Paradise in Orthodoxy. What is paradise? Holy Fathers and Priests about Paradise

And I, John, saw the holy city of Jerusalem, new, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride for her husband. It has a large and high wall, has twelve gates and twelve angels on them ... The street of the city is pure gold, like transparent glass. Its gates will not be locked by day; and there will be no night. In the midst of its street, and on either side of the river, is the tree of life, bearing twelve fruits, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree for the healing of the nations. And nothing will be damned; but the throne of God and the Lamb will be in him, and his servants will serve him. And they will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. And the night will not be there, and they will not need a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord illuminates them; and will reign forever and ever (cf.:).

Even at first glance, the cardinal difference between these two images of paradise is striking. In contrast to the Koranic ever-blooming idyll, there is the Christian apocalyptic image of the City. Moreover, this image is characteristic not only of the Apocalypse, but also of the entire New Testament: there are many abodes in the house of My Father (), says the Lord, and the apostle Paul, who knew a man caught up in paradise (cf.:), had to mention: they strived for the best , that is, to the heavenly; therefore he is not ashamed of them, calling himself their God; for He prepared a city for them (). And this New Testament image of the city of God, in turn, goes back to some archetypes of the Old Testament: River flows rejoice the city of God, the holy dwelling of the Most High (). The description of the Apostle John with the 60th chapter of the Book of the Prophet Isaiah has especially vivid parallels, where the Lord, turning to Jerusalem, says: And your gates will always be open, they will not close day or night ... and they will call you the city of the Lord, the Zion of the Holy One of Israel. Won't go already your sun and your moon will not be hidden, for the Lord will be your eternal light, and the days of your mourning will end ().

The main reason for the difference between these two images is that for a Muslim, paradise is a return to the state before the fall, hence the image of the gardens of Eden: “the original paradise is identical to the future paradise”; whereas for a Christian, the attainment of paradise is not a return to Eden: the Incarnation raised human nature to an incomparably higher level of closeness to God than that of the forefathers, to the right hand of the Father: the first man became a living soul; and the last Adam is a life-giving spirit. The first man is from the earth, earthy; the second person is the Lord from heaven. What is the earthy, such are the earthy; and as is the heavenly, so are the heavenly. And just as we wore the image of earth, we will also wear the image of the heavenly (). Therefore, a Christian does not strive to return to the state of Adam, but longs to be united with Christ; a person transformed in Christ enters a transformed paradise. And the only “object” of the old paradise, Eden, which passed into the new paradise, Heavenly Jerusalem, is the tree of life (see:;), - only emphasizes the superiority of the new paradise: Adam was expelled so as not to eat its fruits, while the inhabitants of Heavenly Jerusalem they quite accessible, however, not for enjoyment or satisfying hunger, but for healing. By Christian tradition“the tree of life is the love of God, from which Adam fell away” (reverend), and “the leaves of the tree of life mean the finest exalted and brightest understandings of Divine destinies. These leaves will be for healing or for the cleansing of the ignorance of those peoples who are inferior in doing virtues ”(St. Andrew of Caesarea).

Apart from the parallels with Eden, the Muslim image of paradise as a whole is alien to the eschatology of both the Old and New Testaments and has its source rather than Christianity, but Zoroastrianism, which similarly describes the fate of the righteous: “Their beds are dismantled, fragrant, full of pillows ... maidens sit with them, decorated with bracelets, waisted, beautiful, long-fingered and so beautiful in body that it is sweet to look at” (Avesta. Ardyasht II, 9, 11). Byzantine polemicists also pointed to a similar connection, in particular the author of the message of Emperor Leo the Isaurian to Caliph Omar II (720), who wrote verbatim the following: “We know that the Koran was compiled by Omar, Abu Talib and Solman the Persian, even if there was a rumor around you that he was sent from heaven by God." Solman the Persian is a Zoroastrian who converted under Mohammed.

To move on to the next, it is necessary to understand what the image of the city means: what significance it has for the Bible and why it was taken to represent the Kingdom of Heaven.

The first city was built by Cain (see:). This is an underlined invention of man, moreover, a fallen man. This fact, as it were, pushes for a negative assessment of the invention itself: "urban planning, cattle breeding, musical art ... - all this was brought to mankind by the descendants of Cain as a kind of surrogate for the lost heavenly bliss." But is it only bliss? Rather, it is still an attempt to somehow compensate for the lost unity with the Creator that was in paradise. The fact that people do not live alone or in clans cannot be explained solely by economic considerations. People strive to live together in order to fill the loneliness that befalls everyone who, due to sin, stops communion with God. Thus, in the emergence of cities, one can see not a departure from God, but, on the contrary, an attempt to return to Him. Although the first city was built by Cain, it was named after Enoch, who, unlike Cain, walked with God; and he was not, because he took him (). And the archaeological material points primarily to the religious reasons for the emergence of the first cities. This is supported by the abundance of burials in the most ancient cities, located right among the houses, and very often directly under the floor, as well as the fact that most of the buildings have a clearly religious purpose; so, for example, in the ancient city of Lepenski Vir (the beginning of the 7th millennium BC), out of 147 buildings, about 50 were sanctuaries.

Cities arise, as if a certain recognition by a person of his fall and the impossibility of living, being alone; Undoubtedly, they carry a certain repentant connotation associated with the experience of the sin committed by the ancestors. That is why God, having prevented the construction of the Tower of Babel (the invention of a man who not only fell, but also rebelled against the Creator), did not prevent the construction of cities by man. A person creates a house, a city, using and processing the material that is given to him from God, and in this sense, the use of the image of a stone in the Bible in relation to people (coming to Him, a living stone ... and yourself, like living stones, build a spiritual house out of yourself () most likely means, as in the parable of the talents, the realization by a person of God's plan for him.

Returning to the idea of ​​paradise, we can say that if the garden is, in essence, the entire creation of God, then the image of the city as a human creation marks the participation of mankind in the Kingdom of God. The use of the image of the city in the description of the Kingdom of Heaven means that humanity participates in salvation: “This city, which has Christ as its cornerstone, is made up of saints” (St. Andrew of Caesarea). In e, such complicity is unthinkable, therefore, the use of a floristic image is quite natural - it is so natural that in the Koran, in general, the word “al-Janna” (garden) is usually used to denote paradise.

Another, less noticeable, but no less fundamental difference lies in the idea that there is a heavenly state in relation to man. Actually, the Muslim paradise resembles a boarding house where veteran soldiers rest: everything that fills their heavenly existence is the enjoyment of all sorts of pleasures, bodily and aesthetic. In one of the hadiths, erected to the “prophet” himself, the believer’s day in paradise is described as follows: “In the midst of the gardens of eternity, palaces of pearls. In such a palace there are seventy rooms of red yahont, in each room there are seventy rooms of green emeralds, in each room there is a bed, on each bed there are seventy beds of all colors, on each bed there is a wife from big-eyed black-eyed. There is a table in every room, seventy kinds of food on every table. There are seventy servants and maids in each room. And every morning the believer is given such strength that he can handle it all.” Of course, this description should not be taken literally, as if indeed everyone in paradise should communicate daily with 343,000 houris and eat 24,000,000 types of food. This is precisely the image of the fact that paradise is pleasure (but first of all bodily pleasure!), exceeding any mind.

This idea is also not independent and arbitrary, it is closely connected with the Qur'anic idea of ​​what the paradise existence of the first people was filled with: “And We said:“ O Adam! Settle you and your wife in Paradise, and eat from there for pleasure, where you wish "" (Quran 2,33). The Bible teaches quite differently about both. There is no question of any eternal rest associated with the receipt of certain pleasures. The Lord places Adam in the Garden of Eden, to cultivate it and keep it (), and it is said about the inhabitants of Heavenly Jerusalem that they will serve Him(, H). Staying in paradise, according to the Bible, is invariably associated with some kind of human activity and is depicted not as a static of blissful idleness, but as a dynamic, continuous ascent from glory to glory (cf.:). This activity is not identical with the present earthly labor of every mortal; in contrast, "it is not a compulsory obligation necessary for survival, but is an organic continuation of the Divine creative act, the disclosure of the creative ability inherent in man as the image of God and, therefore, as a person."

This is a diametrical opposite not only to the literal, but also to the mystical understanding of paradise in e. Thus, according to the greatest Muslim philosopher, the mystic Ibn Arabi (d. 1240), “just as a common fate is established for the blinded - fire, but not the greatest fire, destined for the most ill-fated, a common destiny has been established for those who profess monotheism - paradise, but not the highest paradise, intended for those who have known, the most pious. And therefore, the highest of the degrees of paradise is satisfaction and tranquility.

The Koranic idea of ​​paradise as a sensual pleasure, an experience of pleasure also has parallels with Zoroastrianism: “Zarathustra asked Ahura Mazda: “Ahura Mazda, the Holy Spirit, the Creator of the corporeal worlds, righteous! When a righteous man dies, where is his soul that night? And Ahura Mazda said: “She sits near the head… On this night, the soul experiences so much pleasure as all the pleasure experienced by the living world” (Avesta. Yasht 22D-2).

It can be said that the Koranic idea of ​​paradise is resolutely rejected by the New Testament: in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but remain like the Angels of God in heaven (); The kingdom of God is not food and drink, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit (). However, it would be wrong to believe that the creation in Islam of such a concept of paradise was nothing more than a political trick, that "these beatitudes were invented by Muhammad himself in order to attract ignorant Arabs to himself." In our opinion, the interpretation is also incorrect or at least incomplete, according to which this description of paradise is considered only as an incentive to piety: teaching traits of utilitarianism. No, in the creation of just such a description there is a quite definite internal logic - all these images that confuse the Christian are justification of the resurrection of the flesh from the point of view.

A person of Christian culture always remembers that in Everyday life he deals with human nature spoiled by the fall, which is very far from the ideal state, while for a Muslim there is nothing of the kind: for him, his nature is identical to the nature of the primordial Adam, as a result of which those phenomena that in Christianity are considered as bearing the seal of the fall, in in Islam are perceived as natural attributes of human nature created by God; therefore, transferring them to a heavenly state seems quite natural. The Monk Maximus the Greek was the first to point out this connection: “He (Mohammed) allowed them any general pleasure and everything that can delight the larynx, womb and hypogastric, saying that for this we were first created from the common Creator of all and that therefore in the paradise He created, the Creator prepared for them ... three rivers, consisting of honey, wine and milk, and many beautiful maidens, with whom they will copulate all day.

This difference also stems from the different understanding of the purpose of man (including his flesh) in Christianity and Islam. In the Quran, on behalf of God, it says: “I created ... people only so that they worship Me” (Quran 51, 56), while, according to the Bible, God creates people so that they love Him: love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind (; cf.:) and that He loved them: For God so loved the world that He gave His Only Begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life (). And in this Divine love, a person in the flesh must become a partaker of the Divine nature (cf.:); in this regard, paradise is perceived as the achievement of a spiritual mystical goal. There is nothing like this in Islam, “legislative Islam in polemics with Sufism even condemned the idea of ​​love for God.

A prominent Muslim theologian of the 13th century, Ibn Tamiya, wrote that love presupposes, first of all, correlation, proportionality, which does not and cannot exist between the Creator and His creation. Therefore, perfect faith must be expressed in love for the law, for the institutions of God, and not for God Himself”; hence the corresponding non-spiritual (in the neutral sense of the word) understanding of paradise.

Even Sufis - Muslim mystics - did not say that the world was created by Divine love. Among them, the ancient Gnostic idea was more widespread, according to which God created everything because from the hidden he wanted to become manifest.

Upon further consideration, the seemingly strange fact that in such a theocentric religion as Islam, there is such an anthropocentric idea of ​​\u200b\u200bparadise takes place. God in such a paradise is, as it were, put out of brackets, the enjoyers are left to each other and to their own pleasures; if God does appear, it is only to greet the holidaymakers (see, for example: Qur'an 36:58) and ask if they want anything else. The relationship between God and man is well expressed in the thought that repeatedly passes through the entire Qur'an: “Allah is pleased with them, and they are pleased with Allah. This is a great profit!” (Quran 5, 119; 98, 8). Is this or something similar meant by St. Bartholomew of Edessa, speaking of "anthropolatry" as one of characteristic features Islam?

When in one of those discussions between Christians and Muslims that are taking place on the Internet, one of Muslim theologians asked how he understands the contemplation of God in paradise, he replied: “The possibility of contemplation, according to the sunnah of the prophet ... will not be obvious, but remote and non-specific. When the prophet was asked how it would be, he replied that you would see him just as you see the moon now. But this, in essence, is the same bracketing.

The Christian paradise, despite the fact that, as we said above, implies the formative participation of mankind in it, it is strictly and emphatically theocentric: I have a desire to be resolved and be with Christ (); we wish it were better to get out of the body and settle down with the Lord (). The whole meaning of the future blessed life for a Christian lies in being with a beloved and loving God, in contemplating Him: And they will see His face () and in communion with His nature: great and precious promises have been given to us, so that through them we become partakers of the Divine nature (cf. : ).

This difference follows from the difference between the distance between man and God from the point of view of Islam and from the point of view of Christianity. in general, puts a high value on man: “Man is the best and most perfect creature. Man is appointed as the vicar of God on earth. Man is a prophet and friend of God. Man is the essence of the universe. But, despite this, the distance between a person and God in Islam is incommensurably greater and the quality of relations is fundamentally different than in Christianity: And He who sits on the throne said: He who conquers inherits everything, and I will be his God, and he will be My son (cf.:) . God for a Christian is a Father by grace. , Even ecu in heaven! Christians cry out every day, while Muslims say these words: “O Allah! You are my master and I am your slave." “God, separated [from anything], God, not [allowing] communication” – this is how the disciple of St. John of Damascus Theodore Abu Kurra defines the God of Islam. God is conceived primarily in the category of ‘servant of God.’” Of course, a Muslim can say that “metaphorically we are all children of God,” but for a Christian this is not a metaphor: we really received adoption from God through union with His Only Begotten Son, who became a man: Therefore, you are no longer a slave, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Jesus Christ (). After God became a man, He turned out to be very close to each of us, close both personally and ontologically. The words "son God" in the mouth of a Muslim are devoid of any real content, while for a Christian the expression "son of God by grace" is applicable to many, it has a very definite meaning precisely because the Christian knows about one-one natural Son of God.

Therefore, for Christians, personal union with God is most important, and no other happiness is conceivable, except for eternal being with Him and in Him: “My soul misses the Lord, and I tearfully seek Him. How can I not look for you? You first sought me and gave me to enjoy Your Holy Spirit, and my soul loved You” (St. Silouan of Athos). “New Eden turned out to be not a garden of two cold springs with full-breasted houris and goblets of black wine, beds and tents, that is, not yet plunged into sin and a beautiful created world, but – by God Himself impregnable.” He alone matters to the Christian. Therefore, the Muslim sensual idea of ​​paradise is perceived by him as blasphemy, as “a long stay in an insatiable, ugly, bestial student activity, and even before God Himself!” (St. Maximus the Greek), as a rejection of the Divine gift of adoption. The Muslim vision of paradise is contrary to Christianity because it reflects the fact that Muslims, like the Jews, “having thus known Christ, did not glorify Him as Christ, that is, as the God-man and the Word, but replaced the truth with a lie and believed in the usual a mortal man - we are talking about Mohammed - thanked him and followed him. And this is instead of following the God-Man - the immortal and eternal Word, the One Who, if he accepted death, then only in order to destroy death ”(St. Gregory Palamas). The Muslim idea of ​​paradise was rejected by Christians, not so much because of the very image of paradise, but because this image is a logical consequence of those basic principles of Islamic theology in which Islam radically diverges from Christianity.

The next difference concerns the question of the spatio-temporal correlation of paradise. If in Islam the righteous reach paradise only after the resurrection and judgment (although it exists even now), then in Christianity the proximity of a person to paradise is determined rather not chronologically, but personally: the Kingdom of God is within you (); now you will be with me in paradise (). Personal entry into paradise during earthly life is the goal of a Christian: “Whoever does not try to reach the Kingdom of Heaven and enter into it while he is in this life, even at the time when his soul leaves the body, will be outside this Kingdom”; “The Kingdom of Heaven, which is within the believer, is the Father, the Son, and the Spirit” (St. Simeon the New Theologian). Thus, "paradise is not so much a place as a state of mind", and not only of the soul, but also of the body. Since paradise for a Christian is a union with God, this union can and must take place already in this life, which is done for a Christian in the Sacrament of the Eucharist.

This chapter, as the title implies, is devoted to the analysis of the image of paradise, witnessed in the Holy Scriptures, the Koran and the traditions of Christianity and Islam, and does not aim to analyze the specific idea of ​​​​the paradise of believers, theologians and ascetics of the past and present of these two religions. However, a few words should still be said about this.

As an example of the existence of a more complex relationship to paradise in Islam, one ninth-century Sufi prayer can be cited: “O Allah, if I serve You out of fear of hell, punish me with hell; if I serve You out of a desire to go to heaven, deprive me of this opportunity; but if I serve You out of pure love, then do to me what You please.” This motif was found among many Sufis. “Almost every mystical poet in Islam has said: ‘He who loves must love in such a way that he does not think of hell or heaven. After all, “those few houris and palaces” that are promised to the pious in paradise are just veils that hide the eternal divine beauty: “When He fills your thoughts with paradise and houris, know for sure that He keeps you at a distance from Himself.”

Through allegory, the real representation can go very far from the original image. Of course, for many centuries, the mystics and intellectuals of the same Islam, for many centuries, the above-described Qur'anic image of heavenly pleasure often caused, if not disgust, as Bertels said, then at least a certain dissatisfaction. And, of course, this dissatisfaction gave rise to a lot of various allegorical interpretations, trying to overcome the gross sensuality and spiritual limitations of the literal understanding of this image.

Some, such as Ibn Arabi, divided paradise into "lower" and "higher", sensual - for ordinary Muslims and spiritual - for advanced mystics. “On the Day of Judgment, those who love will be granted a special inheritance ... and those who love each other in God will stand on a pillar of red granite and look down on the inhabitants of paradise” - such an image can be found in Sufi literature. Others, on the other hand, were inclined to consistently allegory all the Koranic elements of the image of paradise and thereby spiritually comprehend the common paradise for all.

But even with regard to these attempts, three fundamental things should be noted.

First. Even in the spiritual, mystical idea of ​​the Sufis about the posthumous fate of a person, there is no obbzhenie - that fundamental truth for a Christian that God became a man so that a person could become a god.

Unity with God, about which many Muslim ascetics spoke, did not mean the transformation of a whole person into a god by grace, not the communion of the human person with the Divine nature, but the complete spiritual destruction of the personality of the lover in contemplation of the uniqueness of the Beloved.

One of the greatest mystics of Islam, Jalal ad-Din Rumi, put it in very precise words: “With God, there is no room for two 'I's. You say "I" and He says "I". Either you die before Him, or let Him die before you, and then there will be no duality. But it is impossible for He to die subjectively or objectively - this is the Living One, "Who does not die" (Quran 25, 60). He has such gentleness of heart that, if it were possible, He would die for you so that duality could disappear, but since it is impossible for Him to die, you die so that He can manifest Himself to you and duality can disappear.

“What can a handful of snow before the sun, how not to melt from its radiance and warmth?” the same Rumi asked. “Love is the destruction of the lover who disappears in His attributes,” said Abu al-Qasim al-Junayd (d. 910). This desire of the Sufis to completely erase all traces of their "I", to dissolve in the vision of the eternal light of God, was expressed by them through the term fana, "self-destruction", introduced by Bayazid Vistami (d. 874). The Sufis did not know theosis, and did not know precisely because it was closed to them, or rather, they, following Muhammad, rejected both the mystery of the Trinity, which opens up to Christians the possibility of non-destruction of the “I” of man when united with the “I” of God, and the mystery of the Incarnation , which allows Christians to hope for a total transformation of the human person - soul and body - and which is the justification of the resurrection from the point of view of Christianity.

Second. Any spiritualization of the Qur'anic description of paradise, whether the person's personality is preserved or disappears in Divine attributes, still does not solve the problem that this paradise is outside of God. The maximum intimacy with the Divine Beloved that Muslim mystics seemed to achieve is always the “before” and not the “in” to which Christians are called: may they all be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You, so they may be one in Us, - may the world believe that You sent Me ().

Third. The Koranic sensuous representation (in which this sensuality, however, is not overshadowed by sin!) is, as already mentioned, justification of the resurrection of the flesh from the point of view of Islam. In Sufism, as a result of overcoming this idea, the universal resurrection loses its significance, it does not find justification in Islamic mysticism: “Love is more majestic than a hundred resurrections,” said Muhammad Shamsuddin Hafiz (d. 1389), and for the Sufis, the idea of spiritual resurrection already in this life was of greater significance than the dogma of the resurrection of the flesh on the Last Day.

The idea of ​​a blessed posthumous fate of a person is extremely important for understanding the content of a particular religion, and it is all the more surprising that researchers, as a rule, ignore it, while this is the main nerve of religion, everything else loses its meaning without it: if we are in this only life we hope in Christ, then we are more unfortunate than all people (). And in Islam, this is precisely the reason why there is practically no sura in the Koran that does not mention the "gardens of delight." The idea of ​​paradise, like a litmus test, reveals the very essence of religious ideas; it is closely connected with the idea of ​​God and man, of evil and virtue, of the world itself. So that the differences in each of these points in the teaching of one or another are reflected and focused in the image future life believers. Christians are well aware of this, and therefore, those wishing to convert from Islam to Christianity must, among other things, renounce the Muslim image of paradise:

“Question: Do you deny the Mohammedan blasphemous teaching about polygamy in this life and about sensual delight in paradise after death?

Answer: I deny it, and I reject this teaching, invented for carnality.

The notion of sin

How should we give an account to interested Muslims about our hope (cf.:) so that it is adequately perceived by them? Where should you start? Is there evidence of the superiority of the Bible over the Koran? From the personality of our Lord Jesus Christ and the significance of His Cross Sacrifice? Is it from the God-revealed mystery of the Holy Trinity? Differences between Christianity and Islam give a lot of space here, and Muslims, for their part, are also not averse to talking about these topics.

However, the experience of contemporary Christian missionaries working in the Arab countries shows that dialogue with a Muslim should begin, first of all, with the doctrine of sin. For we must remember that the apostles preached the cornerstone truths of Christianity to people who knew that the pure is not born from the unclean (cf.:) and that there is no righteous person on earth who would do good and would not sin (). Muslims do not know this, and this largely explains the divergence and misunderstanding on other above-mentioned issues.

The differences between the Christian and Muslim understanding of sin can be divided into several main points.

Creature of sin

Christianity has never considered only as ignorance. The religious experience not only of Christians, but of all mankind, convinces us that sin has a much deeper influence on the sinner, so that he can be limited by the mind alone. “Sin in the Orthodox sense is not a crime or an insult in the legal sense, it is not just some kind of immoral act; sin is, first of all, a disease of human nature” – so the Sixth Ecumenical Council in the 102nd rule defines it as a disease of the soul.

It cannot be said that the Muslim teaching is completely wrong from the point of view of a Christian. Recognition of the deep connection between the sinful state of man and jahiliyya, religious ignorance, the denial by one’s mind and one’s life of the fact of the existence of the one good and true God, is also present in Christianity, but here it is interpreted as one of the manifestations of the state of the fall of human nature and “as a consequence of the initial apostasy from God." The mistake of Muslim theology is that it takes the part for the whole.

First sin

The Koran, like the Bible, also describes the fall of the forefathers. However, in the Koran this fact is not given universal significance, as in the Holy Scriptures of Christianity: Adam repented and was forgiven, his ignorance was abolished, sin disappeared. After one of the descriptions of the Fall, the author of the Qur'an cries out: “O sons of Adam! Let not Satan tempt you, as he brought your parents out of paradise, stripping off their clothes to show them their abomination. After all, he sees you - he and his host - from where you do not see them. Verily, We have made the devils patrons of those who disbelieve!” (Quran 7.26). Thus, each person, as it were, faces the same choice as Adam, moreover, in an equal position with him and with equal opportunities. The first sin in Islam is not thought of as original, that is, opening the way to all subsequent sins. “The doctrine of original sin is not consistent with the Koran and logically contradicts Divine justice. The belief that someone else can atone for the sins of individually responsible people is contrary to the Qur'anic ideas about law, justice and man, as well as the arguments of reason. “Islam proceeds from the fact that God is just and does not punish anyone for other people's sins or some original sins. All people are born into the world free and infallible. They are given from God the freedom of choice, or furqan (distinguishing between good and evil). And in the end, a person will answer before God only for his sins, that is, the salvation of a person is not in the hands of a certain Savior, having believed in Whom a person is freed from sin, but in his own hands, through the knowledge of furqan.

However, neither the Qur'an nor later Muslim theology explains why God, after granting forgiveness to Adam, did not return him to Eden. If Adam was exiled for his personal (and the Koran emphasizes that this is exactly the case) and if this sin of his does not have consequences for the future of mankind (as Islamic theology claims), then why are we, his descendants, not born and also do not live in Eden but in the land of exile? In this regard, we can say that our current state does not correspond to fitra, that is, the primordial state of human nature. Our de facto conditions are very different compared to the conditions in which Adam and Eve were in Eden, so that by default some responsibility for someone else's sin is still implied and the requirements of Koranic justice are still not satisfied. This should be brought to the attention of Muslims in the dialogue.

Dr. Osman Yahya from Cairo University, in his report read at one of the meetings of Muslim theologians and representatives Catholic Church, outlines the problematics of this issue even more clearly: “The Quran confronts us with a person in two main states: in his original form - a prototype created in the image of God, and in his present position. In its original form, man was exceptionally harmonious. He was perfection. The Qur'an gives us a description: "We created man in the most noble form." In contrast to this ideal type, a person in his current state is weak (Quran 4, 32), hopeless (11, 12), unfaithful (14, 34), quarrelsome (16, 4), tyrant (96, 6), lost (105 , 2) and the like. Muslim theology does not really talk about original sin and its transmission from generation to generation. But in the light of these quotations, we clearly see two states of man: primordial perfection and the present fall. The possibility of man's deliverance and his subsequent path were indicated in the Qur'an and addressed to sinners, the fathers of the human race: "Go forward from now on, and if you have My guidance, the one who follows Me will no longer be afraid, will not be miserable" (2 , 38). With this firm declaration, God Himself takes steps to save man on the path to righteousness. Thus the Islamic tradition has the means to bring man back to his original perfection. In a commentary on this report, published in The Muslim World (1959, No. 1), the editor of the journal wrote: “The Muslim theology expounded by Dr. Yahya, including the doctrine of man and his salvation, raises a number of theological questions. The Christian is at a loss before this undoubted certainty that “to know is to do”; in that the salvation of man takes place exclusively under the sign of revelation, and that through the law given in communion with God lies the path that man will follow as long as he knows about it and sees it. The whole mystery of man's disobedience and "cruelty" seems to have vanished."

The secret really seems to have disappeared, but the very cruelty and disobedience of a person still does not disappear. Including among Muslims. The weakness of Islamic theology on this issue is that it does not explain the state of modern man, while the Christian doctrine of sin, as St. Gregory of Nyssa said, "is not a fabulous legend, but draws its probability from our very nature."

According to Christian teaching, having tasted the fruit, a person did not learn something new and did not lose part of some knowledge, but crossed the line. The Fall qualitatively changed the relationship of man with God, forming a gulf between them, and defiled human nature itself. And since a distorted, darkened nature cannot give birth to a pure and primordial nature, each person from birth receives a nature afflicted with sin. This is called in Christian theology original sin. They, like Adam, violated the covenant and thereby betrayed Me (cf.:); Oh, what have you done, Adam? When you sinned, not only you fell, but also us, who come from you ().

“Just as he who transgressed the commandment received the leaven of passions, so those born from him, and the whole family of Adam, by succession became partakers of this leaven; and with gradual advancement and growth, the sinful passions have already multiplied in people to such an extent that they have stretched to adulteries, indecency, idolatry, murders and other indecent deeds, until all mankind has become sour with vices. The image of St. Macarius, who likens the influence of sin on mankind to the effect of yeast on dough, is very eloquent and expressive. It was in this way that “this newly planted sin passed to unfortunate people from the ancestor”, “for he left the children as an inheritance not purity, but fornication, not incorruption, but corruption, not honor, but dishonor, not freedom, but slavery, not a kingdom, but tyranny, not life, but death, not salvation, but destruction,” in short, “what a man has become, that very thing he has begotten.”

Christianity calls the consequences of the first sin several phenomena in a person's life.

Muslim theology formally does not recognize such indulgence to sin of fallen human nature. However, the empirical evidence of this phenomenon has found expression in such a concept as nafs (soul). "The natural side human soul is nafs - the source of negation. A person approaches Allah through the upbringing of the nafs. Raising animal feelings, overcoming dark aspirations to the material world, the human soul, like a bird escaping from its cage to freedom, will return to its will, return to Allah. We see that, just as in the case of the consequences of the first fall, Muslim theology indirectly recognizes the presence of damage in modern human nature. It avoids admitting this directly, because, firstly, in this case the concept of Divine justice will be violated, and secondly, it will be necessary to recognize the need for a Savior for man. The fact that kalam (Muslim theology) took shape in the process of opposition, polemics with Christianity, could not pass without a trace. is trying to comprehend the negative force actually observed in the nature of each person in terms of the Creator's creative intention - in fact, writing off the responsibility for this on God.

Secondly, the consequence of human sin was physical: for the wages of sin is death (). Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, so death spread to all men, because everyone in it sinned (). In Islam, death is conceived as a natural attribute of human nature. This is explained by predestination: "And good and evil are from Allah", so that "all creatures will have to pass through before the day of resurrection from the dead". But death as the destruction of the God-created beauty of human nature, as “the destruction of beautiful harmony” cannot be a natural, logical consequence of our life - this is suggested by the heart and mind of every person: God did not create death and does not rejoice in the death of the living ().

Thirdly, following the man, the entire material creation was distorted, the lord and head of which he was. Following the change in the relationship between man and God, the relationship between man and the world has changed. Those animals, to which he had previously named names (a sign of the greatest power), ceased to obey him and rebelled against him. “The beasts… were not evil from the beginning… but the sin of man corrupted them, for with the transgression of man they also transgressed. If the master of the house behaves well, then it is necessary that the servants live decently, but if the master sins, then the servants will also sin; in the same way it happened that with the sin of man, who is the master of everything, and the creatures serving him turned away to evil.

It must be said that the imputation of original sin is not a purely mechanical act that occurs outside of our will. With our personal sins, we participate in original sin, actualize it: “Now in this we imitate the head of our human race and forefather, Adam. Because due to the ungodly sins and falls, which we repeatedly commit with a bad and perverse disposition of the mind, we endure the same difficult circumstances as he once did, and, one might say, even more difficult circumstances than he. Not only Adam, but “all people, having deviated into evil by deed, or word, or thought ... polluted the purity bestowed by God on human nature”, so that it is quite possible to say that “the whole human race is guilty of a crime.”

Repentance

In the Qur'an, the Christian practice of confession before and with a priest is sharply criticized:

(Quran 4, 51-53).

“Indeed, Allah does not forgive that partners are assigned to Him, but He forgives what is less than this to whom He wills. And whoever assigns partners to Allah, he has invented a great one. Have you not seen those who purify themselves? No, Allah cleanses whom He wills, and they will not be offended even by a date hymen! See how they invent lies against Allah! Enough of this obvious sin!”

However, what is the discipline of repentance in Islam itself? Let's look at a few hadiths on this subject.

Abu Dharra said: “I asked: “Messenger of Allah, guide me,” and he replied: “If you have done a bad deed, then do a good one after it, which will erase it.” Another hadeeth, from Abu Hurayrah, conveys the following words of Muhammad: “When a servant of God commits, he remains a black dot on his heart, and when he repents, his heart is cleansed. If he multiplies sins, the dots also multiply until they cover his whole heart. “After sinning, do a good deed, and you will atone for your sin,” says an Arabic proverb. This idea was stamped not only into the religious, but into the entire worldview of Muslims, defining their religious consciousness.

From the point of view of Christianity, no good deed done by a person can be superfluous, since it is his duty: So you, when you fulfill everything commanded to you, say: we are worthless slaves, because we did what we had to do (). Therefore, even a million good deeds cannot erase one misdeed. Only God can deliver a person from sin and its consequences through the Sacraments established by Him. In fact, just the Muslim teaching that a person can purify himself through his own actions means that it is Muslims who "purify themselves." Having abandoned the clear criteria of the Christian discipline of repentance (and simply not being really familiar with it), Islam had to develop its own criteria, according to which it would be possible to determine with a sufficient degree of accuracy in which case repentance is considered accepted, and in which it is not, and what it is precisely what needs to be done in order for it to be considered perfect.

prayers

(Quran 40, 57).

“O Allah! separate me from my sins, as you separated the Mashriq from the Maghreb. O Allah! cleanse me from my sins as white garments are cleansed. O Allah! wash me from my sins with water, snow and hail,” the utterance of this daily prayer with a properly observed prayer ritual is this very repentance according to the Koran: “ask forgiveness for your sin and praise your Lord in the evening and in the morning!”

In a hadith narrated from the words of Abu Hurairah, Muhammad asks his companions: “If a river flowed at the door of the house of one of you and he bathed in it five times a day, would dirt remain on him after that?” They replied: "After that, nothing unclean would be left on him." Then Muhammad said: "This is like five prayers, with the help of which Allah erases your sins." There are a great many variants of hadiths on this subject; other hadiths feature night, Friday prayer etc. There are also conditions that are more unexpected for the Christian worldview: “Whoever fasts in Ramadan with faith and hope for a reward, his previous sins will be forgiven” (Al-Bukhari and Muslim); “Fasting on the day of standing on Arafat serves as an atonement for the sins of the past and next year"(Muslim); “If two Muslims meet and shake hands, their sins will surely be forgiven them before they part” (Abu Dawud); ““Glory to You, O Allah, my Lord, and praise to You, there is no god but You, I ask You for forgiveness and bring You my repentance,” if any person utters these words when he leaves the meeting, everyone will surely be forgiven sins committed by him during this meeting!” (Al-Hakim).

All these variant statements express, in general, one idea that "the prescriptions of the Shari'ah have such properties of healing and cleansing hearts that cannot be comprehended by rational reasoning, but can be seen only by the eye of prophecy." In essence, this means that a person strictly adhering to the ritual can generally be free from such concepts as sin and repentance. And the very fact that you profess Islam will save you from eternal torment in the future life, no matter what sins hang on you: “Perhaps Allah Almighty will forgive him without punishment, and if he punishes him for him, then his punishment will not be eternal, and the outcome of his work is his reward in Paradise.” It is difficult to call such an attitude other than self-deception, if only because it directly contradicts the Koran.

In its stark realism, the Christian doctrine of sin can seem terrifying. However, it is necessary to always remember and remind the Muslim interlocutor that the meaning of preaching Christianity is precisely not in announcing death from sin, but in foreshadowing salvation from God, who appeared to us in the person of our Lord Jesus Christ, who took upon Himself the sin of the world (cf. : ), and that is why we are not afraid to recognize sin in its true meaning, for we have a true Savior, truly resolving us from our sins.

The concept of a miracle

“Tatars: And Muhammad worked many miracles ... So, at one time ... he divided the moon in two with his finger and then connected it; made the camel speak, the stone and the tree; the little pebbles that were in his palm glorified him; from the earliest time until death, a white cloud overshadowed him ... All the miracles are impossible to retell.

Kolostov: It seems to me that the miracles you have expressed are enough to see how great and marvelous miracles Mohammed worked, but ... all of them are almost useless for people. True messengers of God healed the sick, restored sight to the blind, cleansed lepers, raised the dead, and so on. Did Muhammad heal at least one sick person? No. Did he restore sight to the blind? No. Did you cleanse a leper? No. Did he make the dumb speak? No. Did he raise the dead? No and no."

This passage from an ordinary missionary pre-revolutionary work very clearly shows the difference between the two understandings of the meaning of supernatural phenomena. The sincere Muslim belief that miracles are meant to glorify the prophet clashes with the no less sincere Christian conviction that the main purpose of miracles is to benefit people.

This conflict of understanding has deep roots. Indeed, in Islam, a miracle is primarily a sign, while in Christianity it is a supernatural help to an individual or a group of people. The fundamental difference between these approaches to the understanding of the miraculous is especially clearly highlighted in one ancient hadith. It is reported that when Muhammad was told about Christ walking on water, he replied: “May Allah be merciful to our brother, Isa! If He had more confidence, He could walk on the air." For Mohammed, the miracle of walking on water reflected just a visual projection of the degree of closeness to God, but Christ Himself, as we remember, walked on water simply to cross to the other side!

To delineate in more depth the differences between these approaches and to identify the reasons underlying them is the purpose of this chapter.

Miracles in the Quran, Old and New Testaments

“Muslim theologians considered the theory of miracles in detail and classified the miracles of the saints as karamat, “charismatic deeds,” and the miracles of the prophets as mujizat, “unique deeds.” These two types of miracles have always been clearly distinguished. It was believed that "if a miracle mujiza helps the prophets to publicly preach their teachings, then a miracle karama is given to a Muslim saint as a sign of the correctness of his chosen path and is not subject to disclosure." The fragment of the dispute between the Christian and the Muslims cited at the beginning of the chapter, of course, concerns the second type of miracles - the miracles of the prophets, and in this chapter we will deal specifically with the miracles of this type, the miracles of mujizat.

Approximately the same thing that the Sufi hadith cited above showed us can be seen if we compare the first miracle of Christ according to the Koran with the first miracle performed by Him according to the Gospel. According to the Qur'an, the first miracle of the Son of Mary was that in his infancy, in his Mother's arms, he miraculously spoke to the Jews, testifying of himself as a prophet to whom the Scriptures would be sent down (see: Qur'an 19:31-34). According to the Gospel, the incarnated Son of God performed His first miracle at a marriage in Cana of Galilee, when, at the request of His Mother, he turned water into wine in order to save the shame of the poor bridal couple, who lacked wine, and created it in such a way that, as the evangelist emphasizes, remained unknown even to those present at the wedding.

Another miracle of Isa - Jesus, described in the Koran - the miraculous appearance of a meal (see: Koran 5, 112-115) - has a clear parallel with the gospel miracle of multiplying bread and feeding several thousand of them who came to hear Christ's sermon (see: ; ; ; ). In the story told in the Koran, the apostles ask to show them (!) a meal as proof of the prophetic powers of Isa: “The apostles said: “O Isa, son of Maryam! Can your Lord bring down a meal from heaven for us?… We want to eat from it, and our hearts will rest, and we will know that you have told us the truth, and we will be witnesses of it.” Isa, the son of Maryam, said: “Allah, our Lord! Bring us a meal from heaven! It will be a feast for the first of us and for the last, and a sign from You.” (Quran 5:112-114) In the Gospel, the initiative to perform miracles comes from Christ Himself and the motivation for the miracle is completely different: Jesus, having called His disciples, said to them: I am sorry for the people who have been with me for three days, and they have nothing to eat; I don’t want to let them go hungry, so that they don’t weaken on the road ().

With a sufficient degree of caution, it can be said that in the Islamic view of the miracles performed by the prophets, including the Koranic Isa-Jesus, personal motivation, fundamental to the Gospel, does not find a place at all. A miracle mujiza is “an act performed by a prophet by the will of God as proof of his right to prophecy. Miracles are a sign of the connection of the prophet with the source of revelation. This is the meaning of prophetic miracles according to the Qur'an, and it is the same for Muslim theology. The idea that Christ resurrected the only deceased son of a widow only because he took pity on her () is incomprehensible and unpleasant for consistent Muslim theology, and precisely because this idea does not find its basis in this religiosity, while for Christianity the basis is so close attention to the human personality is due to the dogmatically significant fact of the personal incarnation of God the Word, after which every human person is called to deification. This misunderstanding and rejection is well illustrated by the example of the well-known Muslim apologist of the 20th century, Ahmad Shalabi, who denied the gospel miracles of Christ on the grounds that, in his opinion, they were like a theatrical performance that had no purpose. He protested, "God caused death, but Jesus gives life."

Yes, the Qur'an also speaks of the resurrection of the dead and the miraculous healing of the sick by Jesus, but do not be misled - this is nothing more than an inclusive element of a syncretic religious system, which, of course, is Islam. The legends about these miracles appeared in Islam only as a borrowing from Christianity, and therefore it is quite natural that these miracles are also rethought by Muslims based on their own understanding of the miracle.

The key role in this rethinking is played by the already mentioned concept of Muslim theology - mujiza (plural - mujizat), the totality of "miracles that the prophet, with the permission of God, can demonstrate as confirmation of the truth of his prophetic mission." Perceived through the prism of this concept, the healings and resurrections performed by the Koranic Isa are thus integrated into a fairly complete picture: “Contemporaries of Musa (Moses) are known for their significant achievements in the field of illusionism. But his "Moses" Mujiza defeated the best illusionists of Egypt. The contemporaries of Isa (Jesus) were famous for their achievements in the field of medicine, but Isa with His Mujiza - to cure incurable diseases and bring the dead back to life - was unique. The Arabs, contemporaries of Muhammad, were famous for their high achievements in the field of rhetoric and poetry. The most majestic mujiz of Muhammad was the Koran. Not a single Arab poet during his public speaking failed to offer an equal creation. It is quite obvious that with such an understanding, the personal motivation for performing miracles, which is fundamental for Christianity, is completely ignored (remember: What do you want from Me? - Lord! so that I can see. - See! [cf.:]).

In this regard, the 43rd verse of the 3rd sura is very eloquent, containing the quintessence of the mission of Isa and put into His own mouth: “I have come to you with a sign from your Lord. I will create for you from clay in the image of a bird and blow into it, and it will become a bird by the will of Allah. I will heal the blind, the leper, and revive the dead with the permission of Allah. I will tell you what you eat and what you keep in your homes. Indeed, in this is a sign for you, if you are believers! It is very significant that the revival of clay birds (a plot that goes back to the apocryphal "Gospel of Childhood") is put on a par with the revival of the dead and the healing of sick people. This is natural, since the meaning of miracles here is not to alleviate human suffering, but to prove the truth of the prophetic mission.

The medieval Muslim theologian al-Muthanna said that Jesus healed the blind man and the lepers precisely in order to prove to the Jews that He was a prophet, "because congenital blindness and leprosy are incurable." Such a vision fundamentally contradicts the Christian understanding of the meaning of the healings performed by Christ: “The Savior knew them (the Jews. - Yu. M.) blinding and therefore worked miracles not to convince them, but in order to correct others,” wrote the great Christian ascetic Saint John Chrysostom two hundred years before the advent of Islam.

In a similar way, in the Muslim tradition, the miracles of the resurrection of the dead are rethought, so that they, also losing personal motivation, completely turn into moralizing interludes. Here is one typical example. “They say that one day, when Jesus was passing through a cemetery, He stopped and offered up a prayer: “O Lord, by Your favor and mercy, may one of the dead rise!” The earth parted, and a tall figure rose from the dust. “Who are you?” Jesus asked. The man gave his name. "When did you die?" - "Two thousand seven hundred years ago." – “What do you feel when you are dead?” – “The bitter taste of death, which is with me now”, – “What did the Lord do to make death so unsightly for you?” – “Since I died, I have endured incessant an inquiry into the share of the property of the orphans, which I appropriated to myself, and to this day I have to pay for it. So saying, he went down to the grave."

Speaking about the miracles of Muhammad, it should be noted that the Koran repeatedly denies the possibility of performing any miracles by him (see: Koran 13, 8; 17, 90-95; 25, 58, etc.), which, however, did not prevent the emergence already at a very early time of traditions about the numerous miracles performed by the "prophet", some of which have been given in this chapter.

However, on the basis of this denial, it would be fundamentally wrong to draw the conclusion that “in the Qur'anic text, miracles are a deed not very worthy of a real prophet.” The miracles of Musa - Moses are known. Daud - David commands inanimate nature (see: Koran 21.79). Suleiman - Solomon, according to the Koran, has the miraculous ability to talk with animals, shaitans and jinn and command them (27, 16-45). Yusuf - Joseph sees the future (12, 41). Isa - Jesus revives clay birds (3.43), heals the sick, brings down from heaven a table full of food (5, 113-114). The Qur'an also contains legends about miracles that happened not with the prophets, but with ordinary people. Such, for example, is the story of a traveler who died and was resurrected by God a hundred years later, along with his donkey and a palm tree, where he stopped (2, 261), or about the youths who, by the will of God, slept unharmed in a cave for 309 years (18, 8– 25).

No, the miracle occupies in the Qur'an its definite, legal and far from the last place in importance.

In addition to the already discussed concept of mujid, which is really very close to the worldview of the Koran, the miracle in the latter also has its non-prophetic comprehension. The whole created world with all its natural processes, all the vicissitudes of the fate determined by the Most High testify to the power, strength and wisdom of God. But a miracle is evidence of a higher order. This is a watershed, beyond which a person's responsibility reaches a critical point: if, after an obvious miracle, he does not believe, he will be subjected to immediate terrible punishment (see, for example: Koran 5, 115).

However, even in such an understanding, a miracle, as one can see, does not follow from the Muslim conception of it only as evidence. That “separation of creation from the Creator, which Muhammad proclaimed boundless and irrevocable,” does not allow for the personal participation and deep personal interest of God in this earthly life of a person created by Him with all its trifles and everyday life - a life that, as Christians believe, was sanctified by His hypostatic, historically real presence.

If we turn to the Old Testament, we will see that it contains both miracles-signs and miracles-helpers. So, the miracle of Elijah with fire (see: Z Kings 18, 15–38) is a typical example of a sign, while the resurrection of the youth of the Sonamaite by Elisha (see:) is an equally typical case of supernatural help. It can even be said that the signs in the Old Testament dominate: And [the Lord said to Moses]: Behold, I make a covenant: I will do wonders before all your people, such as have not been in all the earth and among any nations; and all the people among whom you are will see the work of the Lord; for it will be terrible what I will do for you (). Of the many uses in the Old Testament of the word "miracles" (?? ????????) most often it is used in direct conjunction with "signs" (?? ??????), which suggests the dominant ( but still not the only one!) understanding in the Old Testament of the meaning of miracles as a special kind of signs.

However, in the New Testament, everything changes dramatically. With an abundance of miracles (?? ????????) signs (?? ??????) do not just fade into the background, they do not just become smaller - we can say that they are fundamentally rejected. Christ rejects Satan's offer to throw himself from the roof of the temple and, remaining unharmed, show this sign (see:;). Christ repeatedly rejects the direct demands of the Pharisees to show them a sign (see: ; ; ; ), saying: why does this generation require a sign? I tell you truly, no sign will be given to this generation. Moreover, even when John the Baptist sends his disciples, who did not fully understand who Jesus is (see: ), to ask: should we expect anything else? (cf .:; and not: “should I expect another”), wanting Christ to somehow personally, in a special way convince them, the Lord answers them that the well-known miracles performed by Him are enough to believe that who wants to believe God (see: ;). Even for them He refuses to perform special signs.

An evil and adulterous generation is looking for a sign; and no sign will be given to him except the sign of Jonah the prophet; for as Jonah was in the belly of the whale for three days and three nights, so the Son of Man will be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights (); this generation is evil, it seeks a sign, and a sign will not be given to it, except for the sign of Jonah the prophet; for as Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites, so will the Son of Man be to this generation (). What is the meaning of these words? Obviously, there is already a sign in everything the Lord does. After all, Jonah is almost the only prophet Old Testament who did not perform any miracles (as pointed out by St. Ephraim the Syrian)! And the meaning of the answer to the John's disciples is precisely this.

So, we see that for the New Testament this shift in emphasis in understanding the miracle is of fundamental importance. With what it can be connected? In our opinion, this may be due to the fact that with the Coming of Christ, the relationship between man and God has changed qualitatively. When God Himself is near, signs are superfluous. It is no coincidence that there are so many signs in the Old Testament; they are an attribute, an integral part of the law, which is fulfilled by the Coming of Christ (see:).

According to the Apostle Paul, the law was needed for the knowledge of sin, but after the Coming of the Savior, we received justification and actual liberation from sinful bonds (see:). And the continuation of the fulfillment of this in itself good and God-given law after the key event for the history of mankind, the incarnation of God the Word, after a qualitative change in the relationship between man and God, can even harm a person, because no flesh will be justified by the deeds of the law (). Such a mechanical, already graceless fulfillment of the law, which in a transformed form, of course, is preserved among Muslims, puts a barrier between the fulfiller and Christ, for if the law is justification, then Christ died in vain (Gaius 2, 21).

And it seems that the “bare” miracle-sign is rejected by the New Testament precisely in the complex of the general overcoming of the old law of sin and death through the new law of life in Christ Jesus (cf.:).

Thus, the sacred texts of Christianity and Islam stand on mutually rejected positions on the question of the meaning and place of supernatural phenomena in human life and sacred history.

Miracles of the Saints

It is known that the theology of orthodox Islam does not recognize the cult of saints. Nevertheless, in the mass consciousness of ordinary Muslims, in Sufism and in many respects close to it Shiism, from time immemorial, it has a certain place and has its own rich history and established traditions. Despite the alienness of this cult to Koranic Islam, it still bears an indelible imprint of the general Muslim worldview, and its closeness and, of course, some dependence on the similar Christian veneration of saints all the more interesting to compare them, which brighten the differences.

These miracles, attributed to revered wali (Muslim saints, “friends of Allah”), are outwardly quite diverse. So, “one miracle worker in Nisibin could walk on water and stop the flow of Jeyhun. Another was extracting jewels from the air, and around one black fakir in Abadan, the whole earth sparkled with gold so that his guest fled away in fear. One experiences the miracle of Valaam with his donkey... The other laughs, being already a corpse, so that no one agrees to wash him... A note fell from the sky on a penitent Sufi near the Kaaba with the absolution of both the sins already committed and all future ones... At the command of the father of the order of Egyptian Sufis Zun-Nun's bed itself moved from corner to corner of his house. Another Sufi moved a mountain. And for the founder of the Sufi movement, al-Sari, the universe itself, in the form of an old woman, swept the floor and took care of food.” “Abu Ishak Haravi, the guris made a bed of their braids at night. Bu Yazid asks Allah to notify the earth of his (Bu Yazid's) love, causing an earthquake. Hararani, keeping his word, comes from the other world to the deathbed of his disciple. Of the same kind are the Shia stories about the miracles of Ali and his family.

"Ali ... makes the terrible lions disappear, reverses the waters of the Euphrates ... Allah Himself holds back the sunset so that Ali has time to perform the evening prayer." The severed head of Ali's son Hasan, kept in one of the mosques, continues to quote passages from the Koran from time to time.

In addition to the above, there are frequent cases of clairvoyance, as well as manifestations of supernatural punishment to offenders of the saint (punitive miracles), which we will dwell on in more detail below, and exteriorization, that is, the simultaneous presence of the saint in different places.

Much less impressive against this background seem to be the miracles of Christian saints. One can take for comparison such an outstanding monument of Christian hagiography, which has been loved by readers for centuries, as the "Conversations" of St. Gregory the Dialogist, of whose four books one is entirely devoted to describing the miracles of St. Benedict. What are these miracles? Through the prayers of the saint, the broken sieve, borrowed by his nurse, miraculously turns out to be intact (book 2, chapter 1). The beggar Goth, who lives at the monastery, clearing the place on the shore of the lake from weeds, drops the iron of the braid into the pool. Saint Benedict comes and throws the wooden hilt behind the scythe. The iron floats and lays itself on the handle. The saint gives the tool to the Goth with the words: “Take it, work and do not be sad” (book 2, chapter 6). By order of the saint, the raven carries away the poisoned bread from the monastery (book 2, chapter 8). Through his prayer, the brethren, during construction work, easily lift a huge stone, which before that they could not budge (book 2, chapter 9). Another time, through the prayer of a saint, a desperate debtor finds on the road near his cell just as many gold coins as he needed to repay the debt (Book 2, Chapter 27). During a famine in the pantry of the monastery, again through the prayer of the saint, an empty barrel is filled with oil (book 2, chapter 29). In addition to these miracles, there are also the resurrection of two dead (book 2, chapters 11, 32), the healing of a leper boy (book 2, chapter 26) and a mentally ill woman (book 2, chapter 38) and deliverance from a demon (book 2, chapter 30) .

It would seem, in general, what kind of miracles? The stone helped to lift, caught the scythe! No fire from the sky, no moon in two, no river back. However, we must understand that the beggar, who earns his living with the help of a scythe, borrowed, and accidentally lost it, at this moment does not need either fire from heaven or the revival of clay birds; he needs this braid. And the sensitivity of Christian holiness to the simple problems of a particular person is a manifestation of the mercy of the Spirit of Christ.

Of course, it would be wrong to say that among the numerous and extensive Muslim hagiographic material there are absolutely no help miracles. Not at all; thus, among the miracles of Habib al-Ajami, described by Attar, there is a case when the blessing of Habib helped an old woman find her son. Sheikh Najm ad-Din helped the son of another woman to make a career. In Bukhari and Muslim, among the descriptions of the miracles of Muhammad himself, the following is given, erected to Imran ibn Husayn. “One night, when the Messenger of Allah was on the road with his companions and they were tormented by thirst, he sent two of them in search of water, indicating where they would find a woman with a camel, on which two leather waterskins would be loaded, and ordering bring her to him. The sent ones go and soon find her. She turns out to be a pagan who does not recognize Muhammad as a prophet. However, she comes to him. Mohammed orders water to be poured from her wineskins into a vessel, then he says something over this vessel, after which the water in the waterskins miraculously multiplies, so that it is enough to fill the wineskins for everyone present. Mohammed orders to thank the woman with food and returns her waterskins full of water, with the words: “Go! Indeed, we did not take anything from your water, it was Allah who gave us drink!

The woman returns to her village, tells about what happened, after which the inhabitants of the village came to the Messenger of Allah and every single one accepted Islam.

Helping miracles, of course, are found among Muslim saints, but the Christian reader cannot but be surprised at how insignificant their share in the total mass of miracles described is. So, Michel Shodkevich, considering Hanafi as a typical Muslim saint, after describing a number of his punitive miracles, remarks: expect brilliant manifestations of his holiness: the time in which Hanafi lived was marked by epidemics and famine. During such disasters, saints are usually asked for intercession, but in the story of the life of Hanafi there is no hint of facts of this kind.

Of course, the very folk component of the Muslim cult of saints determines the need for a separate layer of miracles-helpers in it. People love to resort to saints, hoping for their supernatural help.

Let us now dwell in more detail on punitive miracles. Annemarie Schimmel names the phrase "when he is angry, the Lord takes revenge on his offenders" among the most commonly used to denote the holiness of a person in the modern Muslim environment.

Punitive miracles are present in the biographies of both Christian and Muslim saints, but they reveal one significant difference. Muslim descriptions of miracles of this kind are intended to inspire fear of God, while similar Christian tales emphasize God's mercy to man.

So, the already mentioned Hanafi “sends a student to intercede with an unjust judge, and he answers with an insulting note. Hanafi rips up the note and says that he will be dealt with in the same way as with his message. And so the house of the judge was destroyed by order of the Sultan, his wealth was confiscated, and he himself was thrown into prison. The keeper of the seal is surprised to see the saint surrounded by an impressive cortege of dignitaries: this is the custom of rulers, he says, not of saints. Such audacity cost him dearly: he was deposed and sentenced to death ... A maid of a Sufi monastery named Baraka inadvertently exposes the miracle she witnessed. Paralysis breaks her, and she is bedridden for the rest of her days.

Being drunk, the student of Najm ad-Din began to exalt himself over his elderly teacher. Upon learning of this, Najm ad-Din curses him in anger. Frightened, the student repents, to which the teacher replies: “Since you ask for forgiveness, then you saved your faith and religion, but your head will be lost,” and later the student is beheaded. After the illegal murder of another of his students, Najm ad-Din pronounces a long list of cities that will be destroyed as punishment for this. Later, he regrets that he betrayed the destruction of so many cities, but he cannot stop the effect of his curse.

In turn, in Christian descriptions of miracles of this kind, such a feature as the forgiveness of the offender and the abolition of punishment dominates. Thus, St. John Moschus in his Spiritual Meadow cites a story written down from the words of a Saracen hunter who, while on a hunt, saw a hermit monk and wanted to rob him. But as soon as he approached him, he suddenly froze and could no longer move a single step, and so he stood for two days. Finally, the Saracen pleaded: "For the sake of God, whom you honor, let me go." “Go in peace,” the monk replied, after which the hunter was able to leave the place where he stood. The Ancient Patericon tells the story of how the deacon Paphnutius, out of envy, was slandered by one of the elders, and after the saint voluntarily accepted penance for a crime he had not committed, the elder who slandered him became possessed, but through the prayer of Saint Paphnutius, the demon left him.

In the context of the cases cited here, a comparison with the Old Testament cannot but come to mind, where, as is known, the prophet Elisha performed a punitive miracle on the children who reviled him (see:) in exactly the same spirit as the Muslim examples described just above. In this regard, one remark of Blessed Theodoret of Cyrus is very interesting and important. Describing in his "History of God-lovers" the case when the maidens who behaved obscenely before St. James of Nisibis were struck with gray hair, and the saint began to pray that their former hair color would return to them, blessed Theodoret, marveling at the softness and meekness of St. James in comparison with the behavior in a similar case of the prophet Elisha, remarks: "Jacob, having a power like that of Elisha, acted in the spirit of the meekness of Christ and the New Testament." These are really the key words that reveal the whole essence of the difference between the punitive miracles of the Old Testament and the miracles of the Muslim world adjacent to them in nature from similar miracles of the New Testament and the holy ascetics of Christianity.

In Christianity, there are also cases of fatally punitive miracles, including in the New Testament (see:). But the shift in emphasis from the fear of God to God's mercy does not change in them. And fatally punitive miracles are also often comprehended in the light of God's mercy. So, for example, the Monk Isidore Pelusiot comments on the episode with Ananias and Sapphira, described in the 5th chapter of the Book of Acts, with the following words: “The punishment of those who sinned was not a matter of the cruelty of the wise Peter, but a matter of edification of a man who foretells, who heals people’s sins in advance. For, having begun to sow the seeds of the Gospel and soon saw the tares that had arisen, he wisely uprooted them without delay, so that, having multiplied with wheat, they would not keep the future of the fire for burning.

Unlike the miracles of the prophets (mujizat), the miracles of the saints (karamat) aroused a clearly ambiguous attitude among Muslims. Many great teachers of Sufism considered miracles of this kind to be traps on the path to God.

So, it was said that “when Sheikh al-Bistami (d. 874) heard that a certain miracle worker reached Mecca in one night, he said:“ The devil, pursued by the curse of Allah, travels the distance from sunrise to sunset in one hour. . And when he heard that someone walks on water and flies through the air, he said: “Birds fly through the air, and fish swim in the water.” And “when Abu Said ibn Abil-Khayr (d. 1049) was asked what miracles were attributed to a certain Sufi, he was indignant and replied:“ Is it not the greatest miracle that a butcher, the butcher’s son, embarked on a mystical path ... and that people come to him countless visitors, eager to receive his blessing? At-Tustari (d. 886) also denied miracles, who stated that the greatest miracle is the correction of a bad character trait.

This aversion to miracles was expressed in a Sufi hadith that attributed to Muhammad the dictum: "Miracles are men's periods." “This saying ... means that miracles take place between man and God. Just as a husband avoids intercourse with his wife on those days when she is unclean, so God withholds mystical union from those who perform miracles.

What are the reasons for such distrust of Karamat miracles? Let's look at some descriptions of miracles in Islam.

“The Sufis often performed the miracle of ‘taking on the burden of the sick’. This requires a very strong tawajjuh, concentration of the patient and the healer on each other; but it is believed that the sheikh and his disciple are always, so to speak, on the same wavelength.

“Religious formulas are often used to cure diseases. The story of how a saint healed a deaf girl by whispering a call to prayer to her is just one example from a long list. miraculous healings performed by the saints with the help of dhikr formulas or prayers.

It is also interesting that, speaking about the miracles of Christian saints, Sufi ascetics, without denying them, define them as being performed “through niyaz, that is, by training the body ... And this initial level is a level from which it is very difficult to break away, a very dangerous level . Because of the enthusiasm for this level, in accordance with the degree of enthusiasm, the number of barriers, veils between it and the Almighty increases.

The cited texts testify to the understanding of the miracles of Muslim saints that they occur due to some property acquired by the saints or due to their ability to use the hidden forces of human nature or ritual formulas, but not due to the personal participation of God in each of these miracles. Here is how one of the modern Sufi authors expresses himself on this topic: “Sufis treat miracles calmly, considering them to be the result of the work of a certain mechanism (emphasis added by me - Yu. M.), which will influence a person to the extent that he will be in harmony with him. The source of such miracles is, as it were, outside of God and His will, which, probably, confused individual strict Muslim ascetics, who sought to concentrate as much as possible on the oneness of God. That is why the orthodox theology of Islam "recognized only pre-Islamic prophets as true miracle workers."

At the same time, the Christian idea of ​​miracles performed by saints is completely different. The saint stands before God, lives entirely in God, and God gives him, as a son and heir by grace, the power of boldness in prayer and soon fulfills the request of the saint. But at the same time, the true performer of the miracle is always He Himself, or rather, this happens synergistically between them: the personality of the saint is also not excluded from this process. The idea of ​​a mechanical, inevitable consequence of a curse, inevitable even at the request of a saint, as in the cases described above with Najm ad-Din, is completely unthinkable in Christianity.

Even with a positive understanding of miracles-karamat, it turns out that in their meaning they do not go beyond the concept of a miracle only as evidence. “All these abilities are only demonstrations ad usum populi that they (that is, the saints) have the only significant knowledge - that which is called ilm billah, knowledge of God.”

Reasons for the discrepancy

The discrepancy between Christianity and Islam in understanding the meaning and purpose of miraculous phenomena, outlined above and illustrated by examples, is due to a whole range of reasons.

The first of them is a cardinal difference in the ideas of Christians and Muslims about the relationship between God and man. According to Christian teaching, the Lord came to earth to all mankind as a whole and to each person individually. It is the Orthodox understanding of the incarnation of God as a hypostasis that gives Christian stories with miracles, a uniquely personal connotation, characteristic only of Christianity. Christianity establishes a personal relationship between a person-person and God-personality, which became possible thanks to the personal feat of the Personality of the God-man Christ. And this personal emphasis cannot but influence the nature of the miracles performed.

It is no secret that the very concept of personality was developed by Christian theological culture in the process of searching for adequate trinitarian and Christological terminology, and therefore the question of the legitimacy of using it to explain the concept that belongs to a completely different culture, which does not have at its core the mystery of the Trinity, is quite reasonable. There are many reasons to believe that Muslims understand the personality of God in some completely different way from Christians and invest in this, generally alien to them, European concept something completely different from Christians.

This is reflected in the everyday consciousness of modern Muslims. Thus, one noble Pakistani Muslim woman who converted to Christianity later wrote in her memoirs that the main thing that confused her about Christianity was that she "felt that Christians ... made God personal." Christian missionaries working in Arab countries also mention similar problems: “It is rather difficult to explain these truths in the languages ​​of the Islamic world. For example, in Arabic the word "person" has the connotation of guy or friend. When talking about God, a Muslim will never call Him a person. In Islam, God is a different Saint." It is interesting that during the preparation of the "Declaration on Jews and non-Christians" at the II Vatican Council in the section on Islam, due to the inability to find in Arabic the exact equivalent of "personal God", it was replaced in the final draft by the definition "existent" (al-qayyum). The shahsi variant was rejected, because in Arabic this term has a connotation of corporality and, from the point of view of the Islamic doctrine of God, is not applicable to the Divine essence. Indeed, among the directions and themes along which the work of medieval Muslim philosophers and theologians proceeded, there is nothing close to Christian disputes about the relationship between nature and hypostasis (personality) in God. The subject of consideration of Muslim theologians were such attributes of God as “knowing”, “powerful”, “living (existing)”, “noble”, “eternal”, and their relationship with the Divine essence. The question of the relationship between nature and personality in God, we repeat, was not raised, which is natural, since there were no prerequisites for such a formulation of the question.

But can understanding be adequate if there is no adequate term? This is a big and serious issue that deserves separate consideration. Here, as an assumption, I would like to express the idea that one of the key (at least from a religious point of view) differences in understanding the personality of God is the Christian idea of ​​God as love (see:). “God is a perfect person, therefore He is perfect love,” wrote St. Nicholas of Serbia about the organic connection between these two concepts.

Muslim ascetics were very great in their own way, but their asceticism "was based on the fact that Allah, having once created this world, has not even looked at it since then," while the ascetics of Christianity took upon themselves the feat for the sake of God's love, which they so loved God is the world, who gave His only begotten Son, so that everyone who believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life ().

Yes, and in Islam, many mystics spoke about the love of God. But the love that they spoke about, which they sang about and which they aspired to, is slavish love, and, by their own admission, “the highest honor bestowed by God is the name of Abdullah” (slave of God). “To love God means to love obedience to God”; "True love is obedience to the Beloved" - these are the explanations belonging to the Sufis themselves. And in Christianity, a person is called to filial, and not slavish love for God. Christian love- this is love, comprehended through the prism of the fact of God's self-sacrifice for the sake of man.

It is reported that one day the companions of Muhammad said to him: “Indeed, we are different from you, O Messenger of Allah, because Allah has forgiven you what preceded from your sins and what happened later.” Hearing this, he became so angry that it became visible on his face, and said: “I only fear Allah more and know more about Him than you!” I am afraid and I know - these are the fundamental verbs that define the essence of worship in Islam. And it can be said that without the idea of ​​the cross, sacrificial love of God for man and the world, even the greatest of the mystics of Islam could not go beyond the scope of these verbs. And this left its mark, including on the idea of ​​the meaning and purpose of supernatural phenomena.

The second reason for the discrepancy is related to the fact that the Christian understanding of a miracle inevitably expresses Christian experience the proximity of God. God is close to each of His chosen ones, and therefore it is not at all shameful for Him to take a direct part in the fate of everyone. The Qur'an also speaks of His closeness: “We have already created man and we know what the soul whispers to him; and We are nearer to him than the neck artery” (Quran 50:15), but this is not at all the same. says that God in Christ became consubstantial with every person, and every person in Christ can become consubstantial with God. Islam, even mystical, does not know such closeness.

Thirdly, and researchers have already written about this, the difference in the understanding of a miracle in Christianity and Islam has its roots in the difference in the ideas of these two religions about the relationship between man and the created world. From the point of view of Islam, man, although he is the “vicar of God on earth” (see: Koran 2, 28), belongs entirely to our created reality, is completely included in it, from the point of view of Christianity, “man, among all creations, occupies special place”: he simultaneously belongs to the created, and stands above him by virtue of the conformity to the Creator given only to him. The following lines are unthinkable in Islam: You did not belittle him alone before the Angels: you crowned him with glory and honor; made him dominion over the works of your hands; He put everything under his feet: all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field, the birds of the air and the fish of the sea, everything that passes by the paths of the sea ().

Both Christianity and Islam are characterized by the idea that the world created by God is perfect and self-sufficient:

You have set the earth on solid foundations; it will not shake forever and ever. Thou hast covered it with the abyss as with a garment; waters stand on the mountains. From Thy rebuke they flee, from the voice of Thy thunder they quickly leave; they ascend the mountains, they descend into the valleys, to the place which You have appointed for them. You have set a limit that they will not cross, and they will not return to cover the earth.

(Quran 36:38-40).

“And the sun flows to its place. Such is the institution of the Glorious, the Wise! And the month We have established in the parking lots, until it is done, like an old palm branch. The sun does not have to catch up with the moon, and the night does not get ahead of the day, and everyone swims in the arch.

In this order itself there is no need for intrusions from the outside in order to correct anything in it and the like. In this case, the question arises about the place and meaning of miracles in such a world, because any miracle, of course, is precisely such an invasion, a violation of the order once and for all established by God. The general term in Islamic theology for supernatural events, hariq al-ada, "that which breaks custom," expresses the same understanding.

Islam overcomes this problem by assigning a certain place to miracles in the very system of the world, introducing the already discussed concept of “mujiza”, while Christianity solves this issue on a personal plane, declaring that the human person is above the law for God: the Sabbath is for a person, and not a person for saturday ().

The Question of the Orthodox Attitude to the Miracles of the Non-Christian World

Summing up, one cannot fail to dwell on the following important question: how can we, Orthodox Christians, and should relate to the miracle-working of the founder of Islam and Muslim saints described in Muslim sources, and, more broadly, to miracles in non-Christian religions in general?

As for the miracles of Muhammad himself, the holy fathers, it must be said, did not take them seriously. Theodore Abu Qurra, a disciple and successor of the work of St. John of Damascus, calls such Muslim legends about his miracles "false mythology", in which Muslims themselves are confused. And that's it; Orthodox polemicists of that time do not have a word more about this. We should adhere to such an attitude to the stories about the miracles of the founder of Islam (which, by the way, is fully shared by modern researchers). As for the miracles of the Muslim Wali, it is not at all necessary to deny them. Firstly, according to the Sufis themselves, “miracles can be performed not only by prophets and saints, but also by notorious sinners like al-Dajjaj, Firaun, Nimrud, etc.” So they cannot be proof of the truth of Islam. Secondly, we know that the apologists of Christianity, faced with the problem of non-Christian miracles, solved it unequivocally: “If he worked miracles, then with the help of demons,” says Eusebius Pamphilus about the miracles of Apollonius of Rhodes. And this is the fundamentally common position of the apologists.

In Orthodox asceticism, the question of "miracles from the devil" was developed in more detail in view of its special practical importance for asceticism. First of all, this concerns the miracle of clairvoyance, the most common among Muslim "saints". “I noticed,” writes St. John of the Ladder, “that the demon of vanity, having inspired thoughts in one brother, at the same time reveals them to another, whom he incites to declare to the first brother what is in his heart, and through this it pleases him as a seer.” “Some brethren went to Abba Anthony,” says the Ancient Patericon, “to tell him about some of the phenomena that they saw, and to learn from him whether they were true or from demons. They had a donkey with them, and he fell down the road. As soon as they came to the elder, he, having preceded them, said: “Why is it that a donkey fell on your road?” The brethren asked him: “How did you know about this, abba?” “The demons showed me,” the elder answered. Then the brethren say: “We have come to ask about this: we see phenomena, and they are often true, are we not mistaken?” So the elder, using the donkey as an example, showed them that they are descended from demons.

But not only miracles of this kind can be imitated by the tricks of demons. “Quite often people who are corrupted by the mind and opponents of faith, in the name of the Lord cast out demons and perform great miracles ... so that even the power of healing sometimes comes from the unworthy and sinful ... Healings of this kind happen through the seduction and trickery of demons. A person betrayed by obvious vices can sometimes perform amazing actions and therefore be considered a saint and a servant of God. Through this, people are carried away to imitate his vices - and a wide path opens up to defamation and humiliation of the holiness of the Christian religion; and the one who is confident in himself that he has the gift of healing, arrogant in the pride of his heart, experiences the most grievous fall. Tatian the Assyrian conveys the following statement of St. Justin the Philosopher: “Wonderful Justin correctly expressed that demons are like robbers. For just as it is their custom to catch someone alive, and then return them to their loved ones for a ransom, so these alleged gods, having attacked someone's limbs, then, caring for their own glory, in dreams order people to go out in public, in full view of everyone. , and when they enjoy the praises, they are removed from the sick, stopping the disease, arranged by themselves, and returning people to their former state.

And the saying of the modern Athos elder about the miracles of Muslim ascetics lies firmly in line with the same tradition: “The elder said:“ There is a difference between the miracles of our faith and the miracles of other faiths. And the Hodja performs miracles in various magical ways. He seeks to see the light, while we, when the devil shows us the light and sends radiance, show him his back ... We are looking for a miracle from God and do not communicate with the devil.

The Swiss researcher notes that "the resurrection from the dead, which was performed by contemporary Christian miracle workers, is absent from the repertoire of Muslim saints." This is a very curious moment, if we remember that, according to the fathers of the Church (St. Macarius of Egypt, St. John Cassian), the devil can perform any miracle, except for the resurrection from the dead...

If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries, and have all knowledge and all faith, so that I can move mountains, but do not have love, then I am nothing (cf.:). These words again turn the eyes of our mind to that which is the very essence of Christianity and our relationship with God, which is the main criterion for distinguishing true miracles from false ones.

Paradise(Gen 2:8, 15:3, Joel 2:3, Luke 23:42,43, 2 Cor 12:4) is a word of Persian origin and means garden. This is the name of the beautiful dwelling of the first man, described in the book. Genesis. Paradise, in which the first people lived, was material for the body, as a visible blissful dwelling, and for the soul - spiritual, as a state of grace-filled communion with God and spiritual contemplation of creatures. Paradise is also the name of that blessed dwelling of the celestials and the righteous, which they inherit after the Terrible Judgment of God.

Metropolitan Hilarion (Alfeev): Paradise… Bliss of the soul united with Christ

Paradise is not so much a place as a state of mind; just as hell is suffering resulting from the inability to love and non-participation in the Divine light, so paradise is the bliss of the soul, resulting from an excess of love and light, to which one who is united with Christ fully and completely partakes. This is not contradicted by the fact that paradise is described as a place with various "mansions" and "halls"; all descriptions of paradise are only attempts to express human language that which is inexpressible and transcends the mind.

In the Bible "paradise" ( paradeisos) is called the garden where God placed man; the same word in the ancient church tradition called the future bliss of people redeemed and saved by Christ. It is also called the "Kingdom of Heaven", "the life of the age to come", "the eighth day", "new heaven", "heavenly Jerusalem".

The Holy Apostle John the Theologian says: “And I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the former heaven and the former earth had already passed, and the sea was no more; And I, John, saw the holy city of Jerusalem, new, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven, saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, they will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death: neither weeping, nor crying, nor sickness will be anymore, for the former has passed. And He who sits on the throne said: Behold, I create all things new... I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end; to the thirsty one for free from the source of living water... And he (the angel) lifted me up in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the great city, holy Jerusalem, which descended from heaven from God. He had the glory of God… I did not see a temple in him, for the Lord God Almighty is his temple, and the Lamb. And the city has no need of either the sun or the moon for its illumination; for the glory of God hath illumined him, and his lamp is the Lamb. The saved nations will walk in its light... And nothing unclean will enter into it, and no one given over to abomination and falsehood, but only those who are written in the Lamb's book of life" (Rev. 21:1-6, 10, 22-24, 27 ). This is the earliest description of paradise in Christian literature.

When reading the descriptions of paradise found in hagiographic and theological literature, it must be borne in mind that most writers Eastern Church they speak of the paradise they saw, into which they were raptured by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Even among our contemporaries who have experienced clinical death, there are people who have been to paradise and told about their experience; in the lives of the saints we find many descriptions of paradise. The Monk Theodora, the Monk Euphrosyne of Suzdal, the Monk Simeon Divnogorets, Saint Andrew the Holy Fool and some other saints, like the Apostle Paul, were “caught up to the third heaven” (2 Cor. 12:2) and contemplated the heavenly bliss.

Here is what St. Andrew (X century) says about paradise: “I saw myself in paradise beautiful and amazing, and, admiring the spirit, I thought: “what is this? .. how did I find myself here? ..” I saw myself clothed in the most a light robe, as if woven from lightning; a crown was on my head, woven from great flowers, and I was girded with a royal belt. Rejoicing at this beauty, marveling with my mind and heart at the inexpressible beauty of God's paradise, I walked around it and rejoiced. There were many gardens with tall trees: they swayed with their peaks and amused the eyesight, a great fragrance emanated from their branches ... It is impossible to liken those trees to any earthly tree: God's hand, not a human one, planted them. There were countless birds in these gardens ... I saw a great river flowing in the middle (gardens) and filling them. There was a vineyard on the other side of the river... Quiet and fragrant winds breathed there from four sides; gardens swayed from their breath and made a marvelous noise with their leaves ... After that, we entered a wonderful flame, which did not scorch us, but only enlightened us. I began to be horrified, and again the angel who guided me turned to me and gave me his hand, saying: “We must ascend even higher.” With this word we found ourselves above the third heaven, where I saw and heard many heavenly powers singing and glorifying God ... (Climbing even higher), I saw my Lord, as once Isaiah the prophet, sitting on a high and exalted throne, surrounded by seraphim. He was clothed in a scarlet robe, His face shone with unspeakable light, and He lovingly turned His eyes to me. Seeing Him, I fell before Him on my face... What joy then from seeing His face seized me, it is impossible to express, so even now, remembering this vision, I am filled with indescribable sweetness. prepared loving God", and heard "the voice of joy and spiritual joy."

In all descriptions of paradise, it is emphasized that earthly words can only to a small extent depict heavenly beauty, since it is "inexpressible" and surpasses human comprehension. It also speaks of the "many mansions" of paradise (John 14:2), that is, of different degrees of blessedness. “Some (God) will honor with great honors, others with less,” says St. Basil the Great, “because “star differs from star in glory” (1 Cor. 15:41). And since there are “many mansions” with the Father, some will rest in a more excellent and higher state, and others in a lower one. 3 However, for each of his "abode" will be the highest fullness of bliss available to him - in accordance with how close he is to God in earthly life. All the saints in Paradise will see and know each other, and Christ will see and fill everyone, says St. Simeon New Theologian. In the Kingdom of Heaven, “the righteous will shine like the sun” (Matt. 13:43), become like God (1 John 3:2) and know Him (1 Cor. 13:12). Compared to the beauty and luminosity of paradise, our earth is a "gloomy dungeon," and the light of the sun, compared to the Trinitarian Light, is like a small candle. 4 Even those heights of contemplation of God, to which the Monk Simeon ascended during his lifetime, in comparison with the future bliss of people in paradise, is the same as the sky drawn with a pencil on paper, in comparison with the real sky.

By doctrine Saint Simeon, all the images of paradise found in hagiographic literature, - fields, forests, rivers, palaces, birds, flowers, etc. - are only symbols of that bliss that lies in the unceasing contemplation of Christ:

You are the Kingdom of Heaven
You are the meek land of all, O Christ,
You are my green paradise.
You are my divine palace...
You are the food of all and the bread of life.
You are the moisture of renewal
You are the life-giving cup
You are the source of living water,
You are the light of all Your saints...
And "many abodes"
Show us what I think
That there will be many degrees
Love and enlightenment
That each to the best of his ability
Achieve contemplation
And the measure is for everyone
It will be greatness, glory,
Peace, pleasure -
Although to varying degrees.
So many chambers
various abodes,
Precious garments...
Various crowns,
And stones and pearls
Fragrant flowers...
All this there is
Just one contemplation
You, Lord God!

St. Gregory of Nyssa spoke of the same thing: “Since in the present age life is spent by us in various and varied ways, there are many things in which we participate, for example, time, air, place, food, drink, clothing, the sun, a lamp, and much more, serving the needs of life, and none of it is God. The expected bliss does not need any of this: all this in return for everything will be for us the nature of God, giving itself in proportion to every need of that life ... God for the worthy is both a place, and a dwelling, and clothing, and food, and drink, and light , and wealth, and a kingdom ... He who is in all, He is in all (Col. 3:11) ”. After the general resurrection, Christ will fill with Himself every human soul and all creation, and nothing will remain outside of Christ, but everything will be transformed and radiant, changed and remelted. This is the never-ending "non-evening day" of the Kingdom of God, "eternal joy, eternal Liturgy with God and in God." Everything superfluous, temporary, all unnecessary details of life and being will disappear, and Christ will reign in the souls of the people redeemed by Him and in the transfigured Cosmos. This will be the final victory of Good over evil, Light over darkness, heaven over hell, Christ over Antichrist. This will be the final abolition of death. “Then the word that is written will come true: “Death is swallowed up in victory. Death! Where is your pity? Hell! Where is your victory?..” (Hos. 13:14) Thanks be to God, who gave us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!” (1 Cor. 15:54-57).

Metropolitan Anthony of Surozh: Heaven is in love

Adam lost paradise - that was his sin; Adam lost paradise - this is the horror of his suffering. And God does not condemn; He calls, He supports. In order for us to come to our senses, He puts us in conditions that clearly tell us that we are perishing, we need to be saved. And He remains our Savior, not our Judge. Christ several times in the Gospel says: I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world (Jn.Z.17; 12.47). Until the fullness of time comes, until the end comes, we are under the judgment of our conscience, we are under the judgment of the Divine word, we are under the judgment of the vision of Divine love embodied in Christ - yes. But God does not judge; He prays, He calls, He lives and dies. He descends into the very depths of human hell, so that only we can believe in love and come to our senses, not to forget that there is a paradise.

And heaven was in love; and Adam's sin was that he did not keep love. The question is not in obedience or in listening, but in the fact that God offered all of Himself, without a trace: His being, love, wisdom, knowledge - He gave everything in this union of love, which makes one being out of two (as Christ says about Himself and about the Father: I am in the Father and the Father is in Me [John 14:11], as fire can pierce iron, as heat penetrates to the marrow of bones). And in this love, in inseparable, inseparable union with God, we could be wise with His wisdom, love with all the scope and bottomless depth of His love, know with all Divine knowledge. But the man was warned: do not seek knowledge through eating the fruit from the tree of Good and Evil, - do not seek cold knowledge of the mind, external, alien to love; do not seek knowledge of the flesh, intoxicating and intoxicating, blinding... And this is precisely what man was tempted to do; he wanted to know what is good and what is evil. And he created good and evil, because evil consists in falling away from love. He wanted to know what it is to be and not to be, but he could know this only if he was established forever through love, rooted to the depths of his being in Divine love.

And the man fell; and with him the whole world was shaken; everything, everything was clouded and shaken. And the judgment to which we aspire is the one Last Judgment, which will be at the end of time - after all, it is also only about love. The parable of the goats and the sheep (Mt. 25:31-46) speaks of precisely this: have you managed on earth to love a magnanimous, affectionate, courageous, good love? Did you manage to feel sorry for the hungry, did you manage to feel sorry for the naked, the homeless, did you have the courage to visit a prisoner in prison, did you forget the person who is sick, in the hospital, alone? If you have this love, then you have a path to Divine love; but if there is no earthly love, how can you enter into Divine love? If what is given to you by nature, you cannot realize, how can you hope for the supernatural, for the miraculous, for God? ..

And this is the world we live in.

The story of paradise is in some respects, of course, an allegory, because it is a world that has perished, a world to which we have no access; we do not know what it is to be a sinless, innocent creature. And in the language of the fallen world, it is possible only with images, pictures, likenesses to indicate what was and what no one else will ever see or know ... We see how Adam lived - as a friend of God; we see that when Adam matured, reached some degree of wisdom and knowledge through his communion with God, God brought all creatures to him, and Adam gave each creature a name - not a nickname, but the name that expressed the very nature, the very mystery of this creatures.

God, as it were, warned Adam: look, look - you see through the creature, you understand it; because you share My knowledge with Me, since you can share it with your still incomplete maturity, the depths of creation are revealed before you ... And when Adam peered into the whole creation, he did not see himself in it, because, although he was taken from the earth, although he is his flesh and his spiritual being a part of this universe, material and spiritual, but in him there is also a spark from God, the breath of God, which the Lord breathed into him, making him an unprecedented creature - man.

Adam knew he was alone; and God brought a deep sleep upon him, separated a certain part from him, and Eve stood before him. St. John Chrysostom speaks of how in the beginning all possibilities were laid in a person, and how gradually, as he matured, both male and female properties, incompatible in one being, began to appear in him. And when he reached maturity, God separated them. And it was not in vain that Adam exclaimed: This is flesh of my flesh, this is bone of my bone! She will be called a wife, because she is, as it were, squeezed out of me ... (Gen. 2:23). Yes; but what did these words mean? They could mean that Adam, looking at Eve, saw that she was bone from his bones, flesh from his flesh, but that she had an originality, that she was a full-fledged being, completely significant, which is connected with the Living God in a unique way, as and he is uniquely connected with Him; or they could mean that he saw in her only a reflection of his own being. This is how we see each other almost constantly; even when love unites us, we so often do not see a person in himself, but see him in relation to ourselves; we look at his face, we peer into his eyes, we listen to his words - and we are looking for an echo of our own being ... It's scary to think that so often we look at each other - and see only our reflection. We do not see another person; it is only a reflection of our being, our existence...

Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin: Paradise - How to enter the Kingdom of Heaven?

Fragment lectures at the Polytechnic Museum as part of the Orthodox Youth Courses organized bySt. Danilov Stauropegial Monastery andChurch of the Holy Martyr Tatiana at Moscow State University M.V. Lomonosov.

The Lord speaks clearly about who exactly will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. First of all, He says that a person who wants to enter this Kingdom must have faith in Him, true faith. The Lord Himself says: "Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, and whoever does not believe will be condemned." The Lord predicts the condemnation of people to torment. He does not want this, the Lord is merciful, but He, at the same time, says that people who do not meet a high spiritual and moral ideal will face weeping and gnashing of teeth. We don’t know what heaven will be like, we don’t know what hell will be like, but it is obvious that people who freely choose a life without God, a life that contradicts His commandments, will not be left without a formidable reward, primarily related to the internal state of mind of these people . I know that there is a hell, I knew people who left this world in the state of ready inhabitants of hell. Some of them, by the way, committed suicide, which I'm not surprised at. They could have been told that it was not necessary to do this, because eternal life awaits a person, but they did not want to eternal life they wanted eternal death. People who lost faith in other people and in God, having met God after death, would not have changed. I think that the Lord would offer them His mercy and love. But they will tell Him, "We don't need it." There are already many such people in our earthly world, and I do not think that they will be able to change after crossing the border that separates the earthly world from the world of eternity.

Why must faith be true? When a person wants to communicate with God, he must understand Him as He is, he must address exactly the one to whom he addresses, without imagining God as something or someone that and whom He is not.

Now it is fashionable to say that God is one, but the paths to it are different, and what difference does it make how this or that religion or denomination or philosophical school imagines God ─ all the same, God is one. Yes, there is only one God. There are not many gods. But this one God, as Christians believe, is precisely the God who revealed Himself in Jesus Christ and in His Revelation, in the Holy Scriptures. And by referring instead to God, to someone else, to a being with different characteristics, or to a being that does not have a personality, or to a non-being in general, we do not turn to God. We turn, at best, to something or someone whom we have invented for ourselves, for example, to "god in the soul." And sometimes we can also refer to beings that are different from God and are not God. It can be angels, people, forces of nature, dark forces.

Paradise is not so much a place as a state of mind; just as hell is suffering resulting from the inability to love and non-participation in the Divine light, so paradise is the bliss of the soul, resulting from an excess of love and light, to which one who is united with Christ fully and completely partakes. This is not contradicted by the fact that paradise is described as a place with various "mansions" and "halls"; all descriptions of paradise are only attempts to express in human language that which is inexpressible and transcends the mind.

In the Bible, "paradise" (paradeisos) is the garden where God placed man; the same word in the ancient church tradition called the future bliss of people redeemed and saved by Christ. It is also called the "Kingdom of Heaven", "the life of the age to come", "the eighth day", "new heaven", "heavenly Jerusalem". The Holy Apostle John the Theologian says: “And I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the former heaven and the former earth had already passed away, and the sea was no more; And I, John, saw the holy city of Jerusalem, new, descending from God out of heaven, prepared as bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven, saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, they will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death: there will be no more mourning, no more crying, no more pain, for the former is gone. thirsty ladies freely from the fountain of living water... And he (the angel) lifted me up in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the great city, holy Jerusalem, which descended from heaven from God. did not see in it, for the Lord God Almighty is its temple, and the Lamb, and the city has no need of the sun or the moon for its illumination; the lava of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb. The saved nations will walk in its light... And nothing unclean will enter into it, and no one given over to abomination and falsehood, but only those who are written in the Lamb's book of life" (Rev. 21:1-6, 10, 22-24 , 27) This is the earliest description of paradise in Christian literature.

When reading the descriptions of paradise found in hagiographic and theological literature, it must be borne in mind that most of the writers of the Eastern Church speak of the paradise they saw, into which they were raptured by the power of the Holy Spirit. Even among our contemporaries who have experienced clinical death, there are people who have been to paradise and told about their experience; in the lives of the saints we find many descriptions of paradise. The Monk Theodora, the Monk Euphrosyne of Suzdal, the Monk Simeon the Divnogorets, Saint Andrew the Holy Fool and some other saints were, like the Apostle Paul, "caught up to the third heaven" (2 Cor. 12:2) and contemplated heavenly bliss. Here is what St. Andrew (X century) says about paradise: “I saw myself in a beautiful and amazing paradise, and, admiring the spirit, I thought: “what is this? .. how did I find myself here? ..” I saw myself clothed in the most a bright robe, as if woven from lightning, a crown was on my head, woven from great flowers, and I was girded with a royal belt. Rejoicing at this beauty, marveling with my mind and heart at the inexpressible beauty of God's paradise, I walked around it and rejoiced. There were many gardens with tall trees: they swayed with their tops and amused the sight, from their branches a great fragrance emanated... It is impossible to liken those trees to any earthly tree: it was God's hand, and not man's, that planted them.There were countless birds in these gardens... I saw a great river flowing in the midst of (the orchards) and filling them in. On the other side of the river there was a vineyard... The winds were soft and fragrant from four sides, their breath shook the gardens and made a wondrous noise with their leaves... After that we entered the wonderful flame, the cat which did not scorch us, but only enlightened us. I began to be horrified, and again the angel who guided me turned to me and gave me his hand, saying: "We must ascend even higher." With this word, we found ourselves above the third heaven, where I saw and heard a multitude of heavenly powers singing and glorifying God... (Climbing even higher), I saw my Lord, as once Isaiah the prophet, sitting on a high and exalted throne, surrounded seraphim. He was clothed in a scarlet robe, His face shone with unspeakable light, and He lovingly turned His eyes to me. Seeing Him, I fell before Him on my face... What joy then from seeing His face seized me, it is impossible to express, so even now, remembering this vision, I am filled with inexpressible sweetness. "The Monk Theodora saw in paradise" beautiful villages and numerous mansions prepared for those who love God,” and heard “the voice of joy and spiritual gladness.”

In all descriptions of paradise, it is emphasized that earthly words can only to a small extent depict heavenly beauty, since it is "ineffable" and surpasses human comprehension. It is also spoken of "many mansions" of paradise (John 14:2), that is, of different degrees of blessedness. “God will honor some (God) with great honors, others with less,” says St. Basil the Great, “because “star from star differs in glory” (1 Cor. 15:41). in a more excellent and higher state, and others in a lower state. However, for each of his "abode" will be the highest fullness of bliss available to him - in accordance with how close he is to God in earthly life. All the saints in Paradise will see and know one another, but Christ will see and fill everyone, says St. Simeon the New Theologian. In the Kingdom of Heaven "the righteous will shine like the sun" (Matt. 13:43), become like God (1 John 3:2) and know Him (1 Cor. 13:12). Compared to the beauty and luminosity of paradise, our earth is a "gloomy dungeon," and the light of the sun, compared to the Trinitarian Light, is like a small candle. Even those heights of contemplation of God, to which St. Simeon ascended during his lifetime, in comparison with the future bliss of people in paradise, is the same as the sky drawn with a pencil on paper, in comparison with the real sky.

According to the teachings of St. Simeon, all the images of paradise found in hagiographic literature - fields, forests, rivers, palaces, birds, flowers, etc. - are only symbols of that bliss that lies in the unceasing contemplation of Christ:

You are the Kingdom of Heaven
You are the meek land of all, Christ,
You are my green paradise.
You are my divine palace...
You are the food of all and the bread of life.
You are the moisture of renewal,
You are the life-giving cup
You are the source of living water,
You are the light of all Your saints...
And "many abodes"
Show us what I think
That there will be many degrees
Love and enlightenment
That each to the best of his ability
Achieve contemplation
And the measure is for everyone
It will be greatness, glory,
Peace, pleasure -
Although to varying degrees.
So many chambers
various abodes,
Precious clothes...
Various crowns,
And stones and pearls
Fragrant flowers...-
All this there is
Just one contemplation
You, Lord God!

Saint Gregory of Nyssa spoke of the same thing: “Since in the present age life is spent by us in various and varied ways, there are many things in which we participate, for example, time, air, place, food, drink, clothing, the sun, a lamp and much more, serving the needs of life, and none of all this is God, but the blessedness that is expected does not need any of this: all this in return for everything will be for us the nature of God, giving itself in proportion to every need of that life ... God is also a place for those who are worthy , and habitation, and clothing, and food, and drink, and light, and wealth, and a kingdom ... He who is in all, He is in all (Col. 3:11) ". After the general resurrection, Christ will fill with Himself every human soul and all creation, and nothing will remain outside of Christ, but everything will be transformed and radiant, changed and remelted. This is the never-ending "non-evening day" of the Kingdom of God, "eternal joy, eternal Liturgy with God and in God." Everything superfluous, temporary, all unnecessary details of life and being will disappear, and Christ will reign in the souls of the people redeemed by Him and in the transfigured Cosmos. This will be the final victory of Good over evil, Light over darkness, heaven over hell, Christ over Antichrist. This will be the final abolition of death. “Then the word that is written will come true: “Death is swallowed up in victory. Death! Where is your pity? Hell! Where is your victory?.." (Hos. 13:14) Thanks be to God, who gave us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!" (1 Cor. 15:54-57).

Paradise is a word of Persian origin that means garden. This is the name of the beautiful place where God placed the first man, described in the book of Genesis (Genesis 2, 8; 15, 3). Paradise, in which Adam and Eve lived, was material for the body, as a visible blissful dwelling, and for the soul - spiritual, as a state of grace-filled communion with God and spiritual contemplation of creatures. Paradise is also the name of that blessed dwelling of people, redeemed and saved by Christ, into which the righteous enter after death, and which they inherit after the Last Judgment of God. It is also called the "Kingdom of Heaven", "the life of the age to come", "the eighth day", "new heaven", "heavenly Jerusalem".

1. Paradise

Rev. John of Damascus writes about a man in paradise:

God prepared for him, as it were, a palace where dwelling, he would lead a blissful and contented life. This was the divine paradise, planted by the hands of God in Eden, a repository of joy and all joy, for the word Eden means delight. He was in the east, towering over all the earth. There was perfection in him. The thinnest and purest air surrounded him; ever-blooming plants adorned it. He was saturated with incense, filled with light and surpassed any idea of ​​sensual charm and beauty. It was a truly divine country and a worthy dwelling for one created in the image of God. …Some imagined heaven as sensual, others as spiritual. But it seems to me that, in accordance with the way in which man was created both sensual and spiritual at the same time, so his most sacred destiny was both sensual and spiritual at the same time, and had two sides; for, as we have said, man dwelt in body in a most divine and most beautiful place, but in soul he dwelt in a place incomparably higher and incomparably more beautiful, having God dwelling in him and putting on Him as in a bright garment ... Thus, I think that the divine paradise was twofold, and therefore the God-bearing fathers taught equally correctly - both those who held one view, and those who held another.

St. Ignatius (Bryanchaninov) writes about paradise:

"Taught by the Holy Scriptures and the Holy Fathers, we recognize Paradise - this is the place of immaculate enjoyment in which Adam was placed, in which many souls of righteous people are now placed, in which many saints of God will be placed with their bodies after the Resurrection, - corresponding and in accordance with nature to its inhabitants. Paradise is material, but its substance is subtle how thin the soul was, how thin the body of Adam was before he was clothed in leather robes, how thin the resurrected bodies of the righteous will be in the image of the glorified body of our Lord Jesus Christ. "Ray," says blessed Theophylact Bulgarian, is a village of spiritual rest. Paradise, according to this Doctor of the Church, was sensual; Adam saw it, ate the fruits of the trees of paradise for food; he rejoiced there spiritually. the cross of the Lord. Saint Macarius the Great says: "The most peaceful and mountainous Jerusalem, where is paradise" (Conversation XXV, ch. 7).

Rev. Macarius the Great talks about what Adam was like before the fall:

The enemy, having deceived Adam, and thus, dominating him, took away his power, and was himself called the prince of this world. In the beginning, the prince of this world and the lord visible Lord put a man. Neither fire overcame him, nor water drowned him, nor the beast harmed him, nor the poison-bearing animal could exert its effect on him.

St. Athanasius the Great:

"Being sinless, Adam could communicate directly with God, look at His inexpressible perfections, for he was created to see God and be illumined and enlightened by Him" (Contragent.7; t.25, col.16B; comp.ibid.33 et 34).

Rev. Justin (Popovich):

Passionate, for he was the likeness of a passionless God, man, according to St. Gregory of Nyssa, "enjoyed the Epiphany face to face."

Rev. Seraphim of Sarov spoke:

Adam was created not subject to action from any of the elements created by God, neither water drowned him, nor fire burned him, nor the earth could devour him in his abysses, nor the air could harm him by any of his actions. Everything was subjected to him, as the beloved of God, as the king and possessor of the creature...

About the life of Adam and Eve in Paradise St. Justin (Popovich) writes:

Dwelling in paradise in indescribable harmony with the will of God, the first people grew from good to good, from the vision of God to the vision of God, from perfection to perfection, from joy to joy, they ascended from bliss to bliss, constantly rising up and heading with their God-seeking being to the Top of all peaks. , to the Trisolne God and the Lord.

Rev. Macarius the Great writes that the first people in paradise were clothed as with a garment with the glory of God:

"Question. Did Adam have the sensation and communion of the Spirit?

Answer. The very Word that dwelt in him was everything to him: both knowledge, and sensation, and heritage, and teaching. And what does John say about the Word? “In the beginning was the Word” (John 1:1). See, the Word was everything. What if and from outside the glory dwelt on Adam; then let us not be offended by this, for it is said: “besta naked” (Gen. 2:25), and they did not see one another, and only after transgressing the commandment did they see that they were naked, and were ashamed.

Question. Therefore, before the crime, instead of a cover, people were clothed with God's glory?

Answer. Just as the Spirit acted in the Prophets, and taught them, and was inside them, and appeared to them from the outside: so in Adam the Spirit, when he wanted, stayed with him, taught and inspired: “so say and call.” For the Word was everything to him; and Adam, as long as he kept the commandment, was a friend of God."

St. Gregory Palamas also writes:

"...Born and nurtured in Christ... shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father.

Of the same divine radiance and luminosity, Adam, being a participant before the crime as if, indeed, dressed in the solemn attire of glory, was not naked and was not ashamed of being naked, but was much more so that it is impossible to express decorated than those who now wear diadems adorned with much gold and precious stones. This nature of ours, shamefully exposed, as a result of the crime, this divine radiance and luminosity, the Word of God, having pardoned and perceiving philanthropy, showed on Tabor ... again and to a stronger degree clothed in this divine luminosity ... and clearly presented what we who believe in Him and are made perfect in Him will be in the age to come" (Omilia XVI).

holy John Chrysostom:

"The reason why the first people were not ashamed of nakedness was that they were clothed in immortality, dressed in glory. Glory did not allow them to see themselves naked; she covered nakedness."

“The whole earth was given to Adam, and Paradise was his chosen dwelling. He could also walk outside of paradise, but the land outside of paradise was assigned for habitation not to man, but to dumb animals, quadrupeds, beasts, reptiles. A royal and sovereign dwelling for man was paradise. That is why God brought the animals to Adam, because they were separated from him. Slaves are not always present to the master, but when there is only a need for them. The animals were named and immediately removed from paradise; only Adam remained in paradise " .

Rev. John of Damascus says it's heaven
“A divine place, and a habitation worthy of one who is created in the image of God; none of the dumb creatures dwelt in it, but only one person - the creation of Divine hands.

Obviously, the purpose of human dwelling in paradise was not just satisfaction with the pleasures of this wonderful place, but the desire for something higher and a feat for this; the very presence of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and the commandment not to eat from it indicates the challenge and test that a person must endure in order to ascend higher.

Thus, paradise - and all earthly life man - was created by God, according to Saint Basil the Great, as "principally a school and a place of education for the souls of men."

Nellas Panagiotis writes about the appointment of a person, or about the work that he had to do in paradise:

“... our guide will be the Monk Maxim. He considers the main property of man in his natural state to be relative, or more precisely, potential unity. Man is called "through the right use of his natural forces to transform this potential unity into an actual total unity of oneself and all creation in God.

A potential unity already exists between the material creation and the human body, between the body and the soul, between the soul and God. Rev. Maxim writes that "the soul is placed between God and matter and has forces that unite it with both." Adam had to, correctly using these connecting forces, bring potential unity to fruition, overcoming and thereby destroying the four main divisions of the universe: man - into male and female, earth - into paradise and other earth (the universe by Epifanovich, p. 76), of all visible creation - to earth and heaven; of the whole created world - to the intelligent and sensual. Finally, he had to overcome the fifth division - the highest and ineffable - between the creature and the Creator.

... the soul, using the senses correctly, is not only capable of ordering the world and ruling it with its "intrinsic forces", at the same time not mixing with it, but also - more importantly - has the power to "wisely comprehend the visible creation, in which God is hidden and preached in silence."

This is how ... virtues are formed ... So, sums up St. Maxim, the soul ... combines its forces with the virtues and the divine logoi hidden in them; for the virtues are not merely human, but are divine-human states. The spiritual mind, hidden in the pre-divine logoi, induces the soul in all this and "exalts the whole of the whole Divinity. And God embraces the whole of the soul, together with the body inherent in it, and gives them a likeness to Himself, as He Himself knows."

Thus, the multiplicity of created things, "focusing around the single nature of man," can be gathered together, and the Creator of everything appears as the One, "reigning over the creature through the human race," and so "God Himself becomes all kinds of things in everyone, embracing everything and giving existence to everything in Yourself".

Such is the natural state of man in the image of God; such is its natural purpose, doing, and purpose.”

In the beginning, man was presented with the path of ascent from strength to strength, glory to glory, from paradise to the position of a spiritual inhabitant of heaven, through exercises and trials that the Lord would send him, starting with the commandment not to eat from the only tree of the knowledge of good and evil. After the fall, people were expelled from paradise, and, darkened by sin, lost the opportunity to see it. However, there are many descriptions of paradise by people who were raptured into it by the power of the Holy Spirit and saw it.

The Apostle Paul "was caught up into paradise and heard unspeakable words which a man cannot utter" (2 Cor. 12:3).

The Monk Euphrosynus, the Monk Theodora, the Monk Gregory of Sinai, the Monk Euphrosyne of Suzdal, the Monk Simeon the Divnogorets, Saint Andrew the Holy Fool and some other saints, like the Apostle Paul, were “caught up to the third heaven” (2 Cor. 12:2) and contemplated heavenly bliss.

Here is what St. Andrew (X century) says about paradise: “I saw myself in a beautiful and amazing paradise and, admiring the spirit, I thought: “What is this? .. how did I find myself here? ..” Rejoicing at this beauty, marveling at the mind and my heart to the inexpressible beauty of God's paradise, I walked through it and rejoiced. There were many gardens with tall trees: they swayed with their peaks and amused the eyes, a great fragrance emanated from their branches ... It is impossible to liken those trees to any earthly tree: God's hand, and not a human, planted them. There were countless birds in these gardens ... I saw a great river flowing in the middle (gardens) and filling them. There was a vineyard on the other side of the river... Quiet and fragrant winds breathed there from four sides; gardens swayed from their breath and made a marvelous noise with their leaves ... After that we entered a wonderful flame, which did not scorch us, but only enlightened us. I began to be horrified, and again the angel who guided me turned to me and gave me his hand, saying: "We must ascend even higher." With this word, we found ourselves above the third heaven, where I saw and heard a multitude of heavenly powers singing and glorifying God... (Climbing even higher), I saw my Lord, as once Isaiah the prophet, sitting on a high and exalted throne, surrounded seraphim. He was clothed in a scarlet robe, His face shone with unspeakable light, and He lovingly turned His eyes to me. Seeing Him, I fell before Him on my face... What joy then from seeing His face seized me, it is impossible to express, so even now, remembering this vision, I am filled with indescribable sweetness.

Reverend Theodora I saw in paradise “beautiful villages and numerous abodes prepared for those who love God,” and heard “the voice of spiritual joy and gladness.”

From the lives of saints and righteous men, a number of cases are known when those who were caught up to paradise brought real fruits from there - for example, apples that St. Euphrosynus, and which were consumed by the pious as a kind of shrine, possessing a nature completely different from the nature of ordinary earthly fruits (Lives of the Saints, September 11).

Rev. Gregory Sinai, the holy father of the highest spiritual life, who was in paradise in the same state of Divine rapture as the Apostle Paul, narrates about paradise:

“Eden, a place in which all kinds of fragrant plants are planted by God. He is neither completely incorruptible nor completely corruptible. Placed in the midst of corruption and incorruption, it is always and abundant in fruits and blooming flowers, both ripe and unripe. Falling trees and ripe fruits turn into fragrant earth, which does not emit the smell of decay, like the trees of this world. This is from the abundance of the grace of sanctification, which always overflows there.

In all descriptions of paradise, it is emphasized that earthly words can only to a small extent depict heavenly beauty, since it is "inexpressible" and surpasses human comprehension.

Apostle Paul, caught up to the third Heaven, says, repeating the words of the prophet Isaiah:
eye has not seen, ear has not heard, and it has not entered into the heart of man what God has prepared for those who love Him. (Isaiah 64:4; 1 Corinthians 2:9).

Saint Mark of Ephesus writes:

"We affirm that neither righteous they have not yet fully accepted their lot and that blessed state, to which they prepared themselves here through their works; - neither sinners, after death, were assigned to eternal punishment, in which they will be tormented forever; but both must necessarily be after that last day of Judgment and the resurrection of all; now - both of them are in their proper places: the first - in perfect peace and free are in heaven with the angels and before God Himself, and already, as it were, in paradise, from which Adam fell, the prudent robber entered before others, - and often they visit us in those temples where they are venerated, and they listen to those who call them and pray to God for them, having received this fair gift from Him, and through their relics they work miracles, and enjoy the contemplation of God and the illumination sent from there, more perfectly and more purely. than before, when they were alive; the latter, in turn, imprisoned in hell, are "in the dark and the shadow of death, in the pit of hell," as David says [Ps. 87, 7], and then Job: "Into the dark and gloomy land, into the eternal darkness, where there is no light, below to see the human belly" [Job. 10, 22]. And the former are in all joy and gladness, expecting already and only not yet having in their hands the Kingdom promised to them and inexpressible blessings; while the latter, on the contrary, abide in all crampedness and inconsolable suffering, like some kind of condemned, awaiting the verdict of the Judge and foreseeing these torments. And neither the first ones have yet accepted the heritage of the Kingdom and those blessings, "their eye has not seen, and the ear has not heard, and has not risen in the heart of man", nor the second ones have not yet been betrayed to eternal torment and burning in unquenchable fire. And we have this teaching handed down from our Fathers from antiquity, and we can easily present it from the Divine Scriptures themselves. (Second word about cleansing fire)

Orthodox Confession of Faith of the Eastern Catholic and Apostolic Church talking about heaven:

"Question 67. What is the proper place for the souls of those people who die with the grace of God?

Answer. The souls of those people who depart from this world with the grace of God and with repentance for their sins have their place in the hands of God. For Holy Scripture says so: “But the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God, and torment will not touch them” (Wisdom 3, 1). Also called their place paradise, as Christ the Lord said on the cross to the thief: “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43). It is called and the bosom of Abraham, as it is written: “The beggar died and was carried by the angels into the bosom of Abraham” (Luke 16:22), and Kingdom of Heaven, according to the word of the Lord: “I tell you that many will come from the east and the west and will sit down with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 8, 11). Therefore, no matter what name from among those mentioned by us calls this place, he will not sin: if only he knew that souls are in the grace of God in the Kingdom of Heaven, and, as the Church songs say, in heaven.

2. Where is heaven?

The geographical position of the Garden of Eden is currently very difficult to determine with accuracy. Pointing to it, Holy Scripture speaks of a river that flowed out of Eden to irrigate paradise and then divided into four rivers, namely: Pishon, Gihon (Geon), Heddekel (Tigris) and Euphrates (Genesis 2, 10-14). Obviously, the land of Eden and paradise were located in the area lying near the rivers Tigris and Euphrates.

Hieromonk Seraphim Rose writes about the location of paradise:

"Speaking of paradise where Adam lived before the fall, we are approaching a subtle and mysterious subject, which at the same time is a necessary key to understanding the entire Christian teaching. This paradise, as we shall see, is not simply that which existed before the fall; it is also (in a slightly different form) the goal of our entire earthly life - a blessed state into which we strive to return and which we will fully enjoy (if we are among the saved) with the end of this fallen world.
It's not just a spiritual phenomenon...it's also part of earth's history. Scripture and St. The Fathers teach that in the beginning, before the fall of man, paradise was right here on earth.

The present “place” of paradise, which has remained unchanged in its essence, is in the higher Kingdom, which still seems to correspond in the literal sense to “elevation” above the earth; Indeed, some St. the Fathers affirm that even before the fall, paradise was in some elevated place, being "higher than all the earth" (St. John of Damascus, Exact exposition Orthodox Faith, II, 11, p. 75; see also prep. Ephraim the Syrian, Commentary on the book of Genesis, ch. 2, p. 231).

What is of great difficulty to our modern mentality, shaped by literalist science, is how the fathers can speak without distinguishing between paradise as a geographical location (before the fall) and paradise as the spiritual abode of the righteous (at present). Yes, holy. John Chrysostom says in the treatise just quoted that the river of Paradise was so full of water because it was also prepared for the Patriarchs, Prophets and other saints (beginning with the Prudent Thief - Luke 23:43).

holy John Chrysostom writes:

For this, blessed Moses also wrote down the name of this place (Eden), so that those who love idle talk could not deceive ordinary listeners and say that paradise was not on earth, but in heaven, and rave about such mythologies ... ... believe that paradise was definitely created and in the very place where the Scripture appointed ...

Rev. Ephraim Sirin understands the relationship of paradise with the earth so literally that in his "Explanation on the book of Genesis" he accurately determines that, being a place of growth of trees, paradise was created on the third day, along with other vegetation and creatures.

He writes in his essay "On Paradise":

When did Adam sin? God expelled him from paradise, and in His goodness gave him a dwelling outside the boundaries of paradise, settled in a valley below paradise.

Bishop Alexander Mileant writes about the location of paradise:

"Still, it will be wrong to consider Heaven and hell as only different states: they are two different places, although not amenable to geographical description. Angels and the souls of the dead can only be in one specific place, be it Heaven, hell or earth. We cannot designate the place of the spiritual world, because it is outside the "coordinates" of our space-time system.That space of a different kind, which, starting here, extends in a new direction that is not perceptible to us.

Numerous cases from the lives of saints show how this other kind of space “breaks through” into the space of our world. So, the inhabitants of the Spruce Island saw the soul of St. Herman of Alaska ascending in a pillar of fire, and the elder Seraphim of Glinsky saw the ascending soul of Seraphim of Sarov. The prophet Elisha saw how the prophet Elijah was taken to heaven in a fiery chariot. As much as we want our thought to penetrate "there", it is limited by the fact that those "places" are outside our three-dimensional space.

Hieromonk Seraphim (Rose):

"What is the sky? Where is it? Does it occupy any place? Is it above? ...

As it happens, the question of the location of Heaven (and Hell) has become one of the most widely misunderstood questions in our time. Not so long ago, Khrushchev mocked believers who still believed in Heaven - you see, he sent cosmonauts into space, and they did not meet Him!

No thinking Christian, of course, believes in the atheistic caricature of paradise in the clouds, although there are some naive Protestants who are willing to place Heaven in a distant galaxy or constellation; all visible creation is fallen and corrupted, and there is nowhere in it for God's invisible Heaven, which is a spiritual reality, not a material one. But many Christians, in order to avoid the ridicule of unbelievers and not fall into materialism, have rushed to the other extreme and declared that "Heaven is nowhere." There are sophisticated apologies among Roman Catholics and Protestants that assert that Heaven is a state and not a place, that "above" is only a metaphor, that the Ascension of Christ (Luke 24:50-51; Acts 1; 9-11 ) was not really an "ascension" but only a change of state. As a result of such apologies, Heaven and Hell have become very vague and indefinite concepts.

All Orthodox sources - Holy Scripture, divine services, the lives of saints, the writings of the holy fathers - speak of heaven and Heaven as being "above", and of hell as being "below", under the earth.

Therefore, it is certain that Heaven is a place and is higher than any point on earth, while hell is below, in the interior of the earth; but people cannot see these places and their inhabitants until their spiritual eyes are opened… In addition, these places are outside the coordinates of our space-time system; the airliner does not fly invisibly through paradise, and the Earth's satellite through the third Heaven, and with the help of drilling it is impossible to reach the souls awaiting the Last Judgment in hell. They are not there, but in a different kind of space, starting directly here but extending in a different direction.

Our curiosity should not extend beyond the general knowledge that Heaven and Hell are indeed "places", but not places in this world, in our space-time system. These "places" are so different from our earthly notions of "place" that we will be hopelessly confused if we try to bring together their "geography."
(Hieromonk Seraphim (Rose). Soul after death. Chapter Eight. Genuine Christian experience of Heaven. 1.)

Rev. Paisiy Svyatogorets told the story of a monk who was given the admonition that paradise and hell is by no means abstract concepts:

“In the almshouse of the monastery of St. Paul, a monk looked after the elders, a little rustic, but very good-natured.

He himself told me how, about thirty years ago, when he was doing his obedience in the almshouse of the monastery, a brother gave him a bunch of grapes as a blessing. He, out of his kindness, did not eat it himself, but divided it into small pieces and distributed it to the elders. Out of a feeling of gratitude to him, one elder, because the grapes were not yet ripe and he tasted it for the first time that year, repeated many times: “Wonderful paradise to you! Have a wonderful paradise!” (in Greece it is customary to say such a wish to monks - transl.) He, in his simplicity, jokingly answered him: “Eat grapes. Heaven and hell are here on earth."

Despite the fact that he himself did not believe in it, but said only in jest, besides, his simplicity was a mitigating circumstance, the following happened to him.

At night he had a terrible dream, which seemed to him a reality. He dreams of a fiery sea, and on the contrary - a beautiful bay with crystal palaces.

On the shore, he saw a certain venerable old man, surrounded by radiance, so that even his beard seemed to be silk. On the same bank he saw a brother from his monastery, who had died three years earlier, and asked him what kind of beautiful palaces they were and who this venerable elder was.

The brother answers him: “This is Abraham, and this beautiful bay with crystal palaces is “Abraham’s bosom”, on which the souls of the righteous rest” (in Greek the words "bay" and "bosom" are homonyms - transl.).

After such strict words heard from Patriarch Abraham, Father Gregory turned to leave as soon as possible. And suddenly he felt that he was burned by a tongue of flame escaping from the fiery sea, and he woke up from pain. And what does he see? The leg that was burned was covered in blisters and burns. She was ill with him continuously for twenty days, until the wounds healed under the influence of various ointments and healing herbs.

He repented of his words and from then on was very attentive to everything he said."

3. Resurrection of people and paradise

Holy Apostle John the Theologian describes what awaits the world at the end of time:

And I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the former heaven and the former earth had already passed, and the sea was no more. And I, John, saw the holy city of Jerusalem, new, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven, saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, they will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death: neither weeping, nor crying, nor sickness will be anymore, for the former has passed. And He who sits on the throne said: Behold, I make all things new... I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end; to the thirsty one free of charge from the source of living water... And he (the angel) lifted me up in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the great city, holy Jerusalem, which descended from heaven from God. He had the glory of God ... I did not see a temple in him, for the Lord God Almighty is his temple, and the Lamb. And the city has no need of either the sun or the moon for its illumination; for the glory of God hath illumined him, and his lamp is the Lamb. The saved nations will walk in its light... And nothing unclean will enter into it, and no one given over to abomination and falsehood, but only those who are written in the Lamb's book of life.
(Rev. 21:1-6, 10, 22-24, 27).

All the dead will be resurrected in new bodies, and the living will be changed. The Apostle Paul writes:

I tell you a secret: not all of us will die, but we will all change suddenly, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality (1 Cor. 15:51-53).

The bodies of people will become spiritual, they will visibly reflect the state of their spirit.

The Lord Jesus Christ said about the resurrection of the saints: "then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father" (Matthew 13:43).

The Holy Apostle Paul says: it is sown (the body) in humiliation, it rises in glory" (1 Cor. 15:43), "the glory of the sun is different, the glory of the moon is different, the stars are different; and star differs from star in glory. So it is with the resurrection of the dead" (1 Cor. 15:41-42).

St. Macarius the Great writes about the bodies in which people will be resurrected:

“...according to the Holy Scriptures, Christ will come from heaven, and will resurrect all the tribes of Adam, all those who have died from the beginning, and will divide them into two parts, and which have His own sign, that is, the seal of the Spirit, those, speaking as His own, He will put at His right hand . For he says, My sheep hear my voice (John 10:27); and know mine, and know me mine (14). Then their bodies for good deeds will be clothed with divine glory, and they themselves will be filled with the spiritual glory that they still had in their souls. And thus, glorified by the divine light and caught up to heaven at the meeting of the Lord in the air, according to what is written, we will always be with the Lord (1 Thess. 4:17), reigning with Him forever and ever. For to the extent that each one, for his faith and diligence, is worthy to become a partaker of the Holy Spirit, to the same extent his body will be glorified on that day.

The resurrection of mortified souls is still happening today, but the resurrection of bodies will be on that day. But just as the stars established in the sky are not all equal, and one differs from the other in lightness and size: so also in the spiritual progress of the same Spirit there are according to the measure of faith, and one turns out to be richer than the other.

And just as the kingdom of darkness and sin are hidden in the soul until the day of resurrection, when the very body of sinners will be covered with darkness now hidden in the soul: so is the kingdom of light and heavenly image- Jesus Christ mysteriously now illuminates the soul and reigns in the souls of the saints; but, remaining hidden from human eyes, we really see Christ with one soulful eyes until the day of resurrection, when the body itself will be covered and glorified by the light of the Lord, which is still present in the human soul, so that then the body itself reigns together with the soul, even now who receives the kingdom of Christ into herself, who is at rest and illuminated by eternal light.

For to the extent that each one, for his faith and diligence, is worthy to become a partaker of the Holy Spirit, to the same extent his body will be glorified on that day. What the soul has now collected in its inner treasury, then it will open and appear outside the body.

... the time of the resurrection, in which their bodies will be glorified by the inexpressible light that is still hidden in them, that is, by the power of the Spirit, which will then be their clothing, food, drink, joy, gladness, peace, clothing, eternal life. For with all the splendor of the lordship and beauty of heaven, then the Spirit of the Godhead will be made for them, which they have now been honored to receive into themselves.

One day Saint Simeon the New Theologian was so radiant with the Holy Spirit that he exclaimed: "Oh, Lord! Perhaps there is nothing higher in the world than this bliss!" And he received the answer: "What even the saints experience here on earth, in the flesh, in comparison with the future heavenly bliss, is like the sun drawn with charcoal on paper, in comparison with the sun shining in the sky!"

In the life of the next age, the state of the righteous will have different degrees of bliss, according to the moral dignity of everyone, which can be concluded from the words of Holy Scripture: “In my Father’s house there are many mansions” (John 14:2); “each one will receive his reward according to his work” (1 Cor. 3:8).

St. Ephrem the Syrian says:

Just as everyone enjoys the rays of the sensual sun according to the purity of his visual power and impression, and as from one lamp that illuminates the house, each beam has its place, while the light is not divided into many lamps, so in the next age all the righteous will dwell inseparably in one joy. , but each in his own way, will be illuminated by a single mental sun and, according to the degree of dignity, draw joy and more fun, as if in the same air and place.

St. rights. John of Kronstadt:

“The moral law of God is constantly operating in the world, according to which every good is rewarded internally, and every evil is punished; evil is accompanied by sorrow and constriction of the heart, and good is accompanied by peace, joy and space of the heart.

The present state of our souls prefigures the future. The future will be a continuation of the present state of the internal, only in a modified form in relation to its degree.

Rev. Parthenius of Kyiv:

Like the heavenly and on earth there is paradise, there is also hell, only invisible, since God is in heaven, He is also on earth; only here everything is invisible, and there everything is visible: God, and heaven, and hell.

Rev. Efrem Sirin:

“The soul, in its dignity, is higher than the body, the spirit is higher than it, and the hidden Divinity is higher than its spirit. But at the end, the flesh will be clothed in the beauty of the soul, the soul in the radiance of the spirit, and the spirit will become like the majesty of God ...
He, the Lord of all, is the treasury of all. To each, according to his strength, as if through a small hole, He shows the beauty of His hidden Being and the radiance of His greatness. And His radiance with love illuminates everyone: the small - with a faint flicker, the perfect - with rays of light. The full glory of Him beholds only the One Born by Him.
To what extent one has cleansed his eye here, in such a measure he will be able to contemplate the glory of Him Who is above all. To the extent that here one opens his hearing, to such an extent will he partake of His wisdom there. To what extent a man prepares his bowels here, in such measure he will receive from His treasures there too ... "

Saint Basil the Great:

Some (God) will honor with great honors, others with less, because "the star differs from the star in glory" (1 Cor. 15, 41). And since there are "many mansions" with the Father, some will rest in a more excellent and higher state, and others in a lower one.

Rev. Maxim the Confessor:

For in the host of the saved gods, God will stand in the midst of them (Ps. 81.1), giving each of them a measure of heavenly bliss, and there will be no gap in space between Him and the worthy. And some say that the Kingdom of Heaven will be the habitation in heaven of those who are worthy; others - that they will have an angelic state of those who have been saved; and still others - that it will be a contemplation of the very beauty of the Deity and those who have carried the image of the heavenly will find it. In my opinion, all three opinions agree with the truth. For everyone will be given grace according to how and how righteous he was.

Rev. Efrem Sirin:

The Artist who created them diversified and multiplied the beauties of paradise: for the lower He appointed the lower part of Paradise, for the middle ones - the middle one, and for the higher ones - the very height.
When the righteous ascend to the degrees assigned to them as an inheritance, then each, according to his deeds, will be raised to the very degree that he is worthy and to which he should remain. As great is the number and difference in degrees, so is the number and difference in the dignity of those pardoned: the first degree is assigned to the repentant, the middle to the righteous, and the height to the victors. The hall of the Divine is exalted above everything.
There I saw the booths of the righteous, pouring out fragrance, garnished with flowers, topped with delicious fruits. The booth of each is decorated in proportion to his deeds: one is lower with its decoration, the other shines with beauty; one is less visible, the other shines with glory.

4. God will make up for what is missing

Holy Scripture testifies of paradise, that
“Nothing unclean will enter into it, and no one who is given over to abomination and falsehood” (Rev. 21:27).

Abba Dorotheos says:

Believe me, brethren, if someone has at least one passion turned into a habit, then he is subject to torment, and it happens that another does ten good deeds and has one evil habit, and this one, proceeding from an evil habit, overcomes ten good deeds. . An eagle, if it is completely out of the net, but gets entangled in it with one claw, then through this smallness all its strength is cast down; for is he not already in the net, although he is wholly outside it, when he is held in it by one claw? Can't the catcher grab it if he wants to? So it is with the soul: if even one passion turns itself into a habit, then the enemy, whenever it takes it into his head, overthrows it, for it is in his hands because of that passion.

But he also adds:

That is why I always say to you: do not allow any passion to turn into a habit for you, but strive and pray to God day and night so that you do not fall into temptation. If, however, we are defeated, like men, and fall into sin, then we will try to immediately rise up, repent of it, weep before the goodness of God, let us be vigilant and strive. And God, seeing our good will, our humility and contrition, will give us a helping hand and show mercy to us.

Also teacher Macarius the Great writes that

“What a man loves in the world, then burdens his mind, takes possession of him and does not allow him to gather his strength. Balance, declination, and the preponderance of vice depend on this ... Whatever one is tied to the world, whether small or great, then keeps him and does not allow him to gather his strength. With what passion a man does not fight courageously, he loves it, and it possesses him, and burdens him, and becomes for him a fetter and an obstacle to his mind to turn to God, to please Him, and, having served Him alone, become fit for the kingdom and improve the eternal life….
And if he loves the Lord and His commandments; then in this he finds both help and relief for himself ... as soon as the soul loved the Lord, it is snatched from these nets by its own faith and great diligence, and together with the help from above it is worthy of the eternal kingdom, and having really loved it, of its own will and with the help of the Lord, is no longer deprived of eternal life.

If a Christian struggled with passions, repented and fought against them good deeds, then the Lord will make up for the lack of such a soul. In paradise there will be no more sin, no uncleanness, the saints will be changed by the grace of God and will be insensitive to sin their will will become perfectly one with the holy will of God.

The Word of God states:

He who sows iniquity will reap trouble, and his reed of wrath will not be. God loves a person who gives cheerfully, and the lack of deeds will make up for him (Proverbs 22:8).

St. Ignatius (Bryanchaninov) teaches:

"Immutability in goodness- belongs to the future century.

Venerable Barsanuphius of Optina He speaks:

People who struggle with passions, like all of us, sometimes overcome them, sometimes are defeated by them. Those who struggle will be saved, the Lord will not despise their labors and efforts and will send them a Christian death. But carnal people, who do not think at all about the salvation of their souls, will perish, unless, of course, they repent before death.

Venerable Macarius the Great claims that even the saints in their earthly life do not reach the state of perfection. The saint writes about this in his works thus:

“To this day I don’t know a single Christian who is perfect or free. On the contrary, if someone rests in grace, comes to mysteries and revelations, to a feeling of great grace-filled sweetness, then sin still abides within him.

Therefore, salvation is always a grace and gift of God for a person. This is also evidenced by Carthaginian Cathedral: "This is also determined: if someone says that the saints in the Lord's prayer: forgive us our debts - they do not speak about themselves, since they no longer need this petition, but about other sinners who are among their people, and that each of them does not say saints especially: forgive me my debts, - but: forgive us our debts, - so that this petition of the righteous is understood about others more than about himself - so be anathema "(Rules of the Council of Carthage. Rule 129).

Archimandrite Raphael (Karelin):

"The word "holiness" is much deeper in its meaning. We have not found a single synonym for it, because, indeed, holiness is not a quality; holiness is what makes a person a new creation, a creative Divine power. A saint is a person in whom grace acts. A saint is one who has given a place in his heart to the Holy Spirit; this is a ray that shone from the Light of Tabor. Here, on earth, grace can be gained and lost. The life of even great ascetics is a series of constantly changing relationships between grace and human will, between holiness and sin, this is a process which the ascetics call invisible warfare.In eternity, when the time of trials is already behind us, the grace of God will make up for the lack and unite with the human soul inseparably, inseparably, forever, and after the resurrection it will transform and spiritualize the bodies of the saints. Moreover, holiness in eternal life is not static, but an eternal approach to the Divine, an eternal ascent along the spiritual steps, an eternal illumination. the divine light (what in the language of asceticism is called deification) of ever greater strength and intensity. In this light, a person is transformed and becomes more and more capable of contemplating Divine beauty, himself becoming more and more beautiful from this, like a crystal in which the rays of the rising sun are reflected and play.

Rev. Ephraim Sirin writes:

Be patient, mourners: you will enter paradise. Its dew will wash away your impurities; his dwelling place will gladden you. His supper will put an end to your labors: it will offer consolation to the hungry, which purifies those who eat it, and to those who are thirsty, a heavenly drink that makes those who drink it wise.
There are no dark spots in the inhabitants of paradise, because they are pure from sin; there is no anger in them, because they are free from all irritability; there is no mockery, because they know no deceit. They do not harm each other, they do not harbor enmity in themselves, because envy does not exist for them; no one is condemned there, because there are no offenses there.
There the sons of men see themselves in glory; they themselves wonder why their nature has become calm and pure, why outwardly they shine with beauty, but inwardly they shine with purity: apparently - the body, and invisibly - the soul.
Bodies, containing blood and moisture, reach there the same purity as the soul itself. The wings of the soul, burdened here, become much purer there and become like the mind. The mind itself, which is unceasingly restless here, is serene there like the majesty of God.

St. Theophan the Recluse writes:

When a person became a transgressor of the law, he could not otherwise hope to achieve his goal (i.e., communion with God) than through the assimilation of someone else's righteousness. This digestible righteousness makes up for the lack of legitimacy in our lives. and gives us the opportunity to be close to God.

5. Bliss of the righteous

The Holy Fathers write about the future blessedness of the righteous as follows:

Saint Tikhon of Zadonsk:

Believe me, beloved, that a person would want to suffer all his life, if there was a need, if only he would not be deprived of eternal bliss, if he saw at least a particle of it. It is so big, so beautiful, so sweet!

Saint John Chrysostom:

"What we have been promised exceeds every human mind and transcends all reasoning.

There is the same difference between present and future glory as there is between a dream and reality."

When St. A certain brother asked Abba Dorotheus about himself, why did he fall into carelessness in his cell, the elder said to him: “Because you did not know either the expected peace or the future torment. For if you knew this for certain, then at least your cell would be full of worms, so that you would stand up to your neck in them, you would endure this without relaxing.

Rev. Ambrose Optinsky:

You write that now, both from a painful state and from a mood of your soul, you often cry and most of all pray to God that in your future life you will not lose the sight of Christ; and you ask if this is not a proud thought? No. Only you do not understand this thought in such a way, because all those who are pardoned by the Lord will be vouchsafed the contemplation of Christ; and the Kingdom of Heaven is nothing else but joy in Christ the Savior from beholding Him. So, on the contrary, those who are excommunicated from Christ will be deprived of the Kingdom of Heaven, and will be sent to torment. And Saint Chrysostom says that to be excommunicated from Christ is more terrible than hell and more painful than any torment. The Monk Theognost in the last chapter says: “If anyone does not hope to be where the Holy Trinity is, let him try not to lose the sight of the incarnate Christ.” And the holy Ladder in the 29th Degree in the 14th chapter writes that those who have attained dispassion will be where the Trinity is. In the middle measure those who are will have different habitations. And those who have received the forgiveness of sins will be honored to be inside the paradise fence, and the latter should not be deprived of the sight of Christ.

Venerable Seraphim of Sarov:

Oh, if you knew what joy, what sweetness awaits the soul of the righteous in heaven, then you would decide to endure all kinds of sorrows, persecutions and slander with thanksgiving in your temporary life. If this very cell of ours were full of worms, and if these worms ate our flesh throughout our temporal life, then we would have to agree to this with every desire, so as not to be deprived of that heavenly joy that God has prepared for those who love him.

"Adam, the father of the universe, in Paradise knew the sweetness of God's love," writes St. Silouan of Athos. - The Holy Spirit is the love and sweetness of the soul, mind and body. And whoever has known God by the Holy Spirit, those insatiably day and night yearn for the living God.

In the future kingdom everything will be spiritualized, immortal and holy. Death will have no power in the realm of glory. “The last enemy will be destroyed - death ... then the word that is written will come true: “death is swallowed up in victory” (1 Cor. 15, 26 and 54) and “time will be no more” (Rev. 10, 6).

For righteous people, eternal life will be so joyful and blissful that we cannot even imagine or depict it in the present. Such bliss of the righteous comes from contemplating God in light and glory and from uniting with Him.

For each of his "abode" will be the highest fullness of bliss available to him - in accordance with how close he is to God in earthly life. All the saints in Paradise will see and know one another, but Christ will see and fill everyone, says St. Simeon the New Theologian. In the Kingdom of Heaven the righteous will become like God (1 John 3:2) and will know Him (1 Cor. 13:12).

The main thing is that those who have reached the future blessed life and become “partakers of the Divine nature” (2 Pet. 1:4) will be participants in that most perfect life, which has its source in God alone. In particular, the future members of the kingdom of God will be vouchsafed, like angels, to see God (Matt. 5:8), they will contemplate His glory not as if through a dim glass, not guessingly, but face to face, and not only contemplate, but also participate themselves. in her, shining like the sun in the kingdom of their Father (Matthew 13:43).

Rev. Ephraim Sirin writes:

“Who is able to enumerate the beauties of paradise? Beautiful is its structure, every part of it is brilliant; Paradise is vast for those who dwell in it. His halls are bright; its springs delight with their fragrance...
With his beauty, he fills with joy and attracts the marchers, illuminates them with the brilliance of rays, delights with his fragrance.
It is impossible even to mentally imagine the image of this majestic and exalted garden, on the top of which the glory of the Lord dwells. What mind will be able to see it with an eye, will have the strength to investigate it, and vigilance at least reach it with a look? His wealth is incomprehensible."

The bliss of the righteous in paradise will be complete, nothing will overshadow it.

"And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death; there will be no more mourning, no outcry, no more pain, for the former things are past."
(Rev. 21:4).

Among the instructions teacher Ambrose of Optina we read:

“Batiushka,” someone asked, “can’t he feel complete bliss in the future life, whose close relatives will suffer in hell?” The elder answered: “No, this feeling will no longer be there; then you will forget about everyone. It’s the same as at an exam. When you go to an exam, you are still scared, and heterogeneous thoughts are crowding; but when you came, you took a ticket, and forgot about everything.” When the heart clings to earthly things, then we must remember that earthly things will not go with us to the Kingdom of Heaven.

St. Theophan the Recluse writes about it:

“You also wrote: “How will the righteous enjoy imperturbable happiness, knowing that somewhere living beings are suffering and will certainly suffer? If they can be happy, then they will cease to be righteous, and such indifference to neighbors in heaven would them to the same Gehenna that they got rid of by practicing compassion and love for those who suffer on earth." This is purely a lawyer's trick - to throw dust in the eyes with sophisms. If the righteous go to hell for lack of compassion for the outcast condemned, then where is God the judge?! - You all forget that hell is not a human invention, but established by God, and according to God's judgment it will be filled. Thus He revealed to us in His Word. If so, then, therefore, such an action is not contrary to God and does not violate, let's say, inner harmony divine properties, but on the contrary, it is required by it. If this is so in God, how can it upset the blessed disposition of the righteous when they are one spirit with the Lord? What the Lord considers right and proper, then they too. If the Lord deems it necessary to send the unrepentant to hell, then they too will be aware of this. And there is no room for compassion. For those who are rejected by God will be rejected by them; the feeling of affinity with them will be cut off. And on earth, spiritual kinship is completely different from natural, and as soon as the latter does not agree with the first, then it cools down and completely disappears: relatives by blood become alien to each other. This was inspired by the Lord when He said: Who is my mother and brother? And he answered: he who does the will of my Father. If this is so on earth, then in heaven it will be revealed in extreme force - and especially after the last Judgment.

Rev. Anatoly of Optina:

And most importantly - I wish you to enter that summer where there are no winters, the sun never sets, and the Sun of that summer is Jesus, eternally shining with the glory of His Father - God, where there will be no sorrows, no sickness, no darkness, not even a shadow , but everything will be light, joy, peace, surpassing every mind and unspeakable joy. And the gates of Heavenly Jerusalem will be opened that summer and will never be closed.

Paradise (Gen 2:8, 15:3, Joel 2:3, Luke 23:42,43, 2 Cor 12:4) is a word of Persian origin and means garden. This is the name of the beautiful dwelling of the first man, described in the book. Genesis. Paradise, in which the first people lived, was material for the body, as a visible blissful dwelling, and for the soul - spiritual, as a state of grace-filled communion with God and spiritual contemplation of creatures.

Paradise is also the name of that blessed dwelling of the celestials and the righteous, which they inherit after the Terrible Judgment of God.

Metropolitan Hilarion (Alfeev):

Paradise is not so much a place as a state of mind; just as hell is suffering resulting from the inability to love and non-participation in the Divine light, so paradise is the bliss of the soul, resulting from an excess of love and light, to which one who is united with Christ fully and completely partakes. This is not contradicted by the fact that paradise is described as a place with various "mansions" and "halls"; all descriptions of paradise are only attempts to express in human language that which is inexpressible and transcends the mind.

In the Bible, "paradise" (paradeisos) is the garden where God placed man; the same word in the ancient church tradition called the future bliss of people redeemed and saved by Christ. It is also called the "Kingdom of Heaven", "the life of the age to come", "the eighth day", "new heaven", "heavenly Jerusalem".

The Holy Apostle John the Theologian says: “And I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the former heaven and the former earth had already passed, and the sea was no more; And I, John, saw the holy city of Jerusalem, new, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven, saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, they will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death: neither weeping, nor crying, nor sickness will be anymore, for the former has passed. And He who sits on the throne said: Behold, I create all things new... I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end; to the thirsty one for free from the source of living water... And he (the angel) lifted me up in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the great city, holy Jerusalem, which descended from heaven from God. He had the glory of God… I did not see a temple in him, for the Lord God Almighty is his temple, and the Lamb. And the city has no need of either the sun or the moon for its illumination; for the glory of God hath illumined him, and his lamp is the Lamb. The saved nations will walk in its light... And nothing unclean will enter into it, and no one given over to abomination and falsehood, but only those who are written in the Lamb's book of life" (Rev. 21:1-6, 10, 22-24, 27 ). This is the earliest description of paradise in Christian literature.

When reading the descriptions of paradise found in hagiographic and theological literature, it must be borne in mind that most of the writers of the Eastern Church speak of the paradise they saw, into which they were raptured by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Even among our contemporaries who have experienced clinical death, there are people who have been to paradise and told about their experience; in the lives of the saints we find many descriptions of paradise. The Monk Theodora, the Monk Euphrosyne of Suzdal, the Monk Simeon Divnogorets, Saint Andrew the Holy Fool and some other saints, like the Apostle Paul, were “caught up to the third heaven” (2 Cor. 12:2) and contemplated the heavenly bliss.

Here is what St. Andrew (X century) says about paradise: “I saw myself in paradise beautiful and amazing, and, admiring the spirit, I thought: “what is this? .. how did I find myself here? ..” I saw myself clothed in the most a light robe, as if woven from lightning; a crown was on my head, woven from great flowers, and I was girded with a royal belt. Rejoicing at this beauty, marveling with my mind and heart at the inexpressible beauty of God's paradise, I walked around it and rejoiced. There were many gardens with tall trees: they swayed with their peaks and amused the eyesight, a great fragrance emanated from their branches ... It is impossible to liken those trees to any earthly tree: God's hand, not a human one, planted them. There were countless birds in these gardens ... I saw a great river flowing in the middle (gardens) and filling them. There was a vineyard on the other side of the river... Quiet and fragrant winds breathed there from four sides; gardens swayed from their breath and made a marvelous noise with their leaves ... After that, we entered a wonderful flame, which did not scorch us, but only enlightened us. I began to be horrified, and again the angel who guided me turned to me and gave me his hand, saying: “We must ascend even higher.” With this word, we found ourselves above the third heaven, where I saw and heard a multitude of heavenly powers singing and glorifying God… (Climbing even higher), I saw my Lord, as once Isaiah the prophet, sitting on a high and exalted throne, surrounded by seraphim. He was clothed in a scarlet robe, His face shone with unspeakable light, and He lovingly turned His eyes to me. Seeing Him, I fell before Him on my face... What joy then from seeing His face seized me, it is impossible to express, so even now, remembering this vision, I am filled with indescribable sweetness. prepared for those who love God,” and heard “the voice of joy and spiritual gladness.”

In all descriptions of paradise, it is emphasized that earthly words can only to a small extent depict heavenly beauty, since it is "inexpressible" and surpasses human comprehension. It also speaks of the "many mansions" of paradise (John 14:2), that is, of different degrees of blessedness. “Some (God) will honor with great honors, others with less,” says St. Basil the Great, “because “star differs from star in glory” (1 Cor. 15:41). And since there are “many mansions” with the Father, he will rest some in a more excellent and higher state, and others in a lower one. God in earthly life. All the saints in Paradise will see and know one another, but Christ will see and fill everyone, says St. Simeon the New Theologian. In the Kingdom of Heaven, “the righteous will shine like the sun” (Matt. 13:43), become like God (1 John 3:2) and know Him (1 Cor. 13:12). Compared to the beauty and luminosity of paradise, our earth is a "gloomy dungeon," and the light of the sun, compared to the Trinitarian Light, is like a small candle. Even those heights of contemplation of God, to which St. Simeon ascended during his lifetime, in comparison with the future bliss of people in paradise, is the same as the sky drawn with a pencil on paper, in comparison with the real sky. According to the teachings of St. Simeon, all the images of paradise found in hagiographic literature - fields, forests, rivers, palaces, birds, flowers, etc. - are only symbols of that bliss that lies in the unceasing contemplation of Christ.

Metropolitan Sourozhsky Anthony:

Adam lost paradise - that was his sin; Adam lost paradise - this is the horror of his suffering. And God does not condemn; He calls, He supports. In order for us to come to our senses, He puts us in conditions that clearly tell us that we are perishing, we need to be saved. And He remains our Savior, not our Judge. Christ several times in the Gospel says: I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world (Jn.Z.17; 12.47). Until the fullness of time comes, until the end comes, we are under the judgment of our conscience, we are under the judgment of the Divine word, we are under the judgment of the vision of Divine love embodied in Christ - yes. But God does not judge; He prays, He calls, He lives and dies. He descends into the very depths of human hell, so that only we can believe in love and come to our senses, not to forget that there is a paradise.

And heaven was in love; and Adam's sin was that he did not keep love. The question is not in obedience or in listening, but in the fact that God offered all of Himself, without a trace: His being, love, wisdom, knowledge - He gave everything in this union of love, which makes one being out of two (as Christ says about Himself and about the Father: I am in the Father and the Father is in Me [John 14:11], as fire can pierce iron, as heat penetrates to the marrow of bones). And in this love, in inseparable, inseparable union with God, we could be wise with His wisdom, love with all the scope and bottomless depth of His love, know with all Divine knowledge. But the man was warned: do not seek knowledge through eating the fruit from the tree of Good and Evil, - do not seek cold knowledge of the mind, external, alien to love; do not seek knowledge of the flesh, intoxicating and intoxicating, blinding... And this is precisely what man was tempted to do; he wanted to know what is good and what is evil. And he created good and evil, because evil consists in falling away from love. He wanted to know what it is to be and not to be, but he could know this only if he was established forever through love, rooted to the depths of his being in Divine love.

And the man fell; and with him the whole world was shaken; everything, everything was clouded and shaken. And the judgment to which we aspire, that Last Judgment, which will be at the end of time, is also only about love. The parable of the goats and the sheep (Mt. 25:31-46) speaks of precisely this: did you manage to love on earth with a generous, affectionate, courageous, kind love? Did you manage to feel sorry for the hungry, did you manage to feel sorry for the naked, the homeless, did you have the courage to visit a prisoner in prison, did you forget the person who is sick, in the hospital, alone? If you have this love, then you have a path to Divine love; but if there is no earthly love, how can you enter into Divine love? If what is given to you by nature, you cannot realize, how can you hope for the supernatural, for the miraculous, for God?.. And in this world we live.

The story of paradise is in some respects, of course, an allegory, because it is a world that has perished, a world to which we have no access; we do not know what it is to be a sinless, innocent creature. And in the language of the fallen world, it is possible only with images, pictures, likenesses to indicate what was and what no one else will ever see or know ... We see how Adam lived - as a friend of God; we see that when Adam matured, reached some degree of wisdom and knowledge through his communion with God, God brought all creatures to him, and Adam gave each creature a name - not a nickname, but the name that expressed the very nature, the very mystery of this creatures. God, as it were, warned Adam: look, look - you see through the creature, you understand it; because you share My knowledge with Me, since you can share it with your still incomplete maturity, the depths of creation are revealed before you ... And when Adam peered into the whole creation, he did not see himself in it, because, although he was taken from the earth, although he is his flesh and his spiritual being a part of this universe, material and spiritual, but in him there is also a spark from God, the breath of God, which the Lord breathed into him, making him an unprecedented creature - man.

Adam knew he was alone; and God brought a deep sleep upon him, separated a certain part from him, and Eve stood before him. St. John Chrysostom speaks of how in the beginning all possibilities were laid in a person, and how gradually, as he matured, both male and female properties, incompatible in one being, began to appear in him. And when he reached maturity, God separated them. And it was not in vain that Adam exclaimed: This is flesh of my flesh, this is bone of my bone! She will be called a wife, because she is, as it were, squeezed out of me ... (Gen. 2:23). Yes; but what did these words mean? They could mean that Adam, looking at Eve, saw that she was bone from his bones, flesh from his flesh, but that she had an originality, that she was a full-fledged being, completely significant, which is connected with the Living God in a unique way, as and he is uniquely connected with Him; or they could mean that he saw in her only a reflection of his own being. This is how we see each other almost constantly; even when love unites us, we so often do not see a person in himself, but see him in relation to ourselves; we look at his face, we peer into his eyes, we listen to his words - and we are looking for an echo of our own being ... It's scary to think that so often we look at each other - and see only our reflection. We do not see another person; it is only a reflection of our being, our existence.

Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin:

The Lord speaks clearly about who exactly will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. First of all, He says that a person who wants to enter this Kingdom must have faith in Him, true faith. The Lord Himself says: "Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, and whoever does not believe will be condemned." The Lord predicts the condemnation of people to torment. He does not want this, the Lord is merciful, but He, at the same time, says that people who do not meet a high spiritual and moral ideal will face weeping and gnashing of teeth. We don’t know what heaven will be like, we don’t know what hell will be like, but it is obvious that people who freely choose a life without God, a life that contradicts His commandments, will not be left without a formidable reward, primarily related to the internal state of mind of these people . I know that there is a hell, I knew people who left this world in the state of ready inhabitants of hell. Some of them, by the way, committed suicide, which I'm not surprised at. They could be told that this was not necessary, because eternal life awaits a person, but they did not want eternal life, they wanted eternal death. People who lost faith in other people and in God, having met God after death, would not have changed. I think that the Lord would offer them His mercy and love. But they will tell Him, "We don't need it." There are already many such people in our earthly world, and I do not think that they will be able to change after crossing the border that separates the earthly world from the world of eternity.

Why must faith be true? When a person wants to communicate with God, he must understand Him as He is, he must address exactly the one to whom he addresses, without imagining God as something or someone that and whom He is not.

Now it is fashionable to say that God is one, but the paths to it are different, and what difference does it make how this or that religion or denomination or philosophical school imagines God ─ all the same, God is one. Yes, there is only one God. There are not many gods. But this one God, as Christians believe, is precisely the God who revealed Himself in Jesus Christ and in His Revelation, in the Holy Scriptures. And by referring instead to God, to someone else, to a being with different characteristics, or to a being that does not have a personality, or to a non-being in general, we do not turn to God. We turn, at best, to something or someone whom we have invented for ourselves, for example, to "god in the soul." And sometimes we can also refer to beings that are different from God and are not God. It can be angels, people, forces of nature, dark forces.

So, in order to enter the Kingdom of God, one must have faith and be ready to meet precisely with that God who is the King in this Kingdom. So that you recognize Him and He recognizes you, so that you are ready to meet exactly with Him.

Further. For salvation, the inner moral state of a person is important. The understanding of "ethics" as an exclusively sphere of interpersonal relations, especially in the pragmatic dimension of human life: business, politics, family, corporate relations, is a very truncated understanding of ethics. Morality is directly related to what is happening inside you, and it is precisely this dimension of morality that the Sermon on the Mount of Christ the Savior sets.

The Lord speaks not only about those external norms, the formal norms of the Old Testament law, which were given to the ancients. He talks about the state of the human soul. “Blessed are the pure in heart” - blessed are those who do not have dirt inside themselves, do not have motives for vice, do not have the desire to commit sin. And He evaluates this state of the soul just as strictly, no less strictly, as the external actions of a person. The God-man, the Lord Jesus Christ, gives new commandments that cannot fit into the framework of worldly morality. He gives them as completely immutable indications that are not subject to relativization, that is, to declare them relative. This is an unconditional imperative, from which follows an unconditional demand for a whole new level of moral purity from those who become worthy to enter His Kingdom.

The Savior unequivocally, decisively declares inadmissible slander towards neighbors, fornication, divorce and marriage with a divorced woman, swearing by heaven or earth, resisting evil committed against yourself, ostentatious creation of alms, prayer and fasting, receiving an appropriate moral reward from people ─ all those things that are normal and natural from the point of view of secular ethics.

Christ also condemns a person's satisfaction with his moral state, his moral merits. Obviously, such moral standards are not applicable to philistine morality, reconciled with a certain measure of evil. A true Christian cannot put up with any measure of evil, and the Lord forbids this. He says that any sinful movement of the soul is a path away from the Kingdom of Heaven.

The Lord also says that faith, the moral state of a person cannot but be expressed in what he does. We know the words of the Apostle James: "Faith without works is dead." In the same way, the vicious state of a person is expressed in evil deeds. We do not acquire irrevocable merit by our good deeds, as Catholic legalism says. A formally done good deed, which is expressed in dollars, rubles, the number of services rendered, and so on, does not provide a person with salvation by itself. What matters is the intention with which you do it. But a person who truly believes cannot refuse to help his neighbor, cannot pass by the suffering of a person in need of help. And the Lord says that the standards set by Him in the field, including good deeds, should many times exceed the standards given for the Old Testament world. Here are His words: "I tell you that unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven." What is the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees? This is righteousness the best people a society living without God's grace, a society living according to worldly laws, according to the laws of compromise with evil, according to the laws of fallen human nature. The scribes and Pharisees are not the fiends of hell, they are the moral authorities of a society that lived according to the laws of Old Testament morality. These are smart, enlightened people, very religiously active, not prone to vices, who consider themselves entitled to denounce apostates from the very worldly morality of the people or family. These are not publicans who collected the occupation tax, these are not harlots ─ prostitutes, not drunkards, not vagabonds. These are, in modern terms, classic "decent people." The Pharisees are those moral authorities of this world who are presented on our TV screen as the most worthy people. It is their righteousness that the Christian must transcend, because this righteousness is not sufficient for salvation.

It is obvious that the Lord does not consider the majority of people entering into the kingdom of God. He says: “Wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and many go through it; for narrow is the gate and narrow is the way that leads to life, and there are few who find it.” We believe and will always believe in the mercy of God to every person, even to a sinner, even to a criminal, even to the unrepentant. Recently His Holiness Patriarch said that we would discuss in the Church possible forms of prayers for suicides. These will not be the very formulas of prayers that go on at the usual funeral service or at the usual memorial service, when we sing: "With the saints, rest in peace, Christ, the souls of Thy servant." This will be a special prayer. Maybe we will ask the Lord to accept the soul of a person, show mercy to him. And we believe in the mercy of God to every person: an unbeliever, a sinner, a criminal. But entering into His kingdom is a special gift that the Lord makes very clear does not belong to most people.

The Lord Jesus Christ warns people against being carried away by a philistine way of life, He offers His apostles, His followers a different way of life, saying that not everyone can accommodate it, but He clearly warns about the danger of a philistine existence. This does not mean that the Lord declares His disciples to be some kind of social or moral elite. The Kingdom of God is open to any person, regardless of educational or intellectual level. But the level of morality necessary for salvation is radically different from the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, which was revered in the worldly environment or in the Old Testament environment as the highest achievement.

The moral ideal given to us by the Lord Jesus Christ is very radical. It cannot be fulfilled by human forces. After the Lord answers a man that it is easier for a camel to enter into the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God, His apostles ask: “Who can be saved?” He replies that it is impossible for a man, but everything is possible for God. The high moral standard set in the Sermon on the Mount is unattainable by human strength. The moral requirements in the Gospel are not just a system of prohibitions that the human will can fulfill. They are so high that no will is able to fulfill them.

Yes, upbringing and external restrictions are important, but they alone are not capable of leading a person to achieve a moral ideal, and, therefore, to salvation. Rather, what is important is the free choice of the individual, allowing God to act in him, in the soul, in the heart of man. Christian ethics speaks, first of all, not about strengthening the will, not about self-improvement, not about coercion to do good, but about the effect of the grace of God on a person, transforming a person so much that the very thoughts of sin become impossible. Without the action of God, without the Sacraments of the Church, a person cannot become moral in the sense that is laid down in the Sermon on the Mount. Yes, we must work on ourselves in synergy with God, do good deeds, resist sin. But the decisive factor in the moral perfection of the individual is the action not of man, but of God. And understanding this radically distinguishes Christian ethics from other ethical systems.