Conversation on the words: “By what authority are you doing this?” (Matthew 21:23)

St. John Chrysostom begins a “Conversation with the words: “By what authority are You doing this?” (Matthew 21:23) pointing to the fear of God as the beginning of human salvation and to the law of God as the root of all good: “He who approaches the law and God the Lawgiver with fear enters the society of saints and is numbered among the righteous.” The saint notes the audacity of the Jews in asking the Savior the question in question. He cites as an example the silence and humility of Christ: “Therefore, we, brothers, who receive such a rule from the Lord, should not give answers to all the questions of the heretics.” The conversation talks about faith and reason. In our reasoning and research, we must always be guided by the Holy Scripture: “Do not degrade the name of faith. Not the believer who believes everything, but who believes God... Leave research and accept faith. Faith enlightens everything, faith sanctifies everything, faith makes a person worthy of the Holy Spirit.” Based on Holy Scripture, the saint provides evidence of the Divinity of Christ and His consubstantiality with the Father. The year and place of the conversation are unknown. 1. The fear of God as the beginning of human salvation. – The audacity of the questioners and the humility of the Savior. – The deeds themselves answer this question. – 2. The simplicity of faith and the answer to it. – 3. Faith and reason. Abuse of the latter. – 4. Reverence of the Cherubim. – 5. Sophisticated co-questioning of the enemies of truth – the Anomeans. – 6. Testimony of the Divinity of Christ in the Holy Scriptures. – 7. Continuation of the proof of the Divinity of the Son of God. – 8. Sources of unbelief. – The danger of vain speculation. 1. The beginning of human salvation is the fear of God, and the root of everything good in us is the law of God; but neither the law of God is without fear, nor fear is without law. The law of commandments has its ministering instrument in fear; and fear of what is commanded has its judge in the law. Therefore, he who approaches the law and God the Lawgiver with fear enters the company of saints and is numbered among the righteous; and whoever rejects the fear of God and proudly approaches the Divine law does not receive grace, but is alien to piety. Therefore, those who approach the Divine Law, with fear and love, are steadily edified and enlightened, and learn piety from the truth itself, because they find the very source of truth, crying out: “Blessed are You, Lord! teach me by Thy justification” (Ps. 119:12). Thus, holy people, pious and God-loving, learn the truth from the truth itself, and the enemies of the truth, or better to say, the enemies of their own lives, preferring arrogance and pride to simplicity, approach the Teacher of piety with an immodest air. The Jews did the same, as you heard from the words of the Gospel you recently read. They approach Jesus, our Lord, the King of saints, who was in the church, in the church itself; not with due fear, not as slaves to the Master, not as people to God, but not even as disciples to the Teacher. The enemies of truth and followers of wickedness, revealing their own depravity, tried to deceive the supreme Wisdom with human thoughts. “The chief priests and elders of the people,” says the evangelist, “came to Jesus in the church and said, “By what authority are you doing these things” (Matthew 21:23)? O heart, free from fear! What it dares to do, what it says, how it is puffed up with pride! O foolishness of the wicked! Oh, the kindness of the Savior! This is what the dust says, and the Creator endures; creation rebels against the Creator, and is endured by the Benefactor, subordinate to no one; they demand an account from the Word of God, and ask about power from the Head of autocracy. Now is it time for us to say the words of the Wise One: man, “what makes the earth and ashes proud” (Sir.10:9)? You ask God, demand an account from Him for His own affairs and dare to say to the supreme Power: “By what authority are You doing this?” Why do you ask Him, and do not delve into the very power of His works? Look carefully yourself, in the innermost counsel of your soul, and examine the nature of these affairs, whether they are products of human thought or manifestations of Divine autocracy characteristic of the Lord. Ask the laws of nature, the limits of (earthly) power, and common sense, by what power can one raise the dead, human or divine? Who can cleanse lepers, drive away diseases, and destroy all mental and physical infirmity with one word? Then, who can create eyes out of clay, God or man? Why don’t you ask the very nature of the deeds, but with impudence you interrogate the Author of them and say: “By what authority are You doing this?” I again repeat the words of people who frivolously dare to do everything, demand an account from the Word of God and try with their thoughts to deceive the One who “catches the wise in their craftiness” (1 Cor. 3:19). Oh madness! They present the experience of word development to the Word of God, which easily catches every cunning of literature and penetrates into every tangle of thoughts. What power does the word of man have before the Word of God, and what does artificial untruth mean before the worldly Wisdom? “By what authority are You doing this?” Ask the paralytic by what power he gets up healthy; ask for miracles, and do not ask about the power of the One who works miracles. But Divine goodness does not answer you, considering those who ask with malice unworthy of an answer. This is the Word of God: when it sees a treacherous and corrupt soul, then it leaves it as unworthy of grace, and often those who try to learn much do not learn the truth from the Truth itself. The Jews often asked and never received an answer, because they asked with anger. The silence of the Savior upset their souls to such an extent that their wicked congregation then said: “How long will You keep us in bewilderment? if you are the Christ, tell us plainly” (John 10:24). But, despite this, He did not answer them, because those who asked with malice were unworthy of an answer. What did the Savior tell them? “I already told you and you didn’t listen; what else do you want to hear? (John 9:27). “The works that I do in the name of My Father, they testify of Me” (John 10:25). Do you see how He expresses the desire that deeds should be questioned, and not questions proposed about power? The Jews ask: “How long will You keep us in bewilderment? if you are the Christ, tell us directly,” and He does not resolve their bewilderment, because they asked not in order to find out, but in order to condemn. The high priest Caiaphas, worthy of that meeting, reached such a frenzy that he said: “I adjure You by the living God, tell us, Are You the Christ, the Son of God?” (Matthew 26:63). But the Savior, teaching us to accept such words with reverence, although he answered the oath, did not resolve the bewilderment. “And the high priest said to Him,” the Gospel says, “I adjure You by the living God, tell us, Are You the Christ, the Son of God? The Lord said to him, “You have spoken” (Matthew 26:63–64). He honored the oath by breaking his silence, and at the same time did not satisfy the anger, expressing disgust at treachery. The Jews asked with anger, and did not receive an answer - and quite rightly, because insidious thoughts separate people from God. He did not communicate His Wisdom to those who angrily interrogated His Wisdom: “wisdom will not enter into an evil soul” (Wisdom 1:4). 2. While those who often asked did not know what they were asking about, a certain woman came without guile and with sincere faith, not tempting the incomprehensible power of God, but in simplicity approached the Lord, and in simple words, but with sincere faith, said to Him: “I know that the Messiah will come, that is, Christ; when He comes, He will tell us everything” (John 4:25), I immediately heard from Him, who loves simplicity, the following words: “It is I who speak to you” (John 4:26). She hadn't asked yet, and she already found out; The word of faith had not yet been sown by Him, and the fruit of piety had already been reaped. Holy God, “rest” in simple and holy people, when He sees the simplicity of those who come, then He Himself simply reveals the benefits of His Wisdom; and when he sees a soul corrupted by malice, then he withholds good deeds and does not impart teaching. Listen to what He himself says through Moses: if you come to me directly, then I will come to you directly; “If even after this you do not correct yourself and go against Me, then I will also [in rage] go against you” (Lev.26:23–24); He says this not because the Divine Being changes His truth, but because what flows from the truth does not directly come to the treacherous. “By what authority are You doing this? and who gave you such power? The Savior said to them, “Note here what law and rule for guidance the Lord of all gives us.” Which one exactly? He wants us not to answer all the questions of the insidious heretics, Jews or pagans, or any other people alien to piety. There are, indeed there are often, questions that are unworthy of an answer; and, of course, such wrong questions must be answered with the same questions, but right ones. Therefore, the Lord said to them: “I will ask you one thing; If you tell Me about this, then I will tell you by what authority I do this; Where did the baptism of John come from: from heaven, or from men? (Matthew 21:24–25). Look at the source of Wisdom, which exposes lies with a question; look at the Word of God, which overthrows malice with sound judgment; Look at malice, how it is struck by its own arrows and entangled in its own wiles. “Where did the Baptism of John come from: from heaven, or from men?” They, exploring among themselves the power of these words, said: “If we say: from heaven, then He will tell us: why didn’t you believe him?” (Matthew 21:25). Malice saw its own destruction; she saw that by the very thing she comes out with, she is destroyed. Since they did not obey John, they were afraid to say that his baptism was from God, so that reproof would not immediately follow. “If we say: from men, then all the people will stone us” (Luke 20:6). The opinion of this righteous man will subject us to inexorable condemnation. “Everyone reveres John as a prophet” (Matthew 21:26). So, they did not want to tell the truth that it is from God, because they rejected the truth of God; they did not dare to tell a lie, because fear was the judge of their shamelessness, however, the fear is not of God, but of man. This is what really happens: often many, not having the fear of God, slavish to the fear of man. They were afraid of the people. Oh, that they feared God and not the people! The former leads to piety, and the latter to wickedness. “And they answered Jesus, We do not know” (Matthew 21:27). Look how the insidious hide their malice; see how wickedness reveals its own ignorance. Just as a viper or some other of the most insidious animals, hiding in a secret place, quietly crawls out of its hiding place and does not dare to come out completely, so the Jews, hiding in the cave of malice, do not expose their opinions to the light. Therefore, the Lord said to them: “Neither will I tell you” (Matthew 21:27). See how His silence punished them for their inappropriate question; see how He did not satisfy their malice, but struck them down in the midst of their plans. And in the same position that Balaam’s donkey was once in, which could not turn away either to the right or to the left, because the Angel opposed her (Num. 22:21-26), in the same position was the malice of the Jews, which did not dare to look either at the right side of the truth, because of the impending reproof from the Savior, or at the left side of the lie, for fear of the people. Therefore, we, brothers, who receive such a rule from the Lord, should not give answers to all the questions of heretics. When a heretic asks you with malice, then dismiss the inappropriate question with his right question. The heretic often asks: do you know God or not? If you say: I know, then he immediately continues: Therefore, you know what you honor? Yes, the pious one answers, because who would agree to say: I do not know what I esteem? He continues again: So, do you know the being of God? If you say: I don’t know, then he immediately objects: therefore, you don’t know what you honor. Look at these treacherous words; look at the machinations of the evil serpents. Do you see this? But you shouldn't be embarrassed. You need to know, brothers, that there are different kinds of knowledge. One can know that God exists, but not how He exists. So between us, people, there are many ways of knowledge. For example, I know that such and such a person lives in such and such a city, but I don’t know what kind of craft he does; I know about another that he is engaged in such and such a craft, but I don’t know where he comes from. Therefore, in part I know, and in part I do not know; and in general, neither private knowledge gives knowledge of the whole, nor does ignorance of the whole destroy private knowledge. What then? I know about God that He exists, that He is good, that He is immortal, that He is incorruptible, that He is immense, that He is incomprehensible, incorporeal, immutable. I know all this and, knowing it, I worship Him. But I do not know how He exists, and I have not learned to study how He exists, but to know that He is. I no longer find any teacher of the apostle who could impart to me a more pious teaching; but he teaches with a loud voice: “He who comes to God must believe that He is,” not that He is, but: “And He rewards those who diligently seek Him” (Heb. 11:6). Thus, I honor what I know; I have not learned to examine the being of God; I learned to believe, brothers - to believe, and not to investigate. Read, heretic, your confession, which was pronounced during the secret and terrible Sacrament. When you started Baptism, what did you say? Did you ask, investigate, or believe? You approached differently and were awarded that grace on different terms. If you are awarded it with this way of thinking, then you have violated the conditions; during the terrible and great Sacraments you represented faith, but outside the Sacraments you limit faith and propose questions. 3. But look what the enemy of truth says. It is not in vain that God gave us prudence. It is not in vain that we received the ability of consideration. It is necessary to cognize faith through judgment, and not leave pious teaching without study. Fine. But the guidance in the study should be Divine sayings and the rules of piety given to us from Him. And you, breaking the rules, are not guided by the Inspired Scriptures, but you investigate the Divine, pervert the truth and always prefer to follow incorrect judgments rather than submit to faith, as if you had experienced everything or known everything visible. Explain to me, based on considerations of the mind, how the sky became, being in the void at such an infinite height and having such a volume without anything supporting it? How does it stand, who carries it, what are the grounds on which it is approved? How is its beauty not violated for such a long time, its harmony not destroyed? Show the pillars holding it up, show the foundation that lies under such a weight. But why should I talk about heaven and not about the earth that I trample underfoot? First of all, explain to me the structure of the earth. That it is founded on waters (Ps. 23:2), this I have accepted, and you yourself confess. But explain how it is established on the waters, do not simply repeat what has been said, but through judgment give an account of the sought-after object - how the mountains, so many and so great, and the hills and plains are carried on the waters. Tell me how the sea is separated; tell me how it, raging with such waves and rising to extraordinary heights, when it approaches the sand, is tamed and respects the limit assigned to it by the Lawgiver. Explain, my brother, how it happens that the earth is one, our mother, but the plants are different, where the bitter roots come from, where the sweet ones come from, where the variety of fruits comes from. One land producing; one rain that nourishes: where does this diversity come from? Explain where the sources came from and from what abysses? How is it possible to comprehend all this? But while we are perplexed about this, we have the only true and pious resolution of perplexity. And blessed David said this in his song: “Right... the word of the Lord and all His works are true” (Ps. 33:4). It is impossible to comprehend works without faith: how is it possible to know God without faith? Works are not known without faith. How about the Son - through judgments? “The word of the Lord and all His works are true.” However, leaving behind the enemies of the truth, let us turn to the sound and safe doctrine of faith and explain the rule of piety, shining with the truth itself. Among the Old Testament there is no one more reliable than Moses, and among the New Testament there is no one wiser than Paul. Consider the Old Testament institutions, and you will not find anyone greater than Moses: “I know you,” God told him, “...and you have found favor in My sight” (Ex. 33:12). There is no one in the New Testament more perfect than Paul: he is a “chosen vessel” (Acts 9:15) and had Christ within him who spoke through him. You will not cross the boundaries of Moses and Paul. What did Moses receive - comprehension of the being of God or a vision of His glory? Moses, brothers, wanted to see God, as a God-loving man, and did not imagine that he wanted the impossible. However, he showed this by his very request to God. What did he say? I ask, Lord, “if I have found favor in Your sight, then I pray: show me Your way, that I may know You, that I may find favor in Your sight” (Ex. 33:13). He acted like Philip, who said: “Lord! show us the Father, and it will be enough for us” (John 14:8). Lord, says Moses, “reveal to me Your way, that I may know You, that I may find favor in Your sight.” He saw God in the bush, saw Him on Mount Sinai, saw Him appearing in other different places and revealing His appearance in different ways; but that blessed Moses wanted to see the very image of the being of God; as a man, he thought humanly about the premium Power. God, having accepted the desire of a faithful servant, humbles human desire, seeking the impossible. What does He tell him? No one “can see Me and live” (Ex. 33:20). The power of desiring cannot embrace what is desired; the mortal eye cannot bear the vision of an immortal nature. Well, Lord, do You really leave this desire without consolation and do not show even the shadow of what is desired to the one who harbors such a desire? Then He says, “I will put you in a cleft of the rock and cover you with My hand until I pass through; and when I remove My hand, you will see Me from behind, but My face will not be visible” (Ex. 33:22-23). He did not say: when I pass by, but: “My glory” (Ex. 33:22), because to see the passing glory does not mean to see the very essence. Moses did not see anything greater than glory, and he did not see all of it, but only “from behind”, not because the Divine nature is limited to the back and front - it is simple and not complicated - but because God Himself reveals Himself in this way, in proportion not to His inherent dignity, but to the power of those who are worthy of the vision. Moses achieved the glory of God, but did not transcend this glory; and you, a heretic, having crossed the line of glory, are you exploring the being of God? Let us turn to Blessed Paul. Paul in the New Testament, having thought about some private affairs of God’s economy, as if in amazement at the depths of thought, uttered the following great and astonishing saying: “Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How incomprehensible are His destinies and unsearchable His ways! For who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who was His adviser? Or who gave Him in advance that He should repay?” And in conclusion he said: “For all things are from Him, by Him and to Him. To him be glory forever, Amen” (Rom. 11:33–36). Do you see how, having achieved the glory of God, he did not cross the limit? But what am I saying about people? Rise your thoughts to that which is above the world; ask heaven and say: what can you tell me about God? Heavens, explain to me what God is like; tell me, what is God essentially? But heaven does not answer the question of what it cannot know. If you boldly ask them, they will answer through the wondrous Jeremiah with this Divine saying: “Marvel at this, O heavens, and tremble and be horrified” (Jer. 2:12). Heaven is truly horrified when it sees how the Divine nature is being explored. Blessed David will also speak against this, curbing his immoderate curiosity, and answer: you have not heard that “the heavens will tell” the nature of God, but that “the glory of God.” Is it not he himself who cries out to you in the sacred Psalter: “The heavens will tell of the glory of God,” and not the nature of God (Ps. 18:2)? They do not explain the essence of God, but they proclaim the glory of God. But do not think that the supernatural forces know something more. Ask the Angels, I say, “ask,” not because you will be given the opportunity to converse with the powers on high, but because you can receive medicine from Scripture that will curb your insolence. Ask the Angels, ask when you see them on earth rejoicing or chanting. Tell them: what new things are you teaching? What marvelous things are you proclaiming? And the Divine face will immediately answer through the Divine Gospels: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men” (Luke 2:14). Angels came to earth, and also did not cross the boundaries of glory (of God); and the heretics did not hesitate to cross them. But can’t higher powers, superior to the Angels? I mean the Archangels; they are the most excellent beings. Ask the Cherubim, this Royal Throne: “he who sits on the Cherubim,” says the psalmist (Ps. 79:2). Ask the Cherubim, this “is like a sapphire stone, like something like a throne” on which “the likeness of a man” sits (Ezek. 10:1, 1:26). And there was a voice from the Cherubim, “like the sound of many waters, like a voice...: “Blessed is the glory of the Lord from his place!” (Ezek.1:24, 3:12). 4. Do you see reverence and the Cherubim? They reached the glory of God and did not overstep the limit. "Blessed be the glory of the Lord." And how? “From her place” - to show you that from them she dwells in heavenly places and is much higher than the highest dignity of heavenly and invisible powers. They speak not as if they were near, but as if they were far from the Divine dignity. “Blessed is the glory of the Lord from its place,” - not because God has a place - He embraces every place - but they call the dignity that belongs to Him the place of God. Did you hear the voice and the Cherubim? “Blessed be the glory of the Lord,” and they said nothing more. You must stand around in order to know what God proclaims, because “the Seraphim stood around Him” (Is. 6:2). What can we learn from you? Do not be at a loss, but say this: although our dignity is excellent, we know the limits of our nature, and do not overstep the limits of knowledge; we do not examine our Creator, we do not test the One who honored us; we know that the incomprehensible nature is not subject to research, is not subject to the order of judgments, that the glory of the Worshiped One surpasses all together the angelic state, the worldly mind, and all heavenly power; That's why we don't overstep the limits. The Cherubim do not cross them, but with all reverence they sing their heavenly song: “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord of Hosts! the whole earth is full of His glory!” (Isa.6:3). Do Paul and Moses not put you to shame by not overstepping this glory? The sky that proclaims this glory will shame you. But the sky doesn't convince you? The Angels will convince. But don't you pay attention to the Angels? Fear the Cherubim. But do you boldly rise above them? Let the Seraphim enlighten you. But you do not submit to either worldly or earthly suggestions? Be outside the sacred faces, move away from the Divine fences. You cannot both investigate God and count among the faithful. But what am I saying about God? Don't you know how scary it is to boldly explore the nature of God? When you want to investigate the very works of God, then God considers you unworthy of closeness to Him, but rejects you far away as daring to do the impossible. Moses, such and such a great man, who performed such miracles, who was a mediator between God and people, who divided the sea and brought down manna from heaven - and he, when he dared to measure only one of the commandments of God by human judgment and did not trust the Divine power, was subjected to inexorable punishment. He came to the rock and said to the people: cruel and rebellious people, “shall we bring water out of this rock for you?” What does God mean to him? “Because you did not believe Me,” he says, “in order to demonstrate My holiness in the eyes of the children of Israel, you will not bring this people into the land” (Num. 20:10, 12). Pay careful attention to this. “Because you did not believe Me.” What does it mean: “they didn’t believe it”? It means to say: God can do everything. It is a sin against God to examine with judgment what He does and not to trust the Divine Power, which performs His deeds above all others. David justifies Moses as having sinned not with his soul, but with his tongue (Ps. 105:32–33). The sins of the righteous are on their lips; but the crimes of the wicked are in their souls. And just as the wicked, having separated from God in soul, seems close to God on the lips: “this people,” says the prophet, “...honoreth Me with their lips and with their tongue, but their heart is far from Me” (Is. 29:13), so the pious, being devoted to God in heart, often falls with his tongue. Therefore, David justifies Moses, the prophet - the prophet, and says: “And they angered Him at the waters of disputation, and Moses suffered because of them” (Ps. 106:32), and not for himself. What does “because of them” mean? It was not out of his own disposition that he showed disbelief, but was angered by the contradiction of the people, and therefore no longer had a pure judgment, but was, as it were, confused. I said this in response to the wickedness uttered from the work church. Where did you hear the words: unborn and begotten? Where did you hear those crazy and multi-artificial expressions? The utterances of the Spirit are distorted, and the words of the devil are introduced in their place. If you strive for this, then why do you consider Paul your teacher? If you do such research, then why do you boast that you follow Peter? Reject belief and introduce research. But, you say, I do not deviate from Scripture, so be it. How are you an enemy, not a student, and an innovator of judgments? Explain to me based on judgment: how did the Savior pass through the closed doors? What need is there to talk about other things? This often causes harm to both the speaker and the listener. I do not say: explain to me the invisible nature, how the Father begat the Son, what is the method of Divine birth; but I demand that this work of His economy be explained. 5. Tell me: how did the Savior enter when the doors were closed, how did He enter with the body? The nature of the body does not allow what the Gospel says. If I follow faith, then this is an undeniable truth. How did He enter through the closed doors? He was not an incorporeal nature penetrating through all bodies, but together with the incorporeal being there was also a body; and it was the organ of an incorporeal being; The Savior had this human body. True, the disciples, having seen the wondrous miracle, thought that it was a spirit, because the event exceeded the physical nature; but He said to those who were perplexed: “Look at My hands and at My feet; it is I Myself; touch Me and look at Me; for the spirit does not have flesh and bones” (Luke 24:39). How did He enter? Did the boards become discharged like air, or did His body become thinner, and thus He passed through the solid wood? But neither you can tell nor I can explain it; Scripture has not taught me anything about this; I do not investigate, but accept what it announced, although I am perplexed. I believe that He entered; But how, I don’t explore this. Do not think that He entered the doors in an ordinary way. The Scripture did not say that He entered when the doors were thinned out or dissolved, but: “when the doors were locked” (John 20:26); told about the event, but did not show how the event took place. Peter came out of prison; but the gates opened for him, and Scripture noticed this, saying: “They came to the iron gate leading into the city, which was opened to them of their own accord” (Acts 12:10), - it did not say that they themselves accepted Peter as he passed by, because his body was human and of human composition. And the body of Christ, although it was human due to its affinity with us, was also Divine due to its unity with the Word of God and due to its wondrous birth from the Virgin. How did He enter through the closed doors? How did He ascend through the enclosed heavens? Oh, the madness of those who dare to explore this! Oh, the piety of those who believe in all this! But what else does the contradictor say? We do not find, they say, that faith is always safe; we have found that it also leads to a fall; therefore one should not believe without examination, but with careful examination. Such people are greatly assisted by pagans, because the judgments of heretics and pagans are similar; and those are inventions of demons, and these are suggestions of demons. So, some of the opponents of faith say that it is harmful without reason, and that if reasonable research is not combined with faith, then it will not bring any benefit to the believer. Where, they say, would you like to consider the property of faith? Don't you want it from afar, from the universe itself? Look at the one you call primeval. I find that he has fallen from faith. Pay attention to the words of the crafty demon, who frivolously dares to do everything that he decides to do, that he says, that he offers. You say that the serpent said to him: “In the day that you eat of them, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like gods, knowing good and evil” (Gen. 3:5). He believed the snake - and, believing, he died. Thus, faith was the beginning of evils. This is what those enemies of truth, opponents of piety tell us. But they, the wicked, do not know the true definition of faith and do not understand what they offer. We do not say that everyone who believes everything has faith and is called a believer; It is not the one who believes everything that happens that is a believer, but the one who truly believes in God. Have you proven that the first man died by believing God? He fell by believing the devil; he was destroyed by not believing God. Why are you distorting what was said? Listen to the prophet who says: “Hear this, you heads of the house of Jacob and the princes of the house of Israel, who abhor justice and distort everything that is straight” (Mic. 3:9). It would be necessary to say that unbelief was the beginning of evil. If he had believed God, Who said: “In the day that you eat of it, you will surely die” (Gen. 2:17), then he would not have fallen, but would have had faith, faith that would lead to salvation. Do not degrade the name of faith. It is not the believer who believes everything, but the one who believes God, that alone is and is called such. Give up research and embrace faith. Faith enlightens everything, faith sanctifies everything, faith makes a person worthy of the Holy Spirit. “And Stephen,” says the Scripture, “was full of faith and power” (Acts 6:8). If faith had not first shone forth, then the power in this holy man would not have followed. Where there is faith, there is strength; and where there is unbelief, there is weakness. Faith is the beginning of blessings; faith is the source of blessings. Let us accept this weapon of salvation. Why do you slavishly follow expressions and run away from the truth? Why do you propose something that the nature of Angels does not dare to explore - what do I say: the nature of Angels? - Why don’t even demons dare? Don't you want to follow Peter? Don't you want to follow Paul, nor the Angels, nor the Cherubim, nor the Seraphim? At least learn from the demons. The demons saw the Savior and said to Him: leave us, “What have you to do with us, Jesus, Son of God?” (Matthew 8:29). The demons confess Him to be the Son of God, and you, heretic, blaspheme? The demons recognize Him as equal to God, and you prove inequality? But what should I do, says the heretic, when the Lord Himself says: “Let them know You, the only true God” (John 17:3)? He said: “one”, proclaimed the one true God the Father. But I will follow the truth proclaimed by God. Are you carried away by the word: “one”, and slavishly follow this expression? But observe the exact meaning of what is being studied. God speaks through the prophet: “I am the first and I am the last, and besides Me there is no God...who proclaimed this from ancient times, said this in advance? Is it not I, Lord? and there is no other God besides Me, there is no righteous and saving God besides Me. Turn to Me, and you will be saved, all the ends of the earth, for I am God, and there is no other. I swear: out of My mouth comes righteousness, an unchangeable word, that to Me every knee will bow, and by Me every tongue will swear” (Is. 44:6, 45:21-23). “I am the first,” he says, “and I am the last”; and adds: “and besides Me there is no God.” See how He expresses that His nature is unique, having nothing in common with another nature separate from Him. This is what God says: “I am the first and I am the last, and besides Me there is no God”; and through the prophet He says: “One spread out the heavens” (Is. 44:24). Pay attention to the word: “one”, since you represent the “one true God” - “...one spread out the heavens.” And here in the same way He says: “I swear by Me.” Look at the power and strength of the speaker. “Besides Me there is no God,” He said; and also: “I am the first and I am the last”; and also: “I swear by me,” which expressed that there is no one greater than Him, the Speaker. Therefore, the apostle says: “When God made a promise to Abraham, as he could not swear by anyone higher, he swore by himself” (Heb. 6:13). Consequently, He who says: “I swear by Me: out of My mouth proceeds righteousness, an unchangeable word,” has no greater Self. Why do you swear? “Every knee will bow to Me. Every tongue will swear by me” (Isaiah 45:23). Who says this, the heretic? Father or Son? For me, a believer, and for every pious person, the dignity of the Father is the dignity of the Son. Notice also that much of what we have said is said for refutation, and not for teaching. For me and for every believer, that dogma of piety remains firm, that where the Father alone appears to be speaking, there the Son and the Holy Spirit are understood together. Where the Son speaks, there is the authority of the Father; Where the Holy Spirit acts, the Father also acts. The glory of the Holy Trinity is not shared, just as the teaching of truth is not shared. Do not confess the Kingdom of Any One of Them. 6. I said this because I refute the enemy, so that someone who loves to slander does not say: look how he said that everything belongs to the Son, which the Son says here too, and recognized this prophecy as alien to the Father, but belonging to the Son. For me, the rule of faith remains unshakable. We are now engaged in an argument. I prove that the Son speaks here, and, convincing you, I convince myself at the same time that the Father speaks, the Son proclaims, and the Holy Spirit affirms: “I am the first and I am the last, and besides Me there is no God: ... By Me I swear.” Who here says: “I am first”, and: “besides Me there is no God”; and again: “out of My mouth comes righteousness”; and again: “Every knee will bow to Me, every tongue will swear by Me”? How do you accept these words? To whom do you refer this name? But don’t tell me what you don’t know, and I won’t tell you what I don’t understand. Let us follow the spiritual teacher who can guide us to piety. Therefore, do not listen to me, but listen with me. I know the teacher of the dogmas of the Church - Paul. When I name Paul, then I point to Christ, because He Himself spoke in Paul, as it is said: “You are looking for proof whether Christ speaks in me” (2 Cor. 13:3). So, this above-mentioned prophecy of Isaiah: “I am the first and I am the last, and besides Me there is no God: ... By Me I swear: ... before Me every knee will bow, By Me every tongue will swear” - Paul refers to the true God to Christ. Where is the indication for this? In Romans he says, “Why do you condemn your brother? Or are you also why you humiliate your brother?” Why do you judge each other? “We will all appear at the judgment seat of Christ. For it is written: As I live, says the Lord, every knee will bow to Me, and every tongue will confess the true God (Rom. 14:10-11). This is Who says: “I am the first and I am the last, and besides Me there is no God: ... By Me I swear: ... before Me every knee will bow.” So, if Paul refers this prophecy to Christ, and the speaker of the prophet is Christ, and Christ says: “Is it not I, Lord? and there is no other God besides Me,” then does He reject the Divinity of the Father? No, he does not reject, he does not reject because Their glory is inseparable. So, it is clearly shown that just as when the Son says: “I am first and I am last,” He does not reject the Father, so when He says about the Father: “that we may know the true God” (1 John 5:20), He does not reject His true Divinity. And not only is this sound doctrine instilled here, but that Christ is the true God is revealed from the same testimony, because He adds, “and every tongue shall confess the God” of the true. Thus, Who says: “I am the first and I am the last” (true) is the Son. So, why argue about words when they contain consonant truth? Learn why He said: “to confess the true God,” and do not argue. The Savior is the Teacher of the world, the Corrector of the universe, the Restorer of the fallen, the Returner of the erring, and the Renewer of the decrepit. Since He knew that His word would pass through and be established throughout all the heavenly places to correct pagan error and to expose Jewish unbelief, He utters a double-edged saying, so that with the words: “confess the God” of the true, he can refute the multitude of imaginary gods, and with the words added to this: “and that we may be in His true Son Jesus Christ” (1 John 5:20) to convict those who reject His economy. He proclaims “the one true God,” not separating Himself from Him, but destroying the instruments of error. And so that you may be convinced, brother, that He is both the true God and the Son of the true God, for this the Evangelist John, in whom these words are written - because it is in the Gospel of John that it is said: “that they may know You, the only true God” (John 17:3), - the same preacher who announced this writes about this in his epistle. His first epistle is among the books accepted by the Church, and not apocryphal; His fathers do not include the second and third epistles in the canon, but the first is all unanimously attributed to John. So, it is necessary to pay attention to what this holy theologian proclaims in the letter. “We also know,” he says, “that the Son of God came and gave us light and understanding, so that we might know the true God and may we be in His true Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life” (1 John 5:20). One and the same, brothers, said this and proclaimed that. As for the expression: “one” **, then, if you wish, we will think and judge about it further. Let many arrows be shot against the unbeliever, arrows not to wound the body, but to correct the thoughts; let them be suggestions for believers, and arrows for unbelievers. “Thy arrows are sharp, [Strong One], the nations will fall before Thee; they are in the heart of the enemies of the King” (Ps. 44:6). This is what blessed Jeremiah, or better, Baruch, his disciple, says, just as Elisha is Elijah’s disciple: “He who knows everything knows her; He opened it with His mind, He who created the earth for eternity and filled it with four-footed beasts, who sends light and he comes, called him, and he obeyed Him with trembling; and the stars shone upon their guards, and rejoiced. He called them, and they said, “Here we are,” and they shone with joy before their Creator” (Bar.3:32-35). Having expressed such pious thoughts, he continues: “This is our God, and no one else can compare with Him.” Notice carefully how he excludes the other: “Another cannot be compared with Him. He found all the ways of wisdom and gave it to His servant Jacob and His beloved Israel. After this He appeared on earth and spoke among people” (Bar.3:36-38). “This is our God,” to whom the words apply: “and no one else can compare with Him... After that He appeared on earth and spoke among people.” Do you see the truth standing firmly? See how the prophet blocks the entrance to error, so that the Jew does not slander the truth and say that it is talking about the appearance of God to Moses, because God appeared to him on the mountain. Apart from him, there is no “other”; and yet by this he does not deny the Divine dignity of the Father. Likewise, when the Father is called “one,” does he exclude the Son from communion in this dignity? When God, whether Father or Son, says that He Himself is “one,” then He does not exclude Him who has a common nature with Him; neither the Father excludes the Son, nor the Son rejects the Father; but when something like this is said, then the speech is directed against the error of idolatry. Why do you blaspheme against the Only Begotten? If God does not give His glory to idols, then does He not give it to Him who is born of Him? No, he gives, and not by grace, but by the communion of nature. And where is the proof that Christ receives the glory of the Father, while He said: “I will not give My glory to another” (Is. 42:8)? 7. Listen to how the Savior himself, talking with the apostles, says: “And the Son of Man, when he comes in the glory of His Father” (Mark 8:38), - although before God said: “I will not give My glory to another.” Delve into these words and you will find their meaning. He did not say: “I will not give My glory to my Son,” but: “I will not give My glory to another.” “Other” means: alien to communication and separate by nature; and the Son is not different, “I and the Father are one” (John 10:30). So, it is clearly shown that the words: “that we may know the true God” do not deny that the Son is the true God. Do not cunningly cite these words, as if their meaning is uncertain. This is how some of the brethren think about the cup, as if the meaning is unresolved, from which they bring accusations. He left, they say, the research unfinished and uncertain. Well, brothers, was there more that needed to be said? What needed to be added to what was said to prove it? Firstly, to the words: “if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me” (Matt. 26:39), which express, as it were, submission - these words, apparently, place the Asker under the authority of the Other - we brought that saying of the Lord, fulfilled in truth with all Divine authority and indicating the dignity of the Speaker: “I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again” (John 10:18), - and explained that the word: “I have” is characteristic of the Divine, but the words: “if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me,” He said from the side of the flesh, and not from the side of the Divine; and in confirmation of this, we, in turn, presented the testimony of the Lord, in which He said: “The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak” (Matthew 26:41), and showed that it is very foolish to attribute words of humiliation to the Autocratic Deity, while the Lord Himself refers them to the flesh. And in order to explain the purpose of the Lord, by which He said: “Let this cup pass from Me,” we said that, without shying away from the Cross in the dispensation of our salvation, He asked for His release from death, but uttered this saying because the ignorant were tempted by this dispensation accomplished on the Cross. And this thought, in turn, is confirmed by the testimony: “Watch and pray, so that you do not fall into temptation” (Matthew 26:41). Some people slander that we said: wouldn’t it be possible to accomplish this dispensation by another kind of death? But this was not said and will not be said. I didn’t say “another death”; but said: “to complete the economy in another way,” i.e. without death. After all, I explained the words about the cup; and the other way of house-building was understood as if without death. And the Lord expressed this desire not because He really refused to die for the world, but to show the weakness of the flesh, which was truly afraid and embarrassed. “The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” He himself attributed these words to the flesh, and did not humiliate the dignity of the Divine. Why are you saying things to me that I don’t say? Why do you slander me about something that I do not preach? I said: in another way, not death, but economy, because it is not said: “if it is possible,” let “this cup” be changed. This is the weakness of the flesh, the suffering of the One Incarnate. He speaks words of weakness to show that He is clothed with a nature that fears death. And so that you do not slavishly dwell on the expression again, I explained at length whether it is reasonable to think that, while the apostles courageously trampled death, the Lord of the apostles was afraid and afraid to experience death? I will say this, brothers, now. Paul was ready not only to be bound, but also to die for the name of Christ (Acts 21:13): how could Paul’s Lord refuse to die? Paul's heart is not contrite: how can the soul of Christ be troubled? “My soul,” He says, “is now troubled” (John 12:27). I said all this in front of you - witnesses. But this does not convince you, and the words: “if possible” still tempt you? Yes, says the heretic. Let us, brothers, enter into competition with the lover of competition, let us try, by the power of truth, to restore those who have fallen through the weakness of unbelief. If, they say, Christ had power, then He would not have said: “if it is possible, let it pass.” But therefore condemn God too, who used in the law one expression that is very far from His authority. Namely, when God spoke on Mount Sinai, during the then great and terrible phenomenon, when all the people trembled, listening to the voice of the Living God, then He, who has power over all, who shares everything with everyone and gives everything, says to Moses: “If only they had such a heart as to fear Me and to keep all My commandments always, that it might go well with them and with their sons forever” (Deut. 5:29). God says: “If only their hearts were like this.” Who, Lord, is more powerful than You to give? Is it not You who bestows everything, especially that which promotes piety? Do you not give a good heart to those who love You, do you not grant, as David prays to You: “Create in me a clean heart, O God” (Ps. 50:12)? The prophets ask You for a pure heart and other good gifts, as well as purity of heart; and You utter the words characteristic of man: “If only their hearts were like this.” Who can give more than You? But, although You, as the Good One, said so, however, blessed Moses did not follow these words of Yours, but proclaimed Your dignity, revealed Your power, showed Your power. He told the people in Deuteronomy: “Until this day the Lord [God] has not given you a heart to understand, eyes to see, and ears to hear” (Deut. 29:4). 8. Do you see that God gives heart, eyes, ears, and everything? How did the One who gives everything say: “who will give” such a “heart” to this people? And how again, if He does not give the heart, did He say through Ezekiel: “And I will take the heart of stone out of their flesh, and give them a heart of flesh, ... I will put My law within them, and write it on their hearts” (Ezek. 11:19; Jer. 31:33)? Just as there God Himself, Who can give a good heart, says: “Whoever will give,” so the Only Begotten Son of the Father, filling the universe with His power and autocratically saying: “I have power to lay it down, and power to take it again” (John 10:18), also answers humanly and on behalf of the weak flesh says: “If it is possible, let this cup pass from Me” ( Matthew 26:39). Do not slander what was not said, but stick to what is preached; do not condemn a teaching without understanding its meaning. I know why you fall into condemnation; I know why you suffer from this disease. This is human passion; this disease is envy. Like the eye, when it is clean, it sees and distinguishes everything correctly, but when smoke gets into it, the correctness of vision is damaged; or when dust gets into him, his vision becomes dull, and he no longer sees well and correctly, as he saw before, and now each of the listeners, as long as he has a pure eye of faith and pure eyelids of love, sees correctly and purely, and when the smoke of blasphemy against what was said enters, or the dust of envy attacks the soul, then his vision is damaged and the purity of thought disappears, and what he has not heard, he imagines to have heard, and what he heard is good I didn't understand. Therefore, in the Divine Scripture, one of the prophets, foreseeing the stumbling blocks of those who would be tempted in their minds by the sacred writings, after fulfilling the Divine sermon, cried out: “Who is wise to understand this? who is intelligent to know this? For the ways of the Lord are right, and the righteous walk in them, and the wicked will fall in them” (Hosea 14:10). So, brother, do not turn words into temptations. The Word (of God) is clear, the truth is revealed. Not one, not two, not ten, not a hundred people listened to her, but an immeasurable number, an uncountable multitude. The Church is a sea of ​​piety, not abounding in waves, but full of faith. With us, the boat of teaching is not shipwrecked, is not broken, is not disturbed, is not overwhelmed, but, like a quiet harbor, strives into the souls of those who love the Lord. However, this is enough. It should be noted that the saints of God are also subject to slander. Is it surprising if we, humiliated, humble and, so to speak, meaningless, are subjected to slander? Or have you not heard David say: “Deliver me from the slander of men” (Ps. 119:134)? The Savior’s holy apostles were also subjected to slander, as Blessed Paul also said: “And shall we not do evil that good may come out, as some slander us and say that we teach so?” (Rom.3:8). I do not grieve when I am subjected to slander with the saints, although I am not worthy of the saints. I refer to the judgment of all of you and, above all of you, to our common father, who does not reason according to a preconceived opinion, but judges carefully. He knows our thoughts and knows our words, because we learned it from him. We invite you, if he condemned what was said, to correct our words; but he did not condemn. Even if he corrected, he would have done it not with hatred, but with love, because whoever the father loves, he reproaches, and whomever he does not correct, he turns away from him. This wonderful father approves of what is said well and corrects what is wrong, because it is characteristic of a father to reward with praise what is said well and preached with faith. So, his voice is strong enough against everyone, and even before him the voice of the All-Holy God. Let us adhere to piety, let us keep unshakable faith. Believe the truth and do not contradict the truth. Do not distort the faith, do not explore the Divine nature, do not subject immortal dignity to mortal judgments. The path of reasoning is dangerous; the understanding of the confession of faith is safe and secure. True wisdom is faith. Listen to what the Divine Word says: “Even if someone were perfect among the sons of men, without Your wisdom he will be considered nothing” (Wisdom 9:6). Avoid research and do not choose words over faith. Have Paul as your teacher, recognize Peter as your leader; imitate their faith. Listen to Peter, who says: “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God” (Matthew 16:16). Follow Paul, who clearly glorifies the Son of God, and in one place says that “God, who at times and in various ways spoke of old to the fathers in the prophets, in these last days has spoken to us in the Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom also he made the worlds. This being, being the radiance of glory and the image of His hypostasis, and upholding all things by the word of His power, having accomplished by Himself the cleansing of our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high” (Heb. 1:1-3); and again in another place, speaking of the Jews, he preaches: “Theirs are the fathers, and from them is Christ according to the flesh, who is over all God, blessed forever, Amen” (Rom. 9:5). The paragraphs in the text were arranged by us. – Editorial staff of “ABC of Faith” There is no Russian translation of this word You might be interested in: