Presented to your attention is a transcript of a lecture by Father Daniil Sysoev on dogmatic theology concerning original sin. Due to the fact that the sound quality in the recording leaves much to be desired, in some places it is not Father Daniil's verbatim speech that is conveyed, but its general meaning. Notes have also been added by the transcript's editor, expanding on the meaning of Father Daniil's speech more broadly. They are placed in separate brackets and marked as (ed.: …. ).
Lecture 1.
Father Daniil:
The topic here is "original sin." What is it, how to talk about it, how can we convey the knowledge of the teaching itself to people. I think there is no need to retell the fall itself; each of us can open the third chapter of the book of Genesis, which describes in detail the fall of our forefathers. It describes how people fell into lawlessness, how people fell away from the Creator, how people became sinful. But how does this relate to us? Nowadays, the favorite question is this: "Yes, Adam and Eve made a mess, but what does that have to do with us?" How can this be explained concerning us? And here they begin to say: "How can that be? One sinned, another is punished for him, that's unfair." Others, on the contrary, begin to say that if you don't agree that you are being punished for another, you are already thereby deserving of punishment. So, for example, Bishop Anthony Khrapovitsky tried to explain. Actually, this is not so. Indeed, man bears within himself original sin and he is a sinner. This is a fact witnessed in Holy Scripture. This fact is witnessed not only by Scripture, but also by our ordinary life. As [someone] (ed.: the name of the author of this phrase is heard in this place, but due to the poor audio quality, it is not possible to establish the authorship of this phrase) used to say: "There are still those who doubt original sin, which is obvious..." actually because of that phenomenon which is called sin. To begin with, we will read the key texts written in the New Testament concerning original sin. The fifth chapter of the Epistle to the Romans, verses 12 to 21:
"11. ...we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.
12. Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:
13. (For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law.
14. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come.
15. But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many.
16. And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offences unto justification.
17. For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.)
18. Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.
19. For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.
20. Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:
21. That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord." (Epistle to the Romans: 5; 11-21)
One of the most important key texts. It says, firstly, that...
It says about the same thing as the third chapter of the book of Genesis? In that it actually contains the model of behavior for all people in evil to this day. That is, it tells: how Eve obeyed the devil; what the mistakes were; what she saw when she looked at the tree; she saw there the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life: "And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise," (Genesis: 3; 6) These three things. She committed an act. Then Eve tempted her husband to do the same. The husband ate because he chose his wife over God – the Lord says this directly. Then, when God called, man hides from the omnipresent God, tries to deceive God, then tries to shift the blame onto another. And this model of the development of evil, which was created then by Adam, is the model of the development of evil to this day. Understand? Or not? In general, everything is done the same as it was then.
Female Listener:
May I ask a question? Why is it always said that this is the original sin of Adam, but Eve was the first to sin?
Father Daniil:
Well, the Church, actually, says exactly that: "Adam fell asleep, and death came forth from his rib." By the way, considering the name Eve, which means life in translation, and here it is played upon so interestingly – but actually death comes out. But Adam is actually more guilty. Adam is guilty because he was created as the head of the world, as the head of the wife.
Listener:
By the way, it's still the same now. The woman messes up, but the man is to blame. Because he is responsible for everything.
Father Daniil:
Yes, that's how it turns out.
Listener:
Did the Mother of God have original sin?
Father Daniil:
Yes, of course.
Listener:
And at the Annunciation?
Father Daniil:
She was cleansed from the consequences of sin by the Holy Spirit, who came upon her at the Annunciation. Therefore, the Virgin Mary said that God is her Savior.
(ed.: "And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord,
And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour." (Gospel of Luke: 1; 46-47))
The final cleansing of the Mother of God from original sin was when she was baptized by the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost.
So, the Apostle Paul tells in detail how it was. Look: "(For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law." (Epistle to the Romans: 5; 13) What does "sin was in the world until the law" mean? That indeed people did evil even before they received the written law of Moses. Right? But sin cannot be considered sin if a person does not know that it is sin, right? Well, roughly speaking, if a child doesn't know that you shouldn't spill holy water on the floor, i.e., he does a bad deed, but he doesn't know that it's a bad deed, therefore it is not counted as sin to him, understand? The Apostle says:
"13. (For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law.
14. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come." (Epistle to the Romans: 5; 13-14)
What is the Apostle saying here? He says that in principle, if sin occurred only as a violation of the Mosaic law, people would have had to be immortal before the Mosaic law. Because death is the punishment for sin. Right? But death existed, and the law did not exist. What does that mean then? The Apostle says that death is the result of the first transgression of Adam. It was the first transgression of Adam that led to people entering into a covenant with death.
The violation of the commandments was in the person of Adam. And from there came death. Understand? Therefore it is said that Adam is a type of the one who was to come. That is, of Christ. He is a type of Christ, only the antitype. If Adam introduced death, then Christ introduced life.
"15. But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many." (Epistle to the Romans: 5; 15)
That is, the gift of grace, which is given to us by Christ, is greater than what we lost through Adam. Adam sinned, death came upon many people, but grace comes upon all. That is, "grace upon all" – in what sense is it given? That is, all people receive the resurrection of the body. This is the gift of the risen Christ to all people without exception. Understand? Believers, non-believers, Muslims, anyone. This is the gift of Christ the Savior. Right.
"16. And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offences unto justification." (Epistle to the Romans: 5; 16)
That is, for one transgression all were punished by death. But grace removes not only original sin, but removes all sins that a person has committed. In baptism, all the sins a person had are washed away from him. Right? And after baptism, grace washes away sins in repentance. Right? And further he says:
"19. For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners," – see, the key point – "so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.
20. Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. ..." (Epistle to the Romans: 5; 19-20)
What does "many were made sinners" mean? This is a very interesting point, one might say that people have become sinners because Adam sinned and thereby we became sinners? Or have we become sinners because we personally sin? In what sense were we made sinners? We were made sinners because we received a mortal and passionate nature from Adam, which is prone to sin. Therefore, people become sinners personally due to the fact that their nature, which they received from Adam, draws them to sin. This means that people become guilty before God due to the fact that they, having this nature, commit personal sins. It's clear? For this they will answer. And further the Apostle Paul says that death continues to reign over those who have not sinned like Adam's transgression. For example, infants. They have no personal sin. But why do they die? They die because they have a mortal body. They are mortal because they have a mortal body. They also have a dead soul? A soul dead to God, which also leads to the fact that they themselves will sin as soon as they can. This is also very important. In this sense, it is very important to remember the Psalm verse: "Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me." (Psalms: 51; 5)
Listener:
"I was shapen in iniquity" – the manner of birth.
Father Daniil:
Listen, what is it about? That nature itself, as such, cannot be sinful (ed.: accordingly, the manner of birth cannot be sinful; sin is a violation of the contract (Covenant) between God and man). The body, the soul, any property of the soul cannot be sinful. Right?
Listener:
But nature became infected.
Father Daniil:
Now, do you understand the question: "Who infects it? In what way?"
Listener:
It turns out that the fallen demon, as a member of the family, participates in the conception of a person, right?
Father Daniil:
We will get to that now; you are just getting a little ahead of events. Here the Apostle Paul also speaks of the law of sin which reigns in our body, and in the Epistle to the Ephesians, he describes in detail who specifically rules over unbaptized people. Epistle to the Ephesians, chapter 2, verses 1 to 5:
"1. And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;
2. Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:
3. Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.
4. But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,
5. Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)
6. And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:
7. That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus." (Epistle to the Ephesians: 2; 1-4)
Here the Apostle says that we were dead in trespasses and sins. The first thing Adam and Eve did when they sinned – they died, having committed sin. They died immediately in soul and not immediately in body, but the body immediately became mortal. Right? What does it mean to "die in body"? It means that the body became doomed to death. For some, this has become a mystery they try to solve by searching for the death gene. And there are some explanations, for example, it has been discovered that DNA does not reproduce itself exactly and that within the cell itself there is currently a limited number of reproductions programmed, i.e., it cannot be immortal, because DNA does not copy itself exactly.
Listener:
That is, before sin, Adam could not die at all? That is, his body was invulnerable?
Father Daniil:
Yes.
Listener:
That is, if he was cut, for example...?
Another listener:
Then he wouldn't be cut.
Father Daniil:
He would have been cut, but no mark.
Listener:
Was birth different then?
Father Daniil:
Birth was the same as ours, but in a different state – the mode [modus], i.e., the mode of existence of nature. (ed.: René Descartes (1596-1650) – French philosopher, mathematician, physicist, and mechanist – calls the attributes and qualities that "act upon the substance or introduce various shades into it" "modes."
In practice, this is used in software development when defining the properties and attributes of variables.
By the way, the mathematician René Descartes ontologically proved the existence of God. Briefly, this looks like a logically consistent set of obvious data: 1. God is absolute perfection; 2. Perfection is the sum of all positive qualities; 3. Being is a positive quality; 4. Therefore, God possesses being.)
Listener:
And what if he, let's say, fell off a cliff?
Second listener in response to the first:
He was so smart that he walked and didn't fall.
Father Daniil:
No. Adam could have fallen off a cliff, but he would have had absolutely no problems.
Second listener:
He got up and went on.
Father Daniil:
He got up and went on, yes. Moreover, he could not drown. For example, he could have descended to the bottom of the Mariana Trench, walked around there, and gone on further.
But he did have the possibility of dying, and that possibility lay not in falling and so on, but in the fact that if he ate the forbidden fruit, then this possibility would be realized. And we know that, unfortunately, he realized that possibility.
Listener:
Could Adam, like Christ after His resurrection, walk through doors, through walls?
Father Daniil:
No, I don't think so. Adam's nature was in a slightly different state than Christ's after His Resurrection.
Listener:
Our body will be the same after the resurrection.
Father Daniil:
Well, yes, but again, we will receive more than Adam lost, so our body will be different. Do you understand the point?
Listener:
It turns out that Christ also had a mortal body. (ed.: in his lecture on the Incarnation, Daniil Sysoev pointed out that the Orthodox confession of the Incarnation looks like this: "We believe in one Son, one Lord, Jesus Christ, in two natures or essences, united in one hypostasis, unconfusedly, unchangeably, indivisibly, inseparably. This is the formula proposed by the Council of Chalcedon, which was supplemented by the formula of the Sixth Ecumenical Council, namely, that in Him there exist two natural wills – two natural energies, but in such a way that they do not contradict each other, and the human will follows the Divine will in all things."
At the same time, Father Daniil notes the following: "Christ assumed human nature such as He created it. In that sense. That is, it did not include the plant not planted by the Father. Remember, Christ said, every plant, which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up. (Gospel of Matthew: 15; 13) Right? But in what sense? That is, He did not accept sin into Himself. In what sense sin? That is, sinful inclination, He did not have within Him the satanic quality, which is in every baptized person. A demon did not live in His heart. Understand? Why didn't a demon live? Why did He have that state?
Yes, of course, the immaculate conception, absolutely right. At the same time, at the very conception, He voluntarily takes upon Himself, as Andrey correctly said, all the blameless consequences of original sin.
Let's differentiate. There are reprehensible consequences, and there are blameless consequences. Do you understand? What do reprehensible consequences mean? A person is born with a tendency towards scandals and causes scandals. Cause and effect. The tendency manifests in scandals. The tendency towards egoism and pride manifests in scandal. But this is not in Christ. But at the same time, there are blameless passions in Him. Which ones? What do passions mean in general? The capacity to suffer, absolutely right. Moreover, this concerns both bodily and mental capacity, do you understand? Therefore, He feels pain, weeps over Lazarus, feels anguish, sorrow. Nevertheless, He remains not under the dominion of sin." – the mortal body of Christ, before He changed it after His resurrection, can also be attributed to the blameless passions. Father Daniil continues – "By the way, a very interesting point. In the book 'Son of Man' by Archpriest Alexander Men, there are such words: 'Jesus felt within Himself the emerging voice of the devil, which offered Him the third temptation.' Do you think this could have been the case or not?
No, why? Because the voice of the devil within is precisely the main consequence of original sin, do you understand? The sinful consequence, do you understand? That is the main manifestation of original sin. That is, if it were so, Christ would be, as Gregory Palamas says, a coin of old minting, do you understand? Right.
That is precisely why, answering the disputed question of the Monophysites, we can say: neither before nor after. It's clear, right? Before the fall, man did not feel thirst, hunger, etc. Do you understand? He was not subject to death. He learned death through the fall, right? But at the same time, Christ, like Adam before sin, does He not feel something? He does not feel the voice of satan in His heart. It's clear, right? This happens due to the immaculate conception. It's clear, right?")
Father Daniil:
It was mortal, but became immortal, He changed it.
And so, returning to Adam, but his soul became mortal after the fall. What does "mortal soul" mean? Remember, we spoke last time that the soul can die. What does it mean for the soul to "die"? For the soul, death is in sin, that is, that a person does not see God, he is separated from God, and therefore the soul is torn. How is this manifested? In that this picture, which should be normal for a person, is disrupted. I love to draw this picture, and I highly recommend you reproduce it in mission work, it's very convenient. See? Initially, in man, God gives strength to the human mind. Right? And the mind gives strength to the will and feelings, it commands the will and feelings. Right?
Listener:
That is, in this hierarchy, the mind is the most important.
Father Daniil:
Yes, in man the mind is the most important, undoubtedly.
Listener:
And it should still be that way.
Father Daniil:
Yes, therefore repentance is a change of what? Of the mind. Not a change of feelings, not a change of will, but a change of mind. God gives strength to the mind, and the mind governs the will and feelings. That is, in Adam it was like this? Adam's mind before the fall had unfailing strength from God. What does it mean "the mind has strength"? Well, firstly, physical strength, that is, the ability to think, such a power of thought, it is from God in us. And in Adam it did not weaken because he thought more. You know, in people during exam sessions especially, such a concept as overload arises. When a person walks around and starts answering questions with formulas, steam starts coming out of their ears, overheating begins, etc.
Listener:
This happens to those who actively studied during the semester, but you need to conserve strength and rest, not study in a week... (ed.: he made the joke himself, laughed himself, no one else found it funny, and Father Daniil laughed for the sake of politeness.)
Father Daniil:
What I wanted to say is that actually it's about this: that the natural powers of the mind are simply insufficient, do you understand? That is, the natural power of the mind gets exhausted. But Adam initially did not have this, because his mind continuously drew limitless strength from God, do you understand?
The main thing is something else. For our mind to think correctly, we need to have axioms from which we will proceed. Imagine you are preaching on the street. You need to have some common ground, some general propositions from which you must start in a conversation with your interlocutor. Because if you talk to an ellipsist (ed.: an ellipsist is a person who pretends to be very busy so as not to talk to you) on the street, it will be absolutely useless. Right. Or imagine you are talking to a person who is a follower of the "Bible of Anton LaVey" – the "satanic bible," and you will refer to the real Bible. Do you understand what the effect will be? That there is no common ground. Before the fall, the mind of Adam was connected to God, and from God he drew absolutely reliable knowledge. Not only did he draw knowledge, he drew it in a form that was understandable to him and that he could assimilate. What happened after the fall? The mind, having lost connection with God, began to receive from somewhere else? From where does the mind receive strength now? It receives strength from itself? But where does it get it? The mind itself has a very limited amount of strength. The mind is connected to the brain, the brain is a physiological organ; the mind also works through it. Now it receives very little strength. But the main source, the main axioms, the main ground from which it can proceed, it has also lost. What then? The mind is in a position of ignorance. It doesn't know where to go. It has very little strength, it doesn't know where to go, what to think, what to rely on. The only thing it can do is grab onto the will or feelings. That is, the mind becomes a servant of the will. There are volitional people, and there are those who are guided by feelings. But there are no people who are guided by reason. That's the point. There are no such people outside of Christ. Why? Because the mind does not have enough strength to think purely. Therefore, in order for the mind to be in a normal state, it must rely on something. What can it rely on in the current situation? The mind, having refused to rely on God, has nothing to rely on except its own will, its own desires. This is the root. Here a person decides: "I will rely on my desires." Then he begins to think about how to justify these desires. This is the root of sin. From this arises what we call thoughts [pomysly]. And this phenomenon of thoughts, it is like an automatic pilot, an automatic flow of thoughts, generated by the mind's connection with the will or feelings. This is what the holy fathers call the "law of sin" or the "law of thoughts." The Apostle Paul also speaks of this. This is the first and most important consequence of original sin. Therefore, we need to learn to be attentive to our thoughts. To be attentive means to cut them off at the very beginning, at the "entrance" into the mind, so to speak. This is why we need to constantly keep our mind attentive. That is, to hold it in a state where it is not scattered, not wandering, not dreaming. To do this, we need to constantly occupy it with something: with the Jesus Prayer, with reflecting on Scripture, with thinking about God, about His deeds. That is, to constantly occupy it, otherwise it will inevitably wander.
Listener:
So, this is asceticism, probably?
Father Daniil:
That is precisely why we must engage in asceticism, actually. Do you understand? Absolutely.
Listener:
For purity of thoughts?
Father Daniil:
Yes, for purity of thoughts.
Listener:
Can this scheme you drew be compared like this: that is, the mind, let's say, compare with the spirit, feeling with the soul, and the will with the body? Is there such a comparison?
Father Daniil:
No, no, this is all the soul, actually. The highest part of the soul is the mind. We talked about this last time. Remember, yes?
Listener:
Still, regarding the contagion spreading from generation to generation, this sin, in what way?
Father Daniil:
I'll talk about that now.
About what the human mind was like and what happened to it next is said in the book of Ecclesiastes, chapter 7, verse 29: "Lo, this only have I found, that God hath made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions." (Ecclesiastes: 7; 29) So, what happened at the moment of the fall? By the way, how did he command the feelings? In the normal sense. Alen, who do you think should be loved?
Female Listener:
To love God.
Father Daniil:
To love God and in God, your neighbors. That is, normally, how should one evaluate? For example, a young lady wants to get married. By what principle should she choose? Who should choose? Should feelings choose, or the will? Who should choose in a person: the mind, the will, or the feeling?
Listeners:
The mind, of course.
Father Daniil:
Understand? Why am I saying this? Because what happens now?
Listener:
Feelings choose.
Father Daniil:
Now, either feelings or the will choose, and the mind is somewhere far away, behind the mountain.
Listener:
But how can the will choose?
Father Daniil:
"But I want to! I will marry him now!" Well, understand? That's a volitional way, right? It's called voluntarism. It's not even egoism. Egoism manifests itself in the form of voluntarism, in the form of sensuality.
Listener:
But what about love?
Father Daniil:
Scripture says: "God is love" (1 John: 4; 16) Accordingly, what should love primarily concern?
Listener:
The mind.
Father Daniil:
Do you see the scheme? What a practically useful little scheme, right?
Listener:
To teach in first grade.
Father Daniil:
So, now, what happened to Adam and Eve during the fall? Look, here a thought inserts itself – the thought of the devil. The devil's thought inserts itself between Adam and God. That is, man himself voluntarily accepts the enemy's thoughts, understand? He accepts them; it's not that the devil is to blame – the devil suggested, right? And man agreed. Who is guilty? What happened? The mind was torn away from God. Right? And remember, the devil does not give strength, he takes it away. Remember what was said to him in the book of Genesis? That you shall eat what? Dust, all the days of your life. Alexander, what does dust mean? People. He will feed on people's sins. Therefore, the devil feeds on people's sins. That is his food.
And the mind, as a result, having united with the mind of the devil, received such a synergy – a cooperation of two minds. And from this cooperation, the most terrible thing is born. That which Ecclesiastes speaks about. Thoughts [pomysly] appear. You see? Instead of drawing the mind from God, Adam unites his mind with the mind of the devil, and from this union, thoughts are born – a stream of thoughts. When you do missionary work, always refer to a prominent expert in this field – Oleg Gazmanov. His song "My thoughts, my steeds" is a brilliant and very accurate description of this reality. Understand?
Listener:
I, by the way, noticed the same thing about "these thoughts, my steeds," Father Daniil: the more chaste a person is, the fewer of these streams he has.
Father Daniil:
Yes.
Right. And as a result, what happens? Well, again, a whole new area arises. The Greek holy fathers call it Logos Fantasticos, that is, the realm of fantasy. The most terrible disease that a person suffers from is fantasy.
Fantasy is what gives birth to all sins.
Listener:
Is imagination natural for a person? Or does it appear at that moment?
Father Daniil:
No, fantasy appears. Imagination existed. Imagination is the ability to foresee the future.
Listener:
So it's natural, right?
Father Daniil:
Yes.
And imagination, separated from God, creates what? A person lives in an illusory world. He begins to perceive another person or the surrounding world in general as what? As something illusory, fantastic. That person is bad, nasty, because he treats me badly, therefore he is a scumbag, vile, and so on. Or a person treats me well, therefore he is a wonderful person. This is like Roosevelt said: "Somoza may be a son of a bitch, but he's our son of a bitch." That's an example of flawed logic, do you understand? By the way, I note that here a question arises, Andrey, you'll be interested. The question of politics. Where does political struggle come from? Understand? It is born from this stream of evil thoughts that satan generates.
What happens next? We'll return to this question. As a result, the mind, having lost objective truth, begins to do what? It thinks, what can I rely on? It rejected God, and it cannot rely on anything, and its logic collapses. Did you have this in your childhood? Did you ever try to think a thought through to the end? If you don't have an axiom, a thought can be thought through to infinity. Do you understand? The thought will go on and on and on, and there will be no end to it. Do you understand? A guaranteed way to disrupt a lesson is to ask: "But why? And why this? And why that?" You know it yourselves, right? This is a well-known technique, and inexperienced teachers fall for it. Experienced teachers stop it with one blow of a stake. They put a fail [a "stake" in Russian student slang] in the grade book, and that's it. (laughs...) And the consequence ends with the blow of a stake at that moment. Right. And a person who has rejected God has three options: he can directly rely on the devil, but this happens very rarely. Although it does happen that satanists and pagan priests rely on the thoughts of the devil, on the thoughts of spiritual beings.
Listener:
Can we say they sincerely rely, or are they still being deceitful?
Father Daniil:
They are all being deceitful, of course. They know that it is not the Creator.
But most often, in ordinary life, a person relies either on the will or on feelings. Therefore, there are sensitive young ladies, or sensitive people. There are strong-willed people. Which is better? The smart ones are better. Understand? (laughs...) Both will and feelings are not better, because they are not designed to give an assessment. What does it mean to be guided by feelings? I feel that I need to act this way. I act, and then I think about how to explain why I acted that way. And I come up with, using fantasy, why I acted that way. Understand? Or I want it to be the way I want. And let the mind provide me with a normal explanation of how to do it and why I need to do it. Understand? Here we have precisely two types of people. In both cases, man actually always does evil. It's clear why, right? Because in both cases, satan stands behind it.
Listener:
Is there such a concept as intuition in Orthodox teaching?
Father Daniil:
Intuition is such a concept, of course. It is the property of the soul to step away a little from everyday life. If you like, the soul is multidimensional; it can be a little outside of this time, therefore it can evaluate everything from the outside.
So, now the most important point arises here. Where do we see original sin here? Look. Here it is – the union with the devil at the level of the mind. Understand? When a person says: "I want this, I think this, I feel this, and I don't care what the Lord thinks."
Listener:
In a sense, this is pride.
Father Daniil:
Yes, pride is the mother of all sins. In every person, without exception. By the way, this is why St. Ignatius Brianchaninov says that if you declare that you are not proud – that is the most obvious sign that you are a proud person. It's clear why? Because it is the root of all sins, which is the hardest to eradicate. Because this is the first sin, actually, do you understand?
Listener:
So that is original sin?
Father Daniil:
Original sin arises from the union of man and the devil. This union...
Scheme "the state of man before the fall of Adam and after baptism."
Initially, Adam was in this state. Inside the heart dwelt the Holy Spirit. So...
And when Adam sinned, what happened? Here is the scheme –
See? In the heart dwells an evil spirit, and outside acts the Holy Spirit. Understand? How is this accomplished? Through the realm of fantasy. See? So now we see in detail where this stream of thoughts comes from. How is this power of the devil over man maintained? Through the stream of evil thoughts. Right? This stream of evil thoughts is what gives birth to sin. And the initiator of this stream is the devil – a demon, one of the evil spirits, who lives in the depths of the human spirit. That is precisely why, during baptism, what does the Church pray for? "Expel from him every evil and unclean spirit, hidden and nesting in his heart – the spirit of delusion, the spirit of deceit, the spirit of idolatry and all covetousness, the spirit of lies and all uncleanness, which are activated by the devil's prompting." That is, in the heart of man lives an evil and unclean spirit, which nests there, which generates uncleanness, malice, hatred, and everything else. Understand?
Listener:
Did it truly become the opposite? Did the Holy Spirit completely leave the heart after Adam's fall?
Father Daniil:
They are incompatible. From one source – as the Apostle James said, sweet and bitter water cannot flow from the same opening. (ed.: "Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter?" (Epistle of James: 3; 11))
Listener:
Did the Holy Spirit completely leave and did a demon completely begin to live in the heart?
Father Daniil:
Yes.
Another listener:
Did the manifestation of free will leading to the death of other people, besides Adam, after him, manifest itself at the moment of Adam's sin?
Father Daniil:
No, free will continues to manifest itself afterward. Do you understand the point? Now we have such a question: "Why, for what reason will unbaptized adults go to the fiery gehenna?" The answer is very simple. For their own evil deeds. Understand?
The logic is clear, right? Man commits evil, this evil condemns him to gehenna. The question arises, where does this... (cut off mid-sentence)?
Female Listener:
But what if he doesn't commit evil?
Father Daniil:
Such people do not exist in nature. The Apostle Paul says that if a Gentile always acts according to his conscience, never violates God's law in his life, then he will, of course, be saved. It is assumed that conscience presupposes faith in God. (ed.: i.e., if a Gentile does not believe in the true God, what righteousness can we speak of?) If a Gentile acts according to his conscience, he will come to know God through creation, the Apostle writes about this in detail.
Let me not drag out this talk now, but I will specifically devote a separate lecture to the question of the state of man outside the Church. You understand, especially since this is very important for us in everyday life.
Now, what I wanted to say about original sin. How does the Bible speak about how, actually, this happens? Why is this infection transmitted? The book of Job, chapter 14, verse 4 says: "Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? There is not one." (Job: 14; 4) So we'll wait with that.
(ed.: This verse is used by Dimitri Vladykov, protopresbyter (†1955) in his discourse against sectarians:
"Refutation of sectarian objections about the Church.
Sectarians say:
Infants do not need baptism, 'for of such is the Kingdom of Heaven' (Matt.19:14; Mark 10:14; Luke 18:16).
Answer:
The Lord's words: 'of such is the Kingdom of Heaven' mean that He promises the kingdom not to all, but to those who are like children; but they cannot be understood in the sense that no conditions are required of children to receive the Kingdom of Heaven, and they inherit it only because they are of a young age. Such an understanding denies original sin, about which both the word of God and the entire dispensation of man's salvation accomplished by the Lord Jesus Christ clearly testify.
Children, according to the teaching of the word of God, are 'by nature children of wrath' (Eph.2:3), 'unclean' (Job 14:4), 'flesh' (John 3:6), and for them to enter the Kingdom of Heaven, they must first be 'born of water and the Spirit' (John 3:5-6), i.e., through baptism be 'added to the Church' (Acts 2:47), 'put on Christ' (Gal. 3:27), be 'sealed with the promised Holy Spirit' (Eph. 1:13), for 'there shall in no wise enter into it (the Kingdom of Heaven) any thing that defileth' (Rev. 21:27).
What then are the moral qualities, characteristic of children, that people who wish to receive the promised kingdom should imitate? Sincerity and trustfulness of children. That it is precisely these properties of the child's soul that are necessary for everyone to inherit the kingdom, the Lord Himself indicated: 'Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child shall in no wise enter therein' (Luke 18:17). But sincerity and trustfulness of children is not yet proof of their moral purity; alongside these qualities, they have stubbornness, envy, greed, etc., as consequences of a nature corrupted by ancestral sin.
'Of such is the Kingdom of Heaven, i.e., those,' explains Blessed Theophylact, 'who have a childlike disposition. A child is not proud, does not humiliate anyone, is innocent, guileless, is not puffed up in good fortune, nor humbled in sorrow, but is always completely simple. Therefore, whoever lives humbly and innocently and who receives the Kingdom of God like a child, i.e., without deceit and curiosity, but with faith, is pleasing to God. For whoever is overly curious and always asks, how is this?, will perish with his unbelief and will not enter the kingdom, which he did not want to accept in simplicity, without curiosity and with humility... The Lord did not say 'of these children is the kingdom,' but 'of such,' i.e., of those who voluntarily acquired for themselves the innocence and humility that children possess by nature. So, let us accept everything ecclesiastical, which constitutes the Kingdom of God, without curiosity, with faith and humility. For curiosity is characteristic of conceit and self-wisdom.')
At what moment does the transmission occur? Psalm 50 [51], verse 7 says: "Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me." (Ps.: 51; 5) By the way, this is a very interesting point. Here the Russian translation is more accurate than the Slavonic. Not "in sins" – in the plural, but "in sin." And in the Greek original, and in the Hebrew original, it is written in the singular about a certain sin. Of course, it is not about the adultery of David's mother, because she bore him in an honorable marriage from a righteous father. But it is about the fact that at conception, this sin is transmitted. In what way? "In sin did my mother conceive me." That is, actually, it is not about birth, because here the translation is inaccurate, both Russian and Slavonic. Not "gave birth to me, my mother," but "passionately desired me, my mother." What does this mean? It means that at the moment of copulation, passionate desire leads to the fact that the person who results is conceived in a state of passionate desire. That is, this uncleanness is transmitted in this way. What is the reason? Yes, marriage is honorable and the bed undefiled, we must remember that. But lust itself, which lowers a person below the human level, makes a person what? Places a person, as it were, at the level of animals, do you understand? Thus, sin is transmitted from person to person. That is precisely why Christ, born of the Virgin, was without original sin, do you understand? Usually, Blessed Augustine and other Church Fathers explained how sin is transmitted with the words of the Apostle James, chapter 1, verses 14-15:
"13. Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man:
14. But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.
15. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death." (Epistle of James: 1; 13-15)
Understand? That is precisely "lust, when it hath conceived, bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death." So, what happens at the moment of conception? An evil spirit enters the heart of the newly conceived person, by right of the mafia. Understand? A person becomes a member of the mafia from what moment, Alen? From the moment of birth into the Don Corleone family. Conceived in a mafia family, he is by definition a member of the mafia – this comparison, actually, is very accurate.
Listener:
It can also be compared to Indian clans.
Father Daniil:
Clans, castes, the same thing.
Another listener:
Teips.
Father Daniil:
Teips. The same thing.
Same listener:
It's the Chechen mafia, I always knew.
Father Daniil:
Moreover, I'll tell you this: all descendants of Adam belong to a terrible mafia group.
Same listener:
That's why a woman worries so much when she is pregnant? Inside her is a child, it turns out, not yet baptized.
Father Daniil:
Well, you understand why, actually, a prayer of absolution is read over the mother? Very simply. The mother lives for 9 months with a parasite inside her, and it's not the child, but the one inside the child. Understand? This is a very interesting point, right?
And here, of course, we must understand that the demon living in the heart can be compared to a stranger who settles inside a person, drains his strength, and generates thoughts in him. That is, actually, at the moment of conception, this evil spirit settles in, it settles in the heart and begins to constantly, as the person grows, immediately insert a stream of evil thoughts into him. Yes, the stream itself is not sinful for the person. This is very important to remember. But how does the evil spirit insert thoughts into the person's heart? Why is the stream of thoughts not sinful for the person? As long as he does not agree with them, the thoughts are not his, understand? But since the stream flows from the very beginning, what happens as a result? This stream of evil thoughts is so strong that it is perceived as something natural, something not open to discussion, so to speak. Do you understand? And as a result of this, the person being born is already accustomed to the evil that is inside his heart. Understand?
Listener:
Does this evil spirit do this consciously?
Father Daniil:
Yes. He is an evil angel.
Another listener:
It turns out, it's natural.
Listener:
The evil angel doesn't miss this moment in time.
Father Daniil:
Yes. For them, "all incoming are accounted for, and outgoing."
Right. That an evil spirit acts in man is directly spoken of in the Epistle to the Ephesians. Remember, we quoted those words?
"2. Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:
3. Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others," (Epistle to the Ephesians: 2; 2-3)
Here the Apostle says a very important thing. What does the evil spirit do? What kind of thoughts does he insert? He does not insert pure evil, but he inserts temptation: "You want pleasure? That's right. Pleasure is necessary. God gives pleasure." That God gives pleasure is pure truth. Without God, it is impossible to receive pleasure. The source of all pleasures is the Creator. The ability to receive pleasure is inherent in us by the Creator. But, instead of receiving pleasure from God. What is the Beatitude? It is a commandment of pleasure – blessed are the poor in spirit, blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, blessed are the meek, and so on. Why? Because they will be with God. Man begins to seek pleasure in the will and feelings, and most often in the body. The devil's most successful enslavement is when he enslaves a person, forcing the body to give pleasure to the spirit. That is, instead of commanding the body, man begins to use the body as an instrument for obtaining pleasure. But pleasure itself is not sinful. What is sinful is that man begins to solve spiritual problems with the help of the body. Do you understand what I'm talking about? "I feel bad? – Go have a drink. I feel bad? – Go raid the fridge. And so on." When a person tries to solve spiritual problems with physical means, (here Father Daniil was interrupted)...
Listener:
Shopping, for example.
Father Daniil:
And shopping, and anything. What is this? This is that very walking after the desires of the flesh, as the Apostle Paul says. And thus man becomes enslaved to the devil, because the devil makes man carnal. Understand? That is, man lives only for carnal thoughts. Consequently, what thought will he have next? Since man is carnal, that is, he is enslaved to his body, he begins to think that the main thing in this life is just to live. Do you understand? Remember what the Apostle Paul says? Epistle to the Hebrews, chapter 2, verses 14-15. You all probably know the text.
"14. Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;
15. And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage." (Epistle to the Hebrews: 2; 14-15)
Understand? That is, the Apostle says that Christ delivers people from the bondage in which the devil held them through the fear of death. Why does the fear of death arise?
Because a person thinks: "The flesh is the main thing. My body is the main thing, that it be pampered and cherished." A person is ready to exert all his strength to hold onto this flesh. And that is precisely why the devil enslaves through the body.
Listener:
A person feels the body, but does not feel God.
Father Daniil:
No, not like that. He does not want to feel God, but wants to feel only the body.
Listener:
But when he has already fallen, he feels only the body, and he does not feel God.
Father Daniil:
No, no. If a person who does not want to feel God has fallen, he feels both the body and God, but he suppresses this feeling of God, because this feeling is very unpleasant, because it is the voice of conscience.
Lecture 2.
Father Daniil:
Today it is somewhat unusual that I am speaking. Today Andrey Ivanovich was supposed to [speak], but he fell ill. And I am substituting for him now.
So, today the topic I will tell you about is called "The Consequences of Original Sin and How God Governed the World After the Fall." The topic is very important, because among modern people, including Christians, a huge number of false teachings, false ideas about the state of human nature are widespread. This notion largely leads to a huge number of modern false teachings. For example, the idea that common sense suggests such and such. You have probably heard such an expression? The expression assumes that a person possesses common sense. Right. Which, in general, is an unfounded assertion, actually, a very presumptuous one. As St. Ignatius Brianchaninov correctly said regarding the question "How can good unbaptized people perish?": "You say that common sense tells you that. And what makes you think your sense is sound? Where did you get a healthy mind from?"
Indeed, we talked last time, remember, we drew a picture of the corruption that has grown into man. This corruption, transmitted hereditarily to man, leads to a number of serious consequences. What are these consequences? Since sin began in man with the mind, naturally, the corruption began where? With the mind. And as a result, the same state appeared which the Apostle Paul in the First Epistle to the Corinthians, chapter one, beginning from verse 18 to 31, describes with these words:
"18. For the word of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.
19. For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.
20. Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?
21. For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.
22. For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom:
23. But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness;
24. But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.
25. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
26. For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called:
27. But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;
28. And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are:
29. That no flesh should glory in his presence.
30. But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:
31. That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord." (1 Corinthians: 1; 18-31)
Here the Apostle Paul in these words shows that the wisdom that is in this world is confounded by God. God confounded the wisdom of the wise, because the world by its wisdom did not know God. Therefore, in the same First Epistle to the Corinthians, in chapter 3, verses 18 to 20, it is said:
"18. Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise.
19. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness.
20. And again, The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain." (1 Corinthians: 3; 18-20)
These words say that what is called human wisdom, the human mind, is foolishness in God's eyes. This is a very important point. The fact is that in his time, in the 14th century, there was a dispute between the followers of Barlaam of Calabria and the Hesychasts led by St. Gregory Palamas. And the followers of Barlaam of Calabria asserted that in man's natural state, the mind is healthy. And he can know God with his mind; therefore Barlaam of Calabria asserted that philosophy was the predecessor of Christ, that pagan philosophy prepared [the world] for the acceptance of Christ the Savior, it led to Christ the Savior. And he said about monasticism that it is the same for [Gentiles] as the Jewish law was for the Jews. (ed.: The criticism of monasticism by Barlaam and his modern followers, inspired by the heretic-professor A.I. Osipov, is undoubtedly slander. Monastics, unlike the Jewish legalists, the Pharisees, partake through grace of the uncreated energy of God, as St. Palamas said, and not through the formal fulfillment of the letter of the law or the affirmation of the graceless letter of philosophy and rationalism, as Barlaam essentially proposed, while himself falling into graceless legalism.) To this, Gregory Palamas replied at the time – why then did God not say that He made the law foolish, but on the contrary said that the law is good and the commandment holy and just and good, while the "wisdom" of this world is foolishness. Why is this? This is because the law itself is good, but it was given for a time, while the wisdom of this world is not good, it is not from God. It is the fruit of the human sick and weakened mind.
I have already spoken about how the human mind became sick and weakened using the example of Adam. He hid from God, do you understand? What is this? Is this the action of a healthy mind? He says to God: "I heard Thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself." (Genesis: 3; 10) Is this the action of a healthy mind? He says to God: "The woman whom Thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat." (Genesis: 3; 12) Is this the action of a healthy mind? This is the action of a completely crazy mind. So, from the very beginning, the mind was damaged. Therefore, the Apostle says that the wisdom of this world is foolishness before God. Because it is the mind of this world that thinks that it can hide from God. The mind of this world thinks that it can shift the blame for its sin onto someone else. The mind of this world thinks that the cause of sin is not me, but someone else. This is the typical position of fallen man: "It's not me, it's the circumstances, it's the devil, it's the woman, it's the state, it's the bad government, it's the bad president, it's the bad neighbors, it's the bad mother-in-law, but not me. I'm a good person, it's them all around." This is what the wisdom of this world looks like. This is what a sick mind looks like. And from this sick mind, all its other derivatives follow. Therefore, the Apostle Paul says that God has made foolish the wisdom of this world.
All these manifestations clearly show the defeat of man's capacity for reason. Man's reason is indeed corrupted, his reason becomes sick, weakened, incapable of understanding God's plans, incapable not because of its nature, but because of an unwillingness to understand God's plans. And the main slogan of the human mind is – "I want it that way, therefore I think so." Or "I feel that way, therefore I think so." Remember, we drew that picture about strong-willed people and feeling people. But, as you understand, it's the same thing. There's no point to it. Reason that has lost God, entangled in thoughts, cannot be healthy; it is sick. And therefore, accordingly, it is logical that all its products in reason are what? Sick. Logical, right? And as a result, of course, we get exactly what the Apostle Paul said. That is, the wisdom of the world is foolishness before God. And the world was convicted of this by the fact that, as it is said, the world by its wisdom did not know God. Remember what the world means for the Bible? It is the totality of people who worship the creation instead of the Creator – the people of this world. And who live according to their passions. And this world, examining the universe, could not see in it the wisdom of God. Could not, because it did not want to.
Now, 2 hours ago I was sitting on the internet, because my internet at home was cut off. And there was this interesting little post on LiveJournal. One user wrote: "Why does it turn out so strangely, why are people mass-disappointed in Christianity? Well, it's clear, a conflict arose between faith and science, between a literal understanding of the Bible and science. But now no one understands the Bible literally anymore. Why does such a problem arise?" The problem is precisely that they have stopped understanding the Bible as it is written, as all the holy fathers of the Church understood it, and that is why Christianity is disappearing and losing its essence, because any deviation from the faith, from the truth, gives birth to what? Gives birth to the perdition of the soul. This is indeed a direct consequence of this deviation of man from the truth. We recently discussed a very well-known deacon with Yuri Valerievich.
Right. And the question arose: "Why does a person allow himself some clearly contradictory-to-the-commandments actions?" And the reason is very simple. The principle is very simple. A person who has allowed himself to be a fantasizer in the realm of faith, his mind thus becomes infected and begins to rot. Do you understand? Because when there is no taste for truth, when there is no desire for objective truth, then everything begins to spoil. Indeed, this is some kind of terrible phenomenon, which, God grant this deacon to overcome, but it actually applies to any person. This is that very corruption, which is the first consequence of original sin. Do you understand? The corruption of the mind. Therefore, when you do missionary work, always cut off references to the soundness of reason. Say: "And who told you that it is sound? What makes you think so?" How can this be explained simply? Very simply. Look. Can you say that your reason is absolutely objective, independent of anything? No, right? Because it depends on education, on upbringing, on the quality of information that has reached you, on your ability to process this information. Right? Then you also depend on such completely external things as the amount of the chemical substance C2H5OH (ed.: ethyl alcohol) in your blood. Right? It depends on the state of the blood vessels in your brain. Now it might get cold, and the vessels might start to spasm, and instead of normal sober objective knowledge, what will you have? You'll have a headache, you'll attack everyone like a dog. That is, do you understand how one can appeal to sound reason if it is sick even by external signs that are understandable even to a completely stupid person? And Christians know even more. Christians know that a person's mind is sick precisely because it has been subjected to the influence of the prince of darkness. The Apostle James speaks about this in his Epistle. So, chapter 3, verses 13 to 18. Look, very interesting logic. I will read and comment immediately on the text:
"13. Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom.
14. But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth.
15. This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish.
16. For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work.
17. But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.
18. And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace." (Epistle of James: 3; 13-18)
Here is a very interesting point. The Apostle James says that true wisdom is manifested in good conduct with the meekness of wisdom. By the way, it is interesting that the ancient philosophers thought exactly the same. They said that if a philosopher behaves disgracefully in his life, he cannot be called a philosopher. It is interesting that only now philosophy has become some kind of separate discipline, a form of intellectual gymnastics. For the ancient philosophers, philosophy was a path, a certain practice. A practice of meditative reflections, it was a practice of life, a practice of behavior, and so on. That is, philosophy shaped life. Actually, in this sense, philosophy has been preserved to this day. It is now called not philosophy, but worldview. But what is now called secular philosophy is rather a kind of gymnastics on the theme of worldview, but by no means philosophy in the classical sense of the word. Do you understand? And here the Apostle James says that if there is envy and strife, what kind of wisdom is this? Earthly, sensual, devilish. How interesting, right? Earthly, that is, what does earthly mean? That is, wisdom limited to the circle of the earth. That is, it does not provide for what will be beyond death, does not provide for what will be beyond time, which is completely immersed in the earth. It is sensual [psychical]. That is, what is its peak? What is called soulfulness [psychicality]. It's clear what soulfulness is? Well, beautiful, aesthetic, you can feel sorry for someone, right? But it does not lead to any spiritual heights. But by its roots, it is devilish, says the Apostle James. That is, the roots are precisely the devil's possession of man. What an interesting opinion of the Apostle, right?
Listener:
May I ask a question? Here the Apostle James lists: "But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy." (Epistle of James: 3; 17) This is very similar to the words of the Apostle Paul, where he says: "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, ..." (Epistle to the Galatians: 5; 22). So it turns out that wisdom is a gift of the Holy Spirit.
Father Daniil:
Yes, a gift of the Holy Spirit.
Listener:
And apart from this, can there be wisdom?
Father Daniil:
No.
Listener:
So it's like black and white?
Father Daniil:
Wisdom and foolishness.
Listener:
Well, those same philosophers, they did not have the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Father Daniil:
And that is why the Bible calls this supposed wisdom foolishness.
Listener:
I understand.
Father Daniil:
Therefore, as the Apostle Paul said, God catches the wise in their own craftiness. Here, by the way, is a very interesting point. Indeed, if we look at the personal lives of our "wise men" of this age, it is by no means a brilliant confirmation of the rightness of their teachings. People sometimes say beautiful words, but their lives are completely different. There is a very interesting point. If a priest says beautiful words but does not fulfill them, here the personal claim is against him – he will be judged by God for this; but since he is not conveying his own (he is simply a transmitter), one should not find fault with the content of his words, as the Lord said, do according to their words, but not according to their deeds. Why? Because the source of his knowledge is not himself. He does not say, this is my teaching, but says that this is the teaching of the Lord Jesus Christ. And as for the people of this world, they say: "Here is my worldview, I think so." Now, you know, there is such a fashion, for example, in the Foma magazine or others, but most often in Foma magazine, interviews with some famous figures: "Here is my opinion on such Orthodox matters... Here is what I, a famous public figure, think about this and that..." Do you know what a public figure [literally "disgraceful person"] is? The word "actor" is not Russian, the Russian word is "disgraceful" [pozorishchny] or simply "shameful" [pozorny], that is, "actor." The word "disgrace" [pozor], "spectacle" [pozorishche], do you know what that is? A theatrical spectacle. These were people who were previously not allowed into decent society, and they were buried in a separate cemetery for suicides. It was even called: the actors' cemetery or the cemetery of those who travel in carriages, hence the Vagankovo cemetery. Actually, a church was built there only at the end of the 18th century, because they began to bury Orthodox Christians there who died during the great Moscow cholera. But before, there was no church there; actually, it was an ancient cemetery for various suicides and so on.
And now their opinion is considered, and these people say: "Here's what I think." But here is a very interesting point. Indeed, the Apostle James gives a criterion, actually. If you see people who act as opinion leaders, look at their lives. For example, does envy occur among actors? Does it happen that they envy the success of another actor? The opposite is rarer, right? Do any disorders occur among actors? I think that if our actors or opinion leaders lived according to the commandment of the Apostle James, our glossy magazines would simply close down due to lack of information to publish. Meanwhile, our glossy magazines, for some reason, live, smell, bloom, and they have plenty of material. Precisely because of what? Because people possess carnal, earthly, soulful [psychical], devilish "wisdom." I'm not saying these are stupid people. They are clever in their own way, but people who, at the same time, absolutely do not want to understand anything concerning the wisdom of God, do not want to change. Do you understand the point? And the result is as described.
Here is a very interesting point. Why does the Church consider heresy a mortal sin? Why, for example, a person baptized in the Church, but professing a false teaching, inevitably goes to hell? Alexey.
Listener:
Because he submits to the devil's wisdom.
Father Daniil:
Yes. He receives that very soulful, devilish wisdom. Do you understand? That is the key to understanding – where heresy and schism come from. Do you understand? That is, a person chooses between Athens and Jerusalem – as Tertullian says. (ed.: Tertullian in his work "On the Prescription [Against] Heretics" said the following words: "What does Athens have to do with Jerusalem? What concord is there between the Academy and the Church? what between heretics and Christians?") A person choosing Athens, chooses devilish wisdom. He chooses wisdom without God, which seems soulful, but at the same time destroys the soul. Now – Andrey, probably knows, right? – our disputes that are conducted on the internet, very, very fiercely, as it turned out. I was at the enthronement of the new holy patriarch yesterday, and it turned out that all the bishops are aware of these disputes on LiveJournal around my phrase that "all unbaptized will surely perish," they say: "the notorious, or famous, Father Daniil, who gives guarantees of the perdition of the unbaptized." (laughs) I say: "Of course. I'm just acting as a guarantor." And at the same time, note, these people who argue with Christ's words, because these are not my words, but the words of Christ the Savior: "Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." (Gospel of John: 3; 5) And people, reading these words, rely on what? On soulfulness. How can such soulful people perish? Soulfulness, as the Apostle John says, is actually devilishness. A very important principle, right? A soulful person is actually subject to the influence of evil and unclean spirits. That is precisely why, for example, if we read not current books on church history, but the primary sources, that is, the works of ancient authors, ancient Holy Fathers, we will see very interesting things. We will see that the false teachers themselves were distinguished by particular terrible vices, as a consequence. For example,
"Thalia" – the famous work of Arius, in which he expounded his false teaching, was written in the manner of a very famous pornographic poem. And not just a pornographic poem, but there were portside porn-songs that made everyone's ears wither. And so, to convey his understanding of the faith to the people, he took precisely the meter of that portside porn-song and set his confession of heresy to it. Therefore, as they say, there were big problems at the First Ecumenical Council when they tried to read the text – the fathers started plugging their ears and said they didn't want to listen to that filth. Because it was not only about the filthy content, but also about the filthy form, do you understand? So, this is very well known.
There are cases where some people constantly tell obscene jokes, for example. There are people who cannot live without some kind of filth on their tongue – they are always itching to say it.
There is another example, when one of the false teachers – Archpriest Avvakum, for example, was distinguished by a particularly rich Russian language. Even now, all supporters of legitimizing profanity as literary language refer to the life of Archpriest Avvakum, written by himself. So, in this life of Avvakum, as is known, profanity is present in considerable quantities.
Female Listener:
He is an Old Believer.
Father Daniil:
The founder of the Old Believers. And the main saint of the Old Believer sect. And he was a terrible swearer. Not to mention that the spirit of meekness was absent in him as a class – it simply didn't exist. This is also characteristic, for example, of today's "Diomidites." (ed.: followers of the former bishop Diomede, who in essence and spirit turned out to be Judas; in 2018 he concelebrated with schismatics, and in 2021 died in a car accident.)
Listener:
They swear?
Father Daniil:
Ooh... there's clearly no meekness there, not even close, do you understand?
Right. Why am I giving these examples? Actually, devilish wisdom leads to what? To a person becoming infected with envy and contentiousness, as the Apostle says. This is a very interesting point. If a person whose devilish wisdom has not been expelled from the mind – and we know from the dogmas of original sin that this wisdom is characteristic of any person not cleansed by the sacraments and not living a church life – then such a person inevitably falls into envy and contentiousness. It is no wonder that our most powerful social movements were communism and Nazism. Built on what? On envy and contentiousness: "Our indignant mind seethes... I don't like anything, everything is bad... I don't like my life, I'm in the wrong place... I need things to be different for me... Why is this happening to me?... It's generally unfair to me, everyone around is bad..."
Listener:
Isn't that murmuring?
Father Daniil:
That is precisely contentiousness, when a person is dissatisfied with everything.
Listener:
Is it the same thing?
Father Daniil:
Murmuring is one form of contentiousness. Murmuring can be against circumstances, right? Murmuring can also be against people. Well, such a person has a state like a hedgehog – "eternally dissatisfied." It is no wonder that the Apostle Jude, for example, and the Apostle Peter in their Epistles called heretics "discontented." Because this is the result of devilish wisdom. Understand?
Right. And why am I saying this? Because it reflects that, in reality, all these things are interconnected. On the one hand, false devilish wisdom gives rise to a false life, right? On the other hand, a false life gives rise to devilish wisdom. Understand? Why? Can you guess?
By the way, false wisdom also gives a false orientation in life. A person does not know where to go, and therefore he chooses false goals. And when he goes, naturally, the world resists. Understand? Imagine you have a manual car, and you try to start from fifth gear. The car starts screaming in a nasty voice, but doesn't go anywhere. Similarly, the world, when you try to act according to devilish wisdom, it also starts to resist and scream in a nasty, bad voice all around. And the person pushes on, and he doesn't like that this is happening. And it seems to him that others are wrong. Do you understand? From here, envy and contentiousness are born, as the Apostle says. And the reverse situation – a person has done some evil deed and does not want to admit it, and he needs to find a justification for why he did it. Do you understand? And so false devilish wisdom is born from this side. Right.
Thus, actually, you see, it's a self-perpetuating process. This is cured exclusively by repentance. This, by the way, is very important.
The next interrelated question is: "Where do false teachings come from?" The most ancient example. What do they come from? Why do people invent evil? Many mistakenly think that if all people were well taught, everything would be wonderful, everything would go well. Such an illusion exists. It seems that if you teach, make universal catechesis, everything will be wonderful, great. No, it won't. Why won't it be wonderful and great? Because there is free choice. A person can refuse catechesis, can refuse the Word of God. Do you understand? We are obliged to bring the Word of God to all, but we should not expect that everyone will immediately accept the Word of God. Here we need to clearly distinguish two concepts. Understand? Because people need to choose here. So, when people were expelled from paradise, of course, all their children remembered the creation of the world. It is no accident, by the way, that practically in all mythologies of the peoples of the Earth, there is a memory of paradise, in one form or another. The only thing is that the location of paradise changes. For example, among most peoples in the East, among the inhabitants of Mesopotamia in the North, and among the inhabitants of China in the West.
Listener:
Who came from where?
Father Daniil:
Who lives where now? Understand? But basically, there is a resemblance, even down to the fact that there was some source in paradise – a jade lake among the Chinese, or sacred rivers among the Indians. Just as the Bible, actually, speaks of sacred rivers. And about the sacred tree, or the forbidden bean, or the forbidden form of rice – there are different forms, even connected with food. Such information exists, actually, among all peoples. Likewise, there is information about some action of the serpent. Starting from the Australian myth of the great rainbow serpent, which is the supreme deity and which is the giver of human knowledge. But, true, he did not create the world. Very often the image of the serpent, giving knowledge and emitting some kind of power, conditionally, is found in the mythology of all peoples of the world. But at the same time, he is never the true God. That is, all this memory was preserved. And especially before the flood, when people lived almost 900 years. By the way, here, when they say that all this is myths, one must remember that all ancient peoples knew about the terrible longevity of people before the flood. And even after the flood. This is known from all mythologies. The only thing is that there are disagreements about the dates. In this sense, Holy Scripture, in comparison with myths, gives negligible dates. For example, when it is said that the third king of Ur lived 51,240 years, then after that, the chronicle of Holy Scripture about 800 years of life seems like some trifle.
The reason was very simple. Firstly, man had not yet learned to die, that is, man was created strong and robust. Do you understand? Not weak, but strong. And therefore his body was less affected by diseases. Actually, it's interesting that every year, dozens and even hundreds of new diseases are found in the human organism. I, by the way, am not at all sure that these are diseases that were not observed before. Or rather, they were observed but not described. I simply think that in a huge number of cases, new diseases actually appear. Because there are a number of very strong diseases such as, for example, scarlet fever – this very strong disease is described only starting from the 5th century after the birth of Christ. Before that, in principle, if it had existed, it would have been very easy to describe, but it simply wasn't there. This is a newly appeared disease, appearing over time. So, back to longevity. Longevity was also established by God so that the patriarchs could transmit knowledge to the people of God who arose in the time of Abraham. Because, actually, from Abraham to Adam, the chain of transmission of knowledge is seven generations. Seven people, they transmitted information. Adam is the first, and Abraham is the seventh. Understand? That is, through them, actually, knowledge was transmitted. That is, Tradition was simply oral, and it was long-term. In this way, God simply ensured the accuracy of information transmission. But besides this transmission of information, there was also the development of evil. Remember, last time we said that original sin is a kind of parasite that settles in a person? Remember this conspiracy? Namely, an evil spirit that lives inside a person. By the way, it is precisely for this reason that a prayer is read over a woman, and not over a man. Remember?
Listener:
Which prayer?
Father Daniil:
The cleansing on the 40th day after childbirth. Understand why? The evil spirit did not live with the man, but it lived with the woman. That's why it defiled the soul.
Listener:
And the very first people, were they the same size or was there gigantism?
Father Daniil:
Gigantism is described in the Bible as a certain exception.
And here, by the way, a small remark about longevity, because many will ask you the question: "How could people live long when science has proven that the average life expectancy in the Middle Ages was 21 years and so on?" Recently, I accidentally found a very interesting answer on LiveJournal. Indeed, statistics show that life expectancy is calculated at 21 years, or 25 years, or even 19 years. But it is calculated in the following way. Indeed, if you believe the statistics literally, it turns out that ordinary people all died by the age of 21, and rare masters lived longer. It turns out that Socrates, who died at the age of 83, was a dinosaur, although Plato does not mention his dinosaur-like appearance. And the reason is very simple. This is called a "clever trick." We take the total number of births and derive an average based on their mortality. But the fact is that in reality, in the world before antibiotics, in a world without vaccinations, the peak of mortality occurs in the first three years. And now, Orthodox Christians are successfully defeating all vaccinations, finally, and are engaging in such a "wonderful thing" as "home birth."
Female Listener:
Wonderful?
Father Daniil:
A "wonderful," "very good" thing. Then our mortality statistics will plummet to medieval levels. We will live on average 20 years, guaranteed. Because most of our children will simply die in childhood, and that's it. They will choke, drown, die from dysentery.
Listener:
What, such tendencies existed, right?
Father Daniil:
Yes, and now it's visible; as soon as they started refusing [vaccinations], you know what the mortality rate became?
Listener:
Now it's everywhere.
Father Daniil:
I personally conducted a funeral service for a child who died from polio, whose parents refused to vaccinate. So, it's very simple. Right. And this is now a mass phenomenon, a mass schizophrenia, systematically emanating from various sorcerers and occultists. And exclusively Orthodox people boast about this. I don't understand why Orthodox people consider it possible to support obvious magic and sorcery. Well, never mind. Right. Alternative medicine is very popular with Orthodox people for some reason. I don't understand why. But that's a separate conversation now.
I just wanted to describe how statistics are made. For example, imagine, roughly speaking, 10 people are born, 5 of them die at the age of 2, and the other 5 die at the age of 100. What will the average life expectancy be?
Listener:
50 years.
Father Daniil:
It turns out that 50 years is the upper limit, you understand? But actually, no, exactly half lived to 100. Do you understand? This is how all these things are done. Interestingly, archaeological excavations show even more interesting things – among Neanderthals and Cro-Magnons, there is a gap between the age determined by sexual maturation and the age determined by bone maturity. It turns out that, roughly speaking, by one characteristic, a Neanderthal died at the age of 25, and by another at the age of 50. What is this about? That is, he was 50 years old, but his body was in the state of a 25-year-old. Understand? This is that very thing described in the book of Genesis. Remember at what age they bore children then, right? If you pay attention to the book of Genesis, remember at what age they bore children? 130, 200. Noah generally had three children at the age of 500. Moreover, by the way, did he not want to have any children at all? But God, foreseeing the future flood, directly commanded him to conceive children. But why am I saying this? Actually, both objective data and the tradition of humanity indeed speak of very great longevity. And then it begins to decrease in steps. The first time during the flood, the second time during the time of the Tower of Babel, and then with the growth of idolatry, the lifespan of people decreases. If you draw a timeline of human life, it will first fluctuate around plus or minus 900 years, after the flood it drops sharply to 600, and slowly descends to 400 years, then sharply drops to 200 during the Tower of Babel, and slowly declines to 70 years. For example, exactly when the patriarch Jacob came to Pharaoh. And Pharaoh asked, how old are you? He said, the days of my pilgrimage are short, compared to the days of my fathers, I am only 130 years old. (ed.: "And Jacob said unto Pharaoh, The days of the years of my pilgrimage are an hundred and thirty years: few and evil have the days of the years of my life been, and have not attained unto the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage." (Genesis: 47; 7-9)) For him, it was really just that. And he died, by the way, quite young. He was 147 when he died. By the way, when we often read how he met Rachel, we forget one very interesting thing. Do you know how old Jacob was then? About 80.
Listener:
But the Bible doesn't say that.
Father Daniil:
It does say, just calculate it. You just need to sit down and calculate with the numbers. (ed.: At the time of Jacob's arrival in Egypt, he was 130 years old (Genesis: 47; 7-9). Subtract the age of Joseph, his son by Rachel, whom he met in Egypt – 39 years. Joseph's age at the meeting with his father is calculated as follows: 1. Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers at the age of 17 (Genesis: 37; 2); 2. Joseph was 30 years old when he stood before Pharaoh (Genesis: 41; 46); 3. Then followed 7 years of plenty (Genesis: 41; 53-54); 4. The meeting of Joseph with his father was in the 2nd year of the subsequent seven years of famine (Genesis: 45; 6, 11). Total we have: 30+7+2 = 39 years.
Then subtract 14 years of work to win Rachel's hand from her father and minus roughly 9 months for Rachel's pregnancy, we get 130 years - 39 years - 14 years - 9 months = 76-77 years – this is the age at which Jacob met Rachel.)
Listener:
I saw an attempt to scientifically substantiate the longevity of those people, and it was briefly stated that there was a lack of oxygen then, a great deficiency, and all processes in the body were slowed down. That's why they lived so long.
Father Daniil:
Well, anything is possible, but I disagree with this theory for another reason. Because, firstly, we know ancient ambers in which bubbles of ancient air are found. So, a bubble of air indicates the presence in the air of, firstly, 30% oxygen, not 21% as now. And, secondly, it indicates an atmospheric pressure twice as high as now. So, this opinion, I don't know what it's based on. The facts indicate otherwise. Moreover, we have a simple thing. Look, what a huge amount of oxygen is contained in the form of, for example, chalk itself, in the form of all those chalk deposits which are associated precisely with oxidative processes. Therefore, this opinion, in my view, is unfounded.
Well, okay, now I'll return to something else. And I return precisely to the question of the death of the human mind. The human mind falls ill, and the illness begins to intensify. And it is precisely for this reason that man, knowing, begins to prefer not to know. Do you understand the point? Actually, this is how paganism arises. Man knows and begins to distort knowledge. What is the principle? Well, we already know this, but let's talk about something else. Most often, all the heresies known to me, at least, were born precisely like this: "Well, we already know this, why talk about it?" You probably know that I am a political citizen, by political convictions, and therefore I have had to encounter a very interesting thing here. It is said that in the Church there is neither Greek nor Jew, neither barbarian nor Scythian, neither slave nor free, but all are one in Christ. Right? (ed.: "Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all." (Epistle to the Colossians: 3; 11)) Therefore, there are no nationalities in the Church. And they answer me: "Well, we already know that in Christianity there is neither Greek nor Jew, but there are nationalities in the Church. And therefore, let's somehow explain this fact." Instead of explaining this simply as a fact of sin, right? People begin to introduce their own theories and go so far as to say that the words "there is neither Greek nor Jew" refer not to the Church now, but to the future age. But then on the next page, these same people begin to say that it doesn't apply to the future age either, because in the future age there will also be different peoples. And as one nationalist acquaintance of mine said, if the Jews have the New Jerusalem, then the Russians will have the New Kremlin. (laughter in the hall) The Heavenly one (laughter continues)
I don't know, the Americans will probably have the New New York.
Listener:
But John of Kronstadt spoke about love for the fatherland.
Father Daniil:
One thing is the attitude towards the earthly inn, which indeed needs to be taken care of, not broken, and prayed for. But another thing is to be attached to it. These are completely different things.
Here I simply gave such an explanation as an example of how heresy arises. A person says: "I know this already" – and puts it on the shelf. The mechanism is such – a person knows and puts it on the shelf. Do you understand? This is how false teaching arises.
For example, how does the false teaching connected with worshiping the creature instead of the Creator arise? "Yes, there is God the Creator, but we do not bow down to Him." Why? Various motives. "He is good anyway, why bow to Him, He won't do any harm anyway." These dialogues, by the way, are very modern, although I am now quoting a song from one people in Central Africa, namely in the Republic of Congo. The logic there is: "God is good, like Father Frost, He will save everyone anyway." Does that logic sound familiar? "But there are harmful evil spirits here who can do nasty things, so it's better to appease them." This is the first logic – business logic, if you will. That is, the attitude towards God here does not amount to any kind of love. There is no love here, just self-interest.
The second logic: "God is high up, and the Tsar is far away." Have you heard that slogan? A completely devilish slogan, which pagans also use. They say: "God is up there in heaven, and people are down here on earth, and everyone is fine in their own domain." That is, God is pushed aside, God as if not present here. How does worship of the creature instead of the Creator begin? That is, man knows the fact of God's existence, that He is the Creator, but He is put aside. Or let's take a text from the 14th century BC, a text from Ugarit.
Ugarit was an ancient Phoenician city on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea. It is also known as Byblos, the city of books. The word "Bible," by the way, comes from it. And it was excavated, and a written text from the 14th century was found there, and there, in particular, were detailed liturgical texts that were read in the local pagan sanctuaries. A list of gods is given. It says that there is "El" the fatherly and simply "El." "El" or "Ilu" – well, by the way, the name of the God of the Bible. This Ilu is described as the Creator of heaven and earth, who created the universe, who created man, but now a certain "Baal" has driven Him away. Well, "baal" or "vaal." And He went where? He went to the mountains, to the sources of the great rivers. That is, where was He driven to? What are the sources of the great rivers? You understand, right? The sources of the Euphrates and Tigris – that is paradise. Not the mouths, but the sources from which they flow. And by doing this, they push aside God the Creator, and in their paradigm, the world is now ruled by one who did not create this world – "baal" – and he is building himself a great tower, and when he builds the great tower, they will then proclaim him a god, although he is not originally a god – he is one of the new "little gods." We can even say specifically who he really is. Who is this great hero, great warrior, great hunter, building a great tower that will elevate him to the ranks of the gods? Nimrod – the builder of the Tower of Babel, of course. And he is known as "baal," actually. Do you understand? That same "baal" that the prophet Elijah fought so fiercely against. This is a classic example of idolatry. That is, people worship whom? A statesman instead of God. Also a very modern cult, the cult of personality itself. And this is precisely where all these things begin. That is, God is displaced in human consciousness. Man knows about God, but he puts God on the back shelf. You know, there is such an interesting point. St. Philaret Amfiteatrov of Kiev and St. Theophan the Recluse give exactly the same advice. They advise re-reading the catechism every year. Be sure to re-read the catechism every year. In order to check yourself, whether you have deviated from the purity of Orthodoxy. I understand that our seminarians don't like such things, because the catechism is an unloved subject, probably. But between them, this advice is very sound, because imaginary putting aside actually means leaving the sphere of attention. And we have such a psychological law in the mind, in the currently active sick mind – unnecessary information is repressed. Understand? This is exactly how false teaching arises. First, God's revelation is pushed aside as unnecessary, because it hinders being envious and contentious, as the Apostle James says. It is pushed aside with the help of demons. And then this information is simply put aside in a person's mind as unnecessary. This is the mechanism of the origin of all false teachings, both ancient and new. Therefore, I am convinced that you never have the right to speak about "honest" atheists. This is a contradiction in terms. An honest atheist is an oxymoron, such a thing does not exist. It's like red-hot snow, and so on. Do you understand? There is no such thing in nature. It is a conscious self-deception. And more often it's not even self-deception, but just outright deception. A person who is not interested in the Truth has consciously lied to himself. He has broken his heart so that the Truth would be of no interest to him. Do you understand? And a person who has torn himself away from the Truth has ceased to belong to the category of people, actually. Do you understand why? He does not have a face turned upward. Right? Anthropos (ἄνθρωπος) – the one turned upward. This is very important, because it has become a common point in our mission – you constantly hear: "There are many wonderful atheists, good, honest, and so on." But Scripture has a slightly different attitude towards atheists, as you know. Scripture calls them "insane" – ἄρρωv. "The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God." (Ps.: 14; 1) It follows from this that the consequence of original sin is what? It is the damage to the human will, which the Apostle Paul in the Epistle to the Romans in chapter 7 calls the law of sin. Chapter seven, verses 13 to 25:
"13. Was then that which is good" – that is, the law of Moses – "made death unto me? God forbid. But sin, that it might appear sin, working death in me by that which is good; that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful." (Epistle to the Romans: 7; 13)
What does this mean? It means that if the commandment says: "Do not do it" – then sin becomes exceedingly sinful through the commandment. It shows that sin exists. It reveals sin.
"14. For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin.
15. For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I.
16. If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good.
17. Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
18. For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.
19. For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.
20. Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
21. I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me.
22. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:
23. But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.
24. O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?
25. I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin." (Epistle to the Romans; 7; 14-25)
So you see, the Apostle Paul sees within himself a law of sin and death. Here I want to draw attention to a very important point. Notice, the Apostle Paul says that with the inward man he delights in the law of God. But in his members he sees another law. What is the Apostle Paul talking about here? He is saying that in a baptized person, evil acts precisely in this way. Because it is about the baptized Apostle Paul himself. The difference is that in the unbaptized person, there is no such division. In the unbaptized person, sin acts directly in the heart. In a baptized person, sin is expelled from the heart. In a baptized person, the evil spirit lives where? In the body. Not in the heart. In the body and in the soul's forces connected with the body. Therefore, the Apostle Paul says that he serves the law of God with his mind, but with his flesh the law of sin. In an unbaptized person, sin acts in the heart. That is, the heart itself is the source of sin. Remember the words of the Lord: "But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man.
For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies:
These are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man." (Gospel of Matthew: 15; 18-20)) Remember? All this defiles a man. In a baptized Christian, sin acts in the body. It is driven out of the heart, but through the body the evil spirit acts in man. Through the body and those powers of the soul connected with the body. All these passions, how do they work? It is an attempt to do something, with the help of some bodily passions. They enslave a person, make him carnal. That is, there is a certain law here. The law is that the will of man is damaged. He does not do the good he wants, but does the evil he does not want. And as a result of this, man finds himself in such a terrible defeat. He understands that there is good, but he has no strength to go towards it. This is the paralyzed will of man. And here it is very important to understand that it is not about the destruction of free will, but about its paralysis. Understand? That is, man wants to, but cannot. If there were complete death, then there would be no desire to do good either. But there is a desire, objectively. This is precisely what we observe in so-called "honest agnostics" and so on. There is some desire for good, implanted in the human heart by the Creator, right? But this is not a merit of man, it is simply a gift of the Creator to all people. But the strength to fulfill it is not there.
Listener:
Do unbaptized people have the same paralysis?
Father Daniil:
In the unbaptized, not only is the will paralyzed, but also the heart.
Listener:
Then where is this freedom in the unbaptized person?
Father Daniil:
Freedom of choice is a gift given by God to every person, bestowed at the moment of man's creation.
Listener:
And does it continue to move a person, even leading him to baptism and knowledge of God?
Father Daniil:
Yes. The Holy Spirit can act on him, and thus lead him to baptism and knowledge of God, through this preserved freedom. Do you understand?
But the fact of paralysis itself is a real fact. Why am I saying this? I am saying this because talk about pious, righteous pagans who live wonderfully without God – these talks are fine, but they are most often from the realm of myths. For example, when they say: "There are universal human values..." – you need to start by answering the question: "What even are universal human values?" and then compare these "universal human values" with what these people actually do. I remember last time I also quoted Desnitsky's good words. (ed.: according to Andrey Desnitsky, talk about universal human values is "the second tablet of Moses without the first." Desnitsky says: "modern (post-Christian) society is built on biblical values, although the masses do not realize it. He urges reminding society of the origins and that the second tablet without memory of the first works only by inertia, and increasingly weakly.") What universal human values are there? Do not kill, do not steal. But read about the Assyrians, how they tell how they killed people brutally, impaled people, and boasted about it.
(ed.: "Ashurbanipal, son of Esarhaddon and one of the last great kings of Assyria (ruled from 668 to 631 BC), is known as the founder of the famous library in Nineveh, which gathered thousands of texts on history, mathematics, and astronomy. However, along with patronage of the arts and sciences, his reign was also characterized by cruelty. He boasted:
'I fed their torn bodies to dogs, pigs, wolves, and eagles, the birds of the sky and the fish of the deep... What remained of the feast of dogs and pigs, their limbs which blocked the streets and filled the squares, I ordered to be removed from Babylon, Kutha, and Sippar and piled up in heaps.'
When Ashurbanipal did not kill his prisoners, he subjected them to public executions, for example:
'I pierced their lips and brought them to Assyria as a spectacle for the inhabitants of my country.'
Clay depictions of their brutal executions have survived to this day:
Indeed, people committed obvious lawlessness and could even boast about it, although they understood that it was bad. Such a paralysis of the will occurs; a person loses the sense of good and evil. The loss occurs by the following mechanism: Man, due to false philosophy, says: "yes, such and such is required, but to achieve this good goal, I need to deviate from it for a while." Do you understand?)
Listener:
I understand. "The end justifies the means."
Father Daniil:
"The end justifies the means" – this is the main mechanism of the origin of this filth. For example, I talked with one person, a good friend of mine, a Christian. He said: "It's right that they are killing Georgians, they need to slaughter them all." I said: "Well, okay, defending Ossetians is just, but why consider your own brothers in Christ as obvious enemies?" He replied: "They are enemies because they are allies of America." I said: "So what?" He replied: "All allies of America must be destroyed." "But why?" I said.
You see, what kind of things are we talking about here? A person's passion, a false political passion, makes a person go directly against the Holy Gospel, against the Lord's commandments. That is, kinship in Christ is higher than any kinship. Actually, I, of course, believe that Christians should not fight against Christians, unconditionally. Except in those cases when Christians commit some kind of lawlessness.
We had a long discussion with Yuri Valerievich, we discussed for a long time on what basis St. Nicholas of Japan dared to act so unjustly, allowing Japanese Christians to fight against Russia. Actually, the logic was very interesting. After analyzing the situation of St. Nicholas, I understood why he decided. You know? Because he considered the war on Russia's side to be aggressive. Do you understand the point? Objectively speaking, it was indeed Russia that was the aggressor, not Japan.
Listener:
Japan attacked first.
Father Daniil:
After Russia decided to annex all of Korea together with Manchuria, then Japan did indeed attack.
Listener:
Otherwise, England would have annexed everything.
Father Daniil:
Well, maybe or maybe not, I'm saying the fact is that in that situation, Russia was wrong. And Nicholas simply says that is why God did not give victory, but on the contrary, God caused Russia to be defeated precisely for this reason. So, by the way, in such a situation, his behavior is understandable, that is, there should be no outrages on either side.
But why am I saying this now? I'll return to our topic. It is about the fact that we are faced precisely with the law of sin. And man, beginning to justify sin, thus begins to release passions, and they begin to blaze with fire. Man invents false philosophies, and then begins to release passions with fire, and they begin to boil. Understand? And as a result, people are indeed pervaded by all terrible kinds of sin. Today, when I finish our talk, I will take the main text that speaks about why the Gentiles and Jews will perish. That is, actually, the answer to key modern questions. But people, of course, can in principle fight against sin. Anywhere. In paganism, and in Judaism. They can fight against sin by calling upon the help of the Creator of the universe. And He does come to help. But those who called upon Him before the coming of the Lord, they were found by the Lord in hell. Those who called upon the Lord after the coming of the Lord, they were found by Him through missionaries. Understand? But in any situation, the Lord will surely find all those who seek Him. This is a very important principle. That is, for God, there is no objective impossibility of being baptized. Do you understand? If He carried St. Anthony the Roman on a stone from Italy to Novgorod, it is no difficulty for Him to transport a missionary anywhere at all.
(ed.: "The 11th century was the time of the Great Schism, when the See of Rome fell away from the Body of Christ, separating from the Eastern Churches. The process of alienation between Rome and Constantinople, which had lasted for several centuries, reached a point of no return when in 1054 the legates of the Roman Pope placed an anathema on the altar of the Church of Hagia Sophia in Constantinople against the Patriarch of Constantinople, accusing him of non-existent crimes. A mutual anathema followed – and after a few months, the final rupture occurred.
The brethren were forced to disperse, as the Latins occupied that monastery as well. St. Anthony wandered, living for a year on a deserted shore, on a rock. During one of the strongest storms on September 5, 1105, a piece of the rock broke off, and the stone on which Anthony was praying ended up in the sea. The Life tells that, contrary to the laws of nature, the stone floated, and after a short time the monk found himself in new lands, stopping near the shore near the village of Volkhovskoye, on the Volkhov River about 3 kilometers from Novgorod. This happened on the eve of the feast of the Nativity of the Theotokos – and St. Anthony remembered this day.
These events are mentioned in the Novgorod chronicles.")
Also there is a commandment: "... Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven." (Gospel of Matthew: 10; 32).
Listener:
Regarding this paralysis. It often happens that, let's say, a person who believes in God, constantly resorting to the sacraments, struggles with one passion, and no changes occur. He can struggle with it for a very long time. But how is this paralysis cured?
Father Daniil:
Yes, Augustine said it well: "And how much I asked the Lord, begged Him, make me chaste. And I complained, why is nothing happening, until I noticed that as soon as I said, make me chaste, my heart ached: 'But only, please, not now.'" (laughs) It's very simple.
Listener:
So somewhere deep inside, the person wants it?
Father Daniil:
Yes, of course. It's very simple.
Listener:
It's, so to speak, his choice?
Father Daniil:
You can say anything with your tongue. The tongue is boneless.
Right. Now, regarding the next consequences of original sin. Well, this is probably obvious. The consequences of original sin are illness and death. I think this is obvious, we will open the book of Genesis, chapter 3. It says:
"In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return." (Genesis: 3; 19) – the Lord said.
Illness and death are direct consequences of original sin. Therefore it is said that through the devil's envy death entered the world. (ed.: "Nevertheless through envy of the devil came death into the world: and they that do hold of his side do find it." (Wisdom of Solomon: 2; 24)) Last time I read chapter 5 of the Epistle to the Romans, where it was directly said that death came through man, because in him all sinned.
(ed.:
"12. Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:
13. (For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law.
14. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come." (Epistle to the Romans: 5; 12-14))
Death through man. And death is precisely a consequence of sin, not original sin itself. It is very important to understand here that when we separate original sin and its consequences, we are thus separating what things? We are separating the evil itself, which exists, and its consequences. There are consequences organically connected with evil. For example, the paralysis of the will and the corruption of the mind are those consequences of original sin that grow unnaturally from sin. Do you understand? That is, for example, they cannot in principle be separated.
And there is a consequence that is a punishment for sin. For example, death and illness are the primary punishment for sin. Understand? Punishment, unlike natural consequences, has what difference? Natural consequences are evil, unclean, and bring no good to man. Understand? What use is there in passion? Well, sometimes God, of course, turns one passion against another. This happens. As John Climacus said: "It happens that God permits anger, which destroys unnatural love between people, and thus God heals one passion with another." Such things happen. Or there are cases when anger in a person is overcome by vanity. This thing, I think, is known to everyone. Do you know that technique? For example, a scandal is going on, and as soon as someone calls on the phone, the person immediately becomes courteous. Have you seen such a thing or not? That's precisely an example of trading one passion for another. That's already a devilish thing. But all the passions themselves, manifesting in the corruption of the will and feelings through the distortion of the mind, are actually inseparable from sin. Unlike the punishment for sin, which is directed towards good. Illness and death are indeed punishments, that is, things that teach a person. As Gregory the Theologian said: "Thanks to death and illness, evil does not become immortal." That is, death for fallen man is a good thing. Understand why? Or not?
Listener:
No, it's not clear.
Father Daniil:
It's not clear, I'll explain. The immortality of the flesh of a person who at the same time does evil would turn him directly into a demon. In the literal sense. We would have a very simple thing, like an immortal Chikatilo, who tortures people eternally and is restrained neither by the fear of death nor the fear of punishment.
Listener:
The strong would try to break the weak, right?
Father Daniil:
Well, like it happens in hell.
And the good is that evil does not spread. God sets external boundaries, and [man] is given the opportunity for repentance. The fear of death has led many people to repentance, as has the fear of punishment. Therefore, never be shy about reminding [people] of punishment and of God's judgment, and of death. Never be shy. On the contrary, I recommend you do it more often. No matter how much liberals tell us not to attract anyone with horror and fear, the Apostle Jude says the opposite:
"22. And of some have compassion, making a difference:
23. And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh." (Epistle of Jude: 1; 22-23)
And experience shows that a reminder of death shakes even the most wonderful smart atheist a little. Wonderful, right?
Female Listener:
It definitely shakes him, but the question is: "Will he come to his senses?"
Father Daniil:
First you need to bring him out of his delusion. And where he ends up is the second question.
Listener:
But sometimes illness is, so to speak, for a person to receive crowns?
Father Daniil:
Good question. Indeed, if we talk about the origin of illness, illnesses have three causes. Well, illness due to sin, I think it's obvious, right? An obvious cause, which I won't give examples for because of the vast number of cases. I'll just give one quote from Scripture about illness occurring because of sin. This is from the Gospel of John, chapter 5, verse 14. Jesus met the paralytic in the temple and said:
"Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee." (Gospel of John: 5; 14)
That is one of the clearest examples where a cause-and-effect relationship between illness and sin is indicated. Also, one can give the example of chapter 11 of the First Epistle to the Corinthians, where it says: "because of unworthy communion, many are weak and sickly, and many sleep."
(ed.: "27. Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.
28. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup.
29. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body.
30. For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep." (1 Corinthians: 11; 27-30))
There are very many such examples, such a huge number that it's even hard to list them all; there are hundreds in the Bible. As they say, wherever you poke, you'll find one. However, indeed, this is not the only cause of illness. Holy Scripture directly speaks about this. Suffice it to recall the 9th chapter of the Gospel of John, verses 2-3:
"1. And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth.
2. And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?
3. Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him." (Gospel of John: 9; 1-3)
Here, thus, a man was born blind so that later the Lord might show His power over him.
There are illnesses for sins, and there are illnesses not for sins. For those whose illness is not for sins, it is not a punishment; for them it is a cross. Take such an example. Here's a question. Who makes a child blind or deaf in the mother's womb?
Listener:
Sin.
Father Daniil:
Who, I asked? Not what, but who?
We open the book of Exodus, chapter 4, verse 11:
"10. And Moses said unto the Lord, O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore, nor since thou hast spoken unto thy servant: but I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue.
11. And the Lord said unto him, Who hath made man's mouth? or who maketh the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? have not I the Lord?
12. Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say." (Exodus: 4; 10-12)
See? That is, the Bible asserts that it is God who makes people either dumb or speaking, either blind or seeing. He is the source of this.
Listener:
Well, it does happen that a mother, let's say, carried a child, I don't know, walked around with her belly exposed, and the child was born deformed because of it.
Father Daniil:
Well, God could have restrained that sin, but He didn't.
Look, now alcoholics have normal children. Sometimes in completely alcoholic families, normal children are born, although, in principle, the mother doesn't take care of herself at all.
Listener:
Give another example of illnesses for the glory of God.
Father Daniil:
The classic example of illness for the glory of God or for receiving crowns is the entire book of Job. In the book of Job, if you remember, satan, by God's permission, brought disasters and leprosy, that is, illness, upon Job. That is, all these sorrows and illnesses were for the glory of God to be manifested in that man, for Job to defeat the devil by showing faithfulness to God in all trials, and for this to receive a reward on earth and a crown in Heaven. What can this be compared to? It can be compared to a training session. As I already said, athletes train to win. Here it's the same. The Lord allows a person to be tested so that, having endured it, he receives a reward. That is the third reason – for training, for strengthening, for receiving crowns. Understand? So, there are three reasons: 1) for punishment for sins; 2) for the glory of God to be manifested (like the man born blind, not for his sins, nor for his parents', but that the works of God might be made manifest in him); and 3) for obtaining crowns, for spiritual training, as in the case of Job.
Listener:
Well, the book of Job is training.
Father Daniil:
Yes.
Listener:
And the first example in the Gospel of John, the healing of the blind man, was that training?
Father Daniil:
No, it says there: that the glory of God might be made manifest.
Listener:
So that's the second reason, and Job for a crown is the third reason?
Father Daniil:
Yes.
Listener:
May I ask a question? I heard this opinion: how to distinguish why an illness is sent, for punishment or for receiving crowns? And the answer was: if a person is burdened by the illness, then it is for punishment; if he endures it with thanksgiving to God, then it is for receiving crowns.
Father Daniil:
No, that's not fair. Not fair, because any person can be burdened by illness to some extent, even if they received it undeservedly. I think the man born blind was also quite unhappy with his blindness. And Job was also not thrilled about his illnesses. It's about the causes. The cause of punishment is often obvious enough. There is one reason why we do not accept reincarnation. When you assert that this is punishment for sin, but the sin is unknown to us, it cannot be punishment. A person cannot be punished for what he does not remember. Do you understand? It is not for nothing that even in ordinary legal proceedings, the obligatory part of the sentence first sets out the crime itself, and then the verdict on the punishment. That is, even in the secular justice system, the principle applies: a person must understand what he is being punished for.
Listener:
Ignorance does not excuse from responsibility.
Father Daniil:
He is still explained.
Here it is very important to remember that punishment must be meaningful, otherwise punishment will not serve for teaching. That is precisely why reincarnation cannot be considered a normal explanation for the problem of the origin of evil. Because reincarnation does not give memory of the supposed past. By the way, it is precisely for this reason that children cannot be punished for an incomprehensible act. This corrupts the child very much. I have seen some moral freaks who claim that children should simply be flogged on Saturdays just in case. But I believe that this is precisely moral ugliness and a manifestation of sadism; I cannot call it anything else. Why is it moral ugliness? Because the very essence of punishment disappears here. That is, instead of justice, just retribution, it is simply about a person realizing his sadistic tendencies on children. Moreover, this propaganda is now going very strong among Orthodox people; I know about these things. I believe that this is simply lawlessness and complete outrage.
Listener:
So, they found a way to manifest it?
Father Daniil:
Yes, well, it's the same sadism that is justified by references to the ascetic fathers who made their disciples do meaningless things. But we must remember a simple thing. The disciples were still somewhat adults, unlike children. And they understood that it was not about punishment, but about training. Do you understand? When one elder ordered cabbage to be planted upside down, the monk understood that it was not about him becoming a great gardener, do you understand? He did not come to learn gardening skills, do you understand?
He came to train his soul. And it was perceived as training, do you understand? And in that sense, it was all meaningful, do you understand? This is very important to understand. Why was this needed, actually?
Precisely so that a person would stop wasting his spiritual or mental energy on analysis. Because if you start analyzing, you'll go crazy. This is how it was perceived. And in this sense, it was an act of freedom and understanding. And beating a child without reason is just sadism. And we must call it by its proper name. And no matter who refers to whom, I think that the Monk Theodosius of the Kiev Caves, who beat monks? I'm not sure, but I haven't seen it. But Theodosius of the Kiev Caves did not beat lay children for no reason. There's no such thing.
Listener:
And if a child is born with some deformity, is that a punishment?
Father Daniil:
A punishment for his parents.
Listener:
And for him, what is it for?
Father Daniil:
For him, it is a cross.
Listener:
So it turns out it's a manifestation of punishment?
Father Daniil:
For him, no. There is no punishment. It's very simple. I'll explain. What is punishment? A child is born, for example, visually impaired. There are many different congenital diseases. For him, it is a certain cross. Every person has a certain cross. A path of sorrow that he has. There is such and such, such and such. And without sorrows, one cannot enter the Kingdom. Do you understand? Why can't one enter? Very simple. Without sorrows, a person will become attached to the earth and will surely perish. He won't want to leave here, and that's it. This is precisely the principle of why the Lord sends sorrows now for a person. To detach a person from the mortal earth. Understand? Because otherwise, if a person is attached to the mortal earth, the very day of death will be terrible for him, and as a result, he will not be able to detach from the earth in any way. But sorrows cut the soul off from the earth. And sorrow heals many sins, because because of sorrows, a person does not commit many sins. And one of the reasons for illness is precisely that God does not give horns to a kicking cow.
Here, all these illnesses are one type of cross, but there are other crosses, and illness is not the heaviest type of cross, actually. Betrayal by loved ones is a much heavier cross, human slander is a much heavier cross. Do you understand? Therefore, all these things are, of course, a certain form of cross for the sick themselves. Exactly the same as, for example, cases of congenital insanity or mental retardation. As St. Theophan the Recluse correctly said: "the mentally retarded and those afflicted in mind, they are only idiots to us, but to God they are completely normal." Their soul simply develops in the inner life without much connection with the earth. What is the problem with the mentally retarded? Not that they have a weak mental capacity, but that their apparatus for the work of the mind is disordered, i.e., the brain. That is precisely why their mental retardation does not hinder their inner spiritual development. That is precisely why God, creating the soul, sees that it is rather weak, and He thus places it in such a dome.
Listener:
So it turns out that most baptized people are saved from their own mind?
Father Daniil:
Yes.
Listener:
Or even all of them.
Father Daniil:
We don't know, we won't analyze that now, but it turns out so. And at the same time, it does not mean that they will be mentally retarded in eternity. They will be healed.
Female Listener:
But how will they be saved if they don't even understand prayers?
Father Daniil:
There are other inner paths for the soul's development. They don't understand everything; the body hinders them. This is precisely the illness. That the soul has become a corpse-bearer (remember, last time we quoted Gregory the Theologian?) leads to the fact that their soul cannot communicate normally with the outside world; it is, as it were, bound by the body, but the inner depths of growth in the soul occur. That's all. For them, this is a kind of preservation from God. Take the example of the oligophrenic or Down syndrome patients. Often, for example, they are very good-natured. Very often they are good-natured. Very often they are kind. These are real things. What does this indicate? That their soul grows little by little. Do you understand? Although they cannot express it normally.
Listener:
God sees that the soul is weak, and gives it such a mind. But He is Almighty, He could change this soul.
Father Daniil:
It's not about the soul being weak or not weak. I, of course, cannot speak for God's providence, but there are some considerations on this topic. What considerations? Firstly, the soul is directly connected with the souls of the parents. It often happens that the souls of the parents suffer from a certain spiritual illness. Why is it said that this is a punishment for the parents? And it is indeed a punishment for the parents. That is, the parents suffer from a certain spiritual illness – sins, passions. If a child is born healthy, he will grow up the same. Do you understand? But God desires to save him. So He does it this way. Understand? And for the parents, this serves for their correction, and for the child, it serves so that he may be saved. This is one such example. I'm not saying this always happens, but it is one example explaining this paradox.
So, what other consequences do we have? We talked about illnesses, about sorrows. Of course, a very important consequence of the fall is, according to the book of Genesis, the creation of the family, where the wife is subjugated to the husband.
Listener:
Wasn't it like that before?
Father Daniil:
No, it wasn't. Another consequence of the fall is that labor does not bring joy to man, but causes fatigue.
Listener:
That the wife is subjugated to the husband – is that such a consequence?
Father Daniil:
A consequence of the fall, God's curse, Genesis chapter 3. Now, actually, I'll read from Genesis chapter 3. By the way, what follows from this? A very interesting thing follows. That many of our forms of social relations are very often connected with the consequences of sin. For example, would hereditary monarchy have been possible in paradise? Impossible, because inheritance is impossible. Do you understand? There was no death in paradise. When does one enter into an inheritance?
Similarly, for example, could there have been a struggle for existence in paradise? No. Could wealth and poverty have existed in paradise? Neither one nor the other. Wealth and poverty, division into classes, division into well-born and not well-born, into aristocracy and plebeians, into educated and uneducated. All these antonyms are impossible in paradise. Do you understand? Because there everyone will be taught by God, so there is no difference in education. Right? Everyone has their forefather Adam before their eyes. Therefore, there is no difference in terms of origin – everyone is from him. Right? There is no death, therefore there is no heredity. And if there is no death, consequently, there is no right to capital punishment, therefore there is no state. Understand? There are no illnesses, therefore no punishments. No sin, no love of money, and so on, and so on. No exhausting labor, therefore no constant running around to feed oneself. Do you understand? That is, our entire system of relations goes back precisely to the results of the fall, to those results that God introduced. Do you understand? These are all things that the Lord introduced after the fall.
Notice that, in fact, in the Church all this is even overcome. Pay attention, for example, in the sacrament of matrimony in the Church, it is indicated that husband and wife are equal before the Lord, although they have their own ministries – one wife, one husband. In the Church, monastics are free from property, free from the bonds of marriage, free from such things as concern for constant daily life – a person becomes as close as possible to the state of paradise. Do you understand why? A person does not depend on finding food, that is, he does not chase after possessions like a donkey after a carrot, because this is the sin of non-covetousness. Right? He eats and is satisfied, he dresses and is satisfied. That is, already here on earth, monks are gradually being forced into paradisiacal conditions. By the way, Father John Meyendorff has a very interesting wise thought, in my opinion, that all the Lord's commandments are given with people destined for the resurrection in mind.
(ed.: The holy fathers of the Orthodox Church teach that God's commandments are given to people as a path to healing the soul, attaining true freedom, and acquiring eternal life in unity with God. They see in the commandments not just prohibitions, but an expression of God's fatherly love, who points out to man the way to return to his original, good destiny.
The Holy Martyr Peter of Damascus pointed out that "he who has tasted the sweetness of the commandments and knows that they quickly lead him to the imitation of Christ, greatly desires to acquire the rest, so that often for their sake he despises even death."
St. Basil the Great teaches that the purpose of the commandments is "the purification of the soul.")
The Gospel commandments do not work for those who do not believe in the resurrection; they are madness to them. Only someone who, firstly, believes in Almighty God, and additionally, in a God who will give resurrection and flesh, can not worry about tomorrow. Understand why? Because otherwise, worry about tomorrow is a mandatory condition in this life. But here I wanted to say a very important thing. In fact, besides those restrictions that God introduced immediately after the expulsion from paradise, we must remember that sin continued to develop, and accordingly, God introduced new restrictions for man. What is this connected with? The fact is that we often speak only about original sin, but sin is not just some act; it is a kind of parasite that grows. Remember, the next level of the fall is the murder of Abel by Cain. And this murder, this growth of sin, required new measures from God. God introduced a new measure to curb evil after the flood. After the flood, God said: "Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed." (Genesis: 9; 6)
What does this mean? This means that now murder must be punished by death. And note, this is not a punishment for sin; it is a measure to curb evil. It is a fence. This is not a consequence of sin, but a measure to limit sin. That is, God fences off sin, so that it does not spread further. Why is the death penalty for murder needed? Because sin, developing, had reached such a level that a new measure was needed to limit it. That is, there was a need to remove the murderer from society, because he spreads corruption. The murderer is a source of infection, so he must be removed from society. But how to remove him? There are two ways: either isolate him forever or kill him. In ancient times, due to the lack of prisons, they chose the death penalty. But this is not a consequence of sin, but a God-given remedy against sin. This is a very important point.
Hence it follows that there must be some institution for identifying the guilty. From this, the judicial system will later grow. To distinguish a murderer from a non-murderer. Right? And from this grows the system of punishment through the death penalty for murder. From this come executioners, armies, etc.
The words "Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man;" (Genesis: 9; 6) are the basis of the system of punishment and statehood. Therefore, the Apostle Paul in the 13th chapter of the Epistle to the Romans says:
"3. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same:
4. For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil." (Epistle to the Romans: 13; 3-4)
As you understand, the sword is not used to stroke the head, right? Or it strokes, but only once.
Listener:
Can these words "he beareth not the sword in vain" be understood symbolically?
Father Daniil:
They can. You can understand them however you like. (Father Daniil said with a smirk)
Listener:
I just encountered a Baptist's argument who said that these specific words are just a symbolic understanding. For example, it's not about a sword here, but simply about some boss at work.
Father Daniil:
I am a boss, but I am not a boss, because the word "boss" can also be understood allegorically... (Father Daniil said, continuing to joke and smirk at the interlocutor.) And in general, there was a signal that he wasn't just drinking tea there.
No, of course. There is a simple thing: it is not for nothing that not one Church Father ever spoke out against the death penalty. They spoke out against unlawful death penalties. We all know the excellent example of how St. Nicholas the Wonderworker snatched the sword from the executioner's hands. But he snatched the sword because they were executing innocent people. St. Nicholas the Wonderworker did not patrol the field outside the city and take away swords from all soldiers who were trying to behead criminals. Similarly, St. Philip of Moscow did not speak out against the execution of the guilty; he spoke out against the execution of the innocent. Neither the Old Testament Church nor the New Testament Church is characterized by fighting against the death penalty. Fighting against it is characteristic only of the enemies of God. Because the enemies of God know very well that if you take the sword away from the authorities, you get complete lawlessness, which we see with our own eyes now.
Listener:
Is life imprisonment worse than the death penalty?
Father Daniil:
Well, of course it's worse.
Listener:
Well, he can repent.
Father Daniil:
He can repent before the death penalty as well. This, I note, is a better stimulus. Therefore, in Christianity, repentance before the death penalty was always offered. But if a person does not want to repent even before the death penalty, then it is even more senseless to imprison him for life.
God generally does not provide for such punishment as prison. Prison is a human invention not sanctioned by God's Law. Do you know of any punishment in the Old Testament by prison that God sanctioned?
Prisons are mentioned in the Old Testament, but nowhere does God sanction them. And as for a debtor, the debtor had to work off his debt, not sit in prison.
Yes, the Lord was in prison, so what? And the Apostles were in prison.
Those wishing to learn more about punishment are referred to the books of Exodus and Leviticus. Everything about it is written there.
So, now, regarding the next point. That is, the state arises as an institution of God. This is also a way of curbing evil. The function of the state as a means of curbing evil is discussed in detail in the Epistle to the Romans, chapter 13, verses 1 to 7:
"1. Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.
2. Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation.
3. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same:
4. For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil.
5. Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake.
6. For for this cause pay ye tribute also: for they are God's ministers, attending continually upon this very thing.
7. Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honour to whom honour." (Epistle to the Romans: 13; 1-7)
That is, the Apostle Paul clearly explains the purpose of authority. Actually, when Pilate said to our Lord: "knowest thou not that I have power to crucify thee, and have power to release thee?" (Gospel of John: 19; 10) – the Lord said to him, John 19, verse 11: "Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above:" (Gospel of John: 19; 11). From above, I note.
Now we have a legally adopted constitution, a legally elected government. Violations of the law always occur. The power that exists, curbs evil, tries to support good, that is power. We are not at all interested in its nature, where it came from, and so on. We must remember that power was not created by God; it was not part of God's original plan for the first man. See? It did not exist for the first two-plus thousand years of human history. And power is not some absolutely good thing that will last forever. Therefore, one should not exaggerate its importance. Because people often demand from power what they cannot expect from it. They demand it to build paradise on earth, and so on. There's no need to demand such things. It needs to ensure security, punishment of criminals, and justice. That's all.
Listener:
Then, it turns out that the counting of votes doesn't matter for coming to power?
Father Daniil:
It doesn't matter. It could be a monarchy, a republic, an aristocracy – what difference does it make.
Listener:
Republics are built by atheists.
Father Daniil:
What are you saying? No, republics existed much earlier, and the Byzantine Empire was a republic until the very end. By status, a republic means the power of all full citizens, as such. The Roman Empire existed as a republic until the very end, until 1453. The Emperor of the Roman Empire was, as is known, not a tsar in our sense, that is, not a hereditary monarch, but simply a ruler with unlimited powers and unlimited term of office. Here, take our president and give him a limited term. Actually, you might not even give it. (laughs) Here you get, actually, a classical empire, a classical one straight from the textbook.
Listener:
It is said, there is no power but of God, but what if the power is godless?
Father Daniil:
So what? To the extent that it fulfills what is further written in Scripture, it is from God. To the extent that it requires doing good and opposing evil, to that extent I obey this power.
So, now a very important point next. The next level of restrictions that the Lord introduces is the creation of nations. The story of the Tower of Babel is described in the book of Genesis, chapter 11, the first 10 verses. It tells about the confusion of languages. This is precisely where it explains why God created nations. There is a very interesting detailed explanation of how God dealt with the Gentiles. This is spoken of in the book of the Acts of the Holy Apostles, chapter 17, verses 24 to 34. I'll read in context:
"22. Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars' hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious." (Acts of the Apostles: 17; 22) – in the literal translation, "fearful of demons." The word there is "δεισιδαιμονεστέρους" – literally translates as "you fear demons especially." –
"23. For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions," – here the translation is not correct; the original says "your revered places." The Apostle Paul actually spoke much more correctly than our translators rendered it. Not "devotions" [svyatyni], but "places of worship" [chtilishcha]. The Church Slavonic text translated it more accurately. – "For as I passed by, and beheld the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you." (Acts of the Apostles: 17; 23)
I told you the story about this Unknown God, where it came from? Did I tell it?
Listeners:
No.
Father Daniil:
The story is as follows. There was such an incident in Athens in the 6th century BC. The Athenians were storming a fortress in Boeotia and gave orders that they would spare the lives of those inside the fortress. They took them prisoner and then slaughtered them all, breaking their oaths. And immediately a plague came upon Athens. A terrible plague that could not be stopped by anything; they offered sacrifices to all the gods, and it was useless. They sent a delegation to Delphi, to the Delphic Oracle. The Delphic Oracle declared: "I don't know the cause either. But I know there is one man who knows. He is a certain Epimenides, a philosopher living on Crete." They persuaded Epimenides to come from Crete. Epimenides came to them and asked: "What happened to you?" They told him. – "To which gods were sacrifices offered?" They said: "sacrifices were offered to all." Epimenides said: "Let's proceed from a working hypothesis. If the Delphic Oracle said there is someone who can help, then that someone exists. This someone is probably God. Moreover, this God probably honors oaths, and His wrath is for breaking oaths. And He also commands the elements of the world, because He brought the plague. But He, being powerful enough to punish us, can probably also be merciful enough to have mercy on us. Therefore, I propose to test Him. Let us, near the Areopagus, there is a meadow there, and onto this meadow we will drive a flock of sheep that has not been fed for a day. And if this God wants to listen to us, then the sheep will lie down on the grass without eating it, and if not, accordingly, they will not lie down." Well, like with Gideon, remember the story? There, Gideon's test was only with one piece of wool, but in Athens, the test was with a flock of sheep. Right. And then in the morning, they drove out the flock of sheep, and the fattest, accordingly hungriest, sheep began to lie down on the grass. And then, by Epimenides' order, the stonemasons standing nearby immediately built a stone altar, on which they were to offer a sacrifice. Moreover, any altar must have a dedication. For example, we have an altar in the church, and there is a dedication written on it. Only not on it, but on the antimension. It says: "For the glory of the Holy, Consubstantial, and Undivided Trinity, this altar is established." That is, the altar is dedicated to the Trinity. Therefore, how should one speak correctly? The Holy Table – any altar in the church, the place of sacrifice – is always dedicated to Whom? To the One God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, in honor of such and such an event or in memory of such and such a saint. But the altar is dedicated to the Trinity, not to the saint. Understand?
And Epimenides is asked: "Whose god's name should be written here?" Epimenides says: "We don't know the name of God. So let's write: 'To the Unknown God' – who gave us this sign." And he sacrificed those same fat rams on this altar, and the plague immediately stopped. And it was easy for the Apostle Paul to talk about this altar, because it stood on the top of the rock, and below, this very altar was located, at a distance of 15 meters, visible from the Areopagus. Therefore, it was very easy for him to simply point to it, referring to this story. Therefore, that same Unknown God, whom they worshipped, was truly God, who commanded the elements, who punished crimes and forgave the repentant. This proves that the Apostle Paul was not lying when he spoke, right? He simply told the pure truth. That was indeed the same God we know as the God of the Bible – our God. And further, the Apostle says:
"24. God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands;
25. Neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things;" (Acts of the Apostles: 17; 24-25)
Here it is emphasized that God is the Creator of all, and that He is not limited by buildings, and that He cannot be bribed. That is, actually, the Apostle in a few words completely refutes all idolatry.
"26. And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation;
27. That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us:
28. For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring." (Acts of the Apostles: 17; 26-28)
That is, what does God do? The Apostle says: "God the Creator, He made of one blood all nations of men. That is, all people are blood relatives." Why from one blood, and not from two? Why not say from Adam and Eve? Because Eve is also from Adam. Therefore, we indeed descend from one man, not from two, namely from one man. And further it is said that He made the human race to dwell on all the face of the earth. That is, He destined the entire planet for it. Here, by the way, is a very interesting reason why humanity populates the wildest places. It was always unclear to me why there are so few uninhabited places on Earth. What kind of force keeps the Chukchi in such wild places? Why? Why live in some wildest tundra? There is a certain force that draws people and populates everything. This is that very command of God about the spread of man over all the face of the earth. Actually, only man, the rat, and the cockroach fill the entire Earth. And no other living creature. And the rat and cockroach do not fill it independently, as you understand, but follow man. "... and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation;" – a very important phrase. That is, God appointed for all people the times and bounds of their habitation. For whom? For nations.
Listener:
What does "times" mean?
Father Daniil:
That is, God allotted a certain period of existence for each nation, therefore there are no eternal nations. And He placed certain limits of existence – borders, areas. It is with this understanding that the completely unmotivated and senseless struggle for the territorial integrity of this or that state is connected.
Listener:
Well, what about the mixing of peoples?
Father Daniil:
Very simple. It's about antiquity. God set times for nations and bounds for nations. Therefore, by the way, it is very interesting to look at a world map in dynamics. There is a nation sitting in a small corner, and then it expands interestingly, while others stay in place or converge. Do you understand? That is, the bounds and times of nations, what the Apostle Paul describes, can be seen on the map in dynamics – expansion and contraction, some are in a fixed state, and some split in half, and then converge again. Do you understand? And all this is precisely how God governs nations. But what is the purpose of this? "That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him," (Acts of the Apostles:17; 27) – that is, the task of the nations is to seek God by groping. That is, through contemplation of creation, through the efforts of their reason, to come to the knowledge of God. "... though he be not far from every one of us:" (Acts of the Apostles:17; 27) – the Apostle notes. That is, all this life of humanity was needed to prepare the people for the reception of the Gospel. In what way? First, God makes such cells; He fences off nations, races arise. Understand why races arise? When people speaking the same language enter into relationships only within their own monolingual group. And they do not enter into groups with others. Therefore, it was from the moment of the Tower of Babel that a very sharp aggravation of relations began, which later began to improve over time. Indeed, most ancient peoples were named either after their forefather... That is one option for naming peoples. And what is the second option for naming? Do you know? Based on the word for "man" in their language. "Chukcha" translates from Chukchi as "man," as opposed to the non-humans walking around. Do you understand? The same thing, for example, with "Slavs." What word does "Slavs" come from? "Sloviti" – to speak, that is, "the speaking ones." And who is around? The "Germans" [nemtsy], that is, the mute ones. "Germans" [nemtsy], that is, certain humanoid creatures who try to speak like humans, but they can't. They are mute; they don't know how to speak. Therefore, there were English Germans, Frankish Germans, Varangian Germans, and even Tatar Germans, and so on. (laughs) That is, people come, trying to speak, or rather, non-people, something humanoid comes and tries to speak, but fails. Well, they're "German" [mute], what can you expect? (laughs)
Listener:
Traditionally in Russia, "Germans" [nemtsy] were the name for all foreigners.
Father Daniil:
But that is, actually, the original usage. What's interesting is that the more ancient it was, the stronger this distinction was. In fact, in all antiquity, a sense of common origin existed only among the Jewish people. Only the Jews clearly realized that all people are from one root. Others were barbarians, Greeks, educated and uneducated, and so on. And then, over time, what happens? Why does God do this? That evil which was growing, God breaks it into many pieces. Understand? That is, evil is thus weakened. That is, the mutual enrichment of new inventions is hindered. For example, one person invents homosexuality, but he is, say, a German. How can he pass anything on to a speaking person [a Slav] when "nothing good can come from a German"? Right? Because "what's good for a Russian is death for a German." That is, this division led to what? To evil being fixed, it does not spread between peoples. Do you understand? And thus what the Apostle Paul spoke about happens – the nations grope for God, to return to Him, and their souls try to return to the Creator. And then, closer to the end of times, a new time comes, when God begins to mix the peoples. When the times are ending, God begins to slowly arrange globalization. This is spoken of in the book of Daniel in two chapters – in the second, and in the seventh chapters, where the four great empires are mentioned – the Babylonian, Persian, Greek, and the Roman era, which has not yet ended. Now we have the Roman era of the divided kingdom, that is, a mixture of iron and clay according to Scripture – the right foot and the left foot.
Listener:
Moscow is the Third Rome?
Father Daniil:
Yes, of course. That's the right foot. America is the other foot.
Another listener:
And which of these parts is iron, and which is clay?
Father Daniil:
Well, each has both iron and clay. Not America by itself. It's about civilization. Actually, it's about East and West, which in ancient times were connected into a single civilization. Right. But the one thing that consoles us is that we do not belong to them. Neither to the East nor to the West. We belong to the stone that was cut out without hands from the mountain and struck the feet. And broke them all in pieces. And itself became a great mountain. When will this happen and why? Because the time from the division of nations is ending. From what moment? Listen further, verse 29:
"29. Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device." (Acts of the Apostles: 17; 29)
That is, here insane idolatry is rebuked.
"30. And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:" (Acts of the Apostles: 17; 30)
That's Christ's globalization, right? God divided the nations, let them mature, and then He gives one global project. He commands all people everywhere to repent. This is His new divine word. He mixes the nations anew. The anti-Babel – Pentecost.
"31. Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead." (Acts of the Apostles: 17; 30)
That is, now is the time of the Church, in which there is no nationality, in which people everywhere repent in expectation of the coming Last Judgment.
Listener:
Before the end of the world, the Antichrist will unite everyone.
Father Daniil:
First Christ unites, then the Antichrist parodies. The Church is the great victory over nations. The Church created an absolutely amazing supranational structure, absolutely supranational, alien to nationality. Only the devil, through the hands of the Masons, introduced nationalism into society for the first time – it arose in the 19th century as the heresy of phyletism (ed.: In September 1872, a Council in Constantinople under the chairmanship of Patriarch Anthimus VI of Constantinople used the term for the first time as an official designation for a heresy, condemning it in connection with the Bulgarian schism (the unilateral proclamation of autocephaly by the Bulgarian clergy of their national Church)). For example, if, say, in the early 19th century, you had asked some inhabitant of the Balkans what his nationality was, he would have twirled his finger at his temple and said that there is no nationality, and that he belongs to the Christians. Why are you bothering me with nationality? Are you a pagan or something? That is, right up until the 19th century, the question of nationality caused indignation in a person: "Are you calling me a pagan? Am I some kind of goy? Attributing a nationality to me. You think you're something." And if a Greek-speaking person were called a Hellene [pagan], he might simply get punched in the face.
The second passage that speaks of the Lord's will concerning the Gentiles speaks about what? This is Acts of the Apostles, chapter 14, verses 15 to 17. When in Lystra the Apostles Barnabas and Paul healed a lame man, Barnabas was taken for Zeus, and Paul for Hermes. Remember that story? They wanted to offer sacrifice to them. They brought bulls, pigs, everything as it should be, so to speak. Right.
"14. Which when the apostles, Barnabas and Paul, heard of, they rent their clothes, and ran in among the people, crying out,
15. And saying, Sirs, why do ye these things? We also are men of like passions with you, and preach unto you that ye should turn from these vanities unto the living God, which made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all things that are therein:
16. Who in times past suffered all nations to walk in their own ways.
17. Nevertheless he left not himself without witness, in that he did good, and gave us rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness." (Acts of the Apostles: 14; 14-17)
This is a very interesting point; the Apostle says that the nations were allowed to walk in their own ways, but God did not cease to bear witness of Himself through benefits, giving rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling their hearts with food and gladness. Here is a very interesting thought of the Apostle Paul, which we really need to ponder. That is, why are there universal human holidays connected with fertility?
They are universal. Yes, they are now dedicated to demons, that's true. But originally, all these holidays were connected with the fact that God gave rain and harvest. Why? So that people would remember God. But people, receiving these gifts, did not want to remember the Giver. That is, this is also a consequence of original sin. Man prefers to enjoy the gifts without the Giver. Man prefers to receive pleasure, but not to thank. This is also a consequence of original sin.
Well, now the last point we will consider today. This is the question: "Which Gentiles will perish, and which will be saved?" Now we will just analyze this text. I apologize for the delay, because I have probably tired you out today with my talk. Right. So, the last thing I will tell you will be our passage from the Epistle to the Romans, chapter 1, starting from verse 16. One of the most contemporary texts – it starts from (Romans: 1; 16), and ends with (Romans: 3; 26). A large text, absolutely huge, right? But it is key to the question of who will be saved and who will perish, do you understand? This, actually, in all disputes, when you encounter on the internet, in conversation, about who can be saved, who will perish, immediately rely on this large passage, including these words. Simply on its basis. That is, take it and use it in detail. So:
"16. For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.
17. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith." (Epistle to the Romans: 1; 16-17)
What does this mean? That is, the Apostle says that he is not ashamed of the gospel of God, because in it is indeed salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. Why to the Jew first? Because to the Jew was given the promise and was given the Law, which prepared for the coming of the Lord, while to the Greek nothing was promised. By "Greek" is meant not just a Greek, but any Gentile. In it (in the Gospel) the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith. That is, which leads from faith to faith. As it is written, the just shall live by faith. That is, the main essence of faith is that a man is justified by faith. Those who read the morning prayers probably know that one of the favorite prayers of Orthodox Christians is that we are saved by faith. Regardless of works. Remember, yes? "For if by works Thou shouldst save me, this is not grace and gift, but rather a debt." Remember these words? The favorite Orthodox Protestant prayer. (laughs) Right. The difference between us and Protestants is not in how we receive justification, but in the fact that Protestants say we are saved by faith, bringing a good sign that faith opens the hands, but at the same time they themselves refuse to accept salvation. Imagine when salvation is actually offered... (ed.: And they refuse, rejecting the Church, which God created ("I will build My church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it;" (Gospel of Matthew: 16; 18)) and whose history can be traced back to the Apostles.) That is the difference with Protestants, do you understand? And the fact that it is necessary to further keep God's commandments, actually, this is obvious, it is already a consequence of life within faith, within salvation.
So, where does the account of salvation begin?
"18. For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrightessness;" (Epistle to the Romans: 1; 18)
That is, look, with what does the Apostle begin his preaching? He doesn't talk about God as great love, right? He doesn't talk about preaching the high tolerance of the Lord. He begins with something completely different. The wrath of God is revealed. Right? What an "unmodern" approach. Right? Such an "outdated" approach of the Apostle Paul. But we, missionaries, will take note. What is a very good place to start? By the way, note that this is in the Gospel, in the Good News. The Apostle says that the good news begins with what? I bring you good news. The wrath of God is coming against you. You are guaranteed to go to hell. That's the first good news that will make you happy. (laughs) And at this first good news, a person's jaw sort of drops silently to the floor. But, note, it was precisely on this principle that all the Apostles and all the saints acted, actually, from the 1st to the 21st century. All these liberal sermons have absolutely nothing to do, as you understand, with the New Testament, with the Old Testament, with the Holy Fathers.
Further. How is the unrighteousness of people evaluated? What causes ungodliness and unrighteousness? How do ungodliness and unrighteousness differ? Victor.
Listener:
Ungodliness is not honoring God.
Father Daniil:
Yes. And unrighteousness is sins against neighbors. Ungodliness is sin against the first and second commandments, against the first and second tablets, one might say. Notice, it says: men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness. That is, for the Apostle Paul, there are no people who simply do not know the truth. For the Apostle, any sinner is a person who has suppressed the Truth within himself, because of his unrighteousness. Exactly as you asked about "good" agnostics, right, Andrey? The Apostle Paul characterizes them like this. They are people under the wrath of God, because they suppress the Truth by their unrighteousness. See? It's not modern, of course, but it's accurate.
"19. Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them." (Epistle to the Romans: 1; 19)
Very interesting, right? They ask: "How could people know without missionaries? They know nothing about God..." Here the Apostle says: "That's a lie. The existence of God is manifest to any person." That which may be known of God is manifest in them, because God hath shewed it unto them.
"20. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:" (Epistle to the Romans: 1; 20)
Theophan the Recluse, interpreting these words, says something very interesting. He says: "firstly, the eternal power of God is known from tradition; secondly, it is known from creation; thirdly, it is known from conscience." Understand? But the Apostle points out the most obvious thing, accessible even to elementary school and kindergarten students.
Female Listener:
Is it known from the traditions of humanity?
Father Daniil:
Yes.
But the most obvious, of course, is the voice of conscience and the voice of direct creation, which speaks of the obvious existence of God. Remember? "The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork." (Ps.: 19; 1). That is, the invisible essence of God, His eternal power and Godhead, His glory manifested in creation, are actually visible through the contemplation of creation.
That is, the power of God's glory is seen through the harmony of the world, through the harmony of the cosmos, the amazing harmony of the structure of life; it is all visible. So that they are without excuse. That is, for example, Academician Ginzburg will have no excuse at the Last Judgment. Because he, knowing the amazing harmony of the world, dared to say that harmony appeared without the One who gives harmony. Beauty appeared without the Artist. Order appeared without the Tuner. Laws appeared without the Lawgiver. This is a sign of insanity, actually. Where does this insanity come from? The Apostle explains further:
"21. Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened." (Epistle to the Romans: 1; 21)
That is, people knew God, but did not glorify Him as God. That is, knowing that there is a cause of the world, they did not give Him due glory. They did not worship Him as God. They did not put Him in first place. They did not begin to act according to His will, did not seek His will. Understand? Therefore, it is said: "they glorified him not as God." People said: "but I want it this way." And the second main reason: "neither were thankful" – it is said. That is, they perceived the gifts that God gives as something self-evident. Do you understand? So, man, acknowledging God, does not want to put Him first. Second – they do not want to thank Him. And ingratitude kills the soul. Do you understand? When a person does not know how to thank both people and God, he loses the ability to know the Creator. But they became vain in their imaginations. What does "became vain in their imaginations" mean? Not thanking and not glorifying God, but considering themselves masters of their own lives, they became vain in their imaginations. What does "become vain in their imaginations" mean? That is, their heads become a complete mess of thoughts. Because they were justifying their evil. Their mind, by an act of will, withdrew from God. Right? And then they began to invent why they did it. Understand? Therefore, it is said "became vain in their imaginations." That is, they began to invent various philosophies, cultures, theories about why one should not honor God. And their foolish heart was darkened. As a result, a complete darkening of the heart set in. Man lost the distinction between good and evil, he lost the ability to find God. Do you understand? This is not God's revenge, this is a natural consequence.
"22. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools," (Epistle to the Romans: 1; 22)
That is, further, a person calls himself wise, but at the same time he becomes insane.
"23. And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things." (Epistle to the Romans: 1; 23)
The next stage – people begin to transfer the Divine name, the Incommunicable Name, as it is said in the book of Wisdom of Solomon, to an image made like to man. That is, not even to man himself, first to man, and then to an image of man, they began to call creation, made like to animals, people, and so on, gods. That is, idols. This is extreme madness, which arises from what?
The book of Wisdom of Solomon says... (I'll just give you the reference, so you can look it up later).
(ed.:
"1. Surely vain are all men by nature, who are ignorant of God, and could not out of the good things that are seen know him that is: neither by considering the works did they acknowledge the workmaster;
2. But deemed either fire, or wind, or the swift air, or the circle of the stars, or the violent water, or the lights of heaven, to be the gods which govern the world.
3. With whose beauty if they being delighted took them to be gods; let them know how much better the Lord of them is: for the first author of beauty hath created them.
4. But if they were astonished at their power and virtue, let them understand by them, how much mightier he is that made them.
5. For by the greatness and beauty of the creatures proportionably the maker of them is seen.
6. But yet for this they are the less to be blamed: for they peradventure err, seeking God, and desirous to find him.
7. For being conversant in his works they search him diligently, and believe their sight: because the things are beautiful that are seen.
8. Howbeit neither are they to be pardoned.
9. For if they were able to know so much, that they could aim at the world; how did they not sooner find out the Lord thereof?
10. But miserable are they, and in dead things is their hope, who call them gods, which are the works of men's hands, gold and silver, to shew art in, and resemblances of beasts, or a stone good for nothing, the work of an ancient hand.
11. Now a carpenter that felleth timber, after he hath sawn down a tree meet for the purpose, and taken off all the bark skilfully round about, and hath wrought it handsomely, and made a vessel thereof fit for the service of man's life;
12. And after spending the refuse of his work to dress his meat, hath filled himself;
13. And taking the very refuse among those which served to no use, being a crooked piece of wood, and full of knots, hath carved it diligently, when he had nothing else to do, and formed it by the skill of his understanding, and fashioned it to the image of a man;
14. Or made it like some vile beast, laying it over with vermilion, and with paint colouring it red, and covering every spot therein;
15. And when he had made a convenient room for it, set it in a wall, and made it fast with iron.
16. For he provided for it that it might not fall, knowing that it was unable to help itself; (for it is an image, and hath need of help:)
17. Then maketh prayer for his goods, for his wife and children, and is not ashamed to speak to that which hath no life.
18. For health he calleth upon that which is weak: for life prayeth to that which is dead; for aid humbly beseecheth that which hath least means to help: and for a good journey he asketh of that which cannot set a foot forward:
19. And for gaining and getting, and for good success of his hands, asketh ability to do of him, that is most unable to do any thing." (Wisdom of Solomon: 13; 1-19)
"1. Again, one preparing himself to sail, and about to pass through the raging waves, calleth upon a piece of wood more rotten than the vessel that carrieth him.
2. For verily desire of gain devised that, and the workman built it by his skill.
3. But thy providence, O Father, governeth it: for thou hast made a way in the sea, and a safe path in the waves;
4. Shewing that thou canst save from all danger, yea, though a man went to sea without art.
5. Nevertheless thou wouldest not that the works of thy wisdom should be idle, and therefore do men commit their lives to a small piece of wood, and passing the rough sea in a weak vessel are saved.
6. For in the old time also, when the proud giants perished, the hope of the world governed by thy hand escaped in a weak vessel, and left to all ages a seed of generation.
7. For blessed is the wood whereby righteousness cometh.
8. But that which is made with hands is cursed, as well it, as he that made it: he, because he made it; and it, because, being corruptible, it was called god.
9. For the ungodly and his ungodliness are both alike hateful unto God.
10. For that which is made shall be punished together with him that made it.
11. Therefore even upon the idols of the Gentiles shall there be a visitation: because in the creature of God they are become an abomination, and stumblingblocks to the souls of men, and a snare to the feet of the unwise.
12. For the devising of idols was the beginning of spiritual fornication, and the invention of them the corruption of life.
13. For neither were they from the beginning, neither shall they be for ever.
14. For by the vain glory of men they entered into the world, and therefore shall they come shortly to an end.
15. For a father afflicted with untimely mourning, when he hath made an image of his child soon taken away, now honoured him as a god, which was then a dead man, and delivered to those that were under him ceremonies and sacrifices.
16. Thus in process of time an ungodly custom grown strong was kept as a law, and graven images were worshipped by the commandments of kings.
17. Whom men could not honour in presence, because they dwelt far off, they took the counterfeit of his visage from far, and made an express image of a king whom they honoured, to the end that by this their forwardness they might flatter him that was absent, as if he were present.
18. Also the singular diligence of the artificer did help to set forward the ignorant to more superstition.
19. For he, peradventure willing to please one in authority, forced all his skill to make the resemblance of the best fashion.
20. And so the multitude, allured to the grace of the work, took him now for a god, which a little before was but honoured.
21. And this was an occasion to deceive the world: for men, serving either calamity or tyranny, did ascribe unto stones and stocks the incommunicable Name.
22. Moreover this was not enough for them, that they erred in the knowledge of God; but whereas they lived in the great war of ignorance, those so great plagues called they peace.
23. For whilst they slew their children in sacrifices, or used secret ceremonies, or made revellings of strange rites;
24. They kept neither lives nor marriages any longer undefiled: but either one slew another traiterously, or grieved him by adultery.
25. So that there reigned in all men without exception blood, manslaughter, theft, and dissimulation, corruption, unfaithfulness, tumults, perjury,
26. Disquieting of good men, forgetfulness of good turns, defiling of souls, changing of kind, disorder in marriages, adultery, and shameless uncleanness.
27. For the worshipping of idols not to be named is the beginning, the cause, and the end, of all evil.
28. For either they are mad when they be merry, or prophesy lies, or live unjustly, or else lightly forswear themselves.
29. For insomuch as their trust is in idols, which have no life; though they swear falsely, yet they look not to be hurt.
30. Howbeit for both causes shall they be justly punished: both because they thought not well of God, giving heed unto idols, and also unjustly swore in deceit, despising holiness.
31. For it is not the power of them by whom they swear: but it is the just vengeance of sinners, that punisheth always the offence of the ungodly." (Wisdom of Solomon: 14; 1-31))
Chapters 13-14 of the book of Wisdom of Solomon explain how idolatry arose. Through the veneration of tomb monuments. Through the veneration of tomb monuments, idolatry arises, according to the Bible. By the way, a very interesting thought, actually, and very modern. What is the most widespread modern form of idolatry now? Worship of the dead. And is that not so? Come to any cemetery on a parents' Saturday.
Listener:
A little glass [of vodka].
Father Daniil:
A little glass, yes.
Another listener:
Cigarettes are left.
Third listener:
Pushkin also wrote: "Love for the father's graves..."
Father Daniil:
That's exactly what the book of Wisdom of Solomon is talking about here.
Listener:
But love for the fatherland is one thing, love for graves is another.
Father Daniil:
Graves are not needed. Graves are not needed.
And here, notice, what causes idolatry? First, according to the book of Wisdom of Solomon, chapter 14, grief for the deceased arises, an image of the deceased is made, honor begins to be paid to it, and then people together begin to pay honor to the deceased, and then they begin to pay honor to his guardian spirit. The most ancient memory indeed depicts the geniuses of the dead. This still exists; I encountered this in Irkutsk when talking with Chinese people; they still have the custom of opening the mouth or eyes, when according to a special technique, the genius of the deceased enters the statue. The same thing was among the Egyptians, the Syrians, the Persians, the Babylonians, the Indians. That is, a certain genius of the deceased? The genius of the deceased, I note, is not the soul of the deceased, don't confuse them. It is his genius, that is, his guardian – the guardian angel of the deceased. That same spirit that lived in his heart from the moment of conception. Do you understand? The second "I". That same genius that led Socrates to suicide. Remember, maybe? He kept prompting him all the time; while he was on trial, he prompted him with such advice that led him to suicide. Moreover, Socrates himself calls him a demon. Actually, genii are demons. The word "genius" is a derogatory word. You know that, right? It comes from the word "gen," meaning "spirit – guardian of the family." These spirits, entering these statues, began to work wonders, demand worship for themselves, and people began to worship the creature instead of the Creator. But the reason is in the madness of people, because they transferred the Incommunicable Name of God to the insane work of human hands.
Listener:
So, a person worshipped a statue into which a spirit had entered?
Father Daniil:
Yes.
Another listener:
And the statue would start talking, like it was alive?
Father Daniil:
Yes, the spirit would start talking, performing wonders, terrifying, etc.
Listener:
I saw a dialogue on the internet with a Jewish woman who accuses Orthodox Christians of idolatry, pointing to our icons. How can we answer that?
Father Daniil:
The answer is very simple. The Orthodox Church does not worship icons. We venerate the prototype through the image. And we know that the grace of God acts through the relics and icons of saints. And pagans believe that the spirit itself lives in the idol and demands worship for itself. That's the whole difference. And this spirit is a demon. So we do not serve demons.
Listener:
What if you break the statue?
Father Daniil:
That's what Christians usually did. (laughter in the hall)
Another listener:
But satanists run around cemeteries, they pray there, they smash things...
Father Daniil:
They fight against crosses, not against monuments. One needs to break idols, not just monuments.
Listener:
And in the Baltics, they are breaking soldier monuments...
Father Daniil:
Well, that's politics, that's not religion. But they are also, of course, breaking crosses. The monument there is often a cross, right? That's already blasphemy. But the Lord will judge them. So:
"24. Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves:
25. Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen." (Epistle to the Romans: 1; 24-25)
That is, for this, God gave them up to the lusts of their hearts and uncleanness, so that they themselves dishonored their own bodies. Notice, here a very interesting moment. God gave them up. For what? For the crime of idolatry. And the first thing they are given up to is uncleanness, that is, fornication. You see, what is the connection in the Bible? Fornication primarily means idolatry, and idolatry is called by analogy. Not the other way around. See how interesting it is? First, man betrays God, then he begins to betray people. That's the cause-and-effect relationship. That is, God gave them up. God says: "You want it? Live on your own." God withdrew from them. People withdrew from God, and as soon as they worshipped the creature instead of the Creator, God withdrew from them and said: "Live on your own." By the way, what follows from this? That the greatest crime of humanity is worshipping the creature instead of the Creator. This is the cause of all other crimes. Idolatry is a greater sin than murder. Idolatry is a greater sin than adultery. It is a greater sin than disrespecting parents. Because it is the cause.
Listener:
Is it greater than heresy?
Father Daniil:
And this is also a form of idolatry. Idolatry grows out of heresy. Didn't you understand? For the Holy Fathers, for example, for Epiphanius of Cyprus, for John of Damascus, the words heresy and paganism were not opposites. Paganism was considered a form of heresy. So, and:
"25. Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen." (Epistle to the Romans: 1; 25)
That is, they changed the truth of God into a lie. What was the mistake? That they put a lie in place of the Truth, their own lie, they invented a lie, do you understand? That was the crime. "and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen." That is, despite the fact that they worshipped the creature, the Creator did not cease to be less. Do you understand what the Apostle is saying?
"26. For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature:
27. And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet." (Epistle to the Romans: 1; 26-27)
See how the Apostle Paul evaluates homosexuality? As a direct consequence of idolatry – worshipping the creature instead of the Creator. This is still the case today. When we now have the highest value being the "wants" of the individual (ed.: The key basic principle of Western society, especially in the USA, is individualism – actually, this is a form of idolatry that determines the predominance of individual personal "values" over others.) – actually paying divine honors to it, this is also real idolatry.
Listener:
And how did they get to that point themselves...?
Father Daniil:
They so disfigured themselves that they became lower even than the level of animals. For the Apostle Paul, being a homosexual is already a punishment. Do you understand? That is, the Apostle Paul viewed homosexuality approximately the same as secular psychiatry did until recently – as a severe form of insanity, moreover, caused by crime – criminal insanity, as opposed to other forms of insanity. See how the Apostle evaluates? And further, the Apostle says:
"28. And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;" (Epistle to the Romans: 1; 28)
Look at the reason. The pagans did not want to retain God in their knowledge. Therefore God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient. That is, note, the description given by the Apostle Paul is slightly different from the image of such
"wonderful pagans" who sit innocently in the jungle, and demons lead them to hell for no reason. Do you understand? According to the Apostle Paul, pagans look a little different. Right? They look very ugly, note, right? They do unseemly things because of their unseemly mind, which worships creations instead of the Creator.
"29. Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers,
30. Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,
31. Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful:
32. Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them." (Epistle to the Romans: 1; 29-32)
This is how kindly the Apostle Paul treats the pagans. This is precisely God's punishment, which explains the divine reason why the pagans sinned. Right. And here it is said:
"1. Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things.
2. But we are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth against them which commit such things.
3. And thinkest thou this, O man, that judgest them which do such things, and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God?
4. Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?
5. But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God;
6. Who will render to every man according to his deeds:
7. To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life:
8. But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath,
9. Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile;
10. But glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile:
11. For there is no respect of persons with God." (Epistle to the Romans: 2; 1-11)
Understand? That is, a person has no right to judge others; he himself is the same. Right? But God says that if you seek good, glory and honor through good, you will receive eternal life. And if you do evil, you will receive punishment from God's wrath. This applies to both Jews and Gentiles equally. Therefore, John Chrysostom says that it was easy for a Gentile to be saved in ancient times – he only needed to believe in the one true God and follow the dictates of conscience. Do you understand? And God brought precisely such Gentiles into paradise. That is, indeed, there was salvation for the Gentile nations before Christ. There was indeed salvation. For those people who were monotheists, who awaited salvation from God. Understand?
Listener:
Examples, who were they?
Father Daniil:
Job, Melchizedek, Rahab the harlot, Ruth. These were vivid examples. These are examples of biblical Gentiles who constantly in well-doing sought glory and honor, and they received immortality in eternal life. Understand? That is, Gentiles in ancient times could receive salvation, but only in this way. Understand?
Listener:
So it turns out that before the birth of Christ, those Gentiles who came to God themselves, they were saved afterwards?
Father Daniil:
Yes.
Listener:
And after the redemption, is a missionary sent to them?
Father Daniil:
Yes, after the redemption, missionaries are sent by Christ.
Listener:
To baptize them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. (ed.: "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:" (Gospel of Matthew: 28; 19))
Father Daniil:
Yes, yes, yes.
Another listener:
And what does knowledge of the true God mean?
Father Daniil:
Knowledge from creation. How does it happen? For example, a pagan looks at creation and understands that only a great Creator with infinite wisdom could have created this. And having thanked God, he glorifies and worships only Him: "I will glorify Him, thank Him, act according to His will." How to know God's will? Conscience. That's all.
Listener:
The Greeks also deduced the true God. (ed.: referring to that same story about the "Unknown God" that the Apostle Paul spoke about.)
Father Daniil:
Yes. Well, actually, have you never thought why it is possible to translate the word "God" into foreign languages? Why do we not use the word Yahweh or Elohim, but use the word "God"? Why is the word "Deos" used by the Latins? Why is the word "God" used, and so on? This is all that same concept of God that existed among all peoples. Do you understand?
Further, the Apostle says:
"12. For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law: and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law;
13. (For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified." (Epistle to the Romans: 2; 12-13)
Clear? That is, actually, when they say that a pagan can be saved by honoring his ancestral gods. You must say: "What nonsense! They sinned without law. They worshipped the creature instead of the Creator. They committed the greatest crime. What salvation for them? What are you saying? What kind of salvation can there even be? When they are also murderers, thieves, fornicators, evildoers, monstrous perjurers, and so on. What salvation for them at all? A person who didn't even try to live according to God's commandments. What are you talking about?" Right.
"14. For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves:" (Epistle to the Romans: 2; 14)
You ask what needs to be done? See, the Apostle answers precisely this? They have a law within them (ed.: That is precisely why pagans are without excuse before the Lawgiver, because they have a law within them.):
"15. Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another;)
16. In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel." (Epistle to the Romans: 2; 15-16)
That is, it is clear what the Gentiles will be judged for? They will not be judged for not being baptized. They will be judged for something else – for going against their own conscience. This is very important to remember, because they will tell you: "They could not have known about this before baptism, and so on." Answer: "Could or could not – God does not judge for that. God does not judge for things impossible in their situation. God judges them for acting against their conscience, which they know very well. And the Judge will simply stand and reveal everything that is." Understand? That's the wonderful reason.
We will continue next time when we talk about the Jewish people, but I will talk about that specially next time.
(ed.: further in Scripture it is said:
"17. Behold, thou art called a Jew, and restest in the law, and makest thy boast of God,
18. And knowest his will, and approvest the things that are more excellent, being instructed out of the law;
19. And art confident that thou thyself art a guide of the blind, a light of them which are in darkness,
20. An instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes, which hast the form of knowledge and of the truth in the law.
21. Thou therefore which teachest another, teachest thou not thyself? thou that preachest a man should not steal, dost thou steal?
22. Thou that sayest a man should not commit adultery, dost thou commit adultery? thou that abhorrest idols, dost thou commit sacrilege?
23. Thou that makest thy boast of the law, through breaking the law dishonourest thou God?
24. For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you, as it is written.
25. For circumcision verily profiteth, if thou keep the law: but if thou be a breaker of the law, thy circumcision is made uncircumcision.
26. Therefore if the uncircumcision keep the righteousness of the law, shall not his uncircumcision be counted for circumcision?
27. And shall not uncircumcision which is by nature, if it fulfil the law, judge thee, who by the letter and circumcision dost transgress the law?
28. For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh:
29. But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God." (Epistle to the Romans: 2; 17-29)
"1. What advantage then hath the Jew? or what profit is there of circumcision?
2. Much every way: chiefly, because that unto them were committed the oracles of God.
3. For what if some did not believe? shall their unbelief make the faith of God without effect?
4. God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged.
5. But if our unrighteousness commend the righteousness of God, what shall we say? Is God unrighteous who taketh vengeance? (I speak as a man)
6. God forbid: for then how shall God judge the world?
7. For if the truth of God hath more abounded through my lie unto his glory; why yet am I also judged as a sinner?
8. And not rather, (as we be slanderously reported, and as some affirm that we say,) Let us do evil, that good may come? whose damnation is just.
9. What then? are we better than they? No, in no wise: for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin;
10. As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:
11. There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.
12. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.
13. Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips:
14. Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness:
15. Their feet are swift to shed blood:
16. Destruction and misery are in their ways:
17. And the way of peace have they not known:
18. There is no fear of God before their eyes.
19. Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.
20. Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.
21. But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets;
22. Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:
23. For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
24. Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:
25. Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;
26. To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.
27. Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith.
28. Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.
29. Is he the God of the Jews only? is he not also of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also:
30. Seeing it is one God, which shall justify the circumcision by faith, and uncircumcision through faith.
31. Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law." (Epistle to the Romans: 3; 1-31))
Listener:
In the First Epistle to Timothy, chapter 4, verse 10, it is said that the Lord Jesus Christ is the Savior of all men. How to understand "all men"?
Father Daniil:
Salvation is possible for all people through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Listener:
In what sense is He "Savior"?
Father Daniil:
In the sense that before the Last Judgment, Christ will literally give the resurrection of the body to all people, including unbelievers.
So, give me the pen, please. What is the date today? The second, right?
Listener:
And those Gentiles who entered paradise before the coming of Christ, how will their baptism occur?
Father Daniil:
We don't know.
Listener:
In paradise?
Father Daniil:
Well, why not?
Listener:
Interesting.
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