God's main commandment is the commandment of love, without which it is impossible to save your own soul. We need to love our Lord with all our heart and soul, but we should love our neighbor as ourselves. But before you talk about loving the Lord and your neighbor, you should still love yourself. This task is not easy for many and we are not talking about pride and selfishness at all, because love should be pure, sincere, bright. Love for your neighbor is also a measure of the manifestation of love for the Lord, so it will be difficult to love, especially if something bad has been done to you, but with God’s help it is possible, gaining great spiritual treasures.
Love your neighbor...
We read in 1 Samuel 18:1: “When David had finished speaking with Saul, Jonathan’s soul was joined to his soul, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul.” We see how much Jonathan loved David in verses 3 and 4: “Jonathan made a covenant with David, for he loved him as his own soul. And Jonathan took off his robe that he was wearing, and gave it to David, and also his other clothes, and his sword, and his bow, and his girdle.”
Jonathan was willing to risk his relationship with his father for David.
In 1 Samuel 20:16-17 we read again: “So Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David and said, “Let the Lord punish David’s enemies!” And again Jonathan swore to David his love for him, for he loved him as his own soul.”
After the death of Jonathan and Saul, David made a promise to Jonathan's son, who was lame in his feet:
“And David said, Is there any left of the house of Saul? I would show him mercy for Jonathan’s sake.” (2 Samuel 9:1) And King David sent for Mephibosheth the son of Jonathan. “And David said to him, Fear not; I will show you mercy for the sake of your father Jonathan and will restore to you all the fields of Saul your father, and you will always eat bread at my table. ” (2 Samuel 9:7)
Interpretation of the Church.
Blazh. Theophylact of Bulgaria:
He who loves his neighbor fulfills all the commandments; he who keeps the commandments loves God, so that these two commandments (“love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind” and “thou shalt love your neighbor as yourself”) are united, support each other and contain everything other commandments. Who, loving God and neighbor, will steal, commit evil, kill, commit adultery or commit fornication? This lawyer first came with the goal of tempting, and then, as a result of Christ’s answer, he came to his senses and received the praise of Christ as a saint.
...Like your soul.
The story of David and Jonathan is a wonderful example of loving and caring for others. It was possible because they loved each other as they loved themselves and their own lives.
Just think how much they loved themselves!
When we talk about commandments, we often rightly focus on how to treat others and how not to be proud and selfish.
However, the end of the commandment touched and amazed me. This happened many years ago when I was suffering from self-doubt: “What should I do if I don’t love myself?”
Later, I encountered this more than once while working as a psychologist. Clients often said, “But I don’t love myself.”
Why didn't the priest and the Levite help their neighbor?
Let's look at the reasons why the priest and Levite passed by without helping the victim of the attack (and there are at least four of them):
The first reason is that the priests and Levites were constrained by the commandments of cultic purity, which were supposed to serve as a reminder to the people of the holiness of the Lord God. The priests underwent a ritual of preparation for service, which included many days of abstinence from eating a number of foods and drinks, abstinence from intimacy with a woman (wife), a set of daily ritual ablutions, anointings and a number of sacrifices. Purified and thus prepared for ministry, the priest had no right to even touch the corpse of his father or mother in order to bury them in accordance with the customs and traditions of his people. It was enough to lightly touch a dead or bleeding body to immediately become ritually unclean, that is, to make oneself absolutely unfit for service in the Temple and its courts, which in turn inevitably led to the next reason.
God calls us to love ourselves.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that you need to love yourself more than those around you. Romans 12:10: “Be kind to one another with brotherly love; warn one another in respect.”
Love others, but don't forget, you are also God's creation, you too are worthy of love!
We are called to love God's creation, and we must remember: we are part of it!
One night I was putting my daughter to bed (I think she was 4 years old). I told her how grateful I am to God for her dad, for her and her brother. She extended her little hands to me, touched my face and said: “God created you just like us, mommy.”
I was surprised to the core because, to be honest, I had completely forgotten about it. I completely forgot that by creating me with love and care, God blessed me, and I did not thank Him for it. We must love all creation, and therefore ourselves.
Psalm 139:13-14: “For You formed my reins and knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise You because I am wonderfully made. Wonderful are Your works and my soul is fully aware of this.”
The Epistle of James, Chapter 2, verses 1-13
The seven New Testament writings of St. apostles: one - James, two - Peter, three - John the Theologian and one - Jude. Forming a special group in the canon of sacred New Testament books called Conciliar books, a group very similar in tone and content to the Epistles of St. Apostle Paul, they in the Greek editions of the New Testament, as well as in its Western European editions, are usually placed immediately after Paul's epistles, while in the Slavic-Russian editions of the New Testament they usually precede the epistles of St. Paul. Paul, following directly after the book of Acts of St. apostles The name “conciliar” was given to these epistles not by their writers themselves, but subsequently by the Church, although, undoubtedly, at a very early time. According to the testimony of the 2nd century church writer Apollonius (in Eusebius. Ecclesiastical History, book V, chapter 18), a certain Montanist Themizon wrote, in imitation of the Apostle John, a conciliar epistle. In the age of Eusebius (in the first half of the 4th century) the name conciliar for the seven apostolic writings was in common use and common knowledge. But why exactly these writings were given the name Conciliar is very difficult to decide with accuracy and certainty: neither the origin of these messages from the famous apostles, nor their content explain the name given to them. In the content of these epistles, neither the opinion that the conciliar epistles contain the essence of the teaching of the entire Church, because with equal right in this sense the epistles of the Apostle Paul could be called conciliar or catholic, finds support for itself. they are called in the sense of canonical and divinely inspired, in contrast to the false, pseudo-inspired writings rejected by the Church: in this sense, all biblical writings, both New Testament and Old Testament, should be called conciliar - canonical.
Finally, the name “conciliar” cannot mean that these seven epistles are completely similar to the message once sent on behalf of the Apostolic Council to the Christians of Asia Minor (Acts 15:23-29) and are called conciliar in the sense of sending them on behalf of the council or the conciliar Church of Jerusalem and even in the sense of their collective composition by the apostles at the council. Nothing really indicates that any of the 7 conciliar epistles bore the stamp of conciliar creativity, was edited by the conciliar, or was addressed from the council of the Church of Jerusalem.
Therefore, we should dwell on the view, generally accepted almost in science, that the epistles in question are called conciliar not in the sense of their conciliar origin or writing by persons who participated in the Council of Jerusalem, but in the sense of their conciliar purpose, that is, sent to a council of churches (cf. Acts 15: 23: “To the brethren who are in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia.” It is in this sense that the word “conciliar” (καθολικός) is already used by Clement of Alexandria (Stromata IV, 15), when he gives it the meaning of “circuit” (ε ̓ γκύκλιος): a conciliar epistle, like that mentioned in Acts 15, is a circular epistle, having a purpose not for any one private church, but for a whole circle or district of private churches. And, according to Blessed Theodoret, “these epistles are called catholic or conciliar, i.e., as if circumferential (ε ̓ γκύκλιοι), because they are not assigned to one people in particular and not to one city, as St. Paul, but in general to believers, for example, Jews living in dispersion, or all Christians saved by faith.” The same definition of conciliar epistles is given by Blessed Theophylact (Task. Conciliar, last Preface). The epistles of the second and third of John in this sense cannot be called conciliar, as having a private purpose and address. But since they were recognized by the Church as canonical, it was quite natural to attach them to the first Council Epistle of the same apostle, which had already been previously accepted by the Church, and thus include them in the circle of conciliar or district epistles, which formed a special small department next to another, more extensive department messages of St. Apostle Paul.
It has already been mentioned about the unequal place of the Council Epistles in different editions of the New Testament. And they do not always follow each other in the same order. In the Rules of St. of the Apostles (canon 85) The Conciliar Epistles are named after Paul’s, and among the Conciliar Epistles, the epistles of the Apostle Peter are named first: “There are two epistles of Peter. John three. Jacob is one. Judas is one." On the contrary, in canon 60 of the Council of Laodicea, the Council Epistles are placed earlier than the Epistles of St. Paul, and the first among the Councils is the epistle of St. James: “These are seven Council Epistles: James is one, Peter is two, John is three, Jude is one.” The latter order, in favor of which, in addition, is supported by the testimony of the Eastern Fathers of the Church, should be accepted in our Slavic-Russian publications.
The literature on the Council Epistles, historical and exegetical, in the West is extremely extensive. In Russian literature, in addition to popular interpretive experiments on the Council Epistles, there are several scientific works about them. This is the work of Bishop Michael (Luzin): “An intelligent Apostle. Book two: Conciliar Epistles of the Holy Apostles." Kyiv, 1905. The work of Professor Fr. Archpriest D.I. Bogdashevsky “Experiments in the study of the Holy Scriptures of the New Testament. First issue. From the cathedral messages." Kyiv, 1909. Also important for the study of the epistles under consideration is the translation of the catenas to all the Council Epistles made in Volyn: “Interpretation of the Council Epistles of the Holy Apostles.” Translation from Greek. Zhitomir, 1909.
Special works on this or that message will be named when reviewing each message.
Conciliar Epistle of the Holy Apostle James. Writer of the message. Purpose and readers of the message. Time and place of writing. Authenticity of the message. The general nature of the message and its brief content.
The writer of the first, in canonical order, Council Epistle, without calling himself an apostle in the greeting (James 1:1), humbly calls himself: “ James servant of God and the Lord Jesus Christ .” However, this silence about the apostolate of the writer, who addresses his message to “the twelve tribes in dispersion,” not only does not deny the apostolic dignity of the writer, but also speaks of his great and undoubted authority both among Judeo-Christians and among Jews in general. At the same time, the writer places above all praise the humble title and consciousness of himself as a servant of God and Christ, and this mood precisely distinguishes the true apostles of Christ from persons who illegally arrogated apostolic authority to themselves. This leads to the assumption that James, the writer of the epistle, was an apostle of Christ, one of the primates of the apostolic church, who was in charge of the Judeo-Christian communities outside Palestine. Such a person is the first and most famous representative of the Jerusalem Church, St. James, the brother of the Lord, called Righteous from among the seventy apostles (Acts 12:17; Acts 21:18; Gal 1:19). Church tradition assimilates the writing of the epistle specifically to this Jacob, and not to Jacob Zebedee and not to James Alphaeus (brother of the apostle and evangelist Matthew). Jacob Zebedee very early (about 44 AD) died a martyr’s death at the hand of Herod Agrippa (Acts 12: 2); Moreover, there is no historical data in favor of his being famous in the areas of scattering. Meanwhile, the entire content of the message assumes that its writer is well known throughout the Judeo-Christian diaspora. According to legend, Jacob, the brother of the Lord, who entered the field of activity after the death of St., enjoyed such fame in Judeo-Christianity and Judaism. Jacob of Zebedee (Acts 15:13; Acts 21:18; Gal 1:19). This is precisely Jacob the ap. Paul puts him on an equal footing with the apostles Peter and John, calling all three pillars of the Church (Gal 2:9).
If, at the initiative of Blessed Jerome (Prot. Gelovid. Ch. XIII), many Catholic scientists (Cornelius a-Lapide, Min, Corneli, etc.), Protestant (Baumgarten, Lange) and some Russians (Metropolitan M. Philaret, Archbishop Chernig. Filaret, Prof. I.V. Cheltsov, Prof. M.D. Muretov) identified Jacob, the brother of the Lord, with Jacob Alpheus - an apostle from among the 12, then both the New Testament data and the evidence of church tradition speak against this identification . In the Gospel, the brothers of the Lord according to the flesh - James, Josiah, Simon and Judas - clearly differ from the apostles or the first and closest disciples of the Lord, for example, in John 2:12: “ After this He came to Capernaum, and His mother, and His brothers , and His disciples ." If here and in some other places of the Gospel (Matthew 12:48; Mark 3:31; Luke 8:19) the brothers of the Lord stand apart from the disciples or apostles of the Lord, then John 7:5 definitely says that at first the brothers of the Lord did not believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, therefore, could not be among the apostles - and this is all the more remarkable because the Evangelist John made this remark about the unbelief of the Lord's brothers almost immediately after mentioning the already formed and existing circle of 12 apostles (John 6:70 -71). Even after the resurrection of the Lord, when the Lord’s brothers believed in Him, they still differ from the apostles (Acts 1:13-14), although sometimes they are compared with them (1 Cor 9:5). And the ancient church tradition, with all its ambiguity regarding the brothers of the Lord, still in most cases confirms that Jacob, the Brother of the Lord, is a person different from the Apostle James Alpheus. Thus, in the Apostolic Constitutions, James, the Brother of the Lord, is clearly distinguished from the 12 apostles. “We are twelve,” says the Apostle. fast. VI, 12, having gathered in Jerusalem, they appeared to James, the brother of the Lord,” and below, VI, 14, first the apostles of the 12 are named as those who proclaimed Catholic teaching (including the Apostle James Alpheus), and then another “James” is added , brother of the Lord and bishop of Jerusalem, and Paul, teacher of languages." Clement of Alexandria in Eusebius says: “Peter, James and John, although they were preferred by the Lord Himself (to other disciples), however, after the Ascension of the Savior, they did not compete about the word, but chose James the Righteous as Bishop of Jerusalem” (Church ist. II, 1) . Eusebius himself in I, 12 of his Church. ist. counts James, the brother of the Lord, among the 70 apostles, and in VII, 19 says that James, the brother of Christ, “was the first to receive the bishopric over the Jerusalem church from the Savior Himself and the apostles,” which, in both cases, James, the brother of the Lord, definitely stands out from the circle of the 12 apostles. Finally, in Chetya-Minea on October 23, James, the brother of the Lord, is counted among the 70 apostles.
We will not go into a detailed consideration and solution of the difficult question: who were the Lord’s brothers in the flesh? 1 For literature and main points on the question of the “brothers of the Lord,” see the Orthodox Theological Encyclopedia (St. Petersburg, 1906), vol. VI (columns 55-91). The best work on this issue is the work of the late prof. A. P. Lebedeva. Brothers of the Lord; review and analysis of ancient and new opinions on the issue. Moscow, 1904. Let us only say that the most justified and more based on ancient church tradition is the view according to which the brothers of the Lord are the children of Joseph the Betrothed from his first marriage. Of the four brothers of the Lord mentioned in the Gospel (Matthew 13:55; Mark 6:3), Jacob was undoubtedly the eldest and stood out from them for his special righteousness. He accompanied Joseph and the Virgin Mary with the Infant Jesus in their flight to Egypt from the persecution of Herod. Growing up with his brothers in the pious family of Joseph in the spirit of true piety, Jacob stood out from among his brothers precisely because of his righteousness, which gave him the name “Righteous.” According to the testimony of Egesippus (in Eusebius, Church history II, 23), St. James was a Nazirite from his mother’s womb: “he did not drink wine or strong drink, did not eat any animal, did not cut his hair, did not anoint himself with oil and did not wash himself.” in the bath". But precisely because of the special devotion of James and his brothers to his law, they remained unbelievers throughout the earthly life of the Lord Jesus Christ, and only at the beginning of the book of the Acts of the Apostles we find (Acts 1:14) the first mention of the Lord’s brothers among the believers, along with 11 apostles and the Matter of the Lord. Such a transition of Jacob from unbelief to faith was accomplished thanks to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ and His appearance to Jacob (1 Cor 9:5; 1 Cor 15:5). The conversion of Jacob, the eldest of the brothers, to Christ entailed the conversion of other brothers. Having believed with all his heart in the Lord Jesus, James, the brother of the Lord, both in his life and work, and in his views, is an example of a true Judeo-Christian in the best sense of this concept; in his personality we have the best example of the unification of the Old and New Testaments on a practical basis. Having great respect for the law of Moses in its entirety and observing its ritual instructions, even advising the Apostle Paul to perform the rite of purification (Acts 21:18-26) for the sake of pacifying the members of the Jerusalem church, James, however, was the first to raise his voice for liberation at the Apostolic Council those of the Gentiles who believed because of the yoke of the Mosaic Law (Acts 15:13-21). Christianity for St. James is not only a reformed Judaism, but a new way of salvation in Christ, beginning with regeneration through the Gospel (James 1:18). Without breaking the national-historical connection with Judaism, as the centuries-old heritage of the fathers, St. James, however, allows the fulfillment of Old Testament customs and rituals only insofar as they did not acquire dogmatic, enduring meaning, and they were transformed by the Christian spirit. The moral life of a Christian, according to the teachings of St. James, is regulated by the royal law of Liberty (125; II, 12); all perfection and justification of a Christian is accomplished only through union with Christ in a living and active faith (James 2:14-26), and only active Christian love is recognized as the common duty of everyone (James 1:27). In no antagonism with St. Apostle Paul - the great evangelist of Christian freedom of St. James (contrary to the opinion of Farrar and other Western researchers) was not found, and only the enemies of the great apostle of languages - the Judaists and Ebionites - used the name and authority of the first Bishop of Jerusalem to cover up their Judaistic tendencies and plans. The Nazirite itself of St. Jacob, being Jewish in form, was Christian in spirit: it is not without reason that he can be considered the prototype of Christian asceticism (and monasticism). Christian asceticism is St. Jacob sealed it with his own blood. Enjoying the great respect of all believers and non-believers, he lived hopelessly in Jerusalem until his martyrdom (maybe around 64 A.D.), in the circumstances of which it was expressed as the high respect that even non-believers had for him as a great righteous man, and the truly Christian character of his faith and life. Egesippus in Eusebius (Church History II, 23) talks about the martyrdom of the Apostle James like this: “When there were many who believed (according to the word of the Apostle James) - even among the elders - the Jews, scribes and Pharisees began to shout and say that in this way, perhaps, all the people will begin to wait for Christ in Jesus. Therefore, having come to Jacob, they said to him: “We ask you, restrain the people; because he, in error, recognizes Jesus as the Christ. Now everyone has gathered for Easter; We ask you to enlighten them regarding Jesus. We trust you with this because we ourselves, together with the people, testify to your righteousness and impartiality. So convince people not to be mistaken in the reasoning of Jesus. Everyone will listen to you, and we are with everyone. Stand on the wing of the temple, so that you can be seen from above by everyone and your words can be heard by the whole congregation...” The mentioned scribes and Pharisees, indeed, placed Jacob on the wing of the temple and then shouted to him: “righteous man! we all must believe you. These people are in error and will follow Jesus crucified: tell us, what is the door of Jesus crucified?” James answered loudly: “Why do you ask me about Jesus, the Son of Man? He will sit in heaven at the right hand of great power, and will come to earth again on the clouds of heaven.” By this testimony of Jacob, many were completely convinced and began to praise Jesus, exclaiming: Hosanna to the Son of David! And the scribes and Pharisees said to each other: “We have done something bad in preparing such a testimony for Jesus; Let’s go up and throw Jacob down, so that others, at least out of fear, will not believe him” - and they began to shout: “Oh! O! and the righteous man goes astray...” they got up and, throwing down the righteous man, said to each other: “Let us kill him with stones,” and they began to throw stones at him. The overthrown one did not suddenly die, but rose up, knelt down and said: “Lord God the Father! let them go; they don’t know what they are doing.” While stones were flying at him, a certain priest, one of the sons of Rechab (mentioned by the prophet Jeremiah), shouted: “Stop, what are you doing: the righteous is praying for us.” But at that very time one of them, a cloth worker, grabbed the rolling pin on which cloth is wound, hit the righteous man with it - and he died.” From this story it is obvious that St. James was a true apostle of Christ, preaching Jesus to the Jews as Christ, Savior and future Judge, and believing salvation to be found only in Christ, and not in the Old Testament law. And, according to the testimony of Josephus (Jewish Antiquities XX, 9, §1), St. Jacob, according to the judgment of the high priest Anan, was stoned precisely as a lawbreaker. This means that following St. Jacob's rituals and customs of his people were performed in a Christian spirit.
Message of St. The apostle James was originally appointed and sent, as it is written (James 1:1), " to the twelve tribes that were scattered abroad ." Contrary to the opinion of some researchers (Hoffmann, Jahn, Golpmann, Jülicher), who gave this expression an allegorical meaning and saw in it the designation of “new or spiritual Israel”, which does not have an abiding city in this world, but a coming one, the expression “ twelve tribes ” is ancient theocratic designation of the entire Jewish people as one people of God, in contrast to other nations of the Gentiles (Acts 24:6); the addition “ in dispersion ” (ε ̓ ν τη ̨̃ διασπορα ̨̃) primarily indicates that the readers of the message were outside Palestine. Moreover, the entire content of the message, which is purely Christian in nature, says that they were actually Jewish Christians or Judeo-Christians. Not without reason, however, they pointed out (for example, Weiss) that the writer’s speech often addresses non-believing Jews, which is quite natural in view of the fact that at first and for quite a long time, believers and non-believers were not very sharply separated from each other and had common meeting, and also in view of the well-known very great authority of the Apostle James both among believers and among unbelieving Jews. Likewise, the restrictive increase “ in dispersion ” does not exclude Judeo-Christians and Jews in general, living in Palestine itself; The content of the message is quite applicable to them, although the recipients of the message were primarily non-Palestinian readers, most likely the Christian communities of Trans-Jordan, Damascus and Syria (see Acts 9:1-end).
Like all apostolic epistles, the epistle of St. Jacob was prompted by the immediate needs and conditions of the religious and moral life of Christian communities; These features in the life of the latter to a very significant extent determine the content of the message, although other thoughts of the message could have been expressed by the apostle and regardless of the current state of the readers of the message, just as in general in the Holy Scriptures, next to the data of history, there are the eternal truths of dogma and moral teaching. Jewish Christians, according to the instructions of the epistle, suffered much oppression from the outside and experienced many internal disorders. Thus, poor Judeo-Christians suffered numerous persecutions from their rich fellow tribesmen (James 2:2-7; James 5:1-6) and amid these and similar external disasters they often shied away from a true look at the source of these disasters and temptations (James 1 :12-21), were in danger of wavering in the faith and even betraying it (James 5:7-11, etc.). From sensual motives and addiction to earthly goods, discord arose among them (James 4: 1-12); brotherly love has grown cold in many (James 4:13-17; James 5:13-20); out of conceit, many wanted to be teachers of others, without having the ability and preparation to do so (James 3:1-end). From here stemmed such important and disastrous errors of Judeo-Christians as incorrect views on prayer (James 1:5-8; James 5:17-18), on faith and good deeds in their mutual relation (James 1:26-27; James 2:14-26). These and similar disorders in internal and external life, to which Jews and Jewish Christians have always been especially prone and which St. The apostle calls temptations, and served as the reason for writing the epistle. The purpose of the latter was, as is self-evident, to eliminate the above-mentioned moods and shortcomings from the life of Judeo-Christians, to console the suffering and to show all Christians in general the true path of moral perfection (James 1:4; James 3:2). It is possible to assume, in view of the well-known high authority of the Apostle James even among unbelieving Jews, that by organizing the moral life of Judeo-Christians according to the highest Christian principles, the apostle had in mind to attract their unbelieving fellow tribesmen to Christianity.
The time and place of writing of the epistle is not indicated in it, just like the time and place of origin of other New Testament writings. Therefore, in particular, the time of origin of the message is determined only tentatively and guesswork. In favor of the early origin of the epistle, precisely before the Apostolic Council of Jerusalem (51-52 A.D.), they pointed to the very purpose of the epistle to the Judeo-Christians, which was supposedly understandable only in the early days before the Council of Jerusalem - to its lack of mention in the epistle controversial points from the time of the Apostolic Council (ritual law, the attitude of linguistic Christians to Judeo-Christians), also on the predominant moralizing nature of the message with the relative poverty of the doctrinal element, and this was seen as a sign of the proximity of the message, in the time of writing, to the Sermon on the Mount and in general conversations of the Lord. These arguments have only relative value, and each of these provisions can be countered by considerations of the opposite nature. In favor, on the other hand, of the relatively late writing of the epistle, in addition to the wide spread of Christianity among the Jews of the Diaspora, they pointed, among other things, to the sad picture of the religious and moral state of the Judeo-Christian churches according to the data contained in the epistle: Christianity among many has become completely worldly, from which they concluded that the message appeared at a later time in the life of the ap. Jacob. It is easy, however, to see the weakness of this foundation: is it even possible, within two decades (within these limits the definition of the time of writing the epistle fluctuates), to indicate the chronological line when the original light and purity of the faith and life of Christians darkened? Even more controversial is the argument of the late origin of the message, borrowed from the alleged acquaintance of the ap. James with the Epistles of St. Peter and Paul. But the question of the mutual relationship of the messages of all these three apostles is difficult to resolve. In particular, regarding the apostles James and Paul, even Western European researchers of their messages now agree that the apostle. James in his epistle does not at all contrast the teachings of St. Paul’s worldview does not at all argue with him on the issue of justification, as the rationalist researchers of earlier times liked to claim. Thus, we leave the question of the year the message was written open, limiting ourselves to only attributing the origin of the message to the mid-50s AD.
All the more decisively we must reject the attempts of rationalist criticism to push back the composition of the epistle to the second Christian century, attributing (in the person of, for example, Harnack, Pfleidrer, Jülicher, etc.) the writing of the epistle to 125-130. according to R. X. Here we are already dealing with the denial of the authenticity of the message, doubts about which are known even to Christian antiquity. But the grounds for denying the authenticity of the message among the newest researchers: the alleged, but completely imaginary polemic with the apostle. Paul, the imaginary influence of Esseneism or Gnosticism and the like are completely absurd and do not require deliberate analysis and refutation. The reference to the similarity of some passages of the epistle with passages from the 1st Epistle of St. Clement of Rome (chap. X and XXXI, cf. James 2:21, ch. XVII, or ch. XXXVIII; fn. James 3:13) and from the “Shepherd” of Hermas (Vision III, 9, cf. James 1:27 ; Similarity IX, 23, fn. James 4:12) proves exactly the opposite, namely: the perfect fame and generally recognized authority of the message of St. James at the time of the lives of both of these church writers.
A very important proof of the authenticity of the message of St. James is the fact that this epistle, precisely as belonging to the Apostle James, is found in the Syriac translation of the 2nd century Peshito. This is all the more important because this translation originated in a country bordering the country where the message was written. Eusebius of Caesarea, like Blessed Jerome, classifies this epistle as predicted, α ̓ ντιλεγόμενα, but he himself testifies to the social, public use of the epistle in many churches (Church history III, 25). The authenticity of the message is also confirmed by testimonies about it, in addition to those already mentioned by St. Clement of Rome and Hermas, as well as other ancient church writers: St. Irenaeus of Lyons, Tertullian, also Clement, Didymus and Dionysius of Alexandria, etc. “The late acceptance into the canon testifies only to the caution with which the church established the apostolic origin of those writings that were not assigned to any particular church, and, therefore, could not to find the support of their canonicity in the authoritative voice of this church, but required a broad and comprehensive acquaintance with their origins” (Prof. Bogdashevsky). After Eusebius, all doubts about the authenticity of the message cease forever in the church, and it invariably remains in the canon of inspired books. Only Luther, finding in the epistle of St. James's refutation of his false teaching about justification and salvation by faith alone did not initially even include this epistle among the sacred New Testament writings. But this view, due to a gross misunderstanding of the high moral and Christian dignity of the message, was soon abandoned by the Protestants themselves.
There is no disagreement about the place where the message was written. Since the message belongs to the pen of St. Apostle James, the brother of the Lord, the first bishop of Jerusalem, then the place where the letter was written was precisely Jerusalem or Palestine in general, where, according to legend, Jacob lived continuously until his death. And the general flavor of the content speaks for the Palestinian origin of the message. Many images of the apostolic speech are explained only from the characteristics of Palestine. Mention of the former and latter rain (James 5:7), of the fig tree, olive and vine (James 3:12), of salty and bitter springs (James 3:11-12), of the burning wind that dries up vegetation (James 1 :11), presupposes the writer’s close, direct acquaintance with Palestinian nature. The very purpose of the message for all Judeo-Christians of the diaspora, naturally, points to Jerusalem, as that focal point of Judeo-Christianity, in which the priest. the writer of the epistle could most conveniently learn about the state of the Judeo-Christian communities of the dispersion.
The message is almost exclusively didactic in nature; The moral and practical content in it decisively prevails over the dogmatic one, which appears in the epistle not often, and precisely as the basis of moral teaching (for example, James 1:18; James 2:1). "If St. Paul is the apostle of the faith, St. Peter is the apostle of hope, St. John is the apostle of love, then James the Righteous is in his writings the apostle of righteousness. The restoration, on the basis of the Gospel law, of the violated truth in the relations of the rich to the poor is, one might say, the main goal of the message, permeating it from beginning to end” (Prof. Bogdashevsky). In revealing the concept of truth and moral truths in general, St. the Apostle James, as is natural to expect, very often comes into contact with the Old Testament moralizing books: book. Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Wisdom of Solomon, Jesus son of Sirach. In tone, strength and ascetic rigor in revealing the concept and demands of truth, as well as in the directness and strength of its denunciation of rich rapists, the message of St. James is most related to the book of St. the prophet Amos (cf., for example, James 2:6-7; James 5:1-6 and Am 2:6.8; Am 4:1, etc.) But even closer in spirit and in the letter itself is the message of St. James joins the Lord’s conversation on the mount, for example, in calling the New Testament revelation “law” cf. Matthew 5:17ff. James 1:25; James 2:12. A special spirit of love agrees with this, permeating all the exhortations of the apostle and making it possible to see in the epistle a purely Christian work, although clothed in the form of Old Testament gnomic wisdom. And in the doctrinal side of the message, next to the general, Old Testament idea of God as the purest Being (James 1:13), the one God (James 2:19), the Father of lights and the source of all good (James 1:17), the Lord of hosts ( James 5:4), the only Lawgiver and Judge (James 4:12) and the like, stands the apostle’s teaching about Jesus Christ as the true God (James 1:1) and the Lord of the word (James 2:1), whose second coming is the end expectations and hopes of believers (James 5:7-8), and whose teaching or Christianity in general is the “ word of truth ” with which God regenerated us in Christ (James 1:18), is the “ perfect law of freedom ” (James 1:25; James 2:12). In view of this, the strange opinion of one modern German scholar (Spitta) that the Epistle of James is a purely Jewish work, written by a Jew for Jews around the time of Christ, must be decisively rejected.
The original language of the message was, in all likelihood, Greek; The Jews of the diaspora spoke this language, and the apostle, both in the oral conversation that he had with them, according to the testimony of Egesippus, before his death, and in the epistle, could only address himself in Greek. Quotations from the Old Testament in the message are given according to the Greek translation of the LXX (James 2:11; James 4:6). Moreover, the Greek language of the epistles, although not classical, is, however, quite pure, and apparently says that St. Jacob spoke Greek from childhood.
The inspiration of the apostle’s speech and the aphoristic form of presenting his thoughts allow the content of the message to be divided not so much into logically defined parts, but only into separate groups of thoughts. The first group of instructions of the apostle is formed by the speech of James 1: 2-18 “about the temptations that befall Christians.” The following are groups of thoughts: James 1:19-27 “about the correct attitude towards the word of truth”, James 2:1-13 “reproof of partiality”, James 2:14-26 “the doctrine of justification” - three sections of one, in essence, a group of exhortations, the main idea of which is the unity of Christian word and deed, the teaching of life, faith and deeds. So this second group of thoughts embraces James 1:21-2:26. The third group of instructions is formed by the third chapter, James 3:1-18 - “about teaching, about false and true wisdom.” The fourth group of thoughts is chapter four, James 4:1-17 - about the true relationship to God and the world. The fifth and last group is formed by Art. Chapter five 1-11 - “reproof of the rich and comfort to the poor and humble.” The letter ends with final instructions to all Christians: James 5:12-20.
In Russian about the Epistle of James, in addition to journal articles and comments in general guides to New Testament books, there are several special works: 1) priest. I. Kibalchich. St. James, brother of the Lord. The experience of reviewing the conciliar epistle of James, the brother of the Lord. Chernigov, 1882. 2) Z. Teodorovich. Interpretation of the Council Epistle of St. Apostle James. Vilna, 1897. 3) Hieromonk, now bishop, George (Yaroshevsky). Cathedral Epistle of St. Apostle James. Experience of isagogical-exegetical research. Kyiv, 1901. 4) Archbishop Nikanor (Kamensky). Intelligent Apostle. Part I. St. Petersburg, 1905. The best of all is the work of the Right Reverend George, both in terms of the thoroughness of the isagogical information, and in the breadth and depth of exegesis, evenly and in strict consistency of the scientific method. In the work of Rev. George (pp. vi - viii Preface) there is also extensive literature, foreign and Russian, about the message of St. Apostle James. Excellent article about “St. the Apostle James and his epistle" with an exhaustive bibliography about them belongs to the pen of prof. prot. DI. Bogdashevsky in the “Orthodox Theological Encyclopedia” published by the magazine “Strannik”, vol. VI. St. Petersburg, 1905, column. 42-55. The same prof. prot. DI. Bogdashevsky in the aforementioned “Experiences in the Study of the Holy Scriptures of the New Testament” (issue I. Kiev, 1909), in addition to introductory questions about the epistle (pp. 153-178), concisely, but fully and deeply correctly stated the “main features of the theology” of the epistle St. James (pp. 178-201), and much earlier, in a separate brochure, “Explanatory notes on the most difficult passages of the conciliar epistle of St. Apostle James." Kyiv. 1894.
If you don't love yourself...
If you treat yourself poorly or don't love yourself at all, you won't be able to feel deeply loved towards others.
Low self-esteem and lack of self-esteem negatively color our thoughts and emotions. The outlook on life in general takes on a negative connotation. We may not realize it, but our low self-esteem breeds bitterness, resentment, envy and jealousy. This certainly leaves an imprint on your attitude towards others.
Even your perception and understanding of the world can become distorted.
Even though you focus all your energy on caring for others, the lack of self-love will be obvious. Your children, spouse, and everyone around you will notice it. This is not the example you want to teach others.
Joy about someone else's joy is a sure sign of love for one's neighbor
How to define love for one's neighbor? Let's say you have something you really need, but when your neighbor needs it, you will gladly give it to him. At the same time, you will not expect anything in return. This could be an acquaintance or a work colleague, that is, not your relative at all. But you will still give him what he asks for without any persuasion.
Joy about someone else's joy is a sure sign of love for your neighbor. You just need to watch yourself, your actions and thoughts.
Without loving your neighbor, it is simply impossible to love God.
(1 John 4:20)
“...For he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?”
And without love for the Lord there is no salvation.
Let us turn to the words of the holy fathers about what they believe is how one should love one’s neighbor as oneself. The Monk Simeon the New Theologian said:
Simeon the New Theologian
Reverend
“Love of mankind is likeness to God, since it does good to all people, both pious and ungodly, just as God Himself does good.”
The Monk Nikodim Svyatogorets believed:
Nikodim Svyatogorets
Reverend
“Love for God has no measure, just as the beloved God has limits and limitations. But love for neighbors has limits and limitations. If you do not keep it within proper limits, it can alienate you from the love of God, cause great harm, even destroy you.
Truly, you must love your neighbor, but in such a way as not to harm your soul. Do everything simply and holy, have nothing in mind except pleasing God. And this will protect you in matters of love for your neighbors from any wrong steps.”
