Seven pillars of the Orthodox faith. Support pillars. On Divine Guard

The prophet Isaiah, predicting the impending punishment of Jerusalem, says about him: “Behold, the Lord, the Lord of hosts, will take away from Jerusalem and Judah ... a brave leader and a warrior, a judge and a prophet, and a seer and an old man, a Pentecostal and a nobleman and a counselor, and a wise artist and skillful in word ”(Isa. 3: 1-3).

If God decides to punish a person, then he deprives him of reason, and if a certain people is ripe for an angry visit, then, as we see, the most important categories of people will be taken away from him, without which civil life will become impossible. This is a kind of taking away of the pillars, without which public and state life inevitably collapses, burying all living things under their rubble. And in the list of pillars taken away, the first place is occupied by "a brave leader and a warrior."

Even the "prophets, seers and elders" follow in this list after the people of the military. We, the Orthodox, should not overlook this feature of the prophetic speech. We traditionally complain about the impoverishment of spiritual leaders, elders and mentors. But at the same time, we hardly associate this spiritual impoverishment with such national problems as the problems of the army. But the prophet Isaiah thinks differently.

The bravery of a leader and a warrior is not just a personal, but a civil virtue. Personally brave can be a bandit who goes "to work", and a climber crawling uphill, and any representative of extreme sports. But their disdain for danger is completely different. A person in their case risks his health and life, he is even ready to sacrifice himself. But this sacrifice is made by oneself. It is not "Yours from Yours," but "mine for me."

Courage is not always beneficial, just as contempt for money is not equal to charity. It has been noticed that many characters who are able to screw fabulous sums overnight are extremely tight-fisted or even stingy, not only in charity, but even in tips. And the mechanism is clear: I throw money "for myself", but give something to someone else. It is precisely the attitude towards “other” or “others” that transforms courage, together with other virtues, from a personal characteristic into a socially useful phenomenon.

A warrior is brave for "others." “Others” for him is his country with its people or peoples, with its history and culture, with its shrines. The country must have shrines, and these shrines must have defenders. Throw away any of the links of this short chain - and in the place of the country you will soon see a wasteland, or ashes, or "someone's territory".

Therefore, the army and its fighting and patriotic spirit should be viewed as the main indicator of the country's health and its viability.

The warrior is not working. He serves. The difference is not only philological.

Service is about sacrifice. Patience, perseverance, and readiness for danger come from here. The military environment remains, in fact, the only environment in which the concepts of honor and duty are especially tenacious and stubbornly do not want to turn into anachronisms. That is why the army has always been considered the backbone of the state in our country. A society that has lost the concept of duty, honor and conscience is an organism with a sick, broken spine.

Before the revolution on Mount Athos in the Russian Panteleimon, a fair share of the monks were retired military men. These were soldiers who participated in battles and campaigns; these were also officers who gave their young and mature years to the army service. Moreover, these former military men were far from the worst part of the monastics. Most of them were hardworking, patient, obedient. The military past was for them a period of formation of many qualities that have not lost their value and in the service of God. Elder Barsanuphius of Optina and Hieromartyr Seraphim (Chichagov) were promoted to high ranks. These examples can be multiplied almost indefinitely.

That warmth in the relationship between the Church and the army, which catches the eye of every person who has “eyes to see,” is precisely rooted in spiritual affinity. The Church has always loved the soldier, not because it fulfilled the state order, but because it always guessed the features of a spiritual feat in an army feat. And not only the bright faces of the warriors-martyrs, like George, Demetrius, Theodore, are the reason. The reason for this is the hardening and the common view of life and death that the army educates in a person and which often coincide with what the Church wants to educate in a person.

A modern man wants to weave his life, like a spider's web, from thousands of thin "I want - I don't want" and "I will - I won't." There is nothing in our everyday life more opposite to this egoistic madness than army life.

The simplest and most priceless things have ceased to be appreciated by people, among which are bread and time. And spiritual laws operate in such a way that a person will certainly lose that dear that he has ceased to value. The army will teach a person to take care of every hour of personal time and to every piece of bread, even without butter or sugar. This is that elementary upbringing, of which there is so little in families and schools, and without which a person is doomed to a life, ultimately mediocre and unhappy.

And the feeling of elbows? And the need to share? And the requirement to adapt to other people's weaknesses and correct their own? Where will you bring up all this in your future father and husband?

Is life hard when serving? Difficult, who can argue. But life is generally difficult, and in the process of running away from difficulties it does not become easier. On the contrary, it makes sense to get used to the daily routine, discipline, simple food and physical exertion, coupled with moral loads. You look, and further life will pass without unnecessary snot.

Starting from "a hundred days before the order", and maybe even earlier, tons of information about the army's negativity are poured down on us. All these irregularities take place and need to be corrected. But the most important problem area also requires correction, namely, the attitude of society to the army. The church must help form the society a correct, high view of military service as one of the main types of ministry. The first teacher, people in white coats and people in uniform are not just representatives of some professions among all others. These are representatives of the "holy professions". They do not work so much as they serve, and a striking indicator of the health of the nation is their attitude towards their service, on the one hand, and the attitude of the people towards them, on the other.

Therefore, we will finish where we started: we will reread the quotation from the prophet Isaiah and draw the appropriate conclusions from it.

"Striving unanimously for the Gospel faith!" (Bible. Phil. 1:27)

Archbishop Sergei Zhuravlev on the five most important foundations of the ROCHS teaching as a church of Orthodox Christians of the Evangelical faith, which are also the foundation of the faith of all true Christians, regardless of our various confessional and denominational affiliations, jurisdictions, as well as cultural, historical and ritual and liturgical distinctions Sola Scriptura, sola fide, sola gratia, solus Christus, soli Deo Gloria. Only Scripture (Bible), only by faith, only by grace, only Christ, only glory to God. "Ekklesia semper reformanda" "The Church is constantly reforming" (St. Cyprian of Carthage (+ 258)) From the preparatory materials for the VI Council of the ROCHS on October 31, 2017, dedicated to the 500th anniversary of the beginning of the great reformation and renewal of world Christianity. Kiev, Ukraine. Pre-Council Meeting 2014.

Glory to Jesus Christ, our Lord God and Savior! Glory to the Holy God forever!

Brothers and sisters. All of us, who belong to the Reformed Orthodox Church of Christ the Savior, must strive zealously and "unanimously for the Gospel faith!" (Bible. Phil. 1:27)

A true Christian, no matter what denomination or confession he is, he simply must have faith, not his own, not confessional, not the faith of traditions and rituals, but the Gospel! Our faith must be right, because we are even called Orthodox Christians.

The Apostle Jude writes in his epistle: “Beloved! having all the zeal to write to you about common salvation, I considered it necessary to write you an exhortation - to strive for the faith that was once given to the saints. " (Bible. Jude 1: 3)

Further, Judas writes to us that "some people crept in, from ancient times destined for this condemnation, the wicked, turning the grace of our God into an excuse for debauchery and rejecting the one Sovereign God and our Lord Jesus Christ." Judas also reminds us “that which was foretold by the Apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ ... They told you that in the last time there would be mockers, walking according to their ungodly lusts”.

Unfortunately, in historical Christianity, the very "certain people" about whom the apostle writes, those who "reject the one Master of God and our Lord Jesus Christ" from the very beginning IV centuries were at the forefront of the beginning of the "great deformation" of world Christianity.

Thanks to Caesaropapism, the slavish subordination of the church to the state, the deformation of world Christianity began.

The deformation of Christianity was expressed in a deviation from the Gospel and Biblical faith, which over the centuries led the people of God to an almost complete degradation.

The main heresies that came in the centuries-old era of deformation, degradation of historical Christianity:

1) Anti-semitism- hatred of the Jewish people, of Judaism, of their historical and spiritual roots.

2) Theological anti-Semitism - the so-called "Substitution theory". Claims that the Church has now taken the place of Israel. Allegedly, the Church instead of the Jewish people, and not become a part of it.

3) Caesaropapism - slavish subordination to the state, the powerful of this age. Mammon became the head of Christianity, instead of Christ.

4) Polytheism in theory - false belief in, allegedly, many intermediaries between God and humanity. The cult of dead saints and angels.

5) Polytheism in practice - prayers to the mother of Jesus Mary and other deceased saints and angels. Faith in their intercession and intercession.

6) Idolatry - veneration of images and crosses, "cult of relics". Veneration of icons.

7) Occultism - veneration of the so-called. "Relics", human remains, kissing and admiration for dead bodies and fragments.

8) Spiritualism - prayer "for peace" and everything related to the cult of the dead in historical Christianity. Anti-biblical teachings about the "afterlife", the so-called. "Ordeals".

The great deformation of world Christianity was the fulfillment of the most terrible prophecies of the Bible and the parables of Jesus Christ, who spoke many parables about the problems of His Kingdom. In the 13th chapter of the Gospel of Matthew, for example, Jesus tells us that in the Kingdom of God, in historical Christianity, "tares" will grow among the wheat. Jesus goes on to say that His Church will spread unprecedentedly. He says that at a certain point in history, Christianity "becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and take refuge in its branches." This is also a very terrible spiritual sign that all kinds of unclean spirits, demons, will settle in the Church. The Kingdom of Heaven, having degraded into the Great Whore, becomes in history in fact "a dwelling place for demons and a haven for every unclean spirit, a haven for every unclean and disgusting bird" (Rev. 18: 2)

The most terrible of Jesus' parables, told by Him about His Kingdom, is as follows: "The Kingdom of Heaven is like leaven, which a woman, taking, put in three measures of flour, until everything was leavened." (Bible. Matthew 13:33) In historical Christianity, in fact, "everything is leavened."

Leaven is a sign of sin, hypocrisy and hypocrisy. Jesus said to his disciples: beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. (Luke 12: 1)

Pharisaic and Sadducee leaven is religious hypocrisy and false doctrines, but "Herod's" leaven (see Mark 8:15) is a political, Caesaropapist leaven that leavened world historical Christianity. This is the degradation and deformation of the Church of Christ.

Religion loves symbols. "Easter cakes" and "prosphora", everything leavened, became a visible sign, a kind of symbol of this deformation ...

This terrible degradation of the Church, the Kingdom of Heaven, one way or another, continued until that very October 31, 1517, which became the Day of the beginning of the Great Reformation.

From that day on, Christianity slowly but steadily began to return to God, from Whom we fell away for many centuries. The path of apostasy has ended and the path of return, repentance and correction has begun!

The five pillars of the Gospel faith for us, Christians of different confessions and denominations, are now the five "solas" of the Reformation:

1) S ola S criptura ("only Scripture, Bible"),

2) S ola fide ("only by faith"),

3) S ola gratia ("only by grace"),

4) S olus Christus ("only Christ"),

5) S oli Deo gloria ("only glory to God").

We, Orthodox Christians of the Evangelical and true faith, together with biblically believing Christians of all other trends, have one chapter - Jesus, because "Christ is the head of the Church!" (Bible. Eph. 5:23)

"For no one can lay any foundation other than the one laid, which is Jesus Christ!" (Bible. 1Cor.3: 11) Desiring to build our Christianity from “precious stones” and not “wood, hay, straw” (compare with 1Cor.3: 11), we are obliged to profess and practice the Gospel, true Christian faith, Biblical.

In the above five pillars of the gospel faith, the five solas, we reformers XXI centuries, like the pioneers of the Reformation Xvi centuries, we carry the "Gospel of the Kingdom throughout the entire universe, as a testimony to all nations!" (Matthew 24:14)

The first pillar of the gospel faith:

S ola S criptura

"Only Scripture, Bible"

Together with the Apostle Paul, we, Orthodox Christians of the Gospel faith, repeat today that “all Scripture is inspired by God and useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, may God's man be perfect, prepared for every good work”. (2 Tim. 3: 16,17)

"So faith comes from hearing, and hearing comes from the word of God."(Rom. 10:17)

“We believe that Holy Scripture is God-inspired, and that its author is the Holy Spirit and no one else. We must have an unwavering faith in Scripture. For as it is written: “And besides, we have the most faithful prophetic word; and you are doing well that you turn to him as to a lamp shining in a dark place. " (2 Peter 1:19) Therefore, his authority is higher than the authority of the Church. For there is a great difference whether the Holy Spirit speaks or the language of man. After all, the latter, through ignorance, can be deluded; he can lead astray from the true path, or he himself can go astray. Divine Scripture, however, cannot go astray and cannot be deceived. It is always infallible and reliable. "(Saint Cyril Lukaris, Patriarch of Constantinople ORIENTALIS CONFESSIO Christianae fidei (1631))

"About God we must reason according to His own sayings, and not according to others."(Saint Ambrose of Mediolan, IV century, "On Repentance")

“All believing Christians should know, if not all of Holy Scripture, then at least the most essential of it. They must believe in it, confess and preach it. And this cannot be learned from any other source, except from the Holy Scripture itself, if we read it or only listen to its interpretation by believers. After all, none of the Christians is forbidden to listen to Holy Scripture, which means that no one can be prevented from reading it; for the Word is near to them, in their mouths and in their hearts. Therefore, it would be a clear injustice in relation to a believing Christian, to whatever rank or class he belongs, to deprive him of the opportunity to listen to or read Holy Scripture, as well as to hinder him in this. After all, it would be the same as if a hungry soul were deprived of spiritual food or prevented from reaching it and trying it. " (Saint Cyril Lukaris, Patriarch of Constantinople, ORIENTALIS CONFESSIO Christianae fidei (1631))

The second pillar of the gospel faith:

Sola fide

"Only by faith"

“Having learned that a person is justified not by the works of the law, but only by faith in Jesus Christ, and we believed in Christ Jesus in order to be justified by faith in Christ, and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh is justified. "(Gal. 2:16)

“It is impossible to please God without faith; for it is necessary that he who comes to God should believe that He is, and reward those who seek Him. "(Heb. 11: 6)

The founder of the Orthodox reform movement, Ecumenical Patriarch Kirill Lukaris wrote: “We believe that a person is justified by faith, and not by works. However, when we say “by faith,” we mean that to which this faith is applied, ie. the truth of Christ, through faith, comprehended and given to us for salvation. We recognize that this is eminently true and that it does not diminish the importance of deeds. For truth itself teaches us that works should not be neglected, that they also serve as a necessary means and evidence of our faith, confirmation of our calling. However, it would be a mistake to assert, as is done due to human weakness, that they alone are sufficient for the salvation of a person, so that he could appear before the judgment of Christ, so that they bring him salvation according to his merits. On the contrary, only the righteousness of Christ, given to the repentant, justifies and saves the believer. " (Saint Cyril Lukaris, Patriarch of Constantinople).

The same Cyril, Patriarch of Constantinople, wrote: “We believe that no one can be saved without faith. Here we mean the kind of faith that justifies in Jesus Christ, which arose with the life and death of the Lord Jesus Christ, which the Gospel proclaims and without which no one can win the favor of God. "

The third pillar of gospel faith:

S ola gratia

"Only by grace"

The gospel understanding of the most important theme - salvation: "for the wages of sin is death, and the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord!" (Rom. 6:23)

“And you, dead because of your crimes and sins, in which you once lived, according to the custom of this world, according to the will of the prince who dominates the air, the spirit now acting in the sons of opposition, between whom we all once lived according to our carnal lusts, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and thoughts, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest, God, rich in mercy, because of His great love, with which he loved us, and us, who were dead by transgressions, he revived with Christ - by grace you are saved - and resurrected with Him, and seated in heaven in Christ Jesus, in order to reveal in the ages to come the abundant riches of His grace in goodness to us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you are saved through faith, and this is not from you, God's gift: not from works, so that no one can boast. "(Eph. 2: 1-9)

"God has given us eternal life!"(1 John 5:11) "Being justified freely, by His grace, through the atonement in Christ Jesus!" (Rom.3: 24) In his epistle, John the Theologian writes: "I wrote all this to you, believers in the name of the Son of God, so that you know that you, believing in the Son of God, have eternal life." (1 John 5:13)

Following Augustine, we repeat today: “I could despair because of my innumerable sins, vices and crimes that I have committed and I do not stop committing every day with my heart, mouth, deed, in all the ways that human weakness can sin, if Your Word, God mine, did not become flesh and did not dwell in us. But I do not dare to despair, because He was obedient even to death, and the death of the cross, carried on Himself the handwriting of our sins and, having nailed it to the cross, crucified sin and death. And I have found safety in Him who sits at Your right hand and makes intercession for us. Trusting in Him, I wish to come to You, by whom we have already been raised, and revived, and ascended to heaven. Praise to you, glory to you, honor to you, thanksgiving to you! " (Blessed Augustine (V century))

The fourth pillar of the gospel faith:

Solus christus

"Only Christ"

"Having Jesus Christ Himself as the cornerstone" (Eph.2: 20), we, Orthodox Christians of the Gospel faith, proclaim: "Christ is the head of the Church!" (Eph. 5:23) “And He is the head of the body, the Church; He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He may have the primacy in everything. " (Col. 1:18)

"Christ Jesus died, but also rose again: He is at the right hand of God, and He also intercedes for us." (Rom. 8:34) “Jesus became the surety of the best covenant. … This, as one who abides forever, also has an everlasting priesthood; therefore, he can always save those who come to God through Him, being always alive to make intercession for them. "(Hebrews 7: 22-25)

"We have such a High Priest, who is seated at the right hand of the throne of majesty in heaven and is the priest of the sanctuary and the true tabernacle, which the Lord erected, and not man ... This High Priest received a service that is more excellent, the better He is the mediator of the covenant."(Hebrews 8: 1-6) "And therefore He is the intercessor of the new covenant" (Hebrews 9:15)

“We believe that the Church, which is called conciliar, includes all those who believe in Christ: those who have died and are in their own country, as well as those who are still, like a wanderer, on the way. Since no mortal is given to lead this Church, its only Head is our Lord Jesus Christ Himself. He holds all the reins of government in this Church in his hands. Considering, however, that on the earthly path we see separate churches, each of which has someone of the first rank to maintain order, this person could not be literally, but figuratively, called the head of this particular church. This is possible precisely because he is the first among its members. "(Saint Cyril Lukaris, Patriarch of Constantinople, ORIENTALIS CONFESSIO Christianae fidei (1631))

"The modern Reformed Orthodox Church recognizes the mediation of only Jesus Christ, Who, as St. Cyril wrote," alone fulfills the duties of a true and legitimate High Priest! " He does not need helpers in this, as some believe, but He alone stands for our entire planet, for each of us, before His Heavenly Father! The Reformed Orthodox Church calls on all the faithful children of God, entrusted to her care, to offer their prayers only to the Heavenly Father in the Name of Jesus Christ, and to give all praise exclusively to God Almighty! "(20 Thesis of the III Council of the UROC, 2008)

The Fifth Pillar of Gospel Faith:

Soli deo gloria

"Glory to God only"

"I am the Lord, this is My name, and I will not give My glory to another and My praise to idols."(Isa. 42: 8)

"I will not give my glory to another."(Is.48: 11)

"However, I do not seek My glory: there is a Seeker and a Judge."(John 8:50)

“But the time will come, and has already come, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is looking for such worshipers. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth. "(John 4: 23,24)

“To the only Wise God, our Savior through Jesus Christ our Lord, glory and majesty, power and power before all ages, now and for all ages. Amen".(Jude 1:25)

“To the One Wise God, through Jesus Christ, be glory forever. Amen".(Rom. 14:26)

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From the Charter of the Reformed Orthodox Church of Christ the Savior ROCHS, with additions to the 2014 pre-council meeting. Preparatory for the VI Council of the ROCHS in 2017, dedicated to the 500th anniversary of the Reformation of the Church.

“The Reformed Orthodox Church of Christ the Savior (ROCHS) is an international, multinational, Christian, ecumenical, local, Christocephalous, Orthodox Church, which is in unity and prayer-canonical and Eucharistic communion, on the solid foundation of the Word of God and God's love with any other local Orthodox, Catholic and Protestant churches.

The ROCHS is in fraternal unity in general with all Christians, with all who recognize Jesus Christ as their Lord, God and Savior and who love Him, with all the children of God, regardless of their denominational and confessional affiliation!

As a Christian church, which is a part of world and historical Christianity, we realize that our birth took place almost two thousand years ago on the cross of Calvary in the blood and suffering of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Even before our birth, the Lord Jesus gave us, Christians, predicted: "I will create my church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it!" (Matthew 16:18)

The Reformed Orthodox Church of Christ the Savior (ROCHS) was established at the IV Orthodox Renovation Council of the Ukrainian Reformed Orthodox Church (UROC) in Kiev in August 2012. The ROCHS includes both the churches of Ukraine and Georgia, Belarus, Russia, Moldova and Romania. The Reformed Orthodox Church of Christ the Savior is open to work in the field of God all over the planet, open to churches of all countries of the world. We also pray and work to plant a new generation of Orthodox churches, a reformist direction, all over the world. Therefore, we call our Archdiocese not only Kiev or "All Russia", but also international.

The Reformed Orthodox Church of Christ the Savior is the Church of Orthodox Christians of the Evangelical, Biblical, true faith, since the Apostle Paul in his epistle convinces all of us: "live worthy of the gospel of Christ ... striving unanimously for the Gospel faith!" (Bible. Phil. 1:27)

Our church is called ecumenical because we have acted, and will always advocate, for the unity of all believing children of God. True ecumenism is possible only in Christ Jesus, our Lord and Savior, because “there is no salvation in anyone else. For there is no other name under heaven given to men, which we must be saved! " (Acts 4:11) Our church has been and is categorically against anti-ecumenism, this false, satanic ecumenism, understood as a religious-political unity, a unity outside of Truth, outside of Christ Jesus. Unity outside the Bible and outside Jesus Christ, that is, outside the Truth of God, is anti-ecumenism, this is heresy. Real, not fake, ecumenism, the unity of the children of God - in Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior!

"Your word is truth." (John 17:17)

The Reformed Orthodox Church of Christ the Savior is a local one, and only in this sense of the word is an autocephalous Orthodox Church, independent in matters of ritual, liturgical, administrative and doctrinal. However, it is more in line with the truth that we are not just autocephalous, but Christcephalous. Therefore, we are now more often called not autocephalous, but Christocephalous Orthodox Church. "Christ is the head of the Church!" (Bible. Eph. 5:23) which is also stated in Col. 1:18. Autocephaly is a church that has its own separate head and, as it were, “its own head”. Christcephaly is a church with one head - Jesus Christ!

The Reformed Orthodox Church of Christ the Savior is Christocephalous, which is expressed in the passion for Truth, in our desire and efforts to bring all spheres of personal and church life into harmony with the Word of God, the Bible.

The main tasks and goals of the Reformation, which our church systematically implements, are set out in the Theses of the Orthodox Reformation of the Councils of 2003 and 2008.

Churches and communities, brotherhoods and missions that are or will be part of the ROCHS are independent in matters of administrative and financial self-government, doctrines and rituals, provided that Jesus Christ is accepted as Lord God and Savior in accordance with the Niceo-Constantinople creed and acceptance of the Word of God, the Bible, as the unconditional foundation of the true Christian faith. Moreover, all believing Christians, no matter what creeds and practices they are, included in the ROCHS cannot be forced to any rite, tradition or tradition contrary to their conscience and the Holy Scriptures of God - the Bible. ”

ABSTRACTS OF THE KIEV ORTHODOX RENEWAL ASSEMBLY 2003, dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the Renovation movement (1923-2003)

I We, Orthodox Christians, pray, worship and serve only One God - the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit! (Matthew 4:10) The time has already come when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is looking for such worshipers! (John 4:23)

II We renounce the prayers of Mary, the mother of our Lord Jesus, as humiliating before the memory of the one who became blessed and happiest among women. (Luke 1:42)

III We honor the memory of God's holy servants who have gone into blessed eternity, we imitate their lives (Heb. 13: 7), but we deny any prayers to them as contrary to the Bible.

IV We, Orthodox Christians, participants in this consecrated Council, advocate an early revision of the entire tradition of the Orthodox Church in the light of the Bible. The holidays of our Orthodox calendar should glorify exclusively only the Almighty Creator. For example: on October 14, we should not celebrate “the cover of the Most Holy Theotokos”, but the Feast of the Cover of God (Ps. 90, Ps. 31: 7). On September 27, we celebrate not the “erection of the Lord's cross,” but the erection (ie glorification) of Christ the Lord, etc., etc. We renounce the false holidays invented by ancient heretics and sectarians, but introduced into the official church - December 4 "introduction to the temple of the virgin", September 21 "nativity of the virgin", as well as the vicious practice of "rainbows - coffins".

V We renounce all previous and new attempts to replace “the truth of God with a lie,” (Rom. 1:25) “the word of God with tradition” (Mark 7:13) “Blind leaders” (Matthew 23: 6, Matthew 15: 14) for a long time we were led into the abyss, but we returned to the Truth - the Word of God, the Bible!

VI We, Orthodox Christians, renounce the spirit of anti-Semitism “for salvation is from the Jews” (John 4:22), we bless all Jews (Num. 24: 9) as our elder brothers and sisters. We repent for the sin of "Orthodox anti-Semitism", "Khmelnytsky region" and Jewish pogroms.

VII We renounce the absurd idolatry in the church - the worship of icons, relics, “sacred” objects and the cross. (Luke 4: 8, 4 Kings 18: 4, 1 Cor. 10: 7) We also renounce the “veiled” idolatry - love of money, pride and other sins.

VIII We, Orthodox Christians, renounce the spirit of exaltation before Christians of other denominations and jurisdictions. "The spirit breathes where it wants!" (John 3: 8) We cannot and do not have the right to even try to “monopolize” the truth. We are an ecumenical Church, standing on the foundation of the Word of God. (John 17:17)

IX We renounce all prayers "for peace", "magpies" and memorial services. In the modern Orthodox Church there is only room for a biblical view of life and death. “After this life there is no opportunity for repentance” (St. Cyril Lukaris, Patriarch of Constantinople +1638)

X We, Orthodox Christians, participants in this consecrated Council, oppose drug addiction, drunkenness, smoking and other vices, knowing "that those who do this will not inherit the Kingdom of God." (Gal. 5:21) Alcoholic drinks are not acceptable for us, because we Christians are all priests of God (cf. 1Pet.2: 5,9), and for His servants the Lord God says: “You and your sons do not drink wine or strong drinks with you when you enter the tabernacle of the meeting, [ or approaching the altar,] lest you die. This is an everlasting decree throughout your generations, so that you can distinguish what is holy from what is not holy and what is unclean from what is pure. " (Lev. 10: 9,10)

XI We, Orthodox Christians, recognize a variety of forms of worship (1 Cor. 12: 5), including the use of a variety of musical instruments. (Psalm 149: 3, Ps 150, Revelation 15: 2, 2 Kings 6: 12-23)

XII We are against the sin of "simony", that is, sales of sacraments and offices in the Church (Acts 8:18), against the establishment of "taxes for services and worship", against corruption in the church.

XIII We stand for the restoration of the female ministry of deacones in the Church. (Rom. 16, Gal. 3:28)

XIV We, Orthodox Christians, oppose the dominance of monasticism in the leadership of the Orthodox Church and for the speedy revival in Orthodoxy of only “white”, that is, married episcopate (1 Tim. 3: 2, Tit. 1: 6). The ordination of monks to the priesthood (the so-called “black clergy”) is now accepted only in exceptional cases.

XV We stand for the transfer of all Orthodox monasticism to a contractual basis with the obligatory stipulated right and conditions for leaving the monastery for both male and female.

XVI We, Orthodox Christians, participants in this consecrated Council, advocate voluntary fasting and fasting days. (Is.58, Matthew 6: 16-18) We are against the modern practice of “obligatory”, traditional fasts that have not been observed for a long time by the majority of Orthodox Christians. Lent on Good Friday before Easter is left by us as the only church-wide fast of the year. Before the sacrament, fasting is not required at all, because Jesus Christ did the first communion not “on an empty stomach,” but after the completion of the Passover Seder, “after supper!” (1 Cor. 11:25)

XVII The Church of Christ is not a cemetery (Ezek. 37: 1-10), but LIFE! We stand for the revival of the fivefold ministry in the Orthodox Church (Eph. 4:11). The living Gospel word should sound in every Orthodox church!

All confess that there are seven saints and Ecumenical Councils, and they are the seven pillars of faith in the Word of God, on which He erected His holy dwelling place - the Catholic and Ecumenical Church. Metropolitan John II of Kiev (XI century)

The life of the Church in the early Byzantine period was determined by seven Ecumenical Councils. These cathedrals served a double purpose. First, they clarified and clearly established the external organizational structure of the Church, defining the status of the largest patriarchates. Second (and more importantly), the councils once and for all affirmed the Church's teaching on the fundamental tenets of the Christian faith - the Trinity and the Incarnation. All Christians saw in these dogmas a "mystery" beyond human understanding and inexpressible in human language. In formulating conciliar definitions, the bishops did not at all imagine that they had clarified a secret; they only tried to exclude some false ways of speaking and thinking about these things. In order to warn the people of God against error and heresy, they erected a fence around the mystery. Metropolitan Callistus (Ware)

On Divine Guard

At various times, to clarify questions of faith, misunderstanding or inaccurate interpretation of which caused confusion in the Church and gave rise to heresies, Ecumenical Councils were convened. They also worked out the canonical rules of general church life.

Saint Basil the Great, who was the first to use the term "dogma", considered it to be close in meaning to the term "Sacred Tradition", which has always lived in the Church. Sacred Tradition was not limited and is not limited only to dogmas, but the latter became the measure of faith, with the help of which we separate truth from error.

In modern secular society, in the age of progress and liberalism, the term "dogma" is often perceived as synonymous with immobility and inertia. But for us, Orthodox Christians, the dogmas of faith are like guiding stars, showing earthly travelers the way to the Heavenly Fatherland. Change the dogma - and the road will lead you in a completely different direction ...

Heresies, each in its own way, tried to distort the divinely revealed teaching about the Triune God and the Face of our Lord Jesus Christ. Distorting triadology (the doctrine of the Trinity), Christ was portrayed as the lesser of God (Arianism); erring in Christology (the doctrine of the Person of Jesus Christ), they separated His humanity from the Divine, thereby dividing Him into two persons (Nestorianism), or represented not a real person (Monophysitism and Monothelism). But each Ecumenical Council affirmed: Christ is the true God and the true Man.

Church Cathedrals

Church councils grew out of the very nature of the Christian faith. From the moment of its foundation, the Church has always recognized itself as a community. The main decisions here were taken collectively, for example - the election of seven deacons (see: Acts 6: 1-6).

The first serious internal church problem that hindered evangelism - the question of whether the Gentiles should be circumcised and commanded to keep the Law of Moses - was brought up at the Apostolic Council of Jerusalem. And he made an important decision by proclaiming the universal character of the Christian gospel (see: Acts 15: 1-29). It was here that the words were spoken about the providential nature of such meetings: “it is pleasing to the Holy Spirit and to us”, which will be repeated at every Ecumenical Council.

“The Cathedral of the Twelve in Jerusalem,” says the outstanding theologian, Protopresbyter John Meyendorff, “was the supreme and supreme testimony of the truth of the Resurrection of Christ: the joint proclamation of the Gospel by the eyewitnesses themselves. Later, however, when the eyewitnesses were scattered, the “apostolic” faith they proclaimed had to be preserved by the Churches. Therefore, the need arose to maintain a consensus, unity, close connection between the Local Churches. This task will be carried out by the councils ”.

We know about many Local Councils that took place in Asia Minor, Antioch, Carthage and other places. But only the First Ecumenical Council made this practice universal: a council of bishops had to be convened in each province twice a year to discuss unresolved church issues, resolve conflicts (First Ecumenical Council, rules 4 and 5).

Ecumenical Councils were convened on behalf of the entire Church, since the fullness of truth belongs only to the conciliar consciousness of the entire Church as a whole, which found its outward expression at the Ecumenical Councils.

Epoch of Ecumenical Councils

The first three centuries in the life of the Church were an era of persecution. The best sons of the Church endured torture and death for confessing the name of Christ. But the strength of arms could not defeat the strength of the spirit. The Roman Empire bowed before the humble sign of the Cross of Christ, when at the beginning of the 4th century. St. Constantine the Great, Equal to the Apostles, reigned, under whom the persecution of Christians ceased.

But less than ten years have passed since the proclamation of the Milan Edict, according to which Christianity received official recognition from the state, when the Church faced an equally serious threat. In Alexandria, the second most important city of the empire, the pernicious Arian false doctrine began to spread, captivating the minds of many Christians and even church hierarchs.

The founder of this heresy, Arius, was a learned theologian and an eloquent preacher, whose unreasonable ambition was hidden for a time under the guise of righteousness. He argued that the Son of God was created by God the Father and is only His supreme creation. Despite the admonitions of Alexander the Bishop of Alexandria, the proud presbyter persisted in his heresy.

First Ecumenical Council

The church turmoil caused by the heresy of Arius grew so much that Emperor Constantine, on the advice of church hierarchs, in 325 was forced to convene the First Ecumenical Council in Nicaea.

Nicaea, now a poor Turkish village of Iznik, was at that time the main seaside city of the Bithyn region. It is difficult now to name exactly the place where the meetings of the Council took place. However, the local residents retained the name “synodos” (su, nodoj - Greek cathedral. - Auth.), Which bears one of the districts of the village, and where the palace of the First Ecumenical Council was probably located.

318 bishops arrived at the Council along with elders and deacons. Among the Orthodox majority were: Alexander of Alexandria, Hosea of ​​Kordubsky, Eustathius of Antioch, Macarius of Jerusalem, Jacob of Nisibia, Spyridon of Trimyphus and Nicholas, Bishop of Myra in Lycia.

The Arian side was heard first. The monk of the Studite monastery, John, narrates that during a speech at the Council of Arius, many of the hierarchs refused to listen to the heretic, and St. Nicholas, in a fit of pious jealousy, hit him on the cheek. The Fathers of the Council were forced to deprive the saint of his episcopal dignity, but enlightened by the miraculous vision, reversed their decision.

As a result, the Council condemned Arianism and adopted the famous Nicene creed, in the text of which the word "consubstantial" played a decisive role, affirming the equality of God the Son and God the Father.

The Council also considered questions of the visible organization of the Church, highlighting three main centers: Rome, Alexandria and Antioch. In addition, the First Ecumenical Council adopted twenty canons on church discipline and set the time for the celebration of Easter: on the first Sunday following the vernal equinox, after Jewish Easter.

Second Ecumenical Council

Orthodoxy has triumphed. But the Arian unrest worried the Christian world for a long time. The inexperience in theology of the Emperor Constantine the Great, and his non-Orthodox successors, and the hesitancy of the Eastern episcopate in accepting the new term "consubstantial" played a role in this.

The Second Ecumenical Council, held in 381, was convened by Emperor Theodosius in the new capital of the Christian state, Constantinople.

By that time, Arianism had “evolved” and spread the false teaching that the Son of God is not like God the Father in everything, which gave rise to another false teaching that denied the Divinity of the Holy Spirit (Dukhoborism).

The Council was attended by one hundred and fifty bishops. Among them were the great saints of that time: Meletius of Antioch, Gregory of Nyssa, Cyril of Jerusalem and Gregory the Theologian. The first sessions were chaired by Meletios of Antioch. At this time, at the request of the emperor and the people, Saint Gregory the Theologian was elected to the vacant See of Constantinople by the Council. Soon Meletius died, and the newly elected bishop of the capital became the chairman of the Council.

The main result of the activities of the Second Ecumenical Council was the adoption of the Symbol of Faith, known in the history of the Church under the name of Niceo-Constantinople. It appeared as a result of the addition and clarification of the Nicene creed. These 12 dogmatic formulations are the quintessence of the Orthodox faith. The Symbol of Faith sounds during the celebration of the Sacrament of Baptism, during the Liturgy and in the home prayers of Christians.

We should ask the reader to open the Bible and read the passage from Hebrews ch. 10,7-24, on which our further reasoning will be based. These verses give us a deep and amazingly accurate view of the Christian position.

First of all, we will pay attention to how the apostle reveals in this surprisingly capacious phrase:

Will of god

At the beginning of the chapter, we read about the imperfection of the sacrifice made according to the law. These sacrifices could never have made the conscience spotless; through the offering of these sacrifices, a person would never fulfill the will of God, would not be able to comprehend the good desire and intention of the heart of God.

"The law, having the shadow of future blessings, and not the very image of things, with the same sacrifices, constantly offered every year, can never make those who come with them perfect. Otherwise, they would stop offering them, because those who sacrifice, having been cleansed once, were not would have had no consciousness of sins "(Heb. 10:12).

As it is weightyly said: "Those who offer sacrifice, having been cleansed once, would no longer have any consciousness of sins." The Jews have not yet had such a sovereign deliverance from the power of sin, but the Christian no longer needs to bring new sacrifices to God, since he has been cleansed once and for all by the precious blood of Christ.

But some of the believers are in the habit of talking about their constant need to turn to the blood of Christ. Is this in line with the teachings of Scripture? At first glance, such a person may appear to be a zealous and completely obedient Christian to the will of God. But true obedience can only be based on an integral, clear, well-grounded understanding of the truth of God and His good, merciful will for us. If His will is that we “no longer have any consciousness of sins,” then would it be humility on our part to persist in unwillingness to get out of the weight of sin and to trample in one place day after day, year after year? If the truth is that Christ took upon ourselves our sins and, having made one perfect sacrifice, delivered us from them forever, does this not mean that we are completely forgiven and completely cleansed? And then will there not be a constant need to turn to the blood of Christ, diminishing it to the level of the blood of bulls and goats? This has actually already been done by those who speak of the constant turning to the blood of Christ, although we understand that this is undoubtedly happening unintentionally. One of the reasons why God rejected the sacrifices made according to the law is pointed out by the apostle: "The sacrifices of every day are reminded of sins." But such a reminder did not correspond to God's intention, the Lord God wished that every trace of sin and any reminder of it would be destroyed, deleted once and for all. And therefore, it cannot be God's will that His people be continually bent under the terrible, deadly weight of unforgiven sin. Moreover, such a position of a person is contrary to God's will, because it destroys the faith and the spiritual world of a person, diminishes the glory of Christ and calls into question the redemptive power of His sacrifice.

In the tenth chapter of the Epistle to the Hebrews, the apostle wants to emphasize that the constant reminder of sins and the constant repetition of sacrifices go inseparably with each other, and therefore, if a Christian now has a constant burden of sins on his heart and conscience, then Christ must sacrifice again and again. But the atonement for human sins has already taken place once and for all, and the weight of sin has been removed from the human heart forever. By God's will, we are sanctified by the one-time sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ.

Here the essence of God's will, His intention and plan, drawn up by Divine thought even before the foundation of the world, before the creation of living beings, before the existence of sin and Satan, is revealed to us with all clarity and convincingness. And the will of God was that the Son had to come in due time and atone for human sin. This is the foundation of Divine glory and this is the fulfillment of all the plans and intentions of the Divine Trinity.

And it would be a mistake on our part to believe that the thought of redeeming man from sin and saving him from eternal death came to God after man's fall. It is naive to admit that God was caught off guard when Adam broke His commandment in the Garden of Eden. God knew everything in advance. And in vain did the enemy celebrate the victory when a man succumbed to his temptation in the Garden of Eden, because from that moment the fulfillment of God's plan for His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, began. Before the Fall, there was no basis for this plan. But the intervention of Satan, the fall of man into the power of sin and into the power of death, opened up to God the Savior the opportunity to manifest the unlimited riches of His mercy and His love and to show everyone with the minds He created the Divine way of salvation.

Great depth and power in the words of the Son: "As in the beginning of the book it is written about Me." Which book is He referring to here? Perhaps this is the book of God's eternal intentions, which contains a "huge plan" according to which the Son came at a certain time and fulfilled God's will, confirmed God's glory, destroyed the plans of the enemy, took away sin and saved a perishing person. And in the sacrifice of the Son, the harvest of God's glory is much greater than if it were to reap this harvest in the fields of a creation that did not fall into sin.

All this gives unlimited firmness and steadfastness to the souls of believers. It is difficult to convey in words the feeling of happiness and consolation that comes to a religious soul from the consciousness that Christ came into this world to fulfill the will of God, whatever that will may be.

"Behold, I go to do Thy will, O God." This was the only indivisible purpose of the perfect heart of Christ. He never did His own will in anything. He said: "For I came down from heaven not to do my will, but the will of the Father who sent me" (John 6:38). It didn’t matter to Christ what the fulfillment of the Father’s will could turn out to be for Him personally. He had to come and fulfill the Divine will recorded in the eternal book. And He fulfilled it perfectly. Therefore, Christ could say: "You did not desire sacrifices and offerings, but you prepared a body for Me" (Heb. 10: 5). "I clothe the heavens with darkness, and make sackcloth for them. The Lord God has given Me the tongue of the wise, so that I can strengthen the weary with a word; every morning He awakens, awakens my ear, so that I listen, like the students. The Lord God opened my ear, and I I did not resist, I did not retreat back. I gave My back to the beating ones, and you My deer to smite; I did not hide my face from mockery and spitting "(Is. 50: 36).

And now we come to the second point of our reflections:

Sacrifice of christ

The heart of Jesus was filled with boundless joy when He fulfilled His Father's will and finished His work. From the manger of Bethlehem to the cross of Calvary, only one great purpose guided His humble heart to do the will of God. He perfectly glorified God in everything. This absolutely guarantees our complete and eternal salvation. And the apostle formulates the fact of salvation with complete clarity and certainty as an accomplished fact. "By this will we are sanctified by the one-time offering of the body of Jesus Christ" (Heb. 10:10).

Here our souls, the believing reader, can dwell in joyful peace and cloudless confidence. It is God's will that we are to be saved by Him in accordance with all the love of His heart and all the requirements of His throne. As it is said, "at the beginning of the book": our Lord Jesus Christ, fulfilling the eternal purpose, in His time came out of the glory that he had with the Father, and fulfilled the work that gave an indestructible basis for all Divine plans and our salvation.

Christ, blessed be His Name, has completed His work. He perfectly glorified God in the places where God was so offended. At a great price, Christ defended and fulfilled every commandment of God. He defeated all enemies, removed all barriers, destroyed all obstacles, overcame the punishment and wrath of God, removed the sting of death. Christ miraculously fulfilled everything that is written at the beginning of the book about Him. And now we see Him crowned with glory at the right hand of God the Father in heaven. Christ passed from the Throne of God to the dust of death in order to fulfill the will of God, and having fulfilled It, he returned to the Throne in a new capacity and on a new foundation. His path from birth to the world to the cross was marked with traces of Divine eternal love, and His path from the cross back to the Throne was sprinkled with His Blood. He descended from heaven to earth to fulfill the will of God and, having fulfilled it, returned to heaven, thus opening for us a new way of life, by which we approach God in courage and freedom, like redeemed servants.

Everything is done. All barriers have been removed. Covered curtain. The mysterious veil, which for centuries and generations separated man from God and did not allow man to come to God, was torn into two parts from top to bottom, thanks to the death of Christ. Now we can look beyond the open heavens and see God the Son on the Throne, Who bore the weight of our sins on His body, on the cross. Christ, who is seated on the Throne, proclaims in the ear of faith the sweet, liberating message that everything that should be done has happened. It was done forever. It happened for God, it happened for us. Now everything is in order, and God can justly give free will to the love of His heart, blotting out our sins and bringing us to Himself with the approval of the One who sits at His right hand on the throne.

Let the reader pay attention to the phrase in which the apostle compares Christ seated in heaven with the ministry of a priest on earth. "And every priest stands daily in the ministry and repeatedly offers the same sacrifices that can never take away sins. He, having offered one sacrifice for sins, sat down forever at the right hand of God, then waiting until His enemies would be put at His footstool. . For He made those who were sanctified for ever perfect by one offering "(Heb. 10:14).

This is surprisingly accurate.

A priest from the tribe of Levi could never sit in the ministry, and this once again emphasized that his work could never be done. There was no seat in the temple and tabernacle. Most convincingly and you strikingly inspired apostle says about this: "And every priest stands daily in the ministry and repeatedly brings the same sacrifices that can never take away sins." It is difficult to more accurately and clearly state the monotony and complete unproductiveness of the Levitical rites. But how strange it is that, contrary to this quotation from the Holy Scriptures, Christendom strives to have a clergy, chosen by human will and making sacrifices every day, a clergy that does not originate from the tribe of Levi, does not belong to the house of Aaron, and therefore does not seem to have the right to do so from God and His support. In addition, modern sacrifices are disinterested and therefore sacrifices without forgiveness, for it is said: "Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness" (Heb. 9:22).

The priests, about whom the apostle speaks in chapter 10, were the priests of the tribe of Levi and the house of Aaron, were determined by God at that time, but even then the sacrifices were never. did not bring joy to God, because they could not cleanse from sins. And so God canceled those sacrifices forever. Do we need to offer God new sacrifices besides the sacrifice of praise? Does Christendom need sacrifices and priests offering them? Wouldn't that be absurdity and deception?

Only by the precious Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ is the soul of a Christian cleansed from all sin, and therefore Christ who sits on the Throne and the repeated sacrifices cannot but be a contradiction. If the sacrifices are to be repeated, then Christ has no right to His throne. God forgive me for writing such words! But Christ sat on the Throne, clothed with glory and power, and the donkey will be simply blasphemy against His cross, against His name, against His glory. And repeated sacrifices in any form will deny the reality and omnipotent power of the sacrifice of Christ and will not be able to bring anyone's soul closer to the true and complete forgiveness of sins. New sacrifices and the already accomplished complete forgiveness of man by God are completely incompatible things.

And now we come to the third point of our chapter:

The testimony of the Holy Spirit

How do we know that Christ fully and perfectly fulfilled God's will? The Holy Spirit testifies to this in Scripture, and the testimony of the Holy Spirit is the third pillar on which the Christian position is built. And this support, just like the two previous ones, is completely independent of the will of man and by its nature is Divine. It is quite obvious that there is no human merit in the Calvary sacrifice of Christ. All this is clear, as well as the fact that a person has nothing to do with an authoritative source from which our souls receive the good news about the will of the Creator and about the atoning sacrifice of Christ, since this is nothing more than the testimony of the Holy Spirit. In Scripture we read:

"The Holy Spirit also testifies to you about this; for it is said:" This is the covenant that I will bequeath to them after those days, says the Lord: I will put my laws in their hearts and in their thoughts I will write them, and I will remember their sins and their iniquities no more "( Heb.10.1517).

And we must accept this truth without hesitation, trusting the absolutely authoritative source of the Divine witness, because it is not a question of our feelings, moods, experiences or inferences. Here we have before us an absolutely unshakable foundation of a Christian position and a Christian spiritual peace and tranquility. Everything is God's from beginning to end. Will, sacrifice and testimony are all Divine, and this is the perfect glory of our Lord! In the modern world, when a person is exposed to incredible pressure of temptations, when rationalism with its audacious blasphemy is affirmed on the one hand, and spiritualism is gaining strength on the other hand, it has made a terrible deal with the demons of darkness, when confusion, anxiety and tragic forebodings reign in souls and chaos, when religion is understood as the performance of rituals and ceremonies, when the true foundations of faith remain unclaimed, how important it is for a Christian to know that these foundations really exist and that only in them can a person find true support and tranquility of the soul.

It is well known that images of Christ, the Mother of God, saints and events of sacred history appeared at the very beginning of the emergence of Christian art - in the painting of the Roman catacombs. In the IV century. Christian churches are everywhere decorated with biblical paintings and images of new martyrs and devotees of piety. Saints Basil the Great, John Chrysostom, Gregory of Nyssa, and Blessed Theodorite of Cyrus speak of the depiction of saints as an ordinary matter.

By the VII century. The veneration of icons, already attested by many monuments, has become a firmly established fact of church life. “I sketch and paint Christ and the sufferings of Christ in churches and houses and on squares,” writes Leonty of Hierapolsky, “and on icons, and on canvas, and in pantries, and on clothes, and in every place, so that, seeing them clearly, remember and not forget ... And just as you, worshiping the Book of the Law, do not worship the nature of skins and ink, but the words of God that are in it, so I worship the image of Christ. Not to the nature of wood and colors - let it not be ... But, worshiping the inanimate image of Christ, through it I think to embrace Christ Himself and worship Him ... ”.

In addition to the opinions of the Fathers of the Church, there were also conciliar decisions, which, in fact, canonized the veneration of icons. Thus, the Trull Cathedral of 691–692. with his 82nd rule, he affirmed the following: “... Respecting the ancient images and shadows committed to the Church as symbols and designs of truth, we give preference to grace and truth, having accepted it as the fulfillment of the law. Therefore, so that in the works of painting the perfect is presented to the eyes of all, we determine that for the future, and on icons, instead of the old lamb, the image of the Lamb that lifts up the sin of the world, Christ our God in human form, is to be traced, seeing through this image the height of humility of God the Word and bringing as a keepsake of His life in the flesh, suffering, saving death and the redemption of the world that came from here ”.

However, unfortunately, there were also pagan forms of veneration of icons, and then it acquired the character of idolatry. Historical documents testify that “some chose icons as the recipients of their children ...; some took the body of Christ into their mouths, placing it first in the hands of the saints on icons; others served on icons instead of thrones in private homes and neglected the services performed in the church; there were priests who scraped off the paint of icons, put it in a chalice in the blood of Christ and communed the people with this mixture ”. Such actions perverted the true meaning of veneration of icons.

There was another, more powerful factor in the emergence of the iconoclastic heresy - the political one. In the VIII century. In Byzantium, a new dynasty reigned - the Isaurians - warrior emperors who went down in the history of the empire as successful commanders and defenders of the Fatherland. The first emperor-iconoclast Leo the Isaurian (i.e., originally from the Asia Minor province of Isauria) (717-741) decided to carry out the reformation of the Church. Until now, the policy of imperial power was church-oriented, but now the new emperor has taken a course towards secularization. There were several reasons for this. One of them was that the emperor was born and spent a lot of time in Asia Minor, where, on the border of Christianity and the recently emerging Islam, religious movements that opposed icon veneration existed and had a significant influence. We must also take into account the fact that Islam, with its prohibition on any image of man and God, could seem to the emperor more understandable, as if “more spiritual” than Christianity. Another reason for the emergence of iconoclasm on the part of the imperial power was that the monks were the main defenders of the veneration of icons, and the strengthening of the position of monasticism from the point of view of the emperor gave rise to a number of problems: the outflow of human and land resources, money, so necessary for the state during the period of hostilities. The well-known church historian, professor V.V.Bolotov believes that the iconoclastic emperors “wanted to direct the religious life of the people along a new path ... icons ”.

Thus, having decided to bring his plans to life, the emperor Leo in 726, without agreement with the Patriarch of Constantinople Herman, ordered that icons be raised higher in churches so that the people could not kiss them.

In many parts of the empire, such still cautious actions of the secular authorities were received with hostility, especially in the West. Pope Gregory II in 727 assembled a cathedral in Rome and confirmed the legality of veneration of icons there. The Eastern patriarchs, who lived outside the empire, and therefore free from imperial pressure, opposed the iconoclasm of Constantinople.

In 730 the first decree against icons was issued by the emperor. Patriarch German responded by abdicating the see, and Anastasius was installed in his place, who fully supported the emperor's iconoclastic policy.

Soon the first blood was shed: in a skirmish between the people and the soldiers who were removing the venerated icon of Christ over the arch of the gates in the palace square, several people were killed. The memory of these martyrs is celebrated by the Church on August 9/22.

The emperor substantiated his iconoclastic position as follows: icons are supposedly the remnants of idolatry, forbidden by the commandment “do not make yourself an idol” and not prescribed by the six Ecumenical Councils; the people superstitiously honor matter and regard the holy martyrs as gods.

The main defender of the veneration of icons at this time was the Monk John Damascene (675-749), secretary of the Caliph of Damascus. As a citizen of another state, the monk could fearlessly denounce the iconoclasm of the Byzantine emperors. In his “Three Words Against Those Who Decry Icons,” he theologically competently substantiates the answer to the iconoclasts, who, in fact, rejected the Incarnation. John writes: “In ancient times (ie, in the Old Testament), God, incorporeal and without appearance, was never depicted. Now, when God appeared in the flesh and lived among people, we represent the visible God ... I saw the human image of God, and my soul is saved ”.

Damascene speaks of matter as a creation of God, and not as something despicable and low: “... And since the Word of God has taken over in him, matter has become praiseworthy, and therefore material images are necessary and have a positive meaning” ...

The successor of the Emperor Leo, his son Constantine V Copronymus (741-774), in order to bring the church authority under the state iconoclastic policy, convenes in 754 a council, which went down in history as the “Headless”. At this council, neither Rome, nor Alexandria, nor Antioch, nor Jerusalem were represented, and there was not a single patriarch: Patriarch Anastasius of Constantinople had died before that, and a new one was not elected.

Despite this state of affairs, the council decided to reject the use of icons and proclaimed anathema to all champions of icon veneration. Based on the opinion that “out of everything under heaven, no other species or image has been named that could depict His (ie, the Son of God) incarnation,” the Eucharist was recognized as the only true icon of Christ. However, it should be noted that Christ, in instituting the Eucharist, did not say: “This is my image”, but “this is my body and this is my blood”. By accepting the Sacrament of Communion, we accept Christ Himself, and not His image. Consequently, the iconoclasts rejected the Orthodox understanding of the Eucharist.

After the cathedral, a bloody persecution began against the Orthodox, and especially against the monks - the main defenders of the veneration of icons. The monks fled en masse to Italy, where they gathered at least 50 thousand people. Icons were destroyed, frescoes in churches were sketched with hunting and genre scenes and ornaments.

After the death of Constantine in 775, his son Leo IV the Khazar ascends to the throne, whose wife was Irina, a secret icon-worshiper. There is a story when her husband found two icons in her room, and she hardly managed to justify herself. If Leo had not died suddenly in 780, Irina most likely would not have remained in the palace.

After her husband's death, having established herself on the throne, Irina abolished the persecution of icon-worshipers. In 784, the imperial secretary Tarasius was elevated to the rank of patriarch and appointed to the Constantinople See. He immediately began to take measures to convene an Ecumenical Council. This task was facilitated by the peace concluded with the Arabs in 782, therefore it was possible to send messengers not only to Rome, but also to the Eastern patriarchs. The Council was scheduled for August 7, 786 in Constantinople. However, due to the intrigues of the iconoclasts, there was a riot in the army, and the Council that had begun had to be dissolved.

The Seventh Ecumenical Council took place in 787 in the city of Nicaea (now the Turkish city of Iznik). It was attended by about 350 bishops and many monks. A total of eight sessions of the Council took place: the first took place in Nicaea, in the Church of St. Sophia, on September 24, 787, and the last - in the presence of Empress Irene and her son Emperor Constantine - in Constantinople on October 23.

The main issue at the Council was the question of the heresy of iconoclasm, which had shaken the Church for sixty years.

The final document of the Council was the dogma of veneration of icons.

Also, 22 canon rules were approved concerning various aspects of church life.

However, iconoclasm, defeated on church soil, still had strength as a political movement. The restoration of iconoclasm took place under the emperor Leo V the Armenian (813 - 820), who made an attempt to reverse the decisions of the VII Ecumenical Council. The emperor eliminated icons and all those parts of worship, for example, chants, in which ideas of veneration of icons were noticed. Now the main defenders of Orthodoxy were the holy patriarch Nicephorus (806-815) and the Monk Theodore the Studite (759-826), hegumen of the famous Studion monastery of Constantinople. The successors of the emperor Leo the Armenian, Michael II Trawl (820-829) and Theophilus (829-842), continued the policy of iconoclasm. After the death of the emperor Theophilos, his widow Theodora came to the throne. In 843, Theodora held an open church celebration, which fell on the first Sunday of Great Lent. The restoration of veneration of icons was proclaimed in the Church of Hagia Sophia, and since then this holiday, known to us as the "Triumph of Orthodoxy", testifies to the victory of the Church over all heresies.

Prepared by Archpriest Nikolai Baranov

From the Definition of the Seventh Ecumenical Council:

“We preserve not everything new, with or without Scripture, the church traditions established for us, one of which is the iconic depiction of the image, as being consistent with the Gospel sermon and serving us to assure the true, and not imaginary, incarnation of God the Word and to a similar benefit, because such things , which point to each other, undoubtedly each other and understand.

On this basis, walking the royal path and following the divine teachings of our holy fathers and the Tradition of the Catholic Church - for we know that She is the Holy Spirit who lives in her - we determine with every care and discretion: like the image of the Honest and Life-giving Cross, to believe in holy churches of God, on sacred vessels and clothes, on walls and on boards, in houses and on paths, honest and holy icons painted with paints and made from small stones or any other substance appropriate for the purpose, be it icons of the Lord God and our Savior Jesus Christ, or our Immaculate Lady, the Most Holy Theotokos, or honest Angels and all holy and reverend men. For the more often they are visible to us through the image on the icon, the more often, contemplating them, we strive to remember and love the prototype, to honor them with a kiss and reverent worship, not a true service of worship of God, which, according to our faith, befits only one Divine nature, but the same the veneration that we give to the image of the Honorable and Life-giving Cross, the Holy Gospel and other shrines through the offering of incense and the lighting of candles according to the pious custom of the ancients. For the honor given to the icon refers to its prototype, and the one who worships the icon worships the hypostasis of the person depicted on it. This teaching is contained in our holy fathers, that is, in the Tradition of the Catholic Church, preaching the Gospel from the end to the end of the universe. "

(Quoted from the publication: LA Uspensky. Theology of the Icon of the Orthodox Church. - M .: Dar, 2007).