Why do so many people believe in God. Why do people believe in god
For centuries mankind has believed in God. No matter what continents and countries people live in, they all visit temples, worshiping higher powers. Why do people do this, why do they believe in God? The answer is simple: the population of this or that country was already born with a certain faith, for example, Hindus, Muslims, Greek Catholics, etc. People are not allowed to doubt their faith by convincing them of the existence of God.
In addition, there are some other social situations that cause believers to adhere to strictly established religious rules. Every church creates communities and gives parishioners a sense of support when needed. Many areas of pragmatic life have nullified their values, and religious communities have filled such voids. Belief in God convinces people that this is how you can find a mentor in difficult times.
Most people, when analyzing the complexity of creating the universe or contemplating the beauties of nature, realize that there is something more in our universe that could create such magnificence, as well as the physical world that surrounds us.
In the past, all religions have put forward their judgments about the history of the origin of life. Each of them states that everything was created by a higher power - God. However, this is one of the most answers why people believe in God.
Perhaps the main reason for believing in God comes from the personal experience of a single person. It is possible that someone heard the answer to prayers, someone received a warning at a dangerous moment, grace descended on someone, and he recovered, while becoming a happy person; someone, having received a blessing, successfully completed the work he had begun. So there is a feeling of happiness and peace, it encourages going to church, getting acquainted with the sacred scriptures.
Today, a huge number of people, despite the countless achievements of technology, are in a depressive unfortunate state. This is due to social problems and some kind of life deprivation, as well as due to the desire of the majority to compare their personal lives with the lives of successful people.
Also, people believe in God in order to become happy, to understand. Some individuals need strict rules that allow them to control their actions, while others, on the contrary, need more self-expression and freedom. Belief in God allows a person to understand his goals and values. Faith makes it possible to predetermine one's priorities, rethink relationships with loved ones, requirements for oneself and society.
Religion helps to find the answer: what is the meaning of life. For every individual, this question remains the main one throughout life. This spiritual problem has to do with determining the ultimate goal of existence. Not everyone is able to answer what is the meaning of being. And even realizing the meaning, not every person manages to substantiate it with arguments. But what is interesting is that in every individual there is a need to find meaning and rationally justify it. Solving the question of the meaning of life, the human faces the inevitability of choosing one of two possible alternatives, since the set of worldviews is limited to two directions: religion or atheism. Man has to choose between religion and atheism.
It is difficult to define what religion is. However, one can definitely say that religion is a fact of social life. The word "religion" literally means harnessing, binding. It is likely that originally this term denoted the attachment of a person to something unchanging, sacred.
The concept of religion was first used in the speeches of a Roman politician and orator in the 1st century BC. BC e. Cicero, who contrasted religion with another word meaning superstition (mythical, dark belief).
The very concept of "religion" came into use for the first time in the centuries of Christianity and meant a philosophical, moral and deep system.
Initially, an element of any religion is faith. Faith has been and will be an important property of the consciousness of the individual, the main measure of spirituality.
Any religion exists due to religious activities. Theologians compose works, teachers teach the basics of religion, missionaries spread the faith. However, the core of religious activity is a cult (from the Latin language - veneration, cultivation, care).
The cult includes the understanding of the totality of actions performed by believers with the aim of worshiping God or some supernatural forces. These include prayers, rituals, religious holidays, divine services, sermons.
Cult objects, priesthood, temples may be absent in some religions. There are religions where the cult is given little importance or it can be invisible. Although in general in religion the role of the cult itself is very significant. People, carrying out a cult, communicate, exchange information and emotions, contemplate magnificent works of painting, architecture, listen to sacred texts, prayer music. All this helps to increase the religious feelings of the parishioners, unites them, helping to achieve spirituality. At the same time, the church imposes its judgments, rules, which can negatively affect the psyche of people.
Pros and Cons of Religion
For centuries, religion has successfully enveloped human consciousness with a “web” of impracticable, constructions of the universe, afterlife, etc. Strengthening itself in the minds of people and in the memory of generations, becoming part of the cultural potential, religion received some cultural, ethical and socio-political functions.
The functions of religion are understood as ways of religious influence on the life of society. The functions of religion generate both pluses and minuses.
The advantage of any religion is that faith helps believers to more easily endure negative emotions. In other words, religion gives consolation, leveling negative emotions (despair, grief, sadness, loneliness, etc.). Religious consolation is a specific form of psychotherapy that is effective and cheap. Thanks to this consolation, mankind was able to survive in the historical past, and survives now.
The second plus of the function of religion is expressed in the fact that it contributes to the communication of people with a common worldview.
Communication is a significant need and value in life. Limited or lack of communication makes people suffer.
The majority of pensioners are especially acutely experiencing a lack of communication, but it happens that young people fall into this number. Religion helps everyone overcome this negative side of life.
The minuses of religion are noted only by historians, since theologians are convinced that religion has no minuses.
Historians rank the alienation of people on the basis of worldview as a minus. This means that parishioners of different faiths treat each other either indifferently or hostilely. The stronger the idea of chosenness in religion is promoted, the more pronounced is the alienation between believers of different faiths. However, there is a religion (Bahaism) whose moral code condemns such behavior and classifies it as a moral vice.
The second disadvantage, according to historians, is the decrease in the level of social activity of believers.
Social activity is a non-religious activity, the purpose of which is the service of society, for example, socially useful work, political activity, scientific and cultural activity.
Religions, due to their ideological function, prevent people from participating in social and political activities (participation in rallies, elections, demonstrations, etc.). This happens, as through direct prohibitions, but often due to the fact that for social activities there is no time at all, since personal time is devoted to prayers, rituals, the study and dissemination of religious literature.
Atheists, trying to understand believers, wonder what motivates people to believe in God.
Sometimes religious personalities think about this, observing the diversity of religious movements.
Some believe that believing in God is a matter of personal preference, others believe that without faith a person becomes an inferior person, others prefer to keep quiet because of the belief that people themselves came up with faith in God. All opinions are contradictory, behind each is a conviction that reflects the individual's view of faith in the creator.
So, people start believing in God for the following reasons:
- birth in a believing family. Religion depends on the locality in which the family lives (for example, Hindus live in India, Catholics in Italy, Islamists in Morocco, etc.);
- some individuals come to faith because they feel a need for God. They are consciously interested in religion, the creator, thus making up for what they lack. They are convinced that the appearance of mankind is not accidental, everyone has a purpose. Such faith is not a temporary impulse, but a deep conviction;
- even an individual who is far from religion, having experienced life's trials, turns to God, for example, during a period of serious illness;
- some, having understood the answer to their prayers, begin to believe in God according to their personal desire, expressing their gratitude to him;
- pushes a person to faith. He may not actually have faith, but he will give the appearance of a believing person out of fear of being judged by others, or he will believe out of fear of what will happen to him after death.
The reasons why people believe in God are endless, but they all come down to the fact that an individual can have a superficial or deep faith. This will be reflected or not in his words and decisions, and the words spoken out loud "I believe in God" are not always true.
1. Is there a God?
In our time, one often hears: there is no God, He was invented by the spiritual fathers in order to rob the poor and ignorant people.
Is it so? Is our people obscure and stupid to such an extent that it can be so deceived and fooled? And are the spiritual fathers so smart that they could deceive the people for thousands of years? To assert this is to deeply despise this very people and to have an exaggerated idea of the mental faculties of the clergy and of one's own.
But let's turn to history. She tells us clearly and definitely that people at all times believed in God and offered prayers to Him.
Here 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 riches, without coins, but no one has yet seen a city devoid of temples and gods, a city in which prayers would not be sent up, would not be sworn by the name of a deity.
Another ancient writer Cicero testifies: There is no tribe so wild, there is no person so lost in consciousness of moral duties, whose soul would not be sanctified by the thought of the gods. And this remembrance of the gods did not come from a preliminary agreement and agreement of people, 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 everyone faith in the gods and a desire to earn their mercy and favor. Whether we turn to the Chinese, the Hindus, the Egyptians, the Assyro-Babylonians, the Greeks, the Romans, and others, we find in all of them their religious beliefs, prayers, temples, and sacrifices. Ethnography does not know non-religious people (Ratzel, German geographer and traveler).
To this, perhaps, they will object to us: All these peoples also had their priests robbed, it was they who invented the gods in order to eat well at someone else's expense, to live in their own pleasure and clover.
Yes, let's say there really were priests, but how is it known that they invented gods? After all, if faith in God were a mere invention of the priests, how could it hold out for several millennia and be 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 Bo as the goddess of humanity, however, both of these , so to speak, religions did not outlive 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 for reality.
It will be objected to us: Is it not enough for a simple, dark person to have false, erroneous opinions and views? After all, he thinks, when thunder rumbles, that it is the prophet Elijah who rides through the sky in a fiery chariot, or that the earth stands on three whales, etc.
Yes, we say, common man Indeed, there are many false and erroneous opinions, and it is not for nothing that the proverb says: Learning is light, and ignorance is darkness.
Well, they will answer us, scientists do not believe in God. After all, books are written by educated people, and books say that there is no God.
The more I study nature, says the great scientist Pasteur, the more I stop in reverent amazement before the deeds 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, our Lord is great and His power is great, and His wisdom has no limits, And you, my soul, sing glory to your Lord throughout your life!
Here's some more telling 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 declared that they were either unbelievers or indifferent to faith (Faith and Science, F. N. Belyavsky).
Many other testimonies could be cited in favor of the fact that scientists believe in God, but we think that these are enough.
We will be objected: Yes, there were and are believing people among scientists, but there are unbelievers among them.
Quite right. But this does not mean that God does not exist. It only follows from this that faith is a free matter: believe it or not, no one is forcing you.
If there is a God, then show us Him, 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, smell, what is their length and shape? But do they exist? Of course yes! So is God. He exists, but He cannot be seen with bodily eyes.
How can you see that He exists?
This is evidenced, first of all, by the inherent confidence in man that God exists. And to such an extent it is sometimes strong in him that he cannot renounce it, even if he is told the opposite. Indeed, such a phenomenon is often observed: a simple person cannot prove that God exists, but still stands his ground. Where does such confidence come from?
They will say: From childhood they inspired him, so he clings to the old. But this explanation does not satisfy us. Why? Yes, because religion and faith require from a person a feat, self-sacrifice, constrain his nature, and therefore, if they were really an invention, every person would gladly throw off this heavy yoke, but in most cases he does not.
Then the visible world testifies that God really exists. When we see a house, we think it was built by an architect, carpenters and masons; when we consider a picture, we say: it was painted by an artist; we walk in a beautiful garden, we think 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 there are certain laws and order? Who created the heavenly bodies: the warm and clear sun, bright stars, the moon?
Every house is arranged by someone, but God who arranged everything(; 4).
One scientist said: One 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 just as ridiculous and stupid, and unworthy of a thinking person, as if someone said that this house was built by itself. Such buildings, if they happen, then 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 came into being by itself, expose themselves and, instead of the true God, invent another, false one, calling God the world, soulless nature, arguing as follows: there is no Creator, but nevertheless there is; God could not create the world, but the world could create itself. See how they 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 at the beginning was different: atoms, nebulae, chaos, the fire-liquid state of the mass, its gradual cooling to its present form. What force set this dead material in motion, breathed life into it? Could this be done by a blind and unreasonable force?
No and no. Can a blind and unreasonable force do anything reasonable, harmonious, orderly? It remains to recognize one thing, that there is, that there is a reasonable Creator of the world, and this Creator is God. They will say: The world was formed according to the immutable laws of nature without any participation of outside forces. But those who say this lose sight of the fact that their very assertion already contains a contradiction, or a negation of this assertion. After all, the laws of nature presuppose the existence of the world or nature, they can operate only when there is a world or nature. For example, Newton's law (the law of universal gravitation), according to which two material particles approach each other at a speed that depends on their mass and state. But when there were no bodies, there was no place for this law. Or the law of Archimedes: a body immersed in a liquid loses such a part of its weight as the liquid displaced by it weighs. And when there is neither a body nor a 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 also cannot explain their own existence.<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, creation, but the firmament proclaims his hand (; 4).
And our poet Lermontov says under the influence of contemplation of the beauties of nature: And I can comprehend happiness on earth, And in heaven I see God.
The atheists cannot see God because they are blind in soul. They are like owl birds. Take a look at these important birds. With a thoughtful look they look at you with their expressive eyes, they carefully examine you, as if they are studying you with the zeal of a serious scientist, but in fact they see nothing in the daylight. You stand in front of these birds, yet you do not exist for them. They are sure that there is no one in front of them. They will look at the bright sun, and there is no sun for them, for they see nothing. Try to prove to an owl that there is a bright, beautiful sun in the sky, she will not believe, because she 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 bears witness 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 blessing. Augustine, the earth, the seas and the abyss, and everything that creeps and lives there, and they answered me: We are not your God, seek 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 you are looking for. And I said to everything 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 of this truth even more, namely, his inherent aspirations for truth and goodness, longing for the highest truth, and, finally, his inner judge - conscience.
Where does this impartial judge, called conscience, come from in us, who condemns a person for his bad deed? Don't we know cases that a criminal who has committed a crime, for example, murder and escaped trial and punishment, buried, as they say, all the ends in the water, then tormented by remorse, very often voluntarily confesses to a crime and puts himself in the hands of justice? Does not 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 requirements of duty and the dictates of conscience?!
Let us take, further, the human desire for truth and justice. How often do we get indignant and indignant in life when we see that honest, kind and noble people suffer, suffer, and starve, while bad people prosper in every respect. Where is the truth? we ask.
Here, on earth, often with all the desire, a person is powerless to establish it; it means that there must be a just God who will establish this truth there, in the afterlife.
We will be objected: If your God sees how people are in poverty, starving, suffering, then why does He not 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 Golgotha, seeing the terrible, inexpressible torments 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 that evil, all those horrors and injustices that are happening in the world. He, as 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 a great moral height, and he endures for a long time, expecting correction and improvement from a person.
God, says the proverb, sees the truth, but will not tell soon. He will establish this truth there, in the afterlife, where he will reward everyone according to his deeds, and here, on earth, through sorrow and suffering, He enlightens a person. Thunder will not strike, the peasant will not cross himself, says a folk 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 in the ground.
Isn't God revealed in the life and activity 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. !
What did they work so selflessly for? 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 always looking for something. It seems that some seemingly happy person: he is rich, and smart, and healthy, but still not calm.
What does he lack?
God is not enough, He is not enough, Who said about Himself: I am the Way, the Truth and the Life(John 14; 6), which, according to the word of the apostle, is not far from each of us, for By it we live and move and exist ().
Let us believe in God with humility and devotion of the soul, for the one who explores the depth of faith is overwhelmed by waves of thoughts, and the one who contemplates it in a simple-hearted disposition enjoys sweet inner silence (Blessed Diadochus).
Let us believe with unshakable firmness, not betraying our faith, even if for confessing it we had to endure hatred, persecution, and even death itself. Be faithful unto 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, one often observes a hostile and unfriendly attitude towards our Christian faith.
Now one can often hear: It is time for us to do away with religion and faith, if we do not want to pass for ignorant and backward people. We have been kept in darkness 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, it, this faith, fetters free human thought, prevents us from living on earth properly and for our own pleasure, constrains a person here, makes him worry about his fate beyond the grave.
And how good it is, they tell us, to be an unbeliever: nothing constrains you, live for your own pleasure and do not think about the afterlife, because it does not exist, it is an invention.
How, we ask, can an educated person manage in life without any faith? Is her confession a sign of ignorance and backwardness? Is it contrary to reason?
Of course, yes, unbelieving people will answer us.
But after all, allow me, we will object, does not every person resort to faith at almost every step? Don't we all believe in the existence of this visible world, 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, as well as the fact that with the help of our external senses: sight, hearing, touch, etc., we can acquire knowledge? Isn't the farmer guided by faith when he sows his fields and fields and waits for harvest from them in the fall, the merchant when he goes for goods, the navigator when he undertakes a long journey to foreign lands, the scientist when he works tirelessly in his laboratory and thinks that his classes will not be in vain, but will benefit people, will they be crowned with success?
Isn't a person guided by faith when, at the peak of his life, in the years of bright youth, full of hope, he embarks on the path of life?
What inspires him? Faith in your calling, in your strengths and in the success of your work.
Is it conceivable to start any business, even the smallest one, without faith in its success?
Would social life itself be possible without faith in each other and without mutual trust?
But that, they will tell us, is worldly, practical faith; it's not about her. We are talking about religious faith. We consider its confession a sign of ignorance and backwardness. At the same time, worldly 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, by their lives and deeds, proved that our faith inspired people to great deeds and deeds for the benefit of mankind.
What inspired the great apostles in their selfless, restless activity, which conquered the world to Christ, if not faith in Him? In the name of what did the ardent persecutor of Christians, Saul, become an ardent preacher of Christianity, the great apostle Paul? In the name of faith in Christ. What inspired the Christian martyrs when they went to the stakes, to terrible tortures and torments? The same faith in Christ.
What inspired the great Fathers and teachers of the Church? The same faith. She, this faith, inspired many famous scientists, delivered and delivers great spiritual consolation to millions of believers. It inspires a person to a feat, reconciles him with worldly hardships, gives him bright hope and peace of mind.
What is faith?
Faith is a living, unshakable conviction in the existence of an invisible God, it is a hot impulse and a deep desire of a person to know his Savior and Lord with his mind, will and heart, 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. But what? will ask us. Eyes of faith. In addition to the eye of the organ of vision, we also have the spiritual eye, our religious feeling. Like any mental faculty, 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 thorough care, so faith develops and strengthens in that soul that does not look like stony soil.
In order to get closer to God, to know Him, moral purity is required. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God (; 8).
Just as a mirror reflects objects when it is clean, so a person can know God on condition of spiritual purity of the purity of his heart and conscience.
One of the best means to the knowledge of God is a good, pious life. Faith depends on our way of life: if we arrange our lives according to the precepts of the Gospel, if we are guided by the commandments of Christ in our activities, faith will come to us, become our inalienable property.
Why do we need her? Why are you forcing it on us? will ask us.
Surely, in our turn, we ask, have you ever thought about the formidable riddle about our future fate? Did it 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 worry you?
Yes, we will be told, reason cannot give completely satisfactory answers to many questions, but on the other hand, it is a source of knowledge that is quite reliable, and faith is unreliable, and besides, 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 its knowledge and study, but we believe in the testimony of other people. But would knowledge itself and the existence of science be possible without this faith? What inspired 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 growing from the same root. Tear off one of them, and the other will perish: knowledge without faith will be doubt and despair; faith without knowledge will turn into a dream, a superstition, a delirium.
But if faith has such an important and legitimate application in the field of science, then it is even more necessary in our life.
Only she, this faith, is the only indestructible rock on which all who are exhausted under the burden of doubts and perplexities can find refuge. Only she alone can serve as a reliable guiding star in this world full of painful secrets and various worries. Without the light of faith, without the thought of God, the world becomes an insoluble painful mystery, and human life loses its meaning and meaning. Faith in God is our strength and our treasure.
Our life must be consistent with our faith, be its constant confirmation.
Like a body without a spirit is dead, says app. Jacob, so faith without works is dead(; 26).
Unfortunately, modern man often does not use this treasure. He seems to be sitting by a deep spring and complaining of thirst.
Unfortunately, we are witnessing that at the present time disbelief and indifference to faith are widespread everywhere and entail a decline in morality, 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 move us away from God, while a deeper and more thorough knowledge, on the contrary, turns us to Him, said the great scientist Bacon.
Then, one should not forget that the paths and goals of religion and science are different. Science studies the visible world, it teaches how the world lives, while 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 favored by the fact that religion constrains a person and tells him: Live not as you want, but as God commands. And this does not please many and encourages them to renounce the 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 costume and in lifestyle. They follow fashion and in the field of faith.
Whatever the last book says to him, it will fall on his soul from above. Believe it or not, it doesn't matter.
There are moments in the life of a people when all their thoughts and cares are directed mainly to the acquisition of wealth. Then the thirst for profit completely attracts the attention of a person, and he absolutely does not want to think about God, about the soul. But no matter how deeply a person is attached to earthly goods, his god-like soul cannot be satisfied with this and calm down, because man does not live by bread alone (; 4).
Only faith in God can give a person consolation and peace. Let us cherish our faith, steadfastly, courageously defend it and confess it openly, for this is the victory that conquered the world, our faith (; 4).
Let us stand guard over the Church of Christ, for it is 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 stone. Let the sea rage, let the waves rise, they cannot sink the ship of Christ.
With the fire of our faith, let us kindle the hearts of those who doubt, as well as those who deviate from the true path. Brothers, teach us ap. James, if any of you err from the truth, and one converts him, let him know that who turns a sinner from his false path will save his soul from death and cover a multitude of sins().
3. What is faith for?
We are going through a difficult, difficult time.
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 an extraordinary decline in people's morality. Self-love, this most important and universal vice of our days, guides all the actions and deeds of modern people. Everyone wants 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, human interests collide and contradict each other. This gives rise to discontent, enmity… Crimes against the person have become commonplace. Public life is hard, depressing.
The foundations of the modern family are being upset: conjugal love is cooling, the sanctity of marriage is being violated, divorces are increasing. Children rebel against their parents, the younger ones cease to respect and obey the elders. Discord, licentiousness and disorder invade family life. Life is scary: the hardships and troubles of life suppress the soul, deprive it of the necessary peace, bring it to painful excitement and tension.
Many seek solace in the use of drugs that destroy their body and soul. Very often, people's nervous and unwound 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 at work, family grief, human injustice, the inability to cover up the traces of some dishonorable act, and as a result, often premature, unauthorized death ... This indicates extreme spiritual impotence modern man, despair, a decline in faith in yourself and in others ...
Where is the way out of this difficult situation? How can we raise, improve and improve our family and social life?
Nothing is so necessary for this as the education of the people in the spirit of Christian morality. In the matter of landscaping and improving our lives, the center of gravity is our soul. Preferential attention should be paid to it, it should be disposed and attuned to good deeds, to create a desire for truth, honesty, philanthropy, and other virtues on which the peace and tranquility of society depends. Without our inner rebirth, there will be no outer order and peace. The most radical political reforms will not bring any benefit. It is unreasonable to treat one body when the soul hurts along with it ... When life is overshadowed by serious vices and crimes, it is necessary first of all to take up the soul and its healing.
But how to induce people to good and pious behavior; what means have power to restrain vicious and sinful human nature? How to raise morality?
They will say: Civil law is able to do this... Of course, state laws are of great importance. By defining the rights and obligations of people, they contribute to the improvement of our lives. However, only in the event that people have a strong moral feeling, the consciousness of the holiness and obligatory nature of the law has not become dull. But the best law is completely powerless in relation to people who are obviously vicious, who have lost their sense of conscience and responsibility for their actions.
They say: Troubles in life often come from the ignorance and darkness of the people; Raise education, and life itself will go into the right direction.
But in fact, we see that education alone is not able to make people pious and virtuous. Education mainly has an impact on our mental abilities. Is strength and salvation in one mind? Is a smart and educated person, for that very reason, already the best person? Doesn't life often tell us quite the opposite? History also testifies to the same: sciences, arts, trade, etc. flourished among the ancient peoples. and at the same time the most gross vices and crimes reigned, which led them to death.
We will be told: Let a person obey the voice of conscience, and then he will be kind. Yes, conscience does not tolerate evil. With their internal mental anguish it protects us from moral falls, but only when it acts in us not by itself, but on behalf of God, as His voice. Separate conscience from the religious basis, sever its connection with faith in God, and conscience will lose all the power of its influence. What is conscience for unbelievers and atheists? False prejudice, the result of a wrong upbringing, an empty accuser, and he is forced to be silent. One conscience cannot make a person good.
They say: You can induce 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 Heavenly Father is perfect(; 48), Christ says to all people, and not only to some. Very often, the search for glory not only does not elevate a person, but, on the contrary, makes him commit deeds unworthy and not commendable, infects a person with self-love, pride, arrogance, which is why a Christian is inspired to seek glory and honor not on earth, but in the life to come.
They will say: You can lead a good life for the sake of your own well-being and peace. Vice is evil, leading to many unpleasant consequences. It is possible to move away from sin because of the 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 profit. 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 obviously disastrous and obviously dangerous for him, but in what will he find an incentive to refrain from such sins, the harmful consequences of which he does not fully recognize? clarity and clarity?
So, all the arguments that can be devised by the human mind in order to induce him to lead good life actually unable to do so.
To lead a good moral life is a great feat of the soul, requiring many efforts and strains, much struggle with oneself, with the passions and lusts with which we have grown accustomed.
The motives for such a life must be very strong. You may not be a poet, but you must be a man. All people are obliged to be moral and virtuous, therefore, the motivation for such a life must be clear and convincing for everyone. Every person - educated and simple, rich and poor, young and old, man and woman - should know clearly and firmly 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. Look for examples nearby. You could rather build a city in the air than stabilize a state without religion (Plutarch).
Faith educates a person in goodness, inspires the rules of good, honest behavior, and keeps from bad deeds. Faith pronounces its prescriptions in the name of God, as His immutable and unconditional law, obligatory for all. It instills in us that man is at all times under all-seeing eye his Creator, Who knows all his thoughts and desires, and Who will someday require an account in the life he has lived. She directs all our thoughts and feelings to the heavenly, teaching us to live for immortal spirit and not for a mortal body. It suppresses narrow, selfish desires in the soul, fosters a sense of brotherly love for all people, even for enemies and haters. Faith is the only correct and only true means of influencing people, improving their morals and life.
They may say: The requirements of faith are too high and difficult to fulfill for a weak person. But is everything difficult to be rejected and recognized as optional, just because it is difficult? Is it possible to argue like this: It is difficult to be a good person, and therefore it is not necessary to be one; it is easy to become bad, and therefore it is necessary to be so.
His commandments are not burdensome(; 4). In the precepts of faith, in gospel commandments, is a grace-filled power that helps a person in the matter of their fulfillment. The teachings of Christ are not mere cold words, but spirit and life(; 63). The gospel law is based on love: If you love me, keep my commandments(; 15). Where love guides people's actions, there is no question of any difficulty or weakness. This most beautiful and greatest feeling facilitates every work and induces to a feat.
Only faith, informing us of a number of absolutely correct and infallible prescriptions regarding life and behavior, at the same time gives grace-filled help to strengthen us in goodness and piety: Everything is possible to the believer (; 23).
The modern world is going through an era of various crises. The crisis of industry, agriculture, capitalism, socialism, democracy, literature, science and art, religion…
The modern world will either perish in the 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 to them. (; 31). Don't do to others what you don't want yourself to do(; 20). Love God with all your heart and love your neighbor as yourself(; 39).
In faith in God, the healing of our lives. The salvation of mankind from the disasters that have befallen it is in the revival of faith in God. Here is the overcoming of all kinds of crises.
4. Faith and man
Faith in God has existed for as many years as man himself has lived on earth for years. Despite the time during which one human generation was replaced by another, faith in God has never completely disappeared from the earth. All peoples, regardless of which tribes they belonged to and in which part of the world they lived, recognized the great truth that there is a Special Highest Being, God, Who invisibly rules the world and people. True, each nation thought of God in its own way, revered Him in such ways that they thought they were the best and pleasing to God. There were (and are) wild peoples who held thoughts unworthy of God; in their simplicity, they attributed to Him deeds and actions that were unusual and indecent. But even these false and distorted beliefs have their price: they clearly showed the attempts of man to find God; traces of those ways by which people tried to approach the Highest Being were found; manifested a universal religious need.
Thus, faith in God has always existed, everywhere and among all peoples. From this, the following fact becomes clear to us. In ancient times in Greece appeared scientist man Protagoras, who began to say that he did not know whether God exists or not. This idea seemed to the Athenians so monstrous and harmful that they expelled the learned atheist from their possessions, and the books that contained his teaching were burned publicly. The Holy Scripture considers a person who denies the existence of God to be mentally ill, abnormal: (; 1).
What does the universality of faith in God testify to? 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.
About the origin of the first people, the Holy Scripture says: 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 a reflection in him of the Divine Himself. Originating from God, having in Him a kindred Being, the soul by itself, of its own accord, turns to God, seeks Him. My soul yearns for the Mighty, Living God(). Just as the eyes turn to the light and are designed to see the light, so the soul of a person aspires to God, has a need for communion with Him, and only in God finds peace and happiness. A flower reaches out to the sun because it receives light and warmth from the sun, without which it cannot live and grow. Similarly, the constant, insurmountable attraction of man to God comes from the fact that only in God can our soul find everything it needs for a correct and healthy life.
Our spiritual needs are diverse and depend on the forces and abilities that the Lord bestowed on the human soul during creation. We have a mind that distinguishes man from other creatures of God. The mind seeks to understand everything around. 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 arranged tools, he opened access to the sky and learned a lot about the heavenly bodies. On earth, he did not leave even the smallest part without his observation. With his curious gaze, a man penetrated into the depths of the earth. The man did not leave himself without attention either, he studied his body in every detail and discovered the means and methods of treating diseases.
But not everyone can understand and study 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 higher than other creatures and destined for eternal life, it is necessary to know not only what relates to temporal life, but even more so what relates to God, to heaven, and what concerns man himself and his spiritual nature.
What is God? What is the man himself? What is his duty and obligation to God? How to live in order to justify your appointment and not be held responsible before God? These are the questions facing man and awaiting an answer from him. These questions have always troubled the human mind. How much work, effort and effort has been undertaken to answer these questions. But all the efforts turned out to be in vain: people could not come to the knowledge of God by their own efforts alone. 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 thinks about God, the darker the truth becomes for him.
The most diverse opinions also existed about such important subjects as the human soul and the person himself. According to the words, some recognize the soul as fire, others as air, still others as mind, fourth as movement, etc.: Either I am immortal and rejoice, then I am mortal and cry, then 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 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 , crawling, running, sitting. Empedocles appears and makes me a plant ... In our time, scientists Darwin and Haeckel declared man to be a descendant of an ape.
All this suggests that the human mind is weak and limited in the knowledge of divine things, it is subject to delusions, prone to errors. Everyone thinks differently, everyone thinks they are right. Where is the truth? Whom to listen to? Who to believe?
In all the knowledge that concerns God and man's relationship to Him, one cannot rely on the human mind, fickle, vacillating, doubting. Only God Himself can be the guide and educator of man, only He can reveal and communicate the truth, firm, undoubted, obligatory for all. This truth was proclaimed 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 obligations to God and his neighbors. After Christ, there is nothing left for us, as soon as believe in the gospel (; 15).
In addition to the mind striving for knowledge, a person has a heart that yearns 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 consider it in wealth, in sensual pleasures, in honors and glory, etc. But for the most part, wealth is acquired through hard work and special long-term efforts, without bringing a person real peace and joy of the heart. Glory and honor are sometimes given 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 a sense of pride, vanity, arrogance, and other vices. Is this happiness? As for sensual pleasures, they can only temporarily attract and conquer the heart of a person: often repeated, they produce boredom, satiety in their victims, upset health and lead to many other unfortunate consequences.
Thus, all temporary blessings 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 vanity and vexation of the spirit(; 10). The English writer Byron calculated that only 11 happy days he lived in life.
Nothing in the world brings true happiness to a person. Where is it? Is it accessible and possible for people? Is this unquenchable thirst for happiness invested in us in vain? Is there not an object in which a person would find his comfort and satisfaction? This object of all 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 are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.(; 28). Moreover, complete happiness awaits a person not here on earth, but in heaven. Eyes have not seen, ears have not heard, nor have they entered into the heart of man 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 about holiness at all, however, every person prefers to be better good than evil, and if he serves sin, he does so out of passion, by mistake. Passion passes, and the sinful fog disappears, and the person repents, deeply mourns for his fall.
Establish, O God, holy Orthodox faith Orthodox Christians throughout the century. Amen.
5. Reasons for unbelief. Is it true that scientists do not believe in God?
If faith in God is just as necessary for our soul as food and air for the body, then, one asks, why are not all people believers? Faith in God has always existed on earth, but justice requires 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, unbelievers can be found at every turn. They have very little or no idea what faith is and what it obliges a person to do: they live in the world as they want, they do not recognize anything restraining and restricting their freedom, as if there is no God, there is no Judgment and responsibility. Others believe that faith is something difficult and incomprehensible for a person: they hesitate, doubt, they 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, ignorant. They try to infect others with the poison of their unbelief: they spread godless thoughts through the printed word, orally, even on the radio.
How to understand this sad phenomenon in people's lives - unbelief? How to explain its existence? How can he agree with the undoubted and proven fact - the universality among people of faith in God?
Unbelief is a painful, ugly phenomenon in human life. After all, there are people who have various shortcomings 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 and to their liking; here, too, in the human family there are exceptions, as well as on the part of the body. No sighted person doubts that there is a sun in the sky. But how can you prove it to a blind man? That God exists is for the vast majority of people an undeniable, obvious truth. Never does not 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 of God and of His unceasing 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 folly: The fool said in his heart: there is no God(; 1). It is fair, therefore, says one of the ancients 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 unbelief, people come up with various reasons. They say: Faith is contrary to science. But what is science? The matter of the human mind, and the mind can make mistakes. And faith is a revelation of the Lord God Himself, and therefore contains only one essential truth. What is more to believe? Is it a human mind, weak and deceitful, or the infallible Word of God? Moreover, science has not yet 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 Holy Scripture, do not contradict one another, even though they apparently did 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 of 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 according to it.
Many Fathers and teachers of the Church were distinguished by great knowledge of worldly sciences, which did not prevent them from being zealous preachers and ardent defenders of Christianity. And among the secular scientists, very many are known for their strong faith in God and sincere, deep reverence for Him. Newton, who discovered the law of universal gravitation, when he said the name of God, got up every time and took off his hat. The famous Pasteur, who invented the inoculation against rabies, wrote: I studied a lot and therefore I believe like a simple peasant, if I became even more learned, then my faith would be as deep and ardent as the faith of a simple peasant woman. The famous Ampère, who created the science of electricity, wrote to one of his friends: Beware of engaging in only one science: with one hand explore nature, and with the other, like a child for the clothes of his father, hold on to the edge of God's robe. The famous astronomer Herschel says: All sciences bring a stone to the temple, erected to glorify the Creator our God. The great geologist Lyayol writes: In every study we discover the clearest evidence of the foresight, power and wisdom of the creative mind of God. The naturalist Linnaeus, describing all the plants, exclaimed: The Eternal, Great, Omniscient and Almighty God passed before me: I did not see Him in person, but His reflection seized my soul and plunged it into reverence. The greatest geographer Gitter says: We have not come into this world in vain: here we are ripening for another world. The learned historian Müller states: It was only with the knowledge of the Lord and a thorough study of the New Testament that I began to understand the meaning of history.
This means that true, serious science cannot lead to disbelief, but, on the contrary, it strengthens a person's faith in God and cultivates a religious feeling. Only half-knowledge leads people to godlessness. No one denies the existence of God, except for 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 is it reasonable for a person to renounce 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 argues as follows: Maybe what the faith of Christ teaches and requires of me is the truth, and it needs to be obeyed, or maybe all this is not true, and it should not be accepted and obeyed ...
When any thought or doubt takes us in everyday affairs, we strive to find out everything, we ask knowledgeable people for advice, we try to understand and study the matter, so as not to make a mistake, but to act correctly and reliably. And the more important the matter, the more zeal and care we strive to dispel our misunderstandings and vacillations. Observing caution and prudence in worldly affairs, we must also act in such a great and important matter as faith. Why does the unbeliever reject everything that faith teaches, without investigation, without deliberation, solely on the basis of his doubt? Everyone will agree that it is imprudent and dangerous to do so. But what if doubt is false and unjust, what if the faith of Christ tells us only one truth? By rejecting God, heaven, hell and the life to come, does a person not expose himself to the greatest danger of ruining his soul forever?
In the absence of reasonable and solid grounds that would speak in defense of unbelieving people, the latter resort to lies, all sorts of witticisms, ridicule, and blasphemous antics 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 unbelievers, persecution of confessors of faith begins: prisons, exile, desecration, destruction and destruction of shrines, etc.
But if unbelieving people cannot justify or excuse their unbelief, then why do they hold on to it? A sinful life is conducive to unbelief. Some passions appear in the heart of a person, 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 more calm 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 do any good to a person? Does it give you peace of mind? No and no. The unbeliever is the most miserable 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 he stand in beauty and order if there is no God Provider? And people and their life for an unbeliever is nothing but a realm of wandering shadows, incomprehensible, meaningless. By refusing to accept as truth what faith teaches, the mind of the unbeliever is prone to assimilate all falsehood, superstition, and error. With the loss of faith, a person throws off every bridle that restrains his feelings. Evil inclinations get a 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 exterminated. Without the action of faith, conscience loses all power over a person: it falls asleep, and sometimes it reaches such damage that it justifies the worst deeds of unbelief. It is true, therefore, that a man without faith is a man without conscience.
Who would call this state happy? Who will approve 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: longing, heaviness, torment, dissatisfaction ... And if disasters fall on unfaith? Where then will he find solace and protection? Where will he get the strength and courage 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, his soul, his eternal destiny. But when life tends to decline, then he involuntarily turns his gaze to the end and cannot help but think about the question: what will happen to him next? Unbelief gives no answer. And then a painful state takes possession of the soul. A person strains all his strength to calm his indignant spirit, and cannot do this, he seeks light and does not find it. If the hour of death is terrible for every person, then even more so for the non-believer and the atheist. What can console him in the last moments 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. Truly the death of a sinner (; 22).
Life after death is life in God, spiritual life, and the unbeliever is not accustomed to it and is not capable of it.
In the name of love for God and neighbor, every Christian must fight in every possible way against the disease of our age with unbelief. Brothers! If any of us deviates from the truth, and someone converts him, let him know that he who turns a sinner from his false path will save his soul from death and cover many sins (; 19).
There are many believers among us, but there are also many non-believers, many who are also staggering or wavering in their faith.
The latter either believe, or do not believe, and stand, as it were, at a crossroads, not knowing which path to choose for themselves: the path of faith or the path of unbelief. They rush about, achieve something and do not find what they are looking for.
They want to be presented with exact, almost mathematical, proofs of what is comprehended not so much by the mind as by the soul and heart, that which 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 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 else behind our earthly existence? There aren't any yet. This is just an unfounded assumption of a relatively small number of godless people. Will there be an afterlife? In that case, aren't you making the biggest mistake of giving up your faith? We, believing in the afterlife, will 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 full pleasure. But what if you actually have to experience the severity of eternal torment? What will it look like to you then? What misfortune and misfortune will you then fall into? It will be too late to repent of your mistake.
Therefore, isn’t it better to believe, crying out: I believe, Lord, help my unbelief! (; 24)?
7. Christmas greeting to the atheists of the Serbian Bishop of Ohrid Nicholas
Stand back, faithful, a little aside. 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, the champions of atheism, brothers by blood and language, but alien in spirit and thoughts. You have stunned the world with a cry that faith is the opiate of the people, but in proof of this you have shown nothing on your part but blood, shackles and tyranny. Why never ask yourself: if faith is the opiate of the simple, how did the most famous philosophers get drunk on it: Descartes, Leibniz, Kant, Figner, Solovyov and thinkers like Pascal and Manzoni?
If faith is an opiate for fools, how could the most brilliant poets be carried away by it: Dante, Shakespeare, Milton, Hugo, Pushkin, Dostoevsky, Negosh?
If faith is the opiate of the rural poor, how can civilized citizens erect majestic temples of this faith in Constantinople, in Rome, in Paris and Berlin, in London and New York?
If faith is an opium for servants and slaves, why did Tsar Lazar and Tsar Constantine go to death for this faith, and so many other famous princes and great people different peoples and languages?
If faith is an opium for the illiterate, the ignorant, how did the greatest take this opium? scientists of the world like Copernicus, Newton, Franklin, Mendeleev, Crookes, Pupin and Oliver Lodge?
If faith is an opium for the lowly and despised, how in the name of this opium have so many husbands and wives left crowns and possessions and wealth, and retired into solitude and poverty, in order to serve the faith as much as possible?
If faith is an opiate for young people, such as Rastko Nemanich and Joasaph, the Tsarevich of India, how could the wise and cautious elder St. Stefan Nemanja?
If you say that faith is an opiate for old women, how then can you explain that so many girls were intoxicated with it, like the holy martyrs Irina, Marina, Paraskeva, Euphemia and many others?
If you say that faith is an opiate for cowardly recruits, how can it be an opiate for the brave Minin and Pozharsky, Karađorđe and Milash, Washington and Garibaldi, Foch and Heg, and for the last four Serbian governors?
If, finally, oppressed by these questions of ours, you exclaim: Faith is an opiate for non-socialists, but not for socialists!, we ask you: How then could so many socialist ideologists and leaders like Saint-Simon, Aries, Frunier, Macdonald, Henderson, Lansburn and other staunch socialists and at the same time staunch Christians?
Or do you consider unbelief to be the exclusive property of Bakunin's Slavic socialists and expelled Russian seminarians?
If you say that the rich invented faith to keep the poor under their rule, then you have never looked at the cave of Bethlehem and Golgotha and have not heard about hundreds of thousands of Christian martyrs, on whose sufferings faith was established in the world!
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 none smart person who would believe 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 smashed on it. Do you see a furnace nearby, near this stone? There we roasted the people that fell into our hands and ate them. Pay your attention to the fact that if the missionaries had not come to us, had not brought the Bible and taught us the love through which we, the people, have become the sons of God, then you would not have returned alive from this island.
“Praise God for the gospel, because without him you would have been smashed on this stone and roasted in this oven.”
Faith brings you closer. Faith is divisive. Because of faith, people staged the largest Crusades, where thousands died. But faith was, is and will be an inexplicable and mysterious phenomenon. That is why people often ask the question: Why does a person believe in God, and someone else. Psychologists, scientists and religious figures have their own points of view on this matter.
Scientific point of view on the question of faith
Researchers of the phenomenon of faith argue that religiosity is inherent in a person as an acquired, and not innate quality. By its nature, the child trusts senior authoritative personalities from his environment (father, mother, other relatives) very much, in connection with which, like a sponge, he absorbs and unquestioningly trusts the knowledge that the older generations pass on, and subsequently it can be concluded that faith is transmitted as a legacy for hundreds of years. But still, scientists do not give a clear answer, where does this chain begin and what are the prerequisites?
Faith in God from the side of psychology
Many psychologists describe the original idea of the Supreme or God from a completely different angle than scientists. And in explaining faith, they cite human instincts, that is, what is innate, and not acquired as a result of development and
After his birth, a person begins to act instinctively: he takes his first independent breaths and begins to scream. Scientists stopped their gaze on the study of the cry of the baby. It turns out that the child is screaming, realizing the presence of an adult nearby. That is, he understands that there is someone stronger than him, someone who is able to protect and save from the threats of the outside world. Let the newborn not know exactly who this person is, but he relies on him. Thus, an analogy is drawn between the relationship of adults with the Lord. Giving in to prayer and believing in a higher being, a person seems to calm himself by the presence of a stronger patron, someone who will help in any troubles and troubles.
A person must believe, even taking into account the unproven theory of the existence of God, psychologists say. Often, faith wakes up in people at the most difficult and urgent moments of their life path. “Every soldier prays while sitting in a trench,” and this quote perfectly reflects the statement of modern doctors. And yet, a person comes to faith not only due to difficulties or need in the Lord, but also due to the banal human fear of the Almighty and the punishment that he can send to the soul of an infidel, if he
Why and why a person believes in God, according to religious figures
Christian priests with full confidence answer this difficult to understand and slightly tricky question. "Faith helps a person to come to God, it is easier to live with faith." But priests, like scientists, cannot answer all the questions of interest to the modern atheist. “But why should a person go to God?” Here the holy fathers do not give precise definitions and interpret the Bible vaguely, moving away from the exact wording.
Outcome
A clear answer to the question "Why does a person believe in God?" neither scientists, nor religious scholars, nor people themselves can give, regardless of the strength of their faith. Even the greatest minds have not taken the path of comprehending this seemingly simple truth. And yet instincts, psychology or something more guide people in their belief in higher intelligence? What do you think?
Religion was born under the furry foreheads of our ancestors somewhere in the Middle Paleolithic. Science as a method appeared later - that in Ancient Greece. But, like all our other qualities, both did not come down to us on a cloud, but inherited from animal ancestors. Actually there is no religion and science in animals. But they have what both religion and science have grown out of: faith, knowledge, and also the need for both.
At first, animals needed objective knowledge to increase their control over their environment. The processed facts add up to experience, and the more it is, the better the animal is adapted, the easier its life and the more successful reproduction.
Faith appears later, approximately at the same level of mental evolution as figurative thinking. The dog barks at the noise outside the door because he believes that this noise is not just for nothing, there is someone behind him who needs to be barked at. And it gives her the illusion of control. Just an illusion, but enough to reduce the stress of an incomprehensible and potentially dangerous situation. And the lower the stress level, the easier life and more successful reproduction.
The benefits of knowledge are obvious. But there is a lot of it from faith:
Faith saves time and brain resources when making decisions. In nature, the one who decides not so much correctly as quickly decides well.
Faith sees behind random phenomena some force that created them and tries to influence this force. This saves from the development of learned helplessness. When everything is bad and nothing can be changed, you can hold on to illusions and rituals like a straw, and this imaginary straw really supports.
Faith improves our ability to understand each other. The alien soul of darkness, all our ideas about the inner world of another are only guesses, phantom facts. But nevertheless, they help us build real relationships, make friends and influence people. that the better a person has developed empathy and the ability to understand someone else's psyche, the more he has a tendency to this or that kind of religiosity. It seems that relationships with imaginary friends work as a training ground for honing your soul-reading skills.
Finally, faith turns our existential anxiety into fear. Great replacement, right? True, excellent. Animals already have a fear of death. Hence the well-known farewell and burial rituals of elephants, monkeys, and dolphins, and ethologist Mark Bekoff, in The Emotional Life of Animals, describes such behavior even in llamas, foxes, and wolves. Great empaths - dogs - are afraid of the death of the owner. Koko about her beloved kitten hit by a car: “Bad. Sad. Sleep, kitty ”(R.I.P., Coco. Us too).
According to the famous psychotherapist Irvin Yalom, we have anxiety of non-existence and pre-conceptual knowledge of death from birth. It becomes conceptual at the age of five, when we first realize that we are going to die. For good. Someday, and I'm gone. At all. Horror! According to Heidegger, horror is an extreme level of anxiety, at which it is impossible to single out the object that causes it. 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, it is certainly possible to negotiate.
Science is uncompromising, but religion is always the art of negotiation. Well, death is an opportunity you can't refuse. But is it possible to negotiate terms? Any religion accepts the fact that you will die, but complements it with the promise that under certain conditions, everything will not end there.
The hope of immortality is our way of controlling the fear of death. Irrational, illusory, but no other has yet been invented. Science is busy, and we need it right now.
Life, with its existential problems and general unsettling spontaneity, stresses us, and there are only two remedies for this - control and predictability. Real or illusory - for the psyche is not so important.
The scientists placed two groups of rats in an awkward position: they were tied up, lying on their backs, and there was nothing they could do about it. But one at the same time could gnaw a wooden stick, and the other could not. Guess which group recovered faster from stress? In gnawing 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 the situation calms just like the real one. And if you can't see the difference, why pay more?
That is why there are no atheists in the trenches under fire, and even in 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, this is better than none.
But if faith is such a useful thing, why is it now so scolded by scientists, educators and other good people with a good education?
After all, it wasn't always like that. When the craving for faith and knowledge, combined with the accumulative mechanism of culture, gave rise to religion and science, for the time being they lived peacefully. Shaman healers. Priests-astronomers. Monk geneticist. Books were written in monasteries, universities spun off from abbeys, and it was hard to tell where one ended and another began. But the powerful socio-cultural institutions that gradually grew up on the basis of faith and knowledge became isolated and moved from cooperative to competitive relations.
And by the beginning of the 21st century, their conflict had reached a historical maximum. Yes, once scientists were burned at the stake, but the Middle Ages, in principle, burned. It was a normal way of resolving issues, and scientists passed on a common basis. But when, in the 21st century, supporters of religion and science arrange 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 cut each other's throats for what. For truth? For influencing the audience? For the victory of your concept over the concept of the enemy? Whatever it is, the result is the next unpleasant thing.
Knowledge and faith are the main natural ways of regulating 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 light, or with them on the side of darkness. And we have to choose.
A difficult choice situation triggers a well-known effect of cognitive dissonance: having chosen one, we immediately begin to devalue the rejected option.
Chicken or fish?
Uh-uh... Well... Probably fish... Yes, fish! Useful fish. And what about the chicken? It doesn't even contain phosphorus.
It's not scary that a person chose a religion, it's scary that a false dichotomy imposed by society makes him devalue the alternative: "What's your science, it doesn't know anything, only problems from it." And this can deprive him of much of what science could give him, but will not give, because she herself stands in the pose: “Stop believing here or get out.”
Although no one is forced to choose between their basic needs. We are entitled to both. On the knowledge to reduce stress with real facts. And on faith to do it when the facts are not enough.
But to maintain adequacy, we must separate the phantom facts from the real ones. And this is where the main problem lies.
In the new issue of "Everything is like animals" we are conducting a simple experiment illustrating the relationship of faith and knowledge in a single head. I modestly hope that for someone it will clarify something and maybe even slightly reduce the number of senseless showdowns that flooded TVs and the Internet. After all, in order to get rid of prejudices, and not to strengthen them or replace them with others, you just need to carefully add knowledge to each individual head. And they themselves will force out everything superfluous. Believe me, there is no other way to achieve this.
Physiologist, Nobel laureate in medicine