What dogmas form the core of the Christian religion. Holy Scripture of Christianity. Dogmas about Christ the Savior, for example

Ten Commandments of Moses

Old Testament

COMPOSITION OF THE BIBLE

The Bible is the main sacred book of Christianity. Consists of two parts:

1. Old Testament

2. New Testament.

Created within the framework of Judaism before our era. IN " Old Testament"For the first time in human history, a great religious idea appears monotheism.

The idea of the Fall of man - Adam and Eve violated the only commandment of God.

Covenant- a contract between man and God; in the Old Testament there is a contract between God and one chosen people - the Jews.

The prototype of the covenant is in Noah (after the flood a rainbow appeared - a sign that there would be no more flood).

Abraham– with him, as with the ancestor of the Jewish people, God for the first time enters into a Covenant.

"The Test of Abraham"- a key episode of the Old Testament. Abraham must sacrifice his only son to God to prove that he loves God more than anything else.

Prophet Moses- leads the Jewish people out of Egyptian captivity. Receives commandments - "Ten Commandments of Moses"- obligatory for all three Abrahamic religions - Judaism, Christianity, Islam.

1. “I am the Lord thy God: thou shalt have no gods other than me” - the most important commandment (monotheism). Worship of the God of the Bible - in the Old Testament God is called differently: Adonai (Lord), Hosts (God of armies), Yahweh (distorted Jehovah) - “I am who am”, Elohim.

2. Do not make for yourself an idol or any likeness

3. Do not take the Lord’s name in vain (in vanity).

4. Honoring the seventh day (Saturday).

5. Honor your father and mother

6. Thou shalt not kill

7. Do not commit adultery.

8. Don't steal

9. Don't bear false witness

10. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife or his property.

The idea appears in the later books of the Old Testament messiah- the future savior of the world. Sometimes the term messiah was replaced by a Hellenized term that was similar in content Christ- “God’s anointed.” The Prophet Daniel also indicates the birthplace of the Messiah - the “Star of Bethlehem” will shine.

Jesus declared that he was the Christ. Only a small part of the Jews believed in this - they became the first Christians. Most of Jews considered Jesus Christ a deceiver, they insisted on executing him with a shameful execution - by crucifixion (this is how robbers and cheaters were crucified). The Jews are still waiting for the coming of the Messiah.

Created already in the Christian era (1st century AD)

Composition: Gospels, Acts of the Apostles, Epistles of the Apostles, Apocalypse of John.

"Gospel"- good news, the story of the birth and earthly life of Jesus Christ. Many Gospels are known, but only four are recognized as canonical and included in the Bible: Matthew, Luke, Mark, John.

1. Monotheism (belief in one God, not just some, but the God of the Bible!)

2. Dogma of the Holy Trinity (God the Father, God the Son and the Holy Spirit). It is impossible to understand with reason how three hypostases are united in one God - it surpasses our understanding.

3. Jesus Christ as the God-man is also a mystery - how the divine and human natures were united in Christ.

4. The dogma of the infallibility of the Ecumenical Councils - thus in Christianity there is a two-pronged foundation of doctrine: the Holy Scripture (Bible) and Sacred Tradition(works of the Church Fathers, decisions of the Ecumenical Councils).

5. The dogma of atonement - Christ, with his death and resurrection, atoned for original sin and opened the way to salvation for all who believe in him. Faith in Christ - the only option salvation.

6. Dogma of icon veneration and veneration of saints (not worship!)

7. Dogma about the seven main sacraments - their beneficial power.

The main provisions of the Christian church - dogmas - are defined in the 12 members of the Creed. Among them, the most important dogmas are: the dogma about the essence of God, about the trinity of God, about the incarnation, atonement, ascension, resurrection, etc.

The First Ecumenical Council (Nicaea, 325) was convened to discuss the views of the Alexandrian presbyter (elder) Arius, who taught that God the Son is not consubstantial with God the Father, and to create dogmas (fundamental tenets of doctrine) obligatory for confession by all who consider themselves Christian. The teachings of Arius were condemned, he himself was declared a heretic and excommunicated from the church. The Council dogmatically established that God is the unity of three hypostases (persons), in which the Son, eternally born from the Father, is consubstantial with him.

At the Second Ecumenical Council - Constantinople (Constantinople, 381) - a single “Creed” was compiled - a confession containing all the main dogmas of Christianity and consisting of twelve members (its first five members were approved at the Council of Nicaea, and in The final version of the “Creed” is called Nicene-Constantinopolitan).

The “Creed” reads: “We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, the creator of heaven and earth, of everything visible and invisible.

And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all ages, light from light. from the true God, the true God, begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father, through whom all things came into being, for the sake of us men, and for the sake of our salvation, who came down from heaven and became incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary and became man, crucified for us under Pontius Pilate, who suffered, and was buried, and rose again on the third day according to the scriptures, and ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of the Father, and will come again with glory to judge the living and the dead, whose kingdom will have no end. And in the Holy Spirit, the life-giving Lord, who proceeds from the Father, worshiped and glorified with the Father and the Son, who spoke through the prophets. To one, holy, catholic and apostolic church. We confess one baptism for the remission of sins. Tea of the Resurrection of the Dead and the life of the next century. Amen".

The council also condemned numerous heretical teachings that interpreted the Divine essence differently, for example, the Eunomians, who denied the divinity of Christ and considered him only the highest of the beings created by God.

There were seven Ecumenical Councils in total. The Seventh Ecumenical Council (Second Nicaea) took place in 787. At it, decisions were made that were supposed to put an end to iconoclasm, which provoked discord in the church. The enumeration of 12 paragraphs of the “Creed” is the main prayer in Orthodoxy: “I believe in one God the Father, Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, visible to all and invisible. And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the only Begotten, who was born of the Father before all ages...”

Let's look at the basic creeds mentioned in this prayer. Orthodox Christians believe in God as the creator of the world (the first hypostasis of the Holy Trinity), in the Son of God - Jesus Christ (the second hypostasis of the Holy Trinity), who is incarnate, i.e., while remaining God, at the same time became a man, born of the Virgin Mary. Christians believe that through his suffering and death, Jesus Christ atoned for human sins (first of all Original sin) and resurrected. After the resurrection, Christ ascended to heaven in the unity of body and spirit, and in the future Christians await His second coming, at which He will judge the living and the dead and His Kingdom will be established. Christians also believe in the Holy Spirit (the third hypostasis of the Divine Trinity), which comes from God the Father. The Church in Orthodoxy is considered a mediator between God and man, and therefore has saving power. At the end of time, after the second coming of Christ, believers await the resurrection of all the dead to eternal life.

The Trinity is one of the main tenets of Christianity. The essence of the concept of the Trinity is that God is one in essence, but exists in three forms: God the Father, God the Son and the Holy Spirit. The term appeared at the end of the 2nd century AD, the doctrine of the Trinity was developed in the 3rd century AD. and immediately caused a heated, lengthy debate in the Christian church. Disputes about the essence of the Trinity led to many interpretations and served as one of the reasons for the division of churches.

Experience shows that knowledge of dogmas and canons allows you to protect yourself from the influence of dangerous thoughts and people. By the way a person speaks about them (not to mention whether he observes them or not) it becomes clear whether this is really true. Orthodox man. Even if outwardly everything is fine with him, but his attitude is the most negligent, “creative,” then sooner or later it turns out that he is a wolf in sheep’s clothing.

Dogmas speak about God in relation to man and about man in relation to God. The canons regulate the life of the Church and Christians in the disciplinary legal and moral sense. A canon (in the sense of church law) is a fundamental church law that applies throughout Orthodox Church.

There is always an immutable dogmatic point in the idea of a canon. However, in the literal sense, the canon reflects the transitory circumstances of the life of the Church.

The canons are not subject to repeal, but their legal norms are not absolute. Moreover, in the rules themselves one can find an indication of flexibility. A canon may no longer apply because the relationship it regulates has disappeared. At the same time, the rule of the canon can serve as a guide: thus, an indication of the age of deaconesses that do not currently exist (40 years) forms the basis for reasoning about the age of a woman appointed to existing church positions.

The canons, even if they are no longer applied, in any case remain the criteria of church legislation and the basis of church legal consciousness. The canon is a pointer to the correct orientation in current problems church life.

Church knowledge can be divided into four areas:

dogmas - clear church definitions;
canons - regulations for the life of the Church and Christians;
liturgical tradition regulating the liturgical life of the Church;
Orthodox asceticism is the experience of communion with God, the basic laws of spiritual life and a deep ascetic apparatus designed to help build an Orthodox personal form of spiritual life.

Dogmas about God and His general relationship to the world and man, For example:

God exists.

original (does not come from anyone or anything, has existence in itself), immutable (“I am the Lord, I do not change” (Mal. 3:6)), eternal (does not depend on time), immeasurable and omnipresent (see, for example, Psalm 138) – so-called. apophatic properties based on the denial of certain qualities inherent in the finite creature;
possesses divine intelligence and wisdom, omniscience. God is holy (i.e., guided by the idea of one supreme good). God is omnipotent (Genesis 17, Luke 1:37) and all-blessed, good, and merciful. God is love. And, at the same time, God is fair.

God is the Creator of the world. God created the world out of nothing. God created the world with reason and wisdom, will and word. There was no time before God. God created a perfect world.
God is the Provider of the world, i.e. cares for the world, preserves it and rules it.

Dogmas about God, Trinity in Persons, For example:

God is one in essence, but trinity in persons - Father, Son, Holy Spirit, Trinity consubstantial and indivisible (Three independent Persons possessing all perfections, but not three Gods, but God).
The three Persons of the Trinity differ in their personal properties: the Father is not begotten of anyone, the Son is begotten of the Father, the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father.

Dogmas about God as Creator and Provider for the spiritual world, For example:

good angels - ministering spirits who serve God, nations, individuals, churches;
evil spirits - fallen angels, live in the air, constantly looking for how to destroy a person. The Lord allows and limits their activities.

Dogmas about the relationship of God, as Creator and Provider, to man, For example:

Man is created in the image and likeness of God.
Only three persons in the entire history of mankind originated in a special way - Adam, Eve and our Lord Jesus Christ. Everyone else came from Adam and Eve.
A person consists of soul and body.
The soul is a higher, spiritual, independent, rational, conscious, free, immortal essence.

Dogmas about God the Savior and His special relationship to the human race, For example:

The sin of the forefathers (Adam and Eve) is on all their descendants, i.e. all people. This is universal, original sin.
Consequences of the Fall: rupture of communion with God, loss of grace, spiritual death, darkening of the mind, perversion of the will, inclination towards evil rather than good, distortion of the image of God.
All creation, through the fall of man, interrupted communication with God, and is tormented to this day (Rom. 8:22).
The Lord through His Son was pleased to save people. The Son accomplished this salvation. The Holy Spirit, by His assistance, accomplishes the work of salvation in the hearts of people.

Dogmas about Christ the Savior, For example:

The Lord Jesus Christ is the true God.
The Lord Jesus Christ is a true but sinless Man, born supernaturally from the Virgin Mary through the action of the Holy Spirit.
We are all redeemed by His death and resurrection.
Jesus Christ conquered and destroyed hell.
Having defeated death by His resurrection, Jesus Christ ascended into heaven and sat down at the right hand of the Father, thereby ascending human nature into heaven and thereby opening the doors to the Kingdom of Heaven for all people.

Dogmas of Sanctification For example:

Without Divine help, people cannot be saved.
Grace is a special uncreated Divine power.
Grace reaches us in the Hypostasis of the Holy Spirit, which is why it is often called the power of the Holy Spirit (although it belongs to all the Persons of the Trinity).
Grace is given to people as a result of the feat of Jesus Christ.
Grace does not change human nature, but transforms it.

Dogmas about the Holy Church, For example:

The Church is a mediator in the matter of sanctification and salvation, founded by our Lord Jesus Christ.
There is no salvation outside the Church.
Head of the Church – Jesus Christ
The Holy Spirit works in the Church.
The Church is holy, united, catholic, apostolic.

Dogmas about the Sacraments of the Church, For example:

The sacraments are sacred actions through which grace acts on a person in a secret way, i.e. the saving power of God (Long Catechism).
The celebrant of the Sacraments is Jesus Christ himself.
The Sacrament is valid subject to faith in Christ and the saving power of the Sacraments, and a sincere desire to accept grace.
Baptism is performed only once.
In the Sacrament of the Eucharist, wine and bread are transformed into the Blood and Body of Christ.
The Eucharist is a sacrifice of thanksgiving, propitiation and unification of the entire Church into the Body of Christ.
Repentance cures sins.

Dogmas about the Sacrament of the Priesthood:

priesthood is a divine institution, presupposes election from above, and is accomplished through ordination (laying on of hands).

Dogmas about God as Judge and Rewarder:

The body is mortal, the soul is immortal.
After bodily death, everyone faces a private trial and retribution until the Last Judgment.
Retribution after a private trial is just an expectation of bliss or torment. The Divine Liturgy, prayers, alms, and fasting can change the fate of the deceased.

Dogmas of the General Court:

Only God knows the time of the Second Coming.
Before the General Judgment, only the soul (not the body) receives reward, both the righteous and sinners are in anticipation (anticipation) of well-deserved bliss or torment; sinners have a chance that, through the prayers of the Church, their fate will change.
The Second Coming will be in glory and majesty.
The resurrection of the dead will be real, universal and simultaneous, in identical bodies.
The living will change instantly and simultaneously.
Sinners will be given over to eternal torment along with the devil, the righteous will forever inherit the Kingdom prepared from the foundation of the world (Matthew 25:34). Once again: both are forever.>

Translation from Serbian by Sergei Fonov

Rev. Justin Popovich

§ 1. The concept of dogma

The very term “dogmatics” contains the subject of dogmatics and the concept of it, which themselves suggest a logical definition: dogmatics is the science of the dogmas of the Christian faith. But since in different Christian denominations dogmas can be understood and interpreted differently, the Orthodox Church, expounding and interpreting divinely revealed dogmas in the evangelical, apostolic and ecumenical spirit, calls its dogma Orthodox, thereby distinguishing it and protecting it from non-evangelical, non-apostolic, non-ecumenical, non-Orthodox understandings of the dogmas of salvation. Consequently, Orthodox dogmatics is a science that systematically and in the spirit of the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church expounds and interprets the dogmas of the Christian faith.

§ 2. The concept of dogmas

Dogmas are God-revealed eternal truths of faith, contained in Holy Revelation and preserved, explained and communicated by the Church as Divine, life-giving and unchanging rules salvation. The word “dogma” itself is of Greek origin, it is formed from the verb dokein (to think, to believe, (in the 3rd person dedoktai - decided, to consider, to believe) in its form dedogmai defined) and etymologically means a thought that has received its definition and approved as an indisputable logical truth in any sphere human activity: philosophical, religious, legislative. Ancient Greek and Roman writers use the word “dogma” in a philosophical, moral, legislative sense with the meaning of “teaching”, “rule”, which, due to its undeniable truth, for many acquired the meaning of a logically and factually obligatory truth, commandment, law, prescription (command).

In the Old Testament, the word “dogma” means, on the one hand, political orders, state decrees and laws (see: Dan. 2, 13; 3, 10; 6, 8–9; Esther 3, 9), and on the other - the commandments of the Mosaic Law (see: Ezek. 20, 24) or regulations related to religious life in general (see: 2 Mac. 10, 8; 15, 36).

In the New Testament, the word “dogma” is used five times in a double sense: politically - and means royal decrees and commands (see: Luke 2:1; Acts 17:7) - and religiously, reflecting the requirements of the Mosaic Law, which had in due time, binding force for every Jew (see: Col. 2, 14), as well as New Testament decrees, binding for all members of Christ’s Church. For in the Acts of the Holy Apostles it is said that the apostles Paul and Timothy commanded the faithful to observe the decrees decreed by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem (Acts 16:4). Drawing a distinction between the prescriptions of the Mosaic Law and the New Testament truths and dogmas, the Apostle Paul says that the Lord Jesus Christ abolished the law of the commandments (of Moses) with dogmas (cf. Eph. 2:15).

Consequently, since apostolic times there has been formed ecclesiastical significance the word “dogma” as the Divine, indisputable, absolute and universally binding truth of faith. The great zealot of the God-given, apostolic Tradition, Saint Cyril of Jerusalem, calls the basic truths of faith contained in the Symbol of the Church of Jerusalem necessary dogmas, dogmas of piety, and the feat of faith by which they are acquired, he calls the dogmatic image of faith. He calls the entire New Testament teaching about God dogmas about God, and considers the personal and life-giving assimilation of these dogmas to be active faith a necessary condition salvation, concluding: “The greatest benefit is the study of dogmas.” Having listed all the New Testament truths about God, the Son of God, the Holy Spirit, about good and evil and in general about the economy of salvation, Saint Gregory the Theologian calls on the catechumens to affirm their good, their salvation, their new life “on the basis of these dogmas.” Saint Gregory of Nyssa divides all Christian teaching into two parts: the moral part and the exact dogmas. Saint John Chrysostom understands the Christian doctrine by dogmas, and Vincent of Lerins calls the universal faith the universal dogma. At the Ecumenical Councils, the word “dogma” was used in the meaning of “the truth of Christian doctrine,” and the holy fathers at the Councils called their definitions of faith dogmas, while all other decisions and regulations were called canons and rules. This is partly reflected in the fact that the Church gives the name dogmatist to those liturgical stichera that contain the doctrine of the Most Holy Theotokos, the incarnation of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the two natures in one Person of the God-Man.

Thus, in the language of the Church, dogmas in the strict sense of the word are called only those revealed truths that relate to faith, in contrast to divinely revealed truths of a moral, ritual and canonical nature, but one should never lose sight of the fact that all of them, in the end, , form one indivisible whole.

§ 3. Properties of dogmas

What makes dogmas eternal Divine truths and characterizes them as such are their special properties: revelation of God, churchliness, universal bindingness and immutability.

a) Divine revelation is the main property that makes dogmas dogmas, for it affirms their Divine origin. According to this, dogmas are not only truths of faith, but truths of faith revealed by God Himself. Their divine origin makes them irrefutably true, eternal, saving, incomprehensible, super-intelligent. If God Himself had not revealed the dogmas, neither rational humanity as a whole, much less the mind of an individual person, would ever have been able to reach them through any effort. Consequently, dogmas are the subject of faith; they are accepted by faith as supra-rational divine truths, which the Church emphasizes by beginning the Creed with the word “I believe...”. Having Divine origin, dogmas contain divinely revealed truths about the Trinity Divinity and His relationship to the world and man, that is, about God as Creator, about God as Provider, about God as Redeemer, about God as Sanctifier and about God as Judge. And in all this, only God knows Himself, therefore only He can reveal Himself and His truths (see: Matthew 11:27). He does this through His incarnate Only Begotten Son (see: John 1:18, 14), in Whom dwells all the fullness of the Divinity bodily (Col. 2:9), and thereby all the fullness of the Divine truths that He reveals according to His Divine favor to those who believe in Him, live by Him and for His sake. Due to the fact that these dogmatic truths are the truths of Christ, they are Divine, eternal, unchangeable and absolutely reliable (see: John 14, 6; 1, 17; 8, 12; 12, 35, 46). They are the perfect and complete Revelation of God, that is, the last word that God directly proclaims to people through His Only Begotten Son (see: Heb. 1:1).

Divine origin distinguishes Christian dogmas as eternal Divine truths from the dogmas of non-Christian religions and philosophical teachings as human, relative, transitory truths. Outside of Christ's Revelation there are no eternal, Divine dogmatic truths and there cannot be. Divine dogmas are given once and for all in Holy Revelation, and the Church as such preserves and confesses them. Bearing in mind the Divine origin of dogmas and everything that follows from this, the Holy Fathers and teachers of the Church call dogmas the dogmas of God, the dogmas of Christ, the dogmas of the Lord, the dogmas of the Gospel, the Divine dogmas, the apostolic dogmas, the dogmas of truth, the dogmas of heavenly philosophy. Saint Basil the Great writes: “Of the dogmas and sermons preserved in the Church, some we have from written teaching (that is, Holy Scripture), and others that have come to us from the Apostolic Tradition, we have received mysteriously, but both have the same power for piety."

b) Churchliness is the second distinctive property every dogma. Due to the fact that dogmas are the work of Revelation, they are also the work of the Church. For the Church is the Body of Revelation. Undoubtedly, Divine Revelation contains all the dogmatic truths of faith, but since Revelation resides only in the Church, the verbal formulation and interpretation of holy dogmas belongs to the Church as the Theanthropic Body of Christ, living and acting by the Holy Spirit. In this activity she is infallible, for her Head is the sinless Lord Jesus Christ, and her soul is the Holy Spirit of truth, guiding into all truth (cf. Eph. 1:23; 5:23; Col. 1:18, 24; John 16:13). It is obvious that churchliness as a property of dogmas is organically and logically determined by their revelation to God and vice versa. However, no human logic can draw a dividing line between revelation and churchliness as properties of dogmas, just as it cannot be drawn between Revelation and the Church. For Revelation is Revelation by the Church and in the Church, just as the Church is the Church by Revelation and in Revelation. By the immutability of their natures, they are internally inextricably connected and interdependent. Outside the Church there can be no dogmas, for outside it there can be no true Divine Revelation. Dogma is dogma only by the Church, in the Church, through the Church. Since the Church is the only guardian and interpreter of the Holy Revelation appointed by God, she is also the only authorized judge who, by Divine gift and right, infallibly distinguishes true Revelation from false, determines the canonicity of the holy books and proclaims revealed truths as dogmas. Outside of it, without it, bypassing it, the eternal truths of Revelation themselves, losing their Divine truth, constancy and immutability, become the prey of self-willed human morals. We see an example of this in heretics, who are usually distinguished by the fact that they interpret the eternal and supramental truths of Revelation according to their own understanding, not at all guided by the holy, conciliar, apostolic, universal reason of the Church. The Lord Jesus Christ made the Church His Theanthropic Body, filled it forever with the Spirit of Truth and determined for it to be the pillar and foundation of the truth (cf.: 1 Tim. 3, 15; see: John 16, 13; 8, 32, 34, 36) , so that through all centuries she will serve as a fearless guardian and infallible interpreter of the eternal, Divine truths of the Holy Scriptures and Holy Tradition. As such, she can neither sin, nor deceive, nor be mistaken. Her word in all matters of Holy Scripture and Holy Tradition is the word of God Himself. In it and by it the Lord Jesus Christ speaks by His Holy Spirit, guiding believers to all the truth of Holy Revelation. The first proof of this is contained in the book of the Acts of the Holy Apostles, when the Church, represented by its representatives, guided by the Holy Spirit, promulgates dogmatic decrees that are binding on all members of the Church, with the words: For it was good for the Holy Spirit and for us (Acts 15:28; cf.: 16 , 4).

In accordance with this divinely revealed, apostolic principle, all the Holy Ecumenical Councils of the Orthodox Church took place, infallibly interpreting and proclaiming the Divine dogmas of the Holy Revelation. Since the Church has such God-given power and the right to establish holy dogmas, the holy fathers call the dogmas dogmas of the Church, church dogmas. Consequently, only one who believes and accepts all the dogmas of faith can be a member of the Church as the Church contains and explains them; and the one who opposes this, rejecting them or distorting them, is cut off by the Church from her Theanthropic Body and excommunicated. Having listed all the dogmas of the previous Ecumenical Councils, the Holy Fathers of the Sixth Ecumenical Council decree: “If anyone of all does not contain and accept the above-mentioned dogmas of piety, and does not think and preach like this, but attempts to go against them: let him be anathema... from the Christian class, as an alien, let him be excluded and cast out" (Rule 1 of the Sixth Ecumenical Council).

c) The universality of dogmas, commanded by the holy fathers of the Sixth Ecumenical Council, is a natural consequence of their Divine origin and necessity for the salvation of every member of the Church. Revealed by the Trisolar Deity, approved and promulgated by the Church of Christ as eternal, Divine truths, immutable for salvation, the dogmas are thereby obligatory for everyone who wants to be saved. Renunciation of them is a renunciation of the Savior and His redemptive feat of salvation [of the human race]. The assimilation of dogmas by faith as eternal, saving and life-giving truths of God brings salvation to every person and eternal life. In their divinely revealed purity and truth, dogmas are necessary for salvation; anyone who attempts to replace or alter them incurs a terrible apostolic anathema: If we, or an angel from heaven, bring you good news, let him be anathema (Gal. 1:8; cf. 1 John 2:21-22). By the authority given to her by the Lord Jesus Christ Himself (see: John 20:21–23; Matt. 18:17–18), the Church has acted and always does this (see: Canon 1 of the Sixth Ecumenical Council). From everyone who approaches it, it requires confession of all Divine dogmas of faith; and if he tolerates various sinners within himself, trying to correct and save them, then in accordance with the commandments of the Savior (see: Matt. 18, 17-18; 10, 32-33; Mark 8, 38; Luke 9, 26; 12:9; cf. 2 Tim. 2:12), excommunicates those who oppose the holy dogmas or pervert them.

Acceptance of dogmas is a universally binding, indispensable condition for salvation also because the moral life of people depends on it. Having assimilated by faith the eternal dogmatic truths of Revelation, man, through the gospel deeds of prayer, fasting, love, hope, meekness, humility, mercy, love of truth and the Holy Sacraments, transforms them into his nature, gradually growing in the age of God in order to come to the measure of the full stature of Christ (Eph. 4 , 13; cf.: Col. 2, 19). Since holy dogmas are eternal and saving Divine truths by the life-giving power of the Trinity Divinity, from Whom they are taught, then they contain all the power of new life according to Christ, all the power of grace-filled gospel morality. They are truly the words of eternal life (John 6:68). Due to the fact that these are the words of Christ, they are spirit and life (John 6:63). Without believing in them, no one can either know the eternal meaning of this temporary life, or be rewarded with blessed immortality and eternal life (see: John 6:69; 14:6; 1 John 5:20). Only when, through the feat of active faith, a person assimilates the eternal dogmatic truths of Christ, only then does he become a branch on the Divine vine - Christ, and the juices of eternal, Divine life begin to flow through him, strengthening him to bear much fruit for eternal life (see: John 15, 2–7). This is the only path along which a person fertilizes his nature, which has been deprived of fruitfulness by sin, with immortality and eternity. There is no other way. A person is capable of growing into the height of Divine perfections (see: Matt. 5:48) if, by the feat of selfless faith, he makes himself a sharer of the root of Divine, Christ truths (cf.: Rom. 11:17).

In reality, dogmas are Divine commandments, Divine rules of new life in the Holy Spirit: after all, with their imperishable light they illuminate the believer’s entire path from the dark cave of the flesh into the heavenly azure of Christ’s eternity. It follows that Orthodox ethics is nothing more than dogmatics embodied in life. New life in Christ everything is woven from the dogmatic truths of Holy Revelation. For the Church is the Body in which divine dogmatic truths flow like blood, reviving with eternal life all parts of the divine-human organism. In the mysterious, grace-filled Body of the Church, everything - by the life-giving power of the Holy Spirit - is connected into one miraculous Divine-human whole. Whoever, through the Orthodox feat of faith, integrates himself into the Theanthropic Body of Christ's Church, will feel with his whole being that dogmas are holy, life-giving forces, gradually regenerating him from mortal to immortal, from temporary to eternal. At the same time, he will begin to realize with all his soul that life-giving dogmatic truths are absolutely necessary in the sphere human life and thinking and that therefore the Church is absolutely right in excommunicating those who reject dogmas or those who distort and reinterpret them. Rejection or distortion of dogmas is tantamount to spiritual suicide, for such a person cuts himself off from the life-giving Body of the Church, thereby interrupting the vital connection between himself and the grace-filled forces of the Church, which alone can fill a person with eternal, Divine life and transfer him from death to this eternal life. The indispensability of holy dogmas justifies all the zeal of the Church regarding the truths of the faith and explains all its God-wise determination in excommunicating those who reject or pervert the Divine dogmas. If the Church became indifferent to this, it would cease to be the Church, since it would thereby confirm that it does not realize the indispensability, life-giving and saving power of the eternal, Divine truths contained in the holy dogmas of Revelation.

Dogmas are generally binding truths of faith also because they are God-given norms of correct religious thinking and correct religious feeling. Relying on them, every Christian can elevate his thoughts and feelings to unattainable divine perfections. Outside of them, he constantly drowns in the quicksand of human relativism until it completely swallows him. Nowhere - neither on earth nor in heaven - is there greater freedom and more favorable opportunities for the immortal activity of human thought and feeling, as in the Divine, dogmatic truths of the Church, for they introduce man into the Kingdom of the Trinity Divinity, in which everything is infinite, eternal and immeasurable . Is there anywhere greater freedom than in the inexhaustible depths and boundless heights of God’s Spirit? The Apostle, who says: where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom, proclaims eternal truth (2 Cor. 3:17; cf. 1 Cor. 2:10-12; Rom. 8:16).

d) Immutability as a property of dogmas follows from their divine revelation, churchliness and necessity for human life and salvation. As God-given rules of faith, on the assimilation of which the salvation of people depends, dogmas are unchangeable and inviolable, therefore the Ecumenical Church of Christ anathema protects their immutability from those who encroach on it (see: Rule 1 of the Sixth Ecumenical Council). Just as God does not change, so His truths are immutable. Since dogmas are eternal, Divine truths, they do not change and cannot change, for they are from God, with whom there is no change or shadow of turning (James 1:17). The dogmas taught to the Church by God Himself, formulated and approved by the Church, are alien to any evolution, multiplication or reduction. “The dogmas of God are unchangeable,” says Saint Basil the Great. “The dogmas of heavenly philosophy,” writes Vikenty Lerinsky, “cannot be subject to any change, reduction or distortion, unlike earthly decrees, which can only be improved by constant amendments and notes.”

From the indicated properties that characterize dogmas as eternal, Divine truths, it follows that dogmas are the truths of Revelation, given by God to the Church as Divine, unchangeable and obligatory for all true rules of faith, without which and outside of which there is neither salvation nor knowledge of eternal life, no meaning in life.

§ 4. Dogmas and Holy Revelation

Divine Revelation is the only source of dogma. The Trinity Deity revealed Himself and His truths to people, so that they, having a correct idea of Him and correct faith in Him, and also living by Him and His Divine truths, would find salvation for themselves from evil and sin and eternal life. God taught this Revelation gradually, through the holy Old Testament patriarchs and prophets, in order to finally fully announce it and complete it with His Only Begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. In many parts and in many ways, God of old, who was spoken by the Father as a prophet, in these last days spoke to us in the Son, Who set the heir to all, and in Him created the eyelids. In announcing His Revelation, God did not inflict any violence on the human mind and feelings, for He announced such Divine truths that people would never have comprehended either by the impulse of their thoughts or by the strength of their own sensations. By His Holy Spirit, God taught people what no human eye could ever see, no ear hear, no heart feel - he revealed the wisdom hidden in the mystery of His Most Holy Being (see: 1 Cor. 2, 9, 10, 7 ). This God's wisdom - eternal, infinite, surpassing reason - could be taught to people only through God's direct Revelation (cf. Eph. 3:3; Gal. 1:12). And what is most amazing is that it is not expressed in words, but is revealed embodied in the Person of the God-man, the Lord Jesus Christ - therefore Revelation reveals and preaches Christ, God’s power and God's wisdom(1 Cor. 1:24; cf. Rom. 1:16), in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (Col. 2:3). Consequently, the Revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ is one in nature, in perfection, in completeness, for He in His Theanthropic Person really reveals God and all God’s truths contained within the boundaries of the human body and in the temporal and spatial category of human life (see: Col. 2 , 9; John 14, 9; 1 John 1, 1–2). The Word became flesh (John 1:14), and with Him all Divine truths, for in Christ dwells all the fullness of the Divinity bodily (Col. 2:9). Having become flesh, He announced to us, revealed, showed God, which no one, neither before nor after Him, could or can do. Therefore, the apostle truly preaches the gospel: no one has ever seen God; The Only Begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has revealed (John 1:18; cf.: 6:46; 5:37; 12:45). The Savior Himself testifies to this: No one knows the Son except the Father; no one knows the Father except the Son, and whatever the Son wills to reveal (Matt. 11:27; cf. John 3:34–35; 6:46; Matthew 16, 17).

Such a Revelation, Divine in everything, perfect, surpassing reason, serves as the only source of holy Divine dogmas. “We are not given the power to affirm anything we want,” testifies Saint Gregory of Nyssa, “in every dogma we are guided by the Holy Scripture as a rule and law... Therefore, we refuse to postulate our dogmas, guided by the rules of dialectical art, on the basis of conclusions and decomposition of concepts, built by knowledge - after all, such an image of presentation is unreliable and suspicious when verifying the truth. For everyone understands that dialectical pomp has the same power for both one and the other - both for the overthrow of truth and for the condemnation of lies." Since the Trinity Lord, having taught Revelation orally and in writing, handed it over to His Church for safekeeping, explanation and preaching, Divine Revelation is the source of holy dogmas in its two forms: Holy Scripture and Holy Tradition. Holy Bible and the Holy Tradition in its Divine purity and completeness is preserved, explained and preached by the One Holy Catholic Apostolic infallible Orthodox Church of Christ. That's how they talk about it in modern times Orthodox first hierarchs: " Orthodox Christian must accept as true and undoubted that all members of the faith of the Catholic and Orthodox Church were betrayed to it by our Lord Jesus Christ through His Apostles, explained and approved by the Ecumenical Councils, and believe in them, as the Apostle commands: Therefore, brethren, stand and hold traditions, which you will learn either by word or by our message (2 Sol. 2:15). From this it is clear that members of the faith receive their importance and firmness partly from the Holy Scriptures, partly from Church Tradition and the teachings of the Holy Councils and Holy Fathers... that is, dogmas are of two kinds: some are handed down in writing and are contained in the books of Holy Scripture, while others are handed down orally the apostles; and these were explained by the Holy Councils and Holy Fathers. Our faith is based on these two kinds of dogmas... Although the Church is a creation of God, made up of men, its head is Christ Himself, the true God, and the Holy Spirit, Who constantly teaches her and makes her, as the Apostle says, the bride of Christ, without spot or wrinkle (Eph. 5:27) and a pillar and ground of the truth (cf. 1 Tim. 3:15). And its dogmas and teachings do not come from people, but from God. Therefore, when we say that we believe in the Church, we mean that we believe in the Scriptures, given to her by God, and in her God-inspired dogmas... This very thing encourages us to believe not only in the Holy Gospel, accepted by the Church, which Christ commanded, saying: believe in Gospel (Mark 1:15), but also in all other Scriptures and Council definitions." “We believe,” testify the Orthodox patriarchs in the “Message of the Patriarchs of the Eastern Catholic Church on the Orthodox Faith,” that the Divine and Sacred Scriptures are inspired by God; therefore, we must believe it unquestioningly, and not in our own way, but exactly as it was explained and transmitted by the Ecumenical (Catholic) Church. For the superstition of heretics accepts the Divine Scripture, but only misrepresents it... Therefore, we believe that the testimony of the Catholic Church has no less power than the Divine Scripture. Since the author of both is one and the same Holy Spirit, it makes no difference whether one learns from Scripture or from the Universal Church. A person who speaks from himself can sin, deceive and be deceived, but the Universal Church, since she has never spoken and does not speak from herself, but from the Spirit of God (Whom she continually has and will have as her Teacher until the ages), in no way cannot sin, nor deceive, nor be deceived, but, like Divine Scripture, is infallible and has everlasting importance.”

Bibliography

To prepare this work, materials were used from the site http://www.portal-slovo.ru/

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Father! Sanctify them with Your truth; Your word is truth.
(John 17:17)

Origin of dogmas

In apostolic times, the word “dogma” generally meant all Christian teaching - dogmatic and moral, but with the development of theological thought this term began to be understood more specifically.

In the 4th century, Saint Cyril of Jerusalem writes “Catechetical Teachings,” where he reveals the truths of the Creed, as well as the doctrine of the main church sacraments. At the same time, Saint Gregory of Nyssa created the “Great Catechetical Word” - an important experience in systemic dogmatic presentation.

In the 5th century, Blessed Theodoret of Cyrus writes “Abridgement (abbreviated presentation) of Divine Dogmas.”

In the West, around the same time, St. Augustine compiled the “Manual for Lawrence,” which resembles a catechism.

But, undoubtedly, the treatise is deservedly considered the best work of the 1st millennium, where Christian doctrine is deeply and accurately revealed. St. John Damascene “The Source of Knowledge”, and specifically, the third part of this book – “An accurate exposition of the Orthodox faith”.

Since the 4th century, the Eastern Fathers of the Church began to call “dogmas” not all the truths contained in Revelation, but only those related to the field of faith. Thus, Saint Gregory of Nyssa divides the content of his teaching into “the moral part and the precise dogmas.”

The Greek word “dogma” with an emphasis on the first syllable, feminine gender, entered the Russian language and in common parlance has a negative connotation of something frozen and lifeless (just like the word “dogmatic”).

The masculine word “dogma” with an emphasis on the second syllable goes back to Slavic liturgical texts:

“Like the royal adornment of the Church, let us all praise Vasily, the treasure of dogmas is infinite”; “Today the Church celebrates the honorable triumph of the three teachers, for they established the Church with their divine dogmas.”

Dogma is a Greek word; it means an immutable truth, accepted on faith and universally binding for Christians (from the Greek dogma - “law”, “rule”, “decree”).

Over time, in the dogmatic systems of the East and West, this word began to designate, as a rule, only those doctrinal truths that were discussed at the Ecumenical Councils and received conciliar definitions or formulations.

Dogmas are the decisions of the Ecumenical Councils on various issues faith. Dogmas, for the most part, are called definitions because they draw the line between truth and error, between sickness and health. They are the property of the entire Church as developed by its collective mind.

Dogmatic definitions express revealed truth and determine the life of the Church. Consequently, on the one hand, they are an expression of Revelation, and on the other hand, they serve as a healing means leading a person to communication with God, to the goal of our existence.

Dogmas are divinely revealed truths containing the teaching about God and His Economy, which the Church defines and confesses as unchangeable and indisputable provisions of the Orthodox faith. The characteristic features of dogmas are their doctrinal nature, divine revelation, churchliness and universal obligatory nature.

Church Experience

The experience of the Church is broader and fuller than dogmatic definitions. Only the most necessary and essential for salvation is dogmatized. There is still a lot that is mysterious and unrevealed in the Holy Scriptures. This determines the existence of theological opinions. We meet them in the works of the Church Fathers and in theological writings. The theological opinion must contain a truth that is at least consistent with Revelation.

Theological opinion is not a general church teaching, like dogma, but is the personal judgment of a particular theologian.

Christianity is not limited to moral teaching. The Gospel is not one of a collection of moralistic injunctions. Morality, even the highest, in itself does not provide the strength to fulfill its requirements. Only with the assistance of the grace of Christ can a person truly become moral person who does good “purely” “...Without Me you can do nothing,” says the Savior (John 15:5).

The dogmatic definitions of the Orthodox Church were adopted at the Seven Ecumenical Councils, reflected in the Nicene-Constantinople Creed and have immutable authority.

Dogmas are now understood as doctrinal truths that were discussed and approved at the Ecumenical Councils.

Dogmatic conciliar definitions of Orthodoxy are designated Greek word"oros" (oros). Literally it means “limit”, “border”.

Using dogmas, the Church determines the human mind in the true knowledge of God and limits it from possible errors.

The presence of a strict and distinct religious consciousness is a characteristic feature and advantage of Orthodoxy. This feature of church teaching dates back to the times of the apostolic preaching. It was the apostles who first used the word “dogma” in the meaning of a doctrinal definition. “As they passed through the cities, they conveyed to the faithful to observe the definitions (Greek - ta dogmata) established by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem,” testifies St. Evangelist Luke (Acts 16:4). The Apostle Paul in his letters to the Colossians (Col. 2:14) and Ephesians (Eph. 2:15) uses the word “dogma” in the meaning Christian teaching in its entirety.

Acceptance of dogmas does not mean the introduction of new truths. Dogmas always reveal the original, unified and integral teaching of the Church in relation to new issues and circumstances.

Orthodox dogmas

According to St. Maximus the Confessor The divine dogmas of Orthodoxy can be reduced to two main ones. “The limit of Orthodoxy is the pure knowledge of two dogmas of faith, the Trinity and the Two,” points out St. Gregory Sinait. Honoring the unmerged and indivisible Holy Trinity, one God in three Persons, in Whom the Mind is the Father, the Word is the Son, the Holy Spirit is the Spirit, as the Holy Fathers generally teach, is the anchor of Christian hope. The veneration of the Trinity is necessarily associated with the veneration of the Two, that is, the confession of the Son God's Jesus Christ in one Person, two natures and wills, divine and human, unmerged and inseparably united.

“The word spoken about this in the Gospel can be understood this way,” teaches St. Gregory Sinait. “This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God in three hypostases, and Jesus Christ, whom You sent, in two natures and desires (John 17:3).”

Since the subject of dogma is the eternal dogmatic truths of Holy Revelation, testifying about God in Himself and about God in His relation to the world and man, it is accordingly divided into two parts, each of which has its own subsections.

The first part examines God in Himself, the second - in His relation to the world and man. According to this, the first part includes dogmas about the existence of God, about the quality and degree of knowledge of God, about God’s being and His properties, about the unity God's beings and about the Holy Trinity.

The second part consists of dogmas about God as the Creator of the world, about God as a Provider, about God as a Savior, about God as a Sanctifier and about God as a Judge.

The main tenets of Orthodoxy are as follows:

Dogma of the Holy Trinity
Dogma of the Fall
Dogma of the Redemption of Mankind from Sin
Dogma of the Incarnation of Our Lord Jesus Christ
Dogma of the Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ
Dogma of the Ascension of Our Lord Jesus Christ
Dogma of the Second Coming of the Savior and the Last Judgment
Dogma on the unity, conciliarity of the Church and the continuity of teaching and priesthood in it
Dogma about the general resurrection of people and the future life
Dogma of the two natures of the Lord Jesus Christ. Accepted for IV Ecumenical Council in - Chalcedon
The dogma of two wills and actions in the Lord Jesus Christ. Adopted at the VI Ecumenical Council in Constantinople
Dogma on icon veneration. Adopted at the VII Ecumenical Council in Nicaea

The attitude of the human mind to dogmas as the eternal truths of Christ is determined by the attitude of the Lord Jesus Himself to the human mind in its sinful essence.

Based on the experience of the Church and patristic teaching, we can say that the dogmas underlying Christian morality represent the only correct criterion for assessing the actions and behavior of a reasonable and free person

What does the Lord Jesus Christ generally require from every person as a condition for following Him?

Only one thing: denying yourself and taking up your cross. “If anyone wants to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me” (Matthew 16:24; cf. Mark 8:34; Luke 14:26–27; John 12:24 –26).

To deny oneself means to renounce one’s sinful personality, one’s self. A person achieves this if, through the personal feat of faith in Christ, he crucifies sin and everything sinful within himself and around him; if he dies to sin and death in order to come to life for our sinless and immortal Lord Jesus Christ (see: Col. 3, 3-8; Rom. 6, 6. 10-13; Gal. 2, 19; 6, 14).
Bibliography

Conversation with the priest. Vadim Leonov “The importance of the dogmas of faith does not decrease from century to century”Orthodoxy.Ru
Dogmas of Orthodox Theology Almanac East Issue: N 10(22), October 2004
Dogmatics of the Orthodox Church http://trsobor.ru/listok.php?id=339
Pravoslavie.ru
Guide to the study of Christian, Orthodox-dogmatic theology St. Petersburg, 1997
Service to the Three Saints: Festive Menaion. M., 1970, p. 295-296
St. John of Damascus. Exact statement Orthodox faith. M., 1992
Priest Alexander Shargunov. Dogma in Christian life. Trinity-Sergius Lavra. Zagorsk. 1981–1982

Alexander A. Sokolovsky