Why are there two accounts of the creation of man in the Bible?

Filaret Drozdov, in his interpretation of the book of Genesis, pays great attention to the history of the creation of man, analyzing the world before the creation of the first man and the process of creation itself. Also, great attention is paid to the description of the first residence of man - the Garden of Eden. The author did not ignore the story of the creation of a wife and the establishment of marriage.

The story of creation is described in the second chapter of the book of Genesis, verses 4 – 25.

Also on the site:

A look at the creation of the world before the creation of man

2.4. These are the creatures of the heavens and the earth, at the time of their creation, at the time when the Lord God created the heavens and the earth,

2.5. and every bush of the field that was not on the earth before, and every herb of the field that did not grow before; for the Lord God sent no rain upon the earth, and there was no man to till the field,

2.6. but steam rose from the earth to water the entire face of the earth.

Having decided to describe the origin of man, the narrator again touches on the origin of the world in order to show the totality of both and in order to present the creation of the world as a preparation for the creation of man.

Words: these are the products of heaven and earth at their creation, etc. constitute the inscription of the subsequent legend about the decoration of the earth and about the human race in particular (Gen. V. 1. VI. 9. X. 1) .

Explaining the concept of the creation of heaven and earth, the narrator says that they begin, according to the Hebrew expression, from the day, that is, from the time of creation, for the Jews accept the day in the most extensive sign for some known time (Isa. II. 12. 17. 20) .

In order to distinguish the initial generation of things, accomplished by creative power, from their birth according to the laws of nature, he mentions, as an example, the creation of plants, completely new on earth, without the assistance of rain and human hands (5).

He adds that steam rose from the ground (6). Apparently, this describes the first state of the land, barely freed from the waters that covered and penetrated it. But some of these words, in connection with the previous ones, are taken in a negative sense, just as this is done out of necessity in the words of Psalm IX. 19: the beggar will not be completely forgotten, the patience of the poor will perish (in connection with the previous expression it should be understood: it will not perish forever).

It is worthy of note that in the introduction to the story of man, for the first time in Holy Scripture the majestic name הוהי Jehovah, that is, He or the Existent, is established in conjunction with the previously used name םיהלא Elohim God. Perhaps the narrator’s intention was to convey through this especially that God, the Creator of the world and man, is the same one who revealed himself to Israel as the Realizer of gracious promises (Ex. III. 15) .

Some of the newest scholars of the sacred books notice something completely different here. Having noticed that up to this point in the book of Genesis the name Elohim was constantly used in it, and from now on until the end of Chapter III, Jehovah, Elohim, is used, they conclude from this that this part of the book was written by a completely different writer. But in this very part one Elohim is also used (III. 3, 5). Which of the two supposed writers wrote these verses? Even in one verse it is written first Jehovah Elohim, and then Elohim (III. 1). So, is this one verse really written by two writers? In chapter IV, one thing, Jehovah, is used repeatedly. Is a third writer really needed for this? Chapter V begins with an inscription exactly like the present one, except that it says Elohim. How many more different writers must be invented to explain this difference in words? However, the learned defenders of this bold guess themselves sufficiently protect us from the difficulty of competing with them, when one (Eichhorn) of this part of the book of Genesis, in comparison with the previous one, prescribes a superior antiquity, according to its style, unprocessed and unlearned; and the other (Heinrichs) finds here more refinement in the syllable and more signs of learning.

Bethesda.

VIFESDA

Beit Hasda (Hebrew and Aramaic). Bethesda, i.e. house of mercy, a pool at the Sheep Gate in Jerusalem with five covered passages for the sick. From time to time an Angel descended into it and disturbed the water, and the first sick person who entered the water after its disturbance recovered, no matter what disease he was possessed by. Here Christ healed a sick man who had been sick for 38 years (John 5:2-9).

HERODIANS

Probably close to the Sadducees, supporters of Herod Antipas. Politically, they were on the side of the Romans (as opposed to the Pharisees); but when the question of handing Jesus over to the authorities was raised, they united with the Pharisees (Matt. 22:16; Mark. 3:6; 8:15; 12:13).

SATURDAY

Heb. "Sabbath" Saturday, i.e. rest Gen. 2:2-3: “And God finished His work that He had done on the seventh day, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work that He had done, and God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, for on it He rested. from all His works, which God created and created.” Evidence of the observance of the Sabbath before the passing of the law is found in the numbering of weeks (Gen. 29:27), as well as in the instruction to collect manna in double measure on the day before the Sabbath (Ex. 16:5,22). “See, the Lord has given you the Sabbath; therefore He gives you two days’ worth of bread on the sixth day: each one shall remain in his own place; no one shall go out from his place on the seventh day” (Ex. 16:29). Then the Sabbath was again enshrined in the memory of the people in Zion: they were supposed to work for six days and rest on the seventh day, for in six days the Lord created heaven and earth and rested on the seventh (Ex. 20:8). “...keep the Sabbath, for it is holy to you: whoever defiles it shall be put to death... This is a sign between Me and the children of Israel forever...” (Ex. 31:14,17). In Deuteronomy 5:12-15, in connection with the celebration of the Sabbath, deliverance from Egyptian slavery is also indicated: “And remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, but the Lord your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, therefore The Lord your God has commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.” The Sabbath was to be a day of rest during the times of sowing and harvest (Ex. 34:21); on the Sabbath it was forbidden to light fire in houses (Ex.35:3), it was forbidden to bake or cook (Ex.16:23), it was forbidden to carry a burden (Jer.17:21; John 5:10), to buy or sell ( Nehemiah 10:31; 13:15). In Numbers 15:32 there is a case where a man gathering wood on the Sabbath was stoned. This day was supposed to be different from all the others. The Lord promises abundant blessings to those who keep the Sabbath (Isa. 58:13). Breaking the Sabbath was a sin against which the prophets vehemently rebelled (Jer. 17:21; Eze. 20:12; 22:26). Nehemiah was especially zealous about keeping the Sabbath (Nehemiah 13:15). Over time, Pharisaism brought the outward celebration of the Sabbath to such an extreme that it forbade even doing good on the Sabbath. So the Jews at the time of Christ were known even to the pagans for their observance of the Sabbath. Christ rebelled against such sabbathism as the Lord of the Sabbath (Matt. 12:1; Luke 13:14; John 7:21; Luke 14:3). When the Jews attacked Him as a Sabbath breaker, He answered them: “... My Father works until now, and I work” (John 5:17). Finally, by His death and resurrection, Christ destroyed the literal Sabbath of the law (Col. 2:14-16). Some of the early Christians continued to distinguish the days according to Jewish institutions (Rom. 14:5). But already in apostolic times, Christians gathered “on the first day of the week,” or on Sunday (Acts 20:7; 1 Cor.16:2). Revelation 1:10 says that John was in the spirit on the day of the Lord (Greek text), i.e. on Sunday. This day is named so in memory of the Resurrection of Christ from the dead. There is very ancient evidence about the celebration of Sunday by the early Christians: Pliny the Younger, governor of Bithynia, at the end of the first century, in his report to Emperor Trajan, reports that “Christians are in the habit of gathering on a certain day before sunrise to sing songs to Christ as God, and oblige myself with a solemn oath not to commit any untruth.” This custom was so well known that the usual question asked of a suspected Christian was: “Do you keep the Lord’s day?” To this they answered: “I am a Christian and I cannot help but worry about this.” Justin Martyr tells us that “on the day of the Lord all Christians in cities or villages gather together; for this day is the day of the resurrection of the Lord; then we read the Holy Scripture, after which the presbyter makes a speech to those gathered, convincing them to fulfill what they heard. Then we all unite in prayer and perform the sacrament, at the end of which those who wish to donate at their discretion; the collected funds are transferred to the manager, who distributes assistance to orphans, widows and other needy Christians, according to the degree of their need.”

Image of the creation of man

2.7 The Lord God created man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul.

The image of the creation of man shows in him the most excellent and closest creation to God. It is not produced by a single action, but by gradual formation, just as light is first created and then the luminaries are formed. The Creator of the world does everything with one word; The Creator of man appears to be first speaking within Himself, then acting, and finally introducing His breath into man.

The idea of ​​some that the one acting in this case was the Son of God in the form of a man is a guess that does not serve either the clarity or the reliability of the legend of Moses. The Council of God (1.26) assigns the creation of man to the Holy Trinity, and does not leave this action to Her single person.

The narrator uses special features to describe the creation of body and soul.

For the external part of man, the substance is taken from the earth, which he must possess, so that he has direct knowledge of the properties of the things subordinate to him and the closest relation to the area of ​​his dominion. And since this substance, formed, so to speak, by the Creator’s own hands, was, without a doubt, the purest, most perfect and, consequently, the strongest, the power with which primitive man could act in the visible world through it must have been as great as the weakness that is now great, which keeps a damaged person under the influence of the closest and most distant creatures of this world.

But the first degree from which the formation of such a powerful creature begins is dust, and its Creator in everyday life is presented in the image of a poor man. This, according to the explanation made by Jeremiah to the Prophet (XVIII. 2–6), signifies the power of the Creator and the insignificance of the creature, no matter how great it may seem. The thought of being born from dust should be an inexhaustible source of humility for a person on earth and in heaven.

God does not breathe the soul into a person in such a way that, therefore, it can in the proper sense be called with the pagans divinae particulam aurae, a particle of God's breath, for the living human soul is far different from God's life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. XV. 4) . This inspiration shows only the beginning of its existence and a way of being different from those souls who were previously created by the Word of God.

Creative inspiration relates primarily to the human face, as the seat of the instruments of feeling and the mirror of the soul.

The soul from the first visible action, which testifies to its presence, is called breath and, according to the exact translation of the Hebrew expression, the breath of lives; for man truly combines within himself the life of plants, animals and Angels, temporary and eternal life, life in the image of the world and in the image of God.

With all this, man became a living soul, that is, after the union of the soul with the body, he became a single being, in outer life belonging to the circle of animals.

Creation of Adam. Fresco by Michelangelo, 1510

Chapter three. Creation of man

Holy Scripture reveals to us the mysterious teaching about man as the image and likeness of God.

And
God said: Let us make man in our image, after our likeness... And God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him
(Gen. 1:26-27).

The words of God in v. 26th Synod. the translation is inaccurate. It would be more correct like this: And
God said: Let us create
[“naase”]
man in
[ב – preposition “in”]
Our image as
[כ – preposition “as”]
Our likeness.
Translation LXX: ίωσιν…

What is the relationship between the image and likeness of God in man?

The holy fathers and theologians have said a lot about this. In some ways their opinions are similar, in others they differ. Sometimes, the same author presents different and even divergent thoughts in different places.

בצלמנו כדמותנו (be-tsalmen ki-dmutein) in Our image as Our likeness

.

Image and likeness are signified in Hebrew by the words “tzelem” and “dmut.” Modern exegetes and textual critics more often note the identity of these two concepts and do not believe there is a difference between them. In Our image, as Our likeness

– here one expression (
in Our image
) is complemented and strengthened by another (
as Our likeness
), without carrying different content.
So, this was already pointed out by St. Philaret of Moscow: “ The image and likeness of God does not need to be explained as two different things: since in the word of God one of these names is often used in the same force as both together, Gen.
1:26–27; 5:1; 9:6; Jacob 3:9; Col. 3:10 ".
At the same time, St. Filaret notes, however, the fundamental meaning of the first word image
(tselem): “However, the most significant of these words is:
image,
which is a similarity not accidental, but taken from the prototype”102.

But two words are two words. And even if they are sometimes used to designate the same thing, this does not eliminate their somewhat different internal content and orientation. This is also noted by modern researchers, and was deeply understood by the holy fathers in ancient times, in the biblical anthropology they revealed.

The word " tselem

", translated as
image
, is akin to these Hebrew words:

– «target

» – means
shadow, imprint, reflection
;

– «Tsemel

» –
symbol
;

– «silma

» –
dress, clothing
.

So, “tselem” is an image, a symbol, a sign, an external expression of its prototype. Seventy interpreters have well and successfully translated this with the word εικόνα (icon).

The word " dmut"

", translated as
likeness
, comes from the verb "damb", which means "
to be level
" (to be leveled), "
to be likened
", "
to resemble
". “Dmut” is related to “adam”103.

Thus, the “tselem” image is a certain predetermination, something that took place in the image of the prototype. “Dmut” is a certain potential opportunity that should be acquired, it is a word that requires action. You need to align in order to become equal, you need to become like in order to achieve similarity.

It is these shades of the words “tzelem” (image) and “dmut” (similarity) that underlie a number of arguments in biblical anthropology.

St. Gregory of Nyssa: “ the first
(κατ εικόνα - according to the image) by creation, and the last (κατ όμοίωσιν - according to the likeness) we do according to will
“104.
Man, by nature, is from birth godlike. This is a kind of assignment. But a person can distort and damage this image of God in himself, although, nevertheless, this image is indelible in him. That is, a person will always be a person, “Adam” by nature. The likeness of God is achieved in spiritual perfection, in what the Holy Fathers called the deification of human nature. It should be noted here that in the council of God it was decided: let us create (let us create man in Our image, as Our likeness). Man is determined to be both the image and likeness of God. When it is said about the fulfillment of the decision: and God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him
(v. 27), then only the image is spoken of, but not the likeness with it.
Why? The image of God was given to man by God, and man must achieve the likeness of God through spiritual perfection. The likeness of God is given only in possibility, which is either realized by man or not. If the image of God is indelible in a person, then there may be no likeness at all. A person can become like the devil and become a son of Gehenna. According to St. Gregory of Nyssa, and St. John Chrysostom believes that the image of God is given to man, and likeness is a human action: “ So likeness (it is called) is that we, as much as possible for man, become like God through meekness, humility and, in general, virtue, according to the word of Christ: be like To your Father in heaven
“105.

St. teaches similarly. Maximus the Confessor: “ In the image of God there is every rational being, but in likeness are only the good and the wise

«106.

Iconicity of the created world

In some respects, the whole world is the image of the Creator. Thus, Rabbi Berman writes: “ But the World, its contours, are the clothing of God, His imprint. And the World created by the Creator expresses Him in image. How does a person differ from the World and all creation?

“Yes, on the one hand, the whole world at all its hierarchical levels (water, earth, plants, animals, angels) reflects, to its extent, the glory of the Creator. But only man is called His image, and this is his uniqueness. St. reflects on this topic. Filaret of Moscow: “An image is something more than a “trace.” All beings show traces of the Creator, and, as it were, the back of God: the image of the face of God is found only in man.”107. Everywhere in the world are traces of the Creator, everything reflects His glory, and only in man is He Himself reflected. That is why God did not take the nature of a flower, a bird or an angel, but only became incarnate, becoming the Son of Man.

Following in the footsteps

“The student of God, who studies nature, comprehends
His invisible things
(Rom. 1:20), just as a tracker learns from his footprints about an alien invisible to him. He who looks at a person sees the image of the Face of God Himself!

Let us now move on to consider the question: What is the image of God in man?

The Holy Fathers give very varied answers to this question. This variety of answers is determined by the Divine Fullness [τό πλήρωμα τής Θεότηος], reflected in man. None of the answers provide a complete answer. St. Gregory of Nyssa speaks about it this way: “God, by His nature, is all that goodness comprehended by thought that exists in general... The perfect form of goodness [of God G.F.] consists in bringing a person from non-existence to existence and make it abundant in goods. And since the detailed list of benefits is large, it is not easy to encapsulate it in numbers. Therefore, the Word with His voice collectively designated all this, saying that man was created in the image of God. This is the same as saying that man was created by nature as a participant in all good. If God is the fullness of good, and he is His image, then the image in him is like the prototype, so as to be filled with every good.”108

St. Epiphanius of Cyprus even warns against specifying what exactly the image of God is in man: “There is no need to determine or record in which part of our nature the image of God is imprinted. But we must believe in simplicity that this image exists in man.”109

And, nevertheless, let us turn to the mind of the fathers, looking for what is possible for us to understand the image of God in man.

Spiritual and immortal being of the human soul

Animals also have a living soul. But only man has spirit. And this is regardless of the dichotomous (soul and body) or trichotomous (spirit, soul and body) approach to the human structure. Whether the spirit is substantial or the spiritual orientation of the soul is characteristic only of man.

Alexandrian Jews, such as Philo, distinguished in the biblical narrative two creations in man. Earthly man is raised from the dust, and only heavenly man is created in the image of God. That is, they saw the image of God in the human soul and only in it. The body has no relation to the image of God, for God is incorporeal. This was especially emphasized in opposition to paganism and any attempt to materialize God. St. writes about it this way. John Chrysostom: Heretics claim “Here He (God) says: in Our image,

– and as a result of this, they want to call God humanoid. But it would be extremely insane to reduce the One who has no image or form, and who is unchangeable, to a human form, and to give the incorporeal features and members (bodily).”110 St. John Chrysostom here clearly speaks of the ugliness of God, which expresses His absolute incomprehensibility, in His essence. Also, he clearly speaks about the inadmissibility of giving God a human appearance, features and members, which is clearly violated in the images on the icons of God the Father in the guise of an old man.

So does St. Demetrius of Rostov teaches: “ The image of God and the likeness is not formed in the human body, but in the soul; for God does not have a body: God is an incorporeal Spirit, and created the incorporeal soul of man, similar to Himself, autocratic, rational, immortal, shared with eternity and conjugate with flesh

"111. This statement is especially important for St. Demetrius in his opposition to the Old Believers, who noted the importance of external imitation of God (beard, etc.).

The teaching of the Alexandrian Jews about earthly and heavenly man was also reflected in St. Apostle Paul: There is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body... And just as we bore the image of earth (taken from the dust of the earth), we will also bear the image of heaven (in the image of the Lord)

(1 Cor. 15:44, 49).

The image of God in the human soul is especially revealed in its connection to eternity, to immortality. Scripture speaks about this: God created man for incorruptibility and made him the image of His eternal existence.

(Wis. 2:23). By the way, animals, having a living soul, do not have immortality. With death, their soul, which is in the blood, ceases to exist.

The beauty of the human body

Being completely free from any pagan anthropomorphism of bodily ideas about God, a number of saints saw in the human body a certain communion with the image of God. This tradition goes back to St. Irenaeus of Lyons (d. 202). St. Irenaeus of Lyons speaks about it this way: “ The perfect man is the union and union of the soul, which receives the Spirit of the Father, with the flesh, which is created in the image of God

«112.

In a similar way, St. finds the human body communion with the image of God. Gregory of Nyssa: “ Just as in this life masters give each tool a form according to need, so the best Master created our nature, as it were, as a vessel necessary for royal activity (energy), arranging it so that according to spiritual advantages, and even in physical appearance - she was such as is required for reign

"113.
And in his royal dignity over nature, St. Gregory sees the image of God in man. Next, St. Gregory describes specifically: “ The appearance of a man is straight and stretching towards the sky, and he looks up.
And this signifies his superiority and royal dignity. After all, the mere fact that of all beings only man is such, and the bodies of all others are lowered to the ground, clearly shows the difference in the dignity of those who bowed to dominion, and the power that rose above them “114. Following St. Irenaeus of Lyon and Gregory of Nyssa sees the image of God not only in the soul, but also in the body, and the great teacher of the uncreated Tabor light of St. Gregory Palamas.

The Church confesses the communion with the image of God of the human body in the self-accord of John the monk during the funeral service: “ I cry and weep, when I think about death and see our beauty lying in the tombs, created in the image of God

"115. But in the coffin lies a human body already abandoned by the soul.

And the Old Believers were in their dispute with St. Demetrius of Rostov is still right about the sin of barbering. And the fathers of the Stoglavy Cathedral, condemning barber shaving, were not anthropomorphites at all, but chastely maintained their faith in the communion of the human body with the image of God. Not in physical resemblance - let it not be! - and in the God-bearing nature of man’s bodily structure is the image of God. Don't you know

- asks St.
Apostle Paul - that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit living in you
(1 Cor. 6:19)?

Man is the image of the Son of God

At St. Fathers there is a distinction between the understood image of God and the image of God. “The image of God” is the Son of God, and “in the image of God” man was created, i.e. Man, already at his creation, is likened to the Son of God.

Even in the book of the Wisdom of Solomon, the wisdom of God is spoken of as the image of God. In addition, the hypostatic nature of Wisdom emerges quite clearly. She is a reflection of eternal light and a pure mirror of the action of God, and the image of His goodness

(Wis. 7:26). He clearly teaches about the Son of God as the image of the Holy God. Apostle Paul: This (Son of God), being the radiance of glory and the image of His (God) hypostasis... (Heb. 1:3).

St. Basil the Great: “To whom does he say: in Our image? Who else if not the Radiance of glory and the Image of His hypostasis (Heb. 1:3), Who is the image of the invisible God (Col. 1:15)? So, He speaks to His own Image, the living Image, broadcasting: I and the Father are one (John 10:30); and: seeing Me, seeing the Father (14:9). He says to him: Let us make man in our image.”116

Blazh. Augustine also discusses what is essentially. Equal to the Father, only the Son can be, only He is a pure mirror of the action of God, but in man there cannot be this fullness and purity of reflection, although he is called to it by his creation. Blazh. Augustine writes: “The words of Scripture, in which, as we read, God said: Let Us make man in Our image and likeness... express the idea that the likeness of God, in which man was created, can be taken as the Word of God Himself, i.e. the only begotten Son of God, although, on the other hand, man, of course, does not represent this very image and likeness, equal to the Father.”117

“A multifaceted and dynamic teaching about the image can be found in the writings of St. Gregory Palamas. He almost always makes a distinction between the image of God and that which is in the image of God... The image of God is only the Son of God, while man is created in the image of God, i.e. he is an image different from God, whereas the Son is an identical image.”118

To what has been said, one can also add the thought that not only the Son of God was incarnate in the image of man, but man was also created in the image of the Son of God who was to be incarnate. Those. In the creation of man, not only the cause-and-effect deterministic principle was at work, but also the teleological one. The purpose of creation determined the image of creation. The God-man is the Ω-point of creation. All creation and, first of all, man, is directed towards Christ the Omega, just as it came from Alpha Christ. Truly He is the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end (Rev. 1:8). Man, created in His image, strives towards His image119.

So the Apostle Paul says that the Lord will transform our lowly body so that it will be like His glorious body, by the power by which He acts and subdues all things to Himself.

(Phil. 3:21). The Apostle speaks of the coming likeness of our body to His glorious body, but is this coming likeness and even conformity not predetermined by the original plan to be His image?

Man is the image of the Holy Trinity

The image of God is in the strengths and abilities of the human soul.

The image of God is the Son of God. But God does not say to the Son, “Let us make man in My image,” but says: Let us make man in Our image. This means that man was created not only in the image of the Son, but also in the image of the Father. And where the Father and the Son are, there is the Holy Spirit. Thus, the holy fathers discern in man and the structure of all the powers and abilities of his soul, and indeed of his entire being, the image of the Holy Trinity. As St. said Epiphanius of Cyprus, it is difficult and, in some places, even useless to look for what exactly the image of God is imprinted in a person, because a person completely, completely reflects Him in himself. And, nevertheless, just as it is given to man not only to believe in the incomprehensible God, but also to comprehend Him in the manifestations of His hypostases and properties, so the holy fathers found in certain powers and abilities of man a particularly bright and visible imprint of the image of God and, even , specifically the Holy Trinity.

The doctrine of man as an image of the Holy Trinity is expounded by the blessed. Augustine: “The divine words: Let us create man in Our image and likeness, rather, should be accepted in the sense in which this saying would be understood not in the only [previously blessed. Augustine spoke of the “image of God” as the Son and man created in the image of the Son. - G.F.], but in the plural, precisely so that man is created in the image of not one Father, or one Son, or one Holy Spirit, but the entire Trinity”120.

St. Ambrose of Milan, Blessed. Augustine, St. John of Damascus sees the image of the Holy Trinity in man, in his memory, reason and will (or love). St. writes about it this way. Demetrius of Rostov: “ The soul is the image of God, because it has threefold power, but one nature; These are the powers of the human soul: memory, reason, will. In memory one will be like God the Father, in mind like God the Son, in will like God the Holy Spirit. And as in the Holy Trinity, even if there are three persons, there are not three Gods, but one God: in the human soul, even if there are three, there are spiritual powers, as it is said, there are not three souls, but one soul

«121.

The Holy Fathers found other triads in man:

– spirit, soul and body;

– mind, feelings and will;

– mind, word and spirit (St. Gregory Palamas).

The first reveals the whole nature of man, the second - the three powers of his soul, the third - most corresponds to the image of the Holy Trinity. From the mind the word is born and the spirit in man comes. By the way, the structure of the body is also threefold: flesh, bones and blood.

The soul gives life to the body and permeates it. The spirit permeates the soul and body and spiritualizes them. A body without a soul is a corpse. A soul without spirit is morally (spiritually) dead, bestial.

Man is called homo sapiens (reasonable man). This gives reason a distinctive property that places man above animals. But the deeper distinguishing ability is, of course, his freedom. Animals, as having a living soul, also have their own mind, their own feeling and their own will. But they have no freedom. Freedom is a property of the spirit that animals do not have, but God is Spirit (John 4:24). Human freedom gives him the opportunity to become like God, as well as the terrible possibility of distortion and even loss of the image of God in himself. But without the second, the first is impossible. It is blissful and terrifying to have freedom, this godlike gift of the Creator. Free will is considered the most important feature of the image of God in man by St. Ephraim the Syrian, St. Basil the Great, St. Gregory of Nyssa, St. John of Damascus and other fathers. Yes, St. Gregory of Nyssa, discussing the image of God in man, says: “One of all [man] needs to be free and not subject to any natural power, but to decide autocratically [as] it seems to him. Because virtue is a thing beyond one’s control and voluntary, and what is forced and forced cannot be a virtue.”122

St. Petersburg speaks similarly. Ephraim the Syrian: “And God said: Let us create man in Our image, that is, so that he may have power if he wants to obey Us”123. It is up to man to obey God or not.

The image of the Creator in man is also manifested in man’s endowment with an amazing gift - creative ability. St. Gregory Palamas notes the creative ability of man as an ability superior even to angels, for they are only ministering spirits (Heb. 1:14). God creates - “bara”. And man not only produces (yetzer) and creates (asa), which animals (for example, ants, bees, moles) do not lack, but also creates (bara)! He creates, of course, not autocratically, but in God, because he is an image, likeness, and not the Creator Himself.

So, everything that is in God is also in man, as His image.

Human aspiration

The image of God is revealed in man in his aspiration for God. The image returns to the Prototype. Man is capable of spiritual life, which animals do not have. Man has a religion. The human soul is Christian by nature, wrote Tertullian124. When a person’s faith is taken away, as, for example, during revolutions, he immediately creates a false faith. Thus, Marxism-Leninism played precisely a certain religious (or rather false-religious) role in socialist countries. But true faith, certainly, from within the person himself, returns again. It is impossible to hand it over to a museum. So blessed. Augustine, having gone through many spiritual wanderings, said: “ And yet, man, a particle of Your creation, wants to praise You... for You created us for Yourself, and our heart knows no rest until it rests in You

«125.

St. Philaret of Moscow also posits the image of God “ in the actual perfection of spiritual forces directed towards God, and from Him directly receiving impressions of truth and goodness

"126.
Likewise, Archimandrites Alypius and Isaiah in “Dogmatic Theology” note that St. Fathers “ sometimes identify the image of God with the soul’s ability to know God, partake of Divine life and be filled with the Holy Spirit
” 127.

Man is a microcosm, and, as such, the image of God

St. Philaret of Moscow also finds the image of God in man and “ in
the union of the soul with the body.
The soul in the body, like God in nature, being invisible, is present in everything, acts in it, animates it, rules it and preserves it .”

Even the ancient Greeks saw a microcosm in man, i.e. in it, as in a small being, the entire universe, the entire cosmos in all its hierarchical levels is reflected and contained. Man has dust and minerals, he has the insensible growth of hair, he is an animated animal and has a god-like spirit. True, St. Gregory of Nyssa is ironic about the Hellenic teaching about man as a microcosm, which some tried to link with the teaching about the image of God in man: “And they said that man is a small world (μικρόν... κόσμον), composed of the same elements as everyone else. But, giving praise to human nature with this loud name, they themselves did not notice that they honored man with the differences of a mosquito and a mouse... What is great in this - to honor a person with a distinctive sign (an image on a seal) and the likeness of the world? And this is when the heavens pass away, the earth changes, and all their contents pass away with them.”128 Next, St. Gregory says that the greatness of man does not lie in the likeness of a mouse or a mosquito, “ not in the likeness of the created world, but in being in the image of the nature of the Creator.”

"129.
The image of God is St. Gregory believes in “ being filled with every good.
Consequently, we have in us the idea of ​​all beauty, all virtue and wisdom, and everything that is known to be of the best “130. It is not likeness to the world, but likeness to God in man that St. exalts. Gregory of Nyssa. True, in another place in his reasoning he also finds a similarity between the image of the soul’s presence in the body and the image of God’s presence in nature. Just as the same mind of man manifests itself in different bodily actions, so the same God manifests itself in different manifestations of nature.

In this, man is like God. About this St. Gregory of Nyssa says, overthrowing the teaching of the Anomeans about the multipart nature of God: “For there is one ability (strength) - itself invested [in man. – G.F.] mind, which, manifesting itself in each of the senses, comprehends existence. He contemplates what appears through his eyes; through hearing he understands what is being said... he uses his hand for what he wants, taking or throwing it away as he judges useful... How then in God, due to the diversity of forces, does anyone see the multipartity of nature? For, creating the eye

, as the prophet says, and
planted the ear
(Ps. 93:9) with these activities imprinted human nature, as with some characteristic signs of those patterns that are in Him. For, he says, Let us create man in Our image.”131

The idea of ​​the similarity of the presence of a person’s soul in his body with the presence of God in this world is well explained by Rabbi Berman: “But the World, its contours, is the clothing of God, His imprint [“silma” (clothing), “target” (imprint) - words related to “target” (image). – G.F.]. And the World, created by the Creator, expresses Him in the image... There is a body of the World, and the World has a soul. The world soul is imprinted in the macrobody of the World [in creation – the Creator. – G.F.]. Likewise, the human body is a “tselem”, an image for the human soul. Our body, starting with the face, is a reflection on the material level of our soul. On the other hand, the human body reflects the spiritual structure of the universe. This is the honor and dignity of the human body, its meaning.”132

The Image of God in Man's Dominion in the World

The teachers of the Antiochian school, with their commitment to the literal understanding of Scripture, avoided abstract reasoning on the question of the image of God in man, adhering to the text itself.

And God said: Let us make man in Our image (and) after Our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth

(Gen. 1:26).

St. Ephraim the Syrian: “ Why are we the image of God? Moses explains this in the following words: let them have possession of the fish of the sea, and the birds of the air, and the livestock, and all the earth. Why is it that in the dominion that man has assumed over the earth and over everything on it, there is an image of God, possessing the high and the low?

«133.

St. John Chrysostom: “Having said, Let us create man in Our image and likeness, (God) did not stop there, but with subsequent words explained to us in what sense he used the word image. What does he say? - And let them have the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. So, He sets the image in dominion, and not in anything else. And, in fact, God created man as the educator of everything that exists on earth, and there is nothing on earth higher than him, but everything is under his authority.”134

The blessed one interprets in the same way. Theodoret of Cyrus.

First place of man

2:8 And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden in the east; and he placed there the man whom he had created.

2.9. And the Lord God made out of the ground every tree that was pleasant in appearance and good for food, and the tree of life in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

2.10. A river comes out of Eden and waters the garden; then it splits into four streams.

2.11. The name of the first is Fishon; it flows around all the land of Havilah, where there is gold,

2.12. and the gold of that land is the best; there is also bdellium and onyx stone.

2.13. The name of the second river is Gihon: it flows around the whole land of Cush,

2.14. The name of the third river Tigris, which flows against Assyria. The fourth river is the Euphrates.

2.15. And the Lord God took the man and set him in the Garden of Eden to cultivate and keep it.

Adam was given a garden for his stay, or, according to the usual name in our language, paradise ןג, παραδείσος. Among the Jews, this name simply means a garden ( Eccl. II. 5 ), and in the New Testament it sometimes shows a blissful state in heaven ( Luke XXIII. 42. 2 Cor. XII. 2-4. Apoc. II. 7 ). Therefore, not only on earth, even in the whole world, there is almost no place left where curiosity does not seek and gullibility does not find paradise. But instead of wandering along the crossroads of human Opinions, it is better to stop in this study on the clear instructions of the Word of God and humbly recognize the power of the Cherub, who was appointed to guard the path to the tree of life.

According to the legend of Moses, paradise must be sought on earth, for in it there are trees grown by God from the earth (9), animals and birds (19), created from the earth (19), rivers, partly known (14).

Not the whole earth was paradise, but paradise was, as it were, its capital, for Adam, after the fall, was expelled from paradise to cultivate the earth (III. 23).

It cannot be argued that the traces of paradise have been completely erased by a flood or otherwise, for the details that Moses goes into about its location show the contrary.

He posits paradise in Eden, a country which, according to the instructions of other sacred books ( Is. XXXVII. 12. Eze. XXVII. 23 ), can probably be found near Mesopotamia, Syria or Armenia, in the east in relation to the country in which he writes, or to the promised land, which he has in his thoughts.

In order to designate the place of paradise for the most distant posterity, he draws attention to what is most permanent and abiding on earth - the rivers. Of the four that he names, two are known beyond doubt: Hiddekel, according to the interpretation of seventy interpreters, Tigris ( Dan. X. 4 ), which is in accordance with the local instruction of Moses and which there is no reason to doubt; and the Euphrates, which is known to be not described by Moses in any special circumstance.

But in exploring the other two rivers described by Moses, with the circumstances belonging to them, between the crossroads of guesses, not with special conviction, but only with special curiosity, you can dwell for a while on the newest one, according to which Fishon is Phasis, or Arak; Havilah is the fatherland of the people from whom the Caspian Sea was called Khvalynsky; Gihon - Gigon, otherwise Amu, a river flowing into the Aral Sea; Kush is the ancient Kaf, which was replaced by Balk, a city with a region in Bukharia, under Gikon (Michaelis Siippl. ad. Lex. Hebr.).

Whether bdellium is ανθραξ anphrax, a carbuncle, as seventy interpreters thought, or bdellium, a kind of fragrant resin, as the ancient Latin translator believed, cannot be decided with any certainty.

However, wherever, due to disagreement of guesses, paradise is believed, this disagreement should not be blamed on the sacred writer, who gave his narrative all possible clarity, but time, which changes not only the arbitrary names of things, but also the natural state of the earth. What Moses also says about the origin of paradise, about its accessories and about the introduction of man into it must be understood in accordance with the original concept of the nature of paradise.

The planting of paradise is attributed to God in such a way that its creation was not an accidental and simple consequence of the formation of the earth, but the action of the special intention of God.

The special features of paradise were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

The tree of life, which, according to the closest application to the Hebrew name, can be called the tree of lives and also the tree of health ( Joshua V. 8 ) Moses represents, as it were, the head of the trees of paradise that are good for food, just as the tree of the knowledge of good and evil supplies in some in accordance with the trees, pleasant in appearance. Being as far removed from essential knowledge of the tree of life as from eating its fruits, we must be content with this comparative way of explanation. It was between the trees of paradise as man is between animals, as the sun is between the planets. The fruits of the trees of paradise served for nutrition, the fruit of the tree of life for health.

Those could make up for the deficiency in the body produced by movement, and this one, bringing its forces into the same balance at all times, preserved in it the ability to live forever (III. 22) and mature to a painless transformation from the mental to the spiritual body ( 1 Cor. XV. 44–46 ). But since the life and light of man have always been in the hypostatic Word of God ( John I. 4 ), the tree of life in its beneficial effect on natural life was a majestic formation of grace-filled life in God, in which sign the name of the tree of life is used in the New Testament ( Apoc. II. 7. XXII. 2 ).

When the tree of life is presented in the middle of the garden, then Holy Scripture points not so much to the center of the place, but to its distinct property and obvious greatness. This is how the king introduces himself among his people ( 1 Kings III.8 ).

The name of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil no doubt refers to the effect it could produce in man. However, it could not be a source of knowledge, both because this is incompatible with the nature of the tree, and because the image of the Creator was in man the source of reason or knowledge (Col. III. 10) and the whole world presented him with images of good. So, this tree was supposed to constitute only a means and an opportunity for experimental knowledge or a real feeling of the difference between good and evil. This action could depend both on the properties of the tree and on the special purpose of God. From the property of the tree, if we imagine that it was by nature opposite to the tree of life; that as much life-giving power was contained in the tree of life, so much akin to the substance of deadness was hidden in the tree of knowledge; that as much as the influence of the former corresponded to the structure of the human body, so much the actions of the latter were incongruous with it and therefore destructive. From a special purpose, since the tree of knowledge, having been chosen as an instrument of testing, represented to man, on the one hand, an ever-increasing knowledge and enjoyment of good in obedience to God, on the other, the knowledge and sensation of evil in disobedience. Everything that Holy Scripture says about the tree of knowledge relates to this especially testing purpose.

It seems that man was created outside of paradise and then brought into it either by an angel or by direct inspiration from God. Such an entry into it made him feel that he was not the natural ruler of his blessed home, but a prisoner brought into it by grace and must pass through it to glory.

Man is brought into paradise to cultivate it (15). Although intact nature, of course, was rich even without the aid of art, and although man least of all had to serve his body; however, God assigns him simple agricultural work, so that by testing things he can increase his natural knowledge, so that he can further defend himself as far as possible from the dangerous feeling of self-satisfaction and independence, and so that the visible improvement of earthly products through labor brings to his mind the possibility and duty of cultivating his own heart to bring the most perfect things to God. the fruits of reverence and truth.

He was also entrusted with guarding paradise not so much from the creatures subordinate to him, but from his own intemperance and the tempter provided by the Omniscient.

Why did God create man? Versions

Why did God create man?

In addition to the creation of life and living organisms, the Bible contains a mystery that is probably even more difficult to understand: why did God create man? And, most likely, we will not know the answer to this question. If only for the simple reason that the plans of the Almighty are unknown to man. And yet, Bible exegetes still make attempts to find an answer to this question. Of course, their interpretations are based only on versions and assumptions. Moreover, sometimes they are very simplified.

Indeed, they often use the axiom that man appeared because God willed it. And God created man, perhaps so that he could represent Him in the world, because God created man in His image and likeness. But, again, the question is: who did you represent it to? To a person?! Vicious circle. Therefore, such an answer can hardly correspond to the truth.

Versions - why God created man

Some theologians believe that God created man so that he could worship his Creator. Other exegetes argue that God created man for one purpose: so that God, looking at His creation, would experience joy. However, this is of no use to the Almighty, because He is perfect and infinite, omnipotent and self-sufficient, and He most likely has a neutral attitude towards human worship. As for joy, it is clearly a human emotion, and it is difficult to say whether God experiences it.

But Elder Joseph of Vatopedi in “Athos Conversations” about the creation of man says: “Love, as one of the properties of God, is the cause of creation. Because of His all-encompassing love, God wanted to create beings who would become partakers of His perfection. It is rightly written because everything that He created was “very good.”

For his part, summing up the teachings of the Fathers of the Church, the Monk John of Damascus wrote about the reason for creation: “So, since the good and most good God was not content with contemplating Himself, but out of excessive goodness wished to create beings that He could do good and make partakers of His goodness, from He brings into being nothing and creates the Universe - the invisible and visible worlds, and man, consisting of both elements: visible and invisible, God has an intention and creates, and thought becomes deed, is fulfilled by the Word and completed by the Spirit.” According to this version, the Almighty created man in order to make him involved in His kindness.

Regarding the need for the creation of man by the Almighty, there is also such a theological concept, which at first glance is even somewhat paradoxical. According to it, man was created in order to become the ruler over the world created by God.

This is because this world is not able to perceive the Creator, and therefore the Lord does not directly rule over it. Therefore, God not only provided humanity with the ability to respond to changes in the world around us, but also to manage this world.

Harmony between worlds

Because the Almighty created human flesh from the basic elements of the visible world, these are water, earth and air, which makes it possible for a person to sense the material world and dominate it.

For its part, the spiritual world of man consists of invisible elements, and, with the help of this part of itself, he is able to sense the invisible, or astral world and also rule over it. And communicate with him. For example, the Bible tells how Moses, who died more than 1600 years earlier, and Elijah, who died 900 years ago, appeared before Jesus Christ on the Mount of Transfiguration (Matthew 17:3). But, as is easy to guess, in reality their astral selves appeared to Him.

In addition, the Lord created man so that he would also become the center of the harmonious interaction of these two worlds. That is, the total embodiment of everything that exists in the Universe. Thus, the astral world of man is the embodiment of the invisible world, and the physical body of man is the embodiment of the visible, physical world. Therefore, a person is often called the Universe in miniature, or the total embodiment of the Universe. But because of the Fall, man lost the abilities ordained by God and the role assigned to him.

good and evil

According to another version, the appearance of man is associated with the forces of good and evil, more precisely, with the fall of angels. The fact is that, according to Christian ideas, the Creator also has an army of servants and assistants, who are divided into hierarchies. There are three of them. The first hierarchy is seraphim, cherubim, thrones; the second - domination, strength and power; third – beginnings, archangels and angels.

Of these three hierarchies, the third is closest to people, because through its representatives God’s contact with the world and man he created is carried out, since they fulfill God’s will. Thus, the beginnings are in charge of the destinies of countries and peoples, the archangels are the heavenly army, and the angels are intermediaries between God and man.

In turn, from the Bible we know that one of the cherubim decided to become equal to God and was cast out of heaven by the Lord. His name is Lucifer. Therefore, it is possible to make the assumption that a person is destined for the role of a certain arbitrator, who, by his behavior, must support either God or Lucifer, that is, Good or Evil. Moreover, in this role, first of all, the spiritual, inner world of man plays. It is for its possession that these two forces have been fighting since the appearance of man.

Human consciousness

However, a person can act not only as an arbitrator who is aware of his purpose, but also as a kind of battlefield for mental forces. And this field is human consciousness.

This kind of explanation is fully consistent with the fact that initially human nature contained a sad and fatal duality, combining good and evil. This assumption can very eloquently confirm the fact of Cain’s murder of Abel, and a deliberate, deliberate murder. When creating man, God, of course, knew about this duality of the human soul. It is for this reason that the above consideration arose.

A. Bernatsky

ed. storm777.ru

Commandment Given to Adam

2:16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Ye shall eat the fruit of every tree in this garden,

2:17 But you shall not eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; For in the day that you eat, you will surely die.

The commandment given to Adam consists of a blessing, a prohibition and a threat.

The prohibition is preceded by a blessing, so that a person, accepting this latter, all the more vividly feels both the obligation to submit to the first and the convenience of fulfilling the will of God. I submit, the Lord says to him, to your will all the trees of paradise - leave one to My will. You will have many good trees for food, but do not eat from one. Thus, the Lord also reveals in His commandments more love than His power. Hearing the prohibition placed on the tree of knowledge, some would like God to either completely remove such a dangerous tree from paradise, or to firmly strengthen man against temptation.

Although it is not characteristic of a work to judge the Artist ( Rom. IX. 20 ), but when there are already those who contradict Him, then it is permissible with reverent caution to justify His ways.

Man is created in the image of God. A necessary and high feature of the image of God is freedom. The freedom of the creature does not exclude the possibility of doing evil, but is strengthened in goodness by aggravated experiences of doing good, which gradually, with the assistance of grace, constitute a good habit, and, finally, the moral impossibility of doing evil. From this it is clear that man, created free, necessarily had to go through the path of testing.

To test him, not only the natural and internal law of love for God is assigned, but also the positive external law of the tree of knowledge, because this last law reveals to man a way of acting based on the unconditional submission of his will to the will of God. And this obedience, immutably preserved, must clothe the will, limited by force, with the unlimited will, because this law subjects the lower powers of man, as well as the higher ones, to the inherent test and, consequently, prepares for exaltation; because God foresees an active temptation to which a person must be subjected from the side of a fallen being, and turns the temptation to such an object in which the tempted one could easily resist the temptation.

The prohibition is accompanied by a threat, so that if love and gratitude are shaken in the test, then even though fear would be a person’s salvation. Usually God acts with fear where he fails with love.

The threat is expressed in an expression that, by the nature of the sacred language, depicts the certainty of the event: you will die.

The threat of death for disobedience shows both that a person was not naturally mortal, and that death is the deprivation of everything that constituted the life of an innocent person.

A person had spiritual life when he walked in the light of the face of God, fed on the Word of God and could grow in spiritual goodness. So, there is also spiritual death, when the human spirit has existence without life, just as in a dead body there is movement without life, when it gives rise to such thoughts and desires that are alien to its being and even consume it.

A person had the life of the soul when his imagination was filled with pure and holy examples and when his heartfelt sensations were alive without violent frenzy and sweet without charming rapture. Imagination upset and cast into crude sensuality, restless and painful feelings, destructive passions are the death of the soul.

Human bodily life was painless and safe from destructive actions. Infirmities, illnesses, and destruction constitute the death of the body.

Thus, the threat of God, in the words of St. Augustine, includes all deaths even to the last, which is called the second (De civ. Die. C. XV).

God threatens man with death not as revenge, but as a natural consequence of disobedience and falling away. The life and light of man were in God ( John 1.4 ), deviation from the will of God was alienation from the life of God (Eph. IV. 18), what remained for man except death?

When the very day of eating from the tree of knowledge is designated as the day of death, this can be understood either in such a way that the day marks here in general the time after the Fall, or in such a way that on the day of the first Fall spiritual death occurs and the universal dominion of death begins.

Why are there two accounts of the creation of man in the Bible?

The first story is Gen.1:1 to Gen.2:3, the second story is Gen.2:4 to Gen.3:24. The answer is given by P. Polonsky (Jerusalem) in his work “Two Stories of the Creation of the World.” He writes: “These stories cannot, in the sense of chronology, be considered as sequential, because in them the same events unfold in parallel - the creation of the world and man... And the reason that there are two stories of creation is that The world and man have two sides, the creation of which is described in each of the stories. Each of these stories gives, as it were, its own “flat projection” of a complex and multidimensional person. The essence of a person is a conflict between two sides in him (material and spiritual, metaphysical). To understand and realize this conflict, we must consider the differences between the two stories of creation, and then integrate both stories into ourselves, learning to see both sides in a person (including ourselves). In the first story, man is called “natural man” (for in the first story man is presented as a part of nature and as a king over nature), and the man described in the second story is called “metaphysical man,” opposite to nature. In this consideration, it should be remembered that the two descriptions of the creation of the world are two parallel stories that relate to the same event, illuminating it from different sides; and these two Adams are one and the same person.” At the same time, says P. Polonsky, if the first story says God, then the second story says the Lord God. This emphasizes the difference in the relationship between man and God.

When the creation of man is spoken of, it is not spoken of the creation of one person, but of a certain number of people: “And God said: Let us make man in Our image, in Our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the livestock, and over all the earth” (Gen. 1:26). It is also said that animals also have a soul: “every beast of the forest, and every bird of the air, and every thing that creeps on the earth, in which there is life” (Gen. 1:30).

The Bible speaks of six days of Creation, while available scientific data speaks of several billion years of the existence of the Universe. For example, the Earth is believed to be about 4.7 billion years old. How to get rid of this contradiction? The Hebrew word “yom,” translated as “day” in the Russian text of the Bible, can also be translated as “a certain time,” a period of time, or a time during which something happened. This means that when it is said, for example, about the first day, then you need to understand - in the first period, or in the first cycle, or in the first time. The same can be said about the second "day", or second cycle, period, etc.

How to understand the words spoken by God to Adam: “You will eat from every tree in the garden; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat from it; For in the day that you eat of it, you will surely die” (Gen. 2:17). It may seem that God does not allow Adam to know nature, good and evil, although for this he was created and for this he came into this world.

There is a saying: “you learn from mistakes.” But what happens as a consequence of mistakes? Firstly, there are different types of errors. If a student makes a mistake while solving a mathematical problem, then that’s one thing, but what if a politician, or a designer, or a scientist, or a president makes a mistake? An erroneous understanding of history as a chain of random events leads to the fact that wars, uprisings, revolutions and many other disasters continue for thousands (!) of years. In this case, Adam was told: “don’t learn from mistakes; think first - then do; mistakes will lead to problems and illnesses.” What we have now is in exact accordance with what was said - our mistakes lead to problems and illnesses, and their accumulation throughout life leads to the fact that we “die to death.” Thus, the words “do not eat from him” are not a prohibition, but a warning. A warning that applies to each of us.

What is the meaning of Adam's expulsion? It is believed that the meaning of exile is punishment for sin. There is another point of view: expulsion is not a punishment, but a correction. But this is about the same thing - correction through punishment. What if Adam doesn't want to come back? What if he says: I’m basically fine here too? Many people think so and say so. The story of Adam was written not so much for Adam as for us. We can find ourselves in the role of Adam even several times during the day. And by making various mistakes, we seem to move away from a better life, creating problems for ourselves and other people. Paradise, the Garden of Eden, is not a specific limited volume of space, but a different state. You can divide Paradise into two planes - the near Paradise as life without problems and illnesses here and now, and the final Paradise, as the end of history, as complete liberation from all problems. It is about normal life “here and now” that this book is about.

And the meaning of exile is that we expel ourselves from the Garden, making mistakes, and, in the end, “die to death.” The more mistakes, the further we are from the Garden, but this distance is measured not in meters, but in our imperfections.

Is Jesus Christ God or man?

At the end of his earthly ministry, Jesus ascended to heaven and returned to where he came from. He could have come to earth in the same way, it could have been done in a visible way, for example, angels would have appeared and announced, so that more people could see His coming, that after some time the Savior would come from heaven. However, He came to earth in exactly the same way that all people come; He was born, as everyone is born, grew up, and was brought up in a family. Those. He was born in a certain sense the same way as others, but in a certain sense - not at all like that.

Immaculate Conception

The first prophecy about the coming of the Messiah to earth, who will destroy evil in this world, is made in Genesis 3:15: “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; it will hit you on the head.” Although everywhere in the Bible it speaks of the “seed of the man,” here it speaks of the seed of the woman, i.e. that Jesus Christ will not have an earthly father. The book of Isaiah 7:14 (and Matthew 1:23) says: “Behold, the virgin is with child and gives birth to a Son.” Evangelist Luke speaks about this in more detail: “The angel Gabriel was sent from God to the city of Galilee, called Nazareth, to a Virgin betrothed to a husband named Joseph, from the house of David; The name of the Virgin is: Mary. The angel, coming to Her, said: Rejoice, full of grace! The Lord is with You; Blessed are You among women. She, seeing him, was embarrassed by his words and wondered what kind of greeting this would be. And the Angel said to Her: Do not be afraid, Mary, for You have found favor with God; and behold, you will conceive in your womb and give birth to a Son, and you will call His name Jesus; He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David; and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end. Mary said to the Angel: How will this be when I don’t know my husband? The angel answered Her: The Holy Spirit will come upon You, and the power of the Most High will overshadow You; therefore the Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God” (Luke 1:26-35).

Men are frightened when they see Angels, but Mary was not frightened, but “confused by his words and pondered,” because from the age of three she was raised in a temple, and this was not the first time she saw an Angel. Matthew says: “After the betrothal of His Mother Mary to Joseph, before they were united, it turned out that She was pregnant with the Holy Spirit. Joseph, Her husband, being righteous and not wanting to make Her public, wanted to secretly let Her go. But when he thought this, behold, the Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said: Joseph, son of David! Do not be afraid to accept Mary your wife, for what is born in her is from the Holy Spirit; and she will give birth to a Son, and you will call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins” (Matthew 1:18-21).

What is this power that should overshadow Mary? This force does not exist in the material world, but this force is more real and more powerful than all the forces operating in the material world. This is the same power that resurrected Lazarus, the son of a widow and a girl, and subsequently Jesus Christ. This is the same power that healed people from leprosy and other diseases, drove out unclean spirits from them, and restored people’s sight and hearing. This is the same power with which the apostles healed, and Peter raised Tabitha (Acts 9:40), this is the same power that can move mountains, which has done a lot that we do not know about, and which can do everything. And if God created man, and this man can give rise to the development of a fetus in the laboratory through stimulation, then why do they doubt that God carried out the virgin birth?

What is the essence of the virgin birth and why is such a birth necessary – the “virgin birth”? When conceiving, bearing, giving birth and raising a child, parents transfer to him, as it were, a part of themselves, “the apple does not fall far from the tree,” the parents’ way of thinking becomes, to a certain extent, the child’s way of thinking. The soul of a child does not belong to the parents, but at birth the parents transmit to him in a certain part their way of thinking, and through this flesh similar to their own. They say, for example, that a son is the spitting image of his father, parents and children are therefore relatives, a certain psychotype is created, similar to the psychotype of the parents. The virtues and vices of parents become, to a certain extent, the virtues and vices of children.

Those. parents “manifest” in their children those positive and negative character traits that are characteristic of themselves, and this is the essence of the so-called original sin, which is transmitted from parents to children, and no person is free from it. In the process of growth and maturation, human development occurs to a certain extent, and degradation to a certain extent. A child, thanks to the positive work and negative “efforts” of his parents, is born with a “bouquet” of virtues and shortcomings. In the future, the child’s thinking is even more oriented towards the physical, material plane; parents and society “educate” him, or rather, re-educate him. A wonderful example of correct upbringing is the upbringing of A. Pushkin by nanny Arina Rodionovna; this is generally a wonderful example of the coincidence of the best influences on a person’s soul - parents, upbringing, which resulted in the formation of a Personality, a genius, who is distinguished by a more correct vision, understanding of existing reality, as well as the ability to say this. A. Pushkin's poems are in tune with the best strings of people's souls, and a person himself would often not know that there were these strings in his soul if the genius of the poet had not told him this.

It is possible to develop an embryo from an egg without the participation of male cells, through stimulation - chemical, mechanical, thermal, etc., or by the method of gynogenesis, when the male reproductive cell takes part only in stimulating the beginning of fetal development. True, as a result of the use of these stimulations, only girls are born. But we should not immediately dismiss the possibility of a virgin birth simply for the reasons “I don’t understand it” or “It can’t be.” It is clear why all other conceptions are “vicious”. It is not sex that is evil, but the “transmission” from parents to the child, along with virtues, and vices. It is the parents' direct fault that small children get sick. And they need to remember this so as not to “reward” their children and grandchildren, not to pass on to them, like hereditary diseases, shortcomings that will become the causes of their problems. Peace in the home, good relationships between parents, caring for each other, love - all this has the best effect on children, on their worldview, character and health - mental and physical, developing virtues in the child and drowning out “weeds” - negative character traits, which neither he himself, nor his parents, nor society as a whole, nor the team in which he will study or work need.

Those. the conception may be more vicious or less vicious, and may be almost virginal. I think that such conception occurs during falling in love, during a romantic relationship, during the beginning of married life. “Only a lover has the right to the title of man,” said A. Blok. Falling in love is a special, sublime state of people, when newlyweds see only good in each other and in other people and in the world around them, they see beauty and harmony in it, primarily the positive side. Their correct vision of other people is that the basis of a person is positive, kind, light, love, but dirt has “sticked” to this basis. The pure energy that passes through the souls of lovers washes away the negativity from their souls, washes it away so much that there is enough light, love and goodness for the rest of their lives, both for children and other people. The flow of pure energy is blocked by egoism in its various manifestations, when a person wants something for himself, but in fact deprives himself of more.

Having a child while in love is very desirable for parents, society, and the child himself. If parents create something similar to themselves, then at this time they create a clean, healthy mentally and physically, with significant positive “starting capital” being. But this child still awaits upbringing in kindergarten, studying at school, then at a university, then life, and what a difficult task this soul faces - as an adult, to maintain the same purity, honesty, simple decency. Conception at a time when the spouses have already “cooled down” towards each other, or in the absence of love and respect between them, can lead to the birth of rather ordinary individuals. Can it be pure? If parents monitor their thinking, do not allow negativity, insults, condemnation, hatred towards each other and towards other people, then this will have the most positive impact on both the parents themselves and the child, who will be healthier and will develop better, and there is a greater chance that he will grow up to be a good citizen.

Given the available information, it is unlikely that it should be recommended to have children when spouses are over forty. And even more so, you shouldn’t be touched by the fact that someone becomes a father at the age of fifty. Because in this case, “old” cells are involved in reproduction, with accumulated negative information, due to which people usually get sick more with age. Although, of course, each case must be considered individually. The thinking of some “older” men is more correct than that of other young men.

Jesus Christ, by virtue of his virgin birth and “immaculate gestation,” was free from original sin. We must also talk about immaculate gestation, because with normal gestation, emotions, family and other troubles, ailments, unfavorable ecology and other factors can have an adverse effect on the child. Jesus is also free from those mistakes that people pass on to a growing, developing child. Joseph was not the earthly father of Jesus; he could have passed on mistakes in his upbringing. From the Gospels we know the genealogy of Jesus. Joseph is a descendant of Abraham - ... - David - Solomon - ... - Jacob. Mary's genealogy comes from David, but not through Solomon, but through another son, Nathan (Luke 3:31). From the age of three she was brought up in the conditions of the Temple, and she was not “re-educated” by that environment, the conditions in which she lived, but retained all the best in her and did not pass on, did not bring up anything negative, unnecessary, erroneous. Therefore, Jesus was born pure, immaculate, without original sin.

They ask how Jesus could be both God and man. In Jesus, human nature is free from vices, shortcomings, and human sin.

Evidence for the Resurrection

One of the foundations of Christianity is the resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is clear that many do not believe in the resurrection. Trying to refute the resurrection on historical and legal grounds, a number of authors began to study the available factual material. But, having spent some time studying the documents, they came to the exact opposite conclusion: there are no other facts in history that would be confirmed with the same convincingness as the facts of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

What is this evidence?

The main one is the empty tomb. Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus, having removed the body of Jesus, wrapped it in a clean shroud, placed it in a new coffin and, with the help of other people, rolled a huge stone to the entrance. The next day a guard was posted and seals were attached to the stone.

A. Martynov, “The Confessed Path,” referring to Hormisius’ “History of the Jews,” writes: “On the night of the resurrection, Jerusalem did not sleep. More than 200 people came to the burial place expecting a miracle, and their expectations were justified. Thirteen witnesses left a description of the resurrection of Christ. The most significant of them is the Greek Hormisius, who served as a biographer of the rulers of Judea, incl. and Pontius Pilate, and Yeishu, Pilate’s physician. Hormisius writes: “Approaching the coffin, being about one and a half hundred paces from it, we saw in the faint light of the early dawn the guards at the coffin, two people were sitting, the rest were lying on the grass by the fire. It was very quiet. We walked slowly, and we were overtaken by the guards who were on their way to replace the one who was there. Suddenly it became very light. We could not immediately understand where this light was coming from, but we soon saw that it was coming from a moving light cloud. It sank over the coffin, and there, above the ground, a man appeared, as if entirely composed of light. Then there was a clap of thunder, not from heaven, but from the earth. From this terrible thunder, the guards on the spot jumped up in horror and then fell. At that moment, a woman came down the path to our right. She suddenly shouted: “It’s opened. Opened. Opened." At that same moment it became clear to us that a very large stone lying on the lid of the coffin seemed to rise by itself, opening the coffin. We were very scared. After some time, the light disappeared and everything became as usual. When we approached the coffin, it turned out that there was no body of the person buried in it.”

“Eishu... witnessed the burial of Christ: on Saturday he examined the tomb twice, and in the evening, by order of Pilate, he went here and had to spend the whole night here. “All of us - doctors, guards and others - were cheerful and felt as always: we had no premonitions. We did not believe at all that the dead could be resurrected. But he really rose again, and we all saw it with our own eyes.”

On the third day the tomb was empty. Mary Magdalene and the other Mary, taking the aromas, come to the tomb and see the stone rolled away and the Angel who told them that Jesus has risen. Afterwards, Peter and the other disciple, coming to the tomb, see the linens lying in it and the cloth that was on the head of Jesus.

Josh McDowell, a professional lawyer, is one of those people who did not believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. He decided, based on the available factual material, to refute the reality of the resurrection. However, he, like other researchers, having spent a lot of time studying documents, came to the exact opposite conclusion. He wrote several books that are serious studies. These are “Indisputable Evidence”, “Evidence of the Resurrection”, “Jesus”, “Not Just a Carpenter”, “Testimony of the Resurrection” and others. For example, in the book Evidence for the Resurrection, he provides conclusions that completely confirm the historical reality of Jesus Christ, his death on the cross and resurrection: “The historical, literary and legal evidence for the resurrection of Jesus Christ is extremely extensive... Jesus Christ Himself actually predicted that He would rise again on the third day... The Resurrection of Jesus Christ is a unique fact that determines the meaning and value of Christianity... Many critics of Christianity, acting not entirely honestly, exclude the possibility of the resurrection only because of their prejudice against miracles... The followers of Christ were not at all ignorant people, they perfectly understood the difference between fact and fiction... When studying the issue of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, one should apply the same criteria that apply to any other historical event... There is a lot of historical and philological evidence that documents that the New Testament is the main source of information about the resurrection - passes with flying colors any examination of the most rigorous methods of examination of legal evidence, and also finds much confirmation in new archaeological discoveries... The body of Christ was buried in a stone tomb, the stone rolled at the entrance to the tomb weighed at least two tons, and the tomb was sealed with the official Roman seal... The fearsome power of the Roman Empire was challenged when the Roman seal on the tomb was broken; both Jews and Romans accepted that the tomb was empty; somehow a stone weighing two tons was moved away from the entrance to the tomb, which was guarded all the time by Roman guards; The soldiers of the Roman military guard, always distinguished by iron discipline, fled from their post, the authorities had to bribe them so that they would not tell the truth about what really happened; the untouched shroud turned out to be empty: there was no body of Jesus in it; After this, Christ appeared to different people in a variety of circumstances, one such appearance was seen by five hundred people... The radical change in the life of the disciples of Jesus Christ is inexplicable without the fact of the resurrection... In extremely difficult and hostile conditions, they maintained an unshakable conviction that Jesus Christ had risen.”

This is not a complete list of the conclusions that Josh McDowell has made and which he reports in his books.

The Gospels do not contain dates, but they indicate specific historical settings and specific historical figures. The calendar is calculated from the birth of Christ. Evangelist Luke writes: “In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, when Pontius Pilate was in charge in Judea, Herod was tetrarch in Galilee, under the high priests Annas and Caiaphas” (Luke 3:1,2). Other evangelists also speak about a specific historical situation.

“Non-Christian” historians and writers write about Jesus. The Jewish historian Josephus Flavius ​​(37-100) was not a Christian. He wrote about Jesus in Antiquities of the Jews when reporting on the reign of the procurator Pontius Pilate: “At this time Jesus appeared, a man of deep wisdom, if one can only call him a man. He was Christ. Pilate crucified Him following the denunciation of our elders. But those who loved Him did not desert Him, for on the third day He appeared to them alive again, as had been predicted...” He also reported about John the Baptist.

The Roman historian Cornelius Tacitus (55-120) wrote in the Annals about the reign of Nero, and mentioned Jesus Christ and the Christians living in Rome at that time.

Another Roman historian Suetonius (70-140) in the book “Life of Claudius” speaks about Jesus and His followers, he speaks of “a malicious superstition due to a certain Christ.”

The Roman historian Pliny the Younger (61-114) wrote in his Epistles to Emperor Trajan: “Many temples have become depopulated, some even have no services.” In response, the emperor wrote to Pliny: do not persecute Christians.

The Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Sanhedrin, 46b writes about Jesus: “Jesus of Nazareth was hanged on the eve of Passover because he practiced sorcery and led Israel astray.”

The fact that some authors report false information about Jesus only means that they think so, not that it actually is. In this case, we are interested in the fact of messages about the historical reality of Jesus.

Many cannot accept the Teachings of Jesus Christ because they do not understand it. For example, loving your enemies, or turning the other cheek. What does it mean to turn the other cheek? Situations that happen to a person happen not only “why”, but also “for what”. If the boss calls you “on the carpet”, or at home the husband or wife begins to scold you, it means, firstly, there is something for it, and you must, knowing that there is a reason, without falling into feelings, without being offended or condemning, to rise above the situation , show reason, tolerance towards people and the situation. There are different levels of development of people and different levels of understanding of phenomena. N. Berdyaev, “On the purpose of man,” says: “You can turn the cheek to the offender only in a grace-filled manner, as a spiritual feat and enlightenment, as the discovery of a force greater than that which is found in physical violence against the offender, in a duel, etc.” A coward may not respond to an insult, but at a higher level, not responding with an insult to an insult is a spiritual feat - like understanding that if a person is insulted, then he himself is to blame, and the correct, reasonable action is not repaying evil for evil, but reducing evil in Universe, a reasonable solution to the conflict. Stopping a scoundrel, standing up for yourself and others, restoring justice has always been considered valor and heroism and has always aroused respect; this is a higher level compared, for example, to cowardice. But an even higher level is, as Christ taught, to love your enemies. The desire to “not get involved” is not a higher level, because it is contempt. Who is considered the enemy? Those people who bring trouble and problems. But problems appear in people as a sign of their imperfection, as a sign of departure from purpose, and the problem indicates this departure. Love for the enemy manifests itself at a higher level of human development. Jesus asked for his tormentors: “Father! Forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” A person at any level can act wisely, this will be the best way out for him.

Who was Jesus really?

A little later it will be said that of all the books, only the Bible is a source of reliable information given from Above, and the Bible is primarily worthy of being referred to as a reliable source of reliable information. Of course, spiritual primary sources are all given by the Higher Mind, but, for example, the biblical code has so far been found only in the Bible. What does the Bible say about the deity of Jesus Christ? During his earthly life, Jesus was called the Son of God, Lord, Messiah, Redeemer, Savior, King, etc. Jesus himself never once called himself God, never once said: I am God. We will pay attention to those lines that say that Jesus Christ is God.

There are many such references to the divinity of Jesus in the Bible. Although, given the authority of the Bible, one indication would be enough to make an unambiguous conclusion: Jesus Christ is God, and not just a man. There are many more references to the divinity of Jesus Christ in the New Testament. In addition, the Bible many times calls Jesus Christ the Son of God, Lord, Messiah, God-man, Light, One without sin, Savior, Teacher, King, Prophet, Bread of Life, Tree of Life, etc.

The Jews said to Jesus Christ: “You, being a man, make yourself God” (John 10:33), when Jesus said: “I and the Father are one” (John 10:30). The Jews did not understand what Jesus said, because they believed that God was separate from everyone, Jesus was separate from God and from people, people were separate from God and from each other. Man cannot see God, if he could, he would see, because God is everywhere, God is Spirit, He is in the entire space of the Universe, and not in the Universe, incl. in Space, such a point or such a space, region, layer, edge, about which one could say that there is no God here. And therefore Jesus said: “My Father is greater than I,” and “he who has seen Me has seen the Father.” Man cannot see the whole of God, he can see the manifestation of God in Jesus. But a person does not fully perceive either another person or Jesus, but only basically the material, and perceives in a very limited form the so-called subtle bodies of a person - his soul and spirit. Those. the main thing in a person remains invisible to the ordinary person. Moreover, God is invisible to man, but only perceived in a very limited way. He who saw Jesus saw the Father, and could not and cannot see more than what he saw.

How else can we understand what Jesus said, “I and the Father are one”? Jesus saw and heard and perceived reality correctly, as having no delusions or errors. Information and powers came from God the Father to Jesus without distortion or diminution. What is Truth? What is believed to be true is what most reputable scientists accept. In fact, what is true is true. And if people’s opinion about something does not always correspond to reality, then Jesus’ opinion is correct on all issues.

How to understand Jesus' words “I am the door” and “I am the way and the truth and the life; no one comes to the Father except through Me? You cannot come to God through a person

Jesus. F. Merrell-Wolff, “Paths to Other Dimensions,” writes: to translate the words of Jesus as “no one comes to the Father except through Jesus” is to completely distort its meaning. The Father is the Divine, God, the ultimate transcendental reality. So, this reality is consciousness in which subject and object are no longer separated, but merge into a single Sea of ​​Consciousness. The general tendency of humanity is to seek God as an object, i.e. God is worshiped as an entity separate from the worshiper. Jesus meant that success cannot be achieved this way. Only through the “I” can one reach the Father... Therefore, only through the “I” is Identity realized. With any other approach, God always appears as something different for the seeker and, therefore, stands at a certain distance from him. To come to the Father means to become one with the Father, and this can only be achieved through the pure Subject, i.e. "I".

Creation of the wife

2:18 And the Lord God said, It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper like him.

2.19 For when God created out of the ground every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and brought it to man, that he might see what to call them, and that whatever man called every living thing, that was its name;

2:20 And when the man gave names to all the livestock, and to the birds of the air, and to every beast of the field, then there was not found for man a helper like him.

2:21 And God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep, and when he fell asleep, he took out one of his ribs and covered the place with flesh.

2:22 And God created a woman from a rib taken from a man, and brought her to the man.

2:23 Then the man said, “This is bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh; she will be called woman, for she was taken out of man.

In the description of the creation of the wife, Moses shows: God’s advice about her creation (18), the incident that gave man the idea of ​​a helper (19, 20), the image of the creation of the wife (21, 22) and the property and origin of her name (23).

The creation of the wife is preceded by the advice of God, like the creation of the husband, but not so solemn. For now God does not say let us create, but I will do it. This difference in expression follows the difference between two councils, one of which contains the general and essential predestination of man, and the other is a particular addition to the first.

The words: it is not good for man to be alone, it is impossible to put in opposition to the divine approval of the creatures that preceded man, and below to assert on them the necessity of a marital state for every person. The creation of a wife could not give the first man a higher perfection than in which he was created before her, and there are circumstances in which it is good for a man not to touch his wife ( 1 Cor. VII. 1. Matt. XIX. 12 ). It was not good for Adam to be alone, probably because, when looking at the animals, he already felt the need for a helper like him (20).

When a wife in the council of God is called her husband’s assistant, this shows her purpose to assist him in the birth and upbringing of children, in all the needs related to temporary life. A husband's assistant as before him ורגנכ, translated seventy; after him and those like him, a wife is called in commemoration of the same nature with him, in contrast to other kinds of animals, his closest service ( 1 Cor. XI. 9 ), constant conversation with him and inseparable cohabitation.

Wanting to show the incident that gave man the idea of ​​a helper similar to him, and to explain the properties of this helper through comparison with the creatures that serve man, Moses describes the first man’s viewing of animals, naming them, and casually mentions their creation.

There is no mention of fish here, because they, being in a world remote, so to speak, from man, could not present themselves to his gaze so quickly.

The bringing of animals before man need not be represented as a spiritual vision or the action of Angels. It could be a consequence of their natural subordination and obedience to man, like a ruler.

Some believe that the naming of animals and birds is not on the sixth day, which alone seems insufficient for this, and not before the creation of the woman, since the language presupposes an interlocutor, but this contradicts both the order of the sacred narrative and the connection in which the naming of animals with creation is presented in it wives. It can be assumed that on the sixth day, not all without exception, but the most famous and closest to human existence, genera of earthly creatures were surveyed and named; and that the original language existed before the creation of the woman, without requiring much time and labor for its composition and formation, like the gift of tongues in the Apostles. Man received it along with being, perhaps he perfected its knowledge through the conversation of the Creator, and through sensory sounds he supplemented it from himself by inspiration from God, who predestined man for cohabitation. St. Chrysostom explains the intention of viewing and naming animals when he says that God did this to show us the wisdom of Adam and as a sign of his dominion. In order to imagine the naming of names as an act of wisdom, it must be assumed that Adam previously had knowledge of the general properties and laws of beings; and applying to this general knowledge what he found by experience or close examination in particular types of creatures, he gave them names depicting their nature. Such names are still preserved mainly in the Hebrew language.

The words: that whatever a man calls every living soul, so shall its name be, show that God himself foresaw the dignity of these names and established them for constant use in the human language. The effect of this predestination invariably continued until the Pandemonium of Babylon.

The consequence of viewing and naming animals was that man did not find a helper like him. It was not found, which means it was not there. The first presupposes the concept, search or desire of an object. From this it is clear that looking at animals created in pairs led man to the idea of ​​a human pair. Whether there was a special intention of God to introduce him to this thought or whether he entered into it only by following the images of the sensory world, Moses does not resolve this question. At least, God is justified in creating a dangerous helper by the fact that man himself invented it.

To create a wife, God puts a person in a deep sleep. Some imagine this dream as the effect of some inclination towards the sensual from the spiritual.

A wife is created from a man's rib so that man, created in the image of God, is the only beginning of beings of his kind, just as God is the only beginning of all kinds of beings; so that the wife is always close to her husband’s heart; so that she would be naturally disposed to obey and submit to him, being, as it were, a part of him; in order to facilitate the mutual communication of thoughts, feelings, perfections and to make the human race a single body.

When the place of the rib is covered with flesh, one cannot imagine that the integrity of Adam’s body is thereby violated. But Adam is left in such a position that he finds part of this wholeness in his assistant ( Matt. XIX. 6 ).

When a wife, created in an image invisible to Adam, appears before him, then either by the inner sensation of what happened in him during sleep and by natural passion, or by inspiration from God, he recognizes her origin from his own being and accordingly gives her a name. Our language does not show the power of this name: it is visible in the Hebrew words: השא, שיא, ish, isha.

Creation of Eve. Fresco by Michelangelo, 1509-1510.

SECTION II. ORTHODOX TEACHING ABOUT MAN

Holy Scripture says that with the creation of Adam, and in his person and human nature as such, the creative action of God in relation to man does not end. The Book of Genesis emphasizes: And God created man... male and female he created them.

(Gen.1:27).
In the first part of the phrase, the word man
is used in the singular, and in the second part the plural appears:
created them
.

According to the 1st chapter of the Book of Genesis, man represents two human hypostases that exist in the unity of nature. Chapter 2 explores this idea in more detail. One should not, however, assume that the writer of everyday life tried in the 2nd chapter of Genesis to explain the appearance of the wife in a biological sense. This is, first of all, a symbolic narrative, which in a visual form expresses the idea of ​​​​the dual unity of man.

In connection with this biblical narrative, a very important question for the Orthodox teaching about man is connected - about marriage and the divinely established method of reproducing people. In patristic literature there is sometimes an opinion that after the Fall there is a change in the very method of human reproduction. Yes, holy. Gregory of Nyssa writes: “[After the Fall, God] arranges in nature a method of reproduction that corresponds to those who have slipped into sin, instead of the angelic nobility of that, implanting in humanity a bestial and dumb method of mutual succession.”706. True, holy. Gregory of Nyssa stipulates that this is his personal opinion and guess. According to the assumption of St. John Chrysostom, if there had been no Fall, people would have multiplied in some spiritual way, but the saint does not specify how he imagines this707. This opinion was also shared by Bla. Theodoret of Cyrrhus708, Rev. John of Damascus709 and some other Byzantine theologians.

Of course, after the Fall, the way of being of human nature changed. This applies to both mental and biological life of a person. In this sense, we can talk about a change in the method of reproduction, but only to the extent that the way of human existence in general has changed. The idea that, as a punishment, God condemns a person to a special, “bestial” way of reproduction instead of the one that was before, would mean that human nature as such has changed, and not just its state, which does not fit well with other aspects of Orthodox Christianity. anthropology and soteriology. This is probably why this opinion is not widespread.

Did marriage exist before the Fall, in paradise? The answer to this question depends on how exactly the concept of “marriage” is defined. If we consider marriage in the categories of Roman law, as a contract, as a utilitarian procreative institution, then we can say that there was no place in heaven for such a marriage. Holy John Chrysostom says: “The Primordial One lived in paradise, but there was no talk of marriage. He needed an assistant - and he appeared; and yet marriage did not yet seem necessary.”710

All of God's creation is “very good.” But after God, completing the creation of the world, creates the highest being, the crown of creation - man, He states that it is insufficient for him to exist outside of communication with another person and says: it is not good for man to be alone, let us create for him a helper corresponding to him

(Gen.2:18).
Therefore, we can say that the opinion of some Church Fathers, in particular, is holy. Gregory of Nyssa, that the division of people into two sexes was carried out by God solely in anticipation of the Fall711, does not have sufficient basis in the Holy Scriptures. The division of man into two sexes was made, first of all, in order to satisfy the human need for communication. God brings a wife to Adam, and he says: Behold, this is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh
(Gen. 2:23). These words speak of the unity of nature of a man and a woman and, most of all, encourage mutual love and care for each other. According to X. Yannaras, “the difference between the sexes is due to the need to express within the framework of created nature the way of life of the uncreated”712. And the life of the Most Holy Trinity is not simply unity at the level of nature, but the union in love of original and distinct Hypostases.

The Synodal Translation of the Old Testament, as well as the Septuagint, speaks of the wife as a “helper” (Greek: βοηθός), who was created for the husband. However, this word does not fully convey the meaning of the Hebrew word ʽēzeѴ4; (ezer)

. Prof. S. V. Troitsky in the book “Christian Philosophy of Marriage” writes: “Here we are not talking about replenishment in work, but about replenishment in being itself, so that help in work can only be thought of as a consequence of replenishment in being. First of all, the husband needs a wife as his “alterego” [second “I”]713. Thus, the biblical narrative reveals the truth about the dual unity of man, realized in the marriage union of a husband and wife united by love.

Why does the Bible say that the wife was created precisely “from the rib” of Adam? This may be due to the fact that the Hebrew word ṣēlāʽ (whole)

, in addition to meaning “edge,” can also mean “side, side.” Thus, this image helps to reveal the idea that human nature is divided into two complementary parts.

It follows from the Holy Scriptures that the essence of marriage does not change after the Fall. A man will leave his father and mother and cleave to his wife; and the two shall become one flesh

(Gen.2:24).
In the Book of Genesis these words are spoken by Adam. However, there is no doubt that they were uttered by Adam not on his own, but by inspiration from above, because otherwise the Lord Jesus Christ would not have brought them during His earthly life: ... and the two will become one flesh, so that they are no longer two, but one flesh
(Matt. 19:5–6). Thus, before and after the Fall, Scripture speaks of marriage in the same terms.

It should be noted that the Greek word used in these fragments is σάρξ (flesh) and its corresponding Hebrew bāśāѴ4; (basar)

means “flesh, body, meat”, and the expression
kV1;l-bāśāV4;
– “the entire human race” or “every living thing” (Gen.6:3; Ps.55:5). Thus, the above words do not refer to a temporary physical union of the parties, but to the permanent unity of all aspects of the life of the spouses.

The true attitude of the Church towards marriage was expressed in the decrees of the Gangra Council (IV century), which ordered the defrocking of clergy and excommunication from the Church of laity who abhor marriage, that is, those who refuse married life not for the sake of heroic deeds, but because considers marriage to be something unworthy of a Christian (rules 1, 4, 13)714. Indeed, if marriage in itself implied something sinful, then in this case the words of St. Paul, who likened the unity of Christ and the Church to a marriage union, would sound blasphemous. Among the saints canonized by the Church, there are many people who were married.

The Church elevated marriage to the level of a church sacrament, placing marriage on a par with such sacred rites as baptism, confirmation, priesthood, etc.

Holy Gregory the Theologian, the greatest ascetic and mystic, in the poem “Praise of Virginity,” where he aims to prove the advantage of a virgin lifestyle over marriage, nevertheless writes about marriage with great respect: “Look what a prudent marriage has brought to people. Who taught the coveted wisdom? Who discovered the depths that the earth, the sea, and the sky contained within themselves? Who gave laws to cities, and even before this, who erected cities and invented arts? Who filled the marketplaces, houses and lists?.. Who gathered a singing crowd in the fragrant temple? Who else but marriage? Who besides him has united the most distant things between them?.. Being one flesh, spouses have one soul, and through mutual love they equally arouse in each other zeal for piety. Marriage does not remove you from God, but on the contrary, it binds you more closely to Him.”715

These words especially emphasize that the improvement of relations between the sexes in marriage determines all the positive achievements of culture. And, most importantly, marriage is sacred. Gregory, is not a distance from God, but a sacrament of His love.

Tertullian, in a work called “To a Wife,” writes: “How pleasant it must be to unite two hearts in the same hope, service and faith! Verily, they are two in one flesh: where there is one flesh, there is one spirit. They pray together, kneel together, fast together, mutually approve and support each other. They are equal in the Church of God and at God’s table, equally share persecution and rest, do not hide anything from each other, are not burdened by each other... The Lord rejoices, seeing their unanimity, sends peace to their home and remains with them.”716. In the Holy Scriptures, God's relationship with Israel is very often expressed through the image of the relationship between husband and wife, groom and bride. And for Christian ascetic literature, for example for such authors as Rev. John Climacus717, Rev. Neil of Sinai718, it is typical to talk about man’s love for God through images and analogies borrowed from relations between the sexes.

The main goal of a person’s life is to hear the call of God addressed to him and answer it. But in order to answer this call, a person must be able to commit an act of self-denial, reject his own “I”, his egoism. Christian marriage serves this purpose, and that is why Christian marriage does not remove a person from God, but brings him closer to Him. Marriage is viewed in Christianity as a joint journey of spouses into the Kingdom of God. X. Yannaras reveals this idea as follows: “Only when eros, directed at a person of the other sex, leads to love, to a person’s oblivion of himself, his individualism... only then does the opportunity open up for a person to respond to the call of God addressed to him... That is why the image conjugal love is an image of the love of Christ and the Church on the cross, the voluntary mortification of natural limitations and individuality so that life can be realized as love and self-giving.”719

But Christianity, which highly values ​​marriage, at the same time frees a person from the need for married life. From a Christian point of view, in order to realize one's life as one of love and fellowship, marriage is not strictly necessary. There is an alternative path to the Kingdom of God - virginity, monasticism. This is a rejection of natural self-denial in love, which is marriage, and the choice of a more radical path of self-denial through obedience and asceticism, in which the only source of existence for a person becomes the call of God addressed to him. Both of these paths in Christianity are equally recognized and revered as leading to a common goal.

In the Christian teaching about man, the ontological dignity of a woman is restored and justified, which was not the case in pagan religions and which was only declared in the Old Testament. Clement of Alexandria writes: “Virtue... ought to be the concern of both husbands and wives alike. Because if they both have the same God, then it means that both of them... have one church; This means that the same law of measure exists for them, the same natural shame, the same food, the same marriage relations... the same reasoning, hope, Christian love... But if all the conditions of life are common for them, then they participate equally ... and in grace, the path of salvation is the same for them, Christian love is equally valuable for them; and therefore they are subject to the same education by the Logos... The reward for a holy, compassionate life here on earth is promised not to a husband or wife, but to a person in general...”720 From the point of view of soteriology, differences based on gender do not have any significant meaning. As Procopius of Gaza writes, “...neither husband without wife, nor wife without husband in the Lord. If they differ in body, then in the soul, which is both immortal and rational, the feminine nature is no different from the masculine.”721. According to St. Basil the Great: “A wife, along with her husband, has the honor of being created in the image of God. The nature of both is equal.”722

Establishment of marriage

2:24 For this cause a man shall leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.

These words can be taken either from the person of Adam, predicting the natural consequence of the creation of the wife, or from the person of Moses, showing the beginning of marriage. But Jesus Christ attributes them to God (Matthew XIX. 5). This quite shows their importance, no matter through whom they were pronounced.

The property of the marital union is explained by comparing it with the natural union between parents and children and it is shown that the former is more inseparable than the latter. However, leaving father and mother and clinging to a wife relates to community life, but does not extend to the love and gratitude of children for their parents.

Separation from father and mother is attributed to the husband because the husband, and not the wife, establishes a home and family separate from the parental one.

The close union of marriage is expressed even more forcefully by the name one flesh.

The exact reason of this original and universal law on marriage is such that it excludes polygamy and willful dissolution of marriage, but not virginity and chastity.

laliku.ru

Why did God create man? Hell, Heaven, Kingdom of Heaven, New Heaven and New Earth.

In the Old Testament, in Genesis 1, it is told that God created our galaxy in six days “31 And God saw everything that He had made, and, behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning: the sixth day.” This begs the question, why did God create man? If He created man well, then why are people evil and do not obey God? If God is omnipotent, then surely he knew that people would not obey God from the very beginning? Of course he knew, so he tested Eve and Adam for obedience. Using the example of the Garden of Eden, God showed how easy and carefree the life of people who obey God can be. Nowhere in the Bible does it say that God created people to live forever on earth.

“And God said: Let us make man in our image, after our likeness, and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that moves on the earth.” And God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female he created them. And God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves on the earth” (Genesis 1:26-28) . God told people to multiply. From the history of mankind we see that man does not bring any benefit to the Universe. The earth sees only one harm from man. But nevertheless, God created man like himself. God is Holy and man is sinful, that is the difference.

From the Bible we see that a huge number of Holy Angels live with God. These are God's helpers. Let's see what the Bible says about Angels. “It is said about the Angels: You create flaming fire with Your Angels and Your servants... Are they not all ministering spirits sent to serve for those who are to inherit salvation?” (Hebrews 1:7-14).

The spirit is the mind and consciousness that God gives at the birth of a person. Service is work. The righteous will inherit salvation. The flaming fire is the temptations that are sent to people.

“Beloved! Do not shy away from the fiery temptation sent to you to test you as a strange adventure, but rejoice as you participate in Christ’s sufferings, so that when His glory is revealed you will rejoice and triumph” (1 Peter 4:12-13).

“Search me, O God, and know my heart; Test me and know my thoughts; and see if I am on a dangerous path, and guide me on the eternal path” (Ps. 139:23-24).

“Blessed is the man who endures temptation, for, having been tried, he will receive the crown of life, which the Lord has promised to those who love Him. When tempted, no one should say: God is tempting me; because God is not tempted by evil and does not tempt anyone Himself, but everyone is tempted by being carried away and deceived by his own lust; lust, having conceived, gives birth to sin, and sin that is committed gives birth to death. Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variableness or shadow of turning” (James 1:12-17).

Jesus Christ was born before all creation, that is, He was born in heaven. Then He was born on earth and achieved Holiness. When Jesus Christ ascended into heaven, God placed Him at His right hand and called Him God.

“God, who spoke of old to the fathers in the prophets at many times and in various ways, has spoken to us in these last days through the Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom also he created the worlds. This One, being the radiance of glory and the image of His hypostasis and holding everything by the word of His power, having accomplished with Himself the cleansing of our sins, sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty on high, being as much superior to the Angels as he inherited the most glorious name before them. For to which of the Angels did God ever say: You are My Son, today I have begotten You? And again: I will be His Father, and He will be My Son. Also, when he introduces the Firstborn into the universe, he says: and let all the Angels of God worship Him. About the Angels it is said: You create flaming fire with Your Angels and Your servants. And about the Son: Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever; The scepter of Your kingdom is the scepter of righteousness. You loved righteousness and hated iniquity; therefore, O God, Your God has anointed You with the oil of joy more than Your fellows. And: in the beginning You, Lord, founded the earth, and the heavens are the work of Your hands; they will perish, but You remain; and they will all wear out like a robe, and you will fold them like a garment, and they will be changed; but You are the same, and Your years will not end. To which of the Angels did God say, Sit at My right hand, until I make Your enemies Your footstool? Are they not all ministering spirits sent to serve those who are to inherit salvation?” (Hebrews 1:1-14).

It can be assumed that heavenly angels are programmed robots who serve God. But God also needs helpers who would be like Him, that is, have reason and consciousness (spirit). People are God's future helpers. And then he creates man. God created man in His image and likeness. You cannot create a good person right away. Then it would be a robot. And God needs people who think and make decisions independently. God is Holy, that is, righteous. A sinful person cannot be allowed to rule the Universe. Sinners do not obey God, which means that they would destroy the Universe. An example is the management of man and land. Everything that a person does on earth is harmful to it. This means that a person needs to be made a Saint. God gave man reason, but animals do not have reason. You cannot force a person to be kind (Holy). This must be done by the person himself. Therefore, God gave us freedom of choice, that is, he endowed us with will. God does not interfere in our lives. The earth is under the control of God and God intervenes in our lives only when major events need to be changed. We are developing according to God's plan. This can be judged by prophecies that were given long before the event. History says that all Bible prophecies have come true except the last one. Now the whole world is waiting for the second coming of Jesus Christ. Thus, the situations that arise in a person’s life are influenced by the person himself.

We conclude that God created man as his assistant. It is not possible to forcefully make a person a Saint; he must want to do it himself. People live short lives on earth, some die at birth, some in childhood, some do not have enough time, and so on. Therefore, re-education continues in the next world. From the Bible we see that in the next world there is hell, heaven, and the Kingdom of Heaven. They are all located in different galaxies. In 1000 years, after the coming of Jesus Christ to earth, God will create a new galaxy, in which he will create a new earth. All these planets are inhabited by people with different levels of spiritual consciousness. There is a second death in hell (Revelation 20:11-15). Once in heaven or the Kingdom of Heaven, people become immortal. People who violate the 10 commandments of God and the laws of the country go to hell. Life there is very hard, God calls this life eternal torment. Eternity comes from the word century, which is equal to 100 years. In other words, people in hell will suffer for a very long time from their disobedience. Jesus Christ has the keys to death and hell. “And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as if dead. And He laid His right hand on me and said to me: Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last, and the living; and he was dead, and behold, he is alive forever and ever, Amen; and I have the keys of hell and death. Write therefore what you have seen, and what is, and what will happen after these things” (Revelation 1:17-19). In hell, Jesus Christ requires everyone to follow laws that are very strict. Sinners are not used to obeying, so when they break themselves, they will suffer greatly. God compares the passions (evil) living in their souls with fire. Having raised his spiritual level of consciousness to the spiritual level of consciousness of those living in heaven, a person dies in hell and is resurrected in heaven. From paradise to the Kingdom of Heaven, you can also go. Wherever a person lives, he must constantly strive to raise his spiritual level of consciousness, that is, to fight evil.

Now let's see what the Bible says about hell and heaven.

“A certain man was rich, dressed in purple and fine linen, and feasted brilliantly every day. There was also a certain beggar named Lazarus, who lay scabbed at his gate and wanted to feed on the crumbs falling from the rich man’s table, and the dogs came and licked his scabs. The beggar died and was carried by the Angels to Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died and was buried. And in hell, being in torment, he raised his eyes, saw Abraham in the distance and Lazarus in his bosom and, crying out, said: Father Abraham! have mercy on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am tormented in this flame. But Abraham said: child! remember that you have already received your good in your life, and Lazarus received your evil; now he is comforted here, and you suffer; and on top of all this, a great gulf has been established between us and you, so that those who want to cross from here to you cannot, nor can they cross from there to us. Then he said: So I ask you, father, send him to my father’s house, for I have five brothers; let him testify to them, so that they too do not come to this place of torment. Abraham said to him: They have Moses and the prophets; let them listen to them. He said: no, Father Abraham, but if someone from the dead comes to them, they will repent. Then Abraham said to him: “If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, then even if someone were raised from the dead, they will not believe it” (Gospel of Luke 16:19-31).

“The king, going in to see those reclining, saw a man there, not dressed in wedding clothes, and said to him: friend! How did you come here not wearing wedding clothes? He was silent. Then the king said to the servants: Having tied his hands and feet, take him and throw him into outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth; For many are called, but few are chosen” (Matthew 22:11-14).

“When the Son of Man comes in His glory and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory, and all nations will be gathered before Him; and will separate one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; and He will put the sheep on His right hand, and the goats on His left. Then the King will say to those on His right hand: Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry, and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger and you accepted Me; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me. Then the righteous will answer Him: Lord! when did we see you hungry and feed you? or to the thirsty and gave them something to drink? when did we see you as a stranger and accept you? or naked and clothed? When did we see You sick, or in prison, and came to You? And the King will answer them, “Truly I say to you, just as you did it to one of the least of these brothers of Mine, you did it to Me.” Then He will also say to those on the left side: Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: for I was hungry, and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty, and you gave Me no drink; I was a stranger, and they did not accept Me; I was naked, and they did not clothe Me; sick and in prison, and they did not visit Me. Then they too will answer Him: Lord! when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not serve You? Then he will answer them, “Truly I say to you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.” And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into everlasting life” (Gospel of Matthew 25:31-46).

The New Testament talks about the Kingdom of Heaven and that only that person can get there who revives his soul anew, that is, removes all evil from his character. Only Saints live in the Kingdom of Heaven. They are helpers of God and Jesus Christ. Having achieved Holiness, a person becomes God. There is God the Father, the Chief One in the Universe, God Jesus Christ, Who stands at the right hand, and the Holy Gods, who are of lower rank than Jesus Christ.

This is how the Kingdom of Heaven is described in the Book of Revelation

“After this I looked, and behold, a door was opened in heaven, and the first voice, which I heard like the sound of a trumpet, speaking to me, said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must happen after this.” And immediately I was in spirit; and behold, a throne stood in heaven, and on the throne was one who sat; and this Seated One looked like a jasper and sardis stone; and a rainbow around the throne, similar in appearance to emerald. And around the throne were twenty-four thrones; and I saw twenty-four elders sitting on the thrones, who were dressed in white robes and had golden crowns on their heads. And from the throne came lightning and thunder and voices, and seven lamps of fire burned before the throne, which are the seven spirits of God; and before the throne was a sea of ​​glass, like crystal; and in the midst of the throne and around the throne were four living creatures, full of eyes in front and behind. And the first living creature was like a lion, and the second living creature was like a calf, and the third living creature had a face like a man, and the fourth living creature was like a flying eagle. And each of the four animals had six wings around, and inside they were full of eyes; and they have no rest day or night, crying out: Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, is and is to come. And when the animals give glory and honor and thanksgiving to Him who sits on the throne, who lives forever and ever, then the twenty-four elders fall down before Him who sits on the throne, and worship Him who lives forever and ever, and lay their crowns before the throne, saying: You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for Thou hast created all things, and by Thy will all things exist and were created.

And I saw in the right hand of Him who sat on the throne, a book written within and without, sealed with seven seals. And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming with a loud voice: Who is worthy to open this book and to open its seals? And no one could, neither in heaven, nor on earth, nor under the earth, open this book, nor look into it. And I cried a lot because no one was found worthy to open and read this book, and even to look into it. And one of the elders said to me: do not cry; Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has overcome, and is able to open the book and open the seven seals thereof. And I looked, and behold, in the midst of the throne and the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as if slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. And He came and took the book from the right hand of Him who sat on the throne. And when he took the book, then the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each having a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sing a new song, saying: You are worthy to take the book and to open the seals from it, for You were slain, and with Your Blood you redeemed us to God from every tribe and tongue and people and nation, and made us kings and priests to our God; and we will reign on the earth. And I saw and heard the voice of many angels around the throne and the living creatures and the elders, and their number was ten thousand ten thousand, and thousands of thousands, who said with a loud voice: “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing.” . And every creature that is in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth, and on the sea, and everything that is in them, I heard saying: To him that sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, be blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever. And the four living creatures said: Amen. And the twenty-four elders fell down and worshiped Him who lives forever and ever” (Book of Revelation chapters 4 and 5).

Part 2. “And God created man...” Biblical anthropology

Man is created in the image and likeness of God - this is the first truth about the divine dignity of man that Revelation proclaims.

The image of God in man, by its very essence, as a reflection of the Ineffable and Indefinable, also cannot be fully defined and designated by words. The image of God is our deepest self, for which we have neither words nor clear concepts to define. But since our “I” somehow manifests itself externally, these manifestations of God in man are usually called the image of God, that is, reason, high feelings, will, freedom.

The same replacement of essence with properties takes place in relation to the Prototype itself, that is, God. God, in His essence, is unsearchable and incomprehensible, but we say that God is Love, God is Light, God is Spirit. In fact, we cannot say about God that He is “something,” but seeing His manifestations, we usually call them the image of God.

Expressed in philosophical language, the image of God in man is a noumenon, and His manifestations outside are phenomena. In its deepest essence, our “I” is incomprehensible and indefinable. Saint Gregory of Nyssa, discussing the act of creation of man, says: “The name Adam is no longer given to a created object, as in subsequent narratives. But created man has no name; he is an all-man. that is, containing within itself all humanity. Thus, by this designation of the universality of Adam's nature, we are invited to understand that Divine Providence and Power embraced the whole human race in the primordial state. For the image of God is not contained in one part of nature, nor is grace contained in one individual alone, among those who belong to him, but their action extends to the human race as a whole... There is no difference between a person formed at the beginning of the creation of the world, and to the one who will come at the end of it: they equally bear in themselves the image of God..."

Vladimir Lossky writes about this: “Consequently, man, created in the image of God, is nature understood as a whole. She has in herself the likeness of God. The divine image inherent in the personality of Adam related to all humanity, to the “all-man.” Therefore, in the race of Adam, the multiplication of personalities, each of which is conformed to God, one could say, the plurality of the image of God in the multitude of human hypostases, does not at all contradict the ontological unity of nature, common to all people. On the contrary, the human person cannot achieve the fullness to which he is called, cannot become the perfect image of God, if he appropriates a part of nature and considers it his personal property. For the image of God reaches its perfection only when human nature becomes similar to the nature of God, when it acquires full communion with uncreated goods. However, there is only one nature, common to all people, although it seems to us fragmented by sin, divided among many individuals. This primordial unity of nature, restored in the Church, appears to the Apostle Paul to be so absolute that he calls it the Body of Christ.”

.

Thus, people have one common nature in many human personalities. This difference of nature and personality in man is no less subtle than the similar difference of one nature and Three Persons in God.

The image of God in man, since he is a perfect image, to that extent, according to St. Gregory of Nyssa, and the image is unknowable, for, reflecting the completeness of its Prototype, it must also possess His unknowability. Therefore, we cannot determine what the essence of the image of God in man is, but we can comprehend it differently, resorting to the idea of ​​participation in the infinite grace of God. "... Undoubtedly

, - Lossky continues further, -
St. Gregory of Nyssa understands here the image of God as the ultimate perfection, as the deified state of man participating in the Divine Pleroma, in the excess of Divine Goodness. Therefore, speaking about conformity, limited to the participation only of certain goods, about the image of the institution, St. Gregory of Nyssa sees what is characteristic of man, as created in the image of God, primarily in the fact that “man is freed from necessity and is not subject to the dominion of nature, but can freely determine himself at his own discretion. For virtue is independent and its own mistress.” This is, so to speak, a “formal image”, a necessary condition for achieving perfect likeness to God. So, as created in the image of God, man is a personal being. He is a personality who should not be determined by his nature, but can himself determine nature, likening it to his Divine Prototype
. ” (Quoted from: Theological Works, No. 8, article by Vladimir Lossky “Mystical Theology”, Chapter VI “Image and Likeness”, p. 64).

St. Dmitry of Rostov, teaching his flock, writes: “The image of God is also in the soul of an unfaithful person, but the likeness is only in a virtuous Christian: and when a Christian sins mortally, then only the likeness is lost, and not the image. And even if he is condemned to eternal torment, then the image of God is the same in him forever, but there can no longer be a similarity.”

(Investigation, pp. 293, 294, quoted from the Dogmatic Theology of Metropolitan Macarius, St. Petersburg, p. 458).

What is the difference between the image and likeness of God?

St. Gregory the Theologian explains: “In my very creation I received – “in the image”, and by choice I am “in the likeness”... One was given, and the other was left incomplete, so that you, having perfected yourself, would become worthy of a reward from God. How are we made “in the likeness”? Through the Gospel."

(quoted from the Dogmatic Theology of Metropolitan Macarius, St. Petersburg, 1895, p. 458).

Our “I” – spirit – is a reflection of God as the Absolute. God can only be thought of as the Absolute, as a Superessence. Man is the image and likeness of God. God is the Superessence (Ex. 3, 14: “I am who I am (Jehovah); in ancient Hebrew: Egye asher Egye (in modern translation: Yahweh asher Yahweh

literally:
I am (the one) that I am)..."
Therefore, man, as a reflection of the Superessence, is the Essence.

As the image of the Absolute, incomprehensible and without limits, that is, indefinable, the human “I” is also incomprehensible and cannot have logical definitions. For him, just as for his Prototype, the standards that we apply to the external world are inapplicable. God can only be thought of as a Superperson. Thus, man, as His reflection, is a personality.

When applied to a person, the definition of consciousness as a function of his brain will only mean that it is determined only by those physical, chemical, and physiological processes that occur in the brain and, as a consequence, give rise to certain mental images (judgments). Such a process, in essence, will not differ in any way from all other processes occurring in the human body. But if this is so, then one cannot demand any responsibility from a person for his actions.

Nevertheless, such a requirement is constantly presented to a person throughout his historical existence as a social individual. This fact completely contradicts the above-mentioned theory of human mental life. In contrast, Christian teaching speaks of man as capable of freely making decisions and therefore being responsible before God, before his fellow men, both now living and those who will live in the future, in other words, to be responsible before the history of mankind .

We cannot identify our “I”, our godlike and godlike spirit with what in the language of science is called the psyche, for this term refers to the entire mental life of animals, including instincts and reflexes.

The human spirit, the human “I,” is qualitatively richer than the psyche of animals, while in psychology this difference remains somehow blurred. If we talk about human spiritual activity, then its description is more vividly given in Literature and art than in science. In Shakespeare, Schiller, Dostoevsky and Beethoven we will undoubtedly find a more vivid reflection of the life of our “I” than in Pavlov and Sechenov. But, of course, we must not forget about the dual structure of man, for he was created from the dust of the earth - afar min-ha of Adam

(Genesis 2:7).

The next question may be what to ultimately call the human spirit - material or, in modern scientific and philosophical language, ideal. Modern philosophy divides ace into two categories: material and ideal. Under the ideal, she thinks only of the reflection of reality and the relationship of objects.

Since the reality of the human “I” for religious consciousness is beyond doubt, the only question that can arise for it is how to conventionally call the human spirit - material or immaterial, and, of course, the word immaterial

will not at all mean
non-existent
, and
material
will be understood only in the sense of “created”. If we say that all creation is material and that God alone is absolutely immaterial, then, of course, we can call the human spirit material, meaning by this a certain, special and undetectable state of matter.

But such a name can only be given conditionally, since it may cause bewilderment among those who, under the word material

implies only what is experimentally discovered, recorded, etc. Now it is important for us to state only that the human spirit is not equivalent to the states of matter and types of energy known to us.

The spirit of a person, his “I”, as a reflection of the Absolute, also cannot have its own limits or logical definitions. He is called to unite with the Absolute.