Глава пятая Бог в откровениях

“Of manifold and manifold was God of old, who spoke by the Father as a prophet; in these last days he spoke to us in the Son” (Heb. 1:1-2). Nature and the human soul speak loudly not only about the existence of God, but also about the properties of God, and there were and are educated people who are content only with these proofs of the existence of God and the knowledge about God that the created world gives them. These proofs of the existence of God, presented in a strictly scientific form, are called philosophical. But even if a person, through consideration of the nature and properties of his spirit, were firmly convinced of the existence of God, if his conscience spoke to him in general terms about love for God and his neighbors, then with all this he would not be firmly and decisively sure of whether he correctly pleases God and treats other people and even animals, and meanwhile, he must be responsible for his deeds. Therefore, direct revelations of the Divine are necessary. And it is unnatural to think that God, who created man capable of knowing Him and striving for Him with all his soul, would not Himself reveal His will to him. – Will an earthly mother leave her child without help and answer when it looks for her? Truly, it is rightly said in the oldest of all books on earth, in the first Mosaic book of Genesis of the world and the human race, that the Lord God, as soon as He created man, appeared to him Himself and gave him a clear and definite commandment, how good it is to please by obedience to Him, and then, after the fall of the first parents, He appeared to people many times. This kind of proof of the existence of God from the revelations of the Divine Himself is called theological, in contrast to philosophical, extracted by the mind from knowledge of nature and the human spirit. Those philosophers who are content with mere mental proofs of the existence of God, from whom did they initially learn about the existence of God, and about the properties of God, and about the will of God? They learned about God at a very young age from their parents and educators. It has always been so, as far as the history of the human race will remember, and so it is now: knowledge about God is transmitted in a frank way through the mediation of parents and educators. Of course, at the same time, evidence of the existence of God and knowledge of God, borrowed from visible nature and from the properties of the human soul, is also necessary, because they serve as constant confirmation of what parents tell their children about God. The Lord God, being our ancestor back in paradise and having confirmed their faith in His existence, gave through this, so to speak, the first impetus for faith in Him for our descendants. Then He appeared to the patriarchs and the best of people in subsequent times, renewing faith in subsequent generations. When, after the flood, the peoples, darkened by sins, were seduced by the revelations of evil spirits and retreated from the true God, the Lord concentrated His revelations in the Jewish people, not leaving other nations without His providence. The Lord appeared to the entire Jewish people on Mount Sinai and spoke His law to them. The appearance of the Lord God with thunder and lightning, in a thick cloud, in fire rising to heaven, with a strong trumpet sound and vibrations of the mountain was so amazing that the Jews retreated from the mountain in fear. God the Father appeared in the Old Testament in the form of the Old of Days, the Son of God appeared in the form of an Angel of the Lord, the Holy Spirit moved the mouths of the prophets, so that they themselves sometimes did not understand what He said through their mouths, often He showed them the future in visions and images. From time to time the Lord God sent holy angels to proclaim His will to the people. In general, God revealed himself to people in many different ways in the Old Testament, giving them more and more complete knowledge of Himself and His will. Finally, God revealed himself to people in complete completeness through His Only Begotten Son, incarnate on earth. This Son of God gave people such a high moral law that nothing can be added to it. During His earthly life, the great mystery of the Trinity Divinity was clearly revealed to people, especially on the Jordan, even to the external senses of man. God the Father was revealed in a voice from heaven, the Son of God in flesh on earth, the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove descending from heaven onto the Son. The Only Begotten Son of God and His Apostles completed the general revelations about God and His holy will for the entire human race; everything that is needed on earth for the knowledge of God and the salvation of man has been said. – But the private revelations of God for the renewal of faith in God and in the law of Christ continued in subsequent generations, and continue to this day, mainly in prophecies and admonitions of the Holy Spirit through chosen people, in miracles from holy icons and relics, and in general through the faith and prayer of Christians. There are people who claim that there are no and cannot be miracles from God, that God, when creating the world, gave it laws forever, which are fulfilled in it, and miracles, on the contrary, would serve to violate those laws. - Others, who do not believe in the Lord God, say that everything in the world happens according to the immutable laws of necessity. But we cannot imagine laws without a rational legislator, and there is no doubt that God created people and spirits as free beings, and free beings can harm themselves and the unreasonable creatures subordinate to them by abusing their freedom. This happened and happens to people. How many sins and iniquities they commit - unnatural deeds! If a person can violate the laws of nature or the Creator, then cannot God correct what was damaged? No! The Lord God, in His mercy, restores and corrects what is upset and upset by people to their own detriment. Most of the miracles, i.e. The direct actions of the Divine on earth consist precisely in this. Health and well-being are natural, but illnesses, suffering, sorrows are unnatural for humans - the consequences of sins, and most miracles consist in healing illnesses and consoling sorrowful hearts. In ancient times, in the pagan world, there were frequent cases of violent possession of evil spirits by the bodies of people; This sometimes happens in the Christian world; the expulsion of these spirits by the name and power of the Divine, what else is it but the restoration of the disturbed order in the spiritual world? Man has been made king of nature, and sin has weakened his power over it, but the saints of God have wondrous dominion over wild beasts and poisonous snakes - this is again the restoration of what was lost by man’s sin. There are also miracles that consist in punishing sinners to admonish them or others and in stopping evil. Doesn’t the master also correct the damaged machine he has built and direct it according to his own wishes? Secondly, there are also such miracles that do not consist only in the restoration of broken laws and in the suppression of evil, but in the control or direction of the forces of nature by the power of the Divine for higher purposes, for example, a person is transported by a higher power from place to place, walks on waters, is freed by an invisible hand from shackles and prisons, remains intact in the midst of fire, etc. But the dominance or dominion of one force over another, as we have seen, also exists in nature; for example, the earth attracts objects to itself, and the plant overcomes this force and strives upward, while animals use plants, so - on earth, higher powers dominate over lower ones, and, of course, Divine power must reign over all powers, and the Lord God reveals at times, where he finds it necessary, His direct power over nature and man. This is not a violation of the laws of nature, but management of them, their subordination to the higher laws and goals of the spiritual world. This alone is of great significance, that miracles show the existence of God, it shows that the Lord God not only created the world, but also still rules it. If there is no movement in a house created by human hands, then we say that the owner does not live in it. If, according to the wisdom of some people, God, who created the world with laws, no longer touches it, then it is unnecessary to pray to God for deliverance from troubles and the granting of blessings, for everything flows according to the unchangeable laws of nature; and we pray to God for rain and lack of rain, for deliverance from destructive diseases and for everything related to our well-being, believing that He Himself directly directs the forces of nature, and people’s prayers are not in vain and are sometimes accompanied by striking miracles. Some dare to assert that miracles are not the direct actions of Divine power, but the actions of forces and laws of nature unknown to us; but many miracles are performed by Divine power only by preliminary revelation; for example, an incurably ill person is shown in a vision that he can be healed by a famous icon or by holy relics in a place that he has never heard of, and these revelations are repeated more than once. And so, through questioning, he finds out about that place, goes there and, through prayer, is actually healed. Miracles are performed according to special, higher laws, not by unknown power, but by spiritual power. This is the power of faith in God and prayers to Him, calling upon the power of God to perform miracles. There are those who say: “I will not believe miracles unless I see a miracle with my own eyes or experience it myself.” – Many miracles happen in our times. If we were to collect the most reliable descriptions of miracles that happened only in this century and in Russia alone, then entire books would be compiled, and there are many more miracles that are not described. So, whoever wants to be convinced of miracles, let him find those people who are alive, over whom miracles have been performed and described, and there are many of them, and let him question these people and those around them. However, if someone began to earnestly ask God to confirm his weak faith through a miracle, then God, if it was necessary or useful for him, would show him a sign of His power, as there were examples of this. But only such a person will be subject to great responsibility if, even after the clear revelation of the Divine, he continues his sinful life. The Lord Jesus Christ performed many miracles before the inhabitants of the cities of Capernaum, Bethsaida and Chorazin, but since they did not believe in Him and did not correct themselves, He said that it would be more pleasant for Sodom and Gomorrah in judgment than for the inhabitants of these cities; Now they can’t find the very places of these cities. So, we have presented a whole series of evidence of the existence of God according to their sources: firstly, evidence from visible nature, secondly, from the human spirit and, thirdly, from direct revelations of the Divine and from signs and wonders. The first two types of evidence act on all people constantly, for they are always in us and before our eyes, and they alone are so strong that on the basis of them alone, a person who does not believe in God will appear unresponsible in court, as the word of God says (Rom. 1:20). This is also shown by the examples of those educated people who are content with these proofs alone. Direct divine revelations, signs, and wonders do not happen to everyone, according to the plans of divine wisdom, but the legends about very many of them have signs of complete reliability, so that those who do not believe these legends will not be answered, for the books that speak of divine revelations and miracles were written by eyewitnesses or from the words of eyewitnesses. Many of the miracles took place before many witnesses and were examined by entire commissions; many healings were performed on educated people, who themselves described them in detail and claim that these healings took place only by the will of God; Many healings were testified by experienced doctors that they could not have happened otherwise than by the supernatural power of God. The proofs of the existence of God from direct divine revelations are distinguished by greater certainty, strength and decisiveness than proofs from visible nature and the human spirit; they speak clearly not only that God exists, but also that He Himself directly controls the universe and what exactly He wants from us to please Him. Nevertheless, in general, the proofs of the existence of God, mutually complementing each other, impart to each other irresistible strength and certainty. So, there is God, there is the highest being, omniscient, wise, omnipotent, all-holy, all-good and just, who created the world and rules it, and we are always before His eyes and walk before Him. In ancient times, walking with God meant the same thing as living piously, always remembering the omnipresence and omniscience of God. Enoch walked with God and was taken up wonderfully into heaven. Let us pray to the Lord that He will establish in us constant remembrance of Himself and grant us the strength to fulfill His holy will all the days of our life on earth, as it is fulfilled in heaven. Amen. (Sergius, Archbishop of Vladimir and Suzdal, Doctor of Theology. Conversations on the Fundamental Truths of the Holy Orthodox Faith. Published in 1893) You might be interested in: