February 20, 7534
“Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father,…
What should be a Christian’s attitude toward pets? Many modern people treat cats and dogs better than their neighbors, spending significant time and money on them. What should one do with kittens if no one wants to adopt them? Some people even set up animal shelters at home. A healthy attitude toward all animals should…
Christian life can be described using two expressions from Sacred Scripture: “walking before God” and “following Christ.” “He walked before God and was blameless”—this phrase is used by the Lord in Scripture to characterize the righteous of the Old Testament. Walking before God is also called “the fear of the Lord,” which does not imply…
What should be the outward appearance of a Christian in church and outside of it? Are there restrictions? Is it permissible to attend church in non-traditional Russian but modest modern clothing? Can this clothing be worn outside church? May men wear shorts and sleeveless shirts? Can women wear trousers? How should a woman dress in…
It might be best to say that unbelievers should be treated as one would treat seriously ill relatives. For instance, having a gravely ill family member nearby can be difficult to bear: such individuals often behave aggressively, are demanding, overly sensitive, unjust, and fail to understand your care for them. They may refuse necessary medicine…
Strictly speaking, Church rules contain prohibitions against eating in taverns. However, it’s important to understand that taverns in ancient times, when these rules were formulated, were not merely “places of public dining.” They were associated with questionable individuals and unrighteous activities. For clergy, there is a strict prohibition against eating in taverns, except in cases…
Indeed, the Lord Jesus Christ said to His disciples: “Ye are the light of the world.” Clearly, this applies not only to the apostles but to all Christians. In the Epistle to the Ephesians, St. Paul writes to all Christians: “For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as…
Christian Life as Struggle A.V. Muravyev Christianity, from its very beginning, is revealed as a struggle. In a prefigurative way, the Old Testament prophet and king David repeatedly speaks of God’s struggle against enemies and of divine aid in battling foes: “Judge, O Lord, them that harm me; fight against them that fight against me”…
One of the most important decisions in a person’s life—one that largely determines their destiny—is the choice of a profession: whom to become, what to study, and how. For an Orthodox Christian, this decision is further shaped by the desire to please God, so that one’s future professional activity, at the very least, does not…
The question of the relationship between the spiritual and the secular has always been relevant in the Christian world, and to this day, debate continues about whether it is acceptable for a clergyman to engage in worldly concerns, to hold occupations outside of Church service, or to possess secular education and skills enabling work beyond…