II. Характеристические черты христианской деятельности как нравственной

These features are essential attributes of moral Christian acts, which must take place in every Christian act, large and small, and distinguish them from similar non-Christian acts. Since they are not accidentally included in Christian acts, but are determined by the rationally free decisions of Christians and are required by the internal structure of the moral Christian spirit, they take the form of rules and can rightly be called the laws of moral Christian activity in general. Judging by this, the definition of these features and accessories must be ascended according to the indications of the above-stated foundations of Christian life, which determine its internal structure. And one has only to look at moral activity as such, in the light of these instructions, and its moral and Christian features will be identified by themselves. In general discussions about human moral activity, the following is determined: 1) Conditions for the morality of actions. 2) Production of moral acts. 3) Rules for determining the moral worth of acts. 4) Types of morality with ages of moral life in a good and bad direction. Moral Christian deeds are also examined from these same angles, but all of them have their own differences, which a Christian should know well. 4. Conditions for the morality of actions - general and Christian These conditions are: a) self-awareness and b) free initiative. A person capable and obligated to moral acts must be in his own mind, or must be aware of himself, his present position and his relationships. Whoever is out of his mind, out of his mind, unaware of himself, his actions do not have a moral rank - such as the actions of the weak-minded, upset in mind, immersed in sleep or who have not yet come to their senses from sleep. Such a consciousness, however, must not only be the same as the general natural consciousness in which a person distinguishes himself as himself in the circle where he exists; but there must also be a strictly moral consciousness, called self-consciousness, in which a person recognizes himself as a person obligated to purposeful activity, to responsive deeds subject to reporting. Why do children, who have not yet reached such self-awareness, apologize for everything bad and with their goodness show only hope, albeit still indecisive; just as, on the contrary, adults are subject to strong reproach when they allow themselves to forget themselves and act in a manner that is not human and not according to their position and place. Applying the last property to a Christian, it should oblige him to a special kind of self-consciousness, namely Christian. That it must be special in him is evident from the fact that in rebirth he became different - new, not in thought, but in deed; why he had to be reborn in self-consciousness. What should be part of this self-consciousness is clear from how he entered the font of baptism or repentance and how he came out of it or what he became in it. He perished - and now he is delivered; I was wounded - and now I am healed; was rejected - and now accepted into sonship; he was self-willed - and now he has bound himself to obedience according to a vow. All this must resonate in his heart and together constitute one thing that he feels to be in Christ Jesus. In a feeling of healing and freedom, he must recognize himself as Christ’s servant, work and labor as if on His behalf, before Him and for His sake, so that he can say with the apostle: “I live not for anyone, but Christ lives in me” (Gal. 2:20). This Christian self-consciousness was so strong in many of the leading Christians that to all the questions of the tormentors they only answered: I am a servant of Christ, I am a servant of Christ. And here is the first feature of Christian morality, or the first property of a person acting in a Christian way - a slave, recognizing himself as a slave, acts in relation to his master as a slave; the son, recognizing himself as a son, acts before his father as a son, so the loss of this consciousness is at the same time the beginning of their deviation from their order. And a Christian, conscious of himself as a servant of Christ, must set out to work. With the extinguishing of this consciousness, his actions, if they do not become bad, then lose to a greater or lesser extent their Christian character and enter the category of general moral affairs. Meanwhile, a Christian is not only a generally moral person, but a moral person in a Christian way. If, therefore, from such self-awareness all the activities of a Christian receive their character, then its light should burn in his soul, not extinguishing, not diminishing, but increasing, to the very end of his life. That is why the Right Reverend Tikhon wrote this rule for his entire flock: “A brief admonition that every Christian from infancy to death should always keep in mind: remember 1) that at Holy Baptism, through your father and mother of the godfather, you renounced Satan, and all his works, and all his ministry, and all his pride, and this you did by threefold renunciation. 2) Having renounced Satan, you promised three times to serve Christ the Son of God, with the Father and His Holy Spirit. So, at baptism you signed up for the service of Christ and swore allegiance, just as soldiers and others sign up for the service of the king of the earth and swear allegiance. Keep this in mind, instill it in your family, and especially in your little children, so that, remembering your promise, they are accustomed to piety from a young age.” 2) Free initiative Despite the fact that a person recognizes himself as a person and a moral person, not everything that comes from him and in him is due to him as a person or is moral. Moral actions are imprinted with special properties. Firstly, they are inevitably conscious actions, because they come from the person who is conscious of himself and are due to him. How can something be owed to him when he doesn’t even know about it? For example, the circulation of blood, nutrition and growth of the body are as well as the habitual movements of the arms, legs and other members. Not every conscious action, however, should be attributed to a person as a person. There are many actions in this, which, although they are recognized by him in himself, however, occur completely without his knowledge, and are not carried out by him himself. These are all the natural movements of his forces and needs. So, self-activity must also be added to consciousness, that is, self-initiation, self-election. In order for a certain deed to be attributed to a person, it is necessary that he himself began and carried out it intentionally, and since this person recognizes himself as moral, the character of morality transfers to the deed itself. This character can transfer to those actions that do not occur according to his will, but not otherwise than when he gives his free consent to them, for in this case he assimilates them to himself - chooses them, makes them his own. From this moment on, they begin to be owed to him, both by themselves and by others. So, anger will be born by itself, but when a person agrees to it, then he himself begins to get angry. On the contrary, if someone, feeling an involuntary movement of anger or other passion, does not agree to it, but strains to overcome them, then they are not imputed to him, although they are in him. This act of consent is very significant in life and, one might say, is just as, if not more, comprehensive as self-initiation. For his share is due not only what happens within us or what is produced by us, but also by others - independently of us. And someone else’s business, in which our consent has somehow interfered, is also due to us. It follows from this that everything is imputed to a person’s person and is moral, what he consciously chose and to which he consciously agreed. It is obvious after this that for a person, in order to maintain the character of a moral person, it is necessary to be the master of his actions, to dispose of them at his discretion and his goal, and not to be led by the flow of external circumstances or his internal spiritual movements. But what a mixed and pitiful picture will a person’s moral life present if we reconsider it from this point of view?! How much is done in ignorance, oblivion and inattention! This is the part lost to good morality, although not to judgment. How much is humiliated or also stolen by such cases in which either consciousness is subjected to violence, as, for example, in anger and fear, or self-activity is undermined, as in passions and sinful habits? Meanwhile, external events that encourage free initiatives, and internal movements that entice consent, do not always agree with the law and are always almost disordered. Why is human moral activity meager, mixed and even ugly? The reason for this is direct in the loss of moral strength. This power is resurrected or restored in a Christian by the grace of God. Why, entering the field of moral activity, a true Christian, with the consciousness of his duty to work for Christ, has one exclusive goal - to walk in His will: he made a vow to this end, is flaming with zeal, and most importantly, accepted power. Standing on a solid foundation, he commands his affairs and directs them all towards the indicated goal, allowing no deviation. This is exactly how he acts! From the first time he learns for himself the requirements of the Christian law - by reflection, reading, hearing, conversation - as much as he can and as much as he can. He builds, in accordance with this knowledge, the entire order of his life - both external and internal - at least in its general and main parts. Finally, he rules himself and his affairs according to his own plan, without being carried away, as has been said, by either the external course of related events or the internal movements of his nature. This is required both by the desire of the heart, which has decided to work for the Lord in all paths of life, and by that property of grace, by which a person reigns in himself and becomes his complete owner and manager. The apostles command nothing else when they command “to be sober, to watch, ... to take heed to oneself” (1 Pet. 5:8; 1 Cor. 16:13; 1 Tim. 4:16). For this, obviously, commands conscious and prudent management of one’s activities, personal management, although in arbitrary subordination to the will of God. What else does the apostle instill when he teaches that “a spiritual church, a sanctuary” should be built to God? (1 Pet.2:5; Eph.2:22). For this means arranging your life according to a known plan, leading it harmoniously, in gradual elevation and improvement, in the full conviction that it is being led according to a heavenly - Divine blueprint, which is the Christian law, depicted in the Word of God by the Lord Himself and the Apostles. 5. Production of moral acts It has been said that a Christian is the director of all his activities. Now let's see how he conducts each of his business separately. First, let’s say how each work is done in general, and then how a Christian work is built. External action is the fruit of internal action. Before it is revealed, it must take place within. Where a person’s moral activity is given over to a mechanical correlation of his forces, the method of internal formation of a moral matter is explained by various combinations of the actions of reason and will, or degrees of desire and turns of reasoning. Here reason and will take several turns and accordingly change in activity. First they turn to the subject or matter; and here the understanding sees it and presents it to consciousness in illusory or true perfection, for which the will finds it pleasing and would desire it; then, when the mind declares receiving this object or doing the deed possible both for the strength and for the person’s personality, the will really desires it and is actively ready to strive for it. Then they move from the subject to the means. Here it is a matter of reason - consultation, review of means, comparison of good with better and indication of more adaptive ones, which are immediately chosen by will. This election, combined with active desire, gives rise to determination. Next, the plan must be carried out: the mind collects various ideas to excite and strengthen the will; the will acts by setting in motion the lower forces subordinate to it. Finally, the deed is done: the intellect acquires from this experimental, practical knowledge regarding this matter, while the will enjoys, calming down in achieving the goal, and experimentally tastes the good from it. So naturally a person goes from the first thought about an object to the final enjoyment of it after completing the task. But this is a story, or better yet, a form without content. What content should a Christian put into this form, or what specific way of doing things is characteristic of him? Exactly, and he has these four turns, now to the object, now to the motives, now to the means, now to what should happen after the deeds are completed; but all this has a special meaning for him, a special spirit and property in accordance with his main mood and goal. Namely: a Christian is in communion with God and is zealous to remain in this communion through the active fulfillment of His will by the power of grace, in a sense of slavery to the Lord Jesus Christ. It follows that all his deeds should, as it were, come from God and return to God. This general law is expressed in the following course of carrying out truly Christian deeds: having realized the legality of a certain action, or, what is the same, the will of God for it and having felt the inner obligation to carry it out, a Christian must incline both his will and his heart to it; then, after asking for God's help in prayer, with a feeling of strength in the Lord (Phil. 4:13), perform it, always, however, humbly recognizing the imperfection and insignificance of both this action and all others, and finally resting only in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. This is a universal program for every Christian cause: a) consciousness of the will of God in it; b) inclination of one’s will and heart to it; c) prayer for help in accomplishing it and d) not seeing it and your other good deeds. 1) Consciousness of the will of God in the work undertaken A Christian must do all his deeds with a clear consciousness of their legality or that it is the will of God for them, so that he can walk in the light as “a son of light and ... day, and not of night and darkness” (1 Thess. 5:5). The essence of his baptismal vow obliges him to do this. If for the sake of salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ he surrendered himself entirely to God, then at the same time he surrendered to Him all his affairs, internal and external. Why should he not allow something to come into his life that he was not sure would be pleasing to God and the Lord? He was “created in Christ Jesus for good works, ... that he might walk in them” (Eph. 2:10). Without this, he cannot be confident in Divine favor towards himself, cannot boldly stand before the face of God and “look joyfully at heaven” (Job 22:26), which, in fact, reveals that he is standing at his last goal or is in communion with God. For it is not otherwise than when “our heart does not blind us to boldness toward God,” teaches the Apostle John (1 John 3:21). Why is it a direct commandment for him to “not be foolish, but understand what is the will of God” (Eph. 5:17). So, the constant rule of his activity should be: in every action that comes from your consciousness and should be due to you, hasten to recognize the will of God and do not proceed to perform it otherwise than by an exact determination that it is not only not contrary to the will of God, but is also pleasing to Him; Seal actions not determined by law with your own will, so that in this way your whole life will be according to God. At the same time, everyone is ready to ask how to find out the will of God in particular cases? The means to find out the will of God for this or that matter, the first and most important thing, is conscience, enlightened by the Word of God and guided by the grace of God. Because that is what she is determined to do, this is her essential business. He who treats his conscience in good faith, does not contradict it, does not distort it, and does not drown it out with his talk, can rarely say: I don’t understand what to do. If he really encounters any bewilderment, then he immediately solves it, as it should be solved, by self-sacrifice and love. The great help of conscience provides assistance to education or the organization of one’s life according to a conscious and understood law, as was said before. For if someone really understood all the actions obligatory for himself as a Christian, understood the spirit of a truly Christian life, and then, according to this, he established all his behavior in his place, at his time, on his own behalf, and on everything in general he put the stamp of the will of God; if, at the same time, everything that is unusual for a Christian, which he found in his internal and external life, is changed by him and rebuilt with prudence, however, without pleasing and without the slightest indulgence to selfishness and passions, and especially to the corrupt customs of the age - if all this is done as it should; then every action after this will no longer be anything other than an expression of the will of God. Further, real life, in a truly Christian spirit, although not without mistakes, always intelligible, will enrich you with experiences and practical reason. In other cases, for those who have put it on their hearts to walk in the will of God, the Holy Spirit living in them at the hour of action will reveal how to act according to the Lord’s promise to the apostles (Luke 12:12). Only bad intentions drive away this leader. But “if a man is a man, fear the Lord; he will give him a law according to his will,” sings David (Ps. 24:12). Finally, everyone has a spiritual father, and the law commands us to obey and turn to him for advice. Do as he says, and you will act according to the will of God. Such activity throughout a Christian’s life imparts a character of prudent attention to one’s internal and external behavior and, at the same time, careful timidity - not to do anything against the will of God. In general, courage is considered by all the holy fathers to be the beginning of deviation from the right path. Why do they advise maintaining a constant fearful concern for good. (There is a false conscience - scrupulosa; it’s not about that, it’s a disease of conscience). In this regard, all people are mainly divided into three classes: some always and in everything act according to their own will, not constrained by any rules, that is, they follow the broad path; others constrain themselves in everything by the will of God and follow a narrow path; still others want to maintain an impossible middle ground: these are neither warm nor cold. Looking at human affairs from this point of view, we must conclude that all those who act without due attention to themselves and the main goal of their life or act, as it happens, according to the routine and flow of circumstances, sin. This reveals in them indifference and even contempt for the will of God - negligence. They act without being sure of the correctness of their actions, with a dark and uncertain consciousness of the conformity or inconsistency of their actions with the will of God. For “everything that is not of faith,” says the apostle, “is sin” (Rom. 14:23). Koi act when in doubt; who, that is, while their consciousness oscillates between one side and the other, decide to act and carry it out under this continuous oscillation. “The conscience of such people is weak; the being is defiled” (1 Cor. 8:7). As well as those who allow themselves to act rashly, in confusion of spirit, while being carried away by some new and striking thought, or by some feeling, especially passion. They usually consider themselves to be right, for example, those who are angry, jealous beyond reason: often their side actually turns out to be right. But besides the fact that this rightness is an accident, the main thing for them is not pleasing God, but themselves, their passions and their character. Especially those who, with various pretexts, want to exclude themselves from fulfilling the conscious will of God and with various ideas dissuade themselves even in the very legality of a lawful matter. Such people obviously act against conscience - and their deeds are an obvious crime. 2) Inclination of the will to an obligatory matter This is the second technique when a Christian performs his deeds. This is mentioned because few people consider this point to be significant, when in fact it is not insignificant. Once the legality of an action, or God’s will for it, is known, a Christian must immediately incline his will to it and dispose his heart. The first because she is not always submissive, the second because otherwise a matter without heartfelt participation will be a soulless matter. It is fair that one who has vowed to please God in everything should feel a greater or lesser readiness to fulfill all known His will; but such easy mobility for good, free, unharmed, is always a spiritual good, acquired through long labor and many deeds. Usually, the will has its own dispositions, inclinations and passions, which do not allow it to willingly rush to do good and distract it in the opposite direction; sometimes she is in a state of incomprehensible willfulness, when, with all the strength of obligation, she does not want to do what she should (Rom. 7:20). Therefore, it is necessary to force yourself to do good, as if by force to attract and incline towards it, to persuade and convince your soul. It is obvious that here much, if not everything, depends on the perception of the law by the heart, from which a sense of obligation or awareness of the moral necessity of action is heard. Just as in general the feeling of the heart underlies the actions of the will, so in moral life the feeling of obligation constitutes the strongest point of support for inclining the will to action. A person in whom, through the action of Divine grace in baptism or repentance, is imprinted a fiery zeal for pleasing God, or unswervingly walking in the will of God, who, therefore, thirsts for the will of God, such a person immediately acts as soon as he realizes the obligation, despite any obstacles. Therefore, if, on the one hand, this zeal never grew cold and was not discouraged, and if, on the other hand, the moral feeling always possessed such perfection that it vividly and truly felt the power of the obligation of action and was so sensitive to the will of God that the smallest traces of it were reflected in it, then these two forces could replace all instructions in morality and all guides to piety, as this happened with some ascetics. But since jealousy actually occurs in a person in different degrees of increase and decrease, and the moral feeling, by its natural properties, is lively and exciting in one, dull and slow in another, more accustomed to some things, to others - to other things, sometimes it is true, sometimes it is not true (for there is also a false moral taste), and in general a person encounters in his heart great unevenness and wrongness (why he prays: renew the spirit of rights), according to which it is either unlawfully sensitive to one, or unlawfully cold to another, then in many cases it is necessary for it, as it were, to impose an obligation on itself by force and introduce this feeling into the heart. Such control of the heart and will is carried out through impulses, or this kind of thoughts and truths, which have the power to boil the heart - to make it soft and accommodating. It is not difficult to determine where to find such thoughts. What is the relationship between freedom and law? Mainly by the feeling of dependence on God. Consequently, all thoughts that strike this feeling of dependence and set it in motion must stand among the impulses of the will. What exactly these thoughts are can be seen from the path of conversion of a Christian. Since this conversion, having begun with a feeling of dependence, was resurrected in repentance and through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, sealed with vows in baptism, then these very truths and others touched by them should have the power to support, purify and renew extinguishing zeal and, at the same time, the will for good. So... Bring to mind the vows of baptism and remember the blessings given to you with this: justification, rebirth, sonship with God and inheritance to Christ. Do not stain this clean garment. Remember the economy of salvation: how the Only Begotten Son of God came to earth for your sake, became incarnate, suffered, died, was resurrected, ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of the Father and there intercedes for you; and beware of being ungrateful. Remember also how the Holy Spirit descended on the apostles and, through them, having established the Holy Church, remains in it to lead believers to Christ, and how He was communicated to you in the sacraments, and be careful to offend Him with uncleanness. Remember your nobility, with which you are honored in creation and rebirth, and then the vileness of sin and the holiness of virtue, how it distorts, and this sanctifies your inner. Place yourself mentally before the eyes of God, your Creator and Provider, who holds you in His right hand and gives you everything that is in you and that you possess, who is everywhere, sees everything to your innermost thoughts, who, as much as His goodness and goodness constantly reveals, is just as righteous and ready to reveal His truth at every moment. Remember the last thing: death is inevitable, but unknown; unfeigned judgment for every word, deed and thought; hell and eternal torment, without measure and end: the Kingdom of Heaven with unspeakable joys. These thoughts, like some kind of atmosphere, must contain the soul, and zeal for pleasing God will not go out. At least, in the right case, each of them will strongly evoke it and restore it to its proper strength. Just try to bring these thoughts to feeling, and not keep them in the form of cold ideas; For this purpose, turn them before your heart in the way that they can influence it, collect everything that is striking, move from one to another and do not leave work until you overcome yourself and restore proper order and proper subordination within. It is impossible that such conscientious doing will not bear fruit. There is, however, an all-conquering thought, special to each soul, which instantly overcomes the stubbornness of the will. Try to find it so that you can steer it like a rudder, the ship of your soul. Particularly strong in this case is the attention to the particular case at hand. Whoever hastily makes clear to himself its connection with the main law on the one hand and the inevitability of action on the other, he places himself, as it were, in some cramped conditions, which is why, out of necessity, he becomes inspired and strains his strength. To also be able to find a side in a matter that is flattering to the heart, not with sin, but to innocently develop a taste for it is one of the wise orders of a person in relation to himself. In general, you need to convince yourself. However, just as in external governments they sometimes act by persuasion, and often by power, forcing one to do something else even against one’s will, so a person can use, for his own will and heart, in addition to the first, the last resort - whether you like it or not, pleasantly or unpleasantly, do it. This is God’s will – it cannot be otherwise. 3) Prayer as part of Christian deeds There is prayer, one of the duties of a Christian to God, and there is prayer, as part of truly Christian deeds. The arrogant person relies on himself for everything. A true Christian expects everything from God, which is why he begins, continues and ends every task with prayer. And his whole life in general is primarily a life of prayer, as the Apostle commands: “pray without ceasing... praying with all prayer and supplication at all times in the Spirit” (1 Thess. 5:17; Eph. 6:18). At the same time, he prays to the Lord for admonition, so that with the spirit of His wisdom he might instill what is pleasing to Him in diverse combinations of circumstances (James 1:5), as the prophet David prayed to Him: “Tell me Your ways, O Lord, and teach me Your paths. Guide me in Your truth and teach me” (Ps. 25:4-5). Pray for the strengthening of his weak strength, so that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ will give him “according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened by His Spirit in the inner man” (Eph. 3:16). Having kindled with prayer his zeal for pleasing God, he feels that he can do everything in Christ who strengthens Him, and in the feeling of this strength he confidently performs good deeds. Through prayer, finally, he sacrifices himself and his deeds to God, humbly begging to cover both this deed and all other deeds and his whole life with His mercy. Just as at first he devoted himself entirely to the Lord, so afterward he offers every thought, word and deed to Him as a “sacrifice of righteousness” (Ps. 4:6), “acceptable to Him” (Heb. 13:16). Thus, prayer during a good deed shows that this is a truly Christian deed; work without prayer is not Christian. “It is impossible for Christian life to exist without prayer,” says Chrysostom (St. Tikhon, vol. 2). “The head of all good diligence and the summit of good deeds is always remaining in prayer, through which we acquire other virtues,” teaches St. Macarius (Kr. lecture; February 6). By applying prayer to good deeds and forcing oneself to do them, despite the resistance of the heart, according to St. Macarius, a Christian soon rises to the top of virtues and begins to do the commandments of God without any labor, with desire and pleasure (Short teachings; February 4, November 26). The last essential property and, as it were, the conclusion of Christian deeds is not seeing them, as if not noticing them. A Christian, having created everything, says that he is an “unbreakable servant” (Luke 17:10), which is why he places the final hope of salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ. “Such is the foundation of Christianity that even if someone has accomplished all the deeds of righteousness, he should not dwell on them, hope for them and think that he has already done a lot” (Macarius the Great. On Love, Chapter 30). Therefore, having tasted Christianity, think that you have not yet touched it, and this should not be superficial, but as if planted and forever established in your thoughts (Macarius the Great. On Love, Chapter 3). The possibility of such an arrangement is explained by a living consciousness of the power of God in oneself or how it accomplishes good deeds in us. If God “works in us, both to will and to do” (Phil. 2:13), then what should we see in ourselves or what should we pay attention to? Therefore, the God-loving soul, righteously attributing all its deeds to God, constantly feels insignificant and despicable (Macarius V. on freedom of mind, chapter 8). On the other hand, the soul, truly God-loving and Christ-loving, although it creates numerous virtues, behaves as if it had not created anything for the sake of an insatiable desire for the Lord. She never imagines herself to be something; but the more spiritually rich he becomes, the more insufficient he considers himself, inflamed with a spiritual desire insatiable for the heavenly Bridegroom, as Scripture says: “those who eat Me will still hunger and those who drink Me will still thirst” (Sir. 24:23) (St. Mac. Conversations 10, ch. 1, 4). The saving fruit of this is that a Christian continually begins to live like a Christian, considering everything that has passed as nothing, as the Apostle Paul testifies to himself: “I do not think of attaining to myself; but forgetting what is behind, but reaching out to what is before, I strive with zeal for the honor of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. I have not already attained, or have already been accomplished: but I persecute even if I comprehend, the same which was comprehended by Christ Jesus” (Phil. 3:12-14). Christian life, therefore, is continuous repentance. Every moment he raises a repentant appeal to God for mercy and purification of his thoughts, movements of his heart, or something else unnoticed. Thus, indeed, every Christian work comes from God and returns to God. If at any of the points shown the soul appropriates something to itself, it will hinder the formation of a truly good deed. From this will come the ghost of good. Acting as shown, a Christian continually surrenders himself to God in everything and, therefore, is continually in communion with Him. Judging by everything written down, everyone can be convinced that the Christian cause is not the same as any other, for there are special kinds of turns of consciousness, mind, will and heart, which imprint the actions of a Christian with a special character. A Christian has his own state of personality, his own attitude to activity and his own order of doing each thing, as is obvious. Consider this, everyone, and judge yourself by this. But others are judged by God. 6. How is the moral worth of deeds determined? If you look at things abstractly, then their dignity is not difficult to determine. The deed according to the commandment is good; doing something contrary to the commandment is bad. For the commandment is holy. It is said: do alms, alms is a good deed, and vice versa. But when we consider deeds that were actually done by us or by someone else, then, in addition to this consistency or inconsistency with the commandments, we must pay attention to other aspects, such as the goal and circumstances. In this regard, it has long been accepted that the moral dignity of an action is determined by its: a) subject, b) purpose and c) circumstances. 1) Subject in moral actions Each of our actions, internal and external, that is, our thoughts, feelings, desires, words, movements, actions, have their own subject. Most of these objects have been elevated to an unchangeable rule and law, so it is impossible not to desire and not to do them. They constitute the circle aa) of our responsibilities. Several items are offered as bb) tips. Finally, a considerable number remain without definition of their meaning. They are neither good nor evil in themselves, because they are indifferent and are considered permissible to everyone. The commandments or duties constitute the foundation, structure and solidity of the moral kingdom; advice is above the law (St. Chrysostom); what is permissible is beneath him. A deed that is commanded and, therefore, obligatory, differs from advice and action of an indifferent one by the internal or conscientious non-compulsion to do it. It can be decisively said that for what there is such an internal compulsion or regarding what a person recognizes himself as being in moral necessity, that is, his duty. For such consciousness is the action of conscience; conscience must be resolutely obeyed to the extent that it binds. On the contrary, what is considered in the form of advice as the best is only pleasant, but not boring; in relation to actions that are indifferent, our moral feeling is indifferent, that is, it does not say anything about them: act as you want. But it is truer and more reliable to distinguish between them according to the instructions of the revealed Word of God, which is a code of spiritual codes. Whatever is commanded or indicated there as a law, our conscience must unquestioningly bind itself or accept it as a duty; What is indicated there as advice must be taken as advice; what is left without definition of meaning should be considered as such. a) About duties or commandments The general basis of moral necessity inherent in commandments or duties is the consciousness of God’s will for them. Just as in the external world no one can resist this will, so in the internal, moral world there must be silent obedience to the Divine will. Conscience by nature is combined with the will of God; therefore, as soon as it is indicated to her that this and that is the will of God, she is immediately inclined to do this, stands for this and forces us not to violate it. However, placing this or that matter as a duty, the Lord did not want to limit himself to one His will or one title of omnipotence, but to each of these matters He deigned to attach other, immediate grounds, directly arising from the properties of the matter itself and its connections. These immediate foundations are the means through which the will of God is impressed on our mind and heart to the extent appropriate to the matter. Therefore, in interpreting your duties, you can, of course, limit yourself to the fact that this or that matter is the will of God; but it is more decent or more consistent with our nature to seek these immediate foundations, for through them the will of God binds us; on the other hand, from the point of view of the will of God, all duties appear equal, while they have unequal importance, which can only be recognized through immediate reasons. Judging by these immediate reasons, and partly by other connections, our duties, or the deeds that we feel internally forced to do, take on different shades. The first of these shades is determined by their origin. In this regard, there are conscientious responsibilities, such suggestions, for which conscience alone is sufficient, even if there were no outside instructions. They are called natural because we are born with them. There are positive duties, such which are already imposed on the conscience and become one of its own duties. The strength of these obligations depends on the fact that they are perceived by conscience itself as a law and, one might say, from that moment on they cease to be purely positive. True, some of them are only developments of natural, conscientious ones, however, because of this, those who have nothing, so to speak, to take root in their conscience, do not lose anything from their inherent strength, and others even become higher than all natural ones. Of the positive ones - some are Divine, and moreover, immediate, such as the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ and His holy Apostles, contained in the Word of God and in the Holy Tradition of the Church, and Divine mediocre, such as the decrees of the Ecumenical Councils. Others are human and, moreover, church and civil. The latter come from the sovereign, and the former from the church hierarchy. The obligation to both follows from the Divine origin of the authorities and our conscientious submission to them. He who is devoted to the Church and the throne accepts everything that comes from them with reverence and does what they please, that is, according to the strength of the obligation that they impose. A special class of rules in this regard consists of customs, both church and civil. They attract us so pleasantly, our spirit is so at peace in them with a sense of security, protection and age-old immutability. Customs must be sacred to us: the strength of our life depends on them; he who is separated from them howls like the wind. But in fact, they are not included among the legal and mandatory rules unconditionally: precisely for this purpose it is necessary that they agree in everything with the moral law and the spirit of Christianity: the stronger their actions, the more dangerous the error in this regard. The memory of ancestors obliges us to silent submission. Experience shows that violation of such customs is always closely related to the corruption of morals. That all the corrupt customs of the age are excluded from this is self-evident. But in general, one must strictly remember the difference between custom and commandment, or law. Because the one who is corrupted in heart and mind almost always begins with contempt for customs, and then, out of ignorance, although not without desire, he begins to regard everything as custom, that is, both faith and morality, and also begins to despise them. So you need to know its boundaries. What’s around, you can still lay your hand on that, but don’t touch the heart of moral life, responsibilities. The second shade is placed on the commandments or duties, their internal meaning, property or content. In this regard, there are unconditional duties that a Christian person must fulfill, no matter who he is and no matter the circumstances; and there are conditional ones, obligatory only under certain conditions. For example, the responsibilities of a father lie only with a married person who, moreover, has children. The former flow from the essence of man and the Christian, the latter from his condition and position in the world. One should not, however, think that conditional duties are insignificant. For the one to whom they go, they have the power of unconditional, for they are nothing more than their closest application to his life. He cannot fulfill the former except through the latter. These stand in the foreground, and those are hidden under them; therefore, even if he did not have the former in mind, he fulfills them through the latter. Both are main, source, radical and subordinate, consequential. The former must be placed deeper in the heart, the latter held as if in the hands. However, the obligation to the latter is just as strong as to the former, which is why there is a law that whoever is obliged to some action is also obliged to the means that necessarily lead to it. There is, for example, the duty to cleanse the heart of passions; We must also consider certain feats a duty, for otherwise it is impossible to fulfill that duty. Most remarkable in this regard is the division of duties into duties of justice and love, or benevolence. This is the relationship God has established between people, so that one does not violate the freedom and rights of another and repays him what he owes him. This is required, as they say, by justice. Whoever does this is right, whoever violates it is wrong. He can be brought to court and demand satisfaction. Requirements of this kind are duties of justice. They constitute the outer fence of a virtuous life. He who violates the law of justice steps outside the realm of virtue; but whoever fulfills them, for the completeness of virtue, must also apply deeds of love both to people and to truth itself. Love is not limited to justice alone or to what truth demands, but willingly does more than that out of inner goodwill alone. Whoever does this is morally good, but no one can be forced to do this. Someone who, for example, has borrowed money from another and does not want to give it back, can be forced to give it back by authority; but whoever does not help someone in need cannot be forced to do so. A true Christian willingly does good to others, although there is no external compulsion associated with this, and acts fairly in relation to others not out of fear of punishment, but out of love for truth and out of the fear of God. There is also a difference in duties: some prescribe what should be done, while others indicate what should not be done. “Turn away from evil and do good,” says the prophet (Ps. 33:15). There are also responsibilities to God, there are responsibilities to our neighbors and to ourselves. “Love the Lord with all your heart, and your neighbor as you love yourself,” says the Lord. The third shade of duties is a consequence of the first two and consists of varying degrees of their importance. From the enumeration of duties shown, it is already obvious that not all duties have the same force of obligation for us, and some are more coercive, others are less coercive. This is confirmed by conscience, and by the Savior, when he denounced the Jews for “forsaking those who did the law,” which should have been done, and clinging exclusively to what could only be “not forsaken” (Matthew 23:23). Knowing the strength and relationship of different duties is very important in moral life. This is already required by the harmony of morality, so that just as on the outside, as part of the law, everything stands in its place, so on the inside, in our hearts, everything has its corresponding weight. This harmony in the heart has been lost: why should we pray that the Lord would renew the right spirit in us. But this is especially necessary so that, as the Lord denounced the Jews, they do not strain out mosquitoes by devouring camels. By attaching too much importance to the unimportant, you can obscure the most important and thereby turn God’s order into yourself. In fact, it would be up to our conscience to determine the importance of duties, and then one rule would decide everything: the more compelling the demand of conscience, the more important the duty; but due to the infidelity of our conscience in its current state, such a rule in very many and very important cases cannot give the right decision, for we often bribe ourselves with passions. Therefore, it is necessary to set some external standard to measure the importance of duties. If we judge abstractly, then it is obvious that 1) the more important the duty, the closer it is to the essential, or the more the moral order is perverted by the violation of any duty, the more important it is. This general rule, when applied to business, receives the following two reinforcements: 2) the more incentives there are for a certain business, the more important it is. For if through these motives or reasons the will of God comes to us, then where there are more of them, therefore the will of God acts on us more urgently. For example, respect for parents is more obligatory than respect for anyone else, 3) The more significant the object of the action, either in itself or due to circumstances, the more obligatory it is. However, it must be kept in mind that when different degrees of importance of duties are indicated, it does not follow from this that one is allowed to disparage some duties in one’s thoughts or is given freedom to fulfill them or not to fulfill them. Every duty is sacred and must be performed with all the diligence, readiness and unsparing labor required. This is done in order to guide everyone to be a wise worker in the kingdom of Christ, knowing its order and order of actions, and not giving in to the random flow of circumstances. In reality, however, there seem to be great injustices in man’s assessment of the deeds that are obligatory for him. This mainly concerns the relationship of Christianity to natural law, and churchism to citizenship. The commandments that condition salvation are above all; for without the salvation of the soul, what will everything else mean? They are followed by moral laws of conscience; for those first ones exist in order to sanctify and bring into force these last ones. Next should come the sacred ranks of the Church; for they are the closest vestments of the first two, and finally, citizenship. For, having a temporary meaning, it must be in the service of faith and good morality, which determine the receipt of eternal bliss. But in reality this is not the case. For someone whose heart is not properly governed, Christianity does not come first; he thinks little about the Church and its beneficial institutions; Honesty and family and civic benefit are the basic rules of his morality. How many are content with this rule and are at peace! A person who begins to live virtuously in a Christian manner must first of all pay attention to this, take care to correct his feelings and give his weight and his place to any responsibility. Another wrong is found in preferring the duties of truth to the duties of love and benevolence. Almost everyone considers the former to be higher than the latter, and thus the true spirit, the spirit of love, is driven out of life, as if by force. The laws of truth constitute in themselves only the outer fence of the moral kingdom; whoever walks on them may not be inside this kingdom. For if legality alone satisfies them, and the legality of the deed does not deny the bad heart, then every righteous person, according to the obligations of righteousness, can be a moral lawless person. True moral life is in fulfilling the duties of love: here is the root of life. With this spirit of love one must also fulfill the duties of truth. And we can say that only then, as they are imbued with this spirit, do they enter the realm of morality. After this, is it possible to place them higher than the first? If such a rule is generalized, then we must expect a general perversion of the moral order. The moral world will be torn away from its center. There is also a third untruth in the incorrect proportionality of our rights with those of others. For a self-loving heart, our rights to others are more valuable than the rights of others to us. For others, this is the law. But Christians shouldn't do that. According to the word of the Lord, they should forget their rights: someone hit you on the cheek - substitute another; If you take one garment, give it another; If someone borrows money, don’t ask... don’t resist evil at all; let it come to you... On the contrary, the rights of others should have complete respect and reverence. Both the brother’s person and his property are inviolable and sacred for a Christian. If we add to this that a Christian is obliged to all kinds of good will, with which he must fulfill the duties of truth, then this is how we can determine the order and relationship of these duties: be as zealous as possible in fulfilling the duties of good will; With the same spirit, fulfill the duties of truth, forgetting your rights. One must acquire skill in assessing the true importance of duties, especially as applied to particular cases. This will give us the opportunity to easily get out of a difficult situation when mandatory matters collide. For duty presupposes the necessity of a certain action. Meanwhile, there are often cases in which a person is faced with two or more obligatory tasks, of which, however, he can and must perform only one. Such a clash of responsibilities always leaves one perplexed as to what to decide on. Whoever understands well the relative importance of duties will not find it difficult to choose what is due. It is certain that the apparent incompatibility of duties is only imaginary. For one thing must always be done. You just need to guess what exactly. Anyone who finds it difficult to choose is advised to: 1) first of all, see whether the duties exactly contradict the duties? Is it not our selfhood, is it not some passions that do not want to submit to duty? 2) If, indeed, there are duties and responsibilities in dispute, then it is necessary to see whether they are of the same type. With duties of different types, the higher ones prevail over the lower ones, namely: the unconditional over the conditional, the Divine over the human, the main over the means. 3) When duties are of the same type, then everything is decided by reasons, reasons or motives. Where there are more of these reasons, one should lean there. 4) It often happens that out of the existing duties, it is possible to fulfill one before, another after, and only haste, and sometimes weakness of the heart, creates difficulty. Everyone, however, knows from experience that a confluence of responsibilities and even a collision of them rarely puts one in a situation that is not the starting point. Conscientiousness will easily solve everything by itself. But it must also be said that few cases for a person who is zealous for the purity of life are very confusing and sorrowful. Therefore, in order to prevent such cases, it is advised: 1) to build your duties according to a certain correct beginning, write, as it were, a life program (which has already been mentioned before) and then carry out it. In this case, accidents will be rare. 2) Think more often about duties and different cases of their fulfillment, put yourself mentally in difficult circumstances and figure out how to act in them. This creates liveliness of consideration and will help maintain presence of mind in tight quarters and correctness in resolving matters in them. 3) Consult and talk with experienced people more often. 4) At the very hour of need, place yourself in the presence of God or in the position of a dying person and do as you would do exactly on the edge of the tomb, ready to stand before the Judge - God. In addition to obligatory actions, regarding which we are in a moral necessity, the Word of God offers some actions in the form of advice in the sense that whoever performs them does better than the one who acts differently, and to which we are therefore pleasantly disposed, however, we do not feel bound by necessity. There is no doubt that such advice really exists. When a young man came to the Lord with the question: “What... having done, will I inherit eternal life?” The Lord answered him: “If you want to take it into your stomach, keep the commandments.” Then, when the young man announced that he had already saved all this from his youth, and wanted to know what he had not yet completed, the Lord added: “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your property and give to the poor, and follow Me.” Here the division is obvious between the duties necessary for salvation, and between such actions, through which they ascend only to the highest degree of perfection (Matthew 19, etc.). The same truth is even clearer in the Apostle Paul (1 Cor. 7). He was asked about virginity and marriage. He replied that he had no commandment from the Lord to oblige virginity, but he gave advice to observe it. Then he explains at length how and why virginity is superior to marriage. And he concludes that whoever gives his daughter in marriage does well, but whoever allows her to remain a virgin does better. Here the apostle distinguishes between commandment and advice. These are, however, only sample tips. But in fact, there can be countless of them in life. Therefore, it is unfair that in some branches of Protestants the idea is introduced that a Christian is absolutely obliged to everything, that is, as if bound by necessity. There is an obligation in advice, but not such that the one who does not fulfill it becomes a criminal. He is only less perfect. In this, our conscience is a true witness: don’t we feel such confidence in ourselves that such and such an action is necessary on us, and if we fail to perform it, we are criminals; and even that, although it is better, however, we are not bound in relation to it and will not become criminals without committing it. He who does not oppress his debtor, but awaits his debt in silence, does well. But whoever takes from the debtor only half of the debt, for the sake of his need, much more, whoever forgives the entire debt, does better. Patriarch Abraham, returning from the war, could have taken all the spoils for himself, all the more so since the kings themselves who helped him agreed to the same thing, and this act would not have been bad; but when he gave in everything, he did better. Or when he gave Lot the freedom to choose the best place for his residence, he acted in the best way; however, even that would not be bad if he himself assigned him a sufficient and good plot, although not better. And again, the saints of God reverently revered by us were then so exalted and glorified by God that throughout their entire lives they made it their lot to always choose the best and most perfect. If all the best were an indispensable law, where would the weak go and who could help but fall into despair about their salvation? Meanwhile, when it is left in the form of advice, how comforting it is for a weak and timid spirit and at the same time how inspiring for a Christian who feels quite strong! However, the Christian must be reminded: for you, heaven and earth were set in motion; you are chosen, sanctified, you have received powers that lead to life and godliness; is all this really without special goals and obligations for you? No, Christian, you must carefully do every good thing possible for you, which your thought has only touched. If, in gratitude to benefactors in ordinary life, they try to prevent their every desire, then you, showered with alms and the powers of God, can you refuse, without disturbing your conscience, the will of God, which shows you the best path and shows you, without wanting you to flow along it. When we take into account the word of the Lord: turn up the other cheek when you received a blow on one, or in general: do not resist evil, and the word of the Apostle - to seek the highest, to philosophize on high, then it seems impossible not to conclude that it is more common for a Christian to choose everything that is best and most perfect, of course, if possible, to fulfill it. For neither the Lord nor the apostles gave Christians any relief in anything, but as much as they considered them high, they obliged them to high, excellent, Divine deeds. And if we judge the differences between a Christian and others by the objects of his actions, then we can directly say: what makes him different is that he always chooses what is different in his actions. But again, what a multitude of weak, fearful Christians who barely step on the right path?! Inspire him, bring him to his senses, take him for a ride and carry him. There are shepherds who are instructed not only to watch how they go, but to lead and carry... In general, it is impossible to find a solid basis on which one could remove from us the obligation to choose the best... In general morality, outside of Christianity - well, this should not happen in Christianity. He who refuses the best degrades Christianity in himself and descends to the level of natural morality. You just need to remember 1) that this certainly concerns only the best, recognized by the best, to which there is, moreover, full possibility; why it will become obligatory even for the weak if you explain it to him; for then the reason why it is not fulfilled will remain only one’s reluctance and self-pity. 2) This does not apply to the most important advice - celibacy and arbitrary poverty. These are definitely not for everyone. But “he who is able to contain it,” says the Lord, “let him contain it” (Matthew 19:12). However, here too there are internal compulsions and external instructions that are unsafe to contradict in the matter of salvation. c) About the actions of indifferent Neither our internal law of conscience nor the written law says anything about many very actions. Such people are usually considered indifferent, left to their own devices (sit down, stand up, look left and right, etc.). There is no way to determine everything by law, judging by the endless variety of moral persons and circumstances. Moreover, it is not entirely in the spirit of the moral free law to bind everyone on all sides. If a person is educated in moral life, then in order to educate and strengthen his spirit, much should be left to his freedom, so that through this he would exercise his moral powers or reveal the true spirit of moral life, just as a father does not determine every step of his son with orders. It is only necessary to remember that if you look at the actions of a moral person with all the circumstances of his action, then although there are indifferent actions here, precisely those that in themselves are indifferent and are committed by a person without any special intention, even without thought; but as soon as these same actions, the most insignificant in appearance (for example, a glance), receive a goal, they cease to be indifferent. In general, all actions emanating from a person with consciousness and purpose certainly have a moral quality and are good or evil. Is it good to allow indifferent actions within yourself? It’s not good, a Christian should take every possible care to ensure that everything in him is turned into a means to moral ends, even the position of his body, the movement of his hand, eyes, etc. For he gave himself up as a complete sacrifice to God, and vowed to work for Him all the days of his life. The time that is given to indifferent action is wasted time, therefore it must be made up for by repentance. Moreover, are there objects that are indifferent to the heart? It seems not. But the movements of the heart in moral life are not indifferent. Consequently, actions that seem indifferent, leaving a good or bad mark on the soul, are therefore good or bad. What, for example, is bad in a free gait, in a free position of the waist, arms, legs, etc.? Nothing, in appearance. But they always precipitate freedom of thoughts and desires in the soul, therefore from this side they are unkind. Again, if it is possible to make an indifferent action qualitative, and a Christian is a merchant who zealously collects here treasures of deeds for eternal life, then why not turn them to his own benefit? And what prevents this except a lack of jealousy and an excess of negligence, which cannot be considered indifferent. Thus, in a Christian, indifferent matters are not indifferent because they are allowed into his life through negligence, they are the fruit of a morally bad state. Isn’t it better to take care to quality them all, turning them into a means to your goals? This is the thought of St. Chrysostom, but I don’t remember where he expressed it. That's the whole field of action! Cultivate everything without being lazy! I suppose that anyone who reads the previous lines carefully cannot help but feel how suddenly it will become wide and suddenly tight again. But the word of the Lord, our Lawgiver, is not false, that the narrow gate and the strait path lead into the belly. Let us leave the wide for the free choice of others, and choose the narrow for ourselves. 2) About the purpose of moral acts First of all, we need to solve the question: what does the goal contribute to the matter? Here's what: Actions that are indifferent from the goal receive quality, that is, from a good goal they become good, from a bad goal they become bad. A good goal in a good deed adorns and elevates him, a bad goal in a bad deed enhances his badness and immorality. For example, who studies the truths of faith for the spread of the Kingdom of Christ, or who stands freely in church, so that they do not think that he adheres to piety, or who condemns another in order to expose himself. A bad goal in a good deed eats up his kindness, and a good goal in a bad deed does not impart its kindness to him. In both cases, things are bad. For example, whoever sings or reads in church to show off his art, and not to edify, makes good bad; and whoever appropriates someone else's property to help him does not make the bad good. In general, the higher the goal, the purer and more perfect the deed, and the more corrupt the intention, the more immoral the deed. These brief statements are enough to convince us how important the goal is in our activities. Therefore, it is worth taking care to find out what purpose you should have in your affairs. Here it is not a question of motives with which you can incline your will to action and of which you can invent many for yourself, and each one has his own, judging by his character and mood (this has already been said); but about what a Christian should have in mind when zealous for virtue, what he achieves with his entire virtuous life, or what is the main goal of moral activity? This is already determined from the first by both the goal of man and the vow of a Christian, namely: do all your deeds for God, to please Him, to glorify His Holy Name. The Lord says: “Let your light shine before men, so that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 5:16). The Apostle commands to do everything for the glory of God, even to eat and drink (1 Cor. 10:31). To this we only need to add: for the sake of faith in the Lord. Just as a person himself does not ascend to Communion with God without Jesus Christ, so his deeds will not ascend to God without faith in the Lord! Just as in the ancient tabernacle blood was brought into the Holy Place, and the sacrifice was pleasing to God, so now the sacrifice of works is pleasing to God only for the sake of faith in Christ, who redeemed us with His blood. This especially needs to be said to those who think to please God without believing in the Lord. Their work is in vain! Further, since the Kingdom of Christ is not of this world, and a Christian “is most damned if in this world he hopes” to receive something from his Christianity (1 Cor. 15:19), then the thoughts and expectations of a Christian should all be directed to this age: he must work, labor in the hope of an endlessly blessed life. Thus, the whole goal is this: Do everything for the glory of God, through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the hope of endless life. One must only remember that the main thing here is the glory of God, the starting point is faith in Christ the Savior, the final limit is eternal life; that when eternal life is supplied in such an important matter, what is the moral goal, then nothing selfish, mercenary is presented, but only the essential feature of Christianity and Christians is relied upon, who also here become citizens of heaven and live, tea and sighing for their fatherland, with the thought that strangers and strangers are on earth, “not having the city that abides here, but seeking the one to come” ( Hebrews 13:14). As for other goals, although they may be allowed, they should never be made the main ones: from them it should always ascend to God. The goals of the actions themselves are especially important here. Each deed can have its own purpose, for example, the purpose of alms is to help the poor, the purpose of reading is to enlighten the mind. But we should not dwell on them, for otherwise the matter will be completely outside the main meaning of a Christian. In general, if we allow ourselves to dwell on such goals, then infinite variety will enter into the life of a Christian, whereas it should all have one tone. This tone is communicated to her by the unity of purpose, according to which she is a complete sacrifice to God. “Glorify God in your souls and in your bodies, which are God’s” (1 Cor. 6:20). It seems very strict to others - to do everything for the glory of God, and therefore they believe that in deeds one can have other goals, outside of God, as long as these goals do not exclude God, and in general, they say, one can limit oneself to only more often attributing deeds to God. Nevertheless, dedicating all your deeds to God is the lot of the most perfect, which can be advised, but which should not oblige everyone to do so. How the bright Christian life is humiliated here! Apparently there is reluctance and laziness to make an effort to ascend to God! But firstly, dedicating everything to God is not advice, but a necessary, obligatory goal: Glorify God in your souls and in your bodies; Do everything for the glory of God... What is clearer and more definite than this? And why classify this goal as the most perfect only when such a direction of action does not require special effort: whoever is already doing good, just tell him to mentally and heartily dedicate it to God. What kind of work is there? It is another thing to awaken a sinner from the sleep of sin or to revive a weakened one. Here it is necessary to frighten him, shake him - to present the harmful consequences of sin and the good fruits of virtue, etc.; but these are not goals, but stimulants of the will, as was said before. Secondly, to say: other goals are also permissible, as long as they do not exclude God, means that by our deeds we seem to be showing some kind of mercy to God; and to say: it’s enough to dedicate a few things to God means that God is something extraneous in moral life. Such thoughts distort the order. A Christian is born of God and must refer every single one of his deeds to God and sanctify his entire life with this one goal. If we begin to consider pagan morality, that is, how good people acted there, we will find the exact application of these rules, as well as among Christians who were left without edification. But both of them do not know the essence of the matter. Now, out of pity for their deeds, one should not pervert the true meaning and order of a pure and holy life, but rather one should teach everyone and everywhere what the truth is. A Christian is not a person given over to the attraction of chance, but a self-governing person. Tell him how to rule himself, and he will rule. No, a good deed, not done for God and not done according to the faith of the Lord, is not Christian, but is simple, natural good. Just as, for example, reasoning in the mind is natural, but it is not a virtue; so a good deed is not natural to God in the spirit, but not virtue. It should now be concluded that all other goals, except for the one shown, are not true goals, and deeds performed according to them lose their value to the extent that they move away from it. There is no mention of bad goals arising from selfishness. Let everyone hear this and direct their hearts this way every time they do something. After all, this striving of one’s deeds towards God has a need for achievement especially because it is overshadowed by immediate goals. So always pass over these immediate goals in your mind and heart and ascend before the face of God and dedicate to Him every work you do and thereby sanctify Him. 3) About the circumstances of moral acts Circumstances are what the situation is, or all its external connections. There is no matter that does not have many connections; but in fact, only those that have an impact on its internal dignity are considered in the moral circumstances of the case. Of these, some relate to the person acting, others to the action being performed, and others to the action itself. They are all combined under the questions: who, what, where, when, how, by what means? Carry out any business on these issues and you will see for yourself how the further it goes, the more it improves. Do not think, however, that all these are trifles or rhetorical games. Just delve into what you should look for in the case regarding each of these issues, and be convinced of this yourself. To the question who? what is being sought is not whether the person who did the deed is moral, but what kind of person he is, what state and quality he is: priest or layman, educated or ignorant, official or private, man or woman, and so on. Apply drunkenness to each of these individuals, for example, and you will see how its malignancy either increases or decreases. Apply also sincere faith and you will see that not everyone will have the same price... So reason about other things. For ourselves, let us write down the following rule for this occasion: arrange affairs worthy of your condition, degree of education and rank. Whoever is greater - be everyone's slave. To the question what? what is being sought is not whether the matter is in accordance with the commandments or not, not the subject of the matter itself, which has already been discussed, but its secondary accessories. For example, theft... how much, a sacred or simple thing, from a poor or rich person. Likewise, almsgiving...whether from excess or the last mite. So about other things. But this is what you must accept for yourself: define each task with an exact measure and, in general, do everything possible so that the space of forces does not remain superfluous when applied to the space of affairs. Others make it a rule not to allow anyone to leave them with a sad face. In the circumstance: where? attention is drawn not just to the place, for somewhere the deed must take place, but to the property of the place and its other accidents. For example, someone insulted a person in private or in public, glaring on the street or in a church, and the like. So, sanctify places with deeds, and do not desecrate them. Remember that at the hour of judgment, every place will give a voice to God, the Judge, as a testimony to your good or bad deed. In the circumstance: when? What is taken into account is also not time in general, but its quality, for example, on a holiday or a simple day, hour, month or years, and the like. So, make sure that the entire time of your life is an unbroken chain of good deeds. But together remember that everything has its time. There is a system of waiting for the most favorable time, in which the work will bear the most abundant fruit. When they want to know: how? - then they examine the way of doing things, not the one that was previously written about and which is characteristic of the case by its nature, but another, external, random one. For example, in fear or in a calm state, in knowledge or ignorance, persistently or in passing, suddenly or with preparation. He who watches his heart vigilantly, all his affairs go smoothly. He slows down the slow, speeds up the fast, and generally does everything with his usual zeal, without laziness or rashness. When they want to know: how? they look for the means by which the work was accomplished or the goal was achieved, and the benefits that were used in this regard. For example, something useful has been done - with one’s own labor or with someone else’s hands; wealth collected - righteously or unrighteously; acted openly or failed in hidden ways... and so on and so forth. Help, Lord, not to walk crooked roads even towards good, not to spare one’s labors and, if one cannot achieve something in good faith, it is better to be patient than to take advantage of the unrighteous method that presents itself. All such circumstances, if they are lawful, constitute the external beauty and propriety of the action, although some of them influence the matter more strongly, while others not so much. The means, for example, are so significant that some limit the entire question of circumstances to them alone. Inserting one's internal good thoughts, as it should, into the structure of the external flow of affairs is Christian prudence, which, however, does not consist in applying the internal to the external (for example, the Gospel to the customs of the world), but in a decent, so to speak, clothing of the internal spiritual law with its corresponding external connections, even if in this case it was necessary to go against the flow of external affairs. I will say even more: Christian prudence is the understanding of the will of God, all-containing and all-ruling in the course of all events - both external and internal. From this point of view, it again appears that a Christian must manage his own circumstances, and not submit to their attraction. This is not achieved suddenly, but gradually, through experience in doing good, after which every work from the hands of a Christian comes out perfect in everything, like an elegant work from the hands of an artist. From such an examination of the circumstances involved in every matter, you can see how difficult it is in experience or in the person acting to find an indifferent action, when each of them is so diversely linked from everywhere with many objects that have a true influence on his moral dignity! How difficult it is, on the other hand, not only for outsiders, but even for the actor himself to determine the true merit of his deeds! For, perhaps, in some cases these circumstances are all legal, in others only some and, moreover, to a greater or lesser extent; Sometimes there can be only a shadow of evil, and sometimes there can be only a shadow of good. Accurate knowledge of all this is possible only for one All-Seeing One. For a righteous man there is a law: and do not undertake to judge others. And as for yourself, increase your crying and contrition tenfold for your sins, because perhaps they are ten times more sinful than you think, and reduce the goodness of your deeds a hundredfold, because perhaps this is so. This rule is prescribed by St. Macarius of Egypt. Here is a brief summary of all aspects of our affairs: subject, purpose, circumstances. Learn to judge yourself by them, but never others. This is not our domain, but God’s. Here is a general rule for determining the merits of cases. It is attributed to Saint Dionysius the Areopagite, namely: in order for an action to be worthy of being considered good, it must have a good object, a true goal, and legitimate circumstances. On the contrary, if in any action any of these three aspects is bad, then it cannot be good. It goes without saying that the degree of kindness and badness of these sides is transmitted accordingly to the matter itself. 7. Types of morality and ages of moral life in a good and bad direction There are two types of morality: good morality and bad morality. The first name is virtue; and the second is vice, or sin. Virtue has more than one meaning. It means 1) the main all-encompassing desire of the spirit for good, or the mood of the spirit acting Christianly; then 2) different good dispositions of the will and heart; then 3) each individual good deed. In all these manifestations, virtue does not stand alone, but gradually ascends to perfection and thereby determines the ages of good moral life. So... a) About three types of manifestation of virtue and, firstly, about virtue as the mood of a Christian spirit Where is our good? In God. Consequently, the desire for good is the same as the desire to abide in God, or the thirst for Communion with God. If this desire should not remain fruitless, but should find its own satisfaction, then it must take the trouble to go through the entire path by which a person can ascend to God. Consequently, this very path and everything that happens on it must be included in virtue as the main aspiration or mood of a Christianly virtuous spirit, that is, everything that is necessary must be included in the main norm of Christian life and activity. It states there: “Stay in communion with God through Jesus Christ the Lord by the active fulfillment of His Holy will, assisted by grace and filled by faith according to the power and promise of baptism in the Holy Church.” Consequently, truly Christian virtue, or a Christianly virtuous mood of spirit, will be: Thirst and power to remain in communion with God through the Lord Jesus Christ by zealous, constant, complete and everlasting doing His will with the help of grace and with faith in the Lord, according to the power and vow of baptism. Why all this is necessary is already known from the article on the norm of Christian life. Now we just need to explain a little each of these features of the Christian moral mood of the spirit in order to make clear the distinctive properties, composition and origin of Christian virtue. Its first feature is thirst. The Savior pleases those who have hunger and a “thirst for righteousness” (Matthew 5:6). The Apostle Paul says about himself: “I pursue, even if I comprehend... I pursue with zeal for the honor of the high calling” (Phil. 3:12, 3:14), and he exhorts others, “always pursue what is good; ...Do not quench the Spirit” (1 Thess. 5:15, 5:19), “seek the things on high” (Col. 3:1), “burning with the Spirit” (Rom. 12:11). This thirst in itself is an open and ready refuge for all good things, like a thirsty earth that soon drinks water into itself. In life, on the one hand, it maintains the tension of the spirit, and on the other hand, it does not allow him to value external labor too much, bothering him with himself from the inside. It is always a sign of a good state, just as bodily hunger and thirst are a sign of bodily health. You can recognize her by the warmth that is constantly stored in her heart. It is opposed to a cold, relaxed, sluggish, inactive spirit, unconcerned about goodness and salvation. The second trait is strength. What is thirst without strength? This is fruitless torment or destruction of the spirit. Look at the thirsty philosopher Justin! Before accepting power, he suffers from the inner spiritual fire consuming him. It would be in vain, therefore, for anyone to limit himself to one aspiration. It is only a preparatory state at the beginning and then a constant renewer of activity subsequently. It can be found outside of Christianity, and power is given only in Christianity. The Lord, who loves mankind, gives those who are thirsty, however, strength to drink from Himself, so that by this power they can abide in Him. “Come,” he says, “and... I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). “Whoever... is in Me... will produce much fruit” (John 15:5). Thirst is evidence of the awakening of our spirit, and strength is evidence of the combination of our spirit with the power of God. In the latter case, he confesses: “I can do all things through Jesus Christ who strengthens me” (Phil. 4:13). The third characteristic is the power to remain in fellowship with God through the Lord Jesus Christ. It is known how man was appointed to communion with God, how later he fell away from Him, how, as a result of this falling away, he was subjected to the tyranny of pride and passions with their instigators - the devil and the world. It follows from this that a person’s good care must necessarily include two dispositions: renunciation of oneself and everything that flatters self-love and surrender of oneself to God. But self-sacrifice is only a means, and the goal is to remain in God. Therefore, whoever has gone through a crisis of self-sacrifice, the main thing and everything for him is communion with God. This is an exceptional subject, on which all the work and all the care of a Christian is directed. This is what comes out of this. Anyone who has not experienced an internal change, as a result of which all his thoughts and desires began to be converted and dedicated to God, has not yet begun to be truly and Christianly good. “Whoever wants to come after Me,” says the Lord, “let him deny himself... and come after Me” (Mark 8:34). Whoever stops at selflessness alone, thinking that he has done everything, is in a dangerous delusion. Besides the fact that self-sacrifice as a means, without adapting it to its goal - Communion with God - is useless, it can hardly be true without this! For without God one cannot deny oneself. This was the teaching and life of the Stoics. They taught to subjugate the self to the mind or spirit, but they did not understand that the spirit or mind should be subdued to God, and therefore they were teachers of spiritual pride and, despite work and sacrifices, they kept themselves and others outside of God, in falling away from Him. In the same way, those who invent some kind of philosophical virtue, that is, doing good without thinking about God, do it badly and dreamily: for what kind of virtue is outside of God? Since without communication with God virtue is not virtue, and this communication is possible only through our Lord Jesus Christ, it follows that outside of Christianity there is no truly good life. There is good deeds there that do not bear true fruit and do not lead to the goal. Therefore, all people are called into communion with God and the Lord Jesus Christ, and clinging to and striving for God is made their only and exclusive task. The Lord teaches: “Be in Me and I in you” (John 15:4) and prays to the Father: “As You, Father, are in Me, and I in You, that these also may be one in us” (John 17:21); “I am in them, and You are in Me, that they may be made perfect as one” (John 17:23). The apostles preach: “according to Christ we pray, ... be reconciled to God” (2 Cor. 5:20), and “have fellowship with us: our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ” (1 John 1:3). “Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you” (James 4:8). “If you seek Him, it will be revealed to you; if you forsake Him, He will forsake you” (2 Chronicles 15:2). The fourth feature is the power to remain in communion with God through zealous, constant, complete, always fulfilling the holy will of God. One should not think that communion with God can be supported by knowledge of Divine things or mysteries alone, or by intense aspiration of feelings towards God, or by the external expression of one’s non-estrangement from God. All this happens with him and is necessary to a greater or lesser extent; but the essential, most solid and reliable means to this is walking in the will of God. Thus says the Lord: “Not everyone who says to Me: Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of God, but do the will of My Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 7:21). “If you keep My commandments, you will remain in My love: just as I have kept My Father’s commandments, and continue in His love” (John 15:10). And a person is made a Christian, according to the Apostle, “not by human lust, but by the will of God to live in the flesh for a time. The time that has passed is sufficient” (1 Pet. 4:2–3). It is so necessary for a Christian to fulfill the will of God. We must, however, remember that this is still only a means, albeit an essential and urgent one. Since the goal is in God, this fulfillment must be sanctified by dedicating it to God or by looking at Him. In addition, to complete this trait of a virtuous state, it is required that the fulfillment of God’s will be zealous, diligent, coming from the heart. Without this, the entire sum of deeds, good in appearance or legal, will be a collection of ugly statues in which there is no soul; constant, in contrast to transient good movements of the heart or intermittent impulses, which are not alien to sinful man; complete, that is, extending to the entire law and commandments, embracing the entire will of God, and not some part, perhaps the easiest, chosen more by natural disposition than by love of goodness and pleasing God - moreover, not limited to just the cases encountered, but seeking them, inventive for good. “Whoever keeps the whole law,” says the Apostle James, “will sin in one thing and be guilty of all” (James 2:10). Since the basis of all commandments is the same - the will of God, then whoever is sincerely devoted to the will of God will not leave it unfulfilled, no matter in what form it is revealed to him. Finally, incessant, tirelessly working throughout life. “No one has laid his hand on the head and in vain is ruled back in the kingdom of God” (Luke 9:62). And only “having endured to the end will he be saved” (Matthew 10:22), says the Lord. “Don’t you know,” teaches the apostle, “that all who flow into disgrace, but only one receives honor. So study, that ye may comprehend” (1 Cor. 9:24). Why does not stopping until it reaches the end - for the end crowns the work. The fifth feature is with the help of Divine grace. Grace is the property of a Christian person and at the same time a distinctive property of his life. Just as at first he became a Christian by the power of God, so afterward he does all his deeds with the same power. For according to the apostle: “God is the one who works in us, both to will and to do for good pleasure” (Phil. 2:13). The same apostle testified of himself that the grace of God, which was with him in all his labors, “was not in vain” (1 Cor. 15:10). The actions of this grace, which accompanies a Christian man in activity, consist in the diverse enlightenment of the mind by the impression in it of the truths of faith and activity, both in general and especially regarding each case, so that he sees what is the holy will of God, thus having “enlightened eyes of the heart” (Eph. 1:18); in igniting jealousy and strengthening the will. “Without Me you can do nothing,” says the Lord (John 15:5). This is why the Apostle Peter prays: “Let the God of all grace, who has called you to the eternal glory of Christ Jesus... establish him, strengthen him, and ground him” (1 Peter 5:10). From these influences of Divine grace, a Christian is characterized by a feeling of strength and strength for a morally good life or a zealous walk in the law, however, not independently, but in the Lord, for he says: “I can do all things through Jesus Christ who strengthens me” (Phil. 4:13). The sixth trait is with faith in the Lord. Faith accomplishes or makes perfect and complete good Christian activity and life. It covers shortcomings, infirmities, weaknesses, sins. Why is it that “without this faith it is impossible to please God” (Heb. 11:6). It forces the worker who has done everything commanded to say: “I am an unworthy servant” (Luke 17:10) and to place all his hope in the Lord Jesus Christ. In relation to the works themselves, it not only represents the strongest, most stimulating incentives for the assimilation of the moral order in the certainty of the great promises and in the excessive love of God for us in Christ Jesus (1 John 4:10; 2 Cor. 5:14), but also imparts to them some supernatural quality of the Divine, for the believer creates them as a living member of Jesus Christ the Lord. “Whoever remains in Me will produce much fruit” (John 15:5). Finally, the seventh feature is a consequence of the power and vow of baptism. This trait is exclusively appropriate only for Christians. By Baptism we enter the Church and, becoming members of it, we are honored to be participants together in all its benefits. This begins in baptism. For his sake, then and further everything works in a Christian. Just as for a developing seed, food is provided by the surrounding elements, so for a newly born person, by grace in the Church, the spiritual elements are provided as food for him through the sacraments and the entire rite of church ceremonies. At the same time, inner strength comes to him from the whole body into which he is grafted, from the body of the Church, through which spiritual life-giving juices descend into his veins from its head. A Christian matures in the Church. Just as the kokosh gathers the chicks under her wings and warms them, so she, embracing all her children, nourishes and warms them. Therefore, progress in virtue is conditioned by remaining in the Church. Outside the Church there is no truly virtuous life, because God’s power does not reach those outside of it and there is no educational atmosphere and educational wisdom around them. These are all the features of a Christianly virtuous state. They signify the essential properties, composition, and origin of Christian virtue. If we call all these features the order of a Christian moral life, then virtue, as a state or as a mood of a virtuous spirit, can be defined as follows: there is zeal and the power to remain in the order of a Christian moral life, or simply zeal for the Christian life. However, when condensing the description of virtue into words, one should not let go of all the traits included in it, so that in case one does not bring a counterfeit coin instead of a true one. “For the sake of Thy fear..., we were saved in the womb and by sickness and birth of the spirit,” sings the prophet Isaiah (Is. 26:18). Any truly zealous Christian can say this about himself. Approaching the Lord, he begins a zealous concern for salvation and, hastening after Him, is constantly enriched in good deeds. This zeal is the spirit of salvation, the germ and producer of a Christianly good life, which grows and ripens from it gradually and, according to how strong or weak the zeal is, ripens quickly or slowly. The Apostle Paul speaks about himself as a lesson to everyone: “I have not already attained or already been accomplished, but I persecute even if I have comprehended those things which I have also comprehended from Christ Jesus. Brethren, I do not think that I have attained to myself, but forgetting the things that are behind, but reaching out to those that are before, I pursue with zeal for the honor of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 3:12-14). So was the constant and tireless zeal of the Apostle Paul. It should be just as constant for every Christian. But the degrees of its strength, intensity and speed may vary according to the differences in human characters and the differences in life circumstances. This is how we should judge this. Jealousy is the higher, more intense and firm, the more willingly, hastily, urgently, as if more thoughtlessly, one accomplishes every good deed that presents itself. For this is the property of love - to rush to do what is pleasing to the beloved. What the apostle says about alms-givers: “God loves a willing giver” (2 Cor. 9:7), the same should be demonstrated in all virtue. Just as a good son, having barely heard his father’s word, strives to fulfill it, so a Christian should act in relation to every known will of God. The more she, in her actions, raises labors and bitterness. The Savior says that when they love those who love, they do nothing special, for this is natural. But that high perfection is to love those who hate and enemies (Matthew 5:44). Bitterness is a test of true kindness of heart. Many gladly accept an offensive word and keep it under favorable circumstances, but when they encounter bitterness, they immediately fall away. The degree of jealousy in this regard depends both on the magnitude of labor and displeasure, and on their duration. Sometimes day and night there is no rest, sometimes from ridicule, sometimes from oppression, but everything does not lag behind its good intention. One was tormented and tormented for 28 years for confessing the name of Christ, and he remained unshaken. But even without torment and persecution, whoever, despite the constant wounds that torment the heart, remains incorruptible, is awarded the crown of martyrdom. The wider the circle of activity to which it extends. How not to be surprised by the Apostle Paul, who “was all things to all, that he might save some” (1 Cor. 9:22). His care embraced Jews, pagans, the weak, the erring, the stubborn, the converted and the unconverted - and this not in one place, but throughout all almost pagan countries. Imitating him, other saints of God tried more and more to expand the circle of their good deeds, always, however, adhering to gradualism and wisely awaiting the beckons of God, so as not to lose His help for self-confidence and self-will and, having stretched out to a lot, not to remain unsuccessful in a little. Finally, the purer and more detached her motivation. We must imitate the one who does everything for the glory of God, crying out, “What do I have in heaven: and from You what have I desired on earth; My heart and my flesh have perished: the God of my heart and my portion is God forever” (Ps. 72:25–26); who “does not live for himself, but Christ lives in him” (Gal. 2:20); “he does not live for himself, but for him who died for us and rose again” (2 Cor. 5:15); who “desires to be allowed to be with Christ” and then is only willingly ready to abide in this world, which is necessary for others (Phil. 1:23) and in order to “be rich in good works” into eternal life ( 1Tim.6:18), knowing and feeling that “our life is in heaven” (Phil.3:20). I will limit myself to the proposed explanations. I will only add: be careful to pray to the Lord, so that you never allow this fire to go out in your heart - for in it is life. b) About virtue as various good dispositions What is the essence and how are good dispositions formed? A good disposition is a feeling or love for a certain kind of good deeds, which lies at their foundation. Humility, for example, is called a virtue, but it is not some specific deed, but is an abiding disposition in the heart, visible in all humble deeds; in the same way, patience, meekness, selflessness, obedience are called and are the essence of virtues, and yet they are not specific deeds, but something hidden in their corresponding deeds, lying at their foundation, something constantly abiding in the heart, embedded in it, namely, unceasing love for these deeds. These good dispositions are the essence of virtues. He is not angry who does not scold his offender, but he who has kindness in his heart towards him. It is not the one who bows and quickly says: I hear, who has respect and obedience, but the one who nourishes these virtues in the heart and embraces them with feeling. “The heart is the beginning and root of our actions,” says Saint Tikhon. “What is not in the heart is not in the thing itself.” Faith is not faith, love is not love, when there is nothing in the heart, but there is hypocrisy; humility is not humility, but pretense when it is not in the heart; Friendship is not friendship when it only appears outside, but has no place in the heart. Where does God demand our heart from us: “Give me, son, your heart” (Proverbs 23:26; Tikhon, vol. 4, about the human heart, § 33). “A good man brings forth good things out of the good treasure of his heart, and an evil man brings forth evil things out of the evil treasure of his heart: for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks” (Luke 6:45). That is why the Apostle commands: “For to be clothed with the election of God, who are holy and beloved, in the womb of compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, long-suffering” (Col. 3:12). Put on your clothes, that is, imprint these dispositions on your soul. Or again: “the end is that you will be of the same wisdom, merciful, lovers of brothers, merciful, compassionate, lovers of wisdom, humble in mind” (1 Pet. 3:8). Why should all attention be directed to this? It is to cultivate love for the very virtues - meekness, humility, patience, etc., and not limit yourself to external affairs alone. At first, when a person perceives only the good yoke of Christ and begins to be zealous for Christian life, there are still no good dispositions in strength in the heart, there is no meekness, no patience, no humility, no self-control, unless by chance, due to a natural mood. Only that jealousy that arises in the heart prompts a person to desire them, search for them, strain for them. Zeal for a good Christian life does not combine all good dispositions, but is only their seed, conception and embryo. Although they cannot be imagined in the soul without it, yet even when it is there, it does not immediately bring them with it into the soul. But just as a seed grows and eventually produces a stem and branches, so this jealousy finally grows into good dispositions. The way a person who is zealous for salvation introduces good dispositions into his heart, which are not yet in him and which he is alienating for the first time, is through merciless self-coercion. He who prayerfully, without self-pity, forces himself to do every good thing, accustoms his soul to it more and more, his heart becomes more and more attached to this good, and finally loves it. Then the good that a person forced himself to do at first becomes embedded in his spirit and, as it were, natural. So, for example, someone has no patience. Straining towards it, although with difficulty and illness, but with desire, he finally acquires it. The same must be said about humility, lack of anger and other good dispositions: all of them, through work and sweat with prayer, are imprinted on the soul by the grace of God. This is what Macarius the Great teaches in many places. St. Diadochus in one place depicts how Divine grace bestowed on a person in baptism itself a hedgehog in the image, then the hedgehog in his likeness imprints on him afterwards, painting in his heart, virtue after virtue (see in the Philokalia). What can we say about the good dispositions with which a person is born? They are not evil, but they do not have the qualities of virtue. This quality is acquired by him when, after the formation of jealousy, they are consciously acquired by a Christian. 2b) What exactly are these good dispositions? To this it must be said that there should be as many of them as there are types of good deeds, for at the basis of each of these there should be a special good disposition that characterizes them. There are, for example, matters of fasting; they are based on fasting or asceticism, etc. However, between them there must be a harmonious subordination or such a system according to which they have some initial, others derivative, since the main streams come from the source first, and then the stream branches from the stream. And all these arrangements in general consist of a necessary mutual union, like the rings of one chain. Just as in a chain, if you take one ring, you inevitably lift the others, and finally the whole chain, so there is such a relationship between good dispositions that one naturally entails the other. No disposition comes to the soul alone. What exactly is the connection between them and what arrangement comes from which, you can find several indications of this both in the Word of God and in the writings of the holy fathers. Thus, the Apostle Peter commands: “Having added all your diligence (diligence is sincere zeal), add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control patience, to patience godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, to brotherly kindness love” (2 Pet. 1:5-7). Saint Macarius says: “All virtues, like some kind of spiritual chain, depend on one another, such as: prayer from love, love from joy, joy from meekness, meekness from humility, humility from obedience, humility from hope, hope from faith, faith from hearing, hearing from innocence” (Des. 40, chapter 1). Saint Isaac the Syrian disposes of virtues in his own way and, moreover, unequally. For example: “Fear takes us onto the ship of repentance, takes us across the stinking sea of ​​life and guides us to the Divine pier, which is love” (Homily 83). In other places it is different: for example, in words about the three degrees of intelligence. You can find a lot of similar combinations in St. John Climacus, there are also many of them in Theodore of Edessa (in the Philokalia) and others. There is nothing surprising that we find such a difference in the readings. It depends on who chooses which beginning and which path. If each of us begins to trace a genealogical line, then we can create a lot of them, leading along the paternal or maternal side, then also along the line of their father or mother. There will be no lies, although there will be differences. Thus, there is no lie in the various indications of the natural development of all good dispositions, although there is disagreement. And another thing is that you should care a lot about this?.. The grace of God will arrange everything itself, but only zeal for a God-pleasing life is preserved. Naturally good dispositions will now come into their own order, and those that do not exist will begin to take root little by little, as the passions opposite to them are purified. Keep this in mind, and that’s enough. A strict system does not suit an active Christian life. Here everything is almost built ex-promptu. c) About virtue as a good deed Every fulfillment of a commandment in the proper manner, that is, with a true purpose, for the glory of God, through faith in the Lord and with legal circumstances, is a good deed; in the same way, indifferent actions also become good deeds, depending on the good purpose that a Christian attaches to them. In the “Orthodox Confession,” good deeds are defined as follows: they consist in fulfilling God’s commandments, which a person keeps willingly, with God’s help and with the assistance of his own mind and will, out of love for God and his neighbors, without having any obstacles from anywhere, actually the so-called. Thus, good deeds, in order to have a true value corresponding to themselves, are subject to the following conditions. Their subject is the commandment, everything prescribed in the Word of God and regarding which a person recognizes himself as being in moral necessity. However, even such deeds, which, in fact, are not defined by law, are capable of taking on a morally good quality from the good purposes with which they are performed, although, obviously, their price cannot be great. Therefore, we can add: a good deed consists not only in fulfilling the commandment, but also in doing what is not contrary to the commandments, in accordance with their spirit and order. This fulfillment should be done more willingly, that is, not forced by circumstances, not dependent on habit and cold mechanical custom or on natural disposition, but rather be motivated by one’s desire, desire, love, zeal to do good deeds, both this and this kind, and in general all those indicated by the commandments of God. From this we must conclude that until a person has yet acquired the full and decisive intention to succeed in all the commandments of God, until then his good deeds are not entirely pure and perfect. For without this it cannot be that they come from holy jealousy, and more directly, they are done out of passion for feelings and some extraneous considerations; the main thing is that they are then not constant, but mixed with sins and passions. Such deeds do not have perfect, eternal weight, however, they are not useless, as preparers and intercessors for the grace of God, which kindles the fire of jealousy. Remember the legend about the baker, who in annoyance threw a bun at a poor man in order to get rid of him only, and then was rewarded with a vision for this and turned from sin to a pious life. Why can anyone who does not have zeal be advised: do some good deed, especially alms, and God will give the fire of zeal - evidence and a source of spiritual life. Every good deed is good if done for God. Everything is for the glory of God. A Christian person must be entirely a sacrifice to God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who sacrificed for us. “The love of God will sustain us who have decided this... Christ died for all, so that those who live may not live for themselves, but for him who died for them and rose again” (2 Cor. 5:14-15). Now we must hand over our deeds to God, so that on the day of judgment He will return them and reward the Christian. It must be said that only these deeds dedicated to the Eternal God are worthy of eternal reward. And here such a dispensation of the heart imparts to affairs a certain lightness, naturalness, a godly, attractive, detached face. A truly good deed is done with the assistance of one’s own mind and with the help of God. Apparently, like every good deed, ascended from man to God, there is both God’s and man’s. In doing good deeds, arrogance and self-confidence harm not only their purity, but also their success and perfection. For in general such things are hasty, immature, impatient, and often not completed. Equally, renunciation of the proper use of one’s powers distorts affairs and all activities. This defect has even entered into the teaching of the Quietists and Quakers, who expect divine inspiration for everything. There is no doubt that in extreme cases, others receive inspiration from the Lord; and in general one should not decide on anything important and decisive without a special call, lest, having begun, one should give up, and not find oneself unable to finish the building, to one’s shame and humiliation of virtue. But in such cases, for the most part, it happens that a person cannot not only decide on such a thing, but also conceive it, without this inspiration. To act in this way in ordinary cases is dangerous, because this opens a vast door to laziness and seduction. Now the person lives under education. He must purify and correct his stubborn heart by working against it. If the heart almost never wants good itself, and God does not send help and admonition to the unwilling and negligent, then you can sleep for virtue all your life while waiting for these heavenly inspirations. Help comes from the Lord, but to those who act, and not to those who do not act. Make tension and help will come. Finally, a truly good deed happens without obstacles. Here we mean legal obstacles, that is, if the deed cannot be accomplished under legal circumstances, but either the place, or the time, or something else that does not allow it either to be completely good, or to appear in true perfection and fruitfulness. As for illegal obstacles, they not only do not interfere with the cause of being good, but, on the contrary, elevate it according to their strength and persistence. The more valuable a task is, the more obstacles have been overcome in completing it. To do good deeds in accordance with their good nature and the legitimate requirements of circumstances, in opposition to lawless obstacles, and at the same time do them in such a way that good and not evil comes out of them, is a matter of prudence, the science of which is taught by God’s grace and diverse experience in spiritual life. “Ask... the elders... and they will tell you” (Deut. 32:7). Also take the trouble to note the following about these deeds: while jealousy, like an internal fire, constantly sets our forces in motion, and feeling and disposition remain in constant inner peace, like a field in which the fruits of deeds grow and multiply, deeds are something intermittent in us: they begin and cease, following one another. However, a caring and prudent worker can establish an unbroken chain of good deeds in his life. This is because thought, word, movement, and deed can be turned into a good deed. Time of life is given to a person to collect good deeds. If now this time flows without stopping and there is a continuously repeating point in its course, then a person must take care that each of these points is occupied with good. Does sleep interfere? But it can also be turned into good, namely into a matter of self-sacrifice; food the more... eyes - even more... Establish agreement between the outer man and the inner. God has placed undying zeal within, and you, without, offer continuous deeds... Between them, like poles, your nature will be purified and sanctified. A convenient way to achieve this is that everyone’s life is always surrounded by an uninterrupted chain of circumstances that can give birth to good. Everyone will now see this, having carefully reviewed their day, for their own person, that is, in their position, from beginning to end. It occurs to some people to limit themselves to internal affairs alone, without external affairs. This especially applies to those cases in which selfishness inevitably suffers greatly, for example, in asking for forgiveness, etc. No, God created man from body and soul; He wants his deeds to be carried out by his whole person, and not by just one part. Moreover, the deed itself is completely fruitful for the virtuous in its execution, or in its completion, and not only if it is desired, even ardently. Only a completed deed is a step forward in the degrees of moral perfection. He who once suffered an insult became taller, another time even taller, and so on. Meanwhile, whoever wants only to endure, and does not endure, remains in the same place and even moves back, because as the desire is not fulfilled, it weakens. He who does not collect wastes. That is why zealots of perfection seek out opportunities for good deeds, and not only do not allow themselves to miss them when they present themselves. The more someone does truly good deeds, the higher and higher he becomes. Thus one should be rich in good deeds, but one must take more care of good dispositions. When, however, there is true zeal for salvation, it will teach you everything, for it is very inventive. d) About the ages of virtuous Christian life The three sides of virtue shown, as can be seen from their properties, are in continuous connection and interaction with each other. But the imprecise beginning of everything is zeal for the Christian life, confirmed by grace in the sacrament of baptism or repentance. Through a continuous series of deeds, it besieges good dispositions in the spirit and heart of a person. The hope and strength of moral life lie in these dispositions, which is why one should not abandon work and worries until they are established, as well as not weaken because they are not established as quickly as one would like. A recently planted tree is easily uprooted, but a long-rooted tree requires great effort from the one who would like to uproot it. Likewise, good dispositions at the beginning of a just-undertaken good life are unreliable, shaky, and changeable; but the more a person stands in the affairs corresponding to them, the stronger they become, the deeper they take root in the heart and turn into natural, as it were, dispositions. As good dispositions are introduced into the heart, evil ones are expelled from it, and the soul becomes more and more pure. On this basis, it is legitimate to distinguish between the different states of a virtuous Christian according to his age of spiritual life. In the Word of God, these ages are designated by comparing the improvement of spiritual life, either with the development of the seed, which first produces “grass, then grain, and finally wheat” (Mark 4:28), then with the natural ages of a person, such as infancy, youth, manhood or perfection (1 John 2:12–14; Heb. 5:13–14). The three degrees of spiritual growth are also designated in Holy Fathers: beginners, progressing and perfect, or degrees of conversion, purification and sanctification (Lestv., step. 26). It is very difficult to determine what is characteristic of each of these degrees. The general law of growth is that from the conception of life, as a spark or seed, to its complete development into a flame or a fruitful tree, or to its appearance in all the purity and completeness available in this life, all the time passes in feat and struggle, in which evil is eradicated and good is implanted; but exactly where the turn from infancy to adolescence, from adolescence to perfection, cannot be determined with accuracy. For the movement of spiritual life, like the movement of the shadow of the sun or the growth of the body, occurs without leaps, with a wise and continuous gradualness. Only a few features, based on the Word of God and the writings of the fathers, can be indicated in this regard. Infancy. This is the period from the beginning of Christian life to the formation of the order of this life and the rules of Christian action in general. It is necessary, for example, to establish how to behave in the external order of one’s life, and, moreover, in different cases and for different persons, so, however, so that this does not upset relationships and does not interfere with the spirit. It is very difficult to get on the true path in this, why this and that is tidied up. Likewise, in internal action against confusing thoughts and passions, it is not possible to establish action in such a way that you can easily notice and conquer them. So, while the forms of life are being established, so to speak, during all this time the period of infancy in spiritual life lasts, which, like a baby, is characterized by instability, immaturity, childish reasoning and childish words, as the Apostle Paul says (1 Cor. 13:11). Infants in Christ are offered “milk, and not strong food” (Heb. 5:12–13), “the beginnings of the words of Christ” (Heb. 6:1), “verbal and unflattering milk, ... so that they may increase in salvation” (1 Pet. 2:3). Due to such unsteadiness and immaturity, they easily waver, and are often carried away “by every wind of doctrine... in the deceit of the wiles of flattery” (Eph. 4:14) and in their very motives they allow more condescension than detachment from everything (1 Cor. 3:1-3). However, they learn the remission of sins for the sake of the name of Christ, “the knowledge of the Father” (1 John 2:13–14) and “tasting the goodness of the Lord” (1 Peter 2:3). Knowing God the Father is a very characteristic feature. For a long time a child does not understand and does not distinguish either his father or mother from strangers, but then he begins to distinguish between them, and at the same time his joy of life begins. And until a sinner turns to God, he does not know Him, the Father who loves mankind; but, having turned, for the first time he sees Him as a formidable Judge, then, having been cleansed in baptism or repentance, he tastes His goodness and feels Him as the Father. Indeed, if we judge by the inner man, then the feeling of God’s fatherly care is the difference between a child and Christ. The Lord is their way: He invisibly guides them through this uncertain period of life. Their motives are more fearful. At St. John Climacus ascribes primarily physical feats to these newcomers: fasting, sackcloth, ashes, silence, labor, vigil, tears, and more (v. 26). Age is youthful. This is a time of struggle and feat to eradicate passions and plant good dispositions. Just as in a war, when the order of the troops is established, the war begins, or among farmers, when the necessary things are prepared, sowing begins, so here, when the forms of life have been established, the decisive pursuit of evil within oneself begins, with the rooting of good. This does not mean that evil is tolerated in infancy, but that it is now pursued, so to speak, systematically, unacceptably. Just as in natural life a young man has to work to educate himself, so in spiritual life. Why does the Word of God say about spiritual young men that they are strong, that “the Word of God abides in them, and they have overcome the evil one” (1 John 2:14). The Word of God, previously received with childish simplicity, now turns into their juice and blood, abides in them and gives them the strength of life, according to which they are not only hearers, but also creators of the word and with its power, like a sword, they reflect and defeat the evil one. The Lord Jesus Christ is the truth for them, that is, the truth of redemption and salvation, which abides beyond everything, now passes and dwells in their hearts. The characteristic feeling of young men is the feeling of strength in God. I can do everything in the Lord who strengthens me. The young man lives by hopes, which is why his motivations are characterized by the undoubted hope of achieving perfection and receiving eternal benefits, although this does not exclude other motivations. At St. John of the Climacus (ibid.) they learn mainly spiritual exploits: lack of vanity, lack of anger, trustworthiness, gentle admonition, immaculate prayer, love of money. Male age. This is the time when the internal struggle subsides, and a person begins to taste the peace and sweetness of spiritual blessings. The farmer, after the harvest, eating the fruits of his labors, also the dough, leavened and leavened, fully formed, these are images of perfect age. The wise Sirach depicts the action of wisdom, how she first torments and tests her favorite, then turns to him, rejoices him and reveals her secrets to him (Sir. 4, etc.). This last is the character of a spiritual husband. We attribute firmness, sedateness, steadfastness, and experience to our husband; and the Word of God assimilates the same perfections to a spiritual man: “solid food is characteristic of him” (Heb. 5:14), the senses are trained in the judgment of good and evil; “the knowledge of the beginningless, ... the original” (1 John 2:13–14); that is, the most intimate Divine properties and secrets are revealed to them, while in a young man and a baby more properties are revealed, such as goodness and power. Of their motives, love is more characteristic: for, having come “to the measure of the age of the fulfillment of Christ, they truly in love return to Him all things, of whom Christ is the head” (Eph. 4:13, 4:15). The Lord is their life, reviving and fulfilling them (Gal. 2:20). Why, living “not for themselves, but for him who died and rose again for them” (2 Cor. 5:15), they attribute all their knowledge as surpassing the understanding of Christ. St. John of the Climacus assimilates to them primarily life in the spirit and remaining motionless in God: an unenslaved heart, perfect love, the mind moving out of the world and into Christ, the introduction of heavenly light in the soul and thoughts during prayer, non-plundering, the abundance of God's enlightenment, the desire for death, hatred of life, containing heavenly mysteries, power over demons, keeping God's inscrutable destinies, etc. (ibid.). Regarding growth in spiritual life in general, one should note: that limits cannot be assigned to him. Christians have the goal of being “perfect, even as the Heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5:48). The desire to imagine within oneself an infinite pattern should lead a person through infinite degrees; that perfection does not concern any part, but embraces the whole person, both in spirit, and in soul, and in body, in all parts and powers of his being, and “in wisdom” (Luke 2:52), and “in faith” (Luke 18:8), and “in hope” (Rom. 15:13), and in self-denial and self-abasement (Phil. 2:7-8), and in “mortification and sanctification body" (1 Cor. 9:27; Rom. 8:7). In general, the perfect is characterized by everything that is acquired in the Word of God by those who have received grace; that all possible degrees of perfection on earth are only the highest, relatively; they do not mean final purity and maturity, much less exclude the possibility of a fall. Why does the Apostle Paul, on the one hand, command: “Be careful to stand, lest you fall?”, on the other hand, he assures about himself: “I do not think that I have attained to myself” (1 Cor. 10:12; Phil. 3:13–16). Therefore, there is no time when it would be possible to tell us: enough; but must continually begin; continually “rekindle the gift of God” (2 Tim. 1:6) and strive tirelessly “to perfect it” (Heb. 6:1). Macarius the Great testifies that the perfect do not remain at the same degree, but sometimes rise, sometimes decrease, and that even it is impossible for them to always remain at the highest degrees due to the unbearability of this for our corruptible nature (see Dem. 8, § 4). Saint Climacus cites the example of Ephraim the Syrian, who, ascending to the height of dispassion, cried out to God: weaken the waves of Thy grace for me, just as David prayed: “ease me, that I may rest” (Ps. 39:14; Ladder, v. 26). Knowing this, everyone needs to look, where is he? A beginning may have been made... but whether a step forward has been taken after that, God knows. Although let care be taken about one thing, so that jealousy does not go out. As long as it exists, there is still hope for success. Maybe sometimes we’ll do some good and add even a hair’s breadth to our height. And when it goes out, then everything will end. May the Lord be our protection and strength! I will add one more thought: about the high dignity of a truly Christian life, or the high price of virtue, and at the same time its unenviable state in appearance. This contrast is very instructive. There is nothing on earth with which Christian virtue in dignity can be compared. What did the Savior call the only thing needed? Zeal for the salvation of the soul. But this is Christian virtue. What is more important than achieving the last goal? But it is achieved only by Christian virtue. What is more blessed than communion with God? But it is inseparable from Christian virtue. There are many objects on earth worthy of respect: arts, sciences, good government, wealth, virtues, but what is all this without virtue? “What good does it profit a man, if he gains the whole world, but loses his soul” (Matthew 16:26). Everything else, except virtue, is like a mathematical zero and receives meaning and significance only from it, like zeros from a number. He who has acquired virtue has acquired an undetectable treasure. Everything else can be plundered here, and everything will certainly leave a person at the hour of death. And virtue safely passes this testing point and enters with man into the heavenly fatherland. But if, even without such a comparison with transitory things, we turn to the order of the Christian life - good, then its new extraordinary advantages will be revealed. A Christian who lives truly as a Christian has God as his Father, from Whom he was born and Who especially favors him; is the brother of the Lord Jesus Christ and member of His flesh and of His bones; there is a fellow man and a secret man of God; the dwelling place of the Trinitarian God, a fellow servant of the angels and saints. He received the invaluable grace to feed on the body of Christ and through the Word of God, as through a veil, to enter into the interior, to converse with the One true God face to face in pure prayer; he has heaven as his fatherland, and in it there is an inheritance that cannot be described in human language. We can advise everyone to read the Right Reverend Tikhon about the advantages of being a Christian in the 9th volume of his works. More often a Christian should bring to mind this advantage of a good life, in order to cry out more often: what do we have in heaven?.. Judging by such a height of good Christian life, one should expect a bright fate for him. But the Word of God does not promise this, and in fact this almost never happens. Anyone who begins to live as a Christian embarks on a difficult and sorrowful path, takes up the cross and follows Christ with it. The Lord Jesus Christ himself was dishonored, belittled above all sons of men and nailed to the cross. He said to the apostles: you will be in a world of sorrow. “I have chosen you out of the world; For this reason the world hates you” (John 15:18–19). The apostles said about themselves: “until this hour we hunger, and thirst, and are naked... as if the world were to be trampled upon by all” (1 Cor. 4:11, 4:13). After them, and at every other time, “those who want to live godly... are persecuted” (2 Tim. 3:12). This cannot be otherwise. The world, lying in evil, does not tolerate accusers. Satan does not tolerate opponents. But a Christian is a warrior of God against the prince of darkness, which is why he is the target for the arrows of the world’s anger against its prince. From the very beginning he encounters suspicions, reproaches of hypocrisy and hypocrisy; Then, one after another, personal insults will follow, deprivation of advantages, visible persecution, bitterness from everywhere, to which no one can give an account of those who produce it. But when in this way the external of a Christian man decays, his internal is renewed throughout his days. The cross is a ladder of ascent through the degrees of Christian perfection. In this meager vessel the treasures of the spirit are created. In it all the perfections of the parts and powers of man are imagined, that is, the perfections of spirit, soul and body, mind, will and heart; and, strengthening more and more, he, from a child in Christ, finally becomes a man, mature and ready for another world, the real one, from this preparatory world, he himself desires to be resolved and to be with Christ. Finally, the toiling wanderer finishes his journey, painlessly throws off his pilgrim's clothing, is accepted by the angels, ascends to the Throne of the infinite God and is taken to his place, in which he enjoys inexplicable bliss in spirit from the mysterious sight of God, until at the Second Coming of Christ this lifeless thing is clothed with immortality. Then, filled with the integrity of his being, he will forever shine like the sun in the kingdom of the Father. After this, the question of the union of happiness and bliss with a good life is resolved by itself: in real life, for the sake of perfection in the spirit, Christians are not given the blessings here, but they only enjoy internal spiritual blessings here and, despite all sorrows, they continually rejoice and are filled with the peace of God, which surpasses all minds, from the feeling of God’s mercies. In another life, without sorrows, this bliss in spirit appears in all its strength and exists only spiritually until the Second Coming. After the Second Coming of this bliss, our transformed body will also become a participant, and then the righteous will enjoy endless bliss with his whole being. This ending crowns the matter! Let the soul be jealous of him. And what are the troubles in life, what kind of trouble? A little... now, tomorrow it's over! And sin, like virtue, can be considered in three types of its manifestation: a) as a matter, b) as a disposition or passion, c) as a state and sinful mood of the soul. And a sinful life has its ages, just like a virtuous life. Sin in three forms of its manifestation What is sin? A sinful deed is a transgression of the commanding or prohibiting commandment of God, or, as the apostle says, “sin is lawlessness” (1 John 3:4). Two especially features are immediately reflected in sin from words: crime and commandment. There it is an abuse of freedom, here it is contempt for the law. Sin occurs only in rational beings - incorporeal and connected to the body. As a special advantage, the Lord granted them freedom. But close to this advantage is one line and an abyss. Freedom is not bound: we can turn to God and we can turn away from Him. But this possibility exists in freedom not so that the creature turns away from the Creator, but because it constitutes the nature of freedom. The goal and purpose of freedom is unconstrained service to God, its Creator, so that the creature, freely serving God and fulfilling His will, is awarded greater benefits and becomes the most spacious receptacle of bliss. It is obvious that a creature that deviates from the will of God abuses freedom. This is said in order to show that she abuses herself, not out of some necessity or fate, but arbitrarily, having, that is, the full opportunity to fulfill the will of God at the moment when she does not fulfill it. In this sense, the “Orthodox Confession” says that sin is the unbridled will of man and the devil. No one forced the devil to rebel against God: he did it on his own. Although our first parents were tempted by Satan, he did not bind their freedom, but only deceived them; therefore, when they transgressed the commandment, they sinned freely, of their own accord. And now, let manifold lusts rise against us, let the world and the devil fight; but all sin itself is our free deed, unconstrained, the fruit of an unbridled will. Sin is a crime or violation of the law. But the law itself remains unchanged. It is ruined only and violated in the person of the sinner. For example, unbelief is a violation of the law of faith in God, but both God and faith themselves remain inviolable. He dishonored both of these only in himself, he himself is dishonest precisely because he does not accept, rejects, despises, tramples this law. Hence contempt for the law is an integral feature of sin; contempt for the law, therefore, contempt for the will of God and resistance to God. Further, since the moral law is imprinted in the being of man and is internally understood and combined with his structure, then, by transgressing it, a person goes against himself, ruins and destroys himself, for the immutable condition for the well-being and health of any being is the undefeated development of the principles laid down in it. Therefore, we can say that sin is poison and the destruction of a person through unauthorized violation of the law. From opposition to the law, death is inevitably born and the wrath of God is kindled. Therefore, in general, sin is characterized by this unbridled will, this contempt for the law, this destructive force with which it acts back on the sinner. It follows from this that we cannot say that sin consists in the shortcomings and imperfections of our strengths; it is an inevitable consequence of our limitations. He is not omniscient and not omnipotent, therefore he cannot be a saint. True, our strength is limited; but the obligations that lie upon us are not endless, but correspond exactly to our nature. If they began to demand an angelic life from us, we could apologize for not being able to achieve it. And if, being human, we do not live like human beings, how can we apologize? It is equally untrue that sin is a consequence of short-sightedness of mind, imprudence: I set the wrong goal, I took the wrong means. All this happens in sin; but sin, in fact, lies in the corruption of the will, by which we know what we should do, but we don’t do it because we don’t want to. “To him who does good, and to him who does not do it, it is sin for him” (James 4:17). 1b) Where does sin come from? As for the origin of sin, it is amazing both in the devil and in man. Imagine the purest and most perfect rational creature, like an angel, who has just emerged from the hands of the Creator with high virtues that brought him closer to the Creator; he receives the commandment and soon afterwards, knowing completely the will of his Creator, knowing His prohibition, what is pleasing to Him and what is displeasing, he chooses what is displeasing in opposition to Him. You don’t see a single thought on which an explanation for such an action could be based. This is an incomprehensible moral mystery! A thought, or inner word, was born in the spirit, and produced so much evil that the whole world was filled with it, and such strong evil that it will endure forever, although, undoubtedly, to its own destruction. Such is the essence of freedom! A free being is an imprecise beginning of affairs about which it is not always possible to answer why? Just because I want to; but I want it because I want it. Likewise, the birth of sin in man is difficult to explain, for he also sinned, knowing everything. In a fallen sinner, the birth of sins is still understandable, for the one who sinned became a slave of sin, instilled sin into himself, accepted it, as it were, as a rule. But from what and how did the fall of the first pure man, or now, the fall of people who succeeded in goodness, who knew its sweetness, who were worthy of the special favor of God, righteous people? The following passage from the Epistle to the Hebrews sheds some light on this: “Take heed, brethren, lest in any heart of you there be wickedness of unbelief, so as to depart from God. But comfort yourselves every day, until today you are rebuked, lest anyone be hardened by you through the flattery of sin” (Heb. 3:12-13). It is indicated here that sin begins with unbelief, weakening of conviction in the truth, and clouding of the mind. It casts a certain shadow on the truth, on God, His law and the Divine order, and therefore removes them from consciousness as this shadow increases. This is what the devil did at first, darkening the face of God in the minds of our first parents. This is where everyone’s sin begins. Therefore, it is the duty of those who do not want to sin to purify their faith as often as possible. Then unbelief is joined by sinful flattery, the hope of great sweetness, which will come on its own, without any labor, as soon as you sin. This aspiration rivets the attention and heart to the subject of sin. Then one thinks and desires only this one thing. Law, truth, the needs of the spirit, the Word of God - everything becomes nothing. A person has become hardened towards them, or he has already established himself in stubbornness and disobedience, ready to say: go away, or he has retreated from God... Having no fear of Him, like an ardent beast, he rushes to sin. At the foundation and very depth of everything lies an evil heart: dishonesty, inner deception before oneself and God, whom, however, it does not reject. It immediately abides in the entire production of sin and sets everything in motion and covers it with itself. Thus, the mechanism of sin is somewhat visible. But still this is not a complete explanation. For where does this dishonesty and deceit come from in someone who was previously conscientious and straightforward? Further, where does unbelief come from in someone who has breathed faith, where does sinful flattery come from in someone who hates sin, or hardening in someone who is gentle and submissive? Remember the example of a holy ascetic who succeeded to the point that an angel brought him food. How did it happen that he, leaving the desert, fled into the world? And he would have run away if God’s mercy had not restrained him. So sin is a mystery... we all sin and are extremely guilty of sins, but we cannot tell ourselves why we sin. Therefore, not only through a mediocre conclusion, but also directly the conception of our sin can be traced back to the devil. He brings shadows and darkness to the soul and, keeping it, as it were, in some kind of intoxication, brings it to the point that it gives birth to sin, first within itself, and then outside. However, this does not excuse the soul, for temptation is not necessary. Sin is always an unauthorized deviation from God and His holy law to please oneself. Watch and pray: do not lead us, Lord, into temptation! 1c) Types of sin. To introduce sin more closely, its different types are listed here, for in them its evil and dark nature is more obvious. Let us take as a guide the simple thought of sin. Sin is a violation of a commandment that commands or prohibits something to be done; the crime is arbitrary, unconstrained. Hence there are sins of omission and violation of commandments. The Lord commanded: “turn away from evil and do good” (Ps. 33:15); one must do one thing and not do another. Therefore, when we do what we should not, we commit sin, and when we do not do what we should, we also commit sin. Both violation and failure to fulfill a commandment are sins. The former is more criminal than the latter, since violation of the commandment requires special effort and cannot occur except from great perseverance and corruption of the will. It must, however, be remembered that omissions can be very important and are often more important than the violations themselves. This should especially be said about those cases in which this omission depends on constant and ever-present neglect of the law or from contempt for it, as well as about those in which duties that are either important in themselves are omitted, or those whose omission entails harmful and destructive consequences for others. Such is the omission of their duties by a father, priest, teacher, etc. The Word of God deliberately indicates the guilt of omission in the most decisive case, namely, at the last judgment. Thus, to the “unabled servant” who hid his talent, it is said: “Cast him into utter darkness” (Matthew 25:30); and to those who are hard-hearted towards the poor, it will be said: “Before you have done nothing...depart from Me” (Matthew 25:40–41). Therefore, every zealot for moral perfection must restore in his conscience in every possible way a sense of obligation to the positive prescriptions of the law and fulfill them; in the event of a violation, arouse corresponding regret and grief about it and cleanse it with repentance, because often not only the uneducated, but even those who are quite knowledgeable in their duties, just because they have not committed major violations and crimes, say: what have I done? not attributing any omissions to anything, no matter how important they may be. More variety is introduced into the area of ​​sin by its property that it is a violation or omission of a commandment, unconstrained, free. Since all free actions are performed by the interaction of reason and will, then according to which force is more involved in sins or has more influence on them through its wrongful action - whether reason or will - sins receive different names, shades and types. The task of reason in moral activity is to understand to a person his duties and then, in the very fulfillment of them, to strictly monitor how, what and where to fulfill them. From the failure of the mind to properly fulfill its duty in one case or another, sins of ignorance arise, on the one hand, and sins of imprudence, on the other. Anyone who remembers himself and his purpose must, to the best of his ability and ability, collect knowledge about his duties and clarify for himself what and how to do. This is why everyone is given conscience, this unwritten law, by which, even without studying, they learn their duty; in Christianity, this is supplemented by the Word of God revealed to everyone, continuous preaching in the Church and the oral word of the shepherds, regarding whom it is written: “Ask your father, and your elders will tell you, and they will tell you” (Deut. 32:7). And one more thing: “keep to do what is right according to all the law which the priests will tell you” (Deut. 24:8). With all this, however, it often happens to almost everyone to say: ah! I didn’t even know - that is, reproach myself for ignorance, especially when it comes to individual cases. But, on the other hand, not all ignorance is equally sinful. Regarding this, it should be noted: Whoever lives in simplicity of heart, trying to the best of his ability both to learn and to carry out what he has learned, and at the same time does something illegal, without suspecting sin, with a clear conscience, without any doubt or hesitation, then, in fact, one sin is the sin of ignorance, that is, such a bad deed that is done by a person, but is not fully blamed on him. Every person who is inattentive to himself and his duty, who lives in carelessness and indifference to his salvation, does not apologize when he does something bad out of ignorance. For since he has no love for good, even if he recognized it, he probably would not do it; he does not recognize him by this lack of love or constant reluctance to virtue. Such a person sins twice: both in that he does not know and does not recognize, and in those deeds that he does out of this ignorance. In the reluctance to learn about duty lies a secret desire for the opposite. Such ignorance is all the more guilty the more depraved the will shows, namely: the more important the unknown object, for example, the objects of faith and especially its most important members - duties directly related to one’s title; the easier it is for someone to find out what he does not know either by ability or by external means; the more someone not only has, but also feels motivated to do so. The very height of wickedness is ignorance, when someone does not know not only out of negligence and carelessness, but also out of disgust or contempt, while remaining, however, in an order that he does not love. These are those who call themselves Christians, and yet they blaspheme Christianity, although they do not know it as they should. And that is a person’s duty to be attentive to himself and his affairs. Therefore, if someone knows his duty, or how he should act, but in the very fulfillment of duty, or actions according to duty, does not pay attention to himself and, as a result, makes various mistakes and offenses, then he sins, and sins of this kind are called sins of imprudence and rashness. Regarding this type of sins you should know: That in our present state of disorder of forces or their mobility and instability it is impossible to see behind everything - both inside and outside. Therefore, if one of those who strictly watch themselves, living with a cheerful heart and a sober thought, reluctantly, without knowing how, falls into some sin in thought, word or deed and then, noticing it, immediately rejects it with heartfelt hatred, and sanctifies himself with the prayer of repentance: “Cleanse me from my secrets” (Ps. 18:13) - that offense is innocent: it is a matter of weakness, but not malicious intent, for example - an onslaught of condemnation, envy, etc. Only the main thing: having noticed it, you must reject it with your heart, for whoever accepts it later and enjoys it, will later choose what he has not seen before and what he has done without knowing or choosing. The one who, although attentive to his duty, has a desire to be properly serviceable, only at the hour of action allows himself to indulge in the desire of his character or feelings of the heart, for example: hot temper, cheerfulness, severity, false condescension, etc.; Those matters are matters of criminal imprudence and are therefore sinful. And their sin is all the more significant the more important the subject of their deed is in itself and in its consequences, the more experience has exposed the unkindness of such behavior and the easier it is for a person to correct such a mistake. Guilt here is diminished only by trying to correct oneself, which is not done suddenly, but gradually and therefore among falls. A person who is absent-minded or who is decidedly negligent, who has an unfavorable view of virtue and morality, is fundamentally an evil sinner. His sinfulness is all the more serious the more shameless his negligence, the more urgent his contempt for duty and the clearer his consciousness of all this. Thus, we must be sober and watchful, having girded the loins of our thoughts. We must look at our feet with both eyes so as not to stumble, and pray: direct my feet according to Your word. When they want to distinguish sins by the participation of a person’s will and self-activity in them, they turn either to the origin and beginning of sin, or to its formation from thought into deed. How, in general, all the affairs of a person either come directly from his person, or are carried out as a result of the demands and excitement of outsiders, coming from outside, or from his lower forces; Likewise, some commit sins out of the infatuation of depraved desires, and others out of cold-blooded consideration. The latter are sins of anger or malicious intent and debauchery, and those are sins of passion and infatuation. There is no need to point out that sins emanating from a depraved and evil mind and heart are of the last degree of severity. For here man himself becomes, in his own person, the source of evil, and therefore a close analogue of the evil Satan, who delights in evil and only thinks about it. Such a one already stands in the depths of evil, into which he has come “negligently” (Proverbs 18:3), and “will not sleep unless he does evil” (Proverbs 4:16). But even about sins of passion it must be said that they are in no way excusable. It is true that now our nature is passionate, weak, upset and susceptible to self-indulgence, but this does not make it necessary to agree to its evil demands. This agreement always in our hands, especially to those to whom strength is given and strong help is promised for the appeal (Phil. 4:13). Therefore, calling sins of passion and passion sins only of weakness means opening a vast door of relaxation and impurity into the moral world. From experience they want to assimilate this title more to the attractions of lust, taste, instinct, the movement of fullness or the play of life. and want to be lenient. No matter how strong the passion, if the object is chosen and desired, then the deed exposes the depravity of the will and eating is immoral. From here, perhaps only those should exclude cases in which there is an instantaneous, unexpected effervescence of passion, and yet so strong that a person, as in intoxication or darkening of the mind, is carried away to sin. But such cases are very rare and can only occur once in one person. And in general, the greater or lesser guilt of this sin depends on the lesser or greater strength of attraction, on the greater or lesser old age and the news of passion, on the greater or less clear consciousness of one’s condition. New shades of this type of sin occur because, voluntarily or involuntarily, passion boils up from within by itself or due to external excitement. In the latter respect, the circumstances of place, time, persons, etc. They often present convenient opportunities for sin, and often entice people into sin, arousing passion. But this does not excuse sin, but on the contrary, and at the same time, the more sinful the sin is, the more the incident that involved it was foreseen and was at our disposal. For here it is obvious that he who goes into the fire wants to get burned. Whoever goes to such a house, where either thoughts or heart become bad, is to blame if he then does bad things. But even in unavoidable circumstances, it is more likely to suffer damage, to show the experience of self-sacrifice, rather than to plunge the spirit, for which the body, the world, and time, into danger. The method of the formation of sin from thought into deed is defined with precision by the Holy Fathers, and the guilt of everyone in this course of action of the moment is also determined with precision. The whole course of the matter is depicted as follows: first there is a pretext, then there is attention, then there is pleasure, after that there is desire, from there comes determination and finally there is action (see Philotheus of Sinai. Philokalia, vol. 3, chapter 34 ff). The further a moment is from the outcome and the closer to the end, the more significant, depraved and sinful it is. The height of guilt is in the deed, and there is almost no evidence of it. A preposition is a simple representation of a thing, whether from the action of the senses or from the action of memory and imagination, presented to our consciousness. There is no sin here when the birth of images is not in our power. Sometimes, however, guilt passes here indirectly, when, for example, a seductive image comes to mind because of the permission given to dreams. An image is often evoked spontaneously; then, according to its quality, this matter becomes a sin, for a person is obliged to keep his mind in Divine things. Attention is the establishment of consciousness or the eye of the mind on the born image in order to examine it, as if to talk with it. This is slowness in a single or polysyllabic thought. This action is more in the power of man, for an image born against the will can be immediately expelled. That is why it is more guilty. He who inwardly looks at a criminal subject exposes the bad mood of the heart. He is like someone who introduces an unclean animal into a clean living quarter, or who places a disgusting wicked person together with honest guests. Sometimes, it is true, an object attracts attention with its news and astoundingness, but everything, after its impurity and charm is recognized, must drive it out, for otherwise consent will be involved, and from being involuntary, this matter will become voluntary. In general, this moment is very important in moral life. He stands at the transition to business. He who drove away thoughts extinguished all warfare and stopped all production of sin. That’s why it’s advisable to pay all your attention to your thoughts and fight them. All the rules of the holy ascetics are primarily directed here. From here it goes without saying what price the sins of imagination and self-willed dreams bear. Where it pleases them, there they sin. But this sin is more sinful if some external means are used, for example, reading, hearing, seeing, talking. These latter are also assessed as cases of sin. Delight is an application to an object following the mind and heart. It comes when, as a result of attention to an object, we begin to like it and we find pleasure in looking at it intelligently, cherishing it in thought. Delight in sinful objects is already downright sin. For if our heart must be devoted to God, then any combination of it with other objects is a violation of fidelity to Him, a break in the union, betrayal, spiritual adultery. You must keep your heart pure, because because of it the thoughts of the mind become evil (Matthew 15:18), that is, it begins to delight in them lawlessly. There are, however, delightful movements of the flesh and heart, which are in no way dependent on arbitrariness, which are all movements of needs. But even they, innocent at the beginning, immediately become not innocent, as soon as they are recognized and hide behind favor towards them or consent to illegal satisfaction with them. At first they are natural movements, and then they become moral. Therefore they say: when you notice them, become indignant. From this it naturally follows that we must think about aesthetic pleasures. They are criminal to the extent that their content or form is incompatible with the purity of heart and morals. The same applies to the masterful works of artisans: approving them with the mind for their suitability to the goal is a proper thing, but surrendering oneself to their effect for the sake of empty momentary pleasure is bad. And in general, when going to bed, we pray for forgiveness if we have seen someone else’s kindness and were wounded by it in our hearts, so that we can thereby cleanse our hearts of all hobbies during the day. In many cases, however, pleasure bursts forth either necessarily or uncontrollably. There is one rule: do not deign, reject, be indignant. From pleasure there is one step to desire. The difference between them is that the delighting soul remains in itself; on the contrary, the person who desires is inclined towards the object, has a desire for it, and begins to look for it. It cannot in any way be innocent, for it is accomplished by consent or is born contemporaneously with it, as if from under it; consent is always in our will. Determination is distinguished from desire by another feature, namely in that the composition or condition of its birth includes confidence in the possibility and vision of the means. The person who wishes has expressed his consent to the matter, but has not yet come up with anything and has not taken any steps to achieve his goal; For the one who has decided, everything has already been examined and decided; all that remains is to set in motion the members of the body or other forces to carry out affairs accordingly. When, finally, this too is accomplished, then all the work of sin ends and the work appears - the fruit of corruption, conceived within and giving birth to lawlessness without. After pleasure, the desire for action is as quick as the fall of a heavy stone down a steep slope. Therefore, the general rule is: fight and drive away thoughts while your heart is not yet wounded by them, for then victory is very difficult, if not impossible. In the main course of the formation of sin, it is noticeable how one after another the powers of man are combined with sin. After the heart is defiled in pleasure, the will is defiled in desire; in determination, through the invention of means, reason also becomes a participant in this defilement; in fact, finally, the very powers of the body are imbued with sin - and the whole person has become a sinner. Even the one who desired or expressed consent to the matter internally, in a moral sense, committed a sin before God, who sees the secrets of hearts. Whoever “conceived lust gave birth to sin,” says the Apostle James (James 1:15); and “he who lusted after his wife has already committed adultery with her,” says the Lord (Matthew 5:28). However, the one who decided to sin more than him, due to greater effort of strength to sin, due to the greater volume of internal sin, due to greater stubbornness and corruption of the will. From determination to action there is one line. Although there is already sin in desire and determination, it should not be concluded from this that the sinful deed itself has nothing to add to their sinfulness, and it is no more sinful than them. He who has decided can still or has time to abandon the matter and, therefore, having once opposed the law, show him obedience another time, when he presents his demands in conscience; Meanwhile, the one who has done the deed violates the law both internally and externally. The one who carries out the work throughout his entire continuation struggles with his conscience, which does not cease to admonish him, therefore, he further corrupts himself and upsets his moral nature. He who does the work fills himself entirely with sin, bends all his strength and his whole being towards it and directs it; therefore, in the first case it already lays the foundation for habit, for those who have done it once will do it sooner and more willingly another time, and so on, especially carnal sins. Finally, the evil consequences of sin begin to appear after it has been committed. Temptation, health problems, damage to oneself and others come from the deed. From here it is self-evident how to think about sins that are not committed by deed not out of free will, but out of need or external impossibility. The severity of this sin is almost equal to the deed. The difference between them is only in the consequences, and moreover, all the internal consequences already exist, only the external ones are missing. In this regard, the difference is less or more significant, the less or more bad consequences should be expected from the case. Where they are not and do not exist, there, one might say, the difference disappears. On this basis, internal and external sins are distinguished. Among the external sins we can also include the sins of others, imputed to us, for in this case others are, as it were, the performers of our internal sin, the same as our strength and our body are for our desires. For how do we become participants in the sins of others? Because of this, if the sin they commit is our depraved desire, and in their deed we do not only reveal it to others, but by the very deed we have and nurture within us contempt and disrespect for the law of morality violated by others, just as this is also seen in our conscience. After this, it goes without saying that how much someone else’s sin is imputed to us, how great is our participation in it, and how much is our contempt for the moral law. The ways in which this is done are: the order is more or less strict, the advice is more or less convincing, agreement with more or less pleasure, the temptation is more or less intentional and flattering, non-notice or tolerance with more or less indulgence, also approval, non-opposition, non-announcement. How important the sins of others can be can be judged by how sinful is the sin of a parent who does not stop his children, or an educator who does not correct the weaknesses of his pupils, or an erroneously educated person who dispels temptation everywhere with books, paintings, and statues. In general, the easier it is to stop evil and promote good, the more evil and immoral is our participation in the sins of others. This is how things work! Therefore, we are reminded again: it is appropriate to be sober and watchful, to pay attention to yourself and guard your heart from every attack of sinful defilement! Finally, sins still differ in varying degrees of importance. There is not much to say about this. From a simple and brief examination of sins, it is clear that they have unequal degrees of importance and strength, but there are weak, evil and evil ones. This different importance of them sometimes depends on their subject, and sometimes on the degree of corruption of the heart participating in them. In the first respect, sins are called grave and light. Just as the duties that fall on a person are of unequal importance, so the violation of these duties, or sins, are not equally grave. And the rules for determining this gravity correspond to the rules for determining the importance of duties. It is sin that is the more serious the more it brings disorder into the moral world, that is, the more it is opposed to the moral Christian spirit of life, love for God and neighbors, such as blasphemy or immodest standing in church; the more conscience and revelation are applied to a certain matter of grounds that bind us by necessity in relation to it, for example, disrespect for parents and ordinary people; the more significant the amount of matter of sin... for example, to steal a little or a lot, to offend in word or deed, for the first time or not for the first time. But all this is, as it were, only a mental yardstick for determining the severity of sins. In reality, it is subject to a wide variety of conditions, which, it must be said, are not easily determined by theory. It is necessary to remember, however, that this distinction between grave and non-grievous sins is not based at all in order to be more daring and bold in other sins. Every sin is a grave sin, because it offends God. Therefore, in general, everyone should be careful. Only there are different degrees of severity of sins, so different that some sins seem light compared to others, why this lightness is only relative. Knowing this is not useless for moral internal order, for the refinement of moral feeling, especially for avoiding disturbances of conscience or healing this illness. For at almost every step others think that they have sinned more gravely. Such a decisive, peaceful, numerical definition of the severity of sins will be very enlightening. But even for the careless it can be a saving grace to shock and frighten if, out of self-forgetfulness, he thinks too frivolously about his sin and vicious behavior. Just as virtue does not consist in one act, but even more in the inner disposition, so does sin. Therefore, the difference in the importance of sins according to the internal sinful disposition is more significant. In this regard, sins are divided into mortal and non-mortal. A mortal sin is one that robs a person of his moral and Christian life. If we know what moral life is, then defining mortal sin is not difficult. Christian life is zeal and strength to remain in communion with God by fulfilling His holy law. Therefore, every sin that extinguishes jealousy, takes away strength and relaxes, distances one from God and deprives Him of grace, so that after it a person cannot look at God, but feels himself to be cut off from Him; every such sin is a mortal sin. This sin is spoken of when it is said, “it is sin unto death” (1 John 5:16). And again: “She who feeds generously dies alive” (1 Tim. 5:6). Or “he who does not love... remains in death” (1 John 3:14). Such a sin deprives a person of the grace received in baptism, takes away the Kingdom of Heaven and delivers it to judgment. And all this is confirmed in the hour of sin, although it is not accomplished visibly. Sins of this kind change the entire direction of a person’s activity and his very state and heart, forming, as it were, a new outcome in moral life; why do others determine that mortal sin is the one that changes the center of human activity. This abstract definition of mortal sin becomes closer to our deeds through the following rules or conditions by which sin becomes mortal. Namely, he is mortal if anyone transgresses the clear commandment of God with desire and pleasure, with awareness of himself and the sinfulness of the deed. If there are degrees in death, then it must be said: sin is the more deadly the more important each of these aspects of sin is. At the same time, it should be noted that the importance of the subject, as is self-evident, with the awareness of its sinfulness does not leave any doubt about the mortality of the sin committed; but even in relation to objects of lesser importance, sin can be mortal, judging by the corruption of the will with which it is committed, or the contempt through it of the law, or through it the boasting of incoherence with moral laws. The “Orthodox Confession” describes mortal sins in detail (Part 3, Questions 18–42). They are divided into three classes. The first includes sins that serve as a source for other sins. To the second - against the Holy Spirit, namely: immeasurable trust in the goodness of God, despair, opposition to the clear truth, also envy of the spiritual perfections of others, growing old in anger, postponing repentance until death. The third is the sins that cry out to heaven, such as: free murder, sodomy, insulting the poor, widows and orphans and depriving mercenaries of bribes, insult and annoyance to parents. Immortal sin, otherwise venial, in contrast to mortal sin, is one that does not extinguish spiritual life, does not alienate a person from God, does not change the center of his activity, in which one can turn to God without embarrassment and converse with Him in prayer sincerely. There are countless sins of this kind, and no one is free from them except the Lord Jesus Christ and the Most Pure Mother of God. Therefore it is said: “if we speak that we are not imams of sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us” (1 John 1:8), or “for we all sin many times” (James 3:2), also: “the righteous will fall sevenfold” (Proverbs 24:16); “For there is no righteous man on earth, who will do good and not sin” (Eccl. 7:20). It is difficult, however, to determine what exactly these sins are, especially since the immortality of sin depends on the inner disposition of the spirit, and not on the mere unimportance of its subject. It is only possible to say decisively that all sins of innocent ignorance, unintentional imprudence, sometimes indecency and slight indiscretion are immortal sins, excusable, especially because the intention and desire to do something unkind was not involved in them. Whoever, seeing them in himself, condemns them with disgust, they will be forgiven. In general, everything that is easily bad, committed without the consciousness of badness, is a venial sin. The badness of such deeds and the proximity to mortal sin increases with the awareness of their badness when committing them. This should especially be said about indifferent things, when they are done not with a bad purpose, but also not with a good one, but in their natural order. In the latter case, they can borrow badness from the effect they have on a person’s soul; for example, a walk can leave thoughts distracted and arouse the movement of lust. Anyone who notices that it has a bad influence on him and at the same time realizes that for this very reason he is obliged to stop it, and yet does not stop, obviously, although easily, offends his conscience, violates its peace and purity. It is obvious that this kind of sin has already emerged from the unmortal and has become very close to the mortal, and the increase will actually turn it into such a thing. For most of all, the life of the spirit freezes from entertainment. Therefore, it is generally prescribed to avoid as many venial and mortal sins as possible, especially from the time their sinfulness is recognized. He who sincerely loves God should not allow the purity of his heart to be stained before His face out of some unimportant and empty habit. Moreover, small sins are already akin to sinfulness and therefore pave the way for great sins. “The little one who despises will fall little by little” (Sir.19:1). We also need to think whether we are not deceived in the fact that this is a minor sin; maybe he is big and evil in his being! From this consideration of sinful deeds, everyone can understand how we walk in the midst of snares! Let us cry out: deliver us from those who catch us! b) About sin as a disposition A sinful disposition, otherwise a sinful inclination, passion, is a constant desire to sin in a certain way, or love for some sinful deeds or objects. So, for example, absent-mindedness is a constant desire for entertainment or love for it. Such attachments or sinful tendencies are of great importance in moral life. In them there is the strength of evil, just as in good dispositions there is the strength of good. What fortresses are in the state, they are in the soul. Through them, sin or Satan erects fortresses for itself in the hearts and acts safely from them, without fearing the opposite side. Passion in relation to human activity is true spiritual slavery: for a person, as if led by it, is led to evil, even realizing his misfortune, even not even though it is his. Just as a bound slave is drawn by his captor wherever he wants, so passion does with a sinner. “Great,” says St. Chrysostom (Conversations 7 on 2 Cor.), - custom is tormenting, because it turns into a true need.” “If anyone is overcome, he also has work to do” (2 Pet. 2:19). “If you commit sin, you are the slave of sin” (John 8:34). Human nature here suffers complete humiliation from sin. Some will abstain only a little, but then, on occasion, like fire, passion flares up and carries them away to ordinary affairs. Others are tormented, tormented, and damn themselves when the passion subsides; but as soon as she begins to move, she unquestioningly submits to her and willingly surrenders into the hands of her tormentor. For some, its strength reaches such a degree that neither conviction, nor fear, nor shame, nor troubles, nor even death are strong enough to turn him away from his work. A person who works by passion is the poorest creature. If you look at passion in relation to God or at its meaning in the moral world, then it is true spiritual idolatry. If there is passion or love for sin, then its object, like an idol, stands in the heart, which therefore becomes a church for it, and everything is sacrificed to it with willing obedience every time. “You cannot work for God and Mammon,” said the Lord (Matthew 6:24). Whose heart is addicted to sin, for him he is God. Therefore, for a glutton, “the belly is God” (Phil.3:19), for the covetous, it is money (Col.3:5). Where does passion come from? No person is born with a certain passion. Each of us comes into this light only with the seed of all passions - self-love. This seed then develops through life and free activity, grows and opens into a large tree, which with its branches covers all our sinfulness, or the entire area of ​​sins, because every sin is certainly already hiding under it or hanging on some of its branches. The main branches of self-love are pride, covetousness, and voluptuousness. From these all other passions are born, but not all of them are equally important. The most remarkable ones are fornication, gluttony, envy, sloth, and resentment. In their strength they are equal to the first ones, with which together they constitute the seven primary passions, for they are the causative agents of sin and the parents of every other sinful inclination and passion. How and what passions further develop from them - see “Orthodox Confession”, part 3, question. 18–40. From this it is clear that all passions are interconnected and mutually generated, like good dispositions, and have different strengths and sinful severity. There is no doubt that any passion is a grave and mortal sin, for it alienates one from God and extinguishes zeal for a God-pleasing life. However, passion is the more evil and criminal, the more evil and immoral its object, the more fundamentally its duties are violated, and the more chronic it is. One should never think that passions are formed naturally, by themselves. Every passion is our business. The urge to do this or that sinful thing comes from the corruption of our nature; but to satisfy it, especially repeatedly, to the point of habit, is our will. Thus, pride is confirmed by frequent pride, laziness by frequent inactivity, envy by frequent envy, grumpiness by frequent abuse, and so on. In the composition of passion, one must distinguish between the heart's disposition and habitual actions that satisfy the passion. When a person is in a state of formed passion, then both are, one might say, equivalent. But before passion comes into force, although a passionate disposition, or passion, is already in the heart, the habit of acting accordingly can be very weak. On the contrary, when a person comes into himself, understands his danger from passion and decides to extinguish it, the passion is already hated, persecuted and persecuted by the person; but the habit of actions that satisfy passion, to which the parts and forces of the soul and body are tuned, continues to seduce for a long time, sometimes snatches satisfaction as if against the will, sometimes carries away as if uncontrollably. That is why it is necessary to work for a long, long time to eradicate the rooted vice, until the actions and movements of forces get used to the opposite turns. Entire books must be written about the eradication of passions... That’s why something small is mentioned here about this. It is an indecisive sign that someone is correcting his heart if he refrains only from external affairs that correspond to passion; for at the same time, passionate love may also be hidden within, and, therefore, according to the heart of this person, this person may remain passionate - uncontrollable. Also, an outburst of hatred towards passion and dissatisfaction with oneself for it, thinking and rethinking how to wean oneself from passion and overcome passion is an indecisive sign of this, for this state is momentary: it will pass, and the heart will again make peace with passion. But if someone, from this moment of indignation at passion, accepts a firm and decisive intention to pursue it and, without sparing himself, begins to eradicate it, then such a striving against passion is the true beginning of correction; and the reliability of correction depends on the constancy and immutability of intention and action against passion, for the end crowns the deed. A good start is half the job, but the other half is completed at the end of the journey begun; or better, until his death, a passionate person who corrects himself should think that he has only done half or has only just begun. Sometimes one quickly becomes unaccustomed to passionate affairs, but since the forces of the soul are more mobile than the material members of the body, it is generally not advisable to believe that passion has been extinguished, as if it no longer exists or has died. At any time it is better to compare it with a pretended snake, which is ready to bite at any opportunity, or with a dead insect, which under favorable circumstances easily comes to life. Therefore, we must watch and pray! However, in this respect there is a considerable difference between people who stand in goodness, namely those who were not previously slaves to passions, and those who were slaves to them, but have corrected themselves. What is decent for some may not always be accepted by others. Those can act with greater freedom; the latter should always walk as if near a fire. This resolves the bewilderment: how did some saints allow themselves benefits and consolations? Why do we need such rigor?! Because they were whole, and we were broken. As those who have had any members dislocated, once they are established in their places, are not allowed to act freely, but are ordered to exercise extreme caution; Likewise, those who have fallen in passion and have corrected themselves need strict caution all the days of their life. The question is: what should we think about certain sensory habits towards various things and deeds, that is, habits of satisfying the needs of the body and feelings in a certain, definite way, for example, the habit of certain food, color, etc.? Like love for the sensual, this is impurity, but when its object is an indifferent thing and, especially, does not entail disorder in the spirit and pious state, then this is an excusable matter, what was previously called an immortal sin, light and forgivable. True zealots of piety, however, devoting their hearts to God, immediately notice that although small, everyone still believes that these empty habits are an obstacle to everything, just as a long dress prevents you from walking quickly, therefore they try to free their hearts from them, so that just as they are indifferent, so the heart is indifferent in relation to them. Whatever the habit, it is still a connection. Anyone who is inattentive is a slave to passions and habits. Coming to his senses, of course, he must turn all his attention and diligence to the passions, for in them is the seat of sin. But, having overcome them, one must therefore renounce habits in order, like a free dove, to fly and rest in the One All-Blessed and All-Pleasing God. And this is how it is fitting to pray: create a pure heart in me, O God! and work out your salvation with fear and trembling! God alone knows what the coming day will bring forth. But this is our consolation, that the Lord is near to all who call on Him in truth. c) About sin as a state, or sinful mood The sinful mood of the spirit is easy to determine by its contrast with the mood of the virtuous spirit, as it was depicted before. Thus, there is no thirst for the Divine in him; he does not feel or even taste any sweetness in it, and some even turn away from it and run away; there is no strength: “often I would like to,” he says, “but I can’t overcome myself”; there is no communion with God: he has turned his eyes away from God and not only does not look at Him, but also does not want to look and is even afraid. His inner feeling and conscience assure him that he has fallen away from God, is being denied by Him; instead of the desire to walk in the will of God, he has self-will, or he chose his own will as the beginning of his activity, does what he wants; instead of expecting heavenly help, he has arrogance, or in general earthly means that are in his hands: property, patronage, etc.; he has no need for protection from faith and the Church of Christ. Christ and the Holy Church become for him something extraneous, not entirely necessary, if not superfluous. The main ones, however, between these traits are life in one’s own will with aversion from God or inattention to Him and His law. Other traits are already collected around this and develop from this. However, judging by the circumstances, in some people one, and in others another, traits stand out because of others, it can be more obvious and evil. Also, judging by the strength of each of these elements, the sinful state itself is more or less stubborn and depraved - all this is in contrast to the good mood of the spirit. And the conditions for determining the degrees of sinfulness are immediately visible from such a contrast, namely: the more someone strives for the lusts of his own will, the greater the volume of sinful deeds he takes on, the more persistent he is in overcoming external and internal obstacles, especially from outside admonitions and promptings of conscience, the more depraved his goals in sinful deeds are, the worse, more evil and dangerous is the sinful mood. This all increases because someone has received more gifts and benefits and especially tasted the grace of Christ, has had more external and internal stimulation, knows more and more clearly the order of moral life, good and evil. Finally, the relationship of the sinful state, passionate disposition and sinful deed in sin is exactly the same as in the virtue of the good sides corresponding to them. He who has turned away from God to his own will by frequent repetition of the same sinful deeds, besieges an addiction to them in his heart. The only difference is that a good person struggles with passions and reluctance to do good, and a sinner with a conscience that prohibits him from sinning and encourages him to come to his senses. The remnants of good resist sin, this evil that enters the heart; the corrupted will cuts off good in order to reign in evil. How this unfortunate and disastrous struggle of a person with himself to his own destruction occurs is partly depicted by the Lord in the parable of the prodigal son. Here you can see how from one simple, seemingly plausible thought, not driven away at the time, a vicious desire arises in the heart and its own will is formed, how it is then followed by deed after deed until the brink of corruption is reached. So a stone thrown along the slope of a mountain stops at the very bottom of its abyss. d) Ages of sinful life There are also different ages in a sinful life, just as they are in a truly Christian life. The Word of God generally says about the sinner that he, more and more “prospering in the worst” (2 Tim. 3:13), “finally comes into the depths of evil” (Prov. 18:3); The degrees of descent into this depth are also indicated, for example, he “sicks with unrighteousness, conceives disease and gives birth to iniquity” (Ps. 7:15); or, more clearly, in contrast to the husband blessed in the first psalm, he goes to the “council of the wicked,” stops on the “path of sinners” and finally sits on the “seat of the destroyers” (Ps. 1:1). The latter expressions can be taken as characteristic features of the sinful ages. There are also three of them: infant, youth, man. In the first, the sinner just went into sin, in the second, he stopped in it, in the third, he became a manager in his area. Infancy. This is a period of emerging sinful life, not established in its forms, fluctuating; a time of struggle between the remnants of inner good and light with the incoming evil and darkness. Here the person who indulges in sin still thinks to give up on it; little, little, he tells himself, and I’ll give it up. Sin still seems to him like a joke, or he deals with it like a child playing with a toy; he just seemed distracted and reckless. But in this child, in this state of whirling, the foundations for the future terrible state of the sinner are invisibly laid. Its first features, its first lines are placed at the first moment of separation from God. When this light, this life and power are hidden from a person, or a person hides himself from them, then the mind begins to go blind, the will to relax and become negligent, the heart to become callous and imbued with insensibility, which all makes a person often say to himself: no, I’ll stop. But time passes and evil grows. Someone steals truths from the mind one after another; he no longer understands much even of what he previously clearly understood; There’s a lot he can’t keep in his head due to the heaviness and inability of it at the present time; finally he is completely blinded: he does not see God and Divine things, he does not understand the real order of things, nor his true relationships, nor his state, nor what he was, nor what he has now become and what will happen to him... he enters darkness and walks in darkness (see St. Tikh., blind, man, vol. 5). The will, prompted by conscience, still sometimes cares and accepts concerns about the salvation of a person... sometimes he tenses up, rebels, holds back from one thing or another in the hope of completely recovering, but he falls again, and the more he falls, the weaker he becomes. Previous stops and refusals of actual actions turn into nothing but fruitless intentions, and from intentions into cold thoughts of correction; finally this too disappears. The sinner seemed to wave his hand: so be it, let it go, maybe it will stop somehow! And he begins to live as he lives, indulging in vicious desires, refraining from obvious deeds when necessary, not worrying about threats or promises, not even worrying about the obvious corruption of soul and body. Sin is a disease and a plague. It really torments the soul after the first experience. But time smooths everything out. The second experience is more bearable, the third even more bearable, etc. Finally, the soul becomes numb, just as a part of the body becomes numb from frequent friction against it. There were fears and horrors, and thunder was ready to burst from the sky, and people seemed to want to pursue the criminal, shame gave no rest and did not allow him to show himself to the light; and then finally everything is fine! A person boldly and fearlessly continues to sin, not even being able to understand why he had such anxieties before. When blindness, negligence and insensibility were thus formed, it is evident that sinner man stopped on the path of sinners. All good rebellions have subsided... He calmly, without embarrassment and anxiety, remains in sin... Here he enters the period of youth. Age is youthful. This is a period of remaining in sin or standing in the path of sinners in blindness, insensibility and negligence. The highest powers of the human spirit are struck by lethargic sleep, and the forces of sin have prevailed over them and seem to enjoy peace. At first it is like a point of indifference. But from this point begins the subjugation of the human face to sin. One after another, his forces are brought to the foot of sin and worship him, accept or recognize his royal power over themselves and become his agents. The mind worships and accepts the principles of unbelief, the will worships and indulges in depravity, the heart worships and is filled with timidity and fear of sin and the sinful principle. The sinner does not always sleep; sometimes he wakes up. At this time I would like to leave everything, but I am afraid to start this matter due to some incomprehensible timidity, for which it is impossible to give an account. Man is so intimidated by the tyranny of sin that he does not even dare to think about indignation against it. Here is evidence of how the strength of the spirit falls deeply through sin, and how blasphemous slavery to it humiliates the noble face of a person! At first the mind just does not see or loses everything that is true, but as time goes on, instead of truth, lies enter into it. Here it all begins with doubt or simple questions: why is this, isn’t it better this way or that way? At first these questions are passed without attention, only a certain shadow, like a cobweb, is cast on the heart; but, adhering closer to him, they become close to him and become aware of him; the feeling of doubt is the seed of unbelief. They begin to speak freely, then stitch together witticisms, and finally despise and reject everything Divine and holy. This is unbelief! And the will sleeps in carelessness, acting on evil principles, without noticing how good principles are crowded out by them. She can remain at peace without sharply expressing her inner corruption, but where they begin to disturb her, where they want to force her to act according to other principles, there she expresses all the obstinacy of her character, not respecting either the evidence of her convictions or even extremes: she goes against everything, setting herself up as the main rule for everything. Whether the law of conscience will instill this in her or positive laws, she says: go away, I don’t want to know such paths; and this is for nothing other than corruption of character. Thus, the sinner, timidly afraid to rebel against sin, having accepted the principles of lies through unbelief, having adopted corrupt rules by will, proves himself to be sufficiently reliable to be elevated to some government positions in the sinful kingdom. Such a one is seated on the seat of the destroyers. He entered the age of a husband to manage part of the affairs of the sinful kingdom. Male age. This is a period of independent, persistent action in favor of sin, against everything good, from which a person comes to the brink of destruction. The degrees of his decline are determined by the degrees of resistance to light and good. For even when he lives like this, his conscience does not cease to disturb him. But, having accepted other principles, he does not listen and goes opposite. Sometimes he just does not heed this voice, in a state of unrepentance, sometimes he rejects and arms himself against it, in a state of bitterness, sometimes he deliberately betrays himself to destruction, in a state of despair. This is the end where the sinner’s beloved sin finally brings him. Thus, three ages of sin give nine states. To these can be added three more states of imperfect conversion of a sinner, or conversion of an unfinished and immature, namely a state: slavery, when, out of fear of punishments and threats of God, they keep their hands from sins that are more important, without being ashamed to harbor evil passions and thoughts; self-delusion, when they consider themselves to be perfect in indecisive and initial only deeds of good; hypocrisy, when they stop only at external works of piety and base their hope on that. And there will be twelve states of sin, outside the good path. Most people get stuck in the first three and the last three. But there are a lot of them in the second and third. As a consolation to our sinful race, we must say that while a person is in this life, no matter what sins he commits, he always has the opportunity to return to the merciful God, who has mercy on the repentant. Human nature is so good and kind that man cannot completely distort it here with all his lies. Only as long as he does not repent, while he is bitter, while he despairs, he cannot be pardoned, and if he does not change this character, does not begin to cry and hope, then he will go down to the grave and perish forever. The devil is the culprit of all evil. If it weren't for him, there would be no despairing people. Otherwise he first repeats: God is merciful; and when a person sins a lot and decides to repent, he is frightened by the terrible justice of God. But who will depict all the cunning and malice of Satan and with what nets does he entangle sinners who succumb to him? The sinner, who has come to his senses, is horrified and cannot understand how he could do this and that, although before it seemed so easy to him. A person always sins in some form of self-forgetfulness. How great is the evil of sin! Sin insults the infinite greatness of God. By despising the law, we despise the Lawgiver Himself and insult Him. This should not be understood in such a way that by this insult the all-bliss of God is violated, for He is beyond any touch from creation, but in such a way that on our part everything is already done to insult His boundless greatness, just as a simple citizen, although the royal majesty remains inviolable, insults him with his deeds. In this regard, sin is an infinitely great evil. But truth demands that the insult be satisfied. Satisfaction must equal insult. For an infinitely great insult there must be an infinitely great satisfaction. This is where the grief lies! Having the opportunity to make an endless insult, a person does not have the opportunity to make due satisfaction for it. It remains for man to be eternally guilty and, therefore, eternally punished. Such are both the first sin and all subsequent ones. Every time a person sins, he plunges himself into endless evil. The apostle writes about a Christian man that, by sinning after baptism, he “second crucifies the Son of God” (Heb. 6:6), tramples the blood of the Testament and stands in the ranks of the crucifiers who shouted: His blood be on us and on our children! Having separated from God and Christ, man through sin joins the horde of Satan and becomes an ambush place for him, from where he fights against God, mocking His infinite mercy - and the blindness and madness of a Christian. God gave His only begotten Son, says Satan, but I already know how to control people. Afterwards, at the trial, he will place all the blame on the person himself and increase it even more in order to more quickly bring him to hell. And what does sin produce in man himself? He perverts him and, as if plunging him into darkness, into dreams of fantasy, vanity of desires and disorder of heartfelt emotions, he circles him all his life, not allowing him to come to his senses. Meanwhile, the torment of passions eats up both soul and body. The sinner is a smoldering creature. Judging by this finality and this ugliness of sin, the sinner would have to begin all-round suffering here. But according to the destinies of God, this does not happen. A sinner often rejoices and revels in earthly happiness, as much as he can or as much as God allows, partly for reward for some good deeds, partly for admonition. But under this apparent happiness there is always hidden a constant collapse of the spirit, at times only flooded with sensual rapture, and even then not completely. The sinner is always gloomy and seems to be afraid of something. Demons come to a dying unrepentant sinner and, having snatched away his soul, cast him into a place of darkness until the Second Coming. Here, for now, the spirit alone is tormented, but when, after the Second Coming, it is united with the body, the body will suffer for endless centuries, and those torments cannot be depicted. We now have a general outline of Christian virtue and non-Christian sin. This is enough to understand how good the first is and how bad the second is. But this will become even more obvious when it is depicted in detail how the Christian virtuous life and the life opposite to it are imprinted in the entire being of a person and on all the functions of his powers. Here you can see most clearly what Divine grace produces in a person for the sake of man’s obedience to the instructions of the Word of God and what happens to a person when, remaining with himself, he follows the suggestions of his will and his self-indulgence, and even more so when he indulges in some passion or sin. You might be interested in: