Иеромонах Пантелеймон Три Богослова: апостол Иоанн Богослов, святой Григорий Богослов и преподобный Симеон Новый Богослов 196

Common features of their teaching in general and knowledge of God in particular When we look at the clear starry sky or enter a large luxurious flower garden, a wondrous sight then appears to us. What diversity and at the same time unity, what scatteredness and at the same time harmony! Something similar appears to the thinker when he tries to take a mental look at the world of patristic writing. How difficult it can be for a viewer, looking at the sky or being in a flower garden, to fix his gaze on just one thing! But it will be completely easy for him to do this when he begins to peer at stars of any one specific size and brilliance or begins, for example, to choose flowers of any one name. Anyone who would like to focus on one or more fathers in patristic literature experiences the same difficulty. But this difficulty will quickly disappear when we turn, for example, to fathers who have received some general and special name. In this essay we would like to focus our attention on those fathers who are called Theologians in an exclusive sense. It is so natural for a thinking person, and especially a theologian, to become interested in these particular fathers and ask himself: for what reason are they named so and is there any relationship and connection between them? Such curiosity will not be at all idle. On the contrary, from solving the questions asked, the theologian has the right to expect clarification of such an important problem for him about true theology and about the true theologian. In the person of those fathers who are primarily called Theologians, he will find the ideal, and in their very teaching - the ideal of true theology. The first of the Church Fathers to receive the name of Theologian is one of the three Cappadocians - St. Gregory of Nazianzus, who lived and wrote during the golden age of patristic thought. Another father, who also received the title of Theologian, lived at a completely different time, much later than Gregory, during a period of decline and impoverishment of the previously rich patristic writing. This is Rev. Simeon the New Theologian, who lived at the end of the 10th and beginning of the 11th centuries. In the literature about St. It is often said to Gregory of Nazianzus that the title of Theologian was given to him mainly for his famous five Words on theology 197. As for Rev. Simeon, although we have not encountered such an indication about him, in him, as in Gregory, we also find three theological Words 198, very similar to Gregory’s in content, in the depth and height of contemplation, although different in language and style. It would be frivolous to be satisfied with such an external and accidental basis for explaining so honorable and so rare a title. In view of this, we will look for deeper reasons and for this purpose we will engage in a detailed analysis and comparison of the theological systems of Gregory and Simeon. But to the named fathers it is not only not useless, but also directly necessary for us to add another greatest man, not the father of the Church, but the beloved disciple of Christ, the holy Apostle and Evangelist John, to whom the title of Theologian was acquired even before Gregory and Simeon. One can easily guess that both fathers were given the name of Theologian not without reference to the first and great Theologian. So, starting to compare the teachings of the “three Theologians,” we will arrange it according to a natural and simple scheme: the teaching about God, about the world and about man. Revealing the general concept of God as an invisible and incomprehensible Being (John 1:18; 1 John 4:12) 199 without beginning (1 John 2:14; John 1:1, 8:25), eternally existing and living (John 8:58; Rev. 1:4, 8, 17–18, 4:8–9, 11, 21:6, 22:13), the Theologian-Seer gives the briefest, but at the same time the most profoundly meaningful definition of the essence of God. “God is light,” he says (1 John 1:5; John 1:7–9) 200. “God is love” (1 John 4:8, 4:16). And John primarily teaches about Christ the Savior as the eternal Word of God - the Logos (John 1:1-2, 1:14; 1 John 1:1; Rev. 19:13). The same teaching about God, only in more detail, is revealed by two other theologians. Depicting God as an infinite Being, supreme of all, invisible and nameless, 201 both Gregory and Simeon dwell with equal attention on the concept of the incomprehensibility of God. “Just as no one has ever breathed all the air into himself, so neither the mind has completely contained, nor the voice has embraced God’s essence,” says Gregory the Theologian 202 . No less successfully expresses the same idea and Rev. Simeon, saying: God “is known to us as much as someone can see the boundless sea, standing on its edge at night with a small lighted candle in his hand” 203. Meanwhile, the concept of beginninglessness is more nuanced in Rev. Simeon 204, and the concept of eternity is found in Gregory the Theologian 205. As for the teaching about God as Light, both fathers have it developed with remarkable completeness, clarity and separateness, 206 while the Rev. speaks more often and more insistently about God-Love. Simeon 207, and about the Word-Logos, about God as the first, purest and complete Mind, St. teaches more expressively. Gregory 208. Moving on to the most important Christian dogma of the Holy Trinity, about Gregory of Nazianzus, without fear of exaggeration, we can say that hardly any of the fathers penetrated so deeply into this dogma and expounded it with such clarity and distinctness as the great Cappadocian 209. “His words,” Archbishop Philaret says about him, “with amazing accuracy express God-inspired thoughts about the Trinitarian” Deity 210. Here, for example, is how Gregory briefly and clearly formulates this dogma: “God is divided, so to speak, inseparably, and is combined separately, because the Divinity is one in the Three and the Three are One” 211. But the New Theologian in this respect is very close to Nazianzus and, perhaps, is not even in the least inferior to him. “Three Persons of the Divinity,” we read in one place from Simeon, “One is God, Who is divided inseparably by Hypostases and united inextricably by the unity of a single nature - the whole One in the Three Hypostases and the whole Three in the Pre-Essential Unity” 212. Turning after this to the first Theologian and recalling his words that “he who testifies in heaven is three: the Father, the Word and the Holy Spirit, and these three are one” (1 John 5:7) 213, we must ask: from which of the evangelists and apostles can one find a more concise and at the same time more precise formulation of the above dogma? Even if the question of the authenticity of these words were to be decided in a negative sense, then even then it would be necessary to say that they best express John’s teaching about the Holy Trinity, because his first Epistle, and especially almost all of his Gospel, represent a complete and accurate disclosure of the teaching precisely about the equality, consubstantiality and inseparability of the Persons of the Holy Trinity, and mainly the Father and the Son 214. Turning, finally, to an even more specific dogma about the Person of Christ, we see that the entire Gospel of John proves the truth about the Divine dignity of Christ: it was written so that people would believe that “Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God” (John 20:31). But with no less expressiveness, the Apostle John proves the truth that Christ came in the flesh and was a perfect man (John 1:14; 1 John 1:1–3, 5:6; Rev. 1:5, 18, etc.), and at the same time, with special strength and zeal, he rebels against the one who “does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh” (1 John 4:2–3; 2 John 1:7). It is not surprising if the last Theologian, Rev. Simeon, who lived much later than the Nestorian and Monophysite disputes, we encounter a distinct and clear teaching about “two perfect natures of Divinity and humanity, united inextricably and immutably” in Christ 215. But one cannot help but be surprised that even at the very beginning of Christological disputes, Gregory the Theologian, with his penetrating and deeply contemplating mind, correctly comprehending the truth, completely clearly and accurately expounded the Orthodox teaching about the two natures in Christ the God-man with the unity of His Hypostasis 216. Considering further the teaching of the “three Theologians” about the world, we must first of all make a reservation that we will not be talking about the world - the cosmos, but about the world as the entire totality of manifestations of the life of fallen man. In this case, Rev. It was quite natural for Simeon, as a strict, self-absorbed ascetic monk, to express a gloomy view of the vanity of the world and everything in the world 217 . Saying that “the world is death” 218 and calling on people to love and believe in the One Lord, the holy father teaches to hate this world and run away from it 219 . However, St. Gregory the Theologian, whose pure and holy soul constantly strived for the desert, for another heavenly world, for silence and contemplation 220 , contrasting the world with Christ, that is, the Church of Christ 221 and worldly life with spiritual life 222 , depicts with unusually vivid features the vanity, fragility and corruption of everything in this world 223 and thus confirms his thoughts Simeon. Finally, the beloved disciple of Christ, with his apostolic authority, confirms us in that view of the world, which is now considered narrow and one-sided. Contrasting the world with its “prince of this world” (John 12:31, 14:30), “a world that lies entirely in evil” (1 John 5:19), not receiving the Holy Spirit (John 14:17), hating and persecuting Christ and all God’s chosen ones (John 7:7, 15:18–19, 17:14), contrasting this world “to the kingdom that is not from of this world”, the Kingdom of the Lord and His Christ (John 18:36; Rev. 11:15; cf. John 8:23, 14:27, 16:20; 1 John 3:13, 4:4–5, 5:4–5), the Apostle of love ultimately teaches so clearly: “Do not love the world, nor the things that are in the world... For all that is in the world is the lust of the flesh, eyes and the pride of life...” (1 John 2:15–16) 224. Regarding the doctrine of man, we will also find many similarities, and above all in the two Theologians - the Fathers of the Church. Both Gregory and Simeon are equally amazed by the wondrous combination in man of spirit and flesh, mind with carnal dust, the combination of earth, dust with the Royal image or with the image of God 225. Being, on the one hand, a worm, a shadow and dust 226, a prisoner of the flesh, a one-day creature, the weakest creature 227, man, however, by the power of the grace of the Holy Spirit, through union with Christ (which St. Simeon speaks about in particular detail), 228 being deified, Christ-bearing and God-bearing, an earthly angel and a heavenly man, becomes a child, son and friend of God, brother and joint heir of Christ, a small light and God by grace, having to rejoice around the great Light and reign with God 229. Encountering in the Theologian-Apostle the opposition of spirit and flesh, “born of the flesh and of the Spirit” (John 3:6, 6:63), we find in him a particularly developed teaching about the unity of believers with God and with Christ 230 and an image of the graciously reborn and glorified state of the children of God born of God 231. Symeon the New Theologian is especially close to him in penetrating assimilation and development of precisely these aspects of the teaching of the Apostle of Love. In addition to these main features, we find other, more specific similarities in the “three Theologians”. If in the 10th chapter of the Gospel of John a beautiful image is drawn of “the good shepherd, who knows his sheep and lays down his life for them” (John 10:1–14), then Gregory the Theologian, and especially St. Simeon, also beautifully depicts for us the ideal of the shepherd, the height and responsibility of pastoral service 232. About the close connection of Simeon’s theological system with the theology of the “son of thunder” (Mark 3:17 ) also speaks of their equally persistent teaching about love as the most important commandment for a Christian, which is a necessary condition for life in God 233 , repeatedly praised by Simeon as the head of the virtues, the mistress and queen of them 234 The same connection between the New Theologian and the New Testament Seer is evidenced by the former’s frequent quotation of the latter and his constant borrowing of his favorite ideas from John the Theologian. 235. As for the attitude of Gregory the Theologian to the beloved Apostle, it should once again be pointed out that just as for the Evangelist John the key to theology is the doctrine of the incarnation of God the Word 236, so for Gregory of Nazianzus his thought was especially directed to the Eternal Word 237. And the closeness between Gregory the Theologian and St. Simeon, in addition to all of the above, is also evident from the fact that the New Theologian quotes the great Cappadocian with special love and more often than all other fathers 238. It is also indicated by the fact that both holy fathers, as poetically gifted natures, wrote poetry and, thus, were not only theologian-preachers, but at the same time Christian poets 239. Such close similarity between the “three Theologians” in their solution of the most important issues of theology prompts us to look for the reasons for this similarity in the personal properties and qualities of these three men. However, at first glance, we will probably notice more differences in their individual traits than similarities. And in fact, John the Theologian, as a self-witness of the Lord, as a beloved disciple of Christ and the most chosen of the chosen apostles, is such a great and unique person of his kind, such a bright star that in this regard it is impossible to compare him not only with any father of the Church, but even with an apostle 240. The great Cappadocian - Gregory of Nazianzus, the greatest of the great teachers of Christianity 241, a pastor and saint, who zealously fought for the truth of Orthodoxy all his life, a brilliantly educated theologian-philosopher and eloquent speaker in his time 242 - is also a unique and almost inimitable figure among all the fathers of the Church. As for Simeon the New Theologian, he too is a very original and outstanding personality, but in a completely different way - as a self-absorbed ascetic, a very strict monk, the greatest mystic, a deep contemplator and an original theologian-preacher 243. But with all this, the indicated differences and originality of the “three Theologians” are external, determined mainly by the diversity of their ministries and positions, but by no means by the internal difference in spiritual qualities. In these very qualities, on the contrary, we see in them a deep affinity and complete similarity. The following features are common to all “three Theologians”. Firstly, complete detachment from the world, from everything temporary, earthly, dissatisfaction with the present and turning to heaven, to the future, spiritual, eternal, as if an everlasting flight to the heavenly world, to the world of mysterious Truth and endless Love. It is not for nothing that the symbol of John the Theologian as an evangelist is a soaring eagle. This trait is so characteristic of all the “three Theologians” that during their lifetime they were more inhabitants of heaven than inhabitants of the earth 244. The second distinctive feature of our Theologians is the purity and virginity of the soul, integrity of nature and high nobility of character. These are qualities that are inherent not only in the beloved disciple and the great Theologian, but to almost the same extent in the other two Theologians 245. Finally, the third common feature for the “three Theologians” is unshakable faith, complete devotion to God and ardent, fiery love for Christ. This love attracted the predominant love of the Lord to the Apostle John, made him the beloved disciple and confidante of the Savior, and made him worthy of adoption by the Mother of God (John 19:26–27). Depicting this love of the son of Zebedee for Christ Jesus, M. D. Muretov says: “Christ was the center, foundation and torch of the entire spiritual and physical being of the Theologian. Christ was everything for John: the beginning, the end, the middle of the universe - the alpha and omega of all existence" 246. And Gregory and Simeon themselves testify with remarkable strength and expressiveness to their love for Christ. “I love Christ,” says Gregory the Theologian, “I do not know the extent of this love and I boast in it” 247. “Christ the King! - he exclaims one day. “You are my fatherland, my fortress, my bliss, my everything!” 248 “I am wounded by love for Him,” says Rev. Simeon, - and until I received Him, I am crushed in spirit and melt away...” 249 “I try to love insatiably,” the monk speaks of the same love, “I force my nature to love above nature” 250. “Leave me alone,” the holy father begs, “I no longer want to see the light of this world, for I see my Lord... let me not only lock the cell and sit inside it, but even if I, having dug a hole, hide there and spend my life outside the whole world, contemplating the immortal Creator and Lord, wanting to die because of love for Him...” 251 Analyzing the similarities in the teachings of the “three Theologians,” we omitted another aspect of them that was most interesting to us. This is precisely the ideal image of the theologian and theology. We made this omission deliberately in order to examine this side in more detail. So, let us turn first of all to Gregory the Theologian, who made a clear image of the ideal theologian, due to the fact that in his time the high name and work of the theologian was extremely abused. “Not everyone can philosophize about God...” declares the great saint. “This is not acquired cheaply and not by reptiles on the earth!” 252 Until the material in a person has been overcome and ears and thoughts have not been purified, it is unsafe to delve into theology 253. Speaking with irony about those who “in one day” become theologians and become theologians 254, St. Gregory powerfully rebels against those who “made science out of wickedness” 255 and try to turn Christian teaching – this “our great sacrament” – “into a low craft” 256. In contrast to such false theologians, Gregory, in his own figurative expression, like a statue, excises the ideal theologian in all his beauty 257. “Do you want to become a theologian over time?..” asks the holy father and answers himself: “Keep the commandments and do not go beyond the commandments.” For deeds, like steps, lead to contemplation” 258. “Ascend through deeds” 259, because we approach God through life and deeds 260. “People who have tested themselves, who have spent their lives in contemplation, and first of all have purified, or at least purified, both soul and body,” are capable of contemplating about God,” the saint also says. The theologian “should be, as much as possible, pure, so that the light is acceptable as light” 262. Finally, for a theologian it is absolutely necessary to “have the Holy Spirit as a guide” 263, because “with His assistance alone” “one can only think, speak, and listen about God” 264. So, purification of oneself, keeping the commandments, contemplation and guidance of the Holy Spirit, which is possible, of course, only in the Church - these are the necessary conditions for becoming a theologian. If such a theologian should be, then for the work of the theologian - for theology - St. Gregory of Nazianzus looks just as high. The knowledge of God, says Gregory, is the most perfect of all that exists 265. Future bliss, according to the holy father, will consist of nothing other than perfect knowledge of the Trinity 266. True theology 267 is so inextricably linked for Gregory with active faith, with Christian life in the bosom of the Orthodox Church, that he does not separate them even in thought. Therefore, everywhere he calls Orthodox theology “piety” 268, which he contrasts with evil and impiety or blasphemy, 269 meaning the Arians and other heretics of his time and their “excessive, sweet-tongued and cunning theology” 270. The holy father calls himself an “insolent theologian” 271, who, whenever he speaks about God, has a “quivering tongue, and mind, and heart” 272. And about his theology, Gregory notes that he expounds it “according to the way of the fishermen, and not Aristotle, spiritually, and not in a cunning way, according to the statutes of the Church, and not the marketplace, for benefit, and not out of vanity” 273. Addressing Rev. Symeon the New Theologian, we see that the ideal of a theologian and the conditions for theology are depicted in him in the same lines as in Gregory, only in more detail. According to Rev. Simeon, the knowledge of God in the Trinity is life 274. Hence the importance of theology as true knowledge of God is clear. And how highly Simeon looked at the theologian, it is clear from the fact that the theologian, in his opinion, is the one who is, as it were, in the royal chambers, near the King Himself - God and conversing with Him 275. That is why the holy father says: “I am surprised at those... who, before being born of God... do not tremble to theologize and talk about God. When I hear how many... being filled with sins, theologize about God... without the grace of the Holy Spirit... my spirit trembles, is horrified, and in some way loses its temper” 276. “What could be more unclean than that,” exclaims Simeon, “who... attempts to teach those who are the Spirit without the Spirit? And what is worse than the one who... begins to theologize with only false knowledge and external wisdom? 277 Condemning the frivolous theologians of his day, who were engaged in theology not for spiritual benefit and who perverted the dogma of the Holy Trinity with their wisdom, the Holy Father calls them “fucking talkers and clumsy theologians,” contrasting them with the Apostle John as the deepest theologian 278. But what conditions are necessary for true theology? We have already seen that Rev. Simeon mentioned the grace of the Holy Spirit as a necessary condition for this. To receive grace, you must first, through repentance 279, which dispels our ignorance, cleanse your heart 280. “First you need to cleanse the vessel from all filth,” says Simeon, “and then put myrrh into it” 281. But in addition to this, faith is also necessary, for the sake of which God gives us knowledge 282, and observance of the commandments 283 or virtues, by which the door of knowledge 284 is also opened to us. Or, in the figurative language of Simeon, one must first lay the foundation of faith and create from the virtues a house of inner piety of the soul, in order to then put a roof on it - the knowledge of God 285. It is impossible, says the holy father, for one who does not fulfill God’s commandments “to faithfully proclaim divine dogmas and theologize” 286 . He who keeps the commandments and thereby proves his love for God is clothed with the grace of the Holy Spirit 287, Who “opens our minds” and “teaches” us everything 288. The grace of God - this hidden and intelligent light - is just as necessary for spiritual knowledge, according to Simeon, as sensory light in order to see visible creatures or read books 289. Or just as without the warmth of the sun the fruit of the earth cannot ripen, so without prayer, without grace, without the warmth of the intelligent Sun - Christ - it is impossible to receive mature spiritual fruit from reading the Holy Scriptures 290, that is, from any theoretical theology in general. By the power of faith and grace, our mind, damaged by sin and sick, being cleansed, becomes healthy 291, unites with God, with Christ 292 and comprehends the truth 293. So, if you accept Christ into yourself, says St. Simeon, then, without falling to the Savior’s Persians, like John, “but having the whole Word of God inside your Persians, you will theologize the new and old theology and you will understand all theologies well” 294. Having God within you, the inspirer of the Scriptures, you “yourself... will be an inspired book, bearing new and ancient secrets” 295. Without union with God, without enlightenment by divine grace, no virtue will provide us with “the word of wisdom, or knowledge, or reasoning,” because all virtues are only the path to the light, and not the light itself 296: no wisdom in the world will impart to us true knowledge and understanding of the Divine Scriptures 297. And in this understanding lies, without a doubt, the basis for all theology. If someone, having memorized the Holy Scripture, had it all as if in his mouth 298, then even then, without the gracious revelation of the Holy Spirit, it would be for him a closed and sealed book or would be full of ineffable wealth, but a tightly closed chest, which cannot be opened by any human wisdom 299. So, in order to theologize, according to Simeon, one must first pass from death to life, accept the seed of the Living God - the grace of the Holy Spirit, be born spiritually, become a child of God - and then talk about God 300. Summarizing all of the above, it should be said that for true theology, according to the teaching of St. Simeon, a highly moral, virtuous life in the fertile atmosphere of the Church and its sacraments is necessary. But will we find anything similar in John the Theologian? True, he does not have an image of an ideal theologian and theology, but, however, none other of the New Testament writers, like him, the Apostle of Love, so clearly and fully developed the theory of knowledge of God that we saw in Gregory and Simeon. “The Apostle John,” we read about him in one place, “does not allow any opposition between theoretical and practical, knowledge and deed, faith and life. Mere intellectual knowledge of truth (from his point of view) has no meaning” 301. And in fact, in the Gospel of John, Christ the Savior says that the knowledge of the one true God and the Son of God sent by Him is already “eternal life” (John 17:3), that the truth of His teaching is known only by the one “who wants to do the will of God” (John 7:17); and in the Epistles of John it is not spoken of studying the truth, but of “walking in the truth” (2 John 1:4; 3 John 1:3) and that “he who sins has neither seen God nor known Him” (1 John 3:6; cf. 3 John 1:11). As for the particular conditions of knowledge of God, then, according to John the Theologian, it first of all requires “faith” as a foundation (John 7:38; cf. John 5:38, 3:36, 6:47, 17:3), then “purification” (1 John 3:3) and mainly “love” (1 John 4:7–8; cf. 2 John 1:3), inextricably linked with the observance of the commandments and manifested in it 302. Through keeping the commandments, “knowledge of the truth” and knowledge of God are given (John 8:31–32; 1 John 2:3–4). But not directly, but through a special “sainting into the truth” (John 17:17–19), through “being born of God” (John 1:12–13), through abiding in God in Christ (John 17:21, 23; 1 John 2:5, 3:6, 4:12–13, etc.), “Who is the true light, which enlightens every man” (John 1:9 ). “He is the way, the truth and the life” (John 14:6), and “He has given us light and understanding” (1 John 5:20). Finally, the knowledge of the truth, according to the writings of John, is given through the grace of Christ (John 1:17) or through the “Comforter - the Spirit of truth” (John 14:17, 15:26; 1 John 5:6), Who “teaches.” He guides us in everything and guides us into all truth” (John 14:26, 16:13). This is that true and unfalse “anointing”, in which a person does not require anyone to teach him (1 John 2:20–21, 27). This is how they speak in agreement about the conditions of true knowledge of God and in what similar features all our “three Theologians” portray to us the ideal theologian. Theology, therefore, in their view, is not a free profession that can be easily taken on by anyone and just as easily abandoned. Theology is “the path of religious and moral experience - a difficult path that requires moral achievement and self-sacrifice” 303. To become a theologian, it is not enough to enroll in a theological school, study the sciences there, and receive an appropriate diploma. With all this, it is still necessary to experience theological knowledge through faith, life, deeds; it is necessary to deepen this knowledge through personal achievement and, through the grace-filled illumination of the Holy Spirit, to spiritualize and enliven it. After what has just been said, the question inevitably arises: can this ideal be applied to a modern theologian? If the whole point comes down to a virtuous life, is scientific theology still necessary? In response to this, we must say: as long as we live in the body and our knowledge of God is “like a mirror in fortune-telling” (1 Cor. 13:12), as long as heresies and differences of opinion exist, and as long as not everyone has come “into the unity of faith and the knowledge of the Son of God” (Eph. 4:13), so long will science and scientific theology be necessary. We see proof of this in almost all the fathers and teachers of the Church, who, for apologetic and polemical purposes, used philosophy, dialectics, natural science and all the scientific methods and means available to them to defend and establish Christian truth. And one of our “three Theologians” - Gregory of Nazianzus - expresses, for his part, very high respect for education and science 304. In general, the Fathers of the Church paid a certain tribute of attention and respect to science, but not as an end in itself, which it is not right that science now wants to become, not as an independent value, but as a good means that can and should be used for good, of course, goals. Thus, we should not talk about the need for scientific theology, but about the absolutely necessary combination of faith and life with the tasks of this theology. Standing at the level of modern science and responding to the needs of the time and the Church, now even more overwhelmed by heretical, rationalistic and atheistic teachings, the modern theologian at the same time must strive to embody in himself the ideal that is so clearly outlined by the “three Theologians” 305. Departure from this ideal leads to the self-destruction of theology, makes it dead, lifeless, scholastic, turns theology into purely rationalistic, imaginary knowledge, and deprives the theologian of a living soul and, creating for him a falsely contradictory position, turns him into someone against whom every theologian must direct his weapon. Having been cut off from healthy church life and not restrained by any external authorities, a significant part of Western Protestant theological science had already come to complete self-decomposition: theology there, one might say, became anti-theology and dug its own grave with its own hands 306, while the era of direct living connection of theological science with the grace-filled life of the Church, “the centuries of great examples of moral perfection were at the same time golden ages in the history of Christian enlightenment, centuries of particularly broad development of Christian theology" 307. Concluding this essay, we again turn our attention to the “three Theologians.” It is remarkable that in their faces we see a complete coincidence of theory and practice, ideal and reality. Let us remember that the especially characteristic features of the “three Theologians” are a contemplative mood, purity of heart and fiery love for God. And these very qualities, according to the teaching of our theologians, constitute the basic conditions for true theology. Thus, we have complete justification for the high and exclusive title given to the “three Theologians.” Whatever the origin and whatever the reasons for their assimilation of such an honorable title 308, it is now beyond doubt for us that these three great men were called Theologians not by chance, but that this high title is appropriate for them, as the true and greatest theologians, who not only outlined for us the ideal of the theologian, but through their lives and thanks to their high moral qualities and realized it in themselves - in their amazingly deep and sublime theology. What is striking about the teaching of the “three Theologians” is precisely the height of contemplation and the extraordinary depth of penetration into the secrets of divine knowledge, as evidenced by all their researchers 309 . And this height and depth of theology of the “three Theologians” is explained by the fact that for their holiness of life, purity of heart and fiery love for God they received the especially abundant grace of the Holy Spirit, “the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of knowledge and piety” (Is. 11:2). About the beloved disciple of Christ, St. John Chrysostom says that the heavenly Powers marvel at the beauty of his soul, the intelligence and beauty of his virtue, with which he attracted Christ to himself and received spiritual grace; having tuned his soul, like a euphonious lyre, he proclaimed through it by the Spirit something great and sublime 310. And the Holy Church, calling John the Theologian “the church of the Spirit and the luminous lips of grace” 311, sings about him: “Full of love, full of speed and theology” 312. It also testifies about Gregory the Theologian - this “organ of the Holy Spirit” and “the divinely prophesied herb of grace” 313 - that he, having purified his soul and body and thought with divine deeds, ascended the mountain of virtues 314, therefore he attracted the Spirit of wisdom to himself and, “being full of grace, the divine thundered... teachings” 315. Finally, we find similar evidence regarding St. Simeon. These are precisely the verses of a certain panegyrist who says about Simeon that he was not deprived of any of the virtuous deeds, but received as many gifts as any of the saints 316. According to the same author, God “soon filled him with abundant communion of the seven-numbered gifts of the Spirit” 317 . So, rightly, the great Apostle-Seer is called by the Church “chief of theology” 318, and St. Gregory of Nazianzus - “the source of theology” 319. We will not be mistaken if Rev. We will call Symeon the New Theologian a soulful interpreter of the first and great Theologian and very akin and close in spirit to the Cappadocian Theologian. May these “three Theologians” shine with their heavenly light before the mental gaze of every Orthodox theologian, like three guiding stars. May they be for him both an object of imitation in their lives and high moral qualities, and reliable leaders in resolving basic issues of theology and in looking at theology itself. Published from: Theological Bulletin. 1913. No. 1. p. 77–103. This article is a test lecture given at a meeting of the Council of Professors of the Moscow Theological Academy on September 19, 1912. See: Farrar F.V. Life and works of the holy fathers and teachers of the Church. 2nd ed. St. Petersburg, 1902. T. 1. P. 554 (hereinafter referred to as Farrar. Life and works...); Vinogradov N., priest. The dogmatic teaching of St. Gregory the Theologian // St. Gregory the Theologian. Creations. T. 1. P. 658; Theological Encyclopedia. St. Petersburg, 1903. T. IV. Pillar. 624, etc. See: Words of Rev. Simeon the New Theologian. 2nd ed. Vol. 2. M., 1890. P. 75–108. (Next - St. Simeon the New Theologian. Words. Issue 2.) In setting out the teachings of the Theologian-Evangelist, we equally use both his Epistles, in which, of course, most of all, the personality of the Apostle was reflected, and the Gospel, which expounds the actual speeches and teachings of the Savior, as well as the Apocalypse, depicting the visions and revelations shown to the Seer of Mysteries, because in these two greatest monuments of New Testament apostolic writing, individual traits also could not help but be reflected and personal characteristics of the beloved disciple. Wed: John 8:12, 9:5, 12:46, 12:35–36. See: St. Gregory the Theologian. Words 28, 38, 34, 22, 22, 6 // St. Gregory the Theologian. Creations. T. 1. P. 336, 444, 419, 283, 283, 136; About the soul // Ibid. T. 2. P. 27; Rev. Simeon the New Theologian. Words. Vol. 2. P. 105; Symeon. N. Theol. Divinorum amorum liber singularis, cap. 2, 8, 9, 13, 15, 19, 20, 22, 25, 32, 37 ets. //PG. T. 120. Col. 51 C, 519AD, 521A, 526AC, 530D, 545D-547A, 550BC, 558C-559A, 561D-562B, 582B, 592B-593A (hereinafter referred to as Divinorum amorum...). St. Gregory the Theologian. Word 30 // St. Gregory the Theologian. Creations. T. 1.S. 372. Rev. Simeon the New Theologian. Words. Vol. 2. P. 100. Compare: Issue. 2. pp. 554–555. See also: Words of Rev. Simeon the New Theologian. 2nd ed. Vol. 1. M., 1892. P. 260 (hereinafter – St. Simeon the New Theologian. Words. Issue 1); Vol. 2. P. 78, 80–81; Divinorum amorum..., cap. 15, 20, 32 ets. Col. 529C-530D, 550B-551AB, 582B. See: St. Gregory the Theologian. Word 31 // St. Gregory the Theologian. Creations. T. 1. P. 385; Rev. Simeon the New Theologian. Words. Vol. 2. pp. 80–82, 102, 104; Divinorum amorum..., cap. 19, 22, 25 ets. Col. 545C, 558D, 562B-563B. See: Rev. Simeon the New Theologian. Words. Vol. 2. P. 93; Divinorum amorum..., cap. 22, 25 Col. 559B, 562B-563B; St. Gregory the Theologian. Words 30, 38, 45 // St. Gregory the Theologian. Creations. T. 1. P. 372, 445, 560, etc. “God is the highest light, unapproachable, ineffable,” says St. Gregory the Theologian (St. Gregory the Theologian. Homily 40 // St. Gregory the Theologian. Creations. T. 1. P. 462); God is the first and purest light (Ibid. p. 481), etc. Very often repeating his teaching about God as light (see, for example: St. Gregory the Theologian. Words 3, 21, 30, 32, 40 // Ibid. T. 1. P. 28, 260, 367, 398, 480; Praise of virginity // Ibid. T. 2. P. 49, etc.) and about the Trinity Light (He. Words 31, 33, 39, 40 // Ibid. T. 1. P. 377, 412, 455, 479; About the Holy Spirit // Ibid. T. 2. P. 16, etc.), Gregory could rightfully say: “We have now seen and we preach a brief... theology of the Trinity, from the Light of the Father receiving the Light of the Son in the Light of the Spirit" (He. Word 31 // Ibid. Vol. 1. P. 377). But hardly less, if not more, the same theology is developed by St. Simeon, who says, for example: “God is light, and those who are worthy to see Him, all see Him as light, and those who accepted Him, accepted Him as light... and without light it is impossible for Him to reveal Himself” (Venerable Simeon the New Theologian. Words. Vol. 2. P. 318); or again: “God is light, and infinite light, and what is in God is light... The Father is light, the Son is light and the Holy Spirit is light, three - one Light... and that which is from God is light”, etc. (He. Words. Issue 2. pp. 106–107). See also: Same. Words. Vol. 2. P. 51, 556; Divinorum amorum..., cap. 3, 18, 32 ets. Col. 522C, 543AB, 582A-583BC. See: St. Gregory the Theologian. Words 6, I, 23 // St. Gregory the Theologian. Creation. T. 1. P. 131, 169, 286, etc. In Rev. Simeon we read: God “is called and is self-existent and hypostatic Love” (Venerable Simeon the New Theologian. Words. Issue 2. P. 367; cf.: Divinorum amorum..., cap. 40 ets. Col. 60 C). And about the Son of God the holy father says: “Christ is perfect love” (Ibid., cap. 6. Col. 5181). Also about the Holy Spirit, he asserts that “the Divine Spirit is love” (Ibid., cap. 27. Col. 536B, 539A). See also Rev. Simeon: Ibid., cap. 15, 17,18, 20. Col. 529D, 530A, 534CD, 544С, 551С etc. See: Rev. Simeon the New Theologian. Words. Vol. 1. P. 260; Vol. 2. pp. 94–98; Divinorum amorum..., cap. 17, 30, 31. Col. 539B, 575C, 578CD. St. Gregory the Theologian, calling himself a disciple and servant of the Word (see: St. Gregory the Theologian. Word 41; Poem in which St. Gregory the Theologian retells his life // St. Gregory the Theologian. Creations. T. 1. P. 487; T. 2. P. 209), very often speaks of God as the whole, great and infinite Mind (see: He Words 3, 14, 18 // Ibid. 1. S. 49, 194, 224; Letter 101. To Presbyter Kledonius (Epistle 3); Theological Poems 1, 4, 5 // Ibid. 2. S. 483; Gregory calls John the Baptist nothing other than the voice of the Word and the lamp of Light (see: He. Words 21, 28, 29, 38 // Ibid. T. 1. P. 261, 343, 362, 448, etc.). And in general, the holy father thinks of Christ mainly as the Word of God (see: He. Words 29, 30, 39 // Ibid. Vol. 1. pp. 360, 374, 455, etc.). It is not for nothing that the Holy Church calls Gregory the “hidden of the Trinity” and the “Trinity theologian.” See the service for January 25, 1st troparion of the 4th canon of the first canon and 4th troparion of the 8th canon of the same canon. “Therefore,” notes the saint, “Saint Damascus, more than anyone else, was guided by [Gregory] the Theologian in his exposition of the faith” (Archbishop Filaret (Gumilevsky). Historical teaching about the Fathers of the Church: In 3 volumes. St. Petersburg, 1859. Vol. 2. pp. 190–191 (hereinafter – Filaret, Archbishop. Historical teaching...). Cf. St. Gregory the Theologian. Word 40 // St. Gregory the Theologian. T. 1. P. 482. See: St. Gregory the Theologian. Words 39, 40 // Ibid. T. 1. pp. 455–456, 482; A poem in which Saint Gregory retells his life // Ibid. T. 2. P. 209. Rev. Simeon the New Theologian. Words. Vol. 2. P. 104. See also: Same. Words. Vol. 1. P. 260; Vol. 2. pp. 72–74, 80; Divinorum amorum..., cap. 19, 31, 32 ets. Col. 547A, 578BCD, 582BC. A penetrating interpreter of the Apostle of Love, the New Theologian, already at the very beginning of the Gospel of John, discerns the doctrine of the Trinity. Having cited the first five verses from the prologue of the fourth Gospel, Rev. Simeon states: “Saying this, John the Theologian reveals the mystery of the Undivided Trinity and calls the Father God, the Son the Word, the Holy Spirit Life...” (Venerable Simeon the New Theologian. Words. Vol. 2. P. 43). See: 1 John 1:2, 2:23. In the Gospel of John, see especially: 1 John 10:30, 14:7–11, 15:26, 16:13–15, 17:10–11, 21–23 and many others. etc. Rev. Simeon the New Theologian. Words. Vol. 1. P. 261. Compare: He is the same. Right there. P. 202, etc. Rev. Simeon says that Christ, having become incarnate, showed in His Person a double miracle - visible and invisible, held and unheld (Divinorum amorum..., cap. 17. Col. 536C), and is amazed at how the invisible, elusive, incomprehensible and unchangeable God became visible, accessible, tangible (Ibid., cap. 13. Col. 526AB; cap. 15. Col. 530D-531A). See: St. Gregory the Theologian. Letter 101. To Presbyter Kledonius (Epistle 3); About the covenants and the coming of Christ // St. Gregory the Theologian. Creations. T. 2. P. 480; 29; Words 3, 38, 40 // Ibid. T. 1. P. 34, 447–448, 478; A poem in which Saint Gregory retells his life // Ibid. T. 2. P. 208 and others. The fathers of the Councils of Ephesus and Chalcedon, proving the truth of the Orthodox teaching about the Face of Jesus Christ, cited excerpts from the works of Gregory the Theologian (see: Theological Encyclopedia. T. IV. Column. 622–623). See: Divinorum amorum..., cap. 35. Col. 587C. Ibid., cap. 39. Col. 595B. See: Ibid., cap. 5. Col. 516C; cap. 6. Col. 518A; cap. 12. Col. 524D; Rev. Simeon the New Theologian. Words. Vol. 2. P. 28, 510, 563–565, etc. See: St. Gregory the Theologian. Words 3, 18, 20, 24 // St. Gregory the Theologian. Creations. T. 1. P. 29, 242, 254, 295; About the low value of the outside world; Poems about yourself; About the vanity and unfaithfulness of life // Ibid. T. 2. P. 119; 183; 281; Vinogradov. The dogmatic teaching of St. Gregory the Theologian // Ibid. T. 1. P. 654. See: St. Gregory the Theologian. Word 3 // Ibid. T. 1. P. 44. See: St. Gregory the Theologian. Comparison of spiritual life and worldly life // Ibid. T. 2. pp. 85–90. “Everything is from here,” says St. Gregory, - laughter, fluff, shadow, ghost, dew, blow, feather, steam, sleep, wave, stream, ship’s wake, wind, dust”, etc. (St. Gregory the Theologian. Poem 16. About the ways of life // St. Gregory the Theologian. Creations. T. 2. P. 121, etc.). The teaching of John the Theologian about threefold lust is answered by the parallel teaching of Simeon the New Theologian about the three main passions, which he calls “the bonds of the world.” “Every person born into this world,” says Rev. Simeon, “there are three passions: the love of money, the love of glory and the love of voluptuousness” (Venerable Simeon the New Theologian. Words. Vol. 1. pp. 208–209, 213 et seq.). Determining a person’s relationship to his own body, to the outside world and to himself as a person, these passions or lusts really exhaust the entire sum of sinful relationships possible for a person in this world. See: St. Gregory the Theologian. Words 3, 14, 20 // St. Gregory the Theologian. Creations. T. 1. P. 43, 53; 175, 177; 259; It's him. About the soul // Ibid. T. 2. P. 26, 27; Divinorum amorum..., cap. 25. Col. 563A. Wed: Rev. Simeon the New Theologian. Words. Vol. 2. P. 558. See: Divinorum amorum..., cap. 21, 29. Col. 554B, 571C-573BC. See: St. Gregory the Theologian. Word 24 // St. Gregory the Theologian. Creations. T. 1. P. 300; It's him. Poems 5 and 15 // Ibid. T. 2. P. 20; 117, 180, 120. When our souls, according to Rev. Simeon, are virgin and pure, then God the Word of the Father enters into us, as into the womb of the Ever-Virgin (Venerable Simeon the New Theologian. Words. Vol. 1. p. 395). Then the deified man, bearing within himself the whole of Christ (He. Words. Vol. 2. p. 10; Issue 1. p. 305) and being the abode of the Most Holy Trinity (He. Words. Vol. 2. p. 59, 395), is as closely united with Christ as the Son of God is with the Father and the Father with the Son, or, in another comparison, as husband with wife and wife with husband (He. Words. Issue 1. pp. 387, 229, 385). This is the teaching about the unity of human souls with Christ by St. Simeon calls it “the sacrament of marriages” (He. Words. Issue 1. pp. 394, 399). See: St. Gregory the Theologian. Words 2, 18, 30 // St. Gregory the Theologian. Creations. T. 1. P. 25, 245, 365; It's him. On the evil one; About the frailty of human nature // Ibid. T. 2. P. 308, 113, etc.; Rev. Simeon the New Theologian. Words. Vol. 1. P. 174, 375–376; Vol. 2. P. 46, 67, 419, 369; Divinorum amorum..., cap. 21, 36. Col. 555ABC, 556D-557A, 590D-591A. John 6:56, 14:20, 23, 15:1–6, 17, 11, 21; 1 John 2:5–6, 3:6, 24, 4:12; Rev. 3:20, 7:15, 19, etc. John 1:12–14, 10:34–35, 15:14; 1 John 3:1–2, 9, 14, 5:18; Rev. 1:6, 3:5, 21, 22:5. See: St. Gregory the Theologian. Word 3 // St. Gregory the Theologian. Creations. T. 1. P. 28, 31, 34, 49; Rev. Simeon the New Theologian. Words. Vol. 2. pp. 321–323, 378–380, 459–470; Divinorum amorum..., cap. 14. Col. 528A-529A. John 13:34, 15:12, 17; 1 John 3:11, 16, 18, 23, 4:7; 2 John 1:5. See: Rev. Simeon the New Theologian. Words. Vol. 1. pp. 206–207; Vol. 2. pp. 5–7; Divinorum amorum..., cap. 17. Col. 537A, 538CD, 540D, etc. See especially: Rev. Simeon the New Theologian. Words. Vol. 1. pp. 229, 247, 384, 482–485; Vol. 2. P. 70, 448–449, etc. Some original thoughts of Rev. Simeon - about the fact that the coming of the day of the Lord and the Judgment will be only for sinners, and not for the righteous, that one appearance of the Divine Light will already be judgment for the former and glorification for the latter (He. Words. Issue 2. pp. 35–37, 53, 319–320; Issue 1. pp. 412), that sinfully fallen man lost the image of God and began to be in the image and likeness of the devil (He. Words. Issue 1. P. 251, 45), etc., are nothing more than a heartfelt commentary and consistent development of relevant passages mainly from the Gospel of John (see: John 3:18–21, 36, 5:24, 8:41, 44; cf. 1 John 3:8, 10). It is not without reason that a certain panegyrist Vasily, speaking about Simeon, exclaims: πρώτον τον μέγαν Ἱωάννην" (Notitia // PG. T. 120. Col. 308D); rus. trans.: “What other mortal was [equal] to the first great John?” See: Theological Encyclopedia. T.VI. Pillar. 821. See: Filaret, Archbishop. Historical teaching... P. 190. In two editions of "Words" Rev. Simeon, we counted eight cases when the New Theologian refers to Gregory the Theologian, for example: Vol. 1. P. 55, 389, 429–430; Vol. 2. P. 27, 53, etc., while Simeon quotes Basil the Great and John Chrysostom only twice each, and almost all the other fathers he mentions - only once. Gregory the Theologian wrote up to 408 poems (see: Vinogradov N., priest. The dogmatic teaching of St. Gregory the Theologian // St. Gregory the Theologian. Creations. T. 1. P. 157; see also Govorov’s study “St. Gregory the Theologian as a Christian poet”), which, according to Farrar, are “a confession of the beautiful spirit, the sighs of a holy soul, which cannot find satisfaction in anything except in its God” (Farrar. Life and Works... P. 557–558). And Rev. Simeon, according to the testimony of the mentioned panegyrist, composed verses numbering 10,752 (Notitia. Col. 309C). These are political, iambic and anacreontic poems. They mainly wrote those “Divine Hymns” of Simeon (Ibid. Col. 303A), which we very often quote here from Min’s edition (inscribed in the Latin translation: Divinorum amorum...). These hymns are full of lofty contemplations and the purest and most sublime outpourings of a holy and ardent soul loving God. See the study of Hieromonk (now bishop) Evdokim [(Meshchersky)]: Hieromonk Evdokim. Holy Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian. Sergiev Posad, 1898. P. 11, 125. See: Govorov A.V. St. Gregory the Theologian as a Christian poet // St. Gregory the Theologian. Creations. T. 2. P. 571. See: Vinogradov N., priest. The dogmatic teaching of St. Gregory the Theologian // St. Gregory the Theologian. Creations. T. 1. P. 676, 680, 166–168 See: Kurtz J.H. Handbuch der allgemein Kirchengeschichte. Mitau, 1858. Bd. I, Abth. 3. S. 132 (hereinafter – Kurtz. Handbuch...); Holl K. Enthusiasmus und Bussgewalt beimgriechisch. Monchtum. Eeipzig, 1898. S. 36 (hereinafter – Roll. Enthusiasmus...); Krumbacher K. Geschichte der Byzantinischen Eitteratur. Munchen, 1897. S. 152; Anikeev P. Mysticism, teacher. Simeon the New Theologian. pp. 126–127, 132. John Chrysostom speaks of the Apostle of love: “A man speaks from heaven and utters a voice stronger than thunder” (Works of our holy father John Chrysostom, Archbishop of Constantinople, in Russian translation: In 12 volumes. St. Petersburg, 1895–1906. Vol. 8. P. 6; cf.: P. 8; hereinafter - St. John Chrysostom. Creations). Compare: Augustine, bl. Creations. Part 10. Kyiv, 1906. P. 6, 9 (hereinafter referred to as Augustine, Blessed Creation). See also: Muretov M.D. Authenticity of the Lord’s conversations and speeches in the Fourth Gospel. Reprint from the “Orthodox Review” for 1881. pp. 22–24; Hieromonk Evdokim. Holy Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian. pp. II–IV, 140. In the last book, among other things, it is said about John the Theologian: “He seemed to be in heaven itself and from heaven, as if a celestial being, spoke about God and heavenly life” (p. 144). See also: Theological Encyclopedia. T.VI. Pillar. 821. St. also possessed the same traits. Gregory the Theologian, as can be seen from his works (see: St. Gregory the Theologian. Words 18, 20, 33 // St. Gregory the Theologian. Creations. T. 1. P. 242, 254, 412; Poem in which St. Gregory retells his life // Ibid. T. 2. P. 232). “My life is in another world,” says Gregory one day (St. Gregory the Theologian. Poem 1. Poems about yourself // St. Gregory the Theologian. Creations. T. 2. P. 183). As did Rev. Simeon was distinguished by the same qualities, it is clear from the fact that he left the world and, surrendering to complete solitude, was in the true sense of the word a monk (see in issue I of Simeon’s “Words” his life. pp. 4–6, 9, 14, 19; see also: Divinorum amorum..., cap. 19. Col. 545BCD-546A). The monk Hierotheus says that Simeon placed himself above the earthly: “...῾ανώτερον ζεvra σε των εγκόσμιων” (Notitia // PG. T. 120. Col. 307B). And according to another panegyrist, the aforementioned Vasily, he, having completely removed his mind from material addiction to earthly things, presented himself to God in the dwelling: "" (Ibid. Col. 309A). For a characterization of John the Theologian from this side, see the cited work by Muretov (pp. 26–27); in The Theological Encyclopedia (Vol. VI, Col. 820). Church tradition and liturgical writing, together with other names, assign to the Apostle of Love the name virgin. See, for example, the service for September 26, the stichera after the Gospel, etc. Purity and virginity for Gregory the Theologian were especially favorite virtues and were often praised by him. They, of course, were realized by him in life (see: St. Gregory the Theologian. Words 8, 37 // St. Gregory the Theologian. Creations. T. 1. P. 152, 436; He. Lament for the suffering of his soul; Praise of virginity // Ibid. T. 2. P. 301; P. 49–65, etc.). According to church hymns, Gregory chose God-like purity and chastity as his wife and companion, with which he was adorned in life (see the service for January 25, 2nd troparion of the 3rd canon of the second canon and 4th troparion of the 6th canon of the first canon). About Rev. Simeone, we read from his panegyrists that he, having set the goal of his exploits to the complete purification of feelings (Notitia // PG. T. 120. Col. 309C), truly purified in soul, mind, mind and thoughts (Ibid. Col. 307D). Muretov. The authenticity of the conversations and speeches of the Lord... P. 27. “Of all the apostles,” we read there, “only John, from the first moment of meeting Jesus on the banks of the Jordan until Calvary and Christ’s ascension into heaven, did not doubt his Teacher for a minute and never wavered in his faith in Him.” St. Gregory the Theologian. Word 24 // St. Gregory the Theologian. Creations. T. 1. P. 295. St. Gregory the Theologian. To myself. In questions and answers // Ibid. T. 2. P. 294. Compare: He is the same. Lamentation and supplication to Christ // Ibid. T. 2. P. 304; A poem in which Saint Gregory retells his life // Ibid. T. 2. P. 199. Or here are some more wonderful phrases of the holy shepherd: “My concern for You is the only one, my Trinity!”, “...With which even vague shadows delight me” (He. The poem in which Saint Gregory retells his life // Ibid. T. 2. P. 231, 233; cf.: He. On silence during Lent // Ibid. T. 2. P. 284, etc.). Already in these two words - “my Trinity” - all the indestructibility of the faith of St. is expressed. Gregory, his selfless devotion and love for God. Divinorum amorum..., cap. 16. Col. 533C. Compare: Ibid., cap. 21, 29. Col. 556A, 572D. Ibid., cap. 20. Col. 552AB. Compare: Ibid., cap. 26. Col. 563D. Ibid., cap. 19. Col. 545BD-546A. St. Gregory the Theologian. Word 27 // St. Gregory the Theologian. Creations. T. 1. P. 328. See: St. Gregory the Theologian. Word 20 // Ibid. P. 328. See: St. Gregory the Theologian. Word 27 // Ibid. P. 331. St. Gregory the Theologian. Word 21 // Ibid. P. 265. St. Gregory the Theologian. Word 27 // Ibid. P. 327. St. Gregory the Theologian. Word 20 // Ibid. P. 259. St. Gregory the Theologian. Word 27 // Ibid. P. 328. St. Gregory the Theologian. Word 28 // Ibid. P. 333. Compare: Same. Word 20 // Ibid. P. 254. St. Gregory the Theologian. Word 31 // Ibid. P. 391. St. Gregory the Theologian. Word 3 // Ibid. P. 38. See: St. Gregory the Theologian. Word 20 // Ibid. P. 259. See: St. Gregory the Theologian. Word 33 // Ibid. P. 415. The term “theology” has a very narrow meaning for Gregory, as for many other Church Fathers. St. Nazianzus denotes by it the teaching about God in a narrow sense, not even including here the teaching about the Economy of our salvation (see: St. Gregory the Theologian. Words 31, 38 // St. Gregory the Theologian. Creations. Vol. 1. pp. 387, 445, etc.). By the way, in this regard, we also need to return closer to the times of Gregory the Theologian, because at the present time both the concept of “theology” and the very title of “theologians” have become so vague and indefinite that they often mean things and persons that are completely far from the true meaning of these words. The Holy Father speaks, for example, about the “word of piety”, about “sayings of piety”, etc. See: St. Gregory the Theologian. Words 3, 28 // St. Gregory the Theologian. Creations. T. 1. P. 40, 333. Compare: He is the same. Words 3, 20 // Ibid. pp. 38, 256, etc. See: St. Gregory the Theologian. Word 21 // Ibid. P. 275. St. Gregory the Theologian. Word 21 // St. Gregory the Theologian. Creations. T. 1. P. 265. St. Gregory the Theologian. Word 39 // Ibid. P. 455. St. Gregory the Theologian. Word 22 // Ibid. P. 283. See: Divinorum amorum..., cap. 1. Col. 515V. See: Rev. Simeon the New Theologian. Words. Vol. 2. P. 552. Right there. Compare: Divinorum amorum..., cap. 37. Col. 593C et seq. Rev. Simeon the New Theologian. Words. Vol. 2. P. 85. If we do not destroy the wall of our sins between us and God, says Simeon, “then not only will we not be able to know God, but we will not even know that we are human” (Venerable Simeon the New Theologian. Words. Vol. 2. p. 84). Rev. Simeon the New Theologian. Words. Vol. 1. P. 89. Compare: He is the same. Vol. 2. pp. 329–330, 560–561. The Son of God did not come, the holy father teaches, to theologize, but “to destroy the works of the devil,” that is, sins. In whom they are destroyed, “to him can be entrusted the secrets of theology and Orthodox dogmas” (He. Words. Issue 1. pp. 89–90). See: Rev. Simeon the New Theologian. Words. Vol. 2. P. 82. “There can be no other way for God to be revealed in someone,” says the holy father, “except for the exact fulfillment of His commandments” (St. Simeon the New Theologian. Words. Vol. 2. p. 101). See: Rev. Simeon the New Theologian. Words. Vol. 1. P. 444. Compare: He is the same. Words. Vol. 1. pp. 446–447; Divinorum amorum..., cap. 20. Col. 551A, etc. See: Rev. Simeon the New Theologian. Words. Vol. 2. P. 343. Rev. Simeon the New Theologian. Words. Vol. 1. P. 91. See: Ibid. pp. 173–174. The path to receiving the grace of the Holy Spirit is described in more detail by Rev. Simeon in the following terms: faith, growing, ascends into love (see: St. Simeon the New Theologian. Words. Issue 2. pp. 82–83); virtues also lead to love, because when they are all together, then, according to Simeon, among them, like a tree, the fear of God grows, which brings another, completely new fruit - love (see: Divinorum amorum..., cap. 17. Col. 535BCD). And love is already the Divine Spirit and Christ (see: Ibid. Col. 536B; cap. 6. Col. 518D). Thus, the fear of God, as the beginning of wisdom, is one of the mediating conditions for acquiring knowledge of God. We see the same thing in Gregory the Theologian (see: St. Simeon the New Theologian. Words. Issue 1. P. 322; Issue. 2. P. 27; Divinorum amorum..., cap. 5 ets. Col. 517B; St. Gregory the Theologian. Words 21, 39 // St. Gregory the Theologian. Creations. Vol. 1. pp. 262, 454). See: Rev. Simeon the New Theologian. Words. Vol. 2. P. 70; Divinorum amorum..., cap. 31. Col. 579A. Compare: Divinorum amorum..., cap. 20. Col. 550D-551A; It's him. Words. Vol. 2. P. 83. See: Rev. Simeon the New Theologian. Words. Vol. 1. P. 83, 222–223. Compare: Divinorum amorum..., cap. 21. Col. 558B. See: Rev. Simeon the New Theologian. Words. Vol. 1. pp. 75, 76. See: Ibid. pp. 147–148, 174. Those who do not have a sound mind, according to Simeon, “do not have feelings and reasoning to discern even human affairs” (He. Words. Issue 2. P. 326). See: Rev. Simeon the New Theologian. Words. Vol. 1. P. 173. Compare: Divinorum amorum..., cap. 89. See: Divinorum amorum..., cap. 307. The truth, says Simeon here, which we lost through the Fall, “is contained in the word of God and is comprehended by the grace of Christ. Grace in Christ Jesus, with its inconceivable power, simplified, corrected and united fragmented and multi-woven views with some, as if physical and unshakable, unity, showing that all other methods are ineffective, impractical and useless.” Rev. Simeon the New Theologian. Words. Vol. 2. pp. 366–367. Reading the Divine Scripture “is within our power,” says the holy father, “and to understand what is read is a matter of God’s grace” (Venerable Simeon the New Theologian. Words. Vol. 1. p. 75). That is why only a few people can correctly understand the meaning of the Divine Scriptures, while others constantly make mistakes when interpreting (He. Words. Issue 2. P. 525). Therefore, Simeon warns, “before receiving the communion of Divine grace, no one should ascend to the teaching chair... since among those who were wise in the word, but who did not receive Divine grace, some became leaders of heresies, others were defeated by the words of heretics” (He. Words. Issue 1. P. 466). Those who place the hope of their salvation in one study of the Scriptures, according to Simeon, will be condemned even more than others. See: Rev. Simeon the New Theologian. Words. Vol. 1. P. 445. See: Rev. Simeon the New Theologian. Words. Vol. 1. pp. 442–444, 446–447. If “the knowledge of true wisdom and knowledge of God” were given through “external wisdom, then for what purpose,” asks St. Simeon, was faith required? or Divine Baptism? or Communion of the Holy Mysteries? (Aka. Words. Issue 2. P. 328). See: Rev. Simeon the New Theologian. Words. Vol. 2. pp. 92–93. Those who are not enlightened by grace, according to the strict view of the holy father, are not only not allowed to theologize and teach others, but “are not even allowed to read the Divine Scriptures,” much less enter the church and stand with the faithful; according to the apostolic rules, they should stand outside the doors of the church, as catechumens (Ibid. pp. 334–335, 453) Theological Encyclopedia. T.VI. Pillar. 820. John 14:15, 21, 23–24; 1 John 5, etc. And vice versa, keeping the commandments is a necessary condition for remaining in the love of God (John 15:9-10). Religious and philosophical library. Vol. 26. M., 1912. Moral conditions for the knowledge of God. pp. 44–45. Gregory the Theologian considered science and eloquence to be the first good after the first and Divine, that is, after the highest Good - God. See: St. Gregory the Theologian. Words 43, 4 // St. Gregory the Theologian. Creations. T. 1. P. 516, 95. See also: Same. Word 43 // Ibid. T. 1. P. 517, 521; From Nikovul the father to the son // Ibid. T. 2. P. 341–352; Eph.4 and others. On the attitude of Gregory the Theologian to education and science, see: N. Vinogradov, priest. The dogmatic teaching of St. Gregory the Theologian // St. Gregory the Theologian. Creations. T. 1. pp. 675–677. Any scientific work, and especially scientific-theological work, is usually composed of the following process: initially and independently of everything, consciously or unconsciously, every researcher sets himself these or those, clear or unclear, right or wrong principles, provisions, ideals and goals, to the disclosure, justification and achievement of which he then adapts the scientific material available to him, uses one or another means, uses one or another erudition. Thus, the central nerve of scientific work, its main idea, so to speak, its soul is always in direct dependence on the inner spiritual being of the researcher, which is created and determined mainly by the beliefs and morals of a person. From here it is clear that the ideal of a theologian can never be only theoretical, but must necessarily be religious and practical. With erudition and abstract theoretical knowledge, the theologian must also possess the fullness and integrity of the spirit, the richness of the inner, spiritual life, which would provide reliable support for his beliefs, actions and teachings. That this is really so is worth remembering the German theologians and mythologists led by Strauss, the scientific arbitrariness of the historical-critical school of Bauer and, finally, the new-fangled Richlian theology, which is nothing more than “liberal rationalism, only donning the guise of faith” (History of the Christian Church in the 19th century. Appendix to the “Wanderer”. Vol. 1. St. Petersburg, 1900. P. 486). “Lutheran theology,” we read in the book cited, “walking... along the path of consistent development of its basic principles, at the end of it came to conclusions negative not only for Lutheranism itself, but for all of Christianity, even for religion in general” (p. 488) (good theology!). See also A.P. Lopukhin’s brochure “The Modern West in Religious and Moral Relation” (St. Petersburg, 1885), which clearly depicts the gradual decomposition of religious thought in Anglican Protestantism (pp. 44–61). See also Kerensky’s special study “Richlian School of Theology in Lutheranism” (Kazan, 1903). In very recent times, such a phenomenon as the participation of official representatives of the Protestant Church and theology - pastors-theologians - in the anti-Christian union of monists and their defense of the absurd ideas of Drews has become possible in Germany (see: Priest Sakharov. The Union of Monists and the fight against it in Germany // Theological Bulletin. 1911. Vol. 3. pp. 486, 782). Religious and philosophical library. Vol. 26. P. 43. The name of the Theologian assigned to the beloved disciple indicates mainly “the main and essential point of his teaching,” which in John is “the last word of Revelation regarding God the Word” (Theological Encyclopedia. Vol. VI. Column 821). Gregory the Theologian, called in church hymns “another son of thunder”, “the second theologian and confidant” (see: Service for January 25, 1st stichera on the stichera; 1st troparion of the 1st canon of the 1st canon and the glory of the stichera on praises), is honored with this title because after the Theologian-Apostle he “was the first to comprehend so many lofty and at the same time accurate thoughts of the depth of the Divine, how much can a person comprehend them in the light of Revelation” (Filaret, Archbishop. Historical Teaching... P. 190; cf.: Farrar. Life and Works... P. 554). As for Rev. Simeon, who, as his biography says, theologized without knowing science, like a beloved disciple, then, according to the same Philaret, he was named so because he taught such deep secrets that had not been heard of for a long time (Historical teaching... P. 402, 404). According to Kurtz, the title of Theologian equates Simeon with Gregory of Nazianzus (Kurtz. Handbuch... S. 132). Following the German historian, our church historian A.P. Lebedev repeats the same thing (Lebedev A.P. Essays on the internal history of the Byzantine-Eastern Church in the 9th–11th centuries. Ed. 2. M., 1902. P. 212). About John the Theologian, see: St. Basil the Great. Creations. T. 1. P. 228; St. John Chrysostom. Creations. T. 12. P. 380. Augustine expressively notes about the New Testament Seer that “he from the Lord’s Persians” seemed to “taste the sacrament of the Divine.” In the quoted work of Bishop Evdokim we read about the Apostle of Love: “His writing is deep, like the vast sea, and sublime, like the high starry sky” (p. 141); “He penetrates into the innermost spirit of the teaching of his great body...” (p. 160). About Gregory the Theologian the Church sings: “Having experienced the depths of God to the very bottom...” (service for January 25, 1st Troparion, 6th Song of the Second Canon); or: “Divine grace in the depths, heavenly understandings on high” (same service, 3rd stichera on “Lord, I cried” at Little Vespers). About him, see the cited work of Archbishop. Philaret (p. 190). Rev. Panegyrics attribute to Simeon the knowledge of secret dogmas and call him initiated into the mysteries of the Divine Spirit (see PG. T. 120. Col. 308C, 309A). Anikeev in the above-mentioned brochure says that all researchers note in the New Theologian “the depth of spiritual comprehension, the gift of thoroughly considering the most intimate questions of theology...” (Anikeev. The Mysticism of St. Simeon the New Theologian. S. 126, 127, 132; see also: Roll. Enthusiasmus... S. 36, etc.). See: St. John Chrysostom. Creations. T. 8. P. 7. Service for September 26, 2nd stichera on praise. The same service, glory in stichera on “Lord, I cried.” These words are also very picturesque and expressive: “You have drawn an abyss of wisdom, O all-wise, you have reclined... on the Source of wisdom” (in the same service, 3rd Troparion of the 3rd Canto of the 1st Canon). Service for January 25, 3rd stichera on the verse, 3rd troparion of the 3rd song of the 1st canon. The same service: glory to the lithium stichera; 3rd troparion of the 4th song of the 1st canon; 2nd troparion of the 8th song of the same canon. In the same service, the 1st stichera on the lithium. … πράξεων ενάρετων Кαι δη περ αυτώνμίας ουκ άπεσφάλιης Αλλά τόσον ετυχες των χαρισμάτων, Όσον περ ουδείς των άπ῾ άρχης άγιων. (PG. T. 120. Col. 308D) 'Επλασεν εύζύς άφΰόνου μετουσίας Των επταρίΰμων Πνεύματος χαρισμάτων (Ibid. Col. 309B). A little lower it is said about Simeon that he acquired the grace of the Almighty Spirit dwelling in him. Service for September 26, glory in stichera on “Lord, I cried.” Service for January 25, glory in stichera on “Lord, I cried” at Little Vespers.