Monday
Col. 2:13-20; Luke 9:18-22
Whom say the people that I am? the Lord asked (Luke 9:18). In answer to this the Apostles related the current opinions among the people concerning Him, formed according to the nature of people's views at that time. Some said that He was John the Baptist, others that He was Elijah, others that He was one of the ancient prophets resurrected. How do people answer today? Also in various ways, each according to his own way of thinking. What sort of answers could be given by materialists, atheists, and the soulless, who are descended from apes, when they believe in neither God nor the soul? Spiritists get away with the same response as the Arians, which was denounced at the First Ecumenical Council. Deists see God as being very far from the world, and since they cannot contain in their system the mystery of Incarnation, they answer like the Ebionites and Socinians. You will encounter similar responses in Russian society, for the aforesaid three types of personalities exist and are multiplying among us. But thanks be to the Lord, we still have an extremely predominant number of sincere believers and those who strictly maintain the apostolic confession that the Lord Jesus Christ is the Incarnate, Only Begotten Son of God, the Savior and Redeemer of the human race, Who even in Paradise was promised to our progenitors. Which party will prevail is known only to God. Let us pray that the darkness of false teachings be driven away. We have a weakness for bad things, and therefore it would not be surprising if a lie took the upper hand. Even now it is walking the streets of town openly, while in the past it cautiously hid from the gaze of Christian believers.
-From St. Theophan the Recluse
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