I. The Teaching of the Ancient Fathers

For this was conceived by himself, and not from the holy apostles, inferior to our God-bearing fathers and teachers, inferior to the holy seven ecumenical councils, who said or invented: for this reason this glory is not strong. (Verse 8)

The unity of man with God, which is the task of Christianity, is not achieved suddenly, but is created by a slow, gradual feat of inner self-perfection, constant spiritual self-mortification for the world, for sin, and unceasing growth for Christ. In contrast to the world, which lives according to the laws of its own will and carnal wisdom, the Christian lives according to the laws inscribed by the divine manifestation of the hypostatic Word, and reflects in his life the same qualities that constituted the distinctive qualities of the Lord's earthly life. The sphere of salvation of a Christian is his whole life, and at the same time his whole life is filled with the grace of the highest truth. We have already had occasion to dwell on the picture of a truly Christian life depicted by the Holy Martyr Justin, and we have seen there a deep and perfect submission to the will of Christ, we have seen an image that reflects in all its fullness the meek and humble Teacher of truth, we have seen the Christian life that saves man from passions. And all the teaching of Sts. of the Fathers of the Universal Church about our salvation is at the same time a teaching about a truly Christian life. It should be noted that in dogmatic-polemical works, where polemical questions of a metaphysical nature were usually considered, Sts. The Fathers spoke very little about moral questions, because the latter had nothing to do with their polemics, but there is a whole area of patristic writing, where the laws of a truly Christian life are revealed in their entirety.

Instructions of Sts. the ascetic fathers were more close and accessible to the majority of Christians than the best dogmatic works; therefore, the authors of the latter, expounding in detail the dispensation of our salvation by the Lord Jesus, did not need to speak at length and in detail about the assimilation of it, as a subject known to Christians from other writings. That our opinion about the greater prevalence of ascetic works in comparison with purely dogmatic ones is quite correct can be seen in the example of modern Christians: the classical works of Sts. Athanasius, Basil, and Gregory are read by specialists and for special purposes, while the Ladder, Abba Dorotheus, Barsanuphius, and John are read by monastic monks, pilgrims, pious laymen, and (especially the Ladder) schismatics. Consequently, the sacred writers of Greek theology had no motive to write about the accomplishment of the salvation of each person individually, assuming this matter to be known from other writings.

In the dogmatic systems of Sts. The Fathers speak only of those moments of the spiritual life of the Christian which, due to their exceptional significance, required a special interpretation, and of those aspects of the Christian cult whose existence and purity were endangered by the fanatical malice of the heretics. In general, in patristic dogmatic theology, the section on the personal assimilation by each Christian of the grace of Christianity is not distinguished by detail, because the Christian life has always been spoken of for other reasons in other writings: as for the external Christian cult, it has always been given a place in accordance with the needs of the time. Bl. Theodoret does not consider it necessary to discuss even the Eucharist, probably having no motive for this in his polemical tasks, and St. Theodoret. John of Damascus, in contrast to the Nestorians, Monophysites and iconoclasts, speaks of the veneration of the Mother of God, and of the Trisagion Hymn, and of the worship of icons.

In the "Great Catechetical Discourse" of Gregory of Nyssa, baptism is spoken of as the moment of man's spiritual birth to life in God, and of the Eucharist as a constant and uninterrupted manifestation of the Divine life, as a real union with the love of our Lord and Saviour, which liberates us from sin. The Holy Father speaks of baptism as the spiritual birth of a person. Apparently, he takes into account mainly those who doubt the possibility of a second birth by means of water, because in the XXIII chapter of the Word he points out the incomprehensibility of even bodily birth, which testifies to the absolute impossibility of fully interpreting spiritual birth. In Chapter XXIV, St. Gregory establishes that the truth of Christianity vouches for the presence of Divine power at baptism, which is also indicated by the prayers performed at baptism. Baptism is considered as a psychological act, identical in the world to the physical act of birth. If God shows help to the woman who gives birth, "how much more so in the spiritual manner of birth (after God has promised to be at rebirth and has communicated, as we believe, His power to this action, and our will is well disposed to the work done), if the co-operation of prayer is properly added, the action will be more successful." Chapter XXV explains in detail the symbolic meaning of the external form of baptism, as an image of the three-day death of the Savior, and Chapter XXVI notes the wisdom of God, which indicated in such small means as faith in the omnipresent of God and the water element, the instrument of rebirth to a new spiritual life. As the unchangeable conditions for the efficacy of baptism, St. Gregory points to faith in the uncreated and life-giving Trinity, for through this faith a person enters into an unchangeable and immutable life, and to a complete readiness to change his moral disposition in accordance with the requirements of the divine will. The Holy Father's reflections on these conditions are extremely strong and convincing and testify to the depth and spirituality of the views of the ancient Church on baptism. "Confessing St. The Trinity enters into unchanging and immutable life, and he who sees in the Trinity a created nature in an unorthodox way and therefore is baptized into it again enters into a changeable and transitory life" (180). If we, having been "washed," as the prophet puts it, "by this mysterious bath, become pure in our strivings, having expelled evil from our souls, then we have become better and have passed into a better state. On the contrary, if the water purification is accomplished on the body, and the soul does not reject the impurities of passion, but its life after enlightenment is similar to an unenlightened life, then even if it would be bold to say, I will nevertheless say that in such people the water remains only water, because the gift of the Holy Spirit is not the same. The Spirit is not at all manifested in the one who is born, when not only ugliness in the spirit, such as passion, covetousness, criminal and abominable thoughts, and vanity, and envy, and pride, offend the divine image, but also the profits obtained by unrighteousness remain with him, and the wife who is adulterously maintained by him even after this satisfies his lusts... If you remain with vicious inclinations, you boast in vain of being born again" (189).

St. Gregory speaks of the Eucharist as of bodily union with the Saviour through communion of His life-giving body and holy blood: "Since the human being consists of two parts, the soul and the body, it is necessary that those who are saved should follow the one who leads to life with both parts. For this reason the soul, united to it by faith, has in it the means of salvation: for union with life imparts life to it. And the body enters into unity and communion with the saver in a different way.

What is it? None other than that Body which triumphed over death, became the beginning of a new life. For just as "the little leaven, as the Apostle says, makes all confusion like itself," so this Body, given over by God to death, having entered into us, completely transforms and transforms it, according to its nature" (169). Further establishing that our body has power from the substances introduced into it through the organs of nourishment, and consequently by its nature has something in common with these substances, St. Gregory tries to explain the image of the transformation of bread and wine into the Body and Blood of the Saviour. "I rightly believe that even now the bread, sanctified by the word of God, is transformed into the Body of God the Word, because that body was bread in essence, but was sanctified by the abiding of the Word that dwelt. And just as the bread transformed in that body received God's majesty, so the same thing happens now. For even there the grace of the Word made the body (whose essence was made of bread) holy, and was itself in some respects bread, and here also the bread, as the Apostle says, "is sanctified by the word of God and by prayer" (1 Timothy 4:5), not by eating and drinking, passing into the body of the Word, but is directly changed into the body of the Word, as the Word says. But all flesh is also nourished by moisture, because without union with it our earthly part cannot continue to live. Just as with solid and coarse food we support the hard part of the body, so we make an increment to the moist part of a homogeneous important nature, which moisture, having been in us, is transformed into blood, and especially if, with the help of wine, it is able to be transformed into heat." "Inasmuch as it (the flesh) has received this part into its essence, and since the Word which appeared was united to the temporal nature of man, so that through communion with the Divinity mankind might be deified, therefore to all who believe in the economy of grace it communicates itself through that flesh, the essence of which consists of bread and wine, uniting itself with the bodies of those who believe for this purpose, so that, through union with the immortal, man also may become a partaker of incorruption; these gifts it communicates, transforming by the power of blessing the nature of the visible parts into it (the body)" (ch. 37).

With regard to this teaching on the Eucharist, it must be said that it all boils down to a philosophical explanation of the possibility of communion of the Body and Blood of Christ through the partaking of bread and wine. From the philosophical point of view of St. Nyssa, this possibility is conditioned by the unity of the essence of bread and wine, on the one hand, and of body and blood, on the other. The inner meaning of the Eucharist for those who partake of Communion is explained somehow in passing, obviously, it seemed quite understandable and obvious. It seems to us that St. Gregory points with particular insistence to bodily union with Christ, having in mind the publicity and the general availability of the idea of spiritual union with the Word. It should also be borne in mind that the "Great Catechetical Discourse" has in mind readers who are somewhat distrustful of Christian rites. The sacred author of the Word tries to bring their thought to the realization that the content of the most important sacred rites is quite understandable even to the mind, if only it is not clouded by prejudice and ignorance. But the Holy Father says nothing about the necessity of these sacred actions and about the degree of their salvific power. Their necessity is self-evident; it can be proved historically that no one has ever entered the Church except through baptism, and that in fulfillment of the word of the Divine Word, the Eucharist has always been an invariable sign of Church life. The extent to which these rites are necessary is out of the question: to renounce them means to break communion with the Church. Nor does the Great Teacher of Faith say anything about the celebrants of the sacraments, also for reasons that are quite understandable. In the Church of Christ (this is also historically true), the celebrants of the sacraments and the chairmen of prayer meetings were the canonical successors of the apostles, bishops and presbyters. If any layman wished to be a celebrant of the sacrament, this would be a manifestation of the greatest pride and would make him unworthy of the Divine Head of Christianity. Why does St. Gregory speak only about baptism and the Eucharist? Probably, taking into account the exceptional importance of these sacred actions in the spiritual life of a Christian. It can also be thought that the saint had in mind some particular reasons. Who among the philosophically educated Christians could ask a highly learned archpastor to give an explanation of these sacred rites, which can cause difficulties and bewilderment in minds that have not yet fully become accustomed to the inner spirit of church life?

Bl. Theodoret touches upon certain aspects of the external Christian life. In denouncing those who reject the Old Testament, he dwells in detail on the divine origin of the Old Testament and here speaks of the great benefit of reading the Scriptures. From his reasoning it is clear that he considers the reading of the word of God to be one of the most important signs of Christians. He speaks of the Scriptures even before he speaks of baptism. Chapter XVI is devoted to the latter, where the discussion is conducted partly in comparison with the Old Testament institutions, and partly polemically. In the general spirit, the view of baptism is the same as in the "Great Catechetical Discourse" of St. Gregory. Instead of these ancient sprinklings, the gift of holy baptism is sufficient for the faithful at the present time. For it not only grants us the remission of ancient sins, but also instills in us hope for the promised blessings, makes us partakers of the Lord's death and resurrection, communicates the gifts of the Holy Spirit. He makes them sons of God, and not only sons, but also heirs to God and joint-heirs with Christ. For baptism is not like a razor, as the mad Messalians think, since by means of it only the preceding sins were taken away: of course, even this happens through the abundance of grace. But this is not the only thing that gives us this sacrament, but also much greater and more perfect blessings, for it is the pledge of future blessings, the image of our resurrection, the communion of the Lord's sufferings and resurrection, the robe of salvation, the garment of gladness, the radiant garment, or better the light itself. "For if we were baptized into Christ, we put on Christ" (Galatians 3:27) and "if we were baptized into Christ Jesus, we were baptized into His death, that as Christ rose from the dead by the glory of the Father, so shall we also begin to walk in the newness of life. For if ye be conformed to the likeness of His death, we shall also be resurrected" (Romans 6:3-5). This is how the Apostle taught us to think about holy baptism, namely, that "having been buried with the baptism of Christ, we become partakers of His resurrection." Bl. Theodoret, in expounding the divine dogmas, had in mind the numerous heretics who had deviated from the path of Christian love and established a discipline filled with unbearable demands on human weakness and merciless to deviations from the strict way of life. The demand for unconditional virginity and the denial of repentance forced Bliss. Theodoret to add to the purely dogmatic part of his system chapters on virginity, marriage, fornication, repentance, and abstinence. "Since," he writes at the end of Chapter XXIII, "those evildoers also damaged the moral teaching, and invented completely contrary paths (when some called marriage adultery, and others indulged in all kinds of impermissible and shameful carnal pleasure), then we will show how the Church thinks about moral subjects as well." Without rejecting marriage, Bl. The teacher gives preference to virginity. He discusses this question on the basis of the Apostle's words (1 Corinthians, ch. 7). On Marriage (Chapter XXX) bl. Theodoret argues in a strictly polemical spirit: "I consider it necessary also to examine the laws concerning marriage, in order to tame through the insolence of those who condemn it." Further, he says that the wife was created by God, that God in the Old Testament promised childbearing as a gift, and allowed polygamy, that the chief Peter was one of the married, and the Lord did not forbid marriage, that marriage was tolerated in the Apostolic Church, as a condescension to the weakness of the flesh and in order to avoid worse manifestations (1 Corinthians 7:1-2). Then the laws of married life of Christians are set forth on the basis of the words of St. Paul. Paul. All reasoning boils down to proving that marriage cannot be considered a lawless phenomenon. It is noteworthy that Bl. Theodoret does not cite the well-known words of the Apostle (Ephesians 5:32), recognizing marriage as permissible in the Church, as a phenomenon caused by the natural functions of the body, does not speak of the significance of marriage as a sacrament. - Reasoning of Bl. Theodoret on repentance are distinguished by the same polemical character. Having condemned in Chapter XXVII the heretics who committed sin, and having recognized fornication as incompatible with being in the bosom of the Church, Bl. Theodoret, in chapter XXVIII, condemns the opposite extreme of other false teachers. "The Divine Scripture not only forbids such iniquities, but also gives healing to those who have become infected with them. It curses the cruelty of Novatus and rebukes the shepherds who did not take such care of the sheep." Having clarified the Divine will regarding repentance and citing numerous examples of those who repented in the Old and New Testaments even after receiving grace, Bl. Theodoret points out that the petition for the forgiveness of sins is also contained in the Lord's Prayer. The conditions for repentance are very strict, but the meaning of penitential labors is recognized as exclusively preparatory and corrective: "The wounds that occur even after baptism are healable: but they are healable not for faith alone, as it was of old, but for many tears, weeping, contrition, fasting, prayer and work, corresponding to the importance of sin. In those who by means of all this have prepared themselves for repentance, they cannot be doubted and forbidden to receive the sacraments, but they must not give holy things to dogs, and cast pearls before swine" (Matt. 7:6). Such are the laws on repentance that the Church has.

In the fourth book of the "Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith" by St. John of Damascus, among other things, he speaks of the external manifestations of church life, in particular of the cult and the most pure sacraments. Under the name of "sacraments" in Chapter XIII of St. John is referring to the Eucharist; he speaks of baptism in Chapter IX, where he also discusses faith. The Holy Father speaks of baptism as an image of Christ's death. Baptism is one, i.e. it is not repeatable, if only it is performed in accordance with the command of the Lord. Baptism is regeneration by water and the Spirit. Water is generally recognized by the Scriptures as a symbol of purification: "From ancient times the Scriptures testify in favor of water that it possesses the power of purification. In Noah's time, God drowned the world's sin with water. According to the law, every unclean person is cleansed with water, when even the most garments are washed with water." But in order not to give rise to a view of baptism as an external form, St. John adds: "Regeneration, of course, takes place in the soul, for faith with the help of the Spirit knows how to adopt, although we are creatures, and lead to the original blessedness." In baptism we are given the forgiveness of sins, and the grace of the Spirit is given according to the measure of each person's faith. After baptism, a thorough God-pleasing life is necessary. Also says St. John also about the necessity of faith in the consubstantial, uncreated Trinity, but not as clearly and easily understandable as St. Gregory of Nyssa, St. John of Nyssa. John leaves without explanation the inner necessity of this faith. The rebirth by water and the spirit of Sts. the Fathers consider it a natural phenomenon, like bodily birth, or the radiance of the sun, as St. Gregory of Nyssa compares it in Chapter XXXIV of the Great Catechetical Discourse. Prep. John of Damascus dwells in detail on the phenomena analogous to baptism both in the biblical life and in the subsequent development of the Christian. "The first baptism was a flood to destroy sin. The second baptism of the sea and the cloud; for the cloud is a symbol of the Spirit, and the sea is a symbol of water. The third was lawful, for every unclean person washed himself with water and washed his clothes, and thus entered the camp. The Fourth of John, which was the introductory letter and led those who were baptized to repentance, so that they would believe in Christ, "For I baptize you," he says, "with water; but he who comes after me, He baptizes you with the Holy Spirit and with fire." And so John purifies through water to receive the Spirit. The fifth baptism of the Lord, with which He Himself was baptized. But He was baptized not because He Himself was in need of purification, but because He appropriated my cleansing to Himself, in order to erase the head of the serpent in water, in order to wash away sin and bury all the old Adam in water, in order to sanctify the Baptist, in order to fulfill the law, in order to reveal the mystery of the Trinity, in order to become an image and example for us to be baptized. We also are baptized with the perfect baptism of the Lord, both with water and with the Spirit. Further, He says that Christ baptized with fire, for He poured out upon the Holy Apostles the grace of the Spirit in the form of tongues of fire, just as the Lord Himself says, that John "baptized with water, but ye were baptized with the Holy Spirit and with fire, not after many of these days," or because of baptism, which punishes with future fire. The sixth baptism is through repentance and tears, and it is truly difficult. The seventh baptism is by blood and martyrdom, with which Christ Himself was baptized for our sake, as very holy and blessed, which is not defiled by later impurities. The eighth is the last, not saving, but destroying vice, for vice and sin will no longer live, but punishing is indefinite." Prep. John also speaks of anointing at baptism. Those who approach baptism insidiously not only do not benefit from it, but will rather be condemned. On the Holy and Most Pure Mysteries of the Lord (ch. XII) John speaks as the spiritual food of man. The goodness of God did not tolerate that human nature should not be partaker of the divine nature, therefore the incarnate Son of God gave the human race not only a second birth, but also the closest communion with Him through the partaking of His flesh and blood. Having spoken about the institution of the Eucharist at the Last Supper, St. John assures us that the bread and wine are made the true body and true blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is accomplished by the same Almighty Word that created the world and is as incomprehensible to the human mind as the seedless conception of the Word of God. The incomprehensible to the powerless mind is contained by the power of faith: "The action of the spirit accomplishes that which exceeds nature, which nothing can contain except faith alone. Bread and wine are the usual natural food of man, from which human weakness does not turn away; God, Who was pleased to regenerate mankind through washing in water, was pleased to give His Divine Flesh and Holy Blood in the same way in the usual way accessible to all. It is not the flesh and blood of Christ that descend from heaven, but the bread and wine that are changed into flesh and blood, united with the Divinity. How this is done is not comprehended by the human mind, and it is quite enough to know that this is done by the power of the Spirit. Just as the bread and wine that we take in food turn into our body and blood, without at the same time becoming a second body, "so the bread of the show, and the wine, and the water, through the invocation and coming of the Holy Spirit, are naturally changed into the body of Christ and the blood, and are not two, but one and the same." For those who partake of Communion with faith, the Eucharist is the source of eternal life, but for those who approach unworthily it serves as condemnation, just as the death of the Lord, which saves the faithful, leads to punishment and eternal punishment for unbelievers. The bread and wine in the Eucharist are not only images of the Body and Blood of Christ, but also the Body itself and the Blood itself. Therefore, those who approach the Eucharist must be especially careful. By communing of the body, united with the Divinity, Christians partake of two natures. In the Old Testament, the bread and wine with which Melchizedek greeted Abraham and the showbread were a kind of Eucharist. The Body and Blood of the Savior pass into both the soul and our body. It should be noted, however, that they do not submit to the usual fate of any other food, but pass into the very essence of the body. "This bread is the firstfruits of the bread to come, which is the daily bread of O Episios. For the word "that epision" denotes either the future, i.e. the bread of the future age, or the bread taken for the preservation of our being. Therefore, in one way or another (we will understand their daily bread), the Body of the Lord will be properly named; for the flesh of the Lord is the Life-Giving Spirit, because it is conceived of the Life-Giving Spirit; for that which is born of the Spirit is the Spirit. I say this, not debasing the nature of the body, but wishing to show the life-giving and salvific nature of it." The words of spiritual men, calling the Eucharistic bread and wine images of the Body and Blood of Christ, must be attributed to the bread and wine before their consecration. Since in the Eucharist we are united with one another, therefore we should not commune together with excommunicated heretics: "And they are called images of the loaves and wine to come, not because they are not truly the Body and Blood of Christ, but because now, of course, through them we become partakers of the Divinity of Christ, and then spiritually through one sight."

This teaching on the Eucharist, placed with the teaching on other external manifestations of church life, is the same interpretation of the most important Christian rite that we saw in the "Great Catechetical Discourse" of St. Gregory. Only St. Gregory explains in more detail and precisely the transformation of bread and wine into the Body and Blood of the Saviour; but St. John also presented a teaching that is sublime and full of spiritual wisdom. However, it can be noted that St. Gregory, as a thinker and having in mind those who are not firm in the faith, tries more to clarify the human mind, and St. John, expounding the teaching of the Church for the Orthodox, affirms it on faith, not as a blind trust in external authority, but as an inner agreement with the truth.

From the above-mentioned teaching of the patristic theological systems on Christian sacraments, it is evident, first, that Sts. The Fathers attached much greater importance to the internal psychological side of the sacrament than to its external, perfective form, and, secondly, that Sts. it was completely alien to the Fathers to single out any of the sacraments from a number of others with the assimilation of the special significance of the unchanging heritage of the Church; even the most important sacraments, baptism and the Eucharist, are spoken of on a par with the veneration of holy icons and the reading of the Bible, for everything contained by the Church has great power for the faithful, and the teaching about the sevenfold number of sacraments is alien to the Holy Fathers.

II. The Doctrine of Piety of the Moscow Theologians