| The closing paragraph of this section, 12:44–50, suggests that, on the story level, Jesus has come out of hiding for one remaining public discourse. This passage is extremely significant, but not because it introduces many new conceptions. Essentially it repeats in typically Johannine language Jesus» teachings from previous discourses, summarizing and epitomizing the message of Jesus in the Gospel to that point. 7976 Although some scholars dissent, applying 12:44–50 only to the triumphal entry, 7977 most see it as a summary of Jesus» preceding discourses. 7978 Whitacre suggests that 12:44–50 emphasizes his words as 12:37–41 emphasized his deeds. 7979 Although the summary suits John " s theological purposes, he likely draws from traditional materials. 7980 Positioned at the end of the narratives that precede the passion and immediately preceding the prologue to the farewell disourse, this unit recapitulates the themes that have preceded and prepares the reader for their fulfillment in the Passion Narrative which follows. Ancient writers frequently recapitulated or summarized themes at the conclusion of a work or, in many cases, a section. 7981 This strategic location before the Paraclete sayings and passion may also suggest that the historic elements of Jesus» mission noted in this pericope are continued in the present by the Paraclete, who continues to mediate Jesus» presence (14:16–17,26; 15:26–27; 16:7–15). First, Jesus is God " s agent (see introduction); believing in him is believing in the Father and is essential to genuine faith in the Father (12:44; cf. 14:1). 7982 In this context, the link between believing in Jesus and believing in the Father (again in 14:1) functions as a summons to secret «believers» in the synagogue (12:42): just as one dare not be ashamed to confess God in the Shema, one dare not be ashamed to confess Jesus. The kind of belief Jesus demands pleases God who sent him rather than humans (12:43), hence is not the inoffensive private faith of those unwilling to suffer expulsion from the synagogue or the possibly comcomitant trouble with Roman authorities. Thus, playing on the different levels of faith in his Gospel, John asks of Israel in the language of Isaiah, «Who has [genuinely] believed our report?» (12:38). |
| 67% and 77% respectively said that they believed in the immortal human soul. At the same time 62% and 63% respectively believe in the Resurrection of Christ, so their faith in immortality is based on their Christian beliefs. Though only half of them: 30% and 35% admitted that they believed in the part of the Creed which says about the resurrection of the dead before the Day of Judgement. Thus as a result we had 24% of “conscious” (and not “ethnographic”) Christians. However, we can estimate their involvement in the Church by the fact that more than 40% of them never took Communion. One of the most important formal criteria of the involvement with the Church is supposed to be the frequency of one’s Confession, a person who doesn’t confess at least once a year is regarded as a Church “drop-out”. According to that only 10% of the Christians in the poll are not “dropouts”. However even that doesn’t prove the “extent” of their religiousness. The reality is that many of those Christians only remember about their Orthodoxy during Lent, which they try to stick to, then take Communion on Easter day, and then …take a break till the next Lent. Possibly, the people who can be defined as practicing Christians are only those who have Confession regularly (say, four times a year). The poll result showed those made 6% of the respondents. So this very figure, and not 30%, would be a more realistic number of practicing Christians. It is a characteristic fact that smokers among those who consider themselves Christians are nearly as common as among the rest of the students, though they are practically non-existent among those who confess regularly. Besides, among those who consider themselves Christians faith often goes along with superstition, sometimes they are more superstitious than average. However practicing Christians are not superstitious at all. On the whole the poll shows that among MSU students Orthodox missionary activities cause the greatest response. Most of the students converted during their student years (more linguists than historians). |
| We did mention that the confessor is a spiritual father, and that spiritual fatherhood and spiritual childbirth entails labor. Thus, it is only natural for the confessor to feel sorrow upon the departure of his spiritual child. However, it is preferable for him to pray for his child’s spiritual progress and his union to the Church, even despite his disengagement from him. He must wish for, and not against that child. The confessor’s work is not just the superficial hearing of a person’s sins and the reciting of the prayer of absolution afterwards. Nor is it restricted to the hour of confession. Like a good father, the confessor continuously cares for his child; he listens to him and observes him carefully, he counsels him appropriately, he guides him along the lines of the Gospel, he highlights his talents, he does not place unnecessary burdens on him, he imposes canons (penances) with leniency and only when he must, he consoles him when he is disheartened, weighed down, resentful, exhausted, and he heals him accordingly, without ever discouraging him, but constantly pursuing the struggle for the eradication of his passions and the harvesting of virtues; constantly shaping his eternal soul to be Christ-like. This ever-developing paternal and filial relationship between confessor and spiritual child eventually culminates in a feeling of comfort, trust, respect, sanctity and elation. When confessing, one opens his heart to the confessor and discloses the innermost, basest, and most unclean—in fact, all—of his secrets, his most intimate actions and detrimental desires, even those that he would not want to confess to himself, nor tell his next-of-kin or his closest friend. For this reason, the confessor must have an absolute respect for the unlimited trust that is being shown to him by the person confessing. This trust most assuredly builds up with time, but also by the fact that the confessor is strictly bound (in fact to the death) by the divine and Sacred Canons of the Church, to the confidentiality that confession entails. |
| In speaking out against all forms of discrimination, the Church nonetheless must vindicate the traditional Christian understanding of marriage as between a man and a woman, the most important mission of which is the birth and upbringing of children. It is precisely this understanding of marriage that we find on the pages of the Bible in the story of the first human family. This same understanding of marriage we also find in the Gospels and the apostolic epistles. The Bible does not know of any alternative forms of marriage. Unfortunately, not all ChristianChurches today find within themselves the courage and resolve to vindicate the biblical ideals by going against that which is fashionable and the prevalent secular outlook. Some Christian communities have long ago embarked on a revision of moral teaching aimed at making it more in step with modern tendencies. It is often said that the differences in theological and ethical problems are linked to the division of Christians into conservatives and liberals. One cannot but agree with this when we see how in a number of Christian communities a headlong liberalization is occurring in religious ethics, as a rule under the influence of processes taking place in secular society. At the same time the witness of the Orthodox Churches should not be reduced to that of conservatism. The faith of the Ancient Church which we Orthodox confess is impossible to define from the standpoint of conservatism and liberalism. We confess Christ’s truth which is immutable, for ‘Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, and today, and for ever’ (Heb. 3:8). We are not speaking about conservatism but of fidelity to Divine Revelation which is contained in Scripture. And if the so called liberal Christians reject the traditional Christian understanding of moral norms, then this means that we are running up against a serious problem in our common Christian witness. Are we able to bear this witness if we are so deeply divided in questions of moral teaching, which are as important for salvation as dogma? |
| Предварительное резюме главы из «Философии христологического догмата». 432 Преп. Максим Исповедник. Schol. in lib. dedivin. nomin., in V, 8, PG4, 336. 433 Эта связь с особой яркостью освещена блаж. Августином: De Genesi ad litt. V, 5, PL 34, 325: Итак, сотворенные вещи начали проходить время своими движениями; отсюда, напрасно искать времени раньше твари: как будто можно находить время раньше времени!.. Отсюда, скорее время началось от твари, чем тварь — от времени, а то и другая— от Бога; ср. De Genesi contr. manich. 1,2, PL 34,174–175; De Civ. Dei XI, 6, PL 41,321:…кто не поймет, что времен не было бы, если бы не было творения, которое изменило нечто некоторым движением?; col. 322: …нет никакого сомнения, что мир сотворен не во времени, но вместе со временем. Confess. XI, 13, PL 32, 815 и др. Ср. Duhem P. Le Systeme du monde. T. II. Paris, 1914, p. 462 ss. 434 Свят. Василий Великий. In Hexaem., hom. 1, 6, PG 29,16. 435 Свят. Григорий Нисский. Or. cat., 6, PG 45, 28; русский пер.: IV, 22; ср. Преп. Иоанн Дамаскин. De fide orth. 1, 3, PG 94, 796; русский пер.: Полное собрание творений… Т. 1. СПб., 1913, с. 160: «Ибо чего бытие началось переменой, то необходимо и будет подлежать перемене, или истлевая или изменяясь по произволу». 436 Свят. Григорий Нисский. De opif. homin., 16, PG 44,184; русский пер.: I, 142; ср. Or. cat., 21: «Самый переход из небытия в бытие есть некое изменение, при котором неосуществленное Божией силой преложено в сущность». Ввиду возникновения «через изменение» человек «по необходимости (имеет) естество изменимое» (PG 45, 57; русский пер.: IV, 57). 437 Преп. Иоанн Дамаскин. De fide orth. II, 1, PG 94, 864; русский пер.: I, 188. 438 Ср. Сет. Григорий Богослов. Or. 29, 13, PG 36, 89–92: и началась, и не прекратится. 439 Блаж. Августин. De Civ. Dei XII, 15, PL 41, 363–365. 440 Слово в день обретения мощей свят. Алексия, 1830 г.//Сочинения Филарета, митрополита Московского и Киевского. Слова и речи. Т. III. М.,1877, с. 436. 441 Блаж. Августин. Confess. XI, 4, PL 32, 811. 442 |
| After a common prayer over the relics of the holy martyrs on the plain of Butovo, where tens of thousands of Orthodox Christians gave their lives for Christ, it became apparent that the time had come “to overcome the tragic division of our people, which arose as a result of the revolution and civil war, and the desire to achieve the reestablishment of Eucharistic communion and canonical unity within one Local Russian Orthodox Church, an indissoluble part of which the Russian Church Abroad always sensed itself. Our goal,” states the document adopted during Metropolitan Laurus’ visit, “is to draw nearer that day when with one mouth and one heart we might glorify God.” For the sake of eliminating obstacles to full church communion, His Holiness Patriarch Alexy and His Eminence Metropolitan Laurus called upon the flock to pray fervently for the blessed success of the path taken. The negotiating Commissions established by decisions of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church and the Synod of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia were given instructions to “develop a common understanding on the following matters, based on the historical experience of the Russian Church and the problems facing the Church today: Over the course of eight joint meetings of the Commissions, held in Moscow, Munich, Paris, New York and Cologne since June 2004 through October 2006, a series of documents were prepared expressing a common understanding of these matters of principle. All of these documents have now been approved by the Hierarchies of the Moscow Patriarchate and the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia. The document “On the Relationship Between the Church and State,” declares: “The Church is called upon to exert spiritual influence on the state and its citizens, to confess Christ, to defend the moral foundations of society. By interacting with the state for the good of the people, the Church, however, cannot assume civil functions for itself. The state must not interfere in the inner structure, administration or life of the Church. The Church must support all good initiatives of the state, but must resist evil, immorality and harmful social phenomena and always firmly confess the Truth, and when persecutions commence, to continue to openly witness the faith and be prepared to follow the path of confessors and martyrs for Christ.” |
| As I said, at first the persecutions were not so harsh. The first form of persecution was the decree that all who serve in the army must sacrifice to the gods if they want to stay in the army, and if they don’t, they will be dismissed. This was his first persecution. Meanwhile he visited pagan oracles, who always gave him confused answers. These oracles told him that he has to persecute Christians. Then, in 303, he issued a very harsh decree stating that all the Holy Scriptures in the Christians’ possession must be handed over to the authorities and publicly burned on the town squares. In this situation, his father-in-law, Galerius, set two fires in the emperor’s palace in Nicomedia where Diocletian was living at the time, and accused the Christians of the arson. Then Diocletian ordered that all the clergy (priests and deacons) be arrested, and he forced them to sacrifice to the gods. Thus were many Christians subjected to tortures, thrown to wild beasts to be eaten, and killed; and Christianity was given an extraordinarily large number of martyrs. This persecution encompassed the entire empire. It reached as far as Romania, when the martyrs Zoticus, Atalus, Philippos, Kamasisos were killed in Niculiel… This was widespread persecution. Then Diocletian ordered that all soldiers, not only officers, who believed in Christ and confessed their faith must be punished. In these conditions St. George decided to confess his faith in Christ. He came from a highly placed family, was therefore well educated, and his parents were Christians. He had a handsome appearance, was one of the bravest fighters, and because he was so gifted and distinguished in battle Diocletian very quickly promoted him and made him commander of the imperial guard. He was in this rank when Diocletian issued his decree, which applied to all Roman citizens, who were compelled to sacrifice to idols on the square once a month. Then it was discovered that there were many Christians, perhaps tens, even hundreds of thousands, and they were all going to have to suffer. Under these circumstances St. George resolved to confess his faith in God and Christ before the emperor and the senate. |
| Каталог икон на сайте PravIcon.com Православные иконы Богородицы, Христа, ангелов и святых Добавлено на опознание: 2015-07-03 22:09:28 Владелец: aybolit Владелец доволен опознанием? Пока еще нет... Описание владельца: фотографировал я сам 3.7.2015 Свято-Предтеченский Иаково-Железноборовский Мужской монастырь(1390г.) Николай Чудотворец Какой (примерно) год, али век. Помогите Помоги нам господи! Ответов: 1. Последний ответ: Святитель Николай Чудотворец с предстоящими свт. Василием Великим (слева) и прп. Сергием Радонежским (справа). Оборотная сторона украшена растительным орнаментом с изображением четырехконечного креста в центре. Первая половина XIX века. Медны [...] Добавлено на опознание: 2015-07-03 15:39:35 Владелец: Vik1911 Владелец доволен опознанием? Пока еще нет... Описание владельца: Досталась от бабушки надпись на святым справа апостол матфей надпись над святым посередине митрополит дальше не читаема Ответов: 2. Последний ответ: А мне кажется, что слева стоит великомученица Екатерина (встречалось очень похожее ее изображение), посередине - святитель (митрополит) Димитрий Ростовский (там в надписи наверху вроде бы проглядывает " рост " ), а справа - святой Иоанн Русский, испове [...] Добавлено на опознание: 2015-07-03 10:41:07 Владелец: tyuvinov Владелец доволен опознанием? Пока еще нет... Описание владельца: Прошу помочь распознать!? Ответов: 2. Последний ответ: И именно Смоленская в Смоленске! Добавлено на опознание: 2015-07-02 20:41:33 Владелец: Den4uk Владелец доволен опознанием? Пока еще нет... Описание владельца: По-моему,это икона Пресвятой Богородицы Казанская. Боюсь,ошибаюсь,помогите,кто знает?? Ответов: 2. Последний ответ: Нет,пяточка не видна,по крайней мере я не вижу( Добавлено на опознание: 2015-06-30 22:37:43 Владелец: Yulkacool Владелец доволен опознанием? Пока еще нет... Описание владельца: бабушка говорит что досталась эта икона нам от моей прапрапрабабушки, стекло треснуло, но его можно заменить,на иконе нет ни дат, ни букв, очень интересно откуда она, из чего сделана внутри и какого приблизительно года. буду очень благодарна) |
| 3-е послание Иоанна. 3 -е послание Иоанна – краткое личное письмо «возлюбленному Гаию» (ст. 1). Гаий, очевидно, был видным и состоятельным христианином, ранее обращенным в христианство самим автором письма (ст. 4). 3-е послание Иоанна отражает период, когда церковная организация еще была достаточно вольной, и местные общины поддерживали друг с другом связь через письма от христиан, имевших авторитет, а также личные визиты их представителей и странствующих миссионеров. Автор хвалит сердечное гостеприимство, которое Гаий оказывал таким миссионерам и рекомендует продолжать его. Краткое содержание 1-го Послания Иоанна Чтобы читатели, подобно ему, имели общение с Отцом и Сыном, автор начинает свое сочинение с длинного предложения, в котором свидетельствует: божественная жизнь явилась на земле (1:1–4). Бог есть свет; поэтому общение с Богом должно находить отражение в нравственной добродетели. Только те, кто, испове дав грехи, получили прощение и очистились через искупительную смерть Иисуса Христа, имеют общение с Богом и друг с другом (1:5:2:2). Богопознание и богообщение возможны только через соблюдение заповедей Божьих. Единство с Богом означает действовать сообразно его характеру, который открылся во Христе (2:3–6). Те, кто считают, что они в свете, а сами не следуют заповеди взаимной любви (одновременно такой старой и такой новой), на самом деле пребывают во тьме. Истинные христиане не должны любить ни мира сего, ни того, что в мире, ибо мир обречен на разрушение (2:7–17). Явление многих антихристов в лице лжеучителей, отрицающих, что Иисус есть Христос, есть знак приближающегося конца века. Однако истинные верующие надежно пребудут во Христе, ибо имеют помазание Духа Святого (2:18–27). Бог праведен; поэтому общение с ним включает праведную жизнь, которая есть свидетельство богосыновства. Когда Господь придет, дети Божьи станут подобны ему (2:28:3:3). Праведность противоположна греху, а дети Божьи – детям дьявола. Никто рожденный от Бога не может постоянно грешить, ибо, если человек родился от Бога, в нем пребывает божественная природа (3:4–10). Те, кто от Бога, не просто говорят о взаимной любви – они ее являют (3:11–18). Если у христианина в данном отношении совесть чиста, он может с уверенностью обращаться к Богу и его молитвы будут услышаны (3:19–24). |
| ли единодушно вместе. И внезапно сделал- ся шум с неба, как бы от несущегося силь- ного ветра, и наполнил весь дом, где они находились. И явились им разделяющиеся языки как бы огненные, и почили по одно- му на каждом из них. И исполнились все Духа Святаго, и начали говорить на иных языках, как Дух давал им провещевать ( Деян.2:1–4 ). Так завершилось домострои- тельство нашего спасения, так открылось людям Триединство – Отец, Сын и Свя- той Дух. Так родилась Церковь , испове- дующая Святую Троицу. – Алексей Сергеевич, сошествие Святого Духа на апостолов произошло в традиционный иудейский праздник Пятидесятницы – на пятидесятый день после Пасхи, а для учеников Христовых – на пятидесятый день по Воскресении. Можно ли здесь говорить о связи Ветхого и Нового Заветов? – Конечно. Троица, она же Пятидесятница, как и Пасха, имеет свой ветхозаветный прототип. На пятидесятый день после иудейской Пасхи начиналась жатва, и в жертву Богу приносили первый сноп пшеницы. А в Новом Завете Спаситель называет Своих учеников делателями жатвы (см.: Мф. 9: 37–38). Проповедь апостольская – это жатва духовная, а Пятидесятница – начало апостольской проповеди . Поэтому то, что Святой Дух сошел на апостолов именно в день Пятидесятницы, представляется совершенно неслучайным. Есть еще одна параллель, она отражена в песнопениях праздника. Согласно Книге Исход, в начале третьего месяца (Пасха – середина первого месяца) Моисею на Синае был дарован Закон. То есть, по сути, была основана ветхозаветная Церковь . Поэтому рождение новозаветной Церкви именно в начале третьего месяца, в день Пятидесятницы, тоже представляется знаковым. Тогда был дарован Закон, теперь – Благодать Святого Духа. Но это параллель более поздняя – в период земной жизни Спасителя, при жизни апостолов иудейская Пятидесятница не воспринималась как праздник Синайского законодательства. – Приходилось читать, что в Греции и иных странах Пятидесятница всегда называлась Пятидесятницей, а наименование «Троица» закрепилось за ним именно на Руси… |
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