We have such supreme guidance in the Church of Christ, which is the pillar and ground of the truth (1 Tim 3:15). It is her voice that gives firmness to our convictions regarding dogmas. (Consequently, in order to be fully convinced that certain revealed truths must be recognized as dogmas, and that they must be understood in one way and not another, we need to hear these truths and their exact definition from the mouth of the Church of Christ, of course, the true, Orthodox Church; without it, a person cannot go beyond personal opinions and assumptions. "in the words of the church."

4. Law-binding nature for all members of the Church is the last essential feature of the dogmas of faith. Dogmas, as truths of faith, determined by the universal Church with the assistance of the Spirit of God, and taught by her not on its own behalf, but in the name of the Holy Spirit. In the name of Christ, as divinely revealed truths, cannot have any other meaning than the obligatory rules of faith or laws, which in their entirety and their true meaning must be accepted by every Christian who does not wish to renounce Christ and separate himself from the church founded by Him, and thereby be deprived of the hope of salvation. And the word of God forbids the slightest deviation from the purity of Christian teaching and any change in it, thereby affirming its obligation for Christians: whether we are an angel from heaven, says St. Paul. Paul, "He preaches good tidings to you, if he preaches good tidings to you, he will be anathema" (Galatians 1:8). In accordance with this, according to the testimony of history, the Church did indeed act in excommunicating all those who consciously and stubbornly rejected or distorted her dogmas by virtue of the authority granted to her by God (Mt 18:17-18). VI Ecumenical. Cathedral, 1 pr.).

Consideration of the essential properties of dogmas leads to the following concept of dogmas: dogmas are divinely revealed truths, containing the teaching of the Triune God and His relation to the world and especially to man, preserved, defined and taught by the Orthodox Church as indisputable, unchangeable and obligatory for all believers rules of faith. The exposition in the system, the clarification, and the scientific substantiation of dogmas constitute the content of Dogmatic Theology. Dogmatic Theology, understood in the sense of science, is thus nothing but a system of Orthodox Christian doctrine, in other words, a systematic exposition of the Orthodox Christian teaching on the Triune God, His attributes and actions in relation to the world and, especially, to man.

§ 3. Sources of Christian Doctrine. The Holy Scriptures and the Holy Scriptures. Tradition.

The source of science, which has as its object the systematic exposition and revelation of the dogmatic truths of Christianity, must be divine revelation, as it is contained and explained by the Catholic Church.

I. There are two kinds of divine revelation: revelation in the general and broad sense, and revelation in the narrow and proper sense. God reveals Himself in all of His creation, especially in the God-like soul of man, and in the actions of His providence in the world and man. This revelation is otherwise called natural revelation (revelatio generalis or naturalis), because God reveals Himself here in the nature or nature of His creatures, and moreover naturally, just as, for example, the artist reveals himself in his work, the author in his work, etc. But this kind of revelation can only serve as a source for science, with great and essential limitations. which has as its subject the exposition of Orthodox Christian doctrine. In many Christian dogmas it cannot and does not reveal anything, but can only lead to the realization of the necessity of a special, higher, direct revelation of God, which makes up for the weakness of man in his natural search for the Divinity, and serve as "a kind of aid to the knowledge of God from His special revelation" (Catech. Sn. § 13). Such a revelation is given to men in a supernatural revelation, a revelation in the proper and strict sense (revelatio specialis or supernaturalis). It consists in the fact that God, condescending to the weakness of the human spirit, directly revealed Himself to people, independently of his (man's) own cognitive activity, revealed Himself first through the law and the prophets, and then through the incarnate Son of God Himself and the Holy Spirit sent down. The Apostle teaches, "God, in many parts (πολυμερώς — in different divisions of time) and manifold (πολυτρόπως — in various ways) of old, spoken by the Father in the prophets, in the last days of these days, spoke to us in the Son (Hebrews 1:1-2), who, appearing on earth in the flesh, gave us light and understanding, that we might know the true God (Jn 5:20). God has revealed to us what is by His Spirit! – says the same Apostle on the mystery of redemption, – for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God (1 Cor 2:10). It is this revelation of God that serves in particular as the source of Christian knowledge of God and at the same time of the truths revealed in Dogmatic Theology. It is given to us in the Holy Scriptures. It is also contained in the Holy Scriptures. Traditions, the guardian and interpreter of which, and consequently of revelation itself, is the Church.

II. Under the name of St. The Scriptures are understood as "books written by the Spirit of God through men sanctified by God, who are called prophets and apostles" (Katikh.). These books, called the Bible (βίβλος — a book; plural τα βιβλία, from the single diminutive το βιβλίον — a small book, signifies a whole series or collection of such small books as form a single book), [p. 10} therefore are not ordinary human literary works, nor are they the same as the religious monuments of non-Christian peoples (e.g., the Koran, Zend-Avesta, the Vedas, etc.), but holy writings (γραφαί άγίαι — Rom. 1, (2) the Holy Scriptures (ιερά γράμματα 2 Tim 3:15), the very word of God (Mk 7:13; cf. Mt 15:6; Rom 3:2; 9:6; 1 Thessalonians 4:15; Hebrews 13:7; Apoc 19:9, etc.). Canon of St. The Scriptures consist of the books of the Old Testament, the number of twenty-two according to the Hebrew reckoning (according to our reckoning, 38), and the books of the New Testament, the number of twenty-seven [4]. All these books (canonical), as written according to a special illumination and enlightenment from the Holy Scriptures. belongs to the property of divine inspiration (θεοπνευστία, inspriratio) [5].

The inspiration of the books of Moses, which are law-positive, is revealed from the fact that, according to the testimony of the Bible, God Himself first pronounced the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20), and then other decrees. concerning the internal, social, ecclesiastical, and family life of the Jewish people (Exodus 21-23; 25-31; ch. 34). David, in whose name many psalms are inscribed, testifies to himself: "The Spirit of the Lord has spoken in me, and His word is in my tongue" (2 Samuel 23:2). It is said of the prophets that they were instruments of God, whom He Himself called to ministry (Isaiah 6; Jonah 1:2), that they received revelations directly from God. In their books there are constant expressions: "The Lord spake unto me, and the word of the Lord came unto me," and others. Peter says to the Old Testament writers that not by their own will, but by the Holy Spirit, they are enlightened (φερόμενοι — carried, moved, i.e. by the Holy Spirit) by the holy men of God (2 Pet 1:21; cf. 1 Peter 1:10-12). Up. Paul, having in mind the Old Testament writings, says to his disciple Timothy: "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God (πασα γραφή θεόπνενοτος) and is profitable for doctrine, which is in righteousness (2 Tim 3:15-16). In the preaching of the Apostles, therefore, the words of the Old Testament revelation are often identified with the words of God Himself, when, instead of the expression "Scripture speaks," the following expressions are used: God spoke (2 Cor 6:16; Hebrews 1:1; 8:8, etc.), God spoke to the mouth of the saints, His prophet (Luke 1:70; Matthew 1:22; 2:15; Acts 4:25; 3:18, 21, etc.), the Holy Spirit spoke through the prophets (Acts 1:1). 16; 28, 25; 2 Peter 1:21; And Christ the Saviour Himself called the writings of the Old Testament the word of God (Mk 7:13; cf. Mt 15:6), and often spoke of these writings in the way that one can only speak of the word of God, and not at all human, e.g., "Scripture cannot be destroyed" (Jn 10:35); until heaven and earth pass away, one jot, or one tittle does not pass away from the law, until all shall be (Matthew 5:18; cf. 26:54; Luke 24:44, etc.). In particular, he remarked to David on one occasion: "That (David) said by the Holy Spirit, 'The Lord said to my Lord, 'Sit at my right hand' (Mk 12:36). All the apostolic writings, the New Testament, are also divinely inspired. Jesus Christ promised to send down to the Apostles, and indeed did, the Holy Spirit, that He might teach them all things, that He might remember all things, and that He might proclaim things to come (Jn 14:26; 16:13); he also promised to give them mouth and wisdom (Lk 21:15), which, no doubt, if they needed them at all times, how much more so when they were putting down in writing the teachings of Jesus Christ for all subsequent times (1 Cor 2:12-13). And the apostles themselves say to themselves that they have the mind of Christ (1 Cor 2:16), and that in the work of serving the new covenant they can conceive of nothing of themselves, but contentment, i.e. their ability from God (2 Cor 3:5-6), that their preaching is not the word of man, but truly the word of God (1 Thessalonians 2:11). 13; Ch. 1 Cor 2:7-13).

And in himself, the Holy Spirit. Scripture bears the indelible stamp of its divine origin. To people who are capable of perceiving divine truth, it testifies to its divine inspiration by a special effect on the soul, peculiar only to God's power. The word of God is alive, and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, limbs and brains, and judging by the mind and the thought of the heart (Hebrews 4:12). It is the power of God unto the salvation of everyone who believes (Rom 1:16; cf. Eph 6:17). Under certain conditions, it completely and instantly conquers the heart of man. The history of the church is full of examples of this. A comparison of the teaching contained in it with the teaching of natural religions and philosophy testifies to the immeasurable superiority of the biblical teaching over all natural religious and philosophical teachings, thereby showing that it could not have been invented by human reason. Its influence on entire nations and on the whole of humanity, which has not diminished after four thousand years of its dominion over men, must also clearly tell the unprejudiced human mind that the Bible is an exclusive, universal and eternal book, incomparable to any human works, in short, that it really contains the words of eternal life (Jn 6:68).

From the canonical books of St. The Scriptures must be distinguished by non-canonical books. The Universal Church has always made a distinction between them in meaning and authority: canonical books are divinely inspired, i.e., contain the true word of God, while non-canonical books are only edifying and useful, but are not alien to the personal, not always infallible opinions of their writers; In ancient times, the latter were intended for reading to those entering the church (catechumens). There is not a single non-canonical book among the books of the New Testament, but there are non-canonical books only among the books of the Old Testament, namely, nine [6].