What is Kabbalah and why is it needed? Dear Rav, I read a lot of material on your website about the dangers of studying Kabbalah. But, on the other hand, I heard that many great Jewish sages studied this wisdom. I am often tormented by the question: why is Kabbalah even needed?

Why does the Torah need a fence? In Rashi’s comments to the chapter of Bereshit, they found a story that Chava succumbed to temptation due to the fact that she distorted the words of G-d, i.e. The Almighty said: “But from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, do not eat from it; for on the day that you eat from it, you will be put to death.”

Why is preparation needed? Nowadays, more and more often, in many churches, before the sacrament of Baptism, preparatory conversations are held, which are mandatory, and without them Baptism is not performed. For many people, this innovation seems incomprehensible. After all, before everything

1. Is there a God?

Nowadays, we often hear: There is no God, He was invented by the spiritual fathers in order to rob the poor and dark people.

Is it so? Are our people so dark and stupid that they can be so deceived and fooled? And are the spiritual fathers really so smart that they could deceive the people for thousands of years? To assert this means to deeply despise this very people and to have an exaggerated idea of ​​the mental abilities of the clergy and one’s own.

But let's turn to history. She clearly and definitely tells us that people at all times believed in God and offered prayers to Him.

This is what the ancient historian Plutarch, who lived a century and a half before the birth of Christ, says: Go around all countries, you can find cities without walls, without writing, without rulers, without palaces, without wealth, without coins, but no one has ever seen a city devoid of temples and gods, a city in which prayers would not be sent up, and would not be sworn in the name of a deity.

Another ancient writer, Cicero, testifies: There is no tribe so savage, no man so lost in consciousness of moral duties, whose soul is not sanctified by the thought of the gods. And this remembrance of the gods did not come from the preliminary agreement and agreement of people, it was not established by virtue of state decrees or laws, no, this unanimity of all peoples should be revered by the law of nature.

In fact, no matter what people we take, we find in each one faith in the gods and a desire to earn their mercy and favor. Whether we turn to the Chinese, Hindus, Egyptians, Assyro-Babylonians, Greeks, Romans and others, we find in all of them their religious beliefs, prayers, temples and sacrifices. Ethnography does not know irreligious people (Ratzel, German geographer and traveler).

To this, perhaps, they will object to us: All these peoples also had their own robbed priests, and they invented gods so that they could eat well at someone else’s expense, and live happily and happily.

Yes, let's say there really were priests there, but how do we know that they invented gods? After all, if faith in God were a simple invention of the priests, could it have lasted for several thousand years and been the property of all peoples? During the French Revolution, instead of worshiping the true God, the cult of reason was introduced, and the founder of positivism (an experimental trend in philosophy) Auguste Comte (1857) preached the religion of humanity, the personification of which he declared his cook de Beau as the goddess of humanity, however, both of these , if I may say so, religions did not survive their creators and founders and are forever buried with them. For only a child can believe a fairy tale, only a mentally ill person can accept his fiction as reality.

They will object to us: Doesn’t a simple, dark person have enough false, erroneous opinions and views? After all, he thinks, when thunder roars, that it is the prophet Elijah who rides across the sky in a fiery chariot, or that the earth stands on three whales, etc.

Yes, we say, the common man really has many false and erroneous opinions, and it is not for nothing that the proverb says: Learning is light, but ignorance is darkness.

Well, they will answer us, people who are scientists do not believe in God. After all, books are written by educated people, and the books say that there is no God.

The more I study nature, says the great scientist Pasteur, the more I stop in reverent amazement at the works of the Creator. The famous scientist Linnaeus ends his book on plants with these words: Truly there is a great and eternal God, without whom nothing can exist. The astronomer Kepler exclaims: Oh, great is our Lord and great is His power, and His wisdom knows no bounds, And you, my soul, sing the glory of your Lord throughout your life!

Let us give further eloquent evidence.

The scientist Dennert interviewed 423 natural scientists: 56 of them did not send answers, 349 turned out to be believers in God, and only 18 said that they were either non-believers or indifferent to faith (Faith and Science, F. N. Belyavsky).

It would be possible to cite a lot of other evidence in favor of the fact that scientists believe in God, but we think that these are sufficient.

They will object to us: Yes, there were and are believers among scientists, but there are also non-believers among them.

Absolutely right. But it does not at all follow from this that there is no God. It only follows from this that faith is a free matter: believe it or not, no one forces you.

If there is a God, then show Him to us, some say.

We will answer this with a question: have you ever seen your thoughts and thoughts, desires and moods? Can you tell what color they are, what their smell is, what their length and shape are? But they do exist? Of course yes! So is God. He exists, but He cannot be seen with bodily eyes.

How can we see that He exists?

This is evidenced, first of all, by the inherent confidence in man that God exists. And she is so strong in him that he cannot renounce her, even if he is told the opposite. In fact, the following phenomenon is often observed: a simple person cannot prove that God exists, but still stands his ground. Where does such confidence come from in him?

They will say: It was instilled in him from childhood, so he clings to the old. But this explanation does not satisfy us. Why? Yes, because religion and faith require heroic deeds and self-sacrifice from a person, they constrain his nature, and therefore, if they really were an invention, every person would gladly throw off this heavy yoke, but in most cases he does not do this.

Then the visible world testifies to the fact that God really exists. When we see a house, we think that it was built by an architect, carpenters and masons; when we look at any picture, we say: it was painted by an artist; we walk through a beautiful garden, thinking that a gardener planted it; we notice the car and claim that it was built by craftsmen and mechanics.

Well, what about the world? Where did he come from? Who created the majestic and vast universe in which certain laws and order exist? Who created the heavenly bodies: the warm and clear sun, bright stars, the moon?

Every house is built by someone, but the one who built everything is God(; 4).

One scientist said: You would have to be crazy to prove that a watch does not imply a watchmaker and that the world does not prove the existence of God.

Old tales, many half-educated people will immediately say. The world happened by itself. To assert this is as ridiculous and stupid, and unworthy of a thinking person, as if someone said that this house was built by itself. If such buildings happen, it is only in a dream or in fairy tales, and even then in the latter not by themselves, but at the behest of a pike. Those who say that the world happened by itself denounce themselves and instead of the true God they invent another, false one, calling the world, soulless nature, God, reasoning like this: There is no Creator, but yet there is; God could not create the world, but the world could create itself. Do you see how they have confused themselves? It is fair, therefore, that the scientist Voltaire said: If there were no God, then He would have to be invented, because without the Creator creation could not appear.

If the world formed by itself, then where did the material from which it was formed come from? They say: Matter is eternal. But if matter is eternal, then the world is eternal in the same state in which it is now. Meanwhile, science, together with religion, says that the world is not eternal and that its state in the beginning was different: atoms, nebulae, chaos, the fiery liquid state of the mass, its gradual cooling to its present form. What force set this dead material in motion and breathed life into it? Could a blind and unreasonable force have done this?

No and no. Can a blind and unreasonable force do anything reasonable, harmonious, orderly? It remains to admit one thing that exists, that there is an intelligent Creator of the world and this Creator is God. They will say: The world was formed according to the unchanging laws of nature without any participation of any outside force. But those who say this lose sight of the fact that in their very statement there is already a contradiction, or a negation of this statement. After all, the laws of nature presuppose the existence of a world or nature; they can act only when there is a world or nature. For example, Newton's law (law of universal gravitation), according to which two material particles approach each other at a speed depending on their mass and state. But when there were no bodies, there was no place for this law. Or Archimedes' law: a body immersed in a liquid loses as much of its weight as the weight of the liquid displaced by it. And when there is neither body nor liquid, there is no place for this law. This means that the laws of nature operate only in the presence of nature or the world, without any hope of explaining its origin. The laws of nature cannot explain their own existence either.<сноска: Неодушевленная и неразумная материя не может ни сама себе дать законов, ни определить взаимное отношение сил и явлений природы.>. There remains a place for God, the Creator of the world, who governs it according to special laws.

Heaven will tell the glory of God, says the psalmist, the creation of His hand is proclaimed by the firmament (; 4).

And our poet Lermontov speaks under the influence of contemplation of the beauties of nature: And I can comprehend happiness on earth, And in heaven I see God.

Atheists cannot see God because they are blind in soul. They are like owl birds. Take a look at these important birds. They look at you with a deep thoughtful gaze, with their expressive eyes, carefully examining you, as if studying you with the diligence of a serious scientist, but in fact, in daylight they see nothing. You stand before these birds, but for them you do not exist. They are sure that there is no one in front of them. They look at the bright sun, and there is no sun for them, because they see nothing. If you try to prove to an owl that there is a bright, beautiful sun in the sky, it will not believe it, because it is not able to see it. So the spiritually blind cannot see God. It opens only to spiritually-sighted, pure hearts.

Visible nature is a great book that testifies to the wisdom of the Creator. God reveals himself to us in the clear azure of the sky, and in the dazzling brilliance of the sun, and in the colors of the rainbow, and in the greenery of the forests, and in every noble impulse and movement of the human heart.

I asked, says the blessed one. Augustine, the earth, the seas and the abysses, and everything that creeps and lives there, and they answered me: We are not your God, look higher. I asked the raging winds, and all the air with all its inhabitants answered: I am not God. I asked the sky, the sun, the moon and the stars, and they told me: And we are also not the God whom you seek. And I said to everyone that surrounds me: You told me about my God that you are not He, so tell me about Him, and they all exclaimed in a loud voice: He created us (Confession).

But if all visible nature testifies to the existence of God, then the spirit of man convinces us even more of this truth, namely, his inherent aspirations for truth and goodness, longing for the highest truth and, finally, his inner judge - conscience.

Where does this impartial judge come from, called conscience, which condemns a person for his bad deed? Don’t we know of cases where a criminal who has committed a crime, for example, murder and has escaped trial and punishment, buried, as they say, all his ends in the water, then tormented by remorse, very often voluntarily confesses to the crime and puts himself in the hands of justice? Doesn't all this testify to the existence of God?

After all, every law presupposes its legislator, and the higher he is, the wiser the legislator, and what human law can be higher and purer than the demands of duty and the dictates of conscience?!

Let us take, further, the inherent human desire for truth and justice. How often we become indignant and indignant in life when we see that honest, kind and noble people suffer, go into poverty and starve, while bad people prosper in all respects. Where is the truth? we ask.

Here on earth, often with all the desire, a person is powerless to establish it; This means that there must be a just God who will establish this truth there, in the afterlife.

They will object to us: If your God sees how people are poor, hungry, suffering, then why doesn’t He put a limit to this here on earth? Why does He tolerate evil?

How this objection reminds us of the words of the unbelieving Pharisees, who, standing on Calvary, seeing the terrible, inexpressible torment of Christ, mockingly said to Him: If You are the Son of God, come down from the Cross, and we will believe in You!

Yes, God, as omniscient, sees and knows all the evil, all the horrors and injustices that are happening in the world. He, as the all-good and infinitely loving His creation and the crown of human creation, cannot look indifferently at human suffering and torment. He also knows that suffering helps a person, with the help of God, to be reborn and rise to great moral heights, and He endures for a long time, waiting for correction and improvement from a person.

God, the proverb says, sees the truth, but will not tell it soon. He will establish this truth there, in the afterlife, where He will reward everyone according to their deeds, and here on earth, through sorrow and suffering, He admonishes man. Thunder will not strike, the man will not cross himself, says the popular proverb.

A calm and serene life often puts a person to sleep, and he forgets about his high calling and purpose and buries the talents and abilities given to him into the ground.

But doesn’t God reveal himself in the lives and activities of such people who burned with the fire of hot, fiery love for their neighbor, who lived exclusively for others?

Let us remember the great Christian ascetics and righteous people. Let's remember Rev. Sergius, Philaret the Merciful, Archbishop. !

Why did they work so selflessly? In the name of God, Who commanded people to love one another, Who did not spare His Only Son for them.

Yes, deep in the human soul lies the desire for God, the desire to live in truth and justice. And a person can never be satisfied with his position: he is always striving somewhere forward, he is still looking for something. It seems that someone else is a seemingly happy person: he is rich, and smart, and healthy, but still not calm.

What is he missing?

What is missing is God, what is missing is the One who said about Himself: I am the Way, the Truth and the Life(John 14:6), who, according to the word of the apostle, is not far from each of us, for In it we live and move and have our being. ().

Let us believe in God with humility and devotion of soul, for he who explores the depth of faith is overwhelmed by waves of thoughts, and he who contemplates it in a simple-hearted disposition enjoys a sweet inner silence (Blessed Diadochos).

Let us believe with unshakable firmness, without betraying our faith, even if for confessing it we had to endure hatred, persecution and even death itself. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life, says Christ (; 10).

2. To believe or not to believe in God?

In our time, we often observe a hostile and unfriendly attitude towards our Christian faith.

Now you can often hear: It’s time for us to put an end to religion and faith if we do not want to be branded as ignorant and backward people. We have been kept in the dark for a long time, it is time for us to throw off this heavy yoke and yoke, this thousand-year-old prejudice and delusion called faith. After all, this faith fetters free human thought, prevents us from living properly and for our own pleasure on earth, constrains a person here, makes him worry about his fate after death.

And how good it is, they tell us, to be a non-believer: nothing bothers you, live for your own pleasure and don’t think about the afterlife, because there is none, it’s a fiction.

How, we ask, can an educated person really get by in life without any faith? Is her confession really a sign of ignorance and backwardness? Does it really contradict reason?

Of course, yes, non-believers will answer us.

But, excuse me, we object, doesn’t every person resort to faith at almost every step? Don’t we all believe in the existence of this visible world, of ourselves and other people, in the existence of foreign countries that we have never seen, historical figures: Napoleon, Kutuzov and others who lived before us, and also in the fact that when With the help of our external senses: sight, hearing, touch, etc., can we acquire knowledge? Isn’t a farmer guided by faith when he sows his fields and fields and waits for the harvest from them in the fall, a merchant when he goes for goods, a navigator when he undertakes a long journey to foreign lands, a scientist when he works tirelessly in his laboratory and thinks that his will the classes not be in vain, but will they bring benefits to people and be crowned with success?

Isn’t a person guided by faith when, in the prime of his life, in the years of bright youth, full of hope, he embarks on the path of life?

What animates him? Faith in your calling, in your strengths and in the success of your work.

Is it really conceivable to start any business, even the smallest one, without faith in its success?

Would even social life be possible without faith in each other and without mutual trust?

But then, they will tell us, faith is everyday, practical; this is not what we are talking about. We are talking about religious faith. We consider her confession a sign of ignorance and backwardness. At the same time, everyday faith is confirmed by life itself, by daily observations, but yours is not confirmed.

Is it so? No, we say, and we have witnesses who, with their lives and their deeds, proved that our faith inspired people to great deeds and exploits for the good of humanity.

What animated the great apostles in their selfless, never-resting activity that conquered the world to Christ, if not faith in Him? In the name of what, the ardent persecutor of Christians, Saul, became a zealous preacher of Christianity, the great Apostle Paul? In the name of faith in Christ. What inspired the Christian martyrs when they went to the stake, to terrible torture and torment? The same faith in Christ.

What inspired the great Fathers and teachers of the Church? Same faith. This faith has inspired many famous scientists and has provided and continues to provide great spiritual consolation to millions of believers. It inspires a person to heroic deeds, reconciles him with everyday hardships, gives him bright hope and peace of mind.

What is faith?

Faith is a living, unshakable conviction in the existence of the invisible God, it is a hot impulse and deep desire of a person with his mind, will and heart to know his Savior and Lord, to become closer to Him, to make Him the Master of his soul and life, it is a true Christian mood of thoughts , desires and feelings.

But is it possible, they will object to us, to know and see the Invisible?

Yes, let's say, but not with bodily eyes. And what? they will ask us. Through the eyes of faith. In addition to the eye, the organ of vision, we also have a spiritual eye, our religious sense. Like any mental ability, it can exist and develop under the condition of proper exercise and education. Like conscience, it can die out if a person does not take care of it. Just as a delicate fragrant flower needs careful and careful care, so faith develops and strengthens in that soul that is not like rocky soil.

In order to get closer to God, to know Him, moral purity is required. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God (; 8).

Just as a mirror reflects objects when it is clean, so a person can cognize God subject to the spiritual purity of the purity of his heart and conscience.

One of the best means to knowledge of God is a good, pious life. Faith depends on our lifestyle: if we organize our lives according to the precepts of the Gospel, if in our activities we are guided by the commandments of Christ, faith will come to us and become our inalienable property.

Why do we need it? Why are you imposing it on us? they will ask us.

Really, in turn, we ask, have you ever thought about the formidable riddle about our future fate? Did it really seem to you that the death of a person was a completely natural phenomenon? Do you really think that the human mind can give you completely satisfactory answers to all the questions that interest and concern you?

Yes, they will tell us, reason cannot give completely satisfactory answers to many questions, but it is a completely reliable source of knowledge, while faith is unreliable, and, moreover, it contradicts reason.

Is it so? Is faith hostile to knowledge? In no case. Don't we know that knowledge in its original principles rests on faith? After all, we believe in the existence of the visible world, the possibility of knowing and studying it, and we believe in the testimony of other persons. Would knowledge itself and the existence of science be possible without this faith? What animated those people who worked tirelessly in the field of science? Belief in the power of the mind.

Knowledge and faith, says one writer, are two flowers grown from the same root. Tear off one of them, the other will also perish: knowledge without faith will be doubt and despair; faith without knowledge will turn into a dream, superstition, delirium.

But if faith has such an important meaning and a completely legitimate application in the field of science, then it is even more necessary in our lives.

Only she, this faith, is the only indestructible rock on which all those who are exhausted under the burden of doubts and bewilderment can find refuge. Only she alone can serve as a reliable guiding star in this world, full of painful secrets and various concerns. Without the light of faith, without the thought of God, the world becomes an insoluble, painful riddle, and human life loses its meaning and significance. Faith in God is our strength and our treasure.

Our life must be consistent with our faith, be its constant confirmation.

How a body without a spirit is dead, says the ap. Jacob, so faith without works is dead(; 26).

Unfortunately, modern people often do not use this treasure. He seems to be sitting by a spring of plenty of water and complaining of thirst.

Unfortunately, we are witnessing that at present, unbelief and indifference to faith are widespread everywhere and lead to a decline in morality and an increase in vices and crimes.

Naturally, the question arises, where are the reasons for this sad phenomenon?

There are many reasons. And, above all, the false, erroneous view that faith and science are irreconcilable areas, mutually exclusive of each other, plays an important role here. But in reality, the enemy of religion is not true science, but narrow, superficial and one-sided science.

Only a superficial study of nature can remove us from God, but a deeper and more thorough knowledge, on the contrary, turns us to Him, said the great scientist Bacon.

Then, we must not forget that the paths and goals of religion and science are different. Science studies the visible world, it teaches how the world lives, and religion and faith teach how a person needs to live, it sets as its goal his spiritual renewal and salvation. The development of unbelief is also facilitated by the fact that religion constrains a person and tells him: Live not as you want, but as God commands. And many people don’t like this and encourage them to renounce their faith.

The success of unbelief is also explained by the influence of the spirit of the times and fashion. In life, there are often people who follow fashion in everything: both in their costume and in their lifestyle. They follow fashion in the area of ​​faith.

Whatever the last book says to him will settle on his soul. To believe or not to believe him is all the same.

There are moments in the life of a people when all their thoughts and concerns are directed mainly towards acquiring wealth. Then the thirst for profit completely attracts a person’s attention, and he does not want to think about God, about the soul. But no matter how deeply a person becomes attached to earthly goods, his god-like soul cannot be satisfied and calm with this, for Man does not live by bread alone (; 4).

Only faith in God can give a person comfort and peace. Let us cherish our faith, steadfastly, courageously defend it and openly confess it, for This is the victory that has overcome the world, our faith (; 4).

Let us stand guard over the Church of Christ, for it exists pillar and ground of truth(; 15). She is not afraid of any storms. According to the Savior, even all the forces of hell will not overcome her. There are many waves, he says, and a strong storm, but we are not afraid of drowning, because we are standing on a rock. Let the sea rage, let the waves rise, they are not able to sink the ship of Christ.

With the fire of our faith we will ignite the hearts of those who doubt, as well as those who deviate from the true path. Brothers, the apostle teaches us. Jacob, if any of you strays from the truth and someone converts him, let him know that He who converts a sinner from his false path will save the soul from death and cover a multitude of sins().

3. Why is faith needed?

We are going through difficult, difficult times.

It is difficult not only in relation to the external, economic conditions of our life, in the sense of a decrease in the people's well-being and well-being, but especially in relation to the internal, spiritual state of society, in the sense of the extreme decline of people's morality. Self-love, this main and universal vice of our days, guides all the actions and deeds of modern people. Everyone desires and seeks good only for himself, tries to live only for his own good and happiness. And since the other also strives for the same thing, human interests collide and contradict one another. This is where discontent and enmity arise... Crimes against individuals have become commonplace. Social life is difficult and depressing.

The foundations of the modern family are being disrupted: marital love is cooling, the sanctity of marriage is being violated, and divorces are increasing. Children rebel against their parents, the younger ones stop respecting and obeying the elders. Discord, promiscuity and disorder invade family life. Life is scary: the adversities and misfortunes of everyday life suppress the soul, deprive it of the necessary peace of mind, and lead to painful excitement and tension.

Many people seek solace in the use of drugs that destroy their body and soul. Very often, people's nervous and unhinged mood drives them to suicide. Life is valued very cheaply by many. Sometimes the most insignificant reason is enough, and it is stopped without any regret. Failure in career, family grief, human injustice, the inability to cover up the traces of some dishonest act, and as a result, often premature, unauthorized death... This testifies to the extreme spiritual impotence of modern man, despair, loss of faith in oneself and in others...

Where is the way out of this difficult situation? How to raise, improve and improve our family and social life?

Nothing is more necessary for this than educating the people in the spirit of Christian morality. In the matter of improving and improving our lives, the center of gravity is our soul. It is to this that primary attention must be paid, it must be disposed and adjusted to good deeds, a desire for truth, honesty, philanthropy and other virtues must be created on which the peace and tranquility of society depends. Without our internal rebirth there will be no external order and peace. The most radical political reforms will not bring any benefit. It is unreasonable to treat one body when the soul also hurts along with it... When life is darkened by serious vices and crimes, it is necessary first of all to take up the soul and its healing.

But how can we motivate people to good and pious behavior? what means have power to restrain the wicked and sin-loving nature of man? How to improve morality?

They will say: Civil law can do this... Of course, state laws are of great importance. By defining the rights and responsibilities of people, they contribute to the improvement of our lives. However, only if people have a strong moral sense, the consciousness of the holiness and obligatory nature of the law has not become dulled. But the best law is completely powerless in relation to people who are clearly vicious, who have lost their sense of conscience and responsibility for their actions.

They say: Troubles in life often arise from the ignorance and darkness of the people; raise education, and life itself will go back to the right direction.

But in reality we see that education alone is not able to make people pious and virtuous. Education mainly has an impact on our mental abilities. Are strength and salvation in the same mind? Is a smart and educated person already the best person? Doesn’t life very often tell us exactly the opposite? History also testifies to the same thing: science, art, trade, etc. flourished among ancient peoples. and at the same time the grossest vices and crimes reigned, which led to their death.

They will tell us: Let a person obey the voice of conscience, and then he will be kind. Yes, conscience does not tolerate evil. With its internal mental torment, it protects us from moral failures, but only when it acts in us not on its own, but on behalf of God, as His voice. Separate conscience from its religious basis, break its connection with faith in God, and conscience will lose all the power of its influence. What is conscience for unbelievers and atheists? A false prejudice, a consequence of improper upbringing, is an empty accuser, and he is forced to remain silent. Conscience alone cannot make a person good.

They say: You can motivate a person to behave well by striving for fame. But glory falls to the lot of only a few, and everyone must be good. Be perfect, as your Father in heaven is perfect(; 48), Christ says to all people, and not just to some. Very often, the search for glory not only does not elevate a person, but, on the contrary, forces him to commit unworthy and unpraiseworthy actions, infects a person with pride, pride, arrogance, which is why a Christian is encouraged to seek glory and honor not on earth, but in the future life.

They will say: You can lead a respectable life for the sake of your own well-being and peace of mind. Vice is an evil that leads to many unpleasant consequences. It is possible to avoid sin because of fear of it... Yes, everything is possible. But such a life cannot be truly good and truly Christian. To avoid sin only for the sake of fear of its consequences means to live not for God and not according to His commandments, but for oneself and according to simple calculation and benefit. This is how the pagans live. Guided in his life only by the rules of moderation and abstinence, a person cannot become morally perfect: he will avoid vices that are clearly disastrous and clearly dangerous for him, but where will he find the motivation to abstain from such sins, the harmful consequences of which are not fully recognized by him? clarity and evidence?

So, all the reasons that can be invented by the human mind to induce him to lead a good life, in reality fail to do so.

Leading a good moral life is a great spiritual feat that requires a lot of effort and tension, a lot of struggle with ourselves, with the passions and lusts with which we have become accustomed.

The motivation for such a life must be very strong. You may not be a poet, but you must be a human being. All people are obliged to be moral and virtuous, and therefore the incentives for such a life should be clear and convincing for everyone. Every person—educated and simple, rich and poor, young and old, man and woman—should clearly and firmly know why he should abstain from evil deeds and live virtuously.

Such motives are found only in faith in God. Without faith there is no morality. And without faith and morality there is no normal life, neither private, nor public, nor state. Examples are not far to look for. You could rather build a city in the air than give stability to a state without religion (Plutarch).

Faith educates a person in goodness, instills the rules of good, honest behavior, and keeps him from doing bad things. Faith pronounces its precepts in the name of God, as His immutable and unconditional law, binding on everyone. She inspires us that man is at all times under the all-seeing eye of his Creator, Who knows all his thoughts and desires and Who will one day demand an account of his life. She directs all our thoughts and feelings to the heavenly, teaching us to live for the immortal spirit, and not for the mortal body. It suppresses narrow, selfish desires in the soul, fosters a feeling of brotherly love for all people, even enemies and haters. Faith is the only correct and only true means of influencing people, improving their morality and life.

They may say: The requirements of faith are too high and difficult to fulfill for a weak person. But should everything difficult be rejected and considered unnecessary just because it is difficult? Is it possible to reason like this: It is difficult to be a good person, and therefore there is no need to be one; It’s easy to become bad, and that’s why you need to be that way.

His commandments are not difficult(; 4). In the precepts of faith, in the Gospel commandments, there is a grace-filled power that helps a person in fulfilling them. The teachings of Christ are not simple cold words, but spirit and life(; 63). The basis of the gospel law is love: If you love Me, keep My commandments(; 15). Where people's actions are guided by love, there is no question of any difficulty or weakness. This most beautiful and greatest feeling facilitates all work and motivates us to heroism.

Only faith, giving us a number of completely correct and infallible instructions regarding life and behavior, at the same time provides gracious help to strengthen us in goodness and piety: All things are possible to him who believes (; 23).

The modern world is experiencing an era of all kinds of crises. The crisis of industry, agriculture, capitalism, socialism, democracy, literature, science and art, religion...

The modern world will either perish in a fratricidal war of all against all, or must return to the rejected Christ. No science, no philosophy has come up with a better law of life than the one proclaimed by Christ: As you want people to do to you, do the same to them. (; 31). Don't do to others what you don't want to do to yourself.(; 20). Love God with all your heart and love your neighbor as yourself(; 39).

Faith in God is the healing of our lives. The salvation of humanity from the disasters that have befallen it is in the revival of faith in God. Here we overcome all kinds of crises.

4. Faith and man

Faith in God has existed for as many years as man himself has lived on earth. Despite the time during which one human generation replaced another, faith in God never completely disappeared on earth. All peoples, regardless of what tribes they belonged to and what part of the world they lived in, recognized the great truth that there is a Special Supreme Being, God, who invisibly rules the world and people. True, each people thought about God in their own way, revered Him in ways that they thought were the best and most pleasing to God. There were (and are) savage peoples who held thoughts unworthy of God; in their simplicity they attributed to Him actions and actions that were unusual and indecent. But even these false and distorted beliefs have their price: they clearly reflected man’s attempts to find God; traces of the ways in which people tried to approach the Supreme Being were discovered; a universal human need for religion manifested itself.

Thus, faith in God has always existed, everywhere and among all peoples. From here this fact becomes clear to us. In ancient times, a learned man, Protagoras, appeared in Greece and began to say that he did not know whether God existed or not. This idea seemed so monstrous and harmful to the Athenians that they expelled the learned atheist from their possessions, and publicly burned the books containing his teaching. The Holy Scripture considers a person who denies the existence of God to be mentally ill and abnormal: (; 1).

What does the universality of faith in God indicate? What does it mean that everyone recognizes God, and if they do not always remember Him, they cannot forget Him completely? This means that the thought of God is deeply stored in the human soul and constitutes its necessary requirement.

The Holy Scripture says about the origin of the first people: God created man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his face the breath of life, and man became a living soul.(; 7). From here we can understand what the soul is and where it comes from. The soul is communicated to man from God: it is, as it were, a spark and reflection in him of the Divine Himself. Coming from God, having in Him a Being akin to itself, the soul by itself, of its own will, turns to God, seeks Him. My soul thirsts for the Mighty, Living God(). Just as the eyes turn to the light and are designed to see the light, so the human soul strives for God, has a need to communicate with Him, and only in God does it find peace and happiness. A flower is drawn to the sun because it receives light and warmth from the sun, without which it cannot live and grow. Likewise, man’s constant, irresistible attraction to God occurs because only in God can our soul find everything it needs for a correct and healthy life.

Our spiritual needs are varied and depend on the strengths and abilities that God endowed the human soul with at creation. We have a mind that distinguishes man from other creations of God. The mind strives to understand everything around it. Over the centuries, the human mind has worked hard to enrich itself with various kinds of knowledge. He tried to study and understand the world of God. With the help of constructed tools, he opened access to the sky and learned a lot about the celestial bodies. He did not leave even the slightest part of the earth without his observation. With his curious gaze, the man penetrated into the depths of the earth. The man did not leave himself unattended; he studied his body in every detail and discovered means and methods for treating diseases.

But not everything can be understood and studied by our mind with equal success. There is a whole area, a spiritual area, in which he is not as strong and capable as in the study of earthly and temporal subjects. For man, as a being superior to other creatures and destined for eternal life, it is necessary to know not only what relates to temporary life, but even more what relates to God, to heaven, and what concerns man himself and his spiritual nature.

What is God? What is man himself? What is his duty and obligation to God? How to live in order to justify your destiny and not be held accountable before God? These are the questions facing a person and awaiting an answer from him. These questions have always worried the human mind. How much work, effort and effort has been made to answer these questions. But all efforts were in vain: people alone could not reach the knowledge of God. One ancient sage was asked what and how he thinks about God. The sage asked to be given one day to think; at the end of it, he asked for two days, then two more, and finally confessed that the more he thought about God, the darker the truth became for him.

A wide variety of opinions existed about such important subjects as the human soul and man himself. According to the words, some recognize the soul as fire, others as air, others as mind, others as movement, etc.: Now I am immortal and rejoice, now I am mortal and crying, now I see me disintegrating into atoms; I become water, air, fire; then I am not air and fire, but they make me a beast, or I turn into a fish and become the brother of the dolphins. Looking at myself, I am horrified by my body: I ​​don’t know what to call it, a man or a dog, or a wolf, or a bull, or a bird, or a snake, or a dragon, or a chimera... I swim, fly, soar in the air , creeping, running, sitting. Empedocles appears and makes me a plant... In our time, scientists Darwin and Haeckel declared man a descendant of the monkey.

All this suggests that the human mind is weak and limited in knowledge of divine objects, it is subject to delusions and prone to mistakes. Everyone thinks differently, everyone considers himself right. Where is the truth? Who to listen to? Who to believe?

In all that knowledge that concerns God and man’s relationship to Him, one cannot rely on the human mind, which is fickle, hesitant, and doubtful. Only God Himself can be the leader and educator of man, only He can reveal and communicate the truth that is firm, undoubted, and binding on everyone. This truth was announced by Christ the Savior. In His Gospel, Christ revealed to people everything they need to know about God, the world, about man himself, about the purpose and meaning of his life, his duties to God and his neighbors. After Christ there is nothing left for us except believe in the gospel (; 15).

In addition to a mind striving for knowledge, a person has a heart thirsting for happiness. Everyone dreams of happiness, everyone wants to be happy. But where to look for happiness? What does it consist of? Most often people believe it in wealth, sensual pleasures, honors and fame, etc. But wealth is mostly acquired through great difficulty and special long-term efforts, without bringing a person real peace and joy of heart. Glory and honor are sometimes awarded undeservedly and cannot please a person who knows the value of human praise: ranks are given by people, but people can be deceived. And in empty people, glory and honor give rise to feelings of pride, vanity, arrogance and other vices. Is this happiness? As for sensual pleasures, they can only temporarily attract and conquer a person’s heart: repeated often, they produce boredom, satiety in their victims, upset health and lead to many other unhappy consequences.

Thus, all temporary goods do not bring true happiness to the human soul for the reason that they do not correspond to its spiritual nature, which has its own needs and requirements. People who have experienced all earthly pleasures in their lives have not found true peace and happiness in them. King Solomon, who spent his life among pleasures, fun and luxury, said: All is vanity and vexation of spirit(; 10). The English writer Byron calculated that he lived only 11 happy days in his life.

Nothing in the world brings true happiness to a person. Where is it? Is it accessible and possible for people? Is it in vain that this unquenchable thirst for happiness has been invested in us? Is there no object in which a person would find his peace and satisfaction? This object of all the desires and aspirations of our heart, the object of love and attraction of every pious soul is God, the source of all good and happiness. Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.(; 28). Moreover, complete happiness awaits a person not here on earth, but in heaven. The eye has not seen, the ear has not heard, and the heart of man has not entered into what God has prepared for those who love Him. (; 9).

Man by nature strives for holiness and piety. Although many lead a sinful life and do not think at all about holiness, however, every person prefers to be good rather than evil, and if he serves sin, he does so out of passion or mistake. The infatuation passes, and the sinful fog disappears, and the person repents, deeply mourns his fall.

Establish, O God, the holy Orthodox faith of Orthodox Christians forever and ever. Amen.

5. Reasons for disbelief. Is it true that scientists do not believe in God?

If faith in God is as necessary for our soul as food and air for the body, then, one might ask, why aren’t all people believers? Faith in God has always existed on earth, but justice requires saying that unbelief also existed in the world, although not always to the same extent. There were times when it spread over the earth in a wide wave, for example, before the flood; it will be strong even before the second coming of Christ to earth: When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth? (; 8).

Nowadays, you can meet unbelievers at every step. They think very little or not at all what faith is and what it obliges a person to: they live in the world as they want, they do not recognize anything restraining or restricting their freedom, as if there is no God, no Judgment and responsibility. Others believe that faith is something difficult and difficult to understand for a person: they hesitate, doubt, and are not guided by it in life. Still others openly declare themselves enemies of religion: they do not recognize God, reject faith with all its rules and rituals, laugh at believers, calling them backward and ignorant. They try to infect others with the poison of their unbelief: they spread godless thoughts through the printed word, spoken word, even on the radio.

How to understand this sad phenomenon in people's lives - unbelief? How to explain its existence? How can we reconcile it with an undoubted and proven fact - the universality of faith in God among people?

Unbelief is a painful, ugly phenomenon in human life. After all, there are people who have various defects and malfunctions in their bodies; along with the healthy, we also meet the sick: the blind, the deaf, the lame, the crippled. In the same way, there can be sick, crippled people to their liking; Here, too, there are exceptions in the human family, as well as on the physical side. None of the sighted people doubts that there is a sun in the sky. But how can you prove this to a blind person? That God exists is an undoubted, obvious truth for the vast majority of people. Never doesn't recognize her. This is a kind of vice and ugliness of the soul. Everything that we see and feel around us and within us, everything speaks about God and His constant action on the world and our soul. The unbeliever does not see or notice any of this. This is inner blindness. Holy Scripture explains unbelief only by human madness: The fool said in his heart: There is no God(; 1). It is fair, therefore, says one of the ancient wise people, Cicero: That God exists is such a well-known truth that I would doubt the sanity of anyone who would deny it.

To justify their disbelief, people come up with various reasons. They say: Faith contradicts science. But what is science? It is a matter of the human mind, and the mind can make mistakes. But faith is a revelation of the Lord God Himself, and therefore contains only one true truth. What should we believe more? Is it the human mind, weak and deceptive, or the true Word of God? Moreover, science has not finished its work and has not yet said its last word. The Word of God, reflected in the book of nature, and the Word of God, expressed in the Holy Scriptures, do not contradict one another, even though they apparently do not agree with each other: the natural sciences are only on the path of their development and have not yet reached their final perfection; the time will come when both these books, i.e. the book of nature and the book of the Testament will come into perfect agreement (opinion of the congress of 210 English naturalists). No science can prove that there is no God, so real scientists never rebelled against faith and taught in accordance with it.

Many Fathers and teachers of the Church were distinguished by their great knowledge of worldly sciences, which did not prevent them from being zealous preachers and ardent defenders of Christianity. And among secular scientists, many are known for their strong faith in God and sincere, deep reverence for Him. Newton, who discovered the law of universal gravitation, stood up and took off his hat every time he pronounced the name of God. The famous Pasteur, who invented the rabies vaccine, wrote: I have studied a lot and therefore believe like a simple peasant; if I became even more learned, my faith would be as deep and ardent as the faith of a simple peasant woman. The famous Ampere, who created the science of electricity, wrote to one of his friends: Beware of engaging in only one science: explore nature with one hand, and with the other, like a child holding onto his father’s clothes, hold on to the hem of God’s robe. The famous astronomer Herschel says: All sciences are brought one stone at a time into the temple erected to glorify the Creator our God. The great geologist Lyall writes: In every investigation we discover the clearest proofs of the foresight, power and wisdom of the creative mind of God. The naturalist Linnaeus, having described all the plants, exclaimed: The Eternal, Great, Omniscient and Almighty God passed before me: I did not see Him in person, but His reflection captured my soul and plunged it into awe. The greatest geographer Gitter says: We did not come to this world in vain: here we mature for another world. The learned historian Müller states: Only with the knowledge of the Lord and through a thorough study of the New Testament did I begin to understand the meaning of history.

This means that true serious science cannot lead to unbelief, but on the contrary, it strengthens a person’s faith in God and fosters religious feelings. Only half-knowledge leads people to godlessness. No one denies the existence of God, except those who benefit from it, says the English scientist Bacon.

Another reason for unbelief, besides science, is doubt. The Faith of Christ is a revelation of God Himself, sometimes not entirely clear and understandable to the limited human mind. Moreover, it requires obedience and obedience to itself, which is not always easy and pleasant for a sin-loving soul. This is where doubt arises. But does a person act wisely when he renounces faith on the grounds that he has doubts about something? Whoever doubts faith has not yet decided whether it is right or wrong, true or untrue. The doubter reasons like this: Perhaps what the faith of Christ teaches and demands of me is the truth, and it is necessary to obey it, or perhaps all this is not true, and one should not accept it and obey it...

When any thought or doubt comes over us in everyday affairs, we strive to find out about everything, ask advice from knowledgeable people, try to understand and study the matter, so as not to make mistakes, but to act correctly and reliably. And the more important the matter, the more diligently and carefully we strive to dispel our misunderstandings and hesitations. While observing caution and prudence in everyday affairs, we must act in the same way in such a great and important matter as faith. Why does the unbeliever reject everything that faith teaches, without investigation, without reflection, solely on the basis of his doubt? Everyone will agree that to do so is unwise and dangerous. What if the doubt is false and unfair, what if the faith of Christ tells us only one truth? By rejecting God, heaven, hell and the future life, does not a person expose himself to the greatest danger of destroying his soul forever?

In the absence of reasonable and solid grounds to speak in defense of non-believers, the latter resort to lies, various kinds of witticisms, ridicule, and blasphemous attacks against religion. Of course, it is impossible to refute or destroy the Christian faith by such means, and then, where state power is in the hands of non-believers, persecution of confessors of the faith begins: prisons, exile, desecration, destruction and destruction of shrines, etc.

But if unbelieving people cannot justify or excuse their unbelief in any way, then why do they hold on to it? A sinful life leads to unbelief. Some passions appear in a person’s heart, and there is neither the desire nor the strength to fight them. To calm himself and lull the voice of conscience, the sinner resorts to unbelief. If he cannot completely free himself from thoughts about God, then it is calmer for him to think less about Him or imagine that He stands far from the world and does not see our bad deeds.

Does unbelief bring any benefit to a person? Does it give you peace of mind? No and no. An unbeliever is the most unfortunate person in the world. Without faith in God, he is lost in understanding the simplest things: the world of God is a mystery to him. Where did it come from if there is no Creator? How does it stand in beauty and order if there is no Provider God? But people and their life for an unbeliever are nothing more than a kingdom of wandering shadows, incomprehensible, meaningless. Refusing to accept as truth what faith teaches, the mind of an unbeliever is inclined to internalize all lies, superstitions and delusions. With the loss of faith, a person throws off every bridle that restrains his feelings. Evil inclinations receive full opportunity to develop, the taste for everything good and holy is lost, every good feeling freezes, shame and fear for one’s actions are destroyed. Without the action of faith, conscience loses all power over a person: it falls asleep, and sometimes becomes so damaged that it justifies the worst deeds of an unbeliever. It is fair, therefore, that they say that a man without faith is a man without conscience.

Who would call this state happy? Who will approve of him, envy him? Without faith in God, the loving Father of all people, without goodness and peace in the soul, there can be no happiness for a person on earth: melancholy, heaviness, torment, dissatisfaction... What if disasters befall an unbeliever? Where then will he find consolation and protection? Where will the strength and courage come from to endure and endure the hardships of life, death itself? When a person is young and full of strength and health, he does not think about thoughts about God, the soul, or his eternal destiny. But when life is drawing to a close, then he involuntarily turns his gaze to the end and cannot help but think about the question: what will happen to him next? Disbelief does not provide an answer. And then a painful state takes possession of the soul. A person strains all his strength to calm his indignant spirit, but cannot do this; he searches for light and does not find it. If the hour of death is terrible for every person, then even more so for the unbeliever and atheist. What can console him in the last minutes of his life? In the past, he found all his happiness in earthly objects and various pleasures. But they are no longer available to the dying person. Truly death of a sinner (; 22).

Life after death is life in God, spiritual life, and an unbeliever is not accustomed to it and is not capable.

In the name of love for God and neighbor, every Christian must fight in every possible way against the disease of our age - unbelief. Brothers! If any of us deviates from the truth, and someone converts him, let him know that he who converts a sinner from his false path will save his soul from death and cover a multitude of sins (; 19).

There are many believers among us, but there are also many non-believers, and many who waver or waver in their faith.

The latter either believe or don’t believe and stand as if at a crossroads, not knowing which path to choose for themselves: the path of faith or the path of unbelief. They rush around, strive for something and do not find what they are looking for.

They want to be presented with precise, almost mathematical, evidence of what is comprehended not so much by the mind as by the soul and heart, what is beyond the limits of the human mind and remains a great mystery to us.

But even if you have doubts about your faith, you must still strictly adhere to the faith of your fathers and grandfathers, you must try to lead your life as befits a good Christian. And that's why.

Where are those sages, scientists and philosophers who definitely proved that there is nothing more beyond our earthly existence? There are no such people yet. This is only the baseless assumption of a relatively small number of godless people. What if there will be an afterlife?! In that case, aren't you making the biggest mistake of giving up faith? We, believing in the afterlife, would not lose anything if our faith were in vain. But you? Rejecting the possibility of eternal torment, fearing nothing in the future, you live in complete pleasure. What if you actually have to suffer the brunt of eternal torment? How will it feel to you then? What trouble and misfortune will you find yourself in then? It will be too late to repent of your mistake.

Therefore, isn’t it better to believe, calling: I believe, Lord, help my unbelief! (; 24)?

7. Christmas greeting to the atheists of the Serbian Bishop of Ohrid Nicholas

Step aside, faithful ones, a little to the side. We turn to you every Christmas. You know what mercy and truth mean, just try to illuminate your life with them. And now we want to turn our word to those who have fallen away from our faith, champions of atheism, brothers in blood and language, but strangers in spirit and thoughts. You deafened the world with the cry that faith is the opium of the people, but to prove this you showed nothing on your part except blood, fetters and tyranny. Why don’t you ever ask yourself: if faith is the opium of the simple, how did the most famous philosophers become intoxicated with it: Descartes, Leibniz, Kant, Figner, Soloviev and thinkers like Pascal and Manzoni?

If faith is the opium of the stupid, how could the most brilliant poets get carried away by it: Dante, Shakespeare, Milton, Hugo, Pushkin, Dostoevsky, Njegos?

If faith is the opiate of the rural poor, how can cultured townspeople erect majestic temples to this faith in Constantinople, in Rome, in Paris and Berlin, in London and New York?

If faith is opium for servants and slaves, why did King Lazarus and King Constantine, and so many other famous princes and great people of different nations and languages, die for this faith?

If faith is the opium of the illiterate, the ignorant, how did the greatest scientists of the world, like Copernicus, Newton, Franklin, Mendeleev, Crookes, Pupin and Oliver Lodge, take this opium?

If faith is opium for the lowly and despised, how in the name of this opium did so many husbands and wives leave their crowns and possessions and wealth and retire into solitude and poverty in order to serve the faith as much as possible?

If faith is opiate for young people, as Rastko Nemanjic and Joasaph, the Prince of India were, how could the wise and cautious elder St. become intoxicated with this dangerous drug? Stefan Nemanja?

If you say that faith is opium for old women, how then can you explain that so many girls were intoxicated by it, like the holy martyrs Irina, Marina, Paraskeva, Euphemia and many others?

If you say that faith is opium for cowardly recruits, how can it be opium for the brave Minin and Pozharsky, Karađorđ and Milas, Washington and Garibaldi, Foch and Heg, and for the last four Serbian governors?

If, finally, pressed by these questions of ours, you exclaim: Faith is opium for non-socialists, but not for socialists! Lansburne and other convinced socialists and at the same time convinced Christians?

Or do you consider unbelief the exclusive property of the Slavic socialists of Bakunin and the expelled Russian seminarians?

If you say that the rich invented faith in order to keep the poor under their power, then you have never looked at the Cave of Bethlehem and Calvary and have not heard about the hundreds of thousands of Christian martyrs on whose suffering the faith of the world was established!

8. The Power of the Gospel

A European who does not recognize religion once said this to one of the Christian rulers of the island of Fiji:

“I am very sorry that you, being such an influential and strong prince, became a victim of a missionary. There is not a single intelligent person who believes in the story of Jesus Christ. Now we are very developed and do not believe in such stories.”

The prince's eyes sparkled, and he answered:

“Do you see this big stone? There were times when the heads of our slaves were broken on it. Do you see a stove nearby, near this stone? There we roasted the people who fell into our hands and ate them. Please pay your attention to the fact that if the missionaries had not come to us, brought the Bible and taught us that love through which we humans became sons of God, then you would not have returned alive from this island.”

“Glorify God for the gospel, because without it you would be broken on this rock and roasted in this oven.”

Religion originated under the shaggy foreheads of our ancestors somewhere in the Middle Paleolithic. Science as a method appeared later - in Ancient Greece. But, like all our other qualities, both of them did not come down to us on a cloud, but were inherited from our animal ancestors. Actually, animals do not have religion or science. But they have what both religion and science grew from: faith, knowledge, as well as the need for both.

At first, animals needed objective knowledge to increase control over their environment. Processed facts add up to experience, and the greater it is, the better adapted the animal is, the easier its life and the more successful its reproduction.

Faith appears later, at approximately the same level of mental evolution as imaginative thinking. The dog barks at the noise outside the door because he believes that this noise is for a reason, there is someone behind it who needs to be barked at. And this gives her the illusion of control. Just an illusion, but it’s enough to reduce stress from an unclear and potentially dangerous situation. And the lower the stress level, the easier life is and the more successful reproduction is.

The benefits of knowledge are obvious. But there is also a lot of it from faith:

Faith saves time and brain resources when making decisions. In nature, the one who decides well is the one who decides not so much correctly as quickly.

Vera sees behind random phenomena a certain force that created them and tries to influence this force. This prevents the development of learned helplessness. When everything is bad and nothing can be changed, you can hold on to illusions and rituals like straws, and this imaginary straw really supports you.

Faith improves our ability to understand each other. Someone else's soul is in the dark, all our ideas about the inner world of another are exclusively guesses, phantom facts. But they still help us build real relationships, make friends, and influence people. , that the better a person’s empathy and ability to understand someone else’s psyche is developed, the more prone he is to one kind of religiosity or another. Relationships with imaginary friends seem to work as a training ground for honing your soul reading skills.

Finally, faith turns our existential anxiety into fear. Great replacement, right? Really great. Animals already have a fear of death. Hence the well-known farewell and burial rituals among elephants, monkeys and dolphins, and ethologist Mark Bekoff in his book The Emotional Life of Animals describes such behavior even among llamas, foxes and wolves. Great empaths - dogs - are afraid of the death of their owner. Coco about her beloved kitten being hit by a car: “It’s bad. Sad. Sleep, kitty” (R.I.P., Coco. Us too).

According to the famous psychotherapist Irvin Yalom, we have the anxiety of non-existence and pre-conceptual knowledge of death from birth. It becomes conceptual at about five years old, when we first realize that we are going to die. For good. Someday, I'll be gone. At all. Horror! According to Heidegger, horror is an extreme level of anxiety at which the object causing it is impossible to identify. While a person is in this state, he is not capable of any action. Anxiety paralyzes will and activity because it is not separated from my self. But if it is turned into fear, he will be isolated from me and controlled. Not by me, but by someone else. With whom, as our Machiavellian intellect believes, we can certainly come to an agreement.

Science is uncompromising, and religion is always the art of negotiation. Okay, death is an opportunity you can't refuse. But you can discuss the terms? Any religion accepts the fact that you will die, but complements it with the promise that if certain conditions are met, it will not end there.

Hope for immortality is our way of controlling the fear of death. Irrational, illusory, but they haven’t come up with anything else yet. Science is still busy, but we need it right now.

Life, with its existential problems and general anxious spontaneity, stresses us, and there are only two remedies for this - control and predictability. Real or illusory - for the psyche it is not so important.

Scientists placed two groups of rats in an awkward position: they were tied up, lying on their backs and could not do anything about it. But one could chew a wooden stick, while the other could not. Guess which group recovered from stress faster? In chewing a stick, as in any ritual, there is no rational meaning. But there is value in reducing stress. Experiments on animals and people show that imaginary control of a situation is as calming as real control. And if you can’t see the difference, why pay more?

That is why there are no atheists in trenches under fire, and even on an airplane during turbulence there are fewer of them than ten minutes ago. Religion provides a way out of a hopeless situation. Yes, you painted it on the wall yourself. But for your health it is better than none.

But if faith is such a useful thing, why is it now so criticized by scientists, educators and other good people with a good education?

After all, it wasn't always like this. When the craving for faith and knowledge, combined with the accumulative mechanism of culture, gave birth to religion and science, for the time being they lived peacefully. Shaman healers. Priests-astronomers. Genetic monk. Books were written in monasteries, universities sprang from abbeys, and it was difficult to understand where one ended and the other began. But gradually the powerful socio-cultural institutions that grew on the basis of faith and knowledge became isolated and moved from cooperative relations to competitive ones.

And by the beginning of the 21st century, their conflict had reached a historical peak. Yes, scientists were once burned at the stake, but the Middle Ages basically burned them. This was a normal way of resolving issues, and scientists proceeded on a common basis. But when in the 21st century, supporters of religion and science stage real cockfights, mother’s believers and mother’s atheists go wall to wall on the Internet, and scientists and priests throw droppings and banana skins in public debates, this is no longer quite normal. Moreover, the feelings of the participants are so intertwined and mutually offended that the devil himself will not understand who believes in what, who knows what, and who is ready to rip each other’s throats out for what. For the truth? For influencing the audience? For the victory of your concept over the enemy’s concept? Whatever it is, the result is the following unpleasant thing.

Knowledge and faith are the main natural ways to regulate stress. We need both of them, because knowledge works in conditions of sufficient information, and faith - in conditions of insufficient information.

But public opinion insists on a choice: no, my friend, either you are with us on the side of the light, or with these on the side of darkness. And we have to choose.

A situation of difficult choice triggers the well-known effect of cognitive dissonance: having chosen one thing, we immediately begin to devalue the rejected option.

Chicken or fish?

Uh-uh... Well... Probably fish... Yes, fish! Fish is healthy. What about the chicken? It doesn't even contain phosphorus.

It’s not scary that a person chose religion, it’s scary that the false dichotomy imposed by society forces him to devalue the alternative: “Why, your science knows nothing, it only causes problems.” And this may deprive him of much of what science could give him, but will not give him, since she herself stands in the pose: “Stop believing here or get lost.”

Although no one is forced to choose between their basic needs. We have the right to both. The knowledge to reduce stress with real facts. And on faith to do this when there are not enough facts.

But to maintain adequacy, we must separate phantom facts from real ones. And here, in fact, lies the main problem.

In the new issue of “Everything is like animals” we conduct a simple experiment illustrating the relationship of faith and knowledge in a single head. I modestly hope that it will clarify something for someone and maybe even slightly reduce the number of senseless squabbles that fill TVs and the Internet. After all, in order to get rid of prejudices, and not strengthen them or replace them with others, you just need to carefully add knowledge to each individual head. And they themselves will push out everything unnecessary. Believe me, this cannot be achieved in any other way.

Physiologist, Nobel Prize laureate in medicine

Once upon a time I lived - a prisoner in the world of atheism. For as long as I have been living in this world, I have been told that there is no God. I studied at the best university, found a good job, made a solid career, got married - in general, like everyone else, I enjoy life. Material life. After all, this is what I achieved with my atheism.

One day, returning from work, I accidentally saw on a familiar bench two people I didn’t know, who were passionately talking about faith in God. I became interested and asked to listen to their conversation for a few minutes. One of them claimed that he was a believer and tried in every possible way to prove that he was right, while his interlocutor condemned everything that was said about faith in God. In general, he was my like-minded person. Before, somehow I didn’t have to argue about faith, since all the time my thoughts were occupied with work and home, and this dialogue became interesting to me primarily because I wanted to assert myself in my views on life.

I decided to join the dialogue. My first question was: “Why does a person need faith in God? Is faith a dream with which a person tries to fill the void? Our opponent was not at a loss, adequately parrying my statement. He replied: “Faith is a feeling that is embedded in a person’s consciousness. No matter how much he opposes it, he still believes in something.” I was a little surprised by this answer, and according to my views, I said: “I am a modern person! Why do I need faith? I have everything, I'm happy with life. Why should I waste time on something that does not benefit me?

I already thought that I would throw my interlocutor into a stupor, but he had no intention of backing down. His answer shocked me to the core. He said: “Do you, being a modern man, deny any signs of faith? This can't be! You, for example, believe in the laws of physics, chemistry or biology. There are many phenomena and things that you do not see, but you believe in their existence. Air, wind, sound waves, electric current - all this you recognize and believe in their existence. You believe it! You also believe in the existence of good and evil, justice and injustice. You deny faith because you do not want to improve your unique feelings that are in your consciousness. By denying faith in God, goodness and justice become a formality for you that you want to pass on to your children, but faith allows you to feel with all your soul how precious all these qualities are.”

His words made me flinch. There was a moment when I wanted to strangle him for his stubbornness, but inside myself I began to realize that I was stubborn, not he. And somehow spontaneously it burst out from me: “I don’t need life after death, neither in heaven nor in hell - I just live and don’t bother anyone.” Again, I had some kind of imaginary confidence that I would prevail over him. “Why is faith needed?” was spinning in my head. After all, I have always walked through life, rejoicing in my successes, and then some stranger makes me doubt my established views. It’s really annoying that I can’t adequately refute his answer.

To my statement, the believer also had an answer that was unexpected for me: “Do you deny heaven and hell (He smiled)? Heaven and hell you see and feel every day. You want to relax comfortably - this is heaven, someone oppresses or insults you - this is hell, no one wants this for themselves. A person’s faith allows him to see heaven and hell everywhere, considering this a great test in life. Just because you live and don't bother anyone doesn't mean you don't pass the test. The entire worldly life of a person is a test: today he may experience mental torment, tomorrow he will remain in grace, while thanking his Creator for the mercy shown. Death is just a transition from this world to the eternal world, where the best benefits that the human soul accepts will be rewarded.”

I somehow didn’t have to think about trials, although I related everything that happened in my life to fate. But still I decided not to retreat. My parents taught me to solve my problems myself without the help of God. Why am I worse than a believer? My like-minded person sat in silence: apparently he did not want to interfere with our conversation, since he was desperate to convince a believer. Having collected all my thoughts, I asked my interlocutor, perhaps, the main question: “Why does a person need faith? Why believe in God?

Before answering, my interlocutor ran his hand over his face. Then he directed his gaze somewhere to the side. What’s remarkable is that I didn’t notice any fatigue during the entire time of our conversation; I even, one might say, enjoyed it. But my head was racing with thoughts, looking for worthy arguments to refute. The answer to the last question surprised me. He said: “You know, if a person did not have faith in God, he would constantly fight with his own kind. I know that my arguments make you boil, and this boil is a short-term awakening of your faith, which God has placed in you. If there were no faith, then a person would not show such emotions and would treat everything with indifference. But your questions and interest in this issue and, as a result, the manifestation of emotions in search of a refutation is the same spiritual awakening that is inherent in every person, no matter how he views such a concept as faith. If a person does not seek the truth and meaning of life, then he sees himself as lost. But he may not feel this, because he considers this loss to be correct, showing an inclination towards material wealth.”

Am I really a lost man? Emotions overwhelmed me because I could not think in a way that could logically refute everything he said. I wanted to run away from here, but where? Even after this conversation, his words never left me. I may never meet him again, but he gave me the opportunity to rethink some of my principles. I’ll have to think about it, since GOD gave me such an ability as a person.