Лекция девятая. О святом апостоле Павле

In the study of the Divinity of the Christian religion, special attention is deserved and the person of the Apostle Paul is especially considered, because he was not one of the twelve disciples of Jesus Christ, was not with Him during His earthly life, joined Christianity after, and yet, without hearing Jesus Christ during His earthly life, without receiving the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost along with the other apostles, he did more for the Christian religion than all of them together (So, Paul himself speaks with complete confidence about not only “I hate not to be deprived of anything before (or first) the Apostles” (2 Cor. 11:5, 12:11), such as “James and Cephas and John” (Gal. 2:9); 1 Cor. 15:10), as a faithful servant of God, “in the word of truth, in the power of God, with the weapons of righteousness in the right and left hand” (2 Cor. 6:4, 7)). And if they ask about the other apostles whether they understood the teachings of Jesus Christ, then this can all the more be asked about the Apostle Paul. The Apostle Paul did more for Christianity than all the apostles: 1. As a spreader of Christianity. The field that the Apostle Paul traveled with the preaching of the Gospel is more extensive than the field of Alexander the Great; his conquests are more important than the conquests of all the heroes of the earth, and the historian-philosopher - the first century of Christianity can more justly be called the age of Paul rather than the age of Augustus; for Augustus could not convey his spirit even to his friends, but Paul inspired entire nations with himself, so that his spirit still lives in the most populous societies of Christianity. If Paul had rendered this one service to Christianity, that is, had significantly spread it and founded many churches, then even then he would have been the most remarkable person in history, both Church and World. But besides this service, which was in some way common to him with the other apostles, he provided two others, peculiar to him alone, which much more elevate his dignity over others. These services consist in the fact that he defended Christianity from the danger that threatened it, and revealed the Christian doctrine. 2. Paul as a defender of Christianity. Anyone who is familiar with the history of the first centuries of Christianity knows what danger threatened Christianity from Judaism. For half a century, Judaism fought against Christianity and wanted to make it, at least, nothing more than its own sect. The Judaizing Christians demanded that the entire law of ceremonies be preserved. But if this requirement were fulfilled, then Christianity would not have a special form and should have lost its independence. The question arises: who decided this struggle in favor of Christianity and forced the rejection of Jewish rituals? Paul did it. We see from history that even the Apostle Peter in a certain case did not dare to reveal Christian freedom to the Jews of Jerusalem, and with his example he even captivated Barnabas, who until then had been a zealous defender of Christian freedom (Gal. 2:11-15). “The successors of the apostles,” notes one of the teachers of the Church, “remained to bury the synagogue with honor.” Who made her lie in the coffin? Paul. 3. Paul as the primary exponent of Christian doctrine. The Gospel has preserved for us the conversations of Jesus Christ, although in fragments. They contain the entire teaching of Christianity, but only in general terms; all truths are still contained, as it were, in embryo. The revelation of these truths, their most detailed outline, had to come from the hands of the apostles. Some of them partially did this in their Messages. Although many things are contained in these Epistles, it can be said that the idea of ​​Christianity is not fully developed in any of them: this honor is given to the Apostle Paul; the Christian religion appeared in its entirety in his Epistles. Chrysostom did not hesitate to say (apparently an extremely bold thought!) that through Paul’s lips Christ preached more than through His own (Conversation 32 on the Epistle to the Romans). And indeed this is so, judging by the comparison of the apostolic teaching with the Gospel. Add to these circumstances Paul's miraculous conversion to Christianity; remember that he became a Christian from the greatest enemy of the Christian religion, from the most zealous Pharisee - the most zealous defender of the new faith; Consider, I say, all this: then his teaching will seem extremely important. How did the Apostle Paul prove that he was an apostle, and did he prove it satisfactorily? Rather, one can ask the other way around: how did he not prove his apostleship? Chrysostom rightly noted that “just as at the name of the Baptist John (the Baptist) immediately appears, so at the name of the Apostle Paul immediately appears” (Conversation 55 on the Acts of the Apostles). This is how the idea of ​​the apostle is sustained in the acts of Paul! Paul was not among the apostles who accompanied Jesus Christ, did not hear His teaching, did not see Him during his earthly life: but Jesus Christ Himself directly appeared to him with thunder and lightning. Pavlovo’s face was so important! The method of conversion of the Apostle Paul is known from the Acts of the Apostles (Acts 9:1–18, 22:4–16). That it really happened as it is written, there is not the slightest reason to doubt: for who can we believe in this regard, if not such a person as Paul? Even if the Acts of the Apostles had not said anything about the extraordinary method of conversion of the Apostle Paul, it would be necessary to assume something miraculous in his conversion. He goes to Damascus, “breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord” (Acts 9:1); but he comes there only to receive baptism, after which he decides to devote his entire life to defending the religion that he persecuted. Why such a change? It was impossible to expect benefits or honors. If he had not had a wonderful calling from above, his change would have remained inexplicable. Minor doubts and various rumors regarding this event are so unimportant that I do not consider it necessary to retell them. Paul, chosen to be an apostle by Jesus Christ, consecrated by the Holy Spirit to this high rank, himself tried to be faithful to his office, that is, to convey to others the teaching of Jesus Christ in all its purity and truth. Would he, who had so much evidence for his apostleship, doubt whether he taught correctly? However, he has doubts; he deliberately goes to Jerusalem to find out whether “he is not struggling in vain” (Gal. 2:2); compares his teaching with the teaching of the first apostles; it is convinced that it agrees with their teaching, and again goes to preach. Peter publicly testified to the purity of his teaching (1 Pet. 3:15). Without a doubt, the other apostles also testified to the same thing about him (Gal. 2:7–9). In addition, he constantly experienced within himself the testimony of the Spirit of God, who performed great miracles with his hands: there were so many of them, and they were so famous that he repeatedly refers to them, and refers to them in order to shame his opponents - the Judaizing teachers, who darkened his glory with slander, as if he were teaching unclean doctrine (2 Cor. 13:12, Gal. 3:5). But maybe someone will think: was it all really as it was written? The reliability of the history of the Gospel from this side is least of all subject to doubt: all the Churches planted by the hands of the Apostle Paul stand for its authenticity, their appearance, the way of teaching taught in them, their existence, in a word, all of Christianity spread by Paul. Thus, this part of Christian history, namely the history of Paul, can least of all be subject to doubt. Chrysostom beautifully called its traces traces of lightning, which can be seen everywhere. The very Jewish historians, the Talmudists, mention Paul, although they explain his transition to Christianity in a different, however, most absurd, monstrous way. Comparing the teachings of the Apostle Paul with the teachings of Jesus Christ and the other apostles gives the surest result that he has the same truths as Him, only presented with greater completeness and clarity. These are the truths: about original sin, or about the corruption of the human race; about the guilt of all people; that the entire Old Testament served to prepare Christianity; the doctrine of Jesus Christ as Redeemer and His atoning death; the teaching about grace, that is, about how to acquire it for yourself; finally about the future glorious coming of Jesus Christ and the end of the world. In addition to the Judaizing teachers, the Apostle Paul had many other enemies; The means they used to humiliate his apostolic dignity were also varied. Therefore, he was forced (see: 2 Cor. 12:11) to remind that he was not a simple, not an ordinary teacher (of which there were many, and some of his ill-wishers wanted to include Paul), and not even an apostolic disciple, but “by the will of God he was called an Apostle, chosen to preach the gospel of God” (Rom. 1:1, sn.: 1 Cor. 1:1), and, moreover, “neither from man, not by man, but by Jesus Christ Himself and God the Father, who raised Him from the dead” (Gal. 1:1, Eph. 1, etc.) - an Apostle in the proper meaning of this word, having all the rights to this dignity. And indeed, the Apostles were eye-witnesses of Jesus Christ: and he too (1 Cor. 9:1, 15:8; sn.: Acts 9:3–18, 22:6–10, 18). The apostles accepted the teaching they preached from Jesus Christ Himself; and he too (Gal. 1:11–12, 1 Cor. 11:23). The Apostles received the Holy Spirit: and he also (1 Cor. 2:12). The apostles were given the command to preach the Gospel to every creature: and Paul was called to carry the name of Christ among Jews and pagans, and barbarians, wise and foolish (Acts 9:15, Rom. 1:14–15). The apostles were endowed with miraculous power: Paul was armed with “signs, wonders and powers” ​​(2 Cor. 12:12, Rom. 15:19). The Apostles sent down the Holy Spirit on the believers; Paul did the same (Gal. 3:5). So, the holy Apostle Paul, “thought of the Apostles” by the time of his conversion (1 Cor. 15:9), “nothing less than them” by grace (2 Cor. 11:5, 1 Cor. 15:10). The essence of all the Epistles and speeches of the Apostle Paul can be presented in the following form: “God from eternity decided to send His Son into the world to restore the fallen human race. The first man had the purpose of fulfilling the will of God, which is the highest law and the beginning of life. But Adam turned out to be disobedient to the will of God and became a criminal against God. This crime, or original sin, became the beginning of death. The damage to human nature from Adam passed on to all subsequent generations, and with the damage came death. People sank deeper and deeper into the abyss of ignorance, sinfulness and disasters. But since they, having fallen away from God, were so blinded by their vicious inclinations that they could not come to the consciousness of their sins, to a feeling of repentance and the intention to correct themselves, then God put a mirror in front of them, in which their image was faithfully and vividly reflected. This mirror is the law. In his numerous commands and prohibitions, people recognized their many crimes and saw the full extent of their sins. With the consciousness of sinfulness, a strong conflict between the spirit and the flesh was revealed. The Spirit wanted the law; but the flesh prevailed, and man, striving for good, unwittingly servile to evil. And just as the law, which is good in itself, makes only sinners in this way, that is, it always convicts people of sin and determines condemnation for deviating from its instructions, and yet does not give strength to good: then no one is justified before God by it. So the essential purpose of the law is to prepare people to receive the Redeemer. Consequently, the time under the law is a time of languor and waiting. This expectation is satisfied in times of grace: because Christ accomplished reconciliation between God and people, and through this opened the way to justification and life. Through faith in Christ, a person participates in His grace; faith leads a person to spiritual rebirth; and whoever is regenerated receives the spirit of sonship to God. The life of Jesus must become our life; and this we achieve if we become a new creature in Christ and are transformed into His image. Those justified through Christ enter a new spiritual society, or Church, and have in it the fellowship of the Holy Spirit. All members of this Church are members of one body. The Church has Christ as its foundation and head. Thus, a new being and a new life must embrace all people and unite them in the one Church of Jesus Christ. But this must be done little by little and under countless evil obstacles. Finally, after the fulfillment of the time predetermined for the sanctification of people, Christ will come, the general resurrection will follow, and the faithful will inherit eternal life, and the unfaithful and stubborn sinners will inherit eternal torment. Then time will end, and only eternity will remain.” Thus, the teaching of the Apostle Paul embraces the history of the whole world. The Apostle sees Christ everywhere and brings to Him, as to the center, the entire course of humanity and all the destinies of the past and future world. Take the basic concept - faith in the Redeemer, and survey what is ahead and what is behind: you stand in the midst of the kingdom of truth, in which everything is animated by one thought - the preparation, fulfillment and end of the universal aspiration of people. You see how all gradually developing existence receives its true meaning and final goal in Jesus Christ, how everything in the world strives towards Him and in Him constitutes one complete kingdom. Christianity becomes the foundation of the world. The world lives for Christ; Christ is the eternal life of the world - this is the highest thought of the Apostle Paul and, together, of all Christianity! You might be interested in: