Soteriology of Hieromartyr Hilarion (Trinity), Archbishop of Verei

End of XX - beginning of XXI centuries. marked by increased interest not only in the life and feat of the Russian new martyrs, but also in their theological heritage. In this regard, the life and theology of Hieromartyr Hilarion (Trinity) are no exception. Among the theological views of Hieromartyr Hilarion, his position on the issue of the boundaries of the Church is most often considered, but the soteriology of the Bishop did not go unnoticed. Nevertheless, serious shortcomings can be noted in publications on the latter topic. The doctrine of salvation of Archbishop Hilarion (Trinity) is directly related to his ecclesiology, since the doctrine of the Church was the basis and center of all the theological reasoning of the holy martyr. His soteriology is aimed mainly at identifying the connection between the salvation accomplished by Christ and the salvation that is achieved by humanity in the Church. Unfortunately, critics of the soteriological views of Bishop Hilarion often do not take into account this essential point of his theology. For example, Archpriest Valentin Asmus evaluates the theological views of Archbishop Hilarion on the basis of quotes and phrases that are considered not only out of connection with the general theological ideas of Bishop Hilarion, but sometimes even out of context. In addition, the characterization of Archbishop Hilarion’s theology is sometimes given on clearly insufficient material. Archpriest Pyotr Gnedich draws his conclusions based on the material of three articles, and Archbishop Vasily (Krivoshein) uses only one work of the Hieromartyr Hilarion to criticize. This article is an attempt to fill the noted shortcomings and give a general outline of the soteriology of Archbishop Hilarion, taking into account the ecclesiological orientation of his theology. Archbishop Hilarion calls the idea of ​​salvation “the main nerve of church life” 1, since the soul of faith is in salvation and the soul of theology is in the teaching of salvation (“Theology and Freedom of the Church” 2). It is no coincidence that in some manuscripts of the Holy Scriptures of the New Testament the Apostle Peter’s answer to Christ’s question: who do you say that I am? - sounds like You are Christ, the Son of God the Savior o 3 (Matthew 16:15–16): “The life spoken of in the Gospel can therefore be understood as salvation” (“Cornerstone of the Church” 4). Hieromartyr Hilarion speaks about sin and salvation in natural rather than legal terms: "Sin is not a crime, not an insult to God. It is a disease and misfortune of man. Created in incorruption and bliss, man could remain so only by carrying out the will of God. And the violation of this fundamental law of existence had the immediate consequence of the perversion of human nature. Sin was the loss of spiritual health. Man fell into decay, death and suffering" (“Bethlehem and Golgotha” 5). The proposed text should not be considered as contradicting the teaching of Holy Scripture that sin is lawlessness (1 John 3:4). After all, it also speaks of a violation of the “fundamental law of existence,” which in its immediate meaning is a crime (lawlessness). From what has been said it is clear that we are talking about the natural understanding of the violation of God's law. Instead of the legal chain “crime - insult - conviction - punishment”, here we propose a direct cause-and-effect relationship “violation - damage” or “violation - disease”, which is characteristic of the laws of living nature. Being consistent, Archbishop Hilarion speaks of salvation not in a legal, but in a natural sense: “Salvation is healing. Salvation is liberation from corruption” 6. Vladyka Hilarion rarely uses the term “redemption,” preferring the word “salvation.” The main reason for this use of words is the same legal meaning with which academic theology has filled the concept of “redemption”: “Our school dogmatics are still able to talk about salvation without even using the word “salvation” itself, but replacing it with the word “redemption”, and this word is given a legal meaning that it did not have in ancient church literature.” 7 Archbishop Hilarion himself used and the term “redemption,” but he understood it not in a legal sense, but as “redemption from sinful corruption” (“Easter of Incorruption” 8), that is, as deliverance, liberation. This understanding is fully consistent with the Holy Scriptures, where redemption is presented not as a ransom received by someone, but as the deliverance of a person from crimes (Heb. 9:15), from all lawlessness (Titus 2:14). "The purpose of Christ's death is to redeem us from all iniquity and to purify for Himself a special people (Titus 2:14). It is interesting that the word lutrisqai, which in other places was translated redeem, is translated here to deliver, according to its real meaning" 9. Even “purely grammatically, the receipt of a ransom cannot be attributed to God or His justice” 10. Professor V.N. Myshtsyn, in his master’s thesis, wrote about the use of the term lutr?w in the letters of the Apostle Paul: “Since it is not the wrath of God that captivates a person, but sin itself, it is understandable why the Apostle never uses this word (lutr?w) in the active voice” 11. Bishop Hilarion paid special attention to the inextricability of the connection between the negative aspect of salvation, “redemption from sinful corruption,” and the positive aspect. The latter consisted in the return of the primordial incorruptibility of human nature, in the transformation and deification of man. “Salvation is the return of the original goodness of incorruption, for man was created into incorruption” (“Easter of Incorruption” 12). Salvation as the transformation and deification of man - it is this theme that becomes dominant in the soteriological reflections of Archbishop Hilarion: “So, the ideal of Orthodoxy is transformation, and not progress. The Orthodox consciousness does not see its salvation in material, even the most brilliant, progress, but with the Areopagite it confesses that “salvation can only be achieved through the deification of those being saved”” (“Progress and Transfiguration” 13). Archbishop Hilarion, in all his works, strongly emphasized the essential significance of the idea of ​​deification in the theme of our salvation: “The essence of the religious ideal of the Church, the essence of our ideal of life is deification. The essence of our religious hope is that we have the command and have received the opportunity to become like God Himself in spiritual perfection. The Church has not yet belittled its religious ideal” (“Science and Life” 14). The loss of this ideal is destructive for humanity: “The Church leads precisely to salvation, setting deification as its goal. Denial of this goal, closely related to the denial of the incarnation, deprives salvation” (“Incarnation” 15). Against the background of such a high ideal, the legal understanding of salvation fades and the exclusive importance of the Church in the matter of our salvation becomes more understandable. A Christian is saved in the Church, saved not simply by agreement with the teachings of Christ, but by direct communion with the church body, participation in the life of the Church, growth in perfection in the very body of the Church, which is the body of Christ. And this salvation began from the moment the Son of God perceived human nature, that is, with the Incarnation: “Salvation is precisely the re-creation of human nature itself through the incarnation of the Son of God, thanks to which human nature received new powers, becoming involved in Divine life” (“Incarnation” 16). The Son of God's perception of human nature purified from sin becomes the key to future victory over suffering and death. The New Adam in Himself restores the integrity of human nature, destroyed by the sin of the old Adam, and becomes the cornerstone, the foundation of the Church: “Having accepted humanity into the unity of His Hypostasis, the Son of God, incarnate, became the new Adam, the ancestor of the new humanity <...> In the new humanity, which is built on the basis of the incarnation of the Son of God, the unity of human nature is restored, the unity that was destroyed sin. Christ Himself called this new humanity the Church” (“Holy Scripture and the Church” 17). According to the thought of Hieromartyr Hilarion, the Incarnation of God is not just a moment or a time period. The Incarnation is a new way of existence of human nature, first in Christ, and then in the Church. Human nature, accepted into the unity of the Divine Hypostasis, cannot perish. The incarnation becomes a guarantee of salvation. That is why the Incarnation occupies such a prominent place in the theology of Archbishop Hilarion: “If you, friend, asked me: what is the main and most important thought of the ancient Church? - I, without hesitation, would answer: “For our salvation, the incarnation of the Son of God is necessary.” On the incarnation of the Son of God, the Church of Christ based the meaning of human life, hope for salvation, hope for future bliss, hope for the life of the future century” (“Bethlehem and Golgotha” 18). Archbishop Hilarion confirms this truth with quotations from the works of the Holy Fathers of the first centuries and the era of the Ecumenical Councils. Some of them, in their laconicism, have the appearance of dogmatic formulas and over time became something like church catchphrases: ““God became man so that man could become god.” “The Son of God became the son of man, so that the sons of men might be supported by the sons of God.” This is how the meaning of the Incarnation of St. is determined. Irenaeus of Lyons and Athanasius the Great" (“Christianity or Church?” 19). Particular attention is paid to the significance of the Incarnation during periods of the Church’s struggle with heretics who rejected the Divine dignity of the Son of God Jesus Christ. “We see precisely this teaching about the essence of our salvation in all the most famous fathers of the Church who waged a dogmatic struggle against Arianism” (“Incarnation” 20). ““As the Lord, having clothed himself with flesh, became man, so we, people, perceived by the Word, are adored for the sake of His flesh” (His [St. Athanasius of Alexandria]. Against the Arians. Third Word. 34). Saint Gregory the Theologian says: “The inferior man became god after he united with God and became one with Him, because the best prevailed, so that I too could be god, since He became man” (Slovo. 29, 19). For St. Gregory of Nyssa, “Christianity is the imitation of the Divine nature” and “the elevation of man to ancient well-being” (To Armonius). “Our nature returns again to its previous state” (Antirritik. Ch. 55). And this is accomplished precisely by the incarnation. “The Word, existing in the beginning and with God, and the Word, the very existing God, Who in the last days, through communion with the humiliation of our nature, was made flesh out of love for mankind and, united through it with man, took into Himself all of our nature, so that through dissolution with the Divine (nature) the human would be deified and the firstfruits of these would be sanctified together with the entire composition of our nature.” (Antirritik. Ch. 15). According to the teaching of St. Cyril of Alexandria, the Only Begotten Son of God humbled Himself in order to transform human nature in Himself, the very first, and through Himself again raise it to that original beauty (Interpretation of the Gospel of John...)” (“Incarnation” 21). These are just a few quotes taken from a whole series of patristic testimonies cited by the Bishop in support of his theological position. Archbishop Hilarion finds the same ideas in Orthodox worship. Here are a few texts from the service for the Feast of the Nativity of Christ, given by him. “Today God has come to earth, and man has ascended to heaven.” “In the image and likeness of the crime, having seen Jesus, he bowed down the heavens and dwelt in the virgin womb without change, so that in it he would renew the decayed Adam” <...> “Corrupted by the crime, in God’s image of the former, all the corruption that exists, the best fallen Divine life, is again renewed by the wise Creator”” (“Christianity or the Church?” 22). However, if someone were to conclude from the proposed reasoning that the Hieromartyr Hilarion considered the very fact of the Incarnation of God sufficient for our salvation, 23 then this conclusion would have to be considered hasty. The Incarnation is the beginning of our salvation, accomplished by the God-man, which receives its completion in the Church: “The Incarnation is the beginning of salvation, and on the basis of the Incarnation the Church is created, a new nature, which, through the action of grace, is healed from sinful corruption and reaches the full stature of Christ” (“The Incarnation and the Church” 24). This is not just the historical and ideological basis of salvation, but the existential basis. The Incarnation already contains the future victory over hell and death, which receives its realization not only in Christ, but also in the Church: "With the incarnation of the Son of God, the process of renewal of human nature began. This process takes place in the Church, gradually but steadily" (“Cornerstone of the Church” 25). The human nature of the Savior, purified from sin and deified in the Incarnation, became for humanity a “graft of incorruption,” “an antidote to the disease of corruption,” a source of immortality: “Salvation is the return of the original goodness of incorruption, for man was created into incorruption. It was necessary to improve human nature. This healing was given in the incarnation of the Son of God. “We could not have become incorruptible and immortal if the Incorruptible and Immortal had not first become what we are.” The Imperishable and Immortal One took into the unity of His personality “my former nature through corruption and death.” Corruptible nature received an incorruptibility graft, and the process of renewal of creation began, the process of the deification of man, and the creation of God-manhood began. The sting of death has been dulled. Corruption has been defeated, for an antidote to the disease of corruption has been given” (“Easter of Incorruption” 26). So, the beginning of our salvation was laid in the Incarnation, but it was accomplished in accordance with the doctrine of the Church through the whole feat of the life and death of the Savior, as well as His glorification in the Resurrection and Ascension. Archbishop Hilarion defines the salvation accomplished by Christ as “beginning in Bethlehem and through Golgotha ​​coming to the resurrection and Olivet” (“Bethlehem and Golgotha” 27). He notes the importance and necessity of all stages of salvation accomplished by Christ: “The unshakable faith that the Son of God, the second person of the Holy Trinity, came down to earth, became a man, revealing to people the secrets of the Kingdom of God, founded His Church on earth, suffered for the sins of the human race and, having conquered death, rose from the dead, opening the way for people to become like God and deify not only in the soul, but also in the body - this it was faith that lay as the internal motive at the basis of all the dogmatic movements of the 4th century” (“Christianity or the Church?” 28). But at the same time, Hieromartyr Hilarion remains true to his basic ideas and tries to show the connection of each of these stages with the Incarnation and the Church. In general terms, salvation according to the Hieromartyr Hilarion can be outlined as follows. The Son of God, having assumed the purified and deified human nature in His incarnation, delivers it from sin, that is, from the corruption of the soul. But victory over suffering and death is present in Christ only in potential. Therefore, the Holy Fathers of the Church, “speaking of salvation, first of all point to the incarnation precisely as the means and basis of salvation” (“Incarnation”) 29. Christ, “armed” with the Divine, goes out like a mighty warrior and will deliver these who, through fear of death, are guilty of work (Heb. 2:15), voluntarily goes to death and rises by the power of His Divinity: “Who is this who has passed through the gates of death? He can only be God” (“Easter of Incorruption” 30). But if Christ were only God, the resurrection would remain a theophany, not entailing any significant changes for man: “It was not God who passed through the gates of death, it was not before God that the palace of eternity was “opened”, it was not for God’s sake that the stone was rolled away from the door of the tomb, but for the sake of the God-man. Together with Christ, our human nature passed through the mysterious gates of death” (“Easter of Incorruption” 31). The salvation and deification of humanity in Christ ends with the ascension in glory: "Bearing my own human nature, the Firstborn from the dead passed through the gates of death and the tomb, without seeing corruption. Corruption and death were defeated, incorruption and eternal life were granted. The natures in Christ are united inseparably, and Christ, having ascended in glory, planted our nature at the right hand Divine glory” (“Bethlehem and Golgotha” 32). To this purified from sin, deified, incorruptible, inaccessible to suffering and death, resurrected and glorified nature of Christ, humanity is grafted by the Holy Spirit and the Church of Christ is created. In fact, our salvation lies in communion with the body of Christ. In polemics with his contemporaries, who often perceived Christianity only as a teaching (“The Cause of Christ in modern consciousness is somehow intellectualized” (“On life in the Church and on the life of the Church”) 33), Archbishop Hilarion points out, first of all, the need for salvation to belong to the divine-human organism of the Church. Therefore, speaking about salvation, in most cases he mentions only the Church and the Incarnation: “The Incarnation is the beginning of salvation, and on the basis of the Incarnation the Church is created, a new nature, which, through the action of grace, is healed from sinful corruption and reaches the full stature of Christ” (“The Incarnation and the Church” 34). The saving actions and events through which the Lord Jesus Christ accomplished our salvation were not considered by Hieromartyr Hilarion in sufficient detail. Bishop Hilarion presents the entire work of our salvation, accomplished by our Lord Jesus Christ, as if it were the various stages of the Incarnation, which continues in the Church until the Second Coming of Christ: "The gates of hell, no matter how much they strengthen (katiscUsousi), cannot stop the process of renewal of creation, which began in the Incarnation and which, on the basis of the Incarnation, continues in the Church. Renewal of creation will take place consistently and unchangeably until it says He who sits on the throne: Behold, I am creating all things new! I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end (Rev. 21:5–6)” (“Cornerstone of the Church” 35). Nevertheless, Archbishop Hilarion dedicated several of his works to the death on the cross and resurrection of the Savior, revealing his understanding of their meaning and significance for salvation. This revelation takes place, as usual, from an ecclesiological perspective. To better understand Archbishop Hilarion’s views on the meaning and significance of the Savior’s death on the cross, one should turn to the works of St. Maximus the Confessor, whose theology Vladyka knew and highly valued 36 . Question XXI from the book of the Venerable “Questions to Thalassius” reads as follows: “What does it mean: He took away principles and powers (Col 2:15) and further? How then was [the Lord], born without sin, fully clothed with them?” 37. Reverend Maximus offers this answer. The passions inherent in fallen man are divided into natural - sinless and unnatural - sinful. The latter are connected with the former, “hidden” in them. The Lord, by His passionless birth, was free from vicious, unnatural passions, but “took only passion, without sin” 38, that is, natural passions. The Confessor combines all types of unnatural passions into two types: “passion in relation to pleasure” and “passion in relation to pain” 39. Although the Lord did not have unnatural passions, nevertheless, by His victory over the devil during the temptation in the desert, He healed “the passion of the whole nature in relation to pleasure,” and by His death expelled “from nature passion in relation to pain, by His love for mankind, making Himself responsible for our correction and, moreover, even imputing to us, as the Good One, the glory of what [He] has accomplished. Therefore, Of course, He, by His power and through His holy flesh [received] from us, as through a certain firstfruits (Col. 1:18), freed all human nature from the evil that had mixed into it through passion, subordinating to this very passion of nature the evil dominion that once reigned in it, that is, in passion, over nature” 40. Hieromartyr Hilarion discusses the Savior's death on the cross in a similar way in his work “Bethlehem and Golgotha”: “We took the pea-raising sheep, human nature, the incarnate Son of God, to the Father. Golgotha and the cross are a turning point in the consciousness and will of sinful humanity. Every moral turning point is accomplished with pain and suffering. So it was accomplished on the Cross, where for us , for our sake, but also together with us, as brothers, Christ suffered. Truly, Christ fought for us on Calvary. But why is this terrible Calvary saving for me, not in itself, but because in Bethlehem, the Son of God accepted the unity of His Hypostasis through the unity of natures in Christ and humanity was able to break its sinful nature on Calvary. will” 41 . The sinless Christ, voluntarily ascending to the Cross, raises all humanity to it, thereby making a “turn in the consciousness and will of sinful humanity” and expelling “passion from nature in relation to pain” and death. Through the incorruptibility and immutability of His human will, He, having accepted natural passions with human nature, healed the fallen will of humanity, prone to sin, and thereby “freed all human nature from the evil that had mixed in with it through passion.” The perverted will of fallen humanity is corrected on the Cross, restored to its original state, in its original direction towards God: "Calvary and the cross are the turning point of history. Previously, man walked from God; now he turns to God. God does not sue man on Calvary, is not self-satisfied with the execution of the Son, but meets and joyfully kisses the returning prodigal unfortunate son" (“Bethlehem and Golgotha” 42). It is not worth removing from the course of reasoning proposed by the Monk Maxim the following most controversial passage from the same article by Archbishop Hilarion: “On the basis of the incarnation, the Church, this universal human organism of love, is created. Having assumed human nature, the Son of God together with him overcomes the sinful self-affirmation of the creature. On Golgotha, the God-Man made a renunciation of the sinful, human will. This will trembled at the cross, wanted to pass by it, asked that the cross pass by, but, united with the will of the Divine in Christ, it said to the Father: “Not my will, but Thine be done.” In suffering, the Son learned obedience, humbled Himself, becoming obedient even to death, and death on the cross. By the disobedience of one the many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one the many will be made righteous” (“Bethlehem and Golgotha” 43). Here again we are talking about the perverted will inherent in all the descendants of Adam, attributed to the Lord only, as they say, “by relative assimilation.” Direct speech in this passage is not a Gospel quotation (therefore there is no reference), but there is a figurative expression, as if spoken on behalf of the personified human will, and the pronoun “my” is not accidentally written with a small letter, since it does not refer to the divine Person of Christ the Savior. We can find similar expressions in the Holy Scriptures: He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, so that we, having been delivered from sins, might live for righteousness: by His stripes you were healed (1 Pet. 2:24). The unity of the nature of Christ with the entire human race allows the Apostle Peter to talk about the transference of our sins on the tree. At the same time, the sinlessness of the Savior cannot be doubted. This way of expression is also common in liturgical texts: “And on the sixth day and hour, Adam’s daring sin was nailed to heaven on the cross...” (troparion of the 6th hour) 44 ; “Christ, nail my flesh to Thy fear, nail Adam’s sin to the cross...” (troparion of the 9th canticle of the Trisong at Matins on Wednesday of the 1st week of Great Lent) 45. Statements of this kind are common in patristic literature. Thus, Saint Gregory the Theologian says that Christ “was nailed to the cross, to which he also nailed the black sin of the creature” (“Lamentation for the suffering of his soul”) 46. S. L. Epifanovich, based on the patristic heritage, reveals the meaning of such statements as follows: “According to the teaching of St. Maxim, the Lord accepted our impeccable passions by natural assimilation, that is, quite realistically, as something inherent to Him by nature; reproachful passions - by relative assimilation (kat' o„ke...wsin <scetik"n), so to speak, by sympathy (“by love of mankind”), as if transferring to Himself (this is the thought of St. Eulogius of Alexandria in Photius in the “Library”) as to the head of all humanity the passions tormenting him (sin, oath, disobedience, ignorance, abandonment of God). In both cases, this perception by the Lord of our passions had its deep meaning; it brought us dispassion - incorruptibility of the flesh and freedom from sinful passions. This is the usual soteriological point of view of St. Fathers on the Passion of Christ. For example, according to the teachings of St. Cyril of Alexandria, for this reason the Lord allowed the manifestation of various passions in Himself, in order to destroy them in Himself: "just as death would not have been abolished if He had not died, so it would have been with each of the carnal passions: if He had not experienced fear, then (our) nature would not have been freed from fear. Carnal passions were revealed in Christ not so that they could then have the same power as in us, but in order to what was discovered was abolished by the power of the Word inherent in the flesh, after the nature was changed for the better.” In this case, we are talking about natural passion - the desire for food after fasting, and about reproachful passion - the temptation to carnal pleasure. The manifestation of the first is real in full force, the manifestation of the second is only conceivable kat’ o„ke...wsin scetik"n, as a conditional allowance by the Lord, out of compassion for us, of a disgusting satanic attack on our weakness. For the Lord, this is not His own (inherent by nature), but “our” temptation, compassionately assimilated by Him” 47 . Patristic views of this kind are fully consistent with the ecclesiological orientation characteristic of all the works of the Hieromartyr Hilarion. The passage under discussion from the article “Bethlehem and Golgotha” is no exception. It begins with the words: “On the basis of the incarnation, the Church is created, this universal human organism of love” 48. Therefore, Hieromartyr Hilarion speaks here simultaneously about the accomplishment of our salvation by Christ on Golgotha, and about the salvation of humanity in Christ, accomplished in the Church. All these arguments are intended to show the connection between the Savior’s death on the cross and the salvation of man in the Church. This connection, in contrast to the legal theory of salvation, is understood as organic, directly related to the body of Christ - the Church: "The work of Christ is often unconsciously misrepresented by many. Hardly many, when asked: what is the essence of the work of Christ, will answer: that He created the Church, created a new humanity in the incarnation. Even our school theology, which is studied in seminaries, is not very favorable to such an answer. There the essence of Christ’s work is indicated in suffering for the sins of others, for the sins of all mankind. And it is very difficult to move from the suffering of Christ to the Church as the Body of Christ. Involuntarily, our theology belittles the importance of the Church, relegates it, following the Catholics, to an earthly institution, an organization under the leadership of the hierarchy” (“On life in the Church and on the life of the Church” 49). However, this position in no way eliminates the need for the cross of the Lord for our salvation. Thus, reflecting on the religious views of Leo Tolstoy, Hieromartyr Hilarion notes: “The “Great Teacher,” it turns out, taught no one anything, and the “green stick” did not save anyone, because for salvation it is not a stick that is needed, but the cross of Christ” (“There is no Christianity without the Church” 50). It was through the cross that Christ restored in His Church the lost unity of the earthly and heavenly worlds: “Christ has possession of the living and the dead (see Rom. 14:9) and by His cross he reconciled both earthly and heavenly (see Col. 1:20)” 51. The theology of Hieromartyr Hilarion is aimed primarily at showing the connection between the Incarnation, the Savior’s death on the cross and our salvation in the Church of Christ: “It was for the creation of the Church that it was necessary for the descent to earth of the Son of God and His death on the cross” (“Christianity or the Church” 52). If someone were to interpret “renunciation of the sinful, human will” in the sense that Christ on Golgotha ​​“overcomes the sinful inclinations inherent in His humanity” 53, then this conclusion would contradict the basic theological ideas of the Hieromartyr Hilarion, according to which cleansing from sin, deliverance from the tendency towards sin was given to humanity already in the incarnation of the Son of God. Archbishop Hilarion usually speaks of the Incarnation as a victory over corruption, the return of incorruption to human nature in Christ. At the same time, reference is made to the fact that “the Church calls sin, first of all, corruption, the loss of an ancient property - incorruptibility” (“Easter of Incorruption” 54). The chosen terminology can be explained by an attempt to avoid the use of the term “original sin,” “since the majority of Orthodox theologians refuse even to use the expression “original sin,” traditional in Latin terminology” 55 . However, Hieromartyr Hilarion uses the concept of “Adam’s sin” as a synonym for the term “original sin”: “The real unity of humanity explains the transfer of Adam’s sin to Old Testament man” 56 . Archbishop Hilarion, in accordance with church tradition, defines the Resurrection of Christ as a victory over death and corruption: “Death was terrible for the human race before the death of Christ, but after Christ’s resurrection man became terrible for death, for one of us conquered death, did not remain in the tomb and did not see corruption” (“Easter of Incorruption” 57). Together with Christ, the resurrection celebrates the entire human race, since “human nature was united with the Divine nature in the person of Christ “unconfused, unchangeable, indivisible, inseparable”” (“Easter incorruptibility” 58). In addition, the Resurrection becomes evidence of the Incarnation: "Who is this who has passed through the gates of death? He can only be God. This means that God truly incarnated on earth, truly healing medicine was brought against the corruption that is corroding me and tormenting me. The Incarnation and the resurrection are combined together. The Incarnation will give meaning to the resurrection, and the resurrection indisputably assures in the truth, in reality, and not in the illusory and dreaminess of the incarnation" (“Easter incorruptibility” 59). The Incarnation gives meaning to the Resurrection, since human nature, received by God by the Word and resurrected by Him, becomes the source of human salvation in the Church. The Resurrection testifies to the Divinity of Christ, which gives our salvation in Christ the character of inviolability: “If God had not granted salvation, we would not have had it firmly” (Hieromartyr Irenaeus of Lyons) (“Incarnation” 60). We can find enough evidence of this both in the Holy Scriptures and in the Holy Tradition of the Church. Thus, the Apostle Thomas, having seen the risen Christ, confesses His Divinity: My Lord and my God! (John 20:28), and all Orthodox services, including those dedicated to the remembrance of Christ’s resurrection, are permeated with faith in “God incarnate.” It is enough to point out the fact that at the festive liturgy of the Bright Resurrection of Christ the beginning of the first chapter of the Gospel of John is read, where the main theme is precisely the theme of the Incarnation: And the Word became flesh... (John 1:14). Thus, the main idea of ​​the soteriological reasoning of the Hieromartyr Hilarion must be recognized as the following thought. Assumed by the Son of God into the unity of His Hypostasis, human nature, purified from sin and deified, having gone through all the stages of salvation in Christ, is placed at the foundation of the Church, the members of which become accomplices of the sorrows and glory of their Divine Savior, gaining the incorruptibility and unity in humanity lost by Adam and becoming gods by grace. Hieromartyr Hilarion (Trinity). Letter from Hieromartyr Hilarion (Troitsky) to D. A. Khomyakov // Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate. 2004. No. 9. pp. 75–78. Hieromartyr Hilarion, Archbishop of Verei. Without the Church there is no salvation / Ver. Art. nuns of Sophia: Life of the Hieromartyr Hilarion (Trinity). M.; St. Petersburg, 2000. P. 340. Synod. translation: You are Christ, the Son of the Living God. – Ed. Hieromartyr Hilarion, Archbishop of Verei. Without the Church there is no salvation. pp. 435–436. Archbishop Hilarion (Trinity). Church as a union of love / Ver. Art. Hieromonk Damaskin (Orlovsky): Biography of Archbishop Hilarion (Troitsky). M., 1998. P. 426. Hieromartyr Hilarion (Trinity). Letter from Hieromartyr Hilarion (Troitsky) to D. A. Khomyakov. P. 76. Archbishop Hilarion (Trinity). The Church as a union of love. P. 401. Archpriest Peter Gnedich. The dogma of atonement in Russian theological science (1893–1944). M., 2007. P. 151. Quote by: Archpriest Pyotr Gnedich. Dogma of Atonement... P. 151. Archbishop Hilarion (Trinity). The Church as a union of love. P. 399. Hieromartyr Hilarion, Archbishop of Verei. Without the Church there is no salvation. P. 297. Hieromartyr Hilarion (Trinity). Creations. In 3 volumes. T. 3: Church-journalistic works. M., 2004. P. 264. Hieromartyr Hilarion, Archbishop of Verei. Without the Church there is no salvation. S. 5. Archbishop Hilarion (Trinity). The Church as a union of love. pp. 420, 421. Hieromartyr Hilarion, Archbishop of Verei. Without the Church there is no salvation. P. 92. Hieromartyr Hilarion (Trinity). Creations. In 3 volumes. T. 3. P. 261. Hieromartyr Hilarion, Archbishop of Verei. Without the Church there is no salvation. pp. 92–93. As, for example: Archbishop of Brussels and Belgium Vasily (Krivoshein). Symbolic texts in the Orthodox Church // Church of Bishop Vasily (Krivoshein). N. Novgorod, 2004. pp. 208–209. Archbishop Hilarion (Trinity). The Church as a union of love. P. 301. Hieromartyr Hilarion, Archbishop of Verei. Without the Church there is no salvation. P. 446. Hieromartyr Hilarion, Archbishop of Verei. Without the Church there is no salvation. P. 91. Archbishop Hilarion (Trinity). The Church as a union of love. P. 400. Hieromartyr Hilarion (Trinity). Creations. In 3 volumes. T. 3. P. 459. Archimandrite Hilarion (Troitsky). News of theological literature: S. L. Epifanovich. St. Maximus the Confessor and Byzantine theology. Page 138. Kyiv, 1915 // Christian: Journal of church and social life, science and literature. Sergiev Posad, 1915. No. 5. P. 183–188. Venerable Maximus the Confessor. Creations. Book IÏ Questions and answers to Thalassia. Part 1: Questions I-LV / Transl. from Greek and comm. S. L. Epifanovich and A. I. Sidorov. M., 1993. P. 60. Archbishop Hilarion (Trinity). The Church as a union of love. P. 427. Book of Hours. M.: Publishing house. Moscow Patriarchate, 1980. P. 103. Lenten Triodion. M.: Publishing house. Moscow Patriarchate, 1992. Part 1. L. 107. Saint Gregory the Theologian. Collection of works in 2 volumes. T. 2. Holy Trinity Sergius Lavra, 1994. P. 70. Venerable Maximus the Confessor. Creations. Book II. Part 1. P. 197. Hieromartyr Hilarion (Trinity). Creations. In 3 volumes. T. 2: Theological works. M., 2004. P. 459. Archbishop Hilarion (Trinity). Essays on the history of the dogma of the Church / Intro. articles by A.K. Svetozarsky and A.I. Sidorov. M., 1997. P. 24. Hieromartyr Hilarion, Archbishop of Verei. Without the Church there is no salvation. P. 95. Archpriest Valentin Asmus. Archbishop Hilarion of the Trinity and Orthodox theology // Theological collection. Vol. VII. M., 2001. P. 60. Archbishop Hilarion (Trinity). The Church as a union of love. P. 398. Larcher J.-C. Reverend Maximus the Confessor - mediator between East and West / Transl. from French O. Nikolaeva. M., 2004. P. 108. Archbishop Hilarion (Trinity). The Church as a union of love. P. 426. Hieromartyr Hilarion (Trinity). Creations. In 3 volumes. T. 3. P. 259.