"Thou shalt not kill" according to modern interpretation and biblical teaching. Does participation in war contradict the commandment “Thou shalt not kill”? What commandment says do not kill

In the modern, and rather non-modern world, too, it does not work.

I explain.

The suicide takes a fully loaded revolver and shoots himself in the temple. - A clear violation of the commandment. Russian roulette: a suicide loads a six-shot revolver with one cartridge, rotates the drum so as not to know in what position the cartridge is, puts it to his head, pulls the trigger, a shot is fired ... Or not fired - it's still a violation of the commandment.

Car according to the rules traffic- a vehicle of increased danger, which is confirmed by statistics - more than 30,000 people die on the roads of Russia every year. Moreover, they die not only through the fault of the driver, but also through the negligence of pedestrians, through the fault of drivers of other cars. Therefore, anyone who drives a car is essentially playing Russian roulette has a chance of killing someone, hence he is a commandment breaker. But pedestrians are also aware of the mortal danger that awaits them even when crossing the road strictly according to traffic rules. Consequently, they also play Russian roulette, that is, suicides, and violate the commandment. In the influenza epidemic that awaits us all, there are always deaths. Therefore, any contact with people carries the risk of contracting the flu and death. So, anyone who communicates with any person is a suicide. A man left for the taiga so as not to communicate with anyone, not to intersect with vehicles, but even here he turns out to be a suicide, because ticks, wolves, bears are found in the taiga, ..

In short, a person everywhere knowingly or stupidly (which is even more sinful, because he aggravates the sin of suicide with the sin of stealing his mind) duty exposes himself to mortal danger.

As Zhvanetsky said: "Maybe change something at the conservatory?" Maybe before talking about sins, you should read the original source in the original language with comments, and not be content with retellings?

The Torah says: “Whoever wickedly kills his neighbor wickedly, then take him from My altar to death” (Shemot 21.14). This right extended even to the priest participating in worship. In other words, a frank and impudent murderer cannot find shelter even at the altar, cannot count on the fact that his crime will cover the sanctity of the Temple.

By requiring the death penalty for a murderer, the Torah imposes a number of restrictions and precautions on the Jewish court in order to exclude a miscarriage of justice that could lead to the punishment of an innocent. Even in the era of the Temple, when the courts were given the right to pass death sentences, to exercise this right in practice, i.e. to sentence a person to death was incredibly difficult. The Sanhedrin (Supreme Jewish Court), which passed only one death sentence in 70 years, is called "bloody" in the Talmud.

And immediately a note in the margins: since Christ did not kill anyone, not only the High Priest but also the Sanhedrin were simply not able to sentence him to death. Therefore, Christianity is based on frank delirium.

There is a special commandment in the Torah to prevent murder: "Do not stand on the blood of your neighbor." Among other things, it includes the duty to stop a potential killer in time. Anyone who does not do this is actually encouraging the crime. If you can stop a killer without killing him, then you should. In other words, in this case, it is simply forbidden to kill him. But if it is obvious that "humane" methods will not give a result, then it is necessary to go to the extreme measure of restraint.

Killing is also allowed in the following cases. In self-defense: if someone attempts on your life, you must get ahead of him, kill this person (if there is no other salvation) before he carries out his criminal intent.

The commandment “Thou shalt not kill” also does not apply to the person who executes the sentence of the court.

It is allowed to kill the enemy in war, because war is considered a collective form of self-defense.

The commandment "Thou shalt not kill" has a connection with the commandment that speaks of honoring one's father and mother. It is said: the one who is financially secure, but does not help his old, needy parents, is like a murderer. At the same time, this commandment warns us against the other extreme: for example, a loving son, jealously guarding the honor and dignity of his parents, is forbidden to encroach on the life of their offender, and parents cannot demand this revenge from their children.

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For every Christian, the guiding star is the law of God. It is he who points the way to the Kingdom of Heaven. In today's world, the life of any person is very complex, which indicates the need for clear and authoritative guidance from God's commandments. It is for this reason that most people turn to them.

10 commandments of god and 7 deadly sins

Today, the 10 commandments of God and the 7 sins of death are the regulators of life and the basis of Christianity. It is not obligatory to read a lot of spiritual literature. It is enough to strive to avoid what can lead to death, spiritual, of the individual.

But in practice it is not easy at all. Completely excluded from Everyday life seven mortal sins and keep the ten commandments is very difficult and almost impossible. But it is necessary to strive for this, and God, in turn, is very merciful.

The 10 commandments of God in Russian say what you need:

1. believe in one Lord God;
2. do not create idols for yourself;
3. do not pronounce the name of the Lord God in vain;
4. always remember the day off;
5. honor and respect parents;
6. don't kill;
7. do not commit adultery;
8. do not steal;
9. do not lie;
10. don't envy.

The list of God's commandments allows you to live correctly, in harmony and understanding with the Almighty.

• The first three of the ten commandments refer directly to the relationship to God. A Christian should worship the true God, and there should not be others in his life. They also say that a person should not have idols and objects of worship, and the name of the Almighty is pronounced only in situations of a complex nature.
• According to the fourth commandment, a Christian must honor and be sure to remember the Sabbath day. For six days, people work tirelessly and do all their business, which makes it possible to dedicate the seventh day to the Almighty.

This commandment is violated not only by those who work on Sunday, but also by people who are lazy and avoid their daily duties throughout the week. The covenant of the Lord God is also violated by those who have fun and amuse themselves on the day off, indulging in revelry and excesses.

• The fifth commandment says that you need to honor your mother and father, regardless of age and situation. This will allow you to live not only happily, but also for a long time. The concept of respect for parents includes love, care, respect and support, as well as constant prayer to the Almighty for their health and well-being. Those Christians who slander their parents are punished with death.
• The next commandment says that it is impossible to take life not only from oneself, but also from other people, regardless of the current situation and resentment. A very serious sin is suicide, which is caused by despair, lack of faith or grumbling against the Almighty. A person is guilty even if he did not take the life of his neighbor, and did not stop the murder.
• One of the 10 commandments of the law of God says that you can not commit adultery. The Lord God commands throughout life to be faithful to a husband or wife, and also to be absolutely pure in thoughts, desires and spoken words.

Observing this commandment, it is strongly recommended to avoid foul language, shameless songs and dances, viewing photos and films of a seductive genre, as well as reading immoral magazines. Based on this, we can conclude that sinful thoughts must be suppressed in the bud.

• In the next commandment of the Lord, to say that false witness in relation to a loved one is unacceptable. In His commandment, He forbids any lie, denunciation or slander, as well as false judicial testimony, gossip and slander.
• The last three commandments say that it is unacceptable to steal, lie and envy. God says that it is necessary to rejoice in everything that you have, and not in your neighbor. Only in this case can one receive the blessing of the Almighty.

In addition to the 10 Orthodox God's commandments, there are seven deadly sins:

1. pride;
2. envy;
3. angry state;
4. laziness;
5. greedy attitude towards neighbor;
6. gluttony and gluttony;
7. fornication, lust and voluptuousness.

God's commandments and mortal sins

The most vicious of the seven deadly sins is pride, which the Lord God cannot forgive.

The commandments of God in Orthodoxy allow us to live correctly and harmoniously. It is undoubtedly very difficult to observe them in everyday life, but you should always strive for the best. Many people who managed to start living according to the laws of God, after a short period of time, simply stopped noticing changes in their daily existence. And, of course, the Lord God helped them in this.

The commandments listed above are sure to benefit you only if you make them your own. In other words, let them completely control your worldview and actions. They must be your subconscious, which will avoid their possible violation.

In conclusion, it is worth noting that people who live according to the law of God are always lucky, and their life develops in the best possible way. They also manage to create strong families and raise a good generation. Live with the Lord, and he will surely bless you for good luck and luck, not only in life situations but also in all, even the most hopeless, undertakings.

The Lord is always with you!

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36 thoughts on 10 commandments of God in Orthodoxy and 7 deadly sins”

People who are far from the Church, who have no experience of spiritual life, often see only prohibitions and restrictions in Christianity. This is a very primitive view.

In Orthodoxy, everything is harmonious and natural. In the spiritual world, as well as in the physical world, there are laws that, like the laws of nature, cannot be violated, this will lead to great damage and even catastrophe. Both physical and spiritual laws are given by God Himself. We are constantly confronted in our daily lives with warnings, restrictions and prohibitions, and no sane person would say that all these prescriptions are unnecessary and unreasonable. The laws of physics contain many dire warnings, as do the laws of chemistry. There is a well-known school saying: “First water, then acid, otherwise big trouble will happen!” We go to work - there are their own safety rules, they must be known and observed. We go out into the street, get behind the wheel - we must follow the rules of the road, in which there are a lot of prohibitions. And so everywhere, in any area of ​​life.

Freedom is not permissiveness, but the right to choose: a person can make the wrong choice and suffer very much. The Lord gives us great freedom, but at the same time warns of dangers on life path. As the apostle Paul says: Everything is permissible for me, but not everything is useful(1 Cor 10:23). If a person ignores spiritual laws, lives as he wants, regardless of moral standards, or with the people around him, he loses his freedom, damages his soul and causes great harm to himself and others. Sin is a violation of very subtle and strict laws of spiritual nature; it harms first of all the sinner himself.

God wants people to be happy, love Him, love each other and not harm themselves and others, therefore He gave us commandments. They express spiritual laws, they teach how to live and build relationships with God and people. Just as parents warn their children about danger and teach them about life, so our Heavenly Father gives us the necessary instructions. Commandments were given to people in Old Testament, we talked about this in the section on the Old Testament biblical history. New Testament people, Christians, are required to keep the ten commandments. Do not think that I came to destroy the law or the prophets: I did not come to destroy, but to fulfill(Matthew 5:17), says the Lord Jesus Christ.

Main Law spiritual world — the law of love for God and people.

All ten commandments speak of this. They were given to Moses in the form of two stone slabs - tablets, on one of which the first four commandments were written, speaking of love for the Lord, and on the second - the remaining six. They talk about respect for others. When our Lord Jesus Christ was asked: What is the greatest commandment in the law?- He replied: Love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind: this is the first and greatest commandment; the second is like it: love thy neighbor as thyself; on these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets(Mt 22:36-40).

What does it mean? That if a man really achieved true love to God and neighbors, he cannot break any of the ten commandments, because they all speak of love for God and people. And to this perfect love we must strive.

Consider ten commandments of the law of God:

1. I am the Lord your God; Thou shalt have no other gods before Me.
2. You shall not make for yourself an idol or any image of what is in heaven above, and what is on the earth below, and what is in the water below the earth; do not worship them and do not serve them.
3. Do not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.
4. Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy; Six days you work and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God.
5. Honor your father and your mother, that your days on earth may be long.
6. Dont kill.
7. Don't commit adultery.
8. Don't steal.
9. Do not bear false witness against your neighbor.
10. Do not covet your neighbor's house; Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is thy neighbor's.

First Commandment

I am the Lord your God; Thou shalt have no other gods before Me.

The Lord is the Creator of the universe and the spiritual world. He is the Origin of all that exists. Our whole beautiful, harmonious and very complex world could not have arisen by itself. Behind all this beauty and harmony is the Creative Mind. To believe that everything that exists came into being on its own, without God, is nothing but madness. The fool said in his heart: "There is no God"(Ps 13:1), says the prophet David. God is not only the Creator, but also our Father. He cares, provides for people and everything He created, without His care the world could not exist.

God is the Source of all blessings, and a person should strive for Him, for only in God does he receive life. We need to conform all our actions and actions to the will of God: whether they are pleasing to God or not. So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything to the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31). The main means of communion with God are prayer and the Holy Mysteries, in which we receive the grace of God, Divine energy.

Let us repeat: God wants people to glorify Him correctly, that is, Orthodoxy.

For us, there can be only one God, glorified in the Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and we, Orthodox Christians, cannot have other gods.

The sins against the first commandment are:

• atheism (negation of God);
• lack of faith, doubt, superstition, when people confuse faith with unbelief or all sorts of signs and other remnants of paganism; those who say: “I have God in my soul” also sin against the first commandment, but at the same time they do not go to church and do not approach the Sacraments or rarely approach;
• paganism (polytheism), belief in false gods, Satanism, occultism and esotericism; this includes magic, witchcraft, healing, extrasensory perception, astrology, divination and turning to people involved in all this for help;
• false opinions that contradict the Orthodox faith, and falling away from the Church into schism, false teachings and sects;
• renunciation of faith, hope in one's own strength and in people more than in God; this sin is also associated with lack of faith.

Second Commandment

You shall not make for yourself an idol or any image of what is in heaven above, and what is on the earth below, and what is in the water below the earth; do not worship them and do not serve them.

The second commandment forbids worshiping the creature instead of the Creator. We know what paganism and idolatry are. Here is what the apostle Paul writes about the Gentiles: calling themselves wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image like corruptible man, and birds, and quadrupeds, and reptiles ... They replaced the truth of God with a lie ... and served the creature instead of the Creator(Rom 1:22-23, 25). The Old Testament people of Israel, to whom these commandments were originally given, were the guardians of faith in the True God. He was surrounded on all sides by pagan peoples and tribes, and in order to warn the Jews not to adopt pagan customs and beliefs in any case, the Lord establishes this commandment. Now there are few pagans, idolaters among us, although there is polytheism, worship of idols and idols, for example, in India, Africa, South America, and some other countries. Even here, in Russia, where Christianity has been around for over a thousand years, some people are trying to revive paganism.

Sometimes one can hear an accusation against the Orthodox: they say that icon veneration is idolatry. The veneration of holy icons cannot in any way be called idolatry. Firstly, we offer prayers of worship not to the icon itself, but to the Person Who is depicted on the icon, to God. Looking at the image, we ascend with the mind to the Prototype. Also, through the icon, we ascend in mind and heart to the Mother of God and the saints.

Sacred images were made in the Old Testament at the command of God Himself. The Lord commanded Moses to place in the first movable Old Testament temple (tabernacle) the golden images of the Cherubim. Already in the first centuries of Christianity in the Roman catacombs (gathering places of the first Christians) there were wall images of Christ in the form of the good Shepherd, the Mother of God with raised hands and other sacred images. All these frescoes were found during excavations.

Although there are few direct idolaters left in the modern world, many people create idols for themselves, worship them and make sacrifices. For many, their passions and vices have become such idols, requiring constant sacrifices. Some people fell into their captivity and can no longer do without them, they serve them as their masters, for: who is defeated by whom, that is the slave(2 Peter 2:19). Let us recall these idols of passion: gluttony, fornication, love of money, anger, sadness, despondency, vanity, pride. The Apostle Paul compares serving the passions with idolatry: covetousness...is idolatry(Col 3:5). Indulging in passion, a person stops thinking about God and serving Him. He forgets about the love of neighbors.

The sins against the second commandment also include a passionate attachment to some business, when this hobby becomes a passion. Idolatry is also the worship of a person. Many people in modern society popular artists, singers, athletes are treated as idols, idols.

Third Commandment

Do not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.

To pronounce the name of God in vain means - in vain, that is, not in prayer, not in spiritual conversations, but during idle conversations or out of habit. An even greater sin is to pronounce the name of God in jest. And it is an absolutely grave sin to pronounce the name of God with the desire to blaspheme God. Also a sin against the third commandment is blasphemy, when holy objects become the subject of ridicule and reproach. Failure to fulfill the vows made to God, and frivolous oaths with the invocation of the name of God are also a violation of this commandment.

The name of God is sacred. He must be treated with reverence.

Saint Nicholas of Serbia. Parable

One goldsmith was sitting in his shop at a workbench and, while working, constantly remembered the name of God in vain: either as an oath, or as a favorite word. A certain pilgrim returning from holy places, passing by a shop, heard this, and his soul was indignant. Then he called out to the jeweler to come out into the street. And when the master left, the pilgrim hid. The jeweler, seeing no one, returned to the shop and continued to work. The pilgrim called out to him again, and when the jeweler left, he pretended not to know anything. The master, angry, returned to his room and began to work again. The pilgrim called out to him for the third time, and when the master came out again, he again stood in silence, pretending that he had nothing to do with it. The jeweler in a rage attacked the pilgrim:

“Why are you calling me in vain? What a joke! I have work up to my throat!

The pilgrim replied peacefully:

- Truly, the Lord God has even more work to do, but you call on Him much more often than I do you. Who has the right to be more angry: you or the Lord God?

The jeweler, ashamed, returned to the workshop and has kept his mouth shut ever since.

Fourth Commandment

Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy; Work six days and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God.

The Lord created this world in six days and, having completed the creation, blessed the seventh day as a day of rest: sanctified it; for in him he rested from all his works, which God created and created(Gen 2, 3).

In the Old Testament, Sabbath was the day of rest. In New Testament times, Sunday became a holy day of rest, when the resurrection from the dead of our Lord Jesus Christ is remembered. It is this day that is the seventh and most important for Christians. Sunday is also called Little Easter. The custom of honoring Sunday comes from the time of the holy apostles. On Sunday, Christians must be Divine Liturgy. On this day it is very good to partake of the Holy Mysteries of Christ. Sunday we devote to prayer, spiritual reading pious pursuits. On Sunday, as a day free from ordinary work, you can help your neighbors or visit the sick, help the weak, the elderly. It is customary on this day to thank God for the past week and prayerfully ask for blessings on the work of the coming week.

You can often hear from people who are far from the Church or who have few churches that they do not have time for home prayer and church visits. Yes, modern man is sometimes very busy, but even busy people there is a lot of free time left to often and for a long time talk on the phone with friends and relatives, read newspapers, sit for hours at the TV and computer. Spending evenings like this, they do not want to devote even a very small time to evening prayer rule and read the gospel.

People who honor Sundays And church holidays, pray in the temple, regularly read morning and evening prayers, as a rule, manage to do much more than those who spend this time in idleness. The Lord blesses their labors, multiplies their strength and gives them His help.

Fifth Commandment

Honor your father and your mother, that your days on earth may be long.

Those who love and honor their parents are promised not only a reward in the Kingdom of Heaven, but even blessing, prosperity and long life in earthly life. Honoring parents means respecting them, showing obedience to them, helping them, taking care of them in their old age, praying for their health and salvation, and after their death, for the repose of their souls.

People often ask: how can you love and honor parents who do not take care of their children, neglect their duties, or fall into grave sins? We do not choose our parents, the fact that we have them like this, and not some others, is the will of God. Why did God give us such parents? In order for us to show the best Christian qualities: patience, love, humility, the ability to forgive.

Through our parents, God gave us life. Thus, no care for parents can compare with what we received from them. Here is what St. John Chrysostom writes about this: “As they gave birth to you, you cannot give birth to them. Therefore, if in this we are inferior to them, then we will surpass them in another respect through respect for them, not only according to the law of nature, but also primarily before nature, according to the feeling of the fear of God. The will of God resolutely requires that parents be honored by their children, and rewards those who do this with great blessings and gifts, and punishes those who violate this law with great and grave misfortunes. By honoring our father and mother, we learn to honor God Himself, our Heavenly Father. Parents can be called co-workers with the Lord. They gave us a body, and God gave us an immortal soul.

If a person does not honor his parents, he can very easily come to disrespect and deny God. At first he does not respect his parents, then he ceases to love the Motherland, then he denies the Mother Church and gradually comes to the denial of God. All this is interconnected. It is not for nothing that when they want to shake the state, destroy its foundations from within, they first of all take up arms against the Church—faith in God—and the family. Family, respect for elders, customs and traditions (translated from Latin - broadcast) hold society together, make the people strong.

sixth commandment

Dont kill.

Murder, taking another person's life, and suicide are among the gravest sins.

Suicide is a terrible spiritual crime. This is rebellion against God, who has given us the precious gift of life. Committing suicide, a person passes away in a terrible stupefaction of the spirit, mind, in a state of despair and despondency. He can no longer repent of this sin; there is no repentance beyond the grave.

A person who negligently takes the life of another is also guilty of murder, but his guilt is less than that of the one who consciously encroaches on the life of another. Also guilty of the murder is the one who contributed to this: for example, the husband who did not dissuade his wife from having an abortion, or even himself contributed to this.

People who shorten their lives by bad habits, vices and sins and harm their health also sin against the sixth commandment.

Any harm done to a neighbor is also a violation of this commandment. Hatred, malice, beatings, bullying, insults, curses, anger, malevolence, rancor, malevolence, unforgiveness of insults - all these are sins against the commandment "Thou shalt not kill", because everyone who hates his brother is a murderer(1 Jn 3:15), says the word of God.

In addition to bodily murder, there is no less terrible murder - spiritual, when someone seduces, seduces a neighbor into unbelief or pushes him to commit a sin and thereby destroys his soul.

St. Philaret of Moscow writes that “not every taking of life is a lawful murder. It is not unlawful to kill when a life is taken away by office, such as: when a criminal is punished by death by justice; when they kill the enemy in the war for the Fatherland.

seventh commandment

Don't commit adultery.

This commandment forbids sins against the family, adultery, all carnal relations between a man and a woman outside of legal marriage, carnal perversions, as well as impure desires and thoughts.

The Lord established the marriage union and blessed the carnal fellowship in it, which serves procreation. Husband and wife are no longer two, but one flesh(Gen 2:24). The presence of marriage is another (albeit not the most important) difference between us and animals. Animals don't get married. People have marriage, mutual responsibility, obligations to each other and to children.

What is blessed in marriage is a sin outside of marriage, a violation of the commandment. The marriage union unites a man and a woman in one flesh for mutual love, the birth and upbringing of children. Any attempt to steal the joys of marriage without mutual trust and the responsibility that a marriage union implies is a grave sin, which, according to the testimony of Holy Scripture, deprives a person of the Kingdom of God (see: 1 Cor 6, 9).

An even greater sin is the violation marital fidelity or the destruction of someone else's marriage. Cheating destroys not only marriage, but also defiles the soul of the one who cheats. You can't build happiness on someone else's grief. There is a law of spiritual balance: having sowed evil, sin, we will reap evil, our sin will return to us. Shameless talk and not keeping one's feelings are also a violation of the seventh commandment.

eighth commandment

Don't steal.

It is a violation of this commandment to appropriate someone else's property, both public and private. The types of theft can be varied: robbery, theft, fraud in commercial matters, bribery, bribery, tax evasion, parasitism, sacrilege (that is, the appropriation of church property), all kinds of scams, machinations and fraud. In addition, any dishonesty can be attributed to sins against the eighth commandment: lies, deceit, hypocrisy, flattery, sycophancy, human pleasing, since by this people try to gain something (for example, the favor of their neighbor) dishonestly.

“You can’t build a house with stolen goods,” says a Russian proverb. And again: "No matter how the rope winds, there will be an end." Cashing in on the appropriation of someone else's property, a person will sooner or later pay for it. A sin committed, no matter how insignificant it may seem, is sure to return. A man familiar to the authors of this book in the yard accidentally hit and scratched the fender of a neighbor's car. But he didn't say anything to him and didn't make amends. Some time later, in a completely different place, far from his home, his own car was also scratched and fled the scene. The blow was inflicted on the same wing, which he spoiled to a neighbor.

The love of money leads to the violation of the commandment “Thou shalt not steal”. It was she who led Judas to betrayal. Evangelist John directly calls him a thief (see John 12:6).

The passion of covetousness is overcome by cultivating non-covetousness in oneself, mercy to the poor, diligence, honesty and growth in spiritual life, because attachment to money and other material values ​​​​always comes from lack of spirituality.

ninth commandment

Do not bear false witness against your neighbor.

With this commandment, the Lord forbids not only direct perjury against one's neighbor, for example, in court, but also any lie spoken against other people, such as: slander, false denunciations. The sin of idle talk, so common and everyday for modern man, is also very often associated with sins against the ninth commandment. In idle talk, gossip, gossip, and sometimes slander and slander are constantly born. During an idle conversation, it is very easy to say too much, to divulge other people's secrets and secrets entrusted to you, to put your neighbor in a difficult position. “My tongue is my enemy,” people say, and indeed our language can be of great benefit to us and our neighbors, or it can do much harm. The apostle James says that with our tongue we sometimes we bless God and the Father, and with it we curse men who are made in the likeness of God(James 3:9). We sin against the ninth commandment not only when we slander our neighbor, but also when we agree with what others have said, thereby participating in the sin of condemnation.

Judge not lest ye be judged(Mt 7:1), the Savior warns. To condemn means to judge, to boldly admire the right that belongs only to God. Only the Lord, who knows the past, present and future of man, can judge His creation.

The story of the Monk John of Savva

Once a monk from a neighboring monastery came to me, and I asked him how the fathers live. He answered: "All right, according to your prayers." Then I asked about a monk who did not enjoy a good reputation, and the guest said to me: “He has not changed at all, father!” Hearing this, I exclaimed: "Bad!" And as soon as I said this, I immediately felt as if in ecstasy and saw Jesus Christ crucified between two thieves. I was rushing to worship the Savior, when suddenly He turned to the upcoming Angels and said to them: “Put him out, this is the Antichrist, for he condemned his brother before My Judgment.” And when, according to the word of the Lord, I was cast out, my mantle was left in the door, and then I woke up. “Woe is me,” I then said to the brother who had come, “this day is angry with me!” "Why is that?" he asked. Then I told him about the vision and noticed that the mantle I left behind meant that I was deprived of the protection and help of God. And from that time I spent seven years wandering in the wilderness, neither eating bread, nor going under shelter, nor conversing with people, until I saw my Lord, who returned the mantle to me.

That's how scary it is to pass judgment on a person.

tenth commandment

Do not covet your neighbor's house; Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is thy neighbor's.

This commandment forbids envy and grumbling. It is impossible not only to do evil to people, but even to have sinful, envious thoughts against them. Any sin begins with a thought, with a thought about something. A person begins to envy the property and money of his neighbors, then a thought arises in his heart to steal this good from his brother, and soon he embodies sinful dreams into action.

Envy of the wealth, talents, and health of our neighbors kills our love for them; envy, like acid, corrodes the soul. An envious person finds it difficult to communicate with others. He is pleased with the sorrow, the grief that befell those whom he envied. That is why the sin of envy is so dangerous: it is the seed of other sins. An envious person also sins against God, he does not want to be content with what the Lord sends him, he blames his neighbors and God for all his troubles. Such a person will never be happy and satisfied with life, because happiness does not depend on earthly goods, but on the state of the human soul. The kingdom of God is within you (Lk 17:21). It begins here, on earth, with the correct spiritual dispensation of man. The ability to see the gifts of God in every day of one's life, appreciate them and thank God for them is the key to human happiness.

God wants people to be happy, love Him, love each other and not harm themselves and others, therefore He gave us commandments. They express spiritual laws, they protect us from trouble and teach us how to live and build relationships with God and people. Just as parents warn their children about danger and teach them about life, so our Heavenly Father gives us the necessary instructions. Commandments were given to people in the Old Testament. The Ten Commandments are also obligatory for the people of the New Testament, Christians.“Do not think that I came to destroy the law or the prophets: I did not come to destroy, but to fulfill” (), says the Lord Jesus Christ.

The most important law of the spiritual world is the law of love for God and people.

All ten commandments speak of this law. They were given to Moses in the form of two stone slabs - tablets, on one of which the first four commandments were written, speaking about love for the Lord, and on the second - the remaining six, about the attitude towards neighbors. When our Lord Jesus Christ was asked: “What is the greatest commandment in the law?” He answered: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind”: this is the first and greatest commandment. The second is similar to it: "Love your neighbor as yourself." On these two commandments all the law and the prophets are established ”().

What does it mean? That if a person has really achieved true love for God and neighbor, he cannot break any of the ten commandments, because they all talk about love for God and people. And to this perfect love we must strive.

Consider the ten commandments of the Law of God in order:

2. Do not make for yourself an idol and any likeness, a fir tree in heaven, a fir tree on the earth below, and a fir tree in the waters under the earth: do not bow down to them, nor serve them.

4. Remember the Sabbath day, and keep it holy: do six days, and do all your works in them, but on the seventh day, the Sabbath, to the Lord your God.

6. Don't kill.

7. Do not create adultery.

8. Don't steal.

10. Thou shalt not covet thy sincere wife, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house, nor his village, nor his servant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor any of his livestock, nor all that is thy neighbor's spruce.

So they sound in Church Slavonic. In the future, analyzing each commandment, we will give their Russian translation.

FIRST COMMANDMENT

I am the Lord your God; let there be no bosi inii for you, unless Mene.

I am the Lord thy God; thou shalt have no other gods but Me.

The Lord is the Creator of the universe and the spiritual world and the First Cause of everything that exists. Our whole beautiful, harmonious and incredibly complex world could not have arisen by itself. Behind all this beauty and harmony is the Creative Mind. To believe that everything that exists came into being on its own, without God, is nothing but madness. “The fool said in his heart:“ there is no God ” (), - says the prophet David. God is not only the Creator, but also our Father. He cares, provides for people and everything He created, without His care the world would collapse.

God is the Source of all blessings, and a person should strive for Him, for only in God does he receive life. "I am the way and the truth and the life" (). The main means of communion with God is prayer and the holy sacraments, in which we receive the grace of God, divine energy.

God wants people to glorify Him correctly, that is, Orthodoxy. One of the most harmful modern delusions is that all religions and faiths talk about the same thing and strive for God in the same way, they just pray to Him in different ways. There can be only one true faith - the Orthodox. Holy Bible tells us: “For all the gods of the peoples are idols, but the Lord created the heavens” ().

In the book of the Acts of the Holy Apostles, it is said about Christ: “There is no other name under heaven, given to people by which we should be saved" (). For us, faith in Jesus Christ as God and Savior is the main dogma, while other religions, in general, deny the deity of Christ. Either they consider him one of the many pagan deities, or just a prophet, or even, God forgive me, a false messiah. So we have nothing to do with them.

So that for us there can be only one God, glorified in the Trinity, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, and we Orthodox Christians cannot have other gods.

Sins against the first commandment are: 1) atheism (denial of God); 2) lack of faith, doubt, superstition, when people confuse faith with unbelief or all sorts of signs and other remnants of paganism. Also sinning against the first commandment are those who say: “I have God in my soul,” but at the same time they do not go and do not approach the sacraments, or they rarely approach; 3) paganism (polytheism), belief in false gods, satanism, occultism and esotericism. This also includes magic, witchcraft, healing, extrasensory perception, astrology, divination and turning to people involved in all this for help; 4) false opinions that contradict the Orthodox faith and falling away from the Church into schism, false teachings and sects; 5) renunciation of faith; 6) hope for one's own strength and for people more than for God. This sin is also associated with lack of faith.

THE SECOND COMMANDMENT

Do not make for yourself an idol and any likeness, a fir tree in heaven, a mountain, and a fir tree on the earth below, and a fir tree in the waters under the earth: do not bow down to them, nor serve them.

You shall not make for yourself an idol or any image of what is in heaven above, what is on the earth below, and what is in the waters below the earth; do not worship or serve them.

The second commandment forbids worshiping the creature instead of the Creator. We know what paganism and idolatry are, here is what the Apostle Paul writes about the Gentiles: “Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and birds, and four-legged, and creeping things ... They replaced the truth of God a lie, and served the creature instead of the Creator ”(). The Old Testament people of Israel, to whom these commandments were originally given, were the custodians of the faith in true God. He was surrounded on all sides by pagan peoples and tribes to warn the Jews that in no case did they adopt pagan customs and beliefs, the Lord establishes this commandment. Now there are quite a few pagans, idolaters left, although there is polytheism, worship of idols and idols even now. For example, in India, Africa, South America, some other countries. Even here in Russia, where Christianity has been over 1000 years old, some people are trying to revive the ancient Slavic paganism.

The veneration of holy icons in Orthodoxy cannot in any way be called idolatry. Firstly, we offer prayers of worship not to the icon itself, not to the material from which it is made, but to those who are depicted on it: God, the Mother of God and the saints. Looking at the image, we ascend with the mind to the Prototype. Secondly, sacred images were made in the Old Testament at the command of God Himself. The Lord commanded Moses to put in the first mobile Old Testament temple, tabernacles, golden images of the Cherubim. Already in the first centuries of Christianity, in the Roman catacombs, the meeting places of the first Christians, there were wall images of Christ in the form of the Good Shepherd, the Mother of God, with raised hands and other sacred images. All these frescoes were found during excavations.

Although there are few direct idolaters left in the modern world, many people create idols for themselves, worship them and make sacrifices. For many, their passions and vices have become such idols, requiring constant sacrifices. Passions are ingrained sinful habits, harmful addictions. Some people fell into their captivity and can no longer do without them, and serve them as their masters, for: “whoever is defeated by whom is the slave” (). These idols are passions: 1) gluttony; 2) fornication; 3) love of money, 4) anger; 5) sadness; 6) despondency; 7) vanity; 8) pride.

It is not in vain that the Apostle Paul compares serving the passions with idolatry: “covetousness ... is idolatry” (). Serving passion, a person stops thinking about God and serving Him, and he also forgets about love for his neighbor.

The sins against the second commandment also include a passionate attachment to some business, when this hobby becomes a passion. Idolatry is also the passionate worship of a person. No wonder some artists, singers, athletes in the modern world are called: idols and idols.

THIRD COMMANDMENT

Do not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.

Do not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.

What does it mean to take the name of the Lord in vain? That is, to pronounce it not in prayer, not in spiritual conversations, but in idle conversations, as they say, “for a red word” or just for a bunch of words, or maybe even as a joke. And it is an absolutely grave sin to pronounce the name of God with the desire to blaspheme God, to laugh at Him. Also a sin against the third commandment is blasphemy, when holy objects become the subject of ridicule and reproach. Failure to fulfill the vows given to God and frivolous oaths, with the invocation of the name of God, are also a violation of this commandment.

The name of God is sacred to us, and it cannot be exchanged in empty, idle speech. The saint gives a parable about the commemoration of the name of the Lord in vain:

One goldsmith was sitting in his shop at a workbench and, while working, constantly remembered the name of God in vain: either as an oath, or as a favorite word. A certain pilgrim returning from holy places, passing by a shop, heard this, and his soul was indignant. Then he called out to the jeweler to come out into the street. And when the master left, the pilgrim hid. The jeweler, seeing no one, returned to the shop and continued to work. The pilgrim called out to him again, and when the jeweler left, he pretended not to know anything. The master, angry, returned to his room and began to work again. The pilgrim called out to him for the third time, and when the master came out again, he again stood in silence, pretending that he had nothing to do with it. Then the jeweler in a rage attacked the pilgrim:

“Why are you calling me in vain? What a joke! I have work up to my throat!

The pilgrim replied peacefully:

“Truly, the Lord God has even more work to do, but you call on Him much more often than I call on you. Who has the right to be more angry: you or the Lord God?

The jeweler, ashamed, returned to the workshop and has kept his mouth shut ever since.

The word has great meaning and power. God created this world through the Word. “The heavens were created by the word of the Lord, and by the spirit of His mouth all their host” (), says the Savior. About the "rotten word" wrote another ap. Paul. In the IV century. the saint says that “Whenever someone swears with obscene words, then at the Throne of the Lord, the Mother of God, she takes away the prayer cover given by Her from a person, and She herself retreats, and that person is chosen obscenely, subjects herself to a curse that day, because she scolds her mother and bitterly her offends. It is not befitting for us to eat and drink with that person, otherwise he will not lag behind ongoing swear words.

THE FOURTH COMMANDMENT

Remember the Sabbath day, and keep it holy: do six days, and do all your works in them, on the seventh day, the Sabbath, to the Lord your God.

Remember the Sabbath day in order to spend it holy: work for six days and do all your work in continuation of them, and devote the seventh day - the Sabbath day to the Lord your God.

The Lord created this world in six stages - days and finished creation. “And God blessed the seventh day, and hallowed it; for in it he rested from all his works, which God created and created ”(). This does not mean that God does not care about the created world, but it means that the Lord has finished all the actions related to creation.

In the Old Testament, Saturday was considered a day of rest (translated from Hebrew peace). In New Testament times, Sunday became a holy day of rest, when the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ is remembered. The seventh and most important day for Christians is the day of resurrection, Little Pascha, and the custom of honoring Sunday comes from the time of the holy apostles. On Sunday, Christians refrain from work and go to pray to God, thank Him for the past week and ask for a blessing on the work of the coming week. On this day it is very good to partake of the Holy Mysteries of Christ. Sunday we dedicate to prayer, spiritual reading, pious activities. On Sunday, as a day free from ordinary work, you can help your neighbors. Visit the sick, help the weak, the elderly.

Often, from people who are far from the Church or who are few in the Church, one can hear that they, they say, do not have time for home prayer and visiting the temple. Yes, a modern person is sometimes very busy, but even busy people have a lot of free time to talk on the phone with friends, friends and relatives, read magazines, newspapers and novels, sit for hours at the TV and computer, and time for prayer No. Another person comes home at six o'clock in the evening and then lies on the couch watching TV for 5-6 hours, and he is too lazy to get up and read a very short evening prayer rule or read the Gospel.

Those people who honor Sundays and church holidays, pray in the temple and are not too lazy to read morning and evening prayers, get much more than those who spend this time in idleness and laziness. The Lord will bless their labors, increase their strength and send them His help.

FIFTH COMMANDMENT

Honor your father and your mother, may it be good, and may you be long on earth.

Honor your father and your mother so that you feel good and live long on earth.

Those who love and honor their parents are promised not only a reward in the Kingdom of Heaven, but even in earthly life, blessing, prosperity and longevity. Honoring parents means respecting them, showing obedience to them, helping them, taking care of them in their old age, praying for their health and salvation, and when they die, praying for the repose of their souls.

People often ask: how can you love and honor parents who do not take care of their children, neglect their duties, or fall into serious sins? We do not choose our parents, the fact that we have them like this, and not some others, is the will of God. Why did God give us such parents? In order for us to show the best Christian qualities: patience, love, humility, to learn to forgive.

We came into this world through our parents, they are the reason for our existence and the very nature of our origin from them teaches us to honor them as people higher than ourselves. Here is what the saint writes about this: “... as they gave birth to you, you cannot give birth to them. Therefore, if in this we are inferior to them, then we will surpass them in another respect through respect for them, not only according to the law of nature, but primarily before nature, according to the (feeling) fear of God. The will of God resolutely requires that parents be honored by their children, and rewards those who do this with great blessings and gifts, and punishes those who violate this law with great and grave misfortunes. Honoring father and mother, we honor God Himself, our Father in heaven. He, together with our earthly parents, gave us the most precious gift - the gift of life. Parents can be called co-creators, co-workers with the Lord. They gave us a body, we are flesh of their flesh, and God put an immortal soul into us.

If a person does not honor parents, denies this hierarchy, he can very easily come to disrespect and denial of God. At first he does not respect his parents, then he ceases to love his homeland, then he denies the mother church, and now he no longer believes in God. All this is very interconnected. Not without reason, when they want to shake the state, destroy its foundations from within, they first of all take up arms against the church, faith in God, and the family. Family, reverence for elders, transmission of traditions (and the word tradition comes from the Latin tradition - transmission), cements society, makes the people strong.

THE SIXTH COMMANDMENT

Don't kill.

Dont kill.

Murder, taking the life of another person and suicide, that is, an unauthorized departure from life, are among the most serious sins.

Suicide is the worst sin. This is rebellion against God, who has given us the precious gift of life. But our life is in the hands of God, we have no right to leave it whenever we please. Committing suicide, a person passes away in a terrible gloom of despair and despondency. He can no longer repent of this sin, nor can he bring repentance for the sin of murder, which he commits in relation to himself, there is no repentance beyond the grave.

A person who takes the life of another through negligence is also guilty of murder, but his guilt is less than that of the one who kills deliberately. Also guilty of murder is the one who contributed to the murder. For example, the husband of a woman who did not dissuade her from having an abortion, or even contributed to it himself.

People who shorten their lives and harm their health with their bad habits and vices and sins also sin against the sixth commandment.

Any harm done to one's neighbor is also a violation of this commandment. Hatred, malice, beatings, bullying, insults, curses, anger, gloating, vindictiveness, malevolence, unforgiveness of insults - all these are sins against the commandment “Thou shalt not kill”, because “everyone who hates his brother is a murderer” (), - says The Word of God.

In addition to bodily murder, there is no less terrible murder - spiritual murder, when someone seduces, seduces a neighbor into unbelief or pushes him to commit a sin, and thereby destroys his soul.

Holy Scripture classifies fornication among the most serious sins: “Do not be deceived: neither fornicators ... nor adulterers ... will inherit the Kingdom of God” ().

A sin even more serious than fornication is adultery, that is, adultery or bodily relations with a person who is married.

Cheating destroys not only marriage, but also the soul of the one who cheats. You can't build happiness on someone else's grief. There is a law of spiritual balance: having sowed evil, sin, we will reap evil, our sin will return to us. Adultery, fornication does not begin with the fact of physical intimacy, but much earlier, when a person gives himself permission to dirty thoughts, immodest views. The Gospel says: anyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart ”(). Therefore, mental fornication, failure to keep sight, hearing, shameless conversations - these and other similar sins, are a violation of the seventh commandment.

THE EIGHTH COMMANDMENT

Don't steal.

Don't steal.

It is a violation of this commandment to appropriate someone else's property, both public and private. The types of theft can be varied: robbery, theft, fraud in commercial matters, bribery, bribery, tax evasion, parasitism, sacrilege (that is, the appropriation of church property), all kinds of scams, machinations and fraud. In addition, any dishonesty can be attributed to sins against the eighth commandment: lies, deceit, hypocrisy, flattery, sycophancy, human pleasing, since in this case people also try to acquire something, for example, the favor of their neighbor, dishonestly, by thieves.

“You can’t build a house with stolen goods,” says a Russian proverb, and also “No matter how much you wind the rope, there will be an end.” Cashing in on the appropriation of someone else's property, a person will sooner or later pay for it. “God cannot be mocked” () A perfect sin, no matter how insignificant it may seem, will surely return. Evil will surely find us. One of my friends in the yard accidentally hit and scratched the fender of a neighbor's car. But he did not say anything to him and did not give money for repairs. After some time, in a completely different place, far from home, his own car was also scratched and fled the scene. Moreover, the blow was inflicted on the same wing, which he spoiled his neighbor.

At the heart of theft, theft lies the passion of the love of money, and it fights by acquiring virtues that are opposite to it. The love of money can be of two types: Waste (love for a luxurious life) and stinginess, greed Both require funds, which are often acquired dishonestly.

The love of money fights by acquiring the virtues opposite to it: mercy to the poor, non-acquisitiveness, diligence, honesty and spiritual life, because attachment to money and other material values ​​always comes from lack of spirituality.

NINTH COMMANDMENT

Do not listen to a friend, your testimony is false.

Do not bear false witness against your neighbor.

With this commandment, the Lord forbids not only direct perjury against one's neighbor, for example, in court, but also any lie spoken against other people, such as: slander, slander, false denunciations. The sin of idle talk, so common in everyday life for modern man, is also very often associated with sins against the ninth commandment. In idle conversations, gossip, gossip, and sometimes slander and slander are constantly heard. During an idle conversation, it is very easy to "blather too much", divulge other people's secrets and secrets entrusted to you, let down and set up your neighbor. “My tongue is my enemy,” people say, and indeed, our language can be of great benefit to us and our neighbors, or it can be very harmful. The Apostle James says that with our tongue we sometimes “bless God and the Father, and with it we curse men who are made in the likeness of God” (). We sin against the ninth commandment when we not only speak lies and slander our neighbor, but also when we agree with what others have said, thereby participating in the sin of condemnation.

“Judge not, lest you be judged” (), the Savior warns. To condemn means to judge, to anticipate the judgment of God, to usurp His rights (this is also a terrible pride!) for only the Lord, who knows the past, present and future of a person, can judge him. Rev. John of Savvait tells the following: “Once a monk from a neighboring monastery came to me, and I asked him how the fathers live. He answered: "All right, according to your prayers." Then I asked about a monk who did not enjoy a good reputation, and the guest said to me: “He has not changed at all, father!” Hearing this, I exclaimed: "Bad!" And as soon as I said this, I immediately felt as if in ecstasy and saw Jesus Christ crucified between two thieves. I, it was, rushed to worship the Savior, when suddenly He turned to the upcoming Angels and said to them: "Put him out - this is the Antichrist, for he condemned his brother before My Judgment." And when, according to the word of the Lord, I was cast out, my mantle was left in the door, and then I woke up. “Woe is me,” I then said to the brother who had come, “this day is angry with me!” "Why is that?" he asked. Then I told him about the vision and noticed that the mantle I left behind meant that I was deprived of the protection and help of God. And from that time on, I spent seven years wandering in the wilderness, not eating bread, not going under shelter, not talking to people, until I saw my Lord, who returned the mantle to me.

That's how scary it is to pass judgment on a person.

THE TENTH COMMANDMENT

Thou shalt not covet thy sincere wife, covet not thy neighbor's house, nor his village, nor his servant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor any of his livestock, nor all that is thy neighbor's spruce.

Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, and covet not thy neighbor's house, nor his field, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant... nor all that is thy neighbor's.

This commandment forbids envy and grumbling. You can't only do bad people but even to have sinful, envious thoughts against them. Any sin begins with a thought, with a thought about it. At the beginning, a person begins to envy the money and property of his neighbors, then a thought arises in his heart to steal this good from his brother, and soon he embodies his sinful dreams into action. Adultery is also known to begin with indiscreet looks and envious thoughts about the spouse of a neighbor. It must also be said that envy of wealth, property, talents, and the health of our neighbors kills our love for them; envy, like acid, corrodes the soul. It is already unpleasant for us to communicate with them, we cannot share their joy with them, on the contrary, envious person very glad, the sudden grief and grief that befell those whom he envied. That is why the sin of envy is so dangerous, it is the beginning, the seed of other sins. An envious person also sins against God, he does not want to be content with what the Lord sends him, he is constantly not enough, he blames his neighbors and God for all his troubles. Such a person will never be happy and satisfied with life, because happiness is not some amount of earthly goods, but the state of the human soul. “The kingdom of God is within you” (). It begins here on earth, with the right arrangement of the soul. The ability to see the gifts of God in every day of one's life, appreciate them and thank God for them is the key to human happiness.

THE GOSPEL COMMANDMENTS OF THE BLESS

We have already said that God gave people the ten commandments back in the Old Testament times. They were given in order to protect people from evil, to warn of the danger posed by sin. The Lord Jesus Christ established New Testament, gave us the New Gospel Law, the basis of which is love: “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another” (). However, the Savior did not abolish the observance of the ten commandments, but showed people a completely new level of spiritual life. In the Sermon on the Mount, talking about how a Christian should build his life, the Savior, among other things, gives nine Beatitudes. These commandments no longer speak of the prohibition of sin, but of Christian perfection. They tell how to achieve bliss, what virtues bring a person closer to God, for only in Him can a person find true bliss. The Beatitudes not only do not cancel the ten commandments of the Law of God, but very wisely supplement them. It is not enough simply not to commit sin, or to banish it from our souls by repenting of it. No, it is necessary that our soul be filled with virtues opposite to sins. "A holy place is never empty". It is not enough not to do evil, one must do good. Sins create a wall between us and God, when the wall is destroyed, we begin to see God, but only a moral Christian life can bring us closer to Him.

Here are the nine commandments that the Savior gave us as a guide to Christian achievement:

1. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for those are the Kingdom of Heaven
2. Blessed are those who weep, for they will be comforted
3. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth
4. Blessed are those who are hungry and thirsty for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied
5. Blessed are mercy, for there will be mercy
6. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God
7. Blessed are the peacemakers, for these sons of God shall be called
8. Blessed are the exiles for the sake of righteousness, for those are the Kingdom of Heaven
9. Blessed are you, when they reproach you, and wait, and speak every evil word against you lying, For my sake: Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is many in heaven.

THE FIRST COMMANDMENT OF THE BLESS

What does it mean to be "poor in spirit" and why such people are "blessed"? In order to understand this, you need to use the image of an ordinary beggar person. We have all seen and know people who have reached the extreme degree of poverty, destitution. Among them, of course, there are different people and we will not now consider their moral qualities, no, we need the life of these unfortunate people as a kind of image. Every beggar is well aware that he is on the last rung of the social ladder, that all other people are materially much higher than him. And he wanders in rags, often without his own corner, and asks for alms in order to somehow support his life. While a beggar communicates with the same poor people as he is, he may not notice his situation, but when he sees a rich, wealthy person, he immediately feels the poverty of his own situation.

Spiritual poverty means humility, V And deduction of its true state. Just as an ordinary beggar has nothing of his own, but wears what is given and eats alms, so we must realize that everything we have is from God. All this is not ours, we are only clerks, stewards of the estate that the Lord has given us. He gave it to serve the salvation of our souls. You can be by no means a poor person, but be “poor in spirit”, accept with humility what God gives us and use it to serve the Lord and people. Everything is from God, not only material wealth, but also health, talents, abilities, life itself - all this is exclusively a gift of God, for which we must thank Him. “Without Me you can do nothing” (), the Lord tells us. Both the fight against sins and the acquisition of good deeds are impossible without humility; we do all this only with the help of God.

The poor in spirit, the humble, are promised "Kingdom of heaven". People who know that everything they have is not their merit, but the gift of God, which must be multiplied for the salvation of the soul, will perceive everything sent to them as a means to achieve the Kingdom of Heaven.

THE SECOND BLEAT COMMANDMENT

« Blessed are those who weep." Crying can be caused by completely different reasons, but not all crying is a virtue. The commandment to weep means repentant weeping for one's sins. Repentance is so important because without it it is impossible to get closer to God. Sins prevent us from doing this. The first commandment of humility already leads us to repentance, lays the foundation for spiritual life, for only a person who feels his weakness, poverty before the Heavenly Father can recognize his sins, repent of them. And how evangelical prodigal son returns to the Father's house, of course, the Lord will receive everyone who comes to Him, and will wipe away every tear from his eyes. Therefore: “Blessed are those who weep (for sins), for they will be comforted.” Every person has sins, only God is without sin, but we have been given the greatest gift from God - repentance, the opportunity to return to God, to ask for forgiveness from Him. It is not for nothing that the holy fathers called repentance the second baptism, where we wash away sins not with water, but with tears.

Blissful tears can also be called tears of compassion, empathy for our neighbors, when we are imbued with their grief and try our best to help them.

THE THIRD BLESSING COMMANDMENT

"Blessed are the meek." Meekness is a peaceful, calm, quiet spirit that a person has acquired in his heart. This is the obedience to the will of God and the virtue of peace in the soul and peace with others. “Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me: for I am meek and lowly in heart; and find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light ”(), the Savior teaches us. He was in everything submissive to the will of the Heavenly Father, He served people and accepted suffering with meekness. He who has taken upon himself the good yoke of Christ, who follows His path, who seeks humility, meekness, and love, will find peace and tranquility for his soul both in this earthly life and in the life of the next age, for the meek "inherit the earth" first of all, not material, but spiritual, in the Kingdom of Heaven.

The great Russian saint, the monk said: "acquire a spirit of peace and around you thousands will be saved." He himself fully acquired this meek spirit, greeting everyone who came to him with the words: “My joy, Christ is risen!” An episode from his life is known, when robbers came to his forest cell, wanting to rob the elder, thinking that the visitors bring him a lot of money. Saint Seraphim was chopping wood in the forest at that time and stood with an ax in his hands. But, having weapons and himself possessing great physical strength, he did not want to resist them. He laid the ax on the ground and folded his arms across his chest. The villains grabbed an ax and severely beat the old man with his butt, breaking his head and breaking his bones. Finding no money, they fled. The monk was barely able to get to the monastery, he was ill for a long time and remained bent to the end of his days. When the robbers were caught, he not only forgave them, but also asked to be released, saying that if this was not done, he would leave the monastery. Behold, what an amazing meekness this man was.

That "the meek shall inherit the earth" is true not only in the spiritual plane, but even in the earthly one. Meek and humble Christians, without wars, fire and sword, despite the terrible persecution by the pagans, were able to convert the entire vast Roman Empire to the true faith.

THE FOURTH BLEAT COMMANDMENT

There are many ways to crave and seek truth. Eat certain people, who can be called "truth-seekers", they are constantly outraged by the existing order, everywhere they seek justice and complain to higher authorities. But they are not mentioned in this commandment. It means a completely different truth.

It is said that one must desire truth as food and drink: Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness." That is, very strongly, like a hungry and thirsty one, he suffers until he satisfies his needs. What is the truth here. On the Supreme Divine Truth. A Supreme Truth, Truth is Christ. “I am the way and the truth” (), He says about Himself. Therefore, the Christian must seek the true meaning of life in God. In Him alone is the True Source of Living Water and Divine Bread, which is His Body.

The Lord left us the Word of God, which contains the Divine teaching, the truth of God, He created the Church and put into it everything necessary for salvation. The Church is also the bearer of truth and correct knowledge about God, the world and man. This is the truth that every Christian should crave, reading the Holy Scriptures and being edified by the works of the Fathers of the Church.

Those who are zealous about prayer, about doing good deeds, about satiating themselves with the Word of God, truly “thrive for the truth,” and, of course, will receive satiation from the ever-flowing Source of our Savior both in this century and in the future.

THE FIFTH BLESSING COMMANDMENT

Grace, mercy These are deeds of love towards neighbors. In these virtues, we imitate God Himself: “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful” ().

And he teaches us all the same selfless love, so that we do works of mercy not for the sake of a reward, not expecting to receive something in return, but out of love for the person himself, fulfilling the commandment of God.

By doing good deeds to people as a creature, the image of God, we thereby bring service to God Himself. The gospel describes Last Judgment God, when the Lord separates the righteous from the sinners and says to the righteous: “Come, you blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave Me food; I was thirsty, and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger, and you accepted Me; was naked, and you clothed me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me." Then the righteous will answer Him, “Lord! when we saw you hungry and fed you? or thirsty, and drink? when we saw you as a stranger and received you? or naked and clothed? when did we see you sick, or in prison, and come to you?” And the King will answer them: “Truly, I say to you, because you did it to one of the least of these My brothers, you did it to Me” (). Therefore it is said that "merciful" themselves "they will have mercy." And on the contrary, those who did not do good deeds will have nothing to justify themselves at the judgment of God, as it is said in the same parable of the terrible judgment.

THE SIXTH BLESSING COMMANDMENT

"Blessed are the pure in heart", that is, pure in soul and mind from sinful thoughts and desires. It is important not only to avoid committing sin in a visible way, but also to refrain from thinking about it, because any sin begins with thinking, and only then materializes into action. “Evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies come from the heart of a person” (). A person who has an impure soul, impure thoughts is a potential perpetrator of later already visible sins.

“If your eye is pure, then your whole body will be bright; but if your eye is evil, then your whole body will be dark” (). These words of Christ are spoken about the purity of the heart and soul. A clear eye is sincerity, purity, holiness of thoughts and intentions, and these intentions lead to good deeds. And vice versa: where the eye, the heart is blinded, dark thoughts reign, which later become dark deeds. Only a person with a pure soul, pure thoughts, can approach God, behold God is seen not with bodily eyes, but with the spiritual vision of a pure soul and heart. If this organ of spiritual vision is clouded, corrupted by sin, the Lord cannot be seen. Therefore, it is necessary to refrain from impure, sinful, evil and dull thoughts, drive them away as being planted from the enemy, and educate in the soul, nurture others - bright, kind. These thoughts are cultivated by prayer, faith and hope in God, love for Him, for people and for every creature of God.

THE SEVENTH BLEAT COMMANDMENT

"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God." The commandment of peace with people and reconciliation of the warring is placed very high, such people are called children, sons of the Lord. Why? We are all children of God, his creations. There is nothing more pleasant for any parent when he knows that his children live in peace, love and harmony among themselves: “How good and how pleasant it is for brothers to live together!” (). And vice versa, how sad it is for a father and mother to see quarrels, strife and enmity between children, at the sight of all this, the heart of the parents seems to bleed! If the world and a good relationship between children please even earthly parents, the more our Heavenly Father needs us to live in peace. And a person who keeps peace in the family, with people, reconciles the warring, is pleasing and pleasing to God. Not only does such a person receive joy, peace, happiness and blessings from God here on earth, acquiring peace in the soul and peace with others, he will undoubtedly receive a reward in the Kingdom of Heaven.

Peacemakers will also be called “sons of God” because in their feat they are likened to the Son of God Himself, Christ the Savior, Who reconciled people with God, restored that bond that was destroyed by sins and the falling away of mankind from God.

THE EIGHTH COMMANDMENT OF THE BLESS

"Blessed are the persecuted for the sake of righteousness." The search for Truth, Divine righteousness, has already been mentioned in the fourth beatitude. We remember that the Truth is Christ Himself. It is also called the Sun of Truth. It is precisely about constraint, persecution for the truth of God that this commandment speaks. The way of a Christian is always the way of a warrior of Christ. The path is difficult, difficult, narrow "straight is the gate and narrow is the path that leads to life" (). And the fact that so many people follow this direction should not confuse us. A Christian is always different, not like everyone else. “Try to live not “as everyone lives,” but as God commands, because “the world lies in evil,” says the monk. It does not matter if for our life and faith we will be persecuted and vilified here on earth, because our fatherland is not on earth, but in heaven, with God. Therefore, to those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, the Lord promises in this commandment "Kingdom of heaven".

THE NINTH BLEAT COMMANDMENT

A continuation of the eighth commandment, which speaks of oppression for the Truth of God and Christian life, is the last commandment of beatitude, which speaks of persecution for the faith. “Blessed are you when they reproach you and persecute you and slander you in every way unrighteously for me. Rejoice and be glad, for great is your reward in heaven."

It speaks of the highest manifestation of love for God — the readiness to give one's life for Christ, for one's faith in Him. This feat is called martyrdom. This path is the highest and has the highest, "great reward" This path was indicated by the Savior Himself, He endured persecution, torment, cruel torture and painful death, thereby giving an example to all his followers and strengthening them in their readiness to suffer for Him even to the point of blood and death, as He once suffered for all of us.

We know that the Church stands on the blood and stamina of the martyrs, they defeated the pagan, hostile world, giving their lives and laying them at the foundation of the Church. A Christian teacher of the 3rd century said: "The blood of the martyrs is the seed of Christianity." As a seed falls into the ground and dies, but at the same time its death is not in vain, it gives fruit several times larger, so the apostles, martyrs, having given their lives, were the seed from which it grew Universal Church. And at the beginning of the 4th century, the pagan empire was defeated by Christianity without the force of arms and any coercion and became Orthodox.

But the enemy of the human race does not calm down and constantly raises new persecutions against Christians. And when to power the Antichrist will come, he will also persecute and persecute the disciples of Christ. Therefore, every Christian must be constantly ready for the feat of confession and martyrdom.

The ban on murder is based on the well-known biblical provision that man is created in the image and likeness of the Almighty. Therefore, murder is nothing but a daring and open rebellion against the Creator.

In one of the previous conversations on the Ten Commandments, if you remember, we talked about an atheist who, when meeting with a rabbi, said that he also keeps the Ten Commandments, since universal human morality is based on them. Then, however, it turned out that he had not heard about the commandment to honor the Sabbath, and therefore did not honor the Sabbath. In addition, being a convinced materialist living within the framework of Western culture, he sincerely believed and worshiped a number of modern idols, not knowing about the prohibition of the Torah. To crown it all, he did not fulfill the commandments requiring the recognition of the existence of the Almighty, as well as forbidding to pronounce His Name in vain. He did not always speak respectfully to his parents, as required by the commandment "honor your father and mother." And, only when the turn came to the commandment “do not kill”, the atheist sighed with relief: “That’s what I had in mind when I said that I also observe universal human laws and rules! I fulfill this commandment one hundred percent.” To this, the rabbi remarked: “Don't be in a hurry. Do you even know what it means?"

So, the sixth commandment is “Thou shalt not kill.” The Torah expressly forbids killing. Moreover, it is forbidden to directly or indirectly endanger human life. The Torah declares the absolute value of life, for the sake of which it allows and in extreme cases even requires the violation of many other commandments.

The ban on killing is based on the well-known biblical provision that man was created in the image and likeness of God. Therefore, murder is nothing but a daring and open rebellion against the Creator. It is said in the Talmud: “He who kills at least one soul will destroy the whole world. And the one who saves at least one soul will save the whole world.”

Small digression. On the pages of the Russian-language press, one can sometimes come across completely ridiculous accusations: they say that repatriates who have settled in a religious quarter cannot call “ ambulance” on Saturday, and in some place the ambulance, which was going to the patient on an urgent call, was stoned by the orthodox. Note: those who pour detailed nonsense on the innocent heads of readers violate an important universal commandment: "do not nonsense." But we will talk about this ban another time, but for now - the ban on murder.

In case of a threat human life The Torah cancels all Shabbat restrictions. You don't have to look far for examples. Pay attention - who comes for women in labor on Saturday? And not only in religious quarters. The entire ambulance team, including the driver and the orderly, consists of Hasidim - real ones, with sidelocks and kippahs. Sometimes you can see how religious jew, interrupting the Sabbath rest, he himself carries his wife to the emergency room of the maternity ward.

For it is forbidden to endanger life. When the Torah was given, the Ten Commandments were imprinted on two stone tablets and placed in pairs, one opposite the other. The commandment "Thou shalt not kill" coexists with the first law "I am the Most High." It turns out that the violation of this commandment, i.e. murder means, in fact, the denial of the Creator of the Universe.

"Dont kill"! - one of the three commandments, about which it is said: "Die, but do not". (The same group includes prohibitions against idolatry and certain types of adultery.) What does this mean? If they say to you: “Kill such and such a person, otherwise we will kill you,” you must answer: “Is my blood redder than his blood?” In other words, one should prefer one's own death to murder under duress. Otherwise, know that you are committing a crime by violating the prohibition against killing.

The commandment "Thou shalt not kill" seems obvious and understandable. In fact, there are many subtleties here. After all, the world is complex and consists not of extremes, but of nuances. Take at least a fashionable phenomenon today - euthanasia. Some terminally ill people or people suffering from depression claim the right to voluntarily die in order to get rid of torment and a sense of doom as soon as possible. There were even doctors who, contrary to professional ethics (although ethics are now also a changeable thing) and the Hippocratic oath, specialize in “helping” such patients.

The Torah categorically condemns euthanasia, as it does any other form of suicide. For suicide is essentially no different from murder. This also includes cases where the killing of a seriously and hopelessly ill person, no longer able to decide his fate, is carried out at the request of his relatives, who cannot bear to see his suffering.

Let's be honest. With an atheistic view of the world, it is difficult to explain why it is necessary to save a person who is burdensome for society, for his family, and besides, he himself does not want to live anymore. But the Jewish tradition assesses this situation differently. She says that a man has immortal soul that the appearance of this soul in our world is not accidental, just as all its manifestations at every moment of its life are not accidental. Our being is filled deep meaning. To take on the role of the Creator, who decides when it is time for a person to leave the earth, the Torah considers a crime.

Even if a person is unconscious or in severe pain, any active action aimed at hastening his death even for one second is considered murder. And for murder, Judaism requires punishment according to the principle of "measure for measure", i.e. V this case- "the highest measure."

Let's talk right away. By requiring the death penalty for a murderer, the Torah imposes a number of restrictions and precautions on the Jewish court in order to exclude a miscarriage of justice that could lead to the punishment of an innocent. Even in the era of the Temple, when the courts were given the right to pass death sentences, to exercise this right in practice, i.e. to sentence a person to death was incredibly difficult. The Sanhedrin (Supreme Jewish Court), which passed only one death sentence in 70 years, is called "bloody" in the Talmud.

Another serious problem of today is abortion. Abortion is also considered murder if there is no danger to life and mental health future mother. The danger to mental health does not mean domestic difficulties caused by the unplanned appearance of a child, but quite specific and serious mental illness. In each individual case, it is necessary to consult a doctor and a competent rabbi who specializes in such matters.

The commandment "Thou shalt not kill" also requires avoiding situations that could lead to murder. If you see that someone is going to endanger his life or the lives of others, you must do everything to stop him.

Let's take the most common case as an example. Let's say after a heavy drink our friend is going to drive a car. Of course, he doesn’t have any thoughts of killing anyone, but it is obvious that in this state he turns into a potential killer - or a suicide, which, from the point of view of the Torah, is equally criminal. Therefore, our duty is to prevent him from going on his way. To do this, you can use any means - persuasion, cunning, physical impact, up to calling the police.

In Israel and other developed countries, the car has long become the most common means of unintentional killing. On Israeli roads, reckless driving has become a sad norm, violating all driving laws - overtaking, speed limits and other obvious provisions of the road code. Therefore, it is not surprising that more people died on our roads as a result of car accidents than from all the Arab-Israeli wars combined. We remind you once again: if we are being driven by a reckless driver, we should not be shy about reprimanding him. We need to stop him, stop him. Do everything in human power. Thus, we will not only prevent a possible tragedy, but also fulfill one of the most important commandments of the Torah: “Thou shalt not kill!”

Yet Judaism is far from pacifist. Moreover, he considers this idea immoral. There is a special commandment in the Torah to prevent murder: "Do not stand on the blood of your neighbor." Among other things, it includes the duty to stop a potential killer in time. Anyone who does not do this is actually encouraging the crime. If you can stop a killer without killing him, then you should. In other words, in this case, it is simply forbidden to kill him. But if it is obvious that "humane" methods will not give a result, then it is necessary to go to the extreme measure of restraint.

Killing is also allowed in the following cases. In self-defense: if someone attempts on your life, you must get ahead of him, kill this person (if there is no other salvation) before he carries out his criminal intent.

The commandment “Thou shalt not kill” also does not apply to the person who executes the sentence of the court.

It is allowed to kill the enemy in war, because war is considered a collective form of self-defense.

The commandment "Thou shalt not kill" has a connection with the previous commandment, which speaks of honoring the father and mother. It is said: the one who is financially secure, but does not help his old, needy parents, is like a murderer. At the same time, this commandment warns us against the other extreme: for example, a loving son, jealously guarding the honor and dignity of his parents, is forbidden to encroach on the life of their offender, and parents cannot demand this revenge from their children.

The prohibition "Thou shalt not kill" applies to all people: Jews and non-Jews, men and women. He is one of the Seven Commandments of the sons of Noah, given to all mankind long before the Sinai revelation and the giving of the Torah.

It is known, however, that if a commandment is given repeatedly, it means that something is added to it. In Jewish tradition, the commandment "Thou shalt not kill" is closely related to the prohibition of publicly insulting a person. The Talmud explains in detail that we are talking about a crime that is equated with bloodshed - if the insult was inflicted in the presence of a sufficiently large number of people (10 people or more).

However, a public insult is detrimental not so much to the victim as, first of all, to the offender himself. Jewish tradition says: the soul of the one who publicly humiliated his neighbor will not escape hell.

We used the word "hell", but in the Hebrew dictionary there is no such concept, there is a term geinom. Moreover, the latter has nothing to do with hell in the Christian view. It has a different function. Our tradition states that after a person's death, his immortal soul leaves the body and goes to the Judgment. (Surprisingly, this phenomenon has been confirmed by a number of modern studies in various fields of medicine and psychology.) During the "trial" before the soul, like in a movie, visible pictures of her earthly life pass. She sees all her deeds, good and bad, and is fully aware of her responsibility for them before the Creator. Evil deeds cause her a painfully burning feeling of shame and regret. This shame is "hell fire". It purifies the soul, rids it of the spiritual consequences of negative actions. After this process, the purified soul leaves the Geinome and continues its development.

But if it turns out at the Judgment that its owner, during his lifetime, publicly humiliated people and in a timely manner - i.e. he did not repent even during his lifetime, then the soul can forever remain in genome. The prospect, you see, is by no means joyful.

The topic of life after death and the latest research in this area are quite complex and extensive; they deserve separate analysis.

The commandment "Thou shalt not kill" has several more important aspects. Among other things, a murderer is equated with one who deprives a neighbor of the opportunity to earn a living, and also one who, not having the right to make decisions in the field of Jewish law, nevertheless takes on such a function.

But this rule has back side. Anyone who has the right to pass judgment and teach people the Torah, but does not do so, is also equated with a murderer. For wisdom and knowledge prolong man's life in this world and the world to come. Therefore, to deprive people of vital information is also a serious crime, bordering on a violation of the commandment “Thou shalt not kill.”

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