Yes, the computer was not created by us, not by the Orthodox. But there is a parable in the Gospel about an unfaithful steward who stole the property entrusted to him and, having distributed it to his friends, eventually received the praise of Christ (Luke 16). And there is an interpretation of this parable by St. Theophilus of Antioch: Paul, who had once studied at the feet of the Jew Gamaliel and was appointed to govern in the house of Jewish laws, then turned to Christ, and used the knowledge given to him to preach Christ and polemic against the Jews... 280 A Christian who uses even pagan inventions to put them at the service of the Church acts righteously.

Only in one case will a computer really be able to do real harm to the Church. If now pseudo-Orthodox horror stories and puffers about the "satanic seal emitted by a computer" become widely known and are perceived as a common church position, then a shameful shadow will lie on Orthodoxy for many generations to come. Just as for centuries, when they hear the word "Catholic", they say: "These are those who judged Galileo", so it will be said of us: "Orthodox are those who were afraid of computers."

A MAN AND HIS COMPUTER OR A COMPUTER AND HIS MAN?

(Interview with Upgrade magazine, August 2000)

- It may be very unusual for the readers of the magazine that an Orthodox priest, and not just a priest – a theologian – has his own website on the Internet. How did you come up with the idea to open a website?

- Well, my head is not so arranged that such ideas come to it... It's just that a person came first, and just such an idea was floating in his head. Since by that time I had not had a single dive into the Internet, I shrugged it off at first... When such offers began to come regularly, words turned into attempts. Finally, there was a provider (the Vinchi group) who was able to do it professionally. Perhaps at first he had some kind of his own, non-religious interest in promoting my site - but in the end it turned out that working on the Internet costs me nothing...

- That is, the provider itself created the site for you?

- Yes, the provider created a website for me www.kuraev.ru and paid for my work on the Internet.

- And how long has your site existed?