On the preservation and propagation of the Russian. Mikhail Lomonosov’s letter “On the reproduction and preservation of the Russian people” (1761) prohibited from publication
KHOMYAKOV Alexey Stepanovich (1804-60), outstanding Russian. Orthodox theologian, historian, publicist and poet, representative of early Slavophilism.
1. Unity of the Church
E The unity of the Church follows necessarily from the unity of God, for the Church is not a multitude of persons in their personal individuality, but the unity of God’s grace living in the multitude of rational creatures submitting to grace. Grace is also given to those who are disobedient, who do not use it (those who bury talent), but they are not in the Church. The unity of the Church is not imaginary, not allegorical, but true and essential, like the unity of numerous members in a living body.
The Church is one, despite its visible division for a person still living on earth. - Only in relation to man can one recognize the division of the Church into visible and invisible, but its unity is true and unconditional. Living on earth, having completed the earthly journey, not created for earthly path(like angels) who have not yet begun their earthly journey (future generations) - all are united in one Church - in one grace of God; for the not yet revealed creation of God is clear to Him, and God hears the prayers and knows the faith of those who have not yet been called by Him from non-existence to being. - The Church, the body of Christ, manifests itself and is fulfilled in time, without changing its essential unity and its inner, grace-filled life. Therefore, when it is said “The Church, visible and invisible,” it is said only in relation to man.
2. The Church visible and invisible
C The visible and earthly Church lives in perfect communion and unity with the entire body of the Church, the head of which is Christ. She has within herself the indwelling Christ and the grace of the Holy Spirit in all their vital fullness, but not in the fullness of their manifestations, for she does not create and knows completely, but as much as God pleases.
Since the earthly and visible Church is not yet the fullness and perfection of the entire Church, to whom the Lord appointed to appear at the final judgment of all creation, it creates and knows only within its own limits, “without judging the rest of humanity” (in the words of the Apostle Paul to Corinth.) and only recognizing as excommunicated, that is, not belonging to her, those who themselves are excommunicated from her. The rest of humanity, either alien to the Church, or connected with it by bonds that God did not deign to reveal to it, she leaves to the judgment of the great day. The earthly Church judges only itself, by the grace of the Spirit and by the freedom given to it through Christ, calling all the rest of humanity to unity and adoption of God in Christ: but it does not pronounce judgment on those who do not hear its call, knowing the command of its Savior and Head: “do not judge someone else's slave."
3. Church of Christ on earth
WITH Since the creation of the world, the earthly Church has remained continuously on earth and will remain until all the works of God are completed, according to the promise given to it by God Himself. Its signs are: inner holiness, which does not allow any admixture of lies, for the spirit of truth lives in it; external immutability, for its Guardian and Head Christ is immutable.
All the signs of the Church, both internal and external, are known only by itself and by those whom grace calls to be its members. For strangers and the uncalled they are incomprehensible, for an external change in the rite appears to the uncalled as a change in the Spirit itself, glorified in the rite. (For example, during the transition of the Old Testament Church to the New Testament or during changes in church rituals and regulations since apostolic times). The Church and its members know, by the inner knowledge of faith, the unity and immutability of their spirit, which is the spirit of God. Those who are external and uncalled see and know the change in the ritual with external knowledge that does not comprehend the internal, just as the very immutability of God seems to them to be changeable, in the change of His creations. Therefore, the Church was not and could not be changed, darkened or fallen away, for then it would have lost the spirit of truth. There could be no time in which she would have accepted lies into her bosom, in which the laity, presbyters and bishops would have submitted to regulations and teachings that did not agree with the teachings and spirit of Christ. Anyone who would say that there could be such an impoverishment of the spirit of Christ could exist in it does not know the Church and is alien to it. A private rebellion against false teaching, with the preservation or acceptance of other false teachings, is not and could not be the work of the Church: for in it, in its essence, there should always have been preachers, teachers, and martyrs professing private truth mixed with lies, but complete and unalloyed truth. The Church knows not partly the truth and partly a lie, but the complete truth without any admixture of lies. He who lives in the Church does not submit to false teaching, does not accept sacraments from a false teacher, knowing him to be false, and does not follow false rituals. And the Church itself does not make mistakes, for there is truth; she is not cunning and not cowardly, for she is holy. In the same way, due to its immutability, it does not recognize as a lie what it once recognized as truth; and, having declared by a general council and general consent the possibility of error in the teaching of some private person, or some bishop, or patriarch (such as Pope Honorius at the Const. Council in 680), she cannot admit that This private person, or the bishop, or the patriarch, his successors, could not fall into error according to the teaching and that they were protected from error by some special grace. How would the earth be hallowed if the Church lost its holiness? And where would the truth be if its current verdict were contrary to yesterday’s? In the Church, that is, in its members, false teachings arise, but then the infected members fall away, constituting a heresy or schism and no longer desecrating the holiness of the Church.
4. One Holy, Catholic and Apostolic
C the church is called one, holy, catholic (catholic and ecumenical), apostolic, because it is one, holy, because it belongs to the whole world, and not just some locality, because it sanctifies all humanity and the whole earth, and not just one any people or country; because its essence lies in the harmony and unity of the spirit and life of all its members, throughout the whole earth, who recognize it: because, finally, the writings and teachings of the apostles contain the entire fullness of its faith, its hopes and its love.
From this it follows that when any Christian society is called a local Church, such as Greek, Russian or Syrian, such a name means only a collection of Church members living in such and such a country (Greece, Russia, Syria, etc. ), and does not contain the assumption that one community of Christians could express church teaching or give a dogmatic interpretation to church teaching without the consent of other communities; still less is it supposed that any community or its pastor can prescribe his interpretation to others. The grace of faith is inseparable from the holiness of life, and no community and no pastor can be recognized as the guardians of the whole faith, or representatives of all church holiness. However, every Christian community, without arrogating to itself the right of dogmatic interpretation or teaching, has the full right to change its rituals, introduce new ones, without tempting other communities; on the contrary, retreating from one’s own opinion and submitting to theirs, so that what is innocent and even praiseworthy in one does not seem guilty to another, and so that a brother does not lead his brother into the sin of doubt and discord. Every Christian should cherish the unity of church rites, for in it the unity of spirit and teaching is clearly manifested, even for the uninitiated; for the enlightened there is a source of living and Christian joy. Love is the crown and glory of the Church.
5. Scripture and Tradition
D The ear of God, living in the Church, ruling it and making it wise, acts in it in a variety of ways: in Scripture, Tradition and in deeds, for the Church that creates the works of God is the same Church that preserves Tradition and wrote Scripture. It is not individuals or multitudes of individuals in the Church who keep tradition and write, but the Spirit of God, living in the totality of the Church. Therefore, it is impossible and should not be sought for the foundations of Tradition either in Scripture, or in the Tradition of evidence for Scripture, or in the matter of justification for Scripture and Tradition. Neither Scripture, nor Tradition, nor deeds are incomprehensible to anyone living outside the Church. Within the Church, to those who abid and participate in the spirit of the Church, their unity is obvious by the grace living in it.
Does not the matter precede Scripture and Tradition? Doesn't Tradition precede Scripture? Were the deeds of Noah, Abraham, the ancestors and representatives of the Old Testament Church not pleasing to God? And didn’t there exist a tradition among the ancestors, starting from the first ancestor Adam? Did not Christ give freedom to men and verbal teaching before the apostles, with their Scriptures, testified to the work of redemption and the law of freedom? Therefore, there is no contradiction between tradition, deeds and Scripture, but perfect agreement. You understand the Scripture, as long as you keep the Tradition and as long as you do deeds pleasing to the wisdom that lives in you. But the wisdom that lives in you is not given to you personally, but to you, as a member of the Church, and is given to you in part, without completely destroying your personal lie; given to the Church in the fullness of truth and without any admixture of lies. Therefore, do not judge the Church, but obey her, so that wisdom is not taken away from you.
Anyone who seeks evidence of church truth, thereby either shows his doubt and excludes himself from the Church, or gives himself the appearance of doubting, and at the same time retains the hope of proving the truth and reaching it. own strength mind; but the powers of reason do not reach the truth of God, and human powerlessness becomes obvious in the powerlessness of evidence. He who accepts Scripture alone and founds the Church on it alone actually rejects the Church and hopes to create it again on our own; he who accepts only Tradition and deeds, and who degrades the importance of Scripture, really also rejects the Church and becomes the judge of the Spirit of God who spoke through Scripture. Christian knowledge is not a matter of reason, which tortures, but of grace-filled and living faith. Scripture is external and Tradition is external and an external work; internally there is one Spirit of God. From Tradition alone, from Scripture, from deeds, a person can only draw external and incomplete knowledge, which can only contain truth in itself, because it starts from the truth, but at the same time it is necessarily false, because it is incomplete. The believer knows the Truth, but the unbeliever does not know it or knows it with external and imperfect knowledge. The Church does not prove itself either as Scripture, or as Tradition, or as a deed, but it bears witness to itself, just as the Spirit of God living in it bears witness to itself in Scripture.
Do not ask the Church: which Scripture is true, or which Tradition is true, which council is true, which work is pleasing to God, for the Lord Jesus Christ knows His property, and the Church in which He lives knows with inner knowledge and cannot but know its manifestations. The Holy Scripture is the collection of Old Testament and New Testament books that the Church recognizes as its own. But there is no limit to scripture, for every scripture that the Church recognizes as its own is Holy Bible. Such, for the most part, are the confessions of the councils and especially of Nicene-Constantinople. The Holy Scripture remains to our time and, if God wills, there will be more Holy Scripture. But there has never been and never will be any contradiction in the Church, neither in scripture, nor in tradition, nor in practice; for in all three there is one and unchangeable Christ.
6. Confession, prayer and deeds
TO Every action of the Church, guided by the Holy Spirit, the spirit of life and truth, represents the totality of all his gifts - faith, hope and love; for in Scripture it is not only faith that is manifested, but also the hope of the Church, and the love of God, and in a work pleasing to God it is not love alone that is manifested, but also faith, hope, and grace, and in the living tradition of the Church, which awaits its crown and fulfillment from God in In Christ it is not hope alone that is manifested, but faith and love. The gifts of the Holy Spirit are inextricably united in one holy and living unity: but just as a God-pleasing deed most belongs to hope, so a God-pleasing confession most belongs to love*, just as a God-pleasing prayer most belongs to hope, so a God-pleasing confession most belongs to faith* and is rightly called the confession of the Church, a confession or a Symbol. Faith.
Therefore, one must understand that confession, and prayer, and deeds are nothing in themselves, but only as an external manifestation of the inner spirit. Therefore, neither the one who prays, nor the one who does deeds, nor the one who confesses the confession of the Church is pleasing to God, but the one who does, and confesses, and prays according to the spirit of Christ living in him. Not everyone has one faith, or one hope, or one love, for you can love the flesh, hope for the world and confess a lie; You can also love, hope and believe not completely, but partially; and the Church calls your hope hope, your love love, your faith faith, for that is what you call them, and she will not argue with you about words; She herself calls love, faith, and hope the gifts of the Holy Spirit and knows that they are true and perfect.
7. Creed
WITH The holy Church professes her faith with her entire life: through the teachings that are instilled by the Holy Spirit, the sacraments in which the Holy Spirit acts, and the rituals that He controls. Primarily, the Creed of Niceno-Constantinople (or simply the Creed) is called a confession of faith.
The creed consists of the confession of church teaching; but so that it is known that the hope of the Church from its teaching is inseparable, its hope is also confessed: for it is said “in tea,” (we expect) and not just believe that it will happen.
The Creed is the complete and complete confession of the Church, from which it does not allow anything to be excluded or anything to be added to it. It is as follows:
“I believe in one God, the Father, Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, visible to all and invisible. And in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Only Begotten. Who was born of the Father before all ages: Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, uncreated, consubstantial with the Father, in Whom all things were. For our sake, man and our salvation came down from heaven, and became incarnate from the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, and became human. He was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate, and suffered and was buried, and rose again on the third day according to the Scriptures. And ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of the Father. And again the coming one will be judged with glory by the living and the dead, and His Kingdom will have no end. And in the Holy Spirit, the Life-Giving Lord, who proceeds from the Father, who with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified, who spoke the Prophets. Into the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. I confess one baptism for the remission of sins. I hope for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the next century. Amen".
This confession, like the whole life of the spirit, is comprehensible only to a believer and a member of the Church. It contains secrets that are inaccessible to an inquisitive mind and revealed only to God Himself and to those to whom God reveals them for the knowledge of the internal and living, and not the dead and external. It contains the mystery of God’s existence, not only in relation to his external action on creation, but also to his internal, eternal existence. Therefore, the pride of reason and illegitimate power, which, in opposition to the verdict of the entire Church (expressed at the Council of Ephesus), arrogated to itself the right to add its own private explanations and human guesses to the Symbol of N.-K., is in itself a violation of the holiness and inviolability of the Church. Since the very pride of individual churches, which dared to change the Creed of the entire Church without the consent of their brethren, was not inspired by the spirit of love and was a crime before God and St. Church: in the same way, their blind wisdom, which did not comprehend the mystery of God, was a distortion of faith, for faith will not be preserved where love has become impoverished. Therefore, the addition of the word filioque (and from the Son) contains some imaginary dogma, unknown to any of the godly writers, or bishops, or apostolic successors in the first centuries of the Church, not spoken by Christ the Savior. As Christ said clearly, so clearly the Church has confessed and confesses that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father: for not only the external, but also the internal mysteries of God were revealed by Christ and the spirit of faith to the holy apostles and the Holy Church. Theodoret called all those who confess the procession of the Holy Spirit from the Father and the Son blasphemers. The Church, which exposed many of Theodoret’s errors, in this case approved the verdict with eloquent silence. (Without rejecting the verdict, the Church, through its silence, affirms it with all its power). The Church does not deny that the Holy Spirit is sent not only by the Father, but also by the Son: the Church does not deny that the Holy Spirit is communicated to all rational creation not only from the Father, but also through the Son; but the Church rejects that the Holy Spirit should have its original beginning in the Divinity Himself, not only from the Father, but also from the Son. - He who has renounced the spirit of love and deprived himself of the gifts of grace can no longer have internal knowledge, that is, faith, but limits himself to external knowledge: therefore, he can only know external things, and not the internal secrets of God. Christian communities, cut off from the Holy Church, could no longer confess (and could not comprehend in spirit) the procession of the Holy Spirit from one Father, in the Divinity Himself, but should have already confessed only the external message of the Spirit into all creation - a message carried out not only from the Father, but also through the Son. They preserved the outer side of the law both in confession and in life.
8. The Church and its Sacraments
AND Confessing her faith in the Tri-hypostatic God, the Church confesses her faith in herself, because she recognizes herself as an instrument and vessel of divine grace, and recognizes her deeds as the deeds of God, and not as the deeds of the individuals who apparently constitute her. In this confession she shows that knowledge of her existence is also a gift of grace, bestowed from above and accessible only to faith, and not to reason.
For what need would I have to say I believe if I knew? Is not faith the endowment of the invisible? The visible Church is not a visible society of Christians, but the spirit of God and the grace of the sacraments living in society. Therefore visible Church visible only to the believer, for for the unbeliever the sacrament is only a ritual, and the Church is only a society. The believer, although with the eyes of the body and mind sees the Church only in its external manifestations, but recognizes it in spirit in the sacraments, and in prayer, and in godly deeds. Therefore, he does not confuse it with the society bearing the name of Christians, for not everyone who says: “Lord, Lord,” really belongs to the chosen race and the seed of Abraham. By faith a true Christian knows that the One, Holy, Catholic Apostolic Church will never disappear from the face of the earth until the final judgment of all creation, that it remains on earth invisible to the eyes of the flesh and the carnally wise mind in the visible society of Christians; just as she remains visible to the eyes of faith in the Church beyond the grave, invisible to the eyes of the body. By faith, a Christian also knows that the earthly Church, although invisible, is always clothed in a visible image, that there was not, could not be and will not be a time in which the sacraments were distorted, holiness dried up, teaching was deteriorated; and that he is not a Christian who cannot say: where from the very apostolic time the holy sacraments were and are being performed, where the teaching was and is being preserved, where prayers were and are being sent to the Throne of Grace? The Holy Church confesses and believes that the sheep have never been deprived of their Divine Shepherd and that the Church could never make a mistake through foolishness (for the mind of God lives in it), nor submit to false teachings out of cowardice (for the power of the Spirit of God lives in it).
Believing in the promise of the word of God, which called all the followers of Christ's teaching friends of Christ and His brothers and adopted by God in Him, the Holy Church confesses the ways in which it pleased God to bring fallen and dead humanity to reunification in the spirit of grace and life. Therefore, having remembered the prophets, representatives of the Old Testament age, she confesses the sacraments through which in the New Testament Church God sends down His grace to people, and she primarily confesses the sacrament of Baptism for the cleansing of sins, as containing in itself the beginning of all others, for through baptism only a person enters into unity The Church that holds all other sacraments.
Confessing one baptism for the remission of sins as a sacrament prescribed by Christ Himself for entry into the New Testament Church, the Church does not judge those who have not become partakers of it through baptism, for it knows and judges only itself. God alone knows the hardness of hearts, and He judges the weaknesses of the mind according to truth and mercy. Many were saved and received an inheritance without receiving the sacrament of Baptism with water, for it was established only for the New Testament Church. He who rejects him rejects the entire Church and the Spirit of God living in her; but it was not bequeathed to humanity from time immemorial or prescribed by the Old Testament Church. For if anyone says: circumcision was an Old Testament baptism, he rejects baptism for women (they did not have circumcision), and what will he say about the forefathers from Adam to Abraham, who did not accept the seal of circumcision? And in any case, doesn’t he admit that outside the New Testament Church the sacrament of Baptism was not obligatory? If he says that Christ was baptized for the Old Testament Church, then who will put a limit on the mercy of God, who took upon himself the sins of the world? Baptism is obligatory, for it alone is the door to the New Testament Church, and in baptism alone a person expresses his consent to the redemptive action of grace. Therefore, in baptism alone he is saved.
However, we know that confessing one baptism as the beginning of all sacraments, we do not reject others, for, believing in the Church, we together confess the seven sacraments, i.e. Baptism, Eucharist, Ordination, Confirmation, Marriage, Repentance , Blessing of Unction. There are many other sacraments; for every deed done in faith, love and hope is inspired in man by the spirit of God and calls on the invisible grace of God. But the seven sacraments are actually performed not by one person worthy of God’s mercy, but by the entire Church in one person, albeit unworthy.
The Holy Church teaches about the sacrament of the Eucharist that in it the transmutation of bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ is truly accomplished. She does not reject the word “transubstantiation,” but she does not attribute to it the material meaning that is attributed to it by the teachers of the fallen churches. The transmutation of bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ takes place in the Church and for the Church. Whether you accept the consecrated gifts, worship them, or think about them in faith, you truly receive the Body and Blood of Christ and worship and think about them. Whether you accept unworthily, you really reject the Body and Blood of Christ; in any case, in faith or unbelief, you are sanctified or condemned by the Body and Blood of Christ. But this sacrament is in the Church and for the Church, and not for the outside world, not for fire, not for an unreasonable animal, not for corruption and not for a person who has not heard the law of Christ. In the Church itself (we are talking about the visible Church) for the elect and the rejected, the Holy Eucharist is not a simple remembrance of the sacrament of Redemption, not the presence of spiritual gifts in bread and wine, not only the spiritual perception of the Body and Blood of Christ, but the true Body and Blood. It was not in spirit alone that Christ desired to unite with the believers, but also in Body and Blood, so that the unity would be complete and not only spiritual, but also physical. Equally disgusting to the Church and meaningless interpretations about the relationship of St. sacraments to the elements and irrational creatures (when the sacrament is instituted only for the Church), and spiritual pride, which despises the Body and Blood and rejects the bodily union with Christ. We will not be resurrected without a body, and no spirit other than God can fully be called incorporeal. He who despises the body sins with pride of spirit.
The Holy Church teaches about the sacrament of Ordination that through it the grace that performs the sacraments is transmitted successively from the Apostles and Christ Himself: not as if no sacrament could be performed except by the laying on of hands (for every Christian can, through baptism, open the door to a baby, or a Jew, or a pagan Church), but in such a way that ordination contains all the fullness of grace given by Christ to His Church. The Church itself, which imparts to its members the fullness of spiritual gifts, has, by virtue of its God-given freedom, established differences in the degrees of ordination. Another gift to the presbyter who performs all the sacraments except ordination; another for the bishop performing the ordination; There is nothing higher than the episcopal gift. The sacrament gives the ordained one the great significance that, although unworthy, in performing his sacramental ministry, he no longer acts on his own behalf, but on behalf of the entire Church, that is, from Christ living in it. If ordination were to cease, all sacraments would cease, except baptism, and the human race would be torn away from grace, for the Church itself would then testify that Christ had abandoned her.
The Church teaches about the sacrament of Confirmation that it conveys to the Christian the gifts of the Holy Spirit, confirming his faith and inner holiness. This sacrament is performed according to the will of St. The Church is served not only by bishops, but also by priests, although the chrism itself can only be consecrated by a bishop.
About the Sacrament of Marriage of St. The Church teaches that the grace of God, which blesses the continuity of generations in the temporary existence of the human race and the holy union of husband and wife to form a family, is a mysterious gift that imposes a high duty on those who receive it mutual love and spiritual holiness, through which sinful and material things are clothed in righteousness and purity. Why do the great teachers of the Church, the apostles, recognize the sacrament of Marriage even among the pagans; for by prohibiting concubinage, they affirm marriage between pagans and Christians, saying that the husband is sanctified by a faithful wife, and the wife by a faithful husband. This apostolic word does not mean that the unbeliever is saved by his union with the believer, but that marriage is sanctified, for it is not the person who is sanctified, but the husband and wife who are sanctified. A person is not saved through another person, but the husband or wife is sanctified in relation to the marriage itself. So, marriage is not bad even among idolaters; but they themselves do not know about God’s mercy given to them. The Holy Church, through its ordained ministers, recognizes and blesses the union of husband and wife, blessed by God. Therefore, marriage is not a ritual, but a true sacrament. It receives its fulfillment in St. Church, for in it only every holy thing is accomplished in its fullness.
St. teaches about the sacrament of Repentance. Church, that without it the human spirit cannot be cleansed from the slavery of sin and sinful pride, that it cannot itself resolve its own sins (for we only have the power to condemn ourselves, and not to justify) and that the Church alone has the power of justification, for in it the fullness of the spirit of Christ lives. We know that the Firstborn of the Kingdom of Heaven after the Savior entered the shrine of God by condemnation of himself, that is, by the sacrament of Repentance, saying: “for we have received what is worthy according to our deeds,” and having received permission from Him who alone can and does allow through the mouth of His Church. .
St. teaches about the sacrament of the Blessing of Anointing. Church, that in it the blessing of all the feats accomplished by man on earth is performed, the entire path he has traversed in faith and humility, and that in the consecration of oil the very divine judgment over the earthly composition of man is expressed, healing him when all healing means are powerless, or allowing death to destroy a corruptible body, no longer needed for the earthly Church and for the secret ways of God.
9. Faith and life in unity with the Church
C the church lives even on earth not earthly, human life, but divine, grace-filled. Therefore, not only each of its members, but the whole of it solemnly calls itself holy. Its visible manifestation is contained in the sacraments; its inner life is in the gifts of the Holy Spirit, in faith, hope and love. Oppressed and persecuted external enemies, more than once outraged and torn by the evil passions of her sons, she was and is preserved unshakably and unchangeably where the sacraments and spiritual holiness are invariably kept - never distorted and never requiring correction. She lives not under the law of slavery, but under the law of freedom, does not recognize anyone’s authority over herself except her own, no one’s judgment except the court of faith (for reason does not comprehend her), and expresses her love, her faith and her hope in prayers and rituals , inspired in her by the spirit of truth and the grace of Christ. Therefore, its very rites, although unchangeable (for they were created by the spirit of freedom and can be changed by the judgment of the Church), can never and under no circumstances contain any, even the slightest, admixture of lies or false teaching. The rituals, which have not yet been changed, are obligatory for members of the Church, for in their observance is the joy of holy unity.
External unity is the unity manifested in the communion of the sacraments, while internal unity is the unity of the spirit. Many were saved (for example, some martyrs) without partaking of any of the sacraments of the Church (even Baptism), but no one is saved without partaking of the inner church holiness, its faith, hope and love; for it is not works that save, but faith. Faith is not twofold, but one - true and living. Therefore, those who say that faith alone does not save, but works are also needed, and those who say that faith saves except works are unreasonable: for if there are no works, then faith turns out to be dead; if it is dead, then it is not true, for in true faith there is Christ, truth and life, but if not true, then it is false, i.e. external knowledge. Can a lie save? If it is true, then it is living, that is, it does deeds, and if it does deeds, then what other deeds are needed? The divinely inspired apostle says: “Show me by your works the faith in which you boast, just as I show my faith by my works.” Does he recognize two faiths? No, but it denounces unreasonable boasting. “You believe in God, but demons also believe.” Does he admit faith in demons? No, but it exposes lies that boast of a quality that demons also have. “Just as a body without a soul is dead, so is faith without works.” Does he compare faith to the body and works to the spirit? No, for such a similarity would be incorrect, but the meaning of his words is clear. Just as a soulless body is no longer a person and cannot be called a person, but a corpse, so faith that does not create works cannot be called true faith, but false, that is, external knowledge, fruitless and accessible even to demons. What is written simply must be read simply. Therefore, those who rely on the Apostle James to prove that there is a dead faith and a living faith, and that there are two faiths, do not comprehend the meaning of the apostle’s words, for the apostle testifies not for them, but against them. Likewise, when the great Apostle of the tongues says: “What is the use without love, even such faith as could move mountains?” - he does not affirm the possibility of such faith without love, but, presuming it, declares it useless. The Holy Scripture should not be read with the spirit of worldly wisdom, arguing about words, but with the spirit of God’s wisdom and spiritual simplicity. The Apostle, defining faith, says: “It is the invisible conviction and confirmation of those who hope” (not only those expected or future ones; if we hope, then we desire; if we desire, then we love; for you cannot desire what you do not love. Or demons have also hope? - Therefore there is one faith, and when we ask: can true faith save, except for works? - then we ask an unreasonable question, or, better to say, we ask nothing; for true faith is living, doing works: it is faith in Christ and Christ in faith.
Those who accepted dead faith, that is, false or external knowledge, as true faith, reached the point in their error that out of this dead faith, without knowing it, they made the eighth sacrament. The Church has faith, but it is a living faith, for it also has holiness. When one person or even a bishop certainly has faith, what can we say? Does he have holiness? No, for he is notorious for crime and depravity. But faith abides in him, even if it is in a sinner. So, faith in it is the eighth sacrament, just as every sacrament is the action of the Church in a person, albeit an unworthy one. Through this sacrament what kind of faith abides in him? Alive? No, for he is a criminal, but faith is dead, that is, external knowledge, accessible even to demons. And will this be the eighth sacrament? Thus, deviation from the truth is itself punished.
It must be understood that it is not faith, nor hope, nor love that saves (for will faith in reason, or hope in the world, or love for the flesh save?), but the object of faith will save. Do you believe in Christ - by Christ you will be saved in faith; if you believe in the Church, you will be saved by the Church; If you believe in the sacraments of Christ, you will be saved by them: for Christ is our God, in the Church and in the sacraments. The Old Testament Church was saved by faith in the future Redeemer. Abraham was saved by the same Christ as we are. He had Christ for hope, but we have joy. Therefore, he who desires baptism is baptized in desire; he who is baptized is baptized with joy. Both are saved by the same faith in baptism, but you say: “if faith in baptism saves, then why else be baptized.” If you do not receive baptism, what do you want? It is obvious that the faith of one who desires baptism must be completed in the acceptance of baptism itself - one’s own joy. Therefore, the house of Cornelius received the Holy Spirit without yet receiving baptism, and everyone was filled with the same Spirit after baptism. For God can glorify the sacrament of Baptism before it is performed, just as well as after it. Thus the difference between opus operans and opus operatum disappears. We know that many did not baptize infants and many did not allow them to receive the Holy Mysteries, many did not anoint them; but St. understands differently. A church that baptizes and anoints and admits infants to communion. She did not do this so that she would condemn unbaptized babies, whom angels always see the face of God, but she did this according to the spirit of love that lives in her, so that the first thought of the baby entering the mind would no longer be only a desire, but joy for what has already been accepted. sacraments. And do you know the joy of a baby who, apparently, has not yet entered into reason? Did not the yet unborn prophet rejoice in Christ? They took away baptism and confirmation and communion from infants. Gifts, those who, having inherited the blind wisdom of blind paganism, did not comprehend the greatness of the sacraments of God, demanded reason and benefit in it and, subordinating the teaching of the Church with a scholastic interpretation, do not even want to pray if they do not see a direct goal and benefit in prayer. But our law is not the law of slavery or mercenary labor for wages, but the law of adoption and free love.
We know that when one of us falls, he falls alone, but no one is saved alone. The one who is saved is saved in the Church as its member, and in unity with all its other members. Whether someone believes, he is in the communion of Faith; whether he loves, he is in the communion of Love; whether he prays, he is in the communion of Prayer. Therefore, no one can rely on his own prayer, and everyone, praying, asks the whole Church for intercession, not as if he doubted the intercession of the only intercessor of Christ, but in the confidence that the whole Church always prays for all its members. All the angels, the apostles, the martyrs and the forefathers, and the supreme Mother of our Lord pray for us, this holy unity is true life Churches. But if the Church, visible and invisible, prays incessantly, why ask her for prayers? Are we not asking for mercy from God and Christ, although His mercy precedes our prayer? That is precisely why we ask the Church for prayers, because we know that she gives the help of her intercession to those who do not ask, and gives to those who ask incomparably more than he asks: for in her is the fullness of the spirit of God. So we glorify everyone whom the Lord has glorified and glorifies, for how can we say that Christ lives in us if we are not like Christ? Therefore, we glorify the saints, and angels, and prophets, but most of all, the purest Mother of Jesus, X.* Not recognizing Her as either sinless by birth, or perfect (for Christ alone is sinless and perfect), but remembering that Her incomprehensible superiority is before all of God creation is witnessed by the angel and Elizabeth, and most of all by the Savior Himself, who appointed His great apostle and seer John to her filial obedience and service.
Just as each of us requires prayer from everyone, so he owes his prayers to everyone, the living and the dead, and even the unborn; for, asking that the world come into the mind of God (as we ask with the whole Church), we ask not for the present generations alone, but also for those that God will yet call into life. We pray for the living, that the grace of the Lord may be in them, and for the dead, that they may be worthy of the sight of God. We do not know about the average state of souls who were not accepted into the kingdom of God and were not condemned to torment, for we did not receive teaching about such a state from the apostles or from Christ, we do not recognize purgatory, that is, the purification of souls through suffering, from which we can buy ourselves off by works our own or others'; for the Church does not know about salvation by any external means or suffering other than that of Christ, nor about bargaining with God, by which one buys oneself out of suffering with a good deed.
All this paganism remains with the heirs of pagan wisdom, with people proud of the place, and the name, and the region, with the establishment of the eighth sacrament and a dead faith. We pray in the spirit of Love, knowing that no one will be saved except by the prayer of the entire Church in which Christ lives, knowing and trusting that, until the end of times has come, all members of the Church, living and deceased, are constantly being improved by mutual prayer. Much higher than us are the saints glorified by God; above all is the Church, which contains all the saints and prays for everyone, as can be seen in the divinely inspired liturgy. In her prayer our prayer is also heard, no matter how unworthy we are to be called sons of the Church. If, in worshiping and glorifying the saints, we ask that God may glorify them, we are not subject to the charge of pride, for we, who have received permission to call God Father, are also given permission to pray: “Hallowed be His name, His kingdom come, His will be done.” " And if we are allowed to ask God that He may glorify His name and do His will: who will forbid us to ask that He may glorify His saints and may He give rest to His elect? We do not pray for the non-elect, just as Christ did not pray for the whole world, but for those whom the Lord gave Him. Do not say: “What prayer will I devote to the living and the deceased, when my prayer is not enough for me?” For if you do not know how to pray, why would you pray for yourself? The spirit of Love prayed within you. Also, do not say: “Why is my prayer to another when he himself prays and Christ Himself intercedes for him?” When you pray, the spirit of Love prays within you. Do not say: “The judgment of God cannot be changed,” for your prayer itself is in the ways of God, and God foresaw it. If you are a member of the Church, then your prayer is necessary for all its members. If the hand says that it does not need the blood of the rest of the body and will not give it its own blood, the hand will wither. So the Church needs you as long as you are in it; and if you refuse communication, you yourself will perish and will no longer be a member of the Church. The Church prays for everyone, and we all pray together for everyone, but our prayer must be true and true expression Love, not a verbal ceremony. Not knowing how to love everyone, we pray for those we love, and our prayer is unfeigned; We ask God that we may love everyone and pray for everyone without hypocrisy. The blood of the Church is mutual prayer, and its breath is the praise of God. Let us pray in the spirit of Love, and not of profit, in the spirit of filial freedom, and not of a mercenary law asking for payment. Anyone who asks: “What is the use of prayer?” recognizes himself as a slave. Above all is Love and Unity. Love is expressed in many ways: by deed, prayer and spiritual song. The Church blesses all these expressions of Love. If you cannot express your love for God in words, but you express it visible image, i.e., an icon, will the Church condemn you? No, but the condemner will condemn you, for he condemns your Love. We know that without an icon you can be saved and have been saved, and if your Love does not require an icon, you will be saved without an icon. By condemning your brother's love, you condemn yourself. If you, being a Christian, do not dare to listen without reverence to the spiritual song composed by your brother, how dare you look without reverence at the icon created by his Love, and not by artistry? The Lord Himself, who knows the secrets of hearts, has deigned more than once to glorify a prayer or a psalm: will you forbid Him to glorify an icon or the tombs of saints? You will say: “The Old Testament forbade the image of God,” but you, who understand her words (i.e., the Scriptures) more than the Holy Church, don’t you understand that it was not the image of God that the Old Testament forbade (for it allowed both cherubim and copper serpent, and the writing of the name of God), but forbade man to create God for himself in the likeness of any earthly or heavenly object, visible or even imaginary.
Whether you paint an icon to remind you of the invisible and unimaginable God, you are not creating an idol for yourself. If you imagine God and think that He is similar to your imagination, you set up an idol for yourself - this is the meaning of the Old Testament prohibition. An icon (a painted image of God) or an image of His saints, created by Love, is not prohibited by the spirit of truth. Do not say: “Christians will turn to idolatry,” for the spirit of Christ, which preserves the Church, is wiser than your calculating wisdom. - Therefore, you can be saved without an icon, but you should not reject icons.
The Church accepts every ritual that expresses a spiritual desire for God, just as it accepts prayer and an icon, but above all rituals it recognizes St. A liturgy in which the fullness of its teaching and church spirit is expressed and is not expressed by any conventional signs or symbols, but the word of life and truth, inspired from above. Only he understands the Church who understands the Liturgy. Above all is the unity of holiness and love.
10. Rescue
WITH The Holy Church, confessing that it awaits the resurrection of the dead and the final judgment of all humanity, recognizes that the perfection of all its members will be fulfilled with the perfection of itself, and that future life belongs not only to the spirit, but also to the resurrected body, for only God is completely incorporeal spirit. Therefore, she rejects the pride of those who preach the doctrine of incorporeality beyond the grave and, therefore, despise the body in which Christ was resurrected. This body will not be a carnal body, but will be like the physicality of angels, just as Christ Himself promised that we would become like the angels.
At the last judgment our justification in Christ will appear in its fullness, not only sanctification, but also justification: for no one has been sanctified and is not being fully sanctified, but justification is also needed. Christ does all good things in us, whether in faith, hope, or love; we only submit to His action, but no one completely submits. Therefore, we also need justification by Christ’s suffering and blood. Who else can talk about the merit of their own deeds or the reserve of merit and prayers? Only those who still live under the law of slavery. Christ does all good things in us, but we will never completely submit, no one, not even the saints, as the Savior Himself said. Grace creates everything, and grace is given freely and is given to everyone, so that no one can grumble, but not everyone is the same, not by predestination, but by foreknowledge, as the apostle says. A lesser talent was given to one in whom the Lord foresaw negligence, so that the rejection of a greater gift would not lead to greater condemnation. And we ourselves do not cultivate the gifted talents, but they are given to merchants, so that here too there could be no merit of ours, but only there would be no resistance to the growing grace. Thus the difference between “sufficient and effective” grace disappears. Everything is created by grace. If you submit to it, the Lord is perfected in you and perfects you; but do not be proud of your submission, for your submission is from grace. We never completely submit, therefore, in addition to sanctification, we also ask for justification.
Everything is accomplished in the execution of the general judgment, and the spirit of God, that is, the spirit of Faith, Hope and Love, will manifest itself in all its fullness, and every gift will reach its full perfection: above all there will be Love. One should not, however, think that the gifts of God, Faith and Hope, have perished (for they are inseparable from Love), but Love alone retains its name, and Faith, having come to perfection, will already be complete, internal knowledge and vision; Hope will be joy, for we know on earth that the stronger it is, the more joyful it is.
11. Unity of Orthodoxy
AND by the will of God St. The Church, after the fall of many schisms and the Roman patriarchate, was preserved in the dioceses and Greek patriarchates, and only those communities can recognize themselves as fully Christian that maintain unity with the eastern patriarchates or enter into this unity. For just as God is one, so the Church is one, and there is no division in it.
Therefore, the Church is called Orthodox, or Eastern, or Greco-Russian. But all these names are temporary. The Church should not be accused of pride when it calls itself Orthodox, for it also calls itself Holy. When false teachings disappear, the name of Orthodoxy will become unnecessary, for there will be no false Christianity. When the Church spreads or the fullness of nations enters into it, then all local names will disappear, for the Church is not identified with any locality: but it calls itself One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic, knowing that the whole world belongs to it and that no locality does not have any special advantage, but only temporarily serves to glorify the name of God, according to His inscrutable will.
A.S. Khomyakov. There is only one church. - M., 1999.
1. Unity of the Church
The unity of the Church follows necessarily from the unity of God, for the Church is not a multitude of persons in their personal individuality, but the unity of God’s grace, living in the multitude of rational creatures submitting to grace. Grace is also given to those who are disobedient, who do not use it (those who bury talent), but they are not in the Church. The unity of the Church is not imaginary, not allegorical, but true and essential, like the unity of numerous members in a living body.
The Church is one, despite its visible division for a person still living on earth. Only in relation to man can one recognize the division of the Church into visible and invisible, but its unity is true and unconditional. Those who live on earth, who have completed their earthly journey, who were not created for the earthly journey (like the angels), who have not yet begun their earthly journey (future generations), are all united in one Church - in one grace of God; for God’s creation, which has not yet been revealed, is clear to Him, and God hears the prayers and knows the faith of those who have not yet been called by Him from non-existence to existence. - The Church, the body of Christ, manifests itself and is fulfilled in time, without changing its essential unity and its inner, grace-filled life. Therefore, when it is said, “The Church is visible and invisible,” it is said only in relation to man.
2. The Church visible and invisible
The visible and earthly Church lives in perfect communion and unity with the entire body of the Church, the head of which is Christ. She has within herself the indwelling Christ and the grace of the Holy Spirit in all their vital fullness, but not in the fullness of their manifestations, for she does not create and knows completely, but as much as God pleases.
Since the earthly and visible Church is not yet the fullness and perfection of the entire Church, to whom the Lord appointed to appear at the final judgment of all creation, it creates and knows only within its own limits, “without judging the rest of humanity” (in the words of the Apostle Paul to Corinth.) and only by recognizing them as excommunicated, i.e. those who do not belong to her, those who are separated from her. The rest of humanity, either alien to the Church, or connected with it by bonds that God did not deign to reveal to it, she leaves to the judgment of the great day. The earthly Church judges only itself, by the grace of the Spirit and by the freedom given to it through Christ, calling all the rest of humanity to unity and adoption of God in Christ: but it does not pronounce judgment on those who do not hear its call, knowing the command of its Savior and Head: “do not judge someone else's slave."
3. Church of Christ on earth
Since the creation of the world, the earthly Church has remained continuously on earth and will remain until all the works of God are completed according to the promise given to it by God Himself. Its signs are: inner holiness, which does not allow any admixture of lies, for the spirit of truth lives in it; external immutability, for its Guardian and Head Christ is immutable.
All the signs of the Church, both internal and external, are known only by itself and by those whom grace calls to be its members. For strangers and the uncalled they are incomprehensible, for an external change in the rite appears to the uncalled as a change in the Spirit itself, glorified in the rite. (For example, during the transition of the Old Testament Church to the New Testament or during changes in church rituals and regulations since apostolic times). The Church and its members know, by the inner knowledge of faith, the unity and immutability of their spirit, which is the spirit of God. Those who are external and uncalled see and know the change in the ritual with external knowledge that does not comprehend the internal, just as the very immutability of God seems to them to be changeable, in the change of His creations. Therefore, the Church was not and could not be changed, darkened or fallen away, for then it would have lost the spirit of truth. There could be no time in which she would have accepted lies into her bosom, in which the laity, presbyters and bishops would have submitted to regulations and teachings that did not agree with the teachings and spirit of Christ. Anyone who would say that there could be such an impoverishment of the spirit of Christ could exist in it does not know the Church and is alien to it. A private rebellion against false teaching, with the preservation or acceptance of other false teachings, is not and could not be the work of the Church: for in it, in its essence, there should always have been preachers, teachers, and martyrs professing private truth mixed with lies, but complete and unalloyed truth. The Church knows not partly the truth and partly a lie, but the complete truth without any admixture of lies. He who lives in the Church does not submit to false teaching, does not accept sacraments from a false teacher, knowing him to be false, and does not follow false rituals. And the Church itself does not make mistakes, for there is truth; she is not cunning and not cowardly, for she is holy. In the same way, due to its immutability, it does not recognize as lies what it once recognized as truth; and, having declared by a general council and general consent the possibility of error in the teaching of some private person, or some bishop, or patriarch (such as Pope Honorius at the Const. Council in 680), she cannot admit that This private person, or the bishop, or the patriarch, his successors, could not fall into error according to the teaching and that they were protected from error by some special grace. How would the earth be hallowed if the Church lost its holiness? And where would the truth be if its current verdict were contrary to yesterday’s? In the Church, that is, in its members, false teachings arise, but then the infected members fall away, constituting a heresy or schism and no longer desecrating the holiness of the Church.
4. One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic
The Church is called one, holy, catholic (catholic and ecumenical), apostolic, because it is one, holy, because it belongs to the whole world, and not just some locality, because it sanctifies all humanity and the whole earth, and not just one any people or country; because its essence lies in the harmony and unity of the spirit and life of all its members, throughout the whole earth, who recognize it; because, finally, the writings and teachings of the apostles contain the entire fullness of her faith, her hopes and her love.
From this it follows that when any Christian society is called a local Church, such as Greek, Russian or Syrian, such a name means only a collection of Church members living in such and such a country (Greece, Russia, Syria, etc. ), and does not contain the assumption that one community of Christians could express church teaching or give a dogmatic interpretation to church teaching without the consent of other communities; still less is it supposed that any community or its pastor can prescribe his interpretation to others. The grace of faith is inseparable from the holiness of life, and no community and no pastor can be recognized as the guardians of the whole faith, or representatives of all church holiness. However, every Christian community, without arrogating to itself the right of dogmatic interpretation or teaching, has the full right to change its rituals, introduce new ones, without tempting other communities; on the contrary, retreating from one’s own opinion and submitting to theirs, so that what is innocent and even praiseworthy in one does not seem guilty to another, and so that a brother does not lead his brother into the sin of doubt and discord. Every Christian should cherish the unity of church rites, for in it the unity of spirit and teaching is visibly manifested, even for the uninitiated; for the enlightened there is a source of living and Christian joy. Love is the crown and glory of the Church.
5. Scripture and Tradition
The Spirit of God, living in the Church, ruling it and making it wise, acts in it in a variety of ways: in Scripture, Tradition and in deeds, for the Church that creates the works of God is the same Church that preserves Tradition and wrote Scripture. It is not individuals or multitudes of individuals in the Church who keep tradition and write, but the Spirit of God, living in the totality of the Church. Therefore, it is impossible and should not be sought for the foundations of Tradition either in Scripture, or in the Tradition of evidence for Scripture, or in the matter of justification for Scripture and Tradition. Neither Scripture, nor Tradition, nor deeds are incomprehensible to anyone living outside the Church. Within the Church, to those who abid and participate in the spirit of the Church, their unity is obvious by the grace living in it.
Does not the matter precede Scripture and Tradition? Doesn't Tradition precede Scripture? Were the deeds of Noah, Abraham, the ancestors and representatives of the Old Testament Church not pleasing to God? And didn’t there exist a tradition among the ancestors, starting from the first ancestor Adam? Did not Christ give freedom to men and verbal teaching before the apostles, with their Scriptures, testified to the work of redemption and the law of freedom? Therefore, there is no contradiction between tradition, deeds and Scripture, but perfect agreement. You understand the Scripture because you keep the Tradition and because you do deeds pleasing to the wisdom that lives in you. But the wisdom that lives in you is not given to you personally, but to you, as a member of the Church, and is given to you in part, without completely destroying your personal lie; given to the Church in the fullness of truth and without any admixture of lies. Therefore, do not judge the Church, but obey her, so that wisdom is not taken away from you.
Anyone who seeks evidence of church truth, thereby either shows his doubt and excludes himself from the Church, or gives himself the appearance of doubting, and at the same time retains the hope of proving the truth and reaching it with his own power of reason; but the powers of reason do not reach the truth of God, and human powerlessness becomes obvious in the powerlessness of evidence. He who accepts Scripture alone and founds the Church on it alone really rejects the Church and hopes to create it again on his own; he who accepts only Tradition and deeds, and who degrades the importance of Scripture, really also rejects the Church and becomes the judge of the Spirit of God who spoke through Scripture. Christian knowledge is not a matter of reason, which tortures, but of grace-filled and living faith. Scripture is external and Tradition is external and an external work; internally there is one Spirit of God. From Tradition alone, from Scripture, from deeds, a person can only draw external and incomplete knowledge, which can only contain truth in itself, because it starts from the truth, but at the same time it is necessarily false, because it is incomplete. The believer knows the Truth, but the unbeliever does not know it or knows it with external and imperfect knowledge. The Church does not prove itself either as Scripture, or as Tradition, or as a deed, but it bears witness to itself, just as the Spirit of God living in it bears witness to itself in Scripture.
Do not ask the Church: which Scripture is true, or which Tradition is true, which council is true, which work is pleasing to God, for the Lord Jesus Christ knows His property, and the Church in which He lives knows with inner knowledge and cannot but know its manifestations. The Holy Scripture is the collection of Old Testament and New Testament books that the Church recognizes as its own. But there is no limit to scripture, for every scripture that the Church recognizes as its own is Holy Scripture. Such, for the most part, are the confessions of the councils and especially of Nicene-Constantinople. The Holy Scripture remains to our time and, if God wills, there will be more Holy Scripture. But there has never been and never will be any contradiction in the Church, neither in scripture, nor in tradition, nor in practice; for in all three there is one and unchangeable Christ.
6. Confession, prayer and deeds
Every action of the Church, directed by the Holy Spirit, the spirit of life and truth, represents the totality of all his gifts - faith, hope and love; for in Scripture it is not only faith that is manifested, but also the hope of the Church, and the love of God, and in a work pleasing to God it is not love alone that is manifested, but also faith, hope, and grace, and in the living tradition of the Church, which awaits its crown and fulfillment from God in In Christ it is not hope alone that is manifested, but faith and love. The gifts of the Holy Spirit are inextricably united in one holy and living unity: but just as a God-pleasing deed most belongs to hope, so a God-pleasing confession most belongs to love, just as a God-pleasing prayer most belongs to hope, so a God-pleasing confession most belongs to faith and is rightly called the confession of the Church, the Confession or Symbol of Faith.
Therefore, one must understand that confession, and prayer, and deeds are nothing in themselves, but only as an external manifestation of the inner spirit. Therefore, neither the one who prays, nor the one who does deeds, nor the one who confesses the confession of the Church is pleasing to God, but the one who does, and confesses, and prays according to the spirit of Christ living in him. Not everyone has one faith, or one hope, or one love, for you can love the flesh, hope for the world and confess a lie; You can also love, hope and believe not completely, but partially; and the Church calls your hope hope, your love love, your faith faith, for that is what you call them, and she will not argue with you about words; She herself calls love, faith, and hope the gifts of the Holy Spirit and knows that they are true and perfect.
7. Creed
The Holy Church professes its faith with its entire life: through the teachings that are instilled by the Holy Spirit, the sacraments in which the Holy Spirit acts, and the rituals that He controls. Primarily, the Creed of Niceno-Constantinople (or simply the Creed) is called a confession of faith.
The creed consists of the confession of church teaching; but so that it is known that the hope of the Church from its teaching is inseparable, its hope is also confessed: for it is said “in tea,” (we expect) and not just believe that it will happen.
The Creed is the complete and complete confession of the Church, from which it does not allow anything to be excluded or anything to be added to it. It is as follows:
“I believe in one God, the Father, Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, visible to all and invisible. And in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the Only Begotten Son of God. Who was born of the Father before all ages: Light from Light, God the truth from God the truth , begotten, uncreated, consubstantial with the Father, in Whom all things were. For our sake, man and for our salvation came down from heaven, and became incarnate from the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, and became human. He was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate, and suffered and was buried, and was resurrected on the third day according to the Scriptures. And ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of the Father. And again He will come with glory to judge the living and the dead, His Kingdom will have no end. And in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the Life-Giving One, Who proceeds from the Father, Who is with the Father and "We worship and glorify the Son who spoke the Prophets. Into the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. I confess one baptism for the remission of sins. I look forward to the resurrection of the dead and the life of the next century. Amen."
This confession, like the whole life of the spirit, is comprehensible only to a believer and a member of the Church. It contains secrets that are inaccessible to an inquisitive mind and revealed only to God Himself and to those to whom God reveals them for the knowledge of the internal and living, and not the dead and external. It contains the mystery of God’s existence, not only in relation to his external action on creation, but also to his internal, eternal existence. Therefore, the pride of reason and illegitimate power, which, in opposition to the verdict of the entire Church (expressed at the Council of Ephesus), arrogated to itself the right to add its own private explanations and human guesses to the Symbol of N.-K., is in itself a violation of the holiness and inviolability of the Church. Since the very pride of individual churches, which dared to change the Creed of the entire Church without the consent of their brethren, was not inspired by the spirit of love and was a crime before God and St. Church: in the same way, their blind wisdom, which did not comprehend the mystery of God, was a distortion of faith, for faith will not be preserved where love has become impoverished. Therefore, the addition of the word filioque (and from the Son) contains some imaginary dogma, unknown to any of the godly writers, or bishops, or apostolic successors in the first centuries of the Church, not spoken by Christ the Savior. As Christ said clearly, so clearly the Church has confessed and confesses that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father: for not only the external, but also the internal mysteries of God were revealed by Christ and the spirit of faith to the holy apostles and the Holy Church. Theodoret called all those who confess the procession of the Holy Spirit from the Father and the Son blasphemers. The Church, which exposed many of Theodoret’s errors, in this case approved the verdict with eloquent silence. (Without rejecting the verdict, the Church, through its silence, affirms it with all its power). The Church does not deny that the Holy Spirit is sent not only by the Father, but also by the Son: the Church does not deny that the Holy Spirit is communicated to all rational creation not only from the Father, but also through the Son; but the Church rejects that the Holy Spirit should have its original beginning in the Divinity Himself, not only from the Father, but also from the Son. - He who has renounced the spirit of love and deprived himself of the gifts of grace can no longer have inner knowledge, i.e. faith, but limits himself to external knowledge: therefore, he can only know the external, and not the internal secrets of God. Christian communities, cut off from the Holy Church, could no longer confess (and could not comprehend in spirit) the procession of the Holy Spirit from one Father, in the Divinity Himself, but should have already confessed only the external message of the Spirit into all creation - a message carried out not only from the Father, but also through the Son. They preserved the outer side of the law both in confession and in life.
8. The Church and its Sacraments
Confessing her faith in the Tri-hypostatic God, the Church confesses her faith in herself, because she recognizes herself as an instrument and vessel of divine grace, and recognizes her deeds as the deeds of God, and not as the deeds of the individuals who apparently constitute her. In this confession, she shows that knowledge of her existence is also a gift of grace, bestowed from above and accessible only to faith, and not to reason.
For what need would I have to say I believe if I knew? Is not faith the endowment of the invisible? The visible Church is not a visible society of Christians, but the spirit of God and the grace of the sacraments living in society. Therefore, the visible Church is visible only to the believer, for for the unbeliever the sacrament is only a ritual, and the Church is only a society. The believer, although with the eyes of the body and mind sees the Church only in its external manifestations, but recognizes it in spirit in the sacraments, and in prayer, and in godly deeds. Therefore, he does not confuse it with the society bearing the name of Christians, for not everyone who says: “Lord, Lord,” really belongs to the chosen race and the seed of Abraham. By faith, a true Christian knows that the One, Holy, Catholic Apostolic Church will never disappear from the face of the earth until the final judgment of all creation, that she remains on earth invisible to the carnal eyes and the carnally wise mind in the visible society of Christians; just as she remains visible to the eyes of faith in the Church beyond the grave, invisible to the eyes of the body. By faith, a Christian also knows that the earthly Church, although invisible, is always clothed in a visible image, that there was not, could not be and will not be a time in which the sacraments were distorted, holiness dried up, teaching was deteriorated; and that he is not a Christian who cannot say: where from the very apostolic time the holy sacraments were and are being performed, where the teaching was and is being preserved, where prayers were and are being sent to the Throne of Grace? The Holy Church confesses and believes that the sheep have never been deprived of their Divine Shepherd and that the Church could never make a mistake through foolishness (for the mind of God lives in it), nor submit to false teachings out of cowardice (for the power of the Spirit of God lives in it).
Believing in the promise of the word of God, which called all the followers of Christ's teaching friends of Christ and His brothers and adopted as sons of God in Him, the Holy Church confesses the ways by which God was pleased to bring fallen and dead humanity to reunification in the spirit of grace and life. Therefore, having remembered the prophets, representatives of the Old Testament age, she confesses the sacraments through which in the New Testament Church God sends down His grace to people, and she primarily confesses the sacrament of Baptism for the cleansing of sins, as containing in itself the beginning of all others, for through baptism only a person enters into unity The Church that holds all other sacraments.
Confessing one baptism for the remission of sins as a sacrament prescribed by Christ Himself for entry into the New Testament Church, the Church does not judge those who have not become partakers of it through baptism, for it knows and judges only itself. God alone knows the hardness of hearts, and He judges the weaknesses of the mind according to truth and mercy. Many were saved and received an inheritance without receiving the sacrament of Baptism with water, for it was established only for the New Testament Church. He who rejects him rejects the entire Church and the Spirit of God living in her; but it was not bequeathed to humanity from time immemorial or prescribed by the Old Testament Church. For if anyone says: circumcision was an Old Testament baptism, he rejects baptism for women (they did not have circumcision), and what will he say about the forefathers from Adam to Abraham, who did not accept the seal of circumcision? And in any case, doesn’t he admit that outside the New Testament Church the sacrament of Baptism was not obligatory? If he says that Christ was baptized for the Old Testament Church, then who will put a limit on the mercy of God, who took upon himself the sins of the world? Baptism is obligatory, for it alone is the door to the New Testament Church, and in baptism alone a person expresses his consent to the redeeming action of grace. Therefore, in baptism alone he is saved.
However, we know that while we confess one baptism as the beginning of all sacraments, we do not reject the others, for, believing in the Church, we together confess the seven sacraments, i.e. Baptism, Eucharist, Ordination, Confirmation, Marriage, Repentance, Anointing. There are many other sacraments; for every deed done in faith, love and hope is inspired in man by the spirit of God and calls on the invisible grace of God. But the seven sacraments are actually performed not by one person worthy of God’s mercy, but by the entire Church in one person, albeit unworthy.
The Holy Church teaches about the sacrament of the Eucharist that in it the transmutation of bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ is truly accomplished. She does not reject the word “transubstantiation,” but does not attribute to it the material meaning that is attributed to it by the teachers of the fallen churches. The transmutation of bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ takes place in the Church and for the Church. Whether you accept the consecrated gifts, worship them, or think about them in faith, you actually receive the Body and Blood of Christ and worship them and think about them. Whether you accept unworthily, you really reject the Body and Blood of Christ; in any case, in faith or unbelief, you are sanctified or condemned by the Body and Blood of Christ. But this sacrament is in the Church and for the Church, and not for the outside world, not for fire, not for an unreasonable animal, not for corruption and not for a person who has not heard the law of Christ. In the Church itself (we are talking about the visible Church) for the elect and the rejected, the Holy Eucharist is not a simple remembrance of the sacrament of Redemption, not the presence of spiritual gifts in bread and wine, not only the spiritual perception of the Body and Blood of Christ, but the true Body and Blood. It was not in spirit alone that Christ desired to unite with the believers, but also in Body and Blood, so that the unity would be complete and not only spiritual, but also physical. Equally disgusting to the Church are senseless interpretations about the relationship of St. sacraments to the elements and irrational creatures (when the sacrament is instituted only for the Church), and spiritual pride, which despises the Body and Blood and rejects the bodily union with Christ. We will not be resurrected without a body, and no spirit except God can fully be called incorporeal. He who despises the body sins with pride of spirit.
The Holy Church teaches about the sacrament of Ordination that through it the grace that performs the sacraments is transmitted successively from the Apostles and Christ Himself: not as if no sacrament could be performed except by the laying on of hands (for every Christian can, through baptism, open the door to a baby, or a Jew, or a pagan Church), but in such a way that ordination contains all the fullness of grace given by Christ to His Church. The Church itself, which imparts to its members the fullness of spiritual gifts, has, by virtue of its God-given freedom, established differences in the degrees of ordination. Another gift to the presbyter who performs all the sacraments except ordination; another for the bishop performing the ordination; There is nothing higher than the episcopal gift. The sacrament gives the ordained one the great significance that, although unworthy, in performing his sacramental service, he no longer acts on his own behalf, but on behalf of the entire Church, i.e. from Christ living in her. If ordination had ceased, all sacraments would have ceased, except baptism, and the human race would have been torn away from grace, for the Church itself would then have testified that Christ had abandoned her.
The Church teaches about the sacrament of Confirmation that it conveys to the Christian the gifts of the Holy Spirit, confirming his faith and inner holiness. This sacrament is performed according to the will of St. The Church is served not only by bishops, but also by priests, although the chrism itself can only be consecrated by a bishop.
About the Sacrament of Marriage of St. The Church teaches that the grace of God, which blesses the continuity of generations in the temporary existence of the human race and the holy union of husband and wife to form a family, is a mysterious gift that imposes on those receiving the high duty of mutual love and spiritual holiness, through which sinful and material things are clothed in righteousness and purity . Why do the great teachers of the Church, the apostles, recognize the sacrament of Marriage even among the pagans; for by prohibiting concubinage, they affirm marriage between pagans and Christians, saying that the husband is sanctified by a faithful wife, and the wife by a faithful husband. This apostolic word does not mean that the unbeliever is saved by his union with the believer, but that marriage is sanctified, for it is not the person who is sanctified, but the husband and wife who are sanctified. A person is not saved through another person, but the husband or wife is sanctified in relation to the marriage itself. So, marriage is not bad even among idolaters; but they themselves do not know about God’s mercy given to them. The Holy Church, through its ordained ministers, recognizes and blesses the union of husband and wife, blessed by God. Therefore, marriage is not a ritual, but a true sacrament. It receives its fulfillment in St. Church, for in it only every holy thing is accomplished in its fullness.
St. teaches about the sacrament of Repentance. Church, that without it the human spirit cannot be cleansed from the slavery of sin and sinful pride, that it cannot itself resolve its own sins (for we only have the power to condemn ourselves, and not to justify) and that the Church alone has the power of justification, for in it the fullness of the spirit of Christ lives. We know that the Firstborn of the Kingdom of Heaven after the Savior entered the holiness of God by condemning himself, i.e. the sacrament of Repentance, saying: “for we have received what is worthy according to our deeds,” and having received permission from the One who can alone resolve and permits through the mouth of His Church.
St. teaches about the sacrament of the Blessing of Anointing. Church, that in it the blessing of all the feats accomplished by man on earth is carried out, the entire path he has traversed in faith and humility, and that in the consecration of oil the very divine judgment over the earthly composition of man is expressed, healing him when all healing means are powerless, or allowing death to destroy a corruptible body, no longer needed for the earthly Church and for the secret ways of God.
9. Faith and life in unity with the Church
The Church lives even on earth not an earthly, human life, but a divine, grace-filled life. Therefore, not only each of its members, but the whole of it solemnly calls itself holy. Its visible manifestation is contained in the sacraments; its inner life is in the gifts of the Holy Spirit, in faith, hope and love. Oppressed and persecuted by external enemies, more than once outraged and torn apart by the evil passions of her sons, she was and is preserved unshakably and unchangeably where the sacraments and spiritual holiness are invariably preserved - never distorted and never requiring correction. She lives not under the law of slavery, but under the law of freedom, does not recognize anyone’s authority over herself except her own, no one’s judgment except the court of faith (for reason does not comprehend her), and expresses her love, her faith and her hope in prayers and rituals , inspired in her by the spirit of truth and the grace of Christ. Therefore, its very rites, although unchangeable (for they were created by the spirit of freedom and can be changed by the judgment of the Church), can never and under no circumstances contain any, even the slightest, admixture of lies or false teaching. The rituals, which have not yet been changed, are obligatory for members of the Church, for in their observance is the joy of holy unity.
External unity is the unity manifested in the communion of the sacraments, while internal unity is the unity of the spirit. Many were saved (for example, some martyrs) without partaking of any of the sacraments of the Church (even Baptism), but no one is saved without partaking of the inner church holiness, its faith, hope and love; for it is not works that save, but faith. Faith is not twofold, but one - true and living. Therefore, those who say that faith alone does not save, but works are also needed, and those who say that faith saves except works are unreasonable: for if there are no works, then faith turns out to be dead; if it is dead, then it is not true, for in true faith there is Christ, truth and life; if not true, then it is false, i.e. external knowledge. Can a lie save? If it is true, then it is alive, i.e. doing things, and if she does things, then what other works are needed? The divinely inspired apostle says: “Show me by your works the faith in which you boast, just as I show my faith by my works.” Does he recognize two faiths? No, but it denounces unreasonable boasting. “You believe in God, but demons also believe.” Will he recognize faith in demons? No, but it exposes lies that boast of a quality that demons also have. “Just as a body without a soul is dead, so is faith without works.” Does he compare faith to the body and works to the spirit? No, for such a similarity would be incorrect, but the meaning of his words is clear. Just as a soulless body is no longer a person and cannot be called a person, but a corpse, so faith that does not create works cannot be called true faith, but false, i.e. external knowledge, fruitless and accessible even to demons. What is written simply must be read simply. Therefore, those who rely on the Apostle James to prove that there is a dead faith and a living faith, and that there are two faiths, do not comprehend the meaning of the apostle’s words, for the apostle testifies not for them, but against them. Likewise, when the great Apostle of the tongues says: “What is the use without love, even such faith as could move mountains?” - he does not affirm the possibility of such faith without love, but, presuming it, declares it useless. The Holy Scripture should not be read with the spirit of worldly wisdom, arguing about words, but with the spirit of God’s wisdom and spiritual simplicity. The Apostle, defining faith, says: “It is the unseen conviction and confirmation of those who have hope” (not only those expected or future); "if we hope, then we desire; if we desire, then we love; for you cannot desire what you do not love. Or do demons also have hope? - Therefore, there is only one faith, and when we ask: can true faith save except works? - - then we are asking an unreasonable question, or, better said, we are not asking anything; for true faith is living, doing works: it is faith in Christ and Christ in faith.”
Those who accepted dead faith as true faith, i.e. false or external knowledge, in their delusion they reached the point that out of this dead faith, without knowing it, they made the eighth sacrament. The Church has faith, but it is a living faith, for it also has holiness. When one person or even a bishop certainly has faith, what can we say? Does he have holiness? No, for he is notorious for crime and depravity. But faith abides in him, even if it is in a sinner. So, faith in it is the eighth sacrament, just as every sacrament is the action of the Church in a person, albeit an unworthy one. Through this sacrament what kind of faith abides in him? Alive? No, for he is a criminal, but faith is dead, i.e. external knowledge, accessible even to demons. And will this be the eighth sacrament? Thus, deviation from the truth is itself punished.
It must be understood that it is not faith, nor hope, nor love that saves (for will faith in reason, or hope in the world, or love for the flesh save?), but the object of faith will save. Do you believe in Christ? By Christ you will be saved in faith; if you believe in the Church, you will be saved by the Church; If you believe in the sacraments of Christ, you will be saved by them: for Christ is our God, in the Church and in the sacraments. The Old Testament Church was saved by faith in the future Redeemer. Abraham was saved by the same Christ as we are. He had Christ for hope, but we have joy. Therefore, he who desires baptism is baptized in desire; he who is baptized is baptized with joy. Both are saved by the same faith in baptism, but you say: “if faith in baptism saves, then why else be baptized.” If you do not receive baptism, what do you want? It is obvious that the faith of one who desires baptism must be completed in the acceptance of baptism itself—his own joy. Therefore, the house of Cornelius received the Holy Spirit without yet receiving baptism, and everyone was filled with the same Spirit after baptism. For God can glorify the sacrament of Baptism before it is performed, just as well as after it. Thus the difference between opus operans and opus operatum disappears. We know that many did not baptize infants and many did not allow them to receive the Holy Mysteries, many did not anoint them; but St. understands differently. A church that baptizes and anoints and admits infants to communion. She did not do it this way so that she would condemn unbaptized babies, whom angels always see the face of God, but she did it according to the spirit of love that lives in her, so that the first thought of the baby entering the mind would no longer be only a desire, but joy for what has already been accepted. sacraments. And do you know the joy of a baby who, apparently, has not yet entered into reason? Did not the yet unborn prophet rejoice in Christ? They took away baptism and confirmation and communion from infants. Gifts, those who, having inherited the blind wisdom of blind paganism, did not comprehend the greatness of the sacraments of God, demanded reason and benefit in it and, subordinating the teaching of the Church with a scholastic interpretation, do not even want to pray if they do not see a direct goal and benefit in prayer. But our law is not the law of slavery or mercenary labor for wages, but the law of adoption and free love.
We know that when one of us falls, he falls alone, but no one is saved alone. The one who is saved is saved in the Church as its member, and in unity with all its other members. Whether someone believes, he is in the communion of Faith; whether he loves, he is in the communion of Love; whether he prays, he is in the communion of Prayer. Therefore, no one can rely on his own prayer, and everyone, praying, asks the whole Church for intercession, not as if he doubted the intercession of the only intercessor of Christ, but in the confidence that the whole Church always prays for all its members. All the angels, the apostles, the martyrs and the forefathers, and the Supreme Mother of our Lord all pray for us; this holy unity is the true life of the Church. But if the Church, visible and invisible, prays incessantly, why ask her for prayers? Are we not asking for mercy from God and Christ, although His mercy precedes our prayer? That is precisely why we ask the Church for prayers, because we know that she gives the help of her intercession to those who do not ask, and gives to those who ask incomparably more than he asks: for in her is the fullness of the spirit of God. So we glorify everyone whom the Lord has glorified and glorifies, for how can we say that Christ lives in us if we do not become like Christ? Therefore, we glorify the saints, and angels, and prophets, but most of all, the purest Mother of Jesus, X. Not recognizing Her as either sinless by birth, or perfect (for Christ alone is sinless and perfect), but remembering that Her incomprehensible superiority over all of God’s creation witnessed by the angel and Elizabeth, and most of all by the Savior Himself, who appointed His great apostle and seer John to her filial obedience and service.
Just as each of us requires prayer from everyone, so he owes his prayers to everyone, the living and the dead, and even the unborn; for, asking that the world come into the mind of God (as we ask with the whole Church), we ask not for the present generations alone, but also for those that God will yet call into life. We pray for the living, that the grace of the Lord may be in them, and for the dead, that they may be worthy of the sight of God. We do not know about the average state of souls who were not accepted into the kingdom of God and were not condemned to torment, for we did not receive teaching about such a state from the apostles or from Christ, we do not recognize purgatory, i.e. purification of souls through suffering, from which you can buy off your own deeds or those of others; for the Church does not know about salvation by any external means or suffering other than that of Christ, nor about bargaining with God, by which one buys oneself out of suffering with a good deed.
All this paganism remains with the heirs of pagan wisdom, with people proud of the place, and the name, and the region, with the establishment of the eighth sacrament and a dead faith. We pray in the spirit of Love, knowing that no one will be saved except by the prayer of the entire Church in which Christ lives, knowing and trusting that, until the end of times has come, all members of the Church, living and deceased, are constantly being improved by mutual prayer. Much higher than us are the saints glorified by God; above all is the Church, which contains all the saints and prays for everyone, as can be seen in the divinely inspired liturgy. In her prayer our prayer is also heard, no matter how unworthy we are to be called sons of the Church. If, in worshiping and glorifying the saints, we ask that God may glorify them, we are not subject to the charge of pride, for we, who have received permission to call God Father, are also given permission to pray: “Hallowed be His name, His kingdom come, His will be done.” ". And if we are allowed to ask God, may He glorify His name, and do His will: who will forbid us to ask that He may glorify His saints and may He give rest to His elect? We do not pray for the non-elect, just as Christ did not pray for the whole world, but for those whom the Lord gave Him. Do not say: “What prayer will I devote to the living and the deceased, when my prayer is not enough for me?” For if you do not know how to pray, why would you pray for yourself? The spirit of Love prayed within you. Also, do not say: “Why do I pray to another when he himself prays and Christ Himself intercedes for him?” When you pray, the spirit of Love prays in you. Do not say: “The judgment of God cannot be changed,” for your prayer itself is in the ways of God, and God foresaw it. If you are a member of the Church, then your prayer is necessary for all its members. If the hand says that it does not need the blood of the rest of the body and will not give it its own blood, the hand will wither. So the Church needs you as long as you are in it; and if you refuse communication, you yourself will perish and will no longer be a member of the Church. The Church prays for everyone, and we all pray together for everyone, but our prayer must be true and a true expression of Love, and not a verbal ritual. Not knowing how to love everyone, we pray for those we love, and our prayer is unfeigned; We ask God that we may love everyone and pray for everyone without hypocrisy. The blood of the Church is mutual prayer, and its breath is the praise of God. Let us pray in the spirit of Love, and not of profit, in the spirit of filial freedom, and not of a mercenary law asking for payment. Anyone who asks, “What is the use of prayer?” recognizes himself as a slave. Above all is Love and Unity. Love is expressed in many ways: by deed, prayer and spiritual song. The Church blesses all these expressions of Love. If you cannot express your love for God in words, but express it with a visible image, i.e. icon, will the Church condemn you? No, but the condemner will condemn you, for he condemns your Love. We know that without an icon you can be saved and have been saved, and if your Love does not require an icon, you will be saved without an icon. By condemning your brother's love, you condemn yourself. If you, being a Christian, do not dare to listen without reverence to the spiritual song composed by your brother, how dare you look without reverence at the icon created by his Love, and not by artistry? The Lord Himself, who knows the secrets of hearts, has deigned more than once to glorify a prayer or a psalm: will you forbid Him to glorify an icon or the tombs of saints? You will say: “The Old Testament forbade the image of God,” but you, who understand her words (i.e., the Scriptures) more than the Holy Church, don’t you understand that it was not the image of God that the Old Testament forbade (for it allowed the cherubim, and the copper serpent, and scripture of the name of God), but forbade man to create God for himself in the likeness of any earthly or heavenly object, visible or even imaginary.
Whether you paint an icon to remind you of the invisible and unimaginable God, you are not creating an idol for yourself. If you imagine God and think that He is similar to your imagination, you set up an idol for yourself - this is the meaning of the Old Testament prohibition. An icon (a painted image of God) or an image of His saints, created by Love, is not prohibited by the spirit of truth. Do not say: “Christians will turn to idolatry,” for the spirit of Christ, which preserves the Church, is wiser than your calculating wisdom. - Therefore, you can be saved without an icon, but you should not reject the icon.
The Church accepts every ritual that expresses a spiritual desire for God, just as it accepts prayer and an icon, but above all rituals it recognizes St. A liturgy in which the fullness of its teaching and church spirit is expressed and is expressed not by some conventional signs or symbols, but by the word of life and truth, inspired from above. Only he understands the Church who understands the Liturgy. Above all is the unity of holiness and love.
10. Rescue
The Holy Church, confessing that it awaits the resurrection of the dead and the final judgment of all humanity, recognizes that the perfection of all its members will be fulfilled with the perfection of itself and that future life belongs not only to the spirit, but also to the resurrected body, for only God is a completely disembodied spirit . Therefore, she rejects the pride of those who preach the doctrine of incorporeality beyond the grave and, therefore, despise the body in which Christ was resurrected. This body will not be a carnal body, but will be like the physicality of angels, just as Christ Himself promised that we would become like the angels.
At the last judgment our justification in Christ will appear in its fullness, not only sanctification, but also justification: for no one has been sanctified and is not being fully sanctified, but justification is also needed. Christ does all good things in us, whether in faith, hope, or love; we only submit to His action, but no one completely submits. Therefore, we also need justification by Christ’s suffering and blood. Who else can talk about the merit of their own deeds or the reserve of merit and prayers? Only those who still live under the law of slavery. Christ does all good things in us, but we will never completely submit, no one, not even the saints, as the Savior Himself said. Grace creates everything, and grace is given freely and is given to everyone, so that no one can grumble, but not everyone is the same, not by predestination, but by foreknowledge, as the apostle says. A lesser talent was given to one in whom the Lord foresaw negligence, so that the rejection of a greater gift would not lead to greater condemnation. And we ourselves do not cultivate the gifted talents, but they are given to merchants, so that here too there could be no merit of ours, but only there would be no resistance to the growing grace. Thus the difference between “sufficient and effective” grace disappears. Everything is created by grace. If you submit to it, the Lord is perfected in you and perfects you; but do not be proud of your submission, for your submission is from grace. We never completely submit, therefore, in addition to sanctification, we also ask for justification.
Everything is accomplished in the execution of the general judgment, and the spirit of God, i.e. the spirit of Faith, Hope and Love will manifest itself in all its fullness, and every gift will reach its full perfection: Love will be above everything. One should not, however, think that the gifts of God, Faith and Hope, have perished (for they are inseparable from Love), but Love alone retains its name, and Faith, having come to perfection, will already be complete, internal knowledge and vision; Hope will be joy, for we know on earth that the stronger it is, the more joyful it is.
11. Unity of Orthodoxy
And by the will of God St. The Church, after the fall of many schisms and the Roman patriarchate, was preserved in the dioceses and Greek patriarchates, and only those communities can recognize themselves as fully Christian that maintain unity with the eastern patriarchates or enter into this unity. For just as God is one, so the Church is one, and there is no division in it.
Therefore, the Church is called Orthodox, or Eastern, or Greco-Russian. But all these names are temporary. The Church should not be accused of pride when it calls itself Orthodox, for it also calls itself Holy. When false teachings disappear, the name of Orthodoxy will become unnecessary, for there will be no false Christianity. When the Church spreads or the fullness of peoples enters it, then all local names will disappear, for the Church is not identified with any locality: but it calls itself One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic, knowing that the whole world belongs to it and that no locality does not have any special advantage, but only temporarily serves to glorify the name of God, according to His inscrutable will.
We cannot determine exactly which year this experience belongs to; but there is no doubt that it was already written in the forties. A. S. Khomyakov kept it in his briefcase for a long time, so no one knew about it; subsequently he had the idea to transfer it to Greek language and print it in Athens, but this assumption did not materialize. After the author’s death, in 1864, his work was published in the Orthodox Review under the title: “On the Church.” In the original manuscript, the title says “The Church is One,” and we retain this title. In any case, there is no doubt that this is the author’s first work on theology. It sets out in a strict, concise and at the same time simple and accessible form, everything that was later so brilliantly developed by him in his three polemical brochures, published abroad in French.
Etc. Published.
CCHURCH ONE
§ 1. The unity of the Church follows necessarily from the unity of God, for the Church is not a multitude of persons in their personal individuality, but the unity of God's grace living in the multitude of rational creatures submitting to grace. Grace is given to both those who are disobedient and those who do not use it (those who bury talent), but they are not in the Church. The unity of the Church is not imaginary; not allegorical, but true and essential, like the unity of numerous members in a living body.
The Church is one, despite its apparent division for a person still living on earth. —Only in relation to man can one recognize the division of the Church into visible and invisible; its unity is true and unconditional. He who lives on earth, who has completed his earthly journey, who was not created for the earthly journey (like the angels), who has not yet begun his earthly journey (future generations), are all united in one Church - in one grace of God: for the creation of God, which has not yet been revealed, is clear to Him, and God hears the prayers and knows the faith of those who have not yet been called by Him from non-existence to existence. - The Church, the Body of Christ, manifests itself and is fulfilled in time, without changing its essential unity and its inner, grace-filled life. - Therefore, when it is said: “The Church is visible and invisible,” it is said only in relation to man.
§ 2. The visible or earthly Church lives in perfect communion and unity with the entire body of the Church, of which Christ is the head. She has within herself the indwelling Christ and the grace of the Holy Spirit in all their vital fullness, but not in the fullness of their manifestations, for she does not create and knows completely, but as much as God pleases.
Since the earthly and visible Church is not yet the fullness and perfection of the entire Church, to whom the Lord appointed to appear at the final judgment of all creation: then she creates and knows only within her own limits, without judging the rest of humanity (according to the words of the Apostle Paul to the Corinthians) and only recognizing excommunicated, that is, those who do not belong to her, those who themselves are excommunicated from her. The rest of humanity, either alien to the Church, or connected with it by bonds that God did not deign to reveal to it, she leaves to the judgment of the great day. The earthly Church judges only itself by the grace of the Spirit and by the freedom granted to it through Christ, calling all the rest of humanity to unity and to the adoption of God in Christ, but does not pronounce judgment on those who do not hear its calls, knowing the command of its Savior and Head “not judge someone else's slave."
§ 3. Since the creation of the world, the earthly Church has remained continuously on earth and will remain until all the works of God are completed according to the promise given to it by God Himself. Its signs are: internal holiness, which does not allow any admixture of lies, for the spirit of truth lives in it, and external immutability, for its Guardian and Head Christ is immutable.
All the signs of the Church, both internal and external, are known only by itself and by those whom grace calls to be its members. For strangers and uncalled they are incomprehensible; for an external change in the rite appears to the uncalled for as a change in the Spirit itself, manifested in the rite (as, for example, during the transition of the Old Testament Church to the New Testament or when the rites and provisions of the church changed from the time of the apostles). - The Church and its members know with the inner knowledge of faith, the unity and immutability of their spirit, which is the Spirit of God. Those who are external and uncalled see and know the change in the external ritual with external knowledge that does not comprehend the internal, just as the very immutability of God seems to them to be changed in the changes of His creations. - Therefore, it was not and could not be
The Church would be changed, darkened or fallen away, for then it would be deprived of the spirit of truth. There could be no time in which she would have accepted lies into her bosom, in which the laity, presbyters and bishops would have submitted to regulations and teachings that disagreed with the teachings and spirit of Christ. Anyone who would say that there could be such an impoverishment of the spirit of Christ could exist in it does not know the Church and is alien to it. A private rebellion against false teaching with the preservation or acceptance of other false teachings is not and could not be the work of the Church, for in it, in its essence, there should always have been preachers and teachers, and martyrs professing not private truth mixed with lies, but complete truth and unalloyed. The Church knows not partly the truth and partly a lie, but the complete truth without any admixture of lies. - He who lives in the Church does not submit to false teaching, does not accept sacraments from a false teacher, knowing him to be false, and does not follow false rituals. And the Church itself does not make mistakes, for there is truth; she is not cunning and not cowardly, for she is holy. In the same way, the Church, due to its immutability, does not recognize as a lie what is O she has ever recognized as truth, and having declared by a general council and general consent the possibility of error in the teaching of some private person or some bishop or patriarch, *) she cannot admit that this private person, or bishop, or patriarch, his successors could not fall into error according to their teaching and that they were protected from error by some special grace. How would the earth be hallowed if the Church lost its holiness? And where would the truth be if its current verdict were contrary to yesterday’s? In the Church, that is, in its members, false teachings arise, but then the infected members fall away, constituting a heresy or schism and no longer desecrating the holiness of the Church.
*) Like, for example: Pope Honorius at the Council of Chalcedon. There is an error in the name of the cathedral: not in Chalcedon, but in the Third of Constantinople, 680. Ed.
§ 4. The Church is called one, holy, catholic(Catholic and Ecumenical) and apostolic; because it is one and holy, because it belongs to the whole world, and not to some locality; because all humanity and the whole earth are sacred by it, and not just one people or one country; because its essence lies in the harmony and unity of the spirit and life of all its members, who recognize it throughout the whole earth; because, finally, the Scripture and the apostolic teaching contain the entire fullness of her faith, her hopes and her love.
From this it follows that when any Christian society is called a local Church, such as Greek, Russian or Syrian, such a name means only a meeting of Church members living in such and such a country (Greece, Russia, Syria, etc.) and does not contain the assumption that one community of Christians could express church teaching or give a dogmatic interpretation to church teaching without the consent of other communities; still less is it supposed that any community or its pastor can prescribe his interpretation to others. The grace of faith is not separate from the holiness of life, and not a single community, and not a single shepherd can be recognized as the guardians of the whole faith, just as not a single shepherd, not a single community can be considered representatives of all the holiness of the Church. However, every Christian community, without arrogating to itself the right of dogmatic interpretation or teaching, has the full right to change its rituals, introduce new ones, without tempting other communities; but on the contrary, retreating from my opinion and submitting to their opinion, so that what O one thing is innocent and even commendable, but does not seem guilty to another, and so that brother does not lead brother into the sin of doubt and discord. Every Christian should cherish the unity of church rituals, for in it the unity of spirit and teaching is clearly manifested, even for the unenlightened; for the enlightened there is a source of living and Christian joy. Love is the crown and glory of the Church.
§ 5. The Spirit of God, living in the Church, ruling it and making it wise, appears in it in many ways: in Scripture, Tradition and in deeds; for the Church that does the works of God is the same Church that preserves Tradition and wrote Scripture. It is not individuals or multitudes of individuals in the Church who keep Tradition and write, but the Spirit of God, living in the totality of the Church. Therefore, it is impossible and should not be sought for the foundations of Tradition either in Scripture, or in the Tradition of evidence for Scripture, or in the matter of justification for Scripture and Tradition. Neither Scripture, nor Tradition, nor deeds are incomprehensible to anyone living outside the Church. Within the Church, to those who abid and participate in the spirit of the Church, their unity is obvious by the grace living in it.
Does not the matter precede Scripture and Tradition? Doesn't Tradition precede Scripture? Were the deeds of Noah, Abraham, the ancestors and representatives of the Old Testament Church not pleasing to God? And didn’t Tradition exist among the ancestors, starting from the first ancestor Adam? Did not Christ give freedom to men and verbal teaching before the apostles testified with their Scriptures to the work of redemption and the law of freedom? Therefore, there is no contradiction between Tradition, deeds and Scripture, but perfect agreement. You understand the Scripture, how long you keep the Tradition and how long you do things pleasing to the wisdom that lives in you. But the wisdom that lives in you is not given to you personally, but to you as a member of the Church, and is given to you in part, without completely destroying your personal lie; given to the Church in the fullness of truth and without any admixture of lies. Therefore, do not judge the Church, but obey her, so that wisdom is not taken away from you.
Anyone who seeks proof of church truth thereby either shows his doubt and excludes himself from the Church, or gives himself the appearance of doubting, and at the same time retains the hope of proving the truth and reaching it with his own power of reason, but the powers of reason do not reach the truth of God, and human powerlessness becomes obvious in the powerlessness of evidence. He who accepts one Scripture and founded the Church on it alone
thoroughly rejects the Church and hopes to create it again on his own; he who accepts only Tradition and works and degrades the importance of Scripture really also rejects the Church and becomes the judge of the Spirit of God who spoke through Scripture. Christian knowledge is not a matter of the torturing mind, but of grace-filled and living faith. Scripture is external, and Tradition is external, and deed is external; - the inner one in them is one Spirit of God. From Tradition alone, from Scripture or from deeds, a person can only draw external and incomplete knowledge, which may contain truth, because it starts from the truth, but at the same time it is necessarily false, because it is not complete. A believer knows the truth, but an unbeliever does not know it or knows it with external and imperfect knowledge. *) The Church does not prove itself either as Scripture, but as Tradition, or as a deed, but is testified by itself, just as the Spirit of God living in it is testified by itself in Scripture. The Church does not ask: which Scripture is true, which Tradition is true, which council is true and which work pleases God; for Christ knows his property, and the Church in which He lives knows with inner knowledge and cannot help but know its manifestations. The Holy Scripture is the collection of Old Testament and New Testament books that the Church recognizes as its own. But there are no limits to Scripture, for every Scripture that the Church recognizes as its own is Holy Scripture. Such, for the most part, are the confessions of the councils, and especially that of Nicene-Constantinople. Therefore, before our time there was Holy Scripture and, if God wills, there will still be Holy Scripture. But there has never been and never will be any contradiction in the Church, neither in Scripture, nor in Tradition, nor in
*) Therefore, one who is not sanctified by the spirit of grace may know the truth, just as we hope that we know it, but this knowledge itself is nothing more than a more or less firm assumption, like an opinion, a logical conviction, or external knowledge, which with internal knowledge and true faith, which sees the invisible, has nothing in common with faith. God alone knows whether we have faith.
fact, for in all three there is one and unchangeable Christ.
§ 6. Each action of the Church, guided by the Holy Spirit, the spirit of life and truth, represents the totality of all its gifts - faith, hope and love, for in Scripture not only faith is manifested, but also the hope of the Church and the love of God, and in a deed pleasing to God it is not manifested there is one love, but also faith, and hope, and grace, and in the living Tradition of the Church, which awaits its crown and fulfillment from God in Christ, not only hope is manifested, but also faith and love. The gifts of the Holy Spirit are inseparably united in one holy and living unity; but just as a God-pleasing deed most belongs to love, just as a God-pleasing prayer most belongs to hope, so a God-pleasing confession most belongs to faith, and the confession of the Church is rightly called a confession or Creed.
Therefore, one must understand that confession, and prayer, and deeds are nothing in themselves, but only as an external manifestation of the inner spirit. Therefore, neither the one who prays, nor the one who does deeds, nor the one who confesses the confession of the Church is pleasing to God, but the one who does and confesses and prays according to the Spirit of Christ living in him. Not everyone has the same faith or the same hope or the same love; for you can love the flesh, hope for peace, and confess lies; You can also love, hope and believe not completely, but partially; and the Church calls your hope hope, your love love, your faith faith; for you call them that, and she will not argue with you about the words; She herself calls love and faith and hope the gifts of the Holy Spirit and knows that they are true and perfect.
§ 7. The Holy Church confesses her faith with her entire life: the teaching that is inspired by the Holy Spirit, the sacraments in which the Holy Spirit acts, and the rituals that he controls. Primarily, the symbol of Nicene-Constantinople is called a confession of faith.
The symbol of Niceno-Constantinople contains a confession of church teaching, but in order to know that the hope of the Church is inseparable from its teaching, its hope is also used, for it says tea, and not just believe that it will happen.
The symbol of Niceno-Constantinople, the complete and perfect confession of the Church, from which it excludes nothing and to which it does not allow anything to be added, is the following: “I believe in one God the Father, Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, visible to all and invisible. And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the only begotten, who was born of the Father before all ages, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not created, consubstantial with the Father, by Whom all things were; for our sake, man and for our salvation came down from heaven, and became incarnate from the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, and became human; crucified for us under Pontius Pilate, and suffered and was buried, and rose again on the third day according to the Scriptures, and ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of the Father; And again the coming one will be judged with glory by the living and the dead, and His kingdom will have no end. And in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the life-giving, who proceeds from the Father, who is worshiped and glorified with the Father and the Son, who spoke the Prophets. Into one holy, catholic and apostolic Church. I confess one baptism for the remission of sins. I hope for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the next century. Amen".
This confession is understandable, just like the whole life of the spirit, only to a believer and a member of the Church. It contains secrets that are inaccessible to an inquisitive mind and revealed only to God Himself and to those to whom God reveals them for internal and living, and not dead and external knowledge. It contains the mystery of God's existence, not only in relation to His external action on creation, but also to His internal, eternal existence. Therefore, the pride of reason and illegal power, which, in opposition to the verdict of the entire Church (expressed at the Council of Ephesus), arrogated to itself the right to add its own private
clarifications and human guesses to the symbol of Nicene-Constantinople are in themselves a violation of the holiness and inviolability of the Church. Since the very pride of individual Churches, who dared to change the symbol of the entire Church without the consent of their brethren, was not inspired by the spirit of love and was a crime before God and St. Church: in the same way, their blind wisdom, which did not comprehend the mystery of God, was a distortion of faith, for faith will not be preserved where love has become impoverished. Therefore, adding words filioque contains some imaginary dogma, unknown to any of the godly writers or bishops or apostolic successors in the first centuries of the Church, nor said by Christ the Savior. As Christ said clearly, so clearly the Church confessed and confesses that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father, for not only the external, but also the internal mysteries of God were revealed by Christ and the spirit of faith to the holy apostles and the holy Church. When Theodoret called all those who profess the procession of the Holy Spirit from the Father and the Son blasphemers, the Church, which denounced many of his errors, in this case approved the verdict with eloquent silence. *) The Church does not deny that the Holy Spirit is sent not only by the Father, but also by the Son; the Church does not deny that the Holy Spirit is communicated to all rational creation not only from the Father, but also through the Son; but the Church rejects that the Holy Spirit had its original beginning in the Divinity itself, not only from the Father, but also from the Son. - He who has renounced the spirit of love and deprived himself of the gifts of grace can no longer have internal knowledge, that is, faith, but limits himself to external knowledge: therefore, he can only know external things, and not the internal secrets of God. Christian communities, separated from the Holy Church, could no longer use
*) The silence of the Church, which does not refute the writer, is significant; but this silence becomes a decisive sentence, when the Church does not reject the sentence pronounced against any teaching - for, without rejecting the sentence, she affirms it with all her power.
to know (since they could no longer comprehend in spirit) the procession of the Holy Spirit from the Father alone, in the Divinity itself; but they should have already confessed only the external message of the Spirit to all creation, a message carried out not only from the Father, but also through the Son. They preserved the external meaning of the law, but they lost the internal meaning and grace of God both in confession and in life.
§ 8. Having confessed her faith in the Trinitarian Deity, the Church confesses her faith in herself, because she recognizes herself as an instrument and vessel of divine grace and recognizes her works as the works of God, and not as the works of persons who apparently constitute her. In this confession she shows that knowledge of her existence is also a gift of grace, bestowed from above and accessible only to faith, and not to reason.
For what need would I have to say: I believe, if I knew? Isn't faith the conviction of the invisible? The visible Church is not a visible society of Christians, but the Spirit of God and the grace of the sacraments living in society. Therefore, the visible Church is visible only to the believer, for for the unbeliever the sacrament is only a ritual, and the Church is only a society. The believer, although with the eyes of the body and mind sees the Church only in its external manifestations, but recognizes it in spirit in the sacraments, and in prayer, and in godly deeds. Therefore, he does not confuse it with the society bearing the name of Christians, for not everyone who says: “Lord, Lord” really belongs to the chosen race and the seed of Abraham. By faith, a true Christian knows that the One, Holy, Catholic Apostolic Church will never disappear from the face of the earth until the final judgment of all creation, that she remains on earth invisible to the carnal eyes and the carnally wise mind in the visible society of Christians; just as she remains visible to the eyes of faith in the Church beyond the grave, invisible to the eyes of the body. By faith, Christ also knows that the earthly Church, although invisible, is always clothed in a visible image, that there was not, could not be and will not be the time in which
the sacraments would appear, holiness would dry up, teaching would deteriorate; and that he is not a Christian who cannot say: where from the very time of the apostles were the holy sacraments performed and are being performed, where was the teaching preserved and preserved, where were prayers sent and are sent to the throne of grace? The Holy Church confesses and believes that the sheep have never been deprived of their Divine Shepherd, and that the Church could never err through foolishness (for the mind of God lives in it), nor submit to false teachings out of cowardice (for the power of the Spirit of God lives in it).
Believing in the word of God's promise, which called all followers of Christ's teaching friends of Christ and His brothers and adopted by God in Him, the Holy Church confesses the ways in which it pleases God to bring fallen and dead humanity to reunification in the spirit of grace and life. Therefore, having remembered the prophets, representatives of the Old Testament age, she confesses the sacraments through which in the New Testament Church God sends down His grace to people, and she primarily confesses the sacrament of baptism for the cleansing of sins, as containing in itself the beginning of all others: for through baptism only a person enters into unity The Church that holds all other sacraments.
Confessing one baptism for the remission of sins as a sacrament prescribed by Christ himself for entry into the New Testament Church, the Church does not judge those who have not become partakers of it through baptism, for it knows and judges only itself. God alone knows the hardness of the heart, and He judges the weaknesses of the mind, in truth and mercy. Many were saved and received an inheritance without receiving the sacrament of baptism with water; for it was established only for the New Testament Church. He who rejects him rejects the entire Church and the Spirit of God living in her; but it was not bequeathed to humanity from time immemorial or prescribed to the Church of the Old Testament. For if anyone says: circumcision was the baptism of the Old Testament, he rejects baptism for women (for for them it is not
there was circumcision), and th O will he say about the forefathers from Adam to Abraham who did not receive the seal of circumcision? And in any case, doesn’t he admit that outside the New Testament Church the sacrament of Baptism was not obligatory? If he says that Christ was baptized for the Old Testament Church, then who will put a limit on the mercy of God, who took upon himself the sins of the world? Baptism is obligatory, for it alone is the door to the New Testament Church, and in Baptism alone a person expresses his consent to the redemptive action of grace. Therefore, in baptism alone he is saved.
However, we know that, while confessing one baptism as the beginning of all sacraments, we do not reject others; for, believing in the Church, we together confess the seven sacraments, i.e. baptism, Eucharist, ordination, confirmation, marriage, repentance, consecration of oil. There are many other sacraments; for every deed done in faith, love and hope is inspired in man by the Spirit of God and calls on the invisible grace of God. But the seven sacraments are actually performed not by one person worthy of God’s mercy, but by the entire Church in one person, albeit unworthy.
The Holy Church teaches about the sacrament of the Eucharist that in it the transmutation of bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ is truly accomplished. She doesn't reject even a word transubstantiation, but does not attribute to it the material meaning that is attributed to it by the teachers of the fallen churches. The transfusion of bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ takes place in the Church and for the Church. Whether you accept the consecrated gifts, or worship them, or think about them in faith, you really receive the body and blood of Christ and worship them and think about them. If you accept unworthily, you really reject the body and blood of Christ; in any case, whether in faith or unbelief, you are sanctified or condemned by the body and blood of Christ. But this sacrament is in the Church and for the Church, and not for the outside world, not for fire, not for an unreasonable animal, not for corruption
and not for a person who has not heard the law of Christ. In the Church itself (we are talking about the visible Church) for the elect and the rejected, the Holy Eucharist is not a simple remembrance of the sacrament of redemption, not the presence of spiritual gifts in bread and wine, not only a spiritual perception of the body and blood of Christ, but the true body and blood. It was not in spirit alone that Christ was pleased to unite with the believer, but also in body and blood, so that the unity would be complete and not only spiritual, but also physical. Equally disgusting to the Church are senseless interpretations about the relationship of St. sacraments to the elements and irrational creatures (when the sacrament is instituted only for the Church), and spiritual pride, which despises body and blood and rejects bodily union with Christ. We will not be resurrected without a body, and no spirit other than God can fully be called incorporeal. He who despises the body sins with pride of spirit.
The Holy Church teaches about the sacrament of ordination that through it the grace that performs the sacraments is transmitted successively from the apostles and Christ himself: not as if no sacrament could be performed except by the laying on of hands (for every Christian can, through baptism, open the door to a baby, either a Jew or a pagan). Church), but in such a way that ordination contains all the fullness of grace given by Christ to his Church. The Church itself, which communicates to its members the fullness of spiritual gifts, has appointed, by virtue of its God-given freedom, differences in degrees of ordination. There is another gift for the presbyter who performs all the sacraments except ordination, and another for the bishop who performs ordination; There is nothing higher than the episcopal gift. - The sacrament gives the ordained one the great significance that, although unworthy, in performing his sacramental service, he no longer acts on his own behalf, but on behalf of the entire Church, that is, from Christ living in it. If ordination were to cease, all sacraments except baptism would cease, and the human race would be cut off
from grace: for the Church itself would then have testified that Christ had abandoned her.
The Church teaches about the sacrament of confirmation that in it the gifts of the Holy Spirit are transmitted to the Christian, confirming his faith and inner holiness; This sacrament is performed according to the will of the saint. The Church not only by bishops, but also by presbyters, although the world itself can only be blessed by a bishop.
The Holy Church teaches about the sacrament of marriage that the grace of God, which blesses the continuity of generations in the temporary existence of the human race and the holy union of husband and wife for the formation of a family, is a mysterious gift, imposing on those who receive it the high duty of mutual love and spiritual holiness, through which sinful and material clothed with righteousness and purity. Why do the great teachers of the Church, the apostles, recognize the sacrament of marriage even among pagans; for by prohibiting concubinage, they affirm marriage between pagans and Christians, saying that the husband is sanctified by a faithful wife, and the wife by a faithful husband. This apostolic word does not mean that the unbeliever is saved by his union with the believer, but that marriage is sanctified: for it is not the person who is sanctified, but the husband and wife who are sanctified. A person is not saved through another person, but the husband or wife is sanctified in relation to the marriage itself. So, marriage is not bad even among idolaters; but they themselves do not know about the mercy of God given to them. The Holy Church, through its ordained ministers, recognizes and blesses the union of husband and wife, blessed by God. Therefore, marriage is not a ritual, but a true sacrament. It receives its fulfillment in the holy Church, for in it only every holy thing is accomplished in its fullness.
The Holy Church teaches about the sacrament of repentance that without it the human spirit cannot be cleansed from the slavery of sin and sinful pride; that he himself cannot resolve his own sins (for we have the power only to condemn ourselves, and not to justify) and that only
The Church has the power of justification because the fullness of the spirit of Christ lives in it. We know that the firstborn of the Kingdom of Heaven after the Savior entered the shrine of God by condemnation of himself, that is, by the sacrament of repentance, saying: “For we have received what is worthy according to our deeds,” and having received permission from Him who alone can and does allow through the mouth of His Church. .
The Holy Church teaches about the sacrament of the Blessing of Anointing, that in it the blessing of all the feats accomplished by man on earth, and the entire path he has traversed in faith and humility is accomplished, and that in the Blessing of Unction the very divine judgment over the earthly composition of man is expressed, healing him when all means healing are powerless, or allowing death to destroy the corruptible body, no longer unnecessary for the earthly Church and for the secret ways of God.
§ 9. The Church lives even on earth not with an earthly, human life, but with a divine and grace-filled life. Therefore, not only each of its members, but the whole of it solemnly calls itself Holy. Its visible manifestation is contained in the sacraments; its inner life is in the gifts of the Holy Spirit, in faith, hope and love. Oppressed and persecuted by external enemies, more than once outraged and torn apart by the evil passions of her sons, she was and is preserved unshakably and unchangeably where the sacraments and spiritual holiness are invariably kept - never distorted and never requiring correction. She lives not under the law of slavery, but under the law of freedom, does not recognize anyone’s authority over herself except her own, no one’s judgment except the court of faith (for reason does not comprehend her), and expresses her love, her faith and her hope in prayers and rituals , inspired in her by the spirit of truth and the grace of Christ. Therefore, its very rites, although not unchangeable (for they were created by the spirit of freedom and can be changed by the judgment of the Church), can never and under no circumstances contain any, even the slightest, admixture of lies or false teaching. The rituals, still unchanged, are obligatory
are vital for members of the Church, for in their observance is the joy of holy unity.
External unity is the unity manifested in the communion of the sacrament; inner unity is the unity of the spirit. Many were saved (for example, some martyrs) without partaking of any of the sacraments of the Church (even baptism), but no one is saved without partaking of the inner holiness of the Church, its faith, hope and love; for it is not works that save, but faith. Faith is not twofold, but one - true and living. Therefore, those who say that faith alone does not save, but works are still needed, and those who say that faith saves apart from works are also unreasonable: for if there are no works, then faith turns out to be dead; if it is dead, then it is not true, for in true faith Christ, truth and life, but if not true, then it is false, i.e. external knowledge. Can a lie save you? If it is true, then it is living, that is, it does deeds, and if it does deeds, then what other deeds are needed? The divinely inspired apostle says: “Show me by your works the faith in which you boast, just as I show my faith by my works.” Does he recognize two faiths? No, but it denounces unreasonable boasting. “You believe in God, but demons also believe.” Does he admit faith in demons? No, but it exposes a lie that boasts of a quality that demons also have. “Just as a body without a soul is dead, so is faith without works.” Does he compare faith to the body, and the body to the spirit? No, for such a similarity would be incorrect, but the meaning of his words is clear. As a soulless body, it is no longer a person and cannot be called a person, but a corpse; Likewise, faith that does not do works cannot be called true faith, but false, that is, external knowledge, fruitless and accessible even to demons. What is written simply must be read simply. Therefore, those who rely on the Apostle James to prove that there is a dead faith and a living faith, and that there are two faiths, do not comprehend the meaning of the apostle’s words, for the apostle testifies not for them, but against them. Also, when the great apostle of tongues
says: “What is the use without love, even faith that could move mountains?” he does not affirm the possibility of such faith without love; but, presuming it, declares it useless. The Holy Scripture should not be read with the spirit of worldly wisdom, arguing about words, but with the spirit of God’s wisdom and spiritual simplicity. The Apostle, defining faith, says: “It is the unseen conviction and confirmation of those who have hope” (not only those expected or future); if we hope, we desire; if we desire, then we love: for you cannot desire what you do not love. Or do demons also have hope? - Therefore, there is only one faith, and when we ask: “Can true faith save apart from works?”, we are asking an unreasonable question, or, better said, we are not asking anything; for true faith is living, doing works: it is faith in Christ and Christ in faith.
Those who accepted true dead faith as faith, that is, false or external knowledge, in their error reached the point that out of this dead faith, without knowing it, they made the eighth sacrament. The Church has faith, but it is a living faith, for it also has holiness. When one person, or one bishop, certainly has faith, what should we say? Does he have holiness? No, for he is notorious for crime and depravity. But faith abides in him, even if it is in a sinner. So, faith in it is the eighth sacrament, just as every sacrament is an action of the Church in a person, albeit an unworthy one. Through this sacrament what kind of faith abides in him? Alive? No, for he is a criminal; but dead faith, that is, external knowledge, accessible even to demons. And will this be the eighth sacrament? Thus, deviation from the truth is itself punished. *)
*) Just as infallibility in a dead faith is in itself a lie, so its deadness is expressed by the fact that this infallibility is connected with objects dead nature, with a place of residence, or with dead walls, or with diocesan succession, or with the throne. But we know who sat on the throne of Moses during Christ’s suffering.
It must be understood that it is not faith, nor hope, nor love that saves (for will faith in reason, or hope in the world, or love for the flesh save?), but it is the object of faith that saves. Do you believe in Christ? By Christ you are saved in faith; if you believe in the Church, you are saved by the Church; If you believe in the sacraments of Christ, you are saved by them: for Christ is our God in the Church and in the sacraments. The Old Testament Church was saved by faith in the future Redeemer. Abraham was saved by the same Christ as we are. He had Christ for hope, but we have joy. Therefore, he who desires Baptism is baptized in desire; he who receives Baptism is baptized with joy. Both are saved by the same faith in baptism; but you say: “If faith in baptism saves, why else be baptized?” If you do not receive baptism, what do you want? It is obvious that faith that desires baptism will be completed in the acceptance of baptism itself - its joy. Therefore, the house of Cornelius received the Holy Spirit without yet receiving baptism, and the priest was filled with the same Spirit after baptism. For God can glorify the sacrament of baptism before it is performed, just as well as after it. So the difference between opus operans and opus operatum . We know that many did not baptize infants and many did not allow them to receive Holy Communion. mysteries, and many did not anoint them; but St. understands differently. A church that baptizes and anoints and admits infants to communion. She did not do this so that she would condemn unbaptized infants, whom the angels always see the face of God; but she put this in accordance with the spirit of love that lives in her, so that the first thought of the baby entering the mind would no longer be only a desire, but joy for the sacraments already accepted. And do you know the joy of a baby who apparently has not yet entered into reason? Did not the yet unborn prophet rejoice in Christ? They took away baptism and confirmation and communion from infants. gifts are those who, having inherited the blind wisdom of blind paganism, did not comprehend the greatness of the mysteries of God, demanded a reason for everything
We are interested in benefits and, subordinating the teachings of the Church to scholastic interpretations, do not even want to pray if they do not see a direct goal and benefit in prayer. But our law is not the law of slavery or mercenary labor for wages, but the law of adoption and free love.
We know that when one of us falls, he falls alone, but no one is saved alone. The one who is saved is saved in the Church as a member of it and in unity with all its other members. Whether anyone believes, he is in the fellowship of faith; whether he loves, he is in the communion of love; whether he prays, he is in the communion of prayer. Therefore, no one can rely on his own prayer, and everyone, praying, asks the whole Church for intercession, not as if he doubted the intercession of the only intercessor of Christ, but in the confidence that the whole Church always prays for all its members. All the angels, the apostles, the martyrs, the forefathers, and the Supreme Mother of our Lord all pray for us, and this holy unity is the true life of the Church. But if the Church, visible and invisible, prays incessantly, why ask her for prayers? Do we not ask for mercy from God and Christ, although His mercy precedes our prayer? That is precisely why we ask the Church for prayers, because we know that she gives the help of her intercession to those who do not ask, and gives to those who ask incomparably more than he asks: for in her is the fullness of the spirit of God. So we glorify everyone whom the Lord has glorified and glorifies: for how can we say that Christ lives in us if we are not like Christ? Therefore, we glorify the saints and angels and prophets, but most of all the pure Mother of the Lord Jesus, not recognizing Her as either sinless by birth or perfect (for Christ alone is sinless and perfect), but remembering that Her incomprehensible superiority over all of God’s creation is witnessed by an angel and Elizabeth and most of all, the Savior Himself, who appointed His great apostle and seer John to Her filial obedience and service.
Just as each of us demands prayer from everyone, so he owes his prayers to everyone, the living and the dead and even the unborn, for when we ask that peace come into the mind of God (as we ask with the whole Church), we do not ask for only real generations, but also for those that God will yet bring to life. We pray for the living, that the grace of the Lord may be upon them, and for the dead, that they may be worthy of the sight of God. We do not know about the average state of souls who were not accepted into the Kingdom of God and were not condemned to torment, for we did not receive teaching about such a state from the apostles or from Christ; We do not recognize purgatory, that is, the purification of souls through suffering, from which one can buy off one’s own deeds or those of others: for the Church does not know about salvation by any external means, nor through suffering (except for Christ’s), nor about bargaining with God, redeeming oneself from suffering with a good deed.
All this paganism remains with the heirs of pagan wisdom, with people proud of the place and name and region, with the founders of the eighth sacrament of the dead faith. We pray in the spirit of love, knowing that no one will be saved except through the prayer of the entire Church in which Christ lives, knowing and trusting that until the end of times has come, all members of the Church, living and deceased, are constantly being improved by mutual prayer. Much higher than us are the saints glorified by God; above all St. The Church that contains all the saints and prays for all, as seen in the divinely inspired liturgy. In her prayer our prayer is also heard, no matter how unworthy we are to be called sons of the Church. If, in worshiping and glorifying the saints, we ask that God may glorify them, we are not subject to the charge of pride; for we who have received permission to call God Father are also given permission to pray: “Hallowed be His name, His kingdom come, His will be done.” And if we are allowed to ask God, may He glorify His name and do His will: who will forbid us to ask,
may He glorify His saints and may He give rest to His elect. We do not pray for the non-elect, just as Christ prayed not for the whole world, but for those whom the Lord gave Him. Do not say: “Which prayer will I devote to the living or the deceased, when my prayer is not enough for me?” For if you do not know how to pray, why would you pray for yourself? The spirit of love prays within you. Also, do not say: “Why is my prayer to another when he himself prays and Christ himself intercedes for him?” When you pray, the spirit of love prays within you. Do not say: “The judgment of God cannot be changed,” for your prayer itself is in the ways of God, and God foresaw it. If you are a member of the Church, then your prayer is necessary for all its members. If the hand says that it does not need the blood of the rest of the body and will not give it its own blood, the hand will wither. Likewise, the Church needs you as long as you are in it, and if you refuse communication, you yourself will perish and will no longer be a member of the Church. The Church prays for everyone, and we all pray together for everyone, but our prayer must be true and a true expression of love, and not a verbal ritual. Not knowing how to love everyone, we pray for those we love, and our prayer is unfeigned; We ask God that we may love everyone and pray for everyone without hypocrisy. The blood of the Church is mutual prayer, and its breath is the praise of God. We pray in the spirit of love, and not of profit, in the spirit of filial freedom, and not of a mercenary law asking for payment. Anyone who asks: “What is the use of prayer?” - admits himself to be a slave. True prayer is true love.
Love and unity are supreme; love is expressed in a variety of ways: by deed, prayer and spiritual song. The Church blesses all these expressions of love. If you cannot express your love for God in words, but express it with a visible image, that is, an icon, will the Church condemn you? No, but he will condemn the one who condemns you, for he condemns your love. We know that even without an icon you can be saved and have been saved, and if love
yours does not require an icon, you will be saved without an icon, but if your brother’s love requires an icon, you, condemning your brother’s love, condemn yourself, and if you, being a Christian, do not dare to listen without reverence to a prayer or spiritual song composed by your brother, how Do you dare to look without reverence at an icon created by his love, and not by artistry. The Lord Himself, who knows the secrets of hearts, has deigned more than once to glorify a prayer or a psalm: will you forbid Him to glorify an icon or the tombs of saints? You will say: “The Old Testament forbade the image of God”; but you, who understand her words (i.e., Scripture) more than the Holy Church, don’t you understand that the Old Testament did not prohibit the image of God, for it allowed the cherubim, and the copper serpent, and the Scripture of the name of God, but it forbade man to create God for himself like any object, earthly or heavenly, visible or even imaginary.
Whether you paint an icon to remind you of the invisible and unimaginable God, you are not creating an idol for yourself. If you imagine God and think that He is like your imagination, you set up an idol for yourself - this is the meaning of the Old Testament prohibition. An icon (the name of God written in paint) or an image of His saints, created out of love, is not prohibited by the spirit of truth. Do not say: “Christians will turn to idolatry,” for the spirit of Christ, which preserves the Church, is wiser than your calculating wisdom. Therefore, you can be saved without an icon, but you should not reject icons.
The Church accepts every ritual that expresses a spiritual desire for God, just as it accepts prayer and an icon, but above all rituals it recognizes St. liturgy, in which the fullness of the teaching and spirit of the Church is expressed, and is expressed not by some conventional signs or symbols, but by the word of life and truth, inspired from above. Only he understands the Church who understands the liturgy. Above all is the unity of holiness and love.
§ 10. The Holy Church, confessing that it expects the resurrection of the dead and the final judgment of all humanity, recognizes that the perfection of all its members will be fulfilled with the perfection of itself and that future life belongs not only to the spirit, but also to the spiritual body; for God alone is a completely incorporeal spirit. Therefore, she rejects the pride of those who preach the doctrine of incorporeality beyond the grave and, therefore, despise the body in which Christ was resurrected. This body will not be a carnal body, but will be like the physicality of angels, just as Christ himself said that we will be like angels.
At the last judgment our justification in Christ will appear in its fullness, not only sanctification, but also justification: for no one has been sanctified and is not being fully sanctified, but justification is also needed. Christ does all good things in us, whether in faith, hope, or love; we only submit to His action; but no one completely submits. Therefore, we also need justification through Christ’s suffering and blood. Who else can talk about the merit of their own deeds or the reserve of merit and prayers? Only those who still live under the law of slavery. Christ does all good things in us; we will never completely submit, no one, not even the saints, as the Savior himself said. Grace creates everything, and grace is given freely and is given to everyone, so that no one can grumble, but not everyone is the same, not by predestination, but by foreknowledge, as the apostle says. A lesser talent was given to the one in whom the Master foresaw negligence, so that the rejection of a greater gift would not lead to greater condemnation. And we ourselves do not cultivate the gifted talents, but they are given to merchants, so that here too there could be no merit of ours, but not resistance to the growing grace. Thus the difference between “sufficient and effective” grace disappears. Everything is created by grace. If you submit to it, the Lord is perfected in you and perfects you; but do not be proud of your submission, for your submission is from grace. Never quite
We submit, therefore, in addition to sanctification, we also ask for justification.
Everything is accomplished in the completion of the general judgment, and the Spirit of God, that is, the spirit of faith, hope and love, will manifest itself in all its fullness, and every gift will reach its full perfection: - over everything there will be love. One should not, however, think that the gifts of God, faith and hope, have perished (for they are inseparable from love), but love alone retains its name, and faith, having come to perfection, will already be complete inner knowledge and vision; hope will be joy, for we know on earth that the stronger it is, the more joyful it is.
§eleven. By the will of God, St. The Church, after the fall of many schisms and the Roman patriarchate, was preserved in the dioceses and patriarchates of Greece, and only those communities can recognize themselves as fully Christian that maintain unity with the eastern patriarchates or enter into this unity. For there is one God, and one Church, and in it there is neither discord nor disagreement.
Therefore, the Church is called Orthodox or Eastern, or Greco-Russian; but all these names are only temporary names. The Church should not be accused of pride, because it calls itself Orthodox, for it also calls itself Holy. When false teachings disappear, the name Orthodoxy will not be needed, for there will be no false Christianity. When the Church spreads or the fullness of nations enters into it, then all local names will disappear; for the Church is not associated with any locality and does not preserve the inheritance of pagan pride; but she calls herself One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic, knowing that the whole world belongs to her and that no locality has any special significance, but can only temporarily serve and does serve to glorify the name of God, according to His inscrutable will.
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