Messages

Messages from sschmch. Dionysius the Areopagite is 10 letters to different persons, mainly on dogmatic topics (Christology and the doctrine of the limitations of our knowledge of God). Letters 1–4 are addressed to Gaius Therapeutus (monk). They contain schmch. Dionysius speaks about the knowledge of God and the Incarnation. He emphasizes that God exceeds all heavenly authorities and lives in hidden mystery. This means that people, despite the fact that they are called to deification, will never reach God, who is “inimitable.” Letter 3 speaks of the essential Divine nature of Jesus Christ, which, having appeared “suddenly,” remains hidden even after His appearance. God, having become a true man, did not cease to be transcendental. At the end of the 4th letter, “a new kind of godly action” is mentioned, referring to Christ. Subsequently, the Monothelite heretics saw here an indication of a single will in Christ, while St. Maximus the Confessor correctly interprets this passage as “the intertwined energy of God and man” in the one Jesus Christ. In letter 5, addressed to Deacon Dorotheus, the main theme is Divine darkness, which is called “impregnable light,” where God dwells, the comprehension of Whom can be reached along the apophatic path of knowledge of God through unseeing and ignorance. There are 6 words in the letter. Dionysius advises Priest Sosipater to avoid arguing on theological grounds. In letter 7, the author asks the priest Polycarp to expose the pagan Apollophanes, who accused Sschmch. Dionysius is that he uses his knowledge of ancient philosophy for the benefit of a religion that denies paganism. Letter 8 is addressed to the monk Demophilus, to whom Dionysius advises to obey your local priest and not judge him, since judgment belongs only to God. In letter 9, the author explains to the priest Titus the Old Testament symbols (the house of Wisdom, her cup, food and drink). According to Sschmch. Dionysius, all anthropomorphisms of the Bible should be interpreted allegorically. Letter 10 was addressed to the apostle and evangelist John the Theologian, during his imprisonment on the island of Patmos. sschmch. Dionysius predicts John's release from imprisonment and return to Asia. Although the holy fathers never doubted the authorship of these letters, however, according to modern patrolologists, they were written by an unknown author in the 5th-6th centuries. Contents 1. To Gaius Therapeus 2. To him 3. To him 4. To him 5. To Dorotheus the deacon 6. To Sosipater the priest 7. To the priest Polycarp 8. To the monk Demophilus (about self-will and meekness) 9. To the priest Titus, who asked Saint Dionysius through a letter what the house of Wisdom is, what is her cup, her food and drink? 10. John the Theologian, apostle and evangelist, during his imprisonment on Fr. Patmos Darkness disappears in light, and especially in great light; ignorance is driven away by knowledge, and especially great knowledge. Taking this in the sense of superiority and not of deprivation, affirm immutably that the ignorance of God is hidden from those who have light and knowledge of things; that this highest darkness of Him is hidden in all light, just as all knowledge is hidden in Him. If someone, having seen God, understood what he saw, this means that he did not see Him, but something that exists and is knowable. He Himself, being above the mind and above being, by the very fact that it does not belong to the number of cognizable and accidentally existing objects, exists superessentially and is cognizable above the mind. And this, in a primary sense, complete ignorance is the knowledge of Him Who is above everything knowable. How is He who is above all, above both the beginning of divinity and the beginning of goodness? You will understand this if by the name of divinity and goodness you understand the very object of the charitable and deifying gift and that inimitable imitation through which we become involved in divinity and goodness - imitation of the One who is above divinity and goodness. For if this serves as the beginning of the divinity and goodness of those who participate in them, then He who is above the beginning of everything is, of course, above the so-called divinity and goodness, which are accepted as the beginning of divinity and goodness. As inimitable and unattainable, He is above all imitation and achievement and above those who imitate and achieve communion with Him. Suddenly means something that happens beyond expectation and suddenly becomes obvious, having previously been hidden. In relation to the humanity of Christ, I think, the word of God shows by this that the Superessential, being hitherto hidden, appeared to us in human being. But He remains hidden even after the appearance, or, I will say even more, in the appearance itself, for this mystery of Jesus is hidden and in itself cannot be explained by any word or reason, but remains inexpressible even when it is spoken, and incomprehensible when it is understood. How, you say, is Jesus, who is above all, essentially counted among other men? Of course, here He is called man not as the Creator of men, but as a true man, having full human nature. However, we do not limit Jesus to humanity, for He is not only a man (otherwise He would not be super-essential if He were only a man), but He is a true man who, out of incomparable love for people, being super-essential, received essence from people in human and superhuman images. But nevertheless, He is filled with super-essence, being always super-essential, of course, due to its excess, and, having accepted the true essence, became in essence above the essence and performed human actions superhumanly. Proof of this is the supernatural conception of the Virgin and the water, which, despite its fluidity, held the weight of the feet, formed from matter and earth, and did not part under them, but by supernatural force restrained itself from spilling. One can imagine other examples, of which there are quite a lot. Whoever looks at them in the divine light will understand in a way incomprehensible to the mind that what is affirmed about the humanity of Jesus has the force of primary negation. For, let’s say in short, He was not a man, not because he was not such, but because he was above men, having been born of men and becoming a true man in a way incomprehensible to man. And he performed divine actions not as God and human actions not as a man, but as God incarnate, he acted, being with us, by some new godly action (energy). Divine darkness is that unapproachable light in which, according to Scripture (1 Tim. 6:16), God lives. And since it is invisible from its extreme radiance and is unapproachable from the excess of super-essential light, only the one who is worthy to know and see God dwells in it, and, truly abiding in it above vision and knowledge, through this very unseeing and ignorance he knows that He is above everything sensual and intelligent, and cries out with the prophet: Your knowledge is wonderful to me; high, I do not comprehend it (Ps. 139:6). So, of course, the divine Paul knew God when he knew that He is above all understanding and understanding, and therefore calls His ways unsearchable, His gifts ineffable (Rom. 9:33) and His peace surpassing all understanding (Phil. 4:7), since he found Him who is above all, and above understanding understood that He is above all, being the Creator of all things. 6. To Sosipater the priest Do not consider it a victory, Venerable Sosipater, when you rebel against any religion or opinion, even though it is wrong. For even if you refute it judiciously, it still does not follow that everything said by Sosipater is true, for between many obviously false opinions something that is one and hidden, i.e., can hide from you and from others. true. Just because something is not red does not mean it is necessarily white; or, if someone is not a horse, he is not necessarily a man. So, if you want to listen to me, do this: stop reproaching others; better offer the very truth in such a way that it is impossible to refute your words. 7. To the priest Polycarp I have never competed with the Hellenes or with anyone else in the idea that for good people it is enough to know and tell the truth as it is in itself. For when the law of truth truly shows and clearly reveals the essence of the matter, then everything that is inconsistent with it and only bears the appearance of truth will immediately be revealed, will reveal its distinctive feature, its illegality, its guise. Therefore, the one who reveals the truth has no need at all to compete with one or another opponent, for everyone says that it is he who possesses the royal medal, although another may have only a deceptive semblance of some slightest particle of truth. Try to expose this delusion - suddenly one after another will begin to argue with you. But when the word of truth is firmly established and remains unshakable, despite the contradiction of other words, then everything that disagrees with it will fall by itself - because of the very steadfastness of truth. Being confident in the validity of this thought, I was in no hurry to speak with the Hellenes and with others: for me it is enough if only God would allow, firstly, to know the truth, and secondly, to express it as it should. Meanwhile, you say that the sophist Apollophanes blames me and calls me a parricide because I unappreciatively use Greek education against the Greeks. Contrary to this accusation, it could be said with greater justice that it is the Greeks who unrecognizably use the divine against the divine, when they try to destroy God’s religion with God’s wisdom. I am, of course, not talking about the opinions of the common people, who, materially and literally accepting the inventions of the poets, serve more the creature than the Creator - no, I am saying that Apollophanes himself unrecognizably uses the divine against the divine, because the knowledge of existence, which he correctly calls philosophy, and the divine Paul - the wisdom of God, should elevate true philosophers to the Cause of both the existence of existence and the knowledge of it. If Apollophanes cares more about revealing the justice of his own opinion than about showing the injustice of someone else, then he cannot but know, like a sage, that no change in the structure and movement of the sky can be assumed without the will of the Creator, Who gave it existence, and preserves it, and is the cause of its movement, - Who, according to the testimony of Holy Scripture, creates and changes everything. Why does not Apollophanes reverence the One who is already in this respect the true God of all? Why is he not surprised at this universal Cause and Its ineffable power? By her wondrous power and command, the sun and moon, together with the entire universe, were once brought into perfect stillness, so that during the whole day everything remained under the same constellations, and, what is even more amazing, while the primary spheres in which the others are contained continued to rotate, the spheres contained in them stood motionless **. By its power, another day was almost arranged, so that during the entire twenty hours, either the universe completed the opposite procession and reverse rotations, or the sun, having shortened its five-turn movement at ten hours, performed the same movement in some new way during the remaining ten hours. This phenomenon so amazed the Babylonians that they, recognizing Hezekiah as equal to God and much superior to man, submitted to him without battle. I'm not even talking about the wondrous events that took place in Egypt, about the divine signs performed in other places; I mention only those celestial phenomena that are universal, known everywhere and to everyone. Apollophanes, of course, will say that all this is unfair, but this was preserved in the sacred legends of the Persians, and the magicians still celebrate the memory of the triple Mithras. However, he does not believe this, perhaps due to ignorance or inexperience; remind him at least of the eclipse that occurred during the crucifixion of Jesus Christ; then we were both in Iliopolis and looked with our own eyes at the wonderful coincidence of the sun and the moon (this coincidence should not have happened at that time) ***, and then we saw how the moon, suddenly separating from the sun, stood opposite it from nine o’clock until the evening and was again completely illuminated by its rays. Remind him also of another circumstance: that this coincidence, as usual, began with the eastern arc of the sun and continued at its opposite end, and then the moon suddenly turned back and cleared first not the side that it had first covered, but the opposite side (the western). These are the phenomena that occurred at that time - such phenomena that could have been produced by Christ alone, the Highest Cause of all existence, performing great and wondrous miracles, they are innumerable! Tell Apollophanes, if necessary, all this and, if possible, convict him with the fact that then he was with me, and looked together, and reasoned together, and was surprised together; then he was even imbued with the spirit of prophecy and, turning to me, said: “Dear Dionysius! This change of order is the work of God!” What I have now said is enough for a letter, but what is missing, you can fill in yourself and you will completely turn this wise man to God. Perhaps he will not refuse to acknowledge with meekness of heart the truth of our faith, which stands above all human wisdom. 8. To the monk Demophilus (about self-will and meekness) Jewish history says about Saint Moses that he was awarded the vision of God for his great meekness. And if when he represents him as alien to this divine vision, then before his removal from God he represents his removal from meekness. She says that the Lord was angry with him when he was too stubborn and resisted His divine advice. Also, when he announces his divine election, he primarily glorifies his imitation of the goodness of God, for he was very meek, which is why he is called the servant of God and is recognized as worthy of the highest vision of God before all the prophets. And when some of him and Aaron boldly challenged the high priesthood and authority over the people, he appeared above all ambition and lust and ceded power over the people to anyone who had been chosen by God. When, despite this, they did not cease to plot against him, condemned his previous actions, threatened him and almost laid hands on him, then he cried out for salvation to the All-Good, without ceasing to be meek: he said very boldly and at the same time very modestly that he was in no way to blame for the disasters to which those entrusted to his superiors were subjected, for he knew that he who converses with the good God should, as far as possible, be like Him and in his conscience he is confident in the correctness of his actions. Why did the Godfather David become a friend of God? Of course, because he was kind and lenient towards his enemies. The Most Good and Benevolent One says about him: I have found a man after My heart. And the law was given so as not to despise even cattle that belonged to the enemy. And Job was justified for his kindness. Joseph did not take revenge on his brothers for their deceit, and Abel, with simplicity and without suspicion, accompanied his brother, the murderer. The Word of God glorifies all such good people, who not only do not think or do evil, but also, enduring the malice of others, do not deviate from goodness, but, on the contrary, like God, do good to the evil ones, show them great favor and, with all modesty, incline them to similar actions. But let us raise our gaze higher: we will not talk about the meekness of holy men, nor about the goodness of humane angels, merciful for people, praying for their good, restraining evil and destructive forces, sympathizing with the evil and rejoicing in the salvation of those returning to good, and what else does the word of God say about beneficent angels, let us leave everything, and, illuminated by the beneficial rays of the truly good and most good Christ, let us raise our enlightened gaze to His divine benefits. Isn’t this truly a sign of ineffable and incomprehensible goodness, that He brought beings into being, that He preserves it in all of them and wants everyone to always be close to Him and each, according to its ability, to partake of Him? Moreover, He does not abandon those who move away from Him with His love, but tries to hold them, begs them not to neglect Him who loves and showers them with blessings, Who patiently endures when they foolishly accuse Him, and Himself protects them. And he promises to serve them even more: seeing those coming to Him from afar, He runs and meets them, completely embracing them with Himself, kisses them, does not blame them for their past actions, but rejoices about the present, institutes a celebration, convenes friends, i.e. all the good, so that His house will be filled with joy. He rightly reproaches Demophilus and everyone who hates the good, but at the same time teaches him goodness, so that he can improve, for how, He says, can a good person not rejoice in the salvation of the lost, in the revival of the dead?! And truly, as soon as someone turns from error, He immediately lifts him onto His shoulders and arouses good angels to joy, does good to the ungrateful, His sun shines on the evil and the good (Matthew 5:15) and lays down His very soul for those who move away from Him (John 10:11). And you, as can be seen from your letter, have already prostrated yourself before the priest, an ungodly and a sinner - as you call him, I don’t know by what right, having come, you pulled him out with your own hands; then, when he begged you and admitted that he had come to heal his evils, you not only did not respect this, but also dared to curse at the good priest, who graciously received this penitent and justified this sinner; finally, forcing the priest to leave, you and your kind invaded the sanctuary contrary to the law and desecrated the Holy of Holies, and you write to us that through your diligence you preserved the Holy from the desecration that threatened it and have kept it intact to this day. So, now listen to our words: ministers of the Church and those superior to you, much less monks of equal rank with you, should not reproach a priest, even if it seemed that he was unworthily approaching the Divine Mysteries or even if it was obvious that he was doing something forbidden. For if in general the violation of structure and order is a crime of divine laws and decrees, then the overthrow of the order established by God Himself cannot be considered a matter for the glory of God. For God is not divided in Himself, otherwise how will His kingdom stand? (Matthew 12:25) And if God, according to the Scriptures, is the Judge (Isa. 30:18; Rom. 2:16), and the priests are angels (Mal. 2:7) and after the bishops the interpreters of His divine judgments, then from them, through the deacons, at the appropriate time, you should learn divine truths, since through them you were also honored to be a monk. Is this not what instills in us the meaning of sacred prototypes? For the Holy of Holies is not equally distant from everyone - the rank of high priests is especially close to it, then the rank of priests, followed by deacons; The monastic orders are assigned places at the gates of the altar, at which they are dedicated, and stand not for their storage, but so that they know that in their order they are closer to the people than to the priests. Therefore, the ecclesiastical order commands that they not themselves partake of the divine sacraments, but that the latter be taught to them by others, i.e. those who stand closer than them to the interior of the Sanctuary, for they, surrounding the mysteriously divine throne, see the divine sacraments uncovered before them and, with reverence, proceeding with them outside the sacred veils, worthily show them to the obedient monks, the sacred people and those undergoing degrees of purification - sacraments that until that time were preserved in perfect purity and integrity, until you rushed at them with all holiness and forced involuntarily open to yourself the Holy of Holies. And after this, do you still dare to call yourself the guardian of a shrine, when you have neither seen nor heard, and have nothing decent for its servants, for you do not even know the true meaning of Scripture, daily engaged in disputes about mere words, to the detriment of the listeners? If someone assumed leadership over the people without the royal command, would he not suffer a fair punishment? Also, what if any of the upcoming subjects dared to contradict the sovereign who was justifying or condemning someone, not to mention if someone began to despise and trample on his power? And you showed such audacity in what belongs to the meek and good God and the hierarchy established by Him! This would have to be said even if someone did, apparently, the right thing, but not according to his own dignity, for no one is allowed to do this. What indecent thing did Uzziah do when he burned incense before God (2 Chronicles 26:19)? What did Saul sacrifice (1 Samuel 13:10, 15:12)? What are the fierce demons, recognizing Jesus as the true God (Mark 3:11)? However, the word of God condemns anyone who does what is not allowed to him (1 Cor. 14:23): everyone must remain in the order of his service (Lev. 16:2); Only the high priest could enter the Holy of Holies once a year, and with all the purity that the law required of the high priest (Heb. 9:7). The priests cover the sanctuary, but the Levites are forbidden to touch it, lest they die. The Lord was angry with Uzziah for his insolence (2 Chronicles 26:19); and Miriam, when she wanted to give laws to the legislator, was stricken with leprosy (Num. 12:10); Demons rushed against the sons of Sceva (Acts 19:14). It is also said: The prophets did not send, but they taught; did not speak to them, and they prophesied (Jer. 23:21). And again: The wicked devour the calf, as if he were killing a dog (Is. 66:3). In short, God's perfect righteousness does not tolerate lawbreakers. If they say: In your name I have created many powers, the Lord answers: Nikolizhe knew you; Depart from Me, all you who practice iniquity (Matthew 7:22–23). That is, one should not, as the Holy Scripture says, do what is righteous unrighteously (Deut. 16:20; 2 Sam. 15:22). Everyone should pay attention to himself, should not be arrogant and profound, but reason only about what is in accordance with his dignity (Rom. 11:20, 12:3; Sir. 3:21). So, shouldn’t it be, you say, that priests convicted of wickedness or any crime should be corrected? And can they be allowed to dishonor God by breaking the law, in which they alone boast (Rom. 2:23)? What kind of mediators are they? How can they proclaim divine virtues to the people when they do not know their power? Or how can they enlighten others when they themselves are darkened? How can one teach the divine Spirit when one is inwardly and truly not sure whether there is even a Holy Spirit? I myself will answer you to this, for Demophilus is not my enemy and I will not tolerate Satan deceiving you. Each of the ranks surrounding God is more godlike than the one that is further away and the closer it is to the true light, it receives and can communicate light. We understand closeness not by place, but by the ability to communicate with God. So, if the duty of the priestly rank is to enlighten, then, of course, he does not belong to the priestly rank who cannot teach light, and even more so if someone does not have it himself. And such a person seems to me daring if he enters into priestly rights, is not afraid and is not ashamed to unworthily perform divine services, thinks that God does not know what he himself is aware of in himself, thinks to deceive Him with the false name of the Father and dares, pretending that he is Christ, to utter inappropriate blasphemies against the divine sacraments (that is what his prayers should be called). This is not a priest, no, but a villain, a deceiver, a mockery of himself and a wolf in the divine flock, dressed in sheep's skin. But Demophilus has no right to correct this. For if the word of God commands to do what is righteous righteously (to do what is righteous means to give to everyone what is worthy), then everyone must do it righteously, without leaving their dignity and rank: and the angels must be determined and given what is worthy, but not from us, O Demophilus, but to us through them from God and to them through the highest angels. It’s easy to say: in all beings, the righteous Providence rewards the first with the second according to their dignity. Consequently, those whom God has appointed as leaders over others must render what they deserve to those who are inferior to them and those who are subordinate to themselves. So Demophilus must determine what follows the rational, irritable and concupiscible forces. He should not violate their order in himself, but reason, as the highest, must control the lower forces. If we, seeing in the market place that a servant reviles, attacks and strikes a master, a youth - an elder, or a son - a father, consider it a crime not to run to the aid of these respectable persons, although perhaps they have previously offended them, then how are we not ashamed to look with disdain when irritable and concupiscible forces act against reason and take away from it the dominion granted to it by God and produce criminal behavior in ourselves? disorder, disturbance and disorder? The justly blessed and God-given legislator considers him unworthy to rule the Church of God who did not know how to rule his own house well (Tim. 3:5), for he who knew how to rule himself will also rule others; if by another, then by home; if a home, then a city; if by the city, then by the people; and, simply put in the words of Scripture: He who is faithful in a little is also faithful in much, and he who is unfaithful in a little is also unfaithful in much (Luke 16:10). So, you yourself assign what is due to your lustful, irritable and rational powers, and the priest-deacons will assign to you, the priests to them, the bishops to the priests, the apostles and successors of the apostles to the bishops. If one of them violates his duty, then saints of the same rank must correct him. Thus, rank will not be confused with rank, but everyone will remain in his own rank and in his own service. We have presented all this to you so that you know and do your duty. And as for your cruelty towards your husband, whom you call a wicked man and a sinner, I don’t know with what words to mourn the defeat that happened to my beloved. Who do you think we have made you a servant to? If not the Good One, then, of course, He, and we, and all our service should now be alien to you, it’s time for you to look for another God, and other priests, so that with them it is more free to indulge in cruelty, rather than improvement, and to be an unyielding servant of the inhumanity that you have loved. Have we ourselves achieved perfect holiness and do we not need divine condescension towards ourselves? Is it not a twofold sin, as Scripture says, that we sin like the wicked, when we do not know what we are sinning, but also justify ourselves and think to see when we really do not see? The sky was horrified by this, and I trembled and did not believe myself. And if I had not had your letters (oh, if I had never seen them!), then, no matter how much others tried to assure me about you, they would not have assured me that Demophilus considers God, who is kind to all creatures, to be unloving of mankind and His merciful or saving grace unnecessary for himself, and he rejects priests who, for their meekness, are worthy to bear the sins of the ignorance of the people and firmly know that they themselves are subject to weakness. The Divinely Supreme High Priest followed a different path, i.e. He who was excommunicated, as the Holy Scripture says, from sinners (Heb. 7:26). He sets as a sign of love for Himself the meekest tending of His sheep (John 10:14; 21:15); calls that servant evil who did not forgive his debt to his comrade (Matthew 18:30) and did not give him any of the greatest leniency that he himself was shown, and rightly condemns him for what is characteristic of him, which both I and Demophilus should be afraid of. To His crucifiers themselves, in the midst of suffering, He brings down forgiveness from the Father (Luke 23:34) and reproaches the disciples when they asked to cruelly condemn the wickedness of the Samaritans who expelled Him from themselves. You talk about this a thousand times in your daring message, you repeat everywhere that you are not protecting yourself, but God. But is it possible, tell me, to protect the good with evil? No, we do not have a bishop who is unable to suffer our weaknesses (Heb. 4:15). But He is both gentle and merciful. He will not contradict nor cry out (Matthew 12:19; Isaiah 42:1), so He is meek! And He is the cleansing for our sins (1 John 2:2). Therefore, we cannot approve of your excessive zeal, even if you referred a thousand times to Phinehas and Elijah. For it was unpleasant for Jesus to hear about this from the disciples, who at that time were not yet partakers of the gentle and good Spirit. And our divine Teacher with meekness teaches those who resist the teaching of the Lord (2 Tim. 1:24). The ignorant need to be taught, and not punished, just as we do not torture the blind, but lead them by the hand. And you attacked such a person who was just beginning to look at the light, you hit him, and when he approached you with great modesty, you brazenly pushed him away - the one (what a terrible thing!) whom Christ, in His goodness, seeks on the mountains, where he wanders, calls, when he runs from Him and, as soon as he finds him, takes him on His shoulders. Let us not, I ask you, let us not take such bad care of ourselves and sharpen the sword against ourselves. For, both those who try to cause offense to others, and those who try to do good, even if they did not do what they wanted, but if they already harbor malice or goodness in themselves, then the latter will soon be filled with divine virtues, and the former with cruel passions. Some will be followers and companions of angels here and there, in perfect peace and freedom from all evils, will inherit the most blessed fate for all eternity and, above all good things, will always be with God; others will be deprived of both the divine and their own world here, and after death they will be together with cruel demons. Therefore, we must try in every possible way to always be with the good God and Lord, and not be alienated from Him by His justice along with the evil ones and not suffer due punishment from ourselves, which I fear more than anyone and do not want to be uninvolved in any evil. If you wish, I will also remember the divine vision of one holy man, but do not laugh, for I will tell you the truth. Once in Crete, I was received by Saint Carp - a man compared to whom you can hardly find another, with great purity of mind, more capable of seeing God. He did not begin to perform the holy mysteries until he received some sacred and benevolent vision during the preparatory prayers. He said that once one of the infidels saddened him. The reason for the sadness was that he distracted someone from the Church to atheism, while he was still celebrating the days of joy. It was necessary to earnestly pray to God the Savior for both, so that He would convert one with His power, and conquer the other with His goodness; He had to constantly - throughout his life - admonish them until he brought them to the knowledge of God so that their doubts would be resolved, and they would be forced to truly repent of their reckless actions. But I don’t know how (which had never happened before) strong indignation and annoyance were then revived in him, and he, being in such a bad state, lay down and fell asleep, for it was evening. At midnight, when he usually woke up of his own accord to sing sacred hymns, he gets up after many dreams that were constantly interrupted and restless. Having begun a rant with God, he complained how indecent it was for saints, and said indignantly that there was no truth here when wicked people lived and perverted the right paths of the Lord. Saying this, he asked God to end both lives without mercy with one lightning strike. “Having said this,” he said, “suddenly, it seemed, I saw the house in which I was, first shaking, then its vaults divided into two halves and a fire burning brightly in front of me, which, since the place seemed already open, descended towards me from the sky; I saw the sky itself open and at the height of the sky - Jesus, who was standing in front of countless angels in human form. I saw this in the sky and was amazed.” “Looking down, I saw,” continued Karp, “the very platform stretched over a vast and gloomy abyss, and those men on whom I pronounced the curse, standing before me at the mouth of the abyss in a pitiful form, trembling from the weakness of their feet, but not falling into it. Snakes emerged from the depths of the abyss and either twisted, entangled themselves around their wavering legs, leaned on them and pulled them towards themselves, then teased them with their teeth and tails, flattered them and in every way managed to throw them into the abyss. Among the snakes there were people who also rushed at these men, pressed them, attacked them and struck them; it seemed that they were already close to falling, little by little inclined, partly against their will, partly voluntarily, to the persuasion and at the same time to the coercion of the evil one.” And Karp said that, looking down, he felt pleasure, but was careless about what was happening above; he was annoyed and indignant that they had not yet been cast down, and, repeatedly but in vain insisting on this, cursed them in indignation. Barely being able to look at the sky, he saw in it again the same thing that he had seen before: Jesus, looking at what was happening with a merciful eye, rising from the highest throne and descending towards them, extended the hand of goodness; The angels, together with Him, giving them help, guarded one on one side and the other on the other, and Jesus said to Carp: “Strike Me with your outstretched hand, for I am ready to suffer again for the salvation of people, and this pleases Me, only so that other people do not sin. But look, is it useful for you to exchange cohabitation with God and good and humane angels for staying in this abyss and with these snakes? This is what I heard from him, and I believe it to be true. 9. To the priest Titus, who asked Saint Dionysius through a letter, what is the house of Wisdom, what is her cup, her food and drink? I don’t know, beloved Titus, whether St. Timothy happened to hear any of the theological symbols I discussed; only in “Symbolic Theology” I explained all, in the opinion of many, extraordinary expressions of Scripture about God. Unenlightened souls are filled with absurd thoughts when the fathers, ineffably wise, encounter the divine, mysterious and inaccessible truth for the unclean mind under the veil of bold riddles. That is why we often do not believe the literal meaning of expressions in which the divine mysteries are described, and we ascend to these mysteries through contemplation from the sensory symbols corresponding to them. However, sometimes you can do without symbols, you can contemplate the heavenly mysteries on their own, in their nakedness and purity - this is how we see and please the Source of life, which pours itself into itself and exists in itself, which is a certain single, simple, self-moving, self-acting, never leaving Itself Power, which is the knowledge of all knowledge, contemplating Itself through Itself. So, I recognize it as necessary both for Timothy and for others to provide a feasible explanation of the various forms of sacred symbolism, because from the outside there seem to be so many improbabilities and incongruities! For example, the super-essential birth of God is attributed to God's womb, which bodily gives birth to God (Ps. 109:4); the born Word is assimilated into the human heart, as if regurgitating It (Ps. 44:1); the breath of the Spirit is expressed through the breath of the mouth (Ps. 32:6); The Mother of God's womb, containing the Son of God, is represented bodily (John 1:18); and sometimes symbols are used: planting, tree (Rev. 2:7), fruit (Is. 27:6), color, root (Ezek. 16:3), a source giving water (or pouring light. These are other descriptions of supernatural objects of theology. Thus, to designate the spiritual Providence of God, gifts, phenomena, powers, properties, destinies, stay, procession, judgment, unity, the image of either a man or a beast (Gen. 49:9) or another animal, or a plant (Song. 2:1), or a stone (1 Pet. 2:4) is attributed to God; sometimes He even appears dressed in the military armor of barbarians (Ps. 44:4); sometimes depicted as a sculptor and sculptor, like a certain artist (Ps. 65:10); sometimes Scripture gives Him horses (Ps. 75:7), chariots (Ps. 67:18) and seats (Ps. 44:7) or surrounds Him with the paraphernalia of a great feast (Luke 15) and depicts Him drinking, sleeping and noisy with wine (Ps. 77:65). What more can be said about anger and sorrow, about various oaths and repentance, about curses and hatred, about manifold and ambiguous expressions that cancel God's promise, about the struggle of God with the mighty of the earth, accompanied, as it were, by His fear and design against them, when they intended to erect a building not to offend others, but to preserve themselves, also about heavenly advice on how to deceive Ahab, about the carnal and sensual passion depicted in the book Song of Songs? How many other sacred concepts are there in the image of God, when hidden things are expressed as visible, individual and simple things as extended and consisting of parts, unimaginable and formless things as having form and image! But whoever knows how to penetrate into their hidden beauty comprehends everything mysterious and God-like in them, everything shining with the full light of theology. We are confident that symbolic combinations were invented not for themselves, but for unspoken knowledge, which, due to its holiness, is inaccessible to the unenlightened, but is revealed only to its experienced lovers, who are not carried away by childhood dreams when considering sacred symbols, but by the simplicity of their mind and the power of contemplation ascend to their simple and supernatural truth. Moreover, it should be noted that theological teaching is of two kinds: one inexpressible, mysterious, the other clear and easily understood; the first is clothed in symbols and consists of rituals, the other is in a philosophical form and can be provable, because it combines the expressible with the inexpressible; the latter convinces and binds the truth with words; on the contrary, the first shows her divinity without words, by the very deeds and sacred rites. It is known that neither we nor the Old Testament Church performed the sacred mysteries without divine symbols. We see that the most holy angels speak enigmatically, mysteriously about divine things, that Jesus Himself theologizes in parables and teaches Divine mysteries under the guise of a meal. For it was necessary not only to preserve the Holy of Holies from the defilements of the unenlightened crowd, but also to illuminate all human nature with the light of divine truths in accordance with its divisibility and at the same time indivisibility; the dispassionate soul had to be raised to simple and internal contemplation of God-like images, and the passionate body had to be healed and raised to God according to the laws of corporeality, i.e. through pre-established, transformative symbols that would be consistent with the concepts of the soul and at the same time would be completely consistent with the truths of undisguised theology, as images guiding the understanding of his teaching. Our visible world leads to the contemplation of the invisible things of God - this is what Paul and sound reason say. Therefore, theologians look at something else as an object of civil and legal life, and at another - as a pure and grace-filled matter, on the first - humanly and indirectly, on the second - supra-mundanely and secretly, reasoning about one on the basis of laws known to all, and about the other on the basis of invisible definitions, as much as they could be expressed in the Holy Scriptures and as much as can be understood by the mind and heart, for in all these Scriptures we are not offered dry story, but life-giving perfection. Therefore we must abandon the popular opinion of them and reverently penetrate into the inner meaning of sacred symbols, otherwise we would degrade them, because they are visible features and imprints of the divine nature, sensible images of ineffable and supernatural objects. Moreover, not only super-essential, spiritual or directly divine lights are colored with transformative symbols - for example, not only God is called fire (Deut. 4:11), but His mental word is also called fiery (Jer. 23:29); even the godlike ranks of conceivable and thinking angels are given various and all fiery images (Ps. 103:4). Therefore, the very image of fire must be understood differently when it expresses the incomprehensible being of God, differently when it means the mental word of His Providence, and differently when it denotes angels: in the first case it means cause, in the second - conditional being, and in the third - participation in being. In general, symbols should be understood as their contemplation and the laws of wisdom dictate to be understood; however, there is no need to mix them arbitrarily, but to explain them in accordance with the reasons, conditional existence, powers, ranks and virtues that they denote. But, in order not to go beyond the proper limits of writing, let us proceed to the actual study of the subjects you proposed. We say that all food serves to improve the one who feeds on it, because it replenishes his lack and poverty, strengthens his weakness, preserves his life, reveals and renews his strength, imparts pleasant liveliness to his feelings, generally takes away melancholy and imperfection, and gives joy and perfection. Therefore, it is well said in Scripture (Proverbs 9) that good Wisdom holds a mysterious cup and offers her sacred drink, and even before drinking, she offers solid food and with a loud preaching of mercy calls together those in need. So, the substance she proposes for nutrition is of two kinds: one is solid and permanent, the other is liquid and flowing. And lastly, i.e. the cup already leads to the idea of ​​how protective the goodness of Wisdom is: being round and open, the cup is a symbol of the beginningless and endless Providence, which takes care of everything; offered to everyone, it nevertheless abides in itself, remains in motionless identity, does not flow out at all, is always unchanging and immovable. The Scripture says that Wisdom created a house for herself, prepared solid food in it, placed vessels and a cup - from here everyone who considers divine things in a godly manner can easily see that all-perfect Providence is the reason for the existence and well-being of everything that exists; that it extends to everything, appears everywhere, contains everything and, despite the fact that it essentially remains in itself, does not mix with anything, or why, or with anything else; that, removed from everything, he is eternal and identical in being, and in state, and in being, for he is always the same and exists in the same way, is never outside himself, never abandons his work, nor his motionless presence or existence, but all performs his good deeds in himself; that it extends to everything and yet remains within itself; that he stands and moves, and at the same time does not stand and does not move; that he carries out the affairs of industry, so to speak, in immobility, and shows immobility in the affairs of industry. But what does solid and liquid food mean? For it is said that good Wisdom prepares both. Solid food, I think, is an expression of spiritual, constant perfection and identity, by which rational souls participate in an unchanging, strong, all-uniting and inseparable knowledge of divine things. Saint Paul, following Wisdom, teaches these intelligent souls truly solid food (1 Cor. 13:11). By the symbol of liquid food is meant the abundance of teaching that is convenient and shared by all, which, through the variety, plurality and particularity of its truths, leads those fed, according to the strength of each, to a simple and inseparable knowledge of God. Therefore, the mental sayings of God are sometimes likened to dew and water, sometimes to wine and honey, for they have the power to sometimes revive like water, sometimes to increase like milk, sometimes to restore life like wine, sometimes to purify and preserve like honey. This is what divine Wisdom bestows on those who come to her! This is how he pours out the wealth of his abundant meal! This is what a true feast means! That is why God is called the Life-Giver, the Nourisher of infants, the Renewer and the Perfector. In relation to this image of the sacred feast, God Himself, the Cause of all good things, is called reveling - in the sense that the fullness and abundance of His feast is beyond all understanding, or, to put it more divinely, that His bliss is all-perfect and the immensity of bliss is inexpressible. Just as with us intoxication, taken in a bad sense, is an excessive fulfillment of oneself with wine and a frenzy of mind and feelings, so in God, understood in a good way, it is nothing more than the excessive fullness of all the good things united in Him from eternity. The frenzy of mind and feelings that follows intoxication is an expression of God’s height, inaccessible to our thinking, conceivability and existence; it comes out of the realm of the mind. But just as God is called, as it were, intoxicated and frenzied with all possible blessings because he is filled with everything, and filled immeasurably, although he dwells outside of everything and above everything, so we must understand the expressions about the feast of the saints in the Kingdom of God. When it is said that the King Himself comes, invites them to sit down and begins to serve them (Luke 12:37), this indicates a certain indivisible and unanimous communion of the saints with the blessings of God; this describes the Church of the firstborn in heaven, or the souls of the righteous, endowed and filled with all good things. By the name of the invitation to sit down, we mean peace from many labors, a quiet life, a society honored with bliss in the bright land of the living - a society filled with all sacred pleasures, rich in various gifts of God that fill the hearts of the righteous with joy - such a society that Jesus Himself both pleases and plants, to which He Himself serves, and bestows eternal peace, and shares the fullness of blessings, and bestows without measure. You, of course, will ask me what does the sleep and wakefulness of God mentioned in Scripture mean? God's dream is that which is mysterious in God and incommunicable to things governed by Providence; on the contrary, the wakefulness of God is the appeal of His Providence to the instruction or salvation of people who feel the need for it. From here you will move on to an explanation of other theological symbols. Therefore, I consider it unnecessary to say the same thing about the same thing and imagine that you are saying something different; Moreover, I see that your demand has been fulfilled, and I finish the letter with the confidence that I have explained to you more symbols than how many should have been explained in your letter. In addition to this, I am sending you my entire “Symbolic Theology”, in which you will find what the house of Wisdom and its seven pillars mean, what solid food is and the division of sacrificial gifts and bread, what is the mixing of wine and the noise that comes from intoxication; there you will find a detailed explanation of everything I talked about in this letter. This “theology,” in my opinion, is a good interpreter of all theological symbols and corresponds to the traditions and truths of Holy Scripture. 10. John the Theologian, apostle and evangelist, during his imprisonment on Fr. Patmos Greetings to you, holy soul, beloved! This greeting is much more fitting for you than for many others. Rejoice, truly beloved by the truly Beloved, Desired and Loving! What wonder if Christ speaks the truth! Here His disciples are expelled from society by unrighteous people, who through this themselves strive for the fate they deserve, that is, being lawless, they are separated and removed from the saints. Phenomena are truly visible images of invisible things, for in the centuries to come it will not be God who causes the righteous removal of wicked people from Himself, but those who have departed from God themselves. On the other hand, we see that others already live with God here, because, loving the truth, they move away from the deception of material things; being free from all evil and inspired by divine love for all that is good, they love silence; living among people angelically, with perfect peace of mind, with gratitude to God, with kindness of heart and with other good qualities, they even in the present life demonstrate the holiness of the future life. I am not so crazy that I could attribute suffering to you, but I only think that in moments of thinking about bodily suffering one cannot help but feel it; however, rightly accusing people who have offended you and through this offense dream of blocking the sun of the Gospel, I ask them to stop the evil they are doing to themselves, turn to good, attract you to themselves and become partakers of the light. On the contrary, nothing will deprive me of the bright ray of John: now I enjoy only the recollection and renewal in my thoughts of your true theology, and soon (I will say, although it is bold) I myself will unite with you. Believe my prediction, sent from God, that you will be freed from the Patmos imprisonment, return to Asia, imitate the good God there and pass them on to your successors. Edited translation by Hierom. Hilarion (Alfeev) We are talking about the event described in 2 Kings 20. Because the crucifixion of Jesus Christ took place on a full moon, and at this time solar eclipses do not occur. You might be interested in: