The church's concern for the purity of Christian teaching is the essence of Orthodox dogma. Basic dogmas of the Orthodox Church

Presentation of the dogmas of Orthodox dogmatic theology according to the book: “Guide to the study of Christian, Orthodox dogmatic theology”, M.A.L., M., Synodal Printing House, 1913. – 368 + VIII p. According to the definition of the Holy Governing Synod. Reprint edition of the Center for the Study, Protection and Restoration of the Heritage of Priest Pavel Florensky, St. Petersburg, 1997. With the blessing His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Rus'.

The place of dogmas among other Christian truths: The Truth of Christian Revelation, contained in the Holy Scriptures. Scriptures and Holy Traditions are divided into truths of faith and truths of activity.
The truths of faith are divided into those relating to the essence itself Christian religion as a restored union between God and man, called dogmas, and others not related to the essence, which contain historical legends or private sayings of sacred persons.
The truths of activity are divided into definitions of moral behavior and ritual and canonical truths.

Structure of Dogmatic Theology:
I Dogmas about God and His general relationship to the world and man.
II Dogmas about God, Trinity in Persons.
III Dogmas about God as Creator and Provider for the spiritual world.
IV Dogmas about God as Creator and Provider to man.
V Dogmas about God the Savior and His special relationship to the human race.
VI Dogmas about Christ the Savior.
VII Dogmas of Sanctification.
VIII Dogmas of the Holy Church.
IX Dogmas on the Sacraments of the Church.
X Dogmas about the Sacrament of the Priesthood.
XI Dogmas about God as Judge and Rewarder.
XII Dogmas on the General Court.

Dogmas about God about God and his general relationship to the world and man

General properties of the being of God

God is incomprehensible and invisible. God revealed himself to people in creation and in the supernatural Revelation, which was preached by the only begotten Son of God through the Apostles. God is one in essence and threefold in Persons.

God is the Spirit, eternal, all-good, all-knowing, all-powerful, all-present, unchangeable, all-content, all-blessed.

The nature of God is completely immaterial, not involved in the slightest complexity, simple.

God, as Spirit, in addition to spiritual nature (substance), has mind and will.

God, as Spirit, is infinite in all respects, otherwise, all-perfect, He is original and independent, immeasurable and omnipresent, eternal and unchangeable, omnipotent and omnipotent, perfect and alien to any deficiency.

Particular properties of the being of God

Originality - everything that has, has from itself.

Independence – in essence, in powers and in actions is determined by Himself.

Immeasurability and omnipresence - not subject to any limitation by space and place.

Eternity - He has neither beginning nor end of his existence.

Immutability - He always remains the same.

Omnipotence - He has unlimited power to produce everything and rule over everything.

Properties of God's Mind

The property of the mind of God in itself is omniscience, i.e. He knows everything and knows it most perfectly.

The property of God's mind in relation to his actions is the highest wisdom, i.e. the most perfect knowledge of the best ends and the best means, the most perfect art of applying the latter to the former.

Properties of God's Will

The properties of God's will in itself are extremely free and all-holy, i.e. pure from all sin.

The property of God's will in relation to all creatures is all-good, and in relation to rational creatures it is true and faithful, since it reveals itself to them as a moral law, as well as a just one, since it rewards them according to their deserts.

Unity of God in essence

God is one.

Dogmas about God, trinitarian in persons

There are essentially three Persons or Hypostases in the One God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

The Three Persons in God are equal to each other and consubstantial.

The Three Persons are different in their personal properties: the Father is not born of anyone, the Son is born of the Father, the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father.

(The hypostases are inseparable and unmerged; the birth of the Son never began, never ended, the Son was born from the Father, but was not separated from him, He abides in the Father; God the Holy Spirit eternally emanates from the Father.)

Dogmas about God as creator and provider for the spiritual world

The spiritual world is made up of two kinds of spirits: good, called Angels, and evil, called demons.

Angels and demons were created by God.

Demons became evil from good spirits of their own free will with the connivance of God.

God, as a Provider, gave both Angels and demons nature, powers and abilities.

God assists the Angels in their good activities and controls them in accordance with the purpose of their existence.

God allowed the fall of demons and allows their evil activity, and limits it, directing it, if possible, to good goals.

By their nature, Angels are disembodied spirits, the most perfect of the human soul, but limited.

The angelic world is unusually great.

Angels glorify God, serve Him, serve people in this world, guiding them to the kingdom of God.

The Lord gives a special Guardian Angel to each of the believers.

The devil and his angels (demons) are personal and real beings.

Demons by their nature are ethereal spirits, the highest of the human soul, but limited.

Demons cannot use violence against any person unless God allows them.

The devil acts both as an enemy of God and as an enemy of man.

God destroys the kingdom of demons on earth through the ceaseless expansion of His blessed kingdom.

God gave people Divine powers against demons (prayer, etc.).

God allows the activities of demons aimed at the destruction of humanity for the moral benefit of people and their salvation.

Dogmas about the relationship of God, as a creator and provider, to man

Man is created in the image and likeness of God.

God created man so that he would know God, love and glorify Him, and through this he would be eternally blissful.

God created the first people, Adam and Eve, in a special way, different from the creation of His other creatures.

The human race originated from Adam and Eve.

Man consists of an immaterial soul and a material body.

The soul, the highest and most excellent part of man, is an independent being, immaterial and simple, free, immortal. The purpose of man is that he invariably remain faithful to the high covenant or union with God, to which the All-Good One called him at creation itself, so that he strives for his Prototype with all the strength of his rationally free soul, i.e. knew his Creator and glorified him, lived for Him and in moral unity with Him.

The fall of man was allowed by God.

Heaven was a place to live a happy and blissful life, both sensual and spiritual. Man in Paradise was immortal. It is not true that Adam could not die, he could not die. Adam had to make and maintain Paradise. To instruct the truth of faith, God honored some people with His revelations, appeared to them Himself, talked with them, and revealed His will to them.

God created man fully capable of achieving the goal He established, i.e. perfect, both in soul, mentally and morally, and perfect in body.

In order to exercise and strengthen moral powers in goodness, God commanded man not to eat fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

A person did not keep the commandments, then he lost his dignity.

All people came from Adam and his sin is the sin of all people.

God has given His grace to man from the very beginning.

The devil was hidden in the snake that seduced Adam and Eve. Eva was carried away by the dream of becoming equal to God, Adam fell due to addiction to his wife.

Death came to man from the envy of the devil towards God.

Consequences of a fall in the soul: dissolution of union with God, loss of grace, spiritual death, darkening of the mind, degradation of the will and its inclination towards evil rather than good, distortion of the image of God.

Consequences of a fall for the body: illness, sorrow, exhaustion, death.

Consequence for the external state of a person: loss or decrease in power over animals, loss of fertility of the earth.

The consequences of the fall extended to all of humanity. Original sin universal

After the fall of Adam and Eve, God did not stop providing for man. He is the king of all the earth, he rules over the nations and watches over them. He places kings over the peoples, grants them Power and strength, and rules earthly kingdoms through kings. Supplies lower authorities through kings, supplies for the creation of happiness human societies His servants (Angels).

God provides for individual people and, in particular, for guides, protects us throughout our lives, assists us in our activities, and sets a limit for our earthly life and activities.

God provides in natural ways (preserves people and helps them) and supernaturally (miracles and actions of Divine economy).

Dogmas about God the Savior and his special relationship to the human race

God sent His Only Begotten Son into the vale of the earth, so that He, having received flesh from the Most Pure Virgin through the action of the Holy Spirit, would redeem man and bring him into His Kingdom in much greater glory than what he had in Paradise.

God is our Savior in general, since all the Persons of the Most Holy Trinity participated in the work of our salvation.

Our Lord Jesus Christ is the Author and Finisher of our faith and salvation.

In the Person of Jesus Christ, each of His natures transfers its properties to the other, and namely, what is characteristic of Him in humanity is assimilated to Him as God, and what is characteristic of Him in Divinity is assimilated to Him as a man.

The Most Holy Virgin Mary, Mother of the Lord Jesus, not according to His Divinity, but according to humanity, which, however, from the very moment of His incarnation, became inseparably and hypostatically united in Him with His Divinity, and became His own Divine Person.

Not the entire Holy Trinity was incarnated in Jesus Christ, but only one Son
God, the second Person of the Holy Trinity. The attitude of the second Person of the Most Holy Trinity did not change in the least through His incarnation, and after the incarnation God the Word remains the same God's Son as it was before. The Son of God the Father is natural, not adopted. Jesus Christ was anointed as high priest, king and prophet for the threefold ministry of the human race, through which he accomplished his salvation.

Dogmas about Christ the Saviors

The One Lord Jesus Christ, the Only Begotten Son of God, for the sake of man and the human race of salvation, came down from Heaven and was incarnated by the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary and became man.

Jesus Christ, perfect in Godhead and perfect in humanity; truly God and truly man; also from soul and body; consubstantial with the Father in Divinity and consubstantial with people in humanity; in every way similar to people, except for sin; born before the age from the Father according to Divinity, in the last days born for our sake and for the sake of our salvation from Mary the Virgin Mother of God, according to humanity; The Only Begotten, in two natures unfused, unchangeable, inseparably, inseparably cognizable; not into two persons, cut or divided, but one Son and the Only Begotten God the Word.

How the two natures in Jesus Christ, Divine and human, despite all their differences, were united into one Hypostasis; how He, being perfect God and perfect man, is but one Person; this is according to the Word of God - great secret piety, and therefore inaccessible to our reason. The Lord performed prophetic service directly, having assumed the office of a public Teacher, and through His disciples. The teaching consists of the law of faith and the law of activity and is entirely aimed at the salvation of mankind.

The law of faith is about God, the highest and most perfect Spirit, one in essence, but threefold in Persons, original, omnipresent, all-good, omnipotent, Creator and Provider of the universe, Who fatherly cares for all His creatures, especially for the human race.

About Himself as the Only Begotten Son of God, who came into the world to reconcile and reunite man with God.

About His saving suffering, death and resurrection; about fallen, damaged man and about the means by which he can rise and assimilate salvation for himself, become sanctified, reunite with God through his redeemer and achieve an ever-blessed life beyond the grave.

Christ expressed the law of activity in two main commandments: eradication in us of the very beginning of all sin - pride or self-love, cleansing from all filth of the flesh and spirit; love for God and neighbors with the goal of rooting in us, instead of the previous sinful one, the seed of a new life, holy and pleasing to God, to bring into us a union of moral perfection.

In order to arouse people to accept and fulfill the laws of faith and action, the Lord Jesus pointed to the greatest disasters and eternal torment, which all sinners will inevitably undergo if they do not follow His teaching, but also to the greatest and eternal blessings which the heavenly Father has prepared, also for the sake of the merits of His beloved Son, for all the righteous who follow His teaching.

Jesus Christ gave the law for all people and for all times.

Jesus Christ taught the law that is saving and therefore necessary for achieving eternal life.

As a prophet, Christ the Savior only announced to us about salvation, but had not yet accomplished salvation itself: he enlightened our minds with the light of true knowledge of God, testified about himself that he is the true Messiah, explained how he would save us, and showed us the direct the path to eternal life.

The high priestly ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ was the work through which eternal life was earned for us.

He did this, following the custom of the Old Testament high priests, offering Himself as a propitiatory sacrifice for the sins of the world, and thus reconciled us with God, delivered us from sin and its consequences, and acquired eternal blessings for us.

Christ the Savior, in order to satisfy the eternal Truth for all these human sins, deigned, in their place, to fulfill God’s will for people in its entirety and breadth, to show in himself the most perfect example of obedience to it and to humble and abase Himself for our sake to the last degree.

Christ, the God-man, in order to save people from all these disasters and suffering, deigned to take upon Himself all the wrath of God, to endure for us everything that we deserved for our iniquities.

The high priestly ministry of Jesus Christ embraces His entire earthly life. He constantly bore His cross of self-sacrifice, obedience, suffering and sorrow.

The death of Jesus Christ is the atoning sacrifice for us. He paid with His blood the debt to the Truth of God for our sins, which we ourselves were not able to pay, and He himself was not in debt to God. This replacement was the will and consent of God, because The Son of God came to earth to do not His own will, but the will of the Father who sent Him.

The sacrifice made for us by Christ the Savior on the cross is a comprehensive sacrifice. It extends to all people, to all sins and to all times. By His death He earned for us the kingdom of heaven.

The royal ministry of the Lord Jesus lies in the fact that He, having the power of a King, as a proof of the divinity of His gospel, performed a number of signs and wonders without which people could not believe in Him; and, in addition, to destroy the realm of the devil - hell, to truly defeat death and open for us the entrance to the kingdom of heaven.

In His miracles He demonstrated power over all nature: He transformed water into wine, walked on waters, tamed the storm of the sea with one word, healed all sorts of diseases with one word or touch, gave sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf, and tongue to the dumb.

He demonstrated his power over the forces of hell. With one command He cast out unclean spirits from people; the demons themselves, learning about His power, trembled at His power.

Jesus Christ defeated and destroyed hell when by His death He abolished the ruler of the power of death - the devil; He descended into hell with His soul, like God, to preach salvation to the captives of hell, and brought from there all the Old Testament righteous people to the bright abodes of the Heavenly Father.

Jesus Christ conquered death by His resurrection. As a result of the resurrection of Christ, we will all one day be resurrected, since through faith in Christ and through communion with His holy sacraments we become partakers of Him.

After the liberation of the Old Testament righteous from hell, Jesus Christ solemnly ascended to heaven with the human nature He assumed and, thus, opened for all people free entry into the kingdom of heaven.

Dogmas of Sanctification

In order for every person to become a partaker of salvation, it is necessary to sanctify the person, i.e. the actual assimilation by each of us of the merits of Christ, or such a matter in which the all-holy God, under certain conditions on our part, really cleanses us from sins, justifies us and makes us sanctified and holy.

All Persons of the Holy Trinity participate in the work of our sanctification: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The Father appears to be the source of our sanctification. The Holy Spirit appears to be the accomplisher of our sanctification. The Son appears to be the author of our sanctification.

The grace of God, i.e. the saving power of God is communicated to us for the sake of the merits of our Redeemer and accomplishes our sanctification.

Particular types of grace: external, acting through the Word of God, the Gospel, miracles, etc.; internal, acting directly in a person, destroying sins in him, enlightening the mind, directing his will to good; transitory, producing private impressions and contributing to private good deeds; a constant that constantly dwells in a person’s soul and makes him righteous; preceding, preceding good deed; accompanying, which accompanies good deeds; sufficient gives a person sufficient strength and convenience to act; effective, accompanied by human action that bears fruit.

God foresaw that some people would use their free will well, and others poorly: therefore, He predestined some to glory, and condemned others.

The prevenient grace of God, like a light that enlightens those who walk in darkness, guides everyone. Therefore, those who wish to freely submit to her and fulfill her commands, which are necessary for salvation, therefore receive special grace. Those who do not want to obey and follow grace, and therefore do not keep the commandments of God, but, following the suggestions of Satan, abuse their freedom given to them by God so that they arbitrarily do good, are subject to eternal condemnation.

The grace of God extends to all people, and not only to those predestined to a righteous life; God's predestination of some to eternal bliss, others to eternal damnation, is not unconditional, but conditional, and is based on the foreknowledge of whether they will or will not use grace; God's grace does not restrict human freedom and does not act irresistibly on us; man actively participates in what the grace of God accomplishes in him and through him.

Dogmas about the Holy Church

The Church of Christ is called either the society of all rationally free beings, i.e. angels and people who believe in Christ the Savior and are united in Him as their single head; or a society of people who believed and believe in Christ, whenever they lived and wherever they are now; either only the New Testament and militant or the grateful Kingdom of Christ.

The Lord Jesus wanted people, having accepted the new faith, to maintain it not separately from each other, but for this purpose to form a certain community of believers.

Christ laid the beginning and foundation for His Church by choosing His first twelve disciples, who formed His first Church. He also established an order of teachers who would spread His faith among the nations; established the Sacraments of baptism, Eucharist and repentance.

Christ founded or established His Church only on the cross, where He acquired it with His blood. For only on the cross did the Lord redeem us and reunite us with God, only after suffering on the cross did He enter into the glory of God and could send down the Holy Spirit to His disciples.

Endowed with power from above, the holy Apostles from believers in different places tried to form societies that were called churches; commanded these believers to have meetings to hear the word of God and offer prayers; exhorted them that they all formed one body of the Lord Jesus; they were commanded not to leave their meeting under fear of excommunication from the Church.

All people are called to be members of the Church, but not all are actually members. Only those who are baptized belong to the Church. Those who have sinned but profess the pure faith of Christ also belong to the church, so long as they do not become apostates. Apostates, heretics, renegades (or schismatics) are cut off as dead members by the invisible action of God's judgment.

The purpose of the Church, for which the Lord founded it, is the sanctification of sinners, and then reunification with God. To achieve this goal, the Lord Jesus gave His Church Divine teaching and established the order of teachers; He established holy sacraments and sacred rites in general in His Church, and established spiritual administration and rulers in His Church. is obliged to preserve the precious deposit of the saving teaching of faith and to spread this teaching among the nations; preserve and use the Divine sacraments and sacred rites in general for the benefit of people; preserve the governance established by God in it and use it in accordance with the intention of the Lord.

The church is divided into flock and hierarchy. The flock consists of all believers in the Lord Jesus, while the hierarchy, or hierarchy, is a special God-established class of people whom the Lord has authorized alone to manage the means that He has given to the Church for its purpose.

The three degrees of the Divinely established hierarchy are bishops, priests and deacons. The bishop in his private church or diocese is the locum tenens of Christ and, therefore, the chief superior over the entire hierarchy subordinate to him and over the entire flock. He is the main teacher for both ordinary believers and pastors. The bishop is the first celebrant of the holy sacraments in his private church. He alone has the right to ordain a priest on the basis of the word of God, the rules of the holy Apostles and holy Councils. The priest has the power to perform the sacraments and generally sacred rites, except those belonging to the bishop. He is subject to the constant supervision, authority and judgment of his archpastor. Deacons are the eye and ear of the bishop and priest.

Twice a year a council of bishops, private or local, should meet to deliberate on the dogmas of piety and resolve church disagreements that occur.

The concentration of spiritual power for the universal Church is in the Ecumenical Councils.

The true Head of the Church is Jesus Christ, who holds the helm of the rule of the Church and revives it with the one and saving grace of the Holy Spirit.

The Church is one, holy, catholic and saving. It is united in its beginning and foundation, in its structure, external (division into shepherds and flocks), internal (the union of all believers in Jesus Christ as the true Head of the Church); according to your goal. It is holy in its origin and foundation; according to its purpose, according to its structure (its Head is the All-Holy Lord Jesus; the Holy Spirit dwells in it with all the grace-filled gifts that sanctify us; and a number of others). It is conciliar, otherwise catholic or universal in space (intended to embrace all people, no matter where they live on earth); in time (intended to lead to faith in Christ and exist until the end of time); according to its structure (the teaching of the Church can be accepted by all people, educated and uneducated, without being connected with the civil structure and, therefore, with any specific place and time). It is apostolic in origin (since the Apostles were the first to accept the power to spread Christian faith and founded many private churches); according to its structure (the Church originates from the Apostles themselves through the continuous succession of bishops, borrows its teaching from the writings and traditions of the apostles, rules the believers according to the rules of the holy apostles).

Outside the Church there is no salvation for a person, since faith in Jesus Christ is necessary. who reconciled us with God, and faith remains intact only in His Church; participation in the holy sacraments, which are performed only in the Church; a good, pious life, cleansing from sins, which is possible only under the leadership of the Church.

Dogmas about the sacraments of the Church

A sacrament is a sacred act that is visibly communicates to the soul of the believer the invisible grace of God.

The essential accessories of each sacrament are considered to be the Divine institution of the sacrament, some visible or sensory image, and the communication of invisible grace to the soul of the believer by the sacrament.

There are seven sacraments in total: baptism, confirmation, communion, repentance, priesthood. marriage, unction.

Dogmas about the sacraments of the Church

In baptism a person is mysteriously born into spiritual life; in anointing he receives restoring and strengthening grace; in communion he is nourished spiritually; in repentance one is cured of spiritual illnesses, i.e. from sins; in the priesthood he receives the grace to spiritually regenerate and educate others through teaching and sacraments; in marriage he receives grace that sanctifies marriage and the natural birth and upbringing of children; in the consecration of oil, one is healed from bodily diseases through healing from spiritual diseases.

(The following are dogmas about the sacraments as institutions of God, their purpose and their reality; about visible side sacraments and its invisible actions; determining the requirements for those performing the sacrament and those approaching it; about the properties imparted by the sacrament.)

DOGMA ABOUT THE SACRAMENT OF PRIESTHOOD

So that people could become shepherds of Christ's Church and receive the power to perform the Sacraments, the Lord established another special Sacrament, the Sacrament of the Priesthood.

Priesthood is a sacred act in which, through the prayerful laying on of the hands of the bishops on the head of the chosen person, he is brought down to that person God's grace, sanctifying and delivering him to a certain level church hierarchy, and then assisting him in the passage of hierarchical responsibilities.

Dogmas about God as a judge and rewarder

God accomplishes the great work of sanctifying people or assimilating the merits of Christ in no other way than with the free participation of the people themselves, under the conditions of their faith and good deeds. For the accomplishment of this work, God has appointed a limit: for private individuals it continues until the end of their earthly life, and for the entire human race it will continue until the very end of the world. At the end of both periods, God is and has to appear as the Judge and Rewarder for every person and all of humanity. He demands and will demand from people an account of how they used the means given for their sanctification and salvation, and will reward everyone according to their deserts.

The entire Holy Trinity participates in the matter of judging us and rewarding us.

The death of a person is an essential circumstance preceding this trial.

Death is the separation of the soul from the body, the cause of death lies in its fall into sin, death is the common destiny of the entire human race, death is the limit by which the time of exploits ends and the time of retribution begins.

The souls of the dead are blissful or tormented, depending on their deeds. However, neither this bliss nor this torment is perfect. They receive them perfect after the general resurrection.

Retribution to the righteous by the will of the heavenly Judge has two types: their glorification in heaven and their glorification on earth - in the militant Church.

The glorification of the righteous, after their death, on earth is expressed by the fact that the earthly Church honors them as saints and friends of God and calls them in prayers as intercessors before God; honors their very relics and other remains, as well as their sacred images or icons.

Sinners go with their souls to hell - a place of sadness and sorrow. Full and final reward for sinners will be at the end of this age.

Sinners who repented before death, but did not have time to bear fruits worthy of repentance (prayer, contrition, consolation of the poor and expression of love for God in their actions), still have the opportunity to receive relief from suffering and even complete liberation from the bonds of hell. But they can only be received by the goodness of God, through the prayers of the Church and charity.

Dogmas about universal judgment

The day will come, the last day for the entire human race, the day of the end of the age and the world, the day established by God, who wants to carry out a general and decisive Judgment - the day of judgment.

On this day Jesus Christ will appear in His glory to judge the living and the dead. The Lord did not reveal to us when this great day would come, for our own moral benefit.

Signs of the coming of the Great Judgment: extraordinary successes of good on earth, the spread of the Gospel of Christ throughout the world; extraordinary successes of evil and the appearance on earth of the Antichrist, an instrument of the devil.

On the day of general judgment, the Lord will come from heaven - the Judge of the living and the dead, Who will abolish the Antichrist by the appearance of His coming; at the voice of the Lord the dead will rise for judgment and the living will be changed; the very judgment of both will take place; the end of the world and the gracious kingdom of Christ will follow.

At the conclusion of the general judgment, the righteous Judge will pronounce His final verdict on both the righteous and sinners. This retribution will be complete, perfect, decisive.

Retribution for both the righteous and sinners will be proportionate to their good deeds and their sins and extends from different degrees of eternal bliss to different degrees of eternal torment.

Christian dogma was formulated and generalized in IV- VIIIcenturies on Ecumenical councils - congresses of representatives of Christian churches around the world, in the process of intense struggle between different directions in Christianity, theological schools, with active participation imperial power, interested in church, and therefore state, unity.

The First Council of Nicaea made the divine origin of Jesus Christ (the first part of the Creed) a dogma. The First Council of Constantinople formulated the second part of the Creed, recognizing the divinity of the Holy Spirit. The Council of Ephesus made a dogma of the definition of Jesus Christ as the incarnate Logos - the Word of God, and also legalized the veneration of the Virgin Mary as the Mother of God. At the Council of Chalcedon, the church made a dogma of the understanding of Jesus Christ as true God and true man in one person. The dogma of the Trinity and Jesus Christ as the “consubstantial” Son of the Father was finally formalized at the Second Council of Constantinople.

The Third Council of Constantinople, in order to combat heresies, recognized the human will of Christ, and the Second Council of Nicea, condemning the iconoclasts who denied the veneration of icons as heresy, made the cult of icons mandatory.

The result of the activities of the Ecumenical Councils - Symbol of faith, in a concentrated form containing all Christian dogma:

1. I believe in One God the Father, Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth.

2. I believe in the One Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Only Begotten, from the Father before all ages, Light from Light, True God, begotten of True God, not created, Consubstantial with the Father.

I believe in the mystery of the incarnation and atonement of Jesus Christ.

I believe in the suffering of Jesus Christ, crucified for us under Pontius Pilate.

5. I believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ on the third day according to Scripture.

I believe in the ascension of Jesus Christ to heaven.

I believe in the Second Coming and the Last Judgment.

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the Life-Giving One, who proceeds from the Father.

9. I believe in the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church.

10. I confess baptism and remission of sins.

11. I look forward to the coming resurrection of the dead.

12. I look forward to eternal life.

2.3. Holy Scripture of Christianity

The Holy Scriptures of Christians - the Bible (Greek books), consisting of Old Testament and the New Testament. According to Christian teaching, Holy Scripture is “inspired by God,” i.e. received as a result of divine revelation, and its texts are canonical (Greek law), binding on believers.

The Old Testament of Christians is a translation of the Jewish Tanakh. For Christians, it is inseparable from the later New Testament, which is categorically rejected by Judaism. Unlike Judaists, who read the Tanakh in the original, in Hebrew, Orthodox and Catholics revere the Old Testament, which goes back to the text of the Septuagint (Greek translation of 70 interpreters) - the translation of the Tanakh from Hebrew into Ancient Greek, carried out in the 3rd-2nd centuries. BC. This translation contains not only the canonical Jewish Tanakh (39 books), but also 11 non-canonical books created by Diaspora Jews over late era, as well as Greek additions to the canonical texts. Among Orthodox and Catholics, the number of revered books and additions to them differs slightly. Protestants consider the exact translation of the Old Testament from the Hebrew language to be canonical.

The New Testament, consisting of 27 books, is dedicated to the activities of Christ and his closest associates - the apostles (Greek messenger), and therefore bears the name New - in contrast to the Old, concluded by God only with the Jews. The apostles and their disciples are credited with the authorship of all the books of the New Testament. The structure of the New Testament can be divided into three parts:

There are some contradictions between the canonical texts of the Bible due to the fact that they were created at different times by representatives of different movements in early Christianity. It is generally accepted that the oldest of the books of the New Testament is the Apocalypse; The oldest of the Gospels is the Gospel of Mark.

In addition to canonical texts, Christian texts have also been preserved. apocrypha (Greek hidden) - works that, for one reason or another, were rejected by the official church and were not included in the canon. As a result of archaeological searches, the Gospels of Peter, Philip, Thomas, the Gospel of Truth, the Apocalypse of Peter and other apocrypha were discovered.

The main provisions of the Christian faith are 12 dogmas and 7 sacraments. They were adopted at the first and second ecumenical councils in 325 and 381. The 12 dogmas of Christianity are usually called the Creed. It reflects what a Christian believes in: in one God the Father, in one God the Son, in the fact that God the Son came down from heaven for our salvation, in the fact that God the Son was incarnate on earth from the Holy Spirit and Mary the Virgin, that God the Son was crucified for our sake, rose again on the third day and ascended into heaven to God the Father, at the second coming of God the Son for the judgment of the living and the dead, in the Holy Spirit, in the one Holy Catholic Apostolic Church, in baptism and finally in resurrection and the future eternal life.
The seven Christian sacraments are currently recognized by both the Orthodox and Catholic Church. These sacraments include: baptism (acceptance of a person into the bosom of the church), anointing, communion (drawing closer to God), repentance (or confession), marriage, priesthood and consecration of oil (for deliverance from illness).

In Orthodox dogma, the following properties of dogmas are distinguished:

1. Theological(creed) - the property of dogmas in content, that is, that dogma contains only the doctrine of God and His economy. The dogmas do not define moral, liturgical, historical, natural scientific truths, etc.

2. Godly revelation- the property of dogmas according to the method of their receipt. This means that dogmas are not deduced logically, but come from Divine Revelation, that is, they are given to man by God Himself.

3. Churchness- the property of dogmas according to the method of their existence and preservation. This means that dogmas can only exist in the Universal Church, and outside of it dogmas, as based on Revelation given to the entire Church, cannot arise. It is the Church, at the Ecumenical Councils, that has the right to assign the name of dogma to certain doctrinal truths.

4. General obligation- the property of dogmas in relation to them by members of the Church. Dogmas act as rules and norms, without recognizing which one cannot be a member of the Church.

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Basic provisions christian church- dogmas - defined in the 12 members of the Creed. Among them, the most important dogmas are: dogma about the essence of God, about the trinity of God, about the incarnation, redemption, ascension, resurrection, etc.
The First Ecumenical Council (Nicaea, 325) was convened to discuss the views of the Alexandrian presbyter (elder) Arius, who taught that God the Son is not consubstantial with God the Father, and to create dogmas (fundamental tenets of doctrine) obligatory for confession by all who consider themselves Christian. The teachings of Arius were condemned, he himself was declared a heretic and excommunicated from the church. The Council dogmatically established that God is the unity of three hypostases (persons), in which the Son, eternally born from the Father, is consubstantial with him.
At the Second Ecumenical Council - Constantinople (Constantinople, 381) - was compiled single “Creed”- a confession that contains all the main tenets of Christianity and consisting of twelve members(its first five members were approved at the Council of Nicaea, and in the final version the “Creed” was called Nicene-Constantinopolitan).
The “Creed” reads: “We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, the creator of heaven and earth, of everything visible and invisible. And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all ages, light from light. from the true God, the true God, begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father, through whom all things came into being, for the sake of us men, and for the sake of our salvation, who came down from heaven and became incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary and became man, crucified for us under Pontius Pilate, who suffered, and was 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 will come again with glory to judge the living and the dead, whose kingdom will have no end. And in the Holy Spirit, the life-giving Lord, who proceeds from the Father, worshiped and glorified with the Father and the Son, who spoke through the prophets. Into the one, holy, catholic and apostolic church. We confess one baptism for the remission of sins. Tea of ​​the Resurrection of the Dead and the life of the next century. Amen".
The council also condemned numerous heretical teachings that interpreted the Divine essence differently, for example, the Eunomians, who denied the divinity of Christ and considered him only the highest of the beings created by God.
There were seven Ecumenical Councils in total. The Seventh Ecumenical Council (Second Nicaea) took place in 787. At it, decisions were made that were supposed to put an end to iconoclasm, which provoked discord in the church.
The enumeration of 12 paragraphs of the “Creed” is the main prayer in Orthodoxy: “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...”
Let's look at the basic creeds mentioned in this prayer. Orthodox Christians believe in God as creator of the world(the first hypostasis of the Holy Trinity), in Son of God - Jesus Christ(the second hypostasis of the Holy Trinity), who is incarnate, i.e., while remaining God, at the same time he became a man, born of the Virgin Mary. Christians believe that through his suffering and death, Jesus Christ atoned for human sins (primarily Original Sin) and rose again. After the resurrection, Christ ascended to heaven in the unity of body and spirit, and in the future Christians await His second coming, at which He will judge the living and the dead and His Kingdom will be established. Christians also believe in Holy Spirit(the third hypostasis of the Divine Trinity), which comes from God the Father. The Church in Orthodoxy is considered a mediator between God and man, and therefore has saving power. At the end of time, after the second coming of Christ, believers wait resurrection all the dead to eternal life.
The Trinity is one of the main tenets of Christianity. The essence of the concept of the Trinity is that God is one in essence, But exists in three forms: God the Father, God the Son and the Holy Spirit. The term appeared at the end of the 2nd century AD, the doctrine of the Trinity was developed in the 3rd century AD. and immediately caused a heated, lengthy debate in the Christian church. Disputes about the essence of the Trinity led to many interpretations and served as one of the reasons for the division of churches.

RELIGIOUS DOGMA (Greek dogmatos) - main. provisions of the doctrine, recognized as indisputably true, eternal and unchangeable deities, institutions, mandatory for all believers. Each modern developed has its own. dogma-tich. a system developed in the process of lengthy disputes within the church. struggle. In Christianity, dogma was approved by the first 2 ecumenical councils and received the name of the Nicene-Constantinopolitan “Creed”, which included 12 basic principles. dogmas: about the trinity of God, incarnation, redemption, ascension, baptism, immortality of the soul, etc. The subsequent ones replenished the D. r. about deities. and human. the nature of Christ, about the presence of 2 wills and 2 actions in Christ, about the obligatory veneration of icons. After the division of Christ. Each church included in its doctrine religious traditions that were not recognized by other Christians. churches. Catholicism approved D. r. about the procession of the holy spirit not only from the father, but also from the son, immaculate conception the Virgin Mary and her bodily ascension into heaven, the infallibility of the Pope. in matters of faith and morality. Protestantism was rejected by the common Christ. D. r. about the priesthood, consecration of oil, etc. and recognized the new D. r. about justification by faith. In the fight against heresies, free-thinking, atheism, Christ. developed complex system justification of dogma. Without abandoning traditions altogether. understanding the content of religious traditions, all confessions, to one degree or another, strive to interpret them in relation to the spirit of the time, the changed views of believers. The process of renewal of religion could not help but affect ideas about D. r. as an absolutely unchangeable truth. Currently vr. The majority of Christians, Muslims, and Jewish theologians reject the previous dogmatic. literalism, new formulations of D. r. are being developed.

Atheistic Dictionary. - M.: Politizdat. Under general ed. M. P. Novikova. 1986 .

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RELIGIOUS DOGMA- the basic provisions of the doctrine, recognized as indisputable truths, eternal and unchangeable divine institutions, mandatory for all believers. Every religion has own system religious dogmas, developed in the process of her... ... Eurasian wisdom from A to Z. Explanatory dictionary

Tenets- religious (from the Greek dógma, genitive dógmatos opinion, teaching, decree), provisions of the doctrine approved by the highest church authorities, presented by the church as the immutable truth and not subject to criticism. System D.... ...

DOGMA- religious (from the Greek dogma teaching, decree) approved by the highest churches. authorities (councils of clergy) the provisions of the doctrine, which, according to the church, everyone belonging to a given religion and confession should accept on faith... ... Soviet historical encyclopedia

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FAITH- deep, sincere, emotional acceptance of some position or idea, sometimes presupposing certain rational grounds, but usually doing without them. V. allows you to recognize some statements as reliable and... ... Philosophical Encyclopedia

DOGMA- (from Greek opinion, decision, teaching, decree), doctrine or department. its provisions, accepted as true without proof, experimental justification and practicality. verification, but only on the basis of religion, faith or blind submission to authority. D.... ... Philosophical Encyclopedia

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Christianity- a worldwide religion, currently the first in terms of the number of followers (about 494 million) and in terms of cultural history. its meaning and the peoples who accepted it, recognizing itself as the revelation of the One True God in the Trinity, Creator and Provider of the universe,... ... encyclopedic Dictionary F. Brockhaus and I.A. Efron

RELIGION- (from Lat. religio piety, shrine, object of worship). Secular authors usually define R. as a worldview, moral standards and type of behavior that is based on belief in the existence of a supernatural world or supernatural beings of God... ... Philosophical Encyclopedia

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• The clue to the origin of Christianity. Secular Version, Joel Carmichael. Contemporary American historian Joel Carmichael presents to the readers his view - the view of a secular researcher - on the problem of the origin of Christianity and the formation of institutions...

Before we begin this complex, but quite interesting topic, first let's figure out what dogma is. This word s means “decision,” “opinion,” or “ruling.” Basically, the term “dogma” is predominantly used in Christianity, it means something unchangeable and indisputable, defined and approved by the Church and not subject to any criticism or doubt. Dogma refers to theological, revealed truth, which contains the doctrine of God and His economy.

What is dogma

Christian dogmas are considered and established at (meetings of the highest clergy), of which there have been only seven in more than two thousand years. Conscious departure, a different interpretation or rejection of dogmas is called heresy, which often became the cause of religious conflicts. Dogmatic teachings include such disciplines as the Law of God and the Catechism. They contain basic religious tenets, which we will talk about a little later.

Dogmas were established back in apostolic times; Christ revealed to people all the necessary creeds for the salvation of a person’s soul. Dogmas cannot arise suddenly and be innovations. Divine teaching is not so theoretical as it is practical, and therefore incomprehensible to a mind that has not been cleansed of sinful passions.

Tenets of Christianity

As mentioned above, the dogmatic basis of Christianity was formed during the era of the Ecumenical Councils as a response to the spread of various kinds of heretical movements, especially in the 3rd-4th centuries. Each established dogma put a barrier, cut off false understandings and directions of heretical teachings.

Continuing the topic “What is dogma?”, it should be noted that the essence of all divine teachings was already contained in Holy Scripture, and at first there was no need to elevate them into the framework of a dogmatic system. But then the human mind nevertheless showed a need for a clear and logical interpretation of a teaching that was still dogmatically unformed and in some places difficult to perceive. In the first centuries this led to the creation of philosophical and theological schools.

The emergence of schools and books

Two of them mainly stood out: Alexandria and Antioch. It was in them that the first heresies began to arise. To discover and then eradicate, Ecumenical Councils began to be convened, at which heretical statements were exposed and the doctrinal truths of the Christian Revelation were established in the form of brief definitions.

Time passed, and already in the 4th century St. Cyril of Jerusalem created the “Catechetical Teaching”, where he revealed true meaning Creeds and main sacraments of the Christian Church.

Literally some time later the “Great Catechetical Word” of St. Gregory of Nyssa, which outlined the important experience of his dogmatic research.

By the 5th century, bishop and theologian Theodoret of Cyrus compiled a study guide, “Abridgement Divine dogmas" Around the same time, in the West he wrote a book, “Manual for Lavretius,” which is very reminiscent of the Catechism.

Experience

However, one of best works The first millennium is considered to be the treatise “The Source of Knowledge” by John of Damascus, especially the third part of this textbook entitled “An Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith.”

In the 4th century, the Eastern Fathers of the Church began to call dogmas not all the truths contained in Revelation, but only those that relate to the realm of faith. Thus, St. Gregory of Nyssa divided his own theological teaching into precise dogmas and a moral part. However, the Gospel is not a collection of moralistic precepts. Even the highest morality does not give strength to fulfill its instructions. Only with the assistance of grace man of God can become truly spiritually and morally better and begin to do good. “Without Me you can do nothing,” said Christ.

Dogmas of the Orthodox Christian faith

The main dogma of Orthodoxy comes down to the veneration of the One Trinity: - Mind, God the Son - Word and God the Holy Spirit - Spirit. And Twos: Jesus Christ-God and man. This is taught by the basic religious dogmas for which it is a law that is not subject to any doubt. There are twelve of them in total.

Dogmas of the religion of Orthodox Christianity:

• About the Holy Trinity.
• About the Fall.
• About the Redemption of mankind from sin.
• About the Incarnation of Christ.
• About the Resurrection of Christ.
• About the Ascension of Christ.
• About the Second Coming of the Savior and the Last Judgment.
• About unity, conciliarity and continuity of teaching and priesthood in it.
• About the general resurrection of people and the future life.
• About the two natures of Christ.
• About two wills and actions in Christ.
• About icon veneration.

Conclusion

The simplest manifestation of faith is prayer, and even the shortest and simplest prayer presupposes dogmatic content. Deep and heartfelt trust in the Lord is protected by dogmas, just as wine is protected by the walls of a cup. And if you think that the cup is not yet wine and its walls are something superfluous, then you can immediately be left without wine.

Perhaps now there will be no difficulty in the question of what dogma is. However, the main thing is to understand that the Lord demands from every person: “deny yourself, take up your cross and follow Me.” Where “deny yourself” means “deny your sinfulness and your Self.” A person can achieve this if, in the name of Christ, he begins to crucify sin in himself and around himself, and dies to sin and death in order to come to life for his sinless Savior and enter His Heavenly Kingdom.