Мы хотели бы обратить внимание читателя и на само название книги, которое владыка Николай дал своему непревзойденному комментарию, катехизису православной христианской веры, - Вера образованных людей. Кто-то может спросить: "Разве Православие представляет собой веру только для образованных, разве оно не для всех? И разве существует одна вера для образованных, а другая для необразованных?". Ответ прост: таким названием автор хотел без непосредственной полемики ненавязчиво указать на одно роковое и очень распространенное, особенно в среде нецерковной интеллигенции, заблуждение, что Православие привлекательно только для "примитивных" и "необразованных", в то время как так называемые "образованные" могут и должны заниматься "современными системами" оккультно-магического или синкретическо-сектантского направления. Очень важна игра слов и тонкая ирония владыки, назвавшего свою книгу именно так,- для непосвященных она может остаться незамеченной: владыка Николай хотел сказать, что духовно и сущностно образованный человек не тот, кто более или менее начитан, не тот, кто в тщеславии копит знания, а тот, кто образован внутренне, всем сердцем, всем существом, кто сообразен образу Божиему, тот, кто христоподобен, преображен, обновлен, обожен. Исполненный благодатью человек - небесный человек уже здесь, на земле. В таком толковании наша вера, вера Церкви, вера святых апостолов и святых отцов, вера православных христиан, воистину - вера образованных людей.

Но такой смысл понятия образованности открывается читателю только по ходу прочтения книги. Поэтому изначальное название книги мы вынесли в подзаголовок, а саму книгу назвали одним, но всеобъемлющим и для нашей жизни определяющим словом - Верую.

Мы уверены, что эта книга поможет каждому читателю веровать православно, истинно и спасительно.

Епископ Бачский Ириней (Булович)

Символ Веры

Верую во единаго Бога Отца Вседержителя, Творца небу и земли, видимым же всем и невидимым. И во единаго Господа Иисуса Христа, Сына Божия, Единороднаго, Иже от Отца рожденнаго прежде всех век: Света от Света, Бога истинна от Бога истинна, рожденна, несотворенна, единосущна Отцу, Имже вся быша. Нас ради человек и нашего ради спасения сшедшаго с Небес и воплотившагося от Духа Свята и Марии Девы, и вочеловечшася. Распятаго же за ны при Понтийстем Пилате, и страдавша, и погребенна. И воскресшаго в третий день по Писанием. И возшедшаго на Небеса, и седяща одесную Отца. И паки грядущаго со славою судити живым и мертвым, Егоже Царствию не будет конца. И в Духа Святаго, Господа, Животворящаго, Иже от Отца исходящаго, Иже со Отцем и Сыном спокланяема и сславима, глаголавшаго пророки. Во едину Святую, Соборную и Апостольскую Церковь. Исповедую едино крещение во оставление грехов. Чаю воскресения мертвых, и жизни будущаго века.Аминь.

Верую во единаго Бога...

Who will sow good seed in the unplowed field? A prudent one will not sow, but a prudent one will do according to the word of God: he will first clear the field of weeds, and in the ploughed field he will sow good seed. The field is the human soul, the weeds are polytheism, the good seed is faith in one God.Now faith in one God seems to us simple and natural, and polytheism is ridiculous and insane, but it was not always so. There was a time when only a few people in the whole world believed in Him, and then there came a time when only one people on earth believed in one God. The idolaters, who had gods for every need, looked upon believers in one God with the contempt of a rich man who looked upon the poor: they believed that such faith was defective and poor. Believers in one God looked at the pagans with wonder and pity, as they look at those who, having much, have nothing. The most reliable Witness of monotheism is God Himself, living and true. He Himself bears witness to Himself through His elect, saying: "I am the Lord thy God, thou shalt have no other gods besides Me" (cf. Exodus 20:2-3). Among the weeds of polytheism, He found small fields and sowed on them the good seed of faith. These were the souls of the righteous, souls like tall candles, which He lit with the flame of faith so that they would shine in the darkness of polytheism. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not enveloped it (John 1:5). Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Job, Joseph, Moses, Isaiah, Daniel - these are the candles of God, kindled by faith! By His mercy He manifested Himself first in Egypt, in a foreign land (Psalm 136:4), then in the wilderness, and finally in Canaan, in the Promised Land. But the people of God began to waver in the true faith, and the darkness of idolatry again began to threaten the light in the darkness (cf. John 1:5).The One Living, True, Merciful and Most Merciful, seeing this danger, sent His Only-begotten Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to mankind to dispel the darkness of polytheism, to strengthen the hearts of men for the ascent to the things above, and to sow the good seed of faith in the only living and true God. the industrious bees of Christ have spread this faith, this sowing of God, throughout the whole world. Truly, like the honey bees of God, the apostles flew from Jerusalem to all four corners of the world, to nations and tribes, in order to drink the souls of men with the gospel of the one Living and True One, as with honey. They cleansed the fields of souls from the weed of idolatry, from faith in spirits and gods. In the cultivated fields they sowed holy faith in the one Living and True One. Their work was difficult and dangerous! Believe me, missionaries of the one God: this unprecedented battle cost sweat and tears, wounds and blood. In their confusion from the multitude of natural phenomena and their opposition in the universe, it was easier for them to believe in the existence of different gods than in one God. Captivated by deception, inexperienced children, they believed that many different gods were stronger than one One, that help from many was stronger than from one One.Two groups of people rebelled against the apostles, and at that time there were two of them: those who nourished their souls with the poison of idolatry, and those who nourished their bodies by making statues of idols. For example, a certain silversmith, named Demetrius, who made silver temples of Artemis and brought considerable profit to the artists, gathered them and other similar craftsmen and said: "Friends! you know that our well-being depends on this trade; yet you see and hear that not only in Ephesus, but almost in all Asia, this Paul by his persuasions has deceived a considerable number of people, saying that those who are made by human hands are not gods. And this threatens us that our craft will be despised (cf. Acts 19:24-27).Some feared for their souls, others for their purse, but in one way or another, all the peoples of the earth, with rare exceptions, were in captivity of idolatry. Those who were exceptions were subjected to cruel execution, as was the case with the Greek philosopher Socrates.The higher the culture of the peoples, the more perfect and expensive were the images of idols, and the deeper their enslavement. When the holy Apostle Paul was in Athens, he was troubled in spirit at the sight of this city full of idols (Acts 17:16). The same indignation of spirit was experienced by the Apostles Andrew in Samaria, Matthew in Ethiopia, and Bartholomew in India. Idols in the squares, idols at the entrance to the house, idols in the houses, idols everywhere. An innumerable number of idols that people worshipped. The thorns of idols wounded and wounded the holy apostles in blood. But they courageously weeded and cultivated the fields of souls, and in a place cleared of weeds and thorns, they sowed the good seed of faith in one God, one, living, true. The apostles performed this titanic work and podvig by word, miracles, love and sacrifice. Where one did not help, they resorted to another, when neither one nor the other helped, they went to death, burning idols with their martyr's blood, as if with fire. The seed they sowed bore good fruit. This fruit is that now faith in one God seems to us simple and natural, and polytheism ridiculous and insane. This is God's first testimony about Himself, God's first revelation of God to people about God, and God's first commandment. Thou shalt have no other gods besides Me, the Lord commanded, for if thou worshipest other gods, a double destruction shall befall thee. The first is the belief in false, non-existent gods. The other is that reverence and love, which should belong entirely to the One One, you will give to idols. And then your faith in the One will be darkened and your love for Him will grow cold; He, insulted and humiliated, will depart from you. And you will become an atheist, even if, having many gods, you consider yourself pious. For the atheist and the idolater are one and the same: both without the one, living, true God.Faith in one God, one, living, true Creator, is the faith of the humble and reasonable, for the proud deify either the creature or themselves; Pride gives birth to madmen. The more humble a person is, the more rational he is, the more vain, the madder. The Lord opposes the proud, but gives grace and understanding to the humble. The more a humble person humbles himself before the Lord, the more the Lord gives him reason. Reason is the light that leads to the one, living, true God. Blessed are those who have reason to see the corruption of the world and man. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for the Lord will exalt them to the highest knowledge – the knowledge of the existence and majesty of the Most High God. Let it also become the faith of your children, from generation to generation, until the end of time. Faith is unashamed, Orthodox, salvific. Your fathers were saved by her, they were not ashamed of her, and she was not ashamed of them. Truly, faith in one God, one, living, true, faith is the faith of the educated, of those who bear within themselves the image of God. He will not be ashamed either at the Last Judgment, he will not be ashamed either before the righteous or before the angel, but he will receive glory and be called blessed.

... The Father Almighty, the Creator of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible

With fear and trembling, let us look behind the half-open veil of eternity... It is opened not by a weak human hand, but by God Himself, the one, living, true God. If in His mercy to men He had not done this, who else would have dared? All the minds of men, all the powers of the heavens, would not have moved it by a hair's breadth. Three rays of light stretched out to people who bear the image of God in themselves. And the educated trembled with heavenly joy, for He revealed Himself as incomparable, that is, equal only to Himself. The One, the living, the true One has revealed Himself as the Father, the Almighty, and the Creator.Your restless thought hastens with the question: whose Father? Since when has the Father? The Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Eternal Father. Before the creation of the world, He was the Father. Before times and temporal creatures, before the angels and the powers of heaven, before the sun and the moon, before the dawn and the moon, the Father begat His only begotten Son. And, speaking of the Eternal, do we dare to pronounce the word "when"? He is the eternal God, the eternal Father, there is no "when" in Him, He is outside the wheel of time. This is obvious to you, educated. His parenthood refers to His co-eternal Son, and His omnipotence and creativity to the created world, visible and invisible. First the Father, and only then the Almighty and Creator. In eternity, no one could call God Father, except His Only-begotten Son. And no one can in time. Listen to the ancient history of the human race and accept it in your hearts. It will give joy to the soul and light to the mind.Since the creation of the world, since the expulsion of Adam from paradise for the grave sin of disobedience to the Creator, no mortal has dared to call God his Father. The wondrous chosen ones called Him by His greatest names: Almighty, Judge, Most High, King and Lord, but not by the Father, by a sweet name.The best in the human race felt themselves to be the creation of the one omnipotent Creator, the vessel of the Divine Potter, but they never imagined themselves to be children of the Heavenly Father. This right was given to people only with the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and it was not given to everyone, but to those who accepted Him. And to those who received Him, to those who believe in His name, He gave the power to become children of God (John 1:12). That is, the adopted received the right to turn to the Lord: Abba, Father! (Gal. 4:6; Rom. 8:14-16).Adoption, a gift of God's mercy, was revealed and brought to people by Jesus Christ at the very beginning of His earthly ministry. He revealed to the people that from now on they could call God their Father, saying: Our Father who art in heaven! (Matt. 6:9). And since then, millions of youths and elders throughout the world have been crying out day after day: Our Father! Demons do not dare to call God Father, it is difficult for unrepentant sinners to pronounce the sweet word: Father! Only the righteous and penitent are given the right and boldness in their prayers to exclaim with all their hearts: Our Father! Those who rise up against the Lord and His law, whether in thought, word, or deed, cannot utter the comforting and sweet word: Father, the three hundred and eighteen holy fathers, who composed the Faith for all of you, educated, bearing within yourselves the image of God, called God first the Father, and then the Almighty and Creator. They did this, being filled with the Holy Spirit, for it was revealed to them that the Most High Father was the Father before the beginning of time and the creation of the world. They did, for the Son of God, having become incarnate, brought as a gift to people, His followers, adoption, that is, the right to call His Father their Father: Our Father! Is there greater joy for your heart, O educated ones, who bear the image of God in themselves? And our Lord, the Son of God, not only allowed you to call the Most High, the one, the living, the true, your Father, but also left the commandment: "And call no one on earth your father, for you have one Father, who is in heaven" (Matt. 23:9). O ineffable joy! True parenthood is in the heavens, above the sun and stars, and earthly parenthood is only a shadow and a symbol. The Holy Fathers of Nicaea, filled with the Holy Spirit, called the Most High first the Almighty, and only then the Creator! You will say, "Is it not more logical to call Him first the Creator and then the Almighty?" No, it only seems so from the outside, but do not judge superficially when you speak of the True. The Lord is the Almighty. Before the creation of heaven and earth, God Almighty bore within Himself the plan of creation, from a speck of dust to the universe, of all powers, all laws, of all order. When the majestic Creator created the two worlds, the visible and the invisible, He revealed Himself to be the Almighty, holding in His all-embracing will all the powers and laws of the two worlds: Are not two little birds sold for an assarium? And not one of them shall fall to the ground without the will of your Father (Matt. 10:29); and not a hair of your head shall perish (Luke 21:18) - again without the will of the Almighty. With His strong right hand the Lord holds all the forces, even those who deny Him and rise up against Him. All their actions against His laws and against His faithful He turns to good, according to His wisdom and power, and brings them into harmony with His plan. Not a single word, good or evil, will remain without God's answer, secret or open. The Father, the Almighty, the Creator - this is your God, one, living and true. The Creator, Who created heaven and earth, all things visible and invisible. The holy interpreters have always understood by "heaven" the world of angels and all the heavenly powers, bodiless, visible to God and invisible to us. By "earth" were understood earthly creations and those that are under the earth, around the earth, accessible to our sensory vision. There is no other Creator except the Almighty, neither in heaven nor on earth. In the same way, there is nothing created, from the atom to the universe, that would be created by someone other than the Almighty. He is the only Creator in the full and true sense of the word. In the full and true sense, the Creator is the one who created things and their forms, the mobile and the immovable, who imbued everything with the mysterious power of existence, interconnectedness, attraction and rejection, breath and life. The fullness of God's creative power is manifested precisely in the fact that He created both. Did this matter consist of the four great elements - earth, water, fire and air, as the ancients thought, or were they a single primordial matter of electrical nature, according to modern scientists? Are we going to talk about this? One thing is obvious: the source and foundation of every universal fabric is the fruit of the thought and creativity of the great God the Creator.

And there, beyond those gates, there is a real miracle, the miracle of miracles, the greatest of the great. Where instead of the sun shines the Most High, the King of kings! (Revelation 22:5). Thought, hearing, sight and tongue are powerless there. The great Apostle was lifted up in spirit to the third heaven and raptured into paradise, and he heard ineffable words that cannot be told to man (cf. 2 Corinthians 12:2:4). But both worlds were created by the same Creator. He alone holds both worlds with His tireless right hand of the Almighty—the only Almighty. He alone leads them along mysterious paths to mysterious goals, which are known only to Him - the good Father of the Lord Jesus Christ and all His chosen children. It will never be the faith of the servants of falsehood, falsehood and death, the friends of joy, the end of which is despair. This is the faith of those who weep over their own weakness and the weakness of the human race, who seek the Source of truth, truth, and life. And then the tears of sorrow are transformed into tears of joy, for they have found the most precious of treasures - the Father, the Almighty, the Creator. What else is left for them to seek, if, having found Him, they gain everything? The only thing that remains for them is tears of repentance, with which they are washed from all unrighteousness and lies, and are protected from eternal death. Washed with tears of repentance, they acquire goodness and mercy for their brothers, companions for the eternal Fatherland. This is your faith, Christ-bearers, the faith of your fathers, who spared neither labor nor tears, until they drew near to the Lord and received consolation from Him. May it become the faith of your children, from generation to generation, until the end of time, an unashamed, Orthodox, salvific faith. Truly, it is the faith of truly educated people who bear the image of God within themselves, and at the Judgment of God it will be easy for them, for they will be called blessed. Almighty. Creator.

And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Only-begotten, Who was born of the Father before all ages

The new light has shone upon you, educated, bearing the image of God within you. Through the veil opened by the right hand of the Most High, a new ray of light fell on you, and you shine like children of God. This light reveals to you an eternal mystery, the joyous mystery of eternal parenthood and eternal sonship. This light brings blessing upon you, and the oil of comfort is poured out on your tear-stained eyes. As Christ, in the sense of the Messiah, He is the only one from the beginning to the end of time. Mankind can neither seek nor expect another Messiah. Many will come in My name, and will say, "I am the Christ," and will deceive many (Matt. 24:5). Thus prophesied the One, the True and the Clairvoyant. There were many false messiahs, and they still exist, and the closer the end of the human race, there will be more and more of them. But the true Messiah is the one and only, true Christ, the incomprehensible Lover of mankind. This True, True and Incomprehensible One is the Messiah for all peoples and tribes throughout the world for all time. And you, who are educated, are called to proclaim to the tribes and peoples, "O nations and peoples, there may be great men among you, the greatest of the great, there may be great sons and daughters among you, the best of the best, but the Messiah is one for you. And don't wait for anything else and don't look for anything else. Indeed, if another comes in His name, there will be another besides Him, the only one, a lie and a son of lies. "Then," says the only true Messiah, "if anyone says to you, 'Behold, here is Christ, or there,' do not believe it" (Matt. 24:23). Don't be like the Jews who are waiting for their Jewish messiah. No other messiah will come: neither Jewish, nor American, nor Indian, nor Russian. For the main quality of the true Messiah is His all-humanity. He will come to all, He is above all and for the sake of all. Such is your Messiah, O peoples and nations, like the dazzling sun in the firmament. And just as the sun shines on all of you, white, black, yellow and red, so the one Messiah shines on all of you, shines on all, serves all, rules over all. Will any of you seek another sun? No. Why then seek another messiah, if the light of the Messiah Jesus Christ is brighter than the sunlight, brighter, more generous, more life-giving, more joyful, more salvific? Beware of other messiahs, O peoples and nations, beware of many messiahs, for they are murderers and servants of the wicked. The devil tries to belittle the significance and greatness of the Lord Jesus, and therefore strives to turn the title of the Messiah, Christ, a unique and unearthly title, into an order in order to assign to many and many. But you know that wearing military orders and being a true commander are not the same thing. Your Messiah bears one sign, one difference, the Cross. The cross as a banner of victory. By him you will know your Messiah, the only true one, Who once bent into the field to sow it, but Who will once again enter it bent up, in order to gather the harvest with the angels." This is His heavenly seal and the pledge of the truth of His messiahship. Whoever denies the Messiah of the Lord will be caught in a lie.About the same, but even more sternly, the apostle who reclined at the breast of Jesus tells you. Here are his words: Who is a liar if not he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? - that is, the Messiah (1 John 2:22). Can anyone less than the Son of God be the Messiah? Could people take for the Messiah anything less than the Son of God? The blood of no mortal was pure enough, nor strong enough and life-giving enough to ennoble and strengthen the old tree. No one's blood could do this except the Blood of the Son of God, in which He clothed His eternal Divinity as in a scarlet robe. You will immediately recognize Him through the image of God that is in you, and when you know Him, you will rejoice. Christ is called the Only-begotten Son of God because He is the only Son, begotten of God the Father. When you call the Most High the Father, then you confirm the existence of the Son. They do not call a childless person the father or parent. Thus saith the Most High through the mouth of His prophet: Shall I bring forth unto childbirth, and shall I not cause him to give birth? saith the Lord. Or, giving strength to give birth, shall I close the womb? (Isaiah 66:9). Let no one doubt that the Lord is the Parent; let no one doubt the Son of God, the Only-begotten. Can there be anything good in the world that is not in the Lord and not from the Lord? And birth is always good. Therefore, birth to God is not as an idea, but as a reality, an eternal reality, for God is eternal. God the Father Himself bears witness to His Son, first through the prophet, saying: "Thou art My Son, I have begotten Thee today" (Psalm 2:7). And this is God's day - eternal! And then He Himself proclaimed Him on the Jordan River and Mount Tabor: "This is My Beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased; Hear Him (Matt. 17:5). And the Lord Jesus Christ Himself says of Himself: "I am the Son of God" (John 10:36). Just as none of the earth-born can be called father without having a son, so he will not be called a son if he rejects the father. Can a parent and a son without a parent be childless? Of this again the one who reclined at the breast of the Lord tells you: "Whosoever rejecteth the Son hath not the Father; but he who confesses the Son also has the Father (1 John 2:23). And the man was very merciful: when he learned that there were many orphans in the area, he took pity on them, went and gathered them, and brought them to his house. And he made his house their home, his wealth their wealth. And when he turned to them, he said, "My children! Just as, turning to his son, he said: "My child! It is not difficult for you, educated, to see it. It is obvious: that man by nature had one son, and by mercy he called himself the father of all the orphans whom he adopted in his house. This is said to you, enlightened ones, so that you may arm yourselves against the unenlightened, who say boldly: We acknowledge Christ to be the Son of God, just as we consider ourselves to be the sons of God! Ask them meekly and humbly: how do you consider everyone to be the sons of God, both yourself and Christ? Is it all by grace or all by nature? Answer us: how can the sinless Christ be a son by mercy, and how can you, sinners, be sons by nature? The Lord is sinless, you admit that. The Sinless One can only give birth to the Sinless One. How can a sinner be born of Him who has no sin? Who can give what he does not have himself? And which of the sons of a woman is without sin? And who among you can be called the son of God in essence?In nature, or essence, only He can be called the Son of God Who bears in Himself the Divine attributes and the Divine power of God the Father. In other words, only God can be the Son of God. Does not all nature bear witness to you with one voice, that the begotten are always of the same nature as the begetter? From an oak is born an oak, from a dove a dove, from a lion a lion, from an eagle an eagle, from a man a man, and such is the order in the whole kingdom of living nature. Who can be born of God if not God? The eternal Son of God is born of God the Father; therefore He is God. Yes, this is the order of which all living nature speaks, of which the Lord Himself bears witness. And if the sinless Lord Jesus Christ is the Son of God in essence, then you can be His sons only by gift, by mercy, by adoption. The Son of God Himself testified to this before the Jews, His persecutors, saying: "Before Abraham was, I am" (John 8:58). And again, when they asked Him, "Who are You?" He answered them, "From the beginning He who is" (John 8:25). With these words, the Lord wanted to indicate His timeless origin, His timeless eternal sonship. He, the Only-begotten, Who exists from the beginning of all creation, from the beginning of the angelic circles and corporeal beings. It is impossible to talk about any of the phenomena without pointing to its beginning. The Son of God is the Beginning. If the Most High is eternal, His parenthood is eternal, and eternal parenthood is due to eternal sonship. Therefore you confess faithfully when you say that you believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Only-begotten, Who was born of the Father before all ages. Parents who love their children wholeheartedly, and children who love their parents wholeheartedly, gladly accept her. The inexplicable and deepest mystery of the attachment of parents to children and of children to parents is illumined by the light of God's parenthood and God's sonship. Only in this light can children and parents comprehend the mystery of their mutual love, only in this light can they comprehend that their love is of heavenly origin. It was kindled by the eternal flame of love between the Father and the Son, and therefore parents who love their children wholeheartedly, and children who love their parents wholeheartedly, joyfully accept faith in the eternal Father and His co-eternal Son in heaven. May it become the faith of your children, whom you love wholeheartedly, a faith that is not shameful, Orthodox, and salvific. Truly, this is the faith of educated people who bear the image of God in themselves. On the Day of Judgment of Christ they will be pardoned and called blessed. Messiah. The Son of God.

… Light of Light, true of God, true of God, begotten, uncreated, of one essence with the Father, in Whom all things were