelity to Tradition and at the same time oriented towards church service to the world, is impossible within the confines of one Local Church. This is a pan-Orthodox task.
Its “ecumenical” character becomes even more obvious if we remember that, as a result of historical cataclysms and mass migrations, Orthodox communities now exist throughout the world, far from the canonical boundaries of the Local Churches. These communities live in different socio-political and cultural conditions, they belong to different ecclesiastical jurisdictions, but at the same time they are parts of the single Catholic Orthodox Church. Ecclesiology must take into account this new scale of Orthodox presence in the world and place special emphasis on the unity of world Orthodoxy.
In the face of globalization processes, cultural unification and new conflicts on religious grounds, Ecumenical Orthodoxy must consolidate. The Orthodox Churches must resume constant consultations - both on theological and on church-practical issues. It is necessary to return to the process of preparing a pan-Orthodox Council, regardless of when and how such a Council can take place.
Concluding my speech, I would like to express a few thoughts regarding the work of our conference. Let me be clear: we did not gather for a diplomatic reception or to make ritual speeches. Our task is to openly and honestly identify the most acute, pressing problems of the daily life of the Church, but from the point of view of their theological understanding.
I invite all participants to a free exchange of opinions and to express different points of view on the issues under consideration. The significance of the current conference for the life of the Church will depend on the productivity of our discussion, on the depth and balance of arguments and assessments.
I appeal to all its participants for God’s help in the upcoming labors.
Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh. Proceedings. M., 2002. P. 632.
"Alpha and Omega", No. 39
Patriarchal Exarch of All Belarus
Christian church. Eschatology
Lecture 4
4.1 Basic provisions of Orthodox teaching about the Church
4.2 Sacraments and rituals of the Orthodox Church
The first community of Christ's disciples is known in history under the name "Church" (from the Greek (ekklesia (ecclesia) - a meeting, which is formed from the verb ekkalo - to call), which means a meeting of people by call, invitation. In the Septuagint, this term means a meeting of the people God, the people chosen and called to serve by God Himself.
This usage shows that the Christian community from the very beginning recognized itself as a Divine institution called to a special service.
In the New Testament there are various images of the Christian Church - the body of Christ (1 Cor., 12, 13 and 27); the vine and its branches (John, 15, 1-8); shepherd and flock (John 10:1-16); head and body (Eph. 1:22-23); building under construction (Eph. 2:19-22); home, family (1 Tim. 3:15; Heb. 3:6), fishing net, sown field, etc. In patristic literature, the Church is often compared to a ship at sea, but it is pointed out that the fullness of life cannot be compared with anything, since the Church itself is different from any earthly organization.
Christians believe that Christ, ascending to heaven after His Resurrection, did not leave the disciples, but remained with them, and his words: “I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew, 28, 20) are fulfilled in the Church , which he founded to meet and communicate with people. According to the Orthodox understanding, Christ was and is the head of the Church, its High Priest. In the Catholic Church there is a doctrine about the supremacy of the Pope over all Christians and his infallibility, which contradicts the Orthodox understanding of the Church as the Body of Christ.
In his mystical essence as divine-human unity The Church includes the angelic world and the departed righteous, and in the history of mankind it appears as a collection of believers in Christ in their unity with God.
However, meeting God and experiencing religious experience are possible only within the framework of tradition. This is due to the fact that under religious tradition Orthodoxy understands the transmission from generation to generation of time-tested principles of religious life. These principles, of course, lead a person to a perfect state based on communication with God as the Source of Good, Truth and Justice. The basis of the church tradition is the transmission of the meaning of the Holy Scriptures, fidelity to the Holy Tradition in the understanding of the Holy Scriptures as Revelation.
In this sense, the Church itself can be considered as Tradition. At the same time, Sacred Tradition is the self-awareness of the Church, unchangeable over time, which is supported not only by the existence of a written tradition of interpretation of the Bible committed by the Fathers of the Church, but also by the continuity of apostolic succession in the Church in the form of episcopal service and the immutability of liturgical life. The truth of Orthodoxy is that throughout its 2000-year history the Church has remained faithful to the understanding of the Gospel that was characteristic of Christ and his apostles. Any doctrinal or moral moment of church preaching originates in the practice of the ancient Church, in contrast to the theological features of other Christian denominations that arise during Christian history.
The “Creed” defines the Church as One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic. Unity of the Church is understood as the unity of all believers with God and among themselves. The doctrine of the unity of the Church is based on Christian monotheism and the dogma of the Holy Trinity: the Church is one, because the God who created it is one and the unity of the disciples of Christ is in the bosom of one The Church is an image of the unity that exists between the persons of the Holy Trinity.
The Apostle Paul repeatedly spoke in his epistles about the unity of the Church as a Body, the Head of which is Christ, and all Christians are members. According to his teaching, the Church is one because, being the Body of Christ, it binds believers together with the unity of faith, baptism, the Eucharist and the communion of the Holy Spirit. “There is one body and one spirit...called to one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in us all” (Eph. 4:4-6).
Church Father Cyril of Alexandria (5th century) considered the main factor of church unity to be the Holy Eucharist - the communion of the Flesh and Blood of Christ, making Christians a single church body, “co-corporeal both with Himself and with each other.”
The doctrine of the unity of the Church was clearly and succinctly formulated by the church author Cyprian of Carthage. The key point in his teaching is the statement that There is no salvation outside the Church. This statement was a commonplace of all patristic literature - both in the East and in the West - and was repeatedly confirmed at the Ecumenical Councils. “No one can have God as a Father who does not have the Church as a mother. Those outside the Church could only be saved if one of those outside Noah’s ark were saved. The Lord says this for our teaching: He who is not with Me is against Me; and whoever does not gather with Me scatters (Matthew 12:30). The violator of the peace and harmony of Christ acts against Christ. He who gathers in another place, and not in the Church, scatters the Church of Christ; The Lord says: I and the Father are one (John 10:30). And again about the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit it is written: and these three are one (1 John 5:7). Who will think that this unity, based on the immutability of the Divine and united with the heavenly sacraments, can be disrupted in the Church and fragmented by the discord of opposing desires? No, he who does not keep such unity does not keep the law of God, does not keep faith in the Father and the Son, does not adhere to the true path to salvation" (Cyprian of Carthage. On the unity of the Church. (Fathers and Teachers 3rd century. T.2.S.297-298) ).
The image of the inextricable harmony and unity of the Church in the Gospel tale is the tunic of Jesus Christ, which, according to Cyprian of Carthage, is torn apart by every schismatic who “...dares to rend the unity of God - the garment of the Lord - the Church of Christ.”
Good people cannot separate from the Church, says Cyprian. Those who separated from the Church are those about whom the Apostle John said: They went out from us, but were not us: for if they had been with us, they would have remained with us (1 John 2:19). Those who have separated from the Church are impostors, Cyprian believes. Their ordination is invalid, and the baptism performed by them is a profanation and desecration of the Sacrament.
Cyprian says about heretics and schismatics: “We did not depart from them, but they from us.” According to the teachings of the saint, the Lord is not present when heretics and schismatics perform sacred rites and “Sacraments; since they separated from the Church, from Christ and from the Gospel (Cyprian of Carthage. On the unity of the Church (Fathers and Teachers of the 3rd century. T. 2.S.300-301).). Saint Cyprian insists that the sin of schism cannot be washed away even by the blood of martyrdom: “What kind of peace do the enemies of the brothers promise themselves?... Do they really, when they gather, think that Christ is with them when they gather outside the Church of Christ? Yes, although such have suffered death for confessing the name, their stain cannot be washed away even by blood itself. The indelible and grave guilt of discord is not cleared away even by suffering. One cannot be a martyr who is not in the Church; he who leaves the Church, which has to reign, cannot achieve the Kingdom... Those who desire to be unanimous in the Church of God cannot abide with God, even if they, who were betrayed, were burned in the flame...” (ibid., pp. 301-302).
The presented teaching of Cyprian of Carthage is distinguished by its harmony and consistency. The main postulates of this teaching are that there is no salvation outside the Church; the unity of the Church is ensured by the unity of the episcopate; The Church does not lose unity when heretics and schismatics retreat from it - they formed the basis of Orthodox ecclesiology (the doctrine of the Church). The Orthodox Church has always rejected the possibility of dividing the united Church into several independent Churches. Falling away from the Church is the cutting off of a branch from the trunk. At the same time, the trunk retains its unity, while the cut off branch dries out.
The ancient Church took a differentiated approach to heresies, considering some of them more serious, others less so. In addition, the Church did not equate heresy with schism. The split could be temporary; and it was not always the driving force behind the schism that was heresy—theological deviation from Orthodox teaching.
The main provisions of the Orthodox teaching on the unity of the Church were formulated in the era of the Ecumenical Councils, and subsequent centuries did not add anything fundamentally new to this teaching. However, the schisms of the second millennium presented the Orthodox Church with the task of understanding the theme of unity and church divisions in a new historical context. After the “great schism” of 1054, the Orthodox Church had to formulate its attitude towards the Catholic Church, and after the emergence of the Reformation, towards Protestantism. The Orthodox Church has always identified itself with the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church, which is spoken of in the Creed, but it considered all other Christian denominations as having fallen away from church unity.