In this article I would like to consider several characteristic passages from the "Catechetical Homilies" of St. Symeon the New Theologian[1006], which reflect the attitude of this spiritual writer and mystic to the political and social reality of his time and his assessment of it. Symeon the New Theologian was not a political writer, his interests were entirely focused on questions of spiritual life, so it is quite natural that he does not make direct political statements. Nevertheless, even when speaking of spiritual life or of the relationship between man and God, St. Symeon the New Theologian likes to use images and examples borrowed from social life, and in these images one can often see his attitude to its manifestations. Thus, for example, repeating after the Apostle Paul (1 Corinthians 1:27-28) that "having forsaken the wise and the mighty and the rich of the world, God chose in His ineffable goodness the weak, and the foolish, and the poor of the world"[1007], Symeon the New Theologian makes the following contrast between the Divine and the earthly kingdom: "Men abhor them (i.e., the weak, the foolish, the poor), the earthly king cannot endure their sight, the rulers turn away from them, the rich despise them, and when they meet them, they pass by as if they did not exist, and no one thinks it desirable to associate with them, but God, who is served by innumerable multitudes of angels, who contains all things by the word of his power, whose splendor is intolerable to all, did not refuse to become the father and friend and brother of these outcasts, but wanted to become incarnate, to become like us in all things, except sin, and to make us partakers of His glory and kingdom"[1008]. In this passage from the Second Catechetical Discourse, it is interesting not only for the vivid description of how the "rich" treat the "weak and poor" with disgust and contempt, and how the "king" even "cannot stand the sight of them", but also the very opposition of the "earthly king" to the heavenly King, God, Who, unlike the earthly one, did not refuse to become impoverished and become a man like us, our brother. As can be seen from this, St. Symeon the New Theologian was alien to the idea that the "earthly king" is the image of God on earth, and that the earthly kingdom is a reflection of the Kingdom of Heaven. On the contrary, the earthly kingdom with all its orders appears to him as the opposite of the Kingdom of God.

The attitude of St. Symeon the New Theologian to the kings and powers that be is even more clearly expressed in a long passage from the Fifth Catechetical Discourse, describing the Last Judgment. Christ there addresses "kings and rulers and military commanders" with the following words (after He had given them David and other righteous men of old as an example): "Why were you not imitators of him (David) and the like? Or perhaps you thought yourselves more glorious and richer than he, and therefore did not want to humble yourselves? Wretched and miserable, you, being corruptible and mortal, wanted to become autocrats and rulers of the world (^ovoKpaxope^ ksh koszokratore^). And if there was any one in another country who would not submit to you, you exalted yourself over him as your insignificant slave, and did not endure his disobedience, although he was a servant of God like you, and you had no advantage over him. And to Me, your Creator and Master, you did not want to obey... Have you not heard me say, "He who wants to be first in you, let him be the last, the servant and servant of all"? How were you not afraid... to fall into pride from this empty glory and to become transgressors of this commandment of mine... But you have despised My commandments, as if they were the commandments of one of the outcast and weak." Basically, these lines are purely religious in nature. "Kings" are accused of violating the commandments of the Lord, of pride and lust for power, of rebelling against God, of unwillingness to humble themselves before Him. "Mortal and corruptible," they strive to become the sole rulers of the universe and oppress other people, God's creatures like them. Moreover, the entire structure of the earthly kingdom, based on pride and violence, is contrasted with the Kingdom of God, based on humility and service. But in these general Christian judgments one can see a criticism (also Christian) of the concrete phenomena of the historical reality of Simeon's time. Thus, the expressions ^ovoKpaxope^ and koszokratore^ (autocrats and rulers) characterize the two main socio-political tendencies of the kings of the Macedonian dynasty, Emperor Basil II the Bulgar-Slayer, a contemporary of St. Symeon the New Theologian, in particular. The first of them was expressed in the desire of the Macedonian emperors to break down within the empire any social force capable of resisting them and limiting their power. Such a social force was the Byzantine landed aristocracy, the large landowners of Asia Minor, first of all. Such an aspiration of the Byzantine kings is characterized by St. Simeon as their desire to become "autocrats" (^ovoKpaTope^). Another tendency of the same kings, their desire to expand the boundaries of the empire and achieve world domination, is characterized by him as the desire to be "rulers of the world" (Koo^oKpaTope^)[1011]. Both of these tendencies, as we have seen, are regarded by Symeon the New Theologian as contradicting the commandments of Christ and are condemned by him on behalf of Christ at the Last Judgment. The acuteness of this condemnation is evident from the fact that the expression koorokratsor applied to kings in ecclesiastical language usually refers to the "prince of this world," Satan, and to evil spirits in general (cf. Eph. 6:16), in contrast to the word Pautokrsgar (Almighty) applied to God. It should be emphasized, however, that St. Simeon does not reject royal power as such and does not oppose it to any other form of government, but condemns from the Christian point of view the sinful tendencies of royal power and opposes to the bad and sinful kings (his contemporaries, one might think) the ancient righteous and God-pleasing kings, although he does not call them by name, as he does. when he speaks of the holy patriarchs and bishops[1012].

The attitude of St. Symeon the New Theologian to private property and social inequality is very interesting. Here is what he says about this in his Ninth Catechetical Discourse: "The money and possessions that exist in the world are common to all, like the light and this air that we breathe, like the pastures of irrational animals in the fields, in the mountains, and throughout the whole earth. In the same way, everything is common to all, and is intended only for the enjoyment of its fruits, but by dominion belongs to no one. However, the passion for acquisitiveness, which had penetrated into life like a kind of usurper, divided in various ways among its slaves and servants what had been given by the Lord to all for the common use. She surrounded everything with fences and secured it with towers, bolts and gates, thereby depriving all other people of the benefits of the Lord. At the same time, this shameless woman claims that she is the owner of all this, and argues that she has not committed an injustice towards anyone. On the other hand, the servants and slaves of this tyrannical passion become not the owners of the things and money they have inherited, but their evil slaves and guardians. And if they, having taken some or even all of this money, out of fear of threatened punishments, or in the hope of receiving a hundredfold, or being persuaded by the misfortunes of men, give to those who are in deprivation and poverty, can they be considered merciful, or having nourished Christ, or having done a work worthy of reward? By no means, but as I say, they must repent unto death for having kept (these material goods) for so long and deprived their brethren of the use of them." As we can see, St. Symeon the New Theologian believes that "money and possessions" should be "common" to all, "like the light and the air we breathe." "All this is intended only for the use of its fruits, but by dominion belongs to no one." The passion for acquisitiveness, in Simeon's opinion, is the cause of the emergence of private property. This passion enslaves a person, and he becomes their slave and guardian from a master of material goods. Alms to the poor do not correct this sinful order of things and do not justify man before God, for it has a partial character and is devoid of unselfishness.

An even harsher condemnation of social injustice is found elsewhere in the same place. In the ninth Sermon: "The devil inspires us to make private property (i5ionoi^cac0ai) and to turn into our saving (anoBnoaupicai) that which was intended for the common use, in order to impose on us two crimes by means of this passion for acquisitiveness, and to make us guilty of eternal punishment and condemnation. One of these crimes is lack of mercy, the other is hope for saved money, and not for God. For he who has set aside money cannot trust in God. This is clear from what Christ and our God said: "Where," He says, "your treasure is, there will your heart be also." Therefore he who distributes to all of the money collected for himself should not receive a reward for it, but rather remains guilty of having unjustly deprived others of it up to this time. Moreover, he is guilty of losing the lives of those who died of hunger and thirst during this time. For he was able to feed them, but he did not feed them, but buried in the ground what belonged to the poor, leaving them to die of cold and hunger. In fact, he is the murderer of all those whom he could feed." Thus, St. Symeon the New Theologian teaches here about the emergence of private property as a consequence of the devil's suggestion. The sinfulness engendered by it consists in lack of mercy to the poor and in reliance on riches, and not on God. Alms are not able to justify the rich. They do not cease to be the "killers" of the poor who are dying of hunger.

As a general conclusion from the above excerpts from the "Catechetical Homilies" of St. Symeon the New Theologian, it can be said that in them he vividly responds to the socio-political phenomena of his time: the imperial system with its aspirations for autocracy and external expansion, with the alienation of its bearers and the entire ruling stratum from the masses of the people, to the social inequality of Byzantine society, based on private property and on the accumulation of material resources by the propertied strata. poverty and hunger among the people. His approach, however, to all these phenomena is not political or social, but purely religious, spiritual, Christian.

He does not propose any political or social programs. Moreover, it can even be said that material poverty as such was not considered by St. Simeon as an evil, it can even be a way of imitating Christ. "God has become a poor man for you," he writes, "and you, who believe in Him, must also become poor like Him. He has become poor in humanity, and you are poor in Divinity... He became poor in order to make you rich, in order to give you the riches of His grace. Therefore He took on flesh, so that you might partake of His Divinity"[1016]. In other words, for Simeon, true poverty consisted in alienation from God, and true wealth in union with Him. But he saw in the social inequality of Byzantine society the sin of lack of mercy and unbrotherly love, in private property a manifestation of a passion for acquisitiveness, in the personal accumulation of wealth a sign of lack of faith, in the policy of the kings a manifestation of pride, contempt for people and rebellion against God, in their earthly kingdom the opposite of the Kingdom of God. It would therefore be historically incorrect to see in these spiritual evaluations of St. Symeon the New Theologian a reflection or manifestation of some political or class interests or tendencies of his epoch, although its socio-political features are reflected in him, as we have seen, very clearly. The statements of St. Symeon the New Theologian belong not so much to the history of political and social thought in Byzantium as to the history of the spiritual life and teaching of the Orthodox Church. First of all, it is a vivid expression of the Christian conscience, uncompromisingly irreconcilable to any sin and apostasy from God.

(Vestnik Russkogo Zapadno-Evropeyskogo Patriarshego Exarchata, 1961. No 38-39, pp. 121-126)

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