Церковь и инославие

Not only worldliness, secularism of consciousness tempts a person and leads him astray from the true path, but also false ideas about God and the ways of salvation, distortion and oblivion of the truths of faith. And it's hard to say which is worse. “If you run from a wolf, you will attack a bear,” 186 said Elder Ambrose of Optina. The learned deacon Epiphanius of Catania at the VII Ecumenical Council turned to Saint Tarasius, Patriarch of Constantinople, with a question about the heresy of iconoclasm. He asked: “Is the heresy that has reappeared now less than what existed before or more than them (detrimental)?” His Holiness Patriarch Tarasius said: “Evil is evil, especially in church affairs; As for dogmas, it makes no difference whether you sin in a small or a great way; because in both cases the law of God is violated” 187. This is exactly how Archimandrite Hilarion perceived heterodox confessions. Their ontological alienness to Orthodoxy, in his opinion, is such that he did not even imagine it possible to call them churches. “Several churches appeared,” he was perplexed, “Orthodox, Catholic, even Protestant, Anglican, etc., although, it would seem, it should be clear that One Head can have only one body” 188. He even puts the antonym of the term “Catholic” not “Orthodox”, but “church”, apparently to emphasize the “significant difference between Catholic life and church life” 189, since for him there is one divine-human community, the proper name of which is “Church”. Archimandrite Hilarion devoted two of his works, published in 1913 and 1914, to the topic of the difference between the Church and earthly, human societies, although they have faith in Christ, namely from Roman Catholicism and Protestantism. Agapit (Belovidov), schiarchim. A biography in Bose of the deceased Optina elder Hieroschian-monk Ambrose with his portrait and facsimile. In 2 hours. Rep. ed. – M.: Holy Trinity Lavra of Sergius, 1992. Part 2. P. 60. Acts of the Ecumenical Councils: In 4 volumes - M.; St. Petersburg: Resurrection, Pilgrim, 1996. – T. IV: VI Council, VII Council. P. 358. Hilarion (Troitsky), schmch. Without the Church there is no salvation. P. 141.