Беседа 7

In. 1:9. There was the true Light, which enlightens every person coming into the world. 1. One should not try to comprehend what is incomprehensible in God. – The true doctrine of the Father and the Son. - Foolishness of the Sabellians and Marcellians. How sins are washed away. 1. We feed you, beloved children, with the teaching of the Scriptures only in parts, and we do not present everything suddenly, so that you can more easily preserve what is offered to you. Whoever, when building a house, before the first stones are fastened together, puts others on them, builds a wall that is weak and easily destructible. And whoever waits until some stones are held together with lime, and then little by little adds others to them, builds a strong, durable, indestructible, strong building. We will imitate such builders, and in a similar way we will begin to build your souls. I am afraid that while the first foundations have not yet been established, the application of further teaching will not damage the beginnings, since the mind is not yet strong enough to hold everything. What was read to us today? “There was the true Light, which enlightens every person who comes into the world.” The Evangelist, speaking above about John, noted that he came “to testify to the Light” (John 1:7), and that it was at that time that he was sent for this purpose. And so that, hearing this, someone, regarding the recent appearance of the witness, does not develop a similar suspicion regarding the person being witnessed, the Evangelist raises his thought higher and directs it to a beginningless, never-ending and unceasing existence. But how, you say, can He who is the Son have such a being? We talk about God, and you ask how is this possible? And you are not afraid and not horrified? If someone asked you how our souls, and then our bodies, will live forever, you, of course, would laugh at such a question, because it is not human mind to study such objects, but his duty is only to believe and experience what is said, since the power of the One who spoke it serves as sufficient proof of what has been said. And you ask us how this is possible when we say that He who created souls and bodies is without beginning and infinitely surpasses every creation? Who in full sense and in their right mind would say this? You heard that “There was the true Light.” Why are you trying in vain to embrace this endless life with your mind? This is impossible. Why do you explore the unsearchable? Why do you experience the incomprehensible? Why are you exploring the unknown? Consider the source of the sun's rays itself. You cannot do this, however, in this case you will not be annoyed and will not mourn your powerlessness. Why are you so bold and rash in matters of much greater importance? The son of thunder, John, proclaiming through the spiritual trumpet, having heard from the Spirit that “There was light,” experienced nothing more. And you, not having his grace, reasoning only according to your weak conclusions, are you trying to cross even the line of his knowledge? For this you will not be able to achieve the measure of its implementation. Such is the cunning of the devil: he takes those who trust him beyond the limits set for us by God, as if we could have much more (knowledge). And, having deceived us with such hopes and deprived us of the grace of God, he not only does not tell us anything more (and how can he, the devil, do this?), but also does not allow us to return to the former boundaries in which we were safe, but makes us wander everywhere and does not allow us to stop anywhere. Thus, he brought the primordial man to expulsion from paradise. Having endowed him with the hope of greater knowledge and honor, the devil deprived him of what he had previously calmly enjoyed. Man not only did not become equal to God, as the devil promised him, but also fell under the yoke of death; not only through eating from the tree did he not receive anything more, but in the hope of greater knowledge he lost a lot of his previous knowledge. He began to be ashamed of his nakedness and hide it, whereas before the seduction he was above such shame. Even the fact that he began to see his nakedness and felt the need to cover himself with clothes - these and other even greater sorrows were the consequences of seduction. In order not to suffer the same thing, let us obey God and abide in His commandments, without experiencing anything else; otherwise we will lose the benefits already given to us, just as these (heretics) are punished. They, as soon as they began to seek the beginning of a life without beginning, lost even what they could have. Nor did they find what they were looking for; Yes, this is impossible. Meanwhile, they fell away from the right faith in the Only Begotten. But we will not transgress the eternal limits that our fathers set, but in everything we will follow the laws of the Spirit and, hearing that “There was the true Light,” we will not explore anything else; and it is impossible for anyone to extend beyond this saying. If God gave birth like a man, then some kind of separation would be necessary between the one who gives birth and the one who is born. But since this birth is ineffable and peculiar only to God, then leave ordinary concepts: before and after. This is an expression of time, and the Son is the creator of all ages. 2. Consequently, others say, God is not a father (to the Son), but a brother. But tell me, what is the need (for such a conclusion)? If we were to say that the Father and the Son have an existence divided in their beginning, then perhaps you would have the right to say so. But we avoid such wickedness and say that the Father is both beginningless and unbegotten, and the Son is without beginning, but begotten of the Father. What need is there to draw such an impious conclusion from such a teaching? There is no need. The son is a reflection. And the reflection appears inseparable from the nature of which the reflection is. That is why Paul called (the Son) that way (Heb. 1:3), so that we would not assume any division between the Father and the Son. This is what this name expresses. With this similarity the apostle corrects the absurd thoughts that come into the minds of senseless people. Hearing about the reflection, says the apostle, do not think that the Son does not have his own hypostasis. Such a thought is impious and characteristic of the madness of the Sabellians and Marcellians. That's not how we teach; but we say that He has His own hypostasis. Therefore, calling Him a reflection, the apostle adds that He is also “the image of His hypostasis” (the Father) (Heb. 1:3), in order to thereby express His own hypostasis and oneness with Him Whose image is. There is no, as I already said, one sufficient expression to convey to people all this teaching about God. It is advisable, at least by combining several expressions, to extract from each what is appropriate. In this way we can render worthy praise to God - worthy, I say, - that is, according to our strength. And if anyone thought that he could speak worthily about the very being of God, and tried to prove that he knows God, as God knows himself, he would not have any knowledge of God. Knowing this, let us firmly hold on to what “they who from the very beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the Word” (Luke 1:2) delivered to us, and we will experience nothing more. Two dangers threaten those suffering from this disease: one is that they work in vain, looking for what cannot be found; the other is that they anger God, trying to exceed the limits set by Him. And what kind of anger this arouses in God, there is no need to tell you, because you all know it. So, moving away from the extravagance of heretics, let us listen to His words with trepidation, so that He will always protect us. “To whom will I look,” He says, “to him who is humble and contrite in spirit and who trembles at My word” (Is. 66:2)? So, having abandoned this disastrous curiosity, let us become more contrite in heart, let us mourn our sins, as Christ commanded us. Let us begin to grieve over our crimes, carefully recall in our memory everything that we have dared to do in the past, and we will try to completely make amends for it all. God has opened many paths to this for us. “You speak in order to justify yourself” (Is. 43:26). And in another place: “I said: “I confess my transgressions to the Lord,” and You took away from me the guilt of my sin” (Ps. 31:5). Thus, frequent recollection of sins and blaming oneself for them greatly contributes to reducing their magnitude. There is another way, even more true, when we do not remember evil against anyone who has sinned against us, when we forgive everyone for the offenses committed against us. Do you want to know another third way? Listen to what Daniel says: “Atone for your sins with righteousness and your iniquities with mercy toward the poor” (Dan.4:24). There is another way besides this - frequent exercise in prayer, constant diligence in prayers to God. Fasting also brings us a lot of consolation and remission of sins when it is combined with love for our neighbors; it also quenches the power of God’s wrath. “Water will quench the flame of fire, and alms will cleanse sins” (Sir.3:30). So, we will walk along all these paths. If we always adhere to them and pay attention to them, then we will not only clear away past crimes, but also gain a lot of benefits for ourselves in the future - we will not give the devil the opportunity to attack us, and we ourselves will not fall into the carelessness of everyday life, into this disastrous curiosity. The devil, by the way, leads to this, and then to these reckless researches and harmful arguments of words, when he soon notices that people indulge in idleness and inactivity, not at all caring about a virtuous life. But we will block this passage for him, we will be awake, sober, so that, after a short time of small labors, we will achieve immortal blessings throughout the endless ages, by the grace and love of our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom and with whom be glory to the Father and the Holy Spirit forever and ever. Amen. The paragraphs in the text were arranged by us – Editorial staff of “ABC of Faith” You might be interested in: