FROM THE FATHERS “EVEN if you are not what you should be, you should not despair. It is bad enough that you have sinned; why in addition do you wrong God by regarding Him in your ignorance as powerless? Is He, Who for your sake created the great universe that you behold, incapable of saving your soul? And if you say that this fact, as well as His incarnation, only makes your con- demnation worse, then repent; and He will receive your re- pentance,as He accepted that of the prodigal son(Lk.15:20) and the harlot (Lk. 7:37-50). But if repentance is too much for you, and you sin out of habit even when you do not want to, show humility like the publican (Lk. 18:13): this is enough to ensure your salvation. For he who sins without repenting, yet does not despair, must necessarily regard himself as the lowest of crea- tures, and will not dare to judge or censure anyone. Rather, he will marvel at God’s compassion, and will be full of gratitude towards his Benefactor, and so may receive other blessings as well. Even if he is subject to the devil in that he sins, yet from fear of God he disobeys the enemy when the latter tries to make him despair. Because of this he has his portion with God; for he is grateful, gives thanks, is patient, fears God, does not judge so that he may not be judged.” Saint Peter of Damascus,+ Eleventh or Twelfth Century “HAS some good thought come to you? Have you felt some good impulse or inclination in your heart? Stop! Check it with the Gospel.” Saint Ignatius of the Caucasus, +1867 A.D. 1 On Religious Ignorance . for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak this to your shame (1 Cor.15:34). TO ACCUSE someone of ignorance, to call them ignorant, is one of the most biting offences that one could direct towards a person in our “enlightened” era. It is considered to be a great attainment for an educated person to master knowledge in matters that are not directly connected to his profession although it is not considered shameful to lack this extra know- ledge. For example, society holds the lawyer in special regard if he possesses some medical knowledge. It highly regards the doctor who has knowledge of the law, the city-dweller who understands farming, or the farmer who has mastered a trade. I repeat that all of this extra knowledge is highly regarded although we cannot demand it of everyone. No one would even dream of upbraiding us for our lack of knowledge on those subjects which do not fall within the sphere of our work and responsibilities. On the other hand, it is demanded, and should be required, that we possess the knowledge which directly relates to our duties and responsibilities. Ignorance in these areas is considered to be disgraceful and shameful. All Orthodox Christians, regardless of calling or position in life, should have a proper knowledge of the truths of our Ortho- dox Faith. This demand is something intrinsic, natural, and absolutely necessary. If it is disgraceful and shameful not to know that which applies to our profession, if we are embarrassed when someone upbraids us because of ignorance in this area, then how much more shameful and disgraceful is it to be ignorant of our Faith? This is not our own [private] thought or our own expression. Saint Paul himself considers it shameful to lack a complete and solid spiritual understanding: I speak this to your shame, he says, for some have not the knowledge of God (1Cor.15:34). 2 Further, we might say that, if everyone is expected to have knowledge, if it is demanded of us to know the slightest detail about our work, it is certainly imperative that we possess the knowledge of that which is most important. Our religion, our Faith, is not only important to us, but it is the most important thing on earth. Through faith, we come to a know- ledge of God and His holy will. Through faith, we learn how to serve Him, and we learn the means by which we may attain salvation. There are fields of knowledge which are associated with earthly success, honour, or disgrace. It is important for a mer- chant to have a solid understanding of his profession, for the labourer to know his trade, for the farmer to know agriculture. One makes his livelihood through these means. One attains a good position, wealth, and respect through knowledge. What is all of this compared to what faith offers us? Only through faith can we please God. Only our religion (Orthodoxy) can give us inner peace, without which true happiness in this life is unthinkable despite the greatness of our external well-being. All human knowledge which departs from God and His holy will is empty and dangerous. We read in the Wisdom of Solo- mon, Surely vain are all men by nature, who are ignorant of God (Wis. 13:1). In the Gospel of Saint John, we read that the knowledge of God is most important and of the utmost necessity: And this is life eternal, that they might know Thee the only true God and Jesus Christ, Whom Thou hast sent (Jn17:3). The most important of all of the things that we can do on this earth is to know, to love, and to serve God. Man naturally wants to know much. However, what is all of this knowledge if its entire foundation is not in God? Since faith is most important to us, we are acquainted with it, with its teachings, and with its demands from our infancy. Christian parents already converse with their children about the merciful Heavenly Father, about that which pleases Him, and about that which offends Him, before they even begin to ac- quaint them with worldly matters. In our churches, we hear 3 sermons about faith and Christian morality on Sundays and on feast days during the services. Our pastors are always prepared to offer their knowledge to those who have a desire to acquire it. If we agree that faith is the most important thing for a man, if we do not lack the means and opportunity to acquire information about our Faith, then our ignorance of the truths of Orthodoxy and our Christian obligations should be considered disgraceful in the highest degree. This ignorance is a result of the fact that we refuse to take advantage of the means and circumstances to enlighten ourselves although we understand the importance of this matter. Let us turn our attention to the means which is available to all, that is, the reading of spiritual books. The ability to read, which we learned while in school, is in no way shameful. What is disgraceful is to either forget to read or to use this ability for idiotic and harmful reading. The majority of people do not even pick up books. If they do read, they read that which is useless and, frequently, harmful. We would have no complaint if they would at least read those books which would offer practical information on housekeeping or some trade. On the other hand, as we have noted, the best reading is of spiritual books since we acquire from these books the most important information, knowledge of our Faith.[Nowadays, of course, we have the internet as well and can learn many things from it if we are carefully selective - ed.] No doubt, as we see, spiritual ignorance is shameful to the highest degree. However, this is not all. It is also extremely harmful and destructive. Let us examine a few of the sad consequences of spiritual ignorance. Faith is understood to be the greatest good in this life only if we might attain to blessedness in the future world through it. Faith can make us blessed only if it is firmly established in the heart and faithfully applied to life. He who possesses some kind of good but who does not recognise its worth will not value or love it as he should. He will show no care in preserving this good, whether material or spiritual. He who is ignorant of the Orthodox Faith cannot know that its commandments are superior, holy, and divine. Therefore, he 4 cannot possess and respect the Faith as the greatest good with complete conviction. He does not consider himself to be Ortho- dox as a result of firm conviction, but only out of habit. As a result, he easily falls into doubts and begins to waver if he hears criticism of the Faith. One could not even begin to speak of such a person in terms of his ability to defend the Faith. FaithistherootofalifewhichispleasingtoGod. Onlythose things which proceed from the foundation of faith have value in God's eyes. If you damage the root, you are likely to ruin the whole tree with its branches, flowers, and fruit. The enemy, the devil, has tried to undermine faith from the beginning of time whenever he is in the position to do so. Therefore, the devil's temptations are especially directed to stir up spiritual doubt in a man. In our time, the devil has no shortage of helpers with regard to this aim. We hear much propaganda today against faith and religion. We come across these attacks in newspapers and new books. It is not rare that those who believe and fulfil the requirements of their faith are mocked. The Orthodox believer who has no firm understanding of the Faith will hardly be able to sacrifice for it if circumstances demand this.