Christianity is not a religion of the Scripture but of the living “here” and “now” communion with God, the meeting and union with Christ. First the encounter (Apostle Paul on the road to Damascus; Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh at fourteen years old in a domestic setting, reading the Gospel; Seraphim of Sarov, Silouan the Athonite – met the Risen Christ in the church… – V.A.), the experience of the Kingdom, and then, as needed, the Scripture. The Scripture is secondary. The New Testament does not tell us what to do, but how to be. These are not the commandments of the law, which are signs of the Old Testament, but “stand firm in freedom,” “abide in Me (in Christ).” And if we still ask: “What to do? What should be done?” then we are still in the Old Testament, in the law of deeds, commandments (waiting for Christ, having been baptized into the New Testament Mystery of Divine Life!? – V.A.). The purpose, the task of the Commandments, the Law – to point out the need for Christ, to prepare for accepting Him as a Gift in humility, poverty of spirit. The commandments of the law, being an expression of the Divine mode of existence in ontological categories, not ethical (for example: Love your neighbor as yourself is not an ethical commandment, but an ontological one; “as” is not an ethical, quantitative, behavioral category, but an ontological, natural one, meaning my neighbor is myself; we, all people, are of one nature, there is one nature for all human hypostases; a person is a personality in billions of hypostases, each containing within itself the entire, one for all human hypostases, creaturely nature – V.A.) have one goal – to show the performer of them (the commandments) his weakness and, by bringing him to humility, throw him at the feet of Christ, Who alone can and wants to save.
Scripture is directed to the mind, not to the heart. Therefore, when we talk about Scripture, commandments, we always talk about the proclaimed, those proclaimed through the external word relative to the proclaimed [and we, almost all, baptized and those preparing for baptism (if they prepare!? Alas, they are proclaimed; we are baptized and baptize without proclamation: first they throw into the water, and then, when the poor swimmer begins to drown, they start telling him elementary techniques and exercises for swimming, which are no longer of any use to him, and again baptize (immerse) into eternal perdition; someone says: how can you learn to swim without water – a valid remark. If you are in the water with an experienced instructor and even insured (this is baptism in a real community, real “membership” in it (own service in a common cause) and Eucharistic life in it), then you can start learning the basics of “swimming” in the water itself (without fear – V.A.); although it is better to struggle, and on the shore practice with the instructor, and then jump into the water with him, and only with him… Alas, now (and long since, since the rationalization and individualization of church life began), when the principles of parish life are destroyed, the fundamental principles of church life are forgotten (existentially) – “they throw into the water” all who want (what they want – they themselves do not know! And often, those who baptize do not know what they are doing!?) and, having thrown into the water, into the very whirlpool (vortex – V.A.), do not even look back and worry: how is he? What with him? And we want the tree of the church to grow and grow, chopping it at the root… – V.A.).
According to the law of spiritual life “the heart cannot long resist the mind.” Therefore, having lost the memory (existential, ontological, not just rational – V.A.) of the Kingdom, we restore it, we remember according to the order of spiritual life: first we “restore” the memory of the mind, we ecclesiasticize the mind with the help of reason, to prepare properly and come to the Eucharist (which is equivalent – to the Church. – V.A.). (The mind is an hypostatic principle in a person, or better to say one of the characteristics by which we indicate hypostasis. Reason, ratio – is part of nature, which is responsible for processing information; it is the “computer” in the head – it performs the tasks of the mind. The mind is the hypostatic will, the core of hypostasis, ratio – natural will. Wisdom, as knowledge of the goal and the best way to achieve it, is not in the ratio, but in the mind. In the sinful state, the mind identifies itself with the ratio – the intervention of consciousness in the unconscious… – V.A.). First the mind, with which in the sinful, selfish state, the hypostatic principle, our “I” (or better to say: “I” identifies itself with the mind, which is in the sinful state – V.A.). Therefore, we start with the mind, to begin to find ourselves, to identify. “Faith comes from hearing,” not from miracles, signs, which are addressed to pagans, and the purpose of which is to lead to proclamation (miracles – a consequence of faith, not a cause of faith: “He did not perform miracles in his homeland, for they did not have faith.” More precisely to translate – trust, because faith, as theophany, is a gift of God’s Grace, which is given in the Church – V.A.).