Author's Foreword

"POST-CHRISTIAN"

SYNDROME

The book that you are holding in your hands answers the questions of who and how sorcerers "spoil" them, in what other ways a person can be exposed to demonic influence. Spoilage is an extremely multifaceted phenomenon. It is studied by people of different specialties – theologians, religious scholars, doctors, psychologists... Among the works of contemporary Orthodox authors on this topic are the works of Elder Paisios of the Holy Mountain "With Pain and Love for Modern Man" (Moscow, 2002), "Spiritual Struggle" (Moscow, 2003), Hegumen Mark "Evil Spirits and Their Influence on People" (Moscow, 2000), Hieromonk Panteleimon (Ledin) "Intrigues of the Demons" (Moscow, 1997), as well as Hieromonk Anatoly (Berestov) and Alevtina Pecherskaya "Under the Mask of Orthodoxy" (Moscow, 2006). These authors talk deeply and succinctly about magic, the evil eye and divination, psychics and parapsychologists, reveal the pseudoscientific manipulations of occultists and offer methods of spiritual security. Deacon Andrei Kuraev in his book "Why Are Orthodox Christians Like ?.." (Moscow, 2006. – Chapter "Why Christians Are Not Afraid of 'Spoilage'?") exposes occult and mystical views on corruption, citing many theological and historical arguments. In the book by K.V. Zorin "What is "hereditary damage". The View of an Orthodox Doctor" (Moscow, 2004) analyzes the medical and genetic aspects of the problem: the impact of original sin and sins of the family on people, the suffering of children for the mortal sins of their parents, as well as the genetic and physiological consequences of smoking, alcoholism, drug addiction, artificial abortion and gluttony.

A modern person experiences many extremely negative influences. He lives under the incessant pressure of stress. His soul is compressed by persistent fears. Fears lead to depression, and in a depressive state, our unfortunate contemporary is forced to swallow handfuls of antidepressants and tranquilizers. I don't know the Russian statistics, but I can say for sure that 60% of Americans can no longer live without them.

What kind of fears have such a strong impact on people? They are very diverse: fear of losing a job, fear of losing a home, fear for one's life or the life of one's child, fear of being uncompetitive in business, fear of losing money in another "default", fear of illness, fear of death and, finally, just fear – for some unknown reason. The latter, by the way, is not so rare.

But among all these fears, another fear has recently begun to grow and gain strength. This fear is very ancient. Probably, he is of the same venerable age as all mankind. When Christ came to earth, this fear receded and hid for a time. It can be said that he himself was afraid of people who confessed Christ and were ready to sacrifice their lives for their faith. He hid himself in the pagan nations and in the dark corners of the consciousness of wavering, faithless Christians.

But at last his time came. Time of apostasy. A time that Western sociologists and political scientists call "post-Christian". It is characterized by the fact that the peoples who once professed Christianity, in their overwhelming majority, practically rejected it. Now they live a completely pagan life and in their ideology, at least moral, do not differ in any way from the ancient Chaldeans, Assyrians or Egyptians. That is why the ancient fear has returned - the fear of witchcraft, the fear of damage and the evil eye. Having rejected Christ, the "post-Christians" have forgotten, of course, the words of the Apostle John: "For this very reason the Son of God was manifested, to destroy the works of the devil" (1 John 3:8). Yes, indeed, he who has rejected Christ is also rejected by Christ, as it is said in the Scriptures: "... the unbeliever is already condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the Only-begotten Son of God" (John 3:18). If the unbeliever is rejected and condemned, then it is clear that the snares of the devil remain a very real threat to him. Having rejected Christ, he, naturally, cannot count on God's help.