CONTENT
Introduction. Part one. General reasoning and provisions on moral Christian life. A. Fundamentals of Christian life. a) The root of the Christian life is the incarnate economy. aa) The removal from us of the guilt of sin and the legal oath, or our justification, cannot take place without the incarnation of God. 1) Only the God-man, or God incarnate, could bring a sufficient sacrifice for sin 2) Only the works of the God-man can make up for the time of life spent in sin by deeds of righteousness bb) But our renewal, or giving us a new life, is also impossible without the incarnation of God b) The second foundation of Christian life, inseparable from the first, is a living union with the body of the Church, of which the Lord is the head, life-giving and mover. c) The norm of Christian life. aa) The initial norm of human moral life. a) What is the purpose of man? b) The question is, what is the path to this goal, or how is a person adapted to it? c) fulfill the will of God in order to be in communion with God or remain in communion with God by actively fulfilling His holy will. 66) The norm of moral Christian life. a) Communication with the Lord Jesus Christ.. b) 1) Repentance. 2) Faith. 3) Grace (helpful). c) The norm of moral Christian life and its character. B. Characteristics of Christian activity as moral. 1) The conditions for the morality of actions are general and Christian. a) Self-awareness. b) Free initiative. 2) Production of moral acts. a) Consciousness of the will of God in the undertaking. b) Inclination of the will to the obligatory undertaking. c) Prayer as part of Christian deeds. d) Not seeing good deeds. 3) How is the moral worth of a matter determined? a) The subject of moral actions. aa) About duties, or commandments. bb) About advice. cc) About indifferent actions. 6) About the purpose of moral acts. c) About the circumstances of moral acts. 4) Types of morality and ages of moral life in a good and bad direction. a) About virtue. aa) About three types of manifestation of virtue and, firstly, 1) About virtue as the mood of a Christian spirit. 2) About virtue as various good dispositions. 3) About virtue as a good deed. bb) About the ages of a virtuous Christian life. b) About sin. aa) Sin in three forms of its manifestation. 1) Sin is a thing. 2) About sin as a disposition. 3) About sin as a state, or sinful mood. bb) Ages of sinful life. C. Consequences and fruits of a good Christian life and a life opposite to it. a) In what features does the Word of God depict a true Christian and a person who is not a Christian? b) Condition components human nature, its essential properties and powers in a true Christian and a sinner. c) The state of cognitive, desirable, feeling forces in a Christian and a sinner. aa) The state of cognitive forces. 1) The state of the highest ability of cognition, or reason. 2) State of mind. 3) The state of lower cognitive abilities. 3a) Observation state. 3b) State of memory and imagination. 3c) The state of memory, or reproductive imagination. 3d) State of fantasy. 3d) State of sleep. bb) The state of human active forces. 1) State of conscience. 2) State of will. 3) The state of lower desires. cc) The state of the sentient forces, or the heart. 1) About the heart as a point of contact, or the seat of sympathy. 2) About the heart as the center of strength of the human being. 2a) The heart as a friend and container of spiritual feelings. 2b) The heart as a container of emotional feelings. 2c) About the lower, sensory-animal feelings. d) Attitude to the body.

Part two. The true Christian life in action. Section 1. Commandments and rules of life A. Faith is the head of everything. 1. Duties of faith.. 2. Duties of faith. 3. Sins against faith.. B. Piety, life in the spirit of faith.. 1. Feelings and dispositions on the path of reunification with God.. a) Feelings and dispositions on the path of union with the Lord Savior.. b) Feelings and dispositions on the path of ascension from Lord Savior to the Trinitarian God 2. Feelings and dispositions of a Christian abiding in God. a) Feelings and dispositions towards God arising from the consciousness or contemplation of His infinite perfections. b) Feelings and dispositions towards God - from contemplation of His creativity and providence. c) Feelings and dispositions - from the contemplation of God, the Perfecter of all things. 149 d) Prayer is the container and arena of life in faith and piety. aa) The meaning of prayer. 66) The consequences are good. cc) Conditions. d) Education through prayer. dd) Degrees. 3. Communion with God through communication with the Holy Church.. a) Feelings and dispositions from the attitude towards the Church as the repository of grace-filled means of salvation.. b) Feelings and dispositions from the attitude towards the Church as the receptacle of the saved and being saved c) How a Christian should treat himself to hold and form in order to be in a living union with the Church, and through it with God.. Section 2. Commandments and rules of life obligatory for a Christian. A. Family responsibilities. a) General responsibilities of the entire family. aa) Chapter. bb) The whole family. b) Mutual responsibilities of different family members. aa)Spouses. 1) General duties. 2) Responsibilities of the husband. 3) Responsibilities of a wife.. bb) Parents and children. 1) Responsibilities of parents. 2) Responsibilities of children. cv) Relatives. d) Other, random persons accepted into the family. dd) Lords and servants. B. Church duties. a) Responsibilities of pastors. b) Responsibilities of the flock. c) Duties of the clergy. d) Responsibilities of monastics. B. Civil and public responsibilities.

Introduction
​​​​​​​1) Christianity is the economy of our salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ. Since man cannot be saved without God, and God cannot save man without man, then Christian faith teaches, on the one hand, what God did for the salvation of man, on the other, what man himself must do in order to improve salvation. The latter is the subject of Christian moral teaching. He who seeks salvation, enlightened by faith, must have a thorough knowledge of what faith requires of him, how he should live and act as a Christian. 2) Such knowledge can be acquired through reading and listening to the Word of God, the writings of the fathers, conversations and teachings offered from the church pulpit, and from each other in mutual relationships with Christians. But the surest way to achieve this is to depict Christian life in a general overview, where the various rules of Christian life would be set out in order, in mutual subordination of one to the other and in as complete a form as possible. In this case, the rules of life can be more easily learned and more accurately understood. If you put together all the rules that apply in life, you will find that they exempt themselves from other demands of Christianity, give others a false meaning, others limit them to the conditions of external circumstances - and in general there will be a great confusion in the concepts of the proper Christian life and the proper moral behavior of a Christian. All this is due to the fact that the rules of Christian morality come to the attention of people in parts, and individually, in fact, one rule may seem very strict, another - allowing for a variety of interpretations and applications. The easiest way to ward off this wrong is with a complete depiction of all Christian moral teaching. And St. Basil the Great in his time noticed a similar confusion in the concepts of moral life, when “everyone autocratically presented his thoughts and principles as the true rule of life, and the deep-rooted customs and traditions of man made it so that some sins were excused, while others were indiscriminately punished; some, apparently small ones, were indignant, while others did not even deserve a slight reprimand.” And therefore, in order to heal this ailment, he considered it necessary to “select from the God-inspired Scripture everything that pleases and displeases man to God, and all the prohibitions and commands scattered in different places, for the easiest understanding, to present collectively in the rules , so that it is all the more easy to wean people from acting according to the habit of their own will or according to human tradition” (Creations of the Holy Fathers, vol. 9). For the same purpose, the present outline of the image of true Christian life is offered. 3) The life of a Christian is characterized by faith, therefore Christian moral teaching must be characterized by faith. Just as in life faith and works of faith enter into each other, intertwine and mutually contribute to each other, so in teaching - doctrine and moral teaching should not lose sight of each other. Doctrine has always gone into unnecessary digressions and refinements when it does not adhere to moral goals; and moral teaching took inappropriate directions when it was not illuminated by religious teaching; most importantly, it then did not differ in any way from philosophical moral teaching. The last remark does not hint that speculative moral teaching built on natural principles has no place at all in Christian moral teaching. On the contrary, it is impossible to do without it. Christianity restores our nature and places it in its proper order. Our nature, thus, serves as the point of departure for the influence of Christianity on it. The same is true in moral teaching - the indication of what a person should be by nature serves as an interpretation of why this and that is required of him if he wants to become a real rank, which is for the purposes of Christian moral teaching. This is our mark everywhere. 4) There is nothing to say much about the sources of Christian moral teaching. They are one and the same with the sources of doctrine. It is enough to remember that here, in addition to the Word of God and the consistent teaching of St. Fathers of the Church, must be guided especially by the ascetic writings of the ascetic fathers, the lives of saints and church hymns, in which Christian virtues are glorified. The most suitable tool for outlining Christian moral teaching could be Christian psychology. In the absence of it, we had to be content with our own concepts about mental phenomena, with the instructions of our ascetic fathers. 5) Our outline has two parts: the first contains general reasoning and provisions about moral and ethical Christian life; and the second sets out the very life of a Christian, as it should be, or proposes rules for the life of a Christian as a Christian and as a person who is sometimes in different states and positions.

Part two. True Christian Life in Action

Section 1. Commandments and rules of life, obligatory for a Christian as a Christian

Section 2. Commandments and rules of life obligatory for a Christian

Part 1

Introduction

1) Christianity is the economy of our salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ. Since man cannot be saved without God, and God cannot save man without man, the Christian faith teaches, on the one hand, what God did to save man, and on the other, what man himself must do in order to improve salvation.

The latter is the subject of Christian moral teaching. He who seeks salvation, enlightened by faith, must have a thorough knowledge of what faith requires of him, how he should live and act as a Christian.

2) Such knowledge can be acquired through reading and listening to the Word of God, the writings of the Fathers, conversations and teachings offered from the church pulpit, and from each other in mutual relationships with Christians. But the surest way to achieve this is to depict Christian life in a general overview, where the various rules of Christian life would be set out in order, in mutual subordination of one to the other and in as complete a manner as possible. In this case, the rules of life can be more easily learned and more accurately understood.

If you put together all the rules that apply in life, you will find that you are exempt from other requirements of Christianity, others are given a false meaning, others are limited by the conditions of external circumstances - and in general there will be a great confusion in the concepts of the proper Christian life and the proper moral behavior of a Christian. All this is due to the fact that the rules of Christian morality come to the attention of people in parts, and in isolation, indeed, another rule may seem very strict, while another allows for a variety of interpretations and applications. The easiest way to ward off this wrong is by completely depicting the entire Christian moral teaching. And St. Basil the Great in his time noticed a similar confusion in the concepts of moral life, when “everyone autocratically presented his thoughts and principles as the true rule of life, and the deep-rooted customs and traditions of man made it so that some sins were excused, while others were indiscriminately punished; some, apparently small ones, were indignant, while others did not even deserve a slight reprimand.” And therefore, in order to heal this ailment, he considered it necessary to “select from the God-inspired Scripture everything that pleases and displeases man to God, and all the prohibitions and commands scattered in different places, for the easiest understanding, to present collectively in the rules, so that it will be easier.” to wean people from acting according to the habits of their own will or according to human tradition” (Works of the Holy Fathers, vol. 9). For the same purpose, the present outline of the image of true Christian life is offered.

3) The life of a Christian is characterized by faith, therefore Christian moral teaching must be characterized by faith. Just as in life faith and works of faith enter into each other, intertwine and mutually assist each other, so in teaching - doctrine and moral teaching should not lose sight of each other. Doctrine has always gone into unnecessary digressions and refinements when it does not adhere to moral goals; and moral teaching took inappropriate directions when it was not illuminated by religious teaching; most importantly, it then did not differ in any way from philosophical moral teaching.

The last remark does not hint that speculative moral teaching built on natural principles has no place at all in Christian moral teaching. On the contrary, it is impossible to do without it. Christianity restores our nature and puts it in its proper order. Our nature, thus, serves as the point of departure for the influence of Christianity on it. It’s the same in moral teaching - the indication of what a person should be by nature serves as an interpretation of why this and that is required of him if he wants to become his true rank, which is for the purposes of Christian moral teaching. This is our mark everywhere.

4) There is nothing to say much about the sources of Christian moral teaching. They are the same as the sources of doctrine. It is enough to remember that here, in addition to the Word of God and the consistent teaching of St. Fathers of the Church, should be guided especially by the ascetic writings of the ascetic fathers, the lives of saints and church hymns, in which Christian virtues are glorified.

The most suitable tool for outlining Christian moral teaching could be Christian psychology. In the absence of it, we had to be content with our own concepts about mental phenomena, with the instructions of our ascetic fathers.

5) Our outline has two parts: the first contains general reasoning and provisions about moral and ethical Christian life; and the second sets out the very life of a Christian, as it should be, or proposes rules for the life of a Christian as a Christian and as a person who is sometimes in different states and positions.

A) General reasoning and provisions on moral Christian life.

These provisions indicate:

A) the basics of Christian life;

B) determine the characteristic features of Christian activity as moral;

B) depict the consequences and fruits of a good Christian life and a life contrary to it.

A. Fundamentals of Christian Life

Christian life a) is rooted in the incarnate economy; b) is supported, revealed and bears fruit in a living union with the Church; c) flows according to the predetermined norm arising from the two previous points.

a) The root of the Christian life is in the incarnate economy

Without this economy, Christianity, Christian life and salvation are unthinkable. It was destined from the ages, and came into action in its own time, in the person of the One from the Most Holy Trinity, for us for the sake of men and for our salvation, who came down from heaven and became incarnate from the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary and the incarnate Christ the Lord. From Him came Christian life and salvation, and through Him everything necessary for this was arranged and provided. All this is the embodied economy.

In essence, it is the restoration of the fallen: “ For the Son of Man came to seek and save the lost.”(Matt. 18:11). " For God loved the world, for He gave His only begotten Son to eat, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”(John 3:16). - And that’s why “ The word became flesh"(John 1:14).

Just as the foundation of Christianity, this saving Divine institution, was laid by the Incarnation of God the Word, so the foundation of Christian life is laid by faith in this Incarnation and the participation of His power. Believe in the Son, have a life(John 3:36), and, whoever has faith...will be saved(Mark 16:16). Faith in the power of the incarnate economy is God's gift(Eph. 2:8). But the impulse to seek it and to treasure it is generated by the reasonable conviction that there is no other salvation but through it. It is with this conviction that the outline of Christian moral teaching should begin as a guide to Christian life leading to salvation. At the same time, it is clear that raising to the conviction of the necessity of the incarnation for our salvation will not be an introduction to the comprehension of this mystery. What God appeared in the flesh this I take away will endure by the will of piety in secret(1 Tim. 3:16).

Outline of Christian moral teaching by Theophan the Recluse

1. Duties of Faith

1. Duties of Faith

Under the word faith here of course confession, or an image of knowledge of God and worship expressed in a certain way in concepts and words.

a) The first duty here is have faith or religion, that is, to know in a certain way God and the way of His veneration, or one’s attitude towards Him, or even to contain a confession... This duty is the first directly known, not so much even prescribed as manifesting itself; for such is the nature of the human spirit that it naturally demands God, and seeks Him, and puts itself in relations with Him that it considers legitimate. Therefore, we can say that it is the seed and embryo of all duties, as well as the entire religious and moral life of a person. He who has no faith is a filthy person. He has no image where he should be in the sanctuary of the spirit; for religion is a shrine that sanctifies our entire nature, just as its absence distorts and degrades it. St. Isaac the Syrian notices three states in a person: one, natural, in which a person, by the nature of his spirit, knows God and fears Him. From this state he, according to known conditions, ascends to other, a supernatural or blessed state. Third the state is formed from a person’s immersion in sensuality, or flesh, during which the light of his spirit goes out and is trampled underfoot by carnal lusts. Man descends to the level of animals, attached to foolish beasts and likened to them(Ps. 49:13). You can't live with such a person. For how can you calm him down when he gets angry? Therefore, in fact, the commonly used expressions should be included here: he does not know God, he does not fear God, to mean that one cannot have any dealings with such a person.

b) Duty have faith is not yet a definition of faith itself. Therefore, to this we must also add that a person is obliged to have not just any faith, as it were, any faith, without distinction, but precisely one, definite - the one true faith. For if God is one and unchangeable, and human nature is one, or of the same nature, then the relationship between God and man true there can be only one, and therefore the expression of this relationship, or confession true, there is one. This is the only thing that a person should contain. Otherwise, what will it contain? Lies, ghosts, dreams. What is the merit in this? This is the same as a poor person who has nothing, who, however, dreams in his dreams that he has countless treasures. False religion is a mockery of people. One who falsely confesses the same thing is like a madman who seethes because he sees this and that. But the trouble doesn't stop there. Here lies not a simple deception, not the kind that is resolved by laughter, but pitiful, tormenting, desperate; for in religion everyone hopes to find their final peace and their eternal happiness. In this confidence, everyone holds his faith tightly and values ​​it. But it is known that the secrecy of lies is possible only here; after death it will immediately be revealed how firmly that on which one based his hope... What a terrifying and tearing state will be the one who then sees that he has been deceived. Therefore, while there is time, while we are still on the path to a decisive and unchanging eternity, -

c) Everyone should experience and be sure Is the faith that he adheres to true, and if it turns out to be untrue, find where that one, true one is, which truly leads to the true God and undoubtedly grants eternal salvation. This is as obligatory and compulsory as snatching yourself from the fire... The Lord left Himself untested(Acts 14:17), as well as His only true faith; but when He allowed other faiths to exist near it on this earth and, as it were, to enter into competition with it, He thereby imposed on everyone the obligation not without meaning to hold on to His faith, but on indestructible grounds, for the sake of which everything else is rejected with complete conviction . This test honors faith and maintains the true dignity of a person, a reasonable, conscious, conscientious person. Our faith in our faith, that is, our conviction in the truth of the Orthodox Christian confession, must be reasonable. Therefore, the Lord, in order to incite people to believe in Himself and His teaching, said: try the scriptures(John 5:39), convinced by the preaching of John the Baptist and His miracles. The apostles also convinced everyone in their preaching and only by conviction alone attracted everyone to faith, and not by violence. The very firmness of one’s confession depends on this conviction, and then one’s whole life in the spirit of one’s faith. This is indicated by countless experiences, from which it is clear how strongly others are excited to activity in accordance with faith from the moment of consciousness of its only truth, and, on the contrary, how many sleep in carelessness because they have not brought this consciousness to clarity. There are so many reasons to test and become convinced of what kind of faith is true faith!

How to be sure and how to test! There are two ways to do this: one is external, scientific, and the other is internal, the path of faith. The first is usually offered in a systematic presentation of theology. It is valid and essential for scientists; but, obviously, not universal, because at its core it contains knowledge that is not accessible to everyone. With all this, these scientific arguments should be presented with all their breadth, clarity, and persuasiveness and given for general use with a guarantee for the power of their immutable authority, so that everyone capable of understanding would understand the truth in this way. It is impossible, however, not to see that this path is very, very long and difficult, and, what is especially remarkable, being placed in the head, it leaves the heart to itself, to its own waywardness and freedom. Path faith sincere, inner, livelier, more prolific and publicly accessible. This is a prayer to the one true God for admonition. There is a true God. He told us His will for our salvation, with the desire that it be understood and fulfilled. Now, through human wisdom, it is hidden, or confused to the point that one or the other does not have enough strength to find the way out of this labyrinth. When, in the feeling of this vital need, with a cry, groaning, and heartache, someone turns to God, the true Father of all men, God, who wants His faith to be effective - is it possible that He would not give such a decisive instruction to conviction in its truth? ? He feeds screaming corvids, through prayer sends rain into the thirst of our flesh... and to man and also to his spirit, His image, yearning, seeking to know how to glorify God, as if He will not indicate a source for quenching this spiritual thirst? Such a prayer is in no way a temptation of God, although it can be turned into it when someone insincerely, out of sheer curiosity, would like such signs. Examples of conviction in faith in this way are almost everywhere. Cornelius, the centurion, asked for faith... There were many who came to the hermits to ask about faith, and instead of all the arguments they forced them to pray, and God revealed the truth to them, for example, to the Holy Great Martyr Catherine. IN troubled times of heresies, God raised up people with excellent holiness, clothed them with miraculous power and placed them in the sight of everyone, like candles on a candlestick - let them shine for everyone; Since they were vessels of faith and the power of God, they served as decisive pointers of the truth for all those who doubted. Everyone expected or wanted to know how this and that holy man confessed, and adhered to his confession. It happened that they placed charters depicting a confession into the hands of incorruptible people, prayed to correct the wrong, and received it through prayer. But why bother trying too hard to prove this? The Lord said that everything can be obtained from God by praying to Him with faith, especially by praying for faith, the beginning and source of everything. What does He Himself say in His last prayer to His Father? Sanctify them in truth(John 17:17), these are the apostles, and in their person every believer. It is even certain that since true faith, by its very origin, is miraculous, then these miraculous testimonies must remain in it and for it continuously. They remain. One said about himself: when I look at these incorruptible remains, exuding healing Divine power, and think that the spirit that sanctified this body confessed exactly the faith that I hold, then all doubt, which is sometimes cast by the enemy of truth, disappears in me, and I cannot help but rejoice that God was pleased to give us such a decisive and together such affordable way convictions in the truth of the holy faith. Indeed it is. Therefore, the relics are contemporary with Christianity and are continuous and everywhere in it... In Russia we have them in all limits and in such quantities! In the west they ceased along with its separation from the east and its falling away from the truth, and there is nothing to say about the new confessions formed from the papacy. So this is where the reassuring sermon about the truth of faith is!.. But the most blessed of all is the one who, together with Jerome of Greece, can say: “The faith that I profess is true, for through it I have been vouchsafed to receive some Divine power that is tangibly working in me. And the pagans have scriptures, and temples, and sacrifices, and teachers, and books, and partly knowledge of God, and some good deeds, and holidays, and the use of clothing, and prayers, and all-night vigils, and priests, and much more; but no one in the whole world receives this hidden grace and action of the Holy Spirit in the heart of a Christian, and only those who are correctly baptized into the Father, Son and Holy Spirit receive it by faith” (“Christian Reader,” 1821). So this is the most direct path to the discovery of true faith, namely: faith, prayer, the continuity of miracles in the Church and especially the inner strength delivered in faith.

Everyone look around you and you will see that all sincere believers believe on these grounds, and not on scientific ones... Read, if you want, the scientific bases of faith in any Orthodox Theology. But those with the heart are stronger and more accessible.

From the book My Son Dalai Lama. Mother's story by Tsering Diki

11. Responsibilities of a wife After getting married, I moved to the town of Taktser, 25 kilometers from Churkha. This area was known for producing many girls and very few boys. For this reason, the former Taktser Rinpoche built a chorten, or stupa, to help women

From the book of Ephesians by John Stott

2. Responsibilities of Wives (vv. 22–24) In arguing that wives should submit to their husbands, Paul gives two reasons. The first comes from the doctrine of creation and deals with the “headship” of the husband over the wife, and the second comes from the doctrine of the atonement and speaks of the “headship” of Christ

From the book Outline of Christian Moral Teaching author Feofan the Recluse

1) Responsibilities of parents Spouses have to be parents. Children are one of the goals of marriage and together an abundant source of family joy. Therefore, spouses should look forward to children as a great gift from God and pray for this blessing. Childless spouses are really something

From the book of the Bible. New Russian translation (NRT, RSJ, Biblica) author's Bible

2) Responsibilities of children Children accept so much from their parents! From them is temporary life; from them is the foundation, beginning, methods and eternal life. Hence, children not only naturally, but also conscientiously, should be turned to their parents with special feelings and dispositions, aware

From the book Orthodox Dogmatic Theology. Volume II author Bulgakov Makarii

B. Church responsibilities The Lord handed over the structure of His kingdom, that is, the Church, to the apostles, so that they could teach, baptize, and teach to guard, the apostles - to the bishops, the bishops share their apostolic work with the priests. The work of all of them is to build up the house of God through teaching, sacraments,

From the book Complete Yearly Circle of Brief Teachings. Volume I (January–March) author Dyachenko Archpriest Gregory

a) Duties of shepherds The work of a shepherd is an apostolic work, and the spirit of a shepherd must be apostolic. This is zeal for the salvation of souls, a living zeal: not recognized only as a duty, but also rushing or consuming; active: not only felt inside, but

From the book Getting Married author Milov Sergey I.

b) Responsibilities of the flock According to such a spirit and such care, the shepherds and the flock should not be motionless in the matter of salvation, but, devoting themselves to the education of shepherds, like ready-made material, they themselves should strive in every possible way for this work, assist them in this and

From the author's book

c) Responsibilities of the clergy Near the pastor there are always secondary, helpful persons who make up the clergy. They occupy, as it were, a middle ground between the shepherd and his flock, and therefore they must have corresponding responsibilities. Their duty is to obey the shepherd and in everything

From the author's book

From the author's book

Responsibilities of the Kohathites 1 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron: 2 - Make a census of the Kohathite branch of the Levites by clans and families. 3 Number all the men from thirty to fifty years old who can work in the tent of meeting. 4 This is the service of the Kohathites in the tent of meeting: let them

From the author's book

Duties of the Gershonites 21 The Lord said to Moses: 22 “Again, take a census of the Gershonites by family and clan. 23 Count all the men from thirty to fifty years old who can serve in the tent of meeting. 24 This is the service of the Gershonite clans when they work and carry heavy loads: 25

From the author's book

Responsibilities of the Merarites 29 Count the Merarites by clan and family. 30 Number all the men from thirty to fifty years old who are fit to serve in the tent of meeting. 31 This is their duty when they minister in the tent of meeting: they shall bear the timbers of the tabernacle, its crossbars, its pillars, and

From the author's book

Duties of the Levites 31 These are those to whom David entrusted the song service in the house of the Lord after the ark was brought there. 32 They carried on the song service before the tabernacle of meeting until Solomon built a temple for the Lord in Jerusalem. They performed their duties according to

From the author's book

§ 187. The necessity of grace for faith and for the very beginning of faith, or for the very conversion of a person to Christianity. The grace of God, which is necessary in general for the sanctification and salvation of man, is necessary in particular for his faith and the very beginning of faith in the Lord Jesus.I. That's how I taught

From the author's book

Lesson 1. St. Alexy, Metropolitan of Moscow (Lessons from his life: a) not everyone can be teachers in matters of faith; b) should not shy away from public prayers; c) denunciation of the Old Believers; d) the power of faith) I. St. Alexy, Metropolitan of Moscow, now glorified, to the high

From the author's book

Responsibilities of spouses Despite the fact that in a Christian family the husband and wife must do everything together, however, according to the teachings of the Church, there are specific responsibilities for each spouse. Thus, there are duties that it is fitting for the husband to perform as the head

Introduction

1) Christianity is the economy of our salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ. Since man cannot be saved without God, and God cannot save man without man, the Christian faith teaches, on the one hand, what God did to save man, and on the other, what man himself must do in order to improve salvation.

The latter is the subject of Christian moral teaching. He who seeks salvation, enlightened by faith, must have a thorough knowledge of what faith requires of him, how he should live and act as a Christian.

2) Such knowledge can be acquired through reading and listening to the Word of God, the writings of the Fathers, conversations and teachings offered from the church pulpit, and from each other in mutual relationships with Christians. But the surest way to achieve this is to depict Christian life in a general overview, where the various rules of Christian life would be set out in order, in mutual subordination of one to the other and in as complete a manner as possible. In this case, the rules of life can be more easily learned and more accurately understood.

If you put together all the rules that apply in life, you will find that you are exempt from other requirements of Christianity, others are given a false meaning, others are limited by the conditions of external circumstances - and in general there will be a great confusion in the concepts of the proper Christian life and the proper moral behavior of a Christian. All this is due to the fact that the rules of Christian morality come to the attention of people in parts, and in isolation, indeed, another rule may seem very strict, while another allows for a variety of interpretations and applications. The easiest way to ward off this wrong is by completely depicting the entire Christian moral teaching. And St. Basil the Great in his time noticed a similar confusion in the concepts of moral life, when “everyone autocratically presented his thoughts and principles as the true rule of life, and the deep-rooted customs and traditions of man made it so that some sins were excused, while others were indiscriminately punished; some, apparently small ones, were indignant, while others did not even deserve a slight reprimand.” And therefore, in order to heal this ailment, he considered it necessary to “select from the God-inspired Scripture everything that pleases and displeases man to God, and all the prohibitions and commands scattered in different places, for the easiest understanding, to present collectively in the rules, so that it will be easier.” to wean people from acting according to the habits of their own will or according to human tradition” (Works of the Holy Fathers, vol. 9). For the same purpose, the present outline of the image of true Christian life is offered.

3) The life of a Christian is characterized by faith, therefore Christian moral teaching must be characterized by faith. Just as in life faith and works of faith enter into each other, intertwine and mutually assist each other, so in teaching - doctrine and moral teaching should not lose sight of each other. Doctrine has always gone into unnecessary digressions and refinements when it does not adhere to moral goals; and moral teaching took inappropriate directions when it was not illuminated by religious teaching; most importantly, it then did not differ in any way from philosophical moral teaching.

The last remark does not hint that speculative moral teaching built on natural principles has no place at all in Christian moral teaching. On the contrary, it is impossible to do without it. Christianity restores our nature and puts it in its proper order. Our nature, thus, serves as the point of departure for the influence of Christianity on it. It’s the same in moral teaching - the indication of what a person should be by nature serves as an interpretation of why this and that is required of him if he wants to become his true rank, which is for the purposes of Christian moral teaching. This is our mark everywhere.

4) There is nothing to say much about the sources of Christian moral teaching. They are the same as the sources of doctrine. It is enough to remember that here, in addition to the Word of God and the consistent teaching of St. Fathers of the Church, should be guided especially by the ascetic writings of the ascetic fathers, the lives of saints and church hymns, in which Christian virtues are glorified.

The most suitable tool for outlining Christian moral teaching could be Christian psychology. In the absence of it, we had to be content with our own concepts about mental phenomena, with the instructions of our ascetic fathers.

5) Our outline has two parts: the first contains general reasoning and provisions about moral and ethical Christian life; and the second sets out the very life of a Christian, as it should be, or proposes rules for the life of a Christian as a Christian and as a person who is sometimes in different states and positions.

A) General reasoning and provisions on moral Christian life.

These provisions indicate:

A) the basics of Christian life;

B) determine the characteristic features of Christian activity as moral;

B) depict the consequences and fruits of a good Christian life and a life contrary to it.

A. Fundamentals of Christian Life

Christian life a) is rooted in the incarnate economy; b) is supported, revealed and bears fruit in a living union with the Church; c) flows according to the predetermined norm arising from the two previous points.

a) The root of the Christian life is in the incarnate economy

Without this economy, Christianity, Christian life and salvation are unthinkable. It was destined from the ages, and came into action in its own time, in the person of the One from the Most Holy Trinity, for us for the sake of men and for our salvation, who came down from heaven and became incarnate from the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary and the incarnate Christ the Lord. From Him came Christian life and salvation, and through Him everything necessary for this was arranged and provided. All this is the embodied economy.