Eat. This is what the rites "dress up". Since the time of the Apostles, the Orthodox Church has had within itself the most important thing for the Church – the Sacraments, that is, special sacraments, established by God Himself, through which the Holy Spirit is given to the faithful. And Baptists do not have Sacraments, limiting themselves only to liturgical meetings. This does not mean, of course, that you can immediately put all Baptists in the category of "unsaved" – the solution to this question, as I have already said, belongs only to God; it means that Orthodoxy offers us a much fuller and deeper spiritual experience than Baptism.

41. I believe in Christ, that He is risen. I am Russian. But I don't like Orthodoxy with its isolation and conservatism, grandmothers in churches who behave aggressively. I went to the Lutheran church several times, I liked it much more. Tell me, what difference does it make how to believe in the risen Christ?

Unfortunately, for many people, Orthodoxy is aggressive grandmothers in churches. Without in the least justifying these, I must nevertheless note that if some evil old woman is enough to extinguish a religious feeling in a person, then this very feeling, alas, is very weak. The weakness of religious feeling is inevitably intertwined with the superficiality of perception, as a result of which we see nothing but isolation and conservatism in Orthodoxy. Faith in the resurrected Christ is of course the same for us and for the Lutherans. But one cannot stop only at the belief that Christ has risen; It is also necessary to embody this belief in our daily existence. It is in it that a very significant difference is revealed between the deepest Orthodoxy, which goes back centuries and goes back to the apostolic community itself, and Lutheranism, which arose only in the sixteenth century.

It is another matter that the current situation is such that the depths of Orthodoxy are hidden, they are not revealed in our modern church life, they are often replaced by many things that have nothing to do with the Church. In particular, the notorious old ladies: after all, they were born not at all by the Orthodox Church of Christ, but by our Russian society with its traditions of rudeness and total disrespect. The Russian Church and Russian society consist of one and the same people, and most of the Church's problems are in fact not ecclesiastical, but problems of mentality, history, and the social and cultural structure of our society. Perhaps you are better off in the Lutheran Church because it preserves a different, Western tradition, and your soul rests, meeting there goodwill, politeness and respect for yourself. For all my categorical disapproval of the above-mentioned phenomena of our church life, they should nevertheless be separated from the teaching and authentic experience of the Church, and we should try to know and partake of it, without paying special attention to the obstacles in the form of certain features of our national character.

42. I am now going to an Orthodox church, but I have not yet decided whether this is what I need. Tell me, why does the Orthodox Church try to be archaic and as incomprehensible as possible for people? Why do we need services in Church Slavonic, because no one understands them! And all the other attributes of antiquity... As the saying goes, keep it simple, and people will be drawn to you.

The Orthodox Church is archaic not at all because it is done "on purpose". Indeed, much could be changed and somewhat modernized (and, I think, it is necessary to do this); But this applies exclusively to external things. In essence, the Church cannot change, and the more it moves forward with the world in time, the more it will seem archaic to this world. The fact is that the Church is twofold: it is not only a human community, but mainly the work of God; and that which pertains to God is unchangeable in the Church. And this is what relates to God: the Holy Scriptures; the dogmatic and moral teaching of the Church, her spiritual experience; and finally, the manner in which the Sacraments are performed. Usually, reproaches for archaism are presented to the ritual side of the life of the Church; But the rite, despite the fact that, as I have already said, it can and should be adequate to its time in external forms, is itself based on the above-mentioned unshakable divine foundations. Hence church conservatism. In addition, archaism and conservatism also contain such a significant thing as the connection of times. It is very important for us that the Church preserves the experience of generations and generations of Christians; But this is also essential for people who are not churchly, but who think, who are not satisfied with the disintegration of primordial human ties in today's world.

Now about simplicity (we have already touched on this topic above). There is the simplicity of Christ, the simplicity of the Gospel – it is attained by the complex and long-suffering life of a Christian on earth, which includes both the acquisition of a large amount of knowledge and the acquisition of a diverse life and spiritual experience. And there is another simplicity, which, according to the Russian proverb, is "worse than theft." This is the simplicity of pop, primitivism, herding. Its symbol is a plastic box with a screen, which stands in every room of most people on earth. From TV, a modern person receives all the information about all aspects of life. But you can't get information about the Church from the box. Here you need to read a couple of books in silence, and think with your own head about the meaning of life, and after that, in general, work hard with your mind and heart to see both the laws by which life flows and your place in it. You said that no one understands the services. They are incomprehensible not because of the Slavic language. If you translate them into the language of the MK-Boulevard magazine, they will become even more incomprehensible. In order to understand the services, one must read, study, understand, and most importantly, accept the worldview of the Bible, the Holy Scriptures. But this is inconvenient, uncomfortable, and unfashionable for most people. What kind of Bible? What was said, sung, shown on TV is the truth, the level at which you need to live. And what, to bring this primitive pop into the Church? The spirit of herding, which decomposes the brains of even church people, penetrates into it; what, then, to deprive the Church of all rights to protect herself? And in general, there are a lot of complex things on earth, incomprehensible to the majority. Is it possible now, for the sake of this majority, to simplify them? but this is tantamount to destroying the richness and diversity of existence that the Lord has given us...

So, when deciding whether you need the Orthodox Church, decide what you want from life. If you "live like everyone else", glamorously and conveniently, then the Church will not suit you, watch TV. If you want to become a mature and independent person, then take the trouble to at least familiarize yourself with what the Church of Christ says; and not at the level of "claims" to Orthodoxy, which is about 1500 years older than you, but in a way worthy of a self-respecting person – competently and impartially.

43. Why does the Orthodox Church celebrate Christmas not together with the civilized world, but according to her calendar?

 Вообще-то «цивилизованный мир» уже не празднует Рождество Христово. Это стало «нетолерантным». Сам праздник называть Рождеством уже нельзя – «обидятся иудеи». Даже уже ёлки ставить запрещают в общественных местах – «обидятся мусульмане» (христианам, очевидно, обижаться не положено). В тяжко страждущем безумным недугом «политкорректности» западном мире Рождества уже нет, вместо него – «зимний праздник»...

Русская Церковь, а также ещё три Православные Церкви – Иерусалимская, Грузинская и Сербская – живут по юлианскому календарю; западный мир и большинство Православных Церквей – по григорианскому. До конца XXI века разница между этими летоисчислениями составляет 13 дней. Почему бы нам не перейти на новый стиль? Этому препятствует наш церковный консерватизм. В данном вопросе лично я считаю его излишним и неоправданным; но для многих церковных людей юлианский календарь представляет собою большую ценность, причём – ценность именно церковную (что, вообще-то говоря, неправильно: календарь есть календарь, и для Церкви он – дело совершенно внешнее). Чтобы не давать никому поводов к соблазну, наша Церковь вполне резонно предпочитает этот вопрос не затрагивать.

Для православного человека, уже привыкшего к тому, что новолетие наступает до Рождества, в этом есть и положительные стороны. Можно спокойно отметить Новый Год, который стал в нашей стране добрым семейным праздником. По Уставу всегда или 31 декабря или 1 января разрешается вкушать рыбу, так что новогодний стол может быть вполне праздничным, а текущий пост побуждает к умеренности в еде, питии и развлечениях. Со 2-го января начинается предпразднство Рождества, и все православные из-за выходных дней имеют возможность посещать храмы (и тем самым противопоставить всероссийскому пьянственному десятидневию пост и молитву). Наконец, радостно встретить Рождество, когда во всём мире уже угасла лихорадка хождения по распродажам и покупания подарков. Так из любой, даже нецивилизованной, ситуации христианин может извлечь для себя пользу, мирно созидая свою жизнь.

44. Объясните, пожалуйста, какое отношение Православной Церкви к протестантским миссионерам, приезжающим проповедовать Евангелие в Россию? И если я, как православный, встречу такого миссионера, как мне к нему относиться?

Отношение представителей Православной Церкви к приезжим миссионерам обычно следующее: по приезде такового миссионера в тот или иной град или весь нашего богоспасаемого Отечества православное духовенство, если у него есть возможность, обращается к местным власть предержащим, и последние под тем или иным предлогом изгоняют означенного миссионера с подведомственной им территории. Если миссионер имеет солидное финансовое подкрепление, то православное духовенство может и не преуспеть в изгнании миссионера, в силу того, что часть привезённых им денег отходит в руки тех или иных чиновников. Кроме того, встречаются (правда, чрезвычайно редко) чиновники, которые требуют лишь соблюдения закона, а перед законами Российской Федерации все религии равны; следовательно, если миссионер исполнил необходимые формальности, никто не может ему воспрепятствовать обращаться с религиозной проповедью к гражданам РФ, если таковое обращение не переступает рамок федеральных и местных законов. В этих случаях православное духовенство ограничивается разъяснением вредоносности приезжего миссионера своей пастве.