I believe in one holy, catholic and apostolic Church, - proclaims the symbol of our faith.
But how can there be one Church when we know the Orthodox, Catholic, Lutheran, Anglican, Armenian and other churches? Therefore, we will answer, that only one of these Churches has the full right to really be called the Church, while all the others are called churches only according to the accepted custom, such as in letters they call the one to whom they write, “gracious sovereign”, and themselves - “ obedient servant", although both expressions are not the least true.
There can be only one Church in truth, because the title of the bearer of complete and perfect truth is inseparable from the Church, and there can be only one complete and perfect truth. If two or more different opinions, only one can be right, and all others are wrong.
But can the Orthodox Church itself be united if in Her we see separate Churches: Russian, Greek, Serbian, Bulgarian, Romanian? All these local Churches constitute one Orthodox Church. They are not even parts of the Church, because the Church is the fullness of Truth, is not divided into parts, but only local, conditioned by the nature of the people or state, separate manifestations of one and the same Church. The uniqueness of each local Church may be very great, but the unity will remain unbroken, even unaffected, if the church truth is not violated, unaffected.
The air throughout the earth is exactly the same and everywhere is equally life-giving, until it is disturbed. chemical composition. But the pictures that are made through the air, the fields that it blows, the degree of its humidity are very diverse, but this diversity does not come from the air, but from the characteristics of the localities that the air gives life. So the Church, which is one everywhere, manifests itself in various ways in the Russian, Greek, and other Orthodox peoples. But all these peoples belong to one Church, as long as they profess one, one true faith.
What is the meaning of the division into the Church visible and invisible, into the Church heavenly and earthly?
This division exists only in relation to man, but not in essence. In essence, however, the invisible Church, whose head is Christ, into which the angels and all saved people enter, and the visible Church, made up of Orthodox people living on earth, are one and the same. If an ant looks from the ground at a person and sees only a toe, and the rest of the person: the head, arm, legs and torso, are lost in height from the ant's gaze, then for such an ant the person he observes is divided into a visible part - the nearest toe, and the invisible part - everything else. But in essence there is no such division in man. So the Church, which is essentially one and the same, is divided for us into one that is accessible to our vision, and one that is inaccessible to our vision. But in full measure such division remains for us only as long as we, like an ant contemplating a man, observe the Church from the outside, from the outside, as strangers to Her. When we enter into Her, as particles of Her body, this separation disappears for us, and we clearly, though inexpressibly, feel the fullness, all the indivisibility of Her life.
Outwardly, the unity of the Church is manifested in the unity of Her Sacraments, in the fact that a person baptized by an Orthodox Russian, Greek or Syrian priest enters the same Church, confessing - receives remission of sins from the same Church, communion - partakes of the same grace. Internal unity is the unity of the spirit. Many have been saved (for example, some martyrs) without partaking of any of the Sacraments of the Church (even baptism), but no one is saved without partaking of the inner holiness of the Church, her faith, hope and love.
How can the Church be holy if the people who compose Her are sinners, and not only Her ordinary members, but also pastors, and archpastors, and even patriarchs?
The Church is holy not by the holiness of the people who enter Her, but by the holiness of her head (not metaphorical or figurative, but real) - Christ, with whom she forms one organism. The holiness of people, that is, purity, freedom from sins, is necessary for them because only by holiness can people enter the Church, in which there can be nothing unclean, for She is one body with Christ. By every sin a person falls away from the Church, but by repentance he is restored in Her, until after death (and sometimes, in exceptional cases, even before death) he or she becomes either a complete participant in the Church, not falling away from Her, an heir to the Kingdom of God, which is the Church. , or completely alien to Her, the son of perdition.
Without holiness there can be no participation in the Church. Not about exceptions, but about all Christians, the Apostle Peter says: “You are a holy nation” (1 Pet. II, 9). The Lord calls us all: “be perfect (i.e., holy), as your Father is perfect” (Matt. V, 48), and the apostle Paul explains: “now that you have been freed from sin and have become servants of God, your fruit there is holiness, finally (as a consequence) eternal life”, that is, life in the Church (Rom. VI. 22).
If we sin, then we can immediately get up through repentance, having sinned again, repent again, at least seven times seven times a day, without getting tired, without weakening in repentance, because it is the door to the Church. “Reconcile and unite him, the saint of Your Church,” says the priest in prayer at the sacrament of Repentance, resolving a sinner who has been separated by sins, but by repentance returns to the Church.
That is why it is so important to be Orthodox, that is, to stand entirely on the point of view of the Church - to consider as evil everything that she calls evil and to consider as good everything that she calls good. If a person does not leave this church ground, then even deeply mired in sins, he will always easily find the way to repentance and restoration of unity with the Church.
On the contrary, woe to that person who does not agree with the Church in all her understanding of evil and good. Sinning not only out of weakness or negligence, but out of the conviction that this or that sin is good, such a person will not find the way to repentance, will not restore his unity with the Church, until he rejects his self-will and self-wisdom and subdues them to the mind of the Church.
So, our Church is holy, although sinful people enter it here on earth. But they enter it only at the holy moments of their lives, only with the holy sides of their souls, and the more they take root in it, in its grace-filled life, the holier they become, and the holiness of the holiest people is not from themselves, but from the Church. Holiness but the Church - not from the people who enter it, as the Head with the body. And there is no other holiness, except for the Church. All goodness, all holiness that exists in the universe, wherever it may be, belongs indivisibly to the Church.
What does the catholic (in Greek - catholic) Church mean? Doesn't this mean universal, and in this case, doesn't the Latin Church, more Orthodox spread throughout the world, fit this definition more?
The word catholic has several meanings. It also contains the concept of universality, which the Latins especially like to emphasize when they translate the word catholic with the word universal. But universality, as applied to the Church, does not mean the greatest spread in the world, still less does it mean the greatest number of followers, because then we would have to deny the catholicity of the Church of the first years of Christianity, when it was spread only in Palestine, and all her children were accommodated in one chamber, and the first centuries, when the Church was known only in the Roman Empire; on the contrary, we will have to recognize as catholic Arianism in the 4th century and Nestorianism from the 7th to the 10th century, when this heresy spread widely throughout the world, and the Orthodox Church, which then included the Latin Church, embraced only the shores of the Mediterranean Sea. Finally, we will be forced to recognize the catholic nature of Buddhism, the most populous of religions.
No, universality as applied to the Church means something else. This means that it is not associated with any state or people, but all people of the whole world have exactly the same opportunity and right to be its children, that it can equally spread to all peoples and countries, and no one, neither the Greeks nor the Russians, have any the right to claim preferential possession of it.
But the main meaning of the word catholic is not in the sense of the world, but in what is conveyed by the Slavic and Russian word catholic.
The holy Equal-to-the-Apostles brothers Cyril and Methodius could very well either leave the word catholic without translation, as the West did, or translate it with the word universal or ecumenical. Both that and the other word was in their times (the translation of the hymn “World-wide glory from man who has vegetated ...” and the expression Ecumenical Church, Ecumenical Council belong to their times). But they preferred the word conciliar, which expresses the idea not only of the visible union of the many, but also of the possibility of such a union, the idea of unity in the multitude.
Does this mean that the Orthodox Church is the Church of the seven Ecumenical Councils, and that the Ecumenical Council is its highest authority?
Yes, and that means it, but that's not the point. The catholic Catholic Church was long before the Ecumenical Councils, even before the very first. Jerusalem Council of the Holy Apostles, from its very foundation, for along with its unity and holiness, catholicity is the main property of the Church.
The Lord could save each person individually, drawing an individual person or an individual people to Himself.
But that's not God's plan. He founded the Church - a council of people, similar to the Eternal Council of God, and not to individual people, but to their conciliar unity, He revealed His will. His teaching, gave a great and terrible power of grace.
The catholicity of Orthodoxy is manifested in the fact that Orthodox Christians, insofar as they live in the Church, no matter how different the external conditions of their existence, believe, think and feel in exactly the same way, without prior agreement.
In 1938 a conference of Orthodox and Anglicans took place. Among the Orthodox were Russians, Greeks, Serbs, Romanians, Bulgarians and Syrians - people of different nations and races, different cultures and cultural levels, who in worldly life had nothing in common with each other. But in the matter of faith, since they remained on the soil of the Church, they were completely unanimous (unfortunately, some of the participants in this conference, although they were officially Orthodox, did not remain on church soil; this must always be remembered that it is not official affiliation that makes a person Orthodox, but ecclesiastical mind and will). At the same time, the other participants in the conference, who belonged to the same people, to the same cultural environment, representing complete unity in all tastes and customs, were deeply divided in the matter of faith, although they officially belonged to the same Church.
Moreover, in the Orthodox Church, unity is ensured not by external authority, similar to the authority of the papacy in the Latin Church, but exclusively by the internal unity of life. This unity of life is catholicity.
In the very first centuries of Christianity, during the greatest stress of Church life, when Christians lived completely and completely in the Church, and outside the Church they had no interests, this catholicity manifested itself with particular force. At different ends of the then Christian world: in Spain and in Mesopotamia, in Mauritania and in Gaul, Christians, without agreeing among themselves, led a life so completely inwardly united that a Christian, transferred from Damascus to Massilia, felt exactly the same in the church community of a foreign country. the same as at home. And everything that, without official meetings, without special resolutions, was worked out at that time by outwardly motley, but internally completely united, diverse Christian communities, was a manifestation of the will and life of the Holy Spirit living in the Church. Subsequently, when the opportunity arose for this, the same spirit of catholicity, the organ of the Holy Spirit, began to manifest itself at the meetings of bishops, who received the solemn name of Ecumenical Councils, boldly, with full consciousness of their right to do so, declaring: "Desire the Holy Spirit and us."
Sobornost is not a general submission to modern or ancient authority, it is not slavish obedience to orders about how one should believe or think, nor is it a painstaking research on the question of how this or that was taught and thought in antiquity. An Orthodox Christian believes and confesses not as this or that patriarch or archpastor orders him to do, not as this or that ancient holy father prescribes, but as his conscience, his consciousness living in the Church, prompts him, but this conscience, this consciousness, he constantly checks with the voice of the Ecumenical Councils, the holy fathers and those of his contemporaries, of whom he knows that they truly live in the Church. And if he discovers in his conscience and in his consciousness a discrepancy with them, he does not affirm his consciousness in opposition to the consciousness of the church, like a Protestant, and does not submit slavishly, outwardly to the authoritative voice of the Council or the archpastor, but realizing that if his consciousness has entered into a contradiction with the consciousness of the church, it means that there is some kind of fundamental error in his consciousness, and what is needed is not simple submission, but the correction of his entire spiritual appearance by repentance and humble prayer, until he again achieves inner unity with the Church. Standing in catholicity is not easy. It requires constant spiritual tension and achievement. But after all, about this, as well as about all life in the Church, Christ says: “The Kingdom of Heaven (i.e., the Church) is taken by force, and those who use force (in Slavonic - forcing themselves, i.e., forcing) delight him” (Mt. XI, 12).
In what sense do we call the Church apostolic, although much has changed in it since the time of the apostles?
In the sense that our Church is internally exactly the same as it was in the days of the apostles, despite changes in the rites and provisions of the church since the time of the apostles. The Church and her members know by the inner knowledge of faith the unity and immutability of their spirit, which is the spirit of God.
The external, the uncalled, see the change of the external rite by external knowledge that does not comprehend the internal. The Church herself recognizes herself as unchanging, and since the time of the apostles she has never recognized as a lie what she has ever recognized as truth.
However, it is not the apostles that define the Church, but the Church, as the body of Christ and the voice of the Holy Spirit, defines the apostles. Continuing the work of Christ. The Church named as apostles such servants as Clement, Timothy, Titus, and others, who, perhaps, never saw Christ during their lifetime; then called equal to the apostles many others from different countries and peoples. The Church also deprived the apostolate of those who did not remain faithful to her, such as the Apostle Nicholas. She also assigned new types of ministry to herself, such as the ministry of presbyter or deacon, to which she gave parts of the apostolic powers. The Church authorized or did not authorize the apostolic writings and thereby established the canon of St. Scriptures that even those who reject the Church find themselves compelled to accept.
The learned historian knows that in the first centuries of our era there were many books bearing the name of the gospels, and even more were the epistles of the apostles, of which some were only called that, some really belonged to the pen of the apostles. The Church did not begin to make scientific research, which is not indisputable even now about the belonging or non-belonging of certain writings to one or another apostle. She simply authorized, i.e., recognized four gospels, twenty-one epistles, one historical and one prophetic narrative of the New Testament and fifty books of the Old Testament as her own, that is, she declared that these books are not from one or another apostle, not from this or that prophet, but from her, from the Church; this is her voice, and whoever wants to obey her voice will obey, not as a slave, but as a free son, in the joyful full consent of his heart to this voice of hers.
The Church either rejected the other gospels and epistles altogether, as disagreeing with her, or gave them lesser authority, such as the epistles of St. Barnabas, Epistles of St. Clement, prophetic visions of St. Hermas, etc. But even from the rejected gospels and other writings, she took what was in accordance with her. So, for example, many feasts of the Theotokos, many church legends recorded in our menaias and synaxariums are taken from the rejected, so-called apocryphal gospels.
And all this was done by the Church in full accord with the voice of the Spirit of God living in her.
But the work of the Church did not stop there. There was a need for further clarification of the teachings of Christ.
In themselves, the truths necessary for human salvation are, in fact, very few. In order to be saved, one does not need to be a theologian, but the existence of unbelief and the appearance of false teachings have posed and are posing more and more new questions for Christians, which have caused and continue to cause the development of theological science, which is the answer of the Church to the questions posed to her.
Thus, following the Holy Scriptures, in the narrow sense of the word, there appear further Scriptures of the Church, which are also sacred, because everything is sacred that comes from Her, that the Church recognizes as her own, her whole life is sacred.
And in this ocean of holiness and sacredness we are all called to be, because we confess the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church.
Conversations on Holy Scripture and on Faith and the Church, Vol. 1. Edition of the Committee of Russian Orthodox Youth Abroad. New York, 1991. pp. 129-139.
Into one Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church
Travelers, here is the ship! When there was a flood, Noah escaped on a reliable ship. The deluge of madness and sin continues endlessly. That is why the Lover of Humanity created the ship of salvation. Ask where that ship is, and quickly climb on it!
May you not be deceived by the many colorful ships, decorated and painted on the outside. Ask about the power of the motor and the skill of the captain. There is no more powerful engine and more skilful helmsman than on the ship of Christ. This helmsman is the Holy Spirit Himself, all-seeing and all-powerful.
Do not be deceived by those who invite you into their small, fragile boats, and those who offer a boat just for you. The way is long and the storms are dangerous.
Let those who say that there is no other shore, no other world on the other side of the sea, and one should not prepare for a long voyage, be not deceived. They call you to fish in the shallows, they can't see beyond the shallows. Verily, they go to perdition, and you are called to perdition.
Don't be deceived. But look for His ship. Although he is not so conspicuous next to others, he is reliable and strong. If you see no colored flags on it, but only the sign of the cross, know that your life is safe on it. And in a sea voyage, the first and most important condition is the safety of passengers.
If you believe in Christ the Savior, Christ-bearers, you also believe in His works. And the Church, the ship of salvation, is His work. Thousands of rescued and rescued float on it. The Lord founded it on faith, strong as a stone. As He Himself said: on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it (Matthew 16:18). And verily, they have not prevailed until now, nor will they prevail from now on.
The Church is called the Body of Christ: We, many, are one body in Christ (Rom. 12:5). Therefore, the Church is one and only, for there cannot be two bodies with one head. And Christ is called the head of the Church: And He is the head of the body of the Church (Col. 1:18). So, one Christ, one head, one body - one Church.
If there are schisms and heresies, do not be embarrassed. All this was predicted and foreseen, a skillful helmsman always foresees and warns his companions about upcoming storms and unrest: there must also be differences of opinion among you, so that skillful (1 Cor. 11:19). If one group of travelers make themselves a trough and set sail on it, have pity on them. Her example, terrible as a hopeless and swift fall into the abyss, will confirm your faith in the ship of salvation, in the one and only ship.
The church is called St. You understand why she is holy. First, because it was founded by the Holy One of the saints. Secondly, because the Lord redeemed her, cleansed and strengthened her with His blood, holy and pure. Thirdly, because from the beginning it is guided, inspired and alive by the Holy Spirit of God. Fourthly, because all its members are called to holiness, they are called to separate themselves from everything that is unholy in this world in which they are born, grow and through which they go to their goal. Fifthly, because the holy heavens are destined for her to dwell forever. Sixth, because the Lord left her the ordinances that sanctify people and prepare them to become citizens of heaven. That is why it is called the Holy Church.
The Church is also called the Cathedral Church. Why is that? Firstly, because it gathers all the children of God in all ends of the earth, from all tribes, from all peoples. It is not limited to any one race, one people, one state. Like a man standing at a crossroads and inviting everyone to the royal wedding feast (see Matt. 22:9), so is the Church. The Holy Catholic Church calls and gathers for the salvation of all human children. And it does not reject anyone, except those who reject it, thereby rejecting themselves. This is the difference between the New Testament, all-embracing Church, and the Old Testament, preparatory Church, limited to only one people.
The Church is also called the Catholic Church because it is not limited by time. It encompasses not only all believers, from Christ to our days, but also all the saints and righteous from Adam to John the Baptist, for whose sake the Lord descended into hell.
The Church is also called the Catholic Church because it unites both the living and the dead. Her dead children are actually alive - travelers whom the ship of salvation transported to the other side, to the immortal Kingdom, just as it transports today and will transport tomorrow; they are all members of the Holy Catholic Church.
So, the Church is called catholic because it is not limited by race, language, place, time, or death. And besides all this, the Church is catholic in her teaching and dispensation.
The Holy Church is called Apostolic. So the Church is called because, firstly, the apostles of Christ were its first members. The first personal witnesses of the miraculous life and deeds of the Son of God on earth and His first followers. Secondly, because the apostles approved it and spread it throughout the earth. Thirdly, because the holy apostles were the first after the Lord to shed their blood at its foundation. Fourthly, because the apostolate has not ceased until the present day. The apostleship of the Church exists to this day in two manifestations - in her apostolic mission in the world and in the apostolic succession of her hierarchy. Both in its ministry and in its ministers, the Church, true, Orthodox, constantly bears the seal of apostolate.
The Church as an institution is called not to lead, but to serve. Serve the people of God even to martyrdom, like the Lord Jesus Christ. Sanctify human souls, guide the spiritual and moral life of a person, shine on him. Not to enslave, but to free, for people are called by Christ to freedom, to the freedom of the sons of God. As it is said: Therefore, you are no longer a slave, but a son (Gal. 4, 7); and again: stand in the freedom that Christ gave us (Gal. 5:1). Being a ship of salvation, the Church of God carries not slaves, but free children, the children of the King, to the immortal Kingdom of Heaven. There is no more precious load, no more joyful haven!
This is the faith of the courageous and friendly! It is difficult to accept her fearful and proud. Courageous those who have the courage to rise up against the pagan chaos in own soul and establish the gospel order in it. Friendly are those who joyfully travel among their brethren and look to their companions in the light of eternal light. And they rejoice in their companions, as brothers, as themselves, as that eternal light that illuminates them all, caresses and attracts. Courageous and friendly people love harmony in themselves and around them. They appreciate the help of others and never refuse their own. They like to embarrass themselves to make room for others. Like the Lord, they are burning with the desire that all be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. Recognizing the greatness of the living God, they regard themselves as nothing. They look upon themselves as small members of the mysterious and great body of the Church, of which Christ is the head. They don't push and they don't fight for dominance. They are not afraid of life and are not afraid of death, they praise the good deeds of their companions and are silent about their own. And so, in harmony, in harmony and joy, they travel, like a flock of birds, to warm lands - to the Kingdom of Divine light and parental warmth.
This is your faith, Christ-bearers, the faith of your courageous and friendly ancestors. May it also become the faith of your children, from generation to generation, until the end of the journey, to a quiet harbor. This faith is shameless, Orthodox, saving. Truly, this is the faith of educated people who bear in themselves the image of God. On the day of Retribution, on the great day of the Truth of God, when Christ comes to judge according to His righteousness, and they will be called blessed.
Flood. Ship. The rescue.
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And in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the Life-Giving One, Who proceeds from the Father, Who with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified, who spoke the prophets.
Further, the Creed teaches us to believe in the Third Person of God - in the Holy Spirit. He is the True God, the Person, and not just a force, as some think. He is called holy as the sanctifying Power that makes the saints free from the world and imbued with the power of God. After all, the very word "holy" means "highlighted, transcendent," as well as "morally pure."
He is the Lord of creation, who gave life to all living things in the beginning, and now preserves it and brings everything to perfection. And, most importantly, the Holy Spirit gives us eternal life. That is why He is called Life-Giving.
The Holy Spirit eternally proceeds from the Father, from His essence, and this is His personal property, by which He differs from the Father and the Son. But at the same time He is equal to them. Therefore, it is said that we worship the Holy Spirit and glorify Him together with the Father and the Son. He is the Creator, and always abides in the Son, and reveals Christ to us, and leads us to the Father through the Son. The Holy Spirit assimilates to us the salvation that the Lord Jesus accomplished. He also leads the Church, which he created, descending in the form of fiery tongues on the apostles on the day of Pentecost.
The Holy Spirit at the end of the world will transform creation and give life to all the dead. He is called the Comforter, for he comforts us in sorrows and protects us from every trouble.
Through Him we received Divine Revelation, which is why it is said that He spoke through the prophets. He is the Author of both the Bible and the Holy Tradition of the Church.
The Church (in the sense of Christian society) in which we must believe is the mysterious Organism, the Body of Christ, the House of God, the new people of the Father, redeemed by the Blood of the Lord. The head of the Church is the Lord Jesus Christ. And living people, and those who died in faith, and angels enter into Her. Only those who are members of the Church are promised salvation.
On earth, the Church is a collection of Christians united by the Orthodox faith, liturgical communion, submission to the hierarchy and following the law of God. All heretics (those who distort the Revelation of God) and schismatics (who have fallen away from the Church for reasons not related to faith, but, for example, because of ritual or nationalism) are outside of Her and have no salvation until they repent.
The Church is called one (that is, the only one), since She is one and there are no others. One Body of Christ, as One Its Head, and One Holy Spirit. After all, God is One and there is only one way to Him. And although there are different local churches (Russian, Greek, Jerusalem and others), they are not separate societies, but only parts of the One Church.
She is holy, because she sanctifies, makes like God, every Christian, no matter what life he led before. The source of the Church's holiness is the Holy Spirit who has lived in Her since the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:1-4). Therefore, one should not think that grace depends on the priest. While he is in the Church, God Himself sanctifies you through him. And those who stubbornly do evil are cut off from the Church either explicitly, through excommunication (as, for example, L.N. Tolstoy and all those who have gone to Islam), or by the invisible court of God.
The Church is called catholic or ecumenical, because in the whole universe she bears the light of salvation for all times and all peoples without exception. It has neither nationality nor social distinctions. But all, without distinction, the power of God saves in Her from all sins, teaches all the virtues, contains all the fullness of the Truth.
She is called apostolic because she was founded through the apostles. And the gift of the Holy Spirit is transmitted in Her continuously through the ordination of bishops and priests from the disciples of Christ themselves. In addition, the Church still fulfills the apostolic duty of preaching the Gospel to all the peoples of the earth, and when this work is completed, the end of the world will come.
INTERPRETATION OF THE MORNING PRAYERS
Symbol of faith
1 I believe in one God the Father, Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, visible to all and invisible. 2 And into one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Only Begotten, who was born of the Father before all ages; Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, uncreated, consubstantial with the Father, Whom all was. 3 For us, man, and for our salvation, who descended from heaven and became incarnate of the Holy Spirit and Mary the Virgin, and became human. 4 He was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate, and suffered, and was buried. 5 And he rose again on the third day according to the Scriptures. 6 And ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of the Father. 7 And the packs of the one to come with glory to be judged by the living and the dead, whose kingdom will have no end. 8 And in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the Giver of Life, Who proceeds from the Father, Who with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified, who spoke the prophets. 9 Into one Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. 10 I confess one baptism for the remission of sins. 11 I look forward to the resurrection of the dead, 12 and the life of the age to come. Amen.
Believe in God- means to have a living confidence in His being, properties and actions and with all our hearts to accept His frank word about the salvation of the human race. God is one in essence, but trinity in Persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit, the Trinity consubstantial and indivisible. In the Creed, God is called Almighty because whatever is, He contains in His power and His will. The words Creator of heaven and earth, visible to all and invisible means that everything is created by God and nothing can exist without God. Word invisible indicates that God created the invisible or spiritual world to which the angels belong.
Son of God is called the second Person of the Holy Trinity according to His Divinity. It's named Lord because He is true god for the name Lord is one of the names of God. The Son of God is named Jesus, that is, the Savior, this name was named by the Archangel Gabriel himself. Christ, that is, the Anointed One, was called by the prophets - this is how kings, high priests and prophets have long been called. Jesus, the Son of God, is so named because all the gifts of the Holy Spirit are immeasurably communicated to His humanity, and thus the knowledge of the prophet, the holiness of the high priest, and the power of the king belong to Him in the highest degree. Jesus Christ is called the Son of God the only begotten because He alone is the Son of God, born from the being of God the Father, and therefore He is one being with God the Father. The Creed says that He was born of the Father, and this depicts that personal property by which He differs from the other Persons of the Holy Trinity. It's been said before all ages so that no one would think that there was a time when He was not. The words Light from Light in some way explain the incomprehensible birth of the Son of God from the Father. God the Father is the eternal Light, from Him is born the Son of God, Who is also the eternal Light; but God the Father and the Son of God are one eternal Light, indivisible, of one Divine nature. The words God's true from God's true taken from Holy Scripture: We also know that the Son of God came and gave us light and understanding, so that we may know the true God and be in His true Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life(1 John 5:20). The words born, uncreated added by the holy fathers Ecumenical Council to rebuke Arius, who impiously taught that the Son of God was created. The words consubstantial with the Father mean that the Son of God is one and the same Divine being with God the Father. The words Izhe the whole bysha show that God the Father created everything by His Son as by His eternal wisdom and His eternal Word. For us for the sake of man and for our sake of salvation- The Son of God, according to His promise, came to earth not for any one people, but in general for the whole human race. Descended from heaven- as he says about himself: No one ascended to heaven but the Son of Man who descended from heaven, who is in heaven(John 3:13). The Son of God is omnipresent and therefore has always been in heaven and on earth, but on earth He was previously invisible and became visible only when He appeared in the flesh, became incarnate, that is, assumed human flesh, except for sin, and became a man, without ceasing to be God. . The Incarnation of Christ was accomplished by the assistance of the Holy Spirit, so that the Holy Virgin, just as she was a Virgin before her conception, so in her conception, and after her conception, and in her very birth, she remained a Virgin. Word becoming human added so that no one would think that the Son of God took on one flesh or body, but that they would recognize in Him a perfect man, consisting of body and soul. Jesus Christ was crucified for us - by His death on the Cross He delivered us from sin, curses and death.
The words under Pontius Pilate point to the time he was crucified. Pontius Pilate is the Roman ruler of Judea, which was conquered by the Romans. Word suffering added to show that His crucifixion was not one kind of suffering and death, as some false teachers said, but genuine suffering and death. He suffered and died not as a Deity, but as a man, and not because he could not avoid suffering, but because he wanted to suffer. Word buried certifies that He really died and rose again, for His enemies even put a guard on the tomb and sealed the tomb. And resurrected on the third day according to Scripture- The fifth article of the Creed teaches that our Lord Jesus Christ, by the power of His Divinity, rose from the dead, as it is written about Him in the prophets and in the Psalms, and that He rose again in the same body in which He was born and died. The words by scripture mean that Jesus Christ died and rose again exactly as it was prophetically written in the books of the Old Testament. And ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of the Father- these words are borrowed from the Holy Scriptures: descended, He is also ascended above all heavens, in order to fill all(Eph. 4:10). We have such a High Priest who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven(Heb. 8:1). The words sitting on the right, that is, the one sitting on the right side, must be understood spiritually. They mean that Jesus Christ has the same power and glory as God the Father. And the packs of the future with glory to judge the living and the dead, His Kingdom will have no end- Holy Scripture says this about the future coming of Christ: This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.(Acts 1:11).
Holy Spirit called Lord because he, like the Son of God, true god. The Holy Spirit is called life-giving because He, together with God the Father and the Son, gives life to creatures, including spiritual life to people: unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the Kingdom of God(John 3:5). The Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father, as Jesus Christ Himself says: When the Comforter comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, He will testify about Me(John 15, 26). Worship and glorification befits the Holy Spirit, equal with the Father and the Son - Jesus Christ commanded to baptize in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit(Matthew 28:19). The Creed says that the Holy Spirit spoke through the prophets - this is based on the words of the apostle Peter: prophecy was never uttered by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke it, being moved by the Holy Spirit(2 Pet. 1:21). One can become partaker of the Holy Spirit through the sacraments and fervent prayer: if you, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him(Luke 11:13).
Church one, because One body and one spirit, just as you are called to one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in all of us(Eph. 4:4-6). Church Holy, because Christ loved the Church and gave Himself up for her in order to sanctify her, having cleansed her with a bath of water through the word; to present her to Himself as a glorious Church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or anything like that, but that she might be holy and blameless(Eph. 5:25-27). Church Cathedral, or, what is the same, catholic or universal, because it is not limited to any place, time, or people, but includes the true believers of all places, times and peoples. Church Apostolic because from the time of the apostles it has continuously and invariably preserved both the teaching and the succession of the gifts of the Holy Spirit through consecrated ordination. The True Church is also called Orthodox, or Orthodox.
Baptism- this is the Sacrament in which the believer, when the body is immersed three times in water, with the invocation of God the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, dies for a carnal, sinful life and is reborn from the Holy Spirit into a spiritual, holy life. Baptism united, because it is a spiritual birth, and a person will be born once, and therefore he is baptized once.
Resurrection of the dead- this is the action of the omnipotence of God, according to which all the bodies of dead people, uniting again with their souls, will come to life and will be spiritual and immortal.
Life of the next century- this is the life that will be after the Resurrection of the dead and the Universal Judgment of Christ.
Word Amen, which ends the Creed, means "Truly so." The Church has kept the Creed since apostolic times and will keep it forever. No one can ever subtract or add anything to this Symbol.
On June 6/19, the Orthodox Church celebrates the twelfth feast - the Day of the Holy Trinity or Pentecost. This day is also the birthday of Christ's Church. Priest Alexander Stanotin, a cleric of our cathedral, tells in his article about what the Church is and what are its properties in accordance with Orthodox dogma.
I believe in one Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. These words are heard at the Liturgy every day when the Creed is sung. The word Church at present for many people has become firmly associated not only with the Orthodox Church, but also with the building of the temple, showing, as it were, its second meaning. But how to understand it correctly, what is the true meaning of this word?
The word church translates the Greek word ekklesia, which means "a proper assembly or society of persons with certain rules." In the Church Slavonic language, the word “church” also has its first meaning precisely the assembly: I will sing your name to my brethren, in the midst of the Church I will sing to you - I will say your name (God) to my brethren, in the midst of the assembly of the people I will sing to you (Ps. 21, 23).
In response to the question, "What is the Church?" author of the Orthodox Catechism of St. Filaret (Drozdov) gives the following definition: "The Church is an established society of people from God, united by the Orthodox faith, the law of God, the hierarchy and the Sacraments."
However, in the Holy Scriptures we can find other terms applied to the Church of Christ. Christ, addressing His apostles, compared Himself and all believers with vine and its branches, i.e. one living organism: I am the vine, and you are the branches; whoever abides in Me and I in him bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. Whoever does not abide in Me will be cast out like a branch and wither; but such branches are collected and thrown into the fire, and they are burned (John 15, 5-6).
In the apostolic epistles, the Church is understood as the Body of Christ. The Apostle Paul so calls the Church in his epistle to the Ephesians (Eph. 1:22-23) and Corinthians (1 Cor. 12:12-13, 27). There are also understandings of the Church as the house of God (2 Cor. 6:16; Rev. 21:3), the bride of Christ (2 Cor. 11:2; Eph. 5:32), the sheepfold (John 10:1-16) .
The church as a building in the Slavic language acquires another name - the temple. Temple is home. The change to the word church came from the fact that the Church gathered in the temple for prayer.
The temple is a dedicated, consecrated place in the life of the Church (parish). This is where we come to God. This is where the Church meets. A multitude of believers united by one faith in Christ. And Christ Himself said: Where two or three are gathered in My name, there I am in the midst of them (Matthew 18:20). It is here, in the temple, and in the Church at the same time, that the main sacrament is performed - the Eucharist. Thus, a believer who consciously does not go to church for worship and does not participate in the Sacrament of the Eucharist deprives himself of the closest communion with God.
In the Creed about the Church we hear that it is one, holy, catholic and apostolic. These are the characteristics that characterize our Church. Having lost even one, the Church will cease to be the Church of Christ.
Unity is the principle of the existence of the Church. Christ Himself considered the foundation of one (in quantitatively) Churches: I will build My Church… (Matt. 16:18). The unity of the Church is something more than just a quantitative unity, it is primarily a qualitative characteristic. The basis of the internal unity of the Church is that "it is one spiritual body, has one Head of Christ and is animated by one Spirit of God." “The true Church, truly ancient, is one… As there is one God and one Lord…” – thus said St. Clement of Alexandria.
The dogma of the unity of the Church does not contradict the existence of a number of Local Orthodox Churches. All Local Churches are parts of the one Universal Church, as evidenced by the unity of faith. Each Local Church has its Primate, while the Ecumenical Church has a single Head, Christ, and is the single body of Christ. In every Local Church, in every diocese and in a single Eucharistic community, a single Sacrament of the offering of the Body and Blood of the Lord is performed, and this Eucharistic communion is a sure guarantee of the unity of all the "faithful" in Christ.
The holiness of the Church necessarily follows from the concept of her as the Body of Christ. This property is immediately obvious: how can the Body of Christ be not holy? The holiness of the Church is the holiness of her Head, Christ. For this, the Son of God gave himself up to death in order to sanctify her (the Church), having cleansed her with a bath of water through the word, in order to present her to Himself a glorious Church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or anything like that, but so that she would be holy and blameless (Eph. 5:26-27).
In the writings of the apostles, Christians are often referred to as all saints (2 Cor. 1:9; Eph. 1:1; Phil. 1:1, 4, 21; Col. 1:2, etc.). This does not mean at all that all Christians then led a morally impeccable life. It is enough to give an example of the words ap. Paul: We all sin a lot (James 3:2), where the apostle does not distinguish himself from other sinners. Each person must achieve the holiness that is given to the Church, and he achieves it if he lives the church life.
The name of the Church "cathedral" found in the Creed is a translation Greek word"catholic". This word has often been identified with the concept of universality. According to the catechism, the Church is called catholic or catholic because "it is not limited to any place, time, or people, but includes the true believers of all places, times and peoples."
The Church of Christ is apostolic in its purpose, origin and internal structure. Initially, the Church was concentrated in the person of the holy apostles. They were the first to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and preached the news of His Resurrection everywhere, founding local Churches from those who believed. From the book of Acts, we know about the existence already in apostolic times of the Churches of Jerusalem, Antioch, Corinth, Ephesus, and others, which became the basis for the local Churches formed later. Therefore, the whole Church, according to the teaching of Holy Scripture, is established on the basis of the Apostles (Eph. 2:20).
The Church received from the apostles the teaching, the priesthood, the rules and norms of life. The Church must also preserve the grace-filled gifts of the Holy Spirit received by the Church in the person of the apostles on the day of Pentecost. The succession of these gifts is transmitted through the laying on of hands, through the succession of the hierarchy. The hierarchical ministry was established in the Church by the Lord Himself: He (Christ) appointed some as Apostles, others as prophets, others as Evangelists, others as shepherds and teachers, for the perfection of the saints, for the work of service, for the building up of the Body of Christ (Eph. 4:11-12 ).
The Church carefully observes that the thread of hierarchical succession leading to the apostles themselves is never interrupted. St. Irenaeus of Lyon writes: “Whoever wants to know the truth can see in every Church the apostolic tradition proclaimed throughout the world; and we can name those whom the apostles appointed to the Churches as bishops, and their successors even before us…” Outside of apostolic succession, there is no true Church. In heretical or schismatic societies, the thread of this succession is lost, so their assembly cannot be called the Church.
Having considered what the Church is in its essence and what are its main properties, let us turn our attention to the consequence. This consequence will be the statement expressed firmly and decisively by St. Cyprian of Carthage: “outside the Church there is no salvation (salus extra ecclesiam non est). “He who separates from the Church,” says St. Cyprian, - joins an unlawful wife and becomes a stranger to the promises of the Church ... He who does not have the Church as a mother cannot have God as his Father. If any of those who were outside Noah's ark had been saved, then those who were outside the Church might also have been saved."
We come to the Church if we seek eternal life, the fullness of love. God is perfect Love, bestowing Himself on us in the Eucharist. The Eucharist exists only in the Church as the Body of Christ and is impossible outside of it. The body of Christ remains one, and an attempt to tear it apart by separating it is doomed to failure in advance. Therefore, the Holy Fathers understood the Church as the only place of salvation: “We say that everyone who is saved is saved in the Church” (Blessed Jerome of Stridon).
