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What does it mean that the anathemas now proclaimed by the Church all fall on superstition and heresies, and not one strikes wickedness and vice? Is an ungodly life really less contrary to the Gospel than an unrighteous faith? No, unrepentant vice is even more criminal than persistent unbelief. If he is not now anathematized, it is because there has never been any dispute about his criminality; for everyone always, both the Orthodox and the heretics themselves, unanimously recognized that a lawless and wicked life, in itself, is already anathema. Is it not sufficient for this one circumstance to be struck with shame and horror by every unrepentant sinner? But in order for this saving fear to be all the stronger and more effective, let us open the Holy Scriptures and read from it those places in which grief and curse on sin and vices are pronounced. Let us listen, firstly, to the leader of the people of God, the lawgiver of Sinai, Moses. He, according to the testimony of the word of God, “was a meek man, more than all the men who live on earth” (Numbers 12:3). What does this meekness say to sinners? “Cursed be he who dishonors his father or his mother. All people say: wake up. Cursed is he who transgresses the boundaries of his neighbor... Cursed is he who deceives the blind on the way... Cursed is he who deflects justice to the stranger and the orphan and the widow... Cursed is he who beats his neighbor with flattery... Cursed is he who takes the gift of striking the blood of an innocent soul... Cursed is every man who does not abide in all the words of this law that he does I. And all the people said, “Awake” (Deut. 27:16–19, 24–26). This is what Moses says in another place, or better, through his mouth, the Lord Himself, to all the people of Israel: “And if you do not listen to the voice of the Lord your God, keep and do all His commandments, as I command you this day, and all these curses will come upon you and overtake you: cursed are you in the city and cursed are you in the countryside, cursed are your barns and your remains, cursed are the fiends. thy womb and the fruit of thy land, thy herds of oxen and thy pastures of sheep, cursed art thou that thou shouldst never go in, and cursed thou shalt never go out” (Deut. 28:15-19). Видите, сколько анафем, и за что они? Not for heresies and schisms, but for violating the law of God, for a life that has not repented of sins. But perhaps such severity against vice belonged to the Old Testament alone, which, in accordance with its strict internal character, was given at Sinai, amid lightning, storms and thunder; Perhaps in the New Testament, like the Testament of mercy and grace, there is less horror and fear for the unrepentant sinner, so that, with hope in the merits of Christ, one can carelessly indulge in one’s lusts and passions until the end of one’s life? Но, братие мои, мыслить таким образом не значило ли бы не понимать, унижать, оскорблять достопоклоняемую благодать Божию, и, по страшному выражению апостола Христова, прелагать ее "в скверну" ? ( Jude 1:4 ). For we, too, will say with Saint Paul: “Is Christ... a servant of sin? Let it not happen! ( Гал. 2:17 ). Если в Новом Завете благодать «преизбыточествова там, идеже... умножися грех» ( Рим. 5:20 ), то не для того, чтобы сим преизбыточеством своим питать и укреплять в человеках беззаконие, а чтобы подавить его, изгладить и упразднить. The blood of Jesus Christ cleanses and saves from all sin, but who? Не всякого грешника, а только тех, кои, сокрушаясь о своих грехах и приемля во имя Искупителя прощение в них, употребляют и со своей стороны все средства к освобождению себя от постыдного плена страстей. Для грешников же нераскаянных и в Новом, так же как и в Ветхом Завете, нет ни благодати, ни помилования. Чтобы сии грозные истины не показались кому-либо нашим собственным рассуждением, обратимся паки к Писанию, и послушаем, что в Новом Завете говорится против пороков. «Горе вам, книжницы и фарисее, лицемери, яко одесятствуете мятву и копр и кимин, и остависте вящшая закона: суд, милость и веру» ! (Matthew 23:23). Вот анафема против ложной набожности! «Горе вам, книжницы и фарисее, лицемери, яко подобитеся гробом повапленным, иже внеуду убо являются красны, внутрьуду же полни суть костей мертвых и всякия нечистоты» ! (Matthew 23:27). Here is a trial against hypocrisy! «Горе... имже соблазн приходит... уне есть человеку тому, да обесится жернов оселский на выи его, и потонет в пучине морстей» ! (Matt. 18:7, 6). Вот анафема на соблазнителей! Горе «вам богатым: яко отстоите утешения вашего» ! Here is judgment on the unrighteous and hard-hearted rich! «Горе вам, насыщеннии ныне: яко взалчете» ! This is the verdict against the sons of luxury and bliss! “Woe to you who laugh now: for you will weep and weep!” Вот гром против безумных радостей мирских! «Горе, егда добре рекут вам вси человецы» ! (Luke 6:24–26). Here is an arrow against human vanity and vain praise! You see with what force and severity the New Testament strikes even that which, according to the judgment of the world, is not only not considered a vice, but is sometimes considered a virtue. And from whose lips does so much grief and condemnation come? From the lips of the sweetest Jesus, from the lips of Him Who Himself is both the only author and the giver of all grace. Will he utter unnecessary grief? Do you still want to listen to what the Apostle Paul says about sinners, that apostle who was so filled with love for his neighbors that he wanted to be excommunicated from Christ for the salvation of his perishing brethren? Paul anathematizes not only obvious vice and obvious unrepentance, but also the very coldness towards faith, the lack of heartfelt disposition and love for our Lord and Savior. “If anyone does not love the Lord Jesus Christ,” he says, “let him be damned!” (1 Cor. 16:22). After this, what sin and what vice will be free from anathema? For does that shepherd love the Lord Jesus who serves the altar only because he feeds from the altar, and does not care about the salvation of the souls entrusted to him? So, he is under Paul’s anathema! Does that judge love the Lord Jesus, for whom in judgment the values ​​are not truth and innocence, but bribes and partiality? So, he is under Paul’s anathema! Does that ruler love the Lord Jesus who squanders the bloody labors of those under his control on luxury and whims? So, he is under Paul’s anathema! Does the rich man love the Lord Jesus who, having every opportunity to alleviate the lot of his lesser brethren and together with Christ, hard-heartedly “shut his womb” (1 John 3:17) at the sight of a brother demanding? So, he is under Paul’s anathema! Does a father love the Lord Jesus if he does not care about raising his children and sets a bad example for them? A spouse who does not observe mutual fidelity and cannot tolerate mutual shortcomings? Children who do not show respect to their parents and elders? Do all the intemperate, all the angry, all the revilers, all the proud, all the sinners love the Lord Jesus? So, they are all under anathema; for “if anyone does not love the Lord Jesus Christ, he, according to St. Paul, is cursed!” (1 Cor. 16:22). And what can we promise to such unrepentant souls? Is there really paradise and bliss in heaven? Will anyone say that “this word is cruel”? (John 6:60). But for whom is it cruel? For those who do not want to love the One who Himself is all love. Who died for our sins and rose again for our justification. And what remains such if not judgment and condemnation for their sins? For whom is this word cruel? For those who have so clung to the temptations of the world, have so drowned out the voice of conscience and the law in themselves, that they have decided, apparently, to continue forever an unclean and ungodly life. Let us rather thank the Lord that the terrible fate awaiting sinners is not hidden from us, and it is clearly shown what, in case of unrepentance, will befall us beyond the grave. If heavenly love itself thunders over us with the thunder of anathema, it is in order to awaken us from the sinful sleep of death. Let us be grateful for this concern for us and, having returned to our homes, instead of indulging in idle talk about how the anathema was proclaimed in the church, we will consider whether anything in our morals and our life is subject to anathema. And if we find anything like that, we will hasten to remove it from ourselves, no matter how dear and precious it may seem to us, so that otherwise we will not finally fall under that terrible anathema, from which there will no longer be salvation in the very repentance and merits of Christ. Amen. You might be interested in: