Слово на Святую Пасху. (О воскресении). Святого Григория, епископа Нисского

Now Christ, the immortal God, has risen from the dead. Our humane Savior voluntarily accepted what was dishonorable for Himself in order to save a perishing man - He descended into our lives and wanted to die according to humanity, since He also foresaw a glorious resurrection. So, this day, which the Lord has created, we will rejoice and be glad on it (Ps. 117:24), expressing our joy with godly reflections. This day is the reason that all bodies that were generated by corruption will be returned to the earth undamaged and will be resurrected in the twinkling of an eye (1 Cor. 15:52). It is impossible to imagine how many dimensions of time would be required in order to compose the bones that have turned to earth and bring them into a natural connection - how each soul recognizes its own body and quickly inhabits it again - where will the memory of the previous life again appear in a revived creature that has been destroyed for so many centuries? This and similar things, when they come to people’s minds, strike the mind with extraordinary surprise and at the same time arouse distrust of the miracle (for when the mind does not find a solution to the perplexities, then, due to its weakness, it ultimately inclines towards unbelief). But since we have touched on a subject that is constantly talked about, and since this subject is akin to a real holiday, we will try to fully convince those who doubt the clear things. Having proposed to create man, the Creator of all things brought him into existence as a being superior in honor to all others, and appointed him king of the creation under heaven. Did God really do this in vain - only so that man, having been born, would subsequently completely disappear? To think this way about God would be extremely foolish (because in this case the Lord would act like children who build houses for themselves with great care, but soon later destroy them themselves, since their actions are not guided by any reasonable goal). Meanwhile, the teaching of faith tells us that the first man was created immortal, but that subsequently, having violated the commandment, he was deprived of immortality as punishment for his sins; however, the Infinite One in goodness, bowing in mercy to the work of His hands, with wise providence directed everything towards restoring fallen man to his former state. This is both true and worthy of the concept of God, because in this case, power is ascribed to the Lord along with goodness (it is unusual even for good people to express indifference and cruelty towards those who are in charge and subject). If this is so, and if it is very fitting for the Creator of our race to recreate the damaged creation, then, obviously, unbelievers rebel against the resurrection of the future for no other reason than because they recognize it as impossible for God to resurrect what has been destroyed. But, truly, only the insane tend to transfer their own weakness to omnipotent greatness and think that for God there is something impossible and inconvenient. How the scattered dust united, and the earth became flesh, how the first wife from a small part of a rib was formed into a whole living being - all this is amazing for us, insignificant creatures, and yet immutable. After this, can we recognize as sane those who, admitting that man was made from one rib, do not believe that he himself can be recreated from the entire human substance? Human thought is not able to comprehend the effective power of God: otherwise He who is more perfect would not be more perfect than us. Those who are well-meaning and reasonable should believe what God says, and not test the ways and reasons of His actions as beyond human understanding. Otherwise, it will be possible to ask the curious: “Tell me, with what art did the Lord create everything visible? If you discover this, then you can legitimately be perplexed and indignant why, knowing the cause of birth, you do not know the method of transformation through rebirth; If knowledge of this is not available to you, then do not be annoyed that, not knowing the reason for the dispensation, you do not understand the way to correct what was damaged.” One and the same is the Artist of both the first creation and the second transformation: He knows how to restore his own work, which has been destroyed, to its previous state; if wisdom is needed, He has the source of wisdom; if strength is needed, He needs no helper. Having seen the souls of unbelievers, God himself confirmed the resurrection of the dead, having animated many bodies of the deceased (for example, the four-day-old Lazarus came out of the tomb, the only begotten son of a widow was returned to his mother alive from his funeral bed...), and gave His servants, the apostles, the power to resurrect the dead. So, if you ask me: “how will the resurrection of those who have died since eternity be,” you will immediately hear the opposite question: “how was Lazarus resurrected for four days?” (A sane person, of course, based on the evidence of one example, will not doubt many). Recognizing God as the Creator, you cannot say that anything is not possible for Him, and you cannot think that the wisdom of the Incomprehensible is comprehensible by your thought. If the human seed, at the beginning formless, formless, by the command of God, takes on a certain shape and grows into a dense body, then it is not at all strange, on the contrary, it is completely natural that the substance that is in the tombs and once had a form should be restored to its previous form, and the dust should again become a man. Let us yield to the Creator of all things, although we have as much power as a poor man has 8. What is the last one doing? He takes rough and formless clay and molds it, at his own discretion, into a jug, a dish or something else, and exposes it to the sun's rays to dry and fasten it - and if by chance something falls and breaks these works, then although they lose their appearance through this and again turn into a rough and formless mass, nevertheless, the crafter, if he wants, can soften it again and make it into a vessel no worse than the previous one. Let us note that this is done by the potter, an insignificant creature of God. How can we not believe in the almighty God, who promises to resurrect the dead and renew our nature? Lots of madness in this! Let us also consider the example of wheat, with which the Holy Apostle teaches the foolish, saying: foolishly, you are in a hurry... do not hurry up the future body, but the bare grain, if it happens, of wheat, or something else from the rest (seeds): God gives it a body as He pleases (1 Cor. 15:36-38). Let us delve carefully into the growth of wheat, in order, as far as possible, to understand the doctrine of the resurrection. A grain of wheat sown in the ground, having rotted and, so to speak, died, turns into a kind of milk-like substance, which, having become somewhat denser, becomes a pointed white fiber; Having grown enough to penetrate the earth, it little by little turns from white to green - then, having become grass and giving enough offspring, it spreads a branched root below, preparing support for future heaviness. And just as on a ship the masts are attached on all sides by many ropes so that they stand firmly: so the rope-like branches of the root serve as fastenings and supports for the ears. After the wheat stretches into a stalk, God strengthens the trunk with knees and knots, thereby making it capable of supporting the weight of the ear; in the ear itself, first, nests are prepared in an orderly order for each of the emerging grains - then long, prickly ends come out (by the way, in order to protect the grains from the predation of birds). That's how many miracles are contained in one rotten grain! Having fallen to the ground alone, in what number of grains does it resurrect?! With the resurrection, man does not receive anything more: he again accepts what he had, and therefore our future renewal seems more understandable than the growth of wheat in agriculture. Move from the grain of wheat to thinking about trees. Winter for them is not the same as death for us? At this time of year, the fruits fall off, the leaves fall off, and the trees stand naked and devoid of all beauty. But spring comes, and the trees are covered with flowers and leaves and present such a beautiful and pleasant sight that they force the very people to move under their shade and leave their palaces. Let us stop disbelieving changes and renewals: for the life of plants, animals and people themselves even teaches us that what is born and subject to decay is constantly changing and being transformed. Let's look, for example, at a person's age. In an infant it is difficult to guess what he will become over time. First, the baby learns to crawl and differs in little ways from four-legged animals; little by little he begins to walk and pronounce some words, although vaguely - then, with an increase in strength, he becomes a playful youth with distinct speech in his mouth, then a young man, even further he grows a beard and hair on his body and becomes a strong husband, capable of work. The years of courage pass, and gray hair begins to whiten his head; Then old age sets in - a gradual weakening of strength: the body bends to the ground, like an overripe ear of corn - a person becomes like a child. Are all these not constant changes in ways of being, which a mortal changes from one to another long before death? For a sensible person, our very sleep and wakefulness represent similarities to a future resurrection: for the former is a very accurate image of death, and the latter – of resurrection (which is why some call sleep “the brother of death”, in view of the fact that the soul experiences both in both). In a dream, a person forgets everything and even loses consciousness: the body lies insensitive, devoid of any activity, no different from the bodies laid in graves. Take the sleeping person out of the room, tie him up, and he will not feel anything; but, after a while, feeling begins to awaken in the sleepy man, he gets up, as if brought back to life again. If, in the current order of things, so many losses of feeling and consciousness occur in a person’s life, then it would be impudent and extremely unreasonable not to believe in God, who promises renewal on the last day - God, to Whom belongs the first creative formation of man. Some, however, stubbornly reject the resurrection on the grounds that our bodies are completely destroyed after death. But this is far from being the case: our bodies are only resolved into their component parts, which remain in water, air, fire, and earth. If the main elements remain and invariably preserve the particles entrusted to them, then, having once created the entire universe out of nothing, will it really be difficult to recreate our nature from the surviving principles?.. Out of excessive love for pleasure, let us not neglect God’s loving promise. The opponents of the thought we reveal truly reveal in themselves the friends of evil and the enemies of virtue. Since the doctrine of the resurrection is connected with the thought of judgment, at which we will receive a worthy reward for the deeds of life: then, realizing that their shameful deeds are worthy of great punishment, these people, out of hatred for the court, reject the resurrection itself. Thus, evil slaves, having squandered the property of their master, imagine the destruction of their master and invent empty assumptions, in accordance with what they themselves desire. But no one will think like that sane, because what good will there be from truth, from truth, from goodness and in general from everything good if there is no resurrection? If death is the limit of life, then leave accusations, censures and give unrestricted freedom to the murderer, the adulterer; if there is no resurrection, let a person break his oath, for death awaits even those who keep oaths - let someone else constantly lie, because there is no fruit from the truth - let no one have mercy on the poor, since mercy remains unrewarded. If there is no resurrection, then everything that is written about the rich man and Lazarus is fiction (and what foreshadows our future state) - fiction - a terrible abyss, an unbearable flame, a burning tongue, a thirst for water, a poor man's finger (Luke 16:20-27)... The inspired Ezekiel saw a vast field full of human bones, which he was commanded to speak about, and these bones grew overgrown flesh, and that which had been disunited and disorderly was joined together one with another in orderly order (Ezek. 37:1-12). Isn’t this proof of the revival of this flesh with sufficient clarity? The very names - “resurrection, revival, transformation” and the like transfer the thought of the one hearing this to the corruptible body, for our soul is immortal; being immortal, it has a mortal body as a partner in its affairs, which is why, during the reward of the righteous, the soul will again inhabit its employee in order to receive common punishments or rewards with him. And truly, if in every task the soul and body are united with each other, if in achieving perfection the body works together with the soul and does not lag behind it in sins, then it is unfair and unreasonable to drag one immaterial soul to the judgment seat. According to the word of the Holy Scriptures, those condemned will be subject to fire, darkness, and the worm. All this is punishment for material bodies, but the soul itself will never be touched by fire, and darkness cannot be heavy for it, and a worm could not do anything to it. So, the consistent course of reasoning comprehensively encourages us to recognize the resurrection of the dead, which God will accomplish at the proper time, confirming His promises by deed. Let us believe in Rekshem: the hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear the voice of the Son of God: and they who have done good will come forth, to the resurrection of life; and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of judgment (John 5:28–29). The Lord not only promises, but daily confirms that He is omnipotent: just as in the beginning - during creation, God did not get tired, did not become exhausted from this, so during re-creation He will not ask anyone for advice or wisdom. Let's look at the present and we will believe what will happen. Every action of God arouses amazement in us. Thus, it is an inexpressible miracle when we see that the features of no longer existing fathers and great-grandfathers are exactly transferred to the appearance of their descendants, and children bear the imprint of their ancestors, as if resurrecting the dead, and often the features of many faces are displayed together in one body (father’s nose, mother’s voice, grandfather’s eye, uncle’s gait) - and one person seems like some kind of plant that has taken grafts from many trees and, when harvested, bears many different types of fruits. Therefore, it is extremely unreasonable to admit that the distinctive signs of already decayed bodies in people born daily at the present time are resurrected, and at the same time to deny that the special (own) properties of each in the very persons who once acquired them will not be renewed and will not come to life - and not to recognize as a faithful word the promise of the One who composed this visible to us and adorned it as He willed... But we believe in the resurrection, sending out glory To the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen 9. Potter. Free encyclopedia. Russian Wiktionary. Note electronic edition. In short. See Curs. Compl. Patrolog. edit. Migne, Tom. XLVI, col. 651–681; compare Created, St. Grigor. Nissk. ed. Moscow Spirit. Academician 1871, part VIII, pp. 56–87; Christ. Read 1847, part II, pp. 3–41; Church Led. 1897, no. 15–16. You might be interested in: