Holy tradition. Holy Scripture and Holy Tradition: an Orthodox view

27.09.2019

Let's start with the ecumenical councils.

At the First Ecumenical Council, held in 325 in the city of Nicaea, the celebration of Easter was established on the day of the pagan goddess Astarte. Thus, a compromise was made between paganism and Christianity - the Christian name for the holiday on a memorable pagan day. After that, pagan holidays are widely included in Christianity, as we have already written in previous chapters, the saints acquire the features of pagan gods.

At the Third Ecumenical Council in 431 in Ephesus, the Virgin Mary was proclaimed the Mother of God, thus marking the beginning of her worship as an intercessor before God.

At the Fifth Ecumenical Council in 553 in Constantinople, the church and the state merge, the monasteries are subordinated.

At the Seventh Ecumenical Council in 787 in Nicaea, the worship of icons called saints and the Cross was introduced. The decisions of this Council were confirmed at a local council in 842 in Constantinople, where the cult of icons was proclaimed a distinctive feature of Orthodoxy, in honor of which the feast of the Triumph of Orthodoxy was introduced.

Note that the date of formation of the state of Russia is considered to be 862, and all these deviations from the Bible and from the teachings of Christ, which will be discussed below, came to Russia from Byzantium.

So, according to the decisions of the ecumenical councils, a number of serious deviations from the Bible, the Word of God, were carried out.

Let us now take a quick look at the writings of some of the so-called church fathers.

Gregory Palamas, one of the founders of the Hesychast movement (we have already briefly mentioned this movement), proclaiming the strictest ascetic life, the rejection of any worldly goods, exhausting fasts, night vigils, abstract contemplation as the most important conditions for spiritual life.

Basil the Great, archbishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia, one of the most famous figures in the church, fought against Arianism. During Basil the Great, there was a struggle between religious parties, and he became the head of the New Nicene League. With his two associates Gregory of Nyssa and Gregory the Theologian, Basil creates a theology built on new terminology.

It should be noted that the philosophical direction "Neoplatonism" had big influence on Basil the Great, who, in particular, "drawn a lot from this system when developing the doctrine of the Holy Spirit, depicting His activity in the world by analogy with the actions of the soul of the Neoplatonists." Neoplatonism, a philosophical trend that arose in the third century A.D., is a fusion of Greek philosophy and Eastern cults into one mystical system. God, according to them, is a single unknowable principle, and being unknowable, can be revealed to people in mystical revelations, in a state of ecstasy, in which the soul contemplates the absolute and merges with it into one whole. The means of achieving ecstasy is the strictest asceticism. Basil the Great was distinguished by extremely severe asceticism, he wrote an essay on asceticism and monastic rules, which received the status of a code.

Pachomius is one of the founders of monasticism. He tried to save the monks from the demoralizing effect of the desert, in which they degraded mentally and morally (Pachomius was called the father of Cenobitic monasticism). In addition, Pachomius eschewed the hierarchy and did not want the monks to take this or that rank, because the adoption of the dignity meant ordination from the bishop and created the dependence of the monastery on the hierarchy, and this dependence, according to Pachomius, "pulled the monastery to the world." On this basis, the episcopate became bitter against Pachomius, he was persecuted, and he was almost killed.

Fyodor Fermeisky wrote: "A person who knows the sweetness of a cell avoids his neighbor."

John of Damascus is an ardent defender of icon veneration, the author of the work “Three defensive words against those who condemn holy icons”, unable to explain the deification of icons, based on the Bible, as a gross violation of the Second Commandment of the Law of God. Damascene openly declares that "in the kingdom of grace, not all of the law remains in force." The Holy Father crosses out the words of Christ: “But sooner will heaven and earth pass away than one tittle from the law perish” (Luke 16:17).

At the Trull Cathedral in 692, in paragraph 82, the main provisions of icon veneration were established. The Old and New Testaments were sharply contrasted. In order to achieve their goal, the holy fathers decided to artificially contrast the two parts of the Bible and show that the Lord's opinions on the same issue were different at different times. But the Creator of the Universe says to such people: “God is not a man to lie to Him, and not a son of man to change Himself. Will he say and not do? Will he speak and not perform? (Numbers 23:19).

Another church father, John of the Ladder, states: “The monastic feat begins through the election of a mentor or spiritual father, and one must entrust one’s salvation to him ... And one cannot generally discuss or test the words of the chosen mentor ... The mentor’s advice must be listened to with humility and without any doubt (as from the mouth of God ), - and “even if they were contrary to their own understanding, and the questioners were not very spiritual” ... “The obedient, like the dead, does not contradict and does not argue ...”.

In these words we see again the contradiction of the Bible - the Word of God, for the Lord says: "...cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength..." (Jeremiah 17:5).

This is what monasticism should be like according to the Church Fathers: blind obedience to the mentor to whom a person entrusts his salvation. To do and not to reason, even if it contradicts your conscience and the Word of God - the Bible. How much this contradicts not only the Bible, but also common sense I don't think it's worth talking about. How here again not to recall the words of the Apostle Paul: “These (the believers of the city of Berea. — A.O.) were more prudent than those of Thessalonica: they received the word with all diligence, examining the Scriptures daily to see if this was true” (Acts 17:11). It's about about the preaching of the Apostle Paul himself, and how he liked that believers do not blindly trust him, do not just take his word for it, but check his words with the Bible, what if he made a mistake, because he, even though he was chosen by God Himself, is only weak a person who can make a mistake! What a contrast to the demand to blindly, without reasoning and unconditionally believe the so-called fathers of the church, people as weak as each of us. You can only trust God unconditionally. The task of this brief essay does not include an analysis of the entire Holy Tradition and its comparison with the Bible. You can do this yourself, dear readers, by taking the works of the church fathers and comparing them with the Bible.

We only wanted to show that the Traditions, which in many churches are the basis of faith along with the Bible, very often contradict it. Only the word of God confirms or denies the truth of this or that statement made by anyone. We again want to recall the above quote from the Complete Orthodox Theological Dictionary that if any section of Holy Tradition contradicts the Bible, then it cannot be taken as the basis of faith. Based on this statement, given by the Orthodox clergy themselves, it is necessary to exclude from the church the worship of the Virgin Mary and the saints, icons and veneration of them, monasteries, the doctrine of the immortality of the soul, the celebration of Sunday as contrary to Holy Scripture - the Bible. But, as history has shown, no one is going to do this.

Over the centuries, the devil has made repeated attempts to destroy the Bible, to wipe it off the face of the earth, but since he cannot destroy the Word of God, in opposition to it, he creates the Sacred Tradition, in which he officially fixes the deviation from the Bible. This is confirmed in the words of the theologian Tertullian: “On these and other decrees you will not find commandments in Scripture (the Bible. — A.O.): let tradition be a commandment to you, custom a confirmation, and faith a motive for fulfillment.

St. Eusebius writes: "You must also hold on to tradition, for it is impossible to find everything in the Scriptures alone." In other words, from the point of view of these people, God did not think of something and missed something, so people decided to fill the gap that God did by creating traditions and calling to believe them in the same way as what God said.

When certain people revolted against the pagan rites and teachings prevailing in the church, the spiritual hierarchs answered them: “You dare to argue with the fathers of the church without any authority. Only their equal can argue with them. And now there are none." But we will not argue with these authorities, but let God Himself speak, Who has the right to disagree with them. That's what He says in His Word, the Bible.

The Church's Concern for the Purity of Christian TeachingFrom the first days of her existence, the Holy Church of Christ tirelessly cared for her children, her members, to stand firm in pure truth. " There is no greater joy for me than to hear that my children are walking in truth.", - writes St. Apostle John the Theologian (3 Jn. 1, 4).

"Briefly written to assure you, comforting and testifying that this true grace of God in which you stand", - writes, finishing his conciliar epistle, St. Apostle Peter (1 Pet. 5, 12).

The Holy Apostle Paul tells about himself that, having been preaching for 14 years, he went to Jerusalem, by revelation, with Barnabas and Titus and offered there, and especially to the most famous, the gospel preached by him, was it not in vain that he struggled and struggled (Gal .2, 2). In the Psalms, whether the Psalms, or in our Christian prayers, one of the first petitions is to "guide us on the path of faith, to walk in the truth" of God.

The true path of faith, always carefully guarded in the history of the Church, from time immemorial has been called direct, right, "the true grace of God," which the Apostle Paul speaks of - Orthodoxy (orthodoxy). In the Psalter - with which the Church has been inseparable from the first moment of its existence, as we know from the history of Christian worship - the expressions are explained: my foot is on direct way let my eyes look at righteousness, it is proper to glorify with the right(Ps. 25:12; 16:2; 32:1, etc.).

The Apostle Paul instructs Timothy to present himself before God " worthy worker, blameless, teaching faithfully(directly cutting with a chisel) the word of truth "(2 Tim. 2, 15). The early Christian writing constantly speaks of observing the "rule of faith", the "rule of truth." The very term "Orthodoxy" was widely used even in the era before the Ecumenical Councils, in terminology the Ecumenical Councils themselves and the Fathers of the Church, both Eastern and Western.

Along with the direct, right path of faith, there have always been dissenters (in the words of St. Ignatius the God-bearer), a world of greater or lesser errors among Christians, and even entire wrong systems that sought to invade the environment of the Orthodox. Because of the search for truth, there have been divisions among Christians.

Getting acquainted with the history of the Church, as well as observing the present, we see that errors that are at war with Orthodox truth have appeared and continue to appear a) under the influence of other religions, b) under the influence of philosophy, c) due to the weakness and inclinations of fallen nature, seeking rights and justifications by this their weaknesses and attractions.

Errors take root and become stubborn most often through the pride of people, from those who defend, through the pride of thought.

In order to guard the right path of faith, the Church had to forge strict forms for expressing the truth of faith, to build a fortress of truth to reflect influences alien to the Church. The definitions of truth proclaimed by the Church are called dogmas from the days of the apostles. In the Acts of the Apostles we read about the apostles Paul and Timothy: As they passed through the cities, they told the faithful to observe the ordinances decreed by the Apostles and presbyters in Jerusalem"(Acts 16, 4); here we mean the decisions of the Apostolic Council, described in chapter 15 of the Book of Acts. The ancient Greeks and Romans called the Greek word "dogma" a) philosophical positions and b) orders that were subject to exact execution. In the Christian understanding "dogmas" are opposed to "opinions" - unstable personal considerations.

Sources of dogmas

What are dogmas based on?- It is clear that dogmas are based not on the rational considerations of individuals, even if they were the fathers and teachers of the Church, but on the teachings of Holy Scripture and in Apostolic Holy Tradition. The truths of faith, contained in Holy Scripture and Apostolic Holy Tradition, give the fullness of the doctrine of faith, called by the ancient fathers of the Church the "Catholic Faith", the "catholic teaching" of the Church (catholic - Catholic). Harmoniously merging into one whole, the truths of Scripture and Tradition determine " Cathedral consciousness The Church, led by the Holy Spirit.

Holy Bible

The name of Holy Scripture refers to books written by saints, prophets and apostles under the influence of the Holy Spirit and therefore called inspired by God. They are divided into the books of the Old Testament and the New Testament.

The Church recognizes 38 books of the Old Testament; combining some of them into one book, following the example of the Old Testament Church, she reduces their number to 22 books, according to the number of letters of the Hebrew alphabet. These books, included in their time in the Jewish canon, are called "canonical". They are joined by a group of "non-canonical" books, i.e. not included in the Jewish canon, written after the conclusion of the canon of the Old Testament sacred books. The Church also accepts these last books as useful and instructive. She appointed them in ancient times for edifying reading not only in homes, but also in churches, which is why they were called "church"; The Church contains them in the same code of the Bible with the canonical books. In the doctrinal sense, she puts them in second place, looks at them as an addition to the canonical books. Some of them are so close in dignity to the inspired ones that, for example, in the 85th Canon of the Apostles, the three books of Maccabees and the book of Jesus the son of Sirach are listed along with the canonical books, and all together it is said that they are "honored and holy", but this only speaks of respect for them ancient church, the distinction between the Old Testament canonical and non-canonical books has always been preserved.

New Testament canonical books Holy Bible recognizes 27. Since the sacred books of the New Testament were written in different years of the apostolic time and sent by the apostles to different points in Europe and Asia, and some of them did not have a specific destination in one or another geographical point, then collect them in one set, or codex, It could not be an easy matter, and one had to take strict care so that the so-called apocryphal books, most of which were compiled in heretical circles, did not end up in the circle of books of apostolic origin. Therefore, the fathers and teachers of the Church of the first centuries of Christianity took special care in recognizing books, even if they bore the names of the apostles; often the fathers of the Church included certain books in their lists with a reservation, with uncertainty and doubt, or, therefore, did not give full list sacred books: this was inevitable and serves as a monument to their exceptional caution in the holy cause; they did not rely on themselves, but waited for the general voice of the Church. The Carthaginian Local Council of 318 in the 33rd canon lists all the books of the New Testament without exception. St. Athanasius the Great names all the books of the New Testament without the slightest doubt or distinction, and in one of his writings he ends the list with the following words: “This is the number and title of the canonical books of the New Testament! handed down by the apostles of Christ the Savior themselves, who were with Him and were taught by Him" (Synopsis of St. Athanasius). Also St. Cyril of Jerusalem enumerates the New Testament books without the slightest notice of any difference between them in the Church. The same complete enumeration is found in Western church writers, for example, in Augustine. Thus, the full canon of the New Testament books of Holy Scripture was affirmed by the conciliar voice of the entire Church.

Holy Tradition

Sacred Tradition in the original exact sense of the word is a tradition coming from the ancient Church of apostolic times: it was called "Apostolic Tradition" in the II-IV centuries.

It must be borne in mind that the ancient Church carefully guarded the inner life of the Church from the uninitiated, her Sacred Sacraments were "mysteries" guarded from non-Christians. When they were performed - at baptism, at the Eucharist - outsiders were not present, their order was not recorded, but transmitted orally; and yet this kept secret contained the essential aspect of faith. This is especially clear to us from St. Cyril of Jerusalem (IV century). Starting Christian lessons for those who have not yet expressed the final decision to become Christians, the saint precedes the teachings with the following words: “when the catechumen is pronounced, if the catechumen asks you what the teachers said, then do not retell anything to the one standing outside. For this is a mystery and hope of the future century. Keep the secret of the Creator. Let no one tell you: what is the harm if I also find out? And the sick ask for wine, but if it is given untimely, it produces bad consequences: the patient dies, and the doctor is slandered "(Word of preface for those starting to announce). In one of the further words-teachings of St. Cyril again remarks: "... we conclude all the teachings of faith in a few verses. And I would like you to remember him word for word, and with all diligence repeat among yourself, not writing it down on paper, but drawing it with memory in your heart, being careful not to while you were engaged in this teaching, none of the catechumens heard what was handed down to you..." (5th catechumen). And in the “proclaiming” words written by him to the enlightened, that is, to those already approaching Baptism and to those baptized who are present, he gives the following warning: , nor to anyone else who has not yet become a Christian, otherwise you will give an answer to the Lord. And if you write down this announcement, then as before the Lord, write this down too "(that is, this warning) (Introductory speech to those who are enlightened).

A clear conception of Holy Apostolic Tradition is given to us by St. Basil the Great (4th century) in the following words:

“Of the dogmas and sermons observed in the Church, some we have in writing, and some we have received from the apostolic tradition, by succession in the mystery. For if we dare to reject unwritten customs, as if they have little importance, then we will certainly damage the Gospel in the most important way, or, moreover, from the preaching of the apostles we will leave an empty name without content. the name of our Lord Jesus Christ was signified by the image of the cross, who taught the Scriptures? To turn to the East in prayer, what Scripture taught us? Which of the saints left us the words of invocation in the laying of the Eucharist and the Cup of blessing in writing? For we are not satisfied with the words that the Apostle and the Gospel mention, but both before and after them we pronounce others, as having great power for the sacrament, having received them from non-pi sleigh teaching. According to what scripture do we bless both the water of baptism and the anointing oil, and even the person being baptized? Is it not according to a hidden secret tradition? What else? The very anointing with oil, what written word has taught us? Whence also the threefold immersion of a man, and other things relating to baptism, are denied by Satan and his angels, from which are the Scriptures taken? Is it not from this unpublished and inexpressible doctrine, which our fathers preserved in silence inaccessible to curiosity and inference, having been thoroughly taught by silence to guard the sanctuary of the sacraments? For what decency would it be to proclaim in scripture the doctrine of things that it is not permissible for those who are not baptized to look at?"

From these words of Basil the Great we deduce: firstly, that the Holy Doctrine Tradition is that which can be erected by the beginning of the Church, and secondly, that it is carefully preserved and unanimously recognized by the fathers and teachers of the Church, in the era of the great fathers of the Church and beginning of the Ecumenical Councils.

Although St. Basil gives here a number of examples of oral Tradition, but he himself takes a step towards writing down this oral word. By the era of freedom and the triumph of the Church in the 4th century, in general, all Tradition received a written record and is now preserved in the monuments of the Church, constituting an addition to the Holy Scriptures.

sacred ancient tradition we find:

a) in the most ancient monument of the Church - "Rules of the Holy Apostles";
b) in the creeds of the ancient local churches;
c) in the ancient Liturgies;
d) in the most ancient acts concerning Christian martyrs: these acts of martyrdom were not previously used by believers, as after their preliminary consideration and approval by the local bishop, and were read at public meetings of Christians also under the supervision of the primates of the churches. In them we see the confession of the Most Holy Trinity, the Divinity of the Lord Jesus Christ, examples of the invocation of saints and faith in the conscious life of those who have rested in Christ, and others;
e) in the ancient records of the history of the Church, especially in the history of Eusebius Pamphilus, where many ancient ritual and dogmatic traditions are collected, for example, about the canon of the sacred books of the Old and New Testaments;
f) in the works of the ancient fathers and teachers of the Church;
g) finally, in the very spirit of the life of the Church, in the observance of fidelity to all its foundations, coming from the holy apostles.

The Apostolic Tradition preserved and protected by the Church, thereby being preserved by the Church, becomes the Tradition of the Church itself, it belongs to her, is witnessed by her and, in parallel with the Holy Scripture, is called by her "Sacred Tradition".

The testimony of Sacred Tradition is necessary to be sure that all the books of Sacred Scripture have been handed down to us from apostolic times and come from the apostles. It is needed for:
- a correct understanding of individual passages of the Holy Scriptures and for opposing it to heretical reinterpretations;
- the establishment of the dogmas of the Christian faith in view of the fact that some truths of faith are expressed in Scripture quite definitely, while others are not quite clear and precise and therefore require confirmation by the Holy Apostolic Tradition.

In addition to all this, Sacred Tradition is valuable in that from it we see how the whole way of church order, canons, divine services and rituals is rooted and founded in the order of life of the ancient Church.

The conciliar consciousness of the Church

The Orthodox Church of Christ is the body of Christ, a spiritual organism whose Head is Christ. It has a single spirit, a single common faith, a single and common, conciliar, catholic consciousness, guided by the Holy Spirit, but affirmed in its judgments on the concrete, definite foundations of Holy Scripture and Holy Apostolic Tradition. This catholic consciousness is always inherent in the Church, but it is expressed in a more definite way at the Ecumenical Councils of the Church. From deep Christian antiquity, local councils of individual Orthodox churches were convened twice a year, in accordance with the 37th canon of St. Apostles. Also, many times in the history of the Church, there have been Regional Councils of Bishops, of a wider scope than individual churches, and, finally, Councils of Bishops of the whole Orthodox Church, East and West. Such Councils - Ecumenical - the Church recognizes seven.

The Ecumenical Councils precisely formulated and approved a number of basic truths of the Christian Orthodox faith, defending ancient teaching Churches from the distortions of heretics. The Ecumenical Councils also formulated and obligated to the universal uniform execution of numerous laws and rules of general church and private Christian life, called church canons. The Ecumenical Councils finally approved the dogmatic definitions of a number of local Councils, as well as the dogmatic expositions compiled by some Church Fathers (for example, the confession of faith by St. Gregory the Wonderworker, Bishop of Neocaesarea, the canons of St. Basil the Great, and others).

It must be remembered that the Councils of the Church passed their dogmatic definitions
a) after careful, exhaustive and complete consideration of all places of the Holy Scriptures concerning the question posed,
b) testifying at the same time that the universal Church understood the given instructions of the Holy Scripture in this way. Thus, the definitions of the Councils express harmony of Holy Scripture and the Catholic Tradition of the Church. For this reason these definitions themselves became, in turn, a genuine, indestructible, authoritative foundation on the data of Holy Scripture and Apostolic Tradition, the Ecumenical and Sacred Tradition of the Church.

Of course, many truths of faith are so clear directly from Holy Scripture that they have not been subjected to heretical interpretations and there are no special definitions of Councils about them. Other truths are approved by the Councils.

Among all the dogmatic conciliar definitions, the Ecumenical Councils themselves recognize the Niceno-Tsaregrad Creed as paramount and basic, forbidding anything to be changed in it, not only in thoughts, but also in its words, to add or subtract anything (decree of the Third Ecumenical Council, repeated by 4, 6, and 7 Councils).

The creeds of a number of local councils, as well as some of the statements of faith of the holy fathers of the Church, recognized as guiding for the entire Church, are listed in the second canon of the Sixth Ecumenical (Trullo) Council. They are given in the "Book of Rules of the Holy Apostles, Holy Councils of the Ecumenical and Local and Holy Fathers."

dogma and canon

In church terminology, it is customary to call the truths of Christian teaching, the truths of faith, dogmas, and the canons - the prescriptions relating to the church system, church administration, the duties of the church hierarchy, clergy and the duties of every Christian, arising from the moral foundations of the gospel and apostolic teachings. Canon is a Greek word, literally: a straight pole, a measure of the exact direction.

Creations of the holy fathers and teachers of the Church as a guide in matters of faith

For guidance in matters of faith, for a correct understanding of Holy Scripture, for distinguishing the true Tradition of the Church from false teachings, we turn to the works of the Holy Fathers of the Church, recognizing that unanimous agreement of all fathers and teachers of the Church in the doctrine of faith is an undoubted sign of truth. The holy fathers stood for the truth, fearing neither threats, nor persecution, nor death itself. The patristic explanations of the truths of faith 1) gave accuracy to the expression of the truths of Christian teaching and created the unity of the dogmatic language, 2) mutually supplemented the proofs of these truths, using Holy Scripture and Holy Tradition, as well as citing rational grounds for them.

In theology, attention is also paid to some private opinions of the holy fathers of the Church or teachers of the Church on issues that do not have an exact general church definition; however, these opinions do not mix with dogmas in the proper sense of the word. There are such private opinions of some fathers and teachers of the Church who are not recognized as agreeing with the general conciliar belief of the Church and are not accepted into the leadership of the faith.

Truths of Faith in Worship

The conciliar doctrinal consciousness of the Church is also expressed in the Orthodox service given to us by the universal Church. Delving deeper into the content of the liturgical books, we thereby affirm ourselves in the dogmatic teaching of the Orthodox Church.

An exposition of the Orthodox Christian doctrine

Symbolic books

Expositions of the Orthodox Faith, approved by the Councils of local churches in a time closer to us, are called Orthodox symbolic books, because. seem to be common interpretations of the creed. Their purpose is to illuminate mainly those truths of Christianity from the Orthodox point of view, which are distorted in the non-Orthodox confessions of a later time, especially in Protestantism. Such is the "Confession of the Orthodox Faith", compiled by the Jerusalem Patriarch Dositheus, which was read and approved at the Jerusalem Council of 1672, and 50 years later, in response to a request received from the Anglican Church, sent to her on behalf of all the Eastern patriarchs and therefore more known under the name "Epistle of the Eastern Patriarchs on the Orthodox Faith". This also includes the "Orthodox Confession" Metropolitan of Kyiv Peter Mohyla, reviewed and corrected at two local councils (Kiev 1640 and Yassy 1643) and then approved by four ecumenical patriarchs and Russian patriarchs (Joachim and Adrian). The "Orthodox Christian Catechism" of St. Philaret of Moscow, in the part containing an explanation of the Creed, uses a similar meaning for us.

Dogmatic systems

The experience of a comprehensive exposition of the entire Christian doctrine is what we call the "system of dogmatic theology." A complete system, very valuable for Orthodox theology, was compiled in the 8th century by St. John of Damascus under the name of "An Accurate Statement of the Orthodox Faith". In this work of his, John of Damascus, one might say, summed up or gave a summary of the entire theological thought of the Eastern Fathers and Teachers of the Church up to the 8th century.

Of the Russian theologians, the most complete works on dogmatic theology were given by Metropolitan Macarius of Moscow ("Orthodox Dogmatic Theology" in two volumes), Archbishop Philaret of Chernigov ("Orthodox Dogmatic Theology" in two parts), Bishop Sylvester, rector of the Kyiv Theological Academy ("The Experience of the Orthodox dogmatic theology, with a historical exposition of dogmas" in five volumes) and Archpriest N. Malinovsky ("Orthodox dogmatic theology").

The task of dogmatic theology

The dogmatic work of the Church has always been aimed at affirming in the minds of believers the truths of the faith, from the beginning professed by the Church. It consists in indicating which path of thought is following the universal Tradition. The doctrinal work of the Church was to, in the fight against heresies, a) find an exact form for expressing the truths of faith transmitted from antiquity, b) confirm the correctness of Church teaching, substantiating it on Holy Scripture and Holy Tradition. The doctrinal thought of the holy apostles was and remains an example of the completeness and integrity of the Christian worldview: a Christian of the 20th century cannot more completely develop or deepen the truths of faith in comparison with the apostles. Therefore, attempts, if they appear, both on the part of individuals and on behalf of the very science of dogmatic theology, to discover new Christian truths, or discover sides in the dogmas given to us, or a new understanding of them, are completely inappropriate. A task sciences of dogmatic theology- to state reasonably, demonstratively faithful Orthodox Christian teaching.

Some complete works on dogmatic theology present the thoughts of the Fathers of the Church in historical order. This is how, for example, the aforementioned "Experience in Orthodox Dogmatic Theology" by Bishop Sylvester is constructed. One must know that such a method of exposition in Orthodox Bogols science does not have the task of investigating "the gradual development of the dogmas of Christianity." Its goal is different: a historically consistent and complete exposition of the thoughts of the holy fathers of the Church on each subject of faith clearly confirms that they have unanimously thought about the truths of faith in all ages; but because some of them considered the subject on the one hand, and others on the other, some gave arguments of one kind, while others - of another, then the historical study of the teachings of the Church Fathers provides a complete consideration of the dogmas of faith and the completeness of proofs of their truth.

This does not mean that the scientific and theological exposition of dogmas must take an indestructible form. Each epoch puts forward its own views, concepts, questions, heresies and objections to Christian truth, or repeats forgotten old ones. It is natural for theology to take into account these demands of the time, to respond to them and, in accordance with them, to expound dogmatic truths. In this sense, one can speak of the development of dogmatic theology as a science. But there is no sufficient reason to talk about the development of Christian doctrine.

Dogmatics and Faith

Dogmatic theology is meant for the believing Christian. It does not itself instill faith, but presupposes the faith already present in the heart. " I believed, and therefore I spoke", - the words of the Old Testament righteous man (Ps. 115, 1). And the Lord Jesus Christ revealed the secrets of the Kingdom of God to the disciples after they believed in Him:" God! To whom shall we go? you have verbs eternal life and we believed and knew that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God"(John 6, 68-69). Faith, or rather, faith in the Son of God who came into the world, is the cornerstone of Scripture; she is the stone of personal salvation; she is the stone of theological science. " But this is written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.", - writes the Apostle John at the end of his Gospel (John 20, 31) and repeats the same thought many times in his epistles, and these words of his express the main idea of all the writings of all the apostles. "I believe": all Christian theology should begin with this confession Under such a condition, it is not an abstract "thinking", not a mental dialectic, but a stay of thought in divine truths, a direction of the mind and heart to God, a knowledge of God's love. For an unbeliever, it is not effective, for even Christ Himself is for unbelievers " stumbling block and temptation"(1 Pet. 2, 7-8; Matt. 21, 44).

Theology and science, theology and philosophy

From the fact that dogmatic theology is based on a living and holy faith, the difference between theology and the sciences of nature, based on observation and experience, becomes clear. The starting point here is faith, there experience. However, the very methods of study, the methods of thinking are the same - here and there: studying the data and conclusions. Only there are conclusions from the collected facts of observation of nature; here are the conclusions drawn from the study of Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition; those sciences are empirical and technical, this one is theological.

This also explains the difference between theology and philosophy. Philosophy is a construction on rational foundations and on the conclusions of the experimental sciences, insofar as the latter are capable of leading to the higher questions of life; theology - on Divine Revelation. They cannot be mixed. Theology is not philosophy even when it immerses our thought in difficult to understand, deep and lofty subjects of the Christian faith.

Theology does not deny either the experimental sciences or philosophy. St. Gregory the Theologian imputed St. Basil the Great deserves credit for having a perfect command of dialectics, with the help of which he refuted the philosophical constructs of the opponents of Christianity. In general, St. Gregory did not sympathize with those who showed disrespect for outward learning. However, he himself, having expounded in the famous "Words on the Holy Trinity" a deeply contemplative doctrine of the Trinity, remarks about himself as follows: "So, as briefly as possible, I present to you our wisdom - dogmatically, and not contemplatively; according to the method of fishermen, and not Aristotle; spiritually, and not intricately; according to the statutes of the Church, and not the marketplace.

Separation of the subject: The course of dogmatic theology is divided into two main parts, into the teaching:
1) about God in Himself
2) about God in His manifestation of Himself as the Creator, Provider, Savior of the world and Finisher of the destinies of the world.

The text is given according to the book: Protopresbyter Michael Pomazansky. Orthodox dogmatic theology. M., Publishing Council of the Russian Orthodox Church, Publishing House "Dar", 2005, - printed according to the edition: Prot. Mikhail Pomazansky. Orthodox dogmatic theology. In a condensed way. ( Corrected and supplemented by the author in 1981) Platina, 1992.
When using the site materials reference to the source is required

The life of God's people throughout its history is called Sacred Tradition. The Holy Tradition of the Old Testament is the life of the people of Israel before the birth of Christ, described in the first part of the Bible. This tradition was fulfilled and completed with the coming of the Messiah Jesus Christ and with the birth of the Christian Church.

New Testament, Christian Tradition is also called Apostolic Tradition. The New Testament books in the Bible are the central written part of the Christian Tradition and the main written source that inspired all its subsequent development.

Sacred Christian Tradition is transmitted from people to people, from person to person, through space and time, from the time of Christ's apostles to the present day. The word “tradition” means that which is transmitted, passes from one to another.

Holy Tradition is not only a collection of many written documents, it is the transmission of the life and experience of the entire Church from one person to another, from one generation of people to another, and the initial link in this chain is in God.

From the beginning of the world to Moses, there were no sacred books, and the teaching about the faith of God was transmitted orally, by tradition, that is, by word and example, from one to another and from ancestors to descendants. Likewise, Jesus Christ Himself conveyed His Divine teachings and ordinances to His disciples by His word (sermon) and by the example of His life. Orally, in the beginning, the apostles also spread the faith and established the Church of Christ. Sacred Tradition has always preceded Sacred Scripture. This is quite understandable, because not all people can use books, and the tradition is available to everyone without exception.

In Holy Tradition, the first place is occupied by the Bible. Then follows the liturgical life of the Church and her prayer, then her teaching decrees and the acts of the Councils recognized by the Church, the writings of the Church Fathers, the lives of the saints, church law, and finally the iconographic tradition, singing and architecture. All these parts are organically interconnected.

The word Bible means book. The Bible was written over thousands of years by different people. It is divided into two testaments: the Old (old) and the New. “Covenant” is an Old Slavonic word meaning “testament” or “agreement”.

Old Testament begins with the five books of the Law, called the Pentateuch. They are sometimes also referred to as the "Books of Moses" because their central theme is the exodus of the Jewish people from Egypt and the laws given to Moses by God.

In addition, the Old Testament includes: books about the history of Israel; teaching books - "Psalms", "Parables of Solomon", "Book of Job"; prophetic books - titled with the names of the Old Testament prophets.

The New Testament consists of 27 books. The center of the New Testament part of the Bible is the four Gospels written by the holy evangelists: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. It also includes: the book “Acts of St. Apostles”, “Epistle” and “Apocalypse”.

For the Orthodox, the Bible serves as the main source of Divine teaching, for God Himself inspired its writing by the Holy Spirit. Both the Old and New Testaments are perceived by the Church through Jesus Christ - the Living Word of God - because they lead to Him, speak about Him, and find their fulfillment in Him. And as an image of the fact that Christ is the heart of the entire Bible, only the Four Gospels, and not all of it, is placed on the throne in the church.

When the church comes together as the people of God for worship, this is called a liturgy. Divine Liturgy The Christian Church is the joint action of God and His people.

The Old Testament worship took place in the Jerusalem temple according to the Law of Moses and included feasts, fasts, private prayers and services performed by the Israelites in their homes and synagogues. In the Christian Church, Old Testament prayers, writings, and psalms are viewed in the light of Christ. The sacrifice of the Body and Blood of Christ replaced the sacrifices in the Old Testament temple. The Lord's Day - Resurrection - replaced the Jewish Sabbath. Jewish holidays also acquired a new meaning: for example, the main holiday, Easter, became the feast of the death and resurrection of Christ.

Growing out of the Old Testament worship, the Church developed special Christian forms of its sacraments - baptism in the Name of the Holy Trinity, chrismation, communion, repentance, weddings, unction and ordination of the priesthood.

In addition, over time, an inexhaustible treasury of proper Christian prayers, holidays in remembrance of the New Testament events and the exploits of the saints was formed. This is how Holy Scripture and Holy Tradition are united into a single whole in the Church Divine Service, and this is how - through prayer and Divine Service - people are taught by God, as was predicted by the prophet Isaiah about the time when the Messiah would come.

HOLY TRADITION, in theistic religions (Judaism, Christianity, Islam) a set of forms (oral tradition, texts, worship), in which the content of faith is transmitted, which has Revelation as its source; the most important part of the Holy Tradition ... ... Modern Encyclopedia

In theistic religions (Judaism, Christianity, Islam) a set of forms (oral tradition, texts, worship) in which the content of faith is transmitted, which has Revelation as its source; the most important part of Sacred Tradition Sacred Scripture ... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary

The totality of books that the Orthodox and Catholic churches consider as Divine, put in importance directly after the Holy Scriptures: the Creed, the decisions of the Ecumenical and some Local Councils, individual creations of the fathers ... ... Historical dictionary

- ... Wikipedia

- (lat. Traditio) in Orthodoxy and Catholicism, one of the sources of dogma and church law, along with the Holy Scriptures. The concept Sacred Tradition means those information and canonical provisions professed by the Catholic Church, ... ... Catholic Encyclopedia

Holy Tradition- The Greek word translated as “tradition” literally means successive transmission, for example, inheritance, as well as the very mechanism of transmission from one person to another, from one generation of people to another. The mechanism of succession ... Orthodoxy. Dictionary-reference

Holy Tradition- the original way of spreading the revelation of God by word of mouth, by personal example. Jesus Christ Himself conveyed His teaching by word (sermon) and by the example of His life, and not by a book (writing). In the same way, at the beginning, the apostles also spread ... Orthodox Encyclopedic Dictionary

HOLY TRADITION- see Holy Tradition ... Atheistic Dictionary

The body of books that the Christian (Orthodox and Catholic) Church regards as "divine" places them directly behind Holy Scripture in importance (See Holy Scripture). So called (as opposed to the Holy ... ... Great Soviet Encyclopedia

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My second semester essay on the Catechism. I passed the exam from the 2nd time only, although at that time I was engaged in catechesis for the second year. I didn’t pass because of the abundance of material that you just need to memorize. We were required to know quotations from Scripture in the Slavic language, indicating the chapter and verse. Why teach in Slavic I still can not understand. If we are going to church people or communicate with Protestants, then it is quite logical to use the Russian language as the most accessible and appropriate in this case. By the way, I did not find a single edition of the "Orthodox Catechism" of St. Philaret of Moscow with quotations from Scripture in Russian. Even the representatives of the SFI did not find this. I had to print from the internet.
Here's something else that's confusing. Memorizing the words from the Holy Scriptures, there comes a moment when these very holy words lose their sacredness, turn into a set of words that you need to hammer into your head, a bunch of food that you need to somehow swallow and digest. This is bad. Of course, you need to know the Holy Scriptures, a lot by heart, but I don’t know how to achieve this without losing reverence for the Word of God. Including, due to poor knowledge of the Bible, we are not successful in conversations with Protestants.
Here is the essay itself.

"Holy Scripture and Tradition as two complementary sources of the doctrine of the Orthodox Church"

The significance of Holy Scripture is undeniable for all Christian denominations. Although there are differences in the degree of authority of both Scripture as a whole and its individual books. Thus, for example, Martin Luther, who proclaimed the principle of the sufficiency of one Holy Scripture, called the Epistle of the Holy Apostle James stuffed with straw. The Bible is considered a sacred book not only by Orthodox, Catholics and Protestants, but also by some non-Christian religious systems of a syncretic persuasion. The Church calls the Books of the Old and New Testaments inspired by God, that is, their author is God Himself with the creative co-authorship of the holy prophets and apostles. “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God be perfect, to everyone good deed prepared” (2 Tim 3:16-17). However, even for an uninitiated person, it is obvious that the difference between the religious experience of a Pentecostal Protestant and an Athos monk is colossal, although it would seem that both base their lives on the same Scripture. What's the matter here?

Context of Scripture

Any text can only be correctly understood from the context. The interpretation of the text is based on the experience used by the interpreter, it is subjective. From this point of view, Protestants also have their own tradition as a certain tradition of understanding Scripture. The context of Holy Scripture in the broadest sense of the word is the life of the Holy Spirit in the Church. The Apostle Pave writes to the Corinthians: “But God has revealed this to us by His Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God. For who among men knows what is in a man, except for the human spirit that lives in him? So no one knows God, except the Spirit of God. But we did not receive the spirit of this world, but the Spirit from God, so that we might know what was given to us from God, which we proclaim, not from human wisdom with learned words, but learned from the Holy Spirit, considering spiritual things with spiritual things ”(1 Cor. 2: 10-13 ).

In the work of salvation, not only the mind participates, but the entire mental and bodily composition of a person. From this it becomes clear that a correct interpretation is possible only in the Church, in which the Holy Spirit dwells, only from the depths of a truly ecclesiastical experience of spiritual life. Only a person who lives and thinks in the system of coordinates of the Church can approach the Truth hidden in the Bible. This is Sacred Tradition - the experience of the life of the Holy Spirit in the Church. This idea is quite clearly formulated in the book of Archimandrite Sophrony (Sakharov) “Elder Siluan”: “He (St. Siluan - S.P.) understood the life of the Church as life in the Holy Spirit, and Sacred Tradition as the uninterrupted action of the Holy Spirit in the Church » .

Christ left behind Him not books, but “the pillar and ground of the Truth” (1 Tim. 3:15) - the Holy Church, therefore the Bible is the book of the Church. “You show by yourselves that you are the letter of Christ, written through our ministry not with ink, but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone, but on tablets of flesh of the heart” (2 Cor. 3:3). Bishop Artemy (Radoslavovich) writes: “It was not the books of the New Testament that gave strength and authority to the Church, but vice versa: the Church, through the apostles, transferred her spirit to the books of the New Testament, and through the fathers put her seal on their canon (collection).” The last thought, by the way, exposes the error of the Protestants, who, rejecting Tradition, accepted the canon of Holy Scripture approved by this same Tradition.

Historical view of Holy Scripture and Tradition

The Holy Books appeared rather late, before that people were guided, they lived precisely by oral traditions. Sacrifices, for example, were made from the very first people, it is worth remembering Cain and Abel. More than 4,000 years have passed from the creation of the first people until the holy prophet Moses received the tablets from God on Mount Sinai. The books of the New Testament appeared, as you know, also not immediately. And the canon Holy Books was approved only in 363 at the Local Council of Laodicea. In addition, most books are written in connection with specific circumstances and needs, often addressed to specific people. That is, the holy apostles were not faced with the task of a complete systematic disclosure of the teachings of the Church. There are quite a lot of references to oral instructions in the apostolic letters: 2 Thess.2:15, 1 Cor.11:2, 1 Tim.6:20, 2 Tim.1:13, 2 Tim.2:2. A large number of testimonies about Holy Tradition as the source of Revelation are found among the successors of the apostles, apostolic husbands and holy fathers, both ancient and modern to us. Church historian Eusebius of Caesarea writes about a certain Hegesippus, who tried to collect all the traditions of the holy apostles, scattered at that time. He collected 5 volumes, which, unfortunately, were later lost.

Some agraphs and apocrypha have come down to us. Of course, they have varying degrees of reliability and their authority cannot be compared with the Holy Scriptures. However, much of this heritage is woven into the fabric of Orthodox worship, used by the apostles and holy fathers. Clement of Alexandria († 215): "He who explains Scripture without the help of Sacred Tradition tears the meaning of truth to pieces."

Probably the most impressive explanation of the meaning of Sacred Tradition is given by St. Basil the Great: “Of the dogmas and sermons observed in the Church, some we have from written instruction, and some have been received from apostolic tradition, by succession in the mystery. Both have the same power for piety, and no one will contradict this, even if he is little versed in the institutions of the Church. For if we dare to reject unwritten customs, as if they are of no great importance, then we imperceptibly damage the Gospel in the most important thing, or, moreover, we leave an empty name from the preaching of the apostles. For example, let us mention first of all the first and most general: that those who hope in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ be signified by the image of the cross, who taught by scripture? What message has taught us to turn to the east in prayer? Which of the saints left us in writing the words of invocation in the presentation of the Bread of the Eucharist and the Chalice of Blessing? For we are not satisfied with those words that the Apostle or the Gospel mentions, but before them, and after them, we also pronounce others, as having great power for the Sacrament, having received them from the unwritten teaching. According to what scripture do we also bless both the water of Baptism and the oil of Anointing, even the one being baptized himself? Is it not according to a silent and secret tradition? What else? What written word has taught us the very anointing with oil? Whence also the threefold immersion of a person, and other things related to Baptism; to deny Satan and his angels from which scripture is taken? Is it not from this unpublished and inexpressible teaching, which our fathers preserved in silence inaccessible to curiosity and elicitation, having been thoroughly taught by silence to guard the sanctuary of the Mysteries? For what decency would it be to proclaim in scripture the doctrine of what it is not permissible for the unbaptized to even look at? .

Forms of Sacred Tradition

Holy Tradition is kept in the Church and communicated to people in various forms. The most important forms include:

1) Creeds (primarily, of course, Niceo-Tsaregrad). The Symbols formulate the basic doctrinal truths that are obligatory for all members of the Church.

2) Apostolic Canons, Resolutions of the Ecumenical and Local Councils, which are accepted by the entirety of the Ecumenical Church. These rules are mainly guided by the Church in her practical activities.

3) Creations of the holy fathers, monastic and other charters. The rules of some saints have the authority of the decisions of the Local Councils and are included in the Nomocanon.

4) Liturgical texts, iconography, architecture. The Holy Spirit living in the Church also transforms material things, creatively refracting in the hearts of the saints. Therefore, the stichera of the Monk John of Damascus, the images of the Monk Andrei (Rublev) are also instructive and useful, like the creations of St. John of the Ladder.

5) Acts of martyrdom and lives of saints. Saints live several lives: real in the physical world, mystical in the experience of their prayerful veneration and, often, in folklore. Sometimes folklore stories depart from the true appearance of this or that saint, therefore, of course, the degree of historicity of this or that information about the saint is of great importance.

6) Ancient church stories. The inner life of the Holy Spirit in the Church (this is, in general, the history of the Church of Christ) can only be partially conveyed, but this life flowed through the storms and whirlpools of human sins and delusions. Looking at the Church from the point of view of her history gives a different perspective, broadens the field of view, showing the greatness of the Bride of Christ.

Unity of Sacred Tradition and its Criteria

In its essence, Holy Tradition is one, despite the diversity of its forms, just as God, the Church and Revelation are one. According to the definitions of the "Orthodox Catechism", the Church is a God-established "society of people united Orthodox faith, the Law of God, the hierarchy and the Sacraments", and Sacred Tradition is "that which truly believers and those who honor God by word and example pass on one to another and ancestors to descendants: the teaching of faith, the Law of God, the Sacraments and sacred rites". In accordance with this, we can conclude that the unity of Tradition, like that of the Church, lies in the unity of dogmatic teaching, morality, and grace-filled succession through the Sacraments.

The church has existed for almost two millennia, and, of course, this is reflected in cultural monuments. What of all this diversity is part of the Tradition of the Church? After all, it is obvious that heretical creations do not belong to him. Among the various forms of Sacred Tradition, the Church has established a certain hierarchy. The main criterion of Tradition is agreement with its fullness, unity. The particular should not contradict and, most importantly, be opposed to the general. Even the most ingenious and pure human mind is incomparable with the conciliar mind of the Church, the “consent of the fathers,” through whose mouth the Holy Spirit spoke.

Archimandrite Cleopas (Ilie) outlines the conditions for attributing one or another heritage to the Holy Tradition in the following way:

“- Doctrines that contain inconsistencies with each other or contradict Apostolic Tradition and Holy Scripture are not recognized;

Tradition is what was in Apostolic Church and has an unbroken succession to the present day;

Tradition is that which is recognized and practiced by the entire Orthodox Church;

Tradition is that which is in agreement with the majority of holy fathers.

The separation of Sacred Tradition from human traditions, which were condemned by the Savior, is extremely important and relevant, especially in our time. For example, prophecies allegedly expressed by certain saints and ascetics of piety often form the basis of schisms. Sometimes this is a direct falsification, sometimes a phrase is taken out of context, sometimes an attempt is made to present a hypothetical statement as a prophecy. So the situation has developed with pseudo-predictions Reverend Seraphim Sarovsky. I must say that in some Local Churches in theological schools, prophecy is studied as a separate subject, which once again emphasizes the need to determine the boundaries of Holy Tradition.

Relationship between Scripture and Tradition

Quite significant is the question of the relationship between Holy Scripture and Holy Tradition. Priest Oleg Davydenkov gives 2 points of view. According to the first, Scripture and Tradition are two complementary sources of dogma. “The essence of this opinion boils down to the following theological-historical scheme. Part of the divinely revealed teaching received by the Church from the apostles, even in the apostolic period of the historical existence of the Church, was enclosed in the books of Holy Scripture. The other part, which was not included in Scripture, was transmitted through oral preaching and was recorded later, already in the post-Apostolic era. It is she who constitutes the content of the Holy Tradition itself. However, this approach, having a Catholic nature, opposes two sources of Revelation, giving rise to a lot of questions about the relationship between Holy Scripture and Tradition.

The second point of view regards Scripture as a form of Tradition. “Holy Scripture is not deeper or more important than Holy Tradition, but, as mentioned above, one of its forms. This form is the most valuable both for the convenience of preserving it, and for the convenience of using it; but withdrawn from the flow of Sacred Tradition, Scripture cannot be understood as it should be by any scientific research» .

Holy Tradition as the fruit of the life of the Church

Considering the study of the patristic heritage necessary for salvation, the Church does not replace a person’s personal religious experience with someone else’s, but invites everyone to be grafted into the tree of Tradition and, having been nourished by the juices of its grace, bear fruit. Every Christian is called to continue the gospel in his life. “Teach the same things that you yourself have been taught, so that speaking in a new way, you will not speak new things,” wrote St. Vincent of Lyria.

If we only had Scripture, then Christianity would be a false religion. However, from the time of the Savior's earthly life to the present day, there are people who embody the Gospel in their lives, who are illustrations of the Holy Scriptures. The spiritual experience of the grace of these people, which has come down to us through letters, books, icons, hymns, is the treasury of the Holy Tradition of the Church. Tradition is not limited to the formal transmission of information, as is done, for example, in science. The essence of Tradition is spiritual, it lies in mysterious life in God and God in the Church ( “He who truly possesses the word of Christ can even hear His silence,” says St. Ignatius of Antioch), while having visible, material forms and doctrinal formulations. Through the latter we can enter into this innermost realm of spiritual reality. Thus, each Sacrament contains a visible part (pronunciation of words, immersion in water, anointing with oil) and an invisible side - the descent of God's grace. According to Protopresbyter Thomas Hopko, “Holy Tradition is not only a collection of many written documents, it is a transmission of the life and experience of the entire Church, inspired and led by the Holy Spirit.”

Every tree, as we know, is known by its fruits. The fruit of the Church is Sacred Tradition, our saints. Indeed, if we are members of one Body, the Head of the Body is Christ, we constitute the Divine-human Organism. And one of the hallmarks of life is growth and development. Christ is the seed that perished and sprouted into the Church. Therefore, on the one hand, the Church sacredly preserves what was handed down by the Fathers, on the other hand, it does not cease to replenish the treasury of Sacred Tradition through the experience of contemporary saints. An invaluable gift for Christians of the 20th and 21st centuries is the heritage of ascetics who are close to us in time: St. Nicholas of Serbia, Hieromartyr Hilarion (Troitsky), St. Justin (Popovich), Elder Paisius Svyatogorets, Archimandrite John (Krestyankin). Their experience shows and proves that “Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” (Heb. 13:8), that the tree of the Church is alive and fruitful. It seems that this is the best proof of the truth of Orthodoxy, if, of course, such is appropriate.

Our time is a time of spiritual belittling. Christianity is degrading not from the point of view of the Truth that it contained, contains and will contain until the end of time, according to the Savior: “I will build My Church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it” (Matt. 16:18). No, Christianity is weakening in the face of its adherents. Narratives about the life of apostolic times, patericons describe a level that seems to us unattainable and almost unreal. Our time is a time of terrifying apostasy of people from God, weakening of faith and piety among the faithful, although the true followers of Christ have always been a "little flock" (cf. Luke 12:32). However, there are still people walking in the narrow path indicated by the Savior. Their outward exploits are small in comparison with the holy fathers of antiquity, but they have the same Spirit, the same grace-filled power. Often you experience great joy and delight from the fact that you are involved in this great river Holy Spirit Orthodox tradition, a host of holy ascetics, albeit very mediocre, albeit to a small extent. And the main task is to hold on to this thread, steadily forcing yourself to stand and hold on to the Church, its Scriptures and Traditions. “Reading the writings of the fathers,” says St. Ignatius (Brianchaninov), “the parent and king of all virtues. From reading the writings of the Fathers, we learn the true understanding of Holy Scripture, the right faith, living according to the commandments of the Gospel, the deep respect that one must have for the Gospel commandments, in a word, salvation and Christian perfection. Reading the writings of the fathers, by belittling the spirit-bearing mentors, has become the main guide for those who wish to be saved and even achieve Christian perfection. by: Artemy (Radosavlevich), bishop. Tradition and the Church. - http://www.pravoslavie.ru/jurnal/28762.htm

Thomas (Chopko), protopresbyter. Fundamentals of Orthodoxy. - http://st-vera.orthodoxy.ru/texts/katehizis/hopko_foma.htm

Saint Ignatius Brianchaninov. ascetic experiences. T I. On the reading of the Holy Fathers. - Minsk: Rays of Sophia, 2001.-496s.