К. С. Святой Григорий Назианзин как обличитель недостойных пастырей 898

Every time there is a need for people who would revive and encourage the weak and lazy shepherds of the Church to work, who would instruct the careless clergy in their sacred duties by their word and example. For those who come to the pastoral position not out of an inner calling, but for the sake of profit and domination, a mirror is extremely necessary in which they would clearly see the ugliness of their thoughts and actions. Happy is the man whom God grants to be, as the word of God puts it, the salt and light of the world (Matthew 5:13–14)! Happy is the shepherd who, with zeal and persistence, opposes the spread of evil and uses all his strength to plant the beautiful and good in humanity! Until the time when Gregory of Nazianzus lived, Christian society, which had just emerged from a state of humiliation, was quite bright. Oppression and persecution taught him to desire the purest and most complete happiness. The clergy, sacrificing themselves for the good of their neighbors, in the crucible of external misfortunes and struggles, purified themselves and became internally stronger and stronger. But in the time of Gregory of Nazianzus, the title of Christian teacher was no longer associated with external danger; on the contrary, he was often accompanied by honor, wealth, and influence. Attractive means for corrupting clergy became more numerous, and they produced many evils, of which the following stood out especially. The theologians were possessed by some kind of passion, very incompatible with the simple truth of the Gospel, to argue about dogmatic subjects. Although this was characteristic not only of clergy, for everything then, as they say, was “dogmatized and argued,” but it was they who especially contributed to the emergence of this trend and sanctified it by their own example. And Gregory of Nazianzus defended well-known theological positions and formulas with enthusiasm and zeal, but at the same time he did not lose sight of the fact that there are practically beneficial truths, that life and work are much more meaningful than scientific theories. And therefore, at every opportunity, St. Gregory argued that not a single Christian, let alone a theologian, can be worthy of salvation if he does not keep the commandments of God and walk in His law, that good deeds are the surest steps to contemplation 899. Another evil, which exists at all times, although not in the same form, was the unworthy way of holding spiritual positions. This evil reached such enormous proportions that it often aroused in noble souls a complete reluctance to seek these positions and gave rise to a desire in them to live in calm and pious solitude rather than in worldly vanity, hiding behind the Church. “When I look,” writes Gregory of Nazianzus, “at the now intensifying disease of the tongue, at the hasty sages, at the newly produced theologians, for whom it is enough only to want to become wise, then I feel the need for the highest wisdom, I seek with Jeremiah the vitality of the latter and I wish to be alone with myself” 900. At that time, either the power of the court, or the recommendation of the monks, or the will of the people, who often expressed their claims to the right to choose a bishop through riots and bloodshed, had a decisive influence on the election of pastors. In this case, any specific rules were rarely observed; on the contrary, episcopal positions were often obtained through treachery, intrigue, impudence, and violence. If a clergyman occupied first the lowest level in the church hierarchy, and then gradually rose to the highest, then this, of course, would introduce some order and, perhaps, prevent the election of completely ignorant, even sometimes unbaptized people to the first episcopal sees. But there was no such order, and therefore the number of unworthy bishops grew every day. “Some come,” St. complains. Gregory, - from the table on which money is changed; others - burned by the sun, from the plow; some from the hoe, at which they spend the whole day; others have left the helm or army and still smell of sea water or are covered with scars; others have not yet cleared their skin of the soot of chimney sweeps” 901. “It is not their morals that give them their degree, but their morals that give them their degree. (The order is so terribly perverted!) They themselves have not yet purified themselves, but they begin to purify others. Yesterday they were blasphemers, and now they are priests; yesterday they did not dare to approach the shrine, and now they are secret guides” 902. “Yesterday you were at the theater among the comedians, and what you did after the theater is indecent to tell me, but now you yourself are presenting a completely new comedy. Recently you were a lover of horses and raised dust to the sky, like others - prayers and pious thoughts, but now you are so humble and look so bashful, although, perhaps, you are secretly returning to your former morals. Yesterday you sold law like a rhetorician and interpreted laws here and there, and now you suddenly became a judge, a second Daniel. Yesterday you sat in court with a naked sword and made your judicial pulpit a legal cave of robbers, yesterday you justified theft and violence on the basis of the laws, and now you are so meek and humble! It’s hard to believe that anyone could change their clothes as easily as you can change your lifestyle” 903. “Now we are running away from danger, so that the holiest among all positions becomes the most ridiculous, for the highest spiritual places are acquired not so much by virtue as by viciousness: not the most worthy, but the most unworthy, ascend to the episcopal sees” 904. This disorder, which is so vividly depicted by St. Gregory, it would not have been possible to such an extent if thorough preparation for the clergy and order in achieving it were considered necessary. Therefore St. Gregory very seriously points out the need for both. He complains bitterly that they use every means to achieve the highest degree of perfection in the sciences and arts, but do not even think about the greatest title. “One who has not learned to recognize diseases is not called a doctor; one who has not made many experiments in mixing paints and making copies is not called a painter; and the spiritual is found very easily, of course, not one who has worked to educate himself, but something done hastily, one who is sown and grown in an instant, as the fable about the giants says. We form saints in one day and command them to be wise, although they do not yet possess any truth and have not marked themselves with any good deed. The arrogant presides, raises an eyebrow at his better self, ascends the throne without trepidation and thinks that, having received power, he has become wiser! No, the best spiritual and worthy of the highest place can only be called the one who cares most about the Divine word, who constantly bridles his flesh and subjugates it to the spirit and stands modestly in the lowest place” 905. St. Gregory considered it very important that in the Church of Christ everyone should begin service from lower positions, as in a properly organized army or navy, and through official obedience prepare for the difficult art of command. It was very difficult for him, who studied secular sciences until the age of thirty and carefully prepared to study theology and, despite that, avoided accepting the great responsibilities of the clergy, to see that completely young and inexperienced people with terrible frivolity sought spiritual positions and then became a temptation for the people. And therefore we should not be surprised if he castigates such people with the most bitter ridicule. “With us,” he says, “there is absolutely no boundary between teaching and learning; This matter is in disarray and desolation among us, so that most of us, I don’t want to say all of us, before they leave the children’s school and stop babbling, before they step on the sacred porch, before they become acquainted with the books of the Old and New Testaments, not to mention, before they wash away the defilement of their souls, that is, sin, they already think of being teachers and leaders of souls. If they have only learned to utter two or three pious words, if they have only just become acquainted with David, or know how to throw on their mantle well and appear pious in appearance, then they already think that they have done everything in order to become a bishop; They think that if Samuel was dedicated to God from the font, then we, who are in mature age, are eminently experienced in divine things, that we are the first experts in the Scriptures and lawyers” 906. The fact that so few felt the need for thorough preparation for the clergy, that even the uneducated had the path to higher positions open, is easily explained by the ignorance and lack of education of many persons in the clergy. Since the benefits of this title could be enjoyed without theological scholarship, many of the clergy indulged in laziness, and then came up with various proofs that academic studies were not only unnecessary, but even harmful for a Christian shepherd. In doing so, they abused the examples of those respected fishermen and publicans who, although they did not have theological education, conquered the world with the power of their words. St. Gregory was especially outraged by this insulting comparison of the godly apostles with uneducated shepherds. “You claim,” he writes, “that the apostles, not being scientists, conquered the world by the power of words. This is true. But this happened with the apostles, and moreover, so that the effect of the word they spoke would be all the more wonderful. I would wish that he who builds upon this example, though once proved such a power of will as dwelt in the apostles; let him show that he, like the apostles, can live without money, without permanent shelter, without shoes, being content only with daily bread; let him discover the miraculous power that the apostles had: let him cast out demons, heal lepers, raise the dead” 907. In addition to these shortcomings, most clergy were highly characterized by a secular way of thinking, which was revealed in different ways. The description of this sensual way of thinking of that time is especially common in Gregory’s poems “About Myself” and “Against the Bishops.” Of course, other things are put here for decoration, but most of what is said is taken from life and has a clear stamp of reality: “Lion, viper, snake,” says St. Gregory, are more generous and meek in comparison with the bad bishops, who are all filled with pride, but do not have a spark of love. Look through the sheep's skin at the wolf, let him convince me not with words, but with deeds; I hate teaching that contradicts life; when I praise the color of the “flooded tomb” (Matthew 23:27), then I despise the smell emanating from the decaying members” 908. To the serious husband, engaged in constant asceticism, St. Gregory contrasts the secular shepherd, who indulges in youthful pleasures, plays, sings, pleases the belly and opens all his senses to the joys of life. For such people, as Gregory says, ignorance is an evil, but it is of the least importance. In their faith they are bilingual, serving the spirit of the times, and not the law of God; fickle in their teaching, like a reed shaken by the wind; in relation to the weak they are like lions, and in relation to the strong they are like dogs, poking their noses everywhere and groveling much more often at the doors of influential people than at the doors of wise people. They pursue more what is pleasant than what is useful. One of them boasts of his nobility, another of his eloquence, a third of his wealth, a fourth of his connections; and those who cannot boast of anything like that, boast of their vices. But no vice is so strongly condemned by St. Gregory, as the vice of hypocrisy, menacingly condemned by the Savior. This vice seems to him the most destructive of the destructive ones, and therefore he is exhausted in ridicule of those who, with their beard, their bent appearance, their quiet voice, their timid gait, want to appear pious, having neither soul nor heart. In order not to bore the reader with a list of all the individual features of that terrifying image that St. Gregory draws from a huge crowd of clergy of his time; let us turn instead to consider his ideal of a spiritual shepherd and theologian. This ideal throughout the entire ministry of St. Gregory stood so vividly before his mind's eye that he did not give him even a moment of peace and often filled his heart with a sorrowful feeling about his unworthiness. The goal of theoretical and practical theology, which he usually called spiritual healing, was to inspire the soul, distract it from the world and return it to God. “We must,” he says, “preserve the image in our souls, if it is intact; support him if he is in danger; update if damaged. In short, the one who belongs to the heavenly rank must be made a god and a partaker of heavenly bliss. The pastor must consider it his main and even only duty to purify souls by life and teaching; being himself enlightened by Divine grace, he must serve as a pure spiritual mirror for his flock, must offer a sacred sacrifice for his children until he makes them a sacrifice pleasing to God. A shepherd is a spiritual doctor. Physicians of the body must endure various labors and worries and, as one wise doctor said, gather sorrows for themselves from the misfortunes of others. And what is all this for? In order for a person to live on earth for more days, who, due to his depravity, perhaps would have been better off dead long ago. But for us, when we are in danger of losing the salvation of our soul, a blessed and immortal soul, what feat must be done in order to heal others well, and to heal ourselves?.. Our medical art is much more difficult than the art of healing the body. It is more difficult because the latter looks little into the depths and is more concerned with the visible; on the contrary, our healing and care all relate to the hidden person of the heart, and our warfare is with the enemy who is at war within us” 909. In accordance with this high goal of the pastoral activity of St. Gregory demands from persons of the spiritual rank a life pleasing to God, for what is not active and not alive in ourselves cannot be so in others. “No one is worthy of the great God, no one is worthy to be a shepherd and to offer sacrifices to God, if he has not first offered himself as a living sacrifice to God or if he has not become a holy and living church of the living God. How can I dare to proclaim the word of God if I have not become a worthy organ of this word? Such jealousy is not commendable. You must first cleanse yourself in order to be able to cleanse others. The shepherd should not sound like counterfeit and unclean coin; It should not contain any bad substances that require the strongest fire. Otherwise, the greater the number of people he controls, the more evil he will produce, because a vice that spreads to many is greater than a vice that stops at one. Moreover, vice is much more easily accepted than virtue. Thus, the spiritual one, in whom the flock desires to see an example of Christian life, should not be content with avoiding vice, but must be distinguished by good deeds. He should not even know the measure of goodness and in the ascent to perfection, he should consider not so much as a profit what is acquired, but rather as a loss what is not achieved” 910. St. demands just as strictly. Gregory from a church teacher, so that he would have thorough information about Divine things and know human sciences, especially philosophy. “A representative,” he writes, “needs to be both simple - regarding correctness, and as many-sided and diverse as possible in order to treat everyone decently, and also capable of useful conversation with everyone. For some, babies according to their abilities, require milk for food, that is, the simplest, initial lessons; while others have a need for the wisdom preached among the perfect, for higher and more solid food. The theologian must have a correct understanding of the world and worlds, of matter, soul, mind and intelligent beings, both good and evil, of the all-containing Providence that governs all events, of our original dispensation and the last restoration, of types and truth, of the first and second coming of Christ, His incarnation, suffering, death, resurrection - in all these subjects he must give an answer" 911 . But let no one think that Gregory is demanding the impossible from the shepherd. If he expresses the desire for the theologian to know all the ways and revelations of God, even to the last foundations, then he says that such knowledge, which completely exhausts all truth and all the depths of the Divine being, is not achieved in the earthly life of man. Our present knowledge is only a gradual approach to that knowledge which is preserved for us in heavenly bliss. “The true theologian is not the one who wants to completely understand everything [concerning the Divine], for the unlimited cannot be comprehended by a limited being; but the one who, more than the other, has reflected the Divine in himself and has in himself the image, the shadow of the truth. The most perfect of all that exists is the knowledge of God. Let us partly preserve this knowledge, partly acquire it while we live on earth, and partly let us preserve it for ourselves in the treasures there, so that as a reward for our labors we may receive the full knowledge of the Holy Trinity” 912. But no matter how learned the shepherd is, if he does not have humility, then learning will be not only useless for him, but even harmful. A true theologian must recognize his own weakness and turn in prayer to Him who is strong in weakness. “Having developed the gift of speech, do not rely too much on this gift, do not philosophize to the point of excess, rather than reason, do not want to gain the upper hand in everything, even with harm; but in some cases, it would only be useful to concede victory over yourself. Bring the word as a gift to the Word, turn learning into a weapon of justification, not death" 913. Published from: Proceedings of the Kyiv Theological Academy. 1869. No. 4. P. 3–13. Ullmann S. Gregorius der Theologe. Gotha, 1867, pp. 355–367. See: St. Gregory the Theologian. Word 20 // St. Gregory the Theologian. Creations. T. 1. P. 259. Wed: St. Gregory the Theologian. About himself and about the bishops // Ibid. T. 2. P. 239. Wed: St. Gregory the Theologian. Word 21 // Ibid. T. 1. P. 263. Wed: St. Gregory the Theologian. About himself and about the bishops // Ibid. T. 2. P. 246. Wed: St. Gregory the Theologian. Word 43 // Ibid. T. 1. P. 525. Wed: St. Gregory the Theologian. Word 43 // St. Gregory the Theologian. Creations. T. 1. P. 525. Wed: St. Gregory the Theologian. Word 3 // Ibid. P. 42. Wed: St. Gregory the Theologian. About himself and about the bishops // Ibid. T. 2. Wed: St. Gregory the Theologian. About himself and about the bishops // St. Gregory the Theologian. Creations. T. 2. P. 235. Wed: St. Gregory the Theologian. Word 3 // Ibid. T. 1. pp. 34–35. Wed: St. Gregory the Theologian. Word 3 // St. Gregory the Theologian. Creations. T. 1. pp. 30–31. Wed: St. Gregory the Theologian. Word 20 // Ibid. P. 259; Word 30 // Ibid. P. 373. Wed: St. Gregory the Theologian. Word 19 // Ibid. P. 250.