Should a Christian say: “I am a man, and nothing human is alien to me”? What is the spiritual meaning of the saying: “I am a man, and nothing human is alien to me”? Nothing is alien to us

11. Behold, all who are angry against you will remain in shame and disgrace; Those who argue with you will be like nothing and will perish. 12. You will seek them, and you will not find them hostile to you; those who fight with you will be like nothing, absolutely nothing; 13. For I am the Lord your God; I hold you for

1. the speaker, like everyone else, is not alien to human weaknesses and delusions;
2. that he is deeply concerned about the misfortunes and joys of others, is interested in life in all its manifestations, he is able to understand, respond, and sympathize;
3. the breadth of interests of the speaker
   

In Terence, this phrase has an ironic character: in a conversation between two neighbors, one reproaches the other for interfering in other people’s affairs, passing on gossip without thinking about his own home. To this another objected: “I am a man, and nothing human is alien to me.”

Menedemos: Is it really not enough for you to do with Khremet?
You're getting into someone else's business!
Yes, it doesn’t concern you at all.
Khremet:I am human! Nothing human is alien to me (Homo sum, humani nihil a me alienum puto)

The expression is very well-known, but I had no information about the author. I took this aphorism as a description of my blog, Naturally, I wanted to know about the history of the origin of this “winged” thought, and having found the name of the author, I became interested in his fate and work. I immersed myself in the Internet...

To be honest, this was the first time I learned this name - TERENCE PUBLIUS, TERENTIUS, PUBLIUS TERENTIUS AFR(Publius Terentius Afer)(circa 190-159 BC)- Roman comedian.

Publius Terence was nicknamed the African. It is connected with the origin of the playwright. A captive slave from Carthage, he was in the service of a wealthy Roman senator, who, paying attention to his intelligence and abilities, gave him education, freedom and, as was customary among the Romans for freed slaves, his name.

Sayings, quotes and aphorisms of Terence Publius

1. Nothing can be said that has not been said before.
2. A wise person should solve all matters with words, not with weapons.
3. A prudent man should try everything before resorting to arms.
4. To be wise means to see not only what is under your feet, but also to foresee the future.
5. Give equal for equal.
6. When we are healthy, we all easily give good advice to the sick.
7. All my hope is in myself.
8. The highest right is often the highest evil.
9. The main rule in life is nothing in excess.
10. Anyone who considers power based on force to be more durable and firm than that based on love is deeply mistaken.
11. A bad beginning means a bad ending.
12. A woman will understand a woman more quickly.
13. Extreme adherence to the rule of law can turn out to be extreme lawlessness.
14. When two people do the same thing, one can do it with impunity, but the other cannot.
15. When two people do the same thing, they are no longer the same.
16. When the spirit hesitates, you can tilt it in one direction or another with any small amount.
17. Flattery makes friends, truth makes haters.
18. Love can change a person beyond recognition.
19. I don't buy hope with money.
20. There is nothing that cannot be distorted by a bad retelling.
21. Nobody wants to be related to a beggar.
22. One lie will give birth to another.
23. It’s easy to give a false meaning to anything through malicious interpretation.
24. Slavery is a prison of the soul.
25. Over the years we get smarter.
26. How many people, so many opinions.
27. Fate helps the brave.
28. A lovers' quarrel is a renewal of love.
29. Old age is itself a disease.
30. A hint is enough for a smart person.
31. Since you cannot do everything you want, wish only for what you can do.
32. Everyone has their own character.
33. This is the design of madmen, not lovers.
34. I am a man, and nothing human is alien to me.

Can a Christian be guided by the saying: “I am a man, and nothing human is alien to me”?

Hieromonk Job (Gumerov) answers:

The saying “Homo sum, humani nihil a me alienum puto,” which became an aphorism, first appeared in 162 BC. in the comedy of Publius Terentius Afra (c. 195 - 159 BC) “Heautontimorumenos” (“He who punishes himself”; in Russian editions - “The Self-Tormentor”). The play tells how Clinias, the son of the old man Menedemos, fell in love with a neighbor's girl. The father, in order to stop communication, treated his son harshly. Clinias left home and entered military service. My father was greatly tormented by his conscience. He began to exhaust himself with backbreaking labor in the field, doing the work that his slaves had previously done. The old neighbor Khremet asks Menedem why he exhausts himself from morning to evening, having a rich estate and slaves: “You don’t give yourself any rest or time.” And he hears in response:

Menedemos

Don't you have enough to do, Khremet?
You're getting into someone else's business! It's up to you
Doesn't matter at all.

Khremet

I am human!
Nothing human is alien to me.
Allow me a question, allow me an exhortation.
If you are right, then I will do the same,
If you're wrong, I'll try to reject you.

(Act 1. Scene 1)

Khremet’s words became an aphorism. But Terence hardly imagined that they would be one of the most famous aphorisms many centuries later. He could not foresee that these words would be given a completely different meaning than they originally had. Khremet’s words express the idea of ​​a person’s involvement in everything human - about a person’s participation in the joys and sorrows of another person. In ancient Roman literature, this saying became an expression of the idea of ​​social unity, for all people have the same nature. Thus, Lucius Annaeus Seneca (c. 4 BC - 65 AD) wrote: “Nature produces us all as brothers, made of the same elements, assigned to the same purposes. She puts in us a feeling of love, making us sociable, gives life the law of equality and justice, and, according to her ideal laws, there is nothing more base than to offend, it is better to be offended. It makes us ready to help and do good. Let us keep the words in our hearts and on our lips: “ I am a human being, and nothing human is alien to me.”. Let us always remember that we were born for society, and our society is like a stone vault, which does not fall only because the stones, leaning on one another, support each other, and they, in turn, firmly hold the vault" ( Seneca Lucius Annaeus. Moral letters to Lucilius. Letter XCV).

Earlier, Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 BC) used Terence’s aphorism: “Nature created us so that we would share the entire set of rights among ourselves and use them all together. And when I say “nature,” I want to be understood in this way throughout this entire discussion. But the depravity associated with bad inclinations is so great that it seems to extinguish the lights given to us by nature, and vices hostile to them arise and strengthen. And if people - both by the dictates of nature and by virtue of their judgment - recognized that “nothing human is alien to them,” as the poet says, then they would all equally respect the law" ( Cicero Marcus Tullius. Dialogues. M., 1994. P. 99).

The substantiation of the correct idea of ​​the unity of humanity in both Cicero and Seneca has a naturalistic character. Biblical Christian teaching overcomes the limitations of the pagan worldview. The Apostle Paul, speaking in the Areopagus, gave a precise theological justification for the idea of ​​the unity of the human race: “Of one blood He made the whole human race to dwell on all the face of the earth” (Acts 17:26). The Lord Creator not only produced all people from one person (Adam), but also laid down the basic laws of human life and the main goal of human life - the desire for God (so that “they would seek God, see if they would sense Him and find Him, although He is not far away from each of us" (Acts 17: 27). After the Incarnation and the Redemptive Sacrifice of Jesus Christ, true unity of humanity is possible only in Christ.

Neither in the period of early Christianity, nor in the Middle Ages did Christians turn to Terence’s aphorism. Only in the Renaissance, when humanistic philosophy arose, Terence’s aphorism began to be used to apologize man and justify his weaknesses and even vices. Giovanni Pico della Mirandola (1463-1494) wrote: “Man is rightly called and considered a great miracle, a living being truly worthy of admiration” (“Speech on the Dignity of Man”). Erasmus of Rotterdam (1466-1536), responding to the harsh and rude statements of M. Luther, notes: “If you limited yourself to two or three attacks, it might seem that they escaped you by accident, but this book is seething with reproaches everywhere! With them you begin, with them you end. If you were content with one of the ridicule of this kind, as calling me a “log”, “donkey” or “mushroom”, I would not answer anything except the words: “I am a man, and I think nothing human is alien to me” ( Erasmus of Rotterdam. Hyperaspistes // Erasmus of Rotterdam. Philosophical works. M., 1986. P. 582).

The moral anthropocentrism of humanists inevitably led and led to a break with the great Christian tradition, aimed at the revival of man through the spiritual healing of fallen human nature. “I can do all things through Jesus Christ who strengthens me” (Phil. 4:13). The Holy Scriptures and the Holy Fathers opened the way to victory over sin: “No one, when sinning, can present the weakness of the flesh as an excuse for sin. For unity with God the Word, the resolution of the oath, restored the whole nature in strength, thus making it inexcusable for us to incline the will to passion. The divinity of the Word, being always co-present by grace with those who believe in Him, drowns out the law of sin that is in the flesh” (Reverend Maximus the Confessor).

The spirit of reconciliation with sin and self-justification gradually gave rise to various ideologies of godlessness and man-theism. F.M. Dostoevsky, in Ivan Karamazov's dialogue with the prince of darkness, shows the demonic nature of human self-justification. The interlocutor who appears to Ivan says: “Satan sum et nihil humanum a me alienum puto.” "How how? Satan sum et nihil humanum... this is not stupid for the devil!” - Ivan exclaims and hears in response: - “I’m glad I finally pleased you” ( Dostoevsky F.M. Brothers Karamazov // Dostoevsky F.M. Full composition of writings. T. 15. M., 1976. P. 74). Reverend Justin (Popovich), commenting on this passage in the novel “The Brothers Karamazov,” says: “The secret of Ivan’s personality has been revealed. It consists of intellectual kinship and intimate friendship with the devil. And just as the devil says to Ivan: “I am Satan, and therefore nothing human is alien to me,” with the same right Ivan can say to the devil: “I am a man and I think that nothing satanic is alien to me.” Man and the devil become, as it were, synonymous; they can compete with each other and replace one another in our human world, and perhaps in some other worlds" ( Justin (Popovich), Rev. F.M. Dostoevsky about Europe and the Slavs. Chapter “The Mystery of Atheistic Philosophy and Anarchist Ethics”).

In modern life and culture, the aphorism “I am a man, and nothing human is alien to me” has become a convenient and capacious formula for self-justification for everyone who does not want to follow the narrow path of salvation. Whoever does not want to live according to God’s commandments voluntarily submits to the power of demons, for “whoever commits sin is of the devil” (1 John 3:8). However, the word of God admonishes the careless: “Whatever a man sows, this will he also reap: whoever sows to his flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but whoever sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life” (Gal. 6:7-8).