| Zechariah is famous for the oracle of the appearance of the Savior-King, “triumphant and victorious as he is, humble and riding on an ass...” (9:9) which referred to Christ’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. Malachi, who is ferocious against the sins of the priests, is the last of the prophets before John the Baptist whose coming he foretells, as did the others, to usher in the “great and terrible day of the Lord” (3:1, 4:5) when “the Sun of Righteousness shall arise with healing in his wings” (4:2), a reference made, according to Christians, explicitly to their Lord. The prophecy of Joel, quoted by Saint Peter in reference to the coming of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2), belongs to the apocalyptic style of Daniel as it speaks of the final acts of God in the days of the Lord’s “great and terrible” appearance when He will execute justice and restore the fortunes of His People, delivering “all who call upon the name of the Lord” (2:31–32). The book of Jonah is most likely a prophetic allegory intended to foretell the Lord’s salvation of the gentiles in the time of His final messianic presence in the world. It was probably written in post-exilic times. It is read in its entirety in the Church at the Easter vigil of Great Saturday as it was directly referred to by Christ Himself as the sign of His messianic mission in the world ( Mt.12:38 Lk.11:29 ). It must be mentioned at this point, that the variation in names found in English for the prophets, as well as for other persons and places in the scriptures, comes from the different Hebrew and Greek language traditions of the Bible. The Orthodox sources most often tend to follow the Greek. Thus, for example, Elijah becomes Elias, Hosea becomes Osee, Habakkuk becomes Avvakum, Jonah becomes Jonas, etc. Once again we must mention as well that according to Christians, the entire Old Testament finds it deepest meaning and its most perfect fulfillment in the coming of Christ and in the life of His Church. |
| Однако вопрос о том, как согласовать это убеждение с текстом Мк. 13:32, где Христос прямо говорит, что день его второго пришествия ему не известен, так и не получил окончательного решения. Во второй части статьи мы покажем, что результаты новозаветной библеистики, полученные в конце девятнадцатого века и подтвержденные в двадцатом, еще более усложнили эту проблему – настолько, что она стала практически неразрешимой. ПРИЛОЖЕНИЕ Перечень объяснений речения Мк. 13:32 в святоотеческой и средневековой богословской литературе 1. Господь этим изречением хотел показать, что не сам он не знает этой тайны, но что Отец первенствует в знании, сообщая его Сыну ( Upuheй,Adv. Haer. II, 28, 6; Василий Великий, Epist. 236; ad Amph.; АмфилохийИконийский , Sent. et excer. VI; Дидим, De trin. III, 22; Григорий Богослов, Or. theol. IV, 16; Фотий , Ad Amph. q. 114; ВалфридСтрабон , Glossa ord. in Mr.; Мальдонат , in Mt. 24:36). 2. Христос знал это как Бог, но не знал как человек ( Тертуллиан, Adv. Prax. 26; Ориген, in Mt. 55; Евстафий, Facundus, Migne, PL, t. 67, col. 795; Афанасий Александрийский, Orat. contra arianos 3; Иларий Пиктавийский, De Trin. 9; Василий Великий, Epist. 236; Григорий Богослов, Or. theol. IV, 15; Григорий Нисский, Contra Apol. 24; Иероним, Contra Pel., 2, 14; Руфин, Migne, PL, t. 48, col. 247; Кирилл Александрийский, in Mt. 24:36; Бл. Феодорит, Repr. 12. capit. Cyr. IV; Леонтий Византийский, De sectis X, 3; Фотий, ad Amph., q. 114; 3. День и час суда нельзя было знать определенно, потому что они были определены Богом только условно ( Ориген, in Mt. 24:36). 4. Поскольку Церковь, тело Христа, не знает этого дня, то и Глава ее может говорить о себе, что не знает его ( Ориген, in Mt. 24:36; Евлогий Александрийский, Phot. Bibl. 230; Григорий Великий, Epist. 1. X, 39; Фома Аквинский, Summa theol. III, q. 10, a. 1). 5. Сыном здесь называется не Господь, а усыновленный народ ( Григорий Турский, Prol. ad Hist. eccl. Franc.; Рабан Мавр, in Mt. 24:36; Фома Аквинский, Summa theol. |
| ‘I believe that this is especially important as the religious life in Western Europe is declining while the dangerous anti-Christian ideas are becoming a foundation of society. We can say that the Western world is experiencing a deep spiritual crisis. The West does not comprehend it and looks at the whole world with arrogance and demands that everyone should adhere to its laws in which there is no place for God and faith in people’s life. That is why I think that that the celebration must be carried in such a way that not only Russia and Greece can feel the importance of the spiritual tradition of Orthodoxy but the entire world, too. The example of Russia, a powerful modern state, which plays an important part in international relations and at the same time lives on the energy of Mt. Athos, can be a convincing example for many Europeans, including those disagreeing with the dangerous anti-religious and anti-Christian trends in the life of Western Europe and North America. ‘It is necessary to draw attention of the world public to Mt. Athos, thus opposing the dangerous tendencies in the West European politics pertaining to the contemporary liberal laws and pressure on Mt. Athos. It is necessary to emphasize before Europe and the whole world the special and intransient importance of Mt. Athos with its ordo, traditions and autonomy, ‘We are developing a wide-ranging programme of the celebration in the Russian Orthodox Church. We will hold the meetings of monks, realize special programs in theological seminaries and some publication projects. Scholarly conferences will take place, TV programs and films will be shown, the All-Russian school competition on Mt. Athos will be held. Also, the program of the church and state jubilee celebration is being developed. We would like to use this date for deep tilling of the religious soil. ‘We should do a good work together to realize the large missionary potential of Mt. Athos that could serve the consolidation of Orthodoxy in the whole world.’ |
| Se ha descubierto que los «mantras» presentados a los seguidores del Maharishi son invocaciones, en la mayoría de los casos, a todas las deidades veneradas por los hindúes, negando así en un sentido real la unidad de Dios y fomentando el politeísmo. 2. El hombre es considerado capaz de lograr una perfección ilimitada, de ser totalmente liberado de todo dolor y sufrimiento a través de la práctica de la Meditación Trascendental (MT) realizada de la manera propuesta por el Maharishi. Asimismo, a través de la MT, el hombre puede encontrar la solución a todos los problemas que oscilan desde el control de los elementos hasta el logro de la indestructibilidad e inmortalidad. Dos deficiencias, entre otras, se presentan claramente en esta doctrina: (a) la misma no acepta la inmortalidad del alma, ni la vida después de la muerte, como parte de la naturaleza del alma; (b) ignora completamente la existencia del pecado original, un dogma cristiano, y las consecuencias de las realidades de la vida. 3. Maharishi plantea la manera de llegar a Dios a través de la MT y la manifiesta como una manera interpretada por el mismo, sus libros, y sus seguidores. Además, la MT se presenta como la manera exclusiva de llegar a Dios. Nuevamente, dos deficiencias se esconden detrás de estas afirmaciones: (a) el abuso del término MT que ha sido apropiado por ellos como si su método fuera «la» MT por excelencia, la única auténtica (existe el misticismo cristiano, incluso los autores hablan del misticismo hindú y budista, y ciertamente, existe además el afamado método de meditación za-zen); y (b) la manera de llegar a Dios en la enseñanza actual para todos es el camino de la Cruz mientras somos peregrinos, como lo predicara explícitamente Cristo mismo, y fuera aceptado en la doctrina y en la vida cristiana. El heroísmo del sufrimiento cristiano fiel, manifestado con el mayor coraje y dignidad parece encontrarse ausente en la manera de llegar a Dios del Maharishi. (Misticismo> ) 4. El rechazo del valor retentivo del sufrimiento y de la existencia de Cristo como el Redentor se encuentra implícito en el método del Maharishi con respecto al problema del dolor y el sufrimiento. En realidad, el Maharishi en su libro, Meditaciones del Maharishi Mahesh Yogi (Nueva York, Editorial Bantam, 1968, p.23), escribe explícitamente: «No creo que Cristo haya sufrido alguna vez o que Cristo pudiera sufrir.» (Los seguidores del Maharishi han repetido esta afirmación en varios lugares.) |
| In 1453 the Ottoman Turks seized Constantinople and put an end to the Byzantine Empire; they occupied Mt. Athos and sacked all the monasteries. Under the Ottoman yoke, all the monasteries in Byzantium suffered hardships; so, did Iviron. The Georgian monks could thenceforward rely on help from Georgia alone; indeed, in the 15th century the kings and rulers of the country never forgot their monastery on Mt. Athos and helped it as far as they could. Thus, for instance, the rulers of Samtskhe (South-Western Georgia), Kvarkvare and Mzechabuk Jaqeli, King Levan of Kakheti and his son Alexander provided funds for construction work in the precincts of the monastery. Funds from Georgia were also sent during the 16th and 17th centuries. Still, the situation in which the Georgian monks found themselves continued deteriorating and Greek monks gradually gained supremacy in Iviron. By the beginning of the 19th century, the Greek clergy were striving to wipe out the very memory of Georgians who lived and worked there: frescoes were mutilated, the names of Georgian monks in inscriptions were effaced. But the Georgian monks resisted resolutely and for a short time, successfully. In the 1820s Mt. Athos was occupied by Turkish troops and the terrified monks fled; only Georgian monks were not intimidated; they did not desert the monastery and came to terms with the Turkish commanding officer, a Georgian by extraction, named Chqonia-pasha, thus saving from pillage not only their own monastery, but also a number of other cloisters on Mt. Athos. Among these Georgian monks were Benedict Kitishvili and Hilarion Kanchishvi, whose names are associated with the last upsurge of the Georgian monks’ creative resolve: in 1823 and 1824 several Georgian manuscripts were copied by them on Mt. Athos. But that was the end. Returning there after 1830, the Greek monks forced the Georgians to leave Iviron; those who remained behind were allowed to live in the small hermitage of St. Elijah. In the 1880s there remained only four elderly Georgian monks in that hermitage. |
| With this act, at the blessing of the elders of the Mt. Athos St. Panteleimon Monastery, began the rebirth of Holy Orthodoxy in the Trans Carpathian region, headed by St. Alexy (Kabaliuk).” In 1910, St. Alexy, now in the rank of hieromonk, again visited the Holy Mountain. Here the abbot of the St. Panteleimon monastery, Archimandrite Misail, received him gladly, permitted him to serve in the monastery, and also obtained permission from the Protatis of the Holy Mountain for Fr. Alexei to serve in all the monasteries and sketes on Mt. Athos. The saint lived four months on Mt. Athos until in 1911 he received from Archimandrite Misail an official document proclaiming him a monk of the St. Panteleimon Monastery. After this he departed for Constantinople to the Ecumenical Patriarch, and from thence back to his native land. St. Alexy (Kabaliuk), Transcarpathian Carpatho-Russian In this way, as Igor Yakimchuk notes, the Holy Mountain of Athos had a direct relationship to the rebirth of Orthodoxy in the Carpathian lands. A clear example of this is the Epistle to the Trans Carpathians from Mt. Athos, signed by abbots of the St. Panteleimon Russian monastery, and the Sketes of St. Andrew and Ilias, Archimandrites Misail, Mitropahn, and John. Here is the text: “Confirm yourselves in the Holy Orthodox faith! Carefully preserve the gift freely given to you of a priceless treasure! Be penetrated with the spirit of Orthodoxy! Cleanse the Eastern rites of the Western corruption with which the Latins have littered it! … You are called Greek Catholics, but at the Great Entrance at the Liturgy the ‘Orthodox’ are commemorated. Why are you, Russians, called Greek Catholics? Because you received your faith from the Greeks. This means that as the Greek faith is, so should yours be. Know, that the Greeks were never Catholics, and always preserved and still preserve the Holy Orthodox Eastern catholic [universal] faith in total incorruption and purity. And there are many Greek monasteries here on Mt. |
| Bien pocos. Los otros, pues, actúan como si hubiesen entendido lo contrario, es decir como si el Mensaje les hubiera revelado que tenemos que acumular tesoros sobre la tierra, desinteresándonos del cielo y pensando solamente en los bienes de la tierra; locamente no hacen más que acumular riquezas y dan importancia al dinero, a precio de odiar a Dios. Respecto del precepto que dice: «no os preocupéis por el mañana» ( Mt. 6:34 ), me resulta que a causa de nuestra poca fe, no hay uno solo que lo escuche y lo observe. Cubriéndome de vergüenza, lo quiero mencionar rápidamente, porque mientras se tendría que creer a la simple afirmación de Cristo, nadie de nosotros da muestras de creerle cuando son indiscutibles, no sólo sus razonamientos, sino también los ejemplos que nos ha traído, el de los pájaros y el de la hierba ( Mt. 6:26. 30 : Lc. 12:28). Por lo tanto, continuamos preocupándonos, al modo de los paganos, quizá también con mayor pusilanimidad de tales preocupaciones, por las cuales no fuimos invitados a rezar. No Juzgar Me abstendré entonces por rubor, de hablar de este mandamiento para pasar al siguiente, para ver si es posible reponerme un poco de la vergüenza anterior. ¿Qué cosa está escrita seguidamente?, «no juzguéis para no ser juzgados» ( Mt. 7, 1 ). Mientras creía encontrar una cierta compensación por aquella vergüenza, veo en cambio, sobrevenir abominaciones no menos graves que las precedentes, transgresiones que, aun si no hubiésemos cometido otras, serían suficientes para arrojarnos en la parte más profunda de la Gehenna; al mirar las vigas de nuestros ojos, somos severísi-mos en juzgar, como en los tribunales, las culpas de los otros y pasamos toda nuestra vida, intrigando con los hechos de otros y condenándolos. Es difícil encontrar a alguien liberado de tal pecado; nadie lo está mientras viva en el mundo, sea monje o eclesiástico. Sin embargo, sobre tal culpa, pesa una tremenda amenaza: «Con el juicio con el cual juzguéis, seréis juzgados, y con la medida con la cual midáis, seréis medidos» ( Mt. 7, 2 ). |
| foolish” (Clement of Alexandria). There are certain conditions that need to be consistently fulfilled, there are heights that must be conquered. Basic prerequisites are repentance (Mt 3:12), the right attitude toward Christ, with whose person the Kingdom is associated, and union with Him through faith. “The kingdom of heaven is grace through faith, the adoption through the Spirit that unites man to God” (Origen). The Kingdom cannot be gained by mere lip-service (“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord’, shall enter the kingdom of heaven…” (Mt 7:21). Nor can it be conquered by conventional religious habits (“… unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven” Mt 5:20). Violence and grace complement each other. Christian life has a dynamic, evolutionary character. The believer is already in possession of something precious but goes on finding more and more through the presence and the action of the Holy Spirit. There is a process of transformation from “glory to glory” (2 Cor 3:18). The Christian unceasingly receives, discovers and offers (“Therefore every scribe who has been instructed into the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old” Mt 13:53). The believers who convey the message of the Kingdom are neither perfect nor free from sin. They are like thirsty men who know where the “living water” is and tell others so that they too may quench their thirst. d) Our personal Christian experience is consolidated and strengthened through our incorporation into the mystical body of Christ. Our confession draws strength from the experience of the Church. Therefore our individual, personal witness for Christ is ecclesiastical in the final analysis. When we confess the Lord, we do so mainly as members of a confessing community, of the Church which carries on His work. “Therein only is the Kingdom of Heaven proclaimed and thereto points everyone of the redeeming Gospel’s aims” |
| Представь, что подвергнется суду блуд. Но один впал в этот грех, с детства будучи воспитываем в порочных нравах; ибо и на свет произведен порочными родителями, и возрастал в привычках к дурному, к пьянству, играм и срамным беседам. А другой много имел много побуждений к жизни совершенной – воспитание, учителей, слышание слова Божия, душеспасительное чтение, наставления родителей, образующие в честности и целомудрии, умеренность в пище; и потом вовлечен в подобный с первым грех, и должен дать отчет в своей жизни: не по справедливости ли сей последний, в сравнении с первым, заслужит тягчайшее наказание?» (Василий Великий, свт. Беседа на псалом седьмой. Творения. Т. 1. СПб., 1911. С. 107-108). Григорий Нисский, свт. О душе и воскресении. Разговор с сестрой Макриной. Творения. Часть 4. Т. 2. М., 1862. С. 273-274. Для святителя Григория Нисского (+395) это совершенно очевидно: «Как только человек обратится к Богу от злых дел, Бог ни во что не вменяет ему их, потому что Божие око взирает всегда на настоящее и не вменяет прошедшего»(Григорий Нисский, свт. О надписании Псалмов. Творения. Часть 2. М., 1861. С. 32). Так же думает и свт. Феофан Затворник: « Раскаяние извергает худое из души. И раскаявшийся предстанет на суд не имеющим в себе зла»(Феофан Затворник, свт. Толкование первых 8 глав послания св. апостола Павла к Римлянам. М., 1890. С. 146). Ср. Английская Библия: The Judgment of the nations (Mt. 25. 31). The Νew Testament p. 81 in The Holy Bible containing the Old and New Testaments. King James version. New York:.Αmerican Bible Society. Немецкая Библия: Weltgericht(Mt. 25. 31). Die Bibel. Einheitsuebersetzung der Heiligen Schrift. Stuttgart: Verlag Katholisches Bibelwerk G m b H, 1999. S. 1109; Das letzte allgemeine Gericht (коммент. на Mt. 31-46). Echter -Bibel. Das Neue Testament, herausgegeben von Prof. Karl Staab. Band 1. Wuerzburg, 1967. S. 141. Польская Библия: Sd Ostateczny (Mt. 25, 31).Pismo Swite Starego i Nowego Testamentu. Pozna Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Pallatinum, 1987. S. 1152. |
| L’utilizzo stesso da parte del Signore Gesù Cristo dell’incipit del libro della Genesi come una fonte, espressione di un’autorità al più alto grado, mostra che il Signore Gesù accetta il matrimonio anticotestamentario in quanto rispondente a tutti i requisiti e come già operante senza alcun tipo di riserva. Ed egli realmente è presente alle nozze di Cana (cfr. Gv. 2:1–12), Egli menziona il matrimonio e ammonisce circa la necessità di permanere in esso nelle sue parabole e nei suoi insegnamenti (cfr. Mt. 9:15; 24–38; 25:1–12 ; Mc. 2:19–20; Lc. 5:34–35; 12:36; 14:8, 20; 17:27 eccetera). Il Vangelo narra in modo molto dettagliato del matrimonio tra i genitori di Giovanni Battista (cfr. Lc. 1:5–25:57–58), indica ciò che nel matrimonio stabilì l’apostolo Pietro (cfr. Mt. 8:14 e Mc. 1:30) eccetera. Così, il Signore Gesù Cristo ribadisce la dottrina anticotestamentaria del matrimonio come unità di marito e moglie, aggiungendo soltanto l’ammonimento di custodire questa unità fino alla fine, senza cedere all’influsso della falsa moralità del tempo che si rapportava in modo alquanto tollerante ai divorzi. Ma la dottrina del Signore non è affatto limitata al riconoscimento senza riserve del matrimonio come istituzione, connaturato alla natura umana in maniera incontrovertibile per volere di Dio creatore. Il Signore Gesù chiama coloro che lo seguono ad una condizione più alta di quella matrimoniale: «Infatti vi sono eunuchi che sono nati così dal grembo della madre, e ve ne sono altri che sono stati resi tali dagli uomini, e ve ne sono altri ancora che si sono resi tali per il regno dei cieli. Chi può capire, capisca» ( Mt. 19:12 ). In questo modo, e queste parole e l’intera tradizione ecclesiastica a venire innalzano al rango di ideale la condizione di castità volontaria. Sotto questo aspetto è ravvisabile un brusco contrasto rispetto all’antropologia anticotestamentaria, secondo la quale il celibato di un uomo adulto era considerato come incompiutezza, come indizio d’inferiorità di quell’uomo, che si trovava per qualche motivo ad essere incapace di realizzare la propria natura umana nella sua perfezione di vincolo tra marito e moglie. Inoltre, in prospettiva escatologica il matrimonio come unione del principio maschile e femminile della medesima natura umana non cessa di essere attuale non solo per «chi può capire», ma anche per coloro di cui è detto che – almeno secondo le parole di Cristo, – soltanto «i figli di questo mondo prendono moglie e prendono marito; ma quelli che sono giudicati degni della vita futura e della risurrezione dai morti, non prendono ne moglie né marito» (cfr. Lc. 20:34b–35; Mt. 22:30 ; Mc. 12:25). |
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