Who are the Pharisees and what does Pharisaism mean?

The High Priest Caiaphas[1] seems to be saying: “Are you not tithing the anise and cumin? Stone you!”

Pharisee

- a believer in whom deliberate external beauty is combined with internal ugliness[2]. This person scrupulously observes the rules of his religion (sometimes formally, and sometimes quite sincerely). But in an amazing way, this leads him not to enlightenment and spiritualization, but to an increase in pride, exaltation and other vices that are more or less successfully hidden under the guise of a righteous man.

Essential for a Pharisee is the ability to “strain out a gnat and swallow a camel,” that is, try to avoid minor mistakes, while at the same time not paying attention to the real, serious evil caused to others.

The most harmless type of trope is a pious hypocrite who is aware of his sinfulness, but instead of repentance and correction, prefers to “compensate” for it by carefully observing rituals. It is much more dangerous if the Pharisee turns out to be a solid person. Such a person does not pretend, he follows the doctrine with all his soul, fulfills the commandments, keeps his vows, not sparing either himself or those around him. He became so complete in his knowledge that it was as if he had been living on trillions and trillions of the same planets for a hundred trillion billion years, and this world was already absolutely clear to him, and he, like a very old man who had seen the eternal, touched the divine, himself became godlike and directed into this infinite ©. But despite all this, he remained an asshole. From the height of his knowledge of God, he considers himself a guardian and guardian (and sometimes the only normal person), bothers less advanced brothers in faith with moralizing and nagging, and generally looks at non-believers as... uh... dust tossed by the wind. Impeccability in fulfilling the letter of the law convinces him of his own unconditional infallibility. When necessary, the Pharisee, with his letter at the ready, will prove to God himself that He is wrong, and will even declare the Messiah a fiend of hell if he does not fast at the appointed time or does business on the Sabbath.

If a Pharisee is invested with clergy, he is always an unkind shepherd. A religion struck by pharisaism can turn into a false version of itself - while completely preserving dogma and ritual, completely lose contact with the higher powers, the place of which will be taken by the priestly hierarchy. The latter in this case quickly degenerates into cynical princes of the church, interested in maintaining their power at any cost. Such people will not make a move when it comes to correcting the lost, but they are very corrosive and meticulous when it is necessary to show these lost ones who is in charge in the area in the parish. If necessary, they will arrange an auto-da-fé without hesitation. At the same time, they are quite flexible morally. In the interests of the cause, they are ready to turn a blind eye to any atrocity, and they will even write out absolution in advance.

Pharisaism in its terminal stage is absolute hypocrisy and doublethink. Keeping the flock in a state of constant fear of God, the Pharisee himself never feels remorse and often even allows himself to do what awaits mere mortals “great vengeance with furious punishments.” Either he is sure that he will somehow come to an agreement with God/gods (a special case of a pragmatic cleric), or he relies on the mystical power of his rank, thanks to which he will avoid retribution for any sins, or... he simply no longer believes in any gods. The god of the Pharisee becomes the religious institution he serves, or even simply his own pocket. Or the belly. Or... <fill in what you need>. Such subjects usually know the Holy Scripture thoroughly and are able to interpret any of its points to their advantage, but they are strictly concerned about the external side of their status. Miter, staff, cassock and other attributes of the dignity - “epaulets”, emphasizing the special position of God’s deputy on earth

and independent (!!!) of the personal qualities of the bearer. And in such a system, God is no longer needed.

In the case of a simple believer, this may manifest itself as a complex of chosenness

- a person believes that he is saved and justified by the mere fact of his belonging to the correct religion, and there is no need to work on himself. A type of ram of god or religious zombie. Neither participation in pogroms, lynchings and wars started by priests, nor persecution of other believers/atheists, nor usury on “infidels,” nor his own drunkenness or debauchery darken the blue of his eyes. “No matter what we are, God is with us, because we go to the right churches!”

A Pharisee, as a rule, is not a heretic. He usually adheres to the most orthodox views. May engage in theology or missionary work. But religious truths in his hands turn into a dead dogma, the purpose of which is to zombie the flock, supporting the authority of the Pharisee and his corporation. As a result, a meeting with a Pharisee turns people away from religion, making them believe that all believers are fundamentalists.

Origin of the trope[edit]

Codifier and tropnamer - New Testament. Before him, the concept of pharisaism simply did not exist (although the phenomenon existed); after it, it became a household word. The classic presentation is given by Christ in the 23rd chapter of the Gospel of Matthew. According to him, the Pharisees

1. usurped the place of the prophets in society ( “the scribes and Pharisees sat on the seat of Moses”
   ),
2. oppress people with ritual instructions that they themselves do not fulfill ( “they bind heavy and unbearable burdens and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they themselves do not want to move a finger on them”
   )[3],
3. show off the external attributes of piety, trying to impress the profane ( "yet they do their deeds so that people can see them: they expand their storehouses and increase the cost of their clothes", "they cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, while inside they are full of theft and untruths"
   )
4. claim spiritual leadership ( “they love to sit at banquets and preside over synagogues and greetings in public assemblies, and for people to call them: teacher! teacher!”
   ), whereas
5. the heavens are closed to them ( “you close the Kingdom of Heaven to men, for you yourself do not enter and you do not allow those who want to enter”
   ). The Pharisees are not just hypocrites, but extremely dangerous and cynical:
6. easily combine religious rituals with villainy ( “you eat widows’ houses and hypocritically pray for a long time”
   ),
7. spiritually dangerous, they kill the morality of those who listen to them ( “go around sea and land in order to convert even one; and when this happens, you make him a son of Gehenna, twice as bad as you”
   )
8. fixating on petty ritual prescriptions, they despise true spiritual virtues ( “you give tithes of mint, anise and caraway, and left the most important things in the law: judgment, mercy and faith”
   ),
9. obsessed with material wealth, placing it even above religious shrines ( “woe to you, blind leaders who say: if anyone swears by the temple, then nothing, but if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, then he is guilty”
   ).
10. hypnotically influence people, instilling in them the impression of their holiness ( “outwardly you seem righteous to people, but inside you are filled with hypocrisy and lawlessness”
    ).

There, Jesus compares the Pharisees to “watered-down tombs” (i.e., painted), outwardly splendid, but inside full of abominations and carrion. He makes it clear that in the eyes of Heaven such a set of qualities is not just sinful, but absolutely damned: “Serpents, brood of vipers! How will you escape from condemnation to Gehenna?”

(Before him, John the Baptist covers them with almost the same words:
“O brood of vipers! who inspired you to flee from the wrath to come?”
) When reading the Gospel, one immediately notices how tolerant and merciful Christ is to simple sinners (who “do not know what they are doing”) "), he is just as cruel and merciless towards the Pharisees - the “blind leaders” who lead their flock into the abyss.
And he demands from his disciples that they in no way be like the Pharisees, but do exactly the opposite. “For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven
.

Scribes

, who in the 23rd chapter of Matthew, along with the Pharisees, are exposed in hypocrisy - scholastic theologians, specialists in dead dogma.

Since the Pharisee does not believe in God, but in his own exclusiveness and hopes that he will be saved because he is virtuous (in his own opinion), and not by the grace of God, a collision with divine reality is disastrous for his picture of the world. Therefore, the Pharisee is a priori hostile towards God (which he carefully hides). When he sees a living divine manifestation, he immediately rushes to declare it diabolical or subject it to official investigation. This is what Christ calls blasphemy against the Holy Spirit

- the only sin that will not be forgiven in eternity.

Every true prophet (saint, righteous man) by his very existence denounces the “Pharisee leaven.” For this he was subjected to repression from the Pharisees. “Behold, I am sending you prophets and wise men and scribes; and some you will kill and crucify, and others you will beat in your synagogues and drive from city to city; May all the righteous blood shed on earth come upon you, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah the son of Barachi, whom you killed between the temple and the altar.”

. (Actually, even Jesus was no exception. Formally, the Romans crucified him, but it was the elders of the Sanhedrin and their minions from the Pharisaic party who organized everything). The Pharisees erect magnificent tombs for the murdered righteous people and organize worship, having profit and prestige from this.

Nevertheless, in the New Testament there was a good word for the Pharisees. In terms of doctrine, they had more in common with Christians than the Sadducees: “for the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, no angel, no spirit; and the Pharisees recognize both” (Acts of the Holy Apostles, 23:8), which is why Paul, already a Christian, did not hesitate to call himself a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee. And Gamaliel (Gamliel ha-Zaken, revered by all Jews) spoke out in defense of the apostles, being a Pharisee. The Book of Acts repeatedly speaks of the Pharisees who believed, but never of the converted Sadducees. However, for some reason the name “Sadducees” did not become more of a dirty word than “Pharisees.”

• Because the Sadducees were a very closed temple “lite” who did not at all seek popular sympathy. Unlike.

Five minutes of history[edit]

In fact, the Jewish Pharisees of the Second Temple era were not such bad guys. First, they sought to bring religion closer to the common people, while opposing the temple clan (Sadducees), who wanted a complete monopoly on worship (and on collecting money for it). Actually, for this they were called Pharisees - “schismatics.” As often happens, they proudly accepted this title.

By the way, most of them were not priests; they insisted that even an ordinary citizen could understand the law.

The Pharisees came up with a democratic form of synagogue worship, when the Jews, instead of expensive sacrifices, incense and libations, simply read and interpreted Scripture and sang psalms (in fact, “synagogue” in Greek means “assembly”, literally “gathering” - tracing paper from the Hebrew “Knesset”) . They attached great importance to education and insisted that every Jew (at least every man) learn to read and write. They respected national traditions and did not allow the Jews to dissolve in the melting pot of the Hellenized Levant.

The word “Pharisee” in the abusive sense naturally comes from the Gospel. The evangelists themselves did not mean anything bad; they simply stated the fact of the Pharisees’ opposition to Christ. But already in antiquity the context was lost (the Greeks and Romans did not care about the Jewish religious parties), and the Pharisees began to be spoken of simply as bad people who did not love Christ (although Gamaliel, Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea, disciples of Christ, were from the Pharisees), and He rebuked them.

Why did Christ rebuke the Pharisees?

Firstly, they called for honoring the laws not only of the written Torah, but also those that were transmitted orally, and in fact in the Pentateuch of Moses alone the number of these commandments was more than 600 - and one more commandment after another, rule after rule! It is clear that an ordinary person had absolutely no time and it was impossible to fulfill all these instructions (for example, keep a double set of dishes for meat and dairy, or even separate ovens). Thus, the Pharisees began as a party for the masses, but turned into a party for the wealthy “middle class” (the nobility gravitated towards the Sadducees).

Secondly, they slipped into fierce literalism. Originally their motto was “Not the people for the law, but the law for the people,” but in the time of Jesus it was the other way around: the people for the law, the man for the Sabbath.

Thirdly, the Pharisees, who insisted on literal observance of the law, immediately came up with a bunch of excuses in order to circumvent the law on a crooked goat. For example, the law ordered that an anniversary be held every seven years to forgive debtors of their debts. To get around this provision, the Pharisees came up with the idea of ​​transferring debts to court in the sixth year, and the law was applicable only to private individuals. Thus, in the seventh year, no one actually forgave the debtors[4].

And fourthly, of course, ostentatious piety: the Pharisees expanded their tzitzit (tassels on the edges of their clothes) and tefillin (bandages with sayings from the Torah), but in their souls they served not God, but mammon.

Jesus found such practices hypocritical and spoke loudly about it, which displeased the Pharisees.

Publicans

Publicans are mercenaries of the Romans who came to the land of Israel and captured it. The Romans recruited publicans from local residents to collect taxes for the imperial treasury. There was a reason for this policy of the Roman authorities: Jewish society was closed to outsiders, so it was more convenient for those who knew all their tricks and secrets to extract all taxes from the rebellious Jews to the last coin. Simply put, publicans were traitors to their people.

The elder publicans were wealthy Jews who had enough money to buy the right to collect taxes from the Romans. Next, they hired subordinates, who were assigned an amount that they had to collect from the people in the area entrusted to them.

In addition to Roman taxes, tax collectors also had to extort money from people for their own profit. And for this they did not skimp on funds. Taking the last pennies from an unfortunate poor man and leaving a widow and children without a livelihood was a common daily practice for them.

The Jews were afraid to resist the publicans, because they were in the service of the Romans. They were simply hated and considered the worst enemies of God's people. Among the Jews they were outcasts despised by all. People were disdainful of sitting at table with them, avoided entering their houses and generally maintaining any communication. Therefore, for many it was a real shock to see the Teacher, respected by the people, visiting the elder tax collectors or at the same table with ordinary tax collectors. And for the tax collectors themselves, communication with Him was the only opportunity to talk with a respectable person about faith and salvation.

None of the rabbis - the Jewish teachers of piety - would ever agree to even approach these people, who made themselves outcasts among their own people. But for Jesus there were no outcasts. If the publicans wanted to repent of their atrocities before God and people, He always gave them such an opportunity, without any fear of ruining His reputation. Even among such hard-hearted people, He gathered His harvest for the Kingdom of Heaven. The Gospel tells about the chief of publicans, the rich man Zacchaeus , who, after communicating with Jesus, repented and decided to return with an increase everything that he had ever taken from people. According to legend, Zacchaeus subsequently became the first bishop of the Christian Church in Caesarea Palestine, a large city on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea. We know another repentant publican today as the apostle and evangelist Matthew.

Pharisaism outside of religion[edit]

The concept is so voluminous and multi-valued that it has taken hold and persists in public discourse even after religion has lost its leading position. In secular culture, Pharisaism has become synonymous with hypocrisy, hypocrisy, and the dominance of meaningless formalities. For example, the order of some thoroughly rotten royal court, where everyone bows decorously, carefully observes the ceremony and knows all the subtleties in the color differentiation of pants, can be called pharisaical, while in the alcoves there reigns rabid debauchery, and bulldogs gnaw furiously under the carpets.

In science and culture, Pharisaism is identified with retrogradeism and obscurantism. It is not uncommon for an innovator to encounter resistance from most of the professional community. After all, everyone has already known “how it should be” for a long time, but this upstart, you see, wants something strange (and therefore harmful).

In socio-political life, it happens that the philosophical doctrine that forms the basis of society slips into pharisaism. All the slogans are in place, chants are recited, parades are marched and portraits of leaders hang on every corner. And no matter what citizen you touch, he’s a dissident (and most of the dissidents are in the intelligence services, government agencies and propaganda channels, i.e., among those whose task is to ensure the indoctrination of the population).

What kind of “leaven” was Christ talking about?

“Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees,” Jesus warned the disciples. By leaven here we mean sinful wormholes that corroded people who sincerely considered themselves believers.

The Pharisees tried to fulfill God's commandments, but they did everything for show, humiliated the less pious, and strived for primacy among the people. The Sadducees did not believe in the afterlife of the soul and in the resurrection of the dead, so they longed to gain power and wealth in this life. As a result, both of them, being irreconcilable opponents, came together to kill the sinless Savior.

These same dangers await believers at all times. Arrogance, ostentatious piety, thirst for money, fame and power - all this today can destroy even the most sincere faith in Christ from within. Sourdough is ordinary yeast that is added to the dough to make it ferment and become fluffy. Likewise, seemingly harmless desires can gradually “ferment” a Christian, turning him into a modern Pharisee or Sadducee. But even in this case, a person still has the opportunity, like a repentant publican, to turn to Christ with the words ... God, be merciful to me, a sinner, and hope for justification. Because, as has already been said, for Jesus Christ there are no outcasts among people.

Drawings by Ekaterina Gavrilova

Now you know who the publicans, Sadducees and Pharisees are. Who do you think you would have been in Judea before the birth of Jesus Christ? Roman warrior, publican or Pharisee?.. Take our test and get the answer.

What are your political tastes?

How do you make money?

A passerby was rude to you. Your actions?

The most important problem in your life is:

What will make you most happy in the world?

You were invited to visit. There are many dishes on the table. Why won't you eat?

What excites you?

Examples[edit]

Mythology and folklore[edit]

• Avesta. The authoritative priest Durasrob (Durasrun) viciously persecutes first the parents of the prophet Zarathushtra, and then himself. According to Durasrob, Ahuramazda cannot send messengers to earth, because there are already priests on earth! (It all ended badly for Durasrob)
  .
  There is also Brother-resh Tur, Durasrob’s colleague and accomplice, who 77 years later tried to finish what he started. It all ended badly for Zarathushtra)
  .

• New Testament. The high priest Annas and his son-in-law Caiaphas are elders of the Jewish Sanhedrin, antagonists of Christ, clever political manipulators who managed to break even the Roman procurator. Actually, according to the terminology of that time, they were not Pharisees, but Sadducees who opposed them, but this does not prevent them from completely falling under the definition of a trope. Refuse to recognize the messiah sent by the very God whose servants they were, and send him to death because he could shake their power over people - well, who are they after that?
• A group of anonymous Pharisees who brought to Christ's judgment a woman sentenced to death by stoning for adultery. Yes, yes, the one about which Christ said, “He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.” According to some interpretations, the Pharisees did not dare to do this, because... they themselves were more than once clients of the unfortunate woman.
• The Pharisee from the famous parable of the Pharisee and the Publican. With a wick: he, unlike those described above, is not a covetous man, not a cannibal, not a hypocrite, and still honestly has his reward for righteousness (in retellings they often forget the final phrase of the parable: “one went away more justified than the other,” and not at all “one left acquitted, but the second one did not”). But for arrogance with his “goodness” and especially for the fact that right in the temple he humiliated the tax collector who was praying there, Christ harshly condemns him.

Literature[edit]

• F. M. Dostoevsky, “The Brothers Karamazov”. The Grand Inquisitor, whose legend Ivan tells Alyosha, does not hesitate to express his credo to Christ himself: “The people do not need you with your ideals and the Kingdom of Heaven! These nonentities need us, based on Miracle, Mystery and Authority. We decide for them what is good and what is bad, allowing them not to experience pangs of conscience. It’s better for them.”
• Mark Twain, novel “Personal Memoirs of Joan of Arc by Sir Louis de Comte, Her Page and Secretary.” Bishop Cauchon and members of the church court (all, without exception, French), in the name of the church, sentenced Jeanne to the stake for the fact that, with the help of God, she liberated their people from the English. Of course, based on real events.
• Alexander Belyaev, historical fantasy “The Last Man from Atlantis.” The priests of Atlantis are seriously advanced in science and are well aware that no gods exist. This is the greatest secret of their order, which is revealed only to initiates. The rest, including kings, are taught that the gods are angry, and the priests express their will.
• Gleb Pomyalovsky, “Essays on the Bursa”. In the capital's theological school, which supplies pastors to churches throughout Russia, the conditions are worse than barracks. “It [the Russian cultural society] learned with horror that in St. Petersburg, the center of cultural life, there exists a school known until now only from the good-natured description of Gogol and Narezhny, and that in this school things are happening that are striking in their aimless and inhuman cruelty” (“Russian biographical dictionary").
• Nikolai Leskov, “Soborians”. A group of righteous clerics of the city of Stargorod are opposed by soulless religious officials from the “consistory”.
• Franz Werfel, "Song of Bernadette" (1941) about the famous appearance of the Virgin Mary in Lourdes to the peasant girl Bernadette Soubirous (1848). Nun Vozu, Dean Peramal, Bishop Bertrand and other clerics involved in the investigation of the phenomenon. A couple of quotes from Bishop Bertrand: “The supernatural is poison for any institution, be it the state or the church.” “If the Lady of Massabielle... truly turns out to be the Blessed Virgin, which only Rome can finally decide, I will repent in order to ask forgiveness from the Mother of God. But until then, I, Bishop of Tarbes, see my duty in creating all the obstacles I can for her.” On the other hand, Christianity directly instructs not to believe in miracles headlong, but to test “what kind of spirit they are,” so those investigating are just doing their job.

• Alexander Rudazov, “Kriabal” - vidam (deputy bishop) Drekosius. He doesn’t believe in gods at all, he became a priest because the job was not dusty, and he chose the head of the gods, Cosmodan, as the most important and influential, although in fact, if he actually reveres anyone, it’s Lugerbetz, the god of gluttony - he makes numerous sacrifices, intensively eating. In general, he prefers to pray to Yakulyanga, the Star Dragon - he is not particularly popular among people, so Drekosius hopes to stand out from all the snake people and swamp inhabitants. Among other things, Drekosius is lustful, insidious, cunning and is able to talk anyone out of it. However, there is little harm from him - his immediate superior, Bishop Suim, is much more dangerous - he is a fanatic and an ascetic, and demands the same from everyone else. Belonging to the trope is doubtful, because Father Drekozius, for all his merits, is extremely lenient towards the weaknesses of his flock, at most he will read a toothless notation, or even join in.

• Egor Chekrygin, “The Moron Chronicles” - the protagonist, being caught in the Bronze Age, manipulates primitive people and promotes progress, portraying a shaman and referring to the will of the spirits.
• Boris Akunin, “Special Assignments.” Acting State Councilor Eropkin (parvenu, who received an order for charity). An exceptionally disgusting person, but very religious and superstitious, a faithful parishioner, fasts, prays earnestly, etc.

Cinema[edit]

• “The Man from Capuchin Boulevard”: “A fiend of debauchery and vice—that’s what this cinematograph of yours is!” the pastor shouted to the gullible parishioners (oh, in vain). But he couldn’t eat, because he wanted to force the beautiful dancer into bed, and in the end he tried to do it by force. By the way, illiterate and rude cowboys respected a woman’s right to choose a partner. This is generally a typical image of a cleric in Soviet adventure cinema - the shamans in “The Land of Sannikov” and “Hearts of Three” are approximately the same (in the second film, as in the above-mentioned film about the cinematography, the clergyman was played by Igor Kvasha).

TV series[edit]

• The Vatican in Paolo Sorrentino’s series “The Young Pope” and “The New Pope” is also a hotbed of pharisaism.
• The series “Sword” - in the first part the subject is Major Egorov and, perhaps, Tatyana Demina. Both are chasing the Sword, completely ignoring all the darkness and horror that is happening in their own department, almost before their very eyes. And considering that the police department is a rather cramped sandbox, where everyone knows everything about everyone (which Dyomina highlighted in the second episode), then there are hardly any. In the second part - Colonel Sintsov, a hundred pounds, who knows even more about this darkness, but... the letter of the law, this is sacred!

Video games[edit]

• Metro Exodus is the father of Silantius, who created the cult of electric fighters. It is highlighted that in fact he is an inveterate atheist of the Soviet school and a smart electrician.

Real life[edit]

• The phenomenon is as old as the priestly class, and much older than all religions relevant today.

Who are the Pharisees

Pharisees were supporters of a significant and influential Jewish movement, who considered the goal of human life to be a clear and detailed fulfillment of the law prescribed in the Torah. In everyday life, this resulted in petty, external and formal fulfillment of the commandments. The Pharisees literally knew by heart and scrupulously followed even the smallest instructions of the Torah point by point.

The Pharisees received the most reproof from Jesus Christ

This fixation solely on form led to an almost complete loss of inner meaning. The law was perceived as a clear guide to practical action, while the spiritual aspects of the doctrine were completely ignored.

The Sabbath was especially revered by the Pharisees. Absolutely no work was done on this day, so even Christ, who healed the sick, came under condemnation for breaking the Sabbath. It turns out that even doing good deeds was condemned under the plausible pretext of observing the commandment to honor the Sabbath.

Cult #Icount

How often do we look at the external manifestations of other people’s lives and consider ourselves entitled to teach them, without knowing anything about their lives, without knowing the path they have traveled, without feeling their pain and losses, without thinking about their environment, situation, society, in which they were raised and formed as individuals. It seems to us necessary to open a person’s eyes, teach him the truth or try to defend this truth, inform others that this person lives incorrectly, unrighteously, unworthy, so that others do not take his example. But at the same time, we forget that each person has his own unique path. We look at the correspondence of other people's actions and words to our usual patterns, but we do not see what made a person what he is now. Nor can we see what it will be like in 5, 10, 15 years. We do not want to accept that his words or actions are the result of a difficult life journey that may have included pain, loss, fear, rejection or loneliness.

“Christ looked for the good in every person, but we look for the evil. Christ looked for good in people, wanting to justify them, but we look for evil in order to condemn them. It was painful for Christ to talk about the sins of others, but for us it is pleasant. Christ turned sinners into righteous people with his words, and we turn sinners into even greater sinners with words. Christ saved people, but we are destroying them. This is the difference. But we too can be like Christ.”

(St. Nicholas of Serbia)

Judicial ambitions

If we try to reason with someone, but that someone persists in his unwillingness to accept the truth, we look for ways to influence him differently, trying to “do good.” Shame, and if it doesn’t work, intimidate with hell and fiery Gehenna. But one important detail eludes us: the relationship between a person and God is their personal matter. We, not knowing the underbelly of a particular person’s life, try to make a spiritual diagnosis for him, lay out before him the consequences of his horrific choice - and judge the person even before the Last Judgment. We are robbing God of His right to administer justice.

“A certain Holy Father once said: “If I go to heaven, I will be surprised three times: I will not see in heaven those whom I thought I would see there. I will see people in heaven whom I did not expect to see there. And finally, I will be surprised if I save myself!” Archimandrite Raphael (Karelin)

Thus, a Pharisee is far from being a stupid, ignorant person or a villain, but one who cannot give up his prejudices, who treats others and God formally, who has a high opinion of himself and does not see the extent of his fall.

Is there an antidote to this spiritual condition? What should we do if we discover these traits in ourselves? We need to understand: there is no clear consistent scheme, no magic pill that will act and work for us. If the purpose of the law was to, through its denunciations and instructions of sins, arouse in people the desire to seek the One who gives forgiveness and justifies by faith - Christ, then we need one thing: to make the law a springboard, starting from which we can come to the Living God . Come here and now. After all, our goal is to strive for the One who sees us from the inside, to tirelessly seek Him, to trust Him and learn from Him to look at the world through the eyes of love.

And for this, it is very important for us to remember that “we do not become different people simply by being baptized in the Church, being anointed with Chrismation, confessing and receiving communion. This is a long path that lasts our entire lives, on which God and man tirelessly move towards each other. Man is called to overcome his weaknesses and distortions, approaching the Lord as a source of endless light, a dazzling and terrible fire, which, on the one hand, can burn, and on the other, can melt. Let us think about the words of the apostle: It is terrible to fall into the hands of the living God! (Heb. 10:31). This means: it’s scary to be in his arms, it’s scary precisely because only the fire itself can avoid being burned in the fire” (Archpriest Alexei Uminsky).

AUTHOR: Elena Gurkina @gurckina.elena