Лекция десятая. Что чудесного сделал Промысл в пользу христианства

We will divide our review into three parts: first, we will show what wonderful things were done by Providence for Christianity before its appearance; then - what was done when he appeared; finally - what after his appearance. Before Jesus Christ was born, Providence had already performed miracles in favor of Christianity - striking miracles: I mean the miracles of the Jewish people and their sacred books, which contain prophecies directly related to the Christian religion. Let us not touch upon the prophecies separately, for each of them may be subject to countless disputes. Let us lay as a basis something that no one can refute. It is indisputable that five hundred years before the birth of Christ, Jewish books existed; for our purpose this basis is already sufficient. This means that five hundred years before the birth of Christ there was an expectation among the Jewish people of an extraordinary man who would have to make significant changes in the whole nation. The question is: who could give such a prediction? It consisted not only in general expressions, making it clear that the Messiah would come, but in defining some specific details relating to the person of the expected Messiah. Thus, - looking from this point of view at the entire collection of Jewish sacred books, that is, finding in them predictions about the coming of the Messiah, and from the history of the Jewish people seeing that they constantly believed this prediction - one cannot help but come to the thought that its preparation, very useful for the Christian religion, could only be done by God. And in this general form, the proof of the Divinity of the Christian religion, borrowed from the prophecies of the ancients, will always retain its force. What did Providence do in favor of Christianity during its appearance? – Let us turn to the works of Jesus Christ and the apostles. Jesus Christ is taught many miracles and prophecies in the Gospel. Let's start with the last ones. 1) The most important prophecy of Jesus Christ is the prediction about the fate of His Church. During His earthly life, Jesus Christ was poor, suffered persecution from everywhere, and, however, predicted that the Church, established by Him, would spread throughout the world and would continue to exist until the end of the world. If this prophecy had not come true, He would have been considered thoughtless self-praise. But on the one hand, experience constantly justifies this prophecy, on the other, the character of Jesus Christ forces us to recognize in him such a prediction, which arose from complete confidence that it will come true. Where does this confidence come from? Who revealed to Jesus Christ that the religion He taught and the Church He founded, at the beginning nothing more than a mustard seed, would later grow into a many-branched tree and cover the whole earth with its shadow? (Matthew 13:31–32). If you put yourself mentally in the circumstances when Jesus Christ said this to His disciples, then it is impossible to explain such a prediction otherwise than from the Gift of Divine Foreknowledge. 2) The second prediction of Jesus Christ, which also cannot be explained otherwise than from the Gift of Divine Foreknowledge, is His prediction about the fate of the people of Judea and Jerusalem. It is contained in chapter 24 of the Gospel of Matthew (Matthew 24). This prediction is mixed and, as it were, intertwined with others: with a prediction about the end of the world, about the future, the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. To better understand it, you need to remember the reason for which it was pronounced. Jesus Christ spoke for the last time in the church and ended His conversation by denouncing the Pharisees and scribes of hypocrisy, that they, having decorated the tombs of the ancient prophets, were now themselves preparing to shed His blood; He threatened them with punishment for this, predicting that their very church would be desolate, and finally concluded: “you will not see Me from now on until you exclaim: Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord” (Matthew 23:39), that is, until you recognize Me as the Messiah... This conversation had a strong effect on the disciples. When they left the church, they turned to look at him; its splendor and strength, gilding, pillars struck their eyes; they felt sorry for the church. Here one of them comes up to Jesus and says: “Teacher! look at the stones and the buildings.” (Mark 13:1). You are the Messiah; Will you really allow all this to be destroyed? Jesus Himself looked at the objects that His disciples were especially amazed at and said: “Truly I say to you, there will not be left here one stone upon another” (Matthew 24:2; cf.: Mark 13:2. Luke 21:6). The prophecy is decisive! It must have greatly disturbed the disciples. Everyone believed that before the coming of the Messiah there would be the most difficult times; wars will arise; there will be severe bloodshed, and that the Messiah will appear as a savior. But no one thought about it for the church to be destroyed. After walking a little, Jesus Christ sat down to rest on the Mount of Olives, from which a beautiful view of Jerusalem opened. Here the four disciples (Mark 13:3) approached Him privately and asked: “When will this be,” what did You tell us about the church, and what is the sign of “Your coming and the end of the age!” (Matthew 24:3). The Jews did not separate all these incidents by time. Jesus Christ answers these questions: when the church will be destroyed - definitely and decisively; for the last two, when the Messiah will come and when the end of the age will be, is uncertain. He only said one thing definitely in response to the last questions, that His Second Coming will not be with the destruction of Jerusalem, but long after, and added to this the instruction that since you, just like I now, do not know that day, you must always be vigilant. Let's look at the first prophecy - about the destruction of Jerusalem: we will see here amazing certainty and accuracy. Taking into account Josephus, who can serve as the best commentary on this place, we cannot help but be struck by the similarity of the events themselves with the prediction. Matt. 24:4: “And Jesus answered and said to them: Take heed lest anyone deceive you.” The first danger that the disciples could be exposed to was the appearance of false Christs who could seduce Christians. Jesus Christ says: “Beware of them.” Matt. 24:5: “...they will deceive many.” And so it was: many then pretended to be the savior of the fatherland. Matt. 24:6: “Now you will hear battles and hear battles. Look, do not be horrified, it is fitting for all (of these) to be: but then there is no end.” The Jews believed that before the coming of the Messiah there would be many battles. Jesus Christ tells the disciples that although you will hear about wars and rumors of war, this will not be a decisive sign of the final destruction of Jerusalem (which means that then there is no need to flee Palestine). Matt. 24:7: “For language will rise against tongue, and kingdom against kingdom: and there will be plagues and destruction and cowardice in place.” It should be noted that Jesus Christ in this prophecy uses more or less exalted language, so that sometimes events do not exactly correspond to it; for example, it says here: “tongue will rise against tongue.” In the event, this is nothing more than civil strife between the Jews and the pagans who lived with them in the same cities; It was precisely such civil strife that took place in Caesarea, Scythopolis, Ascalon, Ptolemais and Tyre, also in Alexandria and Damascus. Matt. 24:9: “Then you will be betrayed in tribulation and you will be killed: and you will be hated by all the tongues for My name’s sake.” Then you especially need to pay attention to your situation: there will be great civil strife and discord, but everyone will agree to persecute you. Matt. 24:14: “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a testimony to every tongue.” “Despite all this, My gospel will spread successfully.” And indeed, the apostles, especially Paul, carried the Gospel teaching almost to the ends of the then known world. Matt. 24:15–17: “When ye see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place: let him that honoreth understand: then let him that is in Judea flee to the mountains: (and) let him that is sheltered, let him not come down to take that which is in his house.” “Do not be afraid of all wars; but when you see the abomination of desolation in the holy place, then flee from Jerusalem.” What does “abomination that makes desolate” mean? The Jews generally considered the pagans and their idols an abomination. When the Roman troops stood in the holy fields surrounding Jerusalem and planted their eagles there, then every Jerusalemite, looking at all this, could say: behold, the abomination of desolation stands in the holy place! Matt. 24:23: “Then if anyone says to you: Behold, here is Christ, or else: do not have faith.” So indeed the Sicarii incessantly repeated. Matt. 24:27: “Just as lightning comes from the east and comes to the west, so will the coming of the Son of Man be.” “My coming will be like lightning - everywhere and nowhere, visible and invisible; will be felt by everyone in some special way.” Matt. 24:28: “Where there is a corpse, there the eagles will gather.” But where will it be expressed? It will be expressed where it is needed. Jerusalem is ripe for destruction; the Roman eagles will fly there to torment it. Matt. 24:29–31. “Abiy, after the tribulation of those days, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of heaven will be moved: and then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven: and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and much glory: and His angels will follow with with a great trumpet, and His elect will gather from the four winds, from the end of the heavens to the end of them.” These verses talk about the Second, Glorious Coming of Jesus Christ and the end of the world. It is not surprising that both incidents seem to be intertwined here. The conversation, no doubt, was interrupted by questions from students and directed in one direction or another. The Evangelist omitted these questions and left only the answers. Therefore, “above the tribulation of those days,” there is no need to connect it with previous events, as is done by some of the newest interpreters, who want to explain the entire chapter 24 about the final destruction of Jerusalem, and therefore see in verses 29-31 nothing more than a poetic description of this destruction. But before verse 29, it is necessary to give space to the events indicated by the Evangelist Luke (Luke 21:21–24; cn.: Rom. 11:25–32). Then again the destruction of Jerusalem is spoken of. Matt. 24:34: “Amen I say to you, this generation will not pass by until all these things are done,” that is, “the present generation will not end until everything that I said about the destruction of Jerusalem comes to pass.” The time of the event is set. Since some live to be seventy and eighty years old, and others die in the first and second year, the time determined by the continuation of the generation will be more than thirty years. And indeed, at this time Jerusalem was destroyed. Many, like John, lived to see this event. Next, from verse 36, there is a prophecy about the end of the world. So, here is the prophecy about the fall of Jerusalem! The question is: how could such a prediction be made? It was no wonder to foresee that the Jewish people would not retain their nationality; but to predict decisively that in a little over thirty years Jerusalem will be destroyed, that the church will not be left one stone upon another, is, for human reasons alone, impossible without the gift of Divine foreknowledge. I cannot help but notice a particularly sharp feature in these predictions of Jesus Christ. The disciples revered Jesus Christ as the Messiah, something higher than man. Because of such a high concept, they expected that He would certainly know the time of His Second Coming. But after the decisive appointment of the time for the destruction of Jerusalem (Matthew 24:34), suddenly there follows a modest confession (Matthew 24:36): “about that day and hour,” that is, about the time of His Second Coming, “no one knows, neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son” (Mark 13:32), “only My Father is one.” What a surprise! And if truth alone had not guided His tongue, could He have spoken so modestly about Himself? At this time, indeed, according to His humanity, the day of the end of the world had not yet been revealed to Him. After the resurrection, when the disciples also asked Him about the Second Coming, He answers them differently: “You do not understand the times and years that the Father has ordained in His power” (Acts 1:7); then he already knew, for a revelation followed Him (Rev. 1:1). Such predictions regarding private events are: 3) A prediction about His fate, in which He determined the type of death that would befall Him (Mark 10:33–34; Matthew 20:18–19). 4) The prediction about Peter’s denial, namely: that he will deny three times, and, moreover, before the roosters crow (Matthew 26:34, Mark 14:30, Luke 22:34). 5) Prediction of the betrayal of Judas. In particular, it is also amazing. At the end of the Last Supper, at which Judas was present, Jesus said to him: “Whatever you do, do it quickly” (John 13:27). As if he said: “Fulfill your hellish plan without delay, otherwise you will not have time.” How did Jesus Christ know that Judas had conspired with the Jews to sell Him on Easter evening? Judas could not reveal this to his disciples, much less to Jesus Christ Himself. 6) Prediction about the Descent of the Holy Spirit “not after many... days” (Acts 1:5). So, here are some foreknowledge experiences of Jesus Christ! The rumor about these predictions also reached non-Christians, especially about the predictions regarding the fate of Jerusalem. Josephus, describing the fall of this city, first notes that the sect of the Sicarii, expecting help from God and not receiving it, became blasphemous and once committed bloodshed in the church itself. The Jews, he adds, have become worse than the pagans themselves, and it is clear that the time has come for the prophecy that has long been carried among the people to be fulfilled over them, that then Jerusalem and the temple will fall, when this latter will be desecrated by the Jews themselves. Perhaps this is how the people interpreted it as “the abomination of desolation standing in a more holy place.” We considered in the person of Jesus Christ a prophet who could foresee the future fate of both His own and His disciples, the fate of the people of Judea and Jerusalem, the fate of His Church and the end of the world. Now let's look at Jesus Christ as a miracle worker. He did not like and did not approve of an excessive passion for miracles in His contemporaries (for indeed it is bad) and more than once reproached the Jews for following Him not in order to listen to His teaching, but in order to lure some miraculous event from Him and to be curious (Matt. 12:39. John 6:26). However, to conclude from this that Jesus Christ did not want to use and indeed did not use miracles as proof of His Divine Embassy would be contrary to both the Gospel story (Matthew 9:6–7, John 11:41–44) and the clear words of Jesus Christ Himself on this subject (John 5:36, 10:25). Miracles, according to the intention of Jesus Christ, were supposed to serve as proof of His Divine embassy, ​​especially since He could not appear without them as the Messiah. Because He could not, because He was of humble condition, and yet He had to complete all His work in no more than three and a half years; in such a short time, without miracles, He would not have had time to pay due attention to Himself. Moreover, His contemporaries were unable to understand the inner superiority of the teaching He taught. Further, the Jews had faith not in vain, but faith based on prophecies that the Messiah would work miracles. If Jesus Christ had not performed miracles, the Jews would have every right not to recognize Him as the Messiah. Also, He came to transform the Jewish religion, He came to replace the particular law of Moses with a general law, embracing all tribes and peoples. The Mosaic Law was introduced through miracles: now it could be replaced by a new religion only with the help of miracles. Thus, without miracles it was impossible for the Founder of Christianity to act in favor of His religion; and miracles should be revered in all justice as evidence of His Divine embassy. Let's look at the details. Everything miraculous in the life of Jesus Christ comes down to two main types: a) miraculous, perfect by Providence for Him; b) to the wonderful things accomplished through Him. A. Some miracles were performed for Him. These are, firstly, all the miracles that marked His birth, and of which the most remarkable are the doxology of the Angels, whose appearance was witnessed by the shepherds, and the appearance of a miraculous star. And, secondly, if we pay attention to His public ministry, we will see that four miracles were performed for Him: a) that with which His public ministry begins - Baptism; b) by which His ministry is, as it were, stopped - the Transfiguration; d) that with which His earthly service to the human race ends - the Ascension. Do these miracles serve their purpose? Are they so important that, on the basis of them, the Person for Whom they were made should be recognized as Divine? Indeed, they are. Let's take Baptism. It was nothing less than the dedication of Jesus Christ to the great ministry of redemption. Here the whole Trinity appeared: the voice of God the Father testified and the appearance of the Holy Spirit showed that the Baptized One is the Son of God. Could anything be more majestic and instructive than this phenomenon? Imagine this action vividly: in the middle of the great desert, on the banks of the Jordan, under a rock, two people stand, John and Jesus - people who were no longer on earth. But physical greatness is not at all visible in them; They were elevated before God by their deep humility and purest love for man. Suddenly the sky opens above them, a voice descends, and a dove appears in an extraordinary radiance. An extraordinary phenomenon! Was it enough (let's use this expression) to convince Jesus Christ that the hour had come for Him to go to the service of redemption? Obviously enough. Is it enough for John? It is absolutely enough for him, for he was predicted in advance that over the Messiah he would see the “Spirit descending” (John 1:33) just as happened here. Another miracle performed in the midst of the great work of Jesus Christ, to strengthen Him in His extraordinary service to the human race and to assure some of the Apostles of His Divinity, was the Transfiguration. Again an extremely majestic spectacle (even from an aesthetic point of view)! Imagine a high mountain, the darkness of the night; the students are sleeping; Jesus Christ retires to the very top of the mountain; and suddenly at this height, in the midst of the deepest darkness, His face became as bright as the sun, and His clothes were white as snow; the same voice from the cloud that testified about Him on the Jordan was again heard; and two people, the most remarkable in the entire history of Judea, talk with Him about His impending death. If anyone saw such a spectacle, could there remain any doubt about the Divine Embassy of the Transfigured One? I said that this miracle happened to Jesus Christ to strengthen Him in the great field of worldwide ministry, and to assure us that He accepted “free suffering” and that He is “truly the Father’s radiance” (there could be other, unknown to us, purposes of the Transfiguration; but, it seems, those shown by us are the most important). In fact, this field could not have been more difficult: behind us there are only sorrows, ahead of Golgotha ​​with the Cross! It was necessary for two men from another world to encourage and strengthen Him. The most important miracle, and at the same time prophecy, is the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. Its circumstances are known. Everyone can feel its strength in relation to the proof of the Divinity of the Christian religion. It was not without reason that the Apostle Paul noted that Jesus Christ “was revealed with all power to be the Son of God through the Resurrection from the dead” (Rom. 1:4): this means that the Resurrection of Jesus Christ put the stamp of Divinity on His religion. That Jesus Christ really rose again, He Himself gave a lot of evidence of this, appearing to wives, repeatedly to His apostles, once to five hundred brethren, and finally to the Apostle Paul. They ask: why did Jesus Christ not appear after the Resurrection to His enemies - the Jews? This question is asked by some Jewish writers. “And we would recognize Jesus Christ as God,” they say; - but why didn’t He appear to our fathers? They crucified Him; but if He had appeared to them after death, things would have taken a different turn: they would have repented and believed. Why did He, having resurrected, withdraw from them? This can be answered this way. a) It cannot be denied that the appearance of Jesus Christ to the Jews after the Resurrection could have a strong effect in Jerusalem; but least of all in relation to the high priests and Pharisees. When they hear the news of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, what do they do? They spread the rumor that He was stolen by the disciples who bribed the guards. Consequently, even now they could say, for example, that He did not die completely, but woke up from a severe faint. After all, today’s explainers assume this! b) On the other hand, miracles were needed to assure them of the reality of the Resurrection. But miracles have been performed before; they didn't believe them. Why would they believe them now? c) In addition, He appeared to the enemy - Paul: this person could represent everyone, for he harbored the most implacable hatred of the Christian religion. Paul asks permission from the Sanhedrin to go to Damascus to search for and exterminate the disciples of Jesus: he goes and then, returning to Jerusalem, testifies to everyone that he saw Jesus Christ. However, they did not believe him. - “Why didn’t Jesus Christ appear to everyone else, as he appeared to Paul?” The difference is big! Paul had to become “God’s chosen vessel” because he had a pure heart! Out of ignorance, he was jealous of the faith of his fathers, and they, out of malicious envy, were jealous of their own glory. d) Moreover, with the death of Jesus Christ, His relationship with the Jews ended: after the resurrection, He was no longer the Jewish Messiah, but became the universal Messiah. e) After the Resurrection, He Himself appeared to His disciples more out of necessity, in order to instruct them in the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven, for He had to act in a higher circle, in another world. f) Perhaps one can still imagine His miraculous appearance in Jerusalem, similar to when He comes to judge the living and the dead, on the clouds, surrounded by great glory. But the enemies would not believe this either; but they would say that this is a charm, especially if the phenomenon lasted. Yes, it is inappropriate: it would mean taking faith by force. The most important and indisputable proof of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ is the apostles themselves; he alone is enough. Before the Resurrection, we saw in the apostles the most timid people, who all scattered at His death. If He had not risen and appeared to them, they, of course, would not have decided on their own to continue His work. It is absolutely impossible to expect them to get together and decide to finish the work begun by their Teacher and ending so unhappily for Him Himself. But, on the other hand, after the Feast of Pentecost we see them completely different: they proved themselves to be firm people who decided to renounce everything worldly for the good of the religion they preached. Only the Resurrection could inspire them in this way... These are the miracles performed by Providence for Jesus Christ! True, in some respects everything was for Him; but these miracles were directly aimed at glorifying His Divine Face. B. The miracles performed through Jesus Christ can be divided into three types: His authority and power extended to this world in general and, in particular, to inanimate physical nature and people. Moreover, some miracles showed that His power was not limited to this world, but also conquered another, spiritual world. Miracles of Jesus Christ over inanimate nature: taming the storm, turning water into wine, walking on water and many others (John 21:25). Miracles over people - healing of various diseases. Some of them are especially noteworthy for the properties of healed diseases, and for the fact that they were subjected to the strictest study from the enemies of Jesus Christ (miracle over the man born blind, John 9: 1–41). By miracles whose effects extend to another world, I mean the resurrection of the dead. These miracles are already the height of power. Let's touch on the details. For what purpose did Jesus Christ perform miracles? The purpose of His miracles was high and beneficial, namely: to deliver physical benefits to people and through this, or through providing them with temporary benefits, to dispose them to accept eternal benefits, that is, to accept His teachings. This purpose is constantly visible in every miracle. How were miracles performed? With all the decorum worthy of a messenger, or even more so, the Son of God. And above all, there is no room for suspicion that He used any secret means to perform miraculous actions. We don’t see any preparations at all; appears sick, and Jesus Christ either lays his hand on him, or just utters a word, and the sick person is healed. Once He used some foreign remedy on a man born blind; but the remedy is one that you use a hundred times, and it will not have such an effect, namely: “He anointed the eyes of the man born blind with clay and ordered him to wash in the pool of Siloam” (John 9:6-7). Why He used this means, no definitive reason can be said; of course, it lay in His wise foresight, with which He used the most unimportant circumstances for the most important purposes. So, I say, we don’t see any preparations anywhere. We see neither ambiguity nor decisiveness, which usually comes from some kind of calculation. How does He act? In perfect conviction, whatever He wants, He can do. From such and such a conviction flowed in some cases His slowness in action, so that the danger would reach an extreme degree (John 11:6). The very image of performing miracles we used was such that one could not wish for anything better from a miracle worker. He creates them as if they meant nothing to Him, and, moreover, does not at all show any disposition to make His deeds seem more than what they really are. As a result of the miracle performed, we do not hear any special demand from Him; Most miracles end with advice - not to sin. Such self-sacrifice could only come from the feeling that the power of miracles was, as it were, a natural force for Him. We also see no intention of seeking Our own circle of spectators for miracles. People who have some kind of secret knowledge tend to look for the most brilliant circle for their rarities; Jesus Christ does not have this at all - He is ready to perform miracles in the desert. On the other hand, we do not see in Him either evasion from many witnesses or a disposition to perform miracles in secret. In a word, the performance of miracles did not at all depend on His circumstances: where He wanted, when and how He wanted, that’s what He did. There was only one obstacle to His miraculous power - this was unbelief: “and it was not possible,” the evangelists say about Him, “to do that (that is, in his own city) not a single power... for their unbelief” (Mark 6:5, Matt. 13:58). The confession of the evangelists shows that they wrote fairly; Meanwhile, the reason given to explain why sometimes Jesus Christ could not work miracles is shown not to be physical, but moral, and judging by the nature and purpose of miracles - to produce faith through them, the most sufficient on the part of the miracle worker. Jesus Christ expressed exactly how power and love are united in Him. What goals have been achieved by miracles? The highest goals have been achieved, so that everyone will agree that in this short period of time it was not in vain that the Divine deviated from the ordinary laws of nature, for miracles produced faith in many, especially in the apostles; consequently, they mainly contributed to the introduction of Christianity into the world; This means that all the benefits that Christianity brought to the world initially depended on miracles. In the manner of the actions of Jesus Christ and the apostles, Providence showed for a short time how the world should be at all times. According to the idea of ​​reason, the physical world must be subordinated to the moral world; but from experience we see the opposite: for the most part, the spiritual world is subordinate to the physical, and hence all physical evil. However, the mind believes that someday there will be harmony between both worlds; and this period of time has shown that such an expectation of reason is not in vain. Thus, through miracles and prophecies, Jesus Christ completely proved the Divinity of His embassy for His contemporaries. Is this evidence valid for us? It has, for the same reason that it had for its contemporaries; it just acts differently. Miracles had a sensual effect on contemporaries and through this very thing could have a strong effect on them at that very moment: now we still need to first be convinced of their historical authenticity, which then there was no need for. But the proof, becoming more subtle, becomes stronger. How is this possible? Contemporaries were sometimes forced to limit themselves to one miracle: we now see all the miracles together; Moreover, we see their goals, the way they accomplished it, and everything that their contemporaries did not see; Consequently, now the power of evidence from miracles becomes much more convincing. Let us now turn to the disciples of Jesus Christ; Let's look at what the Divinity of their messengership is affirmed on. This view is made necessary especially by the present times, when they are trying so hard to undermine the foundations on which the Divinity of the Christian religion is affirmed. Some also had the opinion that the apostles did not understand Jesus Christ and did not convey the religion with the same accuracy with which they received it. That the apostles did not sin in transmitting the religion of their Teacher is not difficult to prove; in my opinion, one proof is sufficient - the belief that Jesus Christ came from God. If He is from God, then Providence should have closely assisted those whom He chose as participants in His preaching; otherwise Providence would not have achieved its goal. In particular, in order to be sure that the apostles understood Jesus Christ, one must turn to: a) the instruction they received from Jesus Christ; b) to enlighten them from above - from the Spirit of God; c) finally, to the miracles they performed as proof of the Divinity of their teaching. A. The instruction of the apostles from Jesus Christ was twofold: one before, the other after His Resurrection. If He had noticed that the instruction He gave to His disciples was insufficient, He would not have failed to make up for it by postponing His Ascension, or in some other way, for example, by sending down the Spirit of God on them (as He actually did). Jesus Christ spent a lot of time choosing His disciples, for He considered this an extremely important matter. “He spent the entire night that preceded the election of the twelve apostles in prayer” (Luke 6:12). Naturally, this prayer should produce great effects. Could Providence fail to hear such a prayer? The very purpose of choosing the apostles—to be constant witnesses of His life, preachers of His teaching, special miracle workers (Mark 3:14–15)—shows that this was done with extreme prudence. What smart philosopher would want to pass on his system to people who are not at all capable of it? From the Gospel story we know that Jesus Christ instructed His disciples with great zeal: He taught the people in their presence; What they did not understand, he explained to them specifically. We have few excerpts of His conversations with his disciples; however, from those examples that Matthew and Mark have preserved for us, it is clear that He spoke about the same subject several times (for example, Matthew 24:36, 25:13) in order to only impress it more firmly in the minds of His disciples. In addition, when He had instructed them enough, He sent them to do an experiment in preaching (Matthew 10:5, Luke 9:2, Mark 6:7). The special instruction given to the disciples on this occasion shows how He valued this matter and how He wanted to educate them. He tells them what to do and how to behave during the sermon, and goes down to even the smallest details (Matthew 10:5–16). Even before the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, the apostles were already instructed in their office quite successfully. This is shown by His famous prayer, in which He thanked the Father that the apostles He had chosen had lived up to His expectations (Luke 10:21). After His Resurrection, He again instructed them in the mysteries of the Kingdom, introduced them to the understanding of the mysteries of the prophets, which He explained with the greatest detail, namely: “The prophet began from Moses and from all, who spoke from all the scriptures that are about Him” (Luke 24:45, 27). Perhaps He revealed to them extraordinary secrets that they needed to know, but which they did not pass on to us: it was not for nothing that the Apostle Paul hinted that he knew a lot, but could not speak (2 Cor. 12:14). Let us now touch upon some objections regarding miracles and methods of explaining them, invented by freethinkers. They ask: if there were so many miracles, then why did the Jews not believe in Jesus Christ? Let us also answer this question with a question: but if there were no miracles, then why did many of them believe in Him? Who didn't believe it? “People,” as Flavius ​​answered in the history of his compatriots, “are thin, depraved; but moral and good people believed.” Now let us compare the side of believers with the side of unbelievers; That's right, the advantage will remain with the latter. But let us turn to the question: why did the Jews not believe? History provides quite a few reasons to explain this sad phenomenon. a) Jesus Christ, due to His condition, which so little agreed with the proud expectations of the oppressed people, was disgusting to the Jews. The time in which they expected the Messiah had come; they no longer had possession, power, or government in their hands; the Romans arrogated to themselves the right of life and death over them. The oppressed and dissatisfied people had hope only in the Messiah, Who was expected from hour to hour: they were confident that the Messiah would return them to their former power, overthrow Rome and on its ruins would establish a world monarchy, in which the last of the Jews would prosper better than any pagan king. On this the Jews based all their hopes; The prophecies themselves tended towards this, interpreting them according to their feelings and needs, and not according to their true meaning. Jesus Christ appears on earth, but in a completely opposite form: He is the son of humble parents, a man without fortune; He does not promise His followers either nobility or wealth; His teaching is holy and Divine, but it is strict and painful; His deeds are excellent, but are not accompanied by any glory or thunder; His promises are great, but are postponed until the Hereafter. For a proud and rude people, nothing more was needed to reject His teaching and Himself. b) After that, a gloomy opinion spread that the miracles of Jesus Christ were performed not by Divine, but by dark forces; and if the Pharisees could have this thought (and some of them really thought so - Matthew 9:34, 12:24, Luke 11:15), then how much more are they a simple, rude and superstitious people. In support of this thought it was that Jesus Christ was an opponent of the law of Moses. Without a doubt, very few could think that the Messiah would have the right to transform the law of Moses so that he could abolish all Let us explain the ritual part of it from time to time: let some miracle worker appear in our time who would teach a teaching that is beneficial in itself, and at the same time would not observe some church rituals - will the common people believe him? They also ask: why are there no miracles today? This question is even more powerless than the previous one. Miracles are performed for higher purposes, which do not exist today. However, even now there are miracles, although not in such abundance as at the beginning of Christianity, which are not seen only by inattention and unbelief. It should not be hidden that the spirit of freethinking has come up with several ways to explain the miracles of Jesus. Let's list them. 1) The image of the explanation of miracles is moral, allegorical. One of the Englishmen, namely Weston, decided to assert that “The Gospel tales about the miracles of Jesus Christ are in vain considered to be historical tales; they are nothing more than an allegory.” Strange hypothesis! It is even stranger that Weston invented it, as it seemed to him, to the honor of religion, in order to protect the Gospel miracles from the criticism of freethinkers, and, moreover, he assured that he followed the holy fathers in this. But he took some of the adaptations of the holy fathers for explanations; for example, to receive edification from the legend of the miraculous resurrection of Lazarus, some fathers compared a soul full of sins with the stinking corpse of Lazarus, and the like. This hypothesis was abandoned when it first appeared. 2) The way of explaining miracles is natural, also invented as if to the honor of religion. “Freethinkers,” say its defenders, “are seduced by miracles; but in vain. Biblical miracles are nothing more than extraordinary cases; and since they are extraordinary, they are honored by miracles. For example, Jesus Christ calms the storm (Mark 4:36–41): this event was natural. Lake Gennesaret is small, crossed by steep, rocky shores; On such lakes, storms are most often encountered, that is, gusts of storm that quickly subside on their own. So it was here: Jesus Christ saw that this was nothing more, as it were, like an instantaneous pressure of a whirlwind; said to the storm: “Be silent, stop!” - She actually fell silent, but only by herself. Another example is the resurrection of the dead. Those resurrected by Jesus Christ were people who did not die completely, only they were considered dead; there was still a spark of life left in them. Jesus Christ saw this and did no more than awaken them from severe fainting.” Is such an explanation natural? If one, two, three miracles were explained by a coincidence of circumstances, it would still be possible. But such extraordinary circumstances occur constantly in the life of Jesus Christ, a) If we explain all His miracles this way: then this very coincidence of circumstances should be honored with an incomprehensible miracle, b) If the miracles of Jesus Christ always depended on circumstances, then He probably could never have promised a miracle. It is possible to take advantage of circumstances, but it is not always possible to foresee them in such a way as to make decisive appeals on the basis of them, c) Moreover, Jesus Christ, as the most moral Person (which no one denies), would in no way pass off natural events as supernatural. And this hypothesis is abandoned. 3) The third way of explaining miracles is psychological. “What was required,” they say, “before, for example, miraculous healing, was faith; but a strong and living faith can sometimes produce miraculous, extraordinary actions: so why look for a difficult source for explaining miracles outside of spiritual power? To help this spiritual force, they add the opinion that diseases mostly arise from the possession of demons. It was as if there were no demons at all; and the patients thought that there was; Moreover, they believed that the Messiah should have power over them. Jesus Christ, taking advantage of such opinions, usually ordered the demons that lived in them to come out - and the sick, imaginary demons, were healed.” This hypothesis is even poorer than the previous one and does not apply to some cases at all; for example, the sea of ​​Gennesaret, no doubt, had no faith when Jesus Christ calmed its excitement. Moreover, Jesus Christ performed miracles on the sick and at a distance; showed traces of power over the dead and over the sick who were unconscious. What kind of faith could there be here? Moreover, this way of explaining the miracles of the Gospel degrades the moral character of Jesus Christ, imagining that He took advantage of the ignorance and superstition of the people to arouse faith in Himself. For these reasons, this hypothesis was abandoned. 4) The last way of explaining the miracles of the Gospel is physical - through animal magnetism. Recently a certain Kizer wrote a theory about magnetism. This theory is quite extensive and in its details is no worse or better than the fables of the ancient Gnostics (heretics). The essence of it, in relation to the miracles of Jesus Christ, is that some of them (Kieser does not undertake to explain them all) are similar to the phenomena of magnetism. What are the similarities? In the following, a) faith was required from patients, in which the effect of moral sympathy was revealed; b) Jesus Christ performed healings through the laying on of hands; c) unbelief and immoral life were considered an obstacle to His miracles. But are these points such that, on the basis of them, the miracles of Jesus Christ and the effects of magnetism are taken to be completely identical phenomena? Obviously, the similarities are very slight. Jesus Christ performed healings without the laying on of hands; Moreover, His power was not limited to the moral world, but extended to physical nature; finally, all the phenomena of magnetism taken together cannot be equal to one miracle in the Gospel, for example, the resurrection of Lazarus. Not to mention that this way of explaining miracles contradicts the moral character of Jesus Christ. Here are all the material ways of explaining miracles! Seeing their lack of foundation, some of the freethinkers turned to hermeneutic methods. These methods are also different: 5) Philological method. Its defenders say that “many places in the Gospel history speak of miracles without well understanding their meaning; for example (Matt. 14:25): “And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went to them, walking on the sea” (επι της υαλασσην). But επι means also with; why is it necessary to translate: “in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went to them near the sea,” that is, along the seashore. Another example (Matthew 17:27): the collectors of alms for the church asked Jesus Christ for didrachms through Peter. Jesus Christ says to Peter: “When you go to the sea, cast a fishing rod, and if you had a fish before, take it: and he opened its mouth (ανοιξας το στομα αυτου), and you found a statir: he gave them all for Me and for this.” It is usually believed that Peter must find the stater in the mouth of the fish; but a) ιχθυς can be taken collectively; b) ανοιξας is found in some Greek writers (as if?) in the meaning of disembowel. Therefore, the words of Jesus Christ must be understood as follows: “go to the sea with a fish, catch a fish, gut it, (of course) sell it, and you will get a statir; Having taken it, give it for Me and for yourself.” Well, you say, force smart people to resort to such strange interpretations? Nothing more than prejudice. Bacon wittily compares them to gods, to whom both the smart and the ignorant bow. Usually they posit some theory; as long as this theory is in your head, it is plausible; Some even Biblical passages are not poorly explained by it, but some semi-theologian, blinded by it, begins to apply it to the point and not to the point in all cases - and absurdity emerges. b) The mythohistorical method, directed primarily against the authority of sacred writers. It consists of the following: a) the historical side: “there was some amazing incident, however, not at all removed from the nature of things; meanwhile, when it was described, under the pen of historians it already acquired an extraordinary, unnatural appearance, for example, the feeding of five thousand with five loaves (Matthew 14:15–21; Mark 6:35–44). The incident was indeed striking. Several thousand people follow Jesus Christ into the desert. The day is getting dark; the time comes to eat food, but there is none; the disciples approach Jesus Christ and ask to let the people go so that they can go to the villages and buy food; Jesus Christ disagrees. He wants to feed the people; how? He saw that many of the rich who followed Him had plenty of bread with them. So He asks His disciples: how many loaves do they have? They answer: five, and two fish. Then He ordered everyone to be seated in places on the grass; He took five loaves and two fish and began to distribute them to the people. The rich, touched by the fact that He did not spare even the last of His provisions for the poor, began, following His example, to distribute what they had brought with them. So they all ate and were satisfied.” Of course, such images of explanation are possible; but what will guarantee them? To explain in this way means to falsify (as is done in so-called historical novels): but reason does not allow such violence, especially in important things, b) Mythical side: “there were, they say, some legends among the Jews, based on prophecies, or, better, popular belief, that this and that should happen to the Messiah. These legends, since they were based on an incorrect understanding of the prophecies, were not realized; but since the people believed that they would come true, the sacred historians wrote so, in accordance with this faith.” In this way they try to explain most of the events of the first and last days of Jesus Christ; but this way of explanation has no basis, except for the reason - you don’t want to see a miracle. Finally, to explain the miracles of the Gospel, all methods are used together, from the side from which it is most convenient. To show an example of this, let us pay attention to the story of the resurrection of Lazarus, which is explained in this way. This explanation is the height of perfection to which the neologists could bring their theory; but we'll see how weak it is... We saw that Jesus Christ made every effort, humanly speaking, so that His disciples would properly enter into the spirit of His teaching and be able to faithfully convey it to the human race. But the same Gospel provides clear evidence that the disciples, even after His Resurrection, suddenly did not understand everything they needed to know and demanded enlightenment. As a result, Jesus Christ, when parting with them, commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, not to engage in preaching, but to wait until the Father’s promise of enlightenment from above is fulfilled over them (Acts 1:4). Even from this confession of the sacred writers, it is clear how the entire Gospel story is impartial: the disciples are presented as not understanding, so to speak, their Teacher until the very descent of the Holy Spirit upon them. At first glance this may seem derogatory both for themselves and even more for their Teacher; but this is how it was handed down to us. B. In order for the apostles to become fully capable of carrying out their apostolic ministry, such a miracle had to take place, such as the Descent of the Holy Spirit... C. The miracles that the apostles performed put a visible stamp of Divinity on their teaching. It is impossible to think that God would contribute to the spread of errors. Moreover, on this condition, Jesus Christ promised His apostles the gift of miracles, so that they would turn it to His glory; and this could not have happened if they had preached a false doctrine. What miracles did they perform? Everything that Jesus Christ Himself did. They, just like Him, healed the sick, raised the dead, and the like. One must even assume that they performed even more important miracles than their Teacher. He said in His last conversation: “Amen, amen, I say to you: believe in Me, the works that I do, he will do the same, and more will he do” (John 14:12). If this prediction was to be fulfilled over anyone, then, without a doubt, first of all over the apostles. And in fact, the apostles performed extraordinary miracles; for example, even the shadow of the Apostle Peter healed the sick (Acts 5:15). Thus, every Christian must recognize the apostles as infallible teachers. Jesus Christ commanded to listen to them as well as to Himself (Luke 10:16). This means that for us their teaching should be the same as the teaching of Jesus Christ Himself; and the idea that they did not understand their Teacher is completely unfounded. However, we can reach this same conviction in another way, namely: by comparing the Apostolic Epistles with the Gospel, assuming, as we should, that the words of Jesus Christ are preserved in the Gospel. If we extract dogmatic passages from the Gospel and the Epistles of the Apostles, we will not find any difference between them, except that in the Gospel the dogmas are presented with less completeness and detail than in the Epistles. Let us touch, for example, on this code from those sides from which it is presented as least consistent. 1) They say that the apostles in their Epistles presented Jesus Christ as God, while in the Gospel Jesus Christ does not call Himself God. True, the teaching about the Divinity of Jesus Christ is more clearly revealed in the Epistles of the Apostles than in the Gospel: however, the words that in many places the Evangelist John puts into the mouth of his Teacher make it quite clear that He is God (see: John 5:17, 23, 11:25–26, 14 and others). 2) The apostles presented the death of Jesus Christ as the redemption of the human race: the Savior had the same thought when at the Supper he said: “This is My Blood of the New Testament, which is shed for many” (Mark 14:24. Matt. 26:28). 3) The apostles represent the human race in a state of damage, which was a consequence of the fall of our first parents: Jesus Christ makes the same sense in his conversation with Nicodemus when he says: “that which is born of the flesh is flesh” (John 3:6). 4) The apostles taught that the present world will pass away: Jesus Christ taught the same in the conversation that He had with his disciples on the Mount of Olives (see: Matthew 24, Mark 13). Now let's look at what Providence did in favor of Christianity after its appearance. He continued to shower special blessings on him. The history of Christianity presents many traces of Providence vigilant over it in a special way even to our times. Let us note the most important and immediate ones. In the first centuries of Christianity, Providence victoriously showed itself on its side in two ways: a) in the victory of Christianity over Judaism; b) and in his victory over paganism. A. The triumph of the Gospel over Judaism is presented from two sides: political and moral. a) Politically. Here we mean the fall of the Jewish state, the capture of Jerusalem, the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple. Providence revealed itself in this matter so clearly that Jews and pagans recognized the vengeful finger of God here. Read Josephus' History of the Jews; describing the Jewish War, he puts down his pen several times and wonders why this war stopped. There were so many reasons for its termination! Every time he turns to God and explains everything to himself as predestination from above. Who revealed to Jesus Christ about the fall of Judea in forty years? He predicted it. With the destruction of the Temple of Jerusalem, Judah lost everything in Palestine; lost the power to harm Christianity, which was now decisively separated from Judaism and acquired a lot of power. The pagans also recognized the hand of Providence in this event, and, firstly, the conqueror Titus: when he saw the closeness of the fall of Jerusalem, he called all the military ranks to a council and strictly ordered to take care of the temple. When everything around the church was burning, one warrior takes a brand from the fire and, despite preliminary threats, throws it at the window of the church; the church was engulfed in flames; the besieging soldiers, leaving the headquarters, rush to put out the fire; he overcame their efforts - and this huge building turned into a pile of ash. You see what imminent danger threatened the prophecy of Jesus Christ regarding the destruction of the temple of Jerusalem; but nevertheless it was fulfilled. Titus the next day, arriving at the smoking ruins, was struck with amazement and exclaimed: “No! It wasn’t me, God Himself punished Judea this way!” Thus, this event was recognized by everyone as a special action of Providence. This is the visible victory of Christianity over Judaism. b) Moral. Another, invisible, moral victory was achieved over the law of rituals. She needed Paul - and Providence miraculously raised up this man. B. Providence provided its special assistance to Christianity in the victory over paganism. The imagination is amazed when you imagine this victory. Imagine the Roman Empire with its power, wealth, learning; and on the other hand - a few poor, ignorant, weak! And this weaker side intended to fight a mortal battle with that unusually strong side. The victory of the weaker side over the strong should consist in transmitting a new religion to the human race and forcing the whole world to recognize as God that Jew, Whom the Roman procurator, on the denunciation of the Jews themselves, condemned to death as a villain and crucified on the Cross... And yet, not even one century had come before Christianity had spread throughout the entire Roman Empire. This very inequality of the struggle, how quickly it ended in favor of the weaker side, suggests a special action of Providence on the side of the Christian religion. It was and was expressed in everything, but especially in some events, so that the whole world could see the combative right hand of the Almighty. What are these events? a) In the second century - an event with a thunderous legion. During the campaign of Marcus Aurelius against the Quadi, Vandals, Sarmatians and Germans, when the Roman army, being surrounded by enemies, was thirsty for five days, a thunder cloud suddenly appeared, which refreshed the Romans with rain, and scattered the enemies with thunder. This is told by pagan historians: Dio Cassius, Julius Capitoli, Lampridius and Claudian. Christian writers: Tertullian, Eusebius, Jerome in addition say that this happened as a result of the prayers of a certain section of soldiers, who were Christians. There is no reason to doubt this. Thirty years after this incident, Tertullian, in his apology, speaks about this out loud to the whole world and to the very enemies of Christianity. And the actions of Marcus Aurelius prove that the Christians rendered him an important service in some way, for he soon issued a decree by which the penalty of burning was prescribed for denunciation of Christianity. – Pagan writers explain the appearance of the cloud somewhat differently: they attribute it to the goodness of their gods, bowed to the mercy of the piety of the emperor and the prayers of the entire army. True, it cannot be denied that everyone prayed to such extremes - even pagan warriors; but the point is: whose prayers were answered? b) In the fourth century - the conversion of Emperor Constantine. The decisive motivation for Constantine’s adoption of Christianity is considered to be the appearance of supernatural signs, and especially the vision of the Cross in the sky, salvation from the circus and arrival at the bedside of his dying father, where he received the rights to the throne. No matter how hard historical skeptics try to avoid miracles here, they are inevitable; and, without deviating from the rules of historical criticism, one cannot help but assume them. c) In the same century - Julian’s attempt to restore the Jerusalem Temple. The most remarkable event: Caesar, the enemy of Christianity, in disgrace, as he said, of the God of Nazareth, decided to restore the temple of Jerusalem. Imagining that nothing can resist his will, he persuades the Jews to rebuild their church, promising to help them with all his might. The Jews, encouraged by such strong patronage, flock from all sides to Jerusalem, sparing neither dependency nor preparation, and begin to tear out the old foundation in order to lay a new one. But as soon as they laid the first stones, the earth spews them out of its depths and scatters the workers. Alypius, the bishop of Jerusalem, having taken charge of the restorers, encourages them to begin the enterprise with new zeal. The Jews flock again; they begin to prepare a ditch for the foundation of the stones; their enthusiasm reaches the point that women begin to dig the ground with their own hands; Suddenly balls of fire burst out of the ground and begin to burn workers and destroy tools and materials. Things stopped. Whoever dared to return to work was scorched and in danger from erupting stones as many times as he approached the foundation site. Marcellinus, a pagan writer, an obvious witness of this human powerlessness and the power of God, assures that the flames, burning sand and stones made this place impregnable. So, there can be no doubt about the truth of this event. Isn’t the victorious power of God clearly revealed here? And this miraculous assistance of Providence was necessary: ​​Julian was a smart and cunning sovereign; he could have seduced many if he had succeeded in the enterprise. I am not talking about other miraculous events. Such are the miracles performed by some of the pious Christians, mentioned by Tertullian, Origen, Cyprian of Carthage, Augustine and others, during the first four centuries. I am not talking about the many miraculous events that often accompanied the martyrdom of Christians; for example, they extinguished fire, instruments of torment did not affect them, and the like. I am not talking about the death of the persecutors, who on their deathbed, in the most severe torment, admitted that they were suffering this for the persecution of Christians; So, for example, they died: Galerius, Maximin. In general, in the first centuries, Providence decisively showed that Christianity was growing under His miraculous assistance. In the Middle Ages, Providence showed the greatest miracle in favor of Christianity in that, through this religion, it tamed and formed disorderly crowds of rude barbarians, who from the depths of Asia invaded Europe, and made of them people capable of social life. Indeed, if we trace back to the first causes of the current flourishing state of Europe, we will see that without Christianity there would not have been those beautiful forms in which the moral life of its inhabitants was manifested. Naturally, the beginning of the transformation brought about by the Christian religion could not have happened without miraculous events. Historians of previous centuries conveyed many of these to us. True, there are some false stories among them, but, in all likelihood, much of what they convey to us is true. I consider especially the truest part of the tales about the circumstances surrounding the introduction of Christianity among each of the savage peoples. Here the first centuries of Christianity were to be repeated: without miracles there was nothing to be done with rude peoples. Finally, modern times, for an observer imbued with the spirit of piety, present striking miracles in favor of Christianity - only much more subtle, such as are coming to our age. Let us point out one thing that is almost contemporary to us - the excitement caused by the French Revolution, the whole series of events, starting from 1789 almost to our times. The revolution went against the thrones of the kings and, together, against Christianity. The first determination of the French National Convention was the destruction of all religion. Napoleon, among other ambitious plans, also had this idea in mind. This anti-Christian spirit animated almost all of Europe until 1812 and produced the most disastrous disturbances. But all this excitement ended finally to the glory of the Christian religion. The victory of Christianity was proclaimed everywhere by the kings themselves, who solemnly pledged before the whole world to base their policies on the law of Jesus Christ. Now remember the explanation of these circumstances, how all events from the very beginning were directed against Christianity, and how everything ended to its glory: one must be blind not to see here the traces of Providence, which is suppressing the religion of Jesus Christ. In addition to this great miracle, one can point to other, smaller ones. Such are the conversions of some unbelievers to Christianity; for example, the conversion of La Harpe, and in our time - of some German theologians. Let us point to one Ewald; he writes about himself in one essay: “I previously doubted the Divinity of the Christian religion and wrote a lot against it; Finally God brought me to my senses, I left to pursue her. Now my simple sermons, which are written in the spirit of the religion of Jesus Christ, produce such miracles as I did not expect.” Now it remains for everyone to be convinced by their own experience of the Divinity of the Christian religion. This experience is, together, our responsibility. The Christian religion will not disgrace itself - it will prove to the heart that it is Divine. Anyone who has at least once experienced its beneficial effect on a soul disposed towards the good and holy can no longer doubt its origin from above. And this is the experience we should wish for each other. You might be interested in: