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“If anyone preaches the gospel to you and eats it, let him be accursed” (Gal. 1:9). More than once in home conversations we were asked the question: “why, when everything in humanity changes, develops, improves, Christianity alone remains unchanged, without any development and improvement, the Orthodox Church even considers its distinctive property that it invariably preserves what it initially received from the Lord?.. But can, should not this immobility, with universal progress, serve as a reproach to Christianity and the Orthodox Church?” The question, as you can see, brethren, is of such importance that it deserves a private conversation. And now, especially when our holy mother triumphs in her Orthodoxy and anathematizes those who dare to change or reject the holy faith of Christ, now it is very fitting for us to talk about this issue from the church pulpit. Is it fair that everything in humanity changes - only Christianity does not change? On the contrary, everything that exists in human humanity, that relates to its essence, all this remains unchanged, always the same. Have people changed their nature, their powers and their innate laws? Not a little. And we have the same dual nature, material and spiritual, that our first parents had, although, alas, infected with sin; and we possess the same powers and abilities, bodily and mental, mental and moral, that were given by God at creation to Adam and Eve; and we think and desire, live and act according to the same laws by which they lived and acted. Centuries and millennia have passed, and humanity has not changed either in its nature, or in its powers, or in its laws. From what? Because it was created this way, it is so pleasing to its Creator; otherwise, because the will of God, the highest and unchangeable, is the foundation of humanity. After this you can judge whether it is reasonable to desire or demand change from Christianity. What is Christianity? This is God's supernatural help to fallen man. More clearly, this is a set of supernatural means given to us by God for our cleansing from sins, sanctification and blessedness. Which person has the right to say that this or that of the God-given means is not necessary, and, therefore, can be rejected, that this or that of them is not good, and therefore can be changed? It is even clearer: the Lord God was pleased to give us his revelation or teaching, and in it the truths of faith, the laws of morality and St. promises that should guide us on our way to our mountainous homeland. And do we dare to change or reject any of these truths? Can truth be more or less truth? Change or reject after God himself spoke it? The Lord God gave us the most important sacred rites - the seven saving sacraments: the sacrament of baptism, so that we, born in sins, would be reborn in it to a pious life and become children of God; the sacrament of anointing, so that we receive through it “divine powers, even unto life and godliness” (2 Pet. 1, 3); the sacrament of repentance, so that we are again cleansed in it of sins committed after baptism; the sacrament of communion, so that we sincerely unite with our Head and Savior; other sacraments are for other high purposes known to you. How much self-will and insolence is needed on the part of a person to reject or distort any of these sacred rites established by God himself? The Lord God gave us church government: having founded his St. The Church, He established a hierarchy in it - the order of shepherds and teachers, whom He invested with His divine power to guard and teach revealed teaching to people, to perform sacred rites for them and to guide believers into the kingdom of heaven. How can any of us allow ourselves to change this church structure and administration, to reject or subvert the divinely established hierarchy, to mix up the mutual rights and responsibilities of pastors and flocks? If humanity is unchangeable in its nature, powers and laws, then in the same way Christianity must remain unchangeable in its essence - in its teaching, sacred rites and governance: because at the basis of humanity and Christianity equally lies the will of God, the highest and unchangeable. Is it fair that everything in humanity develops - Christianity alone does not develop? Where there is life, strength, activity, development is natural. And humanity is truly developing. We know from experience how, from the time we were born, we all grew, developed and strengthened our bodies, how our soul awakened, its abilities and powers awakened and revealed; We know how generations, following generations and receiving various inventions and institutions from one another, continue to follow the path they began and extend further and further. But, note that although humanity, both in individuals and in general, develops, however, neither the nature, nor the forces, nor the laws in it change at all. And in this sense Christianity also develops. The Orthodox Church observes divine teaching in its entirety and immutability; but she always, according to the power given to her by God and protected from error by the Holy Spirit, who constantly dwells in her, revealed and explained this teaching to her children and does not cease to reveal it more and more according to their needs. When distortions in faith and heresies arose, the shepherds of the Church met at councils, and on the basis of the word of God, guided by the same Spirit of truth, they defined and expounded the controversial dogmas with greater accuracy and separation than they had been proposed until that time. In order not only to confirm believers in Orthodoxy, but also to protect them from any seduction, the Holy Church has given and continues to give them from time to time, in addition to constant brief examples of the Faith compiled by councils, and detailed expositions of the Faith, directing these latter against the prevailing heresies and schisms and therefore revealing some truths from new sides, from which they had not been revealed before. Likewise, the Orthodox Church and its divinely established sacred rites, the seven holy sacraments, which constitute, as it were, the foundation and focus of its public worship, preserve in all its integrity and immutability. But, according to the power given by God, she never doubted to open up and organize this worship more and more: she composed or adopted new prayers and chants, entire sequences and services, established holidays, fasts, religious processions and other sacred rites; will not doubt, of course, continue to open festivals and organize services in honor of new saints and in memory of new blessings of God. Finally, the Orthodox Church invariably preserves the structure and government given to it by God, strictly adhering to those fundamental rules that it has accepted in the word of God, written and oral. But who does not know that from the very beginning of Christianity, the primates of the Church constantly gathered in councils and, depending on the circumstances of the place and time, drew up, on the basis of these fundamental rules, new canons for the guidance of the believer? Who does not know that even today the governmental authorities in the Orthodox Church continue to give new decrees, applying ancient church laws to new needs? In a word: not only humanity lives and develops; The Church of Christ also lives, and therefore develops, without however changing the very essence of Christianity. Is it fair that everything in humanity is improving - only Christianity is not improving? Humanity is truly destined for improvement, and if man had not fallen at the beginning, he would constantly improve in all respects. But after sin has infected with its poison and degraded the nature of man, although he moves forward on the path to perfection, but by no means constantly and not in all respects. The most noticeable improvement of people is mental: there are periods when enlightenment quickly spreads and rises among one or several peoples, sciences, arts, and art flourish; but then enlightenment gradually weakens, and sometimes even times of darkness and ignorance follow. It is also impossible to deny that many peoples have improved and are improving in relation to civil, domestic, commercial and in general everything that relates to the material life of a person and the conveniences of his temporary life, although, as everyone knows, this kind of improvement is not carried out continuously, but is often replaced by failures or completely stopped. But can we say that humanity is improving morally? Alas, quite the opposite. The ancient world, with the exception of some private individuals among the Jewish people, gradually declined in this regard, so that before the birth of the Savior, the wickedness of the human race reached its very last degree. In the modern history of mankind, although the first times of Christianity presented many high examples of moral perfection, in subsequent centuries piety began to weaken more and more among Christians themselves. And in our days, so famous, and rightly so, for the successes and inventions of reason and the wonderful applications of these inventions to everyday life, can we also boast of the successes of morality? Or should we rather admit with regret that in the very centers of modern education wickedness seems to be growing and from them spreading everywhere? Meanwhile, moral improvement is the most important of all types of human improvement: it alone elevates and ennobles our very spiritual nature and makes us like God; it alone can acquire eternal life and bliss for us, while other types of our improvement, whether mental or material, without connection with the moral, can serve us only in this life. What is necessary so that humanity can improve morally, that is, truly improve? This is why Christianity was given to us by God. It is a set of supernatural means intended to heal our moral ulcers and others brought into us by sin, for the real cleansing, renewal and improvement of our entire being - the only means, without which neither individuals nor all of humanity will ever be able to heal from their sinful infection, in order to then gradually rise to godlikeness. Christianity is unchangeable in itself and imperfect, although the Holy Spirit develops. The Church, when she applies these divine healings to the healing of her spiritual children, is imperfect: because these healings were given by the heavenly Physician himself and are the best of all time. But Christianity, if we allow ourselves to put it this way, can be perfected in us, just as it develops and is revealed to the Church only for us. This is why it was given to us, so that we assimilate it and use it. And as we translate Christianity into ourselves, plant and grow it in ourselves, it, as already ours, will gradually improve in us. The Holy Church of Christ teaches us divine teaching, performs saving sacraments for us, and subordinates us to its spiritual governance in order to lead everyone to eternal life. And the more we accept this teaching and establish ourselves in the Faith, the more diligently we use these sacraments and the grace-filled powers communicated to us through them, the more obediently we surrender to the church’s leadership and move along the path of piety: the more and more we will become perfected in Christianity, and the Christianity we have assimilated will be perfected in us. Do not be deceived, my brothers, by the pompous cries of the proud, supposedly educated people of our time, who constantly talk about the progress of mankind and the immobility and backwardness of Christianity. Remember firmly that if, according to the will of God, Christianity is unchangeable in its essence, then humanity is also unchangeable; If humanity develops, despite its immutability, then Christianity also develops, but not by private individuals, but by St. The Church, guided by the Holy Spirit; that if humanity is being improved, it can only be improved mentally and materially, and morally only with the help of Christianity, which itself, being imperfect in essence, can be improved in us. We must not think about and care about changing, developing and perfecting our holy faith, but about how we ourselves, with its help, can change for the better, develop and improve, how we can become good and pious from the bad and vicious, wean ourselves from our pride, love of money, ambition and other passions and be adorned with Christian selflessness and Christian love for God and our neighbors, how can we ascend the spiritual ladder higher and higher, from perfection to perfection, until, finally, we ascend to heaven itself and prostrate ourselves before the throne of the Most Perfect. Amen. Even when he was Bishop of Tambov and Shatsky, in the Kazan Church of the Bishop's House, March 1, 1859. You might be interested in: