Teacher of Clement of Alexandria

Moral perfection, likeness to the perfect Heavenly Father, should be, according to the word of our Savior the Lord Jesus Christ, the goal of a Christian’s entire life and activity: be, he says, perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect. All types of rational activity, all the best aspirations of man, elevating him; as a rational and free being, as the most excellent creation of the Wise Artist, must concentrate in one beautiful goal - to be a true likeness of the heavenly Father, an imitator of His goodness and love, reviving with His omnipotent influence all creations even to the smallest - in a word, to be the son of God. The goal is worthy of a person, the most noble and sublime, but at the same time it is not achieved all at once, but gradually, and, moreover, not without one’s own activity and effort and not without outside instruction, admonition and guidance. A high goal, we say, is to strive to express in oneself, in one’s heart and one’s activities the likeness of God’s perfections and thus become true children of God, imitators of the Only Begotten Son of God. Given its sublimity, such a desire, actively expressed, should lead a person to true good, which is the constant object of his quest - the object of the heart's thirst and inexplicable desires: to be the Son of God is the same as being an heir to the kingdom of God, to be a wonderful citizen of heaven. But isn’t being a citizen of heaven the same as being the best citizen of earth? Is it not true that godliness is beneficial for everything and has a promise for this age and the next? What if human societies consisted of members, in close communion of brotherly love, strenuously and actively seeking heavenly citizenship, true imitators of the Only Begotten Son of God, imitators of His humility, patience, meekness, love; then would they have lost the benefits of earthly citizenship? On the contrary, such societies would present a beautiful likeness of the kingdom of God, the kingdom of peace, love and true happiness, which is only available to the inhabitants of the earth. This is what we pray to the Heavenly Father: may Thy kingdom come, may that unity of love, that peace, that unanimous submission to the will of God, which constitute the unity, beauty, glory and bliss of the kingdom of God, enter into our hearts. Thus, the education of citizens for heaven and the kingdom of God should not weaken and destroy, but strengthen and strengthen the strength, prosperity, strength, greatness and glory of societies and kingdoms on earth. – According to the usual opinion, only children and young men need education and guidance who have not yet strengthened their mental and physical strength, who have not yet frolicked for independent activity, due to the fickleness, frivolity and ebullience of age and unsteadiness of thought, who cannot control and manage themselves without outside supervision, without instruction, direction, suggestion, admonition, in a word, without pedagogy. But in fact, we are all imperfect, shaky in thoughts and desires, but resistant to the pressure of the stormy waves of the sea of ​​life, not yet developed in accordance with the high goal of our calling and destiny, petty in our actions and aspirations, like small-minded and fickle children; perfection is the goal ahead, and achieving it, as far as possible for a person, is not here, but in eternity, in another better world. Activities not guided by anyone other than the suggestions of one’s own mind, arrogant with the consciousness of independence and filled with boundless self-confidence, seems extremely dangerous. It turns out that not only children should be entrusted with leadership, but also all those who strive, in the words of St. apostles, to the honor of the highest calling, desiring to be excellent citizens of heaven, useful, truly noble citizens and sons of the earthly fatherland; everyone should be guided not by complete trust in oneself, in one’s own strengths and one’s own mind, which is often erroneous, but by experience and wisdom, which has the highest authority and an indisputable right to complete trust on our part, devotion and obedience. And thus pedagogy acquires a broader meaning than is usually associated with this name. In this sense, Clement, the Alexandrian presbyter, student and successor of Panten in the Alexandrian school, in a creation called “Teacher”, precious for its extreme antiquity and excellent moral instructions, understands pedagogy. Everyone is imperfect and must strive for perfection: “I sometimes come to wonder,” he says, how some dare to call themselves perfect and Gnostics, thinking about themselves more than about the apostles, puffed up with pride and magnified when the Apostle Paul himself says about himself: “I have not already reached, or have been perfected, but I persecute even if I comprehend... (Phil. 3:11-14), and to consider myself perfect because only that he has freed himself from his former life and follows a better one, not as perfect in knowledge, but as striving for that which is perfect” (book 1, chapter 6). That is why in his creation St. Clement had in mind those who were instructed of both sexes and of all ages, all who received access to the word of the gospel and grace, who entered the bosom of the church: “for all, he says, there is one God and one Teacher, one church, one temperance and moderation, one modesty, common food, sight, hearing, knowledge, hope, obedience, love - everything is the same. Those who have a common life have common grace and common salvation, also common love and upbringing: for in this age, he says, they marry and commit violence, in which the male sex is distinguished from the female, but in that age this will no longer happen” (Luke 20:34), (Book 1, Chapter 4). The universality of Clement's pedagogical instructions to both sexes and all ages was caused by the title that he held for a long time, the title of mentor at the Alexandrian catechetical school, where the students were persons of more than one rank, gender and age. It was to them that the wonderful moral lessons included in his creation, “The Teacher,” were originally directed; “We,” he says, who teach you these rules here and encourage you to fulfill them, “we especially must set an example for you.” But all the more precious for us are these lessons from the first times of Christianity, the lessons of a teacher famous for his learning and piety, because they can be guided with equal benefit by a youth who knows how to read and seeks instruction and admonition, and a husband who has matured in years, but has not yet matured with moral powers, and a mother who cares about the good upbringing of children and the development of a moral sense in herself, and a teacher who needs wise rules to guide him to successful and successful life. sound development and education entrusted to his care and supervision. Along with the moral benefit, Clement’s “Pedagogue” presents a wise view of education and the way of education, guided by the fathers and teachers of the times closest to the apostolic time, and characterizes the life and way of life of ancient Christians. Let's take a closer look at this ancient monument, bearing in mind its significance both for those who have taken upon themselves the responsibility of leading others, and for those being taught, for those being led. After the presentation of the subject and purpose of the creation itself, we will pay attention to its content, accepting those main and essential aspects in which it can be embraced in its main features, but without losing sight of the details that are important and interesting for us in a moral sense, and the teacher’s own words, remarkable for us. Why is this creation called “Teacher” and what is its subject? Distinguishing his present creation from the presentation of the positive truths of faith, Clement says: “now that the word is engaged in healing and teaching instructions, extending to the highest degree concern for the healing of our passions, now let it be called by us “teacher.” “This teacher is engaged in practical activities, and not just teaching the foundations of doctrine.” What is its purpose? “His goal,” he says, is to make the soul better, and not only to nourish it with teaching, but to instruct in an honest and prudent life. Although the very instructions are capable of teaching us, let them now be received differently. For speech that explains and reveals dogmatic truths is speech that has teaching as its subject. When the teacher pays attention to the activity, after a preliminary exhortation to improve morality, then he already stimulates the very doing of what should be done, passing on pure and intact rules and showing students examples of those who have gone astray” (Book 1, Chapter 1). Hence, the author’s goal is to encourage those being instructed to actively, prudently, fully worthy of a Christian, express piety and good morals in life and to protect them on all paths of life from temptations and vain customs of the world, in the very smallest details of social life, in external movements, indicating the germs of emerging passions that are not characteristic of Christian wisdom. “The best thing,” he says, is never to sin in any way: this is characteristic of God. Then, it is good not to voluntarily touch any untruth: this is characteristic of the wise. It’s good, further, not to fall into involuntary sins so often: this is typical of those who are well brought up by a teacher” (book 1, chapter 2). Protection from these involuntary sins, from those actions and affections that are often considered completely indifferent, having no moral significance, while they already serve as an expression of emerging or excitation of destructive passions that threaten us - this is what should be one of the main concerns of a wise teacher. However, those who had the misfortune to fall, but want to rise up, are not alien to him: “a short stay in sins,” he continues, is placed in last place by us; but this is also saving for those called to repentance” (book 1, chapter 2). Setting out the main subject and purpose of his creation and at the same time separating it from instruction in the mysteries of the Christian faith, Clement says: “it is known that there is another form of instruction, which tends to teach the high and spiritual, when the mind is exercised in contemplating the secret mysteries. For now, let us postpone this for the future. - It is fitting for you to repay with love to the One who, out of His love for us, serves as a guide to the most excellent way of life; We should live according to the dictates of His will, not only fulfilling what is commanded, but also beingware of what is forbidden; avoiding bad examples and imitating as much as possible good ones, imagine the similarity of the Teacher’s deeds, so that what is in His image and likeness may be fulfilled in us. Wandering in life, as if in deep darkness, we need the best leader, who would never get lost or stumble. And the best leader is not a blind one, according to the word of scripture, leading the blind into a pit, but a word with a penetrating gaze, discerning the depths of the heart. Therefore, somehow it is not a light that does not enlighten, it is not a mover that does not move, it is not a lover who does not love, and that is not good that does not benefit and does not lead to salvation. “Therefore, considering the Word to be law, we understand His commandments and admonitions, these short and straight paths to eternity” (book 1, chapter 3). Therefore, what is pedagogy? “Pedagogy,” says St. Clement, is the science of serving God and a guide to achieving knowledge of the truth and right instruction leading to heaven. Pedagogy has different names: 1) pedagogy is considered to be the property of the led and the taught; 2) on the other hand, it is the position of a leader and mentor; 3) pedagogy is education itself; 4) pedagogy is what is taught, as for example. commandments" (book 1, chapter 7). Namely, regarding pedagogy, 4 questions are presented: 1) who and what should be the ones being taught and guided? 2) who and what kind of leader or mentor should be? 3) what should be the teacher’s behavior in relation to his pets? 4) what rules and instructions should they be guided by? – Having divided his creation into three books, Clement in the first book deals with the solution of the first three questions: about the leader, about the led, and about the image of leadership and the relationship of the mentor to the mentees; and in the second and third books he sets out the rules of Christian behavior, good behavior and piety. Let us pay attention to the first book, which sets out the conditions and foundations of correct, natural and wise Christian education. When deciding on the conditions and foundations of education, questions arise: 1) about those being led; 2) about the leader, and 3) about the image of leadership and the relationship of the mentor to the students. First of all, the question arises: who and what should the disciples, the mentored, the guided be like? Clement answers: these are youths, infants, these are we who should be youths and infants, in our innocence, simplicity, sincerity, purity, in our eternally youthful, fresh and flower-flecked virtue, Christian wisdom, in our cheerfulness, lightness and readiness for all that is good, for everything leading to life and salvation, but not due to foolishness and childish foolishness. “The fact that pedagogy, he says, should be the education of children is obvious from the name itself. It remains for us to consider the youths whom the scripture signifies, and then assign a teacher to you. The youths are us” (chapter 5). This is the condition required on the part of all who wish to be students of Christian pedagogy; This is the disposition of the heart - the basis and support for the strength of moral suggestions, which those who are led and instructed should have. The teacher of the church, wise by the word of God, who often calls us children, wants to see in those being taught of every gender and age - obedient children, innocent and simple children, humble and meek youths, gentle and pure, not wicked, but wise in the Christian spirit, not proud and arrogant, but humbly listening to the wisdom of the divine word and drinking in nourishing, saving acceptance. the spiritual milk of His teaching. The shortcomings of the pets - their unbridled activity, their hesitation and pitiful fall from every wind of temptation, their rebellion and self-will and the weak influence of leaders and mentors on them - do they not precisely stem from the fact that they do not want to be children, but husbands, they crave independence and self-initiated activity too early, they consider themselves perfect and mature too early and overthrow all bridles and restrictions? Isn’t every sin and every fall a consequence of insane self-confidence and dreams of one’s strength and courage? Isn’t it a consequence of the overthrow of saving childhood, submission to the heavenly Father and trust in His leadership and providence? - There are many theories about the beginnings of education, many works have been accepted and are being accepted for the elevation and ennoblement of the heart, but the true beginning of morality and true nobility is one and the simplest - simple as a Danish bright gaze, like an innocent infant smile; This is the beginning and foundation of morality: one must be loving, meek, submissive, innocent, free from malice and wickedness, children of the Heavenly Father, thirsty and drinking the sweetness of His teaching. – Having called all the pupils of Christian pedagogy children, youths, and having expressed with such a name the basis of morality, the condition under which they can be guided and instructed, the teacher of the church, on the one hand: a) shows the reason for calling them children from St. scripture and its true meaning; and on the other hand, b) refutes the Gnostics, who considered Christians to be infants in the wrong sense, as imperfect people, spiritually lacking the true knowledge of which they themselves boasted. Let us present the author's thoughts in essential terms, citing his own words where necessary. a) Holy Scripture often calls us children, youths, babies, to denote the simplicity of faith. According to the Gospel narrative, the Lord Himself, standing on the shore of Lake Gennesaret, said to the disciples: children, what food can you eat? ( John 21:4–5 ). When bringing children to Him for blessing, He said that such is the Kingdom of God (Matthew 19:13–14). What these words were leading to, He explains: unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven (Matthew 18:3), “advising us to imagine the likeness of the simplicity characteristic of youths.” Have you ever said, says the Savior, that out of the mouth of a child and of those who piss he has uttered ecu praise? (Matthew 21:16). Preparing the disciples for separation, predicting His departure to heaven, in order to arouse the strongest attentiveness to His words, the Lord lovingly says: children, I am not with you yet for a little while (John 13:33). And again he likens the Kingdom of God to children sitting in the marketplace and saying: you squeak and do not dance, you weep and do not mourn (Matthew 11:16-17). In accordance with the Gospel, prophetic scripture also calls us children; David sings: praise the Lord, children, praise the name of the Lord (Ps. 114:1). Through Isaiah the Word - Teacher says: behold, I and the children whom God has given Me (Is. 8:18). Sheep, that is, youths, will be placed at the right hand of the Judge for their heartfelt simplicity and innocence. “He considered the lambs worthy of advantage, preferring in people the kindness of heart, gentleness and simplicity of soul, that is, innocence. Scripture understands us, youths, under the name of calves sucking milk, under the name of a simple and gentle dove, under the image of two chicks or a pair of turtle doves, considered worthy to make a sacrifice pleasing and pleasing to God, serving as an excellent symbol of innocence, gentleness, timidity, that is, fear of sin, calling us youths, Scripture also calls us chicks: like a kokosh gathers chicks your own under your wing; calls babies, children, children, a new and recent people, as free and pure from passions and vices, striving for the One Heavenly Father, as recently reborn by faith, as hastening to salvation, cheerfully flowing towards the truth. Scripture understands us under the name of the young stallion on which the Savior sat, signifying the youth of humanity, which is in Christ, and eternity, unaffected by old age, under the name of the foal, tied to the vine (bind your lot to the vine, (Gen. 49:11), that is, to the Word, exuding blood, just as the vine exudes wine. Through Isaiah, the Holy Spirit calls us lambs: just as a shepherd feeds His flock and with His arm gathers the lambs (Is. 40:11), where he calls the most tender of the rams lambs, allegorically meaning simplicity. And we ourselves call everything that is dear and pleasant to us by a diminutive name. That is why the instruction in virtue is called pedagogy by us, the Lord Himself, clearly revealing to us the meaning of the name. children, when a dispute arose between the apostles about primacy, placing the boy in front of them in the middle, he said: whoever humbles himself as this child has done will be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 18:4). “It was not because, says Clement, that He used the name youths, so that because of their age they would be unreasonable and could not use reason, as some thought; and if He said: unless you are like children, you will not enter the Kingdom of God, then this should not be understood ignorantly. We, being babies, do not still lie on the ground, and do not crawl, as before, like snakes on the ground, rolling with our whole bodies in unreasonable fun; but, raising our minds to grief, rejecting the world and sins, touching the ground with our feet so much that we only seem to exist in the world, we strive in heavenly wisdom.” This wisdom, which seems like a riot to those sophisticated in deceit and cunning, is rightly adopted by those who know God as the Father, the simple and infantile, the pure and innocent, striving for the One Heavenly Father after putting aside the cares of this world, according to the word of the Gospel: do not worry about the morning, for his wickedness will prevail throughout the day (Matthew 6:34). “He who fulfills this commandment, says the teacher of the church, is in truth a child and a child for God and for the world: for the world, as self-deluded and erring, but for God, as a beloved.” For the strongest conviction that we are all youths, children and should be children, Clement continues: “if, according to the word of Scripture, we have One Teacher in heaven, then, in justice, all of us who are on earth are disciples. For this is what the truth says: everything that is perfect is from the Lord, who teaches, and everything that is youthful and childish is from us, who are always learning.” The name is acquired by the husband to the perfect. Scripture calls a man a man who is perfect in vice, for example. a man of blood, he says, the Lord abhors (Ps. 7:6), and perfect in righteousness, as the Lord alone is: I have betrothed you, says the Apostle: I have betrothed you, says the Apostle, to one man, to present a pure virgin to Christ (2 Cor. 11:2), And we, according to the Apostle, only strive for perfection in virtue: until we reach the union of faith and knowledge of the Son God, perfect into a husband, according to the age of the fulfillment of Christ (Eph. 4:13, 14). Our guide alone, Christ, is perfect in righteousness, and we, under His guidance, avoiding the winds of heresies that blow upon us, become perfect in the composition of the church, upon the perception of the head, that is, Christ.” Further St. the father draws attention to the meaning of the word: νήπιος, assimilated by the word of God to the disciples of the Gospel; this word, according to his explanation, generally means one who has a gentle, soft meek soul, and does not mean an unreasonable, meaningless one, to which another word (νηπύτιος) “νήπιος says he is called the one who has a gentle, meek soul, who is νε ἤπιος” (meaning a particle not in sense of negation). This explanation is confirmed by the words of the Apostle Paul: powerful in the burden of being, like Christ’s apostles, but you were in your midst, like a milkmaid warming her child (1 Thess. 2:7). “Thus the baby is meek, and in this sense he is soft, gentle and simple, not involved in deception and deceit and far from hypocrisy, has a fair and pure soul; this is the basis of simplicity and truth: to whom, he says, I will look only to the meek and humble” (Is. 66:2). “We can be gentle,” continues St. father, when we do not resist conviction, when we are easily formed by goodness, free from anger; not in the least outraged by malice and obstinacy.” – We are not that ancient obstinate and rough-hearted people (Israel), but we are a new people, soft and gentle, like a baby. In this sense, St. The apostle defines true infancy in Christ with the words: I want you to be wise for good, but simple for evil (Rom. 16:19). - Babies are new minds, recently made prudent, recently reborn by grace, having ageless youth, always blooming for understanding, for the exercise of the mind, always young, always fresh and new, as having become partakers of a new word, as partakers of eternity and incorruptibility, filled with wisdom, always vegetating and never changing: their children, he says, will be taken on their shoulders and comforted on their knees; Just as if a mother comforts anyone, so I will comfort you (Is. 66:12–13). “A mother attracts her children and we are looking for our mother - the church.” Just as fathers and mothers, not only among people, but also among animals, guide their children, so God guides us; “The Father of all accepts those who come to Him and knows the meek. Those born into adoption by the Spirit, he loves them alone, gives them help, fights for them and protects them; and therefore he calls them children” (Gen. 26:7). Clement sees in Esau the prototype of a new generation of believers and therefore finds a mysterious meaning in the historical story of Isaac's game with Rebecca. Let us note here by the way that St. Father generally loves the allegorical, mysterious explanation of St. Scriptures. The influence of Greek-Jewish philosophy, which developed to the highest degree the principle of the mysterious explanation of St. Scripture, was reflected on many church fathers, especially on those who were born and raised on the soil that gave rise to the formation and development of the said philosophy, namely in Alexandria. – The Holy Father sees in the game of Isaac with Rebekah a prototype of the innocent childish joy of the young people of God, reborn by the Spirit of Christ. – Isaac (which means laughter) means joy, Rebekah means patience, the spectator, King Abimelech means transcendental wisdom. “Oh mysterious game! - he says. Laughter combined with patience, and the king is a spectator; for the spirit of those who are youths in Christ, who live their lives in patience, rejoices and delights. This is a divine game." According to another explanation, Isaac means believers who rejoice because of salvation; Rebekah (patience) signifies the church, either because it endures forever, or because it consists of members who endure to the end the testimony of the truth; Abimelech means King Christ, who looks down on our joy and patience. The window through which the Lord looks is His flesh. - Further, Isaac transformed the Lord Himself, when his father was led to the slaughter and carried wood like the Lord - the cross, and then, freed from suffering, “he mysteriously laughed, predicting that the Lord would fill us with laughter, redeemed from destruction and decay.” - Not only Isaac was called a child, but the Lord Himself was called a child by the Holy Spirit through Isaiah: for unto us was born a Son, and was given unto us, whose rulership was upon His frame, and the name of His great council is called angel (Is. 9:6). This is the Youth, in whose image we are youths. “Oh great God! O perfect Youth! exclaims Clement, the Son in the Father and the Father in the Son. And how should there not be a completely adolescent instruction of this Youth, which is taught to everyone, teaching us, His little ones?” John, who was born of women, also testifies to this Youth: behold, the Lamb of God (John 1:29, 26). “Since the Scripture calls us children, babies, lambs, the Word also called God, who for our sake became man, who wanted to be like us in everything, the Lamb of God, that is, the Son of God, the Child of the Father.” (Book 1, Chapter 5). b) Further revealing the true meaning of infancy in Christ, that evangelical simplicity, which, according to the word of the Savior, is not prohibited from entering the Kingdom of God, the “Teacher” is engaged in refuting the opinion of arrogant and superstitious people (Gnostics), who called Christians infants in another sense - in the sense of their imperfection, ignorance, as spiritual ones who have not received perfect knowledge of the hidden secrets of the Kingdom of God. “We are called youths and babes not because our science is childish and worthy of contempt, as those who are arrogant in knowledge slander us.” Upon rebirth, we immediately accepted perfection, because we received enlightenment - the knowledge of God, Who is perfect. “Baptized, we are enlightened, enlightened, we are adopted, adopted, we are perfected, perfect, we become immortal: rekh, says, Gods are the sons of the Most High (Ps. 82:6). This work is called in various ways: grace, enlightenment, perfection, and font; the font through which our sins are cleansed, and the grace by which the punishments following sins are forgiven; enlightenment, through which we look at that holy and saving light, that is, through which we see God, and we called perfect as something that does not lack anything. For what is lacking in the one who knows God.” The grace received in baptism cannot be called incomplete, imperfect, as a gift from the Perfect One, who, by the power of the will, can prevent what must be acquired over a long period of time. Therefore, to believe and be regenerated means to have already received perfection. It is indecent to call those taught by God Himself imperfect. The enlightened one immediately upon liberation from darkness perceives the heavenly light; After cleansing from sins, the eye of the spirit is enlightened, capable of seeing the eternal light. To the question: why did not the regenerate one accept the perfect gift, St. the father replies: “I agree; however, he is in the light, and darkness does not comprehend him, and between light and darkness there is nothing in between.” At the future resurrection, the goal will be achieved, which is to receive what was previously promised. Although achieving a goal and having a premonition are not the same thing, there is one thing, the truth of which is immutable. And so, we received perfection, to the extent that perfection is possible for us in this world. Faith is the perfection of teaching: believe in the Son of God to have eternal life. We already have life; What do we lack except the inheritance of eternal life? We have already received a guarantee of the complete fulfillment of faith, which will come true after our departure from this world. Faith presents to us what has already been accomplished and will be fulfilled. “Therefore, just as ignorance is resolved by knowledge and doubt is resolved by the right path found, so it is necessary that darkness be destroyed by enlightenment. Darkness is ignorance through which we fall into sins, being mistaken regarding the truth. Enlightenment is knowledge that destroys ignorance and imparts a keen ability to see; moreover, it is the rejection of the worst and the revelation of the best. For what ignorance has bound badly, knowledge has resolved beautifully. These bonds are immediately resolved on the part of man by faith and on the part of God by grace, namely, when sins are forgiven through one miraculous healing, that is, baptism.” After washing away all sins, we no longer remain evil, and after receiving enlightenment, along with knowledge, we are immediately called disciples. The doctrine of faith is instilled in us by the divine Spirit; and this faith, which constitutes the general salvation of human nature, is communicated by the righteous and humane God to everyone equally. Having come to faith, we are no longer under the law, but under the guidance of the Word. In Hero there is no division of people, so that some are gifted with knowledge, and others are spiritual, but all are equal with the Lord: there is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus (Gal. 3:27-28). And in another place it says: we were all baptized with one spirit into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all drunk on one spirit (1 Cor. 12:13). Purified by baptism, we return to the eternal Light, sons to the Father, and become more prudent and capable of salvation than the wise men of the world: we confess the Father, the Son of God cries, Lord of heaven and earth; for he hid this ecu from the wise and prudent and revealed it to babes (Luke 10:21). We are the children of God, as having put aside the oldness of vice, as having put on incorruption, as a new holy people, as infants in malice; although perfect in mind, according to the word of the Apostle: brothers, do not have children in your minds, but be childish in malice, but have perfect minds (1 Cop. 14:20). Calling his state in the law infancy (when he is a child, like a child in verbs, like a child in wisdom. 1 Cor. 13:11), St. The apostle does not mean the simplicity of the Gospel, but the foolishness with which he pursued the truth. Therefore, in the following words: when the husband rejected the infant, he does not indicate some teaching of the perfect, but means the rejection of senseless fear of the law, in order to receive sonship. Having recognized people subject to fear and sins as infants, in the sense of their foolishness, the apostle called us believers sons and men, distinguishing us from infants under the law: bear, he says, a servant, but a son, or even a son and heir (Gal. 4:7); What does the son lack after inheriting? He called us men, as those who philosophize about what is characteristic of Christ, Who alone is called in Scripture a Man, as perfect. “And so, infancy in Christ,” concludes St. Father, there is perfection.” Those who understood this Christian infancy in a wrong sense - in the sense of foolishness and ignorance, imperfection in knowledge, could and certainly did find favorable for their interpretation the words of the apostle: you have drunk milk, and not meat; The Holy Father says that for those who have reached perfection and the end of their aspirations in the future life, milk and honey are also promised: I will bring you into a good land, boiling with milk and honey (Ex. 3:8,17): will milk really be offered to these latter as the food of the imperfect? – Perfect milk serves as perfect nutrition; That is why during the rest, in the future life, milk and honey also communicate. For the Word, which is A and Ω, the beginning and the end, is allegorically called milk. - However, by the name “carnal” we can understand people who have just been announced, but have not yet been purified, who, like the pagans, were still thinking about the things of the flesh: for where there is envy and zeal and strife in you, are you not of the flesh and walk with man (1 Cor. 3:3). - Moreover, doesn’t milk mean complete joy in the Word, that is, knowledge of the truth? But doesn’t this food mean a clear revelation of the truth in the future life? For we see now as with a mirror in fortune-telling, says the same apostle, but then face to face (1 Cor. 13:12). If, in fact, what is promised is inexpressible and incomprehensible, then by what science have they understood the incomprehensible, who are vain of knowledge? And so, the apostle does not mean milk in the sense of the imperfection of the teaching taught to believers: otherwise there would be no consistency in the allegory, according to which the Shepherd of the flock is, in a spiritual sense, and milk, the food of believers. Therefore, we can accept the meaning that milk and meat do not mean something different in essence. The same word can be expanded, liquid, like milk, and compressed, hard, like food. We can understand milk as a spilled prophecy, and milk as the truths of faith, united by catechism into a solid foundation. To strongly reflect those who persist in the idea that milk means the first lessons - the imperfect teaching of spiritual people, Clement cites the words of the Savior, offering a mysterious meat and drink for believers: eat My body and drink My blood, and proves that just as the body is revived and nourished by blood, so blood itself is a modification of milk. By despising milk, the food of believers, these vain people, according to St. father, I humiliate the Body and Blood of Jesus. For the blood in man is something original; according to some, it is the essence of the soul. Blood is the same flesh, although liquid and moist. Meanwhile, milk is nothing more than modified blood. Blood, flowing into the mother's nipples, is transformed into milk, while preserving the very essence of blood. This transformation occurs in a similar way to the transformation of water into foam. The change occurs in quality, not in substance. “And so, in every respect, milk is like spiritual nutrition: it is sweet, because of the grace that is poured out, and nutritious, like life, and white, like the day of Christ. But we have shown that the blood of the Word is also like milk." ... "Mothers give out milk. But the Lord did not consider women’s breasts blessed and did not choose them to nourish us; but when the loving and good Father rained down the Word, It Itself became spiritual nourishment for good people. O mysterious miracle! One is the Father of all, One is the Word of all, and One is the Holy Spirit, and He Himself abides everywhere. One is the virgin mother; I am pleased to call it a church. She is a virgin and at the same time a mother, pure and immaculate like a virgin, loving like a mother; She, collecting her chicks, feeds them with holy milk, that is, with the Word of the Infant. She did not have milk because the milk was this beautiful Baby and kindred to us, feeding with the word a new host, which the Lord Himself gave birth to with the pilot's disease and bound with swaddling clothes - with precious Blood. O holy birth! O holy shrouds! The Word is everything for a baby: Father and Mother, Teacher and Nourisher. Eat, he says, My Body, and drink My Blood. O wondrous mystery! He commands us to cast out old and carnal corruption, as well as old food; commands us, created partakers of another new life of Christ, to perceive Him, to put it within ourselves and to hide the Savior inside our breasts, in order to tame the passions of our flesh.” This Word, who shed His Blood for us for the salvation of human nature, provides us, infants, with the milk of love, why St. The Apostle Peter says: Putting aside all malice and all flattery and hypocrisy, and envy and all slander, like newborn babes, you will love verbal and unflattering milk, so that in it you will grow unto salvation; you will taste it with tenderness, for the Lord is good (1 Peter 2:1-3). That food is not anything other than milk - this is shown by nature itself. When the cold does not allow the release of internal heat, the food, boiled and transformed into blood, flows into the veins, which, when exhalation is delayed, become overfilled and become sick. That is why nurses are full of milk in winter; and in the summer, milk, like blood, is not abundant. In this way, food is transformed into blood, and blood into milk. Therefore, immediately after rebirth, we feed on milk, the Lord's food. Brushno will be abolished (1 Cor. 6:13), and nutrition through milk leads to heaven, educates citizens of heaven. - Since the Word is the gushing source of life, the apostle, allegorically calling Him milk, added: give him something to drink. But the same thing can be both meat and milk, as for example. cheese and milk. Cheese is the same as milk, but condensed. It is enough for us that both nutrition is supplied by one essence. - Moreover, the Word itself, which serves as food for us, calls Himself the bread of heaven: Moses did not give you bread from heaven, but My Father gives the true bread from heaven... And the bread that I will give, even I will give my flesh, for the life of the world (John 6:32,51). Like bread absorbs wine, leaving everything watery; so the Flesh of the Lord, the Bread of heaven, absorbs the blood, raising the people of heaven for incorruption and leaving them for the corruption of carnal lust. Thus, the Lord is called meat, and flesh, and food, and bread, and blood, and milk: because He is everything. - “Let no one wonder,” says St. father, that we allegorically call the blood of the Lord milk.” For is He not also called allegorically wine: He will stain His garments with wine and His garments with the blood of grapes? (Gen.49:11). The fact that blood is the Word is indicated by the blood of Abel the righteous. For the blood that speaks, the blood that cries out, must be understood as nothing other than the Word; such is the blood of Abel, which cried out, representing the Word that had to suffer. To make the idea more obvious that blood and milk, while differing in quality, do not differ in essence, Clement draws attention to the initial formation of the human body. The embryo in the mother's womb in its original form is milk condensation, which turns into blood, then becomes flesh. And upon coming into the world, the child feeds on the same blood, because milk has the same nature as blood. “That’s why the Holy Spirit says through the Apostle: Give you milk to drink.” For it is fitting for Him who regenerated us, immediately after our rebirth, to nourish us with His own milk, that is, with the Word. Just as the rebirth was spiritual, so the nourishment provided to us is also spiritual. “Therefore, in all respects we are united with Christ, both in knowledge through His blood, by which we are redeemed, and in sympathy (συμμαθε͂α) through the nourishment that is produced by the Word, and in incorruption and in living life in accordance with His instruction... Therefore, each of us, infants, can boast in the Lord and say: “I boast that I am the Son of such a good Father and of such blood.” It is not contrary to the nature of milk to mix it with water: in the same way, spiritual nutrition is united with a spiritual foundation. Milk is mixed with water for the sake of purification, like baptism for the remission of sins. – Milk and honey are mixed very well and usefully. So the Word, dissolved with goodness, heals the passions of the soul and cleanses sins. Prophecy often exalts Him above honey and honeycomb. – Next, milk and sweet wine are mixed with benefit; because the milk from the wine dissipates and everything counterfeit in it comes out through the water drain. Thus, faith in a passionate person dries up carnal lusts and transfers him into eternity with divine inclinations, making him immortal. – Some people use the fat of milk (cow’s butter) for a lamp, meaning that it (milk) nourishes, grows and enlightens infants. That is why Scripture says: satisfy their village dwellers; honey from the stone and oil from the hard stone, oil of oil and sheep's milk, with the fat of the lamb (Deut. 32:13-14). Let us reveal the true meaning of that infancy to which heaven is open, that gospel childlike simplicity and humility, without which it is impossible, according to the word of the Savior, to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Infants are those reborn by the Holy Spirit, renewed by grace, disciples and followers of the Lord Jesus Christ, they are young, as having in themselves the seed of incorruptibility and immortality, plantings of the vertograd of the Holy Church of Christ, they are meek, submissive, gentle and loving, alien to guile and hypocrisy, cunning and deception, pride and stubbornness, infantile with malice, but perfect in mind, thirsty and seeking heavenly wisdom and enlightened by the Spirit - the children of the Heavenly Father, for whom the Word is everything: the water of life, and nourishing milk, and solid food, and cheerful wine, and sweet honey; He is both a nourisher and food for them, and a father and mother and a teacher. They are imperfect not in the perverse sense that they are deprived of true knowledge and true wisdom, but in the fact that they expect to achieve the goal of divine aspirations in the future century, when they will see face to face what is now contemplated by faith, like a mirror in fortune-telling. But, as having received all the strength, including life and piety, as enlightened by the knowledge imparted by faith, as having all the means for spiritual nutrition and strengthening, as striving for true perfection, they cannot be considered devoid of wisdom and meaningless. These are the kind of babies that Christ’s pedagogy has in mind: unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the Kingdom of God. The definition of who and what kind of people should be led and mentored should be followed by a definition and description of a true leader, a good teacher. Who is the true teacher? What are his qualities? “Since we have shown that Scripture calls us all children, and that all of us who followed Christ are allegorically called babes, that only the Father of all is perfect, then we should prove in order who our Teacher is.” (Book 1, Chapter 7). “Our teacher, O you youths, is like God His Father, Whom He is the Son, Who is completely not subject to any sin, far from any criticism and dispassionate in soul, God, in the form of man, not defiled, the Word of God, serving the Father’s will, Who is in the Father, Who is at the right hand of the Father and in the image is God; He is an image to us, in whom there is no spot. He is free from all the passions of the human soul. That is why He is the Judge, because He alone is not subject to sin” (Book 1, Chapter 4). The choice of an experienced, prudent and kind leader is an essential subject in pedagogy. He must be both a living example of virtue and a kind father, with the beneficial influence of his love for his pets attracting their attention, trust, love and with severity protecting them from disastrous offenses; he must be a vigilant guardian of their innocence and virtue, and a doctor of their spiritual weaknesses and illnesses, and a judge cutting off everything evil, corrupted and harmful in them, and a compassionate mother, grieving over their weaknesses, comforting them, regretting them, along with the first outburst of anger caused from her heart by childish self-will and stubbornness. – Who can be so beautiful and inimitable, so perfect, such an insightful, wise teacher, as the Word and Wisdom of the heavenly Father, the perfect image of His wisdom, goodness and truth, dissolved by mercy - the Son of God, who willingly bore all the infirmities of human nature and therefore can sympathize with us? He alone is the true Teacher of humanity. Every person who takes upon himself the difficult responsibility of a leader and mentor must be a living instrument of the incarnate Word of God, a conductor of His heavenly teaching, His goodness and love, His fatherly severity and at the same time mercy, must be a diligent imitator of the life and works of the Lord and an organ of His divine intentions. Thus, by outlining the perfections of one true wise Teacher, the Lord Jesus Christ, by describing and depicting this high example in the matter of moral education, St. the father prescribes the rules and way of activity for everyone who instills in themselves the positions of leaders, mentors, and teachers. Do you take on this responsibility? Be an imitator of the high ideal that you see in the Word of God - in the Lord Jesus Christ; may your heart be with faith and love in Him and He in you, may your word and your life be an expression of the life and teachings of the Lord; or better yet, taking upon yourself the position of teacher, without ceasing to be a youth and disciple of the Lord Jesus, do not cease to be simple, gentle, unhypocritical, infancy with malice, but not with intelligence - a child of the Heavenly Father, an instrument of His will, an imitator and expression of His goodness, love, which correctly determines both the measure of severity and the measure of condescension. Let the only Teacher - the Son of God - be a model and ideal for every mentor and leader. Drawing our attention to this only Teacher, the teacher of the church: a) describes, with features taken from Holy Scripture, His position and qualities; b) proves that His justice does not contradict His goodness. Let us trace the development of these thoughts in outline. a) He Himself recognizes Himself as a Teacher when He calls Himself a good shepherd: I am the good shepherd (John 10:11), as leading us youths in salvation, just as a shepherd leads the sheep. And they will say, “All are one flock and One Shepherd.” Through the prophet Hosea, He calls Himself our chastiser: I am your chastiser (Hosea 5:2). A teacher is like the leader of an army, who controls it and cares about its salvation, and the helmsman who steers the ship. Just as a helmsman does not yield to the winds, but solemnly resists all bad weather: so the teacher does not allow the vain customs of the world to plunge an inexperienced youth, like a light boat, into the disastrous abyss of passions, he guides and directs him with his word until he safely leads him to the serene haven of heaven. – Comparing the divine Teacher with famous teachers in the pagan world, St. the father points out the powerlessness of these latter to instruct the youths on the true path of virtue and good behavior, and their negligence in fulfilling their duty. And our teacher is God the Word Himself, the light of the human race, the good and merciful Son of the good Father. - He led Israel in the wilderness and protected them: He made them happy in the desert, in the thirst of the heat in the arid waters; his customs, and his orders, and preserve him like the apple of his eye. Like an eagle has covered its nest and its chicks have its desire; He stretched out His wings, and received them and lifted them up on His frame. The Lord is their only leader, and God is not alien to them (Deut. 32:10–13). Again He calls Himself a teacher when He says: I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt (Ex. 20:2). He appeared to Abraham and instructed him to be a faithful youth: I am the Lord your God, please me and be blameless (Gen. 17:1-2). He is Jacob's teacher when he says to him: Behold, I am with you, keep you on every path, even if you go; and I will return you to this land, for the imam will not leave you until He has done the great things that He has said to you (Gen. 28:15). This very Teacher fought with Jacob even until the morning, as can be seen from the words of Jacob: I saw God face to face and my soul was saved (Gen. 32:40); for the face of God is the Word of God, through whom God is known. He instructed Moses to correct the position of teacher: now go and lead this people to the place that I showed you (Exodus 32:38–34). For He indirectly, through Moses, led the ancient people, and directly leads the new people: behold, He said to Moses, My angel will come before you, entrusting leadership to the gospel and the supreme authority of the Word. “Formerly the old covenant was given to the ancient people, and the law, through fear, prompted the people to submit, and the Word was an angel; for a new and recent people, a new and recent covenant was given and the Word came into being, and fear turned into love and a mysterious Angel - Jesus is born.” The same Teacher who of old said: Let us fear the Lord thy God (Deut. 6:2), instills in us the commandment of love: Thou shalt love the Lord thy God (Matt. 22:37). The Law through Moses was given by the Word for a time, but eternal grace and truth came by Jesus Christ (John 1:17); It does not say: given, but Jesus Christ became, as the eternal work of the Word, without which nothing came into existence. – And Moses himself, yielding primacy to the new Teacher, that is, the Word, predicts about Him and arouses the people to obedience and obedience to Him: a prophet, he says, God will raise up for you from your brethren; listen to Him (Deut. 18:15), and he threatens the person who does not listen to this prophet. In addition, prophecy assigns to Him a rod - a rod of instruction, power and strength, so that those who do not repent of the good suggestions of the Word will be frightened by threats, and those who are not afraid of threats will be healed by the rod. And those on whom the rod does not have a healing effect will be consumed by fire. “Looking at the care of the Teacher, wisdom and power: it is not in glory to judge, but in words he will expose; but he judges the humble with righteousness and convicts the humble of the earth with righteousness (Isa. 11:3-4). And through David he says: The Lord punished me, but did not give me over to death (Ps. 119:18). Accepting punishment from the Lord means getting rid of death. Again Isaiah, signifying the power and severity of the divine Teacher, says: with a rod of iron you will preserve them (Is. 11:9). A rod of power, says another prophet, will the Lord send from Zion. Your rod and your club comfort me. “Such is the power of the Teacher, venerable, comforting and saving.” But, with His severity and justice, this divine Teacher, who wields the rod of strength and power, is also good. b) In vain do some (namely, the disciples of Marcian) condemn the goodness of God on the grounds that God uses threats and punishments. False: The severity of threats and punishments is not contrary to divine goodness. The Lord, who Himself bore the weakness of human flesh, sympathizes and has compassion for the nature of everyone; and in this respect He is the best Teacher. God and His Word, by whom all things were created, do not hate what is created; He loves creation, and especially man, the most beautiful of all the creations He has produced. The lover wishes his beloved what is useful, which is better than what is not useful. God is good; This means that He uses us and, moreover, uses us voluntarily. Voluntarily using and providing for a person are the same thing. God really cares for man. He expresses His providence for us by deed itself, guiding us with the Word, an accomplice of God’s favor towards people. Just as good is called good, so truth is called virtue, not because it has virtue, but because in itself it is good. – In other words: good is good not because it pleases, but because it benefits. Thus, truth also has the character of good. Both, good and truth, equally have a share in the same thing, benefit equally. Since objects having the same features are equal and identical, it follows that truth is also good. - How, they say, if God is good, He is angry and punishes? “It is necessary,” says St. Father, briefly discuss this. For this reasoning, from a certain point of view, can lead to the correct upbringing of children.” Many passions are cured with punishments and threats. A severe reprimand is like a kind of surgery. The censure of dishonorable acts has a beneficial effect, like the application of medicine, in purifying the impurities of a shameless and lustful life. Admonition (νουθέτησις) is like a diet for a sick soul, instructing what should be accepted and what should be rejected. The punishments used by the leader of the army, and even executions, have a good purpose in mind - a warning. This is what our Leader, the Word, does, exhorting the rebellious to curb their spiritual passions and peacefully bringing them into the holy union of society. Reproach is a sign of goodwill, not malice. There is a big difference between reproaching an enemy and a friend. The enemy scoffs while blaming, but the friend wishes well. Therefore, the Lord does not reproach us out of hatred. With censure, like a whip, the Teacher awakens the carelessness of the mind, and arouses the stubborn and deeply asleep sinners in carelessness to fight for the truth: Wounds and punishment are wisdom at all times. Just as you blind the sight, so teach the bully and awaken the sleeper from deep sleep (Sir.22:6-8). The Teacher Himself explains His varied and useful care for the cultivation and education of human hearts: I am the true vine and My Father is the worker; Every rod that does not produce fruit in Me I will cut off, and every rod that does produce fruit He will cut off, so that it may bear abundant fruit (John 15:1-2). Just as a gardener, in order to prevent sterility and low fruitfulness of trees, cuts off petioles that are too full-sapling, so the Word cuts off and cleanses the shoots of lust that prevent fruit bearing. -Reprimand, reproach and punishment from the Lord have one goal - a warning from sins: be of good cheer, it is said through Moses, for God has come to you for the sake of temptation, so that the fear of Him may be in you, so that you do not sin (Ex. 20:20). – If those punished are corrected, then they accept the good; and thus fear itself serves as good for people: the spirit of those who fear the Lord will live, for their hope is in him who is saved (Sir.34:13). – The very threat used by the Teacher, preventing sin and suppressing the desire for sin at the very beginning, serves as an undoubted sign of reluctance to do any evil. And so, God is good, because He addresses the exhortation and threat before bringing it into action. This art of turning people away from sins through fear is a good art: the fear of the Lord drives away sins, and he who lives without fear cannot be justified (Sir.1:21). God does not impose punishment out of anger, but out of justice, when it cannot be left for our benefit; Therefore, the guilt of punishment falls on the one who deserves it: food is unrighteous God, bring wrath? no! (Rom.3:6). God addresses his enemies with a threat: I will sharpen My sword like lightning, and My hand will accept judgment, and I will take vengeance on the enemy, and I will repay those who hate Me (Deut. 32:41), which means that if these people were not enemies of the truth, or better yet, enemies of their own salvation, they would have escaped punishment. Thus, the crown of wisdom, according to the word of Scripture, is the fear of God (Sirach 1:18). Through the prophet Amos, the Lord very clearly shows that He, in His goodness, seeks the repentance of people: you have destroyed, as God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, and quickly, like the main one, was plucked out of the fire, and so you turned to Me, says the Lord (Amos. 4:11). Therefore, disaster occurs when God turns away His gaze due to man’s unfaithfulness and rebellion: I will turn My face away from them, he says, and show them what will happen to them in the end (Deut. 32:20). St. The Apostle Paul says that the Lord shows kindness to those who continue in goodness and mercilessness to those who have fallen away (Rom. 11:22). Thus, recognizing the truth that God punishes the unfaithful, we cannot agree that He who taught us to pray for those who curse us would want to take revenge: His punishment means delivering good and benefit to the one being punished - namely, it means correcting the sinner. So, there is no doubt that the Lord is good. “And that the same God is just, says St. Clement, I don’t need many words to prove this; It is enough to quote the Gospel voice of the Lord: that they may all be one, as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be one in us (John 17:21). God is One and above unity itself; and therefore this particle “You,” which has indicative power, shows that He Who is in truth One, is God, Who was and is and will be, or (combining three times into one) Who is He (Ex. 10:14). And that this Himself, Who is One, is truly just, the Lord testifies to this in the Gospel, saying: Righteous Father, the world is not known to You, but I have known You... and so on. (John 17:24–25). This is the One who gives away the sins of the father to the children of those who hate Him and shows mercy to those who love Him (Ex. 20:5, 6). – Wisdom also speaks clearly about this: He has mercy and wrath; He is strong to beg and pour out wrath; But through the abundance of His mercy I also brought His reproof (Sir.16:12, 13). The purpose of both mercy and chastisement is the same - the salvation of those who are merciful and reproved. The Word itself, the Son of God, testifies to the goodness of God and the Father, saying that He is good against those without grace and evil (Luke 6:35, 36), that no one is good, only the One Father who is in heaven. But He recognizes His Father, Who is good, as the Artist and Creator of the world; “And that the Creator of the world is just, there is no doubt about that.” If the Creator is just, and the Lord is the Son of the Creator, then He is the Son of the Just. Why does the apostle assimilate righteousness to the Lord: in the long-suffering of God and for the demonstration of His righteousness, at this present time, while He was righteous and justified of all things by the faith of Jesus (Rom. 3:26). He testifies that justice is good: the law is holy and the commandment is holy and righteous and good (Rom. 7:12). “Therefore, One and the same is His Father, who, being One, is designated by many properties. And this (the saying) tended to this: no one knows the Father, Who was Himself all things before the Son came, so that it may be clear that He Who is the God of all, He alone is, the good, the just, the Artist, the Son in the Father, to whom be glory forever and ever, amen.” Such is the true Teacher of humanity, the Word of God, the Only Begotten Son of God: like His Father, He is good and righteous, merciful and strict; but even in severity and mercy He breathes love for His pets; with both anger and mercy He leads them to repentance and correction, leads them to true good and salvation. Having drawn the image of the true Teacher, filled with goodness and love, but at the same time strict and just, the Teacher who in ancient times guided the patriarchs and fed in the desert and guarded the stubborn people of Israel, and now leads the new people, redeemed by His blood - infants renewed by grace, St. Clement set an ideal and a perfect example, which should be imitated by anyone who takes on the difficult position of leader and teacher. Just as one cannot notice in this lofty example any shadow of a defect: one cannot be called a teacher who is far from this example, who does not live by Him and in Him, who is not himself a disciple and imitator of Him, and who does not serve as the organ of His holy will in His divine intentions and the expression of His goodness, meekness, wise foresight and love. The character of the teacher already predetermines the image of his relationship with his pupils, determines the method of pedagogy, the means by which he should act on the hearts of those being guided and mentored. Let us pay attention to these means of correct and prudent education. – It is common for human wisdom to err both in all subjects and in the matter of education. It is natural for her to go to extremes when seeking and using means to educate inexperienced hearts, to curb the impulses of youthful self-will, unbridledness, stubbornness, to protect against disastrous passions. Or strict measures are used, but not dissolved in leniency, more punitive than corrective, more breathing with vengeance than stemming from love. Or excessive leniency is given to those who fall into disastrous offenses, space is allowed for frivolous frivolity, inexperience and freedom to act to the detriment of oneself and others; under the guise of condescension and love, coldness and indifference to the moral education of the inexperienced is manifested, or excessive unfounded trust in a shaky and unstable mind in the face of every wind of temptation. – Saint Clement depicts a way of acting in relation to the pupils of the divine Teacher, alien to the extremes and shortcomings of human wisdom. Describing the means used by the divine Teacher to curb the passions of human nature, he, on the one hand, arouses love, trust and wonder at the wisdom and goodness of God that guides us, and on the other hand, indicates although high, but at the same time worthy of imitation, rules that guide the correct and wise action on the hearts of pupils, defining the image of the relationship in which an ordinary, earthly teacher, an imitator of the divine Teacher, should be. The Divine Teacher uses various measures to curb human nature: He acts on the hearts of people, curbing their unreasonable and passionate aspirations and inclinations, and with admonitions, reproaches and strong reproaches, and reproofs, and suggestions, and the sending of gifts. But all these measures, taken by the divine wisdom of the Teacher, stem from one source - from love for the youths being led and are directed towards one wonderful goal - their correction and salvation. In this regard, the divine Teacher behaves in relation to His pets like a truly loving father in relation to his beloved children. Despite all the differences in the teacher’s actions in relation to the children he leads, they can be divided into two types, they can be combined into two separate classes; namely, all his actions, all the means with which he treats pets are intended to either ward them off from vicious aspirations and deeds and thus protect them from evil and disaster, or to incline them to goodness, to convince them to do something truly useful and saving. In the first case, the teacher is full of severity, in the second case he breathes goodness, attracts to goodness with the praise of virtue, promises of pardon and salvation, and an image of the glory and bliss of the righteous. Thus, following the author of the creation we are considering, we will trace the description and depiction of two types of actions of the teacher in relation to pets: a) the type of his actions aimed at aversion from evil and vice; b) the type of his actions, meaning attraction to salvation, inclination to virtue. a) The Wise One advises us to treat children strictly when their moral condition requires it: are they children for you, he says, punish me, and bow their necks from youth. Is this the essence of a daughter? pay attention to their body and do not show your cheerful face towards them (Sir.7:21-25). This is what we do towards our children, despite the fact that we love them dearly. Strict leaders, painful and unpleasant for us at the present time, bring us blessings for the future. This is what the Lord does in relation to us, having in mind not our present pleasure, but our future pleasure. “Let us trace, with prophetic witness, the image of this beneficent pedagogy” (book 1, chapter 9). Depending on the degree of our moral decline, the strength of the sins and vices that have overwhelmed us, the faith of the disasters and evils generated by them, the Teacher, unchangeable in Himself, unchangeable in His goodness and love for us, changes the image of His relationship towards us. Annoyed by our ingratitude, insensitivity, disobedience and stubbornness, He scourges us with angry and menacing speech. But the very tone of speech, in accordance with our internal state, takes on various modifications. Thus, speech appears in the forms: now α) admonitions, then β) censure, then γ) complaints, then δ) abuse, then ε) denunciations, then ζ) reprimands, then η) strong reproaches, then θ) reproaches, ι) then accusations, κ) then complaints, λ) το humiliation, then μ) indignation. α) Exhortation is censure combined with solicitude, arousing common sense; This is our Teacher-Exhorter when he says in the Gospel: Your children gathered together as they desired, just as a kokosh gathers its chicks under its wing, and did not desire (Matthew 23:37). But His goodness even with reproach exhorts to repentance: Son of man, He says through Ezekiel, you live among the scorpions... And speak My words to them, if they hear (Ezek. 2:6-7). β) Reproach is a strong reproach for shameful deeds, convincing to do honest deeds, the horses of misogyny, says the divine Teacher in anger, having created himself, every man to the wife of his sincere neighs. I will not eat about these things, says the Lord; Or does my soul not take revenge on the calico tongue? (Jer.5:8, 9). Or, He calls again through Hosea, will I not sit on them? ... because they mixed with harlots and demanded the gluttons with fornicators (Hos. 4:14). γ) Sometimes, in anger, excited by the extreme ingratitude and disobedience of a corrupt people, the Teacher utters a complaint about the insensitivity of people, about the neglect of His divine verbs, about the contempt of His great blessings: Hear the heavens, He says, and inspire the earth: Sons have begotten and exalted, but these have rejected Me. The ox and the donkey knew his master's manger, but Israel did not know Me (Isa. 1:2, 3). δ) Sometimes the Teacher uses abuse, striking with it untruths and iniquities that violate the holy covenant with God and ungrateful alienation from His Father and Lord: alas, he says, a sinful tongue, an evil seed, sons of iniquity! Woe, children who have apostatized, this says the Lord, make a covenant not by me, and covenants not by my Spirit (Isa. 30:1). ε) Often the Teacher amazes with his exposure of sinners, with the obvious revelation of their terrible, horrifying and shuddering moral ugliness: the sky was horrified at this, says the Lord, and trembled greatly, says the Lord. My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken the fountains of living water for Me, and dug up broken treasures for themselves that cannot contain water (Jer. 2:12, 13). However, the divine Teacher often softens the severity and force of reproof. Thus He speaks through Solomon, showing His fatherly love for his children: son, do not despise the punishment of the Lord, weaken below the one rebuked by Him: for the Lord loves him, punishes him, beats every son, but accepts him (Proverbs 3:11, 12). ζ) Sometimes the Teacher’s speech takes on the tone of a fatherly reprimand, in order to draw the attention of the pupils to Himself, to reason with them, to let them feel a loving voice: to whom, he says, will I speak, and to whom will I testify and hear? Behold, their ears were not circumcised (Jer.6:10). η) Then He turns to strong reproaches, recalling despised and neglected blessings and pointing out disasters voluntarily attracted, regardless of the all-good will of God, which does not want the destruction of sinners. This is the tone of speech that the Lord uses in the Gospel: Jerusalem, Jerusalem, beating the prophets and stoning those sent to you! . . . For this reason, he says, your house will be left empty. For I say to you: From here on you will not see Me, until you say: Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord (Matthew 23:37, 38, 39). θ) Therefore, in the form of healing, the Teacher uses reproach, strong, reproachful speech: alas, a sinful tongue, people, filled with sins, an evil seed (Is. 1:4). Or in the Gospel: serpent, brood of vipers! ι) To direct to sinners the accusation of committing untruths. This image of pedagogy is used through David: people, who did not know them, who labored with me, listened to me in the ear of the ear, the sons of strangers lied to me, the sons of strangers swore and were lame from their paths. And through Jeremiah: the house of Israel has transgressed against Me, and the house of Judah... by lying to their Lord (Jer. 5:12). j) Sometimes a compassionate Teacher expresses His care and sorrow for his children by lamentation, under the cover of which a secret reproach for iniquity is hidden. This is how the Teacher laments and speaks sadly through Jeremiah: How is this one city, multiplied by people? Be like a widow, multiplied among the nations, own countries, be under tribute. Weeping into the night (Lamentations Jer. 1:1–2). λ) Or, wanting to bring sinners to shame and to the consciousness of the disgrace and ugliness of their actions, the holy Teacher uses the speech of humiliation. Thus, through Jeremiah, He says: the face of a harlot’s wife was with you, you did not want to be ashamed of everyone. Didn’t you call Me the house of ecu, and the Father and leader of your virginity? ( Jer. 3:3–4 ). And the harlot is kind and pleasant, the mistress of magic (Nahum.3:4). μ) Or, angry at the disobedience of the children, who are arrogant and exalted beyond what is proper, the Teacher expresses indignation in His words. He uses this image of pedagogy through Moses: wicked children, obstinate and depraved generation! Do you repay the Lord for this? These people are bullies and don’t be wiser. Isn’t this your Father himself an acquisitor (Deut. 32:5, 6). And through Isaiah he says: your princes do not submit, they are in common, loving gifts, persecuting recompense, not judging the orphans (Is. 1:23). Thus He led the rude and rebellious people of Israel in the desert, using all means to curb them, striking them and regretting them, striking and healing. “Truly,” says St. Father, it’s a wonderful thing not to sin at all; It is also good when the sinner is brought to repentance; just as it is very good to always be healthy, but it is also good to recover from illness. That is why He commands through Solomon: You will beat him with a rod, but you will deliver his soul from death (Proverbs 23:14). And again: do not stop punishing the baby: if you beat him with a rod, he will not die from him (II Ritch. 23:13). – Punishment serves to correct, it delivers from death and leads to prudence and abstinence. The ruler’s rod is terrible only for the evil: if you do evil, be afraid, the apostle teaches. Therefore, the apostle also uses severity in the churches; he himself says: He was an enemy to you, telling you the truth (Gal. 4:10). – We, like the sick, need a doctor; and the doctor uses not only soft medicines, but also sharp ones. We who are wandering and blind need a wise and experienced leader. We who are thirsty need the source of life, the partakers of which will thirst no more (John 4:14, 65), we who have died need a giver of life, we sheep need a shepherd, we children need a teacher, we need Jesus, so that we may not remain unbridled sinners even to the end and may we not be worthless stubble, condemned to be burned. – He Himself calls Himself allegorically the Shepherd and through the prophet Ezekeel sets forth the image of His righteous providence: I will bind the broken, and strengthen the weak, and provide for the strong, and I will preserve with justice... and I will store them in My holy mountain (Ezek. 34:16). “Feed us babies like sheep. And fill us, Lord, with the food of Your righteousness. Feed us, Teacher, at Your holy mountain, in the church, which is at a height that exceeds the clouds, which touches the heavens. “And I will be, he says, their Shepherd, and I will be near them, like a tunic near their body.” He wants to give salvation to my flesh, clothing me in the tunic of incorruptibility, and anointed my body. They will call on Me, he says, and the river: behold Az (Isaiah 58:9). You heard me sooner than I hoped, Lord. And though they pass away, they will not fall, says the Lord (Is. 43:2). For we who pass to incorruption will not fall into corruption, because He Himself will support us. He speaks and He Himself desires.” Our Teacher is so good. He not only took upon Himself our infirmities, but even, as a kind and generous Shepherd, laid down His soul for us, His sheep. However, when sinners walk on crooked paths, He also changes His attitude towards them and becomes strict. He Himself expresses the reason for His anger: I called and did not listen to Me, and stretched out my words and did not heed; but you swept away My advice and did not heed My reproof (Prov. 1:24–25). Thus, disobedience to the Teacher and contempt for His suggestions are the reasons for His anger, for which He is a punishing Judge. But in His very anger He reveals both justice and goodness: He is generous, and will cleanse their sins, and will not corrupt, and will avert His wrath, and will not kindle all His anger (Ps. 77:38); so that mercy and truth are united in Him. The punishments that strike sinners are caused by them themselves. Just as a mirror is not to blame for the ugliness it reveals, or as a doctor is not to blame for the disease he indicates; Likewise, the one who reproaches and denounces does not wish harm to the one who suffers in soul, but points out those sinful ulcers that actually exist in him. “Why is God, although good in Himself, yet just in relation to us, and therefore just because He is good.” The Father, who before the creation of the world was God, who was good, sent His Word from heaven to proclaim to us the good truth, awakening human nature to saving repentance. “But you don’t obey God? Attribute the guilt of this matter to yourself, who is bringing the court to justice.” b) After considering those actions of the Teacher that are aimed at deviating from vice, you need to pay attention to the methods He uses to incline and convince people towards virtue. There He appears strict, denouncing, reproaching, reproaching, complaining, indignant; here He appears meekly, with fatherly love, inclining towards virtue: the presentation and image of its beauty and beneficence, the arousal of hope for salvation, the promise of mercy and mercy, the praise of the righteous. Thus, through Solomon, He convinces with fatherly love to what is useful: I pray to you, O men, and give My voice to the sons of men... Listen to Me, O honest river (Prov. 8:4, 6). Through David, He offers saving advice: blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked... (Ps. 1:1-2). – The council takes convincing examples or from the past, presenting e.g. the disastrous fate of the Jews who violated the covenant with God - or from the present, depicting what is happening in the eyes, for example. Go and tell John: the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the dead are heard, the dead are raised (Matthew 11:4-6). Or, when giving advice, it is pointed out what will happen in the future, when it is said, for example, that sinners will be cast into utter darkness: my will weep and gnash my teeth (Matthew 22:13; 25:30). Thus, the Teacher uses all means to save a person. He gives hope of salvation, for example. through Ezekiel: if you turn with all your heart and say: Father, I will hear you (Ezek. 18). Or: come to Me when you are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest (Matthew 11:23). Blessed are those who seek wisdom and understanding through Solomon: blessed is the man who finds wisdom, and mortal who loses understanding (Prov. 3:13). He promises to fulfill with good deeds through Moses: I will bring them into the good land by which their father swore (Deut. 31:20), and through Isaiah: I will bring them into My holy mountain and I will make glad in the house of My prayer (Is. 56:7). Depicts the greatness and glory of the righteous: and it will be like a tree planted by springs of water, which will yield its fruit in its season, and its leaf will not fall off, and everything that he does will prosper (Ps. 1:2-3). Shows the reward for faithfulness to the Lord and righteousness: if you walked in the path of God, you would live in peace forever (Bar.3:13). Promises forgiveness to those who turn from error: turn, turn, says through Jeremiah, like a picker (of grapes) from the treasury (Jer. 17:9). Enlightens those who are lost: stand on the path, and look at me, and ask about the eternal paths of the Lord, and see which is the good way, and walk in it, and you will find purification of your thoughts (Jer. 6:16). “We should say that the reproachful and accusatory manner of speech of the Teacher is appropriate for people, since wisdom calls everyone evil, but God alone is wise, from whom wisdom comes, and He alone is perfect, and therefore He alone is worthy of praise. But I won't say this. I say that praise and blame are very necessary medicines for people.” The rudeness and insensitivity of people is softened like iron by blows, that is, by censure, reproach, and threats. And people who cling to faith are excited to prosperity by praise. To censure means the same as to admonish (νουθετε͂ιν); and admonition (νουθέτησις), according to word production, is an investment of the mind (νου ἐνθεματισμὸς). Consequently, censure is necessary and beneficial for people who are mentally deceived; it deviates a person from evil and directs him to good. “However, says St. father, countless other commandments can be found that one must acquire good and flee from evil,” and at the end of the discussion about the good measures used by the divine Teacher to convince people to follow virtue, he adds a brief but complete image of truly good activity, as represented by the prophet Ezekiel: but a man who is righteous, does justice and righteousness, will not endure on the mountains and will not raise his own hair on the mountains. idols for the house of Israel, and he will not defile his neighbor’s wife, and he will not approach a woman during her menstruation, and will not force a man, he will give the pledge to the debtor, and he will not take away theft; He will give his bread to the greedy, and clothe the naked with a robe. And he will not give his money for interest, and will not take profit, and will turn away his hand from unrighteousness, and will bring judgment between husband and his neighbor. And I walked in My commandments, and I provided My justifications for what she does; This one is righteous, he has life to live, says Adonai the Lord (Ezek. 18:5–9). “Here,” says St. father, contains a description of the Christian way of life, a decent exhortation to a good life and an indication of the reward for virtue, which is eternal life.” After describing the image of the all-wise and all-good divine pedagogy, moving on to the other two books of his creation, in which it is supposed to set out the most particular rules of Christian piety and good morals in relation to all particular circumstances and attributes of everyday life, the church teacher prepares his pupils for listening to moral lessons, on the one hand, arousing their trust in the leadership of the teacher (Book 1, Chapter 11), and on the other, showing ease obedience to good and wise leadership and the ease of fulfillment and beneficence of the divine commandments (chapter 12). – Having no present intention of considering the 2nd and 3rd books of “The Teacher,” we will limit ourselves to a review of his first book. This last one, considered separately, without connection with the other books, presents us in a certain respect with a complete and complete work; namely, it contains a complete, satisfactory and edifying disclosure and image of the high ideal to which all pedagogy should strive, meaning moral development, elevation and ennoblement of human hearts. According to the guidance of Holy Scripture, in this book three subjects are proposed for resolution and revealed: 1) who and what kind of pets are; 2) who and what kind of educator-teacher is, and 3) what is the image of his pedagogy, his relationship with his pets. 1. Pets - all children, youths, infants: by revealing the properties of true infancy, according to the meaning of Holy Scripture, the inner spirit of Christian life is outlined, meek, innocent, pure, alien to guile, but not wisdom - life for which the Word, descended from heaven, is both food and drink and Father and mother: this is a simple, but at the same time sublime and truly evangelical ideal of moral perfection pets 2. Next, the one true Teacher of all mankind is depicted - the Only Begotten Son of God - kind and merciful without weakness, strict and just without hatred, loving and compassionate in anger and mercy: the perfect and only example of a true Teacher. Every teacher must be His student and pet, close to Him and united with Him by love. 3. The description of the image of His pedagogy, the means that He uses for the moral education and education of people, is lofty and instructive. The measures of kindness and severity that He tested in order to arouse truly good aspirations in his pets in order to deviate them from the destructive paths leading to the bottom of hell are so combined that the Lord appears, both in anger and in mercy, as holy and righteous, always loving, alien to hatred, but filled with goodwill towards people. In this example we will find a solution to the questions: how best to act on the hearts of pets - with severity, or with kindness and love. Strict and gentle measures are equally good and beneficial when they are determined by Christian prudence and love. Let love determine all actions, the entire way of relating to those being led. But so that love is not recklessly condescending to the detriment of those leading, let prudence be inseparable from it, let it be guided by Christian wisdom, subordinate to the wisdom of one true Teacher, based on it and illuminated by its heavenly light. The presentation of God and our Lord as a loving Teacher, Father, Mentor, Leader, Shepherd of humanity brings our hearts closer to Him, arouses love and trust in His providential leadership. The image of the wisdom with which He accomplishes the work of our salvation and moral education arouses reverence and gratitude to the great Teacher, encourages us to reject obstinacy, stubbornness and disobedience, which offend the endless love of the Teacher and attract His righteous anger. The image of all members of the Church of Christ - both elders and youths and husbands and wives - as one family, one society of disciples, youths, infants, simple, pure and obedient children of the Heavenly Father, receiving only from Him - knowledge and food and light, living in Him and through Hero - outlines the image of the inner life of a Christian, pure and holy, from which all external actions of Christianity should flow, indicates the true disposition of the soul with which we can and should be members of the holy flock of the church and the sheep of the pasture of the One and true Teacher, wise and loving, vigilantly guarding His charges from all troubles and leading them to true life, salvation and bliss. The general nature of the allegorical explanations of Holy Scripture makes it somewhat difficult to read this edifying work and in many places deprives it of simplicity, accessibility and ease of presentation. But great and edifying thoughts, clothed in allegorical form, make up for this deficiency. When presenting the main and essential features of this creation, which has a main goal and moral teaching, we presented passages that were especially remarkable in dogmatic terms. The teaching about the unity of the being of God, the trinity and equality of the divine Persons, about the church, about the sacraments of baptism and the Eucharist is clearly expressed by St. father and presents us with evidence of the truth of faith, inextricably linked with the truly moral activity of Christianity. – Let us conclude our review with the author’s prayer to our One true Teacher. “Feed us infants like sheep, and fill us, O Lord, with the food of Your righteousness. Feed us, Teacher, at Your holy mountain, at the church, which is at a height that exceeds the clouds, which touches the heavens.”