1. What is man's task in regards to the development of his feelings (heart or emotions)?
     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.

2. What does the esthetic feeling mean?
     The esthetic feeling is the feeling of the wonderful. This is the capability of a man to see and understand, enjoy and appreciate all beauty, all that is wonderful, wherever it is.

3. What is beauty?
     Different people answer this question in various ways. But, it has to be admitted that the best answer is the following: Beauty is the full correspondence between the content and the form of a certain idea. The higher the content of the idea, and the purer, and the more outstanding and perfect is the form in which the idea is being transferred, - the more there is beauty, the more wonderful is the given appearance. Naturally, the highest beauty Christianity sees is God, in whom there is the fullness of beauty and perfection.

4. From the Christian point of view what is beauty?
     The Christian viewpoint about beauty is that besides the beautiful forms, the beauty has to serve goodness.
     This is why to a Christian, the truly beautiful is not only that which caresses our feeling with the beauty and elegance of its form, but also that which is morally valuable and good. The true beauty always raises, enriches, and enlightens the human soul and places in front of it the high ideals of truth and goodness.

5. In the Christian understanding of beauty, can something be beautiful and serve evil?
     In the Christian understanding of beauty, the art has to serve goodness.
     A Christian will never call some event wonderful or some creation of art wonderful, which, even if its excellently done, does not purify and enlighten the soul of a man, but soils it and makes it dirty.

1. Is it necessary to develop the feelings (heart or emotions) in oneself and in ones children?
     The duty of a Christian is to develop in himself, in his family and in his children, the positive Christian feelings. For instance: feelings of sympathy or repugnance, feelings of attachment towards the family, friends and country, feelings of mercy, sorrow etc. All these noble feelings have to be developed in children from an early age.

2. Is it correct for parents to hide sorrows and difficulties from their children?
     The parents who hide sorrows and difficulties from their children the sorrows and difficulties are very wrong. The result of this kind of upbringing, is that the children grow up to be insensitive and selfish.

3. What is necessary in order to develop in children positive Christian qualities?
     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.

4. What does Christianity teach about Christian hope here on earth?
     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 corner where, according to all signs and logic known to humans, there is no way out of the difficult situation. But by praying to the Lord God, suddenly or sometimes slowly and unnoticably, everything changes and an impossible situation changes towards the better.

5. What does Christianity teach about Christian hope and future life?
     The height and the finale of Christian life is the future eternal life. We Christians know that our Creed (Symbol of Faith), 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. 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.

1. What kind of will power should a Christian develop?
     First of all, a Christian should develop a firm and determined will power. Secondly, his will power should be directed towards doing good for his fellow man; towards good and not towards evil.

2. What kind of habits should a Christian develop?
     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, to not read anything bad, to avoid everything that can lead to sin: bad books, magazines, pictures, people etc.

3. What is it to have determination and perseverance? Is it necessary to have a strong will power and to have determination and perseverance in life?
     (Translator's Note: In the Russian text, instead of the words "determination and perseverance", stands the word "tzeleustremlyonnost'". When translated literally this word means approximately "to be goal oriented". The translator thought that the words "determination and perseverance" would better fit the text in English).
     To have determination and perseverance, means to have all your actions directed towards a particular goal. Strong will power, determination and perseverance 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 determination and perseverance. On the other hand, a less talented and not as smart man achieves more, because of his strong will power, determination and perseverance.

4. Is it important what kind of principles a person uses for guiding his actions?
     Yes, very important. If the 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.

5. What kind of guiding principles do people use and what do they bring?
     Some of the guiding principles that people use for their life are to be rich, to be famous, to be beautiful, to be popular and to be very educated. None of these principles bring happiness. A person can struggle all his life to collect riches, but this will not make him happy. Let us remember the life of the millionaire Howard Hughes, probably one of the richest men in the world, who had no friends and died in his own dirt, without leaving anybody a single penny. The same thing can be said about the people who are struggling for glory, beauty etc. They receive happiness, but only a temporary one. 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 waste it.

6. Where should we obtain the guidance for our life?
     The guidance for our life, how to act in this or in that case, one should obtain from God's Law. It is necessary to pray to the Lord God and to study God's Law: the 10 Commandments, the Beatitudes, the Holy Scriptures and other holy and spiritual books. Everything we read, we should try to apply to our life and generally we should 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 coordinate our actions with the will of the Lord God, our Father. This kind of life brings a person love, peace, joy and satisfaction.

1. How do Christians look at work?
     Labor is the basic duty of every Christian. The Lord God commanded so the people. In the Holy Scriptures it says:

...If any would not work, neither should he eat (2 Thessalonians 3:10 KJV).

2. How does Christianity look at formal education?
     Christianity does not make formal education a necessary requirement for salvation. There were many wise saints who had no formal 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, the love to inquire 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.

3. The Christian has to teach himself to be a man who is collected (well rounded and firm in his beliefs, and spiritually stable). What does this mean?
     (Translator's Note: In the Russian text, instead of the words "collected (well rounded and firm in his beliefs, and spiritually stable)", stands the word "samosobrannyi").
     The dissipation of the energies is the opposite of being collected. Dissipation here 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 on anything. One of the consequences of this kind of dissipation, is that this kind of person sometimes goes through the crisis of identity, where he has "to find himself". He spends long periods of time looking for "himself", in search for 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.

1. What does a man consist of?
     Man consists of a body and a soul.

2. What is the attitude of Christianity towards the man's body?
     The Christianity looks at man's body as the Temple of the Holy Spirit.

3. What kind of duty follows from this?
     From this follows that we have to keep our body from everything that soils it, that is from sinful sex, a lewd life and sexual promiscuity.

4. Are the views of the Orthodox-Christian similar to the views in the present society, magazines, music, films and television?
     No, they are not similar. Orthodox-Christianity teaches purity in all senses and the society teaches sexual promiscuity.

5. What is the result of sinful sex?
     The result of sinful sex is the loss of normal Christian- like, pure relations with people of the opposite sex and impure thoughts and imagination.

6. By what means are the normal human sexual desires increased to the abnormal heights, so that they invariably lead to the sin?
     The human normal sexual desires are increased to the abnormal heights, by constant thinking, dreaming and conversation about sexual sin.

7. How should a Christian struggle against sexual sin?
     One has to stay away from any thoughts, conversation or actions that deal with sexual sin.

1. What can be said about drinking?
     Drunkenness is a sin which unfortunately is very common. It leads to the deterioration of health, morality, and the destruction of the family.

2. What is love for money?
     (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 "srebrolyubie", literally the "love for silver", has no English equivalent).
     Love for money, riches or materialism unfortunately in our society, is being pushed from all sides. Christianity is teaching us not to collect riches here on earth, but to collect spiritual riches.
     In the Russian language, people who have no love for material things, are called "bessrebreniki" or literally "without silver". The fact that this Christian word exists in the Russian language and not in English, shows that the Russian language and culture are deeply Orthodox-Christian.

3. What has to be done to overcome the sin of love for material things.
     In order to overcome the sin of love for material things, one has to do something without any profit for himself.

4. How should a Christian treat his health? The Christian should not sin and should struggle with the temptations of the world. But besides all this, he should also look after his health.

5. What is the attitude of a Christian towards death?
     The true Christian is not afraid of death. All his life he has lead a Christian life, and at the hour of death, he is not afraid, he is waiting to meet the Lord God.

6. What can be said about suicide?
     The person who commits suicide is refusing to accept the greatest gift from the Lord God, 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. 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.

1. What is the most important requirement towards your fellow man?
     The first requirement towards your fellow man is justice. Without justice even man's goodness is not useful. For example when justice is unfair or shows partiality and favoritism.

2. How many types of justice are there?
     There are three types of justice: Legal Justice, Cordial Justice and Christian Justice.
     (Translator's Note: The Russian text instead of "Legal Justice", when literally translated, is "Loyal Justice". Similarly instead of "Cordial Justice" is "Justice of Correctness").

3. What is Legal Justice?
     The Legally just Person obeys all state laws exactly, but will not go farther than what is required by the law. Although He can appear dry, unresponsive and without a heart, this kind of a person is not "lawless". He 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 Legal just 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.

4. What is Cordial Justice?
     Cordial Justice is of a higher level than Legal Justice. The Cordially just 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 aid and tries to do everything promised, often helping other people in difficult situation. With respect to purely Legally just Persons, these people are proper, thoughtful and 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 the other people and their appeals and needs.

5. What is Christian Justice?
     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 expressed in the Gospel in these words:

Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: (Mathew 7:12 KJV).

So whatever you wish that men would do to you, do so to them; (Mathew 7:12 RSV).

Do not do to others,
what you do not wish done to yourself (Acts 15:29 Russian Bible, not in KJV).

1. What can be said about a lie?
     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 the contract. 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 a father of lies.

2. What is gossip?
     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 appears as the result of idle and empty talk, lies and dislike and malice towards the fellow man.

3. What is slander?
     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 malice. For slander, one can be taken to court, but usually it is very difficult to convict a slanderer.

4. Who are the hypocrites?
     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.

5. What is Christian mercy, good will and charity?
     One of the most important duties of a Christian is to show his good will and love in actual good deeds 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 better than giving through an organization. Very often the charitable organization is a place of fraud.

6. What can be said about physical and spiritual help?
     A Christian has to always help his fellow man physically and spiritually. Besides physical help (dressing, feeding, quenching the thirst) one has to give 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 with kindness, and save him from sin.
     Note, that in this case the Orthodox-Christian teaching completely disagrees with the accepted attitude in our society, to mind your business and not get involved.

1. What can be said about a envy?
     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 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 all happy of the successes of each other. In the same way, we should be happy for the successes of our friends, acquaintances and colleagues.

2. What is evil talk?
     Evil talk includes evil bad words, malicious criticism and quarrels. All this can become a habit and can become a passion. By all means we should 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 volunteer 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. It is necessary to learn the skill of talking. Usually people do not get offended by what you tell them, but how you tell them.

3. What is swearing?
     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.

4. What is meekness?
     First of all the 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 KJV).

5. What is it to be a peacemaker?
     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 the children of God (Matthew 5:9 KJV).

6. What can be said about lack of malice?
     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.

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

1. What can be said about a envy?
     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 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 all happy of the successes of each other. In the same way, we should be happy for the successes of our friends, acquaintances and colleagues.

2. What is evil talk?
     Evil talk includes evil bad words, malicious criticism and quarrels. All this can become a habit and can become a passion. By all means we should 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 volunteer 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. It is necessary to learn the skill of talking. Usually people do not get offended by what you tell them, but how you tell them.

3. What is swearing?
     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.

4. What is meekness?
     First of all the 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 KJV).

5. What is it to be a peacemaker?
     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 the children of God (Matthew 5:9 KJV).

6. What can be said about lack of malice?
     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.

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

1. What kind of moral system existed before Christianity?
     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 lands 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.

2. What kind of morality did Christianity bring to the world?
     Christianity brought into the world Christian morality. With the appearance of Christianity in the world, life and all laws slowly changed. Appeared a morality of goodness, love and forgiveness. The Christian Commandments gradually became part of the life of all peoples, and also became the laws of the country. In many lands before the appearance of civil laws, the Holy Scripture was used for law. Obviously all this did not happen right away and not in all countries evenly. Appeared justice, 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 the pagan countries (Turkey, India, Japan, China etc.) become more humane. It can be said that the large amount of present laws in the western countries are based on the Holy Scriptures (Bible).

3. What is happening now with Christian morality?
     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 are mocked while materialism is glorified. Under the banner of freedom, pleasure, comfort, amusements, materialism, disrespect for parents, sexual promiscuity, 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.

4. What kind of morality exist in communist countries?
     In these countries, before the communists came to power, there basically existed a Christian morality.
     With the coming of communists to power, they tried to replace Christian morality with their own made up communist morality. The Lord God is replaced with the party, service to goodness and love is replaced with service to the party. All citizens have to serve the party and do what it orders. Naturally all this goes against the Christian teaching. This is why the Christian faith is being made fun of, the priests are being punished and believers are being persecuted. In general, all religions are being persecuted, but most of all Christians and especially the Orthodox, since for the communists they are the most dangerous.
     Recently some communist countries, have began a change towards religion, possibly for the better. On the other hand, in communist Albania, all religions are still 100% forbidden, and any believers are severely punished.