The emergence of Orthodoxy Historically, it so happened that on the territory of Russia, for the most part, several Great World Religions found their place and from time immemorial peacefully coexisted. Paying tribute to other Religions, I want to draw your attention to Orthodoxy as the main religion of Russia.
Christianity(emerged in Palestine in the 1st century AD from Judaism and received new development after the break with Judaism in the 2nd century) - one of the three main world religions (along with Buddhism And Islam).

During the formation Christianity broke up into three main branches :
- Catholicism ,
- Orthodoxy ,
- Protestantism ,
each of which began to form its own ideology, which practically did not coincide with other branches.

ORTHODOXY(which means to correctly glorify God) is one of the directions of Christianity, which became isolated and organizationally formed in the 11th century as a result of the division of churches. The split occurred in the period of time from the 60s. 9th century until the 50s XI century As a result of the schism in the eastern part of the former Roman Empire, a confession arose, which in Greek began to be called orthodoxy (from the words “orthos” - “straight”, “correct” and “doxos” - “opinion”, “judgment”, “teaching”) , and in Russian-language theology - Orthodoxy, and in the western part - a confession that its followers called Catholicism (from the Greek “catolikos” - “universal”, “ecumenical”). Orthodoxy arose on the territory of the Byzantine Empire. Initially, it did not have a church center, since the church power of Byzantium was concentrated in the hands of four patriarchs: Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem. As the Byzantine Empire collapsed, each of the ruling patriarchs headed an independent (autocephalous) Orthodox Church. Subsequently, autocephalous and autonomous churches arose in other countries, mainly in the Middle East and Eastern Europe.

Orthodoxy is characterized by a complex, detailed cult. The most important postulates of the Orthodox faith are the dogmas of the trinity of God, the incarnation of God, the atonement, the resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ. It is believed that dogmas are not subject to change and clarification, not only in content, but also in form.
The religious basis of Orthodoxy is Holy Scripture (Bible) And Sacred Tradition .

The clergy in Orthodoxy is divided into white (married parish priests) and black (monastics who take a vow of celibacy). There are male and female monasteries. Only a monk can become a bishop. Currently in Orthodoxy there are distinguished

• Local Churches
• Constantinople
• Alexandria
• Antioch
• Jerusalem
• Georgian
• Serbian
• Romanian
• Bulgarian
• Cyprus
• Hellasic
• Albanian
• Polish
• Czecho-Slovak
• American
• Japanese
• Chinese

Orthodoxy in Rus'

The history of the Orthodox Church in Russia remains to this day one of the least developed areas of Russian historiography.

The history of the Russian Orthodox Church was not unambiguous: it was contradictory, replete with internal conflicts, reflecting social contradictions along its entire path.

The introduction of Christianity in Rus' was a natural phenomenon for the reason that in the 8th - 9th centuries. The early feudal class system begins to emerge.

Major events in history Russian Orthodoxy. In the history of Russian Orthodoxy, nine main events, nine main historical milestones can be distinguished. Here's what they look like in chronological order.

Second milestone - 1448. This year, the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) became autocephalous. Until this year, the Russian Orthodox Church was an integral part of the Patriarchate of Constantinople. Autocephaly (from the Greek words “auto” - “himself” and “mullet” - “head”) meant complete independence. This year, Grand Duke Vasily Vasilyevich, nicknamed the Dark (in 1446 he was blinded by his rivals in the inter-feudal struggle), ordered not to accept a metropolitan from the Greeks, but to choose his own metropolitan at a local council. At a church council in Moscow in 1448, Bishop Jonah of Ryazan was elected the first metropolitan of the autocephalous church. The Patriarch of Constantinople recognized the autocephaly of the Russian Orthodox Church. After the fall of the Byzantine Empire (1553), after the capture of Constantinople by the Turks, the Russian Orthodox Church, being the largest and most significant among the Orthodox Churches, became a natural stronghold Ecumenical Orthodoxy. And to this day the Russian Orthodox Church claims to be the “third Rome”.

Fourth milestone - 1656. This year the Moscow Local Council anathematized the Old Believers. This decision of the council revealed the existence of a schism in the church. A denomination separated from the church, which began to be called the Old Believers. In its further development, the Old Believers turned into a set of confessions. The main reason The split, according to historians, was a social contradiction in Russia at that time. Representatives of those social strata of the population who were dissatisfied with their position became Old Believers. Firstly, many peasants became Old Believers, who were finally enslaved at the end of the 16th century, having abolished the right to transfer to another feudal lord on the so-called “St. George’s Day”. Secondly, part of the merchants joined the Old Believer movement, because the tsar and feudal lords, through their economic policy of supporting foreign merchants, prevented their own, Russian merchants, from developing trade. And finally, some well-born boyars, dissatisfied with the loss of a number of their privileges, also joined the Old Believers. The reason for the schism was the church reform, which was carried out by the highest clergy under the leadership of Patriarch Nikon. In particular, the reform provided for the replacement of some old rituals with new ones: instead of two-fingered, three-fingered, instead of bowing to the ground during worship, waist bows, instead of a procession around the temple in the direction of the sun, a procession against the sun, etc. The breakaway religious movement advocated the preservation of the old rituals, this explains its Name.

Fifth milestone - 1667. The Moscow Local Council of 1667 found Patriarch Nikon guilty of blaspheming Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, deprived him of his rank (declared him a simple monk) and sentenced him to exile in a monastery. At the same time, the cathedral anathematized the Old Believers for the second time. The council was held with the participation of the patriarchs of Alexandria and Antioch.

Seventh milestone - 1917. This year the patriarchate was restored in Russia. On August 15, 1917, for the first time after a break of more than two centuries, a council was convened in Moscow to elect a patriarch. On October 31 (November 13, new style), the council elected three candidates for patriarchs. On November 5 (18), in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, the elder monk Alexy drew lots from the casket. The lot fell on Metropolitan Tikhon of Moscow. At the same time, the Church experienced severe persecution from the Soviet regime and suffered a number of schisms. On January 20, 1918, the Council of People's Commissars adopted the Decree on Freedom of Conscience, which “separated the church from the state.” Each person received the right “to profess any religion or not to profess any.” Any infringement of rights on the basis of faith was prohibited. The decree also “separated the school from the church.” The teaching of the Law of God was prohibited in schools. After October, Patriarch Tikhon at first made sharp denunciations of Soviet power, but in 1919 he took a more restrained position, calling on the clergy not to participate in the political struggle. Nevertheless, about 10 thousand representatives of the Orthodox clergy were among the victims of the civil war. The Bolsheviks shot priests who served thanksgiving services after the fall of local Soviet power. Some priests accepted Soviet power in 1921-1922. began the "renovationism" movement. The part that did not accept this movement and did not have time or did not want to emigrate, went underground and formed the so-called “catacomb church.” In 1923, at a local council of renovationist communities, programs for the radical renewal of the Russian Orthodox Church were considered. At the council, Patriarch Tikhon was deposed and full support for Soviet power was proclaimed. Patriarch Tikhon anathematized the Renovationists. In 1924 Supreme church council transformed into a Renovation Synod headed by the Metropolitan. Some of the clergy and believers who found themselves in exile formed the so-called “Russian Orthodox Church Abroad.” Until 1928, the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad maintained close contacts with the Russian Orthodox Church, but subsequently these contacts were discontinued. In the 1930s, the church was on the verge of extinction. Only in 1943 did its slow revival as a Patriarchate begin. In total, during the war years, the church collected over 300 million rubles for military needs. Many priests fought in partisan detachments and the army and were awarded military orders. During the long blockade of Leningrad, eight Orthodox churches. After the death of I. Stalin, the authorities’ policy towards the church again became tougher. In the summer of 1954, a decision was made by the Party Central Committee to intensify anti-religious propaganda. Nikita Khrushchev made a sharp speech against religion and the church at the same time.

Ortodoxy) is a Christian doctrine that developed in Byzantium as the Eastern Christian Church, in contrast to Catholicism that arose in the West. Historically, P. arose in 395 - with the division of the Roman Empire into Western and Eastern. Its theological foundations were determined in the 9th-11th centuries. in Byzantium. It finally emerged as an independent church in 1034 with the beginning of the division of the Christian Church into Catholic and Orthodox. It has existed in Rus' since the end of the 10th century. Since 1448 - Russian Orthodox Church.

Excellent definition

Incomplete definition ↓

ORTHODOXY

tracing paper from Greek orthodoxia, lit. “correct judgment”) is the most ancient movement in Christianity, which took shape in the east of the Roman Empire during the first millennium AD. e. under the leadership and with the leading role of the department of the Bishop of Constantinople - New Rome, which professes the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed, the dogmas of the Seven Ecumenical Councils and the patristic tradition.

Goes back to the first Christian community, founded by Jesus Christ himself and consisting of the apostles. Orthodoxy, like Catholicism, which fell away from it at the turn of the first and second millennia, recognizes the Holy Scriptures (the Bible, which includes the Old and New Testament s) and Sacred Tradition, which represents the living history of the first centuries of the church: the works of the Holy Fathers and the decisions adopted by the seven Ecumenical Councils.

The Creed states:

1. Faith in God the Father Almighty, Creator of Heaven and Earth.

2. Faith in Jesus Christ as the Son of God, born of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, crucified and risen and coming to judge both the living and the dead in the Kingdom of Heaven, which will have no end.

3. Faith in the Holy Spirit, who comes from God the Father, works miracles, and is sent to the prophets.

1. Faith in the Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church, created by Christ himself.

2. I believe in the resurrection of all the dead to eternal life.

The Creed was adopted at the Ecumenical Council in Nicaea in 325 AD. e. The most important dogmas of Orthodoxy also affirm the single divine nature of all three persons of God (the Holy Trinity) and, conversely, the difference between the two natures (divine and human) in the one person of Jesus Christ. Various deviations from these dogmas (namely: the assertion that God has “one person and three natures” or that Christ was “only God” or “only man” and many others) are recognized by Orthodoxy as heresies.

The contradictions between the Roman See and the See of Constantinople had been brewing for a long time, but resulted in open conflict during the reign of the bishop of Rome - Pope Nicholas. He, dissatisfied with the fact that in the Slavic countries of Moravia and Bulgaria, with the blessing of the Patriarch of Constantinople Photius, the word of God is preached in tongue local population brothers Cyril and Methodius, expelled the priests of the Eastern Church from there and even declared the sacraments they performed, including baptism, invalid.

In 867, the patriarch convened a council in Constantinople, in which 3 bishops of the Western Church participated. This council, recognizing Pope Nicholas as unworthy of the episcopal title, excommunicated him from church communion. And then Photius wrote a letter to other eastern patriarchs - Antioch, Jerusalem and Alexandria, in which he drew their attention to the violations committed by the Western Church in the canons of the Christian faith. The main thing was the addition of the word “filioque” to the 8th member of the Creed, which formally meant the recognition that the Holy Spirit also comes from the Son.

When the Roman pontiffs began to claim leadership in the Universal Church, they turned the “filioque” into a dogma. The unity of the churches was also not helped by the fact that in the West, celibacy of priests and fasting on Saturday were established, which was rejected by the original Apostolic Orthodox Church. In addition, the Orthodox deny the dogma of the “infallibility of the Pope” and his supremacy over all Christians, deny the dogma of purgatory, and recognize the rights of secular authorities (the concept of a symphony of spiritual and secular authorities).

In Catholicism, unlike Orthodoxy, there is a dogma about the immaculate conception of the Virgin Mary.

A complete split between Orthodoxy and Catholicism occurred in 1054.

In contrast to what arose in the 16th century. Protestantism, Orthodoxy recognizes the possibility of depicting God and the saints, since Christ himself revealed the image of God by becoming incarnate (Judaism and Islam do not recognize the possibility of depicting), prayers for the dead, prayers to the Virgin Mary and the Saints, as well as monasticism, fasting, faith in saints, necessity infant baptism.

There is still no single center of government in Orthodoxy; the last Ecumenical Council took place in the 8th century.

All autocephalous Orthodox churches are characterized by a hierarchical principle of governance, providing not only for the unconditional subordination of the lower clergy to the higher, but the division of the clergy into the “white” clergy (priests and deacons, who had to be married) and the “black” monastic class, from which come out senior officials The Orthodox Church, starting with the bishops.

Orthodoxy, in contrast to heterodox faiths, is characterized by special attention to the design of the place of worship and diligent observance of the ritual of worship. The Orthodox Church recognizes 7 sacraments - baptism, confirmation, communion, repentance (confession), wedding, ordination to the priesthood, unction (unction is a rite performed on the sick). Orthodox Christians attach considerable importance to the rituals of funeral services for the dead and their burial.

There are several autocephalous (independent, autonomous) Orthodox churches in the world, the largest of which is the Russian Orthodox Church (more than 150 million people). The oldest are the Constantinople (about 6 million people), Antioch (more than 2 million people), Jerusalem (about 200 thousand people) and Alexandria (about 5 million people) Orthodox churches. Other Orthodox churches also have a considerable number of parishioners - Hellas (Greek - about 8 million people), Cyprus (more than 600 thousand people), Serbian (more than 8.5 million people), Romanian (about 18.8 million people). ), Bulgarian (about 6.6 million people), Georgian (more than 3.7 million people), Albanian (about 600 thousand people), Polish (509.1 thousand people), Czechoslovakian (73.4 thousand people) and American (about 1 million people).

Orthodoxy has traditionally been in unbreakable relationship with Russian statehood. The Kiev prince Vladimir Svyatoslavovich became the Baptist of Rus', and for this he was canonized and received the title of Equal-to-the-Apostles. Latins and Muslims, Jews and Orthodox Greeks offered their faith to the prince. After much deliberation, in 988 Vladimir chose the Byzantine baptismal font for the Russian people.

The historical circumstances of the adoption of Orthodoxy by the Eastern Slavs were unique: by that time, the thousand-year-old Holy Catholic Apostolic Orthodox Church had accumulated colossal spiritual experience and absorbed the cultural traditions of many peoples of antiquity, including Hellenic culture.

A favorable geopolitical situation also developed: the neighboring states - Byzantium, the South Slavic countries were also Orthodox, there was Slavic writing And literary language, as well as the most perfect Byzantine aesthetics at that time in the Christian world.

For the Russian state, the Church turned out to be not only a builder, but also a source of spiritual power. It was she who saved our country during the years of the most terrible upheavals and unrest. So, in 1380 Venerable Sergius Radonezh blessed Prince Dmitry Donskoy for the Battle of Kulikovo.

After liberation from the Tatar-Mongol yoke Orthodox religion becomes a state ideology. It was then that it became clear that Rus' would forever remain in Orthodoxy. She did not follow her leader, Byzantium, either, rejecting the Union of Florence, which united the Catholic and Orthodox churches.

In 1441, Grand Duke Vasily II expelled Metropolitan Isidore, who signed it, from the country, and since then the Russian Church has become autocephalous. According to the historian S. Solovyov, this was “one of those great decisions that determine the fate of peoples for many centuries to come. Loyalty to ancient piety made it impossible for the Polish prince to ascend the Moscow throne, brought about the union of Little Russia with Great Russia, and conditioned the power of Russia.”

After the capture of Constantinople, the residence of the Ecumenical Patriarch, by the Turks in 1453, Moscow inherited his throne and the Byzantine spiritual heritage.

During the reign of Ivan III, the Pskov monk Philotheus formulated the famous formula about Moscow as the “third Rome.” On January 26, 1589, the enthronement of the first Patriarch of Moscow, Job, took place in the Assumption Cathedral. The newly formed Russian Patriarchate became the largest patriarchate of Orthodoxy.

Mid-17th century was marked by one of the most dramatic events in the history of Orthodoxy - a split into supporters of national (Old Believers) and universal (Nikonians) Orthodoxy. Among the latter was Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich. In 1652, Nikon became Moscow Patriarch; he publicly taught about the “fallibility of the Russian Church” and the need for its “correction” according to Greek models. In particular, Nikon prescribed replacing traditional bows to the ground with waist bows, making the sign of the cross with three fingers rather than two, writing not “Isus” but “Iesus”, religious processions should be carried out in the opposite direction (against the sun), and the exclamation “Hallelujah” during the service became say it not twice, but three times. All these innovations, consistent with Greek practice, were in conflict with the decrees of the Stoglavy Council (1551).

The majority of the Russian Church, including clergy and even bishops, objected to the reform of worship, but they quickly lost the ability to resist. In 1654, Nikon organized a council, at which he sought permission to hold a “book council.” In 1656, in the Assumption Cathedral, an anathema was solemnly proclaimed against those who cross themselves with two fingers.

Part of the hierarchy, led by Archpriest Avvakum, led the movement for the old faith (Old Believers). Subsequently, their followers began to be called schismatics and persecuted. Until the end of the 17th century. The Orthodox Church was the leading link in the political system of Russian society.

With the accession of Peter I to the throne, the situation began to change: the state was no longer going to share its role with the church. After the death of Patriarch Adrian (1700), a new patriarch was not elected. Peter I instructed Bishop Feofan Prokopovich of Pskov to prepare the Spiritual Regulations, which established the Synod and, in essence, turned the clergy into officials serving in the spiritual department. The formal head of the Russian Orthodox Church was the chief prosecutor - a secular official. The emperor himself united in himself the highest state and religious power in the country.

For 1721–1917 marks the synodal period of the Russian Orthodox Church. After the February Revolution, a significant event occurred - Patriarch Tikhon of Moscow and All Rus' was elected. However, after the October Revolution, the Bolshevik leaders drew up one of the first documents of the young republic - the Decree on Freedom of Conscience, the first paragraph of which prescribed the separation of Church and state. Thus began perhaps the most difficult period in the history of Russian Orthodoxy.

“Popovshchina” was recognized as the most dangerous enemy of the new ideology. On the orders of V. Lenin and L. Trotsky, churches were blown up, church property was nationalized, and its ministers were killed on suspicion of organizing anti-Soviet riots. “We must suppress the resistance of the clergy with such cruelty that they will not forget this for several decades,” V. Lenin wrote in 1922.

In 1920, the Russian Orthodox Church abroad separated from the Church in the Fatherland. Organized by emigrants who fled abroad from the Bolsheviks, the ROCOR distanced itself from the Moscow Patriarchate in order to speak freely about the persecution of the Church in the USSR, which the hierarchs who remained in Soviet Russia, of course, could not do. In turn, many of those who were unable or unwilling to leave their homeland, when some of the parishes began to be cared for by pastors in New York, developed a feeling of mistrust towards their overseas brethren as deserters.

During the years of struggle against religion in the USSR, more than one generation of atheists grew up. However, even before World War II, the population census showed that about two-thirds of the country's population considered themselves to be Orthodox.

During the war years, there was a long-awaited softening of the state's position regarding religion - primarily Orthodoxy. In dire need of maintaining the patriotic spirit, the Soviet government was forced to move to cooperation with the Church. In 1943, on the personal instructions of I. Stalin, the Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' was elected, the Synod was restored, the restoration of churches began, the opening of theological schools, and the Council for the Affairs of the Russian Orthodox Church was created for communication between the government and the Church. Stalin lobbied for an Ecumenical Council to be held in Moscow, which would transfer the title of “Ecumenical Patriarch” from the Patriarch of Constantinople to the Moscow Patriarch.

During the time of N. Khrushchev, the senseless persecution of the Orthodox Church resumed, which was largely caused by the apparatus struggle against the “Stalinist” team in the CPSU Central Committee. In October 1958, the Central Committee adopted a resolution to launch a propaganda and administrative offensive against “religious relics.” One of the results was the massive closure (and destruction!) of churches and the abolition of monasteries. Of the 63 monasteries operating in 1958, only 44 remained in 1959, and only 18 in 1964.

The first steps towards restoring the role of the Russian Orthodox Church in society began during the period of perestroika. In 1988, the celebration of the 1000th anniversary of the baptism of Rus' took place. Church holidays were gradually legalized at the official level.

Today the Russian Orthodox Church has great influence both on public consciousness, and on public policy.

On May 17, 2007, in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow, the signing of the act of canonical unity of the Russian Orthodox Church and the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad took place. It was signed by the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' Alexy II, and the head of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad, Metropolitan Laurus. The two parts of the Russian Church again became one.

After the death of Alexy II on December 5, 2008, the Local Council of the Russian Orthodox Church on January 27, 2009 elected Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad (Vladimir Mikhailovich Gundyaev, born 1946) as Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus'.

Excellent definition

Incomplete definition ↓

The Greek-Catholic Orthodox (Right Faithful) Church (now the Russian Orthodox Church) began to be called Orthodox Slavic only on September 8, 1943 (approved by Stalin’s decree in 1945). What then was called Orthodoxy for several millennia?

“In our time, in modern Russian vernacular in official, scientific and religious designation, the term “Orthodoxy” is applied to anything related to the ethnocultural tradition and is necessarily associated with the Russian Orthodox Church and the Christian Judeo-Christian religion.

To a simple question: “What is Orthodoxy,” any modern person, without hesitation, will answer that Orthodoxy is the Christian faith that has been accepted Kievan Rus during the reign of Prince Vladimir the Red Sun from the Byzantine Empire in 988 AD. And that Orthodoxy, i.e. The Christian faith has existed on Russian soil for more than a thousand years. Historical scientists and Christian theologians, in support of their words, declare that the earliest use of the word Orthodoxy on the territory of Rus' is recorded in the “Sermon on Law and Grace” of the 1037-1050s of Metropolitan Hilarion.

But was it really so?

We advise you to carefully read the preamble to the federal law on freedom of conscience and on religious associations, adopted on September 26, 1997. Note the following points in the preamble: “Recognizing the special role Orthodoxy in Russia...and further respecting Christianity , Islam, Judaism, Buddhism and other religions..."

Thus, the concepts of Orthodoxy and Christianity are not identical and carry within them completely different concepts and meanings.

Orthodoxy. How historical myths appeared

It is worth wondering who participated in the seven councils Judeo-Christian churches? Orthodox holy fathers or still Orthodox holy fathers, as indicated in the original Word on Law and Grace? Who and when made the decision to replace one concept with another? And was there ever any mention of Orthodoxy in the past?

The answer to this question was given by the Byzantine monk Belisarius in 532 AD. Long before the baptism of Rus', this is what he wrote in his Chronicles about the Slavs and their ritual of visiting the bathhouse: “Orthodox Slovenians and Rusyns are wild people, and their life is wild and godless, men and girls lock themselves together in a hot, heated hut and wear out their bodies... »

We will not pay attention to the fact that for the monk Belisarius the usual visit to the bathhouse by the Slavs seemed something wild and incomprehensible; this is quite natural. Something else is important for us. Pay attention to how he called the Slavs: Orthodox Slovenians and Rusyns.

For this one phrase alone we must express our gratitude to him. Since with this phrase the Byzantine monk Belisarius confirms that the Slavs were Orthodox for many thousands years before their conversion to Judeo-Christian faith.

The Slavs were called Orthodox because they RIGHT was praised.

What is "RIGHT"?

Our ancestors believed that reality, the cosmos, is divided into three levels. And this is also very similar to the Indian division system: the Supreme world, Middle world and the Lower World.

In Rus' these three levels were called:

• The highest level is the level of Government or Edit.
• The second, middle level is Reality.
• And the lowest level is Nav. Nav or Non-reality, unmanifested.

• World Rule- this is a world where everything is right or ideal higher world. This is a world where ideal beings with higher consciousness live.
• Reality- this is ours, the manifest, obvious world, the world of people.
• And peace Navi or do not appear, the unmanifest is the negative, unmanifested or lower or posthumous world.

The Indian Vedas also speak of the existence of three worlds:

• The upper world is a world where the energy of goodness dominates.
• The middle world is engulfed in passion.
• The lower world is immersed in ignorance.

Christians do not have such a division. The Bible is silent about this.

Such a similar understanding of the world gives similar motivation in life, i.e. it is necessary to strive for the world of Rule or Goodness. And in order to get into the world of Rule, you need to do everything correctly, i.e. according to God's law.

Words such as “truth” come from the root “rule.” Is it true- what gives the right. " Yes" is "to give", and " edit" - this is "highest". So, " Truth" - this is what the government gives.

If we talk not about faith, but about the word “Orthodoxy”, then of course it was borrowed by the church(according to various estimates in the 13th-16th centuries) from “those who glorify the rule”, i.e. from ancient Russian Vedic cults.

If only for the following reasons:

• a) it was rare that an Old Russian name did not contain a piece of “glory”,
• b) that the Sanskrit, Vedic word “prav” (spiritual world) is still contained in such modern Russian words as: right, right, righteous, right, rule, management, correction, government, right, wrong. The roots of all these words are " rights».

“Right” or “rule”, i.e. highest beginning. The point is that the basis of real management should be the concept of Rule or the highest reality. And real governance should spiritually elevate those who follow the ruler, leading his wards along the paths of rule.

• Details in the article: Philosophical and cultural similarities of Ancient Rus' and Ancient India .

Substitution of the name "Orthodoxy" is not "Orthodoxy"

The question is, who and when on Russian soil decided to replace the terms orthodoxy with Orthodoxy?

This happened in the 17th century, when Moscow Patriarch Nikon instituted church reform. The main goal of this reform by Nikon was not to change the rituals of the Christian church, as it is interpreted now, where everything supposedly comes down to replacing the double finger sign of the cross on the tripartite and walking in the procession in the other direction. The main goal of the reform was the destruction of dual faith on Russian soil.

Nowadays, few people know that before the reign of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich in Muscovy, dual faith existed on Russian lands. In other words, the common people professed not only orthodoxy, i.e. Greek Rite Christianity, which came from Byzantium, but also the old pre-Christian faith of their ancestors ORTHODOXY. This was what most worried Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich Romanov and his spiritual mentor, Christian Patriarch Nikon, for the Orthodox Old Believers lived by their own principles and did not recognize any authority over themselves.

Patriarch Nikon decided to put an end to dual faith in a very original way. To do this, under the guise of reform in the church, allegedly due to the discrepancy between the Greek and Slavic texts, he ordered to rewrite all liturgical books, replacing the phrases “orthodox Christian faith” with “Orthodox Christian faith.” In the Chetiy Menaia that have survived to this day, we can see the old version of the entry “Orthodox Christian Faith.” This was Nikon’s very interesting approach to the matter of reform.

Firstly, there was no need to rewrite many ancient Slavic, as they said then, charati books, or chronicles, which described the victories and achievements of pre-Christian Orthodoxy.

Secondly, life during the times of dual faith and the very original meaning of Orthodoxy were erased from the memory of the people, because after such a church reform, any text from liturgical books or ancient chronicles could be interpreted as the beneficial influence of Christianity on Russian lands. In addition, the Patriarch sent out a reminder to Moscow churches about the use of the three-finger sign of the cross instead of the two-finger sign.

Thus began the reform, as well as the protest against it, which led to a church schism. The protest against Nikon's church reforms was organized by the patriarch's former comrades, archpriests Avvakum Petrov and Ivan Neronov. They pointed out to the patriarch the arbitrariness of his actions, and then in 1654 he organized a Council at which, as a result of pressure on the participants, he sought to carry out a book review of ancient Greek and Slavic manuscripts. However, for Nikon, the comparison was not with the old rituals, but with the modern Greek practice of that time. All the actions of Patriarch Nikon led to the fact that the church split into two warring parts.

Supporters of the old traditions accused Nikon of a trilingual heresy and indulgence in paganism, as Christians called Orthodoxy, that is, the old pre-Christian faith. The split spread throughout the country. This led to the fact that in 1667 a large Moscow council condemned and deposed Nikon, and anathematized all opponents of the reforms. Since then, adherents of new liturgical traditions began to be called Nikonians, and adherents of old rituals and traditions began to be called schismatics and persecuted. The confrontation between the Nikonians and the schismatics at times led to armed clashes until the tsarist troops came out on the side of the Nikonians. To avoid large-scale religious war Some of the higher clergy of the Moscow Patriarchate condemned some provisions of Nikon’s reforms.

The term Orthodoxy began to be used again in liturgical practices and government documents. For example, let us turn to the spiritual regulations of Peter the Great: “...And as a Christian Sovereign, he is the guardian of orthodoxy and all piety in the Holy Church...”

As we see, even in the 18th century, Peter the Great was called the Christian sovereign, the guardian of Orthodoxy and piety. But there is not a word about Orthodoxy in this document. It is not in the editions of the Spiritual Regulations of 1776-1856.

Thus, the “church” reform of Patriarch Nikon was clearly carried out against the traditions and foundations of the Russian people, against Slavic rituals, not church ones.

In general, the “reform” marks the milestone from which a sharp decline in faith, spirituality and morality begins in Russian society. Everything new in rituals, architecture, icon painting, and singing is of Western origin, which is also noted by civilian researchers.

The “church” reforms of the mid-17th century were directly related to religious construction. The order to strictly follow the Byzantine canons put forward the requirement to build churches “with five peaks, and not with a tent.”

Tent-roofed buildings (with a pyramidal top) were known in Rus' even before the adoption of Christianity. This type of building is considered originally Russian. That is why Nikon, with his reforms, took care of such “trifles”, because this was a real “pagan” trace among the people. Threatened death penalty master craftsmen and architects managed to preserve the shape of a tent in both temple and secular buildings. Despite the fact that it was necessary to build domes with onion-shaped domes, the general shape of the structure was made pyramidal. But not everywhere it was possible to deceive the reformers. These were mainly the northern and remote areas of the country.

Nikon did everything possible and impossible to ensure that the true Slavic heritage disappeared from the vastness of Rus', and with it the Great Russian People.

Now it becomes obvious that there were no grounds at all for carrying out church reform. The reasons were completely different and had nothing to do with the church. This is, first of all, the destruction of the spirit of the Russian people! Culture, heritage, the great past of our people. And this was done by Nikon with great cunning and meanness.

Nikon simply “planted a pig” on the people, so much so that we, the Russians, still have to remember in parts, literally bit by bit, who we are and our Great Past.

But was Nikon the instigator of these transformations? Or maybe there were completely different people behind him, and Nikon was only a performer? And if this is so, then who are these “men in black” who were so disturbed by the Russian man with his many thousands of years of great past?

The answer to this question was outlined very well and in detail by B.P. Kutuzov in the book “The Secret Mission of Patriarch Nikon”. Despite the fact that the author does not fully understand the true goals of the reform, we must give him credit for how clearly he exposed the true customers and implementers of this reform.

• Details in the article: The great scam of Patriarch Nikon. How Nikita Minin killed Orthodoxy

Education of the Russian Orthodox Church

Based on this, the question arises: when did the term Orthodoxy begin to be officially used by the Christian Church?

The fact is that in the Russian Empire did not have Russian Orthodox Church. Christian church existed under a different name - “Russian Greek Catholic Church”. Or as it was also called “Russian Orthodox Church of the Greek Rite”.

Christian church called The Russian Orthodox Church appeared during the reign of the Bolsheviks.

At the beginning of 1945, by order of Joseph Stalin, a local council of the Russian church was held in Moscow under the leadership of responsible persons from the State Security of the USSR and a new Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' was elected.

• Details in the article: How Stalin created the Russian Orthodox Church MP [video]

It should be mentioned that many Christian priests, those who did not recognize the power of the Bolsheviks left Russia and beyond its borders they continue to profess Christianity of the Eastern Rite and call their church nothing more than Russian Orthodox Church or Russian Orthodox Church.

In order to finally move away from well crafted historical myth and to find out what the word Orthodoxy really meant in ancient times, let us turn to those people who still keep the old faith of their ancestors.

Having received their education in Soviet times, these pundits either do not know or carefully try to hide from ordinary people, that even in ancient times, long before the birth of Christianity on Slavic lands Orthodoxy existed. It covered not only the basic concept when our wise ancestors glorified the Rule. And the deep essence of Orthodoxy was much larger and more voluminous than it seems today.

The figurative meaning of this word also included the concept of when our ancestors The right was praised. But it was not Roman law or Greek law, but ours, our native Slavic law.

It included:

• Family Law, based on the ancient cultural traditions, laws and foundations of the Family;
• Communal law, creating mutual understanding between various Slavic clans living together in one small settlement;
• Cop law which regulated the interaction between communities living in large settlements, which were cities;
• Weighing law, which determined the relationships between communities living in different cities and settlements within one Vesi, i.e. within one area of ​​settlement and residence;
• Veche law, which was adopted at a general meeting of all the people and was observed by all clans of the Slavic community.

Any Right from the Tribal to the Veche was organized on the basis of the ancient Laws, the culture and foundations of the Family, as well as on the basis of the ancient commandments Slavic gods and instructions of ancestors. This was our native Slavic Right.

Our wise ancestors commanded to preserve it, and we preserve it. Since ancient times, our ancestors glorified the Rule and we continue to glorify the Rule, and we preserve our Slavic Right and pass it on from generation to generation.

Therefore, we and our ancestors were, are and will be Orthodox.

Substitution on Wikipedia

Modern interpretation of the term ORTHODOX = Orthodox, appeared on Wikipedia only after this resource switched to funding from the UK government. In fact, Orthodoxy is translated as rightVerie, Orthodox is translated as orthodox.

Either, Wikipedia, continuing the idea of ​​​​the “identity” Orthodoxy = Orthodoxy, should call Muslims and Jews Orthodox (for the terms Orthodox Muslim or Orthodox Jew are found throughout world literature) or still admit that Orthodoxy = Orthodoxy and in no way relates to Orthodoxy, as well as the Christian Church of the Eastern Rite, called the Russian Orthodox Church since 1945.

Orthodoxy is not a religion, not Christianity, but a faith

By the way, on many of his icons it is written in implicit letters: MARY LIK. Hence the original name of the area in honor of the face of Mary: Marlykian. So in fact this bishop was Nicholas of Marlikiy. And his city, which was originally called “ Mary"(that is, the city of Mary), is now called Bari. There was a phonetic replacement of sounds.

Bishop Nicholas of Myra - Nicholas the Wonderworker

However, now Christians do not remember these details, hushing up the Vedic roots of Christianity. For now Jesus in Christianity is interpreted as the God of Israel, although Judaism does not consider him a god. But Christianity says nothing about the fact that Jesus Christ, as well as his apostles, are different faces of Yar, although this is read on many icons. The name of the god Yara is also read on Shroud of Turin .

At one time, Vedism reacted very calmly and brotherly to Christianity, seeing in it simply a local outgrowth of Vedism, for which there is a name: paganism (that is, an ethnic variety), like Greek paganism with another name Yara - Ares, or Roman, with the name Yara is Mars, or with the Egyptian, where the name Yar or Ar was read in the opposite direction, Ra. In Christianity, Yar became Christ, and Vedic temples made icons and crosses of Christ.

And only over time, under the influence of political, or rather geopolitical reasons, Christianity was opposed to Vedism, and then Christianity saw manifestations of “paganism” everywhere and waged a struggle with it not to the stomach, but to the death. In other words, he betrayed his parents, his heavenly patrons, and began to preach humility and submission.

The Judeo-Christian religion not only does not teach a worldview, but also prevents the acquisition of ancient knowledge, declaring it heresy. Thus, at first, instead of the Vedic way of life, foolish worship was imposed, and in XVII century after the Nikonian reform, the meaning of Orthodoxy was replaced.

The so-called "Orthodox Christians", although they have always been true believers, because Orthodoxy and Christianity are completely different essences and principles.

• Details in the article: V.A. Chudinov - Proper education .

Currently, the concept of "paganism" exists only as an antithesis to Christianity, and not as an independent figurative form. For example, when the Nazis attacked the USSR, they called the Russians “Rusishe Schweine”, so why should we now, imitating the fascists, call ourselves “Rusishe Schweine”?

A similar misunderstanding occurs with paganism; neither the Russian people (our ancestors) nor our spiritual leaders (magi or brahmans) ever called themselves “pagans.”

The Jewish form of thinking needed to vulgarize and mutilate the beauty of the Russian Vedic system of values, so a powerful pagan (“pagan”, filthy) project arose.

Neither the Russians nor the Magi of Rus' ever called themselves pagans.

The concept of "paganism" is a purely Jewish concept, which the Jews used to designate all non-biblical religions. (And as we know, there are three biblical religions - Judaism, Christianity and Islam. And they all have one common source - the Bible).

• Details in the article: There has NEVER been paganism in Rus'!

Secret writing on Russian and modern Christian icons

Thus Christianity within ALL Rus' was adopted not in 988, but in the interval between 1630 and 1635.

The study of Christian icons made it possible to identify sacred texts on them. Explicit inscriptions cannot be included among them. But they absolutely include implicit inscriptions associated with Russian Vedic gods, temples and priests (memes).

On the old Christian icons of the Virgin Mary with the baby Jesus there are Russian inscriptions in runes, saying that they depict the Slavic Goddess Makosh with the baby God Yar. Jesus Christ was also called HOR OR HORUS. Moreover, the name CHOR on the mosaic depicting Christ in the Church of Christ Choir in Istanbul is written like this: “NHOR”, that is, ICHOR. The letter I used to be written as N. The name IGOR is almost identical to the name IHOR OR CHORUS, since the sounds X and G could transform into each other. By the way, it is possible that the respectful name HERO came from here, which later entered many languages ​​practically unchanged.

And then the need to disguise Vedic inscriptions becomes clear: their discovery on icons could entail accusing the icon painter of belonging to the Old Believers, and this could result in punishment in the form of exile or the death penalty.

On the other hand, as is now becoming obvious, the absence of Vedic inscriptions made the icon a non-sacred artifact. In other words, it was not so much the presence of narrow noses, thin lips and large eyes that made the image sacred, but it was the connection with the god Yar in the first place and with the goddess Mara in the second place through reference implicit inscriptions that added magical and miraculous properties to the icon. Therefore, icon painters, if they wanted to make an icon miraculous, and not a simple piece of art, were obliged to supply any image with the words: FACE OF YAR, MIM OF YAR AND MARA, TEMPLE OF MARA, YAR TEMPLE, YAR Rus', etc.

Nowadays, when persecution on religious charges has ceased, the icon painter no longer risks his life and property by applying implicit inscriptions to modern icon paintings. Therefore, in a number of cases, namely in the cases of mosaic icons, he no longer tries to hide this kind of inscription as much as possible, but transfers them to the category of semi-explicit.

Thus, using Russian material, the reason was revealed why explicit inscriptions on icons moved into the category of semi-explicit and implicit: the ban on Russian Vedism, which followed from. However, this example gives rise to the assumption of the same motives for masking obvious inscriptions on coins.

This idea can be expressed in more detail as follows: once upon a time, the body of a deceased priest (mime) was accompanied by a funeral golden mask, on which there were all the corresponding inscriptions, but not very large and not very contrasting, so as not to destroy the aesthetic perception of the mask. Later, instead of a mask, smaller objects began to be used - pendants and plaques, which also depicted the face of the deceased mime with corresponding discreet inscriptions. Even later, portraits of mimes migrated to coins. And this kind of image was preserved as long as spiritual power was considered the most significant in society.

However, when power became secular, passing to military leaders - princes, leaders, kings, emperors, images of government officials, not mimes, began to be minted on coins, while images of mimes migrated to icons. At the same time, secular power, being more coarse, began to mint its own inscriptions weightily, roughly, visibly, and obvious legends appeared on coins. With the emergence of Christianity, such explicit inscriptions began to appear on icons, but they were no longer written in the runes of the Family, but in the Old Slavonic Cyrillic script. In the West, the Latin script was used for this.

Thus, in the West there was a similar, but still somewhat different motive, why the implicit inscriptions of mimes did not become explicit: on the one hand, aesthetic tradition, on the other hand, the secularization of power, that is, the transition of the function of managing society from priests to military leaders and officials.

This allows us to consider icons, as well as sacred sculptures of gods and saints, as substitutes for those artifacts that acted as carriers of sacred properties before: golden masks and plaques. On the other hand, icons existed before, but did not affect the sphere of finance, remaining entirely within religion. Therefore, their production has experienced a new heyday.

• Details in the article: Secret writing on Russian and modern Christian icons [video] .

Professor Alexey Ilyich Osipov

The problem of the meaning of life.

The problem of the meaning of life is the problem of the sought-after ideal or truth.

Its understanding determines the purpose, direction and nature of all human activity. However, the very solution to the issue, speaking essentially, is determined by the existential-personal attitude of a person: his freedom, his spiritual and moral state.

In the historical arena, three main forces claim to resolve this issue: religion, philosophy and science. Briefly, their answers could be expressed as follows.

Religion, by which we mean such a complete system of beliefs where the ideas of God and eternal life are central, sees the meaning of life in unity with God.

Philosophy, ultimately, is about the rational comprehension of truth.

Science is about maximizing knowledge of the world.

Naturally, each of these answers requires broad interpretation.

What is unique about the Orthodox understanding of this issue?

It sees the meaning of life in eternal life in God, otherwise called salvation. This means, firstly, the conviction that God exists, and that He is not only the source of being, but also being itself, in which only the good of existence of everything that exists is possible, a full comprehension of the Truth and knowledge of the created world in its essence is possible. Secondly, this presupposes the understanding that real (earthly) life is not a self-sufficient value, but a necessary condition, a transitory form of being for a person to achieve perfect life in God. Therefore, the atheistic call is unnatural for the Christian consciousness: “Believe, man, eternal death awaits you!” - because it does not leave the most important thing for meaning - life, in which only meaning can be and is realized.

The essence of the Christian faith can be expressed in two words: “CHRIST IS RISEN!” - since they contain the entire endless and at the same time very concrete perspective of life. Its meaning is in likeness to Christ and unity with Him, otherwise - deification, theosis. What does it mean? To answer briefly, this is perfection in kenotic (Greek - self-abasement, sacrificial humility) love, which constitutes the very essence of God, for “God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God and God in him” (; 16).

The Apostle Paul writes in some detail about this state in his letter to the Galatians, when he lists the fruits of God's action in man. He characterizes it as love, joy, peace, long-suffering, mercy, meekness, self-control (). In another message, he describes this state in the following words: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor has it entered into the heart of man what God has prepared for those who love Him” (9).

The Apostle, as we see, writes that a person who has been spiritually cleansed, healed of passions, that is, spiritually healthy, is in deep joy, love and peace of soul - speaking in modern language - in happiness, but not fleeting, accidental, caused by the action of nerves and psyche, but has become a property of the soul of a “new” person, and therefore integral, eternal. It should be noted, however, that this state in itself is not the goal and meaning of a person’s life. Christian teaching. It is only one of the consequences of achieving the goal - salvation, deification, unity with God, in which a person’s personality reaches the fullness of its disclosure, God-likeness.

But perfection in love is not only the moral and emotional good of a person. Love is no less a perfect “tool” for knowing the Truth and the created world. It is no coincidence that those whom, due to their special spiritual purity, are called venerables, called spiritual life true philosophy, the art of the arts, the science of the sciences. They called it that because correct asceticism, restoring the unity of the soul with God, opens to man both the knowledge of the Truth, and the contemplation of Its imperishable Beauty, and the knowledge of the essence of all creations. The experience of the Church clearly demonstrates that the spiritual perfection of man, to which the Gospel calls, is not the fantasy of heated dreamers, but a reality, a fact, practically endlessly tested in the history of the world, and still offered to a searching person as the only reasonable goal of existence.

Naturally, such a meaning of life is unacceptable to the pagan world, the essence of which was expressed by the first Theologian of the Church in the following words: “... everything in the world: the lust of the flesh (thirst for pleasures: sensual, aesthetic, intellectual), the lust of the eyes (thirst for wealth) and the pride of life ( the search for power, glory), is not from the Father, but from this world” (16). The psychological basis of the world is the “ostrich syndrome” - the refusal to see the only indisputable and inevitable reality of this life - death. Therefore, he devotes all his strength to acquiring these “benefits.” And although it is quite obvious how ruthlessly they are all taken away from the simple touch of death, nevertheless for the world an ideal that goes beyond the interests of this life, an IDEAL crucified in this life, is, in the words of the Apostle Paul, temptation and madness ().

The Christian meaning of life, which consists in the acquisition by a person here on earth of God-like spiritual values ​​and faith in the real resurrection of the body for endless life in God, thus becomes in irreconcilable contradiction with the ideal of the so-called. atheistic humanism.

It would be extremely interesting and important to analyze the spiritual sources from which the denial of the Christian ideal occurs. There is no doubt that these origins are purely spiritual and not rational. This is confirmed by at least the following considerations.

First. Every correct theory must at least satisfy two basic requirements: have evidence to support it, and be verifiable (it goes without saying that it must be consistent). That Christianity satisfies these conditions is obvious, and that atheism does not have (and cannot in principle have) either facts confirming the non-existence of God, or an answer to its main question: “What should a person do to be convinced of the non-existence of God?” - no less obvious. More precisely, atheism must admit its complete agreement with religion that for a person seeking the meaning of life, there is only one way to find (or not find) it - religious.

Second. Christianity offers man an ideal, greater or equal to which no other religion in the world has known - pure, selfless love. This love, in the image of Christ, is highest state good (if we use Plato’s terminology), happiness (in the terminology of the world), the bliss of a spiritual person, and at the same time a means of true knowledge of God and all created being. That this ideal of perfect love is realistically achievable, and not the fruit of someone’s imagination, is evidenced quite eloquently by the history of the Church and the lives of its saints. Why, in this case, is it not only denied by the world, but also often “cleansed” from human consciousness with bitterness, fire and sword? Isn’t this very bitterness an indicator of the true source of the world’s denial of the Christian ideal of life?

Third - the well-known so-called. "Pascal's Wager". Indeed, the recognition of Christ, without taking away anything useful and reasonable from a person in this life, at the same time gives him complete hope for prosperity in eternity, if Christ is God and Savior. On the contrary, rejecting Him as the ideal and meaning of life, without enriching man’s earthly existence in any way, deprives him of everything in eternity, if there is a God. Consequently, being a Christian is “profitable,” but rejecting the Christian meaning of life is unreasonable. But in this case, why is this meaning rejected?

Christianity is rejected, of course, not because of any fundamental contradictions with human nature and life. The reason is completely different. It is rejected because of its complete opposition to the goals and character of life of the pagan world.

For the world, pleasures, wealth and fame are the essence of life, but for Christianity they are passions that inevitably entail suffering, disappointment and inevitable physical and spiritual death. For paganism, the meaning of life is earthly blessings, for Christianity - spiritual blessings: love, peace of soul, joy, purity of conscience, generosity, that is, what a person can possess forever. Finally, for paganism Christian holiness itself is unbearable; for it it is like a reproach of conscience in an unrepentant soul, like the ringing of a bell, reminiscent of eternal truth. By the way, it is no coincidence that the revolution of 1917 in Russia threw down and destroyed bells with such hatred...

About the most important thing

Father Sergius said that I would give lectures. Don't believe me - I forgot my glasses. We'll have to talk!
You know, our age is of such a kind that when we come into contact with something or something is offered to us, we, sometimes consciously, sometimes subconsciously, ask ourselves - what will this give us? The West teaches us a little bit like this to look at things pragmatically. Stop having your head in the clouds.
So, you can often encounter exactly the same approach when we talk about Orthodoxy. But really, what can it give me? What does it give to a person? There are many worldviews. And, you know, we look at them as something applied. This is life - this is our life. These are our worries, these are our troubles, if you like, sorrows, joys. It is our life. We know our work, we know what we live for, what we strive for. But worldview and religion are just an appendage. I'm trying to talk about what I think a lot of people feel. Religion has become an appendage to life! Life is one thing, religion is another! The most that a modern person strives for is to go to mass on Sunday or on holidays. At the Academy, I quite often say that the priests perform services during the service, the professors are present at the service, the students sing during the service, but I don’t know who prays. What is this anyway? And why do we need to pray?
The fact is that any worldview, a worldview in essence and religion in particular, is not an appendage to our practical life, but it turns out that this is what determines our life, determines it in the most important things. And what is most important for us is probably something we all know. The most important thing for us is that our souls feel good. You know, in a hut - yes, to your liking! Or you can live in palaces and be an unhappy person.

The abbot, whom you may have heard of, told me a story from his life. He himself was from Orthodox family, a believer, but then he went to school, from school to a real school. There he was completely convinced that there was no God, that these were just empty fantasies that meant nothing. And that the meaning of life lies precisely in exploring this world. As much as possible. To achieve dominance in this world and acquire all the benefits that this world can give. We were all, he said, infected with materialism.
And one day, he said, we were all deeply shocked. Suddenly a message appeared in the newspapers, in large print, as they say, “with exclamation marks”: “A millionaire committed suicide!” – we were all shocked. “We were already,” he says, “raised in a materialistic worldview.” Yes, yes, this was before the revolution, mind you, before the revolution! Don’t think that this is now, somewhere, in Soviet times. No, this was the 1900s. "We were all materialists." “I remember,” he says, “I go into the dining room and don’t take off my hat, as is customary.” Orthodox custom, I demonstrate my atheistic conviction.” A millionaire committed suicide... So what is the most important thing in life? He had everything! It turns out that love failed - and everything is lost.

The Greeks have a very interesting myth; they generally have a lot interesting myths. Deep myths that sometimes really reveal very strongly certain aspects of human life, psychology, sometimes even affect the very being of a person. The myth of the Sword of Damocles. Remember how one of the nobles envied the king that he lived in luxury. The king noticed this and decided to have a feast. He seated the nobleman in his place, but hung a sword over his head on a thin hair. And then he asked: “Well, how are you feeling? Why don't you eat or drink? Why are you so sad? Why are you so sad? This idea of ​​the Sword of Damocles is a great idea, I’ll tell you. Every person who has been born, let alone born, is already sitting under the Sword of Damocles. No one knows when this hair will break. That is, we hear, of course, we hear - it broke off over something, over another, over a third, over a tenth. This is how wars begin - this thin hair breaks over millions.

And so a person involuntarily asks himself the question, if he wants to break away at least a little from everyday life, from the bustle, which, by the way, clutters the most, you know, like dust in the eyes or something: what am I living for? A person sees, there seems to be vision, but the dust can cover his eyes so much that he sees nothing, everything seems to be there, but he sees nothing. So, this is our daily life, these are our worries, problems, torments, perplexities, disputes, etc. Our lives are sometimes so closed that we don’t even have time to think: why am I living? What am I living for? What's the point in this life of mine? What is the point of all this activity of mine? What is the point? Okay, I've done everything, now what? Did. Well, I did. What next? True, there are different attempts to answer this question. But in reality, these are half measures. “I do this to live!” - but very often we do a lot of things not at all in order to live. In order to live, we need much less. “We do it for others!” – but we need to think: what can we do for others? In general, the question of the value of what we do is one of the most important. Meaning and value are the content of all our activities. This meaning and value can only be assessed from the point of view of one or another worldview. Only a worldview can answer the question: is this good or bad? Am I engaging in activities that will truly benefit me and other people?! Or it just won’t do anything, I work like a squirrel in a wheel: I make things with one hand and ruin them with the other!

So, the first question that, it seems to me, should arise before a person, and indeed it does, no matter how much we sometimes suppress it. This, in the end, is the question of: “I, as an individual, live for how many years - and that’s it? Or do I, as a person, continue to live, will I continue to live?” Here, if you like, are two statements that cannot be reconciled and reconciled. This is an alternative. Or: believe, man, eternal death awaits you - this is what atheism says. Or: believe, man, eternal life awaits you. And this [earthly] life is only, if you like, an exam, an opportunity to reveal oneself as a person, as a moral being striving for one thing or another.

Who is this person? A man is his faith! What does he strive for, what does he want, what is he looking for. The belief that there is no God, no eternity, no soul, is magnificently shown by Dostoevsky in The Brothers Karamazov. I remember when I watched the film, I simply said in my heart, even in delight: “Now apologists have nothing to do!” There is a wonderful conversation between Ivan Karamazov and a hanger-on, i.e. demon: “But if there is no God, then everything is allowed?! If there is no God, then why live?” A healthy person can reason well, everything is fine with him, everything is fine now. Is the person sick? Did he start having problems? Isn’t it the same in the family?! Etc. What is the meaning of life there, tell me? Only from the point of view of our worldview can all our activities and our entire lives be correctly assessed. So, in connection with this, a very important question arises, with which I began: “What does Orthodoxy give to a person? What does the Christian faith as such give us? I am not now touching upon the question of the relationship between Orthodoxy and other religions, or the relationship of Orthodoxy with other faiths. These questions, you know, are very interesting. Now I want to say literally about the main thing - what Orthodoxy really gives to a person.

Now we are talking about the fact that our position, the position of each of us, is really a position under a hanging sword. We never know whether we are healthy or already sick, who knows? How will things turn out for us tomorrow, what will we have in our family, what will we have at work, what will we have in the state, what will we have in the world? We don't know anything! All our assumptions are for the most part very approximate, and then, these are assumptions and nothing more. What do we know? We don't know anything.
And now, pay attention: a person believes, I especially emphasize this word - believes that there is no God. Because it’s impossible to know, you understand. It is impossible to know that there is no God. From a scientific point of view, our cognitive activity what? The knowable world is infinite, and, therefore, all our knowledge at any moment in time is only a drop from the ocean, therefore, from the point of view of science, it will never, in any future, be possible to say that there is no God, even if He really does not exist. was. Science will never be able to tell. The most she can say is: yes, perhaps He exists! See what the likelihood of this is.

But maybe we can talk about this later. Now let's talk about something else. That in the absence of faith in God, in the conviction that our life is only earthly life, connected exclusively with the body, and a person has no soul, a person’s consciousness disappears, personality disappears, there is no God - then all our What is life built on? To calculate everything, each of us knows this, we cannot do anything. We are counting on a very small range of issues that we can count on. I say again: we cannot know anything about any global, state, social, or natural shocks! And we can’t do anything, even if we knew something.
Or health, family matters…. A person who does not believe in God is always in a state: “No matter what happens!..”. As if the person on whom I depend did not change his attitude towards me. As if someone would drop something like that on me. No matter where they set me up, etc. Such a person has no solid ground under his feet. We see how revolutions are carried out: in the blink of an eye. Someone was SOMEONE, became NOBODY, etc.

What does Orthodoxy give? The Orthodox faith and a person’s conviction that God exists and that God is Love, and not something else, completely changes a person’s perception of everything that happens in his life. How worried was the millionaire who committed suicide! And how many people commit suicide for other reasons - deprived of their post, deprived of their position... How much stress, strokes, heart attacks we have, how much despair. Where? Because we don’t have solid ground under our feet. This solid ground is faith in God, Who is Love. I know that nothing will happen to me, nothing will happen without the will of God! Only an alien can look and say: “Oh... this man in a white coat is cutting him with a scalpel. What horrors, what is happening to him, what are they doing to him?” Because he doesn't know anything. And the person who knows will say: “Well, this is a surgeon, the best surgeon in the world, who saves a person from cancer.” What happens to me, with the Christian faith, is perceived as the loving and wise Providence of God towards me. I know this for sure, because I believe. I believe that this is not a random phenomenon. That this is not a conspiracy of some people, that this is not the hatred of some person. No one and nothing can touch me unless God allows it. I draw attention to this as the most important thing that concerns our lives.

Faith in God gives extraordinary courage in relation to all sorrows that happen to a person. People who do me harm - and I see how they do it - from a Christian point of view are only blind - hear, blind! - instruments in the hands of God. The scalpel doesn't understand anything! From the outside, you might think that he is tormenting my skin, my organs. In reality, what is happening? A loving and wise operation, without which I cannot live. Just think what Christianity says! Faith in God gives me a solid foundation in this life. What gives me courage, I repeat again, gives me the opportunity to have a completely different attitude towards other people. I don’t need to ingratiate myself - I need to treat the person truthfully. I don’t need to hate - I need to truly treat a person, the way I want to be treated. Christianity establishes the highest principle, the central principle, under which only man can truly have happiness here on earth.

I’m not saying anything about the future now, because very often one hears and reads that Christianity supposedly promises only pie in the sky. That only after death you will receive something, there will be eternal benefits for you. But here there is nothing. Nothing like this. Nothing like this!!! It is here that Christianity gives a person something that nothing else can give. Look, now they are running to psychologists, psychics, sorcerers, I don’t know who they are running to, in order to somehow relieve this burden. “I can’t do this anymore, what should I do, I’m sad...” You can’t imagine, at one of the meetings in Finland they cited statistics: now more than half of the people - Western, wealthy people - more than half of the people have lost the meaning of life and are turning to psychiatrists. The cause of suicide and terrible stress is the loss of the meaning of life. They don't know what's next. Now everything is there – and then what? What's next? Christianity gives a person a perspective of life, does not close him in this narrow circle, in these tens of years. He says no, you are not an animal, you are a human. Your personality is indestructible. So I draw attention to this. How important it is for a person to choose a worldview! A person must be reasonable. One must be able to intelligently approach where it is, the correct faith. Is it faith in the eternal life of the individual - or is it faith in the eternal death of the individual, its disappearance. Let me tell you, our entire future life depends on this.

Pascal is a famous physicist, we all know him as a physicist, but we don’t know anyone else - that he is a man who spent almost his entire adult life in a monastery. He left us with wonderful thoughts. He did not have time to write the book that he planned to write as a response to atheism; he died very early. But his notes remained. They were published after Pascal's death, when they were found. His “Thoughts on Religion” have not yet lost their relevance. Anyone interested can read it. And, in particular, there he has one interesting thought, which remained in the history of human thought as “Pascal’s Wager”, a bet - that is, a dispute. So what is this bet? He says that a person who does not believe in God wins nothing here, wins absolutely nothing here, but if there is a God, he will lose everything there. A person who believes in God loses nothing here, he does not have two stomachs and ten shoulders, but he gains everything there - if there is a God. The first question, therefore, is there a God or not? Without this, a person’s worldview is not a worldview. Of course, you don’t have to look for anything, you can slide down to a level of life where a person doesn’t need anything in the world. Well, we know what kind of standard of living this is - so to speak, animal, biological, plant, whatever you want, at least not human. A person cannot refuse the question - why do I live and what is the meaning of my activity? Christianity answers what meaning this activity has, any one: economic, economic, creative, state - it doesn’t matter. What meaning does it have? If God is Love, and I want to tell you again, God is not a being that is somewhere in the constellation Alpha Centauri, sits there and controls from there, presses levers or buttons. God is Spirit. That is, it is not a material something. This is not the law of gravity, this is not some kind of ether that permeates, this is something completely immaterial, something that we, naturally, cannot describe, but something else is important: God is fundamentally different from everything material.
If God is Love, that is, the essence of our entire existence, our entire existence, existence, both cosmic and human, then the Christian faith has as its focus a principle or, let’s say, “law number one”, on which all other laws are built, from which all other laws flow. This is the law of love, you see, here it is, the eternal principle. Because God is that eternal Being who permeates our entire existence and man, first of all. This is the principle of love. Christianity says from here that with all the main thought, with all the main content human activity there must be activities consistent with this principle. Everything that does not correspond to this principle of love is incorrect activity. What does unfaithful mean? We know what doing the wrong thing is in any matter: we do something wrong, and then we scratch our heads - what to do now? Wrong activity is what is called sin in Christianity, and what is called error in production.

What is sin? Christianity speaks about one amazing thing, which, unfortunately, is little known to people. It says something like this: Did you steal? You stole from yourself! But not his. Did you hurt him? You have done harm to yourself! Not him. Do you have something? You only have what you gave to another! In Christianity, sin is everything that harms a person’s soul. This is a very important point. Harm, no matter who I bring it to: to myself, to another, or to nature, is a sin. And from here, every sin is a wound inflicted on me. Every sin I commit. Only for the most short-sighted eye is murder, great theft, terrible betrayal, etc. called sin. But Christianity looks a little deeper and calls on people to put on glasses. No, all these great sins are a consequence, and not an independent act. The consequence of what happens in the human soul. Nobody ever killed outright. He hated this man, he spun this reel a thousand times in his soul, he committed murder a thousand times in his soul before he actually did it. That is why Christianity says that the first and most important sin is committed in the human soul. You know, when a person is on a mountain and there is a sled there, it’s very interesting to go down the hill. But they tell him that, at some stage, there is an abyss there. They say it's better not to get on the sleigh. If you sit down, you won't stop in the middle. Christianity therefore pays attention to the so-called spiritual side of man. So we talk a lot - spiritual, spiritual! Soon you start touching yourself - am I a ghost?! What is spiritual? But that’s what’s spiritual! This is what happens in me, inside, what no one sees or hears. I can hate a person inside, and this hatred can then lead to terrible consequences, and these consequences, since they are already taking place not only in the soul, but also in the material plane, they turn out to be the most severe wounds for me.

Here we are talking about Divine Revelation, we are saying that the New Testament is a revelation. Old Testament, New Testament, Gospel - revelation of Who? The revelation of the One we call God. Who is this God? – Love, What does He reveal? Human! don't harm yourself! How? And like this! At first there were rough commandments; if you take the Old Testament, then there were the roughest commandments. You know, don't kill, don't steal, etc. The rudest commandments that stick out in your eyes. Christ came and pointed out the reason for these things and said that a person harms himself, upsets his life, ruins his life, debauchery begins in his thoughts! It never happens right away! So Christ just warns about this: man, pay attention to your soul! To your thoughts, to your feelings, to your desires. Just think about the purity of man that Christianity talks about. It speaks about his very soul. What a shrine he is calling him to! Think about how wonderful this is. This is the beauty that Chekhov spoke about: Everything in a person should be beautiful - the soul, the body, the hands, and the face. Man is called to be a royal being. In what sense? In a holy sense. By the way, only those who know how to manage themselves can manage others well. He who does not know how to manage himself will never be able to properly manage others. This is the law. This is the law that the ancient sages, pre-Christian, spoke about. Christianity only confirms this. And he says that the hardest battle a person has to fight is the battle with himself. And victory of victories is victory over yourself!

Will you notice: in Christianity who is most glorified? Devotees. What are they doing there in the desert, you say, saving themselves?! Well, egoists and nothing more. He climbed into the desert somewhere and sits there, saving himself. You might think so! In fact, what we are talking about: no one has ever achieved anything without giving up everything that hinders him. They say that someone was writing an etymological dictionary, so he completely abandoned friends, acquaintances, everything. He went into complete seclusion, literally. For a very long time, almost several years. But then he really gave out what was needed. What a dictionary it was! And what do desert ascetics do? The most important thing! An attempt to cleanse ourselves of everything that hurts us, that hurts us, that kills us. That's why we glorify them this way. These are truly pure soul people.

Unfortunately, we talk very, very little about this. In our lives, of course, very little is said about this. Now life is becoming more and more materialistic. The materialism by which the West lived or is now living, and for which materialism is the only goal in life, literally dominates there. Now it strikes, of course, our consciousness. But we still have, I would say, a soul. In general, in Russia, this is an amazing phenomenon, after so many years of atheism, where there are so many people, it seems, brought up in the spirit of atheism, who have just been given freedom - look what an explosion has occurred! Where?! In general, this is a phenomenon that scientists would probably take up if humanity still existed for a long time, but, unfortunately, it will not last long, because the same scientists say so. This is an amazing fact: as soon as the ban was lifted, people flocked to the temple. Moreover, what’s most interesting is that you’ve probably noticed: parents bring their children, even in the literal sense of the word, children. Children - ten, fifteen, twenty years old - bring their parents to. There is still a voice in our soul, this spark of seeking truth, a feeling of sacredness, the understanding that I am not just an animal, I am a human being, and I cannot believe that I will never exist, that with the death of my body I will cease to exist. exist.

By the way, I don’t know whether this is interesting for you or not, but I want to say that atheism as a worldview does not stand up to criticism not only from the point of view scientific view, about which I spoke: that science can never say that there is no God. Atheism, it does not stand up to criticism from the other side. He can't answer the most important question. And the most important question for him is: what should I do to make sure that there is no God? He also claims that there is no God. I want to make sure of this. Do you want to make me believe? Sorry. I want to be convinced, not believe. Tell me, what should I do to make sure that there is no God? Do science? How many scientists do you need to count? The greatest scientists who believed and believe in God. Do you want to study art, literature, philosophy? It is clear that these spheres do not say that God does not exist. So what should I do to make sure that there is no God, that there is no soul, that there is no eternity for me? Atheism is silent. No answer. There is no answer to this question. Christianity only knows, on the contrary, what it says: for the sake of God, for the sake of all that is holy, try to live like this, try, and you will see that God exists. Points directly to a specific path. By the way, many people of different eras, different social status, different educational levels, even different intellects - from the lowest to the highest - when they took the path indicated by Christianity, they came to this faith, or better yet, to direct, personal knowledge of the Divine . It turns out that Christianity shows this practical path to everyone who really sincerely wants to be convinced of this. I'm not even talking about the fact that Christianity has a whole series of arguments, both negative in relation to atheism and positive, confirming its truth. After all, every theory, if you like, is confirmed by what? Remember, the neutrino: when it was discovered, discovered theoretically, then for thirty years they wondered whether it actually existed or not. All the data that there should be a neutrino is there, but in reality – is it there or not? There are an incredible number of people in Christianity who believe not simply because they were raised in a Christian environment. This faith doesn't cost much, I tell you. So many people who were brought up in the Muslim faith would be Muslims, and those who were brought up in the Buddhist faith would be Buddhists. I wasn't talking about these people. I don’t want to talk about these people, there are many such people everywhere. In any religion. I’m talking about other people, I’m talking about those people who, figuratively speaking, went through this life “with a bow and a sword”, really sought God and found Him.

If we pay attention to at least one thing, just one fact: the history of the origin and formation of Christianity, then we will certainly be convinced of what kind of religion it is. As you know, Christ was crucified, i.e. They were given the most severe punishment of that time. His disciples, the apostles, sat in fear, as it is written: “fear for the sake of the Jews,” locked in the room. Why? Because they knew: as soon as they were discovered, they would be executed immediately. They will also be crucified or stoned. This is where Christianity began, just think! The Jewish Sanhedrin gave an order - everyone who preaches about this name should be brought to him. And many of Christ’s disciples, as we know, suffered. Stephen, who is called the first martyr, was stoned, Jacob was thrown from the temple. The most severe persecution and real terror began. This is a word that will be very useful to us now. This is the era in which Christianity began its life. This turned out to be not enough. There turned out to be very good connections with Rome, with the royal house, and we see that already in the 60s, maybe even at the end of the 50s of the first century, a law was passed according to which everyone who is recognized as a Christian, whether he himself says, If they report him, he must be executed. Christians - to the lions. Can you imagine the situation in which Christianity was born? Now, if we really imagined it this way, really, in life, we would then understand that Christianity should not have existed. It must be destroyed at the very root, at the very beginning, this is precisely what was intended. That is why they killed Christ, that is why they killed His disciples. By the way, every single one of them, except John the Evangelist. All were executed. All their followers. Execution after execution. Christians to the lions. Circuses were filled with spectacles. In Nero's Gardens, Christians were tied up, tarred, and set on fire at nightfall as torches. Tell me, what religion could exist here? And all this continued until 317, with some interruptions. I ask myself: how could Christianity exist, how could it exist, how could it even remain?

I point to this fact as one of the striking arguments indicating that Christianity is not just, you know, some kind of religious philosophy or some kind of sect that arose and you can’t get rid of it. A lot of sects arise, and so they remain these sects. And then they disappear. And this is a religion that later spread throughout the world. Under what conditions!!! It seems to me that this fact alone is enough to believe in God. Only by recognizing this can one understand the existence of Christianity up to the present time. And it could have been destroyed for what reason? Because of apostasy from God. Only for this reason.
This, at least, is a consideration, this historical fact speaks volumes. That Christianity is not the invention of some visionary, dreamer, etc. And then, when we read the Gospel, we see the image of Christ. He is an amazingly sober, let's say, Man. Sober. There are no dreams. Moreover, a Man Who is not eager for power or glory is not an ambitious person. Having resurrected Jairus's twelve-year-old daughter, the first thing He does is order not to tell anyone about it. He heals one leper, another - and orders not to tell anyone about it. Man did not strive for anything earthly. Neither power, nor wealth, nor glory interested Him.

So, I want to say that Christianity has very strong arguments confirming that God really exists and this God is precisely the idea that Christianity gives. In this case, we are entering the sphere of “Christianity and other religions”. Each religion represents God in its own way. Just like Ivan Petrovich over there. Who do you think he is? "Wrongful man." And you? - "ABOUT, wonderful person" Do you think so? - “Oh, weak-minded.” And you? - “So this is a genius!” Ask ten people about another person, and sometimes we will hear ten opinions. People felt that God existed. All peoples believed. By the way, this is a very interesting fact: that all peoples have always believed in God. And so far not a single atheistic tribe has been found among the so-called wild peoples. No one. Never. This is a most curious thing. Everyone believed. But it’s one thing to believe that He exists, and another thing to believe who He is! Found in different nations strong personalities, or thinkers, or strong “charismatics” who said, “This is who He is. He is such and such.” This is how the Doctrine of God was formed, from bottom to top. There is a feeling of God, there is an idea of ​​God, and who He is has already been proposed by one or another “active creator of religion.”

This is how many ideas about God arose, this is how many religions arose. It got to the point that religions had already appeared that claimed that many Gods existed. Not one God, but many. And this arose, by the way, very simply. I think you and I will also come to this soon. At least there is a tendency towards this. You know that the Greeks had a God of Trade, a God of War, and a God of Love. How did this come about? Well, of course, there is only one God. But then it began to arise in consciousness that there are those who especially patronize this or that type of human activity. This is how degradation began: from the “awareness of one God” came the awareness of the multitude of those who are in charge of each of their areas. It started in Catholicism, and then it began to come to us and, I think, it will really, really take root. This or that saint is in charge of this or that area. In churches now, you often have someone come up to you and ask who to pray to, so that... And that’s it, neither the Lord God nor any other saint - only this saint and no one else is needed. If, for example, the husband is a drunkard, then who needs to pray? No one! And it is necessary in front of the “Inexhaustible Chalice” icon. If you simply pray to the Mother of God, it will not give anything. An icon of the “Inexhaustible Chalice” is definitely needed. This image of the Mother of God, then it will help. The Mother of God herself was divided! I remember once, back in the 70s, Kremlin doctors came to us, and we took them around our museum. And there, in particular, there is an icon Mother of God"Increasing your mind." So, you know what the discussion was like. One doctor yelled: “My son is studying, give me such an icon!” And the second: “And I have a daughter. Give it to me too." You feel? Now this is at the level of such an easy thought, almost even anecdotal. But in reality this is not a joke at all. It is a very rare occurrence when they come to a priest and ask to serve a prayer service to the Mother of God in order to get rid of the disease of drunkenness. Rather, they will come and ask to serve a prayer service in front of the “Inexhaustible Chalice” icon, and there will be a queue of them. Hear what's happening. No longer the Mother of God, but an icon. I’m just psychologically depicting how it can happen that people, having once believed in one God, began to believe in many gods. We even excel in this: believing in the Mother of God, we share Her with icons. I remember one old woman gave me a very strong response to my statement that the Mother of God is alone. “Like one Mother of God? And Vladimirskaya? And Iverskaya? And Kazanskaya? Is this what they teach you in seminary?” And I had a blast! Of course, I immediately gave up, there’s nothing to say. This was the process by which faith in one God was disintegrated, even into many gods.

So, how were ideas about God created in people? Each religion believes in its own God, that is, in its own image of God. It turns out that this is how religions differ. In fact, there is, of course, one God. And these ideas about God sometimes reached such distortions that it simply became scary. To the point of complete depravity. To the point of complete Satanism. And here the gods were. So, how is Christianity different from such religions? Let's just think about it. If there is God, if He is Love, He cannot, in the end, not reveal himself to people. He can't help but open up. It opens. That is, there is a path not only from bottom to top, but there is a path from top to bottom. This is what we call Divine revelation. Christianity, unlike other religions, claims to be a revealed religion. In this sense, it is a true religion. I gave you only one argument, a historical argument, showing the conditions under which Christianity developed, how terrible persecutions, tortures and executions the first Christians were subjected to. But the religion remained, spread and became worldwide. This alone suggests that Christianity is not just a product of our fantasies. And this is the religion that was constantly, constantly supported by the power of God. You will not find any explanations, you just have to talk objectively with historians - there are no human reasons to explain the fact of the preservation of Christianity in history. This is where I would like to end the lecture. Now let's talk.

Answers on questions

Now, of course, the situation in our country is such that we are among many religions, or rather, not religions, but worldviews. There are many sects, many representatives of other religions. Catholicism is becoming very active now. This tendency of his is called “eternal”. He has already raised the rank of his dioceses here, or more precisely, of his formations here in Russia. Now several dioceses have arisen, bishops have been appointed, and there is now a metropolitan. And, in general, as you see, the situation in this regard is becoming more and more complex. Moreover, all the calls of our Church and even our Ministry of Foreign Affairs to somehow correlate their activities with the state of affairs that has always taken place in our country, and to take into account Orthodoxy, all these statements of ours remained, in fact, unanswered. Catholicism has finally reached Russia. There’s no way Dad will come to Russia yet. This, of course, is his cherished dream. But he has already been around us. And in Ukraine, and in Armenia, and in Georgia, so we, so to speak, are in a certain Catholic aura, which is now trying to permeate our Church as much as possible. I think that, of course, there are real prerequisites for this.

– Alexey Ilyich, here’s a question: “Is a person who believes in his soul, but does not attend church and does not fast, considered a believer?”

You know, it’s difficult to answer this question in such a general form. Formally speaking, of course not. According to the formal ones. Because if I believe that now someone will run in here and say: “We’re on fire, there’s a fire!” If I believe, they will immediately carry me out either through the door or through the window. And if I don’t believe it, I won’t budge. It's true?
So, how can I say that I believe in my soul, and do not go to a place where only I can come to my senses at least a little? Pray a little. Where can I hear the Gospel, its explanation. If I believe, how can I not go there! If I believe, then I must confess, cleanse my soul, at least a little. What am I, a sinless being, or what? I believe, I'm an angel. So I need to confess, I need to take communion. I need to pray. It’s impossible without this.
Therefore, I will tell you: faith is always effective. If I believe, I will definitely do it. If I don’t do it, it means I don’t believe, it means I just have some idea in my head that doesn’t give any concrete impetus to my life. This remains an abstract idea. Like a point in geometry, without size. Yes, any point, no matter what it is, has dimensions, take any point, on any paper. No! A geometric point has no dimensions. That's how it is here too.
So I very much doubt that such a belief can benefit that person. But I can’t say this completely. Because faith is like a grain, a seed that we plant and which can then sprout, then can grow more, and can become a tree. And even bear fruit.
Therefore, everything depends in this case on the person. If it is a nascent faith, perhaps yes, while he is at this stage. But if a person has believed in God for decades and does not recognize any temple or anything, then I very, very doubt it. I think that this is no longer faith. It’s simple, as Khomyakov, one of our geniuses, said: “not faith, but belief.” Still, it is necessary to somehow distinguish between these two concepts, and in this case I would call it that.

– I have the next question. We are worldly people, we live in the world, and the Savior showed us the way, but I have a wife and children. Where is the line that I should find in this matter? It is clear, saints, they could go into the desert and be saved through this. What about us? How can we find that line so as not to offend our family and friends and not forget ourselves, our salvation.

That's a good question. I will remind you a little of the text, and then perhaps you will see part of the answer. The young man asked Him: what should I do to be saved? Jesus said: Do you know the commandments? - I know. And lists them to him. “I did all this,” says the young man. Then go further, he says, if you want to be perfect, then go and sell your property and give it to the poor. Listen, if you want to be saved, then yes, give up everything, says Jesus. There, in the Gospel, it is written so directly. You see, there are two fundamentally different steps here.
Therefore, regarding us, worldly people, what would I say? We must live according to our conscience. Actually, this is what it all comes down to. All the commandments. If something like this doesn’t work out, then at least sincerely repent. In that they violated. But if someone really wants to achieve more, then we understand that being in our bustle, constantly communicating with people, we are constantly literally sinning. Condemnation alone never leaves our lips. Condemnation alone does what, but envy, jealousy, what not, and hostility? We are spinning here, hitting each other, stabbing each other continuously, straining ourselves every moment, so it is impossible to achieve much here. I told you about a scientist who, in order to write an etymological dictionary, closed himself for literally a year or two. Only then could he do something. And in general, I’ll tell you, no one could do anything great if he did not devote all his strength only to this task and did not renounce everything else. So, if a person wants to be perfect, then yes. Then he really needs to renounce everything that he can really renounce. To the extent that he renounces, to that extent he gains the ability to improve in this matter. That's why they went into the desert, into seclusion, solitude. Do you know what to call them? Greenhouse flowers. Look how lush the flowers are in the greenhouses; these will never grow in the fresh air. So, they were greenhouse flowers. They created exceptional, ideal conditions for spiritual life. And therefore they could achieve more. Something we just can't achieve. We cannot reach a state where we love everyone equally. We can never achieve the goal of loving our enemies. I say love, in the sense of feeling with your heart. We can feel with our minds, we can treat the enemy fairly, but in order to love him - excuse me. I can't do this. They achieved this.
You say - what does this give to a person? The answer to this question is very simple. Anyone who has ever fallen in love knows what it is. So they did: they acquired love, and not falling in love with everything and everyone, and this was their state of mind. This is the state of mind of a lover who is ready to give everything, ready to be walled up, this is what love is. This is the state for which a person is ready to give everything. So, it turns out that the correct Christian life and the perfection that is achieved by a person under special conditions brings amazing results to that person. Yesterday, if anyone was in church, you probably heard the life of Mary of Egypt. I will tell you that what happened to her is a completely unique case in history, and it is humanly impossible to explain it to anyone. So that she, immediately leaving her stormy life, went into the desert and then was there alone for 47 years! This alone is either just a complete fantasy or a fact. And if it’s a fact, then we must understand what was in her soul that she paid everyone for. Neither hunger, nor fears from animals, nor cold, nor complete loneliness, nothing could drive her out of there - such was her condition. That's what perfection is.
Perfection is the maximum approach to God, Who is Love. The Apostle Paul says that spiritual fruit is love and joy. You remember the things he lists. But, unfortunately, we hardly know what it is. We have forgotten about these things. We don't feel it. Therefore, it is now incomprehensible to us how Mary of Egypt could have stayed there. After all, how can one explain the suffering of a martyr? After all, tens, hundreds, thousands died during these 300 years of persecution. Well, how was this possible when I know for sure that every Christian will be given to beasts or crucified or something else will be done to him, and I will accept Christianity? Are you laughing? Why do I need this, what religion is it, why do I need to accept it? And how is it possible to declare oneself a Christian? Or when they offer me to throw a handful of grains into a hot frying pan in front of an idol standing - that’s it, and you’re free. Just everything. And thousands and thousands of people went to a wild, terrible death, but did not renounce. The Great Martyr Eustratius said on this occasion: “This torment is the joy of Thy servants.” We have forgotten these categories. In general, these categories: love, joy – these are real things. And just the right Christian life cleanses human soul from dirty, unclean, crazy and all other thoughts, feelings and desires. Makes the soul capable of perceiving God, feeling God, experiencing God, and then this soul is filled with truly inexplicable joy, love, etc. This is what excellence brings. But for this you need to free your soul. The soul has certain dimensions: the more it is filled with rubbish, the less useful it is, the more ballast, the less useful cargo. This is what our soul is.
So, what do we beat her with? So, I constantly fill my soul with all sorts of dreams and thoughts. All sorts of films. All sorts of rubbish, hostility. The more I fill my soul with this, the less there is left that can nourish me. And that’s why we don’t worry. There is no joy, no love, the soul dies. What a problem. Therefore, in our worldly life, I believe, we should, as far as possible, strive to live according to our conscience, according to the Gospel. And then, what is also very important: at least with your soul, don’t get attached to anything. Yes, we know: we must do this and that, this is our job, this is our business, we are obliged to do it. But don’t get attached with your soul. Because you know who a rich man is, in the bad sense of the word: one who is attached to his wealth. And this rich man may be the last beggar. Who is the rich man? One who is attached to his possessions, who lives by it, who longs for it, for whom this is the goal of life. That's who the rich man is. And at the same time, a rich person can be a person who does not acquire, he is not attached to it. By the way, I want to say: the more of these ties to the earth, the more difficult it is for a person to die. We need to know this. Because you will have to cut off too thick ropes. You need to not be internally attached to anything. And I will say that it is a great blessing when a person is not attached. And when we: “Oh, my God, what will Princess Marya Alekseevna say!” When we are disturbed by human opinion, when we are disturbed by all sorts of other things, it is difficult for a person, very difficult. Therefore, our task is to fight this tether as much as possible, then we can achieve some kind of freedom.

– By the Providence of God, we can all turn out to be blind instruments in the hands of the Almighty.

There is no need to mix two completely different things here. Human freedom is one thing. I am faced with a choice: I can do good or evil. Because my freedom decides this. And here I am responsible and, accordingly, bear the results of this choice. That's one thing. What do I want to do and what am I already doing within myself? And it’s a completely different matter what I will be allowed to do in relation to other people, the world around me, etc. I can hate someone with fierce hatred and am ready to kill him. But I can’t kill him in any way. I would kill him, but it just doesn’t work. This is where God's Providence operates. But not in my freedom. My freedom remains. That’s why we say that a person can sometimes be outwardly morally pure. That is, what does it mean to be morally pure? Maybe he behaves impeccably in human society and no one will say anything bad about him. Yes, he doesn't steal. He performs his deeds religiously. Everything is fine in his family. In general, everything is fine. Good man. This is the moral side. But inside, this is the spiritual side, he can be completely defeated. We don't know, what does he want? What is he aiming for? What does he dream about, this moral man? What can he dream about? About Slava. If I live entirely by this, waiting for human glory, - this feeling alone, this search for glory already crosses out my entire spiritual life. So inside a person can be proud, and vain, and love-loving, etc. But on the outside he can be a completely moral person.
So, in relation to Cain, for example. The fact that Cain wanted to kill his brother and hated him is a matter of his freedom. His personality. His sin. And the fact that he was allowed to kill Abel is a matter of God’s Providence. Of course, a counter question arises: why was this necessary? Why was Abel killed? He could have lived another 900 years! I think that you and I will not find a final answer to this question, but there is a fundamental answer. I can’t say specifically, but there is a principled answer. There is no glory without achievement. I believe that martyrdom is always one of those moments for a person that brings him special benefit. Either they are atoning for his sins, or they even bring him eternal glory. Not earthly, but eternal. But we look exactly the opposite. Someone was killed somewhere or something happened to someone, we say - it serves him right! He was like this, like this and like this. What does Christianity say? God is Love, He allowed this man to suffer, maybe even repent, we don’t know what other moments, minutes and hours he was alive. Letting one suffer is the great mercy of God. You hear, if you look from the point of view of eternity, our assessments take on a completely different character. In particular, the exact opposite of those to which we are accustomed in this life. We are what he needs, he deserves it. But it turns out that the One who cuts with a knife, with a scalpel, performs the operation. The Savior performs the operation. A completely different understanding of the facts. The fact that God gave Cain to do this is possible, and for him this later served as a subject of repentance. We don't know his future life. And for Abel this served as a crown of glory. This, I think, is how this fact and similar ones can be understood.

– We, Russians, bearers of Orthodoxy, are under the protection of the Mother of God. On the one hand, it takes pride in this, on the other hand, it smacks a little of self-exaltation. How to draw the line here? We, the bearers of Orthodoxy, are sort of like an “Aryan nation,” and the whole world is kind of like nothing.

I think that you have already answered yourself and anticipated my answer. Wherever there is exaltation, know that there is untruth there. This happens all the time: “We are under the protection of the Mother of God.” What it is? What does this mean: that I can do anything, and the Mother of God covers me? Is this what? Same reason again. Because who says this? These are people who, it seems, accepted Orthodoxy without knowing anything about it, and introduce their worldly, that is, passionate, principles into consciousness. It's just a disaster. I just now told you to serve a prayer service for drunkenness in front of the “Inexhaustible Chalice” icon and no other. If it’s in front of Vladimirskaya, then there won’t be any case. The same is true in front of the “Sovereign” icon, and if not in front of the “Sovereign” icon, then there will be no use. You see, this is no longer the Mother of God, but an icon. This way we will soon come to paganism. It is very dangerous. Icons are images of someone we believe in. Who do we pray to? This is an image. And there are many of these images. There are about 700 images of the Mother of God. Various images before which we pray. Just like there can be as many photographs of you and me as you like. That's the problem. It was the pagans who thought that their images, painted or sculpted, were gods. For this Christianity denounced them.
And it’s the same with Russia. Well, what is it: “We are the third Rome.” Well, Elder Philotheus had such an idea, but he had a completely different idea. What a thought: Rome has fallen, Byzantium has fallen, where else is that center, that state, where Orthodoxy would be the state religion and would have every opportunity to exist, spread and live. Yes, in Russia. Yes, in Moscow. That's just the idea - that's all. Then. But to say that this is forever and will always be so is the same as saying: our ancestors saved Rome. About the same.
The same applies to the cover of the Mother of God. The Protection of the Mother of God is not unconditional. Were the Jewish people the chosen ones? Was. If they rejected Christ, their chosenness was taken away. Nothing and no one can be forever. Everything depends on our will. Well, I will blaspheme God, and the Mother of God will cover me! I will insult Her Son, and she will cover for me? Think for yourself. And Athos says: “No, we are under the protection of the Mother of God.” Greece says: "No, we." Russia: “No, we.” Let's fight. Well, what is this? The protection of God, the saints and the Mother of God is used only by those who really sincerely want to follow the commandments of God. He who rejects these commandments himself rejects this covering. This is the law of life.
You know, in one article I read how Nicholas II was canonized and the author of the article writes, a year after that: “Now for a whole year the royal family has been enjoying heavenly blessings.” Just think, this is written by a new theologian, I know him, he is an engineer by training, a mathematician, and suddenly - this is all his knowledge of theology. It turns out that before this, before canonization, it didn’t matter, even if they were saints, they didn’t enjoy it, but after canonization, they did. And if they decanonize him, ask him, then what will happen? Then back to the underworld, right? Well, what kind of logic is this!
It is from such views, from such an understanding of things, that such views are formed. It's very sad, I tell you. Christianity says one thing: until a person humbles himself, God cannot approach him. And he can’t do anything to him. “Go away,” he says, “Lord, I will do it myself.” Until he humbles himself, no one can begin to approach him, but God Himself. Do you understand now why pride is the most terrible thing? This is vanity, this pride, this is I - this is We. These are the surest means of breaking away from God. God opposes no one more than the proud. God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble. This is how I understand this situation.

Many people are interested in the question: what is the meaning of life in Christianity? Trying to find an answer to a question is depriving you of peace. Religion helps every believer find the path to a life full of meaning. Undoubtedly, this is a philosophical question, however, faith and sincere prayer to God will help you find a clear answer to it. A religious response to the tossing of the soul will become a bright ray of light and show the path to peace and harmony. Let's turn to three world religions and try to figure out what the meaning of human life is.

Christian understanding of the meaning of life

Many holy fathers in their sermons and teachings pay special attention to the issue of finding the true life path and himself. Man began to think about the eternal and the most important in the distant past. Remember the legend of King Sisyphus; as punishment, he was doomed to forever roll a stone to the top of the highest mountain. Having reached the top, the king again found himself at the foot and began a meaningless ascent. This myth is the clearest example of the meaninglessness of human existence.

Thinkers about the true meaning of existence

The philosopher Albert Camus, reflecting on the meaning of life in Christianity, applied the image of Sisyphus to the image of a man - his contemporary. The philosopher’s main idea was the following: the life of every creature, limited by the boundaries of existence, resembles Sisyphean labor, full of absurdity and meaningless actions.

It is important! Often a person who has reached a respectable age remembers life and understands that there were many incoherent events in it that turned into an endless chain of meaningless deeds and actions. So that earthly existence does not resemble Sisyphean labor, it is important to find the meaning of life, to clearly see the road - your own, the only path to harmony and happiness.

Unfortunately, many people live in illusory world, follow pseudo-goals. However, in the world of specifics and realities, it is impossible to find the true meaning of a Christian’s life. This idea is best confirmed by exact science - mathematics. A number divided by infinity is zero. It is not surprising that all attempts by people far from faith to explain the meaning of existence look naive.

Great creators and philosophers understand the incompleteness of earthly existence. Blaise Pascal realized only two years before his death that science is just work, a craft, and the true meaning of Christian life is rooted in religion. In his letters, the scientist often thought a lot about the meaning of existence. He wrote that a person can become truly happy only by realizing that there is a God. The true good is to love Him and abide in Him, and the great misfortune is to be separated from Him and to be filled with darkness. True religion clearly and clearly explains to man the reason why he resists God, and therefore the greatest good. True faith shows how to gain the necessary strength to overcome one’s own delusions, how to accept God, and find oneself.

Great scientist and Orthodoxy

In the modern world the situation has not changed radically. A deeply moral person, having achieved certain heights and results, clearly understands that this is not the true goal. Great people are constantly understanding what its true meaning is. A striking example is the life of Academician Korolev. Managing the greatest space program, he understood that the meaning of existence is in the salvation of the soul, that is, it rushes far beyond the boundaries of earthly existence. In those days, Orthodoxy and faith were subjected to serious persecution, but even then Korolev had a mentor, he attended pilgrimages and donated large sums for charity.

About it amazing person wrote the nun Silouana, who worked in the hotel at the monastery. In her stories, she describes Korolev as a respectable man in a leather jacket. She was amazed by the fact that the academician, having lived for several days in a hotel at the temple, was sincerely surprised by poverty and misery. His heart was breaking from what he saw, and Korolev wanted to help the monastery. The academician lamented that he had little money with him, but left his address and telephone number and asked the nun to definitely stop by when he arrived in Moscow. The nun gave Korolev the address of a priest who found himself in a difficult situation and asked him to provide all possible assistance. Some time later, Silvana arrived in Moscow and was visited by the Queen. To her surprise, the man lived in a luxurious mansion, was very happy to see the nun, and invited her to visit. In Korolev’s office there were icons, and on the table lay an open book of the Philokalia. The academician donated 5 thousand rubles to the monastery. By the way, mentor and good friend The queen became a priest, whose address the nun gave and asked for help.

It is important! For Korolev, turning to religion was not a short episode; in it, the academician learned the meaning of a Christian’s life. The scientist lived Orthodoxy, risked his own high position, found time to read the works of the holy fathers.

Pushkin on the Gospel

Great poets in their work raised the eternal question of the meaning of birth and existence. At the beginning of the 19th century, Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin wrote the poem “Three Keys,” where he expressed the endless feeling of thirst for the soul. At that time, the poet was only 28 years old, but even then he wanted to understand the meaning of the presence of living beings on earth and their birth. And 3 months before his tragic death, Pushkin will write about the Gospel - the only book where every word is interpreted. The poet said that only this great book is applicable to any circumstance and event in life, its eloquence captivates and has eternal charm.

The answer to the question - where to look for the meaning of birth and what can change your life? The most accurate teaching will be revealed by the Holy Gospel. It says here - life is more important than food, it is more important than the Sabbath. In accordance with the Gospel, Jesus died for everyone, and after being resurrected, he became the Author of life. The real meaning of life lies in union with Jesus, this is the true source of happiness and light. The Gospel says that a true believer will certainly be resurrected after death.

It is important! Entry into eternal life begins on earth, through the church. If a person could not step on the feet of holiness, but lives his path with spiritual honesty, he gains knowledge of the meaning of his existence. Prayer helps with this, which is an appeal to God, a conversation with him. One of the most powerful is the prayer of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, which changes a person and opens the path to eternal life.

The meaning of life in Buddhism

Buddhist practice says that an integral part of every person’s life is suffering, and the highest goal is to end this suffering. Buddhism puts a specific meaning into the word “suffering” - the desire to obtain material benefits, desires that a person who has not achieved nirvana indulges. The only way to get rid of suffering is by achieving a special state - enlightenment or nirvana. In this state, a person gives up all his desires, and accordingly, he gets rid of suffering.

The purpose of existence in Buddhism of the southern tradition is the awareness of personal consciousness, the achievement of such a state when a person is deprived of any earthly desires and ceases to be in the generally accepted sense of the word.

If we talk about Buddhism in the northern tradition, the highest goals are pursued here. Man cannot achieve nirvana until sentient beings reach the state of enlightenment.

It is important! Nirvana can be achieved not only through practice, but also as a result of a sinless, righteous life.

The meaning of life in Islam

The meaning of life in Islam presupposes a special relationship between God and man. The main goal of followers of Islam is submission to God, surrendering oneself to Him. This is why the followers of this religion are called devotees. There are words in the Koran that God created man not for the specific benefit of God, but to worship Him. It is in worship that there is the highest benefit.

According to the main Islamic tenets, Allah is supreme over everything, He is merciful and merciful. All believers must surrender themselves to Allah, submit and humble themselves. At the same time, all people are responsible for their own actions, for which the Lord will reward at the Supreme Court. After the Judgment, the righteous will find themselves in Paradise, and sinners will face eternal punishment in Hell.

Lecture by professor of the Moscow Theological Academy and Seminary A.I. Osipov.