А. О Боге Самом в Себе

Considering the universe, the human mind comes to the recognition of a being of the highest order. Only “people whom the Psalmist rightly calls crazy, wanting to get rid of the fear of God’s judgment, say in their hearts: there is no God (Ps. 13:1)” 151. Man, by himself, cannot quite correctly decide how to think about this premium being; and without knowing this definitely, he cannot understand his relationship to the finite world. Christianity imparts to us a sublime concept of the Trinity God and clarifies His relationship to the world. A complete and clear concept of the Trinity God is given by the New Testament itself; in the Old we find only hints about the existence of several, two, three Divine Persons. Evidence of the plurality of Divine Persons is found in the first words of the book. Genesis. “In this place of the Hebrew text, the word Elohim, actually Gods, expresses a certain plurality, while the saying created shows the unity of the Creator” 152. “God’s council about the creation of man (also) has, in Moses, a certain appearance of a multitude of those consulting” 153. After the Fall, “when God speaks of Adam: He became like one of us, one cannot think that this speech is addressed to the Angels, for the pride of one created in the image of God could not consist in the desire to become like the Angels. So, here is presented the internal, so to speak, interview of the Holy Trinity and a new solemn council about the fate of fallen man, similar to the first council about his creation” 154. In other places in the Old Testament Scriptures, the number of divine persons is indicated more clearly. Thus, it is said about the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah: then Jehovah sent sulfur and fire rain from Jehovah from heaven to Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen. 19:24). “In the amplification of the name of Jehovah in this place... some Christian teachers find an indication of the division of the persons of the Holy Trinity (Ignat.). According to this guess, the text can be stated as follows: Jehovah, who appeared to Abraham, rained brimstone and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah, from Jehovah, who is unapparently abiding in heaven" 155. Moses on Mount Sinai “saw God passing over him with His glory, heard God proclaiming the mercy and righteousness of God (Ex. 34:6–7). In (this) separation of God who proclaims and God who is proclaimed, the difference between the Hypostases is revealed” 156. There are places in the Old Testament books from which one can guess about the existence of three Divine Persons (Is. 6:3). The very “threefold number” in the Old Testament was “sacred and was marked by divine action.” “Why (for example) Elijah the prophet, wanting to resurrect the youth, would not once, not repeatedly, but three times blow on the youth (1 Kings 17:21), if not in order to confess the Trinitarian faith in triplicate and attract the essential action (of the life-giving Trinity)? Was it not in the same spirit that he poured a threefold libation of water (18:34) on the sacrifice on which he wanted to bring down heavenly fire? The veneration of God in the Trinity, as some have noted, is revealed in the blessing of the children of Joseph, where Jacob calls upon God the Provider, the Deliverer, the Sanctifier." 159 The clearest indications of a trinitarian God are found in Psalm 32 and the prophet Haggai. By the word of the Lord the heavens were established, and by the Spirit of His mouth all their strength (6), says the psalmist. “When Haggai, in encouragement to the people of God, assures them that the Lord of hosts, the Word of the covenant and the Spirit of God are among them (2:5-6): he, without a doubt, proclaims the mystery of the Trinitarian” 160. In the New Testament we can find clear teaching about St. Trinity. “The most important sayings about this from the New Testament are the following: go therefore and teach all tongues, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19). There are three who testify in heaven, the Father, the Word and the Holy Spirit, and these three are one (1 John 5:7)" 161. – Already from the previous one it was possible to see that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are Divine persons. Let us confirm this truth with other, clearer sayings. John the Theologian clearly testifies to the Divinity of the Son of God: in the beginning was the word, and the Word was to God, and God was the Word (John 1:1), “that is, the name of God in the same true sense in which it belongs to God the Father equally belongs to the Son.” This (i.e., the Son) is the true God and the eternal life (1 John 5:20). That the Holy Spirit is the true God, “this is clear from the words that the Apostle Peter said in reproof of Ananias: Why would Satan fill your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit? and further, you did not lie to man, but to God (Acts 5:3-4).” Having proven the Divinity of the Son and the Holy Spirit, through this very thing we have proven the Divinity of the Father, Their Source. So, “the three Hypostases or Persons of the Most Holy Trinity are of completely equal divine dignity. Just as the Father is true God, so the Son is true God, and the Holy Spirit is true God.” 162 The relationship of the persons of the Holy Trinity among themselves. Hypostatic difference between Father and Son Doesn't the evidence cited preach tranquility? How is the unity of the Divine preserved despite the trinity of Divine persons? – The unity of the Divine does not consist in the identity of the Divine Persons; There is a hypostatic difference between Them. “The difference between the Persons of the Holy Trinity is that God the Father is not born and does not come from another Person; The Son of God is eternally born from the Father, the Holy Spirit eternally proceeds from the Father.” Holy Scripture calls the Son of God the Only Begotten (John 1:14–18). This title clearly “depicts that personal property of the Son of God by which He differs from the other Persons of the Holy Trinity”; “This means that he is only the Son of God, born from the being of God the Father.” “Lest anyone should think that there was a time when the Son of God was not,” the creed “says that He was born before all ages” 163 . “The most lofty saying of the Supreme Theologian, that in the beginning was the Word,” says about God the Word that “It did not begin, so that one could imagine Him to have never been, but in the pre-temporal and eternal beginning it always was, just as it always is and will be, since it is ever-present” 164. The eternal birth of the Son of God is spoken of in the second psalm, in the words addressed from God the Father to the Son of God: You are my son, today I have given birth to you (–7). “God's today, undoubtedly, is an ineffable continuation of eternity, having nothing past or future (Ps. 95:7; Exod. 43:13; Ps. 89:5; 101:25; Mic. 5:2). Relating this today to the internal action of the Divine, which is the birth of a son, we cannot assume that it occurs slowly. In order to remove this concept, an action that has already taken place is added: giving birth. To this end, Jesus Christ said about himself before even Abraham did not exist, I am (John 8:58)” 165. The incomprehensible birth of the Son of God from the Father is somewhat explained (in the creed) by the likeness of visible light. Looking at the sun, we see light; from this light is born the light visible throughout the sun; but both are one inseparable light, of one nature. Likewise, God the Father is eternal light (1 John 1:5); from Him is born the Son of God, Who is also the eternal Light; but God the Father and the Son of God are one eternal Light, indivisible, of one Divine nature” 166. Personal Attribute of the Holy Spirit The personal property of the Holy Spirit is His eternal procession from God the Father. “The Eastern Church professes the dogma of the procession of the Holy Spirit in the very words of Jesus Christ spoken to the Apostles: When the Comforter comes, I will send him to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he who testifies about Me (John 15:26).” For a correct understanding of the high dogmatic truth contained in these words, let us make a detailed explanation of them. “When Jesus Christ speaks of the Holy Spirit: I will send: does this not mean that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Son? What does it mean: I will send? You can ask Jesus Christ Himself about this. I, He says in the same conversation to the apostles, I will pray the Father, and they will give you another Comforter (John 14:16). It can be seen that I will send from the Father - this means: I will ask the Father to give. So, Jesus Christ ascribes to Himself, as theologians say, not the eternal procession of the Holy One. the Spirit, or the eternal beginning of His hypostasis, but His temporary sending, or the distribution of His gifts, but Jesus Christ ascribes this to Himself not as the right of His own person, but as the power borrowed by Him from the original hypostasis of the Father: I will send from the Father. Others say, on the contrary, that the word procession means the outpouring of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, or a temporary sending. To see whether this interpretation is Orthodox, let us apply it to the words of Jesus Christ. The Comforter will come, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, that is, is sent. Don’t we see how this interpretation disfigures the whole speech, making it identical and disordered?” Nothing of the kind will happen with the Savior’s speech if we understand His words: “Who comes from the Father” - in the sense of indisputable evidence of the eternal procession of the Holy Spirit from the Father. “Let us note that the intention of Jesus Christ was to comfort his apostles in their upcoming separation from them. In this spirit He says: The Comforter will come. Both of these words are vague and do not yet give complete consolation to those who hear. Will it come: where will it come from? where will he come? Will this coming be alien to the apostles? Comforter: who is this Comforter? is he not a man filled with the Spirit of God? isn't it an angel? Can this Comforter make up for the deprivation of the Son of God? Jesus Christ answers these bewilderments in the following words of his conversation. Where will it come from? I'll send it. Where will it come? - exactly, to the apostles: I will send you. Is it not a man, or an angel, who will be sent? - No, I will send not from people, lower from Angels, but from the Father. But this resolution of the perplexities caused by the first two words gives rise to a new, even more difficult riddle: who is this great Comforter whom the Son of God will send from God the Father? And what does it mean that the Son of God, to whom after the resurrection will be given all authority in heaven and on earth (Matthew 28:18), at this very time will send the Comforter not simply by his Divine authority, but from the Father? To completely solve this riddle, Jesus Christ finally reveals the very essence of the Comforter: the Spirit of truth, which comes from the Father. It’s as if He said this: I said: I will send from the Father - because I will not send a spirit that was created and subjugated to My power, but the Spirit, who from the Father has the eternal beginning of his divine hypostasis" 167. Thus, “in contrast to these (i.e., I will send you...) the words stated: who comes from the Father - so clearly depict the eternal beginning of the Hypostasis of the Holy Spirit that they do not leave any doubt. Therefore, the Second Ecumenical Council used these very words in the symbol of faith to expound on the Holy Spirit: “and in the Holy Spirit, the Lord who gives life, who proceeds from the Father.” This is how the Roman Church read it until the 9th century, and when Pope Leo III was asked to include the emerging opinion about the origin of the Holy Spirit “and from the Son” in the symbol, he not only did not agree to this, but also ordered the symbol to be cut out on two silver tablets, without adding the word: “and the Son,” and put on them the following inscription: “Leo arranged this out of love and for the preservation of the Orthodox faith” 168 . Currently, “the doctrine of the origin of St. The Spirit from the Father cannot be subjected to any change or addition, firstly, because the Orthodox Church, in this teaching, repeats exactly the words of Jesus Christ Himself; and His words are, without doubt, a sufficient and perfect expression of the truth; secondly, because the second ecumenical council, whose main object was to establish the true doctrine of the Holy Spirit, without a doubt, satisfactorily expounded this teaching in the creed, and the Catholic Church recognized this so decisively that the third ecumenical council, by its seventh canon, prohibited the composition of a new creed. Therefore, John of Damascus writes: We say that the Holy Spirit is from the Father, and we call the Spirit of the Father; We do not say from the Son the Spirit to be, but rather we call His Spirit the Son (God. Book 1, Chapter 11, Art. 4)” 169. “The Holy Spirit, as the third Person of the worshiped Trinity, proceeds from the Father and rests in the Son” 170. Thus, the eternal relationship of the Holy Spirit to the Son of God can be represented by the image of “the resting of the Holy Spirit in the Son.” In any case, the relationship of the Holy Spirit to the Son of God is not the same as His relationship to God the Father. When explaining the words: I will send from the Father... I will pray to the Father, we, indeed, saw that even “the temporary sending or distribution of the gifts of the Holy Spirit is attributed to Jesus Christ not as the right of His own person, but as the power borrowed by Him from the original Hypostasis of the Father” 171. How is the unity of the Divine preserved in the existence of the three Persons of the Holy Trinity? The unity of the supreme principle and nature of the Persons of the Holy Trinity If the unity of the Divine does not consist in the identity of the Divine Persons, because they are hypostatically different, then again we ask, on what is the unity of the Holy Trinity based and in what is manifested? According to the teachings of the Christian faith, “the three Hypostases or Persons of the Most Holy Trinity are of completely equal Divine dignity. As the Father is the true God; Likewise, the Son is the true God and the Holy Spirit is the true God, but in such a way that in three hypostases there is only one Trinitarian God” 172. God is threefold in one respect and one in another. “God is one in essence, but three in persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, the Trinity is consubstantial and indivisible”; so that in the Christian teaching about the Trinity, Trinitarian God there is no internal contradiction, there is only something incomprehensible to reason. “How there is one God in three persons - we do not comprehend this inner mystery of the Divine, but we believe it according to the ineffable testimony of the word of God: no one knows God, but the Spirit of God” 173. God the Father is “the supreme principle of all beings and creatures,” “the God of all” 174. From His being from eternity come the Son and the Holy Spirit. First of all, the unity of nature of the Persons of the Holy Trinity depends on this. “As a man giving birth to a son communicates what is human: so God is divine, however, in an incomprehensible and hidden way from man” 175 ; so the Son of God, as “born from the being of God the Father, therefore is one being with God the Father” 176. If the unity of their nature flows from the hypostatic relationship of the Son of God to the Father; then the same conclusion and on the same basis must be drawn regarding the nature of the Holy Spirit. Indeed, in the words of baptism taken from the Gospel, the name of the Holy Spirit is on a par with the name of the Father and the Son; whence it is clear that the Holy Spirit, in its Divine nature and in its dignity, does not differ from the first two Persons of the Holy Trinity 177. Unity of Divine properties. Their spirituality The unity of Their common properties and actions depends on the unity of nature of the Persons of the Holy Trinity. Before talking about the general properties of God, it is necessary to say a little about the very essence of God, which determines the nature of the properties themselves. In His essence, “God is Spirit”; “Jesus Christ Himself said that the Spirit is God (John 4:24).” If “the Holy Scripture ascribes to God bodily members, for example: heart, eyes, ears, hands”; then it is applied in this to ordinary human language, but this must be understood in a spiritual and higher way. For example: the heart of God means goodness, or the love of God; eyes and ears mean omniscience, hands omnipotence” 178. Thus, the general properties of God must be spiritual, alien to materiality. Since the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are persons, their common properties must also be properties belonging to the person. – Among the properties of God, one can find two main properties: infinity, or “infinite perfection” 179, and love. Infinity is, so to speak, a formal property; whereas love is a property of God as a moral being. “God is loving” (1 John 4:16), says the contemplator of love. God is love in essence, and the very being of love. All his properties are vestments of love; all actions are expressions of love. In it dwells His omnipotence in all its fullness; she is his truth when she realizes what she loves; she is His wisdom when she establishes what exists or has existence, according to the law of truth; she is His goodness when she wisely distributes her true gifts; finally, she is His justice, when she measures the degrees and types of her gifts sent down or withheld by wisdom and goodness, for the sake of the highest good of all His creatures” 180. Greatness of the Divine. God is above the conditions of time The stamp of infinity lies on all the properties and actions of God. “The power of the Divine is infinitely great, all His properties are infinite” 181. Nothing can constrain the infinity of God’s being; “the unlimited cannot determine the paths” 182. Nothing can stand next to the greatness of God; everything that exists borrows its limited greatness from God. “Great indeed is God! And He alone is great in both the great and the small of the earth.” “How small are all nations before God! They, according to the word of the prophet, are like a drop from a cadi, and like the attraction of a weight imputed (Is. 40:15)” 183. Greatness extends not only to each property individually, but also to their entirety, forming a harmonious combination of all possible perfections. “If even elemental wisdom commands us to seek greatness where wisdom, goodness and power are united, then where will people find the inner focus of this unity, the original source of these perfections, other than the One Trihypostatic One, Who from His fulfillment bestows wisdom on their thoughts, goodness on their desires, and power on their actions” 184 . The limitless must be original, independent, eternal and unchangeable in relation to time, omnipresent in relation to space. The Boundless is “the beginning in the most sublime sense of this word, the beginning of every beginning, as the Prophet King explained (1 Chronicles 29:12), far precedes the beginning of time and everything that is in time - the beginning from which everything begins in eternity itself, but which is not limited by any further beginning, as well as by the end” 185. David addresses God as unique with these words; before even the mountains of non-existence and the creation of the earth and the universe, and from everlasting to everlasting you art (Ps. 89:3). As original, God does not depend on anyone (Acts 17:25); He “is the only being who is self-satisfied and in Himself is always complete and abounding in every good thing, never lacking in anything from the outside and, consequently, having no need for any nutrition” 186. The Beginningless One must be eternal and unchanging; God, indeed, is “eternal and unchangeable in His being and in His will”; “The Apostle Paul says that the Gospel was proclaimed by the commandment of the eternal God (Rom. 14:25); it is said about Abraham that, after concluding an alliance with Abimelech, he called on the name of Jehovah, the eternal God (Gen. 21:33) 187. In the life of God “there is no time, because a non-transitory and non-dividing eternity is open there”; and “before eternity, both one minute and the entire continuation of time are equally inconspicuous” 188. “God has always been, is and will be,” says Gregory the Theologian. Or better: He is always there. For the words: was, will be - mean the truncation of our time and impermanent nature. And He is always existing. This is what He calls Himself in the revelation to Moses on the mountain. For He has in Himself in its entirety a complete existence, which has not begun and will not end, like a certain sea of ​​being, immeasurable and limitless, standing above all concepts of time and nature" 189 . Immutability, as we see, is necessarily included in the concept of eternity. “The Apostle James writes that the Father of Lights has no use or destruction of walls (James 1:17).” “The Lord does not break His laws,” does not contradict Himself. The oath of God also testifies to immutability. By me I swear, says Jehovah (Gen. 22:16) 190. “Truly the Lord is faithful in all His words (Is. 144:13)”; “because God does not waver like a man, but like a son of man He changes: He says, “Will He not do it” (Num. 23:19).” Therefore, “if we sometimes see someone asking God not receiving what he asked, and the prayers are not heard,” whereas, according to the word of the Savior, the Heavenly Father will give good things to those who ask Him (Matthew 7:11), then “the reasons for this must be sought not in God, faithful and unchangeable in His promises, but in the person asking, who hesitates and changes, and often himself sanctifies the prayer that he extends to God.” 191. It is also impossible to understand in the literal sense those passages of Holy Scripture in which repentance and, as it were, unsteadiness in decisions are attributed to God 192 . About the omnipresence of God Being above the conditions of time, God is not subject to the conditions of space: He is omnipresent; “space disappears into the infinity” of God 193. An original being cannot be anything else; because just as nothing existed before the eternal, so everything that exists except God exists by His will and is preserved by His power; so that “no place can contain God’s presence, and no place can exclude it.” “The Word of God represents the presence of God so close everywhere that it is impossible to be outside of it. Where shall I go from Your Spirit? And will I flee from Your presence?” - the prophet exclaims, and does not find a place where there is no God (Ps. 139: 7-10) 194. “God is omnipresent and, by His ineffable condescension, He draws so close to each and every one that, according to the saying of the Apostle, He would be ready to allow Himself to be touched when they cannot see Him or listen to Him: so that they may yet touch Him and find Him to be not far from the only one who exists (Acts 17:27)” 195. A Christian “can find God in his heart, since He gave this promise to Christian souls: I will dwell in them and likewise (2 Cor. 6:16), and indeed He dwells in them by the grace of baptism. It’s even easier to look for Him in the church, sacred signs, in the word of the Gospel, in the Sacraments - He who descends and approaches, who is hidden and who appears, and who visits the soul” 196 . “God is in the unapproachable light (1 Tim.6:15-6), God is in the whole world (Ps.139:7-10), God is in heaven (Ps.113:24), God is in the church (1 Kings 9:3), God is in man (2 Cor.6:16).” “How can such different images of knowledge (divine omnipresence) be reconciled in one, self-consistent knowledge of the single presence of the One God? It is not difficult to answer this in general, that just as God in His internal properties, powers and actions is incomprehensible and infinite, so He is in His external revelations and appearances; and therefore it is not the least strange, but very natural, that the revelations of His single presence are incomprehensibly different, and His appearances are infinitely diverse, and therefore cannot be embraced by any particular way of knowledge; but in all possible forms of knowledge, one immense knowledge of God is mysteriously manifested and, while manifested, remains mysterious. But so that the non-leader has no reason to complain that the unknown is explained to him by something that is completely unknown: let us try, if possible, to bring the vast knowledge of God closer to the limited knowledge of man. The Word of God depicts the appearance of the Divine in the world... as the likeness of a beneficially shining sun (Mal.4:2). Let us use this natural similarity for some contemplation of the supernatural truth.” Let us first note that “the presence of a thing is its direct relation to others, its effect on other things.” “Just as there is an initial and essential presence of the sun in the sky, in its luminous circle, so there is an initial and essential presence of the Divine in the heavens of heaven, in the unapproachable light, in His central and all-encompassing eternity, for which the focus is everywhere, and there is no surrounding. Just as the sun, without leaving its place in the sky, is actively present in all the sunflowers, since it shines, warms, and moves everywhere: so God, living in unapproachable light in the heavens of heaven, is nevertheless truly and truly present in the whole world - both invisible and visible, since everything bears the word of His power (Heb. 1:3).” Therefore, each of us “can have a fairly clear knowledge and living sensation of the presence of God by some, not so definite, not so striking, but, for the eye not blinded, real and unclouded light of the Divine, constantly shining in the origin, growth, completion, preservation, management, renewal of creatures, especially in the providence about man, marvelous for attentive observers. Just as there is a certain internal presence of the sun in the earthly fruit, into which it enters with its power, and imparts to it tenderness, nutrition, taste, maturity: in a similar way, there is an internal presence of God in man, whom, according to his free desire, according to his faith and love, through prayer and devotion, God visits with His gracious power in the heart, internally softens, nourishes and delights and - through the action of spiritual light and warmth, truth and love, gradually leads to spiritual maturity, or perfection" 197. “And what is prayer itself in its essence, if not the breath of Divine life in man (Rom. 8:26)” 198. So God is present everywhere; and in every place “the Divinity is as invisible as everywhere else” 199. Although “God is everywhere, yet in heaven there is His special presence, manifested in eternal glory to the blessed spirits; and in churches there is His special grace-filled and mysterious presence, reverently known and felt by believers and sometimes revealed in special signs (Matthew 18:20)” 200. If places of the special presence of God are indicated, then this is said either in relation to our limitations, or because in some places there is a special manifestation of the presence of God. Thus, we “are amazed at the eyes that watch over day and night, finding the subtle being of light, more than anything visible, close to the spiritual, and we call heaven the throne of the invisible King” 201 . Meanwhile, “the throne of heaven is beyond the reach of the earthly mind”; “The heaven in which the Lord lives is infinitely higher than the visible heavens than this is higher than the earth. This is a spiritual firmament, unapproachable in light and glory, infinitely high in holiness and power, all-encompassing and incomprehensible in infinity” 202. Because of this, “He whose throne is heaven and earth is his footstool, who, according to the assurance of the seer, even penetrates the depths of hell with His presence (Ps. 139:8), who fills, embraces and bears all things with His power, so that in Him we live, move and are (Heb. 1:8; Acts 17:28), - lies in the close, mortal home"; “for the finite and dense spirit it reduces, so to speak, its spiritual omnipresence into sensory signs and transitory phenomena”; “applies Himself to the measure of a limited person, descends (not by being, but by action) from eternity to time, from omnipresence to place, reveals His presence in grace-filled signs and actions” 203... About the freedom and omnipotence of God Thus, God, as an unlimited, eternal and omnipresent being, has nothing outside that would delay His life and activity 204. He has complete freedom. God has enough inner strength to freely carry out His thoughts and determinations in space and time. “The Psalmist says about the omnipotence of God: That was what he said; He commanded it, and it was created (Ps. 32:9)”; in miracles and prophecies “the impossible came true, so that it could be clearly seen that He is at work, from whom every word fails (Luke 1:37)” 205. Preparing Abraham for the command and promise that was to come, God says about Himself: I am God almighty (Gen. 17:1). With a new presentation of the promise (4 v.), God points Abraham to His Self and thus again wants to say: “I am Almighty God, Who alone am everything, and before Whom all things are nothing—I want, I command, I promise” 206. As Almighty, God kills and gives life, brings down to hell and exalts, brings to poverty and makes rich, humbles and exalts (1 Samuel 2:6-7); and “brings forth the highest good from the depths of extreme evil” 207. For the omnipotence of God there is no division of affairs into difficult and easy; “the power and goodness of God does not distinguish between great and small miracles” 208. If we imagined God only as an omnipotent being, then the thought of Him would arouse nothing in us except fear. Meanwhile, the power of God’s omnipotence is controlled by good and righteous will, and free will at that: “God creates... when He pleases” 209. The freedom of God, as a moral being, must be understood in a moral sense, and not in a mechanical one. God can do whatever He pleases. What pleases God, on what motives does He act? The fundamental motive of Divine life and activity, as we have seen, is love. “All the properties of God are vestments of love; all actions are expressions of love.” God is love in His being and mercy in His actions towards man; No matter how diverse these actions are, they have a single beginning - goodness, and a single end - goodness. Therefore he appears in the form of a father and gives us the glorious name of a son (Proverbs 28:26); then in the form of a doctor he buys us health with his own illnesses (Is. 53:5); then in the form of a shepherd he does not forget to speak by name to the sheep who have forgotten him in their error (John 10:16); then in the form of a guest he tries harder to enter our wretched hut than we do into His glorious palace (Rev. 3:20); then in the form of a groom he approaches his bride everywhere, wherever she goes (Song. 2:1)” 210. In general, “no one is perfectly good, except one God (Luke 18:19)” 211. He is the source of all kinds of blessings. Thus, man lives by the continuous blessings of God: he is entirely composed of the gifts and blessings of God; he is immersed in the blessings of God, as in an abyss. The existence and life of man, at its beginning, is a free gift from the Creator - a gift that no one could force from Him; consequently, the continuation of being and life is a continuous continuation of the same gift of God. The immortality of man is an immortal, endless blessing of God. Let's look at our composition. The soul, the basis of life, is the breath of God the Creator; the body, home and instrument of the soul are the work of God. The mind, without which neither truth nor wisdom would exist for us, - the heart, without which there would be no good or bliss for us, - feelings, without which the universe surrounding us would be closed and inaccessible to us - all this is not also God's work, God's gifts to us - insignificance? Precisely, man is made up of the gifts and blessings of God. Let's look around the universe. Who placed the earth under our feet, which holds us above the abyss, gives us shelter, food, clothing?... Who lit up the luminaries in the heavens that give us the opportunity to see the universe with its wonders, which from the dead earth bring forth for us life, beauty, fragrance, sweetness, food, medicine, and which feed our own earthly life with subtle, but no less earthly essential food?... Who commanded the tree, in addition to the seed grain it needs, to bear fruit us, and not him? Isn’t all this and other innumerable things God’s dispensation, God’s property and, when provided for our benefit, God’s benefit to us? Indeed, we are immersed in the blessings of God, as in an abyss.” The blessings of God are also manifested in the structure of human societies and in the management of them. “No matter how many and great the benefits of God are to man in natural and civil life, the benefits of God relating to man’s spiritual and eternal life are predominantly great, important and innumerable, indescribable. The first two types of benefits can only be honored as preparatory and conducive to the latter. There being is granted to nothingness and prosperity to being; here purity is given to the sinner, forgiveness to the condemned, life to the spiritually dead, salvation and bliss to the lost. There the created is prepared and used for the benefit of the created; here the Creator Himself comes to the aid of the creature, serves it, betrays Himself to it; The Son of God is not spared, but given up for us all; the flesh and blood of the God-man is offered as food and drink, as medicine, as a source of life; God's heart is opened; the love of God is poured into our hearts; The Holy Spirit is given; Many mansions in heaven are opened to earthly people, and in the heart of man the abode of God is created... As for the highest gifts of grace: enlightenment, sanctification, union with God, about this even one who knows the other blessings of God can say so little, just as one who has seen only small alms given to the poor on the porch cannot say what generous, precious, sweet gifts the King distributes in the interior of his palace to his entourage, the landlord to his friends, the father filled with love to his close children.” 212. So it is certain that God is good. If God in His activities were guided only by the unconscious attraction of love, then His actions would not have the character of true rational freedom. In order for God's love not to be blind, it needs to be guided in its manifestation by some laws. Only in this case will she be worthy of God as a rational and moral being. “Goodness without truth is a blind virtue, which proceeds at random and often falls.” The goodness of God does not have this imperfection: “the way of Jehovah is the way of law and love (Deut. 8:6; 10:12)” 213. How goodness lies at the basis of God’s good deeds; Thus, at the basis of the law, the truth of God, lies the holiness of God, the moral law contained in the very nature of God, a moral being. God is holy by His very being: holy is the name of God (Luke 1:49) 214. Sin is absolutely not akin to the nature of God, it contradicts it; the being of God is completely inaccessible to evil” 215; In the murder of Nadab and Abihu, the children of Aaron, one cannot help but see “a terrible manifestation of the inviolable holiness of God” 216. The holiness of God is the source of the holiness of creatures; everyone who approaches the shrine of God is himself sanctified (Lev.10:3) 217. The truth of God, prompted by holiness, punishes sin and rewards virtue, “About the justice of God, David sings: the Lord is righteous and you love righteousness, you have seen righteousness in His face (Ps. 10:7). The Apostle Paul says that God will reward everyone according to His deeds, and that God has no vision (Rom. 2:6.11)” 218. God “showed by the example of the flood how His justice executes its laws, without being mollified by the multitude of the guilty; how easy it is for Him to punish a crime, and how impossible it is for a crime to escape His wrath.” He “without visible means, without tangible actions, with one inaudible command, or, one might say, with one silence, the life of the Word that speaks to everything carries out the execution of the wicked” 219. “Without putting measures to the greatness of God’s wrath (Ps. 89), we see various traces of God’s wrath: in the shortening of the days of human life (Ps. 89:9), in the giving up of the heart to lust and uncleanness (Rom. 1:24), in the passion of dishonor and an unskilled mind (26-8), civil destruction (Ezek. 7:14-5), spiritual destruction, when the prophet is deprived of knowledge, the priest is deprived of his ability to preach the law, elder of the council (–26).” In addition, “the voice of God’s wrath can be heard with the inner eye (Ps. 37:4).” God's wrath sometimes reaches the point of rage 220. If we do not see in this life a complete correspondence between deeds and reward for them, then we must remember that this temporary life serves as a preparation for the eternal, that “full and perfect reward for everyone according to their deeds is provided to the great universal judgment of God at the end of time. But so that humanity, on the long path to this judgment, does not lose the thought of God’s justice, God, accepting the moral deeds of each person into the storehouse of His omniscience and Providence, over time wears out from His treasury the rewards corresponding to the deeds” 221. “The beneficial actions of nature, favorable events in life told us: know the merciful God; menacing, destructive, punitive events call to us: know the just God” 222. The relation of God's goodness to justice Now “come closer and look at the formidable face of God’s justice, and you will recognize in it the meek gaze of God’s love” 223. How love must be consistent in its manifestation with truth, righteousness; so, in turn, truth cannot act without goodness. “Truth without goodness is like moonlight, which, although it somewhat disperses the darkness, does not warm or enliven” 224. Therefore, love and truth must constitute something unified in God, so that just love and loving truth form something identical, so that love does not have an exclusive preponderance over truth, and truth over love, so that “the truth does not drive out mercy through measured severity, and mercy does not deviate from the truth through excessive condescension” 225, “so that God, after extreme mercy, is completely just” 226. Indeed, the truth of God, always acting in union with love, is directed primarily towards the goals of goodness; “She measures the degrees and types of her gifts sent down or withheld by wisdom and goodness, for the sake of the highest good of all creatures.” God resorts to punitive actions when he is forced to do so due to the measured development of sin and when it is necessary to protect good from prevailing evil. “God endures for a long time, waiting for the sinner to be corrected. But when the cry of malice rises to Him, He tames it with His formidable judgments, so that it does not destroy good.” He is “the God of peace (Heb. 13:20) in essence, the Lord of hosts, mighty in battle (Ps. 23:8), for the overthrow of those who rebel against His peace” 227. God remains good even in His very punishments, assigning punishment primarily for the correction of the sinner. “The very wrath of God (sometimes) is a mercy” 228. About omniscience and wisdom of God We have seen that the power of Divine omnipotence freely submits itself to the impulses of goodness and truth. For the actual implementation of truth and love, the help of the highest mind of God is required. In order to establish and direct everything according to the demands of truth and love, one must know everything and be able to direct everything to achieve the “highest good of all creatures.” And from this side there is no limitation in God. God knows everything perfectly. “About the omniscience of God, the Apostle John says: He is the God of our hearts and the whole message” (1 John 3:20). “He sees not only deeds, but also our innermost thoughts” 229. “The unclouded eye of God’s omnipresence and omniscience penetrates everything, and in the darkest depths of hell the darkest thought cannot hide (from it).” “He knows the creatures in all, even the smallest, parts, the most intimate properties, in the most distant actions and consequences, in all respects and in their entire composition” 230. The future is as clear to God as the present 231. In view of all this, humanoid expressions about the mind of God, found in some places in St. The Scriptures cannot be taken literally. Thus, the “Angel of Jehovah,” who restrained Abraham’s hand, which was ready to slay Isaac, said to him: now I know that you fear God (Gen. 22:12). Taking the “Angel of Jehovah” as God, we can conclude from these words that God did not know Abraham before. To resolve such perplexities, it is necessary to pay attention to the fact that “the knowledge attributed to God in the language of Holy Scripture does not presuppose in Him any previous ignorance. This is what David says: test me, O God, and know my heart (Ps. 139:23), and he says this immediately after depicting the omniscience and omnipresence of God. How God, by the highest purity of His being, positively knows the only good, and drives away evil both from His all-good will, as well as from His all-encompassing mind (Luke 13:27); then when He, through a strong and active temptation, purifies, elevates, affirms in goodness and unites with Himself, then we can say that He knows the person. So He knew Moses by name (Ex. 33:17). Thus he knew Abraham in the sacrifice. You went through, He says (to Abraham), many temptations, but which only gradually developed and grew the seed of the fear of God and faith sown in you; now it has borne ripe fruit: you have reached your destination; you appeared as predicted; You have now come to the measure of eternal knowledge. Now I know” 232...If God knows everything and equally well; then the volume and content of His eternal ideas must be unchanged. – With omnipotence and omniscience, God must naturally be wise. It is not enough to say about God that He is “the highest Sage, for this title would be low for Him.” He is “Self-wisdom and the only source of all wisdom, in Him all the treasures of wisdom and reason are hidden; He, revealing His treasures, gives wisdom, and from His presence proceeds knowledge and understanding” 233. One cannot help but exclaim with the apostle. Paul: O the depth of the riches and wisdom and understanding of God (Rom. 11:33)! Indeed, “one cannot help but be surprised how God, who has arranged everything by measure and number and weight (Wisdom 11:21) in the material world, subject to the law of necessity, also extends to the moral world, governed by the laws of freedom, without violating freedom, the accuracy of measure and number” 234. “Every action of Divine wisdom is filled with deep signification,” because “God cannot do anything superfluous and unnecessary: ​​this would be inconsistent with His wisdom” 235. So, by His nature, “God is Spirit,” by His properties He is “Eternal Spirit, all-good, all-knowing, all-righteous, all-powerful, all-present, unchangeable, all-satisfied, all-blessed” 236 . Conclusion from what has been said about the unity of the Divine Let us return to the doctrine of the unity of the Divine in the Holy Trinity. We have seen that the Persons of the Holy Trinity are Divine Persons, because about each of Them it must be said that He is God. Meanwhile, all those qualities that are expressed by the properties of God are attributed to God; and as a result, we have the right to attribute all these properties to each Person of the Holy Trinity. Indeed, God, “according to the saying of one clairvoyant of His glory, is the God of glory (Acts 7:2), that is, with His very name, with His very being, glory is united, so that He would not be God if He did not have glory”... In particular, “God the Father is the Father of glory (Heb. 1:17), the Son of God is the fusion of His glory (Heb. 1:3) and He Himself has glory with His Father, before the world was not ( John 17:5); likewise, the Spirit of God is the Spirit of glory (1 Pet. 4:14.)" 237. So, glory belongs to the very essence of God, and due to the unity of the Divine nature of the Persons of the Holy Trinity, to each of Her faces. “Glory is a revelation, a manifestation, a reflection, a vestment of inner perfection.” The totality of God’s properties is also a “revelation of God’s inner perfection.” Therefore, all Divine properties must belong to each person of the Holy Trinity in equal measure. The identity of common properties, like the earlier identity of the Divine nature, serves as proof and expression of the unity of the Divinity in the Holy Trinity. The unity of the Divine is itself presupposed by the infinity of God’s perfections. Every property attributed to God in an infinite degree cannot be attributed to anyone else except the Supreme Being alone. The unity of the Divine is manifested, then, in the amazing harmony of all the properties of God among themselves. In a possibly coherent presentation of the doctrine of the properties of God, we have shown that “between the properties, virtues, and perfections of God there is no division, no contradiction, no mutual exclusion, but there is an everlasting union, agreement, and in infinite completeness all encompassing unity” 238 . Yes, this is how it should be according to the very concept of God as an all-perfect being. “If in a person disagreement with himself is an absurdity, how much more so in God, an all-perfect being, there must be a perfect agreement of properties and actions, akin to the purest unity 239. The unity of the “eternal beginning of the hypostases”, the resulting unity of the nature of the Persons of the Holy Trinity and the unity of Their Divine properties - leads to unity and the closest mutual communication in Their inner life 240. Indeed, “after the birth (of the Son) God the Father abides in the Son and the Son in the Father (John 14:10)” 241. “Jesus Christ Himself speaks about Himself and about God the Father: I and the Father are one (John 10:30).” “The Son of God says: All that the Father has is Mine (John 16:15)... and to His Father: All that is mine is Thine essence (John 17:10)” 242. The Holy Spirit is not excluded from the intimate inner life of God the Father and the Son; His life is equally closely in touch with the life of the Father and the Son. “Only the Spirit of God Himself tests the depths of God (1 Cor. 2:10. 11).” The life of the Spirit of God thus penetrates into the very depths of the Divine Trinity life. He, as we have seen, “rests in the Son”; this again testifies to His closest unity with the Son of God, which itself presupposes the unity of the Spirit of God with God the Father. Therefore, the Savior, comforting the Apostles, in a farewell conversation with them, speaks about the Holy Spirit: “It is not from Himself that I speak, but if He hears, He speaks, and the one who comes will tell you... He will receive from Mine and tell you (John 16:13–4) 243.” So, “The Most Holy Trinity is inseparable and inseparable” 244. The breadth and depth of eternal ideas for each Person of the Holy Trinity must be the same. Each Person of the Holy Trinity, penetrating the other Divine Persons and contemplating their glory, the eternal and unchangeable perfections of their Divine being, contemplates through this both Himself and the entire totality of eternal ideas inherent in the Divine. “God has been revealed to Himself from eternity in the eternal birth of His consubstantial Son and in the eternal procession of His consubstantial Spirit; and thus His unity in the Holy Trinity shines with an essential, imperishable and unchangeable glory,” which is “revelation, manifestation, reflection, the vestment of inner perfection 245. Everything said about the unity of the Divinity in the Holy Trinity leads to the recognition of the unity of eternal intentions and the definition of the Persons of the Holy Trinity. Thus, “although the Son cannot do anything for Himself; but He also cannot create anything in spite of Himself. He does not seek His own will (John 5:30), but because He is the eternal heir and owner of the will of His Father. Abides in His love: but in it He Himself accepts into His love everything dear to the Father, as He says: The Father love Me, and I will love you (John 15:9-10) 246. After all that has been said, it is clear in what sense the Christian faith preaches about one God. It teaches about one God not as a single absolute personality, but as one Trinity, Trinitarian God (1 Cor. 8:1–6), about three Divine persons who are in certain relationships with each other, determining the unity of the Divinity 247. We have proposed “the contemplation of the Supreme Unity in the Consubstantial Trinity, and the Trinity in Unity”; now it must be shown that She, the “Supreme Unity and Trinity,” serves as “the true root of everything that is numerable, the immeasurable foundation of everything that is measured” 248. “The conjecture that this expression refers to the sacrament of the Holy Trinity deserves respect. And why would Moses, in depicting such a majestic action as the creation of the World, prefer the word Elohim, which can mean gods, angels and nobles, to other names used by the Jews, if he did not find in this word the advantage that under its cover he could show the clairvoyant the highest secret of the Divinity, without blinding the light of its times and peoples infected with polytheism? Zap. on Gen. 1, 2. “Since Holy Scripture is explained in this way only in important and decisive cases (Gen. 3:22; 11:7; Is. 6:8), it is necessary that this image of expression have some special and majestic sign. The conversation of God with the Angels cannot be expected where the interlocutors are ascribed a single image and image of God and where the matter is not about any kind of service, but about assisting God. So, the adviser or advisers of the Divine must be sought within the Divinity itself: and we find them when we see in Holy Scripture that God the Creator has the Word, or Wisdom, and the Spirit, that the Father loves the Son, Who is the image of His Person (Heb. 1:3), and shows Him everything that He Himself creates (John 5:20), much less shows what He creates in His own image; for whatever He does, that the Son also does” (–19). Ibid 1, 20–1. Bib. East. 100; Wed “Thu.” in General l. etc.” 18731, 8–9. Words and Speeches, ed. 1861 3, 182–3. Zap. on Gen. 2, 120, 122. Bible East. 64. This is the very blessing of Jacob: God, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, God who shepherded me from the time I existed until this day... May the angel who delivered me from all evil bless these youths (Gen. 48:15-16). “One might think that Jacob calls the Guardian Angel either his own person or his kindred by the Deliverer Angel. But the word: bless, which refers together to both God and the Angel, not only gives this Angel an equal right with God, but complete unity with Him. Isaiah repeatedly gives the name of Deliverer as a distinctive one to God (Is. 43:14; 47:4). Therefore, not without reason, some understand by the name of the Angel of the Deliverer the Son of God, Who is the Angel of the covenant (Mal. 3:1) and the intercessor of God and man (1 Tim. 2:5). Together with this explanation, a threefold appeal to God is revealed in the words of James, in which it is not difficult to notice some relation to the three persons of the Holy Trinity. God, before whom the fathers walked in the spirit through sanctification, is God the Holy Spirit; God the shepherd, the giver and preserver of being and strength, is God the Father" Zap. on Gen. 3, 171. 174–5; 1, 104–5. Catech. 22; Bib. East. 337. The authenticity of the latter site has been questioned. “But in addition to the internal signs of the authenticity of this place, revealed from the logical connection of speech (9), and even from its grammatical composition (–8), it is recognized: the translation of Jerome, which is the ancient Italian corrected, Tertullian, Cyprian.” Catech. 22; Bible East. 455. Words, ed. 1848 1, 46; Catech. 28.29–30. 46.23. Words, ed. 1848 1, 46. However, Eusebius, Hilary, Ambrose and Chrysostom see in the words of the second Psalm a prediction about the resurrection of I. Christ from the dead. “Agreeing with the explanation of the church fathers, who do not reject the pre-eternal birth of the Word, we can add that, based on the words of Ap. Paul, this: this day I have given birth to you, refers both to the eternal naming in power and to the temporal explanation of power in signs and wonders and, at the conclusion of all signs, to the confirmation of the Divinity of I. Christ through the resurrection from the dead (Rom. 1:4).” “Thu.” in General l. etc.", 1873 1, 18–20. Conversation between test. and confidence about rights., ed. 1815, 32–3. 86–9. “Thu.” in General I. and Dr. Ros." 1870 1, 37. Catech. 46–7; Conversation between trials and confidence, 33–5. Words, ed. 1848 1, 60; Wed ed. 1882 4, 517. Although “the Apostle calls the Holy Spirit the Spirit of the Son (Gal. 4:6),” but “in order to correctly understand this name, let us take the Apostolic words in their composition: God sent the Spirit of his Son into your hearts.” It is clear “that the Holy Spirit is spoken of here not in the strictest sign of this name, not as the eternal hypostasis of the Divine, but as the gifts of the Spirit of God sent down into human hearts. For these gifts, the incarnate Son of God, through His merit, acquired from God the Father, so to speak, the right of ownership, by which He has the power to distribute them to people outside of His merit, strangers to all that is Divine. This idea is clearly depicted by the Prophet David: Ps.67:19. Therefore, it is not surprising that these gifts or gifts of the Holy Spirit, acquired and given to people through the merit of the Son of God, are called the Spirit of the Son of God; and consequently, this expression does not give the concept of the eternal beginning of the hypostasis of the Holy Spirit,” just as the fact that “the Son of God teaches the Holy Spirit by a breath (John 20:22)” does not give this concept,” Razgov. between trials and confidence 36.40–1. – “The birth of the word of God is separate from the outgoing of the Spirit of God (says Bl. Augustine), for which reason the only begotten Son did not say that the Holy Spirit is born of the Father, otherwise He would be His brother, but proceeds. Therefore, since there is a kind of consubstantial communion between the Father and the Son, the Holy Spirit is called the Spirit of both, and not the son of both, so that there is no such thing... “In the writings of one B. Augustine, Adam Zernikov and Feofan Prokopovich found more than fifty places in which the dogma of the procession of the Holy Spirit is pronounced as it is still pronounced by the Eastern Church. Among them there are those whose integrity no one doubts.”... If Catholics find in Augustine’s works the teaching about the procession of the Holy Spirit and from the Son, it is because they read his works according to a corrupted text.” – Conversations... 42–53. “Read. in General love the spirit of enlightenment." 1873 1, 20. Words, ed. 1848 2, 27–8. – Everything that “limits God contradicts the fundamental concept of Divinity.” Ibid. 271. Ibid. 1, 31; compare Conversation between trials. and confidence 50. Words, ed. 1861 3, 104. Words, ed. 1848 2, 126. Words, ed. 1861 3, 278. Words, ed. 1848 2, 259. Catech. 20. 21; Words, ed. 1877 3, 364. “In the name of the eternal, the true God is separated from creatures and contrasted with imaginary pagan deities, many of whom were considered only durable, and not eternal.” Words, ed. 1874 2, 312; Catech. 20; Zap. on Gen. 2, 160. 163–4. Words, ed. 1848 2, 45. 319. Words, ed. 1874 2, 422–3. “God calls Himself by the name: Jehovah (hiehova) (Ex. 3:15). This means either an original or eternal being, so that h means the past, hv - the present, v - the future tense, similar to John: He who is and who is and who is to come (Rev. 1:4), or the One who gives being to the future.” Bible East. 82. Catech. 21; Words, ed. 1848 1, 162. “The Apostle explained the power and basis of this oath in his letter to the Hebrews: 4, 13–20. Likewise, God swears by His great name (Jer. 44:26), by His soul (Jer. 51:14), by His holiness (Am. 4:2).” Zap. on Gen. 2, 166, 175. Words, ed. 1874 2, 263–4; ed. 1861 3, 296–7. Thus, the book of Genesis says: and Jehovah repented that he had created man on earth, and was grieved in his heart (– 6, 6). “The concept of the property of repentance attributed to God can be borrowed from the story of Saul, where repentance is attributed to God twice (1 Samuel 15:11. 35) and where, meanwhile, Samuel speaks of Him that He is not a man, so that He would repent (–29). From this it is clear that when His repentance is spoken of, then He is spoken of as a man: and this is because, as Aben Ezra says, the law speaks in the language of the sons of men, that is, in the language of simple folk meaning. So, the thought contained in the words of Moses can be explained differently as follows: God saw man in a state in which he did not at all correspond to the destiny of wisdom revealed in his creation, and could no longer be involved in the love and goodness of the Creative.” Zap. on Gen. 1, 111–112. Words, ed. 1848 2, 45. Words ed. 1873 1, 299. Words, ed. 1882 4, 610. Words. ed. 1848 2, 75–7. We also call heaven the dwelling place of God because it is “opposed to earth by light, height and the surroundings of everything earthly.” Words, ed. 1873 1, 129; “Read. in General l. spirit. etc." 1873 1, 12. Words, ed. 1873 1, 130; “Readings...” 1873 1, 12. Words, ed. 18731, 146–7; ed. 1848 2, 45; compare 74–5; Zap. on Gen. 3, 34–5. From this point of view on the manifestation of the omnipresence of God in relation to people, “hiding (Cain) from the face of God is alienation from the church, in which God reveals His gracious presence, and from His fatherly care and protection.” After what has been said about omnipresence, the words Hagar said after she, abandoned by everyone, recognized the “appearance of Jehovah” in the wanderer who appeared to her in the desert are understandable. She then exclaimed: “You are the God of vision!” You see everything and are visible everywhere; You're all a vision! For I thought that the grace of revelation dwells only in the house of Abraham; no, even here, not only You see me, but I also saw You following; I did not recognize Your revelation at the beginning, but I saw Your glory at the end of the vision.” It is clear how Jehovah was with Joseph (Gen. 39:2). “God is with every person, according to His omnipresence; but He was obviously with Joseph, showing His finger in miraculously leading him to a high destination; directly, by admonition and strengthening, helping Himself with all earthly help; graciously, with internal grace-filled anointing, healing the wounds of external suffering.” When the Prophet Jonah thought of fleeing from the presence of the Lord (1:3), “perhaps he thought that God gives revelations only in His promised land.” Hall. on Gen. 1, 89; 2 99; 3, 115; Bib. East. 280. Words, ed. 1861 3, 267; Bib. East. 237; Zap. on Gen. 1, 4. Catech. 21; Wed. ed. 1861 3, 328; Wed ed. 1848 1, 23; Zap. on Gen. 1, 7. 14. 15 . Words, ed. I848 2, 29; ed. 1873 1, 219. Words, ed. 1848 1, 31; ed. 1873 1, 294. Words, ed. 1848 2, 57; Catech. 20. Words, ed. 1848 2, 269–272. Words, ed. 1877 3, 405; Zap. on Gen. 2, 128, cf. 104. Catech. 79; compare Words, ed. 1848, 1, 32. 35. Words, ed. 1882 4, 614–5; ed. 1873 1, 218. If in some places of Holy Scripture temptation is attributed to God, and God is thus presented as the author of sin; then in such cases one must keep in mind what kind of temptation is attributed to God. “Temptation, according to the universal concept of this word in Holy Scripture, is bringing any creature into a state in which its hidden properties would be revealed in action (Ex. 15:25; 17:2; 1 Kings 10:1). This can be done for many reasons and motives... In the spiritual sense, temptation is twofold; 1) temptation in evil, or the stimulation to action of evil inclinations hidden in a person, and 2) temptation in good, or the direction given to the principle of good operating in it to open battle against evil or against obstacles in good, in order to achieve victory and glory. The first is not from God, but is a consequence of abandonment by God (2 Chronicles 32, 31), it comes “from our flesh, from the world, or from other people, and from the devil.” Words, ed. 1873, 1, 169; Catech. 83; Wed Words, ed. 1848 280–1. “According to the testimony of the Apostle James, God does not tempt anyone (1:13),” i.e. in the sense of positive arousal to evil. The second kind of temptation is from God and, to the extent of spiritual strength, is sent as grace to those who are worthy to receive from the fulfillment of the incarnate Son of God and grace upon grace. David asked for such a temptation for himself (Ps. 25:2). Jesus Christ himself was tempted in every way (Heb. 4:15) and, at the end of countless temptations from the devil and men, “was in Divine temptation in the garden of Gethsemane (Matt. 26:38–9). This was the kind of temptation of Abraham in Isaac.” – Joseph’s encouraging words spoken to his brothers (Gen. 45:4) also cannot serve as a reason “for such a conclusion that God leads a person to sin in order to achieve His intentions, or that every sinner can calm himself down by the good consequences of his deeds. Another time, Joseph expresses his thoughts more separately (Gen. 50:20). It is necessary to carefully distinguish the actions of sin at its source, which is the free determination of the will. From this side it completely depends on the person and constitutes his guilt.” Then you need to distinguish “the same action in its manifestation, in the union of incidents, in the consequences of natural and accidental. All this in the hands of Providence and His wisdom can be turned for good.” Zap. on Gen. 2, 167. 169; 3, 149–150. Catech. 21; Bib. East. 258. Ibid. 33, 166; Words ed. 1848, 1, 10. “Rage in an impassive creature depicts the highest degree of anger and the increase in sorrows sent from it.” - Read. in General l. d. pr. 1873, 1.14. – After the Fall, it was said to our ancestress: you will give birth to children with illness (Gen. 3:16). “Experience shows that the diseases of birth are divided between those who give birth and those who are born. But this division would be unjust if the latter were not guilty like the former. In order to reconcile this type of punishment with God’s justice, we must recognize, on the one hand, the suffering of parents in their children, and on the other, the spiritual damage of children in their parents.” In those cases when the sin of the parents is passed on to the children, there is no violation of the truth of God because God does not deprive a person of the opportunity to live life (Ezek. 18, 19). “The hypocrites, scribes and Pharisees were guilty of their fathers and together with them were subject to the baptism of the Lord, not because the prophets were born in the flesh from those who beat them, but because in their spirit the ungodly properties revived them of their own will. A long time ago a question was asked by people who do not understand the ways of God: what if the son of his father’s iniquity did not take? And God, through the prophet, responds to this: for the son has done righteousness and mercy, and has kept all My laws, and having done what I have done, he will live (Ezek. 18, 19). Therefore, if someone asks the opposite question: what if a son takes away his father’s iniquity? without a doubt, on the basis of the same answer of God, one can answer; Without righteousness and mercy you will not do, and you will not keep the law; since he freely made himself the heir of the untruth and iniquity of his ancestors, then of necessity he will be made the heir of their disasters and executions.” – Zap. on Gen. 1, 68. Words, ed. 1877, 3, 369. – “God’s predominant favor towards Abraham (I will bless those who bless you, those who curse you I will curse... Gen. 12:2) conveniently agrees with the righteousness of God in relation to all people. Those who bless Abraham are those who believe in the blessing of God that rested on him; and therefore their faith is counted unto them, as it was counted unto him, for righteousness (Gen. 15:6). Those who do not bless and curse Abraham are unbelievers, and therefore those who alienate themselves from the blessing offered to faith, and thus remain, of necessity, under a curse (Gal. 3:9).” One cannot help but see the manifestation of God’s truth in the fact that Jacob, as more worthy, received the blessing intended by Isaac for Esau. God, “as one who tests hearts, by the majesty of His power, by the fear of miracles, by the impulses of love, disposed the Egyptians either as a gift or in return to give their wealth” to the Hebrews. And in this case, He, “as the supreme Lord of all things, gave the first the right of ownership to such acquisitions, as a reward for long-term work,” and thus did not violate the laws of truth. – Zap. on Gen. 2 52; Bib. Histor. 54.85. Words, ed. 1861 3, 275. Words, ed. 1877, 3, 405. Words, ed. 1848 2, 154; compare 6. Words, ed. 1882 4, 509; ed. 1861 3, 152. – “The God of goodness and mercy accepts the formidable title - the God of vengeance, not for lack of love. No, He becomes our enemy out of an excess of love, to secure our freedom and tranquility. Words, ed. 1873 1, 287. Bible East. 182. – “In the reproofs (of God), in general, such an order is noted that first (God) points out some visible and tangible evil to which the sinner is subject, and then, in order to lead him to repentance, gives him to understand that this evil is a consequence of sin.” In this form, the goodness of God was manifested in exposing the evil intention of Cain, who planned to kill his brother. After the fratricide, God showed “justice dissolved in mercy.” Where is Abel, your brother? - He asked Cain. “This question proves that God, who did not want the death of a sinner, despite neglecting his first suggestions, still wanted to meekly convert Cain to repentance. For this, just as in the denunciation of Adam, He accepts for Himself the image of ignorance - for this, in the name of his brother, He awakens in him the meek feelings of nature.” In general, “every threat to the word of God has a double reason and intention - condemnation of the sinner and a call to conversion.” Zap. on Gen. 1, 84–5. 87 and gave. 146.61. Catech. 20.98; Words, ed. 1848 1, 104. Ibid. 42; Zap. on Gen. 1, 26. Words, ed., 1848 2, 260. Zap. on Gen. 2, 173–4. 56; "Shower. Thu." in 1869 Mar. 82. – Remembrance is sometimes attributed to God, for example, it is said: God remembered Noah (Gen. 8:1). “Recollection is attributed to a person when, out of many absent things, some become inherent in his imagination: in relation to God, recollection can be called when some of the things inherent in His omniscience appear under His immediate and direct action. There is such a remembrance of judgment, such as, for example, the remembrance of Babylon (Rev. 18:5), and there is a remembrance of grace, as in the indicated case.” From some passages of Holy Scripture one can apparently conclude that God does not see everything that happens on earth, and in order to learn about the life of earthly creatures, he uses some effort and makes movements towards the subject of knowledge. It is said, for example: Jehovah came down to see the city and the tower that the sons of men were building (Gen. 11:5). “God descends,” explains Augustine, when he creates something on earth that, having been created miraculously, contrary to the ordinary course of nature, reveals His presence in some special way.” Zap. on Gen. 1, 126. 2, 39–40. In another place it is said: I will go and see and find out whether they have accomplished what the cry goes up to Me (God) about or not (Gen. 18:20). “That is: has Sodom already reached the extreme degree of its iniquities, and is its corruption so complete that long-suffering is useless and correction is impossible (1 Samuel 20:33)? In order to reconcile the test visit to Sodom with God's omniscience, one must imagine that God, in justification of His destinies and for the instruction of future generations, deigns to reveal to Abraham, on the one hand, the extreme wickedness of the Sodomites, on the other, His long-suffering and, finally, righteous condemnation. It is His will to explain all this either in the words of human language or in other intelligible signs.”... Here is another similar passage: “God looked upon the earth, and behold, it was corrupt (Gen. 6:12), that is, He could no longer cover its sins with His long-suffering from the gaze of His justice and present Himself as not seeing it.” Ibid. 128–9. 1, 113. Words, ed. 1848 2, 3. Catech. 21; Words, ed. 1861 3, 268. Ibid. 4; ed. 1848 1, 150; Wed 292.2, 185. Words, ed. 1848 1, 4. Ibid.1, 4; ed. 1877 3, 404. Words, ed. 1848 1, 145. “Our soul is the image of the Trinity Divine unity.” Words, ed. 1873 1, 278. “Read. in General love spirit. Ave.,” 1873 1, 20. Catech. 30; Conversation between trials and confidence 39–40. Words, ed. 1848 1, 60; Conversation between trials and confidence 39. Words, ed. 1861 3, 190. The dogma of the unity of God was especially persistently proclaimed in the Old Testament. So, for example, God raised up prophets so that, among other things, “the church would be confident that it is under the control of one, righteous, omnipotent, omniscient God, according to Whom everything is arranged on earth (Ezek. 3:9; 84:27).” - “Read. in general love spirit. enlightenment,” 1873, 2, 155–156. – Objections to Old Testament monotheism based on the use of the names Jehovah and Elohim and on the name of God as the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob cannot be recognized as evidence-based. “In introducing the story of man for the first time, the majestic name Jehovah, that is, the One or Existence, is established in Holy Scripture in conjunction with the previously used name Elohim, God.” The theory of fragments, which is thought to explain the use of the names of God Jehovah and Elohim, due to its groundlessness and confusion, does not stand up to criticism. – Zap. on Gen. 1, 35–6. – God is called the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, “by preserving the true knowledge of God and worship in their descendants, and especially by the incarnation” of the Son of God. Ibid. 2, 106–7; Wed 3, 59. Approx. to TV Holy Father part 22. 493 pp. Words, ed. 1848 2, 4. – “The teaching of the Christian faith testified to us about God against pagan errors, that He is one, eternal and unchangeable in His essence and in His will, omnipotent and wise, righteous and good. Against the ignorance of the Jews, it testified that the One God is Trinity, God the Father, without beginning and begotten, the Son of God, born of God the Father and consubstantial with Him, the Spirit of God proceeding from God the Father, equal to the Father and the Son in Divinity and glory.” It is necessary to consider the “testimony of God” intended “for all people that God is Creator, Provider and Savior.” Words, ed. 1874 2, 312.