I press on toward the goal, toward the honor of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 3:13,14
I “I don’t consider myself to have achieved...” I don’t care how many people came to God through me, how many healings there were, how many demons were cast out. "Forgetting what is behind" I am moving forward to achieve the honor of the highest rank. And you should not be content with little, achieve the maximum. But not everyone strives for this. For example, some women say:
How can I achieve the maximum? I'm a woman.
But haven't you read about Kathryn Kuhlman? In our generation since Smith Wigglesworth, no one was used by God as she was, a simple woman. She always said that God chose her because He couldn't find a man to use. Therefore, if you are a man and complain about God using a woman, then protest it and make God use you.
Katherine stood on stage and simply said:
Move, Holy Spirit.
She didn't pray for healing in Jesus' name. God respected her so much, valued her so highly, that she just proclaimed God's Word and at the end of the sermon, God began to perform signs and wonders. But there is one phrase that she always repeated:
I died a thousand deaths before I came out here on stage. Died a thousand deaths.
She was called by God from childhood and knew it. When Katherine was already a pastor (she was 26 or 27 years old), she invited a preacher to her church. He had a wife and six children, but he divorced his wife and married Kathryn Kuhlman. All the anointing was gone from her life. She couldn't find her happiness. After living with this man for 10 years, Katherine repented to God. She said:
Lord, I loved the flesh, I loved myself, I wanted someone to love me...
And God answered her:
Did you want someone to love you? But no one can love you like I do. I am your best friend.
She thought she was alone, but Jesus said that he would not leave anyone orphan. He sent her the Holy Spirit.
You often hear sermons about the Holy Spirit. This revelation of Him came through Kathryn Kuhlman. If anyone at her meetings talked and did not listen to the sermon, she began to cry and asked that no one offend the Holy Spirit:
He is here. The only thing I have is the Holy Spirit. Don't upset Him, please, I beg you...
When she went on stage, people in the front rows could not resist, they fell. Therefore, no one sat in the front rows.
Katherine died to herself a thousand times over. She loved this man very much, but she knew what God wanted her to do, and she did it. She began to communicate with the Holy Spirit so clearly that He became more real to her than the audience. The signs and wonders were so great in her ministry that everyone was shocked. In many cities, doctors came to her services to check the miraculous healings of people and conduct an examination. And she told the doctors:
Thank God you're here. You must see what God is doing.
You can see Kathryn Kuhlman's ministries on videotape and learn what God is doing through people who have the zeal to advance God's Kingdom with effort.
And the Bible describes cases where God used women. Let's open the Book of Esther:
Go, gather all the Jews who are in Susa, and fast for my sake, and do not eat or drink for three days, day or night, and I and my maidens will fast in the same way, and then I will go to the king, although this is against the law. , and if I die, I will die.
Esther 4:16
You see, it makes no difference to God whether you are a woman or a man, whether you are young or old. God is looking for those who will give themselves to Him. Esther is a woman and she took the initiative even though Mordecai was the eldest. She said that she would fast and asked Israel to support her in this.
Do you know what Deborah did?
She saidto him: I will go with you; only you will no longer have glory on this path that you are going on; but the Lord will deliver Sisera into the hands of a woman. And Deborah arose and went with Barak to Kedesh.
Judges 4:9
Imagine Deborah leading the army of Israel. She led the army of an entire state. Sisera, the Syrian commander, was defeated and destroyed by a woman.
Another woman is written about in the Bible:
But Ruth said: Do not force me to leave you and return from you; but where you go, there I will go, and where you live, there I will live; Your people will be my people, and your God my God;
And where you die, there I will die and be buried. May the Lord do this and that for me, and do even more; Death alone will separate me from you.
Naomi,Seeing that she was firmly resolved to go with her, she stopped persuading her.
Ruth 1:16-18
This is the decision of a woman who understands that God’s Kingdom is taken by force. Ruth decided to go with her mother-in-law Naomi. She said, “Let your people be my people, let your God be my God.” So the devoted and determined Moabite woman became the foremother of Jesus Christ.
Let's follow the lives of other people through the Bible. Were there not women and men besides these? There were, but they didn't do anything special. But to those who made the effort and refused to compromise, God showed His power.
So many people know God's Word and can preach well, but God does not come and confirm their words. There is no God in such sermons.
Do we need this? Any person can reveal their knowledge, but in order for God to come to confirm their words, you need to know God.
Chapter 7
Let's Manifest God's Kingdom
How does God's Kingdom manifest itself? It manifests itself through salvation, the baptism of the Holy Spirit, signs and wonders, healing, casting out demons, anointing, gifts and fruits of the Holy Spirit. Let's look at each of the manifestations of the Kingdom that are described in the Bible.
1. Salvation.
And saying that the time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent and believe in the Gospel.
. Brethren, I do not consider myself to have attained; but only, forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on towards the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
We need to strive for improvement. – Responsibilities of teacher and student. “There is nothing superior to virtue.”
1. Nothing makes our virtues futile and puffs us up like remembering the good we have done. It produces a double evil: it makes us careless and proud. That is why Paul, who knew that our nature is very inclined towards carelessness, and who praised the Philippians a lot, see how he keeps them from being proud, in addition to many others suggested above, especially in real words. What are they saying? “Brethren, I do not consider myself to have attained”. And if Paul has not yet achieved and does not have complete confidence in his resurrection and in the future, then it is hardly possible for those who have not performed even the slightest part of his virtues. (The Apostle) expresses in his own words the following: I do not yet consider myself to have achieved complete perfection, speaking as someone would say about a fast walker: he has not yet achieved it. I haven’t done everything yet, he says. In another place he says: “I have fought the good fight”(), and here: “I do not consider myself to have achieved”, but whoever reads both these places will understand the reason for those and other words. It is not always necessary to repeat the same thing, it is not always necessary to inspire us with everything, even the fact that these words were spoken to them much earlier, and those before his death. “I don’t respect myself“, he says, “those who have achieved,” but I only think about one thing - to stretch forward; this is what his words mean: “But forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”(). See how he clearly showed by these words what motivated him to stretch forward. Thus, whoever thinks of himself that he is already perfect and that he has no lack of anything for the fullness of virtue, he ceases to strive, as if he has achieved everything: on the contrary, whoever thinks that he is still far from the goal will never cease to strive for it .
We should always think about this, even if we have done a lot of good. If Paul, after countless deaths, after so many troubles, thought about this, then how much more so do we. I have not fallen (in spirit), says (the apostle), and have not fallen into despair because, having completed such a race, I have not achieved, but I still strive, I still strive. I only mean how to really have time. This is what we need to do - forget good deeds and leave them behind. The runner thinks not about how far he has run, but about how much time remains for him. And we will think not about how many good deeds we have done, but about how much remains for us (to do). What is the use of what we have done when there is still something left undone? And (the apostle) did not say: I do not think, I do not remember, but: “forgetting,” in order to make us more attentive, since we then become more zealous when we apply all our zeal to what has not yet been done, when we consign what has been done to oblivion. “By reaching out,” he says, we try to take something before we reach it. He who stretches tries to warn his legs, which are still running, with the rest of his body, stretching forward and stretching out his arms in order to somehow benefit from running. But this comes from great zeal, from a strong desire. This is what the one who strives should strive for, with such and such diligence, with such and such zeal, and not lying on his side; As much as one who lies on his side differs from one who strives in the manner just said, so much do we differ from Paul. Every day he died, every day he gained fame; there was no occasion, there was no time when his desire did not increase; he wanted to delight, not to receive a reward, because in this way he could get it. The One who gives the reward dwells in heaven; there is a reward in heaven.
2. Look at the space: you need to run through it; look at the height: you need to fly there on the wings of the spirit; otherwise it is impossible to fly to this height. The body must go there; and this is possible: “Our residence is in heaven”(). There is our reward. Do you see how well those who compete in running live? How do they not allow themselves anything that weakens their strength? How do they practice every day in the palaestra under the guidance of a teacher and in compliance with the rules? Imitate them too, or better yet, show even greater zeal, since the reward is unequal and there are many obstacles; live according to the law, since there are many things that weaken your strength; strengthen the shins of your feet, since this is possible and depends not on nature, but on free will. Let's make it easier to move so that the rest of the load doesn't hinder the speed of your legs. Train your feet to step firmly: there are many slippery places, and if you fall, you will lose a lot. However, if you fall, get up, because even in this case you can win. Never step on slippery objects and you will not fall; run in hard places, head to the sky, eyes to the sky, as mentors also advise those practicing running: in this way strength is strengthened. If you bend over, you will fall and become weak. Look up - to where the reward is: the very sight of the reward strengthens determination, the fear of defeat does not allow you to feel tired, and makes the long journey seem short. What kind of reward is this? Not a date branch, but what? The kingdom of heaven, eternal rest, glory with Christ, inheritance, brotherhood, countless blessings that cannot be expressed. It is impossible to explain the beauty of this reward: only the one who received it and the one who has the chance to receive it comprehend it. It is not made of gold, not of precious stones, but much more precious than them: gold before this reward is dirt, precious stones before the beauty of the reward are bricks. If you, having been awarded it, go to heaven, then you will enjoy great honor there; With such a reward the angels will honor you, and you will treat everyone with great boldness. "In Christ Jesus" ().
Look how well (the apostle) reasons. "In Christ Jesus", - says, I do this (i.e., I strive for honor). Without His assistance it is impossible to traverse such space: this requires great help, great assistance. God wants you to strive on earth and receive a crown in heaven, not like here: an earthly crown is given in the place of struggle, but that crown is given in a bright place. But don’t you see that here, too, those wrestlers and riders who are especially distinguished are not crowned in the spectacle below; but having called upstairs, the king crowns them there. Likewise, you will receive your reward in heaven. "So which one of us is perfect?, - continues (the apostle), - I must think this way; if you think differently about anything, then God will reveal this to you.”(). What is “this”? What is behind must forget why the property of the perfect is not to consider oneself perfect. How do you say: "Which of us is perfect"? Do we reason the way you reason, tell me? If you have not achieved and perfected yourself, then why do you command those who are perfect to philosophize the same things that you philosophize yourself, while not yet being perfect? Because, he says, this is what constitutes perfection. , that is, if someone thinks (and otherwise) that he has accomplished all the virtues. (The Apostle) warns (the Philippians), but he said the wrong thing - so what? “If you think differently about anything, then God will reveal this to you.”. Look how modestly he said it. God will teach you, that is, God will assure you, and not just teach you, because Paul taught, but God admonished; however, (the apostle) did not say - he will enlighten, but: “he will open” to show that the matter occurs mainly from ignorance. This is not said about dogmas, but about the perfection of life, and about not considering oneself perfect, since whoever thinks of himself that he has already achieved everything has nothing. (). : what does it mean? This means: meanwhile, let us adhere to what we have accomplished, that is, love, unanimity, peace. We did this. “However, as far as we have reached, we must think and live according to that rule.”. “However, what have we achieved?”, i.e. we have already done this. Do you see that he wants to make his teaching a rule? A rule tolerates neither addition nor decrease: otherwise it ceases to be a rule. "and according to that rule", i.e. the same faith, the same instruction. “Imitate me, brothers, and look to those who walk in the image that you have in us.”(). In the above words: "Beware of the dogs", (the apostle) turned away (the Philippians from evil people), and now turns to those whom they should imitate. If anyone wants, he says, to imitate us, if anyone (wants) to follow the same path, then remember the following: although I am not with you, you know the way of my walk, that is, the passing of life. He taught not only in words, but also in deeds, just as in a choir and army everyone must follow the leader of the choir or army, and thus act harmoniously; and harmony can be disrupted by stopping.
3. So, the apostles were a model, containing within themselves features that served as some kind of prototype. Think how strict their life was when they were set as prototypes and examples and animated laws! They showed everyone what the Scripture said by their actions. Here best way teaching: in this way the teacher can instruct his student. But if he speaks and reasons well, but does poorly, then he is not yet a teacher: even a student can easily reason in words, but instruction and guidance in deeds is needed. This makes the teacher respectable and the student inclined to obedience. How? When (the student) notices that (the teacher) is only reasoning in words, he will say that he demands the impossible, and what (demands) the impossible, the teacher himself is the first to prove by his non-fulfillment; but if the student sees that virtue is being accomplished in practice, he can no longer say this. However, even if the life of a teacher is careless, we must be attentive to ourselves and listen to the prophet, who says that everyone will "they will be taught by the Lord"(); And: “And they will no longer teach one another, brother to brother, and say, ‘Know the Lord,’ for all themselves will know Me, from the least of them to the greatest.”(). Don't you have a virtuous teacher? But you have a true Teacher, Whom alone should be called teacher. Learn from Him. He said: "Learn from Me, for I am gentle"(). So, pay attention not to that teacher, but to This One and His instructions. Take your example from Him - here is a wonderful example for you - conform to Him. In Scripture there are many examples of a virtuous life - go, if you like, from the teacher to the disciples: some became famous for poverty, others for wealth - poverty, for example, Elijah, wealth Abraham. Whichever life seems easier and more convenient to you, follow it. Also, one was famous for his marriage, another for his virginity, Abraham, for example, for his marriage, and that one (Elijah) for his virginity. Take any path you like: both lead to heaven. Some became famous by fasting, for example, John, others without fasting, like Job. Moreover, the latter took care of his wife, and his sons, and his daughters, and his house, and had great wealth, while the former had nothing but hair clothing. And what am I talking about a house, about wealth and money, when, even as a king, one can acquire virtue? There is much more to do in the royal palace than in any private house; however, David became famous and, being king, the purple and the Diadem did not upset him at all. Another became famous by ruling an entire people - I mean Moses - which is even more difficult, since here there was more power, and therefore more difficulties. You saw that they were glorified both in wealth and in poverty, and in marriage and in virginity; Now look at the opposite side, at those who perished both in marriage and in virginity, in wealth and in poverty. So, many people died in marriage, for example, Samson, not from marriage, however, but from their own will; in virginity - five virgins; in wealth - the rich man who despised Lazarus; Many beggars are still dying in poverty. I can show many who died in royal dignity and ruling the people. But you want to see if they are saved in military rank? Look at Cornelius. Are stewards saved? Look at the Ethiopian eunuch. Thus, from all the examples it is clear that when we use wealth as we should, it will not destroy us, but if otherwise, then everything will serve to destruction - royal dignity, poverty, and wealth. He who is careful, nothing can harm him. Tell me, in fact, did captivity do any harm? No. Remember that Joseph, even while in slavery, retained virtue; Remember that Daniel and the three youths were in captivity, and meanwhile they became even more famous. Virtue in any state is glorious and invincible, and nothing can be an obstacle to it. What am I talking about poverty, captivity and slavery? Neither hunger, nor ulcers, nor illness can harm virtue, and illness is worse than slavery. Such is the story of Lazarus, such is Job, such is Timothy, who was obsessed with frequent illnesses.
You see that nothing can defeat virtue - neither wealth, nor poverty, nor power, nor subordination, nor management of affairs, nor illness, nor disgrace, nor exile, that she, leaving all this down on earth, hurries to heaven. Just have a noble soul, and there will be no obstacle to being virtuous; when the actor is strong, then nothing external hinders him. And in the arts, when the artist is experienced, patient and completely knows art, then even if illness befalls him, art is with him, even if he falls into poverty, art is with him, even if he has an instrument in his hands, even if he does not, although Even if he worked, even if he didn’t work, it is not diminished at all, because knowledge is in himself. So a virtuous and devoted person to God is equally virtuous, being in wealth and in poverty, in sickness and in health, in glory and in dishonor.
4. Didn’t the apostles go through all this? “In honor,” it is said, “ and dishonor, with censure and praise"(). Willingness for anything is what makes an ascetic. This is also the property of virtue. If you say that I cannot rule many, that I must live alone, then you have insulted virtue. She can use everything to her advantage, and in any case show up, just let her be in your soul. Whether there is famine or insult, it equally exerts its power, as Paul says: “I know how to live in poverty, and I know how to live in abundance”(). Was it necessary to work? He was not ashamed, but he worked for two years. Was it necessary to endure hunger? He did not weaken, did not hesitate. Should I have died? He did not lose heart, in all circumstances he showed prudence, nobility and art. Let us also imitate him, and there will be no reason for us to be sad. And what, tell me, could sadden such a person? Nothing. As long as no one takes away our virtue, we will be more blessed than all people here, not only there. He who is virtuous, although he has a wife, and children, and money, and great fame, still remains virtuous with all this; take this away from him, he will also remain virtuous, will not fall from misfortune, and will not become proud from happiness; just as a rock stands unshakable both during sea waves and during silence, is neither crushed by the waves, nor suffers anything from silence - so a strong soul remains unshakable both during silence and during times of excitement. And although the children, sailing in the boat, are frightened, the helmsman sits smiling and calm, looks and is amused by their fear: so the wise soul, with prudence, as if at the stern and at the helm, remains unshakable, while everyone else is restless, or but when circumstances change, they laugh inappropriately. What, tell me, can outrage a prudent soul? Death? But (such a soul) knows that death is the beginning better life. Poverty? But poverty helps her in virtue. Disease? But she considers it as nothing. And what am I talking about illness? The same is true for relaxation and grief: after all, even before that she had subjected herself to grief. Ignominy? But for her the whole world was crucified. Losing children? But (such a soul) is devoid of fear: if it is confident in the resurrection, then what can crush it? Nothing at all. Perhaps wealth makes you proud? no: she knows that money is nothing. So glory? But she was inspired that “All flesh is grass, and all its beauty is like the flower of the field.”(). So pleasure? But she heard Paul say that "the voluptuous one died alive"(). When she neither ascends nor humiliates herself, then what can compare with her well-being? Other souls, however, are not like that but change more often than the sea and the chameleon. That’s why it can be very funny when you see the same person laughing, crying, being overly busy, or distracted. And when Paul says: "Do not be conformed to this age"(), then not for any other reason, but because our residence is in heaven, where there is no change ().
We are promised unchangeable rewards: let us lead such a life for which we would receive eternal benefits. Why should we rush into this abyss, into these waves, into a storm and whirlwind? Let's be silent. This does not depend at all on wealth, nor on poverty, nor on glory, nor on disgrace, nor on illness, nor on health, nor on weakness, but (depends) on our soul. If she is firm and well trained in the sciences of virtue, then everything will be easy for her. Here too she will already see peace and a quiet refuge, and having moved there, she will receive countless benefits, which may we all be worthy of by the grace and love for mankind of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom to the Father and the Holy Spirit be glory, power, honor, now and ever, and forever forever and ever. Amen.
"Forgetting what is behind and reaching forward,
I strive for the goal
to the honor of the highest calling of God
in Christ Jesus"
(Phil.3:13-14)
"The purpose of life is man's ascent to godlikeness"
(St. Anthony the Great)
Man is endowed by God with the great power of reason. He comprehends the laws of nature, soars in the air higher than birds, has penetrated into space and the depths of the sea, can speak across tens of thousands of kilometers and forces the forces of nature to serve his purposes.
The progress of civilization is developing uncontrollably and promises humanity more great miracles technology in the future.
Are these the successes of the spiritual culture of mankind? Does it become nobler in spirit, more loving, kinder, more truthful and more merciful to its neighbor?
And if a person becomes more and more comfortable in building his external life, then has he finally learned to improve his inner life, has he studied it and knows its laws?
After millennia cultural life Does he finally know why he lives - what is the purpose of his existence and what is the ideal of spiritual culture?
We can firmly say that the vast majority of people will not be able to answer these last questions and, more often than not, do not even ask them. It lives “as it lives,” having not conscious, but subconscious goals for its existence.
These goals for most people do not extend beyond feeding, clothing and warming their bodies and satisfying their animal needs.
Living like this, humanity is essentially no different and does not rise above the dumb creatures, constituting a breed of the most developed animals that have learned to use their “science and technology” to a large extent for the most effective mutual extermination.
Moreover, in this case, man not only does not rise above animals, but has fallen below them, since he has violated the eternal laws of his nature and does not go towards the sublime goal of his destiny.
Only a small part of people will be able to meaningfully answer the question about the purpose of their existence. But their answers, in most cases, will be primitive and full of selfishness, if only they are sincere.
So, one talented young man was asked what goal he sets for himself in life?
“I will study diligently and gain a good position in society,” the young man answered.
- And then?
“Then I will try to get close to famous and smart people, I will travel, I will enjoy all the cultural joys of life.
- And then?
– I will start a family, I will have children, in my old age I will relax and play with my grandchildren.
- And then?
- Then... - And the young man thought.
“You’re right,” said the young man, as if answering the unspoken thoughts of his interlocutor. - Everything that I strive for has little value, since then death will come. And all these joys are fleeting and nothing compared to the meaning and immeasurable greatness of eternity and will not have the slightest meaning for it.
Only a relatively very small number of people have higher and more ideal aspirations - such as serving art and science or the tasks of social reconstruction of society.
No one can dispute the importance of science and art in the life of mankind. But neither science nor art can become an end in itself for a person. They are nothing in themselves if a person does not go through them to the highest goal of his existence.
Science can lead to good, such as Pasteur's vaccination against rabid animal bites. But it can also sow death and horror, in the form of bombs dropped on masses of defenseless children and women.
Would the Curies, Einsteins and others work in the field of decay studies? atomic nucleus, if they could foresee what horrors their work brings to humanity, in the form atomic explosions, poisoning the entire earth in peacetime and promising disasters unprecedented on earth to people - in wartime?
Therefore, when assessing the scientific achievements of our time, one cannot but agree with the poet who writes:
History has reached fatal pages,
And it leads to unexpected conclusions:
Science has become the servant of murderers,
And the miracle of technology is self-destruction.
God gives the sun to the earth,
Rains of blessings,
And people are deadly strontium
And the rain of destruction.
The closer to the distant planet,
The clearer the feeling of the end.
A. Solodovnikov
This explains the opinion of the Optina elder Barsanuphius, who said that “the newest inventions, although they also have good sides, always turn out to be more harmful than useful, and one might even say that they are simply evil.” And “scientists, even if they limited themselves to scientific knowledge, do nothing useful for their souls, and then they buried their talent in the ground.”
And here’s how he writes about the dangers of getting lost in modern science O. Pavel Florensky.
- “It is not science, but sciences, and not even sciences, but disciplines that occupy humanity. Random questions, like an inspired idea, eat into the consciousness and, enslaved by its own creations, it loses contact with the whole world.
Specialization, monoideism, the destructive disease of the century, requires more victims than plague, cholera and pestilence."
So, can a person be proud of science and technology?! At the same time, as the archbishop says. John, “scientific discoveries and ever-increasing technology do not reveal the royalty of man. On the contrary, they reveal the increasing misery of one who needs so many material prostheses.”
The same goes for art: it can call to the highest ideals (for example, from the paintings of Vasnetsov, Nesterov) or destroy the purity of human souls by lack of moral feeling.
The same is true with social reforms. They can be aimed at achieving the true good of society, when the mind of the person creating them is enlightened by the light of truth, or they can plunge society into misfortune when legislators follow their false ideas.
Therefore, here too, service to humanity can begin for the legislator only with the enlightenment of his mind with the truth.
But we repeat that there are very few people who set themselves the highest goals of serving humanity. And usually, despite the greatness of the human mind, human life is pitiful, empty, aimless and filled with vanity and worries about the body, like animals.
About deep corruption modern humanity so writes Fr. Pavel Florensky (“The universal roots of idealism”).
“The principles of inner life have disintegrated: sacredness, beauty, goodness, usefulness not only do not form a single whole, but even in thoughts are no longer subject to merging. Modern sacredness is timid and huddles in a hidden corner of the soul, no longer needed for anything. Beauty is ineffective and dreamy, kindness is rigoristic; benefit - the notorious idol of our days - is arrogant and cruel. Life has become scattered."
And Archbishop John writes:
“People who are slow and deafened by the bustle are no longer able to think about great and eternal truths, to comprehend which one needs at least a minute of Divine silence in the heart, at least a moment of holy silence.”
Therefore, life was defined by Solomon as “vanity of vanities” (Eccl. 1:2). And then a person does not have an answer to the question of the Wise One - “what does a person benefit from all his labors?” (Eccl. 1:3).
But man was not created for such a miserable situation. And it was not “vanity of vanities” that was destined for him according to the design of the Creator of the Universe.
He was created in the “image and likeness” of God Himself, endowed with the power of reason, made ruler over the animal world and king over nature, and, finally, man was granted the highest good - the immortality of his soul.
As Fr. writes. John S. - “man is a wonderful, majestic, wise, artistic work of the most perfect Artist - God.”
And Archimandrite (later Patriarch) Sergius says: “As the image and likeness of God, man is endowed with God-like properties and endless aspirations. He is not satisfied with the mere appearance of phenomena, one ostentatious side of life, he seeks its foundations and, thus, reaches the final foundation, i.e. seeks God and Communion with God."
According to Rev. Seraphim, the first man Adam was such that “neither water could drown him, nor fire could burn, nor could the earth devour him in its abysses, nor harm him in any way, now to the detriment of those existing to us by his action, and everything was subjugated he was treated as a favorite of God, as a king and owner of creation, and everyone admired him as the all-perfect crown of God’s creation, surpassing all that is on earth, and on the waters, and in the air of God’s creation.”
Sin - disobedience to the will of God - led a person to the death of the body and to devastation, decay of the soul.
But, by the mercy of God, humanity was saved by the appearance on earth of the Son of God - Jesus Christ and redeemed by His Blood.
God again accepts people as “His children” (John 1:12), as His “sons” (Rom. 8:19), as “friends” (John 15:14).
Man is again restored by God to his high dignity, which is defined, in the words of the Apostle Peter, as “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a special people, that you might proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9 ).
What is the true purpose of human life on earth in this new, “after redemption” state?
Let us look for the answer to this most important question for humanity in the sources of eternal truth - in the Holy Scriptures and in the Holy Fathers, whose minds were enlightened by the Holy Spirit.
In the Gospel we will find the Lord’s instructions about the purpose of striving in the search for a person. “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness” (Matthew 6:33). At the same time, the Lord explains to us that this Kingdom is not located outside a person, but inside him: “For behold, the Kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:21).
This definition can be supplemented by the words of the Apostle Paul, who defines the goal of life as a disciple of Christ as striving “for the honor of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 3:14).
This highest rank is achieved, according to the apostle, when Christians “no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died for them and was Risen.”
If we turn to the holy fathers, then their usual definition of the goal of Christian life is formulated as “Salvation of the soul,” meaning by this the cleansing of the human soul from sin, vice, passions and addictions, through prayer, repentance, humility, works of mercy and the development of Christian virtues in the soul .
“Life is a huge workshop in which souls are prepared for heaven,” wrote Bishop Bugo.
Finally, Rev. Seraphim defines the goal of a Christian’s life as “acquiring” (i.e., gathering, gradually acquiring) the “Holy Spirit of God” through repentance, prayer and other deeds “done for Christ’s sake.”
At the same time, as Simeon the New Theologian said: “If we do not seek the Holy Spirit, then all our labor is in vain and all our doing is in vain, the path that does not lead to this is useless.”
The Venerable Anthony the Great considered the purpose of the Christian soul to be “its ascent to God-likeness.”
Fr. speaks in more detail about the latter. Alexander Elchaninov: “A person who rejects his kinship to God, who refuses sonship to Him, is not a real person, flawed, only a schema of a person, since this sonship is not only given to us as a gift, but is also given, and only in the fulfillment of this task, in by consciously putting on oneself in Christ and God, there can be a complete revelation and flowering of each human personality."
All these definitions represent one whole, mutually explaining and complementing each other.
They can be summarized in the following position.
The purpose of human life is to transform the human soul. It is achieved by grace through repentance, prayer, works of mercy, fasting, etc. This is how one “acquires” a spiritual treasure within oneself—the Holy Spirit of God.
In the presence of this treasure, the human soul is transformed, and its passions and bad inclinations are reborn into the corresponding virtues opposite them: pride - into humility, selfishness - into Christ's love, self-will - into obedience, licentiousness - into abstinence, etc.
Then, captivated by the love of Christ, the Christian ceases to live by himself and for himself, but lives by Christ and for Christ, does not his own, but His perfect and holy will.
This is how the Kingdom of God opens in a person’s soul, and a person achieves “the honor of the highest calling of God in Christ Jesus,” achieves deification, without which, according to Elder Silouan of Old Athos, the very meaning of human existence disappears.
What does a person get when he achieves this goal?
Even in this life he finds true happiness, complete joy, peace and tranquility of the soul.
His heart is purified, his mind is cleared, his will is strengthened, all the abilities and powers of the soul are revealed, and all virtues are developed. A person joins, each in his own measure, to righteousness, i.e. to the true beauty of the spirit.
As Archimandrite (later Patriarch) Sergius writes: “Righteousness in the eyes of a Christian is not only not a burden, not only does not require reward for itself, but, as St. John Chrysostom says: “Righteousness itself is much greater than any reward, because it itself is a reward that contains much awards."
Secondly, as God's "son" and God's "friend", man is included in serving the highest goals of the universe and receives the highest gift - the promise of immortal life with God in eternity on the "new earth and under the new heaven" (Rev. 21:1 ).
At the same time, a person becomes the most valuable member of society, the “salt” of the earth, a “candle” that is placed on a candlestick to give light to “everyone in the house” (Matt. 5:13,15). He becomes a spiritual and moral stronghold for those around him, their comforter, adviser, and role model.
He introduces those around him to his invariably cheerful mood, to enthusiasm in life, cleanses them from sin and vice, awakens the conscience, calls them to the true beauty of the spirit and connects them with the primary source of all life, strength, happiness and joy - with God.
If all around his life is only smoldering, then he burns with a bright fire that enlightens everyone with the truth and warms with love, affection, sympathy, and mercy.
“You are the light of the world,” Christ said to His disciples (Matthew 5:14).
After all, “the main condition for influencing people lies,” as Father John S. says, “not in scholarship, not in mental subtlety, not in the Jesuit cunning to apply to different people and characters, but in the inner spiritual life - in the manifestation of spirit and strength (1 Cor. 2:4), in that which mystically involuntarily overflows into the soul, awakens the best feelings in it, makes its heart burn, makes it related, binds it with internal inextricable ties.”
What goal is holier, more beautiful, lighter, brighter, higher and happier than this? Is it possible to compare the achievement of this goal with the usual goals that people who live outside of Christ set for themselves?
But maybe some will say that this is just a dream, just a beautiful fairy tale that cannot be realized! And can everyone who has acquired to some extent the Spirit of God be such lights of the spirit?
Yes all! Whoever such a Christian may be - even the most uneducated and mediocre, tongue-tied and weakened ("Living Relics" by I.S. Turgenev), he will still shine to everyone around him with the height of his spirit, the peace of his soul, the power of faith, the fire of love, goodwill and disposition towards others.
And what does a suffering human soul need, first of all, if not sincere love and a sympathetic, encouraging, heartfelt attitude, both in words and in deeds.
Achieving this is not a dream, but an actual reality, which was realized in many millions of cases after the coming of Christ by His disciples. It was embodied by the grace of God and His help, strengthening weak forces person.
For this great, invaluable happiness of humanity, an immeasurable price was paid - the price of the Blood of the Son of God Himself. Just as the incarnation of Christ itself is not a myth or a dream, neither is the happiness that He brought into the world a dream.
Nor is the spiritual Kingdom founded by Him and of which anyone can become a member, since the Lord calls everyone into it. To His “marriage feast” He calls not only those “called”, but also those from the “crossroads and highways”, as well as “the poor, the maimed, the lame and the blind” (Luke 14:21; Matt. 22:9-10).
Whoever has learned the life of the saints, who has become acquainted with their character, strength of spirit, sharpness of mind, purity of heart, and the beauty of their virtues, knows that the holiness of the human soul is not a dream.
He also knows who the saints and righteous people were to those around him and what an endless stream of goodness, light, truth and happiness poured out and is pouring out through them onto the suffering, unhappy, pitiful and sinful world.
But who can become a saint?
They could become simple Galilean fishermen, they became thieves (for example, the thief on the cross and St. Moses Murin), harlots (Mary of Egypt, St. Eudokia, St. Taisius, etc.), they became emperors, princes, merchants, warriors, artisans and peasants.
Why can’t we try to follow the saints? The direct path to the Kingdom of Christ has been opened to us and the whole truth has been proclaimed. Before us is the centuries-old experience of the Church of Christ.
Finally, we have before us examples of living saints; We only need to look for them and recognize them by the signs revealed in the Holy Gospel (love, humility, meekness and ardent faith).
So, we need to understand the purpose and goal of Christian life and, having known it, for the rest of our days we need to subordinate everything in life to this goal.
The treasure is so immeasurably great, so valuable, so incomparable with anything on earth that nothing is spared in order to acquire it.
On this path, a person can find in the Church of Christ both spiritual leaders and many friends who can help with their experience and knowledge.
They will help make this good path more direct and shorter, leading more quickly to the goal, to the “honor of the high calling in Christ Jesus” - to the admiration of the dignity of the “royal priesthood.”
Often, however, a Christian during his life in the body will not yet fully feel and experience the achievement of that “honor.” As Bishop says about this. Theophan the Recluse, although - “glory and salvation are inseparable, but here this glory is hidden inside, like a treasure in meager vessels, and there it will shine forth outside.”
Literature for Chapter 1.
1. Conversation between St. Seraphim and A.N. Motovilov about the purpose of Christian life.
2. Bishop Theophan the Recluse. The path to salvation.
3. Archimandrite Sergius (later patriarch). The doctrine of salvation.
1st Appendix to Chapter 1.
MISTAKEN OPINIONS ABOUT THE WAYS OF SALVATION AND THE PURPOSE OF LIFE.
Many Christians have erroneous opinions about the ways to save the soul and about the purpose of Christian life, which the Monk Seraphim of Sarov also drew attention to.
In a conversation with N.A. Motovilov, he told the latter:
- “Many told you: go to church, pray to God, do God’s commandments, do good - that’s the goal of Christian life.” But they didn’t explain it to you the way they should.”
Then the monk outlined to him the doctrine of the need for every Christian to “acquire the Spirit of God” - as the goal of life, counting all good deeds - alms, prayer, fasting, etc. only the means to achieve it. The above-mentioned misconception among Christians is close to the so-called “legal theory” of salvation among Catholics.
According to this theory, all sins and transgressions of a person should be, as it were, balanced on the scales by Last Judgment an appropriate amount of good deeds - charity, prayer, fasting, etc.
From this teaching came the indulgences of the Middle Ages and the remission by the popes of all sins of both previous and future participants in the crusades, etc.
According to this theory, a future stay in heaven and deliverance from the torments of hell can be achieved, as it were, by a certain amount of one’s good deeds or by the presence of patrons from among the saints who have “extraordinary” merits. This does not speak of the need for transformation for the sinner.
Hence, large sums of money donated to the poor, or thousands of funeral masses can allow a rich man or a king, leaving the world with a soul filled with passions (greed, pride, lust for power, lust, etc.), to have confidence in achieving heaven. There is no question here - are such souls compatible with the heavenly host of holy souls filled with Christian virtues?
Is it necessary to talk about the falsity of such ideas in such a theory about the salvation of the soul?
Here it is enough to recall at least the words of the Apostle Paul from the 13th chapter of his letter to the Corinthians: “And if I give away all my possessions and give my body to be burned, but do not have love, it does me no good” (v. 3) .
A similar misconception that souls that have not yet been transformed on earth can go to heaven exists among Protestants (Reformers) who broke away from Catholics - Lutherans and their followers - our sectarians. They also do not place at the forefront of the human soul the fullness of the reflection in the soul of a Christian of Christ’s virtues (love, humility, meekness, etc.). At the same time, their teaching about salvation is even further from the truth than that of the Catholics.
Protestants believe that the work of salvation has already been accomplished for believers by Christ Himself - the Redemption by His Blood of the sinful human race. In their opinion, you only need to have faith in Christ - and then the believer, as if automatically, is already saved by faith alone.
Based on selected texts from the Gospel (“he who believes in Him is not condemned” - John 3:18), they do not even bother to think about the text of the same 13th chapter of the letter to the Corinthians of the Apostle Paul, which says: “If I have... and all faith, so that I could move mountains, but do not have love, then I am nothing.”
As for the words of the Apostle James - “Faith, if it does not have works, is dead in itself” (James 2:17), then Protestants reject the authenticity of the message of the Apostle James.
We, Orthodox Christians, need to firmly know that not only deeds of piety - almsgiving, fasting and visiting church - will open the doors of the Kingdom of Heaven to us. Faith in Christ and His atoning sacrifice alone is not enough to be saved.
Without the transformation of the Christian's soul, - without cleansing it from passions and addictions and without development, still here on earth, in the soul of Christ's virtues - His love, humility, meekness, obedience, etc. - We have no hope that we can enter the Kingdom of Heaven and be among the souls of saints and righteous people.
As Rev. writes. Simeon the New Theologian - “If we do not make our souls purified by repentance and filled with light, then all other deeds will not bring us any benefit.”
From what was described above about non-believers, however, it does not follow that all Catholics and Protestants do not achieve the goal of soul salvation. Theological theories are one thing, but the practice of life of heterodox Christians living in full accordance with the commandments of the Lord is another.
And among many people of other faiths one can see the truth of the understanding of the commandments and covenants of Christ and their implementation in their lives, and recognize many of the Catholics as saints or righteous people and the righteous of others and Protestants.
Human soul
“Pay attention to yourself...” (1 Tim. 4:16).
“The secret of the Lord is for those who fear Him” (Ps. 24:14).
Of all the values that a person possesses, one is incomparably more valuable than others - this is the human soul. “What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul, or what ransom will a man give for his soul” (Matthew 16:26) says the Lord.
As Metropolitan Anthony of St. Petersburg wrote: “The soul is the image of God, which God Himself inscribed. It is spirit. It is free and immortal and must be pure, bright and full of love, like the image of God.”
Therefore, the efforts of a Christian must first of all be directed to the study and enlightenment of his soul, “towards knowledge of himself” - which was once the motto of the best Hellenic sages. “Dig into yourself,” says the apostle. Paul to his beloved disciple and successor in the apostleship - Timothy.
And those who follow this instruction will find it easier to achieve the main goal of their life - the acquisition of the Holy Spirit of God and through this the transformation of their soul - its likeness to God.
It should be noted that the task of comprehending one’s soul is one of the most difficult, for, as one of the sages said: “There is nothing more unknown to the soul than it is to itself.”
Since the soul is invisible and immaterial, materialists and atheists generally deny the existence of the soul, and there are fewer and fewer people who are interested in it, and even fewer who seek to study it. And the latter is so important, since the Lord said: “The Kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:21), that is, it takes place in our soul.
As Rev. writes. Ephraim of Syria: “The Apostle John in his “Revelation” saw a great and wonderful book; it was written by God Himself, and there were seven seals on it (Apoc. 5:1). Neither on earth nor in heaven could anyone read it, except the Son of God alone, because He wrote and sealed it.
This book is a soul written in the kingdom; except the One who wrote it, no one knows what it is. No eye can see, no ear can hear, and no heart can imagine what is written in the soul. The kingdom is written in the soul and placed in it as a dowry, so that when the Heir of the kingdom comes, He will bring it with Him into the bridal chamber.”
As Prof. writes. Carl Adam (in the book “Jesus Christ”): “Man is a mystery. Standing on the very edge of two worlds, he needs both in order to be human. Earth and heaven, time and eternity touch in him. He is that point of world reality, where created things are aware of all their relativity, notice the Creator, awaken to God and are ready to respond to the call of Divine love."
But at the same time, comprehension of oneself to some extent leads to comprehension of every person: since only that will be understandable in others that is realized in oneself. Hence, a person’s understanding of others depends on the degree of self-knowledge.
The consequences of self-knowledge are amazing. Schema-Archimandrite Sophrony speaks about this:
- “Through the turning of the human spirit inward and then to God, the mind moves away from the infinite multiplicity and fragmentation of the phenomena of the world and with all its strength turns to God and, being in God, sees itself and the whole world.”
I am, first of all, my soul; but it is still connected to the body. Therefore, when studying the soul, it is necessary to find out the mutual connection between body and soul.
In addition to the last concepts - “body and soul” - the concept of “spirit” - or “spiritual”, “ inner man“with its contrast to the “spiritual” or “external” man; this is how the Apostle Paul distinguishes them in his epistles.
Let us remember that the Lord also distinguished living people into “dead” and “living,” i.e., those participating in the Holy Spirit: “let the dead bury their dead” (Matthew 8:22).
Below - in chapters 12-17 - will, in connection with this, highlight the most important process for the human soul of the rebirth of the “spiritual” or “external” person into the “spiritual” or “internal”.
The essays on mental life given below (in part two) do not at all pretend to fully cover this complex and deep issue; in them the author tries to give brief concepts only about those aspects of mental life that, in his opinion, are closely related to the goal of a Christian’s life - “acquiring the Holy Spirit of God” (St. Seraphim).
SOUL AND BODY
“Do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on: life, lest you have more food, and body, clothing” (Matthew 6:25),
“The soul is an intelligent, great and wonderful creature, full of beauty, the likeness and image of God... The soul before God is the Church” (St. Macarius the Great).
The world in the minds of atheists is materialistic. They recognize only matter and that energy that they can measure or identify by experiment, and only they are considered real. The human soul does not exist for them.
Meanwhile, Holy Scripture states exactly the opposite. Only the human soul is eternal and therefore the only one wholly real: the existence of the modern material world will come to an inevitable end: “the earth and all the works on it will be burned up” (2 Peter 3:10), says Holy Scripture.
If anything is temporary and fleeting, then in comparison with the eternal, everything is like a ghost.
If you think about it, what is the world of matter? This is only a chaos of molecules (or, more precisely, electrons, protons, neutrons, etc.), unless the human spirit reveals in it forms, regularity and expediency. Therefore, actual reality and value belong to the spirit and not to matter.
As Fr. writes. John S.: “The whole world is a web in comparison with the soul of a Christian man; nothing in it is permanent or reliable; nothing in it can be relied upon reliably: everything is torn. Therefore, one should not attach one’s heart to anything except the One God, who spreads this web, contains and animates it."
The same should be the comparative assessment of soul and body.
And the Lord teaches us: “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but are not able to kill the soul, but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in Gehenna” (Matthew 10:28).
Francis of Assisi called his body “my friend the donkey.” This name gives a depth of understanding of the meaning of the body for human life.
The body is first of all a friend; it must be valued and taken care of. The ability to work depends on this friend and, what is very important, the state of the body for the vast majority of people greatly influences the state of the person’s soul.
A person (not purified in heart) can be cheerful and joyful only with a healthy body. And, on the contrary, we are usually sad and despondent when the body is sick.
Therefore, Rev. Seraphim warned: “We should not undertake feats beyond measure, but try so that our friend - our flesh - is faithful and capable of creating virtues... We must give the spirit what is spiritual, and the body - what is bodily, necessary to maintain temporary life.”
True, the Lord said: “The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak” (Matthew 26:41). But such a contrast between the states of spirit and body can only exist among saints: “When I am weak, then I am strong,” said the apostle. Paul. But for the average Christian, who is in the stage of struggle for the revival of his soul, the state of the flesh greatly influences the state of the spirit.
Elders St. Barsanuphius and John say: “If we take care of animals that serve our needs, we must take care of the body all the more, as an instrument of the soul. When the instrument becomes dull, this makes it difficult for the sculptor, even if he is talented.”
The Apostle, drawing attention to the illness and weakness of the stomach of St. Timothy, commanded him to drink wine (1 Tim. 5:23).
St. Petersburg also writes about the same thing. Isaac the Syrian: “Beware lest your body become too weak, and this causes negligence to increase in you and reduce the zeal for salvation in your soul.”
“Health is a gift from God,” said St. Seraphim advised to keep this gift.
So, the body is our “friend”. But this friend is still an "ass". And it is therefore necessary to take into account his character, quirks, stubbornness and baseness of aspirations in order to protect himself from them.
Try to dissolve the donkey body, accustom it to self-will, and it will want to dominate you. It will demand an excessive amount of gourmet food and will constantly insistently remind you to satisfy all its animal needs.
A well-fed and spoiled body is already an enemy, not a friend of man. His demands drown out and suppress spiritual aspirations and abilities.
As Fr. writes. John S.: “This very flesh, which we so much cherish, rest, delight, adorn, is the enemy of our soul, very insidious, dangerous: it constantly resists the love of God, the will of God, the commandments of God and strives to fulfill its will, and fulfills it almost always, unless the Lord God opposes a strong obstacle in His good and wise Providence for our salvation.
With peace, space, and pleasure of the flesh, the flesh comes to life with all its passions and inclinations, and with cramped conditions, embitterment, and languor, it is mortified with all its passions.
Therefore, do not feed your flesh with partiality, do not caress it, do not please it, and do not strengthen it thereby against the spirit. Otherwise, it overthrows all the impulses of the spirit, does not allow it to rise and enter into strength.
The spirit will be a slave to the flesh. This flesh must always be crucified with passions and lusts, and not cherished; it must be mortified by fasting, vigil, prayer, and labor.”
This is how we encounter the contradictory aspirations of the soul and the body (more precisely, the spirit and the body) and the duality of the experiences of the soul. The soul is connected with the body, experiences its suffering, and responds to its requests. But she also has the life of the spirit - ideal aspirations and spiritual needs. For most people, the latter are, to one degree or another, drowned out by the experiences and demands of the body.
Here we can give the following analogy: an eye blinded by the strong light of day does not see the stars, and they do not exist for it. But the sun will go away, and the eye will be able to see the abyss of the starry worlds.
Likewise, with the stormy, strong demands of a pampered and spoiled body, the soul does not have the opportunity to live with subtle sensations of the spirit, and they do not manifest themselves in it. The soul will be able to fully immerse itself in them only when it is separated from the body - after the death and disintegration of the latter.
However, asceticism - the enslavement of the body to the spirit - makes it possible to greatly soften the demands and aspirations of the body and, even before its death, to some extent introduce the soul to the life of the spirit.
That is why all the saints, including St. Paul, “they tamed and enslaved their body” (1 Cor. 9:27) with fasting, labor and deprivation. They refined and ennobled their flesh so much that it truly became a friend of their soul and did not hinder it in its spiritual aspirations and ascents to the heavenly world. “If a person does not die to the flesh, while living in spirit, he cannot be resurrected in soul,” says St. Barsanuphius the Great.
As Rev. writes. Anthony the Great: “Sin found support for itself in the material, and the body became its seat. But the intelligent soul, realizing this, throws off the burden of the material and, having arisen from under its burden, knows the God of all and carefully looks after the body as an enemy and an opponent, not trusting him."
Thanks to sin, the human body is mortal and subject to decay and destruction.
But it, just like the immortal soul, is a creation of God and was created artistically and wisely. As a friend of the immortal soul, it will one day be resurrected by the Lord. Then the soul and the new, renewed body will again participate together in a new life “on the new earth,” if the soul manages to be transformed during life - to stock up on the “oil” of the “wise virgins” (Matthew 25: 1-13) - the Holy Spirit of God.
For saints, this illumination of the body occurs even before their repose, and after death they receive complete or partial incorruption of their flesh (power).
“In the person of Christ the Savior,” says Bishop Theophan the Recluse, “humanity begins new life and not only spiritually, but also physically, since it appeared in Himself.
The bodies of the saints, during hours of intense excitement of spiritual life, were illuminated like the enlightenment of the Savior on Tabor: and this light was visible to others. And the animals obeyed them, smelling in them the stench of Adam’s body, as it was before the fall, as the story about it explains.
This and similar things, for example: the opening of vision to the ability to see the distant and hidden, the sense of smell to the ability to smell from a thing the smell of the passion with which it was given; movement - to the ability to be in another place without leaving one's own - all this and the like does not belong to the present age, but to the future, and testifies only to how diminished in honor and glory our present body is in its usual state.
So, attention should be paid to the body of a Christian. But he should have incomparably greater attention to the immortal soul, about which a Christian should primarily care and think. He must study the laws governing the soul and take care of its health more than the health of the body. Meanwhile, the science of human mental life - psychology - is not very popular compared to other sciences.
At the same time, if we wanted to deeply study human psychology and turn to the corresponding official manuals on it, we would be disappointed.
In essence, we would not find science here at all: there is no psychology, but only the history of attempts to build psychology, a succession of experiments to create it on continuously changing justifications.
At the same time, we would not find in modern “scientific” psychology comprehensive and correct answers to the following important questions for us: what is considered the ideal of mental health? What is the essence of the disease of the human soul? What are the methods of working on yourself for transformation, enlightenment of the soul, etc.?
And this is no coincidence. You cannot talk to a blind person about the beauties of the world or to a deaf person about music and melodies. And those representatives of science who created official schools of psychology were usually blind to the inner eyes and deaf to the inner hearing, necessary for comprehending the inner mental life.
And it is not from university professors of psychology, nor from doctors of psychiatry or neuropathology that one should seek true knowledge about the inner life of a person.
Its depths were comprehended only by the vessels of the Holy Spirit - the apostles, saints and saints. The monks, in solitude, worked for many years of their lives on self-knowledge and on the cleansing, healing, and transformation of their souls.
Having achieved this, having seen the light internally, they also comprehended the science of healing mental illnesses so that they could teach methods of working on themselves.
After Holy Scripture One of the comprehensive guides to true and experimental human psychology are the works of St. fathers, including a collection of works by 38 elders, called “Philokalia” (in 5 volumes).
As neurologist and priest Fr. Alexander Elchaninov:
- “If we look through the writings of ascetics and holy fathers, what depth of psychological analysis we will encounter there, what subtlety of definitions and accuracy of classification of all the subtleties of sensations.”
These are the sources of self-knowledge you need to turn to in order to draw from them that " living water", which could revive the inner eyes blinded by sin and restore the inner hearing.
But what is the soul in its essence? St. Macarius the Great gives the following definition of the soul: “The soul is not from God’s nature and not from the nature of evil darkness, but is an intelligent creature, full of beauty, great and wonderful, a beautiful likeness and image of God, and the wickedness of dark passions entered into it as a result of crime.
There is no other such closeness and reciprocity in any creature as the soul has with God and God with the soul. For the soul is more precious than all creatures."
And here is what Archimandrite John writes about the soul: “The soul is the baby of immortality, defenseless and pitiful in the conditions of the world around us. How you need to press your soul to your chest, to your heart. How you need to love it, destined for eternal life. Oh, how to clean even the slightest stain from it...
Soul is earth. Man is the farmer of his soul. If the Word of God, the word of truth and love of Christ, is sown in the soil of the soul, then the fruit becomes sweet and joyful for the person himself and those around him. If a person sows the weeds of evil in his soul, then weedy, poisonous Herbs of the spirit will grow, which will torment both the person himself and other people.”
St. Macarius the Great compares the human soul, not cleansed of sin, to the sea, which is filled with reptiles, which are “innumerable.” And, just as the sea is deep and its fauna is diverse, so is the depth of the human soul, the complex manifestation of his spirit and the infinitely diverse bends of his sick soul.
The knowledge of morbidity, abnormality, that is, deviation from the norm, from the ideal, can only take place when this norm, this ideal is present.
Official psychology does not know such an ideal. She doesn’t know because she is not involved in “the true Light, which enlightens every person” (John 1:9). But he is known by those whose eyes are enlightened by the light of faith and who know that Jesus of Nazareth was and is truly the Son of God.
So, by the grace of the Creator who created the world, the man He created was given the image of the most perfect man in the person of the God-man - the sinless Jesus Christ.
Here is a timeless, unchanging - stable norm that gives us the opportunity to understand all the deviations and all the diseases of the human soul.
The rest of humanity is in a constantly changing state of soul. At the same time, the dynamics of change are developing here in two directions. Most of the world is dominated by the process of decay, the decomposition of the soul, leading to its death.
And only for the “little flock” (Luke 12:32), from among those who believe in Christ, the process of healing and purification of the soul takes place. This is the essence of the life of mankind after the coming of Christ, which is characterized in these words by the Apostle John the Theologian: “Let the unjust still do unrighteousness; let the unclean one still be defiled; let the righteous one still do righteousness; and let the holy one still be sanctified” (Rev. 22:11).
And for us, the most important thing in life is to involve ourselves in the final process - the process of rebirth, enlightenment and transformation of the soul.
