SECTION III. ABOUT GOD THE SAVIOR AND HIS SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP TO THE HUMAN RACE

The Fall and its consequences for humans

The first questions in this series are “where are we?” and “who are we?” Any creed must necessarily answer them. (We discussed how the kerygma of the Church answers them at our conference last year and yesterday, on the first day of this conference1.)

The next question from this fundamental series is the question “why is everything wrong?” It is impossible not to answer it, it is impossible to step over it, otherwise there will be complete paralysis of consciousness or mental illness. Therefore, every person necessarily accepts through faith some teaching about evil, sin, death, this world and the world of God (or the lack thereof), and also - inevitably - preaches it with his own words and actions. As a result, the revelation about the Fall, about the birth of evil and sin, is just as important as the revelation about the creation of the world, life and man, and the kerygma of the Church necessarily contains it.

As a rule, for one’s faith and beliefs in the area of ​​​​the question “why is everything wrong?” a person is determined to fight, and not just disagree with other opinions. Therefore, this topic is especially difficult for the catechist: here the phenomenon of interference manifests itself especially clearly.

Let me remind you that the term “interference” (from the Latin inter – “between each other”, “mutually” and ferio – “touch”, “hit”) is used in physics, biology, philology and psychology. In our opinion, it can also be used in the practice of catechesis, when it comes to the imposition and collision of meanings related to central existential questions in the mind and heart of the catechumen. The concept of interference explains the phenomenon of mutual enhancement and mutual extinction in the perception of meanings, as well as the existence of “zones” of deafness. The latter is the most difficult for the catechist, since in these places the catechumen’s complete confidence in the correctness of his faith and well-being leads to a complete absence of internal questions.

I. Preconditions (prerequisites) for the Fall

One of the most difficult and unexpected questions for catechumens is the existence in the world created by God of preconditions or prerequisites for the birth of evil and sin. Discussion of this topic is accompanied by particularly terrible deafness (blocking) or conflict on their part. But it must be said right away: if this deafness or conflict is not overcome or resolved, then understanding what evil and sin are, what the Fall is in a Christian-Biblical vein, will simply be impossible.

There are only two specified prerequisites: one is contained in the very principle of creation (the world, life and man), the other - in particular, who is a person. (That’s why the quality of the previous topics on the creation of the world and man is so important at the main stage!)

The essence of the first: the very creation of the world and man carries within itself their fundamental imperfection, which can be reduced, but can never be reduced to zero; Thus, to claim that the world and man before the Fall or ever were (will be) perfect means to contradict the revelation about God as Creator and about the world as creation, equating them, because for God perfection is always relevant for the world and man – always only potentially. Therefore, there has always been and will be an element of chaos in space; the spirit of chaos is the potential energy of evil.

The essence of the second follows from the complete anthropocentricity of creation: man and only man is the crown of creation; only he was created in the image and likeness of God, has a real gift of spiritual freedom, the only ruler of the whole world (the world in a sense is the human body), therefore only with him the Prehistoric covenant is concluded, therefore only he could actualize (give birth to) evil and commit sin.

The deafness and conflict that arises here among those announced can be expressed, among other things, in the form of the following common statement: “But there were no prerequisites! What preconditions could there have been in the primordial world and man? God created both the world and man “very well”!” And they will also add: “Why are you blaspheming?”

The reasons for failure to assimilate and deafness are, as a rule, the following circumstances:

a) the revelation of creativity and freedom contained in the kerygma of the Church (the 1st and 2nd prerequisites, respectively, proceed from them) are incompatible for pagan consciousness, the inertia of which is largely still carried within the enlightened; the knowledge of creativity and freedom is always the fruit of a person’s real faith and the action of the Spirit;

b) the experience of slavery to sin and evil, that is, their violent and crushing power, which every fallen person has;

c) “stuffed” with pagan (here actually blasphemous) teachings that try to comprehend this experience of slavery and at the same time justify it.

Here are the most common of these teachings.

1. “God and Satan (evil and sin) are equal and eternal principles,” i.e. dualism.
2. “God created the evil principle,” because everything is from God (usually in this view, evil is interpreted as a necessity for development and improvement; the source of evil, its substance in this case becomes: matter, money, power, marriage, sex, vodka, drugs, computer, barcode, etc.).
3. “God provoked the birth of evil and the commission of sin, everything was predetermined” (as a “transfer” – mediating – link here, as a rule, Satan acts, who plays the role of God’s “watchdog” and who, without His will and “has no control over the pigs.” power" (in the spirit of this idea, the Gospel story about the healing of a demoniac is concluded that God is the "culprit" of any demon, He "allows" it, which means He authorizes it, and, therefore, participates).

Thus, to accept the preconditions for the birth and existence of evil and sin in the primordial world means for the catechumen to break through his fallen experience to divine revelation. And this is always the fruit of the Spirit and faith.

II. The "process" of the Fall

There are several important things that we must acknowledge and even affirm when it comes to the “process” of the Fall. Almost all of them are contained in the quotation we all know from James 1:13–16:

When tempted, let no one say: God is tempting me. For God is inaccessible to the temptation of evil and He Himself does not tempt anyone. But everyone is tempted, carried away and deceived by his own lust. Then lust, having conceived, gives birth to sin, and sin, being committed, gives birth to death. Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers.

In our opinion, this quote is key to the question of the “process” of the Fall.

It is key because it is a conclusion, a generalization of the data of revelation and spiritual practice. Behind it, as far as we can judge, there is an analysis of a whole series of actual falls, starting with the fall of the forefather Adam (Gen. 3; see also, for example: Exodus 32, 1 Kings 15, 2 Kings 11, Matthew 26:69–75, John 12:4–6 and 13:26–29), which never took place, primarily the New Adam, our Lord Jesus Christ (see, for example: Matthew 4:1–11, Mark 8:33, John 14: 30 and chapters of the cross in all gospels).

First and most important: God did not create evil and death (Wis. 1:13), He Himself is not tempted by evil and does not tempt anyone! This is a war against all paganism in the soul of the catechumen at once...

Second: everyone is tempted by their own lust!

We all, of course, know the words of Christ: “He [the devil – V. Ya.] was a murderer from the beginning and did not stand in the truth, for there is no truth in him” (John 8:44). However, a person cannot “blame” on the devil the responsibility for the emergence of lust (evil) in the heart of Adam’s wife, who saw the tree of knowledge in the center of Paradise instead of the tree of life, and then in Adam himself, who saw his wife in the center and showed evil (lustful) obedience to her. The Devil was a murderer from the beginning, but in order for the Fall to occur, first of all Adam’s wife had to become suicides in spirit, and then, ultimately, Adam himself, with whom the Covenant was directly concluded and to whom the commandment was directly given. This is why Scripture states that “through one man sin entered into the world, and death entered through sin, and thereby death spread to all men, because all sinned in him” (Rom. 5:12). That is why God asks only Adam and his wife about what happened (Gen. 3:11-13).

Particular attention should be paid to one of the most pressing questions for the catechumens: where, in principle, can our own lust or evil come from within us? Where does it come from in Adam's wife, in Adam himself? Indeed, in this case, what is especially interesting, they cannot be “blamed” on the fallen nature of man. And here, as far as we know, church tradition gives us only one way to answer. It was briefly expressed by St. John Chrysostom in the following words: “So, where does evil come from? Ask yourself. Isn't it obvious that it is the result of your freedom and your will? Undoubtedly, and no one will argue otherwise.”2 Saints Cyril of Jerusalem and Gregory of Nyssa also insist on this approach. “What is sin? - writes St. Kirill. – Is it an animal, an angel, an evil spirit? <…> This is not an enemy attacking you from without, but a worthless branch vegetating out of you”3. St. Gregory of Nyssa also writes: “Evil arises somehow inside, composed of free will, when there is some removal of the soul from the good”4.

Yes, the answer to this question can only be known by asking yourself, looking within yourself, while also studying the teaching (1 Tim. 4:16). This is generally a kind of key to the entire main stage. The main thing is that catechumens, enlightened by their conscience, learn to “recognize” the “trigger mechanism” for the emergence of evil.

In one case, it is enough to point out that the birth of evil (lust) is associated with the actualization of two prerequisites that we talked about above. They could only be actualized together: the serpent could speak only when a person appeared. The central theme here is the real gift of spiritual freedom to man.

In another case, which is more often, more detail is required. There is a request to characterize the initial “chemical composition” of the born evil. And here, as we know, there are many patristic options: disobedience (Blessed Augustine), pride (St. John Climacus, St. Simeon the New Theologian), self-love (St. John of Damascus), fear of death or self-pity (St. Maximus the Confessor , St. Theophan the Recluse). The Holy Scripture itself says that through a shift in spiritual focus from the tree of life, which was originally in the center, to the tree of knowledge (see Gen. 3:3), that is, from God to oneself, communion with the “turning inside out” power occurs , making a “dislocation” of the two main spiritual qualities of a person - creativity and reverence (fear of offending something sacred) - reflected in the two commandments of the Prehistoric Testament (Genesis 2:15–17 “...to cultivate and keep...” and “... from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil eat from him..."). With this inversion, creativity turns into lust, and reverence turns into fear for oneself, fear of death (nudity). And if earlier reverence inspired creativity, setting its boundaries, and all together gave the fruit of freedom, now lust is spurred on by the fear of death, and the fear of death is intensified by lust, and all together is a trap: the stronger the torment, and “... in fear there is torment” (1 John 4:18), the more you “flounder,” wanting to slip out, but the deeper you get stuck. Until now, there are two modes of temptation by evil: self-willed creativity and fear.

Now the rule has been launched: “What the wicked fears will befall him...” (Proverbs 10:24) or “Whoever guards his life will lose it...” (Luke 17:33).

And the last thing in this section: evil (lust) gives birth to sin (James 1:15). Sin is breaking a commandment, unfaithfulness, lawlessness (1 John 3:4). The fact that it is not primarily an act of will, but a fruit of the spirit is a surprise to many. Yes, there is an element of will in sin, but the will itself is always imbued with some kind of spirit. Sin is inevitable when evil operates. Therefore, everyone who commits sin is already a slave of sin (see John 8:34). Overcoming a flat ethical attitude towards sin as an act of will is not an easy task. But it is necessary to help solve it, otherwise future Christians will not have weapons to fight it. And the key is one thing: in order to avoid sin, you need to get away from evil. (In particular, we note that a flat ethical attitude towards sin contributes to the justification of oneself and the condemnation of others. And this is understandable. After all, a person almost always does not want to sin (especially at first; this is disgusting, in general, even after long practice), but in committing a sin within oneself one always experiences some kind of violence (in case of resistance) or inevitability. This experience helps to justify oneself. At the same time, claims against others grow.)

III. Consequences of the Fall

The consequences of the Fall are catastrophic: a general infestation of evil and sin (“the world lies in evil” (1 John 5:19); “there is no man who does not sin” (1 Kings 8:46)). The main thing: we do not live exactly in the world that the Lord created; and in practice we are dealing with a person who is not at all the one who was originally meant (except for Christ). We now need additional definitions: fallen world, fallen man. Now it is not “everything is from God”, not “everything is for the better”, not “everything is the will of God” in this world. Man was created by the mind and conscience of the world, but now he cannot be one. The first consequence: no reason, no conscience, no power in this world. There are only their sporadic manifestations. Evil and chaos have triumphed. This is manifested in the fact that reason and conscience in this world, in military terms, now do only what they can, and evil and chaos do what they want. There was and is only one exception in history - Christ and His faithful, born-again disciples.

When we raised the question of the origin (creation) of man at our conference, we thought it would be useful to turn to modern evolutionary biology. And it was very interesting for us. Of course, biology will not tell us anything about the Fall, since this is an existential event. But can modern psychology and psychotherapy say anything about the Fall or its consequences? (We will not discuss their contradictory development over the past century and a half.) Especially if you pay attention to the now sufficiently developed existential psychotherapy. Through her own research5, she proves that every person carries within himself shame and horror from the unresolvedness of a number of issues, namely: his own finitude, loneliness, lack of freedom and lack of meaning. Seeing oneself in the context of these dead-end questions is unbearable for a person, so he is forced to constantly anesthetize this constant torment - to put up “defenses” - with the help of false hopes. The “nakedness” of existence, the illusory nature of consciousness and action (the constant attempt to hide and protect ourselves with “fig leaves”) is the first and constant consequence of the Fall.

The main consequence of the Fall is death. “…Sin, when committed, brings forth death” (James 1:15). The fallen world is “a land and the shadow of death” (Matthew 4:16). “Death and time reign on earth...” V. Soloviev.

“Death is nothing more than separation from God...” (St. Maximus the Confessor).

Separation from God leads to decay, split, decomposition of the simple (consistent) and beautiful into the complex and ugly.

In addition, death also has its own “spiritual filling”: just as sin is associated with evil, so death is associated with alienation (or mutual repulsion) and emptiness. And this is perhaps the most painful thing about her. Death is both a process and a state. She is the content of hell.

The picture of death is terrifying.

It passes inside a person: a person hides from God, an irrational force of repulsion from Him has appeared (Genesis 3:8). God is now an object for him. Stranger.

It also passed between people: the wife is now not flesh of flesh and bone of bones, but “she.” She is also an object (v. 12). Alien.

She passed between people and the world. The woman blames everything on the serpent that the Lord created (v. 13).

The world is now “without a head”: it will produce thorns and thistles for you (v. 18).

There are also a number of consequences of the Fall that are secondary and tertiary in nature.

“Secondary” consequences of the Fall (Genesis 3).

1. The snake is punished by itself, by a futile struggle.
2. The wife is punished by her husband's dominance.
3. The husband is punished by the rebellion of the world and especially the earth against him.
4. The earth is punished by the return of man to it.
5. Expulsion from paradise, inability to return back.

"Tertiary" consequences of the Fall.

1. The tragic split of the world and humanity.
2. The split of the world into the world of God (good and truth) and this world (evil and sin).
3. The split of humanity into:

• Cainites (“enemies of God”), which are characterized (Gen. 4–11): – fratricide (disproportion of the offense and retribution for it, as well as an increase in the “volume” of revenge from Cain to Lamech (Gen. 4:15 and 23–24), war of all against all; especially - enmity against the Abelites (Sethites): Pilate + Herod unite against Christ (Luke 23:12; see also: Matthew 23:35 “Punishment will fall on you for the blood of all the righteous shed on earth from the creation of the world : from innocent Abel..."); – idolatry and magic (worship of astral, solar, lunar and chthonic forces) = spiritual and carnal adultery + hypocrisy in relation to God; – “Tower of Babel” = godless civilizations with false hope for “progress” (“Let us make bricks out of clay and burn them in the fire,” they said to each other. And bricks replaced stone for them, and asphalt served them instead of mortar” (Gen. 11:3)): development of technology (Tubalcain, artisan blacksmith), art (Jubal, musician), agriculture (Jubal, cattle breeder) according to the legend of this world; - “global flood” = geological, environmental and anthropological disasters (including wars, repressions, etc.: destruction and self-destruction);
• Abelites (Sithites, “friends of God”). There is a clear line here (all Holy Scripture, in fact, is about this line): - Abel - Seth - Enos - Enoch; – covenant with Noah (first sacrifice); – covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; - covenant with Moses; - covenant with David; – New covenant with Jesus Christ.

Why did God allow such catastrophic changes to happen just because of one crime?

Today there are many judgments, the general meaning of which boils down to misunderstanding or even blaming God for the discrepancy between the severity of the punishment He imposed and the insignificance of the crime of the first people. It would seem, just think, that a man has tasted the forbidden fruit; Was it really worth subjecting him to such terrible punishments for this offense?

In reality, the crime was not insignificant, nor was the punishment excessively severe.

Firstly, by breaking the law “if you sin, you die” (Gen. 2:17), a person knew what he was doing.

Philosophy

The German Christian mystic Jacob Boehme, the founder of Western sophiology, writes that gender itself is already a consequence of the Fall, for a wife was created for man after his internal separation from the Jungfrau Sophia (German: Virgin Sophia); in the primordial state, man was supersexual. This Jungfrau Sophia is the abstract principle of wisdom, Spiegel der Weisheit (German: Mirror of Wisdom), and its relation to gender is established only by its name, apparently inspired by the “Book of the Wisdom of Solomon.” With this understanding of gender, the most central manifestation of sin is the evil conception from which a person is born. Jacob Boehme considers the creation of a woman from Adam’s rib as a consequence of the already accomplished Fall and the fragmentation of human nature.

Christian philosopher Nikolai Berdyaev writes that the legend of the Fall speaks of the origin of consciousness from a state of unconsciousness.

Religious philosopher Boris Vysheslavtsev writes: “To understand the meaning of the Fall and salvation, to understand the meaning of Christianity (and, in essence, of any religion) means to understand the meaning of ultimate freedom. She lifts us to the heights of absolute godlikeness in this simple and daily opportunity: to say “yes” or “no”; “let there be” or “let there not be” - in this amazing freedom of choice between creativity and destruction. For if all creativity is observance of hierarchy, then any violation and distortion of hierarchy is the opposite of creativity, that is, destruction.

Exodus

Exodus
The restoration of the Israelites took place in a miraculous manner. What happened the day after Easter?

When Israel made the exodus, God brought them out with silver and gold. That is, they were rich and there was no sick person in their knees, there was no weak one. The first thing that needs to be healed is the feet, because the end awaits them, they will walk into the desert. One night will change everything.

The night before the exodus

God told the Israelites to kill a lamb, and the lamb had to be young.

The lamb had to stay in the house for four days and the children would play with it. And when the children had already become attached to the lamb, the father had to kill it. And through this a person can feel at least a little how difficult it was for the Father to send His Son to death.

When you eat communion, get ready

(Exodus 12:9) Do not eat it half baked, or boiled in water, but eat it baked over the fire, head with legs and entrails.

Blood should have been smeared on the doorposts on the left, right and top.

The blood must be shed and then the doorposts must be anointed in the shape of a cross.

We are talking about the Lamb who shed Blood. Blood means that the angel of death comes and his eyes are like the eyes of a judge to bring punishment. There was sin, and for their sin there was a sign on the doorposts that the price had been paid.

half baked lamb

Eat with faith. During communion, eat and imagine that you are eating the exact part of your body that you need healing. Don't just eat bread—it's His body.

Do you need liver healing? Eat and imagine that you are eating a lamb's liver or legs. What about the head? We taste His mind. This is how recovery happens.

A couple from Emmaus (Cleopas) - they ate the bread and suddenly recognized Him. In an instant they saw the light. The more you partake, the more you acquire His mind.

So when you tell your friends about the grace and beauty of Jesus, they don't understand you.

Why don't they understand what we understand?

Because this understanding was revealed to us. We have accepted His grace. If it were not so, we would be looking for vanity of vanities. But we must look for the King of kings, because we must find Him first of all.

If we take the translation from Hebrew, they ate not only the head, but also the entire entrails of the lamb.

(Exodus 12:11) Eat it this way: let your loins be girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staffs in your hands, and eat it with haste: this is the Passover of the Lord.

For what?

To accomplish the exodus, prepare for physical deliverance—healing. Recovery will begin.

Note!

Often when people take the sacrament they do not expect physical healing from God.

And the very next day they completed the exodus and they did not have a single sick person, they did not stagger, they did not stumble. One night changes everything.

Important!

When you approach the Lord's table, do not be deceived by its simplicity. It may be simple, but it is powerful. There is something about the sacrament that will allow your eyes to open and then everything in your life that was taken away by the Fall will be restored.

(John 6:56) He who eats My Flesh (bread) and drinks My Blood (wine) abides in Me, and I in him.

Participle

(Genesis 14:18) And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. He was a priest of the Most High God.

Melchizedek and Abraham

This is communion, the greatest blessing.

Some Christians emphasize the life of Jesus, but they do not believe in His divinity.

Bread - His body was broken for sin so that your body could be whole and healthy.

Wine - His Blood was shed to take away the sins from your life.

Restoration through the breaking of bread

(Luke 24:29) But they restrained Him, saying: Stay with us, because the day has already come to evening. And He went in and stayed with them. And as He reclined with them, He took the bread, blessed it, broke it, and gave it to them.

Jesus breaks bread

The guest has become the host.

1. He was reclining.
2. I took the bread.
3. Blessed.
4. Broke it.
5. Gave it to them.

Five is the number of grace. Jesus showed grace by giving them the sacrament.