Prompting (suggestion) (прилог) is when without his desire and against man's will, he has sinful ideas or even images. If we shall drive away this sinful idea, than we did not sin. In this stage the sin is easiest to overcome. At the occurrence of prompting it is necessary to reject it decisevely.

Joining (сочетание) This is voluntary thinking about a sin. The person did not yet commit a sinful act, he only thinks about it, but this is already a sin.

Embracing (сложение) this is a desire for a sin. The person sometimes sins, but still understands his sinfulness.

Vice (captivity) (пленение) this is already committing a sin frequently, but the person still understands that it is a sin.

Passion (sinful obsession) (страсть) is when the sin becomes a habit, it is already a slavery to a sin. The sin is committed easily, the person does not feel that he sins and even can feel pride that he is doing it. In this stage it is the most difficult to overcome the sin. It is necessary to pray, to fast, «inner attention» (внутреннее внимание) and struggle, confession, communion, and obviously the help of a spiritual father.

2.10  Struggle with our Sinfulness. The Christianity appeals to us to believe and pray correctly and live according to God's Law. This last one means that whatever we do, say or think should be correlated with Holy Commandments.

Besides this the true apostolic Orthodox Christianity is calling us to struggle with our sinful habits, and this is referred as ascetism. Other Christians almost lost the concept of ascetism. Our Church follows apostolic Orthodoxy and appeals to us to follow it. Methodology of ascetism is as follows: prayer, fast, spiritual reading, struggle with our sinful habits, talk with spiritual father, confession and communion. We should always struggle with our sinful habits and try to correct them. Especially it is necessary to do it during the lent.

In other words the Church is appealing to us to work on oneself to change oneself towards better. By the way, the ascetic methods are almost unknown in the Protestant world and in the world of non-believers. Therefore, among them there is even a saying that "it is impossible to change a human nature". The Orthodox are exactly doing that, they are gradually changing and re-educating themselves for the better.

2.11  The Scale of Good and Evil. In order to easier understand the spiritual side of a man, one can image a vertical "Scale of Good and Evil". The understanding of this scale helps us understand people, especially their spiritual side. They are not simply good or bad, but their "goodness" can be shown on a scale. Above, there is the Lord God and His qualities: absolute love, kindness, truth, justice, mercy, beauty, source of all virtues etc. At the very bottom there is absolute evil. And so, spiritual qualities, or how much goodness has a person, can be represented on this scale. By his moral qualities the holy person is closer then other people to the Lord God. But he is not there where the Lord God is, because the saint also has sins and only the Lord God is without a sin. The criminal -- the serial murderer is all the way down, but still not at the very bottom where the goodness is equal to zero, because he is human, and he has God given soul and possibility for salvation. In his cell this prisoner has a mouse, and he feeds and loves him -- he is his friend.

Each person has a position on this scale. During his life he sometimes rises upward or sometimes falls down. The person can get into a bad company, gradually becomes part of it and moves down the scale. Sometimes the reverse process can happen. The person can get into a good group and will rise on a scale upwards. Instead of this process happening arbitrarily, the Church teaches us that does not matter where we are on the scale, we have to constantly work on ourselves and gradually move on the scale upward, towards the Lord God. If we do not watch our actions, and if we do not live according to God's Law, than because of life difficulties, we will gradually slide down and our qualities will move away from the Lord God. There is an ancient icon on which this scale is represented as a ladder and people who are moving along it towards the Lord God. This is the essence of the Orthodox faith.

2.12  Freedom to sin and freedom from a sin. Lord Jesus Christ has said: "anybody, doing a sin, is the slave to a sin" (John.8:34). What does this mean? Christians think that when we get used to a sin, to a sinful life, then we become slaves to a sin. We get used to a sin, so that we cannot avoid sinning. The true freedom, for a Christian, is when we have no sinful habits and then we are truly free. To a sinful person and not a Christian it seems that to sin is a freedom and that he is not sinning at all, and that the struggle with sin is slavery.

2.13  Sources of a sin. The source of a sin is the body of a person, the world surrounding us, and also the devil. The body is a source of unnatural tendencies and inclinations. The world around us sometimes is a source of sinful temptation. And the main source of a sin is certainly a devil.

2.14  Church -- a clinic for souls. The Orthodox faith appeals to us to cure our souls and the Church is sometimes called "the clinic of the souls". The problem is that any deviation from Christian values create in a person and society many difficulties, problems and traumas. Most basic problem is that the person becomes selfish, materialist and is not capable of love, that is to normally live and create in a society. Therefore the task for every Christian is to gradually correlate all activity with the Christian teaching: behavior, actions, words and even thoughts. Only such person is of a full value to himself, his family, friends and the society.

The Church developed the whole methodology of gradual self-education and self-correction, that is healing oneself and changing towards better. It consists of a prayer, fast, spiritual reading, association with people who provide a good example, "standings on guard" of one's behavior, confession and communion. This technique remained only with Orthodox Christians.
Non-Orthodox. Non-Orthodox (Catholics, Protestants and sectarians) lost this methodology and consequently their "Christianity" is very diluted. Thus the Orthodox Church, is the only one of all Churches which really heals spiritual sicknesses. This is also a proof that her teaching is the truth.

2a -- Sin. Notes

2.15  The Concept of Sin interferes with Sinner's lifestyle. The people who love sin and do not understand its destructive effect, the conscience interferes with their life. Liberally thinking psychologists and similar professions are saying that the conscience and feeling of a sin is a psychological complex. Therefore, one has to get rid off it since this is an indication of being unstable. This way the human conscience is gradually killed and the person stops feeling a sin. In psychotherapy the actions of a person are conformed with the society surrounding him, and in Christianity with God's Law. Spiritually sick person they see as a normal person, and Orthodox see him as a sick one. Unfortunately this kind of thinking penetrated the whole western culture and civilization.

2.16  "I am beautiful". One of the pronouncements of a group of non-believers, "flower children" of 1960th, was that each person is "beautiful". That is whatever he does he is still remains "beautiful". Even if he sins, he is still "beautiful". They are taking Christian teaching that each person means something to the Lord God and turned it around to suit their own thinking. That is whatever person does he is still "beautiful". The Christianity teaches that the person becomes really beautiful inside and even outside, only when he lives according to God's Law.

2.17  The Concept of Sin was made-up by people. Non-believers say (maintain) that the concept of sin was made up by people in order to control and exploit them and that it affects people in a bad way. It creates traumas, feelings of guilt -- all this interferes with a person's freedom to live as he chooses. They do not understand that the sin acts destructively on a person and society and therefore think that if we teach people not to sin, we take away from them a portion of their freedom. As it was already said before, the non-believers consider freedom to do everything they want, sinful and not sinful. Christians know that a sin makes a person slave to it and a lesser person and that the true freedom is when the person gets liberated and cleansed from all sinful ties.

2.18  Life is moving ahead. Under a pretext that the life is moving ahead, and that now the times are different, the non-believers teach and tempt people to sin. But the God's Law for behavior of people remains the same for all times: before, tomorrow, in the future and after the death. It is constant and it does not change. For example to live together, without a marriage now it is possible -- they are saying that the times are different. Non-believers do not understand or do not want to understand that a sin is a destructive behavior and that sooner or later it is necessary to pay for it with a high price.

The Orthodox Church follows the teaching of Lord Jesus Christ and tries to lift and distance a man from a sin. Catholic and other non-orthodox Churches in order to attract people are lowering their moral standards. This way they are not distancing the person from sin, but just the opposite, they are bringing him to it.

2.19  Whatever is natural to a man, should be allowed. Unbelievers and people who do not understand that the sin damages man's life and well-being, and his environment are saying that whatever is "natural" and "pleasant" is allowed. But they do not understand that the sin can become passion (obsession) and then the abnormal behavior becomes "pleasant". For example we can mention: alcoholism, narcotic addiction, sexual addiction, etc. All these activities can be pleasant for the time being, until the time comes for the payoff.

Этот текст по-русски

Questions and Answers	Вопросы и ответы
Original	Оригинал

3. Virtue

3.1  What is Virtue? (1а) Virtue is a good deed. It is a constructive behavior and realization of good, and a sin - destructive behavior and realization of evil. This is easy to check by following their consequences on a person and his environment. Since virtue is constructive, and sin destructive, it is opposite to sin. Therefore, virtue - is everything opposite to sin: joy, inspiration and everything good. It creates, builds, creates piece and calmness, love, joy, spiritual and moral beauty, forgiveness, peaceful disposition, sanctity, good relations between people, in family, school, at work, in a society.

3.2  Examples of good deeds. Good deeds can be: external (outer), internal (inner), bodily and spiritual. External good deeds are good deeds towards our neighbor and internal towards ourselves.
External bodily deeds are to provide help, food, drink, dress, medical help, help lonely and sick etc.
External spiritual deeds are to provide to somebody spiritual help: to give advise, correct a sinner, bring person to God, etc. This help is the most valuable.
In the West where the sin of pride is triumphant, it does not allow people to listen easily to criticism. They consider that advice and correction given to a sinner is interference in their private lives. Therefore if it is done, it has to be done with foresight, carefully and skillfully. This approach applies to Orthodox as well.

Internal good deeds, as it was said earlier, are good deeds towards ourselves: a life according to God's Law and struggle with our negative qualities.
Non-Orthodox Christians. Non-Orthodox Christians have almost no concept about inner good deeds.

3.3  Everyone understands a Good Deed. (1а) The Lord God created man according to His image, therefore every person is attracted to love, kindness and good deed. Virtue is understood by all people, every person: a civilized and a savage, a believer and an atheist. The sinners, offenders, dictators, etc. always justify their actions by claiming that they were doing something good.

3.4  Moral character. (4) A Christian is a person with an established moral character (personality) who constantly strives to develop in himself the corresponding qualities. He constantly aspires to improve himself (morally).
Anglo-Saxon culture. Russian language reflects Orthodox tradition and thinking and English Protestant. In Orthodoxy one of the most important concepts is moral change towards better, which is much weaker in Western Christianity. This is why in English language there are no words equivalent to Russian "воспитание" (moral education), "перевоспитание" (moral re-education), "самовоспитание" (moral self-education), etc. Therefore to express ideas about "воспитание" (moral education) in English is very difficult. Even if you will express them, it does not mean that people will understand. In English it sounds like an infringement on personal freedom, etc.

3.5  Christian life. (2,3,5) The whole life of a Christian is directed towards virtues. He correctly believes, prays, fasts, lives according to God's Law, does goodness, good deeds and works on himself: struggles with his shortcomings and faults, corrects his sinful habits, develops in himself Christian qualities, etc. Therefore, from a Christian point of view, the life is a struggle with a sin, a "подвиг" (spiritual feat), a way of constant striving towards good and improving oneself. Since a life is difficult and full of temptations, therefore very often the person who does not work on himself, with time becomes worse. The person who works on himself with time gradually becomes better.
Non-Orthodox Christians lost concept about spiritual struggle with one's shortcomings and faults. Their Christian life is reduced to doing good deeds, such as helping poor, working in the Church etc. They even have a saying that "you cannot change human nature" and that is exactly what Orthodox are doing.

3.6  Earthly and future eternal Life. (2,3) From the point of view of a future eternal life, the earthly life of a Christian is time of a "подвиг" (spiritual labor, feat) and preparation for it. In the Gospel it says that: "God's Kingdom is reached by an effort" (Matthew 11:12, Russian). It means that God's Kingdom is reached by an effort and only those using an effort will reach it, in other words it is necessary to lead a Christian life.
Protestants. The Protestants in order to be saved (inherit eternal life) do not have to do the good deeds, but only to have the faith.

3.7  Sins and opposite Virtues. Each sin has an opposite virtue. In struggle against any sin, it is necessary to practice a corresponding virtue. Thus a sinful habit is gradually replaced with a Christian virtue. Here are some of them:
(I) From Ten Commandments: disbelief-belief, idleness-labor, laziness-diligence, disrespect for parents-love and respect, murder-life, adultery-chastity, theft-gift, lie-truth, envy-joy.
(II) From Beatitude Commandments: pride and arrogance-humility, mercilessness-mercy, impure thoughts-pure, starting quarrels-peacemaking.
(III) From Confession Aid: condemnation-seeing own mistakes, anger-calmness, slander-protection, rudeness-politeness, irritability-restraint, despondency-joy in Christ, returning evil for evil-kindness for evil, meanness-calmness, complaining-gratitude, self-justification-admition of guilt, contradiction-humility, self-will-obedience, blaming-calmness, evil talk-self-control, laughter at a person-simpathy, temptation-chastity (purity), egotism-love, self love-love, love of honor-modesty, gluttony-fast, vanity-modesty, impure thought-pure, accumulation of material things-generosity, impure look-pure.

3a -- Virtue. Notes

3.7  Virtue - to their own advantage. Some non-believing liberals do not like to talk about virtues which are required from all Christians, preferring to speak about their sins and mistakes. If they speak about virtues, they usually promote their political programs and their selfish goals: the help to persons who lead an alternative sexual lifestyle, to AID's patients, persons who conduct pervert life, protection not of victims, but the purveyors of crime, animals, etc. About poor, starving, sick, invalids, children, elderly, victims of crime, etc. they do not care. They have a perverted concept of virtue. The majority of them in search for the true God, have gone in a wrong direction.

Этот текст по-русски

Questions and Answers	Вопросы и ответы
Original	Оригинал

4. God's Law

4.1  Conscience - the Internal Moral Law. (2,3) The conscience expresses the Internal Moral Law. This is why it is called the God's Voice in a person's soul. But, it is impossible to unmistakably and firmly direct one'a life according to conscience's guidance. Because sinful man has his mind, heart, will and conscience damaged. As a result of sinfulness the conscience has lost its clarity and strength.

4.2  Perfect law - the God's Law. (4) Since the conscience is not perfect, this is why the Lord God gave a man perfect law - the God's Law. He revealed it to the ancient Jews and this is why it is called the God-Revealed Law. It was given in two parts: the preparatory and the full law. The preparatory law has been given through prophet Moses and it is called Moses Old Testament Law, and the full law is the perfect Gospel Law.

4.3  Moses's Law. (5) The Moses's Law has two parts. Religious-moral and religious-ceremonial. The religious-ceremonial part is related to the history and the life of Jewish people. This part of the Law, for Christians, became a thing of the past. The religious-moral part of the Moses's Law, Ten Commandments and others, have kept its meaning and are still obligatory for Christians.

4.4  Teaching of the Lord Jesus Christ. (6) Despite the possession of these Commandments the world began, from the moral point of view, to enter a dead end. Then to the earth came the Lord Jesus Christ who deepened the understanding of the Old Testament teaching by the teaching of Beatitude and other New Testament Commandments. The Christianity teaches to understand Ten Commandments not superficially (externally, without internal conviction) and literally, not as obedience and an superficial (external) fulfilling. It revealed their deep meaning and taught their perfect and complete understanding and adherance. Holy fathers of the Church explained everything that Jesus Christ said and this is now known as the "God's Law".

4.5  Difference between Old and New Testament Law. (7) Old Testament Law looked at the external appearance of person's actions. New Testament Law looks at the heart of a person and on his inner motivation. In the Old Testament Law the person obeys the Lord God as a servant to his master, and in the New Testament Law obeys as the son to his beloved Father.

4.6  Importance of the Old Testament Law. (8) Several thousand years ago people were on a very low degree of moral development. Mores were rude and cruel. Old Testament Moses's Law did not eliminate man's cruelty and vindictiveness, but constrained and placed firm and strict boundaries to morals.

4.7  Importance of the New Testament Gospel Law. (9) The New Testament Law eliminated man's cruelty and vindictiveness. The most important commandment in the Gospel is love for God and a neighbor.

4.8  God's Law is unchanging and eternal. The God's Law gives us the formula for life in a society and for relationship with other people. It is constant, eternal and does not change. Any change from this path, gradually undermines the society and it finally dies. Therefore the true psychology and similar sciences should be correlated with God's Law.

4.9  Life according to God's Law. The Church is teaching us to follow the God's Law and correlate our actions, words and thoughts with it and to expel sin from ourselves. Only in a life according to God's Law the person obtains the true happiness. The absence of sin in a person's life creates in him peace, serenity and love for everybody, which is a true happiness. In Church language it is said that the true happiness is only in God. Other happiness is not true and is only temporary.

4.10  God's Law is Higher Logic. The God's Law, in its teaching, gives us "an all-round, total (comprehensive) view" of the whole life and actions of a person. It considers our action, its influence on us and others, today, tomorrow and in the future life (after death). The person because of his weakness, sinfulness, "short-sightedness" and no foresight sees and understands basically, only the present moment. But, if one assumes a "total, complex" point of view all commandments become completely logical and consistent. Well known Serbian Bishop Nikolay (Velemirovich) expressed this idea as follows: "Virtue is far-sighted and sees the deep reasons. The sin looks only in front of itself and does not know the true reasons". As required by the science, it is possible to prove the whole God's Law experimentaly. But these truths are so obvious to the person with life experience that they do not demand any proof.

4.11   Parable of the Wise Builder. (Matthew 7:24-27) At the end of the Sermon on the Mount Jesus Christ said a parable which is in a way a conclusion of this sermon. "One wise man built his house on a stone, and the foolish - the house on a sand. In a good weather both houses stood well. When the storm came and the strong wind blew, the house which was built on a sand fell. Other house, which stood on a stone, on a solid foundation, withstood a storm and a wind and did not fall". This parable says that it is necessary to build our life on the firm foundation of the God's Law and then whatever happens, we shall withstand.

4.12  Future eternal life. (1) From the point of view of the future eternal life, the principal task of the life on earth is to prepare oneself for salvation and the eternal life. To obtain it, the person should do good deeds and in general live according to God's Law. (See also #3.6-Earthly and future eternal Life).
Protestants. The Protestants believe that in order to be saved and deserve an eternal life, it is not necessary to do good deeds, but it is necessary only to believe. This is why, they often say that "I shall live with the Lord God", which creates the big and false self-confidence and arrogance.

4a - God's Law. Notes

4.13  Non-Believers. Non-Believers do not believe in God and this is why they do not believe in the God's Law. For them everything is allowed and everything can be done. They say that in order to determine what is right, and what is not, it is necessary to prove it experimentally. This way many things that are obvious and clear to anybody with a sound mind have to be tested. Thus it is necessary to waste time and prove thing which are obvious. For example negative effect of crime films on psyche of children and in general on a person. This fact is obvious, but it necessary to waste time and do research in order to prove that.

4.14  Who is against Christians? There are various groups which are against Christians. Here we will mention five such groups:
(1) Busy. These people found themselves in the life whirlpool and simply never had questions about life and death, why we live, the meaning of life, how to act correctly and why. They simply act according to their own opinion and conscience. In small difficulties their approach can be sufficient, but in big ones it does not work. This is described in Jesus Christ's "Parable of the Wise Builder" (See #4.11 above).
(2) Disappointed. This group often includes fair and decent people who never heard of the true religion Orthodoxy, they know many strange sects, and in horror recoiled from them and all other religions. It is necessary to say that when they meet the true Orthodoxy they frequently become converts.
(3) Liberals. Among nonbelieving liberals very popular are Non-Christian pagan religions such as as Hinduism, Budizm, etc. This can be explained by the fact that although they refuse the true Christian God, their human nature still thirsts for the Creator - and they are searching for Him in the wrong place.
(4) Atheists. The embittered atheists, nonbelievers according to their conviction. Some of them are aggressively disposed against Christians and are methodically trying to destroy Christian culture.
(5) The Soviet Atheists. During 74 years in Russia existed atheistic state the USSR. It was marked by militant atheism which cost Russia about 60 millions lives. Now, all this has ended. In spiritual sense there is a revival, but there are still left a lot of people with atheistic outlook. Some of them are gradually coming back to Orthodoxy - the faith of their great-grandfathers.

4.15  Secular Humanism. In the West, during many hundreds of years there was a Christian culture, the culture based on Christian values. Recently, particularly in the last 50 years, there is a gradual falling out from it into a so-called "Secular Humanism". Basically it is watered down atheism which more and more gains in strength. The Christianity is mocked and criticized and unbelief and Nonchristian values are promoted. For example: sexual permissiveness, abortions, sodomy, alternative families, disrespect for parents and older people, pagan religions etc. All this develops negative qualities in people and pulls them into a spiritual and moral abyss.

Этот текст по-русски

Questions and Answers	Вопросы и ответы
Original	Оригинал

5. Freedom of Will

5.1  Loving parents and the Lord God. Loving parents teach and direct their children in the right direction, but under no circumstances are forcing their will, letting it be free. The same thing is done by our Lord God. He is our Father, He created us and He loves all of us. He teaches us, gave us Commandments, hears our prayers, helps us, directs us, creates for us "accidental" meetings and incidents which are for our benefit, but under no circumstances breaks our will. Our will always remains free and our choice between one act or another remains only ours. Frequently the person makes a wrong choice and than because of it, his family and friends suffer. The Lord God then always tries to correct the way of a sinner and to return him, with a fatherly love, on a correct path.

5.2  Does a Person have a free Will? (1) The person has a free will. Certainly various external causes are affecting him like the environment, life conditions, political circumstances, his education, cultural development, etc. But, still in the final analysis, the person is free to choose one path or the other. The person bears the full responsibility for his acts only when he has a free choice to make them.

5.3  Freedom of Will and Philosophical Systems. Many philosophers during the whole history of humanity were examining the question of a freedom of will of a person. We will consider here three such approaches: determinists, indeterminists and extreme indeterminists.

5.4  Determinists. (2) Determinists teach that a person is not free to choose what he wants. He is being acted upon by external causes such as the environment, life and political conditions, his education, cultural development, etc. Eventually the person submits to the strongest of these motives. All of this means that a person does not have a free will. These philosophers are saying that we are only imagining that we act freely - actually it is a self-deception. The well-known philosopher of 16-th century Spinosa was a determinist. The teaching of determinists leads to the absurdity, since nobody can be blamed for anything, because all of us are victims of the circumstances.
Determinism at present time. The psychologist Sigmund Freud was very much affected by determinism. According to his theory parents greatly effected us, mostly in a negative way. It follows that a person is not guilty, but his parents are. This thinking infiltrated deeply into present Secular Humanism, which triumphs in the West, and it is propagated by it all over the world. One of the consequences of this teaching is the present negative attitude in a society towards parents, and in general towards older people.
In our times, frequently lawyers in litigations are using determinists arguments, during the defence of their clients and are proving that their client is not guilty, but the circumstances are at fault.

5.5  Indeterminists. (4) Indeterminists teach that a person is free to choose what he wants. Though his actions in many respects are defined by many external reasons such as the environment, life and political conditions, his education, cultural development, etc. But, in final choices he is free. Christians are certainly indeterminists. Freedom of a person is a freedom of choice, freedom of our will to act one way or the other.

5.6  Extreme Indeterminists. (5) Extreme indeterminists teach that the person does not only have the freedom of a choice, but also has the right to do whatever he wants, not taking into consideration anybody or anything. This results in a full arbitrariness of the person, the full power to act on any desire or a whim. Certainly this is not freedom, it is the abuse of freedom, this is its distortion. The person cannot have an absolute and unconditional freedom.
Anarchists. There is not a very popular political movement which, one can say by its thinking, belongs to this group.

5.7  Christians and Freedom of Will. (6a) Christians believe that the person is morally free to choose this or that deed; he has a freedom of a choice between good and evil. This freedom is the greatest gift from the Lord God. The Lord God does not want from us an automatic obedience, but a free and voluntary compliance. As the loving child obeys his father, this is how we should obey our Father the Lord God and act according to His Holly Will, that is according to goodness and to Christian love. It is necessary to remember that the God's Law is the Higher Logic which sometimes is not quite obvious to people because of their sinfulness and poor foresight (see #4.10-God's Law is Higher Logic). The sin and evil destroys, and virtue and goodness builds. The Lord God is simply teaching us to live full and effective life.

5.8  God's Providence. (6a) As the good parent helps the child and directs him in the right direction, so in the same way the Lord God helps us and creates for us the necessary conditions. Frequently the person reaches the God's Truth with big effort. It would be easy for the Lord God to speed up this process, but He does not do it. If He would do it, then the person would not reach it by his own will, his own free choice, and would be simply a tool of the Lord God. The Lord God helps us, but the choice and work should be our own.

5a -- Free Will. Notes

5.9  Church interferes in the private affairs of the people. The enemies of Christians do not see the Church as a caring mother, an educator and a moral teacher (воспитательницу). They see her as some kind of secular organization which interferes in their private affairs. Certainly it is possible to think in this way if one is not familiar with the Orthodox Church and having heard plenty and seeing enough of horrors among the Non-Orthodox, they are running away from any Church, including the Holy Apostolic Orthodox Church.
Church and the state. It is necessary to note that in the Orthodox countries and in the West the relationship between the Church and the State are completely opposite. In Orthodox countries the Church existed together with the state. The state cared about bodily needs, and the Church about spiritual and moral. Each of them had its own field of responsibility and in most cases they did not interfere with each other. When the state was in danger, then the Church acted and did whatever was necessary to save the country.
In the West historical circumstances have developed in a different way. In these countries there were several or even many religions. Some of them were aggressive and wanted to govern and consequently there were constant difficulties. This is the reason why there is a separation of the Church from state affairs.

5.10  The Man should be free. This is a well-known slogan of nonbelievers who consider that the Church interferes in their private affairs. The person should be free and should have a right to do whatever he wants, this is what they say and it does not sound too bad, but in practice it does not work. People do not always understand what is happening, and are under the influence of various circumstances and therefore can make the wrong decision.

5.11  The Nonbeliever's View is incomplete. In all the examples mentioned above it is clear that the view of nonbelievers is incomplete since it does not take into account the spiritual side of a person, but only physical and his mind (reason). The spiritual side, a rich inner world of his faith, conscience, virtues and sins is not considered at all as though it does not exist. Therefore their reasonings are short-sighted. In other words, as always, a view of nonbelievers is shallow and superficial. It is deprived of the depths which gives the Orthodox approach based on God's Law Commandments and the Psychology of Holy Fathers.

5.12  The Teaching of the Orthodox Church. The Orthodoxy can in no way be placed on the same level as other religions. Or to say that it is some kind of "tradition". Doing this people completely do not understand the essence of the Orthodox Church. The teaching of the Orthodox Church is not the teaching of one person or even a holy one, this is the teaching of the Lord God himself and the work of thousands and thousands of people during several thousand years, many of whom were saints.
Lord Jesus Christ has deepened the faith of ancient Jews and has given it new significance and understanding. The Church - these thousands and thousands of people who understood that this teaching is true and not of this world, have collected all existing written material by Holy Old Testament Prophets, have written down the life, miracles and teaching of Lord Jesus Christ, have collected letters of holy apostles, have defined the structure of the Holy Scripture (Bible), have conducted seven Ecumenical Councils, have written many books of apologetic character, have written down a mass of sermons, preached Christianity among Non-Christians, have organized new National Churches, have developed Psychology of Holy Fathers and other theological subjects, all this in order to explain, teach and put into practice the teaching of the Lord Jesus Christ. Thus, in the Church everything is based on God revealed Truth, all is wise and thought through and in no way it is possible to compare it to a creation of one person.

Этот текст по-русски

Questions and Answers	Вопросы и ответы
Original	Оригинал

6. Christian Personality

6.1  Christian personality. (2) Orthodox faith is calling us not to sin only and do good deeds, but also to ban from ourselves evil and sin and to develop in oneself good Christian qualities. It is necessary to remember that sin and evil harms a man, people and society, and goodness helps and builds. From this it is clear that the purpose of a Christian moral education is to bring up a good person. To this effort we are called by the Lord Jesus Christ himself: Be perfect, as your Heavenly Father is perfect (Matthew 5:48). Obviously it is necessary to remember that only the Lord God possesses the full perfection, and a man can only become better.

6.2  Moral obligations. (1) Moral obligation can be divided into three groups: responsibilities towards oneself, responsibilities towards our neighbor and higher responsibilities towards the Lord God. Our relation towards all of these responsibilities have to be properly developed.

6.3  Spiritual moral self-education. The most important task of a Christian is to develop his Christian personality, his Christian "I". When we believe, pray, live according to God's Law, in every possible way correlate all our actions, words and thoughts with God's Law, do good deeds, struggle with our sinful habits, fast, confess, have communion, in time we gradually develop in ourselves Christian outlook, personality and habits; which is our Christian "I". The change of ourselves for the better does not occur right away, but gradually. By developing in ourselves Christian qualities we at the same time prepare ourselves for the eternal life.
The Orthodox Christian studied and knows the God's Law. In it he has the advice from the Lord God himself how to act in any circumstances of life. He is not holy, but it tries to live piously (holy) and if he falls he gets up, repents and continues further to try to live piously. Since he lives according to God's Law his world outlook and personality are solid because they are standing on a solid foundation (see #4.11-Parable of the Wise Builder). Thus the Christian in his spirit is collected, quiet, peaceful, with Christian qualities, he knows himself, his abilities and weaknesses, knows his place in the world, etc. He "does not search" for himself since he never lost himself.
In English. As it was mentioned earlier (see #3.5), in English language there are no words for moral education (воспитание), moral reeducation (перевоспитание), moral self-education (самовоспитание) и т.п. As far as spiritual self-education (духовного самовоспитания) there is also nothing available. This follows from the fact that for Non-Orthodox it is enough to pray and do the good deeds. The Orthodox' main goal is to change oneself (morally) for the better. They do not have this process (methodology) and they do not understand it. There is even a saying "you cannot change human nature", and this is exactly the most basic principle of Orthodoxy.
At this point it is important to mention that the present English speaking world is in "Secular Humanistic" phase and going through the Cultural Revolution and the word "spiritual" does not have the same meaning as in Orthodoxy.

6.4  Body, mind and spirit of a man. A man consists of three parts: a body, mind and a spirit. The body is his physical body, mind is his ability of the mind, and the spirit is everything concerned with the Lord God and morality. (The mind and spirit are the parts of a soul). The task that each man has is to correctly develop his body, mind and spirit.
Secular sciences do not see the existence of the spirit in a man. They study body and mind and consequently, one can say, that their understanding of a man is in two dimensions. Orthodoxy sees a third component of a person, his spirit and consequently its understanding of a man is in three dimensions and therefore fuller, than secular. The spiritual side, this rich inner world of a faith, conscience, virtues, sins, good and evil is not considered by all of these sciences as though they does not exist. Therefore the reasonings of non-believers are short-sighted, shallow and superficial.

6.5  Influence of the environment. During a life of a person he is affected by his family, friends, acquaintances, work, events, etc. Russian proverb says: "with whom you associate, this is who will you become". Sometimes the influence of an environment is such that it pushes the person upwards on the "Scale of Good and Evil" (see #2.11), and sometimes downward. Since the life is difficult, many people with time move on a scale downward, and toward the end of their lives become disappointed, quarrelsome, nasty, cynics and in general unpleasant people. In Orthodox Church this process is taken under control and the person with the Church's help always moves upwards on a scale. Therefore the Orthodox elderly frequently are pleasant, deep and spiritual people.

6.6  Constant spiritual and moral self-education effort (work, labor). (7) As it was said above (see #6.3) secular life, in most of the cases has a bad influences on a person. Constant rush, secular culture, worshipping of its idols, all this pulls away the person from the things which are most important in his life and the person gradually worsens and moves down on the "Scale of Good and Evil" (see #2.11). Having lived in such conditions for 10-20 years, without deep relationship with God, the person can change beyond recognition and sometimes make even a 180° turn. Not only it is possible to forget, but also even to become the enemy of all that was dear and loved: families, friends, the native land, including holy Orthodox faith. In order that this does not take place it is necessary to constantly work on one's spiritual qualities.

6.7  Christian and the egotist. (3) When an egotist cares about himself, he cares about his body, his pleasure, his comfort. All this promotes development in him even a greater egotism. From the egotistical point of view he takes care of himself, and from the Christian point of view he is ruining his soul as he becomes increasingly bigger and bigger egotist.
When a person fasts and also tries not to sin and struggles against his sinful habits, from the point of view of the egoist he is limiting his freedom, from the point of view of a Christian he is perfecting his soul and comes nearer to holiness.

6.8  Unstable character. (5.3) The Orthodox faith gives us stable and correct world outlook. People who do not possess such gift are not firm in their beliefs and if one exerts a pressure they easily change their opinion and even outlook.
As it was said before, the Orthodox Christian is the exact opposite of such kind of people. He studied and he knows the God's Law. In God's Law he has advice from the Lord God himself on how to act in all circumstances of his life. He is not a saint, but he tries to live piously (holy) and if he falls, he gets up, repents and continues further to try to live piously. Since he lives according to God's Law, his world outlook and personality are stable, since they are built on a solid foundation.

6a -- Christian Personality. Notes

6.9  The Man is fine just the Way He is. Nonbelievers are saying that the man is fine the way he is and that any interference in his affairs is an infringement of his freedom. Therefore any moral education is simply brainwashing and abusing person's freedom. Such outlook is obviously superficial. Every man is a sinner and therefore has sinful habits. It is necessary not to forget that the sin is something bad, something that prevents us to live, create, be happy, etc. Understanding this it becomes clear that removing sin from human life promotes his peace, tranquility, calmness, love and certainly happiness.

6.10  Strong man does not need a support. Some nonbelievers are saying that the man should be strong by himself and therefore he does not need any support, especially a false one (since they do not believe in God). This thinking is unreal since it is based on assumption that the man knows everything, can do everything and is capable of everything. But these qualities are only God's qualities. Every person is sinful, has weaknesses and often does not discern in what is happening. Only with the Lord God we become strong, and He has answers to all questions of life.

Этот текст по-русски

Questions and Answers	Вопросы и ответы
Original	Оригинал

7. Humility, Sorrow and love of Truth

7.1 Humility - the basic virtue. (1) The most basic virtue is a humility. In the very beginning of Beatitude Commandments it says: "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for their is the Kingdom of Heaven" (Matthew 5:3). The opposite to humility is the sin of pride (arrogance), therefore it is the basic sin. It means that any other commandments are not attainable, if we are proud, and we do not have humility. Beatitude Commandments show us a way of correcting ourselves which begins with the humility. The proud person does not see his mistakes.
     The poor in Spirit, does not mean a poor man who begs because he can spiritually be a very bad person; lazy, drunkard, etc. The poor in spirit, is the person who realizes that without the Lord God he is nothing. Since the Lord God is the source of goodness, the person realizes that everything good in him is from God, and evil: egotism, pride (arrogance), sensuality from himself. This is the first step into Christianity and it is the most difficult step for a proud and arrogant (opinionated) person; to admit to himself, that before God, he is nothing. But in this Christian humility, the person begins to live according to the law of the Creator of the world, the Lord God Himself and His Law. He begins to live according to His Truth, according to this great and wise teaching and in his humility he gets stronger, develops and can become spiritual giant.
     The proud person cannot make this step. He thinks that everything that he has is, from himself. He does not quite believe in God and consequently deprives himself of a wise management, knowledge and experience of the Church. From there he has arrogance, sick vanity, big self-conceit, all this prevents him from an effective and fruitful life.

7.2 Pride -- the basic sin. (1) Most basic sin is pride (arrogance). The word "pride" has several meanings. One of them is given in this example "I am proud of what he did", which actually means that "I am happy about what he did". Here we talk about "spiritual pride", or about arrogance.
     The Holy Scripture condemns pride in many places. For example in the New Testament, in the Epistle of Saint Apostle James it says that: God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble (James 4:6).
     And so, the beginning of a sin is pride. Pride as a sin, never occurs alone. It generates a whole chain of other sins, connected with it. A proud person: (1) seeks a praise, (2) heightens (raises, glorifies) himself, (3) despises others, (4) does not obey those in power, (5) does not accept advice, (6) takes offence (gets hurt), (7) cannot forgive, (8) remembers evil, (9) does not want to yield, (10) cannot admit a mistake, (11) wants to be better than others, (12) wants his own way, etc. Thus, pride is not only a sin, but also the beginning and a source of many other sins and evil. Quite often not a dumb, but an intelligent and educated person because of his pride becomes a foolish one.
     More extensively: Что такое гордыня (ДД-45)

7.3 Healing the Sin of Pride. How to overcome a spiritual illness of pride, particularly if it already become part of our nature? The methodology of struggle is the same as with any other sinful spiritual passion. This is a difficult and complicated path and certainly in the first place it is necessary to turn to the Lord God for help -- it is necessary to pray so that He will help. After that it is necessary to talk and have a confession with your spiritual father. Then, in order to fight the enemy, it it is necessary first to know him. That means, it is necessary to study pride and to read all about it wherever you can find it. These days, the easiest is to do it on internet. After that it is necessary to think through all our behavior (actions, words and thoughts) at home, in school, at work, etc. from the point of view of pride and to identify it in all of its occurrences. After the identification is done, it is necessary to watch for its occurrence and when it appears to replace it always with an opposite virtue.
     Therefore: (1) seeking praise -- replace with modesty, (2) heightening (raising, glorifying) yourself - replace with silence, (3) despising others -- replace by identification of their good qualities and love, (4) not obeying those in power -- replace with silence and obedience, (5) not accepting advice -- replace with respect and listening, (6) taking offence (getting hurt) -- replace with silence, (7) inability to forgive -- replace with forgiveness, (8) remembering evil -- replace with forgiveness, (9) not wanting to yield -- replace with yielding, (10) cannot admit a mistake -- replace with addition of a mistake, (11) wants to be better than others -- replace with modesty, (12) wants his own way everywhere -- replace with yielding, etc.
     During the struggle if something is difficult to do than it is necessary to pray for help. During a lent it is necessary to strengthen our struggle. Thus, after a certain time, the new behavior will become our standard and we shall be cured.

7.4 False Humility. (2) False humility happens when the person on a surface is humble, but inside, he is still proud. This can be found out by seeing how does he react to a well intentioned criticism. Such person appears humble but if you show him his errors and his sins, than immediately he becomes angry.

7.5 Blessed are those who mourn. (3) Second Beatitude Commandment says: "Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted" (Matthew 5:4 NKJV). This Commandment tells us that we should "mourn" (in Russian "cry"), that is to regret our sins. As it was said above (see #7.1), Beatitude Commandments show us a way to spiritual improvement. It begins with a recognition that we have sins (1-st Beatitude Commandment) and "regret" (cry) that we have sinned.
     Besides that, this Commandment says that Christians should bear their difficulties), the cross, with humility and that they will be consoled. The troubles are sent to us by the Lord God to correct us, to direct us to the right path. Those people who in life search only for pleasures, from the Christian point of view are unfortunate, since in a pursuit of materialism and entertainment, their souls will become worse.

7.6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. (4) In the fourth Beatitude Commandment the following is said: "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, For they shall be filled" (Matthew 5:6 NKJV). This Commandment tells us that those people who search for the Divine Truth and try to live according to it, that they will be satisfied. In part they will be already satisfied here on earth, in our temporary lifetime. But most of all they will be satisfied in the future, in our eternal life. In the eternal life everything will be according to the God's Truth. An example of satisfaction in our life, is when father or mother conduct it and bring up family according to God's Law. In the house reigns goodness, love, friendliness, hospitality. All this favorably affects all members of the family and all of them are characterized by the abundance of good Christian qualities.

7a - Humility, Sorrow and love of Truth. Notes.

7.7 Pride in the West. In the West the destructive effect of a pride is not recognized and consequently it is taught to children from their childhood. One of the first indicators is that I is always written with the capital letter "I". Then, the children learn to express their opinion even when they have none. Recently, the TV showed a class with afroamerican children, who was thought by the teacher to shout "I am number one". If he is number one, then others are worse than him. Unfortunately, all western countries are poisoned with a sin of pride and arrogance.

7.8 Absence of pride in the Eastern Europe. In the Eastern Europe and in Russia people are not brought up with pride and consequently when they come to the West frequently there are problems in communication -- all kinds of misunderstanding, conflicts etc.

7.9 Beatitude Commandments among Non-Orthodox. There is a difference in understanding of the Beatitude Commandments between Orthodox and Non-Orthodox. For Orthodox these are Commandments which they are supposed to follow. For Non-Orthodox these are not Commandments, they are simply "Beatitudes", qualities which the Lord God awards to those who do good deeds and serve the Church. More about the attitude in Western Churches about Beatitude Commandments see #1.4-Teaching of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Этот текст по-русски

Questions and Answers	Вопросы и ответы
Original	Оригинал

God does not like Pride (ДД-45.4ар)

8. Repenting of Sinners

8.1 Parable of the prodigal Son. (Luke 15:11-24) The parable of the prodigal son talks about two young sons. One of them asked for his part of the property from the father and left for the far away country. There the son spent all his wealth -- by living in excess. He began to starve and became a swine shepherd. Eventually he understood his error and repented, he asked forgiveness from his father and returned back to him. Father forgave him and accepted the swine shepherd back as his son.

8.2 The meaning of the Parable of the prodigal Son. The parable of the prodigal son explains the process of the return of a lost man back to a Christian way. Often a person, having received from the God "his share", ceases to believe in Him and forgets about Him. Then he starts spending his spiritual and physical strengths in empty entertainments and pleasures. After that the person starts feeling dissatisfaction with his empty life and starts reaching out for God. This leads to repentance and a gradual return to God.

8.3 Spiritual Ladder or a Scale. (See also #2.11) The concept of the Spiritual Ladder or a Scale helps us to understand spiritual growth or falling of a person. On top of a ladder or a scale there is the Lord God. He is the absolute love, justice, beauty, a source of all virtues. On the ladder or the scale people have located themselves. The closer they are to the Lord God, the closer they are to Him in qualities. The further they from the Lord God, the less they have virtuous qualities. Each person has his position on this ladder, or scale. The Church teaches us that, whoever we are, and wherever we are on this scale, all our life we should work on ourselves and slowly move along the ladder upwards towards the Lord God. If we do not watch our actions, if we do not try to live according to God's Law we gradually slide downwards, in our qualities we move away from the Lord God. So, sometimes the person because of his sinful behavior falls downwards on the Scale of Good and Evil, and after the repentance and rectifying his behavior he rises upward again.

8а -- Repenting of Sinners. Notes.

8.4  Spiritual Revival in Russia. In 1917, to Russia came atheistic, godless and fighting God regime. Thousands and thousands of clergy and believers were killed. During the 74 years of persecution it gradually became less. Finally, in 1991 on the Holy Day of Configuration the godless regime fell, Russia changed and the new regime gave up the atheism. At present time, we are witnessing how after 74 years of persecution by godless and God fighting regime, thousands and thousands of Russians are turning to their Father, the Lord God.

Этот текст по-русски

Questions and Answers	Вопросы и ответы
Original	Оригинал

9. Grace and Salvation.

9.1  Beginning of man's salvation. The beginning of the life that leads to salvation, goes only through Jesus Christ and is given to us through the mystery of baptism. Baptism is the door through which a man enters the Church of the people who are being saved.

9.2  Obtaining God's Kingdom. God's Kingdom is obtained by making an effort, and only those who are making this effort are achieving it

9.3  Sanctification of a Christian. The Church mysteries which are the means of sanctifying Christian are as follows: repentance, communion, anointing, various prayers and church services etc. In them, Christians are receiving according to their faith and need Holy Grace which facilitates their salvation.

9.4  Salvation requires personal Effort. A man is saved only through Christ, and God's Grace in this salvation, is a main active force. But, for salvation, besides God's Grace a personal effort is also required. For salvation, personal effort is necessary, but it is not enough. Without it God's Grace will not accomplish the salvation. This way, the salvation is achieved simultaneously through saving God's Grace and personal man's effort.

9.5  "Synergism" means cooperation. "Synergism" explains the relationship between the Holy Grace and the personal effort in the salvation of a Christian. The salvation of a man is achieved, at the same time, through the action of the saving Divine Grace and through the personal efforts of the man himself.
     The Lord God created man without his participation, but He cannot save him without his agreement and desire, since God gave him a free will.

9а -- Grace and Salvation. Notes.

Этот текст по-русски

Questions and Answers	Вопросы и ответы
Original	Оригинал

10. Secular and Religious Education

10.1  Basic capabilities (or powers) of man. The psychology recognizes in man three basic powers: the mind, feelings (heart) and a will.
Mind. By means of his mind, man learns about the surrounding world and life, and also about the conscious part of the experiences of his soul.
Feelings (heart). By means of his feelings (heart), the man responds to the impressions of the external world and to his own experiences.
Will. The will is that part of the soul, by which man enters the world, and acts in it.

10.2  Will and Moral part of the Character. The Moral part of a Character of a man depends on his whole Character and the direction of his will.

10.3  Development of our abilities. One of the tasks of a man is to develop all of his abilities: mind, feelings and will. It is necessary to develop one's mind by obtaining education and learning various sciences, then it is necessary to develop in himself the correct Christian feelings (emotions) and a strong Christian will. All this is to be used for the good and for the glory of the Lord God.

10.4  Christianity is the Complete System of Knowledge. Christianity is not only a sphere of religious and moral experiences and feelings. «Christianity is a completely finished cycle, a system of corresponding knowledge, of the most varied data relating not only to the religious, but also to the scientific area».
     Christianity is also a system of morality (нравоучение) and theology (science of faith, вероучение). In Theology "Christianity is seen to be a very rich system of learning, encompassing and explaining to man the whole world, himself, and showing the true sense and aim of his earthly life.

10а -- Secular and Religious Education. Notes.

10.5  Christianity is the Complete System of Knowledge (Part II). Orthodoxy cannot be placed on the same level with other religions. Or, to say that this is some kind of "tradition". When this is done, people show their complete lack of understanding of the nature of the Orthodox Church. The teaching of the Orthodox Church is not the teaching of one person or even one saint, but it is the teaching of the Lord God and work of thousands and thousands of men, during several thousands of years, some of them being saints. In this way in the Church, everything is based on God revealed Truth, everything is wise and thought through and cannot be compared with the creation of some man. All this was done in order to explain, teach and realize in life the teaching of the Lord Jesus Christ. (See also paragraph #5.12-Teaching of the Orthodox Church).
     Christianity is (1) most of all the Faith in one True God, (2) Communion with the Lord God, (3) Supernatural Occurrences, (4) Art and Science of Living, Guide and Program for Life, (5) Scale of Values, (6) Moral Education of Man's Personality, (7) Clinic for Souls, (8) Orthodox Psychotherapy, (9) World Outlook, (10) Philosophy, (11) History of the World, (12) Law, (13) Psychology (14) Sociology, (15) Education, (16) Art, (17) Medicine and Health etc.
10.5.1  Faith in one True God. In the first place this is the faith in the true God. It was revealed to ancient Jewish prophets, deepened by the Lord Jesus Christ and developed (elaborated) in detail by the Church, that is by thousands and thousands of spiritual fathers and lay believers, many of whom were saints.
10.5.2  Communion with the Lord God. Communion with the Lord God occurs during the prayer, which can be private or public church services. Private are personal prayers (Morning and Evening Rules), Molebens and Panikhidas, and public church services are: All Night Vigils, Liturgies etc. All of them unite us with the Lord God, teach the wisdom of God's Law, instruct us and give us a lesson in the Faith (Theology) and Morality. Orthodox prayers and church services contain all theological sciences which are necessary to know.
10.5.3  Supernatural Occurrences. Every believer can give many examples of heard prayers, miracles, advent action of Grace on him and God's Providence (care).
10.5.4  Art and Science of Living, Guide and Program (Plan) for Life. Christianity in its Commandments from Holy Scriptures gives definition of good and evil, virtue and sin, that is constructive and destructive behavior. On these postulate the Christian's life is built.
10.5.5  Scale of Values. Most important is spiritual and moral flourishing, development and growth, and not temporary values of secular life.
10.5.6  Moral Education of Man's Personality. True moral education (formation) (воспитание) is difficult to imagine without Christianity. Our personality is being morally formed (shaped) all our life, from the cradle and until the death. Our prayers, life according to God's Law, going to church, reading spiritual books, distancing ourselves from the sin, gradual correction of oneself, observance of fasts, conversations with spiritual father, confession and communion, all this has a very deep moral educational meaning, which slowly changes the person and brings him closer, in his qualities, to the ideal, the Lord Jesus Christ. In this way Christianity is conducive to self knowledge and creates spiritually strong, purposeful and complete person.
10.5.7  Clinic for Souls. If person prays, lives according to God's Law, as mentioned above, than the Lord God sends him peace, serenity (tranquility), love and peace of mind. In this way, the Orthodox Faith is the Clinic for Souls. Exactly in this she is different from other Non-Orthodox religions -- she cures!
10.5.8  Orthodox (Holy Fathers) Psychotherapy. The therapy consists in teaching the person to live according to God's way, that is without sin. Since a sin is a destructive behavior, its elimination from a life of a person results in healthier and more fruitful life. "Righteousness (virtuous life) leads to life, and striving to evil leads to death" (Proverbs 11:19 Russian Synod Bible).
10.5.9  World Outlook. World outlook includes the existence of the Lord God and creation by Him of this world, His Providence and care for the whole world and everything that exists in it, hearing our prayers, existence of moral laws and truths, the end of the world and following it the life after the death. Christianity in all of these events besides everything else, sees also spiritual and moral factor (vector), which secular sciences are missing. This is why Orthodox understanding is like three dimensional, fuller and more real.
10.5.10  Philosophy. Christian Philosophy touches the following subjects: (1) Man and World in Harmony; Human nature; beauty of the soul and body of a person; (2) Falling man; (3) Restoration of fallen man before God; (4) Church, the treasury of Salvation; (5) Participation of the man himself in the salvation etc.
10.5.11  History of the World. Christianity gives us a different view at the human history, from a different spiritual and moral angle and this results in fuller and deeper understanding. All this is missed by secular sciences. Russian history is a good example of how it is necessary to illuminate also a spiritual and moral element. With baptism of Rus' there was a beginning of not only a true faith, but also enlightment and spiritual and moral growth of the people.
10.5.12  Law. Although the foundations were received from ancient times, from Rome, all of them were correlated with Christian postulates and values, which were acknowledged to be universal to all humans.
10.5.13  Psychology. Secular Psychology is studying man's body and mind and as mentioned above, it does not see its third component, his spiritual side -- everything that relates to God and morality. Spiritual and moral side -- this rich inner world of a faith, virtues and sins, good and evil, conscience and sinful passions (obsessions) etc. is not considered at all by secular sciences, like they do not exist. Orthodox Psychology studies all that.
10.5.14  Sociology. Secular Sociology, same as the Psychology does not see the spiritual and moral side of a man and a society.
10.5.15  Education. Secular approach to education, same as Psychology, does not take into consideration spiritual and moral side of a person and a society.
10.5.16  Art. Art and beauty has tremendous meaning in Christian sermon. In Christian understanding of beauty -- art has to serve goodness and it cannot serve evil. This can be especially seen in Orthodox Church Service, icons, churches, all this cleanses (purifies) and illuminates (enlightens) the human soul. (For more details see Chapter 11-Esthetic Education).
10.5.17  Medicine and Health. The true Medicine and health sciences have to consider also the spiritual and moral world of a person. Only this way it has a full value. Secular approach again gives only a partial view and this is why it is inferior.

Этот текст по-русски

Questions and Answers	Вопросы и ответы
Original	Оригинал

11. Esthetic Education

11.1  Developing our emotions (Feelings or heart). One of the tasks of man is to correctly develop his abilities, including feelings (heart or emotions). It is necessary to develop our feelings and use them for good and for the glory of the Lord God.

11.2  Esthetic feeling. The esthetic feeling is the feeling of the beautiful. This is the ability of man to see and understand, enjoy and appreciate all beauty, all that is wonderful, wherever it is.

11.3  What is Beauty? "This question may have different answers. The best is this: beauty is the full harmony between the content and form of a given idea. The purer, the more salient and more perfect the form in which this idea is transferred, the more there will be beauty present, the more beautiful the phenomenon will be. Of course, Orthodox Christianity sees the highest beauty in God, in Whom there is the fullness of all beauty and perfection".

11.4  Christian understanding of beauty -- the art has to serve goodness. The Christian viewpoint about beauty is that besides the beautiful forms, the beauty has to serve goodness. This is why a Christian, "cannot limit its concept of the truly beautiful only to what pleases our sense of beauty by the elegance of its form, but must see as truly beautiful all that is morally valuable. True beauty always elevates, ennobles, enlightens man's soul and sets before it the ideals of truth and good".

11.5  Christian understanding of beauty -- the art cannot serve evil. In the Christian understanding of a beauty, the art has to serve goodness. "An Orthodox Christian never acknowledges as beautiful that phenomenon or work of art, which even though it be of perfect execution, does not purify and enlighten man's soul but rather debases and soils it".

11a -- Esthetic Education. Notes

Этот текст по-русски

Questions and Answers	Вопросы и ответы
Original	Оригинал

12. Developing Feelings and Christian Hope

12.1  Developing feelings (heart, emotions or attitude). The duty of a Christian is to develop in himself, in his family and in his children, the positive Christian feelings (чувств). For instance: feelings of sympathy or antipathy, feelings of attachment towards the family, friends and country, feelings of mercy, empathy etc. All these noble feelings should be developed in children from an early age.

12.2  Difficulties should not be hidden from children. The parents who hide sorrows and difficulties from their children are very wrong. The result of this kind of upbringing, is that the children grow up to be insensitive and selfish.

12.3  Developing in Children positive Feelings. The children who are growing up and who are developing physically, also have to develop spiritually: become better, kinder, more warmhearted etc. To achieve this, it is necessary to expose children to human need and grief and to give them a chance to help. The children themselves will then be attracted to the good and truth; because all that is pure and bright is especially close and familiar to a child's unspoiled soul.

12.4  Christian Hope. The feeling of Christian hope can be summarized this way. The Christian knows that his loving Father, the Lord God, sees everything and knows everything and He will always help him to get onto the right path. If there are difficulties on our life road, the Lord God allows them so that, through these difficulties we achieve something, and learn something. This is why the Christian can never think that his situation is helpless.
     And really, we know from the experience of many people, that sometimes people end up in a dead end where, according to all signs and human logic, there is no way out of the difficult situation. But by praying to the Lord God, suddenly or sometimes slowly and unnoticeably, everything changes and an impossible situation changes towards the better.

12.5  Future Eternal Life. The height and the finale of Christian life is the future eternal life. We Christians know that our "Symbol of Faith" (Creed), in which there are all basic truths of Christianity, ends with the words: "I look for the Resurrection of the dead, and the life of the age to come, Amen". The words "I look for" mean, I am waiting and hoping. Therefore, the full realization of Christian hope will be only when the life will triumph over the death, and when God's Truth will triumph over worldly untruth.

12а -- Developing Feelings and Christian Hope. Notes

Этот текст по-русски

Questions and Answers	Вопросы и ответы
Original	Оригинал

13.1  Developing Willpower. A Christian should develop a strong and determined willpower. Secondly, his will power should be directed towards doing good to his fellow man; towards good and not towards evil.

13.2  Good Habits. From childhood one should teach himself good habits. For example to wake up early, to pray, not to be lazy, to study, to work, to listen and obey the older, not to sin, to be truthful, to read good books, to have good people for friends, not to read anything bad, to avoid everything that can lead to sin: bad books, magazines, pictures, people etc.

13.3  Purposefulness. To have purposefulness (determination and perseverance), means to have all your actions always directed towards a particular goal. Strong will power and purposefulness are all very important in life. Quite often, it happens that a talented, gifted and smart man can achieve nothing because of his weak will power and lack of purposefulness. On the other hand, a less talented and not as smart man achieves more, because of his strong will power, and purposefulness.

13.4  It is necessary to have good guiding Principles. If a person is being guided by bad principles then he is becoming the source of evil. If he is guided by good principles then he is becoming the source of good.

13.5  Wrong Principles. Some of the guiding principles that people use for their life are to be rich, to be famous, to be beautiful, to be popular, to be very educated etc. None of these principles bring happiness. A person can struggle all his life to collect riches, but the happiness that he will get will be only temporary. Only those people who are guided by the principles of goodness, can be truly happy. Only they, at the end of their life, can say that they did not live in vain.

13.6  Our Guidance is God's Law. The guidance for our life, how to act in this or that case, one should be obtained from God's Law. It is necessary to pray to the Lord God and to study God's Law: the Ten Commandments, the Beatitude Commandments, the Holy Scriptures and other holy and spiritual books. Everything we read, we should apply to our life and live according to God's Law. By doing this, gradually it will become clear, how to act in this or in that case and how to correlate our actions with the will of the Lord God, our Father. This kind of life brings a person love, peace, joy and satisfaction.

13а -- Developing Willpower. Notes.

Этот текст по-русски

Questions and Answers	Вопросы и ответы
Original	Оригинал

14. Work, Entertainment, Spiritual stability

14.1  Work. Work is the basic duty of every Christian. The Lord God commanded this to people already in Old Testament: Fourth Commandment is "Work six days, and seventh dedicate it to Lord God" (Exodus 20:8). Further, in New Testament it says: "If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat" (2 Thessalonians 3:10 NKJV). Work has to be approached honestly and conscientiously. It strengthens the will of a man and makes him noble. Christianity does not divide work into "dirty" and "clean". It only asks that work be honest and useful.
Communists. These words the Communists took from the New Testament and present them as their own.

14.2  Education. Christianity does not make education a necessary requirement for salvation. There were many wise saints who had no education at all. But on the other hand, we are told to develop our God given talents and abilities, perfect ourselves, not to be lazy, study our world -- the creation of the Lord God, and acquire common sense. All this says, that the desire for knowledge and its acquisition, inquiry and learning is a God pleasing effort -- when all this is done for the glory of the Lord God. This is why every Christian should try to obtain, for the glory of the Lord God, a profession that corresponds to his talents and interests. In our times, when education is available nearly to everybody, not to obtain it, often is the sign of emptiness, a lack of having serious outlook on life and laziness, and this is a great sin.

14.3  Spiritual Stability.[*] The dissipation of the energies is the opposite of being collected. Dissipation here does not mean dissipated, forgetful man, but rather means dissipation of human energy, attention, and values. Dissipation is when man goes from one activity and interest to another. He starts one thing and then without completing it starts something else. His interests, his beliefs are changing and he does not stand firm for anything. One of the consequences of this kind of dissipation, is that this kind of person sometimes goes through the crisis of identity, and has "to find himself". He spends long periods of time in search of "himself", in search of the "truth" etc.
     A collected, spiritually stable person knows why he is living, and he knows how to act in all of lives situations. His guide is always God's Law, and his beliefs are based on the Orthodox-Christian faith. He has sketched out a life road for himself, and with prayer and God's help slowly moves ahead. His energies are not dissipated, and his beliefs are firm. He knows his place in the world and life. He is collected, and spiritually stable.
[*] Translator's Note: In the Russian text, instead of the words "Spiritual Stability" is used "collected" (собранный) (well rounded and firm in his beliefs.

14а -- Work, Entertainment, Spiritual stability. Notes.

14.4  Spiritual Crisis in the West. Slowly brewing spiritual crisis in the West, ripened in 1960th. President John Kennedy was killed, after this his brother Robert Kennedy and famous afro-american Martin Luther King, Jr. There was a war in Vietnam, there were demonstrations against discrimination of african-americans who in frustration were burning cities etc. In the West there are many people who live without Christian faith or with inadequate faith. So one cannot talk about spiritual stability, which was mentioned above. During this period huge part of youth, including older people, were "searching for themselves". They started using narcotics, were leading morally perverted life, lived in communes where everything was commonly shared including wives and children, refused to work etc. Because of all these excesses, many of them died early or committed suicide, others ended up in mental institutions, third remained inadequate, but many survived. From them came present Cultural and Sexual Revolution and the spreading of Secular Humanism was speeded up. On the good side that generation is responsible for present emphasis on saving environment, recycling, organic food and less racial discrimination.

Этот текст по-русски

Questions and Answers	Вопросы и ответы
Original	Оригинал

15. Christian Body

15.1  Man's composition. (1) Man is composed of body and a soul.

15.2  Christianity and Man's Body. (2) The Christianity looks at man's body as the Temple of the Holy Spirit.

15.3  Man's duties towards his Body. (3) Man's duty towards his body is to keep his body from everything that soils it, that is from sinful sex, a lewd life and sexual promiscuity.

15.4  Views of Orthodox and the Society. (4) The view of Orthodox Christians does not follow the prevalent views of the present society, in magazines, music, films and TV. Orthodox-Christianity teaches chastity, but the preset teaches sexual preaches promiscuity.

15.5  Consequences of fornication sin. (5) The consequences of the fornication sin is the loss of normal Christian-like, pure relations with people of the opposite sex and impure thoughts and imagination.
Present time (2004). At present time this sin is extremely dangerous, because of various diseases, including incurable AIDS. "Sex is not free" is a slogan of one young woman who led a very promiscuous life and hit the bottom. After a lot of suffering, she repented and now she dedicated her life to lecturing to young people that promiscuous sex is not free. Earlier or later one has to pay for it. This is in total agreement with the Orthodox teaching that not only fornication sin, but every sin is destructive for a sinner and his environment.

15.6  Increased sexual desire. (6) The normal human sexual desires are increased to abnormaly high levels, by constant thinking, dreaming, conversations, jokes, reading, pictures etc. about fornication sin.

15.7  Struggle with Fornication Sin. (7) One should stay away from any promiscious thoughts, conversations or activities.

15а -- Christian Body. Notes

15.8  Sexual promiscuity. As mentioned earlier, Western culture until recent times was a Christian culture. This means that it was based on Christian teaching about life and Christian postulates. Slowly it was watered down towards Secular Humanism, which arrival was accelerated during the last 40 years because of Cultural Revolution. Before that the attitude about not keeping 7th Commandment (do not commit adultery) was nearly the same as among Orthodox. But, with the arrival of "Cultural Revolution" came also a "Sexual Revolution". Now, the secular morality is nearly opposite of the Orthodox.
     Sexual promiscuity is being encouraged, sex is being presented as an entertainment act, sodomy is encouraged etc. All this is ripe with negative consequences, and earlier or later the society will be affected by it.

Этот текст по-русски

Questions and Answers	Вопросы и ответы
Original	Оригинал

16. Drinking, Love of Wealth, Health and Death.

16.1  Drinking. Drunkenness is a sin which unfortunately is common. It leads to the deterioration of health, morality, and the destruction of the family. In our times to this problem are added narcotics. Both of these vices leave deep scars on a person, which is nearly impossible to erase.

16.2  Love of Wealth. (2) Love for wealth, money, riches or materialism unfortunately in our society, is being encouraged from all sides. Christianity is teaching us not to collect riches here on earth, but to collect spiritual riches. People who are characterized by total absence of materialism are "бессребрениками".
(Translator's Note: The Russian language and culture has strong Orthodox-Christian roots and characteristics. This is why there are plenty of words that express Christian moral values. The word "сребролюбие", literally means the "love of silver", has no English equivalent).

16.3  Overcoming love for Wealth. (3) In order to overcome the sin of love for wealth, it is necessary to do good deeds, help poor and people in trouble etc., without any profit for oneself.

16.4  Health. (4) The Christian should not sin and should struggle with the temptations of the world, but he should also look after his health. Our life is the greatest gift from Lord God and this is why we should look after it. If we are sick than we cannot help others, not only that, but often our relatives have to look after us.

16.5  Death. (5) The true Christian is not afraid of death and believes in life after death. All his life he has lead a dignified Christian life and in dignity, and is not afraid to die. It is a good idea to sometimes remember that we are not eternal and that at any moment we can leave this world. This is why we must live like this is our last day. If we will remember this we will not waist our precious time for meaningless things.

16.6  Suicide. (6) The person who commits suicide is refusing to accept from the Lord God the greatest gift, the gift of life. The Lord God loves us and takes care of us; this is called the God's Providence. The man who kills himself has stopped believing in God's Providence. This is why suicide is a biggest sin. According to the Orthodox-Christian teaching, the Church cannot conduct the funeral for persons who have committed suicide. Besides all this, man can never foresee all the future possibilities. Very often in human life, something totally unforeseen happens, and the intolerable situation, which had no solution, suddenly is not a problem any more.

16а -- Drinking, love of Wealth, Health and Death. Notes.

16.7  Live and enjoy. (7) In our Post-Christian Culture the humanity is returning to Pre-Christian Culture of Roman Empire. Live and enjoy everything that you can, this attitude brought the collapse of Rome and appearance of Christianity on historical scene. Christians should do everything in moderation. Constant drinking parties, merry-making, materialism, all this does not make a person happy, just the opposite, it finally brings a person to a personal crisis. To live like a Christian means to live with a goal of virtue and goodness.

Этот текст по-русски

Questions and Answers	Вопросы и ответы
Original	Оригинал

17. Christian Justice

17.1  Christian Justice. (1) The first requirement towards fellow man is justice. Without justice even man's goodness may be not useful, when it is unfair and shows partiality and favoritism.

17.2  Three types of Justice. (2) There are three types of justice: Legalistic Justice (справедливость лояльности), Cordial Justice (справедливость корректности) and Christian Justice (справедливость христианская).

17.3  Legalistic Justice. (3) Legalistic person obeys all laws exactly and on time, but will not go a step farther than what is required by the law. He can appear dry, unresponsive and without a heart. This kind of a person does not break the law, but he will take what is his and will not yield to anybody; even if, due to his action, his fellow man, might get hurt.
     Naturally, in our time even the Legalistic Persons are relatively honest, since they honestly perform their duties. But, it is clear to everybody, that this kind of relationship between people is not sufficient. This kind of attitude is not Christian, but purely a pagan one.

17.4  Cordial Justice. (4) Cordial Justice is above Legalistic Justice. The Cordial Person does not only obey all laws, but he also follows his conscience. This is why he is even, peaceful, polite and thoughtful with everybody. He gladly responds to the call for help and tries to do everything promised, often helping other people in difficult situation. In comparison to cold Legalistic Persons, these people are proper, thoughtful and are very easy and pleasant to work and live with.
     But here also everything is far from the Christian attitude. This kind of softness and thoughtfulness is not always constant and consistent. Often the person stays polite and courteous on the outside, but tries to quickly get rid of these people and their appeals and needs.

17.5  Christian Justice. (5) Christian Justice, is the highest justice. It is the justice of the Christian heart.
     The basic wise and at the same time clear and understandable principle is given in the Gospel in these words: Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets. (Mathew 7:12 NKJV).
     The Apostolic Council confirmed the same, but in a negative form: Do not do to others, what you do not wish done to yourself (Acts 15:29 Russian Bible)[*].
[*] Translator's Note: Protestant and Catholic English Bibles and Latin Vulgata, do not have this passage.
     And so, do not bring into life neither falsehood, nor lies, offense, or evil. All men are your neighbors, do not do to them what you do not wish for yourself. And it is not enough, not only to not do evil, but do good, according to your conscience, from your heart, inspired by the Gospel's Law of Love, Mercy and forgiveness. If you want people to treat you heartily, then you must open your heart to your fellow man.
     Do not be selfish, do not keep track of your rights, the way Legalistic and Cordial People do. Above all your own rights, place the good of your fellow man, according to the Law of Christian love .

17а -- Christian Justice. Notes

17.6  Justice in our time (2004). In this short chapter it is made clear to us the essence of human justice and we are given a scale by means of which we can judge (not condemn, but judge) about human relationships. Unfortunately we are coming to conclusion that in our times triumphs Legalistic Justice (справедливость лояльности), sometimes one can meet Cordial Justice (справедливость корректности) and nearly never Christian Justice (христианская справедливость).

Этот текст по-русски

Questions and Answers	Вопросы и ответы
Original	Оригинал

18. Lie, Christian Mercy

18.1  Lie. (1) A lie is obviously a sin. Unfortunately a lie, or a light deceit, is so common these days, that people do not even think and notice that they lie. All kinds of advertisements are lying, salesmen exaggerate, and companies lie and exaggerate their capabilities in order to receive contracts. People promise to do something or to help, and then later say that "they were busy" or that there was an unforeseen delay etc. A Christian knows that a lie is from the devil, about whom the Lord God Jesus Christ said, "he is a liar and the father of it" (John 8:44 NJKV).

18.2  Gossip. (2) Gossip is when somebody accidentally or on purpose adds something to a story that is not true. From this emerges a lie or a half truth, in other words a gossip. Gossip emerges as the result of idle and empty talk, lies and dislike and malice towards the fellow man.

18.3  Slander. (3) Slander is when somebody consciously makes-up a lie for the purpose of damaging somebody. It is very difficult to deal with a slander, and the slanderer can cause a lot of grief and evil. For slander, one can be taken to court, but usually it is very difficult to convict a slanderer.

18.4  Hypocrites. (4) The hypocrites are those people who are attempting to appear: kinder, better, smarter and more beautiful than they are in reality. These people act and pretend; therefore as a foundation of their being they are placing a lie. Hypocrites are also those people, who talk and pretend that they are believers, when in reality they are unbelievers.

18.5  Christian mercy, good will and charity. (5) One of the most important duties of a Christian is to show in his actions, his good will and love and without thinking about personal gain and profit.
     It is difficult to imagine a true Christian who is all puffed up and cannot greet his fellow man. St.Seraphim of Sarov, one of the most loved Russian saints, met everybody with a smile and a greeting Christ has Risen!
     Also it is necessary to help needy, sick, and weak ones. Obviously personal charity is more pleasing to the Lord God than through an organization. Very often the charitable organization is a place of fraud.

18.6  Physical and spiritual help. (6) A Christian has to always help his fellow man physically and spiritually. Besides physical help (dressing, feeding, quenching the thirst) one has to give also a spiritual help. If we see that our fellow man is going astray and erring, then it is our duty to help him and direct him, and to explain to him that his action is a sin. This has to be done without malicious criticism, but like a doctor who treats his patient, in the same way we should give advice with love and kindness, and save him from sin. Note, that in this case the Orthodox-Christian teaching is completely opposite to the accepted attitude in our society, to mind your business and not get involved, which is based on selfishness and pride (arrogance). (See #3.2-Examples of good deeds).

18а -- Lie, Christian Mercy. Notes

Этот текст по-русски

Questions and Answers	Вопросы и ответы
Original	Оригинал

19. Envy, Evil Talk, Anger

19.1  Envy. (1) Envy is naturally a sin and the Orthodox-Christian should not have it. In the root of the envy lies our feeling of self-importance, pride and selfish competition. Usually people, due to competition with others, are afraid that they will not be recognized and that they will not be noticed and that the others will be placed above them. In a good loving family we are happy of the successes of each other. In the same way, we should be happy for the successes of our friends, acquaintances and colleagues.

19.2  Evil talk. (2) Evil talk are evil bad words, malicious criticism and quarrels. All this can become a habit and can become a sinful passion. By all means we should try to avoid this sin, which poisons good relationship among friends and people. Very often people who are suffering from the passion of evil talk, do not realize this and nobody will attempt to tell them.
     Together with evil talk, one has to pay attention to the tone of the talk. The tone can be friendly, whining, unpleasant, suspicious or evil. Bad tone can become a habit, it can become a passion, and can bring harm. In general, one should learn the skill of talking. Usually people do not get offended by what you tell them, but how you tell them.

19.3  Swearing. (3) Swearing is the use of bad words. Together with evil-talk in some circles, it is customary to swear and this can become a habit and a passion. Obviously this is a sin; dirty words should not be part of the Orthodox-Christian's vocabulary.

19.4  Meekness. (4) Meek person has no malice and is not selfish. He does not seek to please himself and to profit, but just the opposite, he is trying to help and please others. According to the Gospel the meek will inherit the earth: "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth" (Matthew 5:5 NKJV).

19.5  Peacemaking. (5) Peacemaking is a virtue. In the Gospel it says that peacemakers will be "called the children of God": "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God" (Matthew 5:9 NKJV). The peacemaker is the person who always tries to create the atmosphere of peace and love. At home and in conversations, when the "atmosphere gets hot" he skillfully "smoothes out rough edges (corners)", restores harmony and pacifies those who lack self-control. Peacemaking is podvig (подвиг) and requires great spiritual strength, energy and effort. Very often people do not understand this and are hostile to those who are attempting to make peace between others.

19.6  Lack of malice. (6) Lack of malice is the absence of evil in a man. Lack of malice should be one of the basic characteristics of an Orthodox-Christian. Also, we have to forgive those who hurt us and our enemies, and also we should not return evil for evil.

19.7  Anger. (7) In some circumstances when the anger is justified, then it is not a sin. Unjustified anger, vindictiveness or even revenge should have no place in an Orthodox-Christians personality.

19а -- Envy, Evil Talk, Anger. Notes

Этот текст по-русски

Questions and Answers	Вопросы и ответы
Original	Оригинал

20. Non-Christian Systems Of Morality

20.1  Pagan Morality. (1) Before Christianity there were pagan systems of morality. They were the moral systems of crude force and cruelty. Constantly there were wars, prisoners were tortured and crippled. Even women and children were killed. The woman was in a difficult situation and without any rights. There was slavery, injustice and sexual promiscuity. In some countries they had laws, but all this was very far from Christian morality. There were various pagan religions, who held their believers in darkness and fear. They had sacrifices, even human ones. One can learn about those terrible times from the lives of Christian saints martyrs and especially about their death. All this was changed by Christian teaching (sermon, homily).

20.2  Christian Morality. (2) Christianity brought into the world Christian morality. With the appearance of Christianity in the world, life and all laws slowly changed. A morality of goodness, love and forgiveness appeared. The Christian Commandments gradually became part of the life of all peoples, and also became the laws of the countries. In many countries before the appearance of civil laws, the Holy Scripture was used as the law. Obviously all this did not happen right away and not in all countries evenly. Justice appeared, slavery was outlawed, the laws became more just, cruel punishments were forbidden, the rights of women were equalized with man's rights. Under the influence of Christianity even the laws in pagan countries (India, Japan, China etc.) become more humane. It can be said that the large part of present laws is based on the Holy Scriptures (Bible).

20.3  Anti-Christian morality. (3) At the present time in the world, there is a struggle against Christian morality. The forces that stand against Christian morality unite under different causes, and slowly push Anti-Christian morality. The belief in God and the believers is mocked while materialism is glorified. Under the banner of freedom, pleasure, comfort, amusements, materialism, disrespect for parents, sexual promiscuity, sodomism, narcotics, alcoholism and many, many other vices are being encouraged. All this is pulling us away from Christian morality. This is especially felt in schools and in the mass media. Various aspects of this movement are called in different ways: Post-Christian Culture (постхристианская культура), Cultural Revolution (культурная революция), Sexual Revolution (сексуальная революция) and Secular Humanism (секулярный гуманизм).

20.4  Communist Morality. (4) In communist countries, before arrival of communism, there basically existed Christian morality. With the coming of communists to power, they tried to replace Christian morality with their own made up morality. The Lord God was replaced with the Party, service to goodness and love is replaced with service to the Party. All citizens were to serve the party and do what it orders. Naturally a