After all, it was to our Church that the Word of God was given. Often, not only sectarians accuse us of inconsistency with the Scriptures, but also many new Orthodox believe that studying them leads to sectarianism. In fact, it is not the Bible that leads to heresy, but its incorrect interpretation, based on the rejection of the Tradition of the Church. On the contrary, Scripture, properly understood, is a light for the distorted track of our lives.

According to Him, we can align our hearts and be cleansed of the passions that destroy us. According to the words of St. St. John of Damascus: "Let us knock on the beautiful paradise of the Scriptures, fragrant, sweetest, most beautiful, resounding around our ears with all kinds of melodies of clever God-bearing birds, touching our hearts and comforting them in sorrow, calming them in anger and filling them with eternal joy; Who places our minds on the shining golden and radiant ramens of the divine dove, and on its most brilliant wings lifts up to the only-begotten Son and heir of the Planter of the intelligible vineyard, and through Him leads us to the Father of lights!

But let us not knock carelessly, but on the contrary – zealously and patiently; Let us not get tired of knocking! For then they will reveal it to us. If we read it once and twice and do not recognize what we read, let us not lose heart, but show perseverance, let us converse, let us inquire! For, as the Scripture says, "Ask your father, and he will tell you; thy elders, and they shall speak unto thee" (Deuteronomy 32:7). For not everyone has knowledge.

Let us draw from this heavenly spring the inexhaustible and purest waters flowing into eternal life! May we find delight in this, let us enjoy it insatiably! For grace in the Scriptures is inexhaustible"[1]. It is also necessary to say a few words about the terminology that in many respects determines the direction of the Orthodox mission today. Now many believe that there are different types of religions, some of which are harmful, and others, on the contrary, are quite respectable.

Moreover, the feature by which one or the other is distinguished is their traditionalism. What is considered "traditional" is recognized as good, and many people think that it is impossible to preach to representatives of such religions, especially since they are considered our "allies". Moreover, they began to assert that the reason for the high appreciation of "traditional confessions" is their antiquity, which allegedly serves as a guarantee of their humanity and high morality.

Contrary to all the observed facts, they began to assert that all traditional religions teach only good things and they do not contain any grounds for committing crimes. On the contrary, it is argued that the "new religious movements" are bad because they are new. This concept arose in the middle of the 20th century under the influence of European traditionalism[2], which, on the basis of geopolitical theories, states the existence of certain macro-cultural formations recognized as equivalent, and rejects the idea of the exclusivity of European culture.

In this way, the fundamental incomprehensibility of absolute Truth is affirmed, which therefore is not able to serve as a criterion for distinguishing religions. This idea is not new at all. Ever since the time of Pilate, the pagan world has said to Christ and His Church: "What is the Truth?" and the ancient martyrs were executed for following a new, non-traditional faith (see the Acts of Martyrdom of St. Antipas of Pergamon, St. Carp and many others).

However, what is most surprising is that a completely pagan theory found refuge in the mouths of Orthodox preachers. Since when did we begin to argue with the Church of the Martyrs and defend the Gentiles? But now let us consider what objections to the idea of "traditional religions" can be raised not just for missionary reasons, but from the Revelation of the true God. Let us see the answer of St.

Carpus on the "traditionalistic" arguments of the ruler Valerius: "We do not consider your faith to be honorable only because the faith is ancient, for not everything is necessarily honest that is ancient: after all, malice is ancient, but it is not yet worthy of reverence for its antiquity. It is not necessary to speculate whether it should be accepted. We have decided to evade it and, as far as possible, to tear it out of our midst, as one that prepares the terrible fire of Gehenna for those who love it"[3].

By the way, it is clear from these words that all the rhetoric of those who claim that we should cooperate with representatives of "traditional faiths" is a manifestation of the greatest inhumanity and cruelty. After all, according to the words of St. John Chrysostom, "if it happens, which God forbid, that an unexpected death befalls us, and we depart from here without enlightenment (i.e. Baptism – S.D.)

, then, even though we have a thousand blessings here, nothing else awaits us but Gehenna, a poisonous worm, an inextinguishable fire, and insoluble bonds"[4]. So are we really going to allow our imaginary politeness, the notorious "tolerance", which in fact covers up lack of faith and indifference, to lead to the fact that we will not save our fellow Adam brothers from eternal, cruel destruction?

And this is exactly what the concept of refusal to preach among the supporters of "traditional religions" will lead us to, which is called for by those who intimidate us with Orthodox proselytism. The first thing that the Scriptures of both the Old and New Testaments tell us is that our God is One, and there are no others besides Him. All other gods of the nations are demons, but the Lord created the heavens (Psalm 95:5 Greek)

, and He will never reconcile himself to the fact that man departs from Him. As Fr. Ilya: "How long will it take you to limp on both knees? If the Lord is God, then follow Him, and if Baal, then follow Him" (3 Kings 18:21). Obviously, in such a formulation of the question, no antiquity is a guarantee of truth, and even more so, cooperation between representatives of different religions is impossible.

A choice between Truth and Falsehood is necessary here! And it will not help to say that "the question of which religious path leads to the eternity of God is resolved only in this eternity, beyond the limits of temporal existence"[5]. They ignore the obvious fact that the Son is the only Way to the Father (John 14:6), and those who do not believe in the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God remains upon them (John 3:36).