On the need for a Council on the current state of the Russian Orthodox Church

Actions that are essential for the Russian Church. Such is the spirit of the times and the apostasy from the Orthodox Christian faith began to spread on such a strong scale, immorality is so universal and so rooted that a return to Christianity seems impossible: for it is the will of those who sin for us after accepting the mind of truth, for whom a sacrifice is not found for sins (Heb. 10:24), - the Apostle said to the Jews who accepted Christianity and from Christianity converted again to Judaism, who wanted to combine Christianity with Judaism. Christ became invisible to the Jews, and the invisible one withdrew from their midst when they wanted to kill Him (John 8:59): Christianity becomes invisible to us, moves away from us when we try to kill it with a dissolute life, by accepting various false teachings, when we try to mix Christianity with serving the world. The Lord said: Everyone who does evil hates the Light and does not come to the Light (John 3:2) 1. Nowadays everyone has rushed with all their soul towards debauchery, calling it “enjoyment of life” - and remaining in Christianity, returning to Christianity have become impossible for humanity. For both, complete abandonment of debauchery, complete submission of oneself to strict Christian morality is necessary. It prohibits not only fornication, but also everything that leads to fornication, by which voluptuousness is introduced into the soul, such as theaters, dancing, cards and other satanic games, pagan literature: it requires complete renunciation of the old nature (Luke 14:26). Let's not introduce anything new! Let us follow with precision the teaching taught by the Holy Church, the teaching taught by the Holy Apostles and Holy Fathers! This is the cry repeated at almost all Ecumenical and Local Councils by the holy Saints and Holy Fathers present at these Councils. With all difficult questions that arose in the Church, starting from the times of the Apostles, the Church constantly convened Councils to resolve them: at the Councils, perplexities were examined and the state of the Church was verified 2 . Due to the present difficult situation of the All-Russian Church, the convening of the Council became a decisive necessity. At the same time, the convening of the Council, according to the spirit of the times, is impossible without a certain preparation for such a holy undertaking. A correct Council is needed, with all the rights of previous Councils, but an arbitrary Council, at the own discretion of a person or persons, guided not by the rules of the Church, but by their own selfishness, will only harm the cause, will further shake the All-Russian Church, and will make Her position even more confused. The last Russian Council, according to the rules and character of the Orthodox Church, should be recognized as the Council that met in Moscow under Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich; At this Council, Patriarch Nikon was deposed. This Council has not only all the properties of a proper Council, but also an Ecumenical Council. It was attended by all Russian bishops and plenipotentiary representatives of the Orthodox East, two patriarchs. The Council Fathers had the right to freely express their opinions. It can be said that at this Council the entire Orthodox Eastern Church expressed its understanding of faith and its spirit for the hearing of the universe. For two centuries, the position of the Russian Church was not considered or verified by the Council. Since the last years of the 17th century, the Western wind has brought a lot of dirty dust into the bowels of the Church and into the bowels of the state to the detriment of faith, morality and the people. Ignorance of the Orthodox faith, views of it and the Church from ideas brought by debauchery, Protestantism and atheism, were the reason that extraneous, alien and hostile to the spirit of the Church decrees, contrary to the rules and teachings of the Orthodox Church, crept in and were forcibly introduced into the Orthodox Church. As a result of this, accusations are heard against the All-Russian Church; accusations are heard so strong that the denials against them are too weak 3 . Accusations are heard not only from among the Old Believers, not only from among dissenting confessions, but also from the mouths of the first hierarchs of the Orthodox East; Among the children of the Orthodox Russian Church, familiar with the teachings and traditions of Orthodoxy, murmurs are heard, displeasure is expressed at the present position of the Church, and lack of confidence in it. The Russian Church remained isolated for so long, cut off from the rest of the Orthodox East, that the immediate convening of a Council, at which there must certainly be authorized representatives of the Eastern Patriarchs, does not even seem safe in the sense that the Eastern ones will inevitably demand a significant return from deviations, a return necessary to restore in the All-Russian Church the spirit of the Universal Church, from which it deviated mainly in its Synod, vainly called His Holiness, and in their theological schools, which produce almost the most Protestants and atheists 4. The following preparatory actions are recognized as necessary, extremely necessary: 1) A complete collection of all the decrees that the All-Russian Church has adopted and established for itself since the reign of Emperor Peter I or since the time that has passed since the mentioned Council, which has the character of an Ecumenical Council, must be compiled. These decrees were not yet controlled by the Universal Church, which is required by the spirit of the true Church of Christ, for the holy Supreme Apostle Paul went on purpose to Jerusalem, so that there he could offer for investigation and verification to the other Apostles the gospel that had been preached to the pagans (Gal. 22). 2) Must receive complete information on all subjects of Church teaching and administration from the Eastern Patriarchs. We must also receive from them a complete collection of those decrees that have been made since the alienation of the Russian Church from the Eastern Church and which are most unknown in the Russian Church. 3) To invite from the Patriarch of Constantinople, with the consent of the other Patriarchs, one person or two persons who would be both very knowledgeable in the faith and very pious, who would enjoy the full power of attorney of the Patriarchs, and together with these persons prepare everything that should be considered at the Council. Preliminary consideration and agreement should facilitate the Council’s action and eliminate sharp clashes. The Council must have the character of an Ecumenical Council. He must enjoy complete freedom. Representatives of all Eastern Patriarchs and all Russian Bishops should be present, either personally or through their attorneys. At the Council there should be deputies: 1) from the Russian monastic monasticism, by the election of this monasticism, 2) from the white Russian clergy, by the election of this clergy, 3) from the Orthodox laity, by the election of the laity. Approximately each diocese must elect two deputies from each category, for a total of six deputies each diocese must elect. The government must dispatch several dignitaries from those most familiar with the faith to observe, just as it was at the Ecumenical Council of Chalcedon, so that the Council can be carried out freely and correctly. If the Council is held under the influence of intrigue and deviates from the goal of pleasing God to the goal of pleasing mankind, then it is better not to be: it will do so much harm, it will cause a decisive and public separation! On the contrary, if God’s mercy grants the Council to be accomplished with the desired success, as the Ecumenical and Local Councils of the Orthodox Church were accomplished, then the beneficial fruits of the Council both in spiritual and civil terms will be amazingly majestic and great. In spiritual terms, triumph will be brought to the true teaching of Christ, which we almost did not dare to talk about until now. When Christ’s teaching is explained with all frankness, then all heretical teachings will fall, or at least greatly weaken, the Orthodox people will be established in Orthodoxy, and many people of other faiths will flock under the roof of Orthodoxy. Orthodoxy must be accepted in its entirety and completeness, without allowing blasphemy against the Holy Spirit on any subject. In civil terms, such a Council will unite the Orthodox believing people into one people, even if these people were in different states and under different civil governance. In Russia, such a Council should have a strong impact on the schism, which currently has much support for itself in the rules and regulations of the Universal Church. The Americans and the British will be forced, not by violence, but by common sense, to accept the Orthodox faith as it is, without any changes or exceptions. Since the time of Peter I, Russia has often made many donations to the detriment of faith, to the detriment of Truth and Spirit, for empty and false political considerations, with which a corrupt heart covered up hatred and contempt for the rules of the Church and the law of God. All these considerations, having terribly shaken the Orthodox faith, turned out to be decisively harmful for the state and the administration. With the consciousness of error, with self-sacrifice, one must renounce all man-pleasing deviations that are criminal in relation to God. Otherwise, without this determination, it is better not to convene the Council 5. The main subjects of the Council's studies should be the following: 1) Consideration of the decrees that currently guide the Russian Church, which should be followed by the destruction of decrees that do not agree with the decrees of the Eastern Orthodox Church. 2) Destruction of the caste of the so-called spiritual rank, as an irregularity that crept in by itself, contrary to the rules of the Holy Apostles 6. To restore the most ancient custom of the Church: let the diocese elect for itself a bishop, and a parish priest, a deacon and a cleric, testifying to their piety. In order to enable pious people of all classes to prepare themselves for hierarchical degrees, it is necessary to formulate: a) theology not in a school character, but in a generally understandable character, in full agreement with the divine service of the Orthodox Church, so that the knowledge announced publicly by the divine service is also proclaimed by theology; b) a detailed Sacred and Church history, which will introduce, firstly, in detail the teachings of the Orthodox Church. This teaching is understood the more clearly the more detailed the struggle of the Church with the numerous heresies that rebelled against it is expounded. Secondly, a detailed Church history will introduce the characters and actions of the holy men. It is known that the character and rules of the reader are formed according to those patterns that history presents to him in detail and picturesquely. 3) Renunciation for all altar servers from the honors and occupations of this world, and for monks, no matter what their ecclesiastical hierarchical degrees, from all unnecessary property, even money. The remaining money and property after the monks should be the property of the monasteries, and not relatives according to the flesh. The love of this world is enmity with God: whoever desires to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God (James 4:4), the Holy Scripture teaches us. In the Jewish Church the Pharisees, in the Latin in general the entire clergy of this church, and most of all the Jesuits, experimentally proved all the truth of the words of Scripture. Therefore, the rules of the Holy Apostles command: “Let no bishop, or presbyter, or deacon accept worldly cares, otherwise he will be deposed” 7 . "It is not appropriate for a Bishop or Presbyter to go into public administration, but it is not acceptable to be involved in church affairs. Either he will be convinced not to do this, or he will be deposed. For no one can work for two masters, according to the Lord's commandment" 8 . A bishop, or presbyter, or deacon who trains in military affairs and wants to retain both, that is, the Roman authorities (cavalry) and the ministry of the priesthood: let him be expelled from the sacred rank. For Caesar's is Caesar's and God's is God's 9. For all servants of God in general, love of peace is detrimental and cannot in any way be combined with serving God: Do not love the world, nor those in the world. If anyone loves the world, there are no loving Fathers in it 10. It is necessary for the entire clergy to eliminate speculation and all intrigues for enrichment, it is necessary to renounce all vain honors, it is necessary to remove itself from luxury, modesty is necessary, and for monks - non-covetousness. 4) Restoration in the monasteries of the statutes and rules of the Holy Fathers, who set out the statutes and rules for monasticism by the revelation of God, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, and not by any human consideration, and it is necessary to remove from the monasteries everything introduced by carnal wisdom, introduced by the spirit of self-rule, conceit, the spirit of contempt and hatred of monasticism, the spirit of contempt and hatred of the Holy Spirit, to true Christianity. The monasteries are spoiled by the pride and ignorance of various thinkers who thought and acted according to the elements of Western Protestantism and atheism. Monasticism is necessary for the Orthodox Church: it cannot exist without it. Monks achieve the Christian perfection of dispassion, the tangible action of the Holy Spirit within themselves, and therefore acquire a living concept of Christianity. And no human science can teach a shadow of such knowledge; all professors, masters and doctors of theology produced by universities and academies are ignoramuses in comparison with a monk, renewed by the grace of God for following Christ by fulfilling His commandments. Our monasteries are perverted; Everything about them is distorted, their very meaning is distorted. Theological schools are so alien to the spirit of the Orthodox faith that the entry into a monastery of someone who has completed a seminary course is the greatest rarity and there has not been an example in 50 years since the establishment of theological academies in Russia that anyone, even one person, having completed a course at the academy, entered a monastery, while in ancient times the great Saints: Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian, Gregory Neocaesarea, John Chrysostom - at the end of the course of study they entered into monasticism, into desert monasteries, there they cultivated themselves through monastic deeds. In Russia there seems to be a strange phenomenon: people from universities and other higher secular schools have entered monasteries and still occasionally do, but no one has entered from theological academies, unless someone who has fallen into the incurable passion of drunkenness has been exiled. This has its meaning. Our monasteries are in extreme decline. We repeat: they are perverted. Individuals who enter them are almost exclusively from the rabble; they engage exclusively in physical feats, almost always fruitlessly or with false fruits, mistaking the means and benefits for the goal and essence. But even physical feats have now become a rarity: now monasteries have turned into havens of debauchery, in some places open, in others covered by hypocrisy, in places of exile, in places of extortion and other various abuses. The caste made them this way, looking at them as their tenants, hating and despising them, defecating in them with only their fiends, intolerant in the environment of the world due to the unbridled depravity of these fiends. 5) The opinions presented at the Council must be written down, as was the case at the Ecumenical Councils, verified after each meeting and, at the end of the Council, announced in print for all to see. 6) A draft Code or Laws and Rules should be drawn up that could guide the Russian Church in its present situation. These rules are needed, of course, only for those particulars for which there are no rules in the decrees of the Universal Church. 7) Revise catechisms and theology and expand them, giving them an Orthodox-Eastern character, similar to the character of the divine service of the Orthodox Church, so that the knowledge announced publicly by the divine service is also proclaimed by catechisms. These catechisms and theologies, some of which should be briefer, others more extensive, others the most complete and lengthy, should be translated into the main European languages, which will serve as the strongest means of attracting people to the Orthodox faith. 8) Draw up a charter for theological educational institutions, in relation to the charter of monasteries, so that the life of the students is practically and strictly Christian, so that they acquire solid skills in piety 11, so that they become well acquainted with worship, gain a taste for church prayers and standing. Compile your own textbooks for these educational institutions, such as a course in Literature and others, removing from them everything pagan, everything even indirectly leading to freethinking, immorality, irony, jokes, playfulness, which is all so contrary to the spirit of Christianity and has such an infectious effect on the corrupted human nature. Pay special attention to philosophy, from which logic should be taught with amazing completeness, however, avoiding refinements, abstractions and scholasticism, which have a harmful effect on the natural ability - the mind. The history of philosophy should be taught briefly, explaining to students that the foundations on which philosophers of all times created their systems are arbitrary, for this reason have no strength and contradict one another, that human philosophy should be recognized as nothing other than a play of the imagination and a collection of opinions alien to the truth. Anyone who accepts this play of the imagination, these arbitrary opinions as the teaching of truth, philosophy naturally leads, of necessity, into error and mental damage. And this happens in a row. What do the teachings of the atheists mean? These are hypotheses accepted as axioms. Saint John of the Climacus said: “Stranger-minded, before spiritual strength, do not pass through words: for we speak in darkness and darken the weak.” This rule must be preserved in relation to youth. Christianity alone leads to true philosophy: only through it can one be an infallible psychologist and metaphysician. Mature men who have studied the positive sciences, philosophy, and the writings of the Fathers of the Church, who have experienced the meaning of Christianity, can and should compile a detailed exposition of philosophy, very useful and scientific in a certain respect; it should be considered and approved by the highest clergy and should serve as the subject of attention of husbands, and not of young people, so capable of one-sided infatuation. In theological higher schools it is necessary to teach positive sciences. Plato quite rightly recognized the impossibility of teaching philosophy without knowledge of mathematics. Knowledge of the natural sciences is especially necessary, because in our time nihilists affirm their teaching supposedly on the natural sciences. You need to know that they establish the edifice of nihilism not on the natural sciences, but on arbitrary, absurd hypotheses, i.e. assumptions or inventions that cannot be proven with the kind of evidence in which only science recognizes knowledge as true and without which all brilliant hypotheses remain with the dignity of a play of the imagination, with the dignity of delirium. Nature proclaims God according to the testimony of Holy Scripture (Ps. 103. Rom. 1, 19–20), and sciences that explain the laws of nature proclaim God all the more powerfully. All the great scientists, mathematicians and natural scientists, such as Newton, Leibniz, Necker, were not only deists, but also recognized Christianity. Almost all the sophists were atheists, ignorant of the positive sciences and indulged in unbridled reasoning and daydreaming. 9) Collect and print the Tradition of the Universal Church (cursus completus Patrologiae) in Greek, Latin, Slavic and Russian. And the Tradition of the Universal Eastern Church, ascertained with all fidelity from the most reliable documents, should act in favor of the Orthodox Church. 10) Give the Synod proper organization and destroy slavery in the clergy, according to the thoughts and instructions of the holy Apostles (1 Peter 5:2, 3). To achieve this, it is necessary to destroy the caste and prepare as parish priests those elected by the parish, and as bishops by the diocese, according to the ancient custom of the Church and according to apostolic tradition. 11) Abolish the punishments newly invented for the clergy, which by their nature belong to tyranny, so alien to the spirit of the Church, serving - one can decisively say - always to the final moral disorder of those who are subjected to them. On the contrary, introduce the punishment established by the apostles, and still read in their canons - introduce excommunication and expulsion - that is, deprivation of clergy and exclusion from the clergy, which is now so avoided under the pretext of popular temptation. But the eruption is necessary to cleanse the Church of unworthy servants; On the contrary, the current measures, consisting most of the barbaric custom introduced during the reign of Ivan the Terrible and consisting of preserving rotten members in the depths of the Church, placing them in monasteries, have corrupted the monasteries, turned them into moral latrines, and instill decisive fearlessness in the white clergy. According to the ancient custom of the Church, those deprived of the clergy must be left free to dispose of themselves, if no crime has been committed against civil laws. This measure will very soon elevate the clergy in moral and spiritual terms without harming the members removed from it. The main reason for the disorganization of the Church is that the rules of the Holy Apostles, Councils and Fathers were ignored, even forgotten, and they were replaced by inventions alien to the spirit of the Church, borrowed from a spirit hostile to the Orthodox Church, destroying the very spirit of the Church while leaving only outward decency in some degree and form. Here it is necessary to mention the Chief Prosecutor of the Holy Synod, although his institution is purely civil. The spirit of the times and experiences prove the complete and decisive need for a secular person for the Church, who would care about its benefits, protect them, bring them into harmony with the benefits of the state, communicate with ministers and all higher authorities, and have a direct report to the Sovereign. This person should stand on a par with the highest dignitaries of the state. It has already been placed in this place by the irresistible force of circumstances and the spirit of the time! The position of the Chief Prosecutor, in which he is assigned by modern requirements, does not in any way coincide with the position given to the Chief Prosecutor by the original state institution of this position. For this reason, every Chief Prosecutor, of necessity, strives to get out of the position in which his original institution puts him, as from a false position that constrains the requirements of his activity to the greatest detriment to the cause of the Church. This brings him into conflict and struggle with the Synod, with the clergy, with the Church, which has its own hierarchical statutes, given to it by the apostles according to the will of the God-Man. No authority can abolish these statutes: any abolition is recognized as lawlessness and violence. Silence in the face of the violence of power is in no way an expression of consent: a split can be not only visible, but also invisible; this invisible schism has on its side the Church truth, which no Christian can change in his soul as long as he remains a true Christian. When Prince Golitsyn and Count Protasov achieved the position that they needed, then they became the most useful people for the Church in material terms, the most zealous defenders of its rights, strong defenders, stronger than the Synod itself. They were strong for the reason that they were equal to the first nobles, they were strong, like those close to the King, who did not need to give in and please other close ones. Then Count Protasov reconciled with those individuals from the clergy with whom at the beginning of his exploit he was on hostile terms. The Church needs a Trustee, a Ktitor, a Church Warden. Under the Trustee, to whom the Comrade and the Office of the current Chief Prosecutor should pass, a special Chief Prosecutor at the Holy Synod may remain in the position given to him by the original establishment. In this position, the Chief Prosecutor is not required to be a courtier; it is required that he be a lawyer, a lawyer, an office and clerical businessman. As the most important reports and all administrative communications must be carried out through a trustee: the Prosecutor will always be controlled by the Trustee, the Members of the Synod, and the Members by the Prosecutor. The desire of the Chief Prosecutor to move to the position of Minister will no longer have either place or basis. The trustee to a certain extent, without agreement and certain rights, was Prince Golitsyn under the Chief Prosecutors Prince Meshchersky and Nechaev, and how important knowledge of clerical activities is for the Chief Prosecutor was proved by Nechaev and Karasevsky, under whom office work had a special character of clarity and order. The establishment of a Trustee will in no way be an innovation in the Church, being in accordance with the spirit of the Church, having already been implemented in all parish Churches, but it is urgently required by the modern situation and the spirit of society. Saint John Chrysostom wanted the material concerns for the Church to be entrusted to lay people known for their piety and devotion to the Church; many Byzantine nobles had the character of Trustees. And now the Synod in relation to other departments is the stronger the stronger its Chief Prosecutor; Actually, they are beginning to pay little attention to the Synod. The Synod will be significantly strengthened under the Trustee, for the greatest good of the State, a good that is cursed by the terrible decline of religion and its rights in all classes. The internal struggle in the Synod, shocking and destroying it, the struggle between secular and spiritual authorities, a constant struggle, although not always obvious, will be destroyed: the Trustee, having the importance and rights of the highest dignitary, being a member of the State Council and the Committee of Ministers, being a Trustee and not a Minister, will not find reasons for the struggle that arises from the desire for exaltation, a desire caused by necessity. To tell the truth, the establishment of a Trustee is already in place. The Chief Prosecutors have moved significantly towards this position. But this situation is an accident; it is the fruit of connections, court influence and does not have a solid foundation: all Orthodox people look at it with distrust. It can't be otherwise! The ministry is something like the Patriarchate, for this reason every Chief Prosecutor, having achieved the status of a minister, remains in a false, uncertain position and puts the entire Church in the same position. The Chief Prosecutor can very conveniently be renamed into a Trustee, and the Ruler of the Synod Chancellery into Chief Prosecutors. In this case, the false position of everyone disappears by itself: everyone will enter into correct relationships, indicated by Church and civil law. A well-intentioned and prudent Trustee will have the means to carry it out more than anyone else. The convening of the Council should be very pleasant for the Trustee, because the Council, for its own strength and freedom, will try to elevate the importance of the Trustee and have in him a reliable weapon for action in favor of the Church and for its defense against individuals hostile to the Church. On the contrary, the Council will certainly take care of limiting the ministerial power of the Chief Prosecutor precisely because of its similarity to the power of the Patriarch. This will lead to clashes and intrigues, and will make the meeting of the Council fruitless. The Trustee of the Orthodox Church must certainly be the Minister of all other faiths: this will put other faiths in the correct relationship to the dominant religion, which in its present situation often takes on the character of being exclusively oppressed and persecuted. It happened that even Mohammedanism was given preference, and the Orthodox faith in Orthodox Russia was humiliated, dishonored, and trampled underfoot before Mohammedanism. The Lord called Himself Light. Thus, at the 6th Ecumenical Council, some customs of the Roman Church were subjected to verification. Christian Reading, December 1864, article by Ig. Nilsky. Page 484–486... Orthodox white and black clergy in Russia. Leipzig, 1866. Book attributed to SPbDA exprofessor Roslavlev. A prediction is passed down among the most respectable men of the Greek clergy that in recent times an effort will appear to convene a Council, but that the spirit of the times will not allow the Council to meet Matt. 22, 21. – Rule 83. In England this character is given. Thus, the character of the schools puts a strong stamp on the students. Our students of theological schools are imprinted with the impressions of the world, the spirit of the world, and to the greatest surprise they harbor a Protestant aversion to monasticism and speak against it no weaker than Luther. Of those who complete a course in seminaries, very rarely enter monasticism.