THE METROPOLITAN ANTHONY (PACKANICH): «OUR PURPOSE IS TO MAKE THIS EVIL WORLD at least a little lighter and kinder.»

Without God any good deed turns to evil.

We know the Savior’s words from the Gospel of John: «… for apart from Me you can do nothing» (John 15:5). First of all it means that without God all our efforts are doomed to failure, no matter which positive intents they’re motivated with. But there’s another shade in these words — all efforts which are done without God become godless in the truest sense of the word. With all the ensuing consequences and problems.

Let’s just remember the history of the world and events of recent years and think. All beautiful ideas of the philosophers of enlightenment of XVIII century about «liberty, equality and fraternity» ended with the bloody French Revolution. As the philosopher’s ideas of XIX century ended with even more bloody revolution and brutal totalitarian regimes, so all current ideas of the racial and gender equality, tolerance and so on are degenerating to degenerate into a de facto struggle against freedom of speech and into the dictatorship of minorities. Even such seemingly innocent ideas as caring for the environment or protecting animals suddenly become an instrument of hate, and so much that it scares even those people who were fighting for anyone’s rights at one time.

For nonbelievers it’s hard to understand the reason of this distortion of bright ideas. All this is written off on the human factor, trying to explain from the point of view of the economy, psychology, culture - anything, but the answer is never found.

However, it’s easier for us to realize and understand the reason of the collapse of all positive intentions. Because where there is no God, there’s a devil. As the phrase goes, «if there is a gap, something will fill it». If there is no holiness, its place will be immediately filled with evil. If the world refuses God, all its bright ideas immediately fall into the power of the devil, no matter whether all the "bright ideologists" of our time believe in him or not.

There’s nothing new here for us: «We know that we are of God, and that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one» (1 John 5:19). And the christian’s task is not to create «the Kingdom of God on earth». It’s impossible to create it. Our purpose is to make this evil world at least a little lighter and kinder, and this can only be done with God and in God.

Recorded by Natalia Goroshkova

Опубликовано: Tue, 23/03/2021 - 17:51

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