Some people experience this strange “symptom”: it seems as if their worldview is the only possible one, and those who do not support these beliefs are usually treated as blind.
This happens on both sides of any barricade: in politics, in science, in art... In religion too. There are Christians who are perplexed: “Why don’t people believe in God, since it’s so obvious that He exists?
These are probably some very bad inveterate opponents of religion?” No not always. Let's allow ourselves to think a little on the topic of atheism.
A person who does not believe in God is called an atheist
Atheists get their name from the Greek language. “A” is a prefix of negation or opposition and “theos” - that is, “God”. It turns out: “God-denier” or, more precisely, “atheist.”
Don’t make the mistake of equating the meaning of “a” with the meaning of “anti.” An atheist is not a fighter against God. To fight something, you need to believe in its existence. If you don’t believe, then there’s nothing to fight against. Atheism has gained serious proportions in our time. We shouldn't be afraid of this.
Pious believers remain so, and people who are not devoted to religion are eliminated.
Atheism is a kind of filter. But it is not so important what an unbeliever is called. What's more important is why he doesn't believe.
Mistake 4: Belief in God and denial of the Church
How can a person understand whether he is moving in the right direction? The answer to this question can be obtained by becoming a member of a single community - the Church. Perhaps one of the most common arguments why this or that “believer” does not go to church and does not live a full church life (candles and Easter cakes do not count, sorry) will be that in order to communicate with God he does not need an intermediary (a third party in the form of a priest, etc.). Also, the opponent may be dissatisfied with the fact that in the Church “everything is for money”, that the clergy can sometimes be rude or make mistakes, and are not as attentive as a person would like, so there is no trust in the Church and the corresponding attitude towards it is like something not mandatory.
This approach eliminates responsibility. After all, if someone has a toothache, they will probably go to the dentist. And if the doctor is rude or doesn’t like you in some other way, it’s unlikely that the person will then decide that all dentists are rude and we’ll stop treating teeth altogether. But when we talk about the Church, we forget that there are exactly the same people there. Yes, the expectations placed on them are higher, but we must not forget that they are not saints. If you still do not shift responsibility for your life to the “bad Church,” then it turns out that you will inevitably have to ask yourself very uncomfortable questions and constantly test yourself, comparing with the guide that was given to us by Christ in the Gospel, which, as we already found out that it is necessary to study from the Primary Source, that is, in the Church.
AUTHOR: Vladislava Popova @milivladi
The first version of atheism is those who could not be convinced that God exists
Previously, there were no difficulties: the rain came, which means it was by God’s will. Thunderstorm - God is angry. A volcanic eruption is another manifestation of Divine power.
Some peoples approached such phenomena thoughtfully - they say, this is all the material world, but behind its scenes there is a spiritual reason - a certain Deity.
More primitive peoples looked at it more simply: it was raining, therefore, somewhere in the sky an old man was running around with some kind of watering can and watering the earth.
Atheists are not at enmity with God, they simply do not recognize His existence.
The first glance is unprovable. You can only believe in him. But few people look at divine phenomena so deeply. In the mind of the average person, God is an old man in the sky, and the entrance to heaven is the golden gate on a cloud.
Such people claim: “Gagarin flew into space and did not see any God.”
This is, of course, a profanation of religion. But what can you do about it? Some people are simply unable to look deeper.
The book "The Funny Bible" by Leo Taxil is one of the most complete and thorough lists of questions to the Holy Scriptures. Photo: kob-media.ru
Atheism is based on logic. All these questions are valid, and no theologian has been able to find answers to each. And there are those who are capable, but require “iron” evidence. Let's say:
- If the Universe could have arisen on its own, as science claims, then explain why God is needed?
- If God is love, then why does He allow evil in our world?
- If God needs me to believe in Him, why doesn't He prove His existence?
- If God is disgusted by atheism, why doesn't He destroy all atheists, as He did with the unrighteous nations in the Old Testament?
Leo Taxil "Funny Bible" read online
And we must admit that theology does not have ready answers to these questions. For centuries, outstanding minds of preachers and philosophers have been searching for answers to these questions. And they find it. But everyone's answers are different.
And if there is no agreement in the religious world, how can we expect to convince an atheist? Of course not.
MY INTRODUCTION TO THE BIBLE
After watching another political show where the topic of introducing “divine” amendments to the Constitution was discussed, I found a Bible that was given to me when I left the housing and communal services sector by grandmothers who came to pay for utilities. I loved communicating with them, always gave them tea and sweets, and listened to them.
As a token of gratitude and as a keepsake, Daria Andriyanovna Antokhina presented me with a Bible with a request to read and think about Him. And I read it, but, honestly, I did not accept anything from what was written except the Ten Commandments of the Lord.
The Ten Commandments are powerful; if they were followed by everyone, heaven would come to Earth. Believers believe that this book is the rules of faith. It was written under the influence of the Holy Spirit and consists of two parts: the Old and New Testaments.
My grandmothers advised me to start reading the Bible from the New Testament, and be sure to ask serious believers for an explanation of the incomprehensible. After reading the Gospel of Luke, where the role of Jesus Christ is described in clear language, you can move on to the Old Testament.
I went the wrong way, started from the beginning of the book, which is probably why my whole being protested. So many questions and disagreements arose with the Holy Scripture that on the tenth page I put it aside again. Now I don’t know if I’ll return to him. It’s clear now why people don’t believe in God - it’s a difficult task to study holy texts.
But if you want to come to faith, you will have to read and learn in more detail the genealogy of Christ, as well as the reason why God sent his own son to such torment and ultimately to death. So far I have no desire to continue reading, I looked into the historical narratives, looked at the prophecies and put the Bible in the closet.
The second version of atheism is those who stopped believing in God
There are people who are disappointed in God. As a rule, these are those who expected something from Him and did not receive it. Sometimes this arises due to a superficial understanding of religion or due to its adoption at an unreasonable age.
A man was born, he was baptized, he went to church a couple of times. He says about himself that he is Orthodox. And then his mother and father die. Prayers didn't help. “Where was your God?” such a person becomes indignant.
And he doesn’t realize that these are not issues in which the Almighty intervenes, that prayer is not an order for what will happen next, but a means of communication.
“The Kiss of Judas” is a fragment of a four-part icon. Photo: icons.pstgu.ru
If we rely on the traditional Christian version, then Judas Iscariot is quite suitable for the role of a man who was disappointed in God. He was once chosen among prominent believers, but chose to go from Christ rather than to him.
And then another person appears who does not believe in God because he is angry. And religion for him is already fairy tales. But what can you do if you don’t have the right religious education?
And it happens that a person searches for himself in religion and does not find it.
Someone rushes about, takes on other teachings. He doesn’t like, say, the idea that we all live once is unpleasant to them.
But reincarnation is just that. And the person finds that Eastern teachings are especially close to him.
And it happens that people emerge from such crises who do not believe in God. They simply think that such a cruel world cannot have a Creator and deny the idea of his existence.
An example of a story when a person becomes an atheist is told in the video below by Archpriest Alexander (Ignatov). His story illustrates another path to atheism - through guilt.
Actually, Father Alexander’s entire sermon is an attempt to understand atheism from the position of a believer.
A word about faith. From February 7. About atheists
WHY DO PEOPLE NOT BELIEVE IN GOD
I asked my daddy the first questions about religion after hearing my mother’s “name-calling” addressed to him: “I’m a bigot.” Then, when I asked what this meant, he explained that all people who believe in God are Christians, Islamists, Buddhists, and Christians are divided into Orthodox, Catholics, and Protestants.
He belonged to the most correct Orthodox Christians, and although his mother is an Orthodox Christian, she belongs to the new church from the Greeks, with which we are at odds. Like, when I grow up, I’ll find out if I’m curious.
I have asked the folder more than once with similar questions - why people don’t believe in God, and why they do; where and how so many of them coexist in the sky. I remember he laughed and said that he was the only one there, it’s just that everyone calls him differently, they pray to him in their own way. No one has seen Him, but many believe that He exists.
God is not God, but there is something. There are no miracles, there is an explanation for everything. Believe in Nature and Man!
Today I can say that the more intelligence and reason, curiosity and realism in a person’s head, the less space there is left for God. In Soviet times, only grandmothers went to church. Probably, in the villages there were more believers, in the cities people agreed less with religious norms.
An intelligent person, it would seem, does not accept beliefs and is skeptical about religion, because he analyzes everything that happens and logically explains it. But, looking at educated and well-read people, you are perplexed and surprised when they turn to Him. This means that one cannot connect the mind and the denial of the Creator. Somehow it turns out too simply, there are probably other reasons.
I ask myself why I am an unbeliever, but I cannot refer to my mind and wisdom. I don’t have a higher education or any special knowledge, although I’ve read a lot and seen a lot, but I don’t believe in the Almighty. Probably, it all depends on upbringing, when the family constantly turns to God and the norms of religion.
The third version of atheism - some schools of Buddhism
And there are religious atheists. These are representatives of different schools of Buddhism. It cannot be said that a Buddhist is someone who does not believe in God unequivocally. Rather, he simply ignores the issue.
That is, formally we get the same atheism: a Buddhist lives on his own, like a person who does not believe in God. But at the same time, he can acknowledge that God may be out there somewhere.
And even if He exists, for a Buddhist it is not important at all. Each of us is the same God inside, so there is no point in introducing aspects of worship into life.
However, let us make a reservation that not all Buddhism is a religion of atheists. There are a lot of schools in it. Each has its own differences. But most Buddhist movements do not touch upon the topic of the Almighty and do not welcome such questions.
Siddhartha Gautama - Buddha. We do not know whether he believed in the existence of God, but he recommended to his students not to ask questions about the Almighty. This is a form of religious atheism
Religion and faith: history of the past
Religious activity is part of belief, perhaps even from another. For example, Christianity is based on the history of the creation of the world and the Jewish people. Temple services are conducted according to Jewish traditions. Jewish holidays were replaced by Judeo-Christian ones. Christians burned their own and Western libraries. However, many holidays have retained their pagan roots. The initial letter of the ancient Slavs was replaced by the Church Slavonic alphabet.
Distortion of religion
According to the Slavs, life and faith are one and the same. It is impossible to distort faith. Religion can be modernized with new rules, dogmas and postulates.
Sometimes people discuss things they don't understand. Does a woman have a soul? This question does not confront the Slavs, since they endow objects and phenomena with a soul, in addition to living beings.
Christians abolished the concept of reincarnation (re-birth), because it is easier for churchmen to control the people: eternal torment or eternal heavenly bliss, without a third option.
There are people who are religious but do not believe in God
A separate category is those who revere various kinds of spirits, but have not even heard of God the Creator. They do not believe that there is some God above everyone, but this does not prevent them from being believers, pious, and virtuous people.
Belief in spirits is a form of degenerate religious tradition. Sometimes you can trace the rudiments of monotheism in it, and sometimes not a trace remains of them.
Examples of such beliefs can be observed in various tribes and relatively isolated ethnic groups.
This is clearly not an atheistic consciousness, but there is little left of faith in God. What pushes people to take such a step? Usually this is a desire to avoid responsibility.
The presence of God the Creator presupposes a certain set of Laws and posthumous judgment for their violation. Traditions that only honor spirits usually report no serious punishment for sinners.
What is a miracle? An inexplicable natural phenomenon or a person’s call to God?
Having left the control of God the Creator, magical traditions proclaim freedom for man. Sometimes it’s just nominal - just to be there.
And it happens that such licentiousness leads to a terrible fall - to cannibalism, sacrifices, and so on. In general, it’s not necessary once in a while.
Faith and its understanding
Belief is the recognition of something or someone as true according to one’s own conviction without proof of logic and facts.
Conviction, that is, religion, is the doctrine of faith. Society realizes the connection with higher powers in this way. But faith is more important.
Faith is the acceptance of something unproven, an idea, a phenomenon, based more on an internal feeling, intuition. It is justified subjectively and does not require proof. According to Russell, faith disappears when evidence appears and turns into knowledge.
The object of belief exists solely in a state of possibility. It can be felt psychologically, emotionally and figuratively. It depends on the characteristics of the organism. How is faith different from religion?
Religion concept
What is religion? This is a kind of social phenomenon, one of the forms of perception, understanding of all things, the world, the Universe. It is usually based on beliefs in some supernatural entities. According to theologians, religion connects God and people. Religion is an official affiliation with a particular denomination, as well as a creed with rituals.
The philosopher Jung considered confession a method, a method of psychological analysis and appropriate therapy. Freud believed it was only a great illusion, a deception that replaces misunderstanding. Karl Marx saw it as “opium” (a drug) for ordinary people (a way to deceive, mislead and exploit).
The sociological components of religion are as follows. This is, firstly, activity (cult or non-cult), external manifestation, ritualism. As well as internal self-awareness (attitude to the concept of God, moral standards, prohibitions and restrictions).
Religious activity, one way or another, is present in all peoples, all continents and countries around the world. People belong to different religions. Despite the differences between religious confessions, there are concepts that are common to them: good and evil, moral ideals, the meaning of human life.
Distinguish between belief and confession! Faith: primary - we choose it, capable of existing independently. It may be lost, but it is in a state of progress. It is located inside, depends on the characteristics of our psyche. Unites people. Selfless, this is an attribute of religion.
Religion: we accept it; it does not exist without faith. You can change, but there is no progress. It is a pattern of belief and consists of dogmas. Often leads society to disagreement. Always pursues a specific goal, not always a noble one. It is not an attribute of faith.
There are conventionally religious people who would be better off being atheists
Some believers like to elevate all religious issues to absolutes. There are Orthodox Christians who believe that atheism is a great sin, and that someone who does not believe in God is a lost person for society.
But it's not fair. A person may not live in thoughts of God, but this remains his personal matter.
You can be a good atheist and an extremely bad Christian. Just assigning oneself to one or another “camp” does not make a person unambiguously bad and unambiguously good.
Candles, prayers, bows, etc. are attributes of religious life. The main thing is what a person has inside. If priorities are set incorrectly, such a person’s faith is hardly more pious than atheism
What atheists can be praised for is their honesty. After all, he admits his denial of the Almighty. And there are many Christians who tell everyone around them about their piety, but themselves behave rudely and ill-mannered.
Remember the embittered old women that are in every temple. A girl in jeans will walk into such a place and catch sidelong glances at herself - and this is in the best case, otherwise they will also make comments and insult you.
And all because they are the ones who are so righteous. In fact, no one in the church has the right to make comments to anyone. There cannot be a more experienced believer; we should not even attempt any kind of church hazing.
Mistake 1: belief in God and denial of the need for religion as a creed
If we want to learn and know English, we turn to a textbook, or to someone who knows the language himself and is ready to teach us it. In matters of faith, the same principles apply - without studying who and what we believe in, without obtaining knowledge from the primary source, such abstract faith can lead to delusions, superstitions and other distortions. At every Liturgy, Christians sing the Creed - the basics of Orthodox doctrine. Without familiarity with the doctrine and without understanding it, it is impossible to voluntarily fulfill what God calls a person to, that is, it is impossible to believe correctly. Therefore, merely recognizing the fact of God’s existence is not enough, but a continuous process of knowing Him is necessary. It is no coincidence that Jesus Christ himself commanded the apostles to go and teach all nations (Matthew 28:20).
When we say we believe in God, do we know and understand what kind of God we believe in?
Among people who call themselves believers, there is often an opinion that everyone has the same God (that is, different religions essentially talk about the same thing, just in different words). This is a big misconception, since there can only be one truth. And for a believer, God is a living and completely concrete Person - Jesus Christ, who is “the way, the truth and the life” (John 14:6). Thus, if we consider religion as a synonym for doctrine, then it is obvious that it is absolutely necessary, since this knowledge in the original can only be obtained in the Church and in the Gospel.
Atheists don't believe in God, and agnostics say they don't know if He exists.
Nowadays the word “agnostic” is gaining popularity. Those who want to seem original call themselves that. "Do you believe in God?". "I am agnostic". Beautiful. And it sounds serious, as if it should command respect.
In reality, agnosticism is simply the claim that we know nothing about whether God exists or not. How can we draw such conclusions? A person lives by what he has seen and knows. He takes some facts on faith, some he doesn’t.
Let's say we have never been to the USA, but this country is on the globe, it produces films, a lot of people fly there on vacation or for work. It sounds authentic, so it exists.
Agnosticism has nothing to do with Gnosticism, just words with the same root.
But if someone tells you that yesterday they saw a Bigfoot on the street, it’s fair to doubt it. It's too strange a statement.
If it is reported at all, it is by Himalayan tourists and local old-timers, but not by residents of the average city.
It’s more complicated with God: saints, apostles, believers, priests talk about him. Moses allegedly even saw him face to face, and His disciples considered Jesus to be the Lord incarnate. Whatever one may say, all persons are interested.
What is there to rely on to believe it or not? This is a fact that you either unquestioningly accept or reject.
An agnostic is honest with himself: he does not dare to judge what he does not know about. This is not indifference to the spiritual, but simply an objective view of the world.
Atheism, Agnosticism, and Faith Require Courage
Atheism presupposes courage: it’s hard to live knowing that after death nothing awaits you. An agnostic also needs courage: he lives blindly, without hopes, without a solid foundation under his feet.
It’s also not easy for a believer: faith requires constant support. It's very hard to believe in what you can't see.
It's great to trust that someone in the spiritual world is taking care of you.
But there are so many disappointments in this world, many blows of fate show us that it’s as if no one needs us there, in heaven. And it takes incredible resilience to overcome all these doubts.
MY DOUBTS ABOUT THE BIBLE
“Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.” It’s clear with the heart and soul, but where to put the understanding, the head is swollen with doubts, denials and even with surprise and indignation.
"In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth". Where was he sitting before that? There was no sky, no firmament, no light, not even a cloud on which to settle. How did he, poor thing, live in the dark?!
“And 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... And the Lord God created a woman from a rib taken from a man, and brought her to the man.” And then complete confusion: the couple ate an apple, learned a bunch of secrets of life, and He expelled them for disobedience.
Why did you create them? Did you want to play with toys with them or for them to be fruitful and multiply? If in order to admire the creation of one’s hands, then it was necessary to create them sexless. And if the plans included the birth of humanity, then why not give them the freedom to understand themselves and their partner, and teach them goodness and explain what their purpose is?
“...and she conceived and gave birth to Cain... And she also gave birth to his brother Abel.” Wonderful! And then from whom were the children born to the sons? From your mother? From your siblings? Wasn’t it possible to create (since you, Lord, are such a wizard!) five women and two men?
And so on, and so on, just questions and confusion. It’s impossible to believe in God with your mind, sorry, He messed up, it seems, a little. This is understandable, there was no one to consult with, sometimes such crazy ideas come to one alone, the implementation of which leads to an irreparable mistake.
Perhaps He has already regretted the creation of the Earth and humanity, out of boredom He allows wars to be waged, allows murders, the death of innocent children. He does not want to restore order in human society, and sends trials on those who are already poor and suffering.
He probably sits and wonders why people don’t believe in God, why they aren’t afraid of His judgment.
I don’t know how people come to faith, how they begin to understand and accept the Bible, what or who illuminates their minds and souls. My classmate Tatyana S., who never sat down at the table without x@ya, suddenly began going to a house where believers gather to listen to audio sermons and read prayers.
There is no church in our village, but believers collected some money and installed a large memorial cross in the place where it stood before the war in the hope that someday at least a chapel will be built. In the neighboring village there is a church of the Nativity of Christ, St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, and the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, but our believers would like to have their own.
Faith can be the result of both spiritual search and simple gullibility.
True faith is the result of spiritual quest. You need to try it on yourself, like clothes, experience it, understand that this is your path, without which you cannot live.
Faith is not something that you take, try, forget, and then come back. It's a full-time job. Even the most steadfast priests sometimes suffer from periods of doubt.
Immanuel Kant is a famous agnostic. He philosophically argued that it is impossible not to prove or disprove the existence of God. Photo: upload.wikimedia.org
But there are a number of other “believers” - nominal ones. These are those people who were born somewhere in a religious family, grew up all their lives according to religious rules, but never appreciated or truly comprehended what they had. This is faith out of habit, a given. It's empty.
And some even take everything on faith: they listened to the first preachers they came across and were baptized into any religion that came their way.
Many dubious religious movements are assembled from such stupid things: they have never heard of God in their lives, they saw a brochure about the Bible - and that’s it, they are already Jehovah’s Witnesses.
Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, Catholicism, Orthodoxy, you tell them? Why, now they won’t even listen, although they don’t know what they’re talking about.
There are 2 types of “believers”: those who have suffered through faith and those who believe out of habit.
Every believer is obliged to ask himself at least once in his life the question: what if there is nothing, if I am wrong, why do I think that everything is this way and not otherwise?
Only after an honest answer can we call ourselves a true believer.
And we shouldn't condemn atheists. Of course, among them there are many who also “don’t believe” out of habit, because their parents were not from a religious family.
But a true atheist is one who remains honest with himself. His choice is not ours, but we need to treat each other with respect.
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What does it mean to believe in God?
Listen:
What does it mean to believe in God? I have met many people who call themselves believers, but they are very different in life, behavior, and attitude towards God. And everyone says: I am a believer. What does it mean to truly believe in God?
prot. Dmitry Smirnov: - There is a difficulty here. Previously, there was no formulation: “I believe in God,” because everyone believes in God, not only people, but also demons. And Satan himself believes in God. Therefore, this could not surprise anyone. Ever since atheism appeared, or rather, manifested itself, it was necessary to somehow separate it, because in ancient times they said: Do you believe in God? What does it mean? This means that a person studies all of God’s appeals to him, man. Do you consider these words of God addressed to you and others as your Creed? Do you believe this is true? Do you believe that this is good? That it is true? And so, among us Christians, such faith is called Christian faith. Because it was not atheists who crucified Christ God in Jerusalem on Golgotha...
prot. Alexander Berezovsky: - Believers...
prot. Dmitry Smirnov: — Believers, deeply religious people. But this is not a Christian faith.
prot. Alexander Berezovsky: - That is, it was once true, given from God and people gradually...
prot. Dmitry Smirnov: — And gradually they transformed it, directly into its opposite.
prot. Alexander Berezovsky: - That is, Satan intervened in this...
prot. Dmitry Smirnov: - Well, not without his help. Everything bad that happens here, for example, the film festival. How can he manage without Satan? Everything that is vile, disgusting, vulgar and vile is demonstrated, and people are infected with it. That is, it’s the same as feeding potassium cyanide instead of rice and millet. Well - and this is a fact. But when a person is seduced by Satan, human consent is always necessary. And the person accepts it. Therefore, belief in God - of course, people position themselves this way, but most people who do not believe in God have no idea that this means nothing. Because everyone knows that God exists.
prot. Alexander Berezovsky: But even now there are still people who say: “No.”
prot. Dmitry Smirnov: - No, they deny it, but they cannot help but feel it.
prot. Alexander Berezovsky: - Well, if a person has given himself such an attitude...
prot. Dmitry Smirnov: - Installation - yes. There are many such attitudes and we even know all of them, they are visible, they demonstrate it all the time - but there are few of them. These are special cases, mainly due to pride, because a person wants to somehow express himself. Some people have a comb on their head or cover their entire face and body with piercings, some go without pants, or, conversely, wear pants that are uncomfortable to walk in. Well, everyone tries to be noticeable. Some shock the public with their, so to speak, “works of art,” also in quotes, by the way. This is always the case, because pride gives rise, first of all, to vanity. And a vain person always wants, in Russian this is now called “show off”, and in another context – “to make a statement”. And so people say: “I don’t believe in God!” to the majority. Long ago, King David said: “The fool said in his heart, “There is no God.” This signifies that a person lacks intelligence. Because then explain the law of universal gravitation, for example. Or how a sunflower extracts from the ground the elements it needs to grow. Well, how? He has no mind. Well, and so on, that is, modern science has no answer to a single question, except for the simplest ones that have already been explored. Well, you can even imagine that the periodic table arose. In this order, they are distributed according to atomic weights, metals - non-metals - how? In such a harmonious system, it’s as if a sixth grade student drew them with a ruler? No answer.
prot. Alexander Berezovsky: - When we know all this, it seems simple, familiar...
prot. Dmitry Smirnov: - No. This may be familiar, perhaps simple, but it is inexplicable. Without the Supreme Being, Who composed it all, organized it according to a certain plan, created it - it is simply impossible. Only a madman could make such a claim. Therefore, it is very important for us that a person believed God. In what the Lord spoke and what those people who wanted to preserve this word wrote down. Prophet Moses and the apostles are a completely different matter. And so - a person knows that there is God, but does everything opposite. Well, what kind of faith is this? It has a name - this faith is demonic. For even demons believe and tremble, but man in a worse position does not tremble. This is generally an insolent creature.
prot. Alexander Berezovsky: - And with a challenge like this: “and I, they say, like this!”
prot. Dmitry Smirnov: - Well, yes.
prot. Alexander Berezovsky: - Once upon a time, people were all believers, and there was no question at all about believing in God or not. And then, a hundred years ago, suddenly a considerable number of atheists appeared from among these believing people. Have they degenerated from believers to atheists? How did the loss of the faith in which they were raised, baptized, and which was taught to them from infancy occur?
prot. Dmitry Smirnov: — Let’s touch on the issue of “taught.” Before the revolution, our country was entirely covered with a network of parochial schools. And at the same time - I don’t remember the figure, but about six million children were outside this system. That is, they, these children, were not taught anything.
prot. Alexander Berezovsky: - They found themselves in some kind of isolation, why?
prot. Dmitry Smirnov: - Well, for various reasons. Remoteness, absence of a teacher, I don’t know, I haven’t studied this issue. But in the literature I came across this situation. Therefore, for these people, as for the current Soviet ones, this does not exist. They in the church also did not understand anything what was happening there.
prot. Alexander Berezovsky: “It turned out that disbelief grew out of them.”
prot. Dmitry Smirnov: - No, no. The lack of faith came, as we say, from above. Although where is the top, where is the bottom - you need to think about it, if the top is closer to God, then it will not be the highest layer at all. No, this is where it comes from. That people, as was the case in the first centuries, had no literature at all besides church books. This arose only in the 18th century. And those people who made up the nobility, the ruling class, read a lot of literature, in particular French. In it they encountered ideas that were dear to them, because those calls of the Lord that sounded from the Church, from church literature, were alien and unpleasant to them, because they were denounced. And such thoughts also crept into their minds. This was called "freethinking." And then they organized all sorts of publications, some abroad, and shared their thoughts. Since among them there were talented people, gifted with the gift of words, quite educated at that time. The Empress herself corresponded with the French so-called Enlightenment philosophers, who were atheists. She was fascinated by this. Why? Well, because in terms of her moral qualities she was far from Christianity. Despite her intelligence, erudition, and moral qualities, she left much to be desired.
It was necessary to find an explanation for this, because it was in conflict with the teachings of the Church. But as? To say: but there are other opinions. She was interested in all this. Gradually, all the religiosity of the upper strata faded away so much that Count Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy openly mocked what Christianity considers sacred. This suggests that he was also a big naughty man. And it’s clear, the officer environment, where all this flourished wildly.
prot. Alexander Berezovsky: - It was fashionable - such freethinking in this environment.
prot. Dmitry Smirnov: - I don’t think it was so. Fashion is too light a word. No, it was quite serious for them. They interpreted it differently. Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky understood this very well in his novel “Demons.” And he called it. So, demons, this foam has floated to the top of society.
prot. Alexander Berezovsky: - And then a revolutionary atmosphere arose...
prot. Dmitry Smirnov: - This is already the 19th century.
prot. Alexander Berezovsky: - This has already begun to bear fruit.
prot. Dmitry Smirnov: - Yes. Decomposition, spiritual, of course, and moral.
Please tell me, if I provoked a person to make an impartial, but, in my opinion, sinful statement, am I to blame? Is this my sin? How should I feel about this? A non-Orthodox person, he himself does not consider this a sin, but it seems to me that it is very scary. I worry because this is a close person.
prot. Dmitry Smirnov: - You can worry as much as you like. And what you call “experience” indicates that your conscience could not stand your action. Regardless of how he does, this very person you respect reacts to it. You, madam, are tormented by your conscience. If you want to get rid of the pangs of conscience, in this particular case, you must repent. What it is? I won’t be lazy to tell you. To repent means to condemn oneself as the person who committed this act. And promise God never to do anything like that. And then relief will come. There will be temptations to repeat. Necessarily. Because the skill is there. But if you hold on, it means that you have truly repented. Because just to say in confession, well, like now - you confessed, we heard it, our whole company is here, there are 5 of us here, that you made a public confession, but this is not repentance. Repentance is when you condemn yourself and ask God for forgiveness and never do it again. That's when you repented. This is the only way for you. Otherwise, you will remember this disgusting thing until you die.
prot. Alexander Berezovsky: “Once I came across this question, father, a man said: “Do I have true faith? I love God, but I sin against him in one way or another, either in my thoughts or in my actions.” What does this mean? Fragility of faith, untruth of faith? And what to do in this situation?
prot. Dmitry Smirnov: - No, this is akin to the same experience as this wonderful woman who called us. Worry, you know - I cut and worry. Moreover, I don’t like the sight of blood, but I cut it. But, you know, then I worry so much, I punish myself so much. This is completely from the same opera. I love God, I have a moment when I get so upset, I’m really touched. Or when I watch some movie about God. Well, straight away - I love everything. This is just an emotion, but love for God is manifested only in this way: “If a person loves me, he will keep my commandments.” Moreover, he will comply not because she weighs heavily on him there, someone is forcing him, but because he cannot do otherwise.
prot. Alexander Berezovsky: - Well, this is already called the fear of God in a person. Unfortunately, this is something you rarely encounter with the fear of God in believers.
prot. Dmitry Smirnov: — Because they are believers, they believe in God, but do not believe in God. Their faith is demonic. Why is it so unclear?
Well, how could a believer do this? Yes, easily.
prot. Alexander Berezovsky: - Well, since I did it, it means I could.
prot. Dmitry Smirnov: - How many of these believers abandon their children or their wives without a means of support!
prot. Alexander Berezovsky: - Well, father, this, unfortunately, is very common.
prot. Dmitry Smirnov: - Or he left his wife and children and is emptying out her apartment. And some people, the creeps, actually do this: in order not to pay alimony, the children are taken away from the mother, and the court, equipped with certain, so to speak, incentives, orders that the children will live with the father. And the mother loses her children, and he does not allow them to see each other for years. And some are also forced to pay alimony, although they receive exactly two hundred times more salary than she does. And she doesn’t see the children, and she lost them by force, all the courts confirmed this, the guardianship commission too, plus representatives of all sorts of executive committees. So, he is separated from his children for twenty years, paying child support all the time. This is such justice. Although she never did anything bad to her children, and they can remember it. Only from the words of my father. As one girl told her mother: “I don’t want to listen to you, because you keep lying.” She was treated by specially appointed psychologists.
prot. Alexander Berezovsky: - So dad organized everything there?
prot. Dmitry Smirnov: — Organized everything, paid for everything. Everyone works for him. And the commission on juvenile affairs, every single one of the officials sits: the head of guardianship, then the organization that deals with psychological research - they all lie. Even children's drawings reveal this. Children are bored and suffer without their mother. There are such tests. Here it is visible. I know these tests. No, they get it all wrong, right in court. They are appealing – the same thing. Everything is captured. A Russian proverb says: don't sue a rich man. Why? It's useless.
prot. Alexander Berezovsky: - And in this chain of untruths, there are people, probably church members...
prot. Dmitry Smirnov: - Yes, everything with crosses. Well, this is the worst thing on religious grounds. It’s like the Pharisees incited the crowd against Christ. And everyone shouted: “Crucify, crucify Him!” For what? For giving sight to the blind, for straightening those who were bent? For raising the dead? For what? My people, what have I done to you? And so mothers come to me who are simply killed alive, with the help of our dear state apparatus.
prot. Alexander Berezovsky: - Is there any remedy against it?
prot. Dmitry Smirnov: - No, probably there is, but I don’t know how to achieve this, because formalism operates everywhere.
prot. Alexander Berezovsky: — So, according to the law, everything is correct?
prot. Dmitry Smirnov: - No. Even legally it is wrong. But, for example, here’s the last case: this one dad, he’s such a tough guy, committed a criminal offense. I immediately reached an agreement with the local prosecutor’s office, they reclassified this as an administrative violation. A? And a criminal case had already been opened.
prot. Alexander Berezovsky: - Well, when there is a lot of money...
prot. Dmitry Smirnov: - Not only money. There is also administrative resource, everyone went to the same school, everyone... Well, like in small towns - there, well, everyone knows each other - it’s the same sandwich. But, and to get someone there, well, let’s say Yuri Yakovlevich, to start doing this, but he immediately goes to his deputy or assistant - well, the assistant goes there, and then everything is already captured. Well, it's no use.
Now, if a person has an obvious psychosomatic weakness that prevents him from somehow fully enjoying life, and the person decides to bear it like a cross: to endure it, not to get rid of it, in order to remember about death, so as not to rejoice too much. Is this correct? Or is this stupidity and sadomasochism, as you think?
prot. Dmitry Smirnov: - I think this is wrong. The disease is given in order to be treated with patience. There are diseases that cannot be cured, but the situation can always be alleviated. And this is the right way. And the path when a person takes upon himself, as it were, to endure everything - this is the path of a proud person. This is the wrong way.
prot. Alexander Berezovsky: - Still, a person needs to use what is given by God through medicine, through loved ones...
prot. Dmitry Smirnov: - Yes. Certainly.
prot. Alexander Berezovsky: — Because very often people talk about the miracles that the Lord works for them.
prot. Dmitry Smirnov: - No. The Lord Himself knows when to create, to whom to create, what kind of miracle to perform. This is a miracle of such a long-term effect or momentary, as one prisoner said. He was placed in an ice cell, he sat there for several days, and steam came off of him. He thought they were drowning, but it turns out they weren’t. The Lord covered him with His grace. But this did not last his entire life, but only for a moment. When they came to take his corpse, they saw that he was alive, sitting, and not hungry. So there are miracles, such, absolutely amazing.
prot. Alexander Berezovsky: - But they are always associated with a person’s humility.
prot. Dmitry Smirnov: - Of course. Without humility, the grace of God cannot touch. And this is all the action of God’s grace.
A close person does not deny God, but says that the Church is not mine. And she doesn't believe in heaven. I don’t know how to talk to her or just pray to the Lord to enlighten her soul? Tell.
prot. Dmitry Smirnov: - I won’t suggest anything. Well, the Church is not hers. And heaven is not hers. Well, a person chooses hell himself. Well, imagine, I caught a fish on a hook and line and placed this fish in heaven, put it on the grass, among the flowers, in the sun, and now the fish in this paradise dies in terrible pain. Then he caught the bird in a snare and put it under the water so that it could see what beautiful stones there were, what fish were swimming there, into a world of silence. And she suffocated there, like a fish in paradise among the flowers. A man chooses hell, and I will pray that he ends up on the grass with flowers!
prot. Alexander Berezovsky: - For him, hell...
prot. Dmitry Smirnov: - This is paradise.
prot. Alexander Berezovsky: - More desirable - yes. But a person, in the hope that he will be able to satisfy his passions in that life, turns out to be deceived - passion cannot be satisfied.
prot. Dmitry Smirnov: - No. The devil, due to his specificity, is an absolutely complete evil creature; he cannot reward anyone with anything. Show him a test tube with a nerve agent - he can. He can only deceive.
prot. Alexander Berezovsky: “But man himself wants to continue the life he leads here, and it is far from heaven.
prot. Dmitry Smirnov: - This is from the point of view of someone who has a close concept of what heaven is. But for another, heaven is drinking beer all day long, and not having anything to gain from it.
prot. Alexander Berezovsky: - But hell cannot give satisfaction to a person.
prot. Dmitry Smirnov: - No. Will always want it. Insatiably.
prot. Alexander Berezovsky: “Here is an indefatigable worm - this is just a passion, a desire that I cannot satisfy in any way.”
prot. Dmitry Smirnov: - Impossible. The devil cannot reward anyone.
prot. Alexander Berezovsky: - And yet a person chooses this hell.
prot. Dmitry Smirnov: - Why? He believes it much more...
prot. Alexander Berezovsky: - That is, he believes that it will still be good there...
prot. Dmitry Smirnov: - Yes. Everything will be fine.
prot. Alexander Berezovsky: — What is this belief based on?
prot. Dmitry Smirnov: — On experiences. Here is a person who did something nasty, and then worries. And he thinks that since I’m worried, I’m a good person. But a good person does not worry, he goes, asks for forgiveness, and tries to compensate for the evil that he has done. This means he repented. And if there are no works of repentance, then it’s like an aluminum kefir lid. That is, you can't make anything out of it.
The grandson was baptized at six months and the godfather and godmother came out and said: why is it considered legal? His 15 people were baptized and watered from a ladle, and not dipped into a font - how is that? Is it still considered baptism?
prot. Dmitry Smirnov: - Of course. You didn’t know, did you?
No, I did not know.
prot. Dmitry Smirnov: - Well, you read the relevant books, what do you know?
Everything annoys me, how can I deal with this? Maybe it's time to see a doctor?
prot. Dmitry Smirnov: - Well, I don’t know to what extent. You need to look at the person, talk, in general it will not be harmful. Perhaps the doctor will say: you are exaggerating a little, but you can overcome it entirely by your own will. Well, you can always help with medications. There is no sin in this.
prot. Alexander Berezovsky: - Well, irritation is still a spiritual disease.
prot. Dmitry Smirnov: - Of course. This is a manifestation of the passion of anger. Some fathers even singled out irritability separately. Well, how do you separate vanity from pride? Although this is my own daughter.
prot. Alexander Berezovsky: - Irritation is the beginning of anger, so to speak, a person is still restraining himself, and then...
prot. Dmitry Smirnov: - No, no. This may be the general background in which a person lives.
prot. Alexander Berezovsky: — That is, a permanent condition.
prot. Dmitry Smirnov: — A persistent state - everything irritates.
prot. Alexander Berezovsky: — Because I don’t like everything.
prot. Dmitry Smirnov: - Yes. It’s just that the disease has taken very deep roots, metastases, if you will. They happen not only in the bones of the head or legs, maybe in the liver, and in the lungs, and in the stomach, everything is a continuous pain.
prot. Alexander Berezovsky: - That is, the person allowed himself such a disease. Or is it the Lord...
prot. Dmitry Smirnov: - Raised. The man considers himself very right. Doesn't want to tolerate anything.
prot. Alexander Berezovsky: - And so he began to cultivate this discontent.
prot. Dmitry Smirnov: - Yes. Because it comforts him. Because when a person is irritated, he immediately begins to judge. When he condemns, he exalts himself. It pleases this pride, because pride is a derivative of all passions. Anger also comes from pride. Jupiter, are you angry? So you're wrong, Jupiter. Why are you so angry?
prot. Alexander Berezovsky: - But at the same time, a person is ready to defend his rightness with foam at the mouth.
prot. Dmitry Smirnov: - Yes, it’s good for your health. One is ready to worry...
I heard that such a thing is practiced as a prevention of delinquency among minors. They are taken to prisons or juvenile colonies. Just curious, have you ever done something like this? How to find out your attitude to this?
prot. Dmitry Smirnov: — I think that for many children this is a very useful excursion.
Can a healthy lifestyle interfere with the salvation of the soul?
prot. Dmitry Smirnov: - Well, of course. The salvation of the soul can be hindered by playing chess, checkers, dominoes, love for figure skating...
prot. Alexander Berezovsky: - That is, the most seemingly harmless hobbies...
prot. Dmitry Smirnov: - Absolutely. Because figure skating is wonderful, one of the most beautiful sports. But a person’s attitude towards him…. As they say: Sport is life.
prot. Alexander Berezovsky: — The main thing is health. This is also a phrase that sounds very often...
prot. Dmitry Smirnov: — The main thing is health, especially for the deceased. It's simple, very interesting.
prot. Alexander Berezovsky: - At the same time, much more attention is paid to health than...
prot. Dmitry Smirnov: — Because it’s ours, dear. And it still tends to hurt.
prot. Alexander Berezovsky: - Well, for children. They choose exactly...
prot. Dmitry Smirnov: — Because they don’t know where the child’s soul is. That’s why I watch all the time, even now I always look at parents walking with their children, and you rarely see that a mother is interested in the child’s soul. Mainly due to the condition of the clothes.
prot. Alexander Berezovsky: — And what, in your opinion, is the concern for the child’s soul expressed in these mothers?
prot. Dmitry Smirnov: - It doesn’t express itself in anything.
prot. Alexander Berezovsky: - No, well, if you still observe that there are such...
prot. Dmitry Smirnov: - Well, for example, restraining a child so as not to pull his arm, twisting the joints of the shoulder and elbow. I see how young mothers often behave completely criminally towards their children. Something irritates them, they become irritated and act in their irritation.
prot. Alexander Berezovsky: - It is important to subordinate the child to your will at all costs...
prot. Dmitry Smirnov: - No. This is necessary even for the safety of the child, but the algorithms with which this education shines are, of course, anti-education.
prot. Alexander Berezovsky: - Well, they simply don’t know how to do it any other way.
prot. Dmitry Smirnov: - Well, they don’t know - everything is known. All the books have been written, even many unnecessary ones.
In some prayers we address the Cross as a person. Why can this be explained? What is the point? The second question is whether it is possible to explain in simple words that our Lord died for us on the cross and took our sins upon Himself? Or maybe this can only be understood by grace?
prot. Dmitry Smirnov: - Yes, this can only be understood by grace. If God gives such a person God's gift. For him, all words - both simple and more complex - will be unconvincing. But when I hear the stichera of the Cross, for example, my heart is filled with tenderness. And I understand the texts that address the Cross not as a withered tree from which they made an instrument for the murder of Christ the Savior, but as a living being. I am the kind of person who is very sensitive to poetry, but this is such a height. For me there is no problem here. Well, you see, you can’t translate words into something simpler. “I remember a wonderful moment: you appeared before me.” It’s much simpler - and what’s behind it. It's the same here. This is the pinnacle of church poetry.
prot. Alexander Berezovsky: - And you just need to try to perceive it.
prot. Dmitry Smirnov: - Well, that’s also impossible: I stood up, concentrated and perceived. To do this, you need, I’m not afraid to say, to be a participant in a certain culture. A person who has spent his entire life making computer programs cannot feel this. This is a person who, from his youth, read Blok, Mandelstam, Akhmatova, or even something simpler - Gumilyov.
prot. Alexander Berezovsky: - That is, a person must have some kind of education of the soul...
prot. Dmitry Smirnov: - Yes, of course. For a person who does not go to concerts of serious music, for him music is the most boring of noises. But how can I explain this to him? Music cannot be translated into text. So this cannot be explained in any other way. This is a certain fact of our church culture in its highest manifestation.
prot. Alexander Berezovsky: — And at the same time, people advocate for the translation of church texts.
prot. Dmitry Smirnov: - No. It is possible to translate, but, unfortunately, all translations, for example ours, again go back to Alexander Sergeevich. Pushkin is untranslatable. It is impossible to translate - not only poetry, but also prose.
prot. Alexander Berezovsky: - What is the reason?
prot. Dmitry Smirnov: — It’s elusive. You can't explain it.
prot. Alexander Berezovsky: — That is, the translation loses something special.
prot. Dmitry Smirnov: - Not something like that, but he loses the most important thing, which distinguishes him from all other texts. Yes, the content will remain. And to adequately translate, like Lermontov translated German poetry, but absolutely adequately. But this is also a unique case. Well, how is this possible? Miracle of miracles. The guy there is twenty-something years old, but such a height of culture and such a poetic flair.
prot. Alexander Berezovsky: - Well, this is such a genius, revealed by God.
prot. Dmitry Smirnov: - Well, it’s simple: he’s a genius, that’s all. Yes, you become a genius, and then... The point is that this is all brought up. I heard about one person who studied Russian bel canto from records. And I learned to sing and make sounds. Because he listened to so much of it that he understood. Because modern people cannot distinguish real singing from Ivan Kozlovsky. And it’s kind of sweet and that’s acceptable. And the person who hears this primary sound - he hears it, but it must be heard. To do this, you need to select certain vocalists and only listen to them for several years. Then you will already recognize similar ones.
prot. Alexander Berezovsky: - But this is really serious work.
prot. Dmitry Smirnov: - Well, you can’t say that work is pleasure. What, reading Alexander Blok is hard work? Or is it Vladimir Vladimirovich Mayakovsky?
prot. Alexander Berezovsky: - Well, somehow modern people don’t really read...
prot. Dmitry Smirnov: - Well, what can we say about modern people? How to translate “The Cross is the Guardian of the Universe”? These words take my breath away.
prot. Alexander Berezovsky: — The service to the Life-Giving Cross is one of the most beautiful in our church baggage. And every word there is amazing.
How to give alms so that it benefits the soul? What to do if you have doubts about the honesty of the person asking?
prot. Dmitry Smirnov: - Give me less so that you don’t feel sorry for it. And then, there is no need to take on Divine prerogatives. “The benefit of the soul” - what are you, a Savior or what?
prot. Alexander Berezovsky: - Well, how? The man heard that everything should be for the benefit of the soul.
prot. Dmitry Smirnov: - Well, who are you to care about his soul?
prot. Alexander Berezovsky: - I mean - for your soul.
prot. Dmitry Smirnov: - So, for your own, you also need to be so peaceful, because as soon as you regret it - what does it mean to regret it? He has already repented. Once you repented, what you gave has already disappeared, it no longer exists.
prot. Alexander Berezovsky: - That is, you have already lost it.
prot. Dmitry Smirnov: - Well, yes, I just spent the money and did not gain any benefit. Voluntary giving is needed.
prot. Alexander Berezovsky: But doubt about the honesty of the one who asks stops him. I will gladly give it to you, as someone told me...
prot. Dmitry Smirnov: - Well, give it to me! And go quietly. Why are you even wasting airtime over such nonsense?
What prevents a person from being happy the most?
prot. Dmitry Smirnov: - Selfishness. The egoist suffers all the time.
prot. Alexander Berezovsky: - Well, yes, he always feels bad.
prot. Dmitry Smirnov: - Yes, it’s a bit bad.
prot. Alexander Berezovsky: - Well, selfishness is not old clothes that you can take off. This is also probably brought up by man...
prot. Dmitry Smirnov: — You can take it and set yourself the task of getting rid of egoism. Always act against him.
Saint Theophan the Recluse says: there is no greater sin than to pray to God without fear, attention and reverence - to pray with the tongue, and to conduct a conversation with demons with the mind. But this is what happens most often with us: the mind is constantly carried away. Does it mean that no prayer is a sin?
prot. Dmitry Smirnov: - So.
prot. Alexander Berezovsky: - Well, we get up to pray in order to please God, but at the same time we commit a sin?
prot. Dmitry Smirnov: - Of course.
prot. Alexander Berezovsky: - In order not to commit a sin, let's stop praying?
prot. Dmitry Smirnov: - No. You need to pray like Bishop Theophan.
prot. Alexander Berezovsky: - Well, it doesn’t work.
prot. Dmitry Smirnov: - Well, it doesn’t work out that way. A person cannot do this. This is only if God gives it to him. And he will if you beg him.
prot. Alexander Berezovsky: - Pray to God, wish with all your heart.
prot. Dmitry Smirnov: - Yes, of course. And those people who say: I can’t do it. I tell everyone who hears us from among them in advance - nothing will work out for you, and never. Because self.
We would like to take a baby, but officially our income is small. Is just a desire enough, or will it be very difficult to take a child?
prot. Dmitry Smirnov: - Well, first of all, we have already given away everyone who could be given away. And we won’t give anyone else away. Secondly, this is a very responsible decision, so you need to seriously prepare for this, and children do not need money, but love and the desire to work with them. Children are not interested in such questions.
prot. Alexander Berezovsky: - Father, why do you say: we won’t give it back again?
prot. Dmitry Smirnov: — Because they have mothers, and some even have fathers. We took them because they found themselves in a difficult life situation. They are with us at the request of mothers. And we help raise them. And we gave each of the children, who were real orphans, a family from among our Orthodox Christians. We found those willing.
prot. Alexander Berezovsky: - And how much better was it for the children? After all, your orphanage really gave the children a lot, a family environment.
prot. Dmitry Smirnov: — Not all situations are ideal, how is our orphanage different? In our country, all adults participate in raising children. This is an ideal situation. This is a family model. It should be. Because this doesn't happen at school. The teacher sees the children during recess and his lesson, then the second, and so on. And the child can easily dive into these gaps and do whatever he wants there. And here we have - everything - complete control. We organize their lives. It is very interesting and rich. Well, someone will kick up, rebel - not because he is tired or exhausted, but for other reasons. Maybe his thoughts are visiting him, but we are keeping an eye on it. Therefore, it is much more effective than any family. Therefore, when the child is born, although we study all the parents, it takes six months or more until we come to the conclusion that we can give it away. Then we try to help, we communicate. All the children come to us, our former pupils.
All the best.
