SR
← Letters on the Christian Life/Book 1 · Письма о христианской жизни
Chapter 96FeofanPisma.1.96

Письмо 96

The Vanity of Rationalist Criticism

The author critiques those who dismiss the saving practices of the Church as mere human invention, urging instead an experiential approach to faith.

I'll say a quick word about N. N.1 It's striking how he boasts of a purified faith while having no faith at all—just clever theorizing.2 And all people like him put on a high tone of sound judgment, while in reality they suffer from apostasy from the pattern of sound words the holy Apostles set before us. I don't think you needed a written refutation for every idea presented to you. You know their falsehood; by experience you've learned how saving the whole order of God's Church is — in every detail, right down to the incense of the censer and a simple offering brought to God's temple.3 Even if all of this is an invention, as they claim, it is a saving invention. Our church life fences us in like a wall and covers us like armor.4 These gentlemen of empty wisdom want to make us an open target for the enemy's arrows.5 Suppose someone is shooting arrows at you. You protect yourself with a small shield. Along comes N. N. and says: Drop it—this is the work of human hands.✦ Get away! You arrogant know-it-all!6 This isn't the time to play the clever critic when the enemy is right in front of you, and the help you need against him comes from the very thing you're aiming your empty-headed questions at. If there were no proven experience of how saving everything we hold is, clever theorizing might make some sense; but since that experience exists, what's the point of theorizing? To anyone, you can say: "Come and see."✦ There was a belief: "Can anything good come from Nazareth?"✦ And everyone thought so—Nathanael included.✦ But what actually happened proved otherwise. In the same way, our clever ones cling to the idea that there's nothing good in God's Church—or in what they call the hierarchy's homemade invention.✦7 But has even one of them made it his duty to test the matter by practice? If they had tested it, they would stop their empty cleverness.8 But they don't want to test it, because that takes work and a change of life.

The Trap of Private Judgment

The author exposes the danger of 'sola scriptura' when used as a pretext for self-will and rationalism, citing the spiritual ruin seen in modern movements.

Those little questions you've heard are only the tips. Deeper down lies an entire system of errors, the most dangerous and ruinous for the individual and for humanity. Here the dispute is the willfulness of the mind set against God's unchallengeable authority over minds, an authority expressed in the defining pattern of thought in the confession of faith.9 Our clever ones don't want to listen to anyone except their own minds. But since they know that God's commands cannot be ignored, they keep insisting: "We're ready to listen to God, but not to people—not under any circumstances." God's commands are contained in the Word of God." And so they have their saying: listen only to the Word of God, that is, e. It's what is written, and nothing more. But how do they listen to this word? As they understand it. And how do they understand it? As they want to understand it by their own reasoning. So it turns out that in this case, they only respect their own mind and its arbitrary reasoning. For them, the Word of God is just a pretext, a cover for their self-will.10 . . But in fact, it's unbridled cleverness. Look at what people like this have produced in Germany. From what? From this: they won't submit to anyone except the Gospel. And they won't interpret the Gospel in any way other than what they find fitting by their own reasoning.11 What is the end of this? Their end is Strauss.12 . . In other words, it's a complete rejection of Christianity, and consequently ruin—because without Christ the Savior, there is no salvation.13 Germany has proven all of this by its actions.

The Firmness of Apostolic Tradition

The author defends the Church's hierarchy and customs as an unbroken chain of apostolic tradition, rejecting the charge of human innovation.

In God's holy Church, that kind of wavering, unsettled shifting of thoughts and clever theorizing is impossible. Here, the standard for reasoning is fixed once and for all in the holy14 Creed, handed down already from the Apostles and kept by the Holy Orthodox Church.15 Our law is this: listen to what everyone says, from the holy16 Apostles down to us across the whole extent of Christ's true Church, and submit to that. Do you see how strong this is? The entire host of the saved and those being saved holds to this.17 What do lone individuals amount to here when they speak against the truth? Each of us is firm, just as the whole Church of God is firm. And thanks be to the Lord! From this, you can already see how senseless the phrase "a homemade hierarchy" really is.18 The question is, which one? Certainly not the real one. Because with the real one, we take what came before and consider ourselves bound to keep everything we received. If our predecessors were still alive, they too would give the same answer to this question, and so on. . . And as for us Russians, we didn't invent anything. We act according to what's written in the rule, and that rule was taken from the Greeks. So if there were any homemade inventions of the kind they talk about, they have to be assigned to the ninth century.19 Go further and ask the Greeks: where did you get such church orders? There's only one answer: from their predecessors, too. Look at the councils: how did they settle their affairs? By following the holy20 fathers who came before them. . . And this, starting from the Seventh Council and going back up to the First, they all say: “following the holy fathers,” i. e. — not one council invented anything, but defined as law and published as law what had always been kept by everyone. We must conclude, then, that the Greek hierarchy of the council period didn't invent anything on its own, but only received and preserved it.21 . . Go further still, from the First Council back to the Apostles. For two centuries, the Church was hunted down and persecuted with bitter ferocity here. Was there any time to invent things on their own? Far from it. If only they could preserve what had been entrusted to them. After reasoning through all this calmly, one must conclude that neither our hierarchy nor the Greek hierarchy was inventing things for itself. In every age, the hierarchs in place received what was handed down and guarded it like the apple of their eye, afraid to change even the smallest detail of what was commanded. All hierarchs are obedient servants of the established order. In this way, once you've traced the whole chain of events, you'll see more clearly that the source of all church institutions is in the holy.22 Apostles.23 . . They didn't write down everything they taught or everything they established in the Church.✦ Much—very much—remained unwritten and was instead brought into practice. It was preserved in practice and has come down to us. So, anyone who claims to submit to the Apostles must accept everything held by the holy24 Church.25

Courage in Spiritual Warfare

The author concludes with a pastoral word of comfort, reminding the reader that the power of God is greater than any worldly or demonic opposition.

But that's enough. I've written you a little about this, knowing that even a little is enough for you. . . You've been troubled! It's impossible not to be troubled. After all, what hellish vapors—26 . . stench and scorched reek. . . Still, take courage.27 The One who is in us is greater than the one who is in the world.✦28

Read the original Russian

Берусь поскорее сказать что-нибудь об N. N. Удивительно, как он хвалится очищенною верою, не имея веры, а только мудрствуя. Да и все подобные берут на себя высокий тон здравомыслия, страдая на деле отступничеством от образа здравых словес, указаннаго нам святыми Апостолами.

Не думаю, чтоб для вас нужно было писать опровержение всех высказанных пред вами мыслей. Вы знаете ложь их, опытом дознали спасительность всего учреждения в Божией Церкви, во всех подробностях, до ладана кадильницы и простаго приношения ко храму Божию. Если все это и выдумка, как говорят они, то спасительная выдумка. Как оградою ограждены и как латами прикрыты мы нашею церковностию. Эти господа-суемудры хотят сделать из нас открытую цель для стрел врага. Положите, что в вас кто-нибудь пускает стрелы. Вы ограждаетесь каким-нибудь щитком. Подходит N.

N. и говорит: бросьте, это дело рук человеческих. Поди прочь! Суемудрый! Тут некогда умничать, когда враг пред глазами и получается против него помощь от того, на что обращаешь ты суемудренные вопросы. Если б не было опытнаго дознания спасительности всего, что мы содержим, умствования имели бы еще смысл; а как есть такое дознание, то к чему умствовать? Всякому можно сказать: «Прииди и виждь». Было поверье: «от Назарета может ли что добро быти?»

и все так думали, и Нафанаил. А дело показало иное. Вот и умники наши держатся поверья, что ничего нет добраго в Церкви Божией, или в том, что они называют самоделием иерархии. А поставил ли хоть один из них себе в долг испытать делом? Если б испытали, перестали бы суемудрствовать. А испытать не хотят, потому что это требует труда и перемены жизни.

Те вопросцы, что вы слышали, суть только верхушки. Глубже лежит целая система заблуждений, самых опасных и гибельных для человека и человечества. Тут в споре состоит своеволие ума с непререкаемою властию Бога над умами, выражаемою определяющим образом мыслей в исповедании веры. Умники наши не хотят никого слушать, кроме своего ума. Но как есть сознание, что Божиих повелений нельзя не слушать, то они твердят: «Бога слушать готовы, но людей ни за что. Повеления Божия содержатся в Слове Божием». Вот и есть у них поговорка: слушать только слова Божия, т. е.

, то, что писано, и кроме того – ничего. Но как они слушают сего слова? Так, как понимают. А как понимают? Так, как хотят понимать по своему соображению. И вышло, что и в сем случае они уважают только свой ум и его произвольные соображения. Слово Божие у них только предлог, прикрышка своеволия. .

. а дело – необузданное умничанье. Смотрите, что подобные люди произвели в Германии? От чего? От того, что никому покориться не хотят, кроме Евангелия. А Евангелие не хотят иначе понимать, как так, как находят сличным по своим соображениям. Конец сего какой? Конец их – Страус.

. . иначе, отвержение Христианства полное, и следственно – пагуба, – ибо без Христа Спасителя нет спасения. Германия все сие оправдала делом.

Во святой Божией Церкви невозможно такое шатание и колебание мыслей и умничаний. Тут определена однажды навсегда норма умствования во св. Символе, от Апостолов еще преданная и содержимая Святою Православною Церковию. У нас вот какой закон: слушай, что все говорят, от св. Апостолов до нас на всем пространстве Христовой истинной Церкви, и покоряйся тому. Видите, какая крепость? Весь сонм спасенных и спасаемых так содержит. Что тут значат единицы, говорящия в противность истине?

Каждый из нас крепок, как крепка вся Церковь Божия. И благодарение Господу!

Отсюда уже можете догадываться, как бессмысленна фраза: самодельщина иерархии. Спрашивается, какой? Уж верно не настоящей. Ибо настоящая, – мы – берем то, что было прежде, и обязанными себя считаем хранить все, что приняли. Если б живы были предшественники наши, и они тоже бы сказали на вопрос сей, и так далее. . . Да что касается до нас – Русских, то мы ничего не придумывали.

Мы действуем так, как в уставе написано, а устав взят у Греков. Стало быть, если было самодельничанье, о коем говорят они, то его надо отнесть за IX-й век. Идите далее и спрашивайте Греков: откуда вы взяли такие церковные порядки? Ответ один: тоже от предшественников. Посмотрите на соборы: как они решали свои дела? – последующе св. отцам, прежде их бывшим. .

. И это, начиная с седьмаго собора и восходя до перваго, все говорят: «последующе святым отцам», т. е. , ни один собор ничего не придумывал, а определял в закон и обнародывал, как закон, то, что было всегда всеми содержимо. Надо положить потому, что и греческая иерархия времени соборов ничего не самодельничала, а только принимала и хранила. . . Восходите далее от перваго собора до Апостолов.

Тут два века Церковь гонима и преследуема с ожесточением. Было ли тут время самодельничать? Куда тут! Хоть бы сохранить вверенное. Так сообразив все в спокойном духе, надо положить, что ни наша, ни греческая иерархия не самодельничали. Во всякое время наличные иерархи принимали переданное и хранили то, как зеницу ока, страшась хоть мало изменить что в заповеданном. Все иерархи – послушные рабы узаконеннаго порядка. Таким образом, проследя всю цепь событий, яснее узрите, что источник всех церковных учреждений в св.

Апостолах. . . Ведь они не все написали, чему учили и что заводили в Церкви. Многое, очень многое осталось не записанным, а введенным в практику. В практике это сохранилось и дошло до нас. Стало быть, кто хвалится покорностию Апостолам, тот должен принимать все содержимое св. Церковию.

Но довольно. Это я вам кое-что написал, зная, что для вас достаточно и малаго. . . Вы смутились! Нельзя не смутиться. Ведь, что адские пары. .

. вонь и изгарь. . . Обаче мужайтесь. Болий есть иже в нас, нежели – иже в мире.

Scripture echoes

  1. ↩Ps.115.4;Isa.2.8;Acts.17.24-Acts.17.25 — Their idols are silver and gold, the work of human hands. Isa.2.8 — And his land is full of idols; they bow down to the work of their hands, to what their fingers have made. Acts.17.24 — The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands. Acts.17.25 — nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all people life and breath and everything.
  2. ↩John.1.46 — Nathanael said to him, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" Philip said to him, "Come and see."
  3. ↩John.1.46 — Nathanael said to him, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" Philip said to him, "Come and see."
  4. ↩John.1.46 — Nathanael said to him, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" Philip said to him, "Come and see."
  5. ↩John.1.46 — Nathanael said to him, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" Philip said to him, "Come and see."
  6. ↩John.21.25;2Thess.2.15 — There are also many other things that Jesus did; if every one of them were written down, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written. 2Thess.2.15 — So then, brothers and sisters, stand firm and hold to the traditions that you were taught, whether by word of mouth or by our letter.
  7. ↩1John.4.4 — You are from God, little children, and you have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.

Notes

  1. 1 ↩Source preserves the anonymizing initial N. as in the Russian; not expanded.
  2. 2 ↩мудрствуя carries Feofan's pejorative sense of empty cleverness/sophistry, not genuine wisdom; rendered as 'clever theorizing'.
  3. 3 ↩учреждение rendered as 'order' (the Church's established arrangement of worship and practice), not a modern institutional bureaucracy.
  4. 4 ↩церковность: Feofan's term for the whole churchly ethos and practice; rendered 'churchly life' rather than abstract 'churchliness'.
  5. 5 ↩суемудры: vain/empty sages; kept as 'gentlemen of empty wisdom' to preserve Feofan's scornful tone without inventing a name.
  6. 6 ↩Суемудрый is Feofan's loaded term for empty, self-important cleverness about holy things—not mere intelligence. Rendered as 'vain wiseacre' to keep the contempt without archaic 'vain-wisdom' jargon.
  7. 7 ↩самоделие is colloquial/older Russian for something self-made or homemade; here the critics dismiss the church hierarchy as a human fabrication rather than divine order.
  8. 8 ↩суемудрствовать is pejorative 'vain/empty philosophizing' (cf. суемудрый in the previous section); rendered as empty cleverness to keep the modern register while preserving the rebuke.
  9. 9 ↩«выражаемою определяющим образом мыслей в исповедании веры» may mean either that God's authority is expressed by the creed's defining pattern of thought, or that it is expressed as a defining mode of thinking within the confession of faith. The rendering takes the former, with the participial clause modifying «властию».
  10. 10 ↩своеволия: rendered 'self-will' to match the letter's polemic against willful private judgment; 'willfulness' is equally possible.
  11. 11 ↩сличным is older/rare Russian for 'fitting/suitable' (cf. приличным); rendered as 'fitting'.
  12. 12 ↩Страус almost certainly names David Friedrich Strauss, the German biblical critic; kept as the surname alone, matching the source's abrupt punch.
  13. 13 ↩Russian «иначе» after naming Strauss (end of previous section) can mean 'otherwise' or 'in other words / that amounts to'; rendering as 'In other words' to keep the appositive force linking Strauss with full rejection of Christianity.
  14. 14 ↩Sentence breaks mid-phrase before «Символе» (Creed); continues in s3. «св.» expands as «святом».
  15. 15 ↩«Символ» = Symbol of Faith / Creed (the Church's fixed rule of belief).
  16. 16 ↩Sentence breaks mid-phrase after «св.»; continues with «Апостолов» in s5.
  17. 17 ↩«спасенных и спасаемых» preserves the Orthodox distinction between those already saved and those in the process of being saved.
  18. 18 ↩Russian самодельщина is a pejorative for amateur, do-it-yourself fabrication; rendered as 'homemade' to keep the dismissive force without slang.
  19. 19 ↩«самодельничанье» continues the polemic of «самодельщина» (homemade/DIY fabrication of hierarchy); rendered as 'homemade invention' to keep the dismissive force without slang.
  20. 20 ↩Fragment of the traditional conciliar formula «последующе св. отцам»; «св.» expands to «святым» (holy). Continues in the next sentence.
  21. 21 ↩самодельничала: not mere DIY craft, but unauthorized self-invention of church order; rendered as “invent anything on its own” to match the letter’s polemic.
  22. 22 ↩Source sentence ends mid-phrase at «в св.»; continues in next section with «Апостолах» (Apostles).
  23. 23 ↩Completes the previous sentence’s ‘в св.’: ‘in the holy Apostles.’
  24. 24 ↩Sentence continues into s8 (‘Церковию’): full sense is ‘everything held by the holy Church.’
  25. 25 ↩Instrumental ‘Церковию’ completes s7: ‘the holy Church.’
  26. 26 ↩Fragment appears to continue into the next section (FeofanPisma.1.96.17: «вонь и изгарь»). Rendered from the incomplete supplied reading only.
  27. 27 ↩Обаче is Church Slavonic for 'nevertheless/yet'; мужайтесь is the biblical imperative 'be brave / take heart' (cf. common Slavonic scriptural cadence).
  28. 28 ↩Church Slavonic phrasing (Болий есть иже... нежели иже...) of 1 John 4:4; 'Болий' = greater; 'иже' = who/he who.

Letters on the Christian Life companion

Rule yourself daily, not just on retreat

Chosen Portion turns the mirror into a daily practice — a short reading and examining question each morning before you lead anyone.

Chosen Portion makes the mirror daily: the ruler-formation questions this collection preserves become a two-minute morning examination in the app.

  • A daily formation reading drawn from centuries of counsel to those in authority
  • One pointed examination question a day — two minutes, before the meetings start
  • Track your practice over weeks and watch the examined life become a habit
Chosen Portion — Daily Prayer (free iOS app) →