Собеседование 24 на псалом 104

And this psalm calls for glorifying the God of all, which is shown by its very inscription - “alleluia”, which means: praise the Lord. Here we remember the promises given by God to the patriarchs, and the benefits that were given to their descendants for their sake. The memory of both was supposed to arouse and encourage those who were awarded so many benefits to be jealous of the virtue of their forefathers. At the same time, this psalm teaches the new people that the Lord was not unjust to that ungrateful people, depriving them of His favor. Since (the Jews) bore the name of the people of God and enjoyed the favor of God, but later, it turned out, they completely lost it, these psalms teach all people how many blessings the Lord showed them, and how ungrateful they remained for these blessings, so that from here everyone could be convinced of the justice of the condemnation they suffered, and seeing the retribution for ingratitude, they would not dare to follow the same path with them, but would stay on the right path. The word “alleluia” when translated means “praise be to God Iao.” And the Jews left “Iao” without translation as a kind of name of God. So, “Alleluia” stands at the head of this psalm and its entire content directs to praise in honor of God. Moreover, the real psalm turns out to be the first in a series of those with the inscription - “Alleluia”. And I think that this inscription, due to its special character, is compared with other psalms and songs. And by all accounts it seems to me that these psalms constitute hymns and praise in honor of God (as it should be, because “alleluia” in translation means “praise God”), and that they were not accompanied by playing the psalter and were not intended for singing, but in themselves constituted hymns and praise, describing the benefits of God to people. 1. “Confess the Lord and call on His name, proclaim His works among the nations” (Ps. 105:1). In this psalm, the Holy Spirit inspires the holy apostles to proclaim to the pagan people all the miracles that the Lord performed at His coming to earth. “Call” - Symmachus translated: “preach.” This expression calls for offering songs of thanksgiving to God and talking about divine miracles. “Proclaim His works among the nations.” It is clear and obvious that what is meant here is not only the benefit of the Jews, but also of all pagans. “Sing to Him and sing praises to Him, tell about all His wonders” (Ps. 105:2). “Sing” - turning your lips to pronounce hymns; “sing” - understanding what you are chanting, thank Him with hymns and chants, and teach those who do not know the miracles He has performed. “Boast in His holy name, so that the hearts of those who seek the Lord may be glad” (Ps. 105:3). Akila, instead of “boast”, put: “be proud.” The admonition here is to be not proud of wealth, power, or authority, but to place your pride in the knowledge of God and in His wisdom. The divine apostle also advised this: “whoever boasts,” he says, “boast in the Lord” (1 Cor. 1:31). The wisest Anna also spoke about this: “Let not the wise boast in his wisdom” (1 Samuel 2:10). “Let the hearts of those who seek the Lord be glad.” Beginning with confession, the psalmist reached joy. In fact, the beginning of prosperity lies in confessing one’s sins and in the good fruits of repentance, according to the word of the prophet: “Produce fruit worthy of repentance” (Matthew 3:8). Then we will have courage to call on His name and will be worthy of His gifts, teaching others in what we ourselves know; then, having been rewarded with joy in God, we will be able to sing and glorify Him, and, finally, to explain the secrets of divine Scripture, because this is where His miracles lie. Then, having achieved all this, we will boast in His name. So, hope in God has joy as its fruit. “Seek the Lord and be strong” (Ps. 104:4). And teaching how to do this, he added: “seek His face always.” Not once or twice, but throughout your entire life you must seek help from above and use it; those who seek it in this way will be irresistible and invincible. “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you; for everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened” (Matthew 7:7-8). What does it mean to “seek”? The seeker constantly turns his mind to what he is seeking. The Prophet encourages those who will preach to the pagans to constantly seek the Lord; words: “The Lord gave the word of good news to me with great power” (Ps. 67:12). The admonition to constantly seek is opposed to the requirement of the Law of Moses - to appear before the face of the Lord three times during the year (Deut. 16:16). But just as Samuel - according to history - serving in the tabernacle of witness, saw the face of God (1 Samuel 3), so those who always succeed in studying dogmas and practicing virtue constantly seek His face, desiring with a pure mind to see Him who is the image of the hypostasis of the Father (Heb. 1:3), the image of the invisible God (2 Cor. 4:4), - why the one who sees Him immediately sees the Father (John 14:9). “Remember His signs that He did, His wonders and the sayings of His mouth” (Ps. 104:5). 2. Do not, says the psalmist, consign to oblivion the untold miracles that the Lord has performed. Here he called the miracles created by God according to the court of justice “fates” (or “courts”). Since he later talks about the miracles performed in Egypt, here he points out in advance the justice of the punishment suffered by the Egyptians. The mouth is His word, since it announced the sentences of the righteous judgment of the Lawgiver and Ruler. And it seems to me that he is talking here about the laws governing heaven, earth, sea, operating in the areas of the underground and celestial regions. After all, not only man received the law from Him, but also everything visible: the sea, so as not to go beyond its limits, the mountains to stand firm, the earth to be motionless, and in a similar way everything is governed by its own laws. And all this is by command of the Creator. “The seed of Abraham are His servants, the sons of Jacob are His chosen!” (Ps. 104:6). Both names refer to the same ones, on the one hand as descendants, on the other as sons by adoption. He called them elect, as a people called by God preferentially over all nations, which is confirmed by what follows, “not all those Israelites who are of Israel,” and not all those who are Abraham’s seed, his children (Rom. 9:6–7). And the Savior said: “I know that you are Abraham’s seed” (John 8:37), and then: “If you were the children of Abraham, you would do the works of Abraham” (John 8:39). This means that some are only a seed, while others are at the same time imitators of deeds, real sons and chosen ones. He did not say the latter about the seed: he only called them slaves. Both real names refer to the disciples (of Christ), because they were both: slaves, like seed, and chosen, like sons, as can be seen from the words: “I chose twelve of them, whom I called apostles” (Luke 6:13; Matt. 10:5), and also: “Have I not chosen you twelve?” (John 6:70). And you will understand the advantage of the elect from the fact that “many are called, but few are chosen” (Matthew 20:16). “He is the Lord our God, His judgments are throughout all the earth” (Ps. 104:7). One and the same, being God and Lord of all and ruling over the entire universe, called them His people, which is why He ordered the destinies of His mouth to be announced, since everyone is subject to His judgment, and He honored not only the Jews, but also everyone with election. Another would say that the providence of our God arranges the whole world according to divine judgments. “He always remembers His covenant, [which] He commanded for a thousand generations” (Ps. 104:8). This signifies the permanence and immutability of the promises given to Abraham. Of course, this is not a hyperbole, as some accepted, but the God of all promised to Abraham that through his seed all nations would be blessed according to the flesh; time also has an eternal power and an imperishable kingdom. This is what the mention of a thousand generations indicates, because this expression does not mean the number of years, but many generations indicate immutability and eternity, or even innumerability in unity, as for example: “a thousand rejoicing” (Ps. 67:18), or again: “the law of Your mouth is better to me than thousands of gold and silver” (Ps. 119:72). “Which He commanded to Abraham, and His oath to Isaac, and gave it to Jacob for a commandment, and to Israel for an everlasting covenant” (Ps. 105:9-10). The great Moses also mentions this oath; He said, he says, God to Abraham: “By me I swear... by blessing I will bless you and by multiplying I will multiply your seed like the stars of heaven... and in your seed all the nations of the earth will be blessed” (Gen. 22:16-18). He renewed this oath to Isaac, and (in accordance with it) confirms His covenant with Jacob. And, of course, He fulfills this covenant of His: through Moses He freed those descendants from the slavery of Egypt, through Joshua He brought them into the Promised Land, and He accomplished the final fulfillment of the promises through the Lord Christ. “Saying: “I will give you the land of Canaan..., the portion of your inheritance” (Ps. 104:11). The name “destiny” (land-measuring chain) denoted the ownership of land, because measuring land is the business of the owners. “When they were few in number, very insignificant and... strangers in it” (Ps. 105:12). This, he says, He promised to the fathers when they were very few. The power of the one who promised is evidenced by the fact that even to such a small number He could deliver possession of such land. He promised Abraham, Isaac and Jacob that, being then few in number, they would multiply like the stars of heaven and like the sand on the seashore and bring blessing to all the families of the earth - and that, instead of them being strangers in the land of Canaan, He would make them lords thereof. Both were fulfilled in their descendants, who multiplied in number like sand. And when the pagans received the blessing of Abraham's seed, they also multiplied like the stars of heaven. Then they were told: “You shine as lights in the world, containing the word of life” (Phil. 2:15–16). “And they passed from nation to nation, and from kingdom to nation” (Ps. 104:13). The patriarchs remained strangers and were not based in any one place, but either lived here or moved their tents to another place. By kingdom here we mean Egypt, upon leaving which they met the Canaanite peoples. And then “he did not allow anyone to offend them and the king punished her for them (saying):” (Ps. 104:14). He showed them to be stronger than those who tried to hurt them. “Touch not My anointed, and do not harm My prophets” (Ps. 105:15). The justice of the rejection that befell the descendants of Abraham is also confirmed by the fact that they were not ashamed of the benefits shown to their ancestors, while these benefits brought benefit even to the pagans. In fact, their forefathers, he says, being very few in number and strangers, with the then prevailing hostility between peoples and the cruelty of the rulers, safely made their journeys under the cover of God's Providence. So, Abraham moved from the land of the Chaldeans to Canaan, from Palestine to Egypt and from there to Gerar, where Isaac lived after him; Jacob moved from Palestine to Egypt. And Moses describes how God did not suffer them to be offended, having warned the kings about them. Thus, He kept Pharaoh with great and terrible threats from capturing Sarah, Abraham's wife. So, He frightened Abimelech at night, saying: “Behold, you will die for the woman whom you have taken, for she has a husband” (Gen. 20:3). Thus, He inspired respect for Isaac in the then inhabitants of Palestine. Thus, He threatened Laban: “Beware, do not say good or bad to Jacob” (Gen. 31:24). The Lord calls the forefathers anointed, not because they were anointed with oil, but because they were chosen. God also called Abraham a prophet: “Now return your wife to her husband, for he is a prophet and will pray for you, and you will live” (Gen. 20:7). Or maybe he calls them anointed, as those who have received the invisible anointing of the Spirit. And that He Himself spoke to them is shown by His words: “Abraham your father rejoiced to see My day; and he saw and rejoiced” (John 8:56). When did he see? When, raising his eyes, he saw God standing before him by the oak of Mamre, which is exactly what Scripture said: “And the Lord appeared to him by the oak grove of Mamre” (Gen. 18:1). “And He called a famine upon the land: He destroyed every stalk of grain” (Ps. 104:16). 3. Sin entails punishment; punishment exposes the bestial life; and reproof produces a change in life. So, God sent a famine for the lawless life of the people of that time. But at the same time, this very expression expressed His concern for His servants. God caused the famine for the purpose of economy, so that, having moved because of it (to Egypt) and (there) multiplied, they would then receive possession of the land of promise. “I destroyed every stalk of grain”, i.e. in everything that serves for nutrition, He created a shortage, not only in wheat, but also in barley, and beans, and other things that people live on. This is what usually happens due to the wrath of God during famine, so that people have nothing to support their lives. “He sent a man before them: Joseph was sold as a slave” (Ps. 104:17). These words at the same time speak of both the wickedness of the brothers and the wisdom of the Lord. The Lord turned the brothers’ anger to good use; This does not mean that He Himself forced them to sell their brother, but that He allowed them to discover their evil disposition, and He Himself took advantage of this for the better, made the slave king and prepared for the whole people to move to Egypt. The future people of God had to be made glorious and known through miracles performed for them, because such care for them clearly testified to their God, and enlightened eyewitnesses with the light of knowledge of God. “They hampered his feet with shackles: his soul passed through iron” (Ps. 104:18). The slander of his wife, who sought adultery, led him to prison, and there, as usual, they placed iron shackles on him. This is how Symmachus put it: his soul entered into iron, that is, he was in close danger of death. Or “iron” the prophet here called the severity and strength of the test. He endured all this with patience Joseph, and through his longsuffering his sorrows passed away. “Until his word came (to fulfillment): (then) the word of the Lord set him on fire" (Ps. 104:19). Joseph endured all this, tempted like gold. God, who knows everything before it comes into existence, did not, of course, need to test the purity of Joseph’s virtue, but He wanted to reveal his wisdom and fidelity to the truth before people. At that time, a written law had not yet been given, but for every reasonable person, the word of God was replaced by natural law, the possession of which makes us reasonable. And here: “until his word came (to fulfillment)”, of course, the word of Joseph, when, having seen dreams about sheaves and stars, he told his father and brothers about this. Until all this was accomplished, he was subject to disasters. “The king sent (for him), and the ruler of the nations allowed him, and freed him. He made him lord over his house and ruler over all his possessions” (Ps. 105:20–21). And showing the moral consequences of this event, the prophet added: “so that he instructs his nobles as himself, and teaches his elders wisdom” (Ps. 104:22). Purified by fire like gold, in accordance with the words of the prophet: “Test me, O Lord, and try me” (Ps. 25:2), when God admonished Pharaoh, he is freed and receives power. It is no coincidence that Pharaoh has this idea. What prevented him, when he learned from Joseph about the famine, from releasing Joseph himself and organizing grain supplies with the help of His leaders? But he cared not so much about the supply of bread, but about the spiritual benefit of those whom Joseph could save and teach wisdom, i.e. his rulers and elders; and through them his subjects were to become better. And indeed, having become famous for explaining the royal dreams and having received power, Joseph became a guide to all of them to the knowledge of God, not only with the help of words, but also by his deeds, attracting them to the same piety. “And Israel came to Egypt, and Jacob moved to the land of Hama” (Ps. 104:23). The sons of Noah were: Shem, Ham, Japheth; Ham had a son Canaan, and this one Mesraim, which means Egypt, from which the country received its name. Consequently, that Jacob came to Egypt was similar to the fact that Ham, the grandfather of Mosraim, settled in Egypt, while he lived in so-called Palestine Canaan. When it is said that Jacob, or Israel, entered Egypt, then his children are understood with him. “He called his father Jacob and all his family, seventy-five souls” (Acts 7:14; Gen. 46:27), says Scripture. This, it says, was the reason for the patriarch to move to Egypt, but the psalmist calls Egypt. Hama, he says, gave birth to the firstborn of Hus and his brother Mesraim. The Holy Scriptures call Ethiopia by the name of Hus, and by the name of Mesraim they call Egypt the same: he received the first name from his parents, and the second was given to him by God, reminding him of the divine appearance that had happened to him. Thus, God remembered what He promised Abraham; precisely when Abraham said: How will it be? God answered: “Know that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and will enslave them, and will oppress them for four hundred years” (Gen. 15:13). “And He greatly multiplied His people and made them stronger than their enemies” (Ps. 105:24). The book of Exodus also testifies to this. “The children of Israel were fruitful and multiplied, but the more they exhausted him, the more he multiplied and the more he grew, so that [the Egyptians] feared the children of Israel” (Ex. 1:7, 12). This shows precisely that their multiplication was not a natural thing, but by virtue of His promise. Instead of decreasing under the influence of oppression, when children were thrown into the river and nature was violated, they increased even more, so that they became very dangerous for the natives; This is what Pharaoh, who knew Joseph, said: “Behold, the people of the children of Israel are numerous and stronger than us” (Ex. 1:9). But they would not have strengthened and multiplied if Joseph had not achieved power and closeness to Pharaoh. “And he aroused in their hearts hatred towards His people and deceit against His servants” (Ps. 104:25). After, enjoying the respect of the Egyptians, they indulged in idolatry on an equal basis with them, God aroused (the Egyptians) to hate them and impose hard work on them, so that, embittered, they would turn to Him, and He could fulfill the promise given to Abraham regarding the land Just as Joseph, having tempted, he glorified, showed him worthy through the test, so now it was with the people: having been tested, they turned to their God with weeping and crying. This is why the respect for them on the part of the Egyptians turned into hatred. In fact, taking advantage of their respect, the Jews forgot the God of their fathers and became participants in their idolatry, as Joshua says: “Fear the Lord and serve Him in purity. sincerity; reject the gods whom your fathers served beyond the river and in Egypt, and serve the Lord” (Joshua 24:14). The Lord changed the heart of the Egyptians not by force, but by allowing them to freely choose. And their cunning was that they first forced the grandmothers to kill Jewish male babies, and then ordered them to be thrown into the river. However, the Jewish people avoided all these networks of death. “He sent (then) Moses His servant Aaron, whom He had chosen for Himself. He put in them the words of His signs and His wonders in the land of Ham” (Ps. 104:26–27). 4. The psalmist's account agrees with history. Briefly, he says that, having sufficiently punished the Jewish people according to their deserts, God sends to them those through whom He performed miracles, on the one hand punishing the Egyptians, on the other hand, confirming the Jews in the knowledge of Himself. He revealed the reason for the signs only to Moses and his brother; since they alone were reasonable, He showed them only reasonable understanding, so that they would know why the water turned into blood among the Egyptians, what was the reason for each phenomenon separately, why did these phenomena occur in this order, and what do they serve as images or symbols? Since not everyone is able to move away from what is harmful on their own, God sends the strong to those who are weak - as guides and leaders on the path to good. These are the essence: the law of God, in the person of Moses, and the priestly word, the bearer of which was Aaron. They moved their tongues, served God with their lips and uttered words, and all the power came from Him. “He sent darkness and brought darkness, for they opposed His words” (Ps. 104:28), And the wondrous servants did not contradict the divine commands, but carried out what God commanded, and brought a very long and three-day night over Egypt, or better to say, a darkness darker than the night itself, because the night, even if it was without a moon, is tempered by the brilliance of the stars, and this darkness is Sacred Scripture calls it accessible to touch. Taking care of His people, God did not subject the Egyptians to any great disasters; His omnipotent hand was not powerless, of course, to pour out the full cup of wrath on them, sending lions, bears, famine, pestilence or death to them, but punished them by other means, little by little, calling them to repentance. The greatest evil was caused to the people not by what they forced. him to make clay and bricks, but by teaching him to honor idols. Therefore, He punished those who misled, leading them to the knowledge of the Lord of all, and the creation itself (which they deified) was used by him as an instrument of punishment. The air turned into darkness, water into blood, the earth (produced) frogs, fire was strangely brought along with rain and hail; and the darkness sent from God did not resist, says the prophet, His words and did not irritate Him, but obediently spread, exclusively in Egypt. Meanwhile, the Scripture says, “all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings” (Ex. 10:23). And indeed, if darkness were all over the world, how could it be said that it remained for three days and three nights? How could one differentiate between days and nights during this one exceptional night? But so that no one could say that it was an eclipse or in general a matter of nature, the Jews living in the same country did not feel the effect of this execution, as was the case with other executions. “He turned their waters into blood and killed the fish... them” (Ps. 104:29). This means that not only the color of the water, but also the very quality of the taste, He changed, so that all breeds of fish perished. “Their earth boiled with frogs (even) in the treasuries of their kings” (Ps. 104:30). Since they threw Jewish children into the river, the water of the river itself turned into blood, revealing how it was desecrated by murder; from here the Lord also produced toads that crawled like babies, whom they killed, crawling into the houses and penetrating into the very chambers of the kings. The Prophet specifically mentioned the royal treasuries to show the power of the miracle: even the many servants and soldiers who usually guard the royal palace could not prevent the invasion of the toads into the palace. “He said - and dog flies and midges appeared throughout all their borders” (Ps. 104:31). The word was followed by deed: as soon as God commanded and Moses spoke, immediately dog flies and gnats filled the country, without passing through the Egyptian borders and without causing harm to other people, but being a punishment only for these enemies of God. This very thought is contained in the words: “to all their borders,” i.e. nothing like this was observed outside the Egyptian borders. “Instead of rain, he sent them hail... (and) fire, scorching their land. And he smote their vineyards and their fig trees, and crushed every tree within their borders” (Ps. 104:32-33). The clouds changed their usual functions and instead of rain and moisture they gave birth to hail, and together with the hail thunder and lightning erupted, and the mutually opposite elements, fire and water, did not destroy each other: neither fire melted the icy hail, nor water extinguished the fire, but, abandoning natural struggle, they unanimously defeated the Egyptians and exposed their brutality - that, being people, they were not ashamed nature, but their fellows were oppressed by bitter slavery. For this reason, vineyards, fig trees, and all other types of plants were completely destroyed by these phenomena. “He said, and there came locusts and caterpillars without number, and they ate all the grass in their land and ate all the fruit in their land” (Ps. 105:34–35). The Lord destroyed the trees with hail and fire, and caterpillars and locusts devastated the swamps, meadows and fields. They ate not only the fruits, but also the grass itself. And it is not usual that caterpillars and locusts appeared at the same time, because either the locusts, having appeared initially, produce caterpillars, or the caterpillars, having grown, become locusts, so that one comes first, the other follows some time later. But since here we are dealing with a miracle, and this phenomenon occurred at the command of God, the caterpillars and locusts appeared together and devoured the fruits along with the grass, so that everything that served to feed people and livestock was destroyed. “And he struck down every firstborn in their land, beginning with all their labor” (Ps. 104:36). 5. This was the last plague for the Egyptians, after which they began to encourage the Jews to quickly leave them. Now every house was filled with crying and sobs, since all their firstborn were struck by death at the same time. This time an even more severe blow befell them: after they remained insensitive to the previous executions, the Lord wounded them in what was dearer to them. “And he brought them out with silver and gold, and there was not a sick person among their tribes” (Ps. 104:37). After the Egyptians did not allow the Jews to take even their own property, now in addition to theirs they took the wealth of the Egyptians, receiving gold and silver as if in payment for heavy slavery. And the command of God, according to which this happened, was not unjust: for the oppressors it was a punishment, but for the oppressed - with reward. “And there was no sick person in their tribes.” The executions that befell the Egyptians did not affect them. God commanded them to rob the Egyptians, as they were the conquered and, moreover, obliged to reward them for their long-term slavery. But it was also remarkable that they came out of the country, which suffered in the most cruel way, unharmed - every one of so many thousands, so that no one remained in Egypt, no one was detained. bodily weakness. So Moses consigned to history. “Egypt rejoiced at their departure, for the fear of them fell upon it” (Ps. 104:38). They were so exhausted by all sorts of disasters that they considered the liberation of the Jews a blessing for themselves. “Ras spread a cloud to cover [them] and fire to give light to [them] at night” (Ps. 104:39). The same cloud served as a tent for them during the day and protected them from the sultry rays, and at night, becoming fire-like, it illuminated their path. “They asked, and a quail flew in, and he satisfied them with the bread of heaven” (Ps. 104:40). When they desired meat, he provided them with birds as prey without any labor on their part, and when they needed bread, he sent it from the sky, from the clouds giving not rain, but the food itself. He calls it manna, not because it originated from the sky itself, but generally from above - from the air, which is the Holy Scripture. also calls heaven, and at the same time because it served as a prototype of the heavenly bread given to the Church in the sacrament (Eucharist). “Ra broke the stone, and waters flowed; able to cross other rivers if they appeared as an obstacle on the way. “For He remembered His holy word, which (he spoke) to Abraham, and led His people in joy and His chosen ones in joy” (Ps. 104:42-43). to the Jews: “not for your righteousness and not for the uprightness of your heart” did the “Lord your God” bring out of the land of Egypt, but “in order to fulfill the word which the Lord swore to your fathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob” (Deut. 9:4–5, 8:1, 8), because “he who shows mercy to a thousand generations of those who love” Him, at the same time instructs their descendants, so that they preserve His justifications ( Ex.20:6). “And he gave them the regions of the pagans, and they inherited (acquired) from the labor of the nations” (Ps. 104:44). He not only freed them from slavery to the Egyptians, but also gave them the land of the Canaanites and made them masters of other people’s labors, and those, punishing them justly, and fulfilling their own promises. And that the expulsion of the former inhabitants of Palestine was not an unjust matter, the Lord showed this by means of the law forbade the Jews to imitate the lives of those, and by the fact that, giving promises to Abraham (explained to him), why he did not immediately give him that land to possess, but left him as a stranger for a long time: “for the measure,” he says, “of the iniquities of the Amorites has not yet been filled” (Gen. 15:16), i.e. they have not yet deserved death, and it is unfair to subject them to punishment, or to pronounce condemnation on them only in anticipation of great sins, but (must) wait for the end of the matter. I use measure and manage weight, and I have nothing unweighted. Therefore, after waiting for four hundred years, he then expelled only those, and thereby fulfilled the promises. “That they may keep His statutes and keep the law... Him" (Ps. 104:45). He gave them, he says, the land that he promised, at the same time giving them a law and commanding them to live according to it. Creations attributed to St. John Chrysostom and in the Patrology of Min, classified as Spuria The paragraphs in the text were arranged by us. – Editorial staff of “ABC of Faith” You might be interested in: