We recently published an article titled "". In the same article we will analyze the question "Why go to church if God is in the soul ...". If you try to compile a list of the most popular questions from people who are less familiar with the Bible and the church, then this question will be one of the most popular. Well, let's look for the answer! But first you need to understand the wording. What does a person think about when he says that God is in his soul? And what does a person think about when he says “go to church”?
One of the biggest misconceptions of many believers is that they consider the church (referred to in) and the temple (building) to be the same. In other words, when you talk to a person about the church, he thinks about the temple, about the building. He can remember the little church in his village. Or maybe remember a temple in the center of a large and noisy city. But what does the Bible say about the church?
I also tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My Church, and mortal forces will not prevail against it. (Matthew 16:18)
When Jesus began His ministry, there were many temples in Israel. Services were held there, sacred texts were read. The priests lit candles and offered sacrifices. But when Jesus told the apostle Peter that he would create a church that could not be overcome by the forces of mortals, what was He talking about? We know that Jesus did not put a single brick in any of the foundations of the temple. He did not build a single building. But He created the church.
The word "church" in the Bible means "called" or "congregation." That is, Jesus was not talking about a building here. And when he tells Peter that He will create a church, Jesus is talking about the people who will make up His church. The church is a gathering of people. Here is another passage from the Bible about this.
You are building on a foundation that rests on the Apostles and prophets, having Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone of that foundation. He supports all this structure with Himself, and it grows to become the holy Temple of the Lord. Through Him, you, along with the rest, build yourself up, forming a dwelling place where God will live through the Holy Spirit. (Ephesians 2: 20-22)
The attentive reader will notice that the temple is about people. The foundation is the teaching of the apostles and prophets. Jesus is the cornerstone and most important stone of this foundation. And it is this temple that is the church - the dwelling place where God lives through the Holy Spirit.
And to further convince our reader that the church that Jesus spoke of is not a building, we will cite another passage from the Bible:
Since God, who created the world and everything with which he is full, is the Lord of heaven and earth, He does not live in temples built by human hands, and it is not human hands that serve Him, for He never needs anything. It is He who gives everything to man - and life, and breath, and in general everything. (Acts 17: 24-25)
God does not live in temples built by human hands. This is a quote from the book of Acts by Luke. But God lives in the temple, which is the church - the congregation. God lives in the heart of a faithful Christian. So in this regard, we want to support the speaker that "God is in his soul." Provided, of course, that this person really lives according to the teachings of Christ (this is a separate topic for conversation). But let's continue with our topic today.
After we figured out that the church is not a building and that the real temple that the Bible speaks of is a gathering of Christians faithful to God, we can continue the conversation. For the past 17 years, I have read the Bible almost every day. If you have ever read it in its entirety at least once, then you could not help but notice how much it says about the relationship of some Christians with others (Christians in the Bible were called "disciples of Christ"). During my considerable Christian life, I can say that being a Christian alone and “believing in your soul” is practically impossible. Christianity is a team game. You need someone you can. The Bible tells us to confess to one another: one Christian to another. We need someone to support your faith in difficult times. We need someone who will always understand and listen to you. You need someone to help you get past temptation and take the next step in faith. Friends and relatives who do not live according to the teachings of Christ will never replace brothers and sisters in the church in this spiritual sense.
I give you a new commandment: love one another. You must love one another as I have loved you. And if you have love for each other, then everyone will know that you are My disciples. " (John 13: 34,35)
I will not quote countless Bible passages about sibling relationships in the church. If all of them are removed from the Bible, the Gospel will lose its meaning. Because it was the brothers and sisters who were supposed to become, according to the idea of Jesus Christ, a church - a temple where God was going to live through the Holy Spirit. Take people out of the church and there will be nothing left. There will be no church itself. The church is a place where people learn to love God and one another. And this is the whole teaching of the Bible:
"Master, what is the most important commandment in the law?" He answered him: "" Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul and with all thy mind. " This is the first and most important commandment. There is a second commandment, similar to this one: "Love your neighbor as yourself." The entire law and all the teachings of the prophets are based on these two commandments. " (Matthew 22: 36-40)
Therefore, even in the title of this article, we deliberately made a mistake. You can't "go to church", just like you can't "go" to a family. You can only be part of the church or not be it, not go to it. And it is up to everyone to decide.
Have you ever been to a wedding? I have been many times. I have been to my wedding once and many times have been to my friends' weddings. The bride and groom are the masters of any wedding. They are the center of the festival. They are the ones for whom all are gathered.
The church is the bride of Christ. Here's what the Bible says about it:
Husbands, love your wives as you loved the Church. Christ gave himself up for her as a sacrifice, in order to sanctify her, purifying her by washing in water and proclaiming the good news, and to take the Church as a bride for himself, as radiant, flawless, without any flaw, so that she would be holy and blameless. Husbands should love their wives as much as they love their own flesh. He who loves his wife also loves himself. For there is no one who would hate his own flesh. On the contrary, he cares for her and feeds her as Christ cares for the Church, for we are members of His Body. (Ephesians 5: 25-30)
The church is the bride of Jesus Christ. For His church, Jesus Christ gave his life on the cross. Not for the building. For people. You cannot love Christ, follow His teachings and miss the teaching about the church. You cannot say that you are a Christian and not be part of the church. You cannot respect and love the groom, but completely ignore the bride for whom he gave his life. This is even contrary to common sense.
If you say that you are a Christian, then you cannot ignore the teaching of the Bible about the church, otherwise you will contradict yourself. A Christian cannot be separate from the church and “believe only in his soul”. The church is the assembly of Christians. The Church is the temple of God, where God lives through the Holy Spirit. The church is a spiritual family. Without a church, we are orphans. Without a church, a Christian has almost no chance of maintaining his faith.
It is possible that you heard some things for the first time. I also once opened my eyes. When I started personally, everything fell into place. If you want to really understand what the Bible says about the church and why you need it, then start reading the Bible yourself. You can read or listen to it on our website in the top menu. But remember that without a church, you have virtually no chance of living a faithful life with God.
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Why go to church?
“Hello, dear editors! My name is Nikolai Filippovich, I am from Minsk. I'm a believer, but I don't go to church every Sunday. I was told that this way I do not receive eternal life and salvation, that this is not real faith. And I believe that if I read the Bible and occasionally go to church, then I am also a believer and will be in paradise.
I have read the Bible and have never met Jesus forcing someone to go to the temple. Yes, and His first disciples did not force anyone. As I understand it, the main thing is that I believe in God, and you can go to church as best you can, if possible, without "obligation." Am I right or wrong? "
Our reader's question is answered by Petr Asheichik, Master of Theology, Rector of the Biblical College of KhVE, OTSKhVE RB.
Without going into theological explanations, I want to say a few words about the meaning of fellowship in a congregation of believers.
Our personal spiritual life, which includes prayer, Bible study, evangelism, and service to others, is certainly the foundation of our lives. So established by the Creator: our spiritual needs are primary in relation to the mental and physical."Man will not live by bread alone ..."(Luke 4: 4).
However, I want to cite six points, which we cannot do alone, outside of church fellowship.
1. Hear the preached Word.We cannot preach to ourselves, we need to hear the Word of God. Faith comes from hearing. And most importantly, it is not what our physical ears perceive, but what goes straight to the heart. This is the spiritual bread for which we pray:"Give us our daily bread this day"(Matthew 6:11).
2. Worship in spirit and truth.Praise and worship in unity with brothers and sisters brings the reality of God's presence in our lives. God lives in the midst of the praises of His people.
3. Pray in agreement."If the two of you agree ... to ask ..."(Matthew 18:19). When we have a need, prayer is much more effective when we pray together! The prayer of the Church has tremendous power. Our problem is becoming a need for many brothers and sisters. No wonder God is paying attention to this.
4. Receive the ministry of the Holy Spirit.God wants to serve us not only through His Word, but also through the gifts of the Holy Spirit: the prophetic word, the word of knowledge, the word of wisdom, healing, miracles, deliverance. We need to be there and with those for whom they are primarily intended - in the Church.
5. Communication with brothers and sisters.The Bible speaks of the sacrifice of sociability (see Hebrews 13:16). This means that communication is worth giving up on something: from our comfort, from plans to spend time in our own pleasure. But it is in communication that we receive the joy of friendship, it is friends who stand up in intercession for us, it is with a friend that we can talk, confess our mistakes, pray for the forgiveness of sins. Friends can warn us and help us cope with dangerous addictions.
6. Serve people with talents and gifts from the Lord.Each of us has talents and gifts from God. And we have a great need in our life - to give! The Church is where we are needed! Where our work and participation will be in demand. By serving people, we are serving God. "Since you did it to one of the least of my brothers, you did it to me."(Matthew 25:40).
And the last thing. All of this is important insofar as we recognize the reality of Jesus' words: "Where two or three are gathered in my name, there I am in the midst of them"(Matthew 18:20).
We do not come to meet people. In church, we really meet God!
Why go to church
if you can also pray at home?
“God made the church like a harbor, so that in it
sheltered from the noise and worries of life
the people of the sea enjoyed great peace. "
John Chrysostom
Many modern people consider themselves to be believers, but they do not participate in church life, reasoning like this: "Why go to church, because you can pray at home." And yet, for some reason, it is not possible to pray at home, and in the church there are long services, difficult and incomprehensible, as V. Vysotsky sang, “... no, and everything is not so in the church, everything is not so, guys”. These lines are addressed to people who do not see the point in attending the temple, who consider it possible to have faith without the Church.
Several generations of Soviet people grew up without a church. The Bolsheviks tried to replace belief in God with belief in communism. Temples were destroyed, believers were persecuted, they were laughed at, but, nevertheless, the faith of the people was not destroyed. The Church, having passed the hardest trials, withstood, and now we see her revival. This in itself is already the greatest miracle worth pondering. It is difficult for people who are not familiar with Orthodoxy, who have not received a religious upbringing, to change their lives; much in the church service remains unclear. The liturgy and everything that happens in the church seems strange and as if taking place in a foreign language. Therefore, for many modern people, all faith is expressed in "going to church to light a candle." And a whole layer of culture, a unique spiritual experience that saves the lost soul, remains on the sidelines. Participation in church life requires effort, it is spiritual work, but you do not want to work. Simpler and more affordable means are always at hand: you can drink, have fun, go somewhere - and the person is forgotten for a while, and it is better not to think about death at all. But the human soul is so arranged that it still stretches upward, looking for some kind of higher justice, tired of deception and vanity.
HOLY GIFTS
In the temple, time seemed to have stopped. The Orthodox Church, as the greatest shrine, has preserved the spiritual experience accumulated over the centuries. The entire order of the church service, the way of life, even the language remained unchanged. Times changed, the government changed, but the Liturgy was still going on in the churches. It did not stop despite the persecution of believers by the Soviet authorities. Because the Divine Liturgy has always had and has for believers not a conditional, but a very real meaning. During the Liturgy, a person not only remembers the earthly life of Christ, not only prays to God for his everyday needs, but, most importantly, really unites with Him in the Sacrament of Communion.
This sacrament was established by the Lord Himself during the Last Supper. “And taking bread and giving thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying: This is my body, which is given for you; do this in remembrance of me. Likewise, the cup after supper, saying: This cup is the New Testament in My blood, which is shed for you "(Luke 19-20.). The meaning of the Eucharist lies in the fact that in it man is given access to God, is given the opportunity to make a sacrifice to his Creator, and is given the opportunity to participate in the sacrifice of Calvary.
The sacrament is the most important concept in the Christian life. During the Eucharist, wine and bread are transubstantiated into the Blood and Body of the Lord. "Around the Eucharist, the whole circle of world existence is flowing,"- wrote about. Pavel Florensky. Just as bodily illnesses need healing, so our spiritual being, damaged by sin, also needs medicine. And such a "medicine" is the Communion of the Holy Mysteries of Christ. “Energy is wasted, everything is destroyed. If there is no Communion on earth, the world will fall apart ”- this is how LN Gumilyov considered Communion.
EXCUSES
Modern man, surrounded by all the "blessings" of civilization, gets used to spiritual laziness, inaction and deprives himself of this living communion with God. Sometimes, due to habit or the prevailing way of life, he passes by the temple, justifying himself with all sorts of excuses. And only when fate presents him with an unexpected blow, he thinks about God, about eternity, about his soul, and, no longer wondering, goes to the temple. Because “the soul itself prompts” where to seek salvation. Of course, this is not always the case. A person is endowed with free will, he always has a choice: to go to the temple or not to go. It is free choice that God needs. This choice can be difficult at times. Sometimes the Lord leads a person to this step throughout his life through trials, disappointments, through successes and failures, happiness and illness, losses and gains. In trials, a person's soul is either tempered or broken. The temple, the help of a priest, prayer help to withstand life's difficulties, to withstand the blows of fate, too big ups and downs, wealth and poverty. The Church teaches wisdom and patience.
The Church has accumulated precious spiritual experience and wisdom. "Lives of the saints", legends, miraculous images that bring people miraculous help and healings in illnesses, thousands of phenomena inexplicable from the point of view of logic are gradually revealed to a person who has come to church and gained faith. The Orthodox Church, by the example of its many ascetics, shows the lofty ideal of Christianity, the goal of a person's spiritual life and his existence on Earth, teaches to endure difficulties with dignity, temper the soul, gives support and protection. Christianity teaches true, selfless love. Orthodoxy provides examples of such love. Suffice it to recall the Monk Seraphim of Sarov, John of Krondstadt, the elders of the Optina Hermitage, so beloved by the people. Without knowing the Orthodox Church, it is impossible to understand what is the strength of the Russian spirit, it is impossible to fully understand either Russian history or Russian literature.
Sometimes a person who first crossed the threshold of the temple and is trying to find the truth hopes to see saints and perfect people in the temple, but stumbles upon some old woman who pulls him back and makes remarks. A person immediately feels like a stranger here. He is embarrassed by the fact that people in the church, sometimes even the priests themselves, have the same shortcomings of life. And then the most important thing is questioned, why he came here - is there a need to seek salvation? But it must be remembered that when a person comes to church, he comes to God, he comes to pray, to confess to God Himself through the mediation of a priest, to relieve his soul. Look into yourself, precisely into yourself, and not into the soul of another person. Priests, good or bad, and other servants of the temple can only be judged by God. And even if they have human defects, they are appointed by God to carry out their ministry.
We bring the child to school, despite the fact that some teachers are far from perfect. After all, we must educate our child. Or the doctor who prescribes the medicine we need may be stingy, for example. It doesn't matter to us. We think about how to get rid of the disease, and not about what qualities this doctor has, whether he is an ideal.
And yet, if in our unjust and cruel world there are islands of purity and goodness, then where to look for them if not in a church.
Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol, in response to attacks on our Church by Western Catholics, wrote the following lines: “How can we protect our Church, and what answer can we give them if they ask us such questions:“ Has your Church made you the best? Is every one of you doing his duty properly? " What then will we begin to answer them, suddenly feeling in our souls and in our conscience that we have been walking all the time by our Church and barely know it even now? We own a treasure that has no value, and not only do we not care to feel it, but we do not even know where it was placed. The owner is asked to show the best thing in his house, and the owner himself does not know where it lies. This Church, which, like a chaste virgin, was preserved only from the times of the Apostles in its immaculate initial purity, this Church, which, with its deep dogmas and the slightest external rituals, was, as it were, taken down from heaven for the Russian people, which alone is able to resolve everything. knots of bewilderment and our questions, which can produce an unheard-of miracle in the mind of all of Europe, forcing in us every class, rank and position to enter their legal boundaries and limits and, without changing anything in the state, give Russia the power to amaze the whole world with the harmonious harmony of the same the organism itself, with which she hitherto frightened - and this Church is unknown to us! And this Church, created for life, we have not yet introduced into our lives!
No, God bless us to defend our Church now! It means dropping it. There is only one propaganda possible for us - our life. With our life we must defend our Church, which is all life ... "(N.V. Gogol. A few words about our Church and clergy. (From a letter to Count APT).
Sometimes everyday routine prevents a person from dedicating the resurrection to attending the temple. “Work six days, and the seventh - to the Lord your God,” reads the commandment. Six days a week is enough to solve all everyday problems. On Sunday, the soul should strive not to the store for shopping, not to a concert, but to the temple.
IS IT POSSIBLE TO PRAY AT HOME?
Domestic prayer differs from common prayer, conciliar prayer. “Where two or three are gathered in My name, there I am in the midst of them,” - this is how the Lord taught. If He dwells among two or three, then where tens and hundreds of people are gathered in His name and pray together, He must undoubtedly be present, and such a prayer has tremendous power.
While in the temple, you need to understand that something very important is happening here, you need to take care of maintaining reverence in your soul. Sometimes habit kills awe, fearlessness sets in, and the sense of the sanctity of a place diminishes. This leads to a cooling of faith and indifference to church sacraments. “I know your deeds, you are neither cold nor hot; oh if you were cold or hot! But as you are warm, and not hot and not cold, I will vomit you out of my mouth ”(Rev. 3.15.16) This so-called“ lukewarmness ”, the absence of fervent faith and true love is characteristic of many. Such are the relations between people today - in the family, between spouses, between parents and children. The coldness in the soul becomes habitual, and so gradually the whole life passes. But this is not the kind of life the Lord expects from us, not for that person is given life, so that he would spend it in pursuit of material benefits, having received which the soul will still not be satisfied, because it was created for a higher purpose.
Spiritual laziness is usually the reason that a person does not go to the temple. Those who believe that it is okay to pray at home usually do not pray at all. Television today for many drowns out the spiritual need to improve a living soul, to communicate with God.
SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCE
Examples of fervent faith, true love and effective prayer give the Orthodox person the lives of saints, of whom there were many in the history of the church and who, like lamps, illuminate his path. Thousands of cases of healings and help in spiritual needs have been recorded and described in Orthodox literature. Now these books are available, in each church there is enough educational literature for readers of different backgrounds, people of any age and education. A person who has received an excellent education, in the spiritual sense, can be a child. Conversely, a person who is not too educated can be spiritually wise, and even perspicacious (like, for example, the holy elders). This is why Christians who attend the temple have their own spiritual guide. A person inexperienced in the spiritual realm needs spiritual advice. It is revealed to the believer in a mysterious way that it is only for one obedience to his spiritual father that God shows man his mercy.
Through the confessor, the confessor brings repentance to God for the sins he has committed. And only the priest, as God's anointed one on Earth, has the power to forgive sins. This is indicated in the Gospel. Jesus Christ, addressing his disciples, said: “Truly I say to you, whatever you bind on earth, it will be bound in heaven; and whatever you permit on earth, it will be permitted in heaven ”(Matthew 18, 18). “To whom you forgive sins will be forgiven; on whom you leave, on that one they will remain ”(John 20: 21-23). The Apostles transferred this authority to the successors of their ministry - the pastors of the Church of Christ. It is they, the priests, who are appointed in the church to receive our confession.
Confession and preparation for it are sometimes painful. It is scary to decide on the first confession, the person is ashamed and awkward. But if we remember the words of the Savior, then false fear gives way to the determination to cut off sin from oneself, to separate oneself from it. The secret of confession is immutable. For divulging a secret, a priest can be excommunicated from the ministry.
God Himself has given man the opportunity to cleanse his soul from sin. Isn't that a generous gift?
GIFTS OF HEALING
Professor of philosophy V.N. Lossky writes about the Church that she is “the center of the universe, the environment in which her destinies are decided. All are called to enter the Church<...>The world is aging and decaying, and the Church is constantly revitalized and renewed by the Holy Spirit, the source of her life.<...>The Church is something greater than the earthly paradise. " (VN Lossky. "Essay on the mystical theology of the Eastern Church").
There are seven church sacraments: Baptism, Confirmation, Wedding, Eucharist (communion), Repentance (confession), Priesthood (ordination) and Unction (unification). Each sacrament performed in the church is a gift from God to man, an important event in life, giving grace and spiritual strength. What does the sacrament of Unction give to a person?
The Apostle James says to Christians: “Is any of you sick? Let him call for the elders of the Church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will heal the sick, and the Lord will raise him up, and if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven (James 5:14 and 15). The sick resort to the sacrament of unction (blessing of oil), since sometimes (the holy fathers teach) illness is sent by God for unconfessed and forgotten sins. This sacrament has great power, which is why there are so many believers in the temple during the Unction.
In the sacrament of the Sanctification of Oil, a person is sent from above two God's gifts: bodily healing and remission of sins. Are not both of these gifts great?
And now to the question "Why go to church, if you can pray at home?" - you can answer: "In order to receive great gifts, which we, people, perhaps, do not deserve for our sins, but which God generously gives to everyone who sincerely turns our hearts to Him." In the Church, a person seeks salvation, healing, reconciliation with God - and finds him.
They say that when temples close, prisons open. “Come to church,” teaches John Chrysostom, “in order to remain unharmed in any position, so that, armed with spiritual weapons, you can become invulnerable and not subject to the devil.”
One often hears bewilderment and protest against the rules that an unchurched person encounters when he comes to the Church. These people want to prove (first of all to themselves) that it is possible not to go to church, and find a lot of reasons and arguments for this. This attitude towards the Church is caused by the fact that many do not understand its nature, the meaning of its existence. Unfortunately, the Church is often identified with secular institutions: schools, universities, hospitals.
And, based on this understanding, then, of course, these people are right. Indeed, education can be obtained at home, on your own or using the services of tutors. You can also treat various diseases at home, by yourself or by inviting doctors to your home. During the war, complex operations were sometimes carried out in field hospitals practically in the open air.
In order to answer the question posed, you need to figure out why a person comes to church. If you just pray, light a candle, venerate the icons, then you don't have to go to church for this. Candles and lamps can be lighted at home, there are also icons of the house.
Then why do people go to the temple? When, I repeat, there is no true understanding of the nature of the Church, then “winged” but deeply erroneous clichés are born: “God must be in the soul”, “I believe in God, but without fanaticism” and the like.
Let's try to understand the reasons for the "fanaticism" of believers, in matters of "dress code" and much more. Let's start with something simple, namely the so-called "dress code".
The fact that the Bible allegedly does not say anything about the appearance is not true. Quite a lot has been written, the format of a short note simply does not allow the opportunity to cite all the quotes from the Holy Scriptures, but read at least the messages of the first disciples of Christ - the holy apostles, and you will find in them quite a lot of words about what should be the appearance of a person entering to the temple.
Of course, what is always written can be understood in different ways and, in order not to fall into controversy, let's honestly answer the question: will we go to the wedding feast in shorts or a tracksuit? And what about an appointment with the management? To the president, for example. I sincerely cannot understand why a person entering the Church does not want to understand that he is entering the house of God, to visit God?
People ask: "But what about love, which should forgive everything?" Quite the right question! If I came to an anniversary to a close, beloved person in dirty work clothes or half-naked, is this not a manifestation of dislike and extreme disdain for the hero of the day and his guests?
Take my word for it, if you enter the temple in obscene clothing, then you distract the people standing in the temple from prayer.
It is not at all easy to enter the state of prayer, but you can “knock” out of it in an instant both by appearance and by an overly pungent smell of perfume - and in many ways.
And where, then, is the love for the people standing in the temple? Or let my understanding of freedom be tolerated? A strange situation is developing: we are calm about the fact that the dress code is introduced in secular institutions: at school, theater, even in a restaurant - but in the Church, it turns out, there should be no restrictions on appearance.
An unbelieving person who denies the existence of God need not read further. But for the one who was baptized himself and brought his children to Baptism, who is trying to communicate with his Creator, all of the following is the most important thing for understanding.
Let's go back to basics. Man - the highest creation of God - was created in a special way in comparison with the rest of the material world. God revives a person with His breath, which a person assimilates, and therefore can accumulate.
Acquisition (accumulation) of the grace of the Holy Spirit for the purpose of deification is the main goal of human life. And man was created hierarchically: spirit - soul - body.
As you can see, the main thing was the spirit, which allowed the primordial man to be in direct union with God. After the Fall, human nature is distorted: the body comes to the fore, which crushes the soul and fetters the spirit. Everything! The graceful connection with God is severed. And thousands of years pass until humanity, in a battle with its disfigured nature, when carnal pleasures become the highest goal, gives birth to the Virgin, Who could accommodate the Creator of the Universe.
God descends to earth, enlightening humanity with a new spiritual teaching. The law of retribution "eye for an eye" is replaced by the commandment to love one's neighbor. But in order for the soul to have the strength to love, Christ leaves us the Sacraments, and the most important of them is the Sacrament of the Eucharist (Communion).
If our disfigured nature has made its flesh the main thing (a high temperature or an aching tooth will not allow us to pray with concentration, or solve a problem, or listen to music), then the grace of God comes to us through matter. The Upper Room of Zion, the Last Supper, the Lord blesses the bread and speaks to His disciples the secret words: “This is my body, which is given for you; do this in remembrance of me. " He blesses the Cup and says: "This is My Blood of the New Testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins."
The word "covenant" means a contract. Agreement with God: You are for me, I am for You. I partake of Your Body and Blood, You give me Your grace that heals my nature.
As St. Gregory the Theologian wrote: "God becomes man so that man becomes God."
In other words, the grace of God (in secular language, Divine energy) is given to man only in the Sacraments of the Church, which take place only in the temple. And the Church is not a mediator, but a bridge that connects a person with Christ.
The grace of God nourishes, purifies and transforms the human soul. That is why he goes to the Church, even if there are sorrows, injustice or rudeness in her. Yes, unfortunately, this happens.
There are bribe-takers among university professors and among doctors, but does this really stop us recognizing science and medicine? If the headmaster is a drunkard, does that give us a reason to deny the role of education and not take our children to school?
Yes, among the clergy there is a lot of disorder - this can be judged by the moral state of society. Since it is in such a deplorable state, then we - the priests - are responsible for this before God first of all! And no one has freed us from this responsibility and will not release us, regardless of the form of secular power.
Without justifying our spiritual state and low spiritual level at all, I just want to explain its reasons. During the years of godless power, our ancestors destroyed more than 50 thousand churches and shot, tortured tens of thousands of priests and deeply religious people. We will not judge them for this, we have no right!
It is still far from clear how each of us would behave in those difficult years when the authorities publicly promised to put an end to “religious obscurantism”. And spiritual science (learning to love God, your neighbor, yourself) is very difficult. Highly! It is extremely difficult to study it on your own. Yes, actually, I'll give you a simple example. Let's send 30 thousand of the best surgeons out of the country and see how the rest will diagnose and operate on patients.
Young sincere priests come, and the sea of the most complicated spiritual problems of the modern fallen world falls on them, but there are no teachers! And the problems begin ...
Christ warned us about the end times in simple, clear words: "And because of the multiplication of iniquity in many, love will grow cold." Love first of all for the Creator, for it turns out that completely insignificant reasons prevent a person from coming to church, to visit God.
However, as it is written in the Bible, "the world is given free." "A slave is not a worshiper" - said our ancestors. No one can force a person to love God, his neighbor and himself, to follow the law that Christ left us.
Modern man himself decides how to correctly interpret and apply spiritual laws in his life, forgetting, however, that if "God must ..." then He is not the Almighty, but a subordinate.
The Creator owes nothing to anyone - this is a now forgotten theological axiom. But God does not take away our freedom, leaving it to us to reject His gifts. Otherwise, a person will turn into a biorobot, which is unacceptable with the Divine understanding of love.
In the Sacrament of Baptism, a person (and for babies with godparents) is asked three times: "Are you consorting with Christ?" And three times a person makes a vow to God: "I am combined." In other words, I will unite with Christ. To warm your hands, you need to touch the warmth; in order to deify the soul, you need to touch God in the Sacrament of the Sacrament. The New Covenant between God and his creation is concluded in the upper room of Zion with the words: "Come, eat ..."
A person who has refused to fulfill the vow given in the Sacrament of Baptism, no matter how bitter it may be to admit, becomes an oath-breaker before God.
Whether we like it or not, this is how God built the world. Whether we like or dislike the laws of the material world, the laws of physics, chemistry, biology, we still strive to comply with them, otherwise the world around us is destroyed.
The worst thing for humanity is when it violates spiritual laws.
Then the spiritual space created by God for the existence of the world is destroyed. And at a certain stage, humanity will come (if not already) to the point of no return, and the Second Coming of God to earth will come. And for our understanding of spiritual laws and living according to them, each of us will give an answer.
Archpriest Evgeny Sokolov
I am reading on 29.ru an article by Anna Morozova “I believe in God, I don’t go to church”. The article contains bewilderment and protest against the rules that an unchurched person faced when he came to the Church. I had to listen to these arguments and arguments many times from people who want to prove (first of all to themselves) that it is possible not to go to church.
And this attitude towards the Church is caused by the fact that many do not understand its nature, the meaning of its existence. Unfortunately, the Church is often identified with secular institutions: schools, universities, hospitals. And, based on this understanding, the author is certainly right. Indeed, education can be obtained at home, on your own or using the services of tutors. You can also treat various diseases at home, by yourself or by inviting doctors to your home. During the war, complex operations were sometimes carried out in field hospitals practically in the open air. And, it would seem, why can't you pray at home, is it really necessary to go to church?
In order to answer the question posed, you need to figure out why a person comes to church. If you just pray, light a candle, venerate the icons, then you don't have to go to church for this. Candles and lamps can be lighted at home, there are also icons of the house. Then why do people go to the temple? When, I repeat, there is no true understanding of the nature of the Church, then “winged” but deeply erroneous clichés are born: “God must be in the soul”, “I believe in God, but without fanaticism” and the like.
Let's try to understand the reasons for the "fanaticism" of believers, in matters of "dress code" and much more. Let's start with something simple, namely the so-called "dress code". The fact that the Bible allegedly does not say anything about the appearance is not true. Quite a lot has been written, the format of a short note simply does not allow the opportunity to cite all the quotes from the Holy Scriptures, but read at least the messages of the first disciples of Christ - the holy apostles, and you will find in them quite a lot of words about what should be the appearance of a person entering to the temple. Of course, what is always written can be understood in different ways and, in order not to fall into controversy, let's honestly answer the question: will we go to the wedding feast in shorts or a tracksuit? And what about an appointment with the management? To the president, for example. I sincerely cannot understand why a person entering the Church does not want to understand that he is entering the house of God, to visit God?
The author asks: "But what about love, which should forgive everything?" Quite the right question! If I came to an anniversary to a close, beloved person in dirty work clothes or half-naked, is this not a manifestation of dislike and extreme disdain for the hero of the day and his guests?
Take my word for it, if you enter the temple in obscene clothing, then you distract the people standing in the temple from prayer. It is not at all easy to enter the state of prayer, but you can “knock” out of it in an instant both by appearance and by an overly pungent smell of perfume - and in many ways. And where, then, is the love for the people standing in the temple? Or let my understanding of freedom be tolerated? A strange situation is developing: we are calm about the fact that the dress code is introduced in secular institutions: at school, theater, even in a restaurant - but in the Church, it turns out, there should be no restrictions on appearance.
Now about the main thing: why do people come to the Church. An unbelieving person who denies the existence of God need not read further. But for the one who was baptized himself and brought his children to Baptism, who is trying to communicate with his Creator, all of the following is the most important thing for understanding.
Let's go back to basics. Man - the highest creation of God - was created in a special way in comparison with the rest of the material world. God revives a person with His breath, which a person assimilates, and therefore can accumulate. Acquisition (accumulation) of the grace of the Holy Spirit for the purpose of deification is the main goal of human life. And man was created hierarchically: spirit - soul - body. As you can see, the main thing was the spirit, which allowed the primordial man to be in direct union with God. After the Fall, human nature is distorted: the body comes to the fore, which crushes the soul and fetters the spirit. Everything! The graceful connection with God is severed. And thousands of years pass until humanity, in a battle with its disfigured nature, when carnal pleasures become the highest goal, gives birth to the Virgin, Who was able to accommodate the Creator of the Universe. God descends to earth, enlightening humanity with a new spiritual teaching. The law of retribution "eye for an eye" is replaced by the commandment to love one's neighbor. But in order for the soul to have the strength to love, Christ leaves us the Sacraments, and the most important of them is the Sacrament of the Eucharist (Communion).
If our disfigured nature has made its flesh the main thing (a high temperature or an aching tooth will not allow us to pray with concentration, or solve a problem, or listen to music), then the grace of God comes to us through matter. The Upper Room of Zion, the Last Supper, the Lord blesses the bread and speaks to His disciples the secret words: “This is my body, which is given for you; do this in remembrance of me. " He blesses the Cup and says: "This is My Blood of the New Testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins." The word "covenant" means a contract. Agreement with God: You are for me, I am for You. I partake of Your Body and Blood, You give me Your grace that heals my nature. As St. Gregory the Theologian wrote: "God becomes man so that man becomes God."
In other words, the grace of God (in secular language, Divine energy) is given to man only in the Sacraments of the Church, which take place only in the temple. And the Church is not a mediator, but a bridge that connects a person with Christ.
The grace of God nourishes, purifies and transforms the human soul. That is why he goes to the Church, even if there are sorrows, injustice or rudeness in her. Yes, unfortunately, this happens. There are bribe-takers both among university professors and doctors, but does this really stop us recognizing science and medicine? If the headmaster is a drunkard, does that give us a reason to deny the role of education and not take our children to school?
Yes, among the clergy there is a lot of disorder - this can be judged by the moral state of society. Since it is in such a deplorable state, then we - the priests - are responsible for this before God first of all! And no one has freed us from this responsibility and will not release us, regardless of the form of secular power. Without justifying our spiritual state and low spiritual level at all, I just want to explain its reasons. During the years of godless power, our ancestors destroyed more than 50 thousand churches and shot, tortured tens of thousands of priests and deeply religious people. We will not judge them for this, we have no right! It is still far from clear how each of us would behave in those difficult years when the authorities publicly promised to put an end to “religious obscurantism”. And spiritual science (learning to love God, your neighbor, yourself) is very difficult. Highly! It is extremely difficult to study it on your own. Yes, actually, I'll give you a simple example. Let's send 30 thousand of the best surgeons out of the country and see how the rest will diagnose and operate on patients.
Young sincere priests come, and the sea of the most complicated spiritual problems of the modern fallen world falls on them, but there are no teachers! And the problems begin ...
Christ warned us about the end times in simple, clear words: "And because of the multiplication of iniquity in many, love will grow cold." Love first of all for the Creator, for it turns out that completely insignificant reasons prevent a person from coming to church, to visit God.
However, as it is written in the Bible, "the world is given free." "A slave is not a worshiper" - said our ancestors. No one can force a person to love God, his neighbor and himself, to follow the law that Christ left us. Modern man himself decides how to correctly interpret and apply spiritual laws in his life, forgetting, however, that if "God must ..." then He is not the Almighty, but a subordinate. The Creator owes nothing to anyone - this is a now forgotten theological axiom. But God does not take away our freedom, leaving it to us to reject His gifts. Otherwise, a person will turn into a biorobot, which is unacceptable with the Divine understanding of love.
Last thing. In the Sacrament of Baptism, a person (and for babies with godparents) is asked three times: "Are you consorting with Christ?" And three times a person makes a vow to God: "I am combined." In other words, I will unite with Christ. To warm your hands, you need to touch the warmth; in order to deify the soul, you need to touch God in the Sacrament of the Sacrament. The New Covenant between God and his creation is concluded in the upper room of Zion with the words: "Come, eat ..."
A person who has refused to fulfill the vow given in the Sacrament of Baptism, no matter how bitter it may be to admit, becomes an oath-breaker before God. Whether we like it or not, this is how God built the world. Whether we like or dislike the laws of the material world, the laws of physics, chemistry, biology, we still strive to comply with them, otherwise the world around us is destroyed. The worst thing for humanity is when it violates spiritual laws. Then the spiritual space created by God for the existence of the world is destroyed. And at a certain stage, humanity will come (if not already) to the point of no return, and the Second Coming of God to earth will come. And for our understanding of spiritual laws and living according to them, each of us will give an answer.
