П. Борисовский Догматические основы христианской морали по творениям святого Григория Богослова 418

Our existing studies of Christian moral teaching, despite the abundance of subsections in them, still, unfortunately, are not distinguished by the proper completeness of content, or a more or less comprehensive examination of the field of Christian ethics. If they touch, sometimes with excessive detail, on individual, private questions of ethics, they do not always raise and resolve the most significant and fundamental questions, which would serve as the connecting center of all individual radii of Christian moral teaching. Because of this, it appears in a very pale light, without proper unity, in the form of partial ethical positions, not illuminated by any higher idea that would be reflected in them, like a ray of sunshine in the stream. They talk a lot, for example, about free will and imputation, about virtue and sin, about the many duties - personal and public - and about other private subjects of morality, but they say little about Christian life in general, that is, about its foundations, inner being and final goal. Almost all studies of moral teaching, after the usual introduction, talk about the moral law, although the very essence of the matter would require, first of all, to give a general outline of Christian morality, to understand its type, to define its basic principles or so-called assumptions (postulates), so that it would immediately be clear what is the essential, specific difference between it and all other ethical systems. Most studies do not give, for example, an ethical concept of a personal Deity, nor do they talk about the relationship of the idea of ​​the Triune God to the content of morality 419 . The connection of Christian morality with the idea of ​​salvation in Christ, as well as with the ethical principle of the general world order, is almost not explained. Not enough is said about the Kingdom of God as a general area of ​​moral and grace-filled life and as the subject of moral Christian aspirations of every person 420. There is little talk about the end of history, about the purpose of man and the necessary completion of the entire moral world order. And all these ideas constitute, as is obvious, the very essence of Christian morality, its vital nerve. Without these ideas, the system of Christian morality is an organism without an animating spirit, building material, although lying in order and due grouping, but not brought into a solid, strong and harmonious building. Here there is more of an outer shell, but little internal penetration 421 . Meanwhile, it is clear that first of all it is necessary to indicate to a person his general attitude towards existence, to clarify his connection with other individuals, to give him a definite goal in life. It is necessary to show a person a certain place in the universe, to reveal the meaning of his existence, his connection with the absolute and his relationship to other individuals. Then only human moral activity will be completely meaningful and purposeful. Obviously, it is required to indicate the metaphysical foundations of morality, from which it would grow, like a tree from a root. Before discussing what a person is and should be, one must first decide what and by whom he is called and what awaits him. And then you can easily determine how you should spiritually educate yourself, and what you need to do and observe every time in order to achieve the highest goal of existence. The question of postulates, or metaphysical principles of morality, is the first question of any ethical system, as well as of Christian moral teaching. And since the latter is based in its foundations on Christian dogmas, then the preliminary task follows - to analyze Christian dogmas from an ethical point of view. In other words, we need to understand their moral meaning and relationship to the general norm of Christian life. In this work we will make a brief attempt at such an analysis of the works of St. Gregory the Theologian. St. Gregory the Theologian himself did not leave behind any specifically moral system. Nevertheless, almost all of his creations are ethical, because moral rules and moral reasoning are scattered throughout his individual works. What is especially important here is that St. Gregory focused most of all on the main issue of morality - on the question of its Christian dogmatic principles. He examined Christian dogmas from an ethical point of view and put them in connection with Christian life, which is partly confirmed by the content of his Five Words on Theology. Christian ethical science can ascribe to him the name of the Theologian with no less right than dogmatic science. He always tried to extract moralizing ideas from Christian dogmas. The holy father himself testifies to this: “Just as every thing,” he writes, “has its own greater or lesser distinctive feature, so my speeches, wherever necessary, have the distinctive property of edification in thoughts and dogmas” 422. So, the question of the dogmatic foundations of Christian morality, in addition to its fundamental importance in general, has its justification in the very works of St. Gregory, as an essential point of his moral teaching. The first and most important foundation of Christian morality is the recognition of a personal without an initial, infinite Being, that is, God, as the Author of existence. Without this assumption, which can be called theological (theological), Christian morality does not exist. And Gregory the Theologian elevates everything, like human life itself, to the personal Divinity. In its own and absolute sense, existence belongs only to God. He alone has always been, is and will be, or, better, always is, because for Him everything is real 423. The naming “Sy” 424 more than other Divine names refers to the essence of the Divinity 425. Every other being is conceived only in God and therefore exists only relatively, depending on God. This means that the beginning of Christian education is in the veneration of God with the constant thought of our dependence on Him as the Author of our existence 426. This also resolves the question of the metaphysical connection of the Divine with finite being. God is not immanent 427 to the world, but also not entirely transcendent 428 . Having personal existence, He manifests His properties in finite being, so that He embraces everything with Himself. God is in everything and beyond everything 429. “Let us think,” writes the holy father, “about the most excellent and highest of all things—God (unless someone finds it most fitting to place Him above the essence or in Him contains all being, since being is communicated from Him to the rest)” 430. From here the principle of the unity of being in God is determined, Who is reflected in everything, contains everything in Himself, penetrates everything and fills everything 431. The beginning and end of every created being is in God, who “created all things, from whom are all things, and for whom are all things” 432 . Everything abides by Him alone, and everything collectively strives to Him and sends up prayers. He is one and all 433. This means that each individual life is strengthened in the Divine and relates to Him as one of the countless peripheries to a single all-encompassing center. This is the basis of the ethical rule that “remembering God is more necessary than breathing; and, if one can put it this way, one should not do anything else besides this”; one must always remember God and “with this remembrance raise oneself to purity” 434. God must be “the beginning and end of every matter” 435. The most perfect image of such complete unity of all finite being in God is the unity in the inner life of God Himself, in Whom the distinction of three personal Hypostases does not destroy the single Divine essence. “God is divided, so to speak, inseparably and combined separately, because the Divinity is One in Three and One is the Three in Whom the Divinity is, or, more precisely, Who are the Divinity” 436. “From the Unity the Trinity and from the Trinity again the Unity. In the three Lights one nature is motionless. One is not innumerable because it rests in three Kindnesses. The Trinity is not venerable in different degrees, because the nature is not divided. There is One in the Divinity, but those to whom the Divinity belongs are three in number. Each is one God, if you call one. And again, there is one God without beginning, from Whom is the wealth of the Divinity, when the word mentions the Three” 437. The three Hypostases of the Divine are among themselves in such a close internal unity, which is not realized in the relationship between created beings. “Three gods could be called those who were divided among themselves by time, or thought, or power, or desire, so that each would never be identical with the others, but would always be in conflict with them. But my Trinity has one power, one thought, one glory, one power; and through this, the individuality, whose great glory is in the harmony of the Divine, is not violated” 438. The Son and the Holy Spirit are raised to the Father, “not merging, but co-abiding with Him and not separated from each other by time, desire, or power. For this makes us something many, because each of us is at odds with himself and with others. But for those whose nature is simple and their being is identical, unity also befits” 439 . “...We honor unity of command; however, not that unity of command that is determined by the unity of a person (and one, if it is in discord with itself, will form a multitude), but that which constitutes the equivalence of unity, the unanimity of the will, the identity of the movement and direction towards the one of Those Who are from the One (which is impossible in a created nature), so that although They differ in number, they are not divided in power” 440. In humanity, “although community has unity, represented, however, mentally, there are many indivisibles and they are divided among themselves by time, passions and strength. For we are not only complex, but also opposite both to each other and to ourselves; not to mention our whole life, we are not even one day completely the same, but we constantly flow and change both in body and soul. But I don’t know if the Angels and every heavenly nature other than the Trinity are perhaps the same, although they are simple and, due to their closeness to the Supreme Good, are firmly established in goodness” 441. Each of the Persons of the Godhead, “by identity of essence and power, has the same unity with the United One, as with Himself” 442. The internal unity in the Trinity is so inseparable that “to cut off or alienate anything from the Three means the same thing as to cut off everything and brazenly rebel against the entire Divinity” 443. So, all finite being is raised to the Triune God and in Him is united into a common unity. However, people do not always maintain a similar internal unity within themselves and in their relationships. And therefore, the unity of the Trinity represents the most perfect ideal, to which every created being, including man, must strive. And this is possible only through the fulfillment of Divine creative ideas (the laws of good, destroying discord in being and establishing in its place agreement, or harmony). Unanimity, writes St. Gregory, “leads back to the Trinity (since it is by nature most characteristic of unity and inner peace), which [unanimity] is assimilated by the angelic and Divine Powers, who are in peace with God and among themselves, which extends to the whole creation (since serenity serves as an adornment to it), which comfortably settles in us, both in the soul, when in it the virtues accompany one another and communicate with one another, and in the body, when in it both the members and the elements have mutual harmony, which is why in the first case what exists and is called beauty occurs, and in the second - health” 444. The unity of being in God is, obviously, a revelation of the wise love or goodness of God, which brings everything into harmony. Here, therefore, metaphysics and ethics coincide: the metaphysical principle merges with the ethical. World unity is not a physical-mechanical balance of resultants, but a free, to one degree or another, gravitation towards a common, all-uniting center, conceived in the personal absolute Divinity, Who animates and supports everything with His love. And first of all, the very unity of the Trinity is, obviously, the unity of love, as the unity of Persons of the same essence. “...The Divinity emerged from singularity because of wealth, transcended duality because It is higher than matter and form from which bodies are composed, and was determined by triplicity (the first thing that exceeds the composition of duality) because of perfection, so as not to be meager and not to overflow to infinity. The first would show lack of sociability, the last would be disorder...” 445 That is why God is most often called the God of the world, since the world is God’s 446; called the Father of love and Love 447. So here is the first basis of Christian morality. The very law of the world is already the law of goodness, peace and love, the law of unity in God. Therefore, anyone who violates this unity introduces discord and disorder into created being and rebels against the plans of God’s love. Hence the evil and disorganization of life. “...There is no disagreement in the Divinity, because there is no disunity (since disunion is a consequence of disagreement), but in Him there is so much agreement both with Himself and with secondary beings that, along with others and preferably over other names, whatever God wants to be called, this has primarily become His name. It is called “peace” (Eph. 2:14), “love” (1 John 4:16) and similar names, inspiring us with the very names to strive to acquire these perfections. Therefore, all those who love the good of the world and, on the contrary, hate discord and turn away from it, are close to God and the Divine spirits; and those who are abusive in disposition, seek glory in innovations and are vainglorious about what they should be ashamed of, belong to the opposite side” 448. The second assumption, or foundation, of morality is found in the doctrine of man as a being, on whom, along with other creatures, the love of God is in a certain way imprinted and who is therefore called to a spiritual union with God. This basis is anthropological, 449 requiring the recognition in man of a special spiritual substance, that is, the soul, and, moreover, possessing free self-determination. As a creation of God, man is, among creatures, a creature in the middle between the material and spiritual worlds: in him the principles of both were amazingly combined 450. Together he is dust and spirit, “a living being - visible and invisible, temporary and eternal, earthly and heavenly, touching God, but not comprehending, approaching and far away” 451. We came from dust united with the Divine, therefore we have the image of God 452. The part of the Divinity contained in the body is the human soul - the intelligible, animating and moving nature 453. The soul “came from God and is divine, which participates in the heavenly nobility and hastens to it, although it is associated with the worst” 454. “The soul is God’s breath, and, being heavenly, it tolerates mixing with earthly things. This is a light enclosed in a cave, but it is divine and unquenchable” 455. The soul is not the harmony of the constituent parts of the body: otherwise there would be no basis for distinguishing between virtuous and vicious people, as well as for separating people from dumb ones, because the latter also have a harmony of form and mortal flesh 456. Like a stream of the invisible Divinity, the human spirit is dearer and higher than anything else for a person 457. God is self-satisfied 458 and Himself does not need any offering from man 459 . Yes, we have nothing of our own, but we have everything from Him. Nevertheless, receiving everything from God, a person is obliged to sacrifice everything for God, dedicate everything to Him and return 460. But the highest and most pleasing sacrifice from us to God is precisely our spirit, that is, the person himself must first present himself to God as a living, pure and holy sacrifice 461. This dedication of the soul to God is its natural attraction to the Primary Source of life, from Whom it received its existence, and is a preparation for the transition to its inherent spiritual existence in heaven. “And the soul is God’s breath and always desires to have the best fate of those above heaven. Just as a stream flows from a source on level ground, and a flaming fire knows one unchanging path - to ascend upward, so man is great; he is even an Angel when, like a snake, having stripped himself of his variegated old age, he rises from here." 462 That is why “a spark of piety is hidden in a person, just as the power of fire is hidden in some stones. By striking iron, light is extracted from flints; so the Word brings out from mortals the piety hidden in them” 463. “...The greatest gift and the one that most testifies to God’s love for us is our desire for Him [God] and affinity with Him” 464. Therefore, God is the highest Good, with Which the human soul, being educated morally, longs to unite 465. “God is the essence and the first goodness” 466. He is the highest light, “illuminating all rational nature, the same in the spiritual world as the sun in the sensory world, as we are purified, represented, as we are represented, arousing love towards Himself, and as love is again represented in the mind” 467. He created man, like the whole world, according to His goodness - “to create a living being, here prepared and transferred to another world and (which is the end of the mystery) through the desire for God achieving deification. For the moderate light of truth here serves for me to see and bear the lordship of God, worthy of Him who binds and loosens and unites again in the most excellent way” 468. But this deification is not a law carried out with necessity, but must be a personal matter of the person himself, because he has moral freedom. Otherwise, the good we do would not have a moral value and would not be credited to the person himself, as it is not the individual’s own work. “Having honored this [primordial] man with freedom, so that the good belonged no less to the one who chooses than to the One who put the seeds thereof, God placed him in paradise. He also gives the law for the exercise of freedom” 469. “...This is the height of God’s goodness, that good is made our property, not only instilled in us by nature, but also cultivated by our will and movements of freedom, inclined to both sides” 470. “And since He [God] Himself is full of light and goodness, He also gave me some goodness; I wanted it to be my business. And for this purpose, he showed me at the same time the boundaries of this and that life and defined them in words, gave the law to help the creature, made me a spontaneous doer of good, so that through struggle and feat I would gain a crown, because for me this is better than living free from restrictions” 471. At the first stage of self-education and improvement, leading to deification, the soul acts in the body. And here, in this union of spirit and matter, St. Gregory sees moral goals. This was done, “firstly, so that the soul could inherit the mountain glory for the feat and for the struggle with the earth and, having been tempted here by them, like gold by fire, received what was hoped for as a reward for virtue, and not only as a gift from God. Secondly, so that the soul can, gradually freeing itself from fatness, attract and raise grief to itself, so that it, becoming a leader for the service substance and turning it into service to God, is for the body what God is for the soul” 472. Man is both spirit and flesh - “spirit to abide and glorify the Benefactor, flesh to suffer and, suffering, remember and learn how much greatness he has received” 473. The flesh protects a person from arrogance and exaltation, instilling in him that he is both great and low, the heir of light and darkness, heavenly, but also earthly, immortal, but also temporary 474. As a result of man's abuse of the freedom given to him, a fall occurred, for which God is innocent 475. This is how evil and sin arose in human nature 476, spreading to all people, like an ear growing from a root 477. Hence the confrontation between body and spirit and the difference in the aspirations of both... 478 Matter attracts downfall, and mind - grief 479 . “...Like the earth, I am tied to this life and, like a particle of the Divine, I carry in my chest the love for the future life” 480. Most often, the well-being of the soul is inverse to the well-being of the body 481. But be that as it may, there is a law established for all creation, visible and supersensible, - a law according to which the best (soul) must rule the worst (body), and the lower by nature must obey the higher and superior 482. This reveals the deepest, fundamental problem of moral life, which consists in the gradual self-education of the spirit, with a constant struggle against the desires of the flesh, without, however, violent exhaustion of it, since it was given by God to man as a tool and dwelling of the spirit 483. “...The more honest the soul is than the body, the more honest it is to cleanse the soul rather than the body” 484. But from the purification of the soul comes the purification of the body 485. “Although this dust carries with it some evil and “the earthly dwelling burdens the mind” (Wis. 9:15), striving for grief or the created one striving for grief, let the image [of God] cleanse the mud and raise the flesh associated with it to a height, lifting it on the wings of the mind” 486. With such and such a relationship between the spirit and the body, with such a correct use of moral freedom, the anthropological idea of ​​the Creator, who called man to unity with Himself, can be realized on the human person. “...Whoever keeps the law, honors the particle of the Divine that he has in himself, in every deed, word and movement of the mind, is as pure as possible from everything that is trampled upon and is not defiled by anything transitory, but, on the contrary, the very dust draws with him to heaven, he, as a reward for his labors (truly the greatest and wisest sacrament!) will become a god, and although a god by adoption, yet filled with the highest light, the beginnings of which he reaped in to some extent still here. And whoever, bowing to the worst in his union and combination, finding himself an accomplice of the earthly, a slave of the flesh and a friend of the fleeting, offends the Divine nobility with his life, no matter how successful he is in the impermanent, proud of insignificant dreams and shadows, enriched, luxurious, exalted in ranks - alas! - for that the scourges there are severe, where the first of the disasters is to be rejected from God” 487. The third foundation of morality is cosmological 488, which requires the recognition that world life does not move spontaneously, but according to known laws and to achieve a specific goal. Without this condition, human life itself would represent an unguided fatum, and moral aspirations would remain without a definite goal and proper completion and therefore would lose all meaning and binding force. What is required is recognition of the All-Wise guiding Divine Providence, which contains within itself the goal of created existence and directs the destinies of the world towards it 489. With this only conviction, a person can find enough courage and strength in himself for a spiritual and moral struggle with himself and with the surrounding evil. “Only a bad slave tends to show respect to his master when he smiles, and to consider him evil when he strikes. I must accept without grumbling, wherever the helm is turned, with which God drives me out of struggle and life, until I enter a quiet harbor, unless He built this ship in vain, but for a good and successful end” 490. If a person sometimes does not clearly imagine the rational purpose of a certain phenomenon, this does not mean that the world-ruling Word does not know it, just as only a painter fully understands painting and the properties of lines are known only to a geometer. It is necessary to give place to faith, because it is “inquisitive consent” 491. It is impossible to comprehend the depth of God’s wisdom 492; nevertheless, it must be recognized that the world cannot exist without Providence and its denial is a rebellion against God 493. It must be recognized that the existing order in the universe is maintained by God 494, and if it is upset, it is not against the will of the One who tied it together 495. God leads everything to Him alone in the paths known to Him, leads in any case to a good goal - to perfection and healing, and therefore God’s foreknowledge lays the foundation for important events 496. All apparent unevenness in life (moral and physical evil) are leveled out by God, having, among other things, moral and educational goals for man 497 . True, there is a certain circle and even opposites in human affairs; but they also have a fixed center. Movement and vibration relate only to one external, everyday appearance, and not to the foundation in which the secret of the universe is hidden by Providence and which is solid and motionless in everything 498. One must believe that God has special care for man, although human life is not lived without stumbling blocks and opposition, the causes of which sometimes remain unknown. It is precisely this belief in the expediency and rationality of global and, in particular, human life, guided by Providence, that provides solid support for moral aspirations and inspires a person with great strength for spiritual achievements. “What is scary for us?” - asks St. Grigory. And he answers: “Nothing except deviation from God and the divine. And the rest - as God rules, so be it! Whether He arranges our affairs “with the weapons of righteousness, right and merciful, or on the side” (2 Cor. 6:7) and difficult for us - the reason for this is known to the Steward of our life. And we will be afraid of this only, so as not to tolerate anything contrary to wisdom” 499. Christianity teaches not only about the original creation of man, but also about his re-creation and deification through the incarnate Son of God. Hence, in the person of Jesus Christ and His activity, Christian morality has a new, deepest foundation for itself, which is called soteriological 500. If people had always remained what they were (before the fall), they would have become what they were not, that is, immortal and close to God. But, since death took possession of man, God did not want to leave His creation without help, but Himself, having become a man, suffers like a man and becomes poor before taking on flesh in order to enrich us with His poverty 501. The Fat Nature, inconceivable by creation, lived with us for a certain time for the sake of His love for mankind, in order to attract us to Himself, cast down to the earth 502. “God’s Word itself... unites with the rational soul for the sake of my soul, purifying like with like, becoming human in everything except sin. The existent begins being; The uncreated is created; The incomprehensible is embraced through the rational soul, which mediates between the Divine and the gross flesh; He who is rich becomes poor—he becomes poor in my flesh, so that I may become rich in His Divinity; He who is fulfilled is exhausted - exhausted for a short time in His glory, so that I may be a partaker of His fullness. What a wealth of goodness! What is this mystery about me? I received the image of God and did not keep it; He perceives my flesh in order to save both the image and the flesh to immortalize. He enters into a second communication with us, which is much more wonderful than the first, since then he gave us the best, but now he will accept the worst; but this is more divine than the first, this is higher for those who have intelligence” 503. Christ was the whole man - he became body, soul, mind, everything that death penetrated, so that the whole man could be saved 504. But if a person, through Christ’s suffering, has the opportunity to become god (by adoption), then Christ is not only a man, but at the same time the entire God, abiding with His essence in human nature, like the sun in its rays, and is one God in both natures 505. This is why He is wonderful because He did not diminish the Deity, and saved man as a doctor 506. “If I had still worshiped the creature or been baptized into the creature, I would not have been deified and would not have changed in my first birth.” Therefore, the very name “Christian” is based on the recognition of Christ as God 507. So, God suffered through my sufferings and became sin and a curse for me 508. This is an exhaustion of the Divine - as it were, a weakening and diminishment of His glory 509. This teaching about the personality and deeds of the God-man obviously contains an entirely ethical element, as an expression of God’s supreme love for mankind. The fruits of the Lord’s incarnation and suffering are of the same nature, with the goal of “giving wings to the soul, snatching them away from the world and betraying them to God. make the one who belongs to the heavenly order a god and a partaker of heavenly bliss” 510. This deification of man already occurred in the person of the God-Man Himself 511. Hell was brought down by the cross, death by the death of Christ, all were recreated by the sufferings of Christ, and again raised to the tree of life by the tree of dishonor. In Christ, a new life was revealed to people, in Him a new foundation was laid for the unity of Christians with God, because with His blood Christ gathered, reconciled, united everything together 512. “A few drops of blood recreate the whole world and for all people become the same as leaven for milk, gathering and connecting us together” 513. From here the conclusions regarding spiritual and moral life are clear. With the coming of Jesus Christ, “man is resettled, or, more precisely, returns to God,” and therefore a Christian lives only in Christ, imitating His sufferings, being born with Him, crucified, buried and rising together 514. Constantly carrying in his heart the image of the Divine Sufferer and firmly trusting in His help, a Christian is morally purified in the struggle with his own passions, which struggle is inevitably accompanied by mental pain or suffering for him. But it is precisely through this path of suffering that the believer himself communes with Christ, is grafted into Him, like a branch into a vine (John 15:1–8), and is grafted back into the tree of spiritual life; tearing out from his being the seeds of vice grafted from outside, a Christian strains together his moral effort to develop in himself the shoots of a higher, divine life, and in this way he is renewed internally and recreated. “For to me,” writes St. Gregory, “it is necessary to undergo this saving change, so that both from the pleasant the sorrowful may come, and from the sorrowful the pleasant again emerges” 515 . The task of a Christian is to become god for the sake of Christ, for “He became man for us” 516. Therefore, a Christian has only one salvation in mind and puts everything visible at nothing 517. He is above everything earthly and human; his constant concern for internal cleansing 518. He always sacrifices himself to God, following the best path leading to perfection, the path of humility and humiliation, a striking example of which is given in the person of the suffering Jesus Himself 519. Love for Christ lulls human lusts in a Christian, as exemplified by Christian martyrs and ascetics 520. After baptism, a Christian enters into a new, most perfect life. Purification by the Spirit and water, “assisting the first birth, makes us new from the old, from the carnal, as we are now, godlike, boiling without fire and re-creating without destruction. For, to put it briefly, by the power of baptism we must understand a covenant with God about entering into another life and about maintaining greater purity" 521 . As Sons of God and joint heirs with Christ, Christians form a single union of love in Him 522. Christ, like a magnet, attracts everyone to himself and “like a man (because he is still with the body that he assumed) and now prays for my salvation until he makes me god” 523. The Christian sermon about the salvation of man in Christ ends with the teaching about the future, afterlife, about the complete restoration of the union of people with God, which was broken by their fall, which has no time to take place. The end of current world history, according to Christian teaching, will be the beginning of the eternal Kingdom of glory. This teaching provides a new foundation for Christian morality - an eschatological foundation 524. “We received being in order to prosper, and we prospered after we received being. We were entrusted with paradise to enjoy” 525. The property of God is to communicate bliss to His creatures in union with Himself 526. The same must be said, in particular, about man. “...The greatest gift and the one that most testifies to God’s love for us is our desire for it and our affinity with Him. What the sun is for sensory beings, God is for spiritual beings: one illuminates the visible world, the other illuminates the invisible; one makes bodily gaze sun-like, the other makes rational natures god-like” 527. God represents the last and highest object of desire, beyond Him there is nothing 528. “...We, although we are earthly prisoners, nevertheless hasten to a rational and heavenly nature” 529. Approaching God, deification is the goal of our existence 530. “For people there is only one good, and a lasting good, - these are heavenly hopes” 531. Life in the body is a departure from the Lord, life in bonds and shackles 532. However, whoever improves, succeeds in word and deed, it is possible for him to taste the bliss there in this life: reflections of heavenly glory are visible on earth 533. Streams of heavenly blessings in this life reach those who sincerely strive for the latter 534. Earthly life begins with corruption, continues through corruption and ends with corruption, while death, “which delivers us from these disasters and brings many to life above, I don’t know,” says St. Gregory, - can it be called death in the proper sense" 535. The latter for a true Christian is “transmigration” or ascent to God, fulfillment of desire, release from bonds, laying down of a burden; it does not set a limit to the true, most perfect life that began on earth 536. The one who remembers God here is higher than death 537. But complete illumination and enlightenment by the Divine is possible only after bodily death, when the Most High Trinity is not hidden “from the mind, as bound and scattered by the senses” 538. Therefore, the bliss there is the most perfect knowledge of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit 539. The Kingdom of Heaven “is nothing other than the attainment of the purest and most perfect, and the most perfect of all that exists is the knowledge of God,” which is entirely communicated by the Word 540. ““God will be all in all” (1 Cor. 15:28) ... moreover, when we, who now, by our movements and passions, either do not have God in us at all, or have little, will cease to be many, but will become completely God-like, containing within ourselves the All-whole God and His one. This is the perfection to which we are hastening!” 541 The world itself is expected to change into a better one, because “everything is hastening towards oneness” 542. From this teaching about the future fate of the world and man, the conclusions regarding the moral principles of life are clear. The Fatherland of the Christian is the heavenly spiritual Jerusalem. But to achieve it, it is necessary to educate the spirit in virtue by fighting the beginning of evil and vice, because only those who are able to embrace the glory of God can approach God 543. For the future life, only piety is required 544. To return to God, a Christian must put on the new man 545. That is why exalted Christian souls “do not know passionate love, but burn with divine, dispassionate love; their heritage is the Source of light, and also here are His illuminations, angelic psalmody, all-night standing, the migration of the anticipated mind to God; purity and constant purification, as those who know no measure in ascension and deification” 546. For them, every earthly good is nothing more than a dream; the desire to escape from this life “is the first and truest good and is characteristic of a truly sane and intelligent person” 547. “... Every good and God-loving soul, as soon as it is freed from the body associated with it, comes into a state of feeling and contemplating the good that awaits it, and after cleansing or putting aside (or I still don’t know how to express) what has darkened it, it enjoys some kind of wonderful pleasure, has fun and joyfully marches to its Master, because it has escaped this life, as unbearable prison, and threw off the shackles that lay on her, with which the wings of her mind were drawn down. Then, in a vision, she seems to reap the bliss prepared for her. And then the flesh that was born with itself, with which it practiced wisdom here, from the earth that gave it and then preserved it, having received it in a way incomprehensible to us and known only to God, who united and separated them, together with it enters into the inheritance of the coming glory. And just as by natural union with the flesh she herself shared its burdens, so he imparts to her his consolations, completely absorbing her into himself and becoming with her one spirit, and mind, and god, after the mortal and transient has been sacrificed by life” 548 . There, in heaven, the holy soul ascends to the very Source of good, contemplates pure truth with a pure mind and, as a reward for the local zeal for good, enjoys the most perfect possession and contemplation of good 549. Deeds and observance of the commandments 550 lead to such contemplation. If the ascent to the Source of good is bliss and the goal of Christian mystery 551, then, on the contrary, God’s rejection of sinners will be the greatest torment and punishment for them 552. After the Last Judgment, “the first [to do good] will inherit the ineffable light and contemplation of the Holy and Royal Trinity, which will then illuminate more clearly and purer and will be completely united with the whole mind (in which alone I especially establish the Kingdom of Heaven); and the lot of the latter [these who have created evil], among other things, will be torment, or, more accurately, above all else, rejection from God and shame in conscience, which will have no end” 553. “...The reward for those who are purified in heart will be light, that is, God visible and cognizable to the extent of purity, which we also call the Kingdom of Heaven, but for those who are blind in mind, that is, for those alienated from God by the measure of local myopia, there will be darkness. Finally, on this basis of dogmas, do good, because “faith without works is dead” (James 2:26), as are works without faith” 554. God limited the time of activity to a stay on earth, and in the future life only the study of what was done here will follow 555. Therefore, one should not be careless: one must sacrifice everything to the spirit, not regret earthly life, endure everything for the sake of love for God, so that not embarrassed, but complacently depart from here to heavenly life 556. “Whoever, with the help of reason and speculation, having dissolved matter and the carnal (if you call it that) cloud or veil, has managed to approach God as much as is possible for human nature, and united with the purest light, he is blessed because of both the ascension from here and the deification there, which leads to true wisdom and elevation above material duality for the sake of the unity conceptualized in the Trinity. But whoever has become worse from conjugation with the material and has become so attached to decay that he cannot look at the radiance of truth and rise above what is below him, while he himself came from above and is called to what is above, he is pitiful to me because of his blindness, even if he was prosperous in this life; even more pitiful, the more he is deceived by his happiness and believes that there is another good besides the true good, reaping that harmful fruit of his harmful opinion, which is either condemned to darkness, or he looks at the One Whom he did not recognize as light like fire.”557 These are the dogmatic foundations of Christian morality according to the teachings of St. Gregory the Theologian. By combining them all together, we can determine the general norm of spiritual and moral Christian life and the basic principle of Christian moral teaching, which can be denoted by the following words of St. Gregory: “There is no doubt that man is a creature and the image of the great God. Everyone comes from God and goes to God, who, directing his thoughts to grief and shackling his flesh in spirit, has the merciful Christ as the leader of his life, and devotes his acquisitions, tongue and hearing, the very mind and strength - everything to the future life, who, from the all-consuming world, stealing everything that the thief of someone else's property, the godless Belial, has taken possession of, brings this into the treasuries that are stronger earthly and plundered and destroyed, in order to behold the King Himself, so that, having put off the flesh and the opposing debility, become God and spirit, become in the rank of the radiant angelic face, for great labors gain an even greater reward, not as before, looking at the easy image of the tabernacle, at the written and destructible image of the law, but with pure eyes of the mind, contemplating the truth itself and with lips singing a festive song. This is the purpose of human life; The greatness of Christ’s suffering leads the inhabitants of the earth to this. For Christ, being God, the head of life, the Supreme One of the ages, always the Total Image of the immortal Father, took on the form of a slave, tasted death, met life a second time, in order to deliver me from slavery and from the bonds of death, returning to a better life.”558 These words define the very essence of moral Christian life and represent the best compendium of the 559 dogmatic foundations of Christian morality. From these foundations the latter receives its origin, essential content, effective force and unconditionally binding meaning. On the contrary, without these principles, truly Christian morality does not exist and cannot be called by this name. The dogmatic foundations of Christian moral teaching have an internal connection and unity among themselves. But, in accordance with its specific content, each of them illuminates Christian morality from some special aspect, imparts special internal features, ideas and properties to Christian moral teaching. In particular, the theological assumption of morality reveals the idea of ​​a personal God as the basis of being and the source of life, of the unity of all finite being in the love of God and of the unity of love in the Holy Trinity. These ideas affirm for morality the unconditional significance and the highest apodictic 560 meaning of the moral law, the law of goodness and love, because it is an expression of the most perfect will and love of God, which contains everything within itself. The anthropological basis of Christian morality in the doctrine of the origin of man from God, in the doctrine of the human spirit as a stream of the invisible Divinity, gives the ethical concept of God as the highest and most perfect Good, to which the human spirit involuntarily strives, reveals the ethical idea of ​​deification as a moral task, which everyone is called to carry out on himself through his own free moral efforts, through the struggle with the sinful principles of his being. The cosmological assumption affirms, through its teaching about Divine Providence, the value of both the individual existence of the human person with all its highest aspirations, and all life in general. This assumption illuminates the path of life and moral inclinations with the idea of ​​rationality and expediency, observed by the Divine world-ruling Reason. In this, it gives firm support for the most moral aspirations, strengthens their highest dignity forever, gives them a deep meaning and a reasonable purpose. The soteriological idea (salvation in Christ) is a specifically Christian idea, especially distinguishing Christian morality from a number of other moral teachings, religious and philosophical. Christ is both the highest ideal of moral perfection and the Divine Guide, drawing with Him to heaven all who follow Him to perfection and reflect His high spiritual image. The moral ideal receives affirmation in Christianity not only as true in itself, but also as already realized, completely fulfilled by the God-man, whose life indicates the very path to this ideal - the path of humility, suffering, humiliation and all-embracing love. Every Christian undertakes to follow this path in order to become “god for the sake of Christ,” who became “man for our sake.” Finally, from the point of view of the eschatological basis, Christian moral teaching determines the proper significance, the actual price of both earthly life with its blessings and heavenly life with its ideal joys, and from here it reveals the Christian view of all private duties, everyday relationships, phenomena of personal and social life. At the same time, the same eschatological basis in the doctrine of the completion of the life of each person and the entire moral world order according to the laws of God’s truth strengthens the immutable significance and binding nature of the moral norm and at the same time condemns inertia and negligence in the matter of personal moral improvement. But on the path to this improvement, a Christian constantly needs outside help and support, and, due to the natural state of affairs, he cannot fulfill the task of life separately from others, completely isolating himself from the world and society. Therefore, the moral ideal is realized by each Christian not in isolation, without any contact with other people, but in the common kingdom of individuals united by the unity of moral purpose, the sameness of spiritual aspirations, the identity of religious concepts, mutual love, unanimity and mutual assistance. This kingdom of individuals, or religious society, is called the Church. So, in relation to its implementation, Christian morality presupposes another dogmatic principle, namely, the doctrine of the Church as a spiritual and moral union of believers. Let us consider in conclusion the meaning of the dogma of the Church from the ethical side, according to the views of our chosen holy father. The Church of Christ is a collection of members united not by an external, mechanical connection, but by the closest, inextricable, organic connection. Christians are one harmonious body, sheep of a single flock, led by the One Divine Shepherd. This internal unity is expressed in the fact that all members of the Church have one spiritual and religious content, one high moral mood, so that everyone lives as one and one is a reflection of the life of all. With such internal unity, everyone tries, as it were, to transfer part of their spiritual content onto the other: renouncing aspirations for the sake of their own personality, making their fellow human beings the subject of their care, transferring the center of their activity to them and caring for the other as if for themselves. “...We, the worshipers of the One,” writes St. Gregory, - they became one; we, the worshipers of the Trinity, have, so to speak, grown together, become unanimous and equal in honor; we, the readers of the Word, have abandoned speechlessness; We, honorers of the Spirit, burn with zeal not against each other, but at the same time with each other; We, the admirers of the Truth, think one thing and say one thing; we, the admirers of Wisdom, have become prudent, the honorers of Him Who is “the Light, the Way, the Door, as we walk well in the days” (cf. 1 John 1:7), we all walk the straight path, all within the courtyard; honorers of the Lamb and the Shepherd, have become meek and already belong to the same flock and the One Shepherd, Who shepherds the flock with vessels, not “an unskillful shepherd” (Zechariah 11:15), who destroys the sheep of his pasture and gives them over to wolves and rapids, but a very tried and experienced shepherd... we, honorers of the One who suffered for us, have become compassionate and ready to relieve hardships to each other; worshipers of the Head, we form a harmonious body and fastened with every spiritual union” 561. The unity of Christians is internal, religious and moral, consisting in the fact that they are all called and obliged to reflect in themselves the single image of God, according to which people were created at the beginning, as well as subsequently recreated through Jesus Christ. God became man for us and became poor “in order to restore the flesh, save the image and recreate man, so that we “are one in Christ, who in us all has become completely all that He Himself is; Let there no longer be in us male or female, barbarian, Scythian, slave, or free” (cf. Gal. 3:28-29), since these are carnal signs; but may we have one image of God, by whom and according to which we were created; may He be depicted and imprinted in us so much that they can only recognize us by Him” 562. To maintain such close unity, the members of the Church of Christ, being brothers among themselves, must be alien to all strife, contention and disagreement in mutual relations; they are called upon to maintain complete peace and unanimity, not to violate church unity, to provide sympathy and leniency to each other, mutual assistance and assistance in achieving public and individual moral goals. “Although we must observe “the time of war and peace” (Eccl. 3:8), and sometimes, according to the law and the word of Solomon, it is good to wage war, but it is better, as long as possible, to bow to peace, because this is both higher and more pleasing to God. And it is in no way reasonable to assume that in private matters unanimity is best, but in public matters it is not the most useful; as if the most perfect governance is in that house and city in which there is as little internal discord as possible, and if they happen, then peace is most likely restored and the illness is cured, but for the general composition of the Church something else is better and more decent; as if every person should try to be at peace with himself, because peace and dominion over the passions are desirable for everyone, but this is not how one should behave with others, but, on the contrary, the deposition of one’s neighbor should be counted as glory to oneself. And although God commands to forgive those who have sinned against us not only seven times, but several times more (Matthew 18:22), in order to obtain forgiveness for ourselves through the forgiveness of others, we can, however, do evil to those who have not offended us, even doing it more willingly than we accept benefits from others. Although we know what kind of bliss is in store for the peacemakers, who alone in the host of those being saved are “called sons of God” (Matthew 5:9), we can still think that we ourselves, even while at enmity, are doing what is pleasing to God, who suffered for us, in order to reconcile us with Himself and stop the internal warfare within us. No, friends and brothers, let’s not think like that. Let us honor the gift of the Reconciler, that is, peace, a gift that, when He departed from here, He left us (John 14:17) as a kind of farewell pledge. We will know only one scolding - scolding with resistive force. “Receive, brethren, to those who hate us” (Is. 66:5), if only they would accept this. Let us give in some small things in order to receive in return the most important thing, that is, like-mindedness. Let us give ourselves victory so that we too can win. Look at the regulations of the competitions and the feats of the wrestlers: often those who are at the bottom win victories over those who were at the top” 563. “It is much better and more useful, without being separated from the general body [of the Church], as members of it, to correct each other and to correct ourselves, rather than, having previously temporarily condemned by excommunication and thereby destroying the trust, then imperatively demand correction, as is characteristic of rulers, and not of brethren” 564. The horizon of the Church, however, extends beyond the earth. Having as its Head its Founder, Jesus Christ, the Holy Church embraces all those who lived by faith in Christ and died in this faith. Spiritual communication again occurs between members of the Church, triumphant and militant. The glorified saints, although invisible physically, co-exist with the earthly Church, contribute to its prosperity and expansion, help with their prayers Christians going through the path of earthly pilgrimage, because they, the saints, have become closer to God, having laid aside their bodily shackles, freed from the clay that darkens the mind, having presented themselves unveiled to the unveiled first and purest Mind, having been vouchsafed (“if I can express myself so boldly,” adds St. Gregory) Angelic rank and boldness 565. St. Gregory the Theologian, by the way, once wrote about St. Athanasius of Alexandria, that he, “in a good old age, having been released from life after many struggles and exploits, from the heavenly world (of this I am completely sure) now looks at our deeds and extends a helping hand to those who strive for good, the more conveniently, that he is free from bonds” 566. And our Divine Redeemer Himself “even now prays for my salvation until He makes me a god” 567. Hence, the Holy Church, from the ethical side, represents a countless host of Angels and all Christian believers - living and dead, who, uniting in Christ as the single Source of spiritual renewal and the highest Guide of life, are connected by inextricable bonds of love and moral assistance, so that members who have perfected themselves in spiritual life provide assistance in internal self-education in the spirit of Christ to members who are less perfect. In the same moral and educational forms, the assembly of believers is also divided into leaders-shepherds and those being educated-flocks, into spiritual superiors and subordinates. Hence, the general idea of ​​the Church contains, on the ethical side, the particular idea of ​​Christian pastoral leadership as an institution established specifically to achieve the moral and auxiliary goals of the Church. “The order was also distributed in the Churches, so that some would be flocks, and others would be shepherds, some would be in charge, and others would be subordinates; who formed, as it were, the head, some the legs, some the arms, some the eye, some another of the members of the body for the organization and benefit of the whole, both lower and higher. And in bodies the members are not separated from each other, but the whole body is one, composed of different parts; Not all members have the same way of acting, although they all equally need each other for friendly and mutual action. Thus, the eye does not walk, but shows the way; the foot does not look, but steps over and carries from one place to another; the tongue does not accept sounds, for this is a matter of hearing; the ear does not speak, because it is a matter of the tongue; the nose smells, “the throat tastes meat,” says Job (Job 34:3); the hand is a tool for giving and receiving; and the mind is the leader of everything: from it the ability to sense and to it all sensation returns. It’s the same with us – in the common Body of Christ. For “we are all one body in Christ, and through one Christ we also guide one another” (Rom. 12:5). One commands and presides, and the other leads and is governed; both do not act in the same way, unless to rule and to be under authority are not the same thing, but both are made one in the One Christ, composed and constituted by the same Spirit" 568 . “Just as in the body some are in charge and, as it were, presiding, and others are under command and control, so in the Churches (whether according to the law of justice, which rewards according to dignity, or according to the law of Providence, which connects everything) God decreed that some for whom this is more useful, guided by word and deed to their duty, remain flocks and subordinates; and others, standing above others in virtue and closeness to God, were shepherds and teachers for the perfection of the Church and had the same relationship to others as the soul to the body and the mind to the soul, so that both, insufficient and abundant, being, like bodily members, united and conjugated into one composition, combined and bound by the union of the Spirit, represented one body, perfect and truly worthy of Christ Himself - our Head" 569 . So, Christian shepherding, in addition to sacred rites, also has the goal of moral education and improvement of the flock. His task is spiritual healing, which consists in “giving wings to the soul, snatching it from the world and handing it over to God, preserving the image of God, if intact, supporting it, if in danger, renewing it, if damaged, “infusing Christ into the hearts by the Spirit” (cf. Eph. 3:17) - in short, making one who belongs to the heavenly order a god and a partaker of heavenly bliss” 570 . Therefore, Christian shepherding is not so much a command as a ministry subject to great responsibility; it is based on God's law and leads to God 571. With such mutual moral assistance of believers to each other, under the wise leadership of shepherds, with the help of saints and under the supreme control of the Divine Chief Shepherd, the life of both the entire Church of Christ in general and its individual members moves. Here, in the living and animating organism of the Church, the best soil and the most effective means are given for the best flourishing and growth of the individual life of each believer. Here a Christian can conveniently justify the ethical ideal in himself, realize in his own personality the moral task of life. Reprinted from: Faith and Reason. 1894. No. 7. p. 443–457; No. 8. p. 509–525. Not long ago, only a small article by Archimandrite Anthony, “The Moral Idea of ​​the Dogma of the Holy Trinity,” was published in the “Theological Bulletin” (1892, November). In the first case, the Kingdom of God is understood objectively, as a society of believers in Christ (the Church), bound by the unity of a moral goal; in the second, subjectively, as a moral task that each individual believer must internally internalize. Almost the only exception, both in the very nature of the research and in its construction, is the work of the recently deceased Bishop Theophan, “The Outline of Christian Moral Teaching” (M., 1891). There is a more ascetic element in the content, more references to the data of “Christian psychology.” Everywhere one can see a deep penetration into the essence of the moral Christian ideal and into the various movements of moral feeling. The work plan is your own, not borrowed. The questions posed are examined and resolved in a unique way, not in the usual accepted ways. The work contains fewer subsections and indications of particular Christian duties, but more ethical generalizations related to Christian morality as a subjective internal mood, and not just a system of ethical rules that a Christian is obliged to observe in certain cases. The solution to private moral problems and the definition of private Christian duties are already given in these general outlines of Christian morality. The external form is narrower, but there is more spirit of life in it. If some minor ethical questions are not resolved separately, then other, more important ones related to the very essence of Christian morality are raised and considered. Here we already encounter sections and matters that are new compared to other courses on Christian moral teaching. So, for example, we find a definition of the foundations of Christian life. Its root is in the “incarnate Economy”, and the necessity of the incarnation of God for our justification and renewal is revealed. The second basis of Christian life is a living union with the Church, where she, life, “reveals and bears fruit.” The norm (or type, basic principle) of moral Christian life, its essential distinctive properties, as well as the characteristic features of Christian activity as moral, etc. are determined. St. Gregory the Theologian. Letter 121. To Nicovul // St. Gregory the Theologian. Creations. T. 2. P. 452. See: St. Gregory the Theologian. Poems about myself // Ibid. P. 190. Ts.-sl. “syy” – “existing”, “existing”. – Ed. See: St. Gregory the Theologian. Word 30 // St. Gregory the Theologian. Creations. T. 1. P. 373; Word 38 // Ibid. P. 447. See: St. Gregory the Theologian. Word 4 // Ibid. P. 105. Immanent – internally inherent in any object or phenomenon. – Ed. Transcendent - inaccessible to knowledge, located beyond experience, lying on the other side of experience. – Ed. See: St. Gregory the Theologian. Word 3 // St. Gregory the Theologian. Creations. T. 1. P. 50. St. Gregory the Theologian. Word 6 // Ibid. P. 131. See: St. Gregory the Theologian. Word 28 // Ibid. P. 336. St. Gregory the Theologian. Word 42 // Ibid. S. 500. See: Gregory the Theologian. Song to God // Ibid. T. 2. P. 44. St. Gregory the Theologian. Word 27 // Ibid. T. 1. pp. 328–329. St. Gregory the Theologian. Thoughts written in one-liners // Ibid. T. 2. P. 159. St. Gregory the Theologian. Word 39 // Ibid. T. 1. P. 455. St. Gregory the Theologian. About the Holy Spirit // Ibid. T. 2. pp. 15–16. St. Gregory the Theologian. Word 42 // Ibid. T. 1. P. 503. St. Gregory the Theologian. Word 29 // Ibid. P. 351 St. Gregory the Theologian. Word 31 // St. Gregory the Theologian. Creations. T. 1. P. 382. St. Gregory the Theologian. Word 6 // Ibid. P. 130. St. Gregory the Theologian. Word 23 // Ibid. P. 292. St. Gregory the Theologian. Word 22 // Ibid. P. 282. See: St. Gregory the Theologian. Word 23 // Ibid. P. 285. See: Ibid. P. 286; It's him. Word 11 // Ibid. P. 169. Here the holy father speaks in more detail about the law of God's love, which embraces all existence - heavenly and earthly, and about those disorders and disasters that evasion from it produces. See: St. Gregory the Theologian. Word 6 // St. Gregory the Theologian. Creations. T. 1. P. 131. Anthropology is the study of man. – Ed. See: St. Gregory the Theologian. About the soul // St. Gregory the Theologian. Creations. T. 2. pp. 26–27. St. Gregory the Theologian. Word 3 // Ibid. T. 1. P. 50. See: St. Gregory the Theologian. About the soul // Ibid. T. 2. P. 26–27; Cry. About the suffering of his soul // Ibid. P. 296. See: St. Gregory the Theologian. To the monk Evagrius. About the Divine // Ibid. P. 560; About the soul // Ibid. pp. 26–27; Word 38 // Ibid. T. 1. P. 446; Definitions, lightly outlined // Ibid. T. 2. P. 172. St. Gregory the Theologian. Word 3 // Ibid. T. 1. P. 32. St. Gregory the Theologian. About the soul // Ibid. T. 2. P. 25. That is, self-sufficient. – Ed. See: St. Gregory the Theologian. Word 4 // Ibid. T. 1. P. 69; To Vitalian from his sons // Ibid. T. 2. P. 339. See: St. Gregory the Theologian. Word 14 // Ibid. T. 1. P. 186; Word 4 // Ibid. pp. 62–63. See: St. Gregory the Theologian. Word 3 // Ibid. P. 54. St. Gregory the Theologian. On the low value of the external world // Ibid. T. 2. P. 120. St. Gregory the Theologian. Praise to virginity // Ibid. P. 60. St. Gregory the Theologian. Word 21 // Ibid. T. 1. P. 260. See: St. Gregory the Theologian. Word 25 // Ibid. T. 1. P. 306; Word 31 // Ibid. P. 382; Word 33 // Ibid. P. 414. St. Gregory the Theologian. Definitions, lightly outlined // Ibid. T. 2. P. 171. St. Gregory the Theologian. Word 40 // Ibid. T. 1. P. 462. St. Gregory the Theologian. Word 38 // St. Gregory the Theologian. Creations. T. 1. P. 446. Right there. Wed: St. Gregory the Theologian. Word 18 // Ibid. P. 229; Word 38 // Ibid. P. 446. St. Gregory the Theologian. Word 3 // Ibid. P. 32. St. Gregory the Theologian. About virtue // Ibid. T. 2. P. 96. See also: Same. About the soul // Ibid. P. 27; About the covenants and the coming of Christ // Ibid. P. 30. St. Gregory the Theologian. Word 45 // Ibid. P. 562. See: St. Gregory the Theologian. Word 14 // Ibid. P. 178. See: St. Gregory the Theologian. About smart entities // Ibid. T. 2. P. 24; Word 4 // Ibid. T. 1. P. 75. See: St. Gregory the Theologian. Cry. About the suffering of his soul // Ibid. T. 2. P. 297; Word 40 // Ibid. T. 1. P. 485. See: St. Gregory the Theologian. About the soul // Ibid. T. 2. P. 28. Compare: He is the same. Word 14 // Ibid. T. 1. P. 191. See: St. Gregory the Theologian. Word 14 // Ibid. T. 1. P. 178. See: St. Gregory the Theologian. Word 20 // Ibid. P. 254; About the world // Ibid. T. 2. P. 18; On the low value of the external world // Ibid. P. 120. St. Gregory the Theologian. About the soul // Ibid. P. 27. See: St. Gregory the Theologian. Word 12 // Ibid. T. 1. P. 171. See: St. Gregory the Theologian. Word 3 // Ibid. P. 33. See: St. Gregory the Theologian. Word 14 // St. Gregory the Theologian. Creations. T. 1. P. 178; Epistle of exhortation to Hellenius. About the monks // Ibid. T. 2. P. 327. St. Gregory the Theologian. Word 37 // Ibid. T. 1. P. 441. See: St. Gregory the Theologian. Word 15 // Ibid. P. 204. St. Gregory the Theologian. About humility, chastity and abstinence // Ibid. T. 2. P. 97. Cosmology is the study of the world, its origin and structure. – Ed. See: St. Gregory the Theologian. About Providence // St. Gregory the Theologian. Creations. T. 2. P. 19. St. Gregory the Theologian. About the same thing (About Providence) // Ibid. P. 22. See: Ibid. P. 21; It's him. Word 14 // Ibid. T. 1. P. 192. See: St. Gregory the Theologian. Word 14 // Ibid. P. 192. See: St. Gregory the Theologian. Word 40 // Ibid. P. 463; About the same thing (About Providence) // Ibid. T. 2. P. 20. See: St. Gregory the Theologian. Word 28 // Ibid. T. 1. pp. 341–342, 344–350; Word 14 // Ibid. P. 193. See: St. Gregory the Theologian. Word 32 // Ibid. P. 395. See: St. Gregory the Theologian. Poems about myself // Ibid. T. 2. P. 191; Word 21 // Ibid. T. 1. P. 262; Word 24 // Ibid. P. 299. See: St. Gregory the Theologian. Word 4 // St. Gregory the Theologian. Creations. T. 1. P. 63, 75–76; Word 14 // Ibid. P. 192; Word 15 // Ibid. pp. 198–200. See: St. Gregory the Theologian. Word 17 // Ibid. P. 219; Word 4 // Ibid. P. 65. St. Gregory the Theologian. Letter 215. To Sacerdote // Ibid. T. 2. P. 544. Soteriology is the doctrine of salvation. – Ed. See: St. Gregory the Theologian. Word 44 // St. Gregory the Theologian. Creations. T. 1. P. 554. See: St. Gregory the Theologian. Word 43 // Ibid. P. 534; Word 39 // Ibid. P. 457. St. Gregory the Theologian. Word 45 // Ibid. pp. 563–564; Word 38 // Ibid. pp. 447–448. See: St. Gregory the Theologian. Word 23 // Ibid. P. 291; Word 30 // Ibid. P. 366; Word 40 // Ibid. P. 485. See: St. Gregory the Theologian. A poem in which Saint Gregory retells his life // Ibid. T. 2. P. 208; About the incarnation // Ibid. P. 31; Praise to virginity // Ibid. P. 52; To Nemesius // Ibid. P. 359. See: St. Gregory the Theologian. About the Son // Ibid. P. 13; Word 38 // Ibid. T. 1. P. 448. St. Gregory the Theologian. Word 37 // St. Gregory the Theologian. Creations. T. 1. P. 439. See: St. Gregory the Theologian. Letter 101. To Presbyter Kledonius, first against Apollinaris // Ibid. T. 2. P. 484. See: St. Gregory the Theologian. Word 37 // Ibid. T. 1. P. 433. St. Gregory the Theologian. Word 3 // Ibid. P. 34. See also: Same. Poems about myself // Ibid. T. 2. P. 179. See: St. Gregory the Theologian. Letter 101. To Presbyter Kledonius, first against Apollinaris // Ibid. P. 480; Praise to virginity // Ibid. P. 52; Word 29 // Ibid. T. 1. P. 361. See: St. Gregory the Theologian. Word 6 // Ibid. P. 135. Compare: He is the same. Word 10 // Ibid. P. 165; To Nemesius // Ibid. T. 2. P. 358; Word 41 // Ibid. T. 1. pp. 492–493. St. Gregory the Theologian. Word 45 // Ibid. P. 574. See: Ibid.; It's him. Word 38 // Ibid. P. 442. St. Gregory the Theologian. Word 38 // Ibid. P. 442. See: St. Gregory the Theologian. Word 1 // Ibid. P. 22; Word 14 // Ibid. P. 187. See: St. Gregory the Theologian. Word 18 // Ibid. pp. 233–234; Word 24 // Ibid. P. 301. See: St. Gregory the Theologian. Word 4 // Ibid. pp. 81–82. See: St. Gregory the Theologian. Word 45 // Ibid. pp. 571–573; Word 37 // Ibid. pp. 432–433. See: St. Gregory the Theologian. Advice for virgins // Ibid. T. 2. P. 76. St. Gregory the Theologian. Word 40 // Ibid. T. 1. pp. 463–464. See: St. Gregory the Theologian. On his return from the city of Constantine // St. Gregory the Theologian. Creations. T. 2. P. 267; Word 6 // Ibid. T. 1. P. 127; Word 14 // Ibid. pp. 175–176; 186–187. St. Gregory the Theologian. Word 30 // Ibid. T. 1. P. 371. Eschatology is the doctrine of the final destinies of the world: the reign of the Antichrist, the Second Coming of Christ, the General Resurrection, the Last Judgment, etc. - Ed. St. Gregory the Theologian. Word 45 // St. Gregory the Theologian. Creations. T. 1. P. 573. See: St. Gregory the Theologian. About the world // Ibid. T. 2. P. 18. St. Gregory the Theologian. About Fishery // Ibid. T. 2. P. 20. See: St. Gregory the Theologian. Word 4 // Ibid. T. 1. P. 106. St. Gregory the Theologian. On the low value of the external world // Ibid. T. 2. P. 119. See: St. Gregory the Theologian. Word 7 // Ibid. T. 1. P. 148. See: St. Gregory the Theologian. Word 11 // Ibid. P. 168. See: St. Gregory the Theologian. Word 8 // Ibid. P. 160. St. Gregory the Theologian. Word 18 // Ibid. P. 245. See: St. Gregory the Theologian. Word 24 // Ibid. P. 301. See: St. Gregory the Theologian. Word 15 // Ibid. P. 200. St. Gregory the Theologian. Word 8 // Ibid. P. 160. See also: Same. Word 11 // Ibid. P. 169. See: St. Gregory the Theologian. Word 33 // Ibid. P. 415. See: St. Gregory the Theologian. Word 20 // Ibid. P. 259; Word 45 // Ibid. P. 571. St. Gregory the Theologian. Word 30 // St. Gregory the Theologian. Creations. T. 1. P. 367. See: St. Gregory the Theologian. On silence during fasting // Ibid. T. 2. P. 284; Word 40 // Ibid. T. 1. P. 485. See: St. Gregory the Theologian. Word 24 // Ibid. P. 300; Word 3 // Ibid. P. 53. See: St. Gregory the Theologian. Word 11 // Ibid. P. 169; Word 38 // Ibid. P. 443. See: St. Gregory the Theologian. Word 38 // Ibid. St. Gregory the Theologian. Word 4 // Ibid. P. 82. St. Gregory the Theologian. Word 3 // Ibid. P. 35. St. Gregory the Theologian. Word 7 // Ibid. P. 147. See: St. Gregory the Theologian. Word 7 // Ibid. P. 145; Word 26 // Ibid. pp. 325–326. See: St. Gregory the Theologian. Word 20 // Ibid. P. 259. See: St. Gregory the Theologian. Word 7 // Ibid. P. 145. See: St. Gregory the Theologian. Word 4 // Ibid. T. 1. P. 76. St. Gregory the Theologian. Word 15 // Ibid. P. 201. Compare: Same. Word 4 // Ibid. P. 76; Word 40 // Ibid. pp. 485–486. St. Gregory the Theologian. Word 40 // Ibid. See: St. Gregory the Theologian. Word 15 // St. Gregory the Theologian. Creations. T. 1. P. 200; Word 40 // Ibid. P. 473. See: St. Gregory the Theologian. Word 7 // Ibid. pp. 148–149; Word 40 // Ibid. pp. 485–486; Letter 7. To brother Caesarius // Ibid. T. 2. P. 422. St. Gregory the Theologian. Word 21 // Ibid. T. 1. pp. 260–261. St. Gregory the Theologian. Cry. About the suffering of his soul // Ibid. T. 2. P. 296. Here (lat.): a condensed summary of the main provisions. – Ed. Apodictic - unconditionally reliable, irrefutable. – Ed. St. Gregory the Theologian. Word 6 // St. Gregory the Theologian. Creations. T. 1. P. 127. St. Gregory the Theologian. Word 7 // Ibid. P. 149. St. Gregory the Theologian. Word 23 // Ibid. P. 293. St. Gregory the Theologian. Word 6 // Ibid. P. 135. These words were addressed to some monks who separated from Father Gregory, Bishop of Nazianza (who inadvertently signed the Semi-Arian Creed), and then reunited again. See: St. Gregory the Theologian. Word 18 // St. Gregory the Theologian. Creations. T. 1. P. 224. St. Gregory the Theologian. Word 34 // Ibid. P. 417. St. Gregory the Theologian. Word 30 // Ibid. P. 371. St. Gregory the Theologian. Word 32 // Ibid. P. 396. St. Gregory the Theologian Word 3 // Ibid. P. 28. Right there. P. 34. Compare: He is the same. Word 3 // Ibid. P. 50.