| According to St.Paul “two can be made one flesh” even in fornication. But this purely carnal union only defiles those who commit such fornication. What within marriage is a mystery, like Christ’s union with the Church, is outside marriage defiled. Again we see that marriage is not a casual physical relationship, but the all-embracing union of husband and wife ( 1Cor.6:15–20 ; cf. Eph.5:22–33 ). Immediately after this passage in Corinthians, St.Paul advises married couples not to avoid physical intercourse with each other, and to remember that they belong to one another in the flesh. In general, it is better to be able to enjoy the conjugal rights than to be tempted and “inflamed” ( 1Cor.7:1–9 ). The Apostle continues by saying that husband and wife can sanctify and save one another through marriage, even when one of them is an unbeliever. Also, the children of such mixed marriages are holy ( 1Cor.7:10–17 ). If husband and wife surrender to each other not only their bodies but also their souls and entire beings, it is only natural that the spiritual power and strength of one should be transmitted to the other... Elsewhere St.Paul speaks mainly about the influence that a husband may have on his wife, and advises wives to be, above all things, obedient. 44 St.Peter, too, counsels wives to be obedient, and at the same time testifies to the great positive influence a wife may have upon her husband, urging husbands to deal kindly and honorably with their wives ( 1Pet.3:1–2 ). A woman’s heart can be so filled with the “incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit” that her “chaste and reverent behavior” may without a word win her husband for God. In his Epistles to Timothy and Titus, St.Paul sketches the figure of a wife closely resembling the model wife of Proverbs. This is the ideal of a wise, chaste and submissive wife who cares for the master’s household, who loves her children, and ministers to their needs ( 1Tim.5:1–16 . Tit.2:1–5 ). The New Testament does not dwell as much as the Old on the question of multiplication of the human race. |
| The only acceptable answer to this question is that all Christians, whether they find themselves in Jerusalem or in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, are in diaspora, and that they reach the promised land only within the eschatological anticipation of the Eucharist and of prayer. Like the Jews of the diaspora, they are anywhere in the world, “strangers and pilgrims” ( 1Pet. 2:11 ), having “no continuing city” and seeking the “one to come” (Heb. 13:14), but also knowing that in Christ, and only in Him, they are “no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and of the household of God” ( Eph. 2:19 ). This is why the technical term ‘diaspora’ is used in the New Testament only in the traditional Jewish Old Testament sense ( John 7:35 ; James 1:1 ; 1Pet. 1:1 ), and it never appears in Orthodox canon law. Indeed, was it not St. Paul’s major preoccupation to affirm that the new Churches established by him in the midst of the pagan world were fully fledged Churches, recognizing their spiritual ancestry in the Mother Church of Jerusalem, but in no way inferior to her in terms of the power of the spirit and the presence of Christ wherever two or three gathered in His name (Matt. 18:20)? Orthodox canonical texts all aim at accommodating the fundamental structure of the Church to changing political and social circumstances, but never compromise the essential principle that the Church, as such, comes first. St. Paul, when the Corinthians wanted to split their community into several Eucharistic assemblies, indignantly asked the question: “Is Christ divided?” ( 1Cor. 1:13 ). Similarly, the canons upheld the unity of the Church in every place; this was a way of maintaining Christians in their quality of ‘sojourners and pilgrims’ and of reminding them that their true ‘dispersion’ (diaspora) is a separation from the Kingdom of God, not from some earthly cultural home. I fully understand, of course, that the word ‘diaspora’ is used colloquially, and does not carry with it any conscious betrayal of the fundamental Christian vocation to be citizens of God’s Kingdom. Furthermore, I do not want at all to minimize the spiritual riches and vigor of such authentic Orthodox ‘roots’ as can be found in traditional Orthodox piety in Greece or in Russia and which stand in such obvious contrast to the shallowness found in so many Westernized communities of the ‘diaspora.’ I am only speaking of the unconscious spiritual mistake, so often made, which consists of envisaging the present and the future of Orthodoxy as inseparably bound either to vestiges of a Byzantine political system, or to its illegitimate child, the secularized ethnic identification between nation and Church, occurring in the nineteenth century in Eastern Europe and the Balkans. |
| 6467 So also Holwerda, Spirit, 17–24; Hunter, John, 82. 6468 So also, e.g., Hunter, John, 83. 6469 Fenton, John, 93, cites Isa 55:6; cf. also Ezek 7:25–26 ; Hos 5:6 ; Amos 8:12; contrast Deut 4:29 ; Jer 29:13 ; Whitacre, John, 191, adds Prov 1:28–31 . 6470 Hunter, John, 83; Köstenberger, John, 137. 6471 Cf. Robinson, Trust, 88; idem, «Destination.» 6472 E.g., Isocrates Nic. 50, Or. 3.37; Paneg. 108, Or. 4; Helen 67–68, Or. 10; Plato Alc. 2, 141C; Theaet. 175A; Laws 9.870AB; Strabo Geog. 6.1.2; 13.1.1; 15.3.23; Plutarch Agesilaus 10.3; Timoleon 28.2; Eumenes 16.3; Bride 21, Mor. 141A; Dio Chrysostom Or. 1, On Kingship 1, §14; Or. 9, Isthmian Discourse, §12; Or. 12, Olympic Discourse, §§11, 27–28; Or. 31.20; Or. 32.35; Or. 36.43; Sextus Empiricus Eth. 1.15; Diogenes Laertius 6.1.2; Athenaeus Deipn. 11.461b; Tatian 1,21,29. 6473 E.g., Josephus War 5.17; Ant. 1.107; 15.136; 18.20; Ag. Ap. 1.201; 2.39; Philo Cherubim 91; Drunkenness 193; Abraham 267; Moses 2.20; Decalogue 153; Spec. Laws 2.18,20,44,165; 4.120; Good Person 94, 98; Contemp1. Life 21; Embassy 145,292. 6474 E.g., Bar 2:13 ; Tob 13:3; Pss. Sol 8:28; Josephus Ag. Ap. 1.33; Jas 1:1. John also applies the expression to the scattering of believers (10:12; 16:32; cf. Acts 8:1,4; 11:19; 1Pet l:l;perhaps Jas 1:1). 6475 Cf. Brown, John, 1:349. 6476 Talbert, John, 145 (following Lindars). Cf. the repetition some scholars find in the discourses of chs. 6, 14–16. 6477 E.g., Westcott, John, 123; Grigsby, «Thirsts.» 6478 The public part of the procession was in the court of women (Safrai, «Temple,» 866–67, 894–95; for women " s participation, Safrai, «Relations,» 198); processions were also central to pagan religious festivals (Grant, Gods, 53; Ferguson, Backgrounds, 151; SEG 11.923 in Sherk, Empire, 58, §32; Xenophon Eph. 5.11; Chariton 1.1.4–5; Dunand, Religion en Egypte, 96,103; Frankfurter, Religion in Egypt, 52–53; Bleeker, Festivals), including carrying sacred objects (Xenophon Eph. 1.2; Philostratus Vit. soph. 2.20.602). |
| Nevertheless, this Church of Jerusalem was the universal Church, as all Nations received their Faith and Doctrine from her. That Jesus Christ is the only Foundation of the Church, according to the Words of the Apostle (1Cor.3:11), Other Foundation can no Man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Although in some Times the Apostles and Prophets are called the Foundations of the Faith and of the Church; as when St. John says (Rev.21:14), That the great City, Jerusalem, was enclosed with a Wall, having twelve Foundations, and in them the Names of the twelve Apostles of the Lamb were written. And St. Paul affirms, that we are built upon the Foundations of the Apostles and Prophets. This is to be understood, not as if the Apostles and Prophets were these Foundations of themselves, and in the first Instance; for in that Sense Christ only is the Foundation; But secondarily, and with relation, as being themselves laid next upon the Foundation of the Doctrine of Salvation of our Lord Jesus Christ, as being the First who propagated the Faith of Christ over the whole World. For Christ hath not founded his Church on any Mortal Men, but only upon himself, and on his own divine Doctrine. Moreover, we are taught, in this Article, that Christ is the only Head of his Church; according as we are taught by the Apostle (Eph.5:23), For the Husband is the Head of the Wife, and Christ is the Head of the Church; and he is the Saviour of the Body. And again (Col.1:18), He is the Head of the Body of the Church, who is the Beginning, and the first-born from the Dead; that in all things he might have the Pre-eminence. However, the Rulers of the Church are called Heads, in their several Churches over which they are placed; but this is only as Stewards and Vicars of Christ, in his several Provinces, over which they are said to be Heads. Thus the holy Scripture speaks then (Acts.20:28), Take heed, therefore, unto yourselves, and unto the whole Flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you Overseers, to feed the Churches of God, which he hath purchased with his own Blood. In suchwise, however, that Christ himself is the Head and Chief of the Shepherds; as St. Peter testifies (1Pet.4:4), When the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a Crown of Glory that fadeth not away. |
| Примерно через пятьдесят лет после Дионисия Иоанн Схоластик, ранее бывший адвокатом, потом – пресвитер Антиохии, а после 564 г. – патриарх Константинополя, выпустил сборник канонов на греческом языке 655 , который превзошел предыдущие сборники полнотой и удобством организации и по этой причине, как и по причине известности автора, вскоре начал обладать всеобщим авторитетом в Греческой церкви. В нем приводится восемьдесят пять апостольских канонов и постановления соборов – в Анкире (314), Никее (325), вплоть до Халкидонского (451), в пятидесяти разделах, в соответствии с тематикой. На Втором Трулльском соборе (Quinisextum, 692), которому греки придают важность вселенского, было принято восемьдесят пять апостольских канонов, а Апостольские постановления отвергнуты, потому что, хотя они и считались апостольского происхождения, как и каноны, но были рано искажены. В результате между Греческой и Латинской церковью возникли разногласия по поводу количества так называемых апостольских канонов; Латинская церковь признает только те пятьдесят, что вошли в сборник Дионисия. Тот же самый Иоанн, будучи патриархом Константинополя, на основании новых законов Юстиниана составил сборник государственно–церковных законов, или νμοι, как их называли в отличие от синодальных церковных законов, или kavoveç. Практические соображения привели впоследствии к слиянию тех и других в один сборник под заглавием Nomocanon. Эти книги церковных законов помогли завершить формирование иерархической организации и укрепить ее, сделать более регламентированной жизнь клириков, поддерживать порядок и дисциплину, но вместе с тем они навязывали церкви напускной дух законничества и препятствовали духу развития. 414 Григорий, Orat. xliii, с. 26 (Opera omnia, ed. Bened., Paris, 1842, tom. i, p. 791 sq.), и похожие отрывки в других его проповедях, а также его Carmen de se ipse et advers. Episc. См. также Ulimann: Greg. v. Naz., p. 511 sqq. 415 De Civit. Dei, lib. xx, cap. 10: «Erunt sacerdotes Dei et Christi et regnabunt cum eo mille annos (Apoc. xx, 6): non utique de solis episcopis et presbyteris dictum est, qui proprie jam vocantur in Ecclesia sacerdotes; sed sicut omnes Christianos dicimus propter mysticum chris-ma, sic omnes sacerdotes, quoniam membra sunt unius sacerdotis. De quibus apostolus Petrus; Plebs, inquit, sancta regale sacerdotium (1Pet. ii, 9)». См. также Амброзиастер, ad Eph., iv, 11; Иероним, ad Tit., i, 7, и папа Лев: Leo I, Sermon., iv, 1. |
| 567. What does holy Scripture prescribe as to our duty with respect to authorities generally? Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honor to whom honor. Rom. xiii. 7. 568. How does holy Scripture speak of the obedience due from servants and serfs to their masters? Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto Christ; not with eye-service as men-pleasers, but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart. Eph. vi. 5, 6. Servants, be subject to your masters with all fear, not only to the good and gentle, out also to the froward. 1 Peter ii. 18. 569. If holy Scripture prescribe duties towards parents, does it not likewise prescribe duties towards children? It does. Fathers, provoke not your children to wrath, but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Eph. vi. 4. 570. How does holy Scripture speak of the duty of pastors towards their spiritual flock? Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof not by constraint, but willingly, and according to God; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind; neither as being lords over God " s heritage, but being ensamples to the flock.. 1Pet. v. 2, 3. 571. How does holy Scripture speak of the duty of them that are in authority, and of masters? Masters, give unto your servants that which is just and equal, knowing that ye also have a Master in heaven. Coloss. iv. 1. 572. How ought we to act, if it fall out that our parents or governors require of ns any thing contrary to the faith or to the law of God? In that case we should say to them, as the Apostles said to the rulers of the Jews: Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye; and we should be ready, for the sake of the faith and the law of God, to endure the consequences, whatever they may be. Acts iv. 19. 573. What is the general name for that quality or virtue which is required by the fifth commandment? |
| 1Pet. 2:6 , tends to the same purpose: many are becoming one, and the tower appears as it were built of one stone; cf. Hermans, Shepherd, Vis. 3, 2, 6, 8. And again «the People of God» is to be regarded as an organic whole. There is no reason whatever to be troubled by the variety of vocabularies used. The main idea and contention is obviously the same in all cases). Of course, no analogy is to be pressed too far or over-emphasized. The idea of an organism, when used of the Church, has its own limitations. On the one hand, the Church is composed of human personalities, which never can be regarded merely as elements or cells of the whole, because each is in direct and immediate union with Christ and His Father-the personal is not to be sacrificed or dissolved in the corporate, Christian «togetherness» must not degenerate into impersonalism. The idea of the organism must be supplemented by the idea of a symphony of personalities, in which the mystery of the Holy Trinity is reflected (cf. John 17:21 and 23), and this is the core of the conception of «catholicity» (sobornost, Cf. George Florovsky, «The Catholicity of the Church,» above). This is the chief reason why we should prefer a christological orientation in the theology of the Church rather than a pneumatological (Such as in Khomiakov’s or in Moehler’s Die Einheit in der Kirche). For, on the other hand, the Church, as a whole, has her personal centre only in Christ, she is not an incarnation of the Holy Spirit, nor is she merely a Spirit-being community, but precisely the Body of Christ, the Incarnate Lord. This saves us from impersonalism without committing us to any humanistic personification. Christ the Lord is the only Head and the only Master of the Church. «In Him the whole structure is closely fitted together and grows into a temple holy in the Lord; in Him you too are being built together into a dwelling-place for God in the Spirit ( Eph. 2:21–22 , Bp. Challoner " s version). The Christology of the Church does not lead us into the misty clouds of vain speculations or dreamy mysticism. |
| 596. Is there not yet a higher virtue contrary to sins against the eighth commandment? Such a virtue is absolute poverty, or the renunciation of all property; which is proposed by the Gospel not as a duty for all, but as a counsel for them that would be perfect. If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor; and thou shalt hare treasure in heaven. Matt. xix. 21. On the Ninth Commandment 597. What is forbidden by the ninth commandment? False witness against our neighbor, and all lying. 598. What is forbidden under the words false witness? 1 . False witness in a court of justice; when men bear witness, inform, or complain falsely against any one. 2 . False witness out of court, when men slander any one behind his back, or blame him to his face unjustly. 599. But is it allowable to censure others when they are really to blame? No; the Gospel does not allow us to judge even of the real vices or faults of our neighbors, unless we are called by any special office to do so, for their punishment or amendment. Judge not, that ye be not judged. Matt. vii. 1. 600. Are not such lies allowable as involve no purpose of hurting our neighbor? No; for they are inconsistent with love and respect for our neighbor, and unworthy of a man, much more of a Christian, who has been created for truth and love. Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbor; for we are members one of another. Eph. iv. 25. 601. If we would avoid sins against the ninth commandment, what rule must we follow? We must bridle our tongue. He that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak, no guile. 1Pet. iii. 10. If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man " s religion is vain. James i. 26. On the Tenth Commandment 602. What is forbidden by the tenth commandment? All wishes inconsistent with charity to our neighbor, and thoughts which are inseparable from such wishes. |
| How can we expose our lack of faith that keeps us from following all that is taught in the Gospel and leaves us with a luke warm relationship with God? This effort involves our willingness to acknowledge and struggle with sin. Saint Tikhon says, It is not possible to correct yourself rightly if you do not recognize the evil hidden in your heart and the calamities that proceed from it. This struggle is the mark of a true Christian…. The struggle against every sin is an unfailing necessity for all Christians who wish to be true Christians and to receive eternal salvation in Jesus Christ. Saint Paul says, do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts (Rom 6:12). This is demanded by the vows we made at Baptism. At that time we vowed (or our sponsor on our behalf did if we were infants) to labor for the Lord in faith and truth. There is no salvation for those who do not keep these vows. “A true Christian is one who wages incessant war against sin.” He is one who labors in truth and faith. Saint Tikhon lists these causes of sin: 1. The corruption of human nature. We have inherited the tendency for sin from our ancestors all the way back to Adam. 2. The devil leads man to sin. Saint Peter says, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walks about, seeking whom he may devour. Oppose him with firm faith (1Pet. 5:8-9).” Paul says, “Put on the whole armor of God, so you are able to stand against the Wile’s of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against powers, against the rulers of darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places (Eph 6:10-12).” 3. The seductions of the world also lead to sin. Jesus says, “Woe to the world because of offenses! For offenses must come, but woe to that man by whom the offense comes! (Mat 18:7).“ 4. A cause of sin is often bad upbringing of children. 5. Habits strongly attracts a man toward sin. Saint Tikhon says, “A Christian wishing to be saved must unfailingly struggle against these things.” The worst of all are the habits that we become accustomed to so sin becomes second nature. Often, we are not even aware of our poor condition. |
| In human life, different «storms» are completely inevitable. These are to be understood as: fires, earthquakes, oppression, incurable diseases, deaths of loved ones and similar ills, which always come without warning and rock human life to the core. In an instant, one can lose one’s health, family, happiness, riches, spiritual balance – everything. During such a storm, the loss of faith, despair or grumbling against God is the fall of a person. There are internal upheavals inevitable in human life which can be more dangerous than physical storms: the raging of passions, difficult temptations, torturous doubts in questions of faith, attacks of anger, jealousy, envy, fear and so on. In the given passage, for someone to fall would be to give in to temptation, to deny God, to deny his faith or to go against the voice of his conscience somehow. These inner shocks appear not only as the result of unfavorable living conditions, but partly as the result of the actions of malicious people, as well as the devil, who, in the words of the Apostle, «as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour» ( 1Pet. 5:8 ). The last trial which a person must pass through lies ahead on the day of his death. As described in the lives of several saints, when the soul leaves the body the other world opens up before it, and it begins to see both kind Angels, as well as demons. Demons try to humiliate the soul of a person by showing it the sins which it performed while living in the flesh; they are trying to convince the soul that there is no salvation. In this way they try to lead it to despair and to drag it with them into the abyss. At this time the soul’s guardian angel defends the soul from the demons and encourages it with hope in the mercy of God. If the person has lived sinfully and does not have faith, the demons can overcome the soul. This passage of the soul to God " s throne, from the place of its separation from the body, is called «tribulations.» It is possible that these are the trials that the Holy Apostle Paul describes when he encourages Christians to clothe themselves in the armor of God, in order to withstand the wiles of the devil in the evil day, «and having done all, to stand» ( Eph. 6:13 ). «The armour of God,» as explained by the holy fathers, is the combined virtues of a person; «the evil day» is the time of heavy temptation after the separation of the soul from the body. Being banished from Heaven, the evil spirits hover in the region between Heaven and earth, presenting obstacles to the souls of people on their way to God’s throne. Only after the Last Judgment will the demons be permanently confined to the abyss. |
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