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[VIDEO PLAYBACK] [SPEAKING RUSSIAN] [ Background noise ] Our meeting today is very similar to what we see here.

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The fruits of your work, your thoughts, efforts, and efforts. The topic is our Christianity and creativity. Why did we choose this topic? because many people today,

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entering the circle of Christian ideas, ideas, even spiritual life, think that from this moment on, somewhere there is some kind of demarcation line,

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that a person should completely give up all this, that art is sinful, that it belongs to the false world, that a true peasant should not engage in painting, literature or any other art.

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The only exception for him may be the temple painting or temple architecture. And so I wanted, because such a point of view is widespread, I wanted to touch upon this issue, so that you have enough information and reflection on this important topic. (speaking in foreign language)

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The first question is, what has art given birth to, except for the spontaneous inner movement in the soul of a person who wants to create his own world, to create a new world that seems to be in his soul,

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merging his inner experiences, inner visions that a person surrounds in his social and natural reality. And it has always been organically connected with the philosophical and religious life of humanity.

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In fact, this is quite natural. Because when a person stands before eternity, He has the most acute, the most profound experiences. Because in fact, a person who is looking for the absolute in earthly values,

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he most often comes to disappointment, to the sad conclusion that he did not want this, did not strive for this. The cult of art, the cult of love, any other limited cult, is often led to a crisis because deep inside,

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subconsciously, a person is looking for the absolute. And in the earthly, creative, human world, there is no absolute. It is only partially embodied. But when art and all cultural creativity take their organic place,

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then there is no disappointment, no illusion and no internal cataclysm. And then we come to a wonderful, but in fact well-known fact for all. then wherever we look, whether the walls of Altamira are painted with a tooth or a mammoth, whether the Pantheon is erected on the Acropolis,

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whether the patterns on the pagodas of India are woven behind a tree, or the sun playing on the mosaics of Byzantium or the stained glass windows of medieval cathedrals, it is always an external expression, a human embodiment of spiritual life. It is always a phenomenon of a deep religious feeling.

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How a person sees himself, eternity, the environment, the way he builds his house, temple, painting, even objects of circumambulation. Florensky, for example, said that according to the female fashion, it is even possible to judge the essence of civilization.

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This spiritual core manifests itself in all spheres. I think that if we were to analyze such details as the shape of ceramics, the shape of household utensils, carefully following its evolution,

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we would come to the correct conclusion that this shape is not accidental. It reflects the spirit of the epoch, and therefore the faith of the epoch. It is strange, but it is so. The form of the vessel can in some mysterious way, in the end, speak about the form of the worldview, about the religion of man.

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In this case, religion is something very broad. The vision of peace, eternity, nature and man. When Christianity came into the world, it opposed all forms of worship. And it was a very painful process that began in the Old Testament.

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After all, for tens of thousands of years, man felt himself united with nature and saw in it a divine beginning. And only in some exceptionally stellar moment of humanity, Suddenly, for inexplicable historical, social and economic reasons, for inexplicable reasons, as if the invasion of the spirit into the human race, into the human culture,

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suddenly the human race has realized itself. Great teachers of humanity appear. great spiritual teachings appear. Confucius, Lao Tzu, Zhuangzi,

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Mahavira, Buddha, Zarathustra, biblical prophets in Israel, Greek and Greek-Roman philosophers. This whole ploy,

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which appeared almost simultaneously in different countries of the world, geographically and culturally separated from each other, it moved from the place

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where the building of human culture had frozen, and this building turned into a stream. And then new forms of spirituality arise, which, first of all, proclaim

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that beyond the bright and outwardly diverse reality of nature and life, there is an invisible spiritual reality, which cannot be described in any positive terms. One can only say what it is not.

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That is why the authors of Upanishads say that it is absolutely neti-neti, that is, neither this nor that. Therefore, the biblical prophets say that God is Kadosh, the holy, that is, the holy, unmeasurable, nothing earthly, creature. Therefore, the Chinese teachers say that Tao, the highest Tao, cannot be called by any earthly name,

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because any name that has already been pronounced is an earthly, but not eternal, name. And this is how the Dao De Jing Tract begins. And we find this in all this culture. This is mystical contemplation.

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This is deep philosophical understanding. This is the last word of human efforts to comprehend the depth of the truth. But having discovered the eternal Kingdom of Spirit, This whole stream of culture,

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it did not refuse to speak in a symbolic language about the spiritual. And then there appears an explosion of a new stream of art. After all, Buddhism created art in India. Before Buddhism, there were the first small beginnings.

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Those who are familiar with the history of Indian art, look and you will see. Then the powerful Hindu art, the Indo-Greek art develops. But all this is later. The first of the "Vayana" is the image on the stumps where the Buddha's relics were kept.

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What was before can fit on this wall. It's all nothing. It's old prints, small pieces of figures. Nothing for a thousand years.

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Thus, this great explosion, or as Carl Jaspers, a famous philosopher of our time, called it, the "axial time" or the "era of great teachers", They gave us a new stream and a new form of art.

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The biblical teaching went further. It spoke of the higher spiritual, divine. And for the sake of this higher spirituality, it demanded that the visual art should not reach this height.

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and in the dialectic between the symbolic image of the divine and the iconoclastic, the Old Testament denial of this, a new soil was born on which the flower of Christianity grew. Christianity is a religion of incarnation. It does not deny matter, peace, nature, the value of creation,

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unlike Buddhism, which considers peace to be a mistake, something unnecessary, something that should eventually completely disappear. The very will to live, Trishna, is evil, Because it continues to be.

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For the Bible, for Christianity, being is a divine creation, created by God's will, permeated with divine love. And as in the Old Testament we read that

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"The lions ask God for food, and all the breath is praised by the Lord." Everything is alive, breathable. Everything is alive. God glorifies the unconscious and the unconscious. In the New Testament we also find that the whole universe,

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that in front of God's eyes, every bird is precious. Not a single bird will fall to the ground without God's will. This is an image, of course, but its meaning should be clear to us. The world is beautiful because it is God's creation.

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And from that moment, when the Divine Beginning entered the flesh of the world, it secondarily enlightened it. Not only by the fact that it created it, but by the fact that it became immanent to the world. And the word "flesh" is present in all the leaves of the vine. And the word "Logos" became flesh.

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(speaking in foreign language) He is a human being and began to live with us. Eskinos, in Greek, means "he set up a tent among us". The eternal dream of the Old Testament is that God will live among people in his tent.

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Thus, life was enlightened. Because Christ stepped on the ground with his foot, he enlightened the ground. Because he is a human and our brother, he has enlightened the human race. Because he loves flowers and every creature, he has enlightened all creatures.

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Pay attention to his parable, when he says that a good shepherd puts his life for sheep. It means that he approves it. That is, a person who risks his life for the sake of his sheep. You all who are familiar with the Gospel tradition know that Christ has called his community a herd.

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In our modern mentality, a herd means a crowd, a "lazy" herd, those who go meaninglessly, thoughtlessly. But we should not limit ourselves to our own models. There is a notion that exists among the pastoral peoples of the whole world. What is the herd? It is children, it is an object of love.

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A shepherd really should put his life at stake for the sheep. And you, at least most of your citizens, remember at least the stories of those who lived in pastoral areas. Remember the books, the movies. I remember one Soviet movie, and there was a snow-covered sheep.

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And how these shepherds were pulling them out on themselves. I remembered when I watched these shots, the Gospel parables. This is an object of love, and care, and even sacrificial care. So, Christ compares people to sheep that he loves.

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He compares the beauty of a flower to the splendor of the palace of the legendary king Solomon. The religion of incarnation is the religion of the manifestation of the beast. If paganism, in the broad sense of the word, has somehow enlightened nature and drowned in it,

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if its antithesis, spiritual and mystical teachings have tried to cast away nature, to cast away flesh, then Christianity completes this antagonism, rising above the flesh and illumination.

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It takes two steps - from and to it. From the flesh, from nature and back to it. In history, it happened as follows. The Gospel does not tell us anything specifically about the creativity of art.

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It only calls to the inner, spiritual and moral life of a person. But then, when we enter into life, when the Gospel begins to spread, the Fathers of the Church give us a positive answer to the question whether creativity, art, literature, poetry and so on are needed.

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And they answer this positively. Yes, this will be manifested in the future, really, the Christian spirit. And so many of the Church Fathers create hymns

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in the form of Egyptian hymns. Christian painting arises already in the second and third centuries of our era. And since then, art has never left the history of the Church.

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Even those directions of Christianity that left icons and paintings, they still maintain a connection with art, with musical art, with singing art, with architectural art. When people argue about the attitude of Christianity and the Church

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to art and painting, and what else. It seems to me that rather than arguing, opposing each other, expressing your own private opinions,

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it is better to look at the whole tradition of the Church, at all the two thousand years, or at least at the thousand years of the history of our Church, when it existed without creativity,

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without art, without painting, without architecture, without music. And although much was destroyed, broken,

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spiritual epicenter, he still creates, he will create new forms. Of course, many may have a thought here, is there no temptation in creativity? Is there no source of pride in it?

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Is there no element of demonism in it? Of course there is. Of course. And I don't need to give examples. You are creative people, in most of you,

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and of course you don't need to look for these examples, they are there. But this is not a matter of creativity at all, not at all in art, not at all in nature, but in us. It is we who distort it, it is we who use painting and poetry in order to create colors of evil. [ Foreign Language ]

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And finally, the last and most important. I would say, the fundamental, metaphysical, dogmatic. We are all created by the image and likeness of nature. Each of us carries a whole world of minerals, plants, animals.

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Think about it. How does our cage work? It is arranged in the same way as any flower, any bird, any animal. As we exchange substances and so on. There is no point in listing, it only takes time.

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We are carriers of nature in ourselves. But we have such a part, and this part is the most important, central, The central one, which makes us human, which we didn't borrow from nature.

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Explore the universe, and you won't find any creative spirit there. Creation is the creation of something new. If a barber makes a dam, or a weaver makes a nest, he always does it like his ancestors did it for hundreds of thousands of years.

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He repeats. There is no creative, individual mind here. A person creates. The image and likeness of a person in the palace is mind, conscience, creativity.

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To deprive a person of his mind means to make him a cat. To deprive a person of his conscience means to make him a car. A car has its own mind. But when there is no conscience, when a person often says to me,

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"I go to church and I have little information." What is information? It can be put in a military base and it will stay there. A person is a completely different thing.

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It's a secondary matter of information. You can always put it in yourself. Conscience, a sense of good and evil, aversion to evil.

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It's in us, but we need to cultivate it. How can talent be in us? Is it enough? Tell me, is it enough to have talent?

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We need work, we need cultivation of talent, of any musical, painting, sculptural, architectural, poetic talent. So, the moral school, the church school in particular, is the development of that technique,

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that culture of our ethics, which was given to us in the first place by nature. And, of course, this applies to creativity. To deprive a person of creativity means to deprive him of the most important features of God-like.

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For it is said in the Bible, "Let us create a man according to our image and likeness." This is what the Creator says. What image and likeness is not created? who say that creativity is nonsense, that it's a hoax.

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But in the end, we have to say the following. Christ said that everyone takes out of his treasure what he has. (speaking in foreign language) (speaking in foreign language)

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You bring people the treasure of your heart. You share it. It is your dialogue with people, your perception of the world.

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You create a new world, in which you invite others to enter. And in this world everything is naked. Your soul is naked.

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With all its sufferings, with all its shortcomings and joys. It is a sacred, responsible task. And the artist must approach it not just as a function.

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I want to draw, I must draw. But it is a service to the human race. It is a return, a dialogue. You can say that the artist who paints a painting,

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even if he lives on an uninhabited island, is, of course, something that is innate. But in reality, our goal is the spiritual connection of people,

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mutual understanding of people, mutual closeness of people, In short, love between people, when communication creates joy. And so, seeing your painting, we communicate with you in a way that you may not be able to say in words,

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but you say it in colors, in forms. It is difficult and perhaps even painful to take and put your heart on display. But at the same time it is an invitation to friendship, an invitation to love.

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And the greatest joy for an artist is when he is understood. It means that the extended hand was accepted and met with another extended hand. Therefore, I leave behind the brackets everything I started with. that it can be unnecessary, sinful, seductive.

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Everything can become sinful. And a feast and a feat can become a reason for pride. And church services can become a perverted way, a reason for achieving self-assertion of the false.

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And much more. Why should I remind you of fanaticism, intolerance, hatred? When a person starts to hate, he says, "I hate in the name of faith." One young man said that he understood something about the Inquisition.

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I said, "What's the matter?" I spoke to an elderly lady and told her that there was an inquisition there, that people were being burned. And she told me, "My dear, they were burning heretics." And this logic of hers struck him so hard, "Yes, it's true. Or maybe they were right."

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She cut his moral root right away, this false logic. And yet, the Gospel radically opposes this. Radically. Because the teaching of love includes the teaching of patience, openness, and much more.

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If such a crime is committed in the name of the Gospel as impatience, then this is a lie, a similar lie, well known for the last decades and centuries, when in the name of equality heads were cut off, in the name of freedom people were driven out of the camp, In the name of brotherhood, people have lost everything that distinguishes them as personalities in all the diversity of their lives.

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Good words - freedom, equality and brotherhood. But they are very easy to distort. A person can distort everything. And we should not blame ourselves for this. Neither great words, nor creativity, nor anything else, but to look for the causes of negative things within ourselves.

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And the Creator must create. There are the Bible words, in Slavic they sound like this, "I sing to my God, there is a daughter,

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I mean, I sing about my God while I live here. It should be a motto of any artist, poet, any creator. While we are breathing, we should create. And this creativity can be the most diverse.

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And the main creativity here is the creation of one's spirit. This is eternal creativity. What is written on the canvas, on the plywood, on the board is only a sign of what happened in your heart. Thank you. This is the main thing I wanted to say.

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[SPEAKING RUSSIAN] Since we have limited time, maybe someone has some specific problems. There is not much space here, so you can do it without a note, but directly like this. Anyway.

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How does the Orthodox Church of Astrology view the current time? Why is there a discrepancy with Catholicism? Does this attitude differ from the one that existed in the Middle Ages? You know, I could limit myself to one word,

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although I wouldn't like to. I would say "no way". Because in the Orthodox Church there is no such directive encyclopedia, in which all questions would be answered.

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And if you take this encyclopedia, take it on the letter "A", find "Astrology", it says there, "Do not do it." Next. This is not, of course.

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Astrology is permissible if it does not force us to be a heretic of religion, as it often happens. If we take it in its scientific core, what does it mean? That at the birth of a human, the configuration of the planets of our solar system ...shows some physical or other effects...

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...it affects the newborn. And thus it imprints its own character. Although there is an imprint of genetics, pathology, and so on. So there is some cosmic effect.

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There is nothing special about it. If it is proven by thorough statistical and other studies... we will consider that we have some kind of predetermination, like, here, inheritance.

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But can we consider that these factors are a curse? Christianity knows that there is something fatal in life. Let's say you got black eyes in your inheritance, you can't repaint them.

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But in fact, in moral life, in spiritual life, a Christian person rejects the call of God. He has no right to say, "Yes, you know, my father was a priest, my grandfather was a beggar, so I can't stand myself." Thus, we will take away all responsibility for our behavior only on the basis of some unfavorable factors.

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It will be like in the fairy tale "Schwarzenegger". It is known that the villain played, "Uncle will be killed". He himself has nothing to do with it, but here the inheritance has failed. And here, too, I was born under the constellation of the Vadole,

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or under some constellation, and I can't go anywhere. Yes, I have seen, but I have not studied, several dozen studies on astrology, where there were extensive tables, where all the leaders or all the prostitutes were born under one star. (speaking in foreign language)

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and exhausting information. Because we need to make a clearer experience, a more thorough calculation. And maybe I can bring even more to these tables,

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where it turns out that under the same star others were born, and neither the commanders nor the women were given any of them. But there were absolutely normal people. So this question is scientific,

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and it must be studied scientifically, and faith is not involved here. And astrology, as a pseudo-religion, is harmful, I would say. And Catholicism also looks at it this way, so there is no difference. As for the Middle Ages, astrology was not respected in the Middle Ages.

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In the Renaissance, it was probably written in the Renaissance. That's when it started. Catholics were interested, and we were interested quite strongly. Ivan the Terrible, in particular, was constantly asking astrologers.

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And all sorts of neo-pagans. And Hitler was constantly asking astrologers. When faith begins to fluctuate, it is necessary, since a person is a religious being in nature,

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it is immediately replaced by erzatz. And it became erzatz. (speaking in foreign language) (speaking in foreign language)

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[SPEAKING RUSSIAN] (speaking in foreign language) (speaking in foreign language) Thirdly, the memory society.

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All three at once. So, we must define the term perfectly clearly. We call Judaism a religion that emerged after Christianity, but very soon after. There was a single basis for the three main monotheistic religions.

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This foundation is called the Old Testament, created within the framework and the framework of the ancient Israeli culture. On this basis, the early Judaism arises, in the framework of which Christ is born, the apostles preach,

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Christianity itself, together with them, And by the end of the first century, a religion called Judaism emerged. What do we Christians have in common with this religion? And we recognize them in the Old Testament.

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Only for us, this is part of the Bible. For them, it is the whole Bible. We have our own books of the Holy... not sacred, but charter books that define the church and the life of the clergy. These are the Tipicons, the New Canons, the Church Charters, the Canons of the Church, and so on.

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Judaism developed similar, but already its own, canons. In some ways they coincide, in some ways they separate from ours. [Russian] For Judaism, Christ was the greatest teacher of morality and faith, the last of the biblical prophets.

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The second difference is that Judaism, which was born of the Old Testament religion, which was almost universal, it matured into a universal religion. He became a national religion, that is, he was thrown into one of the ancient phases of religious development.

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In ancient times, before the times of Alexander the Great, all religious traditions were national. Do you understand? It didn't spread.

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If a person was a Greek, he would only profess a Greek religion. because he could not get information anywhere except his family, his city, and his community. National religion is a relic of those ancient times.

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For Judaism, it was purely historical, because it preserved the identity of the Israeli people, the Jewish people. But it lost its world significance. Now, the question of the role of the Jews in the death of Jesus Christ.

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Well, you know, if we are going to talk about the role of the Greeks in the death of Socrates, then, of course, the role was the same. Pilate signed the sentence of Jesus Christ. The Synodion has given him a sentence.

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If any medieval Synodion were to be gathered in the Christian Episcopate and presented to a person who is considered the Son of God, I think that any such gathering of archpriests would have sentenced him to the highest punishment. The thing is not that Caiaphas was the most pious priest,

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Although he was a real big bastard, as Joseph Flavius writes. But the thing is that these people acted only for political reasons. They were interested in the teaching of Christ. They were politicians who were afraid that the Roman authorities would take away their privileges

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if they did not keep the people in the nest. The Senate was a national government during the Roman occupation. And it acted as all collaborators have acted in all centuries. They quickly spread with any movement that seemed suspicious to them.

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As for the other groups, the Jesuits, of course, could not accept Christ, because they were great formalists and law-makers. For them, the rite played a huge role. And besides, they were narrow-minded people

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and believed that the righteous were only them. The rest of the world was engulfed in the fog of evil. Christ was in a completely different position. He said, "Come to me, all the working people of the times."

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And here only the electors came. (speaking in foreign language) in the struggle against Rome, the Zilothic Jews, the Sadducees, who signed the judgment of Christ and gave it to Pilate.

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There are two directions left - Christians and Pharisees. Both of them were still within the Jewish people. Moreover, the number of Christians exceeded the number of Pharisees. Open the book "The Acts of the Apostles" and in the first chapters you will see how many thousands of Christians were in the first church.

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Joseph Flavius writes that the Pharisees were only 6,000. But when the war broke out, both the Christians and the Pharisees were against this war. They died in the country, split into different sides. The Pharisees went to the west, settled on the shore of the Yamna, creating their own center.

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The Christians went to the east, through Jordan, to the present-day Jordan, to the Peloponnese. After the war, a confrontation arose between them. But before that, there was no confrontation. What can we say about the people who were there?

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Any Jewish or Chinese crowd always remains a crowd. It is not worth shouting "Crush Osanna!" We know that. My brother was in Cuba and saw how easily he could start a crowd, so that it shouted to the wall. We don't know who was shot to the wall.

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People get enlightened very quickly, and the history of the last decades shows us this easily. But we know that the remaining people were under the control of the Pharisees. But if there were no Jews who accepted the teaching of Christ, then there would be no Apostle Paul, who was born of the Pharisees and was considered a Pharisee,

00:42:59.460 - 00:43:18.460

who carried the Gospel to the end of the ancient Roman world, and there would be nothing that we know about the Virgin Mary, about the apostles and about the first generation of Christians. On the shoulders of the first generation of Christians, Israelis,

00:43:18.460 - 00:43:35.460

there is the entire Christian Church, the universal, multinational, without knowing any boundaries in this world. And the last one is the attitude towards public memory. Recently, we asked Belov about his attitude.

00:43:35.460 - 00:43:53.460

He said that the society hasn't officially published its programs. And that's why I have to say that nothing is officially known, and it's forbidden to say. But if we talk about such nationalist, chauvinist elements

00:43:53.460 - 00:44:33.460

The Church spoke on this topic in the presence of Metropolitan Alexei, who published an interview on this topic in the Moscow Newspaper, where he said that Russian intelligentsia has always been alien to any people, and the search for enemies has never solved any problem. There are always enemies. We know that. How many? Popes, traitors, bourgeois, aristocrats, undecided, always find.

00:44:33.460 - 00:44:48.460

Red, white, everything, in any country. The enemy is always found, but the problem is not solved. Why do we need the enemy? I was told that in my youth,

00:44:48.460 - 00:45:09.460

to distract the attention of the workers from the struggle for their rights. And this funny formula has a certain meaning, if you think about it. Because a person is creatively educated. Instead of thinking about what to do, how to live,

00:45:09.460 - 00:45:20.460

he starts thinking, "This man is to blame." He calms down immediately. But what can you do? He protects himself from solving problems.

00:45:20.460 - 00:45:37.460

What is the difference between understanding the position of good and evil between an artist and a believer? It is assumed that an artist is not a believer. More precisely, the difference between understanding the beautiful aesthetics

00:45:37.460 - 00:45:54.460

and the beautiful faith. This is the first question. There is a second one. This question is very complicated. First, we do not always have the moral right to say that a person is not a believer.

00:45:54.460 - 00:46:11.960

For example, I am convinced that Albert Camus was a believer. He formally considered himself an atheist. But deep inside his spirit there was a religious impulse. It was the same with Nietzsche, and with many others.

00:46:11.960 - 00:46:25.960

There were people who painted temples, who even engaged in theology, but in fact their faith was at a temperature of 33.5. They were cold and indifferent.

00:46:25.960 - 00:46:52.960

So it is not always possible to judge a person by his or her true faith and how it manifests itself. And then, when the Lord tells us in the parable about the sowing, He says, "Do not cut everything, because you can pull out the wheat and the seedlings together."

00:46:52.960 - 00:47:18.960

We do not know. Man is a dynamic quantity. Today he is one, tomorrow another. The history of every person and every artist is a history, not a static. And when we talk about the blue period and other periods of artists, it is only a reflection of the inner history of the spirit of this person.

00:47:18.960 - 00:47:36.960

And no one put us here to judge. And in relation to the beautiful, It's hard to say. I think everything is beautiful from God. Everything is beautiful. There can be nothing but God.

00:47:36.960 - 00:47:54.960

Even if a person doesn't realize it, if he considers himself an atheist, etc., and creates something beautiful, it is still a gift from God. It is still a gift from God, anonymously realized. And this is not about the plot.

00:47:54.960 - 00:48:12.960

Because there are madonnas that are completely spiritual. But there are landscapes or abstract things, conditional, that don't speak about the realities of religious life, but are saturated with spirituality.

00:48:12.960 - 00:48:28.120

Saturated. Yes, maybe, I don't know, a landscape, a branch, even a prison. It all depends on what was in the soul of this creator, what he creates. After all, you do not imitate the world.

00:48:28.120 - 00:48:40.620

You, as I said, create your own world. You embody the spirit. Your painting is the embodiment of your spirit. And that's where it all comes in.

00:48:40.620 - 00:48:53.220

The commandment cannot be depicted as it is. The commandment is unchangeable. If you don't want to portray it, don't portray it. And this is right.

00:48:53.220 - 00:49:24.220

Why should the West be one? So that people remember that the divine is greater than all natural. You see, a person is always inclined to limit, reduce the divine, to bring it to some extent. Therefore, in the church regulations of Orthodoxy, in the universal cathedrals, it was always allowed to depict Christ as the God of man incarnate on earth, the saints, the apostles.

00:49:24.220 - 00:49:41.220

But the God as the Father was not depicted, it was forbidden. And just bypassing this canon, this rule, the images of the God of the Father appeared. There was a violation. Nothing can be said about it. There was, there is, and there will be.

00:49:41.220 - 00:49:55.220

No one canceled it. If a new revelation, a new Bible, a new teaching is given, it will be said, "From now on, you should depict God in the form of a lotus or something else." But it still hasn't been done.

00:49:55.220 - 00:50:09.140

How does the Church relate to non-canonical Christian art? For example, to the depiction of Christ. I didn't understand the question. (speaking in foreign language)

00:50:09.140 - 00:50:23.500

[SPEAKING RUSSIAN] - So, it's not an icon painting? - Yes, it's not an icon painting. Before answering your question, I'll just remind you. - Have you been to Leningrad? - Yes.

00:50:23.500 - 00:50:38.500

Remember the Church of St. Isaac. There's nothing iconic there. It's all painted under the influence of Italian, or even Renaissance painting. The same thing is in the Church of St. Catherine. You can love it or not, you can like it or not, but the Church allowed it.

00:50:38.500 - 00:51:01.500

When the Metropolitan, the Synod, was lighting it, it was permissible. I still remember well the Trinity Cathedral in our Lavra, where there were picturesque frescoes on top of rubles. And they were falling asleep and being cleaned.

00:51:01.500 - 00:51:18.740

Of course, the Lavra's local priest blessed it. Thus, the church practically allowed all this. And if you go around all 47 Moscow churches, I can't say for sure now, because a new one is opening,

00:51:18.740 - 00:51:31.220

all of them are painted in painting. Alas, I personally would have suggested something else, but just practically. Go to the wonderful church of Nikola Khamovnichsky,

00:51:31.300 - 00:51:42.300

located on Komsomolskaya Avenue near the Kremlin metro station. A wonderful, old-fashioned temple. Look at the graffiti. This is a French graffiti from the 19th century.

00:51:42.300 - 00:51:57.300

This is a German graffiti from the Dore period. This is a painting by Julius Schnorr. This is a 19th century painting from the West. Again, I repeat, this is bad, of course.

00:51:57.300 - 00:52:42.800

[ Foreign Language ] - This question is not about art. - No, it's not. There are many things we cannot judge. There are many secrets that cannot be rationally explained.

00:52:42.800 - 00:53:01.800

But when you say that something is given at birth, I'm not sure it's true. We don't have a special dogma or doctrine A person does not receive his soul. There are different views. I am convinced that God, having created the human soul once,

00:53:01.800 - 00:53:23.800

say, 40,000 years ago, created all of us then. He created all of us once, creating one soul, creating one Adam. And after that, separate souls depart from this one soul. but we are all interconnected, as explained by the spiritual and cultural unity of humanity.

00:53:23.800 - 00:53:57.800

Just like the first man carried the whole of humanity in his genetic basis, and the body of each of us is only a sprout, only a twig, a twig on the whole tree of human life. This is how it is here. This soul came into the world from the human being, not from above. If it were given to God every time, then every soul that was born would be sinless.

00:53:57.800 - 00:54:29.800

But this is not the case. Now the teaching of the Arhats on the absolute and other theosophical currents is being developed. Father L. wrote to Patriarch Pinin that these teachings prepare the basis for the coming of the Antichrist and asks to take measures to prevent the practice in this direction.

00:54:29.800 - 00:54:48.000

(speaking in foreign language) I think that Father Lev Lebedev, who wrote this, he thinks that this is now. This movement to study the Eastern faiths

00:54:48.000 - 00:55:01.680

started more than a hundred years ago. And it has deep roots in the history of the West. What's the matter? I personally think that it's not about Antiquity, but about Christians.

00:55:02.440 - 00:55:33.440

I am sure that if Christians and the Christian Church had enough power, spirit, ethics and action, Europeans would not have to go looking for something Indian. I remember the novel by Andrei Belov "The Silver Pigeon". when an intelligent man, Daryalsky, went to look for the truth in some half-witted people, like Khlystov, a fictional sect.

00:55:33.440 - 00:55:57.440

And the novel begins with what? With the description of the service. In a provincial city, boring people, flies are flying, the priest is serving, he is tired of all this, he is waving the cross. This sleeping Christianity is what causes these unhealthy phenomena. It will always be like this.

00:55:57.440 - 00:56:18.440

These are the so-called non-traditional religions that have spread all over the world. This is a reproach to Christians. And the Western Christian press writes about this. They ask, "What do the communists, the krishna-yayas, and other Christians seek?"

00:56:18.440 - 00:56:36.440

And they start saying, "Mysticism, communication." We have all of this, but we don't give it to people properly. That's why they have to look for it in pre-Christian faiths. To return to those stages, maybe beautiful, but former pre-Christ.

00:56:36.440 - 00:56:51.240

This is a way back. This is a reactionary phenomenon. in the spiritual sense, in the historical sense of the word, is a return to what has already been. I appreciate and respect all the ancient teachings.

00:56:51.240 - 00:57:04.120

They all served as the Old Testament for humanity. And the Indian wisdom, and the ancient Chinese wisdom, and the ancient Iranian wisdom, these are not pure delusions.

00:57:04.120 - 00:57:33.000

All the searches for God's people have always been great and noble. And we must treat all these things with extraordinary respect. But many modern doctrines, such as the Theosophy, simplify, I would even say, degrade it. And if you want to be interested in this legacy, read Upanishads, read Chinese Longyue, read Zhuangzi.

00:57:33.000 - 00:58:01.000

There is a lot of wisdom there, but it is pre-Christian wisdom. It not only does not cross out, it shows how high the Gospel stands, and how much it supports all the pre-existing spiritual experience of humanity. As for the call to the patriarch to sow something, then here I can only wave my hands.

00:58:01.000 - 00:58:24.000

Fortunately, the peasants do not have the legal right to stop anything. Enough! We have already been burned, stopped, and then this stone fell on our heads. The stone of intolerance, the sword of intolerance, or I would say the knife of intolerance. The sword is too noble a word.

00:58:24.000 - 00:58:42.000

It is sharp. It first hits one, and then the one who took it upon himself. the right to repress another person. Patience is the foundation of human communication. And that's why the kingdom of Antichrist,

00:58:42.000 - 00:58:54.000

it already began during the time of Christ, when evil forces opposed him, the kingdom of Antichrist is fed by the evil elements of the human soul, including impatience.

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If we have the right to suppress something, to prevent violence in any way, we will serve the Kingdom of Antichrist. I, of course, speak from my personal point of view,

00:59:11.000 - 00:59:27.700

but I think that many of my fellow brothers share this view. If possible, please formulate your personal attitude towards the Church, and attitude to meditation. Not the logos of Orthodox meditation,

00:59:27.700 - 00:59:41.700

but the abundance of techniques of influence, formation, change of consciousness, and so on. I don't know what to say. But the meaning is clear.

00:59:41.700 - 01:00:21.900

Now many forms of pre-Christian, non-Christian meditations have spread. I reply to the crack, we have little time. Point 1. Meditation without contents is simply a psychotechnique that helps concentrate the consciousness. An example, the game of beads at the Hermes. Meditation, focused on some of the sacred Eastern words, serves the purpose of enlightenment of the human "I".

01:00:21.900 - 01:00:43.420

In Christianity there is a God-thinking, which is, in fact, meditation. It includes a whole range of principles, traditions and rules, including the so-called "smart" or "inner" prayer, Jesus' prayer,

01:00:43.420 - 01:00:57.580

the repetition, the multiple repetition of the sacred formulas, "Lord, have mercy." This is also a kind of passing through ourselves. We have absolutely no need to look for it somewhere else.

01:00:57.580 - 01:01:16.580

Many of you who come to the temple for the first time, you may be surprised that some short prayers are repeated 40 times, 12 times, This is a relative thing. Meditation uses the power of the soul in a certain way to bring it together.

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By the way, the term meditation is not Indian at all, and not Tessarian, and not Krishnaian at all. It just came from the ordinary medieval church practice. This is a Latin church practice.

01:01:32.580 - 01:01:46.580

There, our thought of God was called meditation. Reflection on some topic. A person came, stood in front of the altar, he had a brush,

01:01:46.580 - 01:02:03.080

and he had a certain topic for thinking, he stood on his knees, read "Our Father, Our Lady" and thought. This practice is developing and is being created even today within Christianity. We don't need to look for another.

01:02:03.080 - 01:02:13.080

Father Alexander, may I ask you a question? Yes, yes. One question. Do you think that rock culture, rock art, and ecumenism are connected?

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Do they attract, at least in some way, a certain kind of rock art, a person to the black magic of serving Satanism? And the second question, I'll ask again, is related to the films of Andrei Tarkovsky. Was he a Christian preacher, in your opinion,

01:02:30.280 - 01:02:42.480

or did he use his films to convey some other spiritual, let's say, esoteric knowledge? That's a difficult question. So, the first question is the answer to the second.

01:02:42.480 - 01:02:57.880

Since there is a rock liturgy, therefore, rock music is not, so to speak, a par excellence in the essence of Satanism. I have a record, a bit of Mesa.

01:02:57.880 - 01:03:03.880

It's excellent, wonderful, inspiring. I play it in Poland. It's beautiful. It's for modern youth.

01:03:03.880 - 01:03:15.880

Some understand it, others don't. You know, I once sang to my friends, colleagues, some of our Orthodox chants,

01:03:15.880 - 01:03:25.800

to my friends from Torobryatsy. They said, "What's this? Are you dancing?" Right. (speaking in foreign language)

01:03:25.800 - 01:03:40.480

(singing in foreign language) (singing in foreign language) And here, in a second, it's like singing a march. Every era and every culture has its own rhythm.

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And when the Easter Canon is sung, you probably heard it at Easter, it's sung very fast. It's taken from the Roman-Koran "Snegurochka". (singing in foreign language)

01:04:01.320 - 01:04:17.320

"Mr. Pavsky, Mr. Pavsky..." It's almost like a press music. And find a record, a Bulgarian one, I think, with Easter songs, Byzantine,

01:04:17.320 - 01:04:27.320

created in the 11th century. It will show you that you hear Moedzin, that some Muslims sing it, it's stretched Eastern songs.

01:04:27.320 - 01:04:51.320

Every culture, every era has the right to create what it wants. Our metropolitan, Yuvinal, recently, speaking on TV, was asked a similar question. He said, "If the youth... I don't understand this music, but if it can express its spirit, then it's great." Take the opera "Jesus Christ Superstar".

01:04:51.320 - 01:05:05.880

Disgusting libretto. Mad words. Thank God no one understands them. But the music is great. And it's sometimes very well-made. It's alive. Just great.

01:05:05.880 - 01:05:16.520

So it's not about rock music, but how it's used. You could make a demonic symphonic music. Very good. Very calm. And make it occult.

01:05:16.520 - 01:05:27.360

Let's remember Skryabin. Did he have such ideas? He didn't write rock music. Skryabin was directly oriented to occultism. He was an anthroposophist.

01:05:27.360 - 01:05:39.960

But he achieved everything without rock. The second is Tarkovsky. Tarkovsky was very ambiguous. Unfortunately, we didn't meet much,

01:05:39.960 - 01:05:53.320

although we studied together at school. He was going through a very difficult and difficult path. And you are right. He had a passion for different oriental doctrines.

01:05:53.320 - 01:06:07.520

And I saw only one thing in this. That this creative, a wise man could not find a true Christian source. He could not. He could not, in fact. Instead, he read various Theosophical books.

01:06:07.520 - 01:06:25.120

And what if he... We grew up in Stalin's time. We lived, while attending school, opposite the Likhansky Institute. What did we have in our heads then? Nothing. We could only read from under the floor.

01:06:25.120 - 01:06:42.120

I read church books from under the floor, and he got them from his own. And what came in, came in. But, as I was told, later on, he underwent certain transformations towards Christianity, and that's why he promised to be buried in Christianity.

01:06:42.120 - 01:07:07.120

As for his films, I didn't understand his sacrifice. It seemed to me that he was looking for something, but he didn't find it. And Andrei Rublyov is a film in which he approached, I don't understand what it's about, but he felt the very important Christian truth.

01:07:07.120 - 01:07:32.620

And one of these truths was that, as one poet said in the past, "The darker the night, the brighter the stars, the closer the sorrow, the closer God." In this nightmare of history, a miracle was born in the vision of the Holy Trinity, Rublyov.

01:07:32.620 - 01:07:46.420

It was like that. And Tarkovsky managed to show it. We forget, when we talk about the horrors of our time, we forget what surrounded the creator of the Trinity,

01:07:46.420 - 01:08:02.620

Svyanigorod's Spas and other icons. It was this that surrounded what is shown in this film. Let it be condensed, but unfortunately it is shown objectively, in comparison. Yes, life was bitter and terrible.

01:08:02.620 - 01:08:19.620

But the light shines in the darkness. Here is the Gospel epigraph for the film "Andrei Rublyov". Well, that's almost all I could say. Of course, I could talk about it for a long time.

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Yes? [Russian] (speaking in foreign language) We, the peasants, do not deny that evil often comes from ignorance or envy, as the East says.

01:08:54.540 - 01:09:17.540

But this is only a part of the matter. There is evil as such, metaphysical evil. There is a demonic beginning. Therefore, it is difficult to agree with such a Platonic view that evil is only a defect of good. No, evil is a distortion of the created. It is a perversion of creatures.

01:09:17.540 - 01:09:38.460

But this topic is very big and complex, and if we talk about it, we should talk only about it. (speaking in foreign language) How do you feel about the assertion that evil is dominant and good is recessive? Yes, I understand. You are proud of your patron.

01:09:38.460 - 01:10:07.460

I asked Alexander how he feels about the assertion that evil is dominant and good is recessive. depending on the point of view of the viewer. Of course, in the 30th year of the 1st century AD, evil was defeated by Pilate, Caiaphas, and Judas.

01:10:07.460 - 01:10:27.260

But good is defeated in a completely different way. It can be defeated in suffering. It remains powerful in a completely different way. Therefore, their relationship is much more complex and much more contradictory.

01:10:27.260 - 01:10:48.060

Yes, of course, evil is going on as a tank. If there are 100 people living in one house and among them is some noisy drunk bastard, who is disturbing everyone's life, then everyone knows about him. And there can live some matryona with her quiet yard, and no one will know her.

01:10:48.060 - 01:11:04.860

It often happens. But nevertheless, the power of good is still victorious. And here is the meaning of this evangelical prophecy. That the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness does not embrace it.

01:11:04.860 - 01:11:21.860

Think about it. After all, the evangelist did not say, "The light conquers the darkness." It's not like Pushkin's saying "The sun will rise, the darkness will be revealed." It's not said there, because there is no illusion.

01:11:21.860 - 01:11:44.860

The darkness remains in this world, but it cannot destroy the light. The light is indestructible. It shines in the darkness. Like stars that cannot disperse its darkness in the black space, but do not go out, but burn. And in this is the confrontation of light, good and truth.

01:11:44.860 - 01:12:12.060

If good was dressed in evil and began to crush everything, showing its strength, it would very quickly cease to be good. It would become evil. If the human race evolves, and religions evolve too,

01:12:12.060 - 01:12:24.860

shouldn't there be a common faith, which reflects the concept of the absolute, which is universal for humanity? Yes, and from my point of view, this is Christianity.

01:12:24.860 - 01:12:41.460

How is man given evil? How to treat it? I don't know what to take here. Who wrote this?

01:12:41.460 - 01:12:56.460

How to treat evil? How to help people to be saved? In fact, it's about the death of the dead. How to help people to be saved?

01:13:00.460 - 01:13:19.460

You know, the question is a little abstract. After all, each person has different encounters with evil. The first evil that is given to us is inside us. And jealousy, envy, unkindness, irritation, anger are born in us.

01:13:19.460 - 01:13:38.460

All this lives in us. And our own soul is available to us. When we rise from this, we fulfill the covenant of the Apostle Paul, who said, "Do not be with the evil, but overcome the evil with good." This is a difficult way, of course.

01:13:38.460 - 01:13:53.460

This is a difficult way. Because your good must be so strong that it breaks this evil. It can be broken in different ways. I remember there was a film "Life on the Sinful Earth".

01:13:53.460 - 01:14:02.460

Nobody remembers him, probably. But the film was interesting. There, a man accused another man, he got into the camp,

01:14:02.460 - 01:14:10.460

and then he returned rehabilitated, and forgave him. And he forgave him, but he was so drowned,

01:14:10.460 - 01:14:20.460

he could not bear this forgiveness. Well, it's just such a situation. The film is not bad, I'll tell you why. It shows that there is a power in kindness.

01:14:20.460 - 01:14:35.380

(speaking in foreign language) We're filming the ending there. But there is... I can give you an example.

01:14:35.380 - 01:14:52.380

Stones, a violent rush of volcanic mud, lava, all this is deadly, all this is killing. Nothing can live there. There is nothing to live on.

01:14:52.380 - 01:15:05.380

And then a small sprout appears. A green sprout. A tiny flower. It is infinitely weak compared to these dead masses. Infinitely weak.

01:15:05.380 - 01:15:14.380

But it is what makes the meaning of all existence. Because it is alive. It is alive. It transforms everything. It is alone here.

01:15:14.380 - 01:15:26.380

And it is small. So is the good. It is like life among the dead. It is small, it is weak, but it contains the essence, the axis of history, the universe and the human being.

01:15:26.380 - 01:15:47.380

All this pile of evil will eventually turn into dust, because it is worthless. And good will fill the whole world. Of course, this is only what is revealed in the inner vision. Of course, it is impossible to prove this mathematically.

01:15:47.380 - 01:16:00.380

When the Swiss asked, "Are you a pessimist or an optimist?" He said, "My knowledge is pessimistic. In fact, we'll see, you'll become a pessimist. But my faith, he said, is optimistic."

01:16:00.380 - 01:16:11.380

I can sign under these words. We can really hope for the victory of evil. Only faith. "Sola Fide" - only faith can save us.

01:16:11.380 - 01:16:22.380

Good, good. Yes? - You mentioned the anthroposophy as a demonic tradition. - I try to avoid such labels.

01:16:22.380 - 01:16:34.380

- How do you feel about Kudusov? - With respect. I think he was a wonderful, talented man. A rare man.

01:16:34.380 - 01:17:00.180

Of course, I feel sorry that he had to create his own religion. There is a lot of interesting and interesting things there, but it is not acceptable for us. - What are you talking about? About Steinler? - Yes. Rudolf Steiner was the reviver of the ancient Gnosticism, which died in 1926.

01:17:00.180 - 01:17:13.880

This is just a step back. What did he teach? about the cosmic circles, about the hierarchies of the universe. There was no God there. Why? Christ is the only one.

01:17:13.880 - 01:17:24.580

Do you know who Christ was for him? It was the sun god. It was the spirit of the sun that flew to earth and changed the aura of the earth.

01:17:24.580 - 01:17:35.180

It was the sun god. The paganism is pure. The ancient pagans in the 2nd century also accepted Christ like that. The difference is huge.

01:17:35.180 - 01:18:10.180

Therefore, with all my respect to the Doctor and his books, I do not share his views at all. Although in his psychological practice, the practice of meditation, there are wonderful places. How to achieve the knowledge of the higher worlds, even the elder Nektariy Optinsky, the last of the Optinsky elders, He transcribed these chapters from Steiner's book and gave them to his visitors.

01:18:10.180 - 01:18:27.180

- This speaks about the lack of Orthodox practices. - Yes, it's true. It's not the way we developed it. - Because a modern person is going from knowledge, not from feelings. - Right. Christianity requires more careful development of these spiritual practices.

01:18:27.180 - 01:18:49.100

(speaking in foreign language) where people who are engaged in formalization of the methods of the purification of Christian prayers work. They have in-person courses, people come from all over the world, study. Thus, the Anthroposophy taught the Christians something.

01:18:49.100 - 01:19:02.100

The school of the Anthroposophy is really good. - May I ask a question? - Yes. How do you rate the film "Under the Blessing of the Blood"? Did it manage to draw attention to the theme of the triumph of Christianity?

01:19:02.100 - 01:19:13.100

I'm ashamed to answer you, I haven't watched it. I haven't watched it, so I won't take the risk. They say it's a beautiful film. Yes, it's beautiful.

01:19:13.100 - 01:19:47.100

But I don't know anything else. I haven't watched it. I haven't had the chance. [ Foreign Language ]

01:19:47.600 - 01:20:11.600

There could be two options. Either our Lord chose the smartest, the most courageous, the most hardworking, the most educated, the best people of His city. But then we could have doubts. Well, it was really an elite.

01:20:11.600 - 01:20:27.000

So she hit him and that's how it went. but he chose people who were called middlemen. That is, a middleman, a fisherman, a craftsman, a good man, but just as frightened as everyone else.

01:20:27.000 - 01:20:44.200

Now imagine for a minute when the apostles believed that Jesus came to commit a spiritual world coup, that he will free the world from evil, throw out the Romans from the Holy City, and so on.

01:20:44.200 - 01:20:56.960

And suddenly they come, arrest him, tie him up like the last criminal, and drag him out. What happens to them? Everything collapses.

01:20:56.960 - 01:21:09.240

It's the end. It's the end of their faith. That's why they ran away from Stavish. because they understood that it was the end. They were wrong.

01:21:09.240 - 01:21:24.360

He is not the one who will bring the world to freedom. He is a wonderful, kind, unhappy... The end. That's why when Peter came,

01:21:24.360 - 01:21:37.280

his love brought him to the gates of the house of Caiaphas. He was looking at what would happen next. When he was recognized, he said, "I don't know this man. "Are you him?" "No, it's not me," he said.

01:21:37.280 - 01:21:54.880

In the Greek original, he answers absurdly. "Are you him?" "No, it's not me." I'm afraid that almost any of us, if we were in this place, would have done the same.

01:21:54.880 - 01:22:08.120

Think deeply, imagine the whole situation, put yourself in Peter's shoes. (speaking in foreign language) They were supposed to take them all.

01:22:08.120 - 01:22:14.120

They ran away. And he sneaked in there. And suddenly they recognize him. Now they will take him too.

01:22:14.120 - 01:22:21.120

He said, "It's not me." He did not renounce him. He was just scared. And it's hard to judge him.

01:22:21.120 - 01:22:32.120

The Lord forgave him. Three times later, asking him, "Do you love me?" And he answered, "Yes, Lord, I love you."

01:22:32.120 - 01:22:41.120

And three times the Lord answered him, "Sweep my sheep." So he was forgiven. And for us, it is a great consolation that

01:22:41.120 - 01:22:54.120

at the base of the Church stand ordinary, simple people with their weaknesses, with their shortcomings, with their limitations. Ordinary people. And they, by the power of the Spirit,

01:22:54.120 - 01:23:16.120

became those on the shoulders of which the Church continues to stand today. "You are a stone, and on this stone I will create my church," says the Lord. "To the weak Peter, because the Spirit of God acts through man." So, we should go to the hall.

01:23:16.120 - 01:23:35.920

Maybe you are already tired? I suggest that whoever has watched, listened, got tired, maybe he will go home, because there is not much space here. It will not be a shame. Everyone has their own business, time.

01:23:35.920 - 01:23:43.920

And life goes on. Well... So... Life goes on, but there is no interest.

01:23:43.920 - 01:23:51.920

Evil is from God. Art is not all evil. Art is only from God. How to distinguish? Yes!

01:23:51.920 - 01:24:06.920

But the creativity, my friends, is from God. And how we use it is already from us. That's all. I didn't quite understand you when you were talking about the basis of Judaism.

01:24:06.920 - 01:24:17.920

After all, this religion is based on the Torah, not on the branch-by-branch... What is the relationship of Christianity to the Torah? As for the Torah,

01:24:17.920 - 01:24:36.920

this book is a part of the Old Testament. And it is read in our Christian Orthodox churches almost every holiday service. It is the basis of Christianity, including our Orthodoxy,

01:24:36.920 - 01:24:51.920

and any other types of Christianity, to some extent of Islam, because Islam is based on the Bible. Muhammad relied on the biblical tradition. Therefore, Torah is a sacred book.

01:24:51.920 - 01:25:05.920

Torah in Russian means "teaching". We call this book in Greek tradition "Pentateuch", that is, "five scriptures". In Slavic - "five scriptures".

01:25:05.920 - 01:25:38.920

The first five books of Moses, with which the Bible begins. [Russian] I'll explain.

01:25:38.920 - 01:26:02.920

Christ walked on earth as an incognito. He never proclaimed that "I am the Messiah, I am the King, I am the Son of God." People should have understood and recognized this, and find the answer to this question themselves. And when there was a critical moment, he did not say "I am the Messiah, I am Christ."

01:26:02.920 - 01:26:16.920

And he said, "Who do people worship me for?" The apostles began to speak, "For the prophet who was resurrected, for someone else." "And who do you worship?" And then Peter answered for everyone, "You, Messiah, Son of God."

01:26:16.920 - 01:26:35.160

So, they had doubts. But how? The ancient tradition asserts that before the Redeemer comes to earth, "He must be made the prophet Elijah and smeared on the kingdom,

01:26:35.160 - 01:26:53.120

that is, solemnly approve him for his service." And then Christ will answer that this Elijah was, and with him did as they wanted, and it was John the Baptist. Of course, he spoke in a metaphorical sense.

01:26:53.120 - 01:27:12.120

As for the teaching that Ilya should reappear, it is not a reincarnation. According to the ancient tradition, Ilya did not die, but he was hidden in the mysterious worlds.

01:27:12.120 - 01:27:27.120

Do you remember the icons of the ascension of Ilya on the wheel? He was carried away and there was no grave for him. and he had to return alive, he was not dying. This is the meaning of this prediction and statement.

01:27:27.120 - 01:27:44.120

And not that Ilya died and then reincarnated into his ancestor. As for the relationship of the Church to the army, that is, the doctrine of reincarnation, I understood the question in this way. In fact, the church tradition believes that

01:27:44.120 - 01:28:01.120

The development of the human soul takes place in the worlds. And our earthly food is repeated only once. Only once. This is how Christianity teaches in all its confessions.

01:28:01.120 - 01:28:15.320

This is how Islam teaches in all its directions. This is how the Zoroastrian religion teaches. This is how almost all the ancient Eastern religions teach, except for the Indian. They are suffering from Confucianism, Doacism and others.

01:28:15.320 - 01:28:34.520

So all the world religions, except for the Indo-Australian region. The only region is Indo-Australian. Why is it in the Australian region? Because the indigenous population of India belonged to the Austroloid race.

01:28:34.520 - 01:28:56.320

That's why they had this doctrine of reincarnation. And the ancient Australians and Aboriginals. And when the Aryans came to India in 2000, they did not have this teaching yet, but they quickly accepted it, mixing with the local population. Why is this so? The question is scientifically incorrect. We do not know why.

01:28:56.320 - 01:29:18.920

Maybe it was a special spiritual region. Why did this teaching arise there among all humanity? and did not spread to other religions. This teaching did not become a heritage of the world religious thought. I think, my friends, that the question is rather different.

01:29:18.920 - 01:29:37.220

What is important is that a person does not die from the death of his body. How God will be distributed to us further is not our concern. I think that He will be distributed better than all our theories. Let it be our motto "Immortality".

01:29:37.220 - 01:29:53.060

And this or that is secondary, especially since it doesn't change anything fundamentally. Tell me, what do you think of Glazunov's paintings and the direction in which he uses religious symbols in his paintings?

01:29:53.060 - 01:30:24.060

- Is it good or bad, let's say? - Both. I'm not going to talk about his aesthetic qualities. I'm not an artist, and I'm not the one to judge. I like his illustrations in the books of Dostoevsky, Melikov, Pechersky.

01:30:24.060 - 01:30:49.060

These are good illustrations, pleasant. If we look at his religious paintings, they clearly reflect our public interest in the history of our country and religious issues. That's why he clearly reflects the climate of our society.

01:30:49.060 - 01:31:08.060

And we can't deny that. Now his big pictures are of a programmatic nature. I leave aside their aesthetic aspect. They have a certain concept.

01:31:08.060 - 01:31:26.560

Does an artist have the right to have a concept? Of course he does. I believe that all types of art should flourish. Everyone should show what he does, what he thinks. Let him think this way, and if you think otherwise, create something else.

01:31:26.560 - 01:31:39.560

Of course, there may be some suspicion. But is it worth turning the paintings into posters of such ideological nature? Aren't we tired of this? It's a matter of taste.

01:31:39.560 - 01:31:55.960

If... What is called a tendency, which is there... You know, I didn't study his paintings to such an extent to read out his tendency there.

01:31:55.960 - 01:32:12.760

Let's say, the mystery of the 20th century. You probably understand, because it's sold all the time on Arbat. Yes. You know, it's interesting to watch, because

01:32:12.760 - 01:32:27.400

you can see all the figures, the culture, And I agree with my interpretation that Christ stands over this nightmare, in the end, the light will win, and everything is visible here.

01:32:27.400 - 01:32:39.320

He brings his own interpretation. That is, he has some big figures, others are small. This is his right. It is the artist's right to make Lazunov big,

01:32:39.320 - 01:32:48.480

and Stalin and the coffin small. This is his right. This is his right. You, artists, must understand that freedom is an art form.

01:32:48.480 - 01:32:59.040

You can do whatever you want. As for the millennium of Russian culture, there is a concept there too. For example, in Tolstoy's corner, I remember,

01:32:59.040 - 01:33:12.800

with the Masonic signs on the chest. This is a certain point of view. And what is it justified in? Indeed, the pan-religion that some groups of Masons preached

01:33:12.880 - 01:33:26.040

Of course, it attracted and interested Lvov Nikolaev. But on the other hand, I'm afraid it would be completely inaccurate to portray him as a preacher of the Masonic faith. That's not true.

01:33:26.040 - 01:34:00.120

But if Luzunov thinks so, he has the right to draw it that way. So, I think, creators, create. And history will tell you which of you is a real creator. [ Foreign Language ]

01:34:00.120 - 01:34:16.120

I'll answer right away. In any Christian temple, starting from the times of the catacombs, you will always find elements of ornaments,

01:34:16.120 - 01:34:26.120

the richest ornaments. And what is an ornament, if not a chain of the absorptionists? There, too, almost without subject matter. It's also a game of form and color.

01:34:26.120 - 01:34:44.120

So, I don't think there is anything like that here. Maybe I don't understand it, but it doesn't matter. What matters is that different forms are possible. You probably know, in your travels, who has such an opportunity.

01:34:44.120 - 01:34:59.120

Or you watch albums or magazines. You see that endlessly different temples are being created, decorated with all kinds of styles. There is expressionism, there are abstract things.

01:34:59.120 - 01:35:12.120

Here in Poland I saw the work of the artist Jerzy Nowoselski. This is my Orthodox peer. But he paints, unfortunately, the Catholic Church, because the Orthodox are afraid of his painting.

01:35:12.120 - 01:35:24.120

It is based on the Orthodox iconography. But of course it is strongly modernized. This is a modern painting. And the older generation doesn't like it.

01:35:24.120 - 01:35:41.120

And it's natural. You think that the icon was not modern? It was, and it still is. After the realistic painting and the plastic of ancient Rome,

01:35:41.120 - 01:35:50.120

the icon was modern. It was expressionism. The icon, the fresco, everything was different. New perspectives.

01:35:50.120 - 01:36:04.120

Gothic was not modern compared to Romantic art, to the ancient. It was avant-garde, wild avant-garde. Remember, what is a Gothic cathedral next to a strict ancient building? It's a blur of fantasy.

01:36:04.120 - 01:36:19.620

And it will always be art. Each century will give birth to its own. And, you know, it's great that we don't limit ourselves to so many new things.

01:36:19.620 - 01:36:33.620

and that people can create something new. Let them make mistakes, let them, it's not always enough, maybe they have reached some peak. There is no limit in art,

01:36:33.620 - 01:36:49.620

for the Creator is God, He is limitless. And the struggle for this will never stop. - May I ask a question? Your attitude towards the relics of artists and philosophers?

01:36:49.620 - 01:37:26.620

Yes. I wanted to ask you this question. We see that in art, in the history of art, there are symbols that are invariant with religion and culture in general. [Russian translation]

01:37:27.620 - 01:37:43.020

I am convinced, following the Church itself, that the most beautiful and profound thing in all religions is the act of Christ, invisible, anonymous, but clearly, how to say, continuous.

01:37:43.020 - 01:37:58.100

That's why the fact that Christ is present in the Christian art is perfectly clear to me. But on the other hand, we should remember that the fluidity of symbols was very serious.

01:37:58.100 - 01:38:14.600

Recently, when I was in Manezh, I said that the pentagon star was a symbol of Christ in the Middle Ages. And then it became the power of the five continents. Then the man.

01:38:14.600 - 01:38:28.100

And it was a star of the Theosophers, the Order of the Star in the East. It became the emblem of many states. Italy, America, ours, of course.

01:38:28.100 - 01:38:39.100

All around. It stopped being a sign of Christ. What can you do? The history of culture and symbolism changes.

01:38:39.100 - 01:38:50.600

The cross was a sign of fire. Then it became a sign of eternity. All the same, the symbols are not static. But the spiritual truth is always present.

01:38:50.600 - 01:39:09.000

(speaking in foreign language) (speaking in foreign language) (speaking in foreign language) When I was very young, when there was no book, no exhibition,

01:39:09.000 - 01:39:27.880

I had a huge book, a Riga edition, a relic, a volume like this. It had great color reproductions of his later paintings, all of them made before the war, but not all of them. I liked it very much, I liked it very much.

01:39:27.880 - 01:39:42.320

As for his version of Theosophia, But I am tolerant of this, but I do not separate it at all. I do not separate it at all. At all.

01:39:42.320 - 01:40:05.920

No. So. So, what is the attitude to the image of Christ on the Turin Palace? The Church never claimed that the Turin Ploschadnitsa is genuine.

01:40:05.920 - 01:40:21.920

It always considered it an artefact, an artificial work. Only in 1898, scientists raised the question, whether it is the same Ploschadnitsa. The question was studied for several decades.

01:40:21.920 - 01:40:54.520

And, as far as I know, it is now established that it is medieval. But the mystery is how this imprint was made. A mystery that the scientists and the art historians have not solved. I once encountered the phrase "the icon of the mediator space between us and the heidosphere".

01:40:54.520 - 01:41:07.840

I didn't understand anything. Please explain. (audience laughing) (speaking in foreign language) He was a friend of Andrei Belov, and he told him all this.

01:41:07.840 - 01:41:26.840

It was a great mind. So, the Eidosphere is a sphere of Eidos, that is, eternal ideas, which Plato taught about. Prototypes of the whole being. Or, from a Christian point of view, the divine plan of the world.

01:41:26.840 - 01:42:05.840

So, the icon, according to this statement, is a link, a mediator space, a link, a link between us and the mountain world, the otherworldly world of Platonic eidos, ideas. That's the point of view of this statement. What is the attitude of Russia... Oh, this is Turin, I've already been here.

01:42:05.840 - 01:42:16.840

How do you feel about the threat of peace? You know, it's just amazing. Just amazing. I remember... I read it 20 years ago.

01:42:16.840 - 01:42:36.840

And then, during one random search, I hid it in such a way that I still haven't found it. So, I thought that no one knew about it. But it's some kind of a rose of the world. But it was an interesting book. Interesting.

01:42:36.840 - 01:42:52.680

And now, wherever I meet people, everyone asks about this rose. [Russian] (speaking in foreign language) (speaking in foreign language)

01:42:52.680 - 01:43:06.680

or this is a new apocalypse, or science fiction. I think that this is a reflection of a certain spiritual experience, but expressed in an artistic and fantastic form. There is a rational grain there.

01:43:06.680 - 01:43:24.680

And, let's say, I personally see this grain as its feeling of the duality of nature. I myself always experience it very sharply. If I take a branch of a tree, with a proper feeling,

01:43:24.680 - 01:43:38.680

I feel as if I am taking a human hand, a hand of a living creature. This is really so. The world is the sum of our brothers and sisters. We just need to understand this.

01:43:38.680 - 01:43:51.680

All of it, our brother the grass, our brother the sun, all of it is alive. And he expressed this in his wonderful, fantastic form. But it's not necessary to canonize this form. A poet is a poet.

01:43:51.680 - 01:44:03.680

Are you still not tired? You must be tired. No, I can stay with you till night. It's a threat.

01:44:03.680 - 01:44:28.680

I have a very restrained attitude to these books. For me, the symbol of the book's essence is the spirit of love. I didn't find this spirit in these books. I didn't find there any lack of passion, goodwill.

01:44:28.680 - 01:44:42.680

This is the book of an inquisitor who was deprived of the opportunity to burn real people. Here he is burning on paper. Although he considers himself an Orthodox. But he actually belongs to the Raskolnik group.

01:44:42.680 - 01:45:06.680

The Raskolnik group of Karlovians, who considers our church, the Russian Orthodox, to be an antichrist and doesn't recognize us as such. Can we consider grace as the highest form of energy, but the Holy Spirit? You know, it's a game of words.

01:45:06.680 - 01:45:33.680

The word "energy" can be applied, of course, but you just don't need to confuse it with physical energy. In the Blessed Testament we have the term "energy" which is applied to the higher spiritual reality. But this is not the energy that can be caught with the help of ammeter. - Can we distinguish between the divine energy and the devil's energy?

01:45:33.680 - 01:45:49.680

- Yes, you can. What gives birth to good, what changes your attitude to people, it carries a divine seal. But if you, as they say, see hundreds of angels every day,

01:45:49.680 - 01:46:02.680

but you behave like a devil, then your actions are worthless. You should turn to a psychiatrist. I know that in the 1920s and 1930s many clergymen were repressed.

01:46:02.680 - 01:46:20.720

"Then my grandfather, a priest, died. "Did the Church do anything to immortalize their memory?" Yes, now we are working on studying the biographies of those who died. Some of them will probably even be canonized as martyrs,

01:46:20.720 - 01:46:40.600

if it is proven that they died not just as a result of repression, but as witnesses of their faith in Christ. [ Background noise ] What does the Church think about preventing pregnancy and stopping pregnancy?

01:46:40.600 - 01:46:58.600

These are two different things. I can compare them like this. One is not to let a resident into your apartment, and the other is to let him in and kill him. It may be a rather primitive comparison, but what can you do?

01:46:58.600 - 01:47:32.600

You see, Catholic church practice prohibits the control over the birth rate. Orthodox church practice has no specific sanction. I asked this question to our church authorities, and our Metropolitan said that this case is given at the discretion of the priest. I think that the control is permissible.

01:47:32.600 - 01:47:47.600

A person has the right to rule over nature. He does not think that if he has hair growing, he should leave them as they are. We still cut them. They say that God gave them, we will grow them to the ground.

01:47:47.600 - 01:48:03.200

Or nails too. God gave nails, let's make them meters. Such a curl. Thus, a person controls various spheres of his life. He is ill, he is cured. The Church blesses and cures.

01:48:03.200 - 01:48:16.600

If for one reason or another, morally justified, he cannot have more children, I think that the acceptable measures are justified. But if a child is conceived,

01:48:16.600 - 01:48:37.560

if he is born as a living creature, No matter how small he is, he is no longer a contact for us. He is a person we should be grateful to. To commit his murder, to shed blood,

01:48:37.560 - 01:48:53.560

it means to kill our innocent child. We somehow lost consciousness, and all these pseudo-terms, abortion, interruption of pregnancy, We can call it "head-cutting" or "head-separation" from the body.

01:48:53.560 - 01:49:09.560

We can find a decent term for it. But the essence does not change. Am I clear enough? Is it true that you study television and other technical stuff in the seminar?

01:49:09.560 - 01:49:27.320

No. (speaking in foreign language) (speaking in foreign language) (speaking in foreign language)

01:49:27.320 - 01:49:43.480

(speaking in foreign language) (speaking in foreign language) (speaking in foreign language) to the theologian-writer, essayist.

01:49:43.480 - 01:50:01.520

And I like his work very much. It's the spirit that I deeply appreciate. Although, of course, he has his own opinions and views. But his spirit, the spirit of life and affirmation,

01:50:01.520 - 01:50:19.360

of faith, of optimism, the bright spirit of this cheerful man who loved life, drank a lot of beer, that's why he was very fat. But he was a true Christian, more than any other, a thin man who only drinks water.

01:50:19.360 - 01:50:34.360

That's how I think about the Holy Spirit. - Father Alexander, - Yes? - Recently on TV, the Metropolitan of Bulgaria said that it is possible to provide some information about those priests who perished.

01:50:34.360 - 01:50:59.360

I have a close friend who would like to send a message to her uncle, a very famous priest in Tbilisi. Where should I go? I think that you should... He served in Tbilisi, right? Tbilisi is a famous priest. I think that you should send a message to the Patriarch's name, near the Sion Cathedral, there is a Patriarchate, and send it there.

01:50:59.360 - 01:51:18.360

- Did he come to the Russian Orthodox Church? - No. - No, I mean, sometimes a Russian priest is in the jurisdiction of the Patriarchate. - And they wanted to get some information from God, how was it possible? - Well, then we need to send Novodevichy Monastery to the Eastern Orthodox Church.

01:51:18.360 - 01:51:42.360

- So, we need to send it to the Patriarchate? - Yes. We need to write to Bishop Grigory. He is the secretary of the Metropolitan. [ Foreign Language ] You know, you shouldn't think that God is a human being.

01:51:42.360 - 01:51:57.360

The Bible says so. "I am not Elohim, but Eloah Adam." I am God, but not a human being. And we think that God is some kind of a policeman who punishes from above.

01:51:57.360 - 01:52:07.860

This is wrong. This is a very rough distortion of reality. God creates a single moral order. It includes, to some extent, nature.

01:52:07.860 - 01:52:29.360

And nature, I'm sure, I'm convinced, reacts to our evil. It is patient for a while, and then it shudders and gives some reactions. These reactions are physical. Like a person may have a nervous tic, it's a physical phenomenon, physiological.

01:52:29.360 - 01:52:47.360

But it reflects in the state of the soul. So tectonic processes can affect nature. Blind, of course. Nature is a element, but it trembles. And animals, take a dog, it feels the mood of its owner.

01:52:47.360 - 01:53:11.360

A cat feels, a horse feels the mood of its owner. All living creatures. They say that plants feel. There is such a point of view. It is controversial, but it exists. And when the waves of hatred rise, nature can, I do not affirm this, but I think that it can, blindly, madly, but react.

01:53:11.360 - 01:53:34.360

And it seems to me that looking through the history of its catastrophes, they almost always somehow coincided with the oppression of such a black aura in the region. Therefore, it is not a punishment, but a result. It is somehow connected. - Father Sergei, this is not my version, but there is another version.

01:53:34.360 - 01:53:45.360

I hope you will all agree with me. You say that just as animals have a premonition of an earthquake, so here, too, probably, there is such an emotional... - Well, I said about the same thing.

01:53:45.360 - 01:53:54.360

- That is, already as a premonition of this earthquake. - Yes, yes, yes. - Nature has such a... - This is, of course, spontaneous, this is not conscious.

01:53:54.360 - 01:54:27.360

I'm not saying that the Earth has consciously taken and started to fluctuate. But there are some forces in nature that cannot remain indifferent when the wave of hatred is being suppressed. They tremble and remind us of what we are called to do. Can you please write down a question that is too abstract? What can contribute to spiritual development?

01:54:27.360 - 01:54:48.360

Like you say, God gave us spirituality, but there is so much that contributes to the non-spirituality in our lives. How can we resist and develop it? Yes, this is only the first. How to revive the spirituality?

01:54:48.360 - 01:55:00.360

A small question. Easy. We have talked a lot today. And the second question is probably even more terrible.

01:55:00.360 - 01:55:09.360

If we talk about development, you also talked about how to break the shackles, against all these mysticism and all that. Yes.

01:55:09.360 - 01:55:23.360

The development of the Christian religion, theology. How is it now, in what direction is the theology developing? It's easier to answer. It's easier.

01:55:23.360 - 01:55:45.360

But, you know, the first question is the most important. The Christian answer to it is the following. that the Gospel given to Jesus Christ is not just some kind of information, but a foundation for life.

01:55:45.360 - 01:56:08.360

And humanity, during these centuries, is learning to live on these foundations. It cannot be done in one moment. And for this, there are various means of assimilating the Gospel life all the layers of society and all the nations where there are Christians.

01:56:08.360 - 01:56:23.360

For this purpose, there is a Church with its own institutions. Only for this purpose, only for this purpose, so that Christ could be invisibly among us, and we could live, grow, and deepen our communication with Him.

01:56:23.360 - 01:56:42.360

Unity with the Eternal makes a person a higher level, from which it cannot get out. It is always ideal, it is always what calls us to it, and attracts us, and has power, not just calls,

01:56:42.360 - 01:56:59.360

but it is a grace. Therefore, Christianity has developed a number of important means, let's call them so simply, This is a question that is generally called "spiritual life" and "life in the Church."

01:56:59.360 - 01:57:16.360

What is it about? Naturally, I cannot say in two words. But the question is different. How much can we, the church people, give you a full meal in this regard? Alas, I must admit, we are not able to do this.

01:57:16.360 - 01:57:33.360

And not because we do not want this. because all these institutes were destroyed. All these funds were subjected to such a heavy bombardment that we need to somehow restore it all now.

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We have a significantly broken tradition. We have lost a whole class. How did science suffer from the death of great scientists? You know this. Read the press.

01:57:49.160 - 01:58:03.960

Do you really think that the peasant theology suffered less? What scientists are left here? At least the prohvosts are left, but the theologians are not even left. None. All were kicked out, often.

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And if it was so, then how many forces do we need now to restore everything from scratch? Of course, after the war, we restored the church schools. And thank God. But everything was very limited in them.

01:58:22.560 - 01:58:43.560

We did not have the right to teach any secular subject. There were only prepared the cult's servants, so that he could sing, read, sing again, serve. And after that, quickly go home, without stopping for a minute. According to the old proverb, "I called the poor from the bell tower."

01:58:43.560 - 01:59:02.840

Who do you think you are? What kind of a theologian are you? If someone had a little bit of experience, he would have been able to understand the boundaries very quickly. But now, at least, we do the same as in literature.

01:59:02.840 - 01:59:11.440

We look for the names of the dead. We start printing. For example, Florensky, who was killed in the camp of the Vagel. I don't know how.

01:59:11.440 - 01:59:21.560

The official date of death is 1943. But it was probably earlier. Now, fortunately, the family has preserved some of the manuscripts. And this is starting to print.

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How many others were there? So. Television... surprised us with the story "Nostradamus".

01:59:33.640 - 01:59:48.120

As in one of his predictions. But television did it just for entertainment purposes, I think. (speaking in foreign language) (speaking in foreign language)

01:59:48.120 - 02:00:08.120

I read his book, Centurion, but in Russian. And I thought that his predictions were so streamlined that they could be easily applied to anything. But in general, in principle, people, some of the chosen ones,

02:00:08.120 - 02:00:26.120

generally such a gift of foresight has been given, and more than once, and many foresighted, and the history of foresight, it fills the centuries. Not only the ancient prophets or some saints, but many people predicted the near future and even the distant future.

02:00:26.120 - 02:00:43.120

So it's all real. But Christianity teaches us not to do this. We must live today. The past is not our concern, the future is unknown. We must live today. This moment is valuable to us.

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We are here before our loved ones, before life, before God. We don't need anything else. We just need to act and give what we have. Everything is simple and clear. - And you are a shooter?

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- I am something in between a water-lily and... who is after it? - Fish. - Fish, right? I was born at the end of January.

02:01:10.120 - 02:01:28.120

- I think that's enough. - I think that's enough. That's why I didn't drown in one count. - So, everything is predetermined? - I don't think so. Every predetermination has several options.

02:01:28.120 - 02:01:43.120

It's called "dateness". Dateness that a person can turn to in any way. This is not a fatwa, not a law. So, my friends, we have touched upon such problems today.

02:01:43.120 - 02:01:58.360

I am happy that I could at least talk to you a little bit and see what you have done. Thank you. Thank you. (applause)

02:01:58.360 - 02:02:26.280

(speaking in foreign language) I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Father Alexander for coming to our time and giving you a part of his time. I would like to ask you, Father Alexander, to accept this gift from the group of artists, from the organizers. Thank you.

02:02:26.280 - 02:02:44.280

I can't refuse this book. But I have to thank you. Because for me it's only joy, only pleasure to communicate with you. And this time is not mine, I don't take it from you.

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It's your time. My time is your time. Only when you have enough strength. (speaking in foreign language)

02:02:56.200 - 02:03:24.200

On Wednesday I will be speaking for three hours in the small room of the Central Department of the State University of Lugansk, and in the evening, at 6 o'clock, at the Institute of Physics of the Earth. On Thursday, at 6 o'clock, there will be an evening in the Reutov Globe, dedicated to cultural issues, religion and culture.

02:03:24.200 - 02:03:37.200

Poets and writers will speak there, the choir will sing the church hymns. I will tell you what to do and how to do it. On Saturday, November 11, at 3 p.m.

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at the Red Press Office, the Press Hall 14, I will speak about the first chapters of the Book of Life. the first chapter or prologue,

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so to speak, a scientific review. [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO]