Orthodox "Jews" writers. On the relationship of Orthodoxy to Judaism Which of the famous Orthodox priests are baptized Jews
Can a Jew be a Christian?
“Jewish Christian? This doesn’t happen!” - a friend told me categorically. “Who am I?” - I asked. Knowing that I am actively involved both in the life of the local Jewish community (both of my parents are Jews) and in the activities of the local Christian church, my acquaintance found it difficult to answer. Then we had this conversation, excerpts from which I would like to bring to your attention.First, let's define the terms. Who is a “Jew”? Who is a "Christian"? Do these words mean nationality or religion?
There are many definitions of the word “Jew”. Even Hebrew translators cannot give a definite answer to the question of what this word means. Most philologists believe that the word “Jew” comes from the word “Ivri” - “who came from the other side of the river.” This word was first used by Abraham when he entered the Promised Land.
There is another word that is often synonymous with the word “Jew.” This word is “Jew.” The word "Jew" means a person descended from the tribe of Judah, one of the sons of Jacob, the forefather of the Jewish people. The name of the religion, “Judaism,” comes from the same word.
In Russian, these two words express the main difference in concepts. If “Jew” means a follower of Judaism, then “Jew” means a person’s nationality. Russian is not the only language that offers different words for these two concepts. In English, for example, there are also several words with different roots - “Jewish” and “Hebrew”.
But modern disputes, unfortunately, are rarely based on facts of linguistics and science. People prefer to be based on their feelings and opinions. One such opinion is the following: “To be a Jew means to adhere to Judaism, the Jewish faith, rituals and traditions.” What's wrong with this definition? Just that it states that a person who believes in Jesus cannot be a Jew? No, not only. According to this definition, any atheist Jew who does not believe in the existence of God, or a Jew who does not observe all the traditions and rituals of the faith, “ceases” to be a Jew! But this description covers 90% of all Jews living in the territory of the former USSR! Can this opinion really be correct?
Now let's look at the definition of what the word "Christian" means. This word also appears for the first time in the Bible, in the New Testament. At first it sounded like “Christ”, i.e. a person who belongs to Jesus Christ, who has believed in Him and follows Him in his life. But what does it mean to believe in Jesus? First, this, of course, means believing that He really existed and lived as a person on earth. But that's not all. Based on all the historical and scientific facts, this is not difficult to believe. To believe in Jesus also means to believe in His mission on earth, namely, that He was sent by God to die for the sins of all people and rise again to prove His power over life and death.
And what does the word “Christ” itself mean, from which the word “Christ’s” or “Christian” comes? The word "Christ" is the Greek version of the Hebrew word "Mashiach", or "Messiah". It is about the Messiah that the prophecies of the Old Testament - the Hebrew Bible - speak. Scholars once estimated that the Old Testament contained about 300 literal prophecies about the Messiah. Surprisingly, it is true that all the prophecies concerning the first coming of the Messiah were fulfilled by Jesus (Yeshua) of Nazareth. Even such specific ones were fulfilled as indicating the place where the Messiah was to be born (Bethlehem), the method of His birth (from a virgin), how He would die (Ps. 22, Is. 53) and many , a lot others.
So, the word “Christian” itself comes from a Hebrew root, which in itself already eliminates many contradictions.
Now let's turn to the first followers of Jesus. Who were they? Of course, Jews. In those days the question did not even arise about this. All 12 of Jesus’ apostles were Jews, visited the synagogue and the Jerusalem Temple, observed the traditions and culture of their Jewish people... And at the same time, with all their souls and hearts, they believed that Jesus was the promised Messiah of God, who fulfilled all the prophecies of the Tanakh (Old Testament) . And not only them.
Some of the readers probably do not know that in the first century AD the opposite question was acute: can a non-Jew be considered part of the Church? Can a person who does not know the Hebrew Scriptures and prophecies truly accept Jesus as the Messiah? This issue was widely discussed by the early Church and was even brought up at the First Church Council, where it was decided that Jesus died for all people, for all nations, therefore non-Jews cannot be excluded from God's salvation. How can anyone now try to exclude Jews from what rightfully belongs to the Jewish people?
After all, a person’s nationality does not depend on his faith. When I, a Jew, believed in Jesus, no one gave me a blood transfusion - just as I was a Jew with Jewish parents, I still am. Moreover, when I first came to church and believed that Jesus was God, I didn’t even think about whether I could believe it or not. This is what resonated with me; this is what made my whole life clear to me and gave me meaning and purpose in life. Therefore, I did not think about the fact that, due to my nationality, I might not have the right to believe in the truth. It seemed funny.
But the most interesting thing happened in the church where I first heard about Jesus. When the pastor found out that I was Jewish, he...encouraged me to begin reading the Hebrew Scriptures and studying Hebrew and Jewish tradition in order to better understand the New Testament and the meaning of the sacrifice of the Jewish Messiah, Jesus Christ. And I am eternally grateful to this wise pastor, who correctly perceived the interconnection of the Jewish New Testament Scriptures, the Bible.
Jewishness is a nationality. Moreover, this nationality is not limited to belonging to only one race. After all, there are Negro Jews (Falasha from Ethiopia), white Jews, even Chinese Jews. What makes us all part of one people? The fact that we are all descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. It is our descent from these patriarchs that makes us, so different, children of Israel.
So, Jewishness is a nationality, and Christianity is a religion, a belief. These two planes are not mutually exclusive; they are like two threads that intertwine and together make up a bizarre pattern. A person does not choose whether to be a Jew or not, because he does not choose from which parents he will be born. Everyone knows this. But only the person himself chooses what to believe in and what to base his life on. And a person is not born a Christian - he either accepts Christ and becomes His follower, i.e. “Christ”, or “Christian” - or does not accept - and remains in his sins. No nationality makes a person “holier” or “sinner” than others. The Bible says: “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God...”
The real question is not whether a Jew can be a Christian, because of course there is no contradiction in these words. The real question is whether a Jew—or anyone else—should believe in Jesus. After all, if Jesus is not the Messiah, then no one needs to believe in Him. And if He is the Messiah, then everyone needs to believe in Him, because only through Him can one know God, understand the Bible and get answers to one’s deepest questions.
Irina Volodarskaya
To the question Orthodox Jew!!! How do you feel about this statement??? given by the author Eurovision the best answer is I don't understand the three exclamation marks. It is not surprising to me that people of any nationality: Jews, Tatars, Japanese, and Congolese accept Orthodoxy, because Orthodoxy / like all Christianity / knows no national boundaries - we are equal before God! I personally know Orthodox Jews, and I don’t put any boundaries between them and myself - we are brothers. Suffice it to say that the first Christian communities consisted mainly of Jews, and the apostles of Christ, and the Mother of God. This is not a statement, but your existing and existing reality! Orthodoxy is like a mother loves all her children, and there is no difference in anything among them! This is an axiom, a pastulate, a law - and it will always be so!
Answer from 22 answers[guru]
Hello! Here is a selection of topics with answers to your question: Orthodox Jew!!! How do you feel about this statement???
Answer from Shoot yourself[guru]
Orthodox Judaism and Orthodoxy are not compatible as religious teachings, and if you meant Jew, then of course this is not compatible...
But, if you were talking about origin, nationality, then in the Orthodox Church there were and are many ministers of Jewish nationality! .
The same, however, as there are non-Jews who profess Judaism! .
And in Chisinau, at the beginning of the last century, the world's first (except for the community of the Apostles of Christ in Jerusalem) Jewish messianic (i.e., Christian) community arose, founded by Joseph Rabinovich...
Unfortunately, the Orthodox ministers treated them poorly too - for that reason. that the Jews and they had already fallen away from Judaism... although they served Christ on the basis of Jewish-biblical traditions! .
There is a cemetery in Chisinau. where you can find tombstones with the stars of David, inside of which there is a crucifix!.
Answer from Vasily Anoshko[guru]
The horse is treated,
that the thief is forgiven,
that a Jew is baptized.
Answer from Igor Tabakovsky[W][guru]
There are very few of them, but they exist. With respect, we get to know them by business...
Answer from way[guru]
Jews believe that converting to another religion is a betrayal.
Answer from Lissa[guru]
And that, everyone chooses for themselves, a woman, a religion. the path... to serve the devil or the prophet, everyone chooses for himself...
Answer from User deleted[guru]
Freedom of his personal choice!
Answer from Larisa sclafani[guru]
Positively.
Answer from Unixaix CATIA[guru]
absolute nonsense! either Jew or Orthodox!
Answer from Lebedkova Natalia[guru]
Well, Ethiopians are Orthodox, and so are the Japanese. So what?
Answer from Kavkaz Center[guru]
Oh, these are the most fanatical believers! ! They are called CROSSES. Don’t you remember me, Alexandra??
Answer from Yorife[guru]
A Jew is not necessarily a Jew. And Russian is not necessarily Orthodox. And Muslims sometimes accept Orthodoxy. Yes, everything happens. Nationality and religion are independent of each other. And Rus' did not immediately accept Orthodoxy.
Answer from Sparta[guru]
Yes, we are all hidden Orthodox, according to the church.
Answer from Elenochka[guru]
In general, I have a normal attitude towards Jews... and it certainly doesn’t matter what kind of person he is
Answer from GURU[guru]
A Jew may be Orthodox, but then he is lost waiting for his sharashka!
Michael DORFMAN
HOW MANY ARE THERE, BAPTIZED JEWS?
Publication of the review “Once again about Jews and Orthodoxy” on the book “Twice Chosen: Jewish Identity, the Soviet Intelligentsia, and the Russian Orthodox Church” by Judith Deutsch Kornblatt. Doubly Chosen: Jewish Identity, the Soviet Intelligentsia, and the Russian Orthodox Church Madison: The University of Wisconsin Press, 2004. Pp. speak". Kornblatt's book itself is interesting and significant because it tells the events of recent Russian and Jewish history from the point of view of observers whose views do not often find expression in either Jewish or Russian discourse.
“Buknik.ru” is an interesting and respectable publication, and the author of the review is a respected historian, academic director of the International Research Center for Russian and Eastern European Jewry, teacher of the Department of Jewish Studies at Moscow State University Oleg Budnitsky. The review expresses a point of view with which I generally agree. It was difficult to agree with just one phrase:
“It remains unclear, however, how widespread Jewish conversion to Orthodoxy was in the late Soviet period and how reliable the data collected by the researcher is. “Some,” writes Kornbluth, “talk about tens of thousands, others – about several thousand Jewish Christians” (p. 25). The first figure, of course, is nonsense. We believe that the second one may also be exaggerated.”
Oleg Budnitsky
It is not clear from the review why it is difficult to agree? According to the 1994 All-Russian Population Census, only 16% of Jews declared themselves to be believers. Of these, 31% stated that they professed Orthodoxy, 29% - Judaism, and the remaining 40% indicated belonging to other faiths, and mostly called themselves non-confessional believers. A simple calculation shows that among the Jewish population of the Russian Federation (230,000 people), 10-11 thousand called themselves Orthodox. It is also known that the census is carried out on the basis of responses given on a voluntary basis, so only those who voluntarily declared their Jewish nationality and their Orthodox religion were taken into account.
The year 1994 is very close to the events described in the book. The census results can also be extrapolated to the Jewish population of the USSR in 1980-90, which are discussed in the book, in particular to the million who immigrated from the country in the period 1988-1993. After all, according to all demographic indicators, those who left were no different from those who remained in Russia. Consequently, we are talking about 45-50 thousand Jews who considered themselves Orthodox Christians and probably underwent the baptism procedure. In Israel, where religion is taken into account not on the basis of voluntary responses, but on the basis of documents, over 309,000 “non-halakhic” Jews, i.e. persons who came under the Law of Return, but who are not Jews according to the canons of the Orthodox version of Judaism. In the 1980s, the “religion” column on the Israeli identity card was eliminated and was replaced by the “nationality” column. Many emigrants from the USSR have it listed lelo leom- “without nationality.” In Israel, it is generally accepted that among them about 10% practice Orthodox rites. Those. we are talking about 30,000 people. In Israel, where religion is not separated from the state, it is not customary to make such calculations among “kosher” Jews and immigrants from the CIS. According to Archimandrite Maximos, secretary of St. Damaskinos, Archbishop of Jaffa and Arimathea of the Jerusalem Local Church, in the Jaffa diocese alone about three thousand Russian-speaking Orthodox Christians constantly attend the temple. The number of Orthodox Christians can be judged by the fact that in the monastery church of St. Michael in Jaffa, 20-30 baptismal ceremonies according to the Russian rite are performed every week. Archimandrite Maximos believes that throughout Israel, among the new arrivals from Russia, the number of Orthodox Christians is in the tens of thousands. According to the Israel Central Statistics Authority, there are 5.1 thousand Christians in Tel Aviv-Jaffa.
It would be limited here, but something else is interesting. Estimating the number of baptized Jews has always caused sharp controversy and quite an emotional reaction. The range of data available to me is enormous. Even data about ancient times, such as the number of Jews baptized during the reforms of Nicholas I, vary in various sources from 5,000 to 300,000. Closer to today, the fluctuations are even more significant. It’s understandable, because on the one hand, the Jewish Agency and other Israeli and Jewish organizations are conducting a thorough search for candidates for repatriation or kiruv(a Jewish term for missionary activity), and on the other hand, Israeli emigration legislation and public opinion are becoming stricter in relation to the Jewry of the Russian “Jews of Silence.” Gone are the days of the 1970s and 80s when official Israel turned a blind eye to the religious affiliation of emigrants from the USSR. I remember that at that time Israeli newspapers wrote a lot about Joseph Brodsky and tried to enroll him among the Zionist refuseniks. When Brodsky finally arrived in Vienna, he got off the plane with a large “bishop’s” cross on his neck, clearly showing that he did not want to have anything to do with Israel. Israeli TV then filmed a story about Brodsky's arrival.
In both the 80s and 90s, only a few baptized Jews, like Mikhail Agursky, openly discussed this issue. Neither the Christian nor the Jewish sides preferred not to raise the topic, either in Soviet times or later. (By the way, I knew Agursky already when he was a professor at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. Officially his name was Michael then, and unofficially Melik. He himself said that Malik is the name of Soviet Newspeak, an abbreviation for the words Marx, Engels, Lenin, Revolution and Comintern. Later I heard that in fact his name was Malir, i.e. at the end of the International and the Revolution, and in Budnitsky’s review, by the way, in the wonderful course on the history of Russian Jewry “The Jewish Century” by Yuri Slezkin (in Russian for some reason it was called “Era of Mercury”) Agursky’s name is also Melib, and the decoding there is unclear).
A.I. Lebedev. Illustrations for “Scenes from Jewish Life” by Pavel Weinberg
A baptized Jew in Orthodox Jewish circles was considered as if dead. It was called meshumed, literally destroyed, a memorial rite had to be performed for him shiva and ignore it as if it doesn't exist. The baptism of one of the family members cast a shameful stain on the reputation of the entire family. It was reflected even on subsequent generations, making it difficult to find a worthy match for brides and grooms who were considered spoiled.
The fact of baptism has long played an important role in the controversy between the Orthodox Jewish world and Jews seeking modernization. The modernists were accused of betraying Jewry, of an explicit or hidden desire to be baptized, which, according to Jewish law, is a mortal sin, tantamount only to murder. As confirmation and edification, examples were given of outstanding modernizers and secular Jews - the founder of Reform Judaism Moses Mendelssohn, the historian Semyon Dubnov, the founder of Zionism Theodor Herzl, the publicist and publisher Alexander Zederbaum and many others, whose descendants were deceived Tarbut Zara“alien culture” and betrayed their people. One of the many Jewish sayings goes: maskil(i.e. a supporter of the Jewish Enlightenment movement Haskalah) can still be considered a Jew, and his children are kinderlech not anymore". In Yiddish it all sounds shorter and rhymes. However, the lists are not always accurate. For example, Tsederbaum’s grandson, Yuli Martov, who appears in many lists, was not baptized at all, but joined the Russian Revolution. However, in the religious consciousness it is still unknown which is worse. However, there is also something to be said about the descendants of famous rabbis who found their way in the revolution of the twentieth century, as Isaac Babel said about this in the story “The Son of a Rabbi.”
Maskilim, according to the general opinion, still remained Jews, and therefore did not go into their pockets for words. A well-known joke (quoted by Israeli literary critic Dov Sadan) “What does the wordless Hasidic chant of “bam-bam” that Hasidim chant for meditation actually mean? A means “bam-bam” abbreviation in Yiddish bearen meshoein – beide meshumadim –“Both in our city - and both meshumeds"". An allusion to Rabbi Moishe, the youngest son of the founder of the Chabad movement, Rabbi Shneur-Zalman of Liadi, who was baptized into Catholicism at the age of 36, and Rabbi Dov-Ber Friedman, son of Rabbi Yisroel of Ruzhin, who in 1869 with great noise resigned his post as rebbe, leader Hasidic court and joined their worst enemies - Maskilim. Jews from the camp of enlightenmentists, secularists and modernists also provide an equally impressive list of prominent rabbis and their descendants who converted to Christianity or even Islam, and even more so who went over to the camp of socialists, communists or Zionists (still considered in some ultra-Orthodox circles to be the malicious enemies of Jewry) .
Professor of Jewish history at Tel Aviv University, a prominent researcher of the history of Hasidism, David Assaf, published the book “Captured in the Thicket” in 2006. Crisis and annoying episodes of Hasidic history" (Neehaz b'sabekh - pirkey mashber u'mevukha b'toldot ha-khasidut. The Zalman Shazar Center for Jewish History 2006, 384 pp. (describing episodes of the history of Orthodox Jewry that they would prefer to forget. The book is very interesting, and caused a storm in religious circles. Battles over the book on religious blogs and forums in Hebrew and English have not subsided for six months. Its first edition sold out almost instantly, although many Jewish bookstores refrained from putting David Asaph's book on sale. I would like to hope that the book will someday reach the Russian reader.
David Asaf notes an interesting phenomenon that is common both among orthodox polemicists and among their opponents. Both sides readily list individual cases of baptism of prominent representatives of the opposing side, but carefully ignore the mass cases of baptism of “ordinary” Jews. And if their polemics also mentioned cases of baptism for economic reasons (which today is considered the main motive in all courses on Jewish history available to me and in O. Budnitsky’s review), then no one talks about baptism on romantic grounds, much less out of conviction. Assaf notes that Jews did not exist in an isolated space, not in synagogues and yeshivas, but lived among the non-Jewish population, interacted closely with neighbors, and provided various services. Their contacts were varied, and it often happened that women and men found each other contrary to the beliefs and beliefs of their communities.
David Asaf “Caught in the Thicket”
I wonder what the words shiksa, sheygets which in Yiddish refer to a young non-Jewish woman or non-Jew, although they literally mean “abomination,” they nevertheless cover a wide semantic field of dangerous and often irresistible sexual attractiveness and attraction. A Jewish proverb says, “No matter how you look at it, the young shiksa it will still turn into the old one hammer" We even have a special poppy seed pie called sheygetsl– literally small sheygets. Its shape most closely resembles a penis. It’s not hard to imagine how the grandmother brought in a dish of hot pies and called her granddaughters, they say, come on over. shkotzimelech, plural of sheygetsl. Without knowing what’s going on, you might think that they are really preparing to eat Christian babies. True, on Passover shkotzimlech They don’t eat it because yeast dough is prohibited.
It is interesting that neighbors also saw in Jews a forbiddenly attractive sexuality. For example, in the Dnieper-Polesie dialect of the Ukrainian language, the Hebrew word bakhur, literally guy, means seducer and libertine. Accordingly, there is also a feminine gender fawn.
In the early 1990s, I oversaw several projects related to the absorption of emigrant students from the USSR. I then had to become closely acquainted with a large group of guys from Moscow and St. Petersburg who were among the adherents of Father Alexander Men. I then understood a lot of interesting things, heard what Judith Kornbluth’s interlocutors were talking about and what they avoided talking about. I then realized that we were talking about a mass phenomenon, about a certain fashion that swept wide circles of Jewish youth. Therefore, numbers in the thousands and even tens of thousands seem real to me, especially since they are confirmed by statistics. Later, the guys' paths diverged and not all of them remained on the path of Orthodoxy. Some became devout Jews, some continued to seek spirituality in other Christian and non-Christian teachings, some ceased to be bound by any particular religious dogma, and there were others who ceased to be interested in religion. All these groups were not included in the number of interlocutors of Judith Cronblit, who preferred their older contemporaries who were baptized into Orthodoxy in Russia.
David Asaf also notes the interesting phenomenon of psychological rejection of baptized Jews and the reluctance to discuss statistics, but does not analyze it in detail. Both the Jewish and Orthodox sides are trying by all means to avoid discussing statistics, numbers and percentages. We are more willing to list prominent Christians of Jewish origin, such as among secular modernists and enlighteners - Joseph Brodsky, Naum Korzhavin, Alexander Galich, even among representatives of the Orthodox clergy, the main “sect fighter” Alexander Dvorkin, figures of other Russian Orthodox jurisdictions, as the long-term editor of the Russian Church Abroad “Orthodox Rus'” by Archpriest Konstantin Zaitsev or Hieromonk Gregory Lurie from the Russian Autonomous Orthodox Church, even about the baptized descendants of great rabbis, from Reb Moishe of Ulla, the son of the founder of Chabad, and to the grandson of the Slonim tzaddik Boris Berezovsky.
Priest Georgy Edelstein
I remember how the former Israeli minister and prominent refusenik Zionist of the 80s, Yuli Edelstein, was afraid of ultra-religious critics and tried to hide the fact that his father was an Orthodox priest. However, Edelstein soon realized that in Israel this even gave him a certain charm, and invited his father to Israel and for several days led his father in a cassock around the Knesset, introducing him to everyone.
In our Palestines there is a habit of listening only to ourselves and arguing only among ourselves. It is interesting to see the opinion of the presenter of the program “From a Christian Point of View”, Fr. Yakov Krotov, a priest of the Apostolic Orthodox Church, close to the circle of Fr. Alexandra Me and also talked with Judith Kornbluth.
“It seems to me that the very formulation of the question is incorrect, p.ch. “Jew” in Russia, especially in Moscow in the last third of the twentieth century, is a qualitatively different concept from “Jews” or “Jew” in any other country or in Russia itself earlier. The fact is that the general paradigm of the national, ethnic, after half a century of Soviet life has decisively changed. To dedicate a book to “the Jews and the Russian Church” means to ignore the fact that both the Jews disappeared and the Russian Church was reborn qualitatively. Nowadays this new quality is slightly disguised, but mainly for those who want to be deceived by this disguise. There is an artificial stylization of “Jews” and “Russian Orthodoxy.” In principle, such stylizations can turn from an escapist game into a living reality - Israel is a good example. However, in Russia there is no important material factor: there is no civil society, no economic and political freedom of the individual, a purely camp economy and psychology remain. Under these conditions, sociological methods developed in ordinary countries (not necessarily democratic, but at least allowing some economic and psychological independence of citizens) turn out not to clarify the situation, but to obscure, producing fictions under the guise of explanations.”
One way or another, the phenomenon of baptized Jews, especially baptized Jewish groups that were isolated from Judaism, but continued to function as Jews to one degree or another, is extremely interesting. This is an amazing mass experiment set up by history, and helps to better understand the meaning and nature of “Jewishness”. And I would like to thank Buknik.ru and Oleg Budnitsky, who drew my attention to an interesting book.
Polemics and apologeticsThe earliest such patristic work that has come down to us is “Conversation with Tryphon the Jew” by Saint Justin the Philosopher. The Holy Father claims that the powers of the Holy Spirit ceased to operate among the Jews with the coming of Christ (Trif. 87). He points out that after the coming of Christ they no longer had a single prophet. At the same time, Saint Justin emphasizes the continuation of the Old Testament actions of the Holy Spirit in the New Testament Church: “What has previously existed among your people has come to us (Trif. 82)”; so that “one can see among us both women and men having gifts from the Spirit of God” (Trif. 88).
Tertullian († 220/240) in his work “Against the Jews” substantiates the Divinity of Christ through the prophecies of the Old Testament, the miracles of the New Testament and the life of the Church. The Old Testament is a preparation for the New, in it there are two series of prophecies about Christ: some speak of His coming in the form of a servant to suffer for the human race, the second refer to His future coming in glory. In the person of the Lord Christ, both Testaments are united: prophecies are brought to Him, and He Himself brings to fulfillment what is hoped for.
Saint Hippolytus of Rome, in a short “Treatise against the Jews,” uses quotes from the Old Testament to show the predicted sufferings of the Messiah on the cross and the future calling of the pagans, and denounces the Jews for the fact that, when the light of truth has already been revealed, they continue to wander in the darkness and stumble. Their fall and rejection were also predicted by the prophets.
Hieromartyr Cyprian of Carthage († 258) left “Three Books of Testimonies against the Jews.” This is a thematic selection of quotes from the Old and New Testaments. The first book contains evidence that “the Jews, according to the predictions, apostatized from God and lost the grace that had been bestowed upon them... and that their place was taken by Christians, pleasing the Lord by faith and coming from all nations and from all over the world.” The second part shows how the main Old Testament prophecies were fulfilled in Jesus Christ. The third part, based on the Holy Scriptures, briefly outlines the commandments of Christian morality.
Saint John Chrysostom († 407) at the end of the 4th century pronounced “Five words against the Jews,” addressed to those Christians who attended synagogues and turned to Jewish rituals. The saint explains that after Christ Judaism lost its meaning, and therefore the observance of its rituals is contrary to the will of God and the observance of the Old Testament instructions now has no basis.
St. Augustine († 430) wrote Tractatus adversus Judaeos at the beginning of the 5th century, in which he argued that even if the Jews deserved the most severe punishment for sending Jesus to death, they were spared alive by God's Providence to serve, together with their Scriptures, as involuntary witnesses of the truth of Christianity.
The Monk Anastasius of Sinai († c. 700) wrote “The Dispute against the Jews.” Here, too, the end of the Old Testament law is indicated; In addition, attention is paid to the justification of the Divinity of Jesus Christ, as well as the veneration of icons, about which the monk says this: “We Christians, when we worship the cross, we do not worship the tree, but Christ crucified on it.”
In the 7th century, the Western saint Gregentius of Tafra compiled a record of his dispute with the Jew Herban - the dispute took place in the presence of King Omerit. Kherban, despite the saint’s arguments, continued to persist, then, through the prayer of the saint, a miracle happened: among the Jews present at the dispute, Christ appeared in a visible image, after which Rabbi Kherban, along with five and a half thousand Jews, was baptized.
In the same century, Saint Leontius of Naples († c. 650) wrote an apology against the Jews. He says that the Jews, pointing to the veneration of icons, accuse Christians of idolatry, citing the prohibition: “You shall not make for yourself idols or graven images” (Ex. 20: 4–5). In response, Saint Leontius, referring to Ex. 25:18 and Ezek. 41:18, writes: “If the Jews condemn us for the images, then they should condemn God for creating them,” and then continues: “We do not worship a tree, but the One who was crucified on the cross,” and “icons are an open book that reminds us of God.”
The Monk Nikita Stifat (11th century) wrote a short “Word to the Jews”, in which he recalls the end of the Old Testament law and the rejection of Judaism: “God hated and rejected the service of the Jews, and their Sabbaths, and holidays,” which he predicted through the prophets .
In the 14th century, Emperor John Cantacuzene wrote “Dialogue with a Jew.” Here, among other things, he points out to the Jew Xenus that, according to the prophet Isaiah, the New Testament will appear from Jerusalem: “The Law will appear from Zion, and the Word of the Lord from Jerusalem” (Is. 2: 3). It is impossible to admit that this was said about the Old Law, for it was given by God to Moses at Sinai and in the desert. It does not say “given,” but “will appear” from Zion. John asks Xenus: if Jesus was a deceiver, then how is it that neither God nor the pagan emperors were able to destroy Christianity, which was preached throughout the world. The dialogue ends with Xen's conversion to Orthodoxy.
In the patristic works one can find many harsh words about the Jews, for example the following: “They (the Jews) stumbled across everyone, everywhere they became intruders and traitors to the truth, they turned out to be haters of God, not lovers of God” ( Hippolytus of Rome, saint. Commentary on the book of the prophet Daniel).
But it should be remembered that, firstly, this was fully consistent with the then concepts of polemics, and secondly, Jewish writings of the same time, including religiously authoritative ones, contained no less, and sometimes even more harsh attacks and instructions regarding Christians.
In general, the Talmud instills a sharply negative, contemptuous attitude towards all non-Jews, including Christians. The book of later halakhic rulings “Shulchan Aruch” prescribes, if possible, to destroy the temples of Christians and everything belonging to them (Shulchan Aruch. Yoreh de "a 146); it is also forbidden to save a Christian from death, for example, if he falls into the water and even begins to promise all his state for salvation (Yoreh de'a 158, 1); it is allowed to test on a Christian, the medicine brings health or death; and, finally, a Jew is charged with the obligation to kill a Jew who converted to Christianity (Yoreh de'a 158, 1; Talmud. Aboda zara 26).
The Talmud contains many offensive, blasphemous statements about the Lord Jesus Christ and the Most Holy Theotokos. In the early Middle Ages, the anti-Christian work “Toldot Yeshu” (“Genealogy of Jesus”), filled with extremely blasphemous fabrications about Christ, became widespread among Jews. In addition, there were other anti-Christian treatises in medieval Jewish literature, in particular the Sefer Zerubavel.
Relations between Orthodox and Jews in history
As you know, from the very beginning of Christianity, the Jews became sharp opponents and persecutors of it. Much is said about their persecution of the apostles and early Christians in the New Testament book of the Acts of the Apostles.
Later, in 132 A.D., a revolt broke out in Palestine under the leadership of Simon Bar Kochba. Jewish religious leader Rabbi Akiva proclaimed him the “messiah.” There is information that, on the recommendation of the same Rabbi Akiva, Bar Kokhba killed Christian Jews.
After the first Christian emperor, Saint Constantine the Great, came to power in the Roman Empire, these tensions found new expressions, although many of the measures of the Christian emperors, which Jewish historians traditionally present as persecution of Judaism, were intended simply to protect Christians from the Jews.
For example, the Jews had the custom of forcing the slaves they acquired, including Christians, to be circumcised. On this occasion, Saint Constantine ordered the release of all slaves whom the Jews would persuade to Judaism and circumcision; Jews were also prohibited from purchasing Christian slaves. Then, the Jews had the custom of stoning those Jews who converted to Christianity. Saint Constantine took a number of measures to deprive them of this opportunity. In addition, from now on Jews did not have the right to serve in the military, or to hold government positions where the fate of Christians would depend on them. A person who converted from Christianity to Judaism lost his property.
Julian the Apostate allowed the Jews to restore the Temple of Jerusalem, and they quickly began to build it, but the storms and earthquakes that occurred, when even fire burst out of the ground, destroying workers and building materials, made this enterprise impossible.
Measures limiting the social status of the Jews were often caused by their actions demonstrating civic unreliability in the eyes of the emperors. For example, under Emperor Constans in 353, the Jews of Diocaesarea killed the garrison of the city and, choosing a certain Patricius as their leader, began to attack neighboring villages, killing both Christians and Samaritans. This uprising was suppressed by troops. Often, Jews living in Byzantine cities turned out to be traitors during wars with external enemies. For example, in 503, during the Persian siege of Constantia, the Jews dug an underground passage outside the city and let in enemy troops. Jews rebelled in 507 and 547. Even later, in 609, in Antioch, rebel Jews killed many rich citizens, burned their houses, and Patriarch Anastasius was dragged through the streets and, after many tortures, thrown into the fire. In 610, the four thousand Jewish population of Tire rebelled.
Speaking about Byzantine laws limiting the rights of Jews, it is worth noting that it is incorrect to interpret them as a manifestation of anti-Semitism, that is, actions directed specifically against Jews as a nationality. The fact is that these laws, as a rule, were directed not only against Jews, but against non-Christian inhabitants of the empire in general, in particular pagan Greeks (Hellenes).
In addition, it must be taken into account that Orthodox emperors also adopted decrees aimed at protecting the Jews.
Thus, Emperor Arcadius (395–408) charged provincial governors with preventing cases of insulting the Jewish patriarch (“nasi”) and attacks on synagogues and indicated that local rulers should not interfere in the communal self-government of Jews. Emperor Theodosius II also issued a decree in 438 in which Jews were guaranteed state protection in the event of a mob attack on their homes and synagogues.
Under Theodosius II, it was discovered that the Jews began the custom of burning a cross on the holiday of Purim, while in the city of Imme the Jews crucified a Christian child on a cross, and in Alexandria in 415 there were several examples of the beating of Christians by Jews. All these cases caused both popular indignation, which sometimes resulted in pogroms, and repression by the authorities.
In 529, the holy Emperor Justinian I adopted new laws, limiting the rights of Jews to property, inheritance rights, and he also forbade reading Talmudic books in synagogues, and instead ordered reading only books of the Old Testament, in Greek or Latin. Justinian's Code prohibited Jews from making any statements against the Christian religion, confirmed the prohibition of mixed marriages, as well as the transition from Orthodoxy to Judaism.
In the Orthodox West, measures similar to Byzantine ones were taken against the Jews. For example, under the Visigothic king Ricardo in 589, the Jews of Spain were prohibited from holding government positions, having Christian slaves, circumcising their slaves, and it was prescribed that children from mixed Jewish-Christian marriages must be baptized.
Crimes did occur against Jews in Christian countries of the early Middle Ages, when, for example, a crowd could destroy a synagogue or beat up Jews, and some decrees of emperors seem discriminatory from the point of view of modern realities. However, it is worth considering that in those cases when the Jews came to power, the Christians subordinate to them faced no better fate, sometimes much worse.
In the 5th century, Jewish missionaries managed to convert Abu Karib, the king of the southern Arab kingdom of Himyar, to Judaism. His successor, Yusuf Dhu-Nuwas, gained fame as a bloody persecutor and tormentor of Christians. There was no such torture that Christians were not subjected to during his reign. The largest massacre of Christians occurred in 523. Dhu-Nuwas treacherously captured the Christian city of Najran, after which the inhabitants began to be led to specially dug ditches filled with burning tar; anyone who refused to accept Judaism was thrown into them alive. Several years earlier, in a similar manner, he exterminated the inhabitants of the city of Zafar. In response to this, Byzantium's allies, the Ethiopians, invaded Himyar and put an end to this kingdom.
Brutal Jewish persecution of Christians also occurred in the 610–620s in Palestine, captured by the Persians with the active support of local Jews. When the Persians besieged Jerusalem, the Jews living in the city, having entered into an agreement with the enemy of Byzantium, opened the gates from the inside, and the Persians burst into the city. A bloody nightmare began. Churches and houses of Christians were set on fire, Christians were massacred on the spot, and in this pogrom the Jews committed even more atrocities than the Persians. According to contemporaries, 60,000 Christians were killed and 35,000 were sold into slavery. The oppression and murder of Christians by Jews occurred then and in other places in Palestine.
Persian soldiers willingly sold the Christians captured into slavery, “the Jews, because of their enmity, bought them at a cheap price and killed them,” reports the Syrian historian. Many thousands of Christians died this way.
It is not surprising that at that time Emperor Heraclius treated the Jewish traitors harshly. These events largely determined the anti-Semitic sentiments of the entire European Middle Ages.
Jews often, speaking about the history of Christian-Jewish relations, emphasize the topic of forced baptisms, presenting them as a widespread and common practice for the Church in the Middle Ages. However, this picture does not correspond to reality.
The tyrant Phokas in 610, after the Antiochian uprising mentioned above, issued a decree that all Jews should be baptized, and sent the prefect George with troops to Jerusalem, who, when the Jews did not agree to be baptized voluntarily, forced them to do so with the help of soldiers. The same thing happened in Alexandria, and then the Jews rebelled, during which they killed Patriarch Theodore Scribo.
The heretical emperor Heraclius, who overthrew Phocas and propagated Monothelitism, was, as has already been said, irritated by the betrayal of the Jews during the war with the Persians, declared Judaism outlawed and tried to forcibly baptize the Jews. At the same time, he sent letters to Western Christian rulers, urging them to do the same with the Jews.
The Visigothic king Sisebut, influenced by the letters of Heraclius, also issued a decree that the Jews must either be baptized or leave the country. According to some estimates, up to 90,000 Spanish Jews were baptized at that time, who, among other things, swore in writing not to engage in usury. The Frankish king Dagobert then took similar steps and for the same reason on his lands.
The Orthodox Church reacted negatively to this attempt, both in the East and in the West.
In the East in 632, the Monk Maximus the Confessor condemned the forced baptism of Jews that took place in Carthage, carried out by the local ruler in fulfillment of the will of Heraclius.
In the West, in 633, the IV Council of Toledo took place, at which Saint Isidore of Seville condemned King Sisebut for excessive zeal and opposed the work he had undertaken. Under his influence, the Council condemned all attempts to forcibly baptize Jews as categorically unacceptable, declaring that conversion to Christianity could only be achieved by gentle methods of verbal persuasion. Saint Isidore even asked forgiveness to the Jewish community for the king’s “zeal.” The king himself canceled his anti-Jewish decrees.
As for Byzantium, although a case of forced baptism of Jews was recorded in Carthage, “however, in relation to the majority of Byzantine Jews of that time, the edict of 632 apparently did not have serious consequences... There is no indication that in Greece and even in Constantinople itself it was carried out somewhat consistently... According to the 9th century chronicler Nicephorus, it is known that already in 641, when Heraclius died, the Jews of Constantinople took part in street riots against his widow, and 20 years later - against the patriarch, and at the same time they even stormed the city cathedral - Hagia Sophia."
In Byzantium, another attempt at forced baptism was made in 721 by another heretical emperor, Leo III the Isaurian, who instilled iconoclasm and issued an edict on the baptism of Jews and Montanists, which forced many Jews to move from the cities of Byzantium. The Monk Theophan the Confessor reports about this event with obvious disapproval: “This year the king forced the Jews and Montanists to be baptized, but the Jews, baptized against their will, were cleansed from baptism as from defilement, received Holy Communion after eating and thus mocked the faith” (Chronography. 714).
Jewish historians also point out that the forced baptism of Jews allegedly took place under Emperor Vasily I (867–886), however, Byzantine sources, in particular Theophanes’ Successor, although they mention Vasily’s desire for the Christianization of Jews, testify that he did this by peaceful means - the dispensation polemical disputes and a promise for newly converted ranks and rewards (Biographies of the Kings. V, 95). Jewish sources (chronicle of Ahimaaz) say that Jews who refused to be baptized were enslaved, and that there were even cases of torture, albeit isolated ones. Be that as it may, there is information that even under Vasily the Orthodox Church reacted negatively to his initiative.
Thus, four important circumstances in this matter are visible.
Firstly, attempts at forced Christianization of Jews took place later than the attempts at forced Judaization of Christians known in history.
Secondly, these attempts were the exception and not the rule in the policies of Christian rulers of the early Middle Ages.
Third, The Church negatively assessed these attempts and unequivocally condemned such an idea itself.
Fourthly, in many cases these attempts were made not by Orthodox emperors, but by heretics, who also persecuted the Orthodox at that time.
Jewish authors, reluctant to talk about historically known facts of conversion from Judaism to Orthodoxy, probably try to call almost every one of them “forced” or “forced due to anti-Semitic discrimination” because they cannot imagine that a person belonging to Judaism, capable of independently, voluntarily and wisely making a choice in favor of Orthodoxy. However, this is confirmed by many facts, for example, such as examples of conversion to Orthodoxy of Jews living in Catholic countries, examples of their loyalty to Christianity even to death in a communist state, examples of conversion to Orthodoxy in fascist and communist concentration camps, etc.
In general, despite the above laws, the Jews in Byzantium lived prosperously; it is known that Jews in other countries were amazed at their wealth and moved to the Orthodox empire; for example, it is known that Jews persecuted in Fatimid Egypt fled to Byzantium.
The fact that the Byzantines were not prejudiced against the Jewish nationality itself is evidenced by the fact that in the 14th century the Orthodox Jew Philotheus even became the Patriarch of Constantinople, and according to some historians, Emperor Michael II had Jewish roots.
Another popular theme in the history of Orthodox-Jewish relations is pogroms. They, indeed, took place, but the desire of Jewish historians to see behind each such case an indispensable conscious inspiration on the part of the Church is, to say the least, tendentious. On the contrary, the Orthodox Church, in the person of its most authoritative saints, has repeatedly condemned the actions of the pogromists. In particular, Righteous John of Kronstadt sharply denounced the Kishinev pogrom, saying: “What are you doing? Why did you become barbarians - thugs and robbers of people living in the same fatherland as you? (My thoughts on the violence of Christians against Jews in Chisinau). Also, His Holiness Patriarch Tikhon wrote: “We are hearing news of Jewish pogroms... Orthodox Rus'! May this shame pass you by. May this curse not befall you. May your hand not be stained with blood crying to Heaven... Remember: pogroms are a dishonor for you” (Message dated July 8, 1919).
During the Jewish pogroms in Ukraine during the civil war, as well as in the lands occupied by German troops during the Second World War, many Orthodox priests and ordinary believers sheltered Jews, saving them. In addition, the Russian Orthodox Church blessed the soldiers of the Red Army for their feat of arms, who in 1944–1945 liberated prisoners of such camps as Auschwitz, Majdanek, Stalag, Sachsenhausen, Ozarichi, and saved hundreds of thousands of Jews from the Budapest ghetto, Terezin, Baltic and many others . Also, clergy and laity of the Greek, Serbian and Bulgarian Churches took active measures during the war to save many Jews.
In general, we can say that in the history of relations between Jews and Orthodox Christians there were indeed many dark pages, but the facts do not provide grounds for presenting one of the parties to these relations as an innocent sufferer and victim, and the other as an unreasonable persecutor and tormentor.
(The ending follows.)
Friends! One day, a smart Jew, Marc Eli Ravage, the Rothschilds’ personal biographer, hinted to us that everything we live in which he gave us Great Jewish People, which is great already because it revealed to humanity and the concept of God who created the world in 6 days, and the idea of the devil- tempter of humanity, THE FATHER OF LIES. .
It's hard to argue with that.
Russia has indeed been living in the world for more than 1000 years. Jewish conceptual space . And all because the most popular book in Russia is the Bible, consisting of Dilapidated And New Testaments . What they are is well explained by this picture.
Thanks to the massive distribution of this book among the Russian population, Jewish legends and myths become truths, which are now operate many our fellow citizens calling themselves believers. And thanks to incessant work priests calling themselves Christians, Israel's national history became integral part Russian history. Jewish artisans and fishermen are now our spiritual teachers and our saints. They are worshiped today by millions of Russian people, looking at their icons in the churches of the Russian Orthodox Church. The Jewish woman—the “Mother of God”—became the Russian ideal of motherhood, and the Jewish rebel—Jesus Iosifovich Christ—became the central figure of our religious worship.
Other metamorphoses also occurred with the self-awareness of the Slavs. Over the centuries that have passed since the conversion of Rus' to the Christian faith, our people have completely forgotten many Old Russian names, but have absorbed, like family, a large number of Jewish names.
But the saddest thing is completely different: the Slavs, of whom there are currently more than three hundred million in the world, have no idea, what's happened 2000-3000 years ago in their native lands however, they know very well what happened the same 2000-3000 years ago on land of Judea- the homeland of the Jews.
Why did this happen?
Because with the appearance of the Bible in Rus', all Old Russian books began en masse be destroyed, and the history of the Russian people began correspond. The Russian scientist and historian Mikhailo Lomonosov once explained well who was doing this. Details can be read in my article. As a result losses by the Slavs his ancestral memory it turned out that Jewish ideas and thoughts intertwined with our own, Slavic, and they are intertwined to such an extent that We don't consider an educated person who is not familiar with Jewish cultural heritage . At the same time, as a rule, he is not familiar with his own cultural heritage.
Is this good or bad?
If we take into account the well-known wisdom:"a people who do not know their history have no future!" , this is definitely bad!
Worse, the Jews have every reason to believe that they conquered us this way!!!
This is what the above-mentioned Marc Eli Ravage said in 1928: "No conquest in history is even remotely comparable to how completely WE are YOU conquered... WE put the stop valve on YOUR progress. WE have imposed on YOU alien TO YOU book and alien TO YOU faith which YOU you can neither swallow nor digest, because it contradicts YOURS the natural spirit, which as a result remains in a sick state, and ultimately YOU you can neither accept OUR spirit completely nor kill it, and are in a state of split personality - schizophrenia". .
Since we Russians really live now in Jewish conceptual space (although many do not realize this, due to the fact that their consciousness is constantly distracted by various ideologists and showmen ), I consider it my duty to periodically reveal some secrets Jewish cultural heritage so that our compatriots can one day realize what a story we got ourselves into with the distribution of the Bible in Russia and settlement on our land million Jews.
Today I want to tell you, for example, how to correctly understand the meaning of the famous phrase of Jesus Christ, which he expressed directly to the face of the religious and political leadership of the Jews: “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, who are like whitewashed tombs, which appear beautiful on the outside, but inside are full of the bones of the dead and all uncleanness; so, on the outside, you seem righteous to people, but on the inside you are filled with hypocrisy and lawlessness...” (Matt. 23:27-28).
Firstly, scribes
here it is readers Jewish Torah
, general ledger Judaism
.
Secondly, Pharisees
(Hebrew: פְּרוּשִׁים, perushim, prushim) - adherents of the religious and social movement in Judea during the era of the Second Temple. The Pharisees founded one of three ancient Jewish schools of thought that arose during the heyday of the Maccabees.
Christ openly called both of them hypocrites - two-faced, bad, malicious people whose words and actions do not correspond true feelings and intentions.
Someone has already noticed that these hypocrites (Torah readers and Pharisee philosophers) Jesus compared with "painted coffins that look beautiful from the outside..." .
Why did this comparison arise?
It’s easy to guess if you look at how rich the ceremonial ammunition of any priest, whether Jewish or so-called Christian, looks.
This Jewish high priest in clothes embroidered with gold threads. On the chest there are 12 precious stones, symbolizing the 12 tribes of Israel.
The richest clothes, however, were found in the priests of the so-called Russian Orthodox Church. It’s as if they deliberately emphasize that they are those same fans "golden calf" which are written about in the Bible.
Gathering of bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church.
How can we understand WHY Jesus said in his time about exactly the same people in exactly the same gold-embroidered garments: “... so, on the outside, you APPEAR righteous to people, but INSIDE YOU ARE COMPLETE hypocrisy and lawlessness..." (Matthew 23:27-28)?
And so we must understand his words, that very many of the priests They say one, think other, but they do - third. In other words, are hypocrites !
If this had not been the case, society would not have been shocked by one after another high-profile trials involving sentences to long prison terms. pedophile priests. An example of this is this video report:
All this, of course, is disgusting. But this is not the worst evil that people who call themselves “Holy Fathers” can do. Are they saints?
What is the most terrible evil emanating from the so-called clergy Russian Orthodox Church?
For example, the great Russian thinker Leo Tolstoy at one time was very indignant at the fact that priests of the Russian Orthodox Church with their sermons they sow into the souls of children obscurantism. This is what he said: “What are we teaching? It's terrible to think about. We teach now, at the end of the nineteenth century, that God created the world in six days, then made a flood, planted all the animals there, and all the nonsense, abominations of the Old Testament, and then that Christ ordered everyone to baptize with water, or to believe in absurdity and the abomination of atonement, without which it is impossible to be saved, and then he flew into heaven and sat down there, in heaven, which does not exist, at the right hand of the Father. We're used to it, but it's terrible. A child, fresh, open to goodness and truth, asks what the world is, what its law is, and we, instead of revealing to him the simple teaching of love and truth handed down to us, diligently begin to hammer into his head all sorts of terrifying absurdities and abominations, attributing them to God. After all, this is horror. After all, this is a crime worse than which there is nothing in the world.”(L.N. Tolstoy. Collected works in 22 volumes, volume 11, dramatic works, “And the light shines in the darkness”, Moscow, “Fiction”, 1982).
For example, I think that the priests of the Russian Orthodox Church, praising at their services Jewish God , cause great harm both Christ and the Russian people. This is how they disturb millions of people. discern evil in the bustle of the world. They disorient the people. Not only do they not explain to people that all the worst evil in the world comes from Jews, as it is said in the Gospels (and as the Old Testament prophets spoke about it), but, on the contrary, they tell all parishioners in churches that "Jews and Christians believe in one God."
Meanwhile, the same Bible that they distribute among the people clearly says: "slander from those who say about themselves that they are Jews, but they are not, but syndicate of satan" (Revelation 2:9). Yes, and Christ, I believe it was not for nothing that he said to the Pharisees and scribes: "Your father is the devil and you want to fulfill the lusts of your father..." (John 8:44).
If the priests of the Russian Orthodox Church did not disorient the Russian people, but explained to them all the meanness and harmfulness Jewish commune , then, perhaps, neither the revolution nor the subsequent Civil War of 1918-1922 would have happened in 1917. And since they acted in exactly the same way then, and in addition collected tithes from the people, an additional 10% tax, following the example of the Jewish priests, a terrible evil then befell Russia.
And if today the Russian Orthodox Church did not show hypocrisy, but, on the contrary, would honestly tell the people during sermons that our home-grown billionaire oligarchs - not businessmen at all, but the real thing "the synagogue of Satan" , then would the people calmly look at them coven?! Wouldn't he have hit their greedy hands painfully!
So it turns out that The Russian Orthodox Church in its current form is a Trojan horse Judaism .
I consider it appropriate to now remember with a kind word Joseph Stalin, the first leader of the USSR, who himself studied in Georgia for 10 years to become a priest, and then suddenly realized that the Church had long ago betrayed the Savior.
Once talking with his friend Maxim Gorky, Joseph Stalin told him: “The significance of Christianity for the Russian people is undeniable. The example of the Savior, who accepted death on the cross, gave rise to the concept of heroism, that is, self-sacrifice in the name of the common good. “To give your life for your friend!” Hence the inflexibility of the Russians in the most severe trials. No wonder our enemies are convinced that it is not enough to kill a Russian, he must also be knocked down. Unfortunately, over the centuries that have flown by, Christianity has completely degenerated. And not only Catholicism, but also Orthodoxy. The Church has completely gone over to the side rich and thereby betrayed the covenants of the Savior. This betrayal ruined the authority of the church in the eyes of the people. It is enough to read the angry sermons of our Russian prophet Archpriest Avvakum. Servitude to the authorities forced believers to see the priest as an ordinary official in a cassock - in addition to the police officer or police officer. Because- then the church suffered the fate of the autocracy. After all, it was not the Jews who threw down the crosses from the churches, it was the baptized people who climbed onto the domes..."
Stalin was equally clear about the Bible: “This is just the history of the Jewish people. And that’s all! All the material is centered around Palestine. But remember - what is Palestine? A backwater of that time. Where is the history of China? And India? Japan, finally. Or take, for example, a country like Tibet Or Korea... After hesitation, he told Gorky: it was not for nothing that Emperor Nicholas I forbade the publication of the Bible in full, with the Old Testament at the head. Even then, after the Decembrist uprising, he realized that there was a hidden intent in the every possible exaggeration of the Bible. In other words , understood the harmful influence of Zionism."
Gorky then reminded the leader of Peter the Great, who first ordered the bells of churches to be transferred to cannons, and then completely abolished such an important institution as the patriarchate, i.e. put the church in frunt, turning it into an ordinary department.
Pointing the receiver at his interlocutor like a pistol, Stalin suddenly asked: “Do you see a place for a priest today in the construction of the Dnieper Hydroelectric Power Plant or Magnitka? And in the Red Army? And on the collective farm? I don’t know, maybe there’s something wrong with my eyesight, but I don’t see it!.. Well, maybe somewhere- somewhere in a hospital, among the dying... I don’t know, I don’t know..." (Nikolai Kuzmin “Retribution. Part I. The last flight of the Petrel”). Link to online edition.
While the state of workers and peasants existed on the world map — USSR, only Soviet citizens who lived with prejudices and believed in God, who created the world in 6 days, needed priests of the Russian Orthodox Church. When the USSR collapsed in 1991 and Jews came to power again, as in 1917, the Russian Orthodox Church suddenly gained unprecedented freedom and became a reliable and faithful support for the Jewish oligarchs.
If Stalin did not see "a place for a priest during the construction of the Dnieper or Magnitka hydroelectric station" (being at the same time an Orthodox priest by training and knowing and understanding that such a thing exists ROC from the inside!), then the so-callednew elite , which undertook to govern Russia, found use for priests everywhere, even in the military space industry.
That's understandable! It is easier to swing a censer and blow SMOKE (incense) into people’s eyes than to launch factories and build a Great State, as Stalin did!
I thought for a long time about the phenomenon of such blindness of people who look at all these manipulations of priests as some kind of miracle, and not like onobscurantism . And one day I figured out the secret of this phenomenon. There are several words in the Russian language that have an effect on ordinary peoplemagically. These are the words "God" And "faith". Whoever pronounces them, having first put on the appropriate uniform, is immediately imbued with respect and sacred awe by many people. These are the so-called suggestible people. There are a large number of them in any nation. This is what different people usecrooks from religion. And not only Christian.
When I found time to re-read the works of the Russian writer Leo Tolstoy, who once accused the priests of the Russian Orthodox Church of witchcraft, I found confirmation of my thoughts in him. I quote below most of Tolstoy’s letter to the Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church, with which I completely agree and am ready to subscribe to his every word. I hope that this letter will open the eyes of many people to the truth.
Leo Tolstoy's response to the Synod's decision to excommunicate him from the Church
“The fact that I renounced the church, which calls itself Orthodox, is absolutely fair. But I renounced it not because I rebelled against the Lord, but on the contrary, only because I wanted to serve him with all the strength of my soul.
Before renouncing the church and unity with the people, which was inexpressibly dear to me, I, having some signs of doubting the correctness of the church, devoted several years to theoretically and practically studying the teachings of the church: theoretically, I re-read everything I could about the teachings of the church, studied and critically analyzed dogmatic theology; in practice, he strictly followed, for more than a year, all the instructions of the church, observing all fasts and attending all church services. And I became convinced that the teaching of the church is theoretically an insidious and harmful lie, but practically a collection of the grossest superstitions and witchcraft, completely hiding the entire meaning of Christian teaching:
And I really renounced the church, stopped performing its rituals and wrote in my will to my loved ones that when I die, they would not allow church ministers to see me, and my dead body would be removed as quickly as possible, without any spells and prayers over it, like They remove every nasty and unnecessary thing so that it does not disturb the living. The same thing that is said that I “dedicated my literary activity and the talent given to me from God to the dissemination among the people of teachings that are contrary to Christ and the church,” etc., and that “I in my writings and letters, in the many that I sent out just like my disciples, throughout the world, especially within our dear fatherland, I preach with the zeal of a fanatic the overthrow of all the dogmas of the Orthodox Church and the very essence of the Christian faith,” then this is unfair. I have never cared about spreading my teachings. True, I myself expressed in my writings my understanding of the teachings of Christ and did not hide these writings from people who wanted to get acquainted with them, but I never published them myself; I told people about how I understand the teachings of Christ only when they asked me about it. I told such people what I thought and gave them, if I had them, my books.
Then it is said that I “reject God, the glorious creator and provider of the universe in the Holy Trinity, I deny the Lord Jesus Christ, the God-man, the redeemer and savior of the world, who suffered for the sake of men and ours for the sake of salvation and rose from the dead, I deny the seedless conception of the Lord Christ for humanity and virginity before and after the Nativity of the Most Pure Mother of God.”
One has only to read the breviary and follow those rituals that are continually performed by the Orthodox clergy and are considered Christian worship to see that all these rituals are nothing more than various techniques of witchcraft, adapted to all possible cases of life.
In order for a child, if he dies, to go to heaven, you need to have time to anoint him with oil and bathe him while pronouncing well-known words; in order for the parent to cease being unclean, you need to cast well-known spells; so that there is success in business or a quiet life in a new home, so that bread is born well, the drought ends, so that the journey is safe, in order to be cured of an illness, so that the position of the deceased in the next world is eased, For all this and a thousand other circumstances, there are known spells, which the priest pronounces in a certain place and for certain offerings.
The fact that I reject the incomprehensible Trinity and the fable of the fall of the first man, which has no meaning in our time, the blasphemous story of God born of a virgin, redeeming the human race, is absolutely fair. I not only do not reject God - spirit, God - love, one God - the beginning of everything, but I do not recognize anything as truly existing except God, and I see the whole meaning of life only in the fulfillment of the will of God, expressed in Christian teaching.
It is also said: “does not recognize the afterlife and bribes.”
If we understand the afterlife in the sense of the Second Coming, hell with eternal torment, devils, and heaven - constant bliss, then it is absolutely fair that I do not recognize such an afterlife; but eternal life and retribution here and everywhere, now and always, I recognize to such an extent that, standing at my age on the edge of the grave, I often have to make an effort so as not to desire carnal death, that is, the birth of a new life, I believe that every good every action increases the true good of my eternal life, and every evil action decreases it.
It is also said that I reject all sacraments. This is completely fair.
I consider all sacraments to be base, rude, witchcraft inconsistent with the concept of God and Christian teaching and, moreover, a violation of the most direct instructions of the Gospel.
In infant baptism I see a clear distortion of the entire meaning that baptism could have for adults who consciously accept Christianity; in performing the sacrament of marriage over people who had obviously been united before, and in allowing divorces and in sanctifying the marriages of divorced people, I see a direct violation of both the meaning and the letter of the Gospel teaching. In the periodic forgiveness of sins in confession, I see a harmful deception that only encourages immorality and destroys the fear of sin.
In the consecration of oil, just as in the anointing, I see methods of crude witchcraft, as in the veneration of icons and relics, as in all those rituals, prayers, and spells with which the missal is filled.
In communion I see the deification of the flesh and a perversion of Christian teaching. In the priesthood, in addition to obvious preparation for deception, I see a direct violation of the words of Christ, which directly prohibits calling anyone teachers, fathers, mentors (Matt. XXIII, 8-10).
Finally, it was said, as the last and highest degree of my guilt, that I, “while scolding the most sacred objects of faith, did not shudder to mock the most sacred of sacraments - the Eucharist.” The fact that I did not shudder to describe simply and objectively what the priest does to prepare this so-called sacrament is completely fair; but the fact that this so-called sacrament is something sacred and that to describe it simply as it is done is blasphemy is completely unfair.
The blasphemy is not in calling a partition a partition, and not an iconostasis, and a cup, a cup, and not a chalice, etc., but the most terrible, never-ending, outrageous blasphemy is that people, using all possible means of deception and hypnotization - they assure children and simple-minded people that if you cut pieces of bread in a certain way and while pronouncing certain words and put them in wine, then God enters into these pieces; and that the one in whose name a living piece is taken out will be healthy; In the name of whomever has died such a piece is taken out, it will be better for him in the next world; and that whoever eats this piece, God himself will enter into him.
It's terrible!
No matter how anyone understands the personality of Christ, his teaching, which destroys the evil of the world and so simply, easily, undoubtedly gives good to people, if only they do not pervert it, this teaching is all hidden, everything is converted into the crude witchcraft of bathing, anointing with oil, body movements, spells, swallowing pieces, etc., so that nothing remains of the teaching. And if any person tries to remind people that the teaching of Christ is not in these sorceries, not in prayers, masses, candles, icons, but in the fact that people love each other, do not pay evil for evil, do not judge, do not kill each other friend, then a groan of indignation will rise from those who benefit from these deceptions, and these people publicly, with incomprehensible insolence, speak in churches, print in books, newspapers, catechisms, that Christ never forbade an oath, never forbade murder (execution , wars), that the doctrine of non-resistance to evil was invented with satanic cunning by the enemies of Christ (Speech of Ambrose, Bishop of Kharkov).
The terrible thing, the main thing, is that people who benefit from this deceive not only adults, but, having the power to do so, also children, the very ones about whom Christ said that woe to the one who deceives them. The terrible thing is that these people, for their own small benefits, do such terrible evil, hiding from people the truth revealed by Christ and giving them a benefit that is not balanced even in a thousandth by the benefit they receive from it. They act like that robber who kills an entire family, 5-6 people, in order to take away an old coat and 40 kopecks. money. They would willingly give him all the clothes and all the money, as long as he didn’t kill them. But he cannot do otherwise.
It's the same with religious deceivers. One could agree to support them 10 times better, in the greatest luxury, if only they did not destroy people with their deception. But they cannot do otherwise.
This is what is terrible. And therefore it is not only possible, but must, to expose their deceptions.
If there is anything sacred, it is certainly not what they call a sacrament, but precisely this duty to expose their religious deception when you see it. If Chuvashin smears his idol with sour cream or flogs him, I can pass by indifferently, because what he does, he does in the name of his superstition, which is alien to me, and does not concern what is sacred to me; but when people, no matter how many there are, no matter how old their superstition is and no matter how powerful they are, in the name of that God by whom I live, and that teaching of Christ, which gave life to me and can give it to all people , they preach crude witchcraft, I cannot see this calmly. And if I call by name what they do, then I am doing only what I must, which I cannot help but do if I believe in God and the Christian teaching.
If, instead of being horrified by their blasphemy, they call the exposure of their deception blasphemy, then this only proves the power of their deception and should only increase the efforts of people who believe in God and in the teachings of Christ in order to destroy this deception, which hides from people of the true God.
About Christ, who drove the bulls, sheep and sellers out of the temple, they should have said that he was blasphemous. If he had come now and seen what was being done in his name in the church, then with even greater and more legitimate anger he would probably have thrown out all these terrible antimensions, and spears, and crosses, and bowls, and candles, and icons, and all that , whereby they, through sorcery, hide God and his teachings from people.
So this is what is fair and what is unfair in the synod’s resolution about me. I really don't believe what they say they believe. But I believe a lot of things that they want people to believe that I don't believe.
I believe in the following: I believe in God, whom I understand as spirit, as love, as the beginning of everything.
I believe that He is in me and I am in Him.
I believe that the will of God is clearest and most understandably expressed in the teaching of the man Christ, whom I consider to be the greatest blasphemy to understand as God and to whom to pray.
I believe that the true good of man lies in fulfilling the will of God, and His will is that people love each other and, as a result, do to others as they want to be done to them, as it is said in the Gospel that this is the whole law and the prophets.
I believe that the meaning of the life of each individual person is therefore only in increasing love in oneself, that this increase in love leads an individual person in this life to greater and greater good, gives after death the greater good, the more love there is in a person, and at the same time, and more than anything else, it contributes to the establishment of the kingdom of God in the world, that is, a system of life in which the discord, deception and violence that now reigns will be replaced by free consent, truth and brotherly love of people among themselves.
I believe that for success in love there is only one means: prayer - not public prayer in churches, which is directly prohibited by Christ (Matthew VI, 5-13), but prayer, the example of which was given to us by Christ - solitary prayer, consisting of restoration and strengthening in your consciousness the meaning of your life and your dependence only on the will of God.
They insult, upset or seduce someone, interfere with something or someone, or don’t like these beliefs of mine - I can change them just as little as I can change my body. I have to live alone, and die alone (and very soon), and therefore I cannot believe in any other way than the way I believe. Preparing to go to the God from whom he came. I am not saying that my faith is the only one that is undoubtedly true at all times, but I do not see another - simpler, clearer and meeting all the requirements of my mind and heart; if I recognize one, I will immediately accept it, because God does not need anything but the truth.
