Information about the original source

When using library materials, a reference to the source is required.

When publishing materials on the Internet, a hyperlink is required:

"Orthodoxy and Modernity. Electronic Library." (www.lib.eparhia-saratov.ru).

Convert to epub, mobi, fb2 formats

"Orthodoxy and the World. Electronic Library" (lib.pravmir.ru).

From the publisher

What is an Orthodox Christian, by what signs can one recognize him in this world obsessed with passions? Where today is the line between him and a pagan who knows only one law - the law of satisfying his manifold needs; where is the dividing line between the believer in Christ and the non-believer, indifferent to everything that is inaccessible to his sensory perception? "Christians," says St. Macarius the Great, "have their own world, their own way of life, and their mind, and their word, and their own activity; but the way of life, and the mind, and the word, and the activity of the people of this world are different. Christians are another, and peace-loving people are another; the distance between the two is great" [1]. And this "distance" is the "otherness" of which the monk speaks – in the way of thinking and feeling. And the sphere of their manifestation is the attitude to what surrounds us in this temporary life, expressed in concrete, visible actions and deeds. The whole life of a "peace-lover" is conditioned by a number of rules, the essence of which is to help him achieve certain goals that he sets for himself, often at any cost. The life of a Christian is conditioned by his faith in God, in future retribution, and the only law for him is the law of Christ's commandments, which themselves are eternal life (John 12:50). And here it is, the way of life of a Christian, the one that Christ Himself calls humanity to. Throughout its two-thousand-year existence, the Christian Church has experienced different times, and its position in the world has also been different. The first centuries of the history of the Church on earth are characterized, first of all, by the fact that there was a strict border between the "new creation" that had cast off the "old man" and the pagan world, which, "smouldering in seductive lusts," did not want to know the persecuted and tormented "Galileans." At that time, every Christian could at any moment end his life with martyrdom and therefore constantly prepared to stand before God, strove to be in a holy life and piety (2 Pet. 3:11); and the very spirit of life of the first Christians showed that they did not have a permanent city here, but sought only the future (Heb. 13:14). The pagan world, in the midst of which they lived and to the lusts of which they themselves had once given themselves, was repugnant to them, there could be no agreement between them and the godlessness and violent depravity that reigned in this world. That is why those with whom they had "rejoiced" together with his "joys" the day before were surprised. For this reason, struck by the holiness and purity of their new existence, their steadfastness and courage in the face of persecution and torture, these people themselves increasingly turned from grievous wolves into sheep of the flock of Christ. But then a completely different period in the life of the Church began: Christianity, which had been persecuted until recently, turned into the state religion of the most powerful empire. The world, although it has changed, has not been completely reborn. And love for him, which, according to the words of the Scriptures, is enmity against God (James 4:4), remained in the hearts of the majority of people living in him. And the Christians who had previously been rejected by him and who themselves did not accept his "paganism" became at the same time a part of him. Thus began a struggle in the heart of the world itself, between the spirit of Christ and the spirit of Antichrist; Christianity sought to transform the world, to sanctify, to bring it to Christ, and the world to earth, to "secularize" Christianity, to turn it from a Divine institution into a kind of social and state institution with its own moral norms, which, however, do not necessarily have to be observed.

Behind us are the persecutions, which in their cruelty are not inferior to the persecutions of the epoch of Decius and Diocletian. Then there were the decades of "anti-religious propaganda", when the state with its entire apparatus waged a purposeful, "scientifically" organized struggle against religion. And the present itself - now that it has become possible to soberly assess it - no longer seems idyllic, full of hopes for the "flowering" of spirituality and the long-awaited "national repentance". What have we seen over the past few years? - Churches were opened, ancient monasteries were restored, the property taken from it was returned to the Church - with difficulty and in small doses. And at the same time, without encountering obstacles or difficulties, what is called in the Scriptures the mystery of lawlessness in action (2 Thess. 2:7) entered into our lives swiftly and irresistibly: unprecedented theft, endless political intrigues, cynicism and cruelty, a merciless struggle for a place in the sun both between the "strong" and the "weak" of this world, military conflicts and mass death of people. met (already!) by the indifference of society, horrible immorality and depravity - this is the reality that surrounds us today. And this is the background against which the Church is being reborn... By God's mercy, many today (although the flow of them has recently thinned out) are turning to Christ, repentance and correction of life are becoming the most urgent need for people. But it is difficult, very difficult in our time for a person who has just decided to live a new Christian life. He comes from an environment in which militant unbelief or "willful forgetfulness" of God reigned, enters the Church from the semi-pagan world - and remains in its very midst. And how can he understand, how can he feel in his heart that now for him "there is another world, another meal, different clothes, another pleasure, another communication, another way of thinking" [2], when he is still completely in the captivity of the former world, under the power of its customs, habits, passions? Everything seems so "familiar" - both that which is ashamed to speak of (Ephesians 5:12), and that which is simply frightening to talk about. A person has come to the Church, his heart is drawn to his Creator God, but it has not yet awakened from sleep, it is still lukewarm, and he does not yet realize that the whole life of a Christian is a struggle, that his path is along a thin thread stretched over the abyss, where temptations are on the left and on the right, and danger is everywhere. But without this understanding there is no salvation, there is no true life in Christ. Therefore, it is necessary to know, to understand what it is, "the spirit of this world," and at the same time to determine one's place in this world, to understand whether you are really with Christ, or whether only your lips confess Him, and your heart is far away, given over to the power of dead interests and deeds (Matt. 15:8). But our "sleeping" is strong and deep, and therefore we constantly need someone to "awaken" us, to point out the surrounding dangers, to warn us, to talk about them, to teach us to avoid them. And at the same time, it reminded us of the bright and unfading truth of Christ, of the ineffable joy of life with Him; that we, people, were created by God only for Him and only in Him do we find the fullness of being and happiness, and therefore it is not fitting for us to hopelessly drown in earthly joys and sorrows. This book by Archimandrite Raphael (Karelin) is such a sobering reminder, sometimes bitter. Perhaps someone will find what he reads in it frightening, but this is the background of our life, the reality surrounding us, in which we exist - and at the same time we do not see it. And the author does not speak of it in order to terrify his reader, to make him tremble; it only makes it possible to examine, to know what it is, and to evaluate it correctly. Fear and despair are feelings that are inadmissible, inappropriate in the life of a Christian. Yes, indeed, our time is the time when the bitterest prophecies of the Savior come true: faith fades (Luke 18:8), love grows cold (Matt. 24:12). But as before the light of Christ enlightens every person who comes into the world, the Church of Christ still stands on earth, insurmountable for the gates of hell until the last day of this world, and in her is the Lord Himself, merciful and saving, loving the righteous and correcting sinners. And that is why, along with the formidable word of denunciation, Fr. Raphael's book also contains a gentle call to eternal life, to the Heavenly Kingdom open to us, a call that the human heart hears and to which it responds. St. Macarius of Egypt. Spiritual conversations. Moscow, 1998. P. 40. ^ St. Macarius of Egypt. Spiritual conversations. P. 57. ^

Part I

What is an Orthodox Christian, by what signs can one recognize him in this world obsessed with passions? Where today is the line between him and a pagan who knows only one law - the law of satisfying his manifold needs; where is the dividing line between the believer in Christ and the non-believer, indifferent to everything that is inaccessible to his sensory perception? "Christians," says St. Macarius the Great, "have their own world, their own way of life, and their mind, and their word, and their own activity; but the way of life, and the mind, and the word, and the activity of the people of this world are different. Christians are another, and peace-loving people are another; the distance between the two is great" [1]. And this "distance" is the "otherness" of which the monk speaks – in the way of thinking and feeling. And the sphere of their manifestation is the attitude to what surrounds us in this temporary life, expressed in concrete, visible actions and deeds. The whole life of a "peace-lover" is conditioned by a number of rules, the essence of which is to help him achieve certain goals that he sets for himself, often at any cost. The life of a Christian is conditioned by his faith in God, in future retribution, and the only law for him is the law of Christ's commandments, which themselves are eternal life (John 12:50). And here it is, the way of life of a Christian, the one that Christ Himself calls humanity to. Throughout its two-thousand-year existence, the Christian Church has experienced different times, and its position in the world has also been different. The first centuries of the history of the Church on earth are characterized, first of all, by the fact that there was a strict border between the "new creation" that had cast off the "old man" and the pagan world, which, "smouldering in seductive lusts," did not want to know the persecuted and tormented "Galileans." At that time, every Christian could at any moment end his life with martyrdom and therefore constantly prepared to stand before God, strove to be in a holy life and piety (2 Pet. 3:11); and the very spirit of life of the first Christians showed that they did not have a permanent city here, but sought only the future (Heb. 13:14). The pagan world, in the midst of which they lived and to the lusts of which they themselves had once given themselves, was repugnant to them, there could be no agreement between them and the godlessness and violent depravity that reigned in this world. That is why those with whom they had "rejoiced" together with his "joys" the day before were surprised. For this reason, struck by the holiness and purity of their new existence, their steadfastness and courage in the face of persecution and torture, these people themselves increasingly turned from grievous wolves into sheep of the flock of Christ. But then a completely different period in the life of the Church began: Christianity, which had been persecuted until recently, turned into the state religion of the most powerful empire. The world, although it has changed, has not been completely reborn. And love for him, which, according to the words of the Scriptures, is enmity against God (James 4:4), remained in the hearts of the majority of people living in him. And the Christians who had previously been rejected by him and who themselves did not accept his "paganism" became at the same time a part of him. Thus began a struggle in the heart of the world itself, between the spirit of Christ and the spirit of Antichrist; Christianity sought to transform the world, to sanctify, to bring it to Christ, and the world to earth, to "secularize" Christianity, to turn it from a Divine institution into a kind of social and state institution with its own moral norms, which, however, do not necessarily have to be observed.

Behind us are the persecutions, which in their cruelty are not inferior to the persecutions of the epoch of Decius and Diocletian. Then there were the decades of "anti-religious propaganda", when the state with its entire apparatus waged a purposeful, "scientifically" organized struggle against religion. And the present itself - now that it has become possible to soberly assess it - no longer seems idyllic, full of hopes for the "flowering" of spirituality and the long-awaited "national repentance". What have we seen over the past few years? - Churches were opened, ancient monasteries were restored, the property taken from it was returned to the Church - with difficulty and in small doses. And at the same time, without encountering obstacles or difficulties, what is called in the Scriptures the mystery of lawlessness in action (2 Thess. 2:7) entered into our lives swiftly and irresistibly: unprecedented theft, endless political intrigues, cynicism and cruelty, a merciless struggle for a place in the sun both between the "strong" and the "weak" of this world, military conflicts and mass death of people. met (already!) by the indifference of society, horrible immorality and depravity - this is the reality that surrounds us today. And this is the background against which the Church is being reborn... By God's mercy, many today (although the flow of them has recently thinned out) are turning to Christ, repentance and correction of life are becoming the most urgent need for people. But it is difficult, very difficult in our time for a person who has just decided to live a new Christian life. He comes from an environment in which militant unbelief or "willful forgetfulness" of God reigned, enters the Church from the semi-pagan world - and remains in its very midst. And how can he understand, how can he feel in his heart that now for him "there is another world, another meal, different clothes, another pleasure, another communication, another way of thinking" [2], when he is still completely in the captivity of the former world, under the power of its customs, habits, passions? Everything seems so "familiar" - both that which is ashamed to speak of (Ephesians 5:12), and that which is simply frightening to talk about. A person has come to the Church, his heart is drawn to his Creator God, but it has not yet awakened from sleep, it is still lukewarm, and he does not yet realize that the whole life of a Christian is a struggle, that his path is along a thin thread stretched over the abyss, where temptations are on the left and on the right, and danger is everywhere. But without this understanding there is no salvation, there is no true life in Christ. Therefore, it is necessary to know, to understand what it is, "the spirit of this world," and at the same time to determine one's place in this world, to understand whether you are really with Christ, or whether only your lips confess Him, and your heart is far away, given over to the power of dead interests and deeds (Matt. 15:8). But our "sleeping" is strong and deep, and therefore we constantly need someone to "awaken" us, to point out the surrounding dangers, to warn us, to talk about them, to teach us to avoid them. And at the same time, it reminded us of the bright and unfading truth of Christ, of the ineffable joy of life with Him; that we, people, were created by God only for Him and only in Him do we find the fullness of being and happiness, and therefore it is not fitting for us to hopelessly drown in earthly joys and sorrows. This book by Archimandrite Raphael (Karelin) is such a sobering reminder, sometimes bitter. Perhaps someone will find what he reads in it frightening, but this is the background of our life, the reality surrounding us, in which we exist - and at the same time we do not see it. And the author does not speak of it in order to terrify his reader, to make him tremble; it only makes it possible to examine, to know what it is, and to evaluate it correctly. Fear and despair are feelings that are inadmissible, inappropriate in the life of a Christian. Yes, indeed, our time is the time when the bitterest prophecies of the Savior come true: faith fades (Luke 18:8), love grows cold (Matt. 24:12). But as before the light of Christ enlightens every person who comes into the world, the Church of Christ still stands on earth, insurmountable for the gates of hell until the last day of this world, and in her is the Lord Himself, merciful and saving, loving the righteous and correcting sinners. And that is why, along with the formidable word of denunciation, Fr. Raphael's book also contains a gentle call to eternal life, to the Heavenly Kingdom open to us, a call that the human heart hears and to which it responds. St. Macarius of Egypt. Spiritual conversations. Moscow, 1998. P. 40. ^ St. Macarius of Egypt. Spiritual conversations. P. 57. ^

Man is a mysterious creature...