The Only Living, True, Merciful and Abundant Merciful, seeing this danger, sent His Only-begotten Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to mankind, so that He would dispel the darkness of polytheism, strengthen human hearts for ascent to the things above, and sow the good seed of faith in the only living and true God.

The holy apostles, the industrious bees of Christ, 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 God alone: this unprecedented battle cost sweat and tears, wounds and blood.

With great difficulty, people parted with faith in their imaginary idols and accepted faith in one God. 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. And the latter resisted no less than the former.

For example, a certain silversmith named Demetrius, who made silver temples of Artemis and brought considerable profits to 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 trade 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 more profound were 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 their deaths, burning idols with their martyr's blood, as if by fire.

The One Living, the True One blessed the word, podvig, tears and sacrifices of His apostles. 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.

I am the Lord thy God, and thou shalt have no other gods besides me. 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, the 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.

This is your faith, Christ-bearers, the faith of your fathers, humble and reasonable. 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 revealed Himself as the Father, Almighty, and Creator.