The main thing to know and remember is that Jehovah's Witnesses are a militant anti-Christian sect. They deny the divine origin of Christ, do not believe in the Holy Spirit, in the existence of the soul. The belligerence and aggressiveness of this sect is manifested not only in going from house to house, but also in the unusually assertive distribution of literature. Whereas in 1957 Jehovah's Witnesses distributed 16,547,180 books, brochures, and leaflets, in 1960 the figure was 22,726,433. They publish 2 magazines: "Oveik" and "Watchtower" - "Awake!" and "The Watchtower". In Brooklyn they had long had a huge printing press, occupying a whole block; Now they had to add a new thirteen-story printing house. Their main headquarters in Brooklyn employs 607 people. Now a new house of 12 floors has been built, as the staff increases by another 1100 people. All "Jehovah's Witnesses" who have been "baptized" are considered "priests." Of course, they are extremely well-read in the Bible. I do not think that any simple sinner could stand an argument with them on biblical topics. Therefore, wouldn't it be easier not to enter into such disputes with them at all? Recently, Catholics were not exactly officially, but, let's say, semi-officially invited to avoid contact with Jehovah's Witnesses. This is a very reasonable proposal. It should also be accepted by us, the Orthodox, so that we do not turn away from the path of truth and do not fall away from our native Orthodox Church.

Moralizing topics

Active Faith, January 1958

Christianity does not recognize passive faith in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Savior of the world. Christianity is a life of grace, life in Christ and with Christ. As such, it should be active, active, highly spiritual.

"Faith without works is dead," writes the holy Apostle James. Orthodoxy is the highest form of Christianity, it is the true faith of Christ, given by God for the salvation of man.

Orthodoxy requires from a Christian activity in religious life, active service to God and neighbor, active self-improvement, and an active search for the Kingdom of Heaven. Passivity in Orthodoxy cannot be justified by the Gospel.

The goal of a Christian's earthly life is to earn the Kingdom of Heaven. Without this, there is no meaning in life. But the Kingdom of Heaven is taken by force, it is attained by great feats with the help of fasting and prayer. The famous hermit of the Vyshinskaya hermitage at the end of the last century, Bishop Theophanes, wrote the following for edification: "How can one be saved? "The matter is clear. What is there to think about? How many saved do we know? And how were they saved in the Orthodox Church of Christ? Let the Christian live as the Orthodox Church commands, and be saved. Let him believe only in the simplicity of an unquestioned heart, and let him abandon exactingness and questioning and not disturb the realms of faith with them. To those who are not quite clear by what and how salvation is accomplished in the Church of God, this must be said: believe in everything in which the Holy Orthodox Church commands us to believe, and, receiving the grace-filled powers, through the sacraments and warming them, through participation in all the divine services and through the fulfillment of all the other decrees of the Holy Church, follow unswervingly the path of the commandments prescribed to us by the Lord Jesus Christ, under the guidance of lawful shepherds, and thou shalt be saved."

And the Holy Orthodox Church commands us to love God and keep His commandments, to love our neighbor, to do good to every person, to honor our parents and spiritual pastors, to pray to God daily and to attend church, to confess and partake of the Holy Mysteries of Christ, not to condemn others, not to slander, not to deceive, not to lie, to lead a pious and not shameful life, and to acquire more virtues. The fulfillment of all the prescriptions of the Church makes the faith active. Every Orthodox Christian should be active in his faith, pleasing God by fulfilling His commandments.

Man is the image of God

"A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another" (John 13:34).

"If we love one another, God dwells in us" (John 4:12).

Everywhere we look today, we see great turmoil on earth. Everywhere man is not valued, not respected, everywhere he is humiliated and insulted, everywhere man is reduced to nothing. To deceive a person or kill him has become commonplace... That is why there is such turmoil on earth. God created man in a completely different way – He created him in His Image and Likeness. And as we love and revere God, so we must honor and love every person (Matt. 22:39). Already in antiquity it was known to people that man is the Image and Likeness of God, but people have not understood this greatest Commandment of God and do not fulfill it. Very early people began to hate each other, created masters and slaves, invented cruel serfdom, started internecine strife and wars between peoples. Instead of peace and happiness on earth, violence and robbery went everywhere. This happened because people completely forgot that God created man in His Image and Likeness. This means that God gave people His first Commandment, so that they would resemble God in their image and likeness, i.e. in their lives. But there were wars, robberies, slavery and violence of some against others. It was impossible to live like this, and the Lord our God sent His Son into the world so that He would change, change people, so that He would teach them the Truth of God, so that He would introduce His New Covenant on earth, so that people would begin to live in a new way. And the Son of God, Jesus Christ, came to our earth as a Man, without ceasing to be God, He came as the God-Man, in order to unite closely with people in human form and teach them to live in such a way that there would always be peace and true happiness on earth. And our Lord Jesus Christ spent 33 years among people, all the time zealously teaching them the basics of our happy life, showing us the goal and tasks of our earthly life.