Prayer symbol of faith interpretation in Russian. Explanation of the Creed. Text and meaning of the prayer “Creed”
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Archpriest Seraphim Slobodskoy
God's Law
Symbol of faith
The Creed is a brief and precise statement of all the truths of the Christian faith, compiled and approved at the 1st and 2nd Ecumenical Councils. And whoever does not accept these truths can no longer be an Orthodox Christian.
The entire creed consists of twelve members, and each of them contains a special truth, or, as they also call it, the dogma of our Orthodox faith.
The Creed reads like this:
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1st member. I believe in one God, the Father, Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, visible to all and invisible. 2nd. And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Only Begotten, Who was born of the Father before all ages, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not created, consubstantial with the Father, and by Him all things were; 3rd. For our sake, man and our salvation came down from heaven, and became incarnate from the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, and became human; 4th. Crucified for us under Pontius Pilate, and suffered and was buried; 5th. And he rose again on the third day, according to the scriptures; 6th. And ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of the Father; 7th. And again the coming one will be judged with glory by the living and the dead, and His kingdom will have no end. 8th. And in the Holy Spirit, the Life-Giving Lord, who proceeds from the Father, who with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified, who spoke the prophets. 9th. Into one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church. 10th. I confess one baptism for the remission of sins. 11th. Tea resurrection of the dead. 12th. And the life of the next century. Amen. |
I believe in one God, the Father, Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, of everything visible and invisible. (I believe) in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Only Begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all ages; Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not created, one being with the Father, through whom all things were created; For us people and for our salvation, He came down from heaven, took flesh from the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, and became human; Crucified for us under Pontius Pilate, suffered and buried; And rose again on the third day, according to the scriptures (prophetic). And ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of the Father; And He will come again with glory to judge the living and the dead, whose kingdom will have no end. (I believe) also in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father, worshiped and glorified equally with the Father and the Son, who spoke through the prophets. (I believe) in one holy, catholic-universal and apostolic church. I confess one baptism for the remission of sins. I look forward to the resurrection of the dead. And the life of the next century. Truly so. |
I believe- I believe, I am convinced; only begotten- the only one; before all ages- before all time, from eternity; consubstantial with the Father- having the same being (nature) with (God) the Father; They didn't care, - and by Him, that is, the Son of God, everything was created; embodied- who took upon himself a human body; becoming human- becoming a man like us, but without ceasing to be God; resurrected- revived: according to scripture- in accordance with the Holy Scriptures, where the prophets predicted that He would rise from the dead on the third day; ascended- ascended; right hand- on the right side of God the Father; packs- again, for the second time; dead- the dead who will then be resurrected; There will be no end to his reign- after the judgment His kingdom will come indefinitely; Life-giving- giving life; bowed and glorified- The Holy Spirit should be worshiped and glorified equally with the Father and the Son, that is, the Holy Spirit is equal to God the Father and God the Son; The spoken prophets- The Holy Spirit spoke through the prophets; Cathedral- consonant, unanimous, covering people from all over the universe; I confess- I openly admit in word and deed; tea- I'm waiting; And the life of the next century- will come after the general judgment immortal life.
1. I believe (recognize) in one God the Father, the Almighty, Who holds everything in His power, the Creator of heaven and earth, visible to all and invisible (visible and invisible - the Angelic world).
2. And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the only begotten, (who) was born of the Father before all ages (before all times) of Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not created, consubstantial (of the same nature with God the Father) to the Father, in Whom all things were (all things were created).
3. For our sake, man and our salvation came down from Heaven and became incarnate (took a body) from the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, and became human (became human).
4. She was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate, and suffered and was buried.
5. And he rose again on the third day according to the Scriptures (as was foretold in the Holy Scriptures).
6. And ascended (ascended in the flesh) into Heaven, and sat on the right hand (seated on the right side) of the Father.
7. And again (again) the one to come (coming) with glory to judge (to judge) the living and the dead, His Kingdom will have no end.
8. And in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the life-giving, (who gives life) Who proceeds from the Father, (who proceeds from the Father) Who with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified, (We bow to Him and glorify Him together with the Father and the Son) spoken by the prophets (The Holy Spirit spoke through the prophets.)
9. Into one, holy, catholic (universal) and apostolic Church.
10. I confess (recognize) one baptism for the remission (forgiveness) of sins.
11. I tea (expect) the resurrection of the dead.
12. And the lives of the next century ( future life in Paradise). Amen. (truly so).
Symbol of Faith in Russian
1. I believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, the Creator of heaven and earth, of everything visible and invisible.
2. And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the only begotten, begotten of the Father before all ages: Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, one being with the Father, by Him all things were created.
3. For the sake of us people and for the sake of our salvation, he came down from Heaven, and took flesh from the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, and became a man.
4. He was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate, and suffered and was buried,
5. And rose again on the third day, according to the Scriptures.
6. And ascended into Heaven, and sits at the right hand of the Father.
7. And coming again in glory to judge the living and the dead, His Kingdom will have no end.
8. And in the Holy Spirit, the Lord who gives life, who proceeds from the Father, together with the Father and the Son, worshiped and glorified, who spoke through the prophets.
9. Into one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church.
10. I acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
11. I look forward to the resurrection of the dead,
12. And the lives of the next century. Amen (truly so).
Те Creаd In English
1. I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible.
2. And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Only-begotten, begotten of the Father before all ages; Light of Light: true God of true God; begotten, not made; оf one essence with the Father; by Whom all things were made;
3. Who for us mеn, аnd for оur salvаtion, саmе down from hеаvеn, аnd wаs inсаrnаte оf thе Holy Spirit аnd thе Virgin Mary, аnd bесаmе mаn;
4. And was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate, and suffered, and was buried;
5. And arose again on the third day according to the Scriptures;
6. And ascended into Heaven, and sittеth аt thе right hand оf thе Father;
7. And shаll come аgain, with glory, to judge both the living аnd thе dead; Whose kingdom shall have no end.
8. And in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the Giver of Life; Who proceeds from the Father; Who with the Father and the Son together is wоrshipped and аnd glorified; Who spake by the prophets.
9. In One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church.
10. I confess one baptism for the remission of sins.
11. I look for the resurrection of the dead,
12. And the life of the age to come. Amen.
What is the Creed
The Creed is a prayer that briefly and accurately sets out the most important truths of the Christian faith. Every Orthodox Christian must believe as the Creed teaches. The Creed should be known by heart and read with morning prayers.
The Creed, which we will explain here, was compiled by the fathers of the First and Second Ecumenical Councils. At the First Ecumenical Council the first seven members of the Symbol were written, at the Second - the remaining five. The First Ecumenical Council took place in the city of Nicaea in 325 after the Nativity of Christ to confirm the apostolic teaching about the Son of God and against the incorrect teaching of Arius. Arius taught that the Son of God was created by God the Father and is not the true God. The Second Ecumenical Council took place in Constantinople in 381 to confirm the apostolic teaching about the Holy Spirit against the false teaching of Macedonius, who rejected the Divine dignity of the Holy Spirit. For the two cities where these Ecumenical Councils took place, the Creed is called Nicene-Constantinopolitan.
The Creed consists of 12 members (parts). The 1st member speaks about God the Father, the 2nd to 7th members talk about God the Son, the 8th - about God the Holy Spirit, the 9th - about the Church, the 10th - about baptism, the 11th and 12th The second one is about the resurrection of the dead and eternal life.
Questions: (1) What is the Creed? (2) When and where was the Creed written? (3) How many members (parts) does the Creed consist of? (4) Where did the First Ecumenical Council take place? (5) What false teaching did this council condemn? (6) Where did the Second Ecumenical Council take place? (7) What false teaching did this council condemn? (8) What do the different parts (members) of the Creed say?
First member of the Creed
I believe in one God the Father, Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, visible to all and invisible.
To believe in God means to be firmly convinced that God exists, that He cares about us, and to wholeheartedly accept what He told us through His Son, through the prophets and apostles.
Faith should not be limited only to our minds, like abstract science, but it should warm our hearts with love for God and people. In other words, it is not enough just to admit that God exists, but we must also live the way God wants.
A true Christian is one who believes correctly and lives according to the Commandments of God.
It is necessary that our faith in God be so strong that no temptations, dangers, sufferings, or death itself could force us to renounce God or violate His holy will. Only living and strong faith saves our soul, as Holy Scripture teaches: “We believe with our hearts for righteousness, and with our lips we confess for salvation.”(Rom. 10:10).
Examples of firm faith are the holy martyrs. For the sake of faith in God and the fulfillment of His Commandments, they abandoned all the blessings of earthly life, were subjected to persecution, terrible torment and even death.
The words of the Creed: “in one God” teach that a Christian must recognize only ONE true God. There is no other god in the universe except Him - the one, great and omnipotent. Wild and superstitious people who recognize many gods and serve idols are called pagans.
God is a supreme, supramundane, supernatural Being. It is impossible to fully understand the being of God. It is beyond knowledge not only for people, but also for angels.
However, we can and must know God. We are taught about God by the nature that He created, as well as the Holy Scriptures, in which God revealed Himself to people through His prophets and apostles. By examining the world around us, its beauty and harmony, as well as reading the Holy Scriptures, we learn following properties God's.
God is the Creator. Everything that exists: visible and invisible - the entire vast universe was created by God. At the same time, God can do everything in an instant and without difficulty. Therefore we call Him almighty.
God is Almighty because He holds everything in His power. Without His will nothing can happen.
God is Spirit. He is not material and simple in His essence.
God is inexhaustible Life. All living things: plants, animals, people, angels and other creatures - everything received and receives its life from God.
God has always existed and will always exist - He is eternal.
God is everywhere and penetrates everything with Himself, although He does not mix with anything. He is omnipresent.
God knows everything: everything that was, what is and what will be - the thoughts and desires of all beings. Nothing can be hidden from Him; He is omniscient.
God is infinitely wise. No one can invent or do anything better than Him. He is wise.
God is infinitely good. He pities and loves everyone, takes care of everyone like a Father. He is Love.
God is supremely just. Every person will sooner or later receive what he deserves. God is all-righteous.
God is in eternal bliss and gives joy and bliss to those who love Him. He is the all-blessed one.
God doesn't change. He's always the same. Everything else in the world is born and grows, then dies and disintegrates.
God is one, but not alone, because God is one in His essence, but trinity in Persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit - the Trinity is consubstantial and indivisible. Unity of Three, infinite loving friend friend Persons
The mutual relationship between the Persons of the Most Holy Trinity is that God the Father is not born and does not come from another person; The Son of God was born from God the Father before all ages; and the Holy Spirit proceeds from God the Father before all ages. All three Persons of the Holy Trinity, in essence and properties, are completely equal to each other. Just as God the Father is the true God, and the Son of God is the true God, so God the Holy Spirit is the true God, but all three Persons are one Deity - one God.
How one God exists in three Persons is a mystery incomprehensible to our minds. We believe in it because the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, taught us to believe. Sending the apostles to preach, He said: “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19). The Apostle and Evangelist John explains that the Persons in God have one essence: “Three testify in heaven (about the Divinity of the Son of God): the Father, the Word and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one” (John 5:7). The Apostle Paul writes: “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God the Father, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you all” (2 Cor. 13:13).
To explain the mystery of the Holy Trinity, we can point to the following examples. Speech among all peoples of the earth has three faces: I (we), you (you) and he (they); time has: past, present and future; state of matter: solid, liquid and gaseous; all the variety of colors in the world is made up of three primary colors: red, blue and yellow; a person manifests himself through: thought, word and action; action, in turn, has a beginning, middle and end; the sun has a circle, warmth and light; salvation of the soul is achieved through three virtues: faith, hope and love.
We can understand the mystery of the Holy Trinity more with our hearts than with our minds. If we love God and live according to His commandments, then our heart will feel the truth of the mystery of the Holy Trinity and everything that the Lord Jesus Christ taught.
God created first the invisible, and then the visible world. Angels belong to the invisible or spiritual world - spirits, incorporeal (therefore invisible) and immortal beings, gifted with mind, will and power.
The word "angel" is Greek and means "messenger" in Russian. God sends angels to proclaim His will to people. Every Christian has his own guardian angel, who invisibly helps him in the matter of salvation and protects him from all evil. There are also evil spirits- fallen angels: demons or demons. God created them good, but they became evil due to their pride and disobedience. Good angels live in Heaven, and demons live in hell.
The visible world is the world in which we live. God created it out of nothing many millions of years ago. Man is a complex creature. His soul is invisible and immortal. She was created in the image and likeness of God. The human body is made of earth, just like the bodies of animals.
Questions: (1) What does it mean to “believe in God?” (2) Who is true Christian? (3) Who left us an example of firm faith? (4) What kind of God do we believe in? (5) Can we fully know God? (6) Why do we call God the Creator of heaven and earth? (7) Why do we call God Almighty? (8) Why do we say that God is Trinity, Spirit, Life, Love, that He is all-righteous, all-knowing, all-wise and all-blessed? (9) Name the three Persons of the Holy Trinity. (10) What is the relationship between the Persons of the Holy Trinity? (11) What do we call the invisible world? (12) What does the word angel mean?
Second Creed
And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the only begotten, who was born of the Father before all ages. Light from Light, true God from true God, born, uncreated, consubstantial with the Father, to Whom all things were.
The Lord Jesus Christ is the Only Begotten Son of God, that is, the only Son of God the Father, born from the being of the Father. Just as light is born from light, so from the true God the Father was born the true God the Son. Therefore, the Son of God has the same divine essence as God the Father, or, as the Creed says, He is “consubstantial with the Father.” Jesus Christ Himself said: “I and the Father are one” (John 10:30).
The Son of God was born from God the Father before all ages, that is, before the beginning of time - initially. Just as God the Father eternally exists, so the Son of God eternally exists, and the Holy Spirit eternally exists.
If angels and holy people can be called “sons of God,” then not by their essence, but by the grace of God. God the Father adopted us as His sons - for the sake of His Only Begotten Son, Who died for us to cleanse us from sins and make us saints.
To the word “born,” in the Creed, the word “uncreated” is added. This addition was made to refute the false teaching of Arius, who argued that the Son of God was not born, but created.
The words that all things were by Him mean that by Him, the Son of God, everything was created: both the visible and the invisible world. “Without Him (the Son of God) nothing began to be,” it is written in the Gospel (John 1:3).
The Son of God, when born on earth, received the name Jesus Christ. The name Jesus is Greek translation Hebrew name Yeshua, which means Savior. This name was indicated twice by God through an Angel before the Nativity of Christ, because the eternal Son of God came to earth precisely to save people.
The name Christ is Greek and means Anointed One. On Hebrew it corresponds to the word "Messiah." IN Old Testament anointed were prophets, high priests and kings who, upon assuming their office, were anointed with oil and through this received the gifts of the Holy Spirit necessary for the performance of their duties.
The Son of God is called the Anointed One (Christ) because of His human nature because He received all the gifts of the Holy Spirit: prophetic knowledge, the holiness of a high priest, and the power of a king.
Questions: (1) From whom was the Son of God born? (2) What does the word "Only Begotten" mean? (3) Why do we say “begotten, not made”? (4) When was the Son of God born, as God, and how long ago was He born on Earth, as a man? (5) What do the words “It all happened to them” mean? (6) What does the name "Jesus" mean? (7) What does the name "Christ" mean? (8) What do the words “Consubstantial with the Father” mean?
Third Article of the Creed
For our sake, man and our salvation came down from Heaven and became incarnate from the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, and became human.
The third part of the Creed speaks of the incarnation of the Son of God. Being a perfect God, the Son of God descended from Heaven into our world and became human, that is, he became a perfect man, without ceasing to be the omnipotent and omnipresent God.
As a man, Jesus Christ had soul and body and became like us in everything except sin. His human nature was pure, like Adam's before the Fall. Since Jesus Christ had and continues to have two natures - Divine and human, He is the God-man.
The Son of God came into our world to save us: to deliver people from the power of the devil, sin and eternal death and to make us righteous people.
All people are born sinners. Sin appeared in people from the devil, who, back in paradise, seduced Eve, and through her Adam, and persuaded them to break the commandment of God, that is, to sin. This sin corrupted the nature of Adam and Eve. Since then, all their descendants are born damaged by sin. Sin deprived people of God's grace, darkened their minds, weakened their will, and brought illness and death into their bodies. People began to suffer and die, and on their own they could no longer overcome sin within themselves.
Seeing the powerlessness of people in the fight against sin, the merciful Lord promised Adam and Eve that the Savior of the world would come to earth, Who would deliver people from sin and from the power of the devil.
Then, for many generations, God, through His prophets, prepared people for the coming of the Son of God to earth and indicated the signs of His coming into the world. Here are some of the most important predictions about the Savior:
The prophet Isaiah predicted that the Savior would be born of a virgin (Isaiah 7:14) and with amazing clarity predicted His suffering and resurrection (Isaiah 53rd chapter).
The prophet Micah predicted that the Savior would be born in Bethlehem (Mic. 5:2; Matt. 2:4-6).
The prophet Malachi predicted that the Savior would come to the newly created Jerusalem temple and that a Forerunner (John the Baptist), similar to the prophet Elijah, would be sent before Him (Malachi 3:1-15).
The Prophet Zechariah predicted the Savior's triumphal entry into Jerusalem on a colt (Zechariah 9:9).
King David in the 21st Psalm depicted the Savior’s suffering on the cross with such precision, as if he himself had seen it at the Cross.
For 490 years, the Prophet Daniel predicted the time of the appearance of the Savior, His death on the cross, predicted the subsequent destruction of the temple, Jerusalem and the spread of the Christian faith (Dan. 9 chapter).
When the time of salvation came, the Son of God moved into the immaculate Virgin Mary and, through the action of the Holy Spirit, took on human nature from Her. The further development of the infant Christ in the womb of the Virgin Mary proceeded naturally until, nine months after conception, He was born from Her in the city of Bethlehem.
Many righteous people learned about the birth of the Savior in Bethlehem. So, for example, the eastern sages (magi) recognized Him by the star that appeared in the east before the birth of the Savior. The Bethlehem shepherds learned about Him from angels. Elder Simeon and the prophetess Anna recognized Him by the revelation of the Holy Spirit when He was brought to the temple. John the Baptist recognized Him on the Jordan River during baptism, when the Holy Spirit descended on the Lord in the form of a dove and God the Father said: “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17). Many recognized Him by the loftiness of His teaching and especially by the miracles He performed.
By honoring the Savior, we also honor His Most Pure Mother. The Blessed Virgin Mary came from the family of Abraham and King David and was the daughter of the righteous Joachim and Anna. Out of love for God, She promised not to marry, that is, to remain a virgin. She remained a virgin even after the birth of the Savior, which is why She is called the Ever-Virgin (“always a virgin.”) We also call the Virgin Mary the Mother of God, because in the flesh She gave birth to the true Son of God. We honor Her above all created beings, not only people, but also angels: “More honorable than the cherubim and more glorious than the seraphim.”
Everything that the Lord Jesus Christ did was aimed at the salvation of the sinful human race: His teaching, the example of His life, His death and resurrection from the dead.
The teaching of Jesus Christ saves us when we accept it with all our souls and act in imitation of the life of the Savior. Just as the false word of the devil, accepted by the first people, became the seed of sin and death in people, so the true word of Christ, sincerely accepted by Christians, becomes in them the seed of holy and immortal life.
Questions: (1) Why did the Lord Jesus Christ come to earth? (2) What does the human nature of the Lord Jesus Christ consist of? (3) Is the Lord Jesus Christ true God and true Man? (4) Why are all people born sinners? (5) What did the prophets predict about Jesus Christ? (6) From whom and how was the Lord Jesus Christ born? (7) How did Jesus Christ save us? (8) From what family was the Blessed Virgin Mary? (9) Why do we call the Virgin Mary the Mother of God?
Fourth Article of the Creed
She was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate, and suffered and was buried.
This member of the Creed speaks of the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ during the time of Pontius Pilate, the ruler of Judea. Jesus Christ like almighty god, could have avoided suffering, but He voluntarily suffered and died on the cross in order to wash away our sins with His blood. Out of His infinite love for us, He took upon ourselves our sins and endured all the suffering that would await us for our sins.
The execution on the cross was the most shameful and cruel that people could come up with. The Romans crucified the most dangerous criminals on crosses. The Lord voluntarily accepted this terrible execution out of His endless love for us.
The Lord Jesus Christ was crucified on Friday before the Jewish Passover at a place called Golgotha (place of skull), near Jerusalem. The Savior did not suffer by His Divine nature, which cannot suffer, but as a man. After the death of the Savior, Joseph of Arimathea buried His body in a stone cave near Golgotha. The high priests assigned Roman guards to the cave, and put their seal on the stone rolled up to the cave.
After the Savior died on the cross, He descended with His soul into hell, and from there He brought out the souls of all believers and virtuous people, starting from Adam and Eve. Hell is a place of suffering, far from God and devoid of light. Satan reigns there. Since all people were sinners, until the death of the Savior on the cross no one could enter heaven, not even righteous people.
On the cross, the Lord achieved a great victory over evil. He washed away the sins of the whole world, took away the devil's power over people and defeated death. The Lord sanctified the cross with His most pure blood and gave it spiritual strength, with the help of which we overcome devilish temptations. Thanks to the Savior’s suffering on the cross, even the most desperate sinner has hope through repentance and faith in the Savior to receive forgiveness of his sins and the Kingdom of Heaven. The thief who repented on the cross was the first to enter heaven.
We Christians must always remember at what terrible cost the Lord Jesus Christ washed away our sins. Therefore, we must make every effort not to sin and live righteously.
If the Lord loved us so much that He gave His life for us, then we should love Him with all our hearts.
Note
1. The words in the Creed “suffered and buried” were spoken against the ancient heretics who falsely taught that the Lord did not suffer on the cross, but only pretended to suffer.
2. As the Evangelists write, during the hours of the Savior’s suffering on the cross, “darkness fell over all the earth” (Luke 23:44). Pagan writers also testify to this darkness: the Roman astronomer Phlegon, Phallus, Julius Africanus. One of them exclaimed: “One of the gods has died!” The famous philosopher from Athens, Dionysius the Areopagite, was at that time in Egypt, in the city of Galiopolis. Observing the sudden darkness, he said: “Either the Creator suffers, or the world is destroyed.” Subsequently, after the preaching of the Apostle Paul, Dionysius converted to Christianity and was the first bishop of Athens.
Questions: (1) Under what ruler was the Lord Jesus Christ crucified on the cross? (2) Was the suffering of the Lord Jesus Christ real, or only apparent? (3) On what day of the week was the Lord Jesus Christ crucified? (4) Where was He buried? (5) Where did the Lord Jesus Christ descend in soul after His death? (6) Why do we say in the Symbol that she suffered and was buried? How did the Lord Jesus Christ save people?
Fifth Article of the Creed
And he rose again on the third day according to the Scriptures.
The fifth member of the Creed says that Jesus Christ conquered death by His death and on the third day rose again: He came to life and came out of the tomb with His renewed flesh. The Resurrection of the Savior is the greatest miracle that opened the way for people to renewal and eternal joy.
The Old Testament prophets predicted the death, burial and resurrection of the Savior, which is why it is said in the Symbol: “according to the Scriptures” - that is, all this happened as it is written in the Holy Scriptures. Jesus Christ died on Friday, the eve of the Jewish Passover, at about three o'clock in the afternoon, and rose again at night after Saturday. Since then, the first day after Saturday began to be called “Resurrection” or “Lord’s Day.” On this day Christians gathered for thanksgiving prayer God and for communion.
The state of Jesus Christ after His death and before the resurrection is depicted by the Orthodox Church as follows: “You were in the tomb in body, in hell with your soul as God, in paradise You were with the thief, and on the Throne You were, Christ, with the Father and the Spirit, all filling with Himself, the Incomprehensible One."
The Resurrection of Christ is different from the resurrections of other people. By the divine power of the Lord Jesus Christ, the son of the widow of Nain, the maiden Tabitha, Lazarus and others were resurrected. These were temporary resurrections, since the souls of the dead returned to their former earthly and corruptible bodies. After some time, these resurrected people died again.
Jesus Christ rose from the dead in His completely transformed and renewed body. At the resurrection, His body became spiritual and heavenly. Therefore, Christ left the cave where He was buried, without rolling away the stone or breaking the seal. He was invisible to the soldiers guarding the coffin.
The Lord revealed His resurrection to the apostles first through an angel who rolled away the stone from the door of the tomb. Then the angels announced the resurrection of Jesus Christ to the myrrh-bearing women. Finally, Jesus Christ Himself appeared to all the apostles on the evening of the first day of His resurrection. Then, over the course of forty days, the Savior repeatedly appeared to His disciples, with many sure proofs of His resurrection: He allowed the disciples to touch His wounds from the nails and from the spear, ate in front of them and talked with them about the Kingdom of God.
The Day of the Resurrection of Christ is also called Easter and is the most joyful holiday for us. This is because by His death the Lord defeated the devil, death and all evil and laid the foundation for our resurrection. Therefore, on Easter we sing: “Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death (having conquered), and giving life (life) to those in the tombs.”
Now the Lord dwells forever in Heaven in this new resurrected body. At the general resurrection, we will rise from the dead with a renewed and spiritualized body, similar to the body of the risen Savior.
Then the ancient prediction of the prophet Hosea will be fulfilled: “I will redeem (save) them from the power of hell, I will deliver them from death. Death, where is your sting? Hell, where is your victory?!” (Hosea 13:14).
Questions: (1) Where was the Savior's death and resurrection predicted? (2) On what day did Christ die and on what day was he resurrected? (3) What day was it after His death? (4) How did the resurrected Jesus Christ emerge from the tomb? (5) How was the Savior's body after the resurrection different from the body He had before His resurrection? (6) Where was the soul of the Lord Jesus Christ before His resurrection? (7) Who was the first to know about His resurrection? (8) Why is the resurrection of the Savior the most joyful holiday for us?
Sixth Article of the Creed
And ascended into Heaven, and sits at the right hand of the Father.
This member of the Creed speaks of the ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ into Heaven, where He sat down at the right hand (on the right side of) God the Father.
The Ascension of the Savior took place forty days after His resurrection. He ascended to Heaven with His flesh and soul, as a man, and by His Divinity He always remained with the Father, as the Son of God the Father.
Sitting “on the right side of the Father” means that Jesus Christ, having ascended into Heaven, received Divine power over the world together with God the Father.
By His Ascension, our Lord Jesus Christ united the earthly with the heavenly and showed us that our thoughts and desires should be directed towards Heaven.
The Lord Jesus Christ promised: “To him who overcomes (evil, sin) I will give to sit with Me on My throne, just as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne” (Rev. 3:21).
Questions: (1) What does the sixth article of the Creed say? (2) By what means did the Savior ascend to Heaven, His Divine or His human nature? (3) On what day after the Resurrection did He ascend to Heaven? (4) What does the words “sat at the right hand of God the Father” mean? (5) Where should our thoughts and desires be directed?
Seventh Article of the Creed
And again the coming one will be judged with glory by the living and the dead, His Kingdom will have no end.
The seventh article of the Creed speaks of the second coming of the Savior, when he will return to Earth to judge all people living and dead. After this, His Kingdom will begin, which will have no end.
The second coming of the Savior is predicted in the Holy Scriptures. For example, when Jesus Christ ascended into heaven, angels appeared to the apostles and said: “This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come again in the same way as you saw Him going into heaven” (Acts 1:11).
The second coming of Christ will be completely different from the first. The first time He came in the humble form of a man to suffer for us and thereby save us. He was born in a cattle cave, lived in poverty, was overworked, hungry and thirsty, suffered insults from sinners and died among the evildoers on the cross. The second time He will come in all His greatness - the King of the universe surrounded by angels. “As lightning comes from the east and is visible even to the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man” (Matthew 24:27).
The second coming of Christ the Savior will be extraordinary: Then “the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken; then the sign of the Son of Man (the Cross) will appear in heaven; and all the tribes of the earth will weep when they see the Son of man, coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He will send out angels with a loud trumpet, and they will gather His elect from all parts of the world (Matthew 24:29-30).
“Then He will sit on the throne of His glory, and all nations (who have lived on the earth since the foundation of the world) will be gathered before Him,” and He will judge all people: the righteous and the sinners (Matthew 25:31-46).
This judgment is called “The Terrible,” because then the inner state of each person will be revealed and not only all his deeds, but also all the words he has spoken, secret desires and thoughts will be revealed to everyone.
According to the judgment of Christ, the righteous will go into eternal life, and sinners into eternal torment - because they did evil deeds for which they did not repent and which they did not atone for. good deeds and correction of life. People who have never heard of God (pagans) will be judged by the voice of their conscience: whoever did as his conscience told him will be acquitted, and whoever acted contrary to the voice of his conscience will be condemned.
“The time will come,” says the Lord, “in which all who are in the graves will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who have done good will come out to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of condemnation” (John 5:28-29).
When exactly the Lord will come to earth for the second time is hidden from everyone. This is a secret that no one knows, not even the angels of God, but only the Heavenly Father. Therefore, we must always be ready to appear before the judgment of God.
Although the day of the coming of Christ is unknown, some signs of the approaching coming of the Lord are revealed in the Holy Scriptures.
1. Before this, the Gospel will be preached throughout the world.
2. Jews in large numbers will turn to Christ and become Christians.
3. Before the end of the world, people will become extremely corrupt, faith in them will completely weaken, they will hate each other and do evil; some will practice witchcraft and worship demons.
4. Many false prophets will appear who will deceive people with their fictitious teachings and false miracles.
5. Disagreement and bloody wars will intensify in the world; there will be famine, disease, strong earthquakes and storms.
6. Finally, when evil increases extremely, the Antichrist will appear among people.
The word "Antichrist" means the enemy of Christ. He will appear before the end of the world and will reign for three and a half years. People will rely on him as a wise ruler, but he will try by all means to destroy the Christian faith. During his time, Christians will be greatly persecuted, demanding that they recognize the Antichrist. Christians faithful to Christ will then neither be able to get a job, nor sell, nor buy. Then many people will be tempted, deny Christ and betray each other. All who renounced Christ and submitted to the Antichrist will perish in hell, and Christians will be saved by remaining faithful to Christ to the end.
Christ will come, and the reign of the Antichrist will end with the terrible death of himself, his followers and the devil himself.
After this there will be a resurrection of the dead, Last Judgment and the eternal Kingdom of Christ will come.
Questions: (1) What does the seventh article of the Creed say? (2) How will the second coming of Christ differ from the first? (3) In what form and how will the second coming of Christ take place? (4) Does anyone know when the second coming will be? (5) What events will happen in the world before the second coming of Christ? Describe these events. (6) Who is the Antichrist and what events will happen under him? (7) What will happen after the second coming of Christ?
Eighth Article of the Creed
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the life-giving, who proceeds from the Father, who is worshiped and glorified with the Father and the Son, who spoke the prophets.
The eighth member of the Creed speaks about the Third Person of the Holy Trinity - the Holy Spirit, namely, that He is the same true God as God the Father and God the Son. Therefore, we must glorify Him and worship Him equally with the Father and the Son.
The Holy Spirit is called the Life-Giving Spirit because He, together with the Father and the Son, gives life to everyone - especially spiritual life to angels and people. He is the Creator of the world, along with the Father and the Son. Therefore, it was said at the creation of the world that “the Spirit of God hovered over the waters” (the deep, Gen. 1:2).
Jesus Christ said about the need for a person to be regenerated by the Holy Spirit: “Unless a person is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God” (John 3:5).
The words: “Who proceeds from the Father” - Who proceeds from the Father - indicate the personal property of the Holy Spirit, by which He differs from God the Father and from God the Son, namely, that He proceeds from God the Father. The Lord Jesus Christ said this to His disciples: “When the Comforter comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify about Me” (John 15:26). The Holy Spirit is called the "Comforter" because He gives us such great joy that we forget about our sorrows.
The words “who spoke the prophets” mean that the Holy Spirit spoke through righteous people: prophets and apostles. They predicted the future and wrote sacred books not according to their own desire or natural human inspiration, but according to the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, their Scriptures - books in the Bible - are called God-inspired and contain pure Divine truth. All books of the Bible are the word of God.
Since the day of His descent on the apostles on the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit has continuously abided in the Church of Christ. He keeps its teaching intact and gives Christians His Divine Gifts. The Holy Spirit enlightens believers with the light of Christ's teaching, cleanses them from sinful filth, warms their hearts with love for God and neighbor, gives zeal and strength to live righteously in order to make us saints. Everything good that we have or want to receive is given to us by the Holy Spirit.
Jesus Christ warned: “All sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven” (Matthew 12:31). “Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit” is called conscious and bitter opposition to Christ’s truth, “for the Spirit is the Truth” (John 5:6). Stubborn resistance to the truth leads a person away from humility and repentance, and without repentance there can be no forgiveness. This is why the sin of “blasphemy against the Spirit” is not forgiven.
The Holy Spirit revealed itself to people in a visible way: at the baptism of the Lord in the form of a Dove, and on the day of Pentecost He descended on the apostles in the form of tongues of fire. When the Holy Spirit works in us, we are calm, kind, obedient, courageous, strongly believe in God, and want to love everyone.
Therefore, a Christian must try with all his might to receive and preserve the grace of the Holy Spirit. There is nothing more valuable in the world. We receive this grace in the holy sacraments, in divine services, in fervent home prayer, from reading Holy Scripture and from good deeds.
Questions: (1) Who is the eighth article of the Creed talking about? (2) What Person of the Holy Trinity is the Holy Spirit? (3) What does “life-giving” mean? (4) What does “Who proceeds from the Father” mean? (5) What does it mean, “He who is with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified”? (6) What does “who spoke the prophets” mean? (7) What should we care about first? (8) How do we receive the grace of the Holy Spirit? (9) How do we feel when the Holy Spirit works in us? (10) Why is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit not forgiven?
Ninth Article of the Creed
I believe in one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church.
The ninth article of the Creed speaks of the Church of Christ, which Jesus Christ founded for the sanctification and salvation of people.
The Church is all Orthodox Christians - living and dead. The Church is a big family, a universal organization. The Church is the Kingdom of God, which came down from Heaven, spread across the earth and consists of millions of people and angels.
Sometimes the building (temple) in which we pray is called a church. But here we are not talking about a building, but about the unity of all true believers.
We, the children of the Church of Christ, are united by one faith, the same commandments of God, mutual love and the grace of the Holy Spirit. Every Orthodox Christian, if he believes and lives as the Lord Jesus Christ and His Apostles taught, is a member of the Church of Christ.
Jesus Christ is the Head of the Church, and the Church is the spiritual body of Christ. Through Communion, Christ invisibly dwells in believers.
Lord Jesus Christ instructed visible device and the administration of the Church to the holy apostles and their successors - the bishops, the shepherds of the Church, and through them He invisibly governs the Church.
Whoever obeys the Church obeys Christ Himself, and whoever does not obey and rejects it, rejects the Lord Himself. If anyone “does not listen to the Church, let him be to you as a pagan and a tax collector,” said the Lord (Matthew 19:17).
The Church of Christ is invincible and will exist forever, as the Lord promised: “I will build My Church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it... I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matt. 16:18; Matt. 28:20) .
The truth of God is kept in its purity only in the Church of Christ, as the Apostle Paul wrote: “The church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth” (Tim. 3:15). Jesus Christ promised the apostles: “The Comforter, the Holy Spirit (Spirit of truth), whom the Father will send in My name, will teach you all things and remind you of everything that I have told you.” He “will abide with you forever” (John 14:26 and 14:16). Other non-Orthodox churches have departed from the truth to a greater or lesser extent.
We believe in one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church.
1. The Church of Christ is one because it is one spiritual body, has one head - Christ and is animated by one Spirit of God (Eph. 4:4-6). It has one goal - to sanctify people; one Divine teaching, one sacrament. Just as a living body cannot be divided, so the Church cannot disintegrate or be separated into parts. Heretics and schismatics may separate from it, but by falling away, they cease to be members of the Church. The Church remains united. Just as the body consists of many members, so the Church of Christ consists of many local or national churches: Greek, Russian, Serbian, Romanian, Bulgarian, Jerusalem, Constantinople, Antioch, Alexandria, American and others. All these local churches They believe and teach the same, they all have bishops who go back to the apostles. Only each church has its own language.
2. The Church of Christ is holy because it is sanctified by the Lord Jesus Christ: His sufferings, His Divine teaching and the holy sacraments established by Him, in which the grace of the Holy Spirit is given to believers.
Just as the essence of a precious stone does not change from the dust collected on it, so the Church does not lose its holiness due to the sinfulness of people. All Christians must cleanse themselves from sins by repentance, confession and communion of the Holy Mysteries. If any of them remains an unrepentant sinner, he falls away from the Church, like a dry branch from a tree.
3. The Church of Christ is conciliar, because it gathers into itself all true believers - regardless of their nationality, education or social status. The Church is not limited by space, time, or people. That is why the Church is also called universal (catholic). All important questions in the Church it is not one person who decides, but a council of bishops. Councils of bishops from all local churches are called Ecumenical Councils.
4. The Church of Christ is also called apostolic, because it preserves the apostolic teaching and apostolic grace. The Holy Apostles, having received the gifts of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost, transferred them through sacred ordination to the shepherds of the Church. Thus, from the apostles to the present day, the grace of God has been passed on successively from bishop to bishop.
The one holy, catholic and apostolic Church is also called Orthodox (in Greek, ortho-dokeo), because it thinks correctly and teaches correctly.
Questions: (1) What is called the Church? (2) Is the Church limited to the Earth where we live, or is there a Church in Heaven too? (3) How long will the Church last? (4) Who is the Head of the Church? (5) What unites Orthodox believers into one Church? (6) What types of local churches are there? (7) Why is the Church called holy? (8) Why is it called cathedral? (9) Why is it called apostolic? (10) How is the grace of the Holy Spirit transmitted to priests from apostolic times to our time? (11) What does the name Orthodox Church mean?
Tenth Article of the Creed
I confess one baptism for the remission of sins.
The tenth member of the Creed speaks of the sacrament of baptism. A sacrament is a divine service in which the grace of the Holy Spirit is given to a person in an invisible way (“secretly”). There are seven sacraments: baptism, confirmation, repentance (confession), communion, marriage, priesthood and consecration of oil.
The Creed only mentions baptism, because it is the first sacrament that gives a person access to the other sacraments of the Church.
Sacrament of Baptism
The sacrament of baptism is a sacred act in which a believer in Christ, through three times immersion in water, invoking the name of the Most Holy Trinity - the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, is washed from all sins, is born spiritually and becomes a member of the Church.
The sacrament of baptism was established by our Lord Jesus Christ. First, He sanctified baptism by His own example by being baptized in the Jordan. Then, after His resurrection, He commanded the apostles: “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19).
Baptism is necessary for everyone who wants to be saved. “Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God,” said the Lord (John 3:5).
Since apostolic times, it has become a custom to baptize not only adults, but also their children, with the condition that parents and successors will then take care of the Christian upbringing of baptized children. The fact is that children, although they do not have personal sins, are born damaged by the original sin of Adam and Eve, which was inherited from their parents. If anyone dies before baptism, then original sin prevents him from entering the Kingdom of Heaven. That is why parents, caring about the salvation of their children, try to baptize them early.
Since baptism is a spiritual birth, and a person will be born once, then the sacrament of baptism is performed on a person once in a lifetime.
Sacrament of Confirmation
Confirmation is a sacrament in which the newly baptized is given the gifts of the Holy Spirit, which guide and strengthen him in the Christian life.
Initially, the holy apostles performed the sacrament of confirmation by the laying on of hands. But since the number of Christians was increasing, and the apostles and their closest disciples did not have time to lay hands on all the baptized, they began to consecrate the oil, which they gave to their assistant priests so that on their behalf they would anoint the newly baptized with this oil and give it to them the grace of the Holy Spirit. This specially consecrated oil is called "mirror."
Holy myrrh for the sacrament of Confirmation is prepared from olive oil with special fragrant substances and is consecrated by bishops in Maundy Thursday. It is given to the priests as needed and is kept in the altar on the throne.
When performing the sacrament, the following parts of the body of the believer are smeared with the holy myrrh in a cross shape: forehead, eyes, ears, mouth, chest, arms and legs - with the words pronounced: “Seal of the gift of the Holy Spirit, amen.”
Sacrament of Repentance
Repentance is a sacrament in which the believer confesses (orally reveals) his sins to God in the presence of a priest and through the priest receives forgiveness of sins from the Lord.
The Lord said to the apostles: “Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive, they are forgiven; those whose sins you retain, they remain” (John 20:23).
To receive forgiveness (resolution) of sins from the confessor (repentant) the following is required: reconciliation with all neighbors, sincere regret for the sins committed and verbal recognition of them (confession) and a firm intention to correct one’s life.
In special cases, a penance (translated from Greek as prohibition) is imposed on the penitent, consisting of pious deeds and some deprivations aimed at overcoming sinful habits.
Sins, like dust, little by little collect in our soul. They need to be cleansed by confession so that the soul is pure and so that the Holy Spirit dwells in us.
Sacrament of Communion
Communion is a sacrament in which the believer, under the guise of bread and wine, receives the Body and Blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Through this sacrament, a believer is united with Christ and becomes a partaker of eternal life.
The sacrament of communion was established by the Lord Jesus Christ during the Last Supper, on the eve of His suffering on the cross. The Gospel says that the Lord “took bread and thanked (God the Father for all His mercies to the human race), broke it and gave it to the disciples, saying: “Take, eat: This is My Body, which is given for you; Do this in remembrance of Me." He also took the cup and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying: "Drink from it, all of you; For this is My Blood of the New Testament, which is shed for you and for many for the remission (forgiveness) of sins."
Having established the sacrament of Communion, Jesus Christ commanded His disciples: “Do this in remembrance of Me,” that is, perform this sacrament, remembering everything that I have done to save people.
According to the commandment of Christ, since apostolic times the sacrament of communion has been constantly celebrated in the Church of Christ and will continue to be celebrated until the end of the world. The service at which it is celebrated is called the Liturgy.
During the Liturgy, bread and wine are changed by the action of the Holy Spirit into the true Body and true Blood of Christ.
Christians of the first centuries took communion every Sunday.
We should try to receive communion more often, at least once a month and on the day of our angel (name day), and at least once a year during Lent.
In communion we unite with the God-man Christ. This is why communion gives us joy and great spiritual strength. Having received communion, we must thank God for His mercy towards us and try to live righteously, as Jesus Christ lived.
Sacrament of marriage
Marriage is a sacrament in which, with the promise of mutual fidelity to each other, the marital union of the bride and groom is blessed, and God's grace is given to them for mutual love, unanimity, for the birth and Christian upbringing of children.
Marriage brings a lot of joy when spouses live like Christians, love and help each other. Husband and wife are obligated to keep mutual love and respect, mutual devotion and fidelity. The Lord does not allow divorce. Having entered into marriage, one must, with God’s help, overcome all family difficulties and correct oneself.
Before marriage, a man and woman must live a pure and chaste life.
Sacrament of the Priesthood
The priesthood is a sacrament in which a person, through episcopal ordination, receives the grace of the Holy Spirit for the sacred service of the Church of Christ.
This sacrament is performed only on persons who sincerely wish to serve God and people, who are blameless in their personal lives and have completed the necessary training. There are three degrees of priesthood: deacon, presbyter (priest) and bishop (bishop).
Anyone ordained as a deacon receives the grace to serve at divine services and assist the priest.
Anyone ordained to the priesthood (presbyter) receives the grace to lead believers to salvation and perform divine services and sacraments.
The one ordained as a bishop (bishop) receives the grace to rule the church, lead divine services, perform all the sacraments and consecrate others to perform the sacraments. Bishops bear the fullness of apostolic grace.
The Sacrament of Anointing
Blessing of oil is a sacrament in which, during the anointing of a sick person with consecrated oil, the grace of God is invoked on him to heal him from physical and mental illnesses.
The Sacrament of Unction is also called Unction, because several priests gather to perform it, although, if necessary, one priest can perform it.
Questions: (1) What is a sacrament? (2) How many sacraments are there? Name them. (3) What is the sacrament of baptism? (4) What words are spoken when a person is baptized? (5) Who and when established the sacrament of baptism? (7) Why is baptism not repeated? (8) What happens to a person in the sacrament of baptism? (9) What sacrament gives us the grace of the Holy Spirit to help us live as Christians? (10) Why is it necessary to confess? (11) What is the name of the service at which communion is celebrated? (12) With whom do we unite during communion? (13) How often should one take communion? (14) Name the three degrees of the priesthood.
Eleventh Article of the Creed
Tea of the resurrection of the dead.
This member of the Creed speaks of the general resurrection of the dead.
The resurrection of the dead, which we “anticipate,” that is, we expect, will occur at the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. According to His Divine word, the souls of all the dead will return to their restored bodies, and all people will rise alive.
Belief in the resurrection of the dead was expressed by Job during his suffering: “And I know that my Redeemer lives, and on the last day He will raise from the dust this decaying skin of mine, and I will see God in my flesh” (Job 19: 25-26). The prophet Isaiah predicted: “Your dead will live, your dead bodies will rise! Arise and rejoice, you cast in the dust: for Your dew is the dew of plants, and the earth will vomit up the dead” (Isaiah 26:19).
Saint Ezekiel, in a prophetic vision, saw the very resurrection of the dead, when many dry bones scattered across the field, by the power of the Spirit of God, began to unite with one another, become covered with body and skin, and finally rose up as living people (Ezek. Chapter 37).
Jesus Christ spoke about the resurrection of the dead: “The time is coming in which all who are in the tombs will hear the voice of the Son of God, and having heard, they will live. And those who have done good will come out to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of condemnation” (John 5:25). -29).
Answering the unbelieving Sadducees to their question about the resurrection of the dead, Jesus Christ said: “You are mistaken, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God. Regarding the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what God said to you: I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? is the God of the dead, but of the living" (Matt. 22:29, 31, 32).
The Apostle Paul says: “Christ has risen from the dead, the firstborn of those who have fallen asleep. For as death came through man (Adam), so through man (Christ) was the resurrection of the dead. As in Adam all died, so in Christ all shall live” (1 Cor. 15 :20--22).
At the moment of the general resurrection, the bodies of dead people will change. In essence they will be the same as we now have, but in quality they will become different: they will become spiritual and immortal. At the moment of the general resurrection, the bodies of those people who will still be alive at the time of the second coming of the Savior will also change. The Apostle Paul says: “A natural body is sown, a spiritual body is raised... we will not all die, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet: for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we (the survivors) will be changed.” (1 Cor. 15:44-52).
Resurrected people will have different appearances. The righteous will shine like the sun, but the wicked will look dark and ugly. Then the inner state of each person will be revealed in his outer appearance.
Then the earth and everything on it will burn up. The whole world will change: from perishable it will turn into imperishable and spiritual - it will become a new heaven and a new earth.
The state of the souls of people who died before the general resurrection is not the same. Thus, the souls of the righteous are in Heaven, awaiting eternal bliss, and the souls of sinners are in hell, awaiting eternal torment. This state of the souls of the dead is determined by God immediately after the death of each person.
Death is the limit by which earthly life ends and eternity begins. What a person sows in this life, he will reap in the next. But the judgment immediately after death is not final, because the general Last Judgment still awaits. Therefore, the souls of believers, but sinners, can receive relief from suffering in the afterlife and even completely get rid of them through the prayers of their loved ones and the Church for them, and also through good deeds performed for them by the living. In order to help the dead in their afterlife, it is established in the Orthodox Church to pray for them at funerals, memorial services and liturgies, when believers serve memorials with prosphora.
Questions: (1) What does the eleventh article of the Creed say? (2) What does the word “tea” mean? (3) What did the Lord say about the resurrection of the dead? (4) When will the resurrection of the dead take place? (5) Which people will be resurrected? (6) What will the righteous and sinners look like after the resurrection? (7) How will a person’s body after the resurrection differ from the body he had before? (8) Where are the souls of the dead now? (9) How can we help the dead?
Twelfth Article of the Creed
I look forward to the life of the next century. Amen.
The last member of the Creed speaks of future eternal life, which will come after the general resurrection of the dead, the renewal of the world and the general judgment of Christ.
For righteous people, eternal life will be so joyful and blissful that in our present state we cannot even imagine or depict it. The Apostle Paul says: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor entered into the heart of man the things that God has prepared for those who love Him” (1 Cor. 2:9).
Such bliss of the righteous will come from contemplating God in the light and from union with Him. The body will also participate in the bliss of the soul of the righteous, which will be glorified by the light of God like the body of the Lord Jesus Christ during His Transfiguration on Mount Tabor. “Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father,” said the Savior.
Now “(the body) is sown in humiliation, is raised in glory, is sown in weakness, is raised in power,” explains the Apostle Paul (1 Cor. 15:43). The righteous will receive different degrees of bliss, according to the moral dignity of each: “There is one glory of the sun, another glory of the moon, another of the stars; and star differs from star in glory. So it is at the resurrection of the dead” (1 Cor. 15:41-42).
For unbelievers and unrepentant sinners, that life will be eternal torment. The Lord will say to them: “Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels. And they will go away into everlasting punishment” (Matthew 25:41-46).
Sinners will be far from God and from heavenly life. They will suffer from reproaches of their conscience and from shame for their crimes. They will be tormented by the proximity of evil spirits and similar sinners, from eternal flame and darkness.
Thus, sinners will be punished not because God wanted them to perish, but they themselves “perish because they did not accept the love of the truth for their salvation,” that is, they did not believe the word of Christ and did not correct themselves (2 Thess. 2:10).
The Creed ends with the word amen, which means: “truly” or “so be it.” By saying these words, we testify that we believe in the truth of everything that is said in the Creed.
Words of the Creed “It’s all the same” show that God the Father created everything by His Son, as by His eternal Wisdom and by the eternal Word Yours. “Through Him all things were made, and without Him nothing was made that was made.”(John 1, 3).
St. John of Damascus teaches more about the mystery of the birth of the Son of God:
“(We believe) ... in one Only Begotten Son of God, our Lord, Jesus Christ, begotten of the Father before all ages, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, unmade, consubstantial with the Father, through whom all things came into being. Speaking about Him: before all ages, we show that His birth is timeless and without beginning; for it was not out of non-existence that the Son of God was brought into being, the radiance of glory and the image of the Hypostasis of the Father (Heb. 1:3), living wisdom and power, the hypostatic Word, the essential, perfect and living image of the invisible God; but He was ever with the Father and in the Father, from Whom He was born eternally and without beginning. For the Father never existed unless the Son existed, but together the Father and together also the Son, begotten of Him. For the Father without the Son would not be called Father; if he had ever existed without the Son, he would not have been the Father, and if later he began to have a Son, then he also became a Father after not having previously been a Father, and would have undergone a change in that , without being the Father, became Him, and such a thought is more terrible than any blasphemy, for it cannot be said of God that He does not have the natural power of birth, and the power of birth consists in the ability to give birth from oneself, i.e. from its own essence, a being similar to itself by nature.
So, it would be impious to assert about the birth of the Son that it happened in time and that the existence of the Son began after the Father. For we confess the birth of the Son from the Father, that is, from His nature. And if we do not admit that the Son initially existed together with the Father, from Whom He was born, then we introduce a change in the Hypostasis of the Father in that the Father, not being the Father, later became the Father. True, creation came into existence after, but not from the being of God; but by the will and power of God she was brought from non-existence into existence, and therefore no change occurred in the nature of God. For birth consists in the fact that from the essence of the one who gives birth, that which is born is produced, similar in essence; creation and creation consists in the fact that what is created and created comes from the outside, and not from the essence of the creator and creator, and is completely unlike in nature.
Therefore, in God, Who alone is impassive, unchangeable, immutable and always the same, both birth and creation are impassive. For - being by nature dispassionate and alien to flow, because he is simple and uncomplicated, He cannot be subject to either suffering or flow, either in birth or in creation, and has no need for anyone’s assistance. But birth (in Him) is beginningless and eternal, since it is the action of His nature and comes from His being, otherwise the one who gives birth would have suffered a change, and there would have been God first and God subsequent, and multiplication would have occurred...
So, the ever-present God gives birth to His Word, perfect without beginning and without end, so that God, who has a higher time and nature and being, does not give birth in time. Man, as it is obvious, gives birth in the opposite way, because he is subject to birth, and decay, and expiration, and reproduction, and is clothed with a body, and in human nature there is a male and female sex, and the husband has a need for the support of his wife. But may He be merciful who is above all and who surpasses all thought and understanding.
So, the Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church teaches together both about the Father and about His Only Begotten Son, born of Him without flight, without flow, dispassionately and incomprehensibly - as only the God of all knows. Just as fire and the light that comes from it exist together - not first fire, and then light, but together - and just as light, always born from fire, is always in fire and is never separated from it - so the Son is born from the Father, in no way separating from Him, but always abiding in Him. But light, inseparably born from fire and always abiding in it, does not have its own hypostasis, in comparison with fire, for it is natural property fire; The Only Begotten Son of God, born from the Father inseparably and inseparably and always abiding in Him, has His own Hypostasis, in comparison with the Hypostasis of the Father.
So, the Son is called Word and radiance, because he was born from the Father without any combination and dispassionately, and without flight, and without flow, and inseparably; (called) the Son and the image of the Father's Hypostasis because He is perfect, hypostatic and in everything like the Father, except for unbornness; (called) the Only Begotten because He alone was born from one Father in a unique way, for no other birth is like the birth of the Son of God, and there is no other Son of God. The Holy Spirit, although it comes from the Father, does not follow the image of birth, but the image of procession. Here is another way of being, as incomprehensible and unknown as the birth of the Son (of God). Therefore, everything that the Father has, the Son also has, except ungeneracy, which does not mean a difference in essence or dignity, but a way of being - just like Adam, who is unborn, for he is the creation of God, and Seth, who is begotten, for he is the son of Adam, and Eve, who came out of Adam’s rib, for she was not born, differ from each other not by nature, for they are people, but by way of being...
It should also be known that the names of fatherland, sonship and procession were not transferred from us to the blessed Divinity, but, on the contrary, were transferred to us from there, as the divine apostle says: “For this purpose I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and on earth is named.”(Eph. 3:14–15).
If we say that the Father is the beginning of the Son and is greater than Him (John 14:28), then we do not show that He takes precedence over the Son in time or in nature; for through Him the Father "and he created the eyelids"(Heb. 1, 2). It does not take precedence in any other respect, if not in relation to the cause; that is, because the Son was born from the Father, and not the Father from the Son, that the Father is the author of the Son by nature, just as we do not say that fire comes from light, but, on the contrary, light from fire. So, when we hear that the Father is the beginning and greater than the Son, we must understand the Father as the cause. And just as we do not say that fire is of one essence, and light is of another, so it is impossible to say that the Father is of one essence, and the Son is different, but (both) are one and the same. And just as we say that fire shines through the light coming out of it, and we do not believe that the light coming from fire is its service organ, but, on the contrary, is its natural power; So we say about the Father, that everything that the Father does, he does through His Only Begotten Son, not as through a ministerial instrument, but as through a natural and hypostatic Power; and just as we say that fire illuminates and again we say that the light of fire illuminates, so everything that the Father does, “then the Son also does” (John 5:19). But light does not have a special hypostasis from fire; The Son is a perfect Hypostasis, inseparable from the Father’s Hypostasis, as we showed above. It is impossible for an image to be found among creatures that in all similarities shows in itself the properties of the Holy Trinity. For what is created and complex, fleeting and changeable, describable and imageable and perishable - how can one accurately explain the all-important Divine essence, which is alien to all this? And it is known that every creature is subject to most of these properties and, by its very nature, is subject to decay” (23).
Each prayer in Christianity has its own a specific goal and meaning. As for the “Creed,” it is one of the most important for Orthodoxy as a whole.
For a believer, prayers are a way of communicating with God, a source of salvation. This applies to all prayers, especially the basic ones, such as “Our Father”, “Living Help” and, of course, “Creed”. There is no need to wait until you can visit the temple. Read prayers at home before going to bed and in the morning, not only on difficult days, but also in pleasant moments as gratitude.
Text and meaning of the prayer “Creed”
The text of one of the most important prayers in Orthodox Christianity consists of 12 parts. The prayer begins with the word “I believe,” and then goes on to list what a real Christian needs to believe. In other words, this prayer is a direct answer to the question of what Orthodox people believe in.
Here is the text of the prayer itself, divided into 12 main parts, the main components of the faith of every Christian:
“I believe in one God, the Father, Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, visible to all and invisible.
And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Only Begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all time; Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not created, consubstantial with the Father, by Him all things were created.
For our sake, man and for our salvation came down from heaven and became incarnate from the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, and became man.
Crucified for our sins under Pontius Pilate, and suffered and buried.
And rose again on the third day according to the Scriptures.
And ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of the Father.
And He will come again with glory to judge the living and the dead; His Kingdom will have no end.
And in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the Life-Giving One, who proceeds from the Father, who is worshiped and glorified with the Father and the Son, who spoke through the prophets.
Into one Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church.
I confess one baptism for the remission of sins.
Tea of the resurrection of the dead
and the life of the next century. Amen."
The first line says that you believe in God, who created everything living and inanimate, Heaven and Earth, as well as everything visible and invisible. The whole world in which we exist is a gift from Heaven.
The second part of the prayer is lines about the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was born of God and is his continuation, his human image.
In the third part it is sung that our God came down from heaven and became a man for the sake of us, people.
The fourth line of the prayer recalls the crucifixion of Christ, our Savior, and the taking upon ourselves of our sins.
Then we are reminded of the miraculous Resurrection of Christ.
The sixth part of the prayer talks about Jesus taking his place next to the Father in Heaven.
There will be no end to the reign of the Lord. The Lord is eternal and will judge us, the living and the dead.
Part nine tells us that a believer must believe in the church.
The tenth line glorifies the sacrament of baptism.
The penultimate part says that all the dead will be resurrected.
The last part is completion. I believe in a future life.
The Mystery of the Creed Prayer
Faith itself is a great mystery. No one knows whether God gives a person faith, or whether he acquires it himself. There are constant debates about what awaits people born in a different culture. They believe in something different, so what is their fate? The answer is simple - the fate of those who live surrounded by infidels, but live according to the rules of morality and with love in their hearts, will go to the heaven of the Lord. Everyone deserves this, because there is goodness inside all of us. This is a choice that we make ourselves, and not that someone else makes for us.
As for the “Creed” prayer, its secret is the unity of all believers. It’s as if she makes one big family out of us all, which goes towards the light of God. It contains everything that every Orthodox Christian should believe.
To believe means not to take into account everything that the enemies of religion say. Yes, none of us have seen God, but everyone believes that this will happen. Everyone believes that after death something warm and beautiful awaits us, and not a cold and black void. The secret meaning of this prayer is contained in the first word - “I believe.” Without our faith we are only human. With faith in God, we are children of God, his incarnations and reflections.
Believe in God, in love, in goodness, in yourself and in everything that makes you happy. Believe in the light of God, that he cares for us and protects us.
This prayer is sung at every service in all churches, so you should have heard it. Usually everyone sings it together. It is not necessary to learn it, but it is better to read it as often as possible. This is not a prayer of gratitude, but rather a prayer of glorification, which should be read before bedtime and in the morning. This way you will remind yourself of what you believe. In its purpose, this prayer is similar to the “Our Father.” By reading these lines you strengthen your faith in God. Good luck and don't forget to press the buttons and
Symbol of faith
I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, visible to all and invisible.
And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the only Begotten, who was born of the Father before all ages; Light from Light, true God from true God, born, uncreated, consubstantial with the Father, to Whom all things were.
For our sake, man and our salvation came down from heaven, and became incarnate from the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, and became human.
Who was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate, and suffered, and was buried.
And he rose again on the third day according to the Scriptures.
And ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of the Father.
And again the coming one will judge with glory the living and the dead, His Kingdom will have no end.
And in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the Life-Giving One, who proceeds from the Father, who with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified, who spoke the prophets.
Into one Holy, National and Apostolic Church.
I confess one baptism for the remission of sins.
I drink the resurrection of the dead,
And the life of the next century. Amen.
Visible to all and invisible– everything visible and invisible, that is, the visible (material) and invisible (spiritual) world. Before all ages- before all time, before the beginning of time. That's all it was- from whom everything came, the whole world came into being. Incarnate- become a true man. For us - for us. According to Scripture- as predicted in Scripture. Right hand- By right hand. And more of the future- and who will come again. Like the Father and the Son, we bow down and glorify– Who is to be worshiped and glorified together, equally with the Father and the Son. The spoken prophets- who spoke through the prophets. One baptism- one baptism in life. Lives of the next century- another, eternal life.
The Creed is a brief and precise statement of the basic truths of the Christian faith, which every Orthodox Christian needs to know. In the short and precise words of the Creed we we confess, that is, we openly declare what we believe. No one, believing differently, diverging in anything from the Creed, has the right to call himself an Orthodox Christian. And the Symbol arose precisely in the fight against heresies, against wrong opinions about God and the world. The symbol was compiled and approved in the 1st (Nicene, in 325) and 2nd (Constantinople, in 381) Ecumenical Councils(therefore it is also called the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed).
So, the Creed of Faith is a brief summary of the fundamentals of the Christian faith, the main Christian dogmas, that frame beyond which there is no longer Orthodoxy.
But this “list” of dogmas is constructed in the first person, personally:
I believe into one God the Father...
And in one Lord Jesus Christ...
and in the Holy Spirit, the Lord...
into one Holy, Catholic and Apostolic
I confess one baptism for the remission of sins.
Tea the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come.
Amen(truly so!).
Symbol of faith - personal confession faith Orthodox Christian. This is a confession for what and what we live or should live, the most important thing in life, in the world. This is what God tells us through the Church and what we confess before God and people. Therefore, the Creed is also prayer, a conversation between the soul and God and God with the soul.
As a prayer, the Creed is very difficult: every time you pronounce (at least mentally) these truths, you must consciously accept them into your heart and strive to live by them. But this is a compass, without which you will lose your way on the road leading to life, and you must consult this compass at least daily. That is why it is included in the daily cell rule. It is also included in the shortest prayer rule for the laity, taught to us by St. Seraphim. You can't live a day without it.
Each word of the Creed is extremely deep and capacious; Brief explanations cannot lead you into this depth (that is why they are not given in this book). The explanation of the Creed forms the main part - “On Faith” - of the Long Christian Catechism by St. Philaret of Moscow, a book that every Orthodox Christian should know well.
Saint Theophan the Recluse in his letters gave advice on how to overcome doubts about the truths of faith. These lines have direct relation to the role of the Creed in our spiritual life and show what prayerful perception of it should be.
“Imagine the truth and pray about it; during prayer, rotate it in your mind and compose prayers from it. The moment will come when this truth will enter the heart and embrace the entire being of the soul, feeding it and making it happy. This is the affinity of the soul with the truth; after this, doubts can no longer shake her. They may come to memory, but they are far from the soul, like talking or stomping behind a wall.”
“To carry out the truth in your heart, this is how you have to do it!.. Take some truth and understand more fully in your consciousness how it is confessed, and then pray to the Lord, may He write it in your heart, as it is confessed... Our prayers all come out from dogmas. The Lord came to earth for our salvation. Confessing this truth, pray: “Lord! Just as then, walking on earth, you healed all sorts of ailments, cleansed lepers, gave sight to the blind, now come to me and enlighten the eyes of my mind, and take away the leprosy of sins from me.” This is true in relation to all truth. When all the truths fall into the heart, then all doubts will end. They themselves will bounce off like arrows from someone who is covered in armor. This means, in other words, is to taste the truth, rejoice in it, remember it with consolation and sweetness, and turn it around in the mind with warmth and warmth. Help you, Lord, to achieve this!”
At the word symbol- multiple values; This was the case in the Greek language, from which this word came, and in Russian. This word is especially rich in philosophical understanding (hundreds of volumes of books have been written about the symbol in its philosophical meaning). Here are different definitions from different dictionaries: something that serves as a conventional sign of a concept; in science - the same as a sign; in art, in in a broad sense, a symbol is an image in the aspect of its signification and a sign endowed with all the organicity and inexhaustibility of the image; the complete picture, the essence in a few words or signs. The original Greek word means: joint, crossing, connection, fusion, meeting, articulation. This also meant an identification mark by which one could recognize each other more accurately than by a password: a coin or bone was split into two halves; if the presented half completely matched yours, it was clear that this was the right person in front of you.