Which of the rich will be saved?

The only surviving homily of Clement of Alexandria, “Which of the Rich Will Be Saved” (42 chapters), is devoted to the issue of wealth and poverty. It is an interpretation of the Gospel story about the rich young man (Matt. 19:16-30, Mark 10:21-31), in particular the words: “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God.” It is caused by the concern of wealthy pagans and Christians as to whether wealth should be viewed as an absolute obstacle to salvation. Clement explains that the Lord does not exclude every rich person from the Kingdom of God, but only commands him to kill his attachment to earthly goods and to make the right use of wealth. A rich person can achieve bliss if he fulfills the commandment of love for God and neighbor. He who is rich in virtues is truly rich. Those who have fallen into passion should not despair - the road to repentance is always open to them. As an example of the power of repentance under the gracious influence of a leader, Clement reveals a touching story (legend) about one young man who was converted by the Apostle John to Christ, but then became a robber: the apostle found him in the mountains and with his love brought him to repentance, making him worthy of salvation. So can anyone rich, through mastery over his passions or a truly repentant mood, escape eternal fire and enter eternal life with the Savior and His army. *The title of the work in Greek is Τίς ὁ σῳζόμενος πλούσιος. *The title of the essay in Latin is Quis dives salvetur. Chapter 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 Summary by chapter The writer condemns those who flatter the rich and thereby only destroy them. Only serious words should be addressed to the rich (Chapter 1) Some of the rich, hearing the words of the Lord: “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God” (Matthew 19:24; Mark 10:25; Luke 18:25), they despair of their salvation and do not care about it. Their writer assures that with a correct understanding of these words of the Savior, they do not contain any grounds for such fear, and prays for the granting of enlightenment from above to explain the words of the Lord correctly and to pour into the readers the conviction that they should not be understood carnally, but spiritually (chapters 2, 3, 4) Further, the writer develops how the rich young man’s question to Christ the Lord presented a convenient opportunity to show him a more sublime and more perfect point of view than the Mosaic Law, in the full knowledge of God and Christ the Savior; but the young man, tempted by the words: “Sell your property” (Matthew 19:21), departs (chapters 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10) Meanwhile, this sell should have been understood not literally about the donation of all property, but only about the inner spiritual detachment of the heart from unbridled passions and the good spending of property on the poor (chapters 11, 12, 13) Because wealth in itself is indifferent; it becomes evil or good as a result of its use. Selling wealth, therefore, means cleansing the heart from vices and disorderly movements, which even in the soul of a person who has no means can exist in the form of greed for wealth (chapters 14, 15, 16) A soul pure from this must follow Christ; This is a soul that looks at earthly property as a gift from God, and knows how to endure its loss with indifference, while the desire to increase wealth entangles in the net of the world. From these provisions, the already mentioned provisions on the purpose of wealth for the purposeful use of them and on the spiritual understanding of the words of the Savior are then derived (chapters 17, 18) Consequently, whoever uses his earthly happiness faithfully and holy will enter the Kingdom of Heaven; good and holy dispositions should be considered the proceeds from the sold wealth; these are spiritual riches. Since the young man, and likewise the Apostles, who understood those words of the Lord not in a spiritual sense, despaired of the salvation of the rich man, the Lord assures of the possibility of salvation by the grace of God (chapters 19, 20, 21) That is why Peter, who asked: “We have left everything: ... what will happen to us for this” (Matthew 19:27). The Lord promises eternal life for the abandonment of father, mother, home, etc. Then the writer explains the concept of “abandonment”; in particular, he dwells on the expression “during... persecution”, used in the Gospel of Mark (Mark 10:30), and gives it an erroneous interpretation. And here “abandonment” must be understood spiritually, and persecution must be understood both external and internal, arising from perverse inclinations and sinful desires, the existence of which must be abandoned in order to have a Savior and Helper in Jesus (chapters 21, 22, 23, 24, 25) The writer does not want to dwell much on the final words of the Lord: “And... the last will be first” (Matthew 19:30; Mark 10:31). He is satisfied only with the statement that the path to heaven is not closed to the rich (Chapter 26) This ends the part of the book in which the rich are encouraged by salvation. The following explains the manner and manner in which this hope can be realized. The writer explains that Christ did not reject wealth at all; on the contrary, he promised eternal life for using it for good. The way to achieve this life, Christ the Lord indicates in His commandment: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and... thy neighbor as thyself” (Matthew 22:37, 39; Mark 12:30, 31; Luke 10:27) (chapter 27) According to the parable of the Samaritan, every person is a neighbor; Christ Himself is the Samaritan who heals us; and therefore He must be loved by us as God (chapters 28, 29) After Christ, especially His disciples should be loved; for what is shown to them, the Lord credits for what was done to Himself. For the service rendered to a disciple of Christ willingly, voluntarily and without being called upon, everyone will receive their own reward (chapters 30, 31, 32, 33) Therefore, the writer invites the rich, at the cost of their treasures, to gather an army consisting of widows, orphans, the elderly and the poor. This army can intercede for us before God with prayers and reminders of ourselves. The writer’s advice to make friends through Mammon is wrong: they intercede for us heaven (chapters 34, 35) Among the friends of God there are various degrees to especially excellent ones. But all of them, on the advice of God, are sent into the world so that, with the help of God’s saving orders, practicing virtue, they become images and heirs of God (Chapter 36) To give new proof that love leads to the first places of salvation, the writer points to the love of Christ, which lays down life for our own, why we must sacrifice our lives for our brothers, especially such a trifle as earthly goods. These provisions are explained by texts from the Epistles of the Holy Apostles Paul and John (chapters 37, 38) From what was said later, the writer deduces which of the rich will find a place in heaven and who will not. The sinner will not find a place for himself there, but God the Father joyfully accepts the repentant. But true repentance consists in a change of feelings, in putting off the old man and putting on the new, in careful exercises to eradicate sinful inclinations and desires of the heart (chapters 39, 40) For this end, we need a holy and pious leader who, on the path to salvation, would encourage us, convince us, remind us, and even keep us on the path of salvation with fear. To confirm these provisions, a touching story is told about the Evangelist John and a young man who was placed on the path of salvation, but due to weakened supervision, he deviated onto the path to destruction and only through the efforts and love of St. John returned to repentance (chapters 41, 42) Those who praise the rich, it seems to me, in all fairness, should not only be condemned for flattery and groveling, because they present themselves as admirers of something that does not deserve respect at all; but they must also be recognized as atheists and deceivers. For the atheists, for not caring about their duty to praise and glorify the One Perfect and Holy God, from whom are all things, by whom are all things, and to whom are all things (Rom. 11:36), they give the honor due to Him to people who burden themselves with sins, who lead an immoral life, for which, and this is the main thing, they are subject to the judgment of God. Such people should be considered deceivers because wealth in itself has the power to puff up the souls of the owners, to destroy and lead them astray from the path by which salvation is achieved, and they also lull the rich to sleep by pleasing them with their immeasurable praises. In addition, they awaken arrogant thoughts in them, as a result of which the rich begin to consider everything as trifles, with the exception of wealth, with which they arouse such surprise to themselves. Truly, this means adding to the fire of fire, burdening the proud with pride, adding an even more burdensome difficulty to wealth: burdening a nature that is difficult to overcome with an even more difficult burden, instead of freeing and separating that one from this, as from some destructive and fatal disease. Because whoever is exalted and arrogant, the opposite may also befall him - humiliation and fall may come for him, which is what the word of God teaches (Matthew 23:12). It seems to me that instead of humiliatingly flattering the rich and glorifying them for their bad deeds, it would be much more humane in relation to them to help them with reminders, promoting their salvation in all possible ways: partly praying to God for this, Who with faithfulness and readiness generously bestows upon His children the blessings that can serve them for their benefit, partly by the grace of the Savior healing their souls, enlightening them and leading them to the acceptance of the truth. Only the one who has accepted it, who shines with good deeds, only he will inherit eternal life as a reward for this. To achieve it, constant, evenly continued, even until the last day of life, prayer of a strong and pure soul is necessary, as well as a way of life and disposition: good, faithful to the law, comprehensively determined by the commandments of the Savior. But there is probably more than one simple reason why it is more difficult for a rich person to be saved than for a poor one; Those reasons, of course, are many and varied. Because some without reasoning and frivolously listen to this voice of the Savior, that “it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God” (Matthew 19:24), and despairing of themselves, as if they could not achieve the Kingdom of God, in all their actions they conform to the world; and as if they were destined to live only on this side of the grave, more and more in despondency they deviate from the path leading to the afterlife, not caring much about which rich people the Lord and Teacher addresses His speech to, nor thinking that what is impossible for people is possible for God (Matthew 19:26). Others, although they correctly and properly understand this saying of the Lord, but, neglecting the deeds leading to salvation, do not equip themselves with this weapon necessary to take possession of the expected benefits. From both of these points of view, I am speaking, however, only about the rich, who know both the power of the Savior and the salvation He revealed. For those who do not know these truths, I care less. Those who love the truth and the brothers and those who are called (to Christian knowledge) of the rich do not have any self-righteous confidence, nor do they grovel at their feet for their own benefit, it is therefore necessary, first of all, to encourage their opinion of the rich and to dispel groundless despondency regarding them and, through an appropriate explanation of the Lord’s saying, to show them that the inheritance of the Heavenly Kingdom is not completely cut off for the rich if they follow the commandments. Further, those who treat the rich in this way need to be reminded that they are afraid, where there is absolutely nothing to fear (Ps. 13:5), and that the Savior readily accepts those who have the will. Then the rich themselves need to be shown and introduced to the understanding of the mystery: how and through what deeds and dispositions they can rise to the hope that the Kingdom of God is not something unattainable for them, and equally, that they cannot become members of it without working for it. But what happens to an athlete - let me be allowed to compare the great and imperishable with the small and weak - let the one who is rich in this world apply the same to himself. Like an athlete who has given up the hope of winning and receiving a victorious award, he is not recognized as having entered the arena; the one who was imbued with this hope in spirit, but did not care about the work, proper nutrition of himself and exercises leading to this goal, usually remains without a victorious wreath and is deceived in the very hope. Likewise, the one who has an abundance of earthly blessings cannot consider himself excluded from receiving the victorious reward promised by the Savior, if only he remains a believer and turns his eyes to the greatness of God’s love for mankind, nor can he hope, if he does not exercise and struggle, that he will adorn himself with an unfading crown of victory without becoming dusty and without sweating. But let him entrust himself to the Word and reason, as if in the palestra to a teacher, and let him subordinate himself to Christ, who rules the struggle. Let the New Testament of the Lord serve him as food and prescribed drink, and as exercises as the commandments, and as decoration and clothing as good dispositions, such as: love, faith, hope, knowledge of the truth, (compliance), meekness, mercy, chastity, so that when the last trumpet is the sign for the beginning of the competition and for the departure from this life, as if from the arena (1 Cor. 9:24), he may be able to come before the Connoisseur of the struggle with a good conscience - as a winner - and undoubtedly be awarded the Heavenly Fatherland, into which he will then enter in a victorious wreath, under the loud proclamations of the Angels. Therefore, let the Savior now inspire us, who begin our word from here, to offer to our brothers the truth, the most expedient and salutary, first regarding hope itself (chapters 4–26), and then regarding what leads to hope (chapters 27–42). After all, He takes pleasure in those who supplicate Him and admonishes those who ask about it. He resolves ignorance and dispels despondency, the same words about the rich, who interpret themselves and clearly explain by repeating 1 again. Because there is nothing better than hearing again the same sayings that hitherto in the Gospels confused you, because due to spiritual immaturity you listened to them without research and understood them incorrectly. When He (Jesus) went out into the street, someone ran up to Him and, kneeling down, asked Him: Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life? Jesus said: Why do you call Me good? God alone is good. You know the commandments: do not commit adultery, do not kill, do not steal, do not bear false witness, do not deprive, honor your father and mother. And he answered and said to Him, “I have kept all this.” But Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said to him, “You lack one thing.” If you want to be perfect, go sell what you have and give it to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven; and come and follow Me. But this one, embarrassed by this word, went away sad, because he was rich and had great property. Jesus, looking around, said to his disciples: How difficult it is for those who have wealth to enter the Kingdom of God! The disciples were horrified at His words. But Jesus began to speak again and said to them: Children, how difficult it is for those who hope for riches to enter the Kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God! They were extremely amazed and said to each other: who can be saved? Jesus, looking at them, said: What is impossible for men is possible for God, for with God all things are possible. And Peter began to say to Him: Behold, we have left everything and followed You. Jesus answered and said: Truly I say to you, whoever for my sake and for the gospel leaves property and parents, brothers and wealth, now in this time, during the time of persecution, he will receive a hundred times more fields and treasures and houses and brothers; in the next century - eternal life. Many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first. 2 This is what is written in the Gospel of Mark, but the matter is stated in accordance with this in all the other Evangelists. The words of each of them, although they may be somewhat different, but the thought in all of them is identical. It is necessary, however, to understand those words in such a way that the Savior does not teach His followers anything in a human form, but in His Divine and mysterious wisdom inspires them to accept what is said not in a sensual sense, but through appropriate research and attention to penetrate into the hidden meaning of the words and to cognize it. For even that which the Lord Himself seemed to have already interpreted to the disciples turns out to be expressed incomprehensibly and requires the deepest consideration due to the boundless completeness of the content hidden in it. Thus, the need arises to increase our reflection on what was most clearly revealed by the Savior before those initiated into the mysteries of the Kingdom of God and before its sons. However, it would hardly be decent to superficially listen to what was expressed by Him, apparently quite simply and for which the listeners did not ask for an explanation. The goals of salvation and this simple thing contributes to and contains amazing and heavenly depths of thought. One should pay attention to the spirit of the Savior and to His purpose, which He did not express in words. Our Lord and Savior willingly allowed Himself to propose questions, the answer to which was befitting His ministry. Life could be asked about life, the Savior - about salvation, the Teacher - about the most important tenets of His doctrine, Truth - about true immortality. The Word is about the word of the Father, the Perfect One is about perfect (final) peace. Eternal - about imperishable eternity. He allowed Himself to ask about why He came, what He established, what He taught, what He distributed, He allowed Himself to ask about that in order to show that the content of His Gospel is a gift for achieving eternal life. But as God, He foresaw what He would be asked about and what He would have to answer. Who better could have foreseen this than the Prophet of prophets and the Lord of every prophetic spirit? Called “good things” (Matthew 19:16; Mark 10:17; Luke 18:18), in this very first word He saw for Himself a reason for an answer and begins it with an instruction, pointing the disciples to the good God, the first and only Surety of eternal life, which the Son receives from Him, and then gives to us. So, immediately, at the very beginning, the highest of the teachings leading to eternal life must be implanted in the soul, and standing at the head of them: it must know the eternal God and the dispenser of eternal blessings, through knowledge and comprehension it must retain the first, highest and One good God. The knowledge of God, who truly exists, who bestows existence, i.e. eternal, God, from Whom all other things receive their existence and continuation - these are the unchanging and unshakable beginning and basis of life. Ignorance of Him is death; knowledge of Him and His favor towards us, our love for Him and likeness to Him constitute the only life for us. The Savior now invites those who wish to live a true life to recognize this God; He invites us to know God, Whom no one can know except those to whom the Son reveals Him (Matthew 11:27). Then the young man had to learn to appreciate the greatness of the Savior and the news of grace, because according to the Apostle “the law was given through Moses; but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ” (John 1:17); he had to learn that what was given by the true Son was not like what was given through the mediation of a faithful servant; he should have been taught that if the law of Moses could communicate eternal life (Gal. 3:21), then the Savior came in vain, suffered in vain for our sake, from birth and even to the limit sign between this and that side of the tomb (i.e., the cross) passing through the path of human life. In vain, therefore, the young man, who from his youth had fulfilled all the commandments of the law (Mark 10:20), kneeled and prayed to another for immortality. That young man not only fulfilled the law, but also practiced it from his early youth. But to enter old age without the stain of crime no longer represents a great and brilliant phenomenon? If someone else, among his youthful aspirations and with the fervor of this age, acquired a maturity of sense, prudence beyond his years, he is an admirable and excellent fighter and is quite mature in judgment. And yet that young man, distinguished by a maturity beyond his years, was firmly convinced that although he observed everything to achieve the righteousness required by the law, he still did not have life in himself; That’s why he prays for it to the One who alone could tell him about it. He is confident about the law, but still prays to the Son of God for help. He moves from faith according to the law to faith in the Gospel of Christ (Rom. 1:17). As if he found his stay on the ship of the law unsafe for himself and, seeing this ship having dropped its anchor in a place that foreshadowed disaster, he sails to the Savior. Now, although Jesus does not say that the young man did not fulfill everything that was required of him by law, on the contrary. He even shows affection towards him and lovingly embraces him with his arms for voluntarily following what he has learned; but at the same time He explains that this young man was immature for eternal life as someone who had not fulfilled what was perfect, and that although he fulfilled the law, the law was invalid for eternal life. This is wonderful; who will deny? Because, representing an educational means in connection with fear, “the commandment is holy” (Rom. 7:12), and as a foreshadowing of the highest legislation and grace, it leads to Jesus (Gal. 3:24). The fulfillment of the “law” is “Christ for the righteousness of everyone who believes” (Rom. 10:4). Christ is not a slave and does not make those who do the will of the Father slaves, but His sons, brothers and, together with Himself, heirs from the Father. “If you want to be perfect...” (Matthew 19:21). Therefore, the young man was still imperfect, because “there is nothing more perfect than perfect” 3. And the divine Lord, through this expression, if you want, points to the free will of the soul talking to Him; because the choice depends on man, as a free chooser; and from God as from the Lord it is a gift. But God gives only to those who desire and seek and ask, so that in this way Salvation can be assimilated by them. 4 God does not force—violence is especially hateful to God—but He comes to those who seek, He gives to those who ask, and He opens to those who are pushing (Matthew 7:7; Luke 11:9). Therefore, if you want, if you really want and are not deceiving yourself, then acquire what you lack. You lack one thing, one thing that endures forever: the good, which is already beyond the limits of the law, which it does not give, which it does not contain in itself, which is characteristic only of those who have life within themselves. But this one young man, who from his early age fulfilled the entire law and was overly proud of it, he could not acquire this one thing for all the fulfillment of the law, 5 this one thing that the Savior had - the achievement of eternal life, which the young man desired. He walked away, saddened, finding this commandment of life, for which he had prayed, difficult for himself. Because he did not really want life, 6 as he said, but only tried to spread the fame of his good intentions. He cared about many things, but he was incapable of this, in order to improve the work of life, he was not disposed to do this, and he was weak for this. Like Martha, who was busy with many things, was distracted and confused in the services, and blamed her sister for leaving the service, she sat at His feet and listened to His teaching at leisure, how, turning to Martha, the Lord said: “... you are worried and fussing about many things... Mary chose the good part, which will not be taken away from her” (Luke 10:41), likewise He rejected the young man from complicated troubles, pointed out one thing to him and, with the grace of the One who offers eternal life, advised him to stay. What was it now that drove the young man to escape and, without reason, forced him to run away from the Teacher, to give up his request, hope, from life, from the works that had already been accomplished 7? “Sell what you have” (Matthew 19:21). But what does this mean? This is not what the Lord commands, which some too hastily think, that he had to scatter his existing property and part with his riches; no, he only had to throw out (false) opinions regarding wealth from his soul, greed and thirst for them, stop worrying about them, eliminate from his path these thorns of life, drowning out the seeds of the Word. Because it is not at all something great and worthy of imitation to have something lacking without relation to (eternal) life. If this were so, then they would have nothing at all, but walking naked, begging for what they needed for the day, beggars would settle along the roads. Those who do not know God and the righteousness of God, solely because of this extreme poverty, because of this helplessness of life, because of this lack of the most insignificant things, should be considered to be the happiest and most godly people and heirs of eternal life. And this is not something new, to renounce wealth and distribute it to the poor or the poor; many did this even before the coming of the Savior. Some because they were more idle to study science and dead wisdom, others because of boasting and vanity, such as Anaxagoras, Democritus, Crates 8. So, what is this new command that the Savior gives? What does He command as God, in fact, as God, Who alone has the ability to give life? What does He command that did not save the ancients (since they had no such commandment)? To what extent is the new creation something exceptional? The Son of God explains this and teaches this. He does not command something sensual, which was done by others, but something else. He commands what is only signified to the senses. He commands something greater, the most Divine and the most perfect, namely: to strip the very soul and its way of thinking and dispositions from what is generated by passions, and to uproot and throw out what is foreign from the heart. This is obedience worthy of a believer and teaching worthy of the Savior. Those of the ancients who neglected external things, although they renounced their estates and even destroyed them (Crates and Anaxagoras), but, I believe, they expanded their spiritual passions, because they fell into pride, vanity and vanity, began to despise other people, thinking about themselves that they had done something superior. Could the Savior now advise those seeking eternal life something harmful and disastrous for the life that He promises? Because even if He gave such advice, he who renounced his wealth could nevertheless firmly hold within himself the thirst and desire for it and live with it. He would part with his estate; but, suffering shortcomings and wanting to return what was distributed, he could remain doubly saddened: on the one hand, not having useful things, on the other, maintaining repentance in his soul. It is unattainable and impracticable for someone who is deprived of the necessities of life not to be broken in spirit and, having parted with the best, not to be disturbed by constant attempts and efforts from anywhere to obtain the means necessary for life. And vice versa, isn’t it much more profitable, having wealth, not to endure misfortune because of poverty, but to help those in need? Because what can someone who has nothing himself give to another? And wouldn’t this teaching clearly contradict (if the sale and distribution of property is taken in the literal sense) many other and wonderful teachings of the Lord: “... make friends for yourself with unrighteous wealth, so that when you become poor, they will receive you into eternal abodes” (Luke 16:9); “...lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in...” (Matthew 6:20). Would it be possible to feed the hungry and give water to the thirsty and clothe the naked and give shelter to the bloodless (Matthew 25:35) - those who do not do this are threatened with fire and outer darkness - if everyone, most of all, himself suffered from a lack of all these things? Doesn’t the Lord Himself command Zacchaeus and Matthew, who were rich and were tax collectors (Luke 5:29), to show Him hospitality? He does not say that they should give up their wealth, but only to have from it (from the wealth. - Ed. ) prohibits what does not belong to them; and after the riches unjustly seized were distributed by Zacchaeus. The Lord says: “...now salvation has come to this house, because he also is a son of Abraham...” (Luke 19:9). The Lord even praises the use of wealth for good so much that along with this message he gives the commandment: to give water to the thirsty, to feed the hungry, to give shelter to the bloodless, to clothe the naked. But if these needs cannot be satisfied without means; and if the Lord commands us to part with the means for this, then what else would He command if not this: to give and not to give, to feed and not to feed, to receive into the house and to push out of it, to show participation and not to show - and one would be excluded from the other? So, one should not throw away wealth, which can be useful for others. Because property is what is acquired, and property is what is useful and created by God for the benefit of people. Truly, wealth and property exist and are subject to us in some way, just like material and tools to one who knows their good use. If you use them skillfully, artistic things come out from under your hand; if you lack the skill to use them, then things take on an unsightly appearance, although in themselves they are innocent. In exactly the same way, wealth is a tool. You can use it in the right way - then it serves to justify you; if someone does not know how to use it as it should, then it becomes an instrument of unrighteousness. His purpose is to serve, not to dominate. Therefore, one cannot place blame on something that in itself is neither good nor evil, because it is innocent, but one must be blamed who can use these things for both good and evil, after choosing one or the other. Полномочно же человек распоряжается ему доверенным вследствие разума и рассудка, обусловливающих собой свободу и самоопределение. Оттого отрешаться должно не столько от богатства, сколько душу от страстей освобождать: эти затрудняют собой правильное пользование богатством. He who is good and righteous will use his wealth for good. Следовательно, отречение ото всего, чем кто владеет и продажу всего своего имущества нужно так понимать, что сказано это с отношением к душевным страстям. For my part, I could also add this. One is inside the soul, and the other is outside it. Если душа из внешнего доброе употребление делает, то и это внешнее принимает вид добра; if it is evil, then the external becomes evil. Повелевающий отказываться от имения вряд ли повелевает от того отказываться, по отречении от чего страсти еще остаются. Не лучше ли сказать, что Он повелевает от того отказываться, по отречении от чего и богатство становится полезным? Следовательно, если мирское обилие отвергающий может еще питать в себе довольно страстей, хотя материалов для этих и нет уже (потому что склонность заявляет свою особенность и суживает, стесняет и возбуждает разум взрощенными ею пожеланиями), то не принесет ему совершенно никакой пользы и бедность, ему, в котором осталось множество страстей. It is not what he rejects that is worthy of rejection, but things that are indifferent. От того, что полезно, хотя он и отрекся, но вкоренившийся материал зла недостатком вещей внешних в себе лишь разбудил. One must, therefore, renounce harmful property (passions), and not that which can bring benefit in the hands of someone who knows how to use it. Everything that the mind controls is useful, moderation and piety; You need to give up everything harmful, and not external harmless things. So, the Lord even encourages the use of external things, because He does not command one to give up what is necessary for life, but rather what results in their abuse, i.e. from mental illness and passions. The wealth at the disposal of such people is deadly for everyone; what is torn out of their hands is salutary. Only the soul is pure from passions, i.e. poor and naked, even with wealth, can listen to the word of the Savior: “... come, follow me...” (Mark 10:21). For He Himself then becomes the path for the pure in heart. The grace of God does not enter into an unclean soul. But he who has many desires and burdens himself with many worldly lusts is unclean. Therefore, whoever owns property: gold, silver, and houses, as a gift from God, and with his riches serves the giver of all good things to God for the salvation of souls, and who knows that he owns this more because of his fellow men than for himself, who is a master over his property, and not a slave to it, and does not encumber his soul with his riches, and through this does not narrow or close his life, and is constantly busy with some good and Divine deeds, and if he must lose these things, then with a calm spirit and indifferently part with them, just as he was cold-blooded in possessing them, the Lord glorifies him as blessed and calls him poor in spirit (Matthew 5:3), a worthy heir of the Kingdom of Heaven; but a rich man is by no means like that. But whoever carries such wealth in his soul and, instead of carrying the Spirit of God in his heart, carries gold and silver, constantly striving to increase his property to immeasurable extent, constantly having more in mind, he deviates to the side and becomes entangled in the nets of the world. For someone who is grounded in the earth and has to return to the earth, where will his aspirations for the Heavenly Kingdom and thoughts about it come from, for him - a person who carries in his body not a heart, but silver and metal? Is it not by necessity that he ends up there, where his aspirations were directed? Because where the disposition of the heart is directed, there the heart is (Matthew 6:21). The Lord knows two types of treasures. One is good, because a good person brings out good things from the good reserves of his heart; the other is bad, because a bad person draws from stocks of bad things and wears out bad things; “Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks” (Matthew 12:34–35). As in the words of the Lord, and likewise among us (i.e. the words of the Lord are confirmed by our own experience), - we are not talking about the only treasure, which, when found, gives an unexpectedly great profit, but also about another, unsuitable for anything, unwanted, reprehensible and harmful. Likewise, wealth is partly something good, and partly evil, because wealth and treasure cannot be distinguished from one another (that is, by their nature, both are identical; and what the Lord says about treasure also applies to wealth). Some of the wealth is worth acquiring and holding, the other is not worth acquiring and is unacceptable. But in the same way, poverty is worthy of glorification, of course, spiritual poverty. That’s why Matthew adds: “Blessed are the poor” (Matthew 5:3), but what kind of poor? Beggars in spirit. And again: “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst” (Matthew 5:6) for the righteousness of God. Therefore, the poor, on the contrary, are unhappy, having no part in God; and even more unfortunate are the poor, who do not receive their share of human wealth, and therefore are not able to spend it as the righteousness of God requires. Therefore, the rich, for whom access to the Kingdom is more difficult, should treat this saying of the Lord reasonably, and not associate with it a crude meaning, with other sayings of the Lord that are inconsistent and carnal. It is not in this sense that the word was spoken by the Lord, and salvation is not established on something external: whether there is little or much of this external thing, whether it is something insignificant or great, brilliant or invisible, worthy of praise or dark, but on spiritual virtue, on faith, hope and love, on brotherly love, wisdom and meekness, humility and truth, the reward for which is salvation. Because it is not because of the beauty of his body that one or the other will gain life or because of its ugliness he will lose it; but one who uses the body given to him chastely and godly will have life in himself, while the other, “the church of God,” causes harm, he will destroy it (1 Cor. 3:17). But even the ugly can wallow in luxury, and the beautiful can be abstinent. Life is not created by the strength and size of the body, and they do not reflect on its members and cause harm; the soul that uses them is the cause of either life or death. “Bear patiently,” the Lord commands, “if someone hits you in the face” (Matt. 5:39; Luke 6:29; 2 Cor. 11:20). A strong and healthy person can obey this commandment, and a weak person can transgress it due to unbridled spirit. In the same way, a poor person without means can revel in desires, and a rich person can be sober and free from them; maybe he can be a believer, wise, pure, having killed sin within himself. And if so, if what life can support is, first and foremost, the soul, and virtue growing in this direction brings salvation, and viciousness causes death, then it becomes clear and understandable by itself that the poor soul will be saved by those disastrous desires that develop with wealth; but, on the other hand, she may perish if she is rich in that she has the wealth of destruction within herself. The reasons why this happens, we must look for, therefore, nowhere else, except on the one hand - in the mood, in the disposition of the soul to obey God and in its purity, and on the other hand - in the transgression of the commandments and in focusing on the bad. He, therefore, who is rich in virtues is truly and truly rich, and in every situation in life he will be holy and faithful; the one who is rich in the flesh and whose life of his soul is focused on external wealth, transitory and perishable, passing from hand to hand and, finally, not belonging to anyone, that wealth is false. Thus, there are poor people who are not false and there are, on the other hand, poor people who are untrue and false. A poor man in spirit is in the proper sense a poor man; the poor, from the point of view of the world, is not in the proper sense a poor man. Is it not to those who are poor from a worldly point of view, but rich in passions, and not at all to the poor in spirit and rich for God, that the Savior says: “Renounce in your soul the alien wealth stored up in your soul, so that, remaining pure in heart, you can see God,” which is equivalent to the expression: “enter the Kingdom of God” (Matthew 19:24). How can you renounce the wealth stored in your soul? “Sell it” (Matthew 19:21; Mark 10:21; Luke 18:22). What does this mean? Turn property into money? Exchange one kind of wealth for another, turning it obvious and open to everyone into silver? Not at all. But instead of the wealth that previously existed in your soul, which you intended to save, bring into it another wealth, bringing with it God-created and eternal life. Rejoice in the commandments of God, the fulfillment of which for you will be accompanied by reward and continuous glory, bliss and eternal life. Then you will truly sell your property, you will sell much and unnecessary things that heaven closes for you, and you will exchange for yourself what can save you. Let the carnally poor and those in need of such wealth possess that wealth; and you acquire spiritual wealth for yourself - and then you will have treasure in heaven. Since the rich young man devoted to fulfilling the law did not understand the meaning of the Lord’s words, and also how one and the same person can be both poor and rich at the same time, have external goods and not have them, can use the world and not use it, he departed from the Lord sad and broken, renouncing the kind of life that he only knew how to want, but which he was unable to achieve, after he had made what was difficult for himself impossible. Because although it is difficult in your soul not to be deceived and not to be confused by what is charming in visible wealth, it is not impossible. It is possible even with wealth, despite its pleasantness and power to confuse us in lies, it is also possible with wealth to receive salvation if someone turns from visible wealth to the spiritual and to that which God speaks - if he disposes of wealth, to which he remains indifferent, well and thus treats it as one treats indifferent things, and if at the same time he strives for eternal life. Meanwhile, the disciples themselves were initially horrified and despondent. What did they hear? Maybe they themselves were very rich? On the contrary, they abandoned nets, fishing boats and fishing boats; it was their only property. Why were they afraid, because they began to ask: “Who can be saved?” (Matthew 19:25; Mark 10:26). Being disciples of the Lord, they immediately perceived with their ears what was said to Him in a vague and obscure manner, and immediately understood the depth of His words. But as for material poverty, they supported themselves with a more joyful hope of salvation. Realizing that they had not yet parted with all their passions, for they had just become disciples of the Savior and had recently been called to their service by Him, they were extremely amazed and condemned themselves no less than they condemned that rich young man who was extremely busy with his riches, who even preferred them to eternal life. That is why the apostles feared that they too might be excluded from the Kingdom of Heaven, if both those who have property and those who are filled with passions are rich, because only pure and dispassionate souls are granted salvation. But the Lord answers: “What is impossible with men is possible with God” (Luke 18:27). Again, these words are full of high wisdom. Because if a person works only with the help of his own strength and tries to acquire dispassion, then nothing will come of it; if he discovers that he strives excessively for this and is jealous about it, then his desire, with the assistance of the power of God, is accompanied by success. Because souls who strive for this are inspired by God; if they refuse to nourish a good desire within themselves, then the Spirit of God leaves them 9. Because saving someone against his will is compulsion; in agreement with his will - grace. And the Kingdom of God does not exist for the sleepy and lazy; on the contrary, “those who make effort delight it” (Matthew 11:12). To force God and to receive life from God into oneself is the only rightful violence. Leading those who adhere to this firmly, or better yet, with all their strength. He gives in to them, condescends. He rejoices when he is thus overcome. Therefore, blessed Peter, the chosen one, the predestined one, the only one of the disciples for whom the Lord pays a tax (Matthew 17:27), having once brought it for Himself, quickly turns to Him and accepts His word. What is he saying? “...we have left everything and followed You” (Matthew 19:27). If by the word “all” Peter means the property that belonged to him, then he could boast, perhaps, only in that he left property worth four obols 10. For four obols he could have rewarded the Kingdom of Heaven only through ignorance. If by the word “everything” he means what we said, i.e. that they freed themselves from the old rubbish and were renewed in soul, then followed the Lord in His footsteps, then this could be counted as a merit to those whose names are written in heaven. To follow the Savior means precisely to strive for His sinlessness and perfection, to establish order in one’s soul, following His example, and to give everything in it a certain form and image, becoming like the Prototype. Jesus answered and said: “Truly I say to you, ... whoever leaves his property and parents - and brothers ... for my sake and the Gospel, he will be rewarded a hundredfold” (Mark 10:29-30). But do not let this confuse you, as well as the fact that in another place He expressed it even more strictly in the words: “... whoever... does not hate his father and mother...” and children... “and his own life, he cannot be My disciple” (Luke 14:26). Because the God of peace, He who commands us to love even our enemies, commands not hatred of them and rejection of what is most dear. If we must love our enemies, then, ascending higher, we must treat people in the same way who, by our very birth, are closest to us compared to all others. If one must hate one’s relatives according to the flesh, then even more so, by descending conclusion, one must shun enemies. Therefore it would seem that one expression destroys the other. But not only do they not destroy themselves mutually, but they don’t even have a close connection with each other. Because, coming from the same intention and image of disposition and for the same goal, you can hate your father and love him as an enemy, without taking revenge on him, your enemy, and on the other hand, you should protect your father no more than Christ. There you can renounce hatred and evil deeds, but here you can overcome shyness in yourself before relatives, if it can harm salvation. This means that if someone has an ungodly father or son, who would be a hindrance to faith and an obstacle to a higher life, then one should not agree with him and have the same thoughts with him, but because of spiritual enmity, one should break off related carnal ties with him. Imagine that the present matter is a controversial matter. Imagine, your father comes up to you and says: “I gave birth to you and fed you; listen to me and let’s do this wrong thing together; But you do not follow the law of Christ.” And something else can be said by a blasphemous person, naturally dead, spiritually dead, not yet living the life in Christ (Eph. 2:1-3). On the other hand, you hear the Savior: “I have reborn you, you who were born into the world unhappy, for death. I freed you, healed you, redeemed you. I will show you the face of God, the good Father; do not call on your earthly father; Let the dead take care of the burial of their dead, and you follow Me. I will lead you into peace, I will lead you to unspeakable and unheard of riches, which no one’s eyes have seen, no one’s ear has heard of, which no one has ever thought about (1 Cor. 2:9), to which the Angels bow, wanting to penetrate into them (1 Pet. 1:12), which God has prepared in advance for His saints and His beloved children. As your nourisher, I give myself to you as food; having tasted it no one will experience death. Day after day I sing to you with the drink of immortality. I am the Teacher of heavenly teachings. For you, I fought even to the point of death and endured it for you, for your sins, for you deserved it by the sins you had previously committed and by your unfaithfulness to God.” Hearing such words from both sides, decide the matter for your own good, cast a vote for your own salvation. If a brother says something similar, or a child, or a wife, or anyone else, then let Christ appear as the conqueror of them all in you, fighting for you. You can own wealth. Then reason like this: “Truly the Lord does not forbid me to possess wealth: He is not envious.” But then you notice that wealth enslaves you and throws you out of balance. Leave him, reject him, hate him, refuse him, run away. “If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out... it is better” for you to have one eye in the Kingdom of God than not to be disfigured in the fire (Matthew 5:29). And if an arm, a leg, life tempts you, hate them; because if any of this is lost for the sake of Christ, it will again be reborn to life there. The following expressions have a similar meaning: “now, in this time, in the midst of persecution,” to have no fields, money, houses, brothers (Mark 10:30) 11. Because it is not without means that He calls people to life, not the bloodless and rootless, not those who have no brothers, just as He called the rich, and this invitation must be understood in the same way as we explained above and earlier; in exactly the same way we need to understand the speech about the brothers, Peter together with Andrew and James together with John, the sons of Zebedee; They were of one mind both among themselves and with Christ. But He forbids possessing all this “in the midst of persecution.” Persecution alone occurs from the outside, because people oppress the faithful either out of hatred, or out of envy, or out of self-interest and as a result of satanic influence; another, most severe persecution arises from within, from the soul of everyone: wicked desires, various pleasures, false hopes and empty dreams - destroy the soul when it, constantly striving for more and frantic with wild lusts, inflamed by passions presented to it as if needles and points, is even scourged to the point of bleeding with its insane aspirations, despair in life itself and contempt for God. This persecution is more difficult and severe as it arises from within, constantly supported; the persecuted cannot escape from this persecution, because he carries this enemy with him everywhere. A burn received by someone from outside has a similar effect: it even teaches caution; internal combustion entails death. And the war, which flared up accidentally and so to speak because of some external incident, soon subsides, but penetrating into the soul - it brings it to death. If, in addition to such persecution, you also have external wealth, and you also have brothers by blood and other things that bind you, then it is better to give up all these things that you possess to your disadvantage, mortify yourself, free yourself from long-term persecution, turn to the Gospel, look for the Savior - the protector and comforter of your soul, the king of everlasting life, “for what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal” (2 Cor. 4:18). In the present century there is rapid change and instability, but in the future there is eternal life. “But many who are first will be last, and those who are last will be first” (Matthew 19:30; Mark 10:31). The meaning and explanation of this saying, although it contains a lot of material, does not currently require research. Here, after all, we do not only mean the rich, but all people in general who have once believed. Therefore, this time we will leave the above saying alone. But in the fact that we had a real duty, I believe, I did not stay behind my promise and showed that the Savior did not at all deny the rich, at least because of their wealth and the property surrounding them, salvation and did not at all block their access to this salvation, if only they will and want to subordinate their lives to the commandments of God, these prefer the temporary and gaze at the Lord with a steady gaze, as they look at the beckons of a good helmsman, observing what he wants, what he orders, what he hints at, what signs he makes to the sailors, where and from where the direction he points. For what is he doing unjustly, who, preserving prudence and protecting his faith, collects funds for himself to support life, or - and this is even more impeccable - what is bad in that if someone by God, who gives life, is suddenly placed in the house of rich people, among those of noble birth, owners of vast estates and influential through their wealth? Because if someone were excluded from (eternal) life for being born into a rich share independent of his will, then injustice would have been caused to him by God who created him, because although he was awarded temporary pleasure, he was deprived of eternal life. After this, what is the use of extracting wealth from the land at all, if it is the cause and mediator of death? No, if someone, living among his possessions, can protect himself from luxury, be moderate and modestly thinking, if someone only seeks God, passionately soars to God and walks before Him, he is a poor man, he fulfills the commandments, he is free, he is not defeated by wealth, he is not brought to illness, he is not wounded by it. If all this is missing, then “it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for such a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God” (Matthew 19:24; Mark 10:25; Luke 18:25). The camel, which anticipates the rich on the narrow and cramped path, must, of course, also discover something higher. From the presentation of principles and theology about this, one can learn what kind of secret of the Savior this highest thing is 12. However, first we will set out what is clearly expressed in the parable, and what it was said for. She teaches rich people that they should not give up all concern for their salvation, as if they were already condemned in advance. But at the same time, she inspires them that they should not throw their wealth into the sea, nor consider wealth to be an enemy of (eternal) life, but should learn how and what use should be made of wealth and how to gain (eternal) life for themselves through it. And if so, if no one should destroy himself in the end, fearing that he is rich, and no one is saved at all because of the mere confidence and faith that he will be saved, then we need to consider what kind of hope the Savior gives to the rich and how what without hope could become a guarantee, and what is hoped for could turn into possession. Therefore, when asked which of the commandments is the most important, the Teacher says: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind”; there is no greater commandment than this (Matthew 22:37–38). And quite rightly so. Because this is said about the first and highest Being, about God Himself, our Father, by whom everything was created and exists, by whom and to whom everything that achieves salvation returns. Therefore, it is unfair for those who are first beloved and called to participate in existence to consider anything else superior and more honorable, especially when they can offer only this small gratitude for the greatest and are unable to conceive anything else for a God who needs nothing and is perfect, when precisely because they love this Father, according to their strengths and abilities, they receive the right to eternity. Because the more someone loves God, the more he immerses himself in God. Second in a row, but no less than the first, He calls this commandment: “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:39; Mark 12:31), i.e. God is above you personally. And when the speaker asked: “Who is my neighbor” (Luke 10 et seq.), He defined his neighbor not in the same way as the Jews defined him, he did not name a blood relative and not a fellow citizen, and not a proselyte, not circumcised in the same way as the Jews, not fulfilling the same law, but brings out in His speech a certain person who was going from Jerusalem to Jericho; He testifies about this man, how he was hacked to pieces by robbers, thrown half-dead on the road, how a priest passed by him, not paying any attention to him, how a Levite looked at him casually, and from the Samaritan, despised, apostate, how he found mercy for himself. This one did not pass by like those, but approached the one who was attacked, supplied him with what he needed during his suffering: oil, bandages, beasts of burden; The money for staying at the hotel was partly paid for, partly he promised to pay. “Which of these three,” the Lord then asked, “was a neighbor to the victim of such a misadventure?” Since the questioner answered: “The one who showed him mercy,” the Lord “said to him: go, and do the same” (Luke 10:36–37), because love gives rise to charity. In both commandments, therefore, He presents us with love and distinguishes them only by turns. There He puts God in the first place as the object of love, here He gives the neighbor second place. But who else could be this neighbor if not the Savior Himself 13? Or who has more mercy for us than Him, for us, whom the ruler of darkness brought almost to death with many wounds, horrors, sorrows, sorrows, seductions, and pleasures? But the only doctor of these wounds is Jesus, who completely uproots passions, who is not simple deeds, the fruits of bad seeds, no, but who brings His very ax closer to the root of depravity. He pours wine into our wounded souls, the blood of David's vine 14; out of inner mercy He brings oil here and pours out a copious amount of it. He points us to the indestructible bonds of health and salvation: love, faith, hope; He made us ministering Angels, Dominion and Power for the sake of a high reward, 15 because they themselves will be freed from the vanity of the world at the revelation of the glory of the children of God. It is necessary, therefore, to love Him, just like God. But he loves Christ Jesus who does His will and keeps His commandments (John 14:23). Because “Not everyone who says to Me: “Lord! Lord!”, will enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in Heaven” (Matthew 7:21) and: “Why do you call Me: Lord! God! “And you do not do what I say?” (Luke 6:46) and: blessed are you who see and hear what neither the righteous nor the prophets have seen or heard, if you do what I say (Matthew 13:16–17). First of all, he is the one who loves Christ, and then the one who teaches those who believe in Him and is concerned about them. For whoever does something for a disciple (of Christ), the Lord accepts it as if it was done for Himself and attributes it all to Himself. “Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry, and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger and you accepted Me; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me. Then the righteous will answer Him: Lord! when did we see you hungry and feed you? or to the thirsty and gave them something to drink? when did we see you as a stranger and accept you? or naked and clothed? When did we see You sick, or in prison, and came to You? And the King will answer them, “Truly I say to you, just as you did it to one of the least of these brothers of Mine, you did it to Me.” And again, on the contrary, He will say to those who did not do this: “Truly I say to you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me” (Matthew 25:34–40, 45). And in another place: “Whoever receives you receives Me”; and whoever does not accept you rejects Me (Matthew 10:40; Luke 10:16). These He calls sons, and children, and children, and friends, and here small, as if in relation to their future greatness there, above. “Do not despise,” He says, “not one of these little ones,” because “their angels in heaven always see the face of My Heavenly Father” (Matthew 18:10). And in another place: “Do not be afraid, little flock! for it has been your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom of heaven (Luke 12:32). In the same way He says that the least in the Kingdom of Heaven, i.e. His own disciple is greater than the greatest of those born of women than John (Matthew 11:11). And again: “whoever receives a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward; and whoever receives the righteous, in the name of the righteous, will receive the reward of the righteous. And whoever gives a cup of fresh water to drink to a disciple in the name of his discipleship, he “will not lose his reward” (Matthew 10:41–42). Therefore, only this reward will not perish. And again: “make friends for yourself with unrighteous wealth, so that when you become poor, they will receive you into eternal abodes” (Luke 16:9). The Lord lets us know by this that by its nature, although any wealth, no matter what one owns, does not constitute the direct property of that person, 16 but that it is possible from this wrong to create a just and salutary work, namely: to reassure one of those who have an eternal abode with the Father. Pay attention first of all to what He commands you. He did not command to demand from you and does not expect from you that you will be burdened, but that you yourself will look for those who need your benefit and who are worthy disciples of the Lord. Beautiful, without a doubt, is the word of the Apostle: “God loves a cheerful giver” (2 Cor. 9:7). And a joyful giver is one who rejoices when he gives, and is not stingy, like one who sows richly, so as to reap a rich harvest; he gives without grumbling, without scolding and sadness, sympathetically; this is true charity. But even better than this is the one about whom the Lord says in another place: “Give to everyone who asks you” (Luke 6:30). Such generosity is truly characteristic of God. Here is the teaching about the most perfect: do not wait for a request, but find out for yourself who is worthy of a good deed 17. Next, assign such a reward for the endowment - an eternal abode! What a wonderful trade! Here is a Divine product! To acquire eternity with money and, by distributing temporary things to the world, to receive for this an eternal dwelling in heaven! Oh, sail to this market, rich man, if you are wise, and if necessary, go around the whole earth! Do not be afraid of dangers, do not spare labor to buy the Kingdom of Heaven there. Why do shiny stones, emeralds and chambers please you so much - this food of fire, the play of time and the by-product of an earthquake or the injustice of a tyrant 18? Strive to live in heaven and rule with God! This Kingdom will be delivered to you by a man who is an imitator of God 19 . Here he receives only a little from you, there he will become your cohabitant for all eternity; pray to him to accept you; hurry, try with all your might, be afraid that he does not neglect you, because he is not commanded to accept, but to offer to you. The Lord does not say: “give” or offer, or do good, or help; No. He says: "get a friend." But you can make a friend not through one-time generosity, but through long-term communication. Therefore, it is not faith, not love, not the patience of a single day that will be “saved”; but “endured... to the end” (Matthew 10:22). And this (generous) man, how does he give? He is inclined to give not only to friends, but also friends to friends 20. Who is this friend of God? But don’t judge who is worthy and who is unworthy (of your charity). It may happen that when choosing the most worthy, you will make a mistake. If anyone doubts this, then let him find it better to show kindness to the unworthy for the sake of the worthy, than to be cautious towards the less worthy and to suspect the diligent. Your pickiness and weighing of who, in all fairness, your giving is due and who is not worthy of it, makes it possible that you will neglect some of God’s friends. But the retribution for this is eternal punishment by fire. Because you give to all those in need, it necessarily happens that you attract those into the circle of your benefactors, who can seek your salvation from God. Judge not, therefore, lest you yourself be judged; “With the measure you use, it will be measured to you (Matt. 7:2), with good measure, pressed together, pressed together, and running over” (Lk. 6:38) will be returned to you. Open your heart to everyone who has joined the ranks of God’s disciples, without turning away your gaze contemptuously from their bodies, or treating their old age unmercifully. Even if one of them is very poor or ugly or sick, do not harbor resentment in your soul and do not turn away from him. All this is just a garment thrown over us from the outside; this is only an instrument for our entry into the world, so that in this common school we can communicate with each other. 21 Within, the Father and His Son live in secret, who died for us and rose with us (compare: John 14:23). In this visible way, death and the devil are deceived, because inner wealth and beauty remain invisible to them. And they pour out their rage on a piece of flesh 22, which they despise for weakness, but for internal goods they are blind; They do not know what treasure we carry in this earthly vessel, protected by the power of God the Father, the blood of God the Son and the dew of the Holy Spirit. But you, who have become a partaker of the Truth and have been awarded great salvation, do not be tempted (by the lack of representation of the flesh), but in spite of other people, gather for yourself an army, an army unarmed, incapable of war, averse to the shedding of blood, gentle, immaculate, consisting of God-fearing elders, orphans dear to God, widows distinguished by their meekness, and men adorned with love. These are the kind of guards you should recruit to guard your wealth, your body and soul: the leader of this army is God Himself; because of them, a sinking ship rises to the surface of the waters, being guided only by the prayers of the saints; because of them, an aggravated disease is overcome through repeated laying on of hands 23; By their pious prayers, the attacking robbers are disarmed, the power of demons is crushed, by an imperious command they are reduced to powerlessness and completely ashamed. These are the true warriors and faithful guards; none of them is superfluous for us, none of them is useless. One can ask God for your health, another can console you during your suffering, a third can cry compassionately and sigh for you to the Lord of all, a fourth can teach you things that will save you, a fifth can directly remind you, another can advise you out of kindness, and all can truly love you artlessly, fearlessly, unhypocritically, without flattery and pretense. O sweet service of people who are true friends to others! Oh, how happy are those who have confidence in their dispositions! How pure is the loyalty of those who fear God alone! What truth are imbued with the words of those who cannot lie! What beauty there is in the actions of those who are confident that they are serving God, that they are appeasing God. They please God, they serve not the carnal man, imbued with impure love for him, but the inner spiritual man, the King of Eternity living in them! Therefore, everyone is faithful and kind. They are pleasing to God and worthy of this glory, which they wear like a diadem. But no, among the chosen ones there are even more chosen ones, and these are the more so, the less they are depicted - who escape from the waves of the world into the harbor and achieve safety. They do not want to appear to be saints, and if they speak of themselves as such, they are ashamed; in the depths of their hearts they hide unspeakable secrets and do not want to show themselves in the world with their nobility. The Word calls them the light of the world and the salt of the earth (Matthew 5:13–14). They are the seed, image and likeness of God, His true children and heirs, sent here, as it were, into some exile and into a foreign land, according to the vision and determination of the author of the great economy of the Father, by Whom both visible and invisible things of this world were created, some for service, others for organization, others for understanding them; and all this is preserved as long as this holy seed lives here; and if it multiplies, this task is resolved faster. After this, why would God need to discover any other secrets of love? You have the opportunity to penetrate into the very depths of the Father, for from it comes the Only Begotten Son, who alone revealed the Father to us. But He Himself is the God of love; Out of love for us, He allowed Himself to be taken captive. It is this, that God is the Father, that is inexpressible in Him; and that He became a mother, this is mercy in Him. Out of love, the Father became a wife 24. And the best proof of this is what He produced from Himself; and the fruit that comes from love is Love. That’s why the Son Himself descended, that’s why He became a man, that’s why He voluntarily suffered the things that are characteristic of people, so that, having condescended to our weakness out of love for us, He could raise us to the measure of His own power. And in his readiness to sacrifice Himself and give Himself up for redemption, He leaves us a New Testament: I bequeath to you My love. But what is this love and how great is it? For each of us He gave His life, worth the entire universe. He also wants us to sacrifice this for each other. And if we are obliged to lay down our lives for our brothers and want to enter into this union with the Savior, then should we miserly hold on to what belongs to this world, which is something beggarly, alien (to our being) and perishable? Why would we lock something away from each other that will soon be consumed by fire? Divinely and decisively, John says: “Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer” (1 John 3:15), that is the seed of Cain, the pet of Satan, ignorant of God’s heart, deprived of hope for higher blessings; it is empty, barren; he is not the offspring of the eternally living Heavenly vine, and as such he is cut down and an insatiable fire awaits him. You follow the path leading to the highest, to which St. Paul points out how to save. “Love,” he says, “does not seek its own” (1 Cor. 13:4–5), but is poured out on the brothers. She worries about these things, because of these things she, being fully sane, goes crazy. “Love covers a multitude of sins” (1 Pet. 4:8); “perfect love casts out fear” (1 John 4:18); “Love does not exalt itself, is not proud... does not rejoice in untruth, but rejoices with the truth, bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails; although the prophecies will cease, and tongues will be silent, and the healing of earthly diseases will cease, these three will remain: faith, hope, love; but the greatest of these is love” (1 Cor. 13:4–8, 13). And rightly so, because faith passes away if we are convinced with our own sight of the immutability of our faith in the existence of God; and hope disappears as soon as we receive what we hoped for; love only improves and multiplies as soon as perfect things are given to it. Therefore, if someone has lowered it into his soul, he can, even if he served sin, even if he did a lot of forbidden things, to make amends for his mistakes, increasing his love and transforming his feelings in sincere repentance. Therefore, when you hear about a rich person, no matter who he is, that he will not find a place for himself in heaven, this should not lead you to despair and despondency: this will only befall those rich people who mismanaged their wealth. But if someone, having broken ties with the fact that wealth is superfluous and dangerous for (eternal) life, was able to strive to achieve eternal blessings, and then, either through stupidity, or as a result of some undesirable circumstance (for example, as a result of some unfulfilled earthly desires), after receiving the sealing 25 and salvation, he again fell into sins and crimes, completely burdening himself with them, he, of course, would be condemned by God completely. Because for everyone who turns to God with all his heart, the doors stand open and the Father receives his son, truly reformed, with triple joy. The true change of feelings consists in no longer getting entangled in the same things, but rooting out sins from the soul, which we have learned from our own experience that they cause death. Because if these are torn out of the soul, then God will again make His dwelling place in you. For He says that for the Father and His heavenly Angels it is a great and incomparable triumph if even one sinner is converted and corrected (Luke 15:7). That is why He cried out: “I want mercy, not sacrifice” (Hos. 6:6; Matt. 9:13). I do not want the death of the sinner, but his correction (Ezek. 18:23). And though your sins were like wool dyed purple, I will make them white like snow; and even if they were black as night, I will wash them like white wool (Isa. 1:18). Because only God can forgive sins and not count crimes, which is why the Lord commands us to forgive our repentant brothers daily (Matthew 6:14). But if we, being evil, know how to give good gifts to our children, then how much more are we disposed to be much merciful and merciful and long-suffering and to wait for conversion, the Father of all mercies, the good Father of all consolation? (Luke 11:13). But to truly turn from sins means to stop sinning and no longer look back at what you have left behind. For what happened, God thus grants forgiveness, and in the future everyone must wean themselves from sin. Repentance consists in blaming oneself for the past and asking the Father to forget it. Only He alone, due to His inherent mercy, can turn what has been done into what was not done and can extinguish previous crimes with the dew of the Spirit. For “whatever I find you doing,” He says, “for that I will judge you” 26 ; not paying attention to what precedes, He is based on the end of everything. That is why for someone who has done a lot of good throughout his life, but in the end has turned to evil, good is imputed to nothing, because when the scene changed he declared his inability; but for someone who previously lived badly and frivolously, on the contrary, it is possible, if he later changes his lifestyle, to make up for the bad behavior that he had been characterized by for a long time before conversion. Still, this requires a lot of diligence, just as to restore strength weakened by a long illness, abstinence and the highest degree of attentiveness are necessary. A thief, if he wants to get relief, don’t steal anymore. He who has violated marital fidelity, do not become inflamed in future. If you are entangled in the networks of fornication, maintain chastity for the future. If you stole it, give it back and add some of your own. If you bore false witness, continue to act in truth. If you have broken your oath, do not swear in the future, but also renounce other passions: anger, voluptuousness, sadness, fear, so that when you go to trial you will already be reconciled with your enemy (Matthew 5:25). It is, of course, impossible to immediately renounce increased passions; but with the help of the power of God, human prayers, the help of brothers, a sincere change of feelings and constant exercises, this matter is possible. Therefore, it is absolutely necessary that you, being a proud, influential and rich man, choose some man of God as your teacher and leader. Be ashamed of at least someone, be afraid of at least someone. Try to obey at least someone who speaks to you directly, but at the same time strictly and savingly. Because it is unbearable for the eyes to constantly remain in the same unchanged position; but it is necessary for great health to sometimes cry and express grief. In the same way, there is nothing more destructive for the soul than constant wishes. Because if the word of a straightforward husband does not respond to her, then her licentiousness blinds her. Fear the wrath of such a husband; and if he sighs, be sad; and if his anger subsides, remain in shame; and if he asks God to admonish you, be attentive to this. He, acting as a mediator for you before God, can remain without sleep, imbued with faith, propitiating the Father with his prayers, because the inner being of God cannot help but bow to the prayers of children. He will ask God for you impeccably if you honor him as an Angel of God, and if it is not you who grieve him, but he who grieves because of you. This is an unhypocritical change of feelings 27. God does not allow Himself to be mocked (Gal. 6:7) and does not listen to empty words. He tests the hearts and bellies burning in fire He hears and He listens to those praying to Him from the belly of the monster and He is close to all those who believe in Him, on the contrary, He is far from the wicked who do not change their feelings. But in order to be even more confident that you can remain with the firm hope of salvation, as soon as you change your feelings, listen to the story, not some fantastic story, but the real story about the Apostle John, known from oral tradition and preserved by memory. When, after the death of the tyrant, he returned from the island of Patmos to Ephesus, he undertook a journey through neighboring areas to attract pagans (to Christ), bring in bishops, introduce order in the churches, ordain one or more appointed by the Holy Spirit to the clergy 28 . He then came to a city not far (from Ephesus), some of which even call its name (Smyrna). And when he reassured the brothers in everything, in conclusion, noticing among those present a young man with a strong body, handsome and lively eyes, he said to the bishop: “I am handing this young man over to you. Keep it with all care. Witnesses are society and Christ.” The bishop took the young man into his care and promised to take care of him, and the Apostle once again repeated his command with all conviction and once again referred to witnesses. Then he left for Ephesus. The presbyter accepted the young man handed over to him into his home, raised him, protected him, cared for him, and finally enlightened him (with Holy Baptism). And then, having sealed it as the most perfect protective means with the seal of the Lord (confirmation), he weakened the increased care and supervision. Unfortunately for him who received his freedom prematurely, he became friends with idle, unbridled comrades accustomed to crime. At first they entangled him in various brilliant feasts, then they began to drag him with them, of course, at night, into dens of thieves, and finally they found it necessary to initiate him into even more vile affairs. But the young man soon got used to them and, due to the advantages of his nature, like a tightly bridled and strong horse turning away from the straight path and chomping at the bit, he gradually began to strive more and more zealously towards the abyss. Completely despairing of God's saving help, he, no longer thinking about trifles and having defiled himself with great crimes, exposed himself to the danger of being shared with others (the same punishment). He now attracted his comrades to himself, united them into a band of robbers and became its zealous leader, the most cruel, more stained with blood than others, the most unbridled. Some time passed when the faithful, wanting to submit a certain matter to John for judgment, called him. Having arranged everything for which he came, he finally turned to the bishop with the words: “Well, bishop, now return to me the talent entrusted to you, which I and the Savior handed over to you before the church of which you are the leader.” The bishop was at first amazed that John was demanding money from him, which he, however, did not receive from him. He doubted whether he had actually received any money, and he could not help but believe John. And when John said: “I demand the return of the young man and the soul of my brother,” the presbyter sighed and said through tears: “He died.” - “How, and by what death?” “He died for God,” the bishop objected. “He hid from us, became a bad and dissolute person, and most importantly, a robber; and now, instead of a church, he remains on the mountain with a gang of his own kind.” The apostle tore his clothes and, hitting himself on the head, with a strong sigh said: “I left a wonderful guard for my brother’s soul. Give me a horse and let someone escort me.” Immediately, in what he was wearing, he left the church. And when he arrived in the bandit area, he was immediately captured by the guards. But John did not show any attempt to escape, nor did he ask for release, but said: “For this reason I came to you; take me to your leader." This one, meanwhile, was already waiting for him, armed. But when he recognized John approaching, he was ashamed and fled. John also ran after him with all his might, forgetting his age and shouting: “Why are you, my son, running from me, unarmed and an old man? Have mercy on me, my son, do not be afraid. You still have the hope of eternal life. I must give an account to Christ for you. If necessary, I will willingly suffer death for you, just as Christ died for us. I will lay down my life for you. Stop, Christ sent me to you. Believe." Hearing all this, the young man stopped, first looking down; then he threw down his weapon, trembled and cried bitterly. He embraced the elder who approached and began to ask with many sighs for forgiveness, being baptized a second time with tears. But the young man hid his right hand. John swore to him that he begged the Savior for forgiveness 29; the elder fell to his knees, kissed his hand, cleansed by repentance, and thus returned the one who had fallen away from the faith to the Church. Afterwards, now propitiating God with frequent prayers, now competing with the young man in unceasing fasting, now softening his spirit with various attractive conversations, as they say, not before he withdrew as he introduced the young man into the Church, thus presenting in him a great example of a true change of feelings in repentance, a great example of rebirth, preparing a great trophy for the expected resurrection, when, at the end of the world, the truly repentant Angels will accept heavenly abodes, rejoicing, rejoicing, praising God, opening the sky, preceded by the Savior Himself, offering His right hand, pouring out shadowless, constant light, showing the way to the bosom of the Father, to eternal life, to the Kingdom of Heaven. Both the disciples of God and God Himself, who attests to this, and the prophets must believe regarding this. Gospels, apostolic words. Whoever lives in accordance with them, not only giving attention to them, but also practicing in deeds, will, upon his departure from this world, himself see the end and guarantee of the truth of the teachings of faith. Because whoever here maintains contact with the Angel of repentance 30 will not feel repentance when he parts with the body and will not be ashamed when he sees the Savior approaching with glory and hosts of His armies; he will not be afraid of fire. If anyone prefers to remain stubborn and live in constant sin, satisfying his desires and valuing intemperance here higher than eternal life, and turns away from the Savior who gives forgiveness, he should not complain about God, nor about wealth, nor about his early falls, but about his own soul, which he voluntarily doomed to destruction. The one who is concerned about his salvation, desires it, does not despair of it, seeks it and prays for it to be granted to him, true purification and constancy of life will lead to the good Heavenly Father, to whom through His Son Jesus Christ, Lord of the living and the dead, and through the Holy Spirit, may there be glory, honor, power, eternal greatness now and at all times, from generation to generation and to the ages of ages. Amen. The writer on behalf of the Lord speaks here about himself, because His words, in themselves clear and understandable, he once again brings here more fully for a secondary explanation of them against the superficial and frivolous understanding of them, condemned in Chapter 2. This passage is read in almost the same terms in the Gospel of Matthew (Matthew 19:16–30), Mark (Mark 10:17–31) and Luke (Luke 18:18–30). Here the writer conveys it with minor changes in words. And perfection, of course, has degrees. But the writer here only contrasts the concept of perfect with its opposite. The Law is imperfect, Christ is perfect. The Savior says: “If you want to be perfect...” therefore the law is imperfect. Salvation is the work of God, but at the same time, it must be a work, and therefore the property of man. A hint of the pearls of the Gospel, which, according to Clement’s understanding, cannot be acquired at any price, least of all at the price of the law and righteousness that comes from fulfilling the law; this is the gift of the Savior's grace. Clement constantly uses the word “life” in the biblical sense of “eternal life.” It is said about the young man that he abandons the labors spent on fulfilling the law, because fulfilling it without Christ was useless. Anaxagoras left his fields to be trampled by camels and sheep; Crates turned his property into money, which he threw into the sea; Democritus spent the significant inheritance he received from his father on travel to Egypt, where he studied the wisdom there. There is supposedly semi-Pelagianism here, but only apparently. Clement speaks only about how grace should be used. The grace of God helps people striving for spiritual life. For, as Clement further says, people who refuse to harbor good aspirations are abandoned by the Spirit of God. This presupposes that He already lived in them before the good desire arose in them. There are, therefore, gratia praeveniens just as there are gratia concomitans. An obol is equal to eight copper coins, i.e. 1 6 drachmas, or 10 4 5 pfen, or 2.7 kopecks. Clement gives here a meaning that we do not agree with the text of the Gospel (Mark 10:29–30). In the Gospel, the position is stated affirmatively and reads like this: “... there is no one who has left house, or brothers, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for My sake and the Gospel, and will not receive now in this time, amidst persecutions, a hundred times more houses, and brothers and sisters, and fathers, and mothers, and children, and lands, and in the age to come eternal life”, i.e. everyone who leaves such and such, already now, at this time, in the midst of persecution, receives houses, brothers, etc., etc. One must think that the author of the “not” subsequent sentence, as a result of the lapsus memoriae, understood the previous sentence without reference to “no one”, and therefore gave a wrong meaning to the whole place. Or, according to Clement’s understanding, the present passage must be explained as follows: the member of the sentence “and would not have received” is a continuation of the thought of the relative sentence “who would have left”, and should be understood as a further condition; the subsequent sentence in this case would begin only with the words “in the century to come,” and the reward was then promised only in the future life. With this assumption, Clement understood the whole passage, which means: “There is no one who would leave the house ... without receiving now, in this time, in the midst of persecution” for what he left “a hundredfold, and in the century to come who would not receive eternal life.” Since the writer by “persecution” means internal enemies and desires, then as a second condition for leaving home, brothers, etc., there must be added for this time the abandonment of all desires and desire for things like home and other similar things that are dangerous for salvation: such a person in the next century will receive eternal life. But such an interpretation would be rather far-fetched and would be unique of its kind. In Stromat. III, 3 Clement also mentions the treatise Περιαχων, promising to develop in more detail the objections against the Marcionites. This is, of course, one of his unfinished or lost creations. Clement here explains the parable of the merciful Samaritan in a special connection of thoughts using the Alexandrian-allegorical method. The neighbor who must be loved is the one who shows mercy. But the highest mercy was shown to us by Christ the Savior; First of all, He is, therefore, our neighbor. Christ is called David's vine with reference to John. 15:1: “I am the true vine”; Davidovskoy - as a descendant of David. He sheds His blood into our souls generally through saving grace in justification, grafting us to Him; then through the blood of His Being in Eucharistic communion. That the heavenly spirits minister to the redeemed is a biblical teaching. “Are they not all ministering spirits,” says the Apostle (Heb. 1:14), “sent out to serve those who are to inherit salvation?” What the new writer brings to this teaching is only that they serve for reward; he calls such a reward their own liberation from the insignificance of the world with the improvement of all things. Some of Clement's interpreters, for example Caryophilus, see in this place Origen's error about the salvation of fallen spirits by Christ, which will follow with the rebirth of all things. Such an error, together with fifteen famous exceptional opinions of Origen, was rejected at the Fifth Ecumenical Council (Constantinople, 553); but this would be imposing on Clement something that he did not share at all. He calls serving spirits the heavenly spirits. But to what extent does Clement call them bound by the insignificance of the world? Only in that in which they serve the members of Christ, bound by the insignificance of the world; Only to this extent are they themselves bound by this insignificance. That blessed spirits, without prejudice to their essential blessedness (the sight of God), experience an increase in their blessed life as a result of insight into the counsels of God's mercy and wisdom, revealed in the course of worldly temporary things, this is clear from Eph. 3:10, and 1 Pet. 1:12. The Apostle Paul in the first of these places says that “the manifold wisdom of God was made known through the church to the principalities and powers in heaven.” And St. Peter in the second of these passages asserts that the angels also “desire to penetrate” into the mystery of our salvation. Consequently, with the improvement of all things, the bliss of the heavenly spirits will be perfected; It is this replenishment to the final measure of their bliss that Clement here calls their reward for their service in this temporary world to those who inherit salvation. This word contains deep Christian truth. In relation to God, no one is the absolute master of his earthly property; everyone is responsible before the Lord God for it, as if given to him as a loan, and is obliged to use it in accordance with the will of God. This, of course, is the meaning and expression of Mammon’s untruth, or more precisely: it is not right, because no one has an unlimited right to his wealth. The writer distinguishes here three stages of charity: the first, which is indicated by the Apostle: it gives willingly and a lot, but at the same time it is also determined by relationships; the second, about which the Lord spoke: it gives to everyone without distinction; the third, higher distinguished by the promise of a special reward, which seeks out a worthy disciple of the Lord of his own free will, in order to accept, feed and water him, and which, thus, acquires friends for itself from Mammon of injustice. The destruction of earthly wealth in a beautiful poetic image is presented here as a by-product of the earthquake. Tyrannical abuse of power was very natural under Roman autocracy. Same as “friend of God.” The Lord reminds: “Get for yourself friends” from Mammon of unrighteousness, “who will receive you into eternal abodes.” Clement explains it this way: Support any of those who have received an eternal dwelling from the Father, therefore, the disciples of Christ and the friends of God. Because the friends of God, converted into friends to us, bring us the Kingdom of God, eternal abodes. And who these friends of God are, how to acquire their friendship and how they deliver the Kingdom of God to us, this is discussed in the following chapters: 33 and 34. The mediating thoughts here, of course, are as follows. A charitable person gives first of all to the saints of the same faith with him, i.e. fellow Christians, and in their person – God Himself; then he also does good to everyone with whom his fellow believers have close ties: their friends. Now the question arises: among the Christians themselves, are all of them pleasing to God, who among them is truly a friend of God? Caryophilus and others express the conjecture that here, too, Origen’s delusion is reflected, which allowed for the pre-existence of souls, sent as punishment into bodies, as if into a prison. But this guess is arbitrary. Clement gives no reason to impose on him the opinion of the pre-existence of souls. The definitions he gives to the body are a more poetic image, with which he only intended to designate the sublimity of the soul above the body. Death is deceived by the flesh, because it sees in it its prey, meanwhile being snatched from its power by resurrection; The flesh deceives the devil in such a way that his attacks on it in the form of arousing sinful desires are defeated by the inner man. Of course, there are prayers and laudable deeds of support for the poor, which are for a charitable soul what bandages and taking medicine are for a sick body. This expression of the writer, of course, should seem paradoxical to us. But it must be understood as a poetic figure, i.e., that the birth of the Son from the Father is recognized as a kind of motherhood of the Father. Both of these expressions are the essence of the biblical and patriotic designation of the communication of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. “Who sealed us,” says the Apostle, “and gave the pledge of the Spirit into our hearts” (2 Cor. 1:22). Among the holy fathers, the first of these expressions especially means the laying on of hands, which initially replaced confirmation (Apostolic Canons, VII, 22; Cyril Hierus. Catich., XVIII, 33, etc.) If Clement for a sinner, upon accepting the grace of baptism and sealing with the gifts of the Holy Spirit returning to his former way of life, does not allow conversion here, then this must be understood in the same sense as in The Epistle to the Hebrews (Heb. 4:4–6). The impossibility of converting someone who has fallen from the faith after receiving the Holy Spirit, in any case, must be understood not about any particular mortal sin, but about a return to paganism or complete alienation from God. Burdening oneself with sins, which the writer speaks about immediately after, also indicates that Clement understood the matter this way. St. Justin the Martyr in “Conversation with Tryphon”, ch. 47 also cites this passage. This saying of the Lord is not in the Gospels, nor in the Apocrypha. The fathers pass on a lot from tradition. They probably knew this saying from him too. The words of the Savior: “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35) St. Paul also quotes from oral tradition; they are not in the Gospels. The intercessory prayer of the leader of the soul recommended by the writer in this chapter must be impeccable, and this is achieved only by the disposition to accept its fruits, by sincere repentance of the soul that has trusted him, the leader. For the medium of prayer is more perfect and easier the more fully disposed to receive grace the one for whom the prayer is offered. Such is the ancient testimony for the historicity of the fact that the hierarchy is an apostolic institution; It was established by the apostles, and did not come about through a delegation from church societies. What is remarkable here is the way the writer expresses himself, in which the apostolic consciousness of the power received from the Lord to forgive sins is reflected. This expression can be understood in different ways: a) as a metaphor, which denotes the usual concern for spiritual salvation, which the writer wishes for the repentant rich (see Chapter 41); b) as a name for the Guardian Angel, who is constantly, although invisibly, present with the repentant, warning him and reminding him, what warnings and reminders are spiritually noted by him; c) as a name for the so-called “Shepherd” Hermas, who was known to the readers of this creation by Clement. In this work of his, Hermas says that an Angel of repentance appeared to him in shepherd’s clothing and gave him instructions regarding repentance and moral life, the same ones that he set out in the book. According to Eusebius (Church history, III, 3), in the time of Clement this book was considered especially appropriate for initial instruction in Christian truths, was often used for this purpose and was therefore generally known. Based on this, Clement’s expression “Angel of repentance” can be considered an allusion to the instructions of the Angel of repentance set out in the book of Hermas. And in Strom., book I, ch. 17 "The Shepherd", the Angel of Repentance, is quoted as something generally known. You might be interested in: