Why is the Orthodox "servant of God" and the Catholic "son of God"? Servants of God - what does it mean in Orthodoxy Why do we call ourselves servants of God
Why do Christians call themselves servants of God? After all, God gave people free will.
Priest Afanasy Gumerov answers:
God gave people free will and does not take it away from anyone. Otherwise, there would be no evildoers and perishing, because the Lord desires salvation for everyone and will call everyone to holiness: “Sanctify yourselves and be holy, for I am the Lord your God, holy” (Lev. 20: 7). People who fulfill this commandment and believe in their all-good Creator become servants (i.e. workers) of God and do His all-perfect will. According to the words of the apostle, addressed to his children: “We are laborers together with God, and you are God's field, God's building” (1 Cor. 3: 9). Only on this path does a person acquire true, and not illusory, freedom from the power over him of corruption, the devil and hell: “you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free” (John 8: 32).
A person who does not want to live according to the will of his Creator, does not want to be a servant of God, falls away from the Source of Life and inevitably becomes a slave to sin, passions, and through them to dark forces that are at war with God. "Don't you know that to whom you give yourself as a slave for obedience, you are also the slaves to whom you obey, or slaves of sin unto death, or obedience to righteousness?" (Rom. 6:16). There is no third. “For when you were the slaves of sin, then you were free from righteousness. What kind of fruit did you have then? Such deeds, of which you yourself are now ashamed, because their end is death. But now, when you have been freed from sin and become servants of God, your fruit is holiness, and the end is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 6:20-23). A Christian who has entrusted himself into the hands of the Lord receives from Him (in proportion to his spiritual perfection) great gifts. “If you abide in me and my words abide in you, then ask whatever you want, and it will be done for you” (John 15:7). This is proved by the experience of the saints.
Some words in the Church become so familiar that you often forget what they mean. So it is with the expression "Servant of God." It turns out that it cuts the ear for many. One woman asked me just like that: “Why do you call people servants of God at divine services. Are you humiliating them?"To be honest, I didn’t immediately find what to answer her, and I decided first to figure it out myself and look in the literature why such a phrase was established in the Christian East.
But first, let's look at what slavery looked like in the ancient world, say, among the Romans, so that we have something to compare.
In ancient times, a slave stood close to his master, was his household, and sometimes an adviser and friend. The slaves who spun, wove, and ground grain near the mistress shared their occupations with her. There was no abyss between masters and subordinates.
But over time, things have changed. Roman law began to consider slaves not persons (personae), but things (res). Masters turned into kings, slaves became pets.
This is what a typical Roman aristocrat's house looked like.
The mistress of the house - the matron - was surrounded by a whole gang of servants. Sometimes there were up to 200 slaves in the house, each of which carried her own special service. One carried a fan for the mistress (flabelliferae) , the other followed her on the heels (pedissquae) , third ahead (anteambulatrices) . There were special slaves for blowing coals (ciniflones) , dressing (ornatrices) , carrying an umbrella for mrs. (umbelliferae) , shoe and wardrobe storage (vestiplices) .
There were also spinners in the house (quasilliriae) , seamstresses (sarcinatrices) , weavers (textrics) , wet nurse (nutrices) , nannies, midwives (obstetrics) . There were also many male servants. Lackeys scurried around the house (cursors) , coachmen (rhedarii) , palanquin bearers (lectarii) , dwarfs, dwarfs (nani, nanae) , fools and fools (moriones, fatui, fatuae) .
There was necessarily a house philosopher, usually a Greek (Graeculus), with whom they chatted for an exercise in Greek.
Outside the gate guarded ostiary, doors - Janitor. He was chained to the shack at the entrance, opposite the chained dog.
But his position was considered quite decent in comparison with the vicar. This one, during a drunken orgy of gentlemen, wiped their vomiting eruptions.
A slave could not marry, he could only have a concubine (contubernium) "for offspring". The slave had no parental rights. The children were the property of the owner.
runaway slave (fugitivus) thrown as food to predatory fish, hung or crucified.
The ancient Jews did not renounce slavery, but their laws were unusual for the ancient world gentleness and humanity. It was impossible to burden the slaves with hard work, they were held accountable in court. On Saturdays and other holidays, they were completely released from work (Ex. 20, 10; Deut. 5. 14.).
Christianity also could not immediately abolish slavery. The Apostle Paul directly says: "Servants, obey your masters according to the flesh with fear and trembling, in the simplicity of your heart, as to Christ"(Eph. 6:6).
holy Theophan the Recluse interprets this verse as follows: “Slavery was widespread in the ancient world. St. Paul did not rebuild civil life, but changed people's mores. And so he takes the civil orders as they are, and puts into them a new spirit of life. He leaves the external as it was established, and turns to the internal, and he gives it a new order. The transformation of the external proceeded from within, as a consequence of the free development of the spiritual life. Remake the internal, and the external, if it is absurd, will fall away by itself. .
But if the slave was a disenfranchised and mute working cattle, then why did we still have the term servant of God, although the Greek word doulos can be translated in different ways. He, after all, has three meanings: slave, servant, subject.
In many European languages, when translating the New Testament, they took a milder meaning: a servant. For example, Servant in English, Knecht or Magd in German, Sl`uga in Polish.
The unnamed Slavic translators preferred a sharper version - a slave, from the Proto-Slavic root orb, akin to the Sanskrit arbha - to plow, to work in someone else's house. Hence - a slave, a worker.
Their motives are clear. The Christian East was very fond of the image of the Suffering Christ. The Apostle Paul already spoke of Him: “He (Christ), being in the form of God, humbled Himself, taking the form of a servant (morfe doulou) becoming in the likeness of men, and becoming in appearance like a man” (Philippians 2:6-8).
This means that the Son of God left his stay in glory, taking upon Himself disgrace, dishonor and a curse. He subjected Himself to the conditions of our mortality, and hid His glory in suffering and death. And in His own flesh He showed how man, whom He created in the image of His perfect beauty, disfigured himself by the fall.
Hence - the natural desire of the believing heart to imitate Him, to become a servant of God in gratitude for the fact that for our sake He began to be called a slave.
“All servants of God by nature,” says St. Theophan the Recluse, - for the wicked Nebuchadnezzar is God's servant, but Abraham, David, Paul and others like them are slaves for the love of God.
In his opinion, the servants of God are God-fearing, God-pleasing people. They live according to the will of God, love the truth, despise lies, and therefore you can rely on them in everything.
And the first to call himself so, most likely, was the apostle Paul in his letter to the Romans: “Paul is the servant of Jesus Christ” (Rom. 1, 1).
Such would be slavery for each of us ....!
“Slavery appears with the development of agriculture about 10,000 years ago. People began to use captives for agricultural work and forced them to work for themselves. In early civilizations, captives were the main source of slavery for a long time. Another source was criminals or people who could not pay their debts.
Slaves as a lower class are first reported in Sumerian and Mesopotamian records about 3,500 years ago. Slavery existed in Assyria, Babylonia, Egypt and the ancient societies of the Middle East. It was also practiced in China and India, as well as among Africans and Indians in America.
The growth of industry and trade contributed to an even more intensive spread of slavery. There was a demand for a labor force that could produce goods for export. And because slavery reached its peak in the Greek states and the Roman Empire. Slaves performed the main work here. Most of them worked in mines, handicrafts or agriculture. Others were used in the household as servants and sometimes as doctors or poets. About 400 BC. Chr. Slaves made up a third of the population of Athens. In Rome, slavery was so widespread that even the common people had slaves.
In the ancient world, slavery was perceived as a natural law of life that has always existed. And only a few writers and influential people saw evil and injustice in him.(The World Book Encyclopedia. London-Sydney-Chicago, 1994. P. 480-481. See for more details the large article "Slavery" in: Brockhaus F. A., Efron I. A.. Encyclopedic Dictionary. T. 51. Terra , 1992. S. 35-51).
Kareev N. I. Educational book of ancient history. M., 1997. S. 265. “According to the teachings of ancient Roman law, a slave was not considered a person (person). Slavery removed a person from the circle of eligible beings, made him a thing, like an animal, an object of property and arbitrary disposal of his master. (Nikodim, Bishop of Dalmatia-Istria. Rules of the Orthodox Church with interpretations. T. 2. St. Petersburg: Reprint, 1912. P. 423).
However, the Roman norms on slavery are characterized by internal inconsistency, which affects both the personal and property side of the legal status of slaves.
“The right of a master to a slave is an ordinary right of property - dominum or proprietas. At the same time, the quality of a slave as a thing ... is, as it were, a natural innate property. The slave therefore remains a slave even when for some reason at the moment he does not have a master - for example, the master abandons the slave, refuses him (servus derelictus). In this case, the slave will be servus nullius (no man's), and, like any thing, will be subject to free occupatio of all comers ... Nevertheless, Roman jurists often speak of persona servi (slaves as persons). Recognizing the right of the master to the slave as ordinary property, they at the same time sometimes call this right potestas (disposal rights), in which expression is the recognition of a certain personal element in the relationship between master and slave.
In practice, the recognition of the human personality of a slave was already reflected in the following provisions.
Already ... from ancient times it was established the rule that although a slave is a thing, along with other animals (cetera animalia), the place of burial of a slave is a locus religious (sacred place), to the same extent as the grave of a free person.
Further, blood kinship of slaves is also recognized - cognationes serviles: in close degrees of kinship they constitute an obstacle to marriage. In classical law, even a prohibition is developed when transferring slaves to separate close relatives from each other - a wife from a husband, children from parents ... The edict of Emperor Claudius announced that an old and sick slave, abandoned by his master to the mercy of fate, becomes free. Two constitutions of the emperor Antoninus Pius were more decisive: one of them subjected the master to the same criminal punishment for the lawful (sine causa) murder of his slave as for the murder of someone else's; and the other instructed the authorities, in cases where cruel treatment had forced a slave to take refuge in a temple or near a statue of the emperor, to investigate the matter and force the master to sell the slave into other hands. To what extent these prescriptions achieved their goal is another question, but legally the power of the master over the personality of the slave is no longer unlimited.
A slave, as a thing, cannot have any of his property, cannot have any rights ... However, the consistent implementation of this principle would be very often not in the interests of the masters themselves ... Since ancient times, the slave has been credited with the ability to acquire - of course, in favor of his Mr. ... He is recognized ... the ability to perform legal acts, that is, legal capacity. At the same time, he is considered as some kind of acquiring organ of the master, as an instrumentum vocale (speaking instrument), and as a result, he borrows the legal capacity necessary for transactions from the master - ex persona domini ... The slave can, therefore, conclude all those transactions that his master is capable of. ; this latter, on the basis of these transactions, can bring all claims in exactly the same way as if he were acting himself.(Pokrovsky I. A. History of Roman law. Petrograd, 1918. S. 218, 219, 220)
“The position of slaves, little known personally to the master, often did not differ much from the position of domestic animals, or, perhaps, was worse. However, the conditions of slavery do not freeze within certain limits, but gradually, through a very long evolution, change for the better. A reasonable view of their own economic benefit forced the masters to a thrifty attitude towards slaves and to mitigate their fate; it was also due to political prudence, when slaves outnumbered the free classes of the population. Religion and custom often exerted the same influence. Finally, the law takes the slave under its protection, which, however, even earlier is used by domestic animals ...
The ancient writers have left us many descriptions of the terrible condition in which the Roman slaves found themselves. Their food was extremely scarce in quantity, and was of no good quality: just enough was given out so as not to die of hunger. Meanwhile, the work was exhausting and continued from morning to evening. The position of slaves in mills and bakeries was especially difficult, where a millstone or a board with a hole in the middle was often tied to the neck of slaves to prevent them from eating flour or dough - and in mines, where sick, maimed, old men and women worked under a whip until fell from exhaustion. In the event of a slave's illness, he was taken to the abandoned "island of Aesculapius", where he was given complete "freedom to die." Cato the Elder advises selling “old bulls, sick cattle, sick sheep, old wagons, scrap iron, an old slave, a sick slave, and in general everything unnecessary. Cruel treatment of slaves was sanctified both by traditions and customs and laws. "(Brockhaus F.A., Efron. I.A. Decree. cit. P. 36, 43-44).
Andreev V. The classical world - Greece and Rome. Historical essays. Kyiv, 1877. S. 279-286.
Hypocrisy was the most characteristic feature of these accustomed:
Nikifor, archimandrite. Bible Encyclopedia. M., 1990. Reprint, 1891. S. 592-593.
“In Israel, people captured in hostilities fell into slavery (Deut. 20, 10-18) ... If an Israeli was sold into slavery for special needs (Ex. 21, 4, 6), then after 6 years he was released (Ex. 21, 2) with the payment of the due bribe (Deut. 15, 13), but only if he did not want to voluntarily remain in the family to which he belonged. The law also protected slave women (Ex. 21, 7-11; Lev. 19, 20-22) ... Sometimes there were violations of the law on the release of slaves (Jer. 34, 8), there are cases of ransoming slaves during captivity (Neh. 5, 8 ). As household members, slaves could take part in religious holidays (Deut. 12, 18), and through circumcision (Gen. 17, 12) they were accepted into the community "(Die Religion in Geschichte und Gegenwart. Auflage 3. Band 6. Tuebingen, 1986. S. 101).
“The New Testament reflects contemporary views on slavery, for example, in parables (Matt. 18:23-35; 25:14-30; Luke 12:35-48) and norms of behavior (Luke 17:7-10). Terms borrowed from slavery and captive-taking? Paul describes the necessity of man's deliverance and the economy of salvation (eg, Rom. 6:15-23). At the same time, he equalizes the state of a free person and a slave - through baptism both become one in Christ (Gal. 3, 28), and, expecting the near coming of the Savior (parousia), he calls on new converts from slaves to remain in their rank and obey their masters now according to religious motives, the master obliges to treat slaves moderately and fraternally (1. Cor. 7, 20-24) ... Thus, he seeks not to overcome slavery, but to make it more humane "(Lexikon fuer Theologie und Kirche. Band 9. Freiburg - Basel - Rom - Wien, 2000. S. 656-657).
Saint Theophan the Recluse. Interpretation of the message of St. Apostle Paul to the Ephesians. M., 1893. S. 444-445.
In the ancient church “already Clement of Alexandria (+215), influenced by the ideas of the Stoics about universal equality, believed that in their virtues and appearance, slaves were no different from their masters. From this he concluded that Christians should reduce the number of their slaves and do some work themselves. Lactantius (+320), who formulated the thesis of the equality of all people, demanded from Christian communities the recognition of marriage among slaves. And the Roman Bishop Calistus the First (+222), who himself came out of the class of not free people, even recognized the relationship between high-ranking women - Christians and slaves, freedmen and freeborn as full-fledged marriages. In the Christian environment, already from the time of the primordial Church, the emancipation of slaves was practiced, as is clear from the exhortation of Ignatius of Antioch (+107) to Christians not to abuse freedom for unworthy purposes.
However, the legal and social foundations of the division into free and slaves remain unshakable. Constantine the Great (+337) does not violate them either, who, undoubtedly, under the influence of Christianity, gives the bishops the right to free slaves by means of the so-called announcement in the church (manumissio in ecclesia) and publishes a number of laws that alleviate the lot of slaves.
... In the 4th century, the problem of bondage was actively discussed among Christian theologians. So the Cappadocians - Basil, Archbishop of Caesarea (+379), Gregory of Nazianzus (+389), and later John Chrysostom (+407), relying on the Bible, and perhaps on the teaching of the Stoics about natural law, express an opinion about a paradisiacal reality, where equality reigned, which, due to the fall of Adam ... was replaced by various forms of human dependence. And although these bishops did a lot to alleviate the lot of slaves in everyday life, they energetically opposed the general elimination of slavery, which was important for the economic and social order of the empire.
Theodoret of Cyrus (+466) even argued that slaves have a more secure existence than the father of the family, who is burdened with cares for the family, servants and property. And only Gregory of Nyssa (+395) opposes any form of enslavement of a person, since it not only violates the natural freedom of all people, but also ignores the saving work of the Son of God...
In the West, under the influence of Aristotle, Bishop Ambrose of Milan (+397), justifies legitimate slavery by emphasizing the intellectual superiority of the masters, and advises those who, as a result of war or chance, have unjustly fallen into slavery, use their position to test virtue and faith in God.
Augustine (+430) was also far from challenging the legitimacy of slavery, for God does not free slaves, but makes bad slaves good. He sees the biblical and theological justification for his views in the personal sin of Ham against his father Noah, because of which all mankind is condemned to slavery, but this punishment is also a healing remedy. At the same time, Augustine also refers to the teaching of the Apostle Paul about sin, to which everyone is subject. In the 19th book of his treatise “On the City of God”, he draws an ideal image of human coexistence in the family and the state, where slavery takes its place and corresponds to the plan of God’s creation, earthly order and the natural difference between people”(Theologische Realenzyklopaedie. Band 31. Berlin - New-York, 2000. S. 379-380).
See more: Lopukhin A.P.. Biblical history of the New Testament. Holy Trinity Sergius Lavra, 1998. S. 707-708.
A Patristic Greek Lexicon edited by G. W. H. Lampe. Oxford University Press, 1989. P. 385.
Langscheidts Taschenwoerterbuch Altgrieschisch. Berlin-Muenchen-Zuerich, 1976. S. 119.
The Greek of the New Testament used another word for slave, oiketes (Phil. 10-18), even more ambiguous than doulos. This is a slave, household, servant, worker. (Nikodim, Bishop of Dalmatia-Istria. Decree. Op. P. 165-167.)
For the Slavs, the origin of the Latin word sclavus is not without interest, from which - German. Sklave, English. Slave, fr. Esclave. It arose from the tribal name of the Slavs (ethnonym), and was then used in Latin to refer to slaves or slaves. (Lexikon fuer Theologie und Kirche, op. cit. p. 656).
Let's give some examples.
"Daniel, servant of the living God!" (Dan. 6:20).
"O Daniel, servant of the living God!" (Dan. 6, 20). Servant - servant, servant, servant (Muller V.K. English-Russian Dictionary. M., 1971. S. 687)
"Daniel, du Diener des lebendigen Gottes" (Dan. 6.21). Diener - servant, servant (Langenscheidts Grosswoerterbuch. Deutsch-Russisch. Band 1. Berlin - Muenchen, 1997. S. 408)
"Danielu, slugo zyjacego Boga!" (Dn. 6, 21). Sluga - (bookish) servant. Sluga Bozy - servant of God (Gessen D., Stypula R. Large Polish-Russian Dictionary. Moscow - Warsaw, 1967. S. 978
"James, servant of God and the Lord Jesus Christ" (James 1:1).
"James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ" (Jas. 1, 1).
"Jakobus, Knecht Gottes und Jesu Christi, des Herrn" (Jak. 1, 1). Knecht - servant, worker. Knecht Gottes - servant of God, servant of God
"Jakub, sluga Boga i Pana Jezusa Chrystusa" (Jk. 1, 1)
"Paul is a servant of God, an apostle of Jesus Christ" (Tit. 1, 1).
"Paul, a servant of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ" (Tit. 1, 1).
"Paulus, Knecht Gottes and Apostel Jesu Christi" (Tit. 1, 1).
"Pawel, sluga Boga I apostol Jezusa Chrystusa" (Tt. 1, 1).
Or a well-known verse from the Annunciation of the Virgin Mary:
"Then Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord" (Luke 1b 38).
"And Mary said, behold the handmaid of the Lord" (Lk. 1, 38). Handmaid - (mouth) servant (Müller V.K. Decree op. C. 352).
"Da sagte Maria: Ich bin die Magd des Herrn" (Lk. 1, 38).
Na to rzekla Maryja: "Oto ja sluzebnica Panska" (Lk. 1, 38). Sluzebnica - servant, maid. (Gessen D., Stypula R. op. op. P. 978)
The Bible, the books of the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments. Brussels, 1989, pp. 1286, 1801, 1694,1575.
The Holy Bible containing the Old and New Testament. (King James version). New York, b. R. 2166, (New Test.) 631, 586, 162.
Die Bibel. Einheitsuebersetzung der Heiligen Schrift. Stuttgart, 1999. S. 1004, 1142, 1352, 1334.
Pismo Swiete Starego i Nowego Testamentu. Poznan - Warszawa, 1987. S. 1041, 1372, 1356, 1181.
Note that in the Great Concordance to the Luther Bible, the word Sklave (slave) is used about 60 times, Skavin (slave) - about 10 times, while Knecht (servant) - appears in different meanings and forms of unity. and sets. numbers - about 500 times, and Magd (servant) - about 150 times (Grosse Konkordanz zur Lutherbibel. Stuttgart, 1979. S. 841-844; 975-976; 1301).
In the Symphony on the Old and New Testament in Russian, in which the dictionary entries are not developed in as much detail as in the Concordance, the word slave in various forms is noted in approximately 400 cases, and the words slave, slave - more than 50 times. The words Servant and servant in different case forms and numbers (singular and plural) - about 120 times, maid, servants - about 40 times (Symphony. Old and New Testament. Harvest, 2001. S. 638-641, 642, 643 , 729, 730, 731).
Preobrazhensky A. Etymological dictionary of the Russian language. M., 1910-1914. pp. 169-170. The original Russian form "rob" means a servant, a slave, respectively, a robe - a servant, a slave. (Fasmer M. Etymological dictionary of the Russian language. T. 3. M., 1987. S. 487.)
Lossky V. Dogmatic theology. Theological Works, No. 8. M., 1972. S. 172-173.
Saint John of Damascus. Exact presentation of the Orthodox faith. Book 3. Chapter 21. About ignorance and slavery. Complete collection of creations. T. 1. St. Petersburg: Reprint, 1913. S. 287.
Saint Theophan the Recluse. Interpretation of the Pastoral Epistles of St. apostle Paul. M.: Reprint, 1894. S. 435, 29.
Servant of God -
1) a person who believes in the One and True, conscious of his dependence on Him as the Creator and Provider, accepting His power as the power of the Heavenly King, striving to please Him) ();
2) (in the Old Testament, pl. h) representatives of the Old Testament ();
3) (in the New Testament, pl.) Christians ().
Slavery to God is, in a broad sense, fidelity to the Divine will, as opposed to slavery to sin.
In a narrower sense, the state of voluntary submission of one's will to the Divine for the sake of fear of punishment, as the first of the three steps of faith (along with the mercenary and the son). The Holy Fathers distinguish three levels of submission of their will to God - a slave who submits to Him because of the fear of punishment; mercenary working for pay; and a son who is guided by love for the Father. The state of the son is the most perfect. According to St. Apostle John the Theologian: There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear, because there is torment in fear. He who fears is imperfect in love» ().
Christ does not call us slaves: You are My friends if you do what I command you. I no longer call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I called you friends..." (). But we speak of ourselves in this way, meaning the voluntary agreement of our will with His good will, because we know that the Lord is a stranger to all evil and unrighteousness, and His good will leads us to blessed eternity. That is, the fear of God for Christians is not an animal fear, but a sacred awe before the Creator.
Anyone who commits sin is a slave of sin ().
If the Son sets you free, then you will be truly free ().
If you abide in My word, then you are truly My disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free ().
The servant called in the Lord is the free Lord ... ()
The Lord is Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. ()
“Behold, the Servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word ”().
Don't you know that to whom you give yourself as a slave for obedience, you are also the slaves to whom you obey, or slaves of sin unto death, or obedience to righteousness?
Thanks be to God that you, having previously been slaves of sin, have become obedient from the heart to that image of teaching to which you have given yourself over. Having been freed from sin, you have become slaves of righteousness. I speak according to human reasoning, for the sake of the infirmity of your flesh. Just as you handed over your members as slaves to impurity and lawlessness for lawless deeds, so now present your members as slaves of righteousness for holy deeds. For when you were the slaves of sin, then you were free from righteousness. What kind of fruit did you have then? Such deeds, of which you yourself are now ashamed, because their end is death. But now, when you have been freed from sin and have become servants of God, your fruit is holiness, and the end is eternal life. ()
Is it honorable to be a servant of God? Is this a strength or a weakness?
Let's remember the Last Supper. The Lord Himself girded himself, seated His disciples, came and began to minister to them, and washed their feet. (). Let's look at the position of the "good servant" in the Gospel, is it humiliating? Is it humiliating to be a servant of such a Tsar, a servant of God?
Interpretation of this Gospel passage:
For such a servant, the Lord himself becomes a servant. For it is said: "And he will seat them, and, coming up, will serve them." The master in this parable is Christ the Son of God (as a Person without a beginning, born and begotten of the Father before all ages, just as light is born from light, and there can be no source of light without light itself, but if the source of light is eternal, then the light emanating from it eternal, has no beginning, but is born eternally and continuously). He, having perceived human nature as a bride and having united with Himself, created marriage, clinging to her in one flesh. He returns from a heavenly marriage, openly before everyone, at the end of the universe, when he comes from heaven in the glory of the Father. It also returns invisibly and unexpectedly, appearing at any time, at the death (at death) of each in particular. Blessed Theophylact.
“Blessed are those servants…” With this influx saying, the Lord wants to point out the certainty of the righteous retribution that all His faithful servants will receive at the opening of the glorious Kingdom of the Messiah: the master himself will pay as much attention to such servants as they do to him, and the Messiah will adequately reward His awake slaves. ).
“And if he comes in the second watch, and in the third watch he comes, and finds them thus, then blessed are those servants. You know that if the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief would come, he would have been awake and would not have allowed his house to be dug up. Be ready also, for at what hour you do not think, the Son of Man will come. Then Peter said to Him: “Lord! Are you speaking this parable to us, or to everyone? The Lord said: “Who is the faithful and prudent steward, whom the master has appointed over his servants to give them a measure of bread in due time? Blessed is that servant whom his master, when he comes, finds doing so. Truly I say to you that he will set him over all his possessions.” ().
(An explanation of the concept of the first, second, third “guards” is the different age of a person: the first is youth, the second is courage, and the third is old age. virtue).
“But if that servant says in his heart: “My master will not come soon,” and begins to beat servants and maids, eat and drink and get drunk, then the master of that servant will come on a day on which he does not expect, and at an hour, into which he does not think, and he will split him, and subject him to the same fate with the unbelievers. The servant who knew the will of his master, and was not ready, and did not do according to his will, will be beaten a lot; but who did not know, and did worthy of punishment, the bit will be less. And from everyone to whom much has been given, much will be required, and to whom much has been entrusted, more will be exacted from him. ()
The love of the Heavenly King for His servants. The measure of God's love
“If you keep My commandments, you will continue in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and continue in His love. I have said this to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full. This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. There is no greater love than if a man lays down his life for his friends.” ().
“I am a good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. A mercenary, not a shepherd, one to whom the sheep are not his own, sees how the wolf comes, and leaves the sheep and runs (and the wolf kidnaps and disperses them), because he is a mercenary, and he does not care about the sheep. I am the good shepherd, and I know mine, and mine know me. As the Father knows Me, I also know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. And other sheep I have, not of this fold, and those I must bring, and they will hear My voice, and there will be one flock, one Shepherd. Therefore the Father loves me, because I lay down my life to receive it again. No one took it from Me, but I lay it Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to receive it again. This commandment I received from my Father. ().
In the Gospel, Christ repeatedly said that He did not come to earth to "be served, but to serve and give His life as a ransom for many" (Gospel of Mark, chapter 10, verse 45).
How the position of a servant of God is described in the Gospel
In order to grant eternal life to His servants, our King belittled (exhausted) Himself, and Himself took on the form of a slave, becoming in the likeness of men and becoming in appearance like a man. ()
Interpretation of the text: He voluntarily outwitted Himself, - devastated, laid down His own from Himself, stripped of the visible glory and majesty inherent in the Deity and Him, like God, belonging. In this regard, some have belittled, they understand: He hid the glory of His Divinity. “God by nature, having equality with the Father, hiding his dignity, chose extreme humility” ().
The following words explain how He reduced Himself. - We accept the sign of a slave, - that is, having taken upon Himself the nature of creation. What exactly? Human: in the likeness of humanity byv. Did not human nature receive any difference from this? No. Like all men, so was He: He was found in the form of a man.
He took the form of a slave. Who? He who is in the image of God is God by nature. If He accepted as God, then even after the acceptance God remained, taking on the form of a servant. The sight of a slave is not a sign, but the norm of a slave. The word: slave - is used in opposition to the Divine in the words: in the image of God this is. There the image of God signifies the norm of the Divine nature, the Creative Deity; here the sign of a slave means the norm of a slave - a nature that works for God, a creature. We accept the sight of a slave - having accepted the created nature, which, no matter what degree it stands, is always working for God. What followed from this? That which is beginningless begins; omnipresent - determined by the place, eternal - lives days, months and years; all-perfect - increases with age and intelligence; all-containing and all-revitalizing - fed and maintained by Others; omniscient - does not know; almighty - communicates; exuding life - dies. And all this He passes through, by His nature God is taken upon Himself by His created nature. holy .
So, Christ's self-abasement is the most beautiful manifestation of love (). When Christ came into the sinful world, He did not have riches and glory (), was subjected to ridicule, temptations and torment (), endured suffering according to human nature (), becoming like a man in everything except sin (), experienced God-forsakenness (), was condemned as criminal, endured death and burial (), taking our sins upon Himself () and restoring human nature for a renewed life with God (). So Christians, wanting to live according to the Gospel, deny themselves and carry their cross with joy (), not being carried away by the blessings of this world, privileges, wealth, pleasures.
The servant of God is a warrior of Christ and an adopted son of God the Father, a co-corporeal Christ - God by nature
A person, accepting Baptism, is called not just a slave, but a warrior of Christ. In baptism, the unclean spirit that was in him from birth to Baptism is cast out from his heart. And he enters the victorious ranks of the soldiers of Christ. God cannot but be victorious, and the soldiers of Christ are victorious; possess the infinite power of the Uncreated God.
Against whom the warrior of Christ is fighting, answers St. app. Paul: “Our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against authorities, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spirits of wickedness in high places” ().
It is against the cunning of demons, their wiles, that St. Paul advises us, as soldiers of Christ, to stand cheerfully: “stand, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet in readiness to preach the gospel of peace; above all, take the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God." ().
I will say more: in Baptism, a person is adopted by God, and dares to call God the Creator of the whole world his Father. “Our Father”, this is how the servants of God address their Great King, the Uncreated God.
“You are My friends if you do what I command you. I no longer call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends because I have told you all that I have heard from my Father. I go to my Father and your Father." ()
What awaits the servants of God, what is prepared for them?
“The eye did not see, the ear did not hear, and it did not enter the heart of man that God prepared for those who love Him” ().
“The timid and unfaithful, and filthy, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, will have their fate in the lake burning with fire and brimstone. This is the second death "()
“Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor malakia, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor blasphemers, nor predators - will not inherit the Kingdom of God. ().
Many voluntarily deprive themselves of the honor of the title of “servant of God”, not wanting to cleanse the dirt from their souls in Baptism, Confession and Communion, or denying Christ, and fulfilling their whims, catering to their passions, they become slaves of “simple shoemakers” - vile, unclean demons, fallen angels, it is they who are the masters of all non-servants of God.
So, I call on all Christians to worthily bear the honorary title of the servant of God - the Almighty of the whole world, the title of the warrior of Christ, and not to lose the divine adoption given to us as a gift.
Save all Christ!
Servant of God - translation difficulties
From the book "Modern Bible Translation Theory and Practice"
The believer in the Bible calls himself servant/servant of God. For that culture, it was a completely ordinary name that did not contain any negative connotations, the lower one called himself a slave when referring to the higher, even if they were the king and his entourage. Freedom for us is an absolute value, so in our modern culture the word slave associated with lawlessness and humiliation, and the word servant not much better (only, unlike the word slave, it does not form a stable phrase with the word God's). Maybe it's better to say servant of God? But this expression, in turn, is connected with clerical overtones: this can be called a certain very important bishop, but not a simple believer. There is no ideal solution. There are two words in Altaic: cool"slave" and jgreedy"employee" (from jal"pay"). Both were not liked by a part of the readership: the first sounds too belittling, the second hints at the presence of a fee. It was decided to translate verbally: jalchy bolup"being a servant," which readers said mitigated the negative effect of the second word.
In the margins, it is worth noting that for the people of the biblical era, freedom simply was not a basic value, as it is for us. The Bible practically nowhere speaks of it as an integral part of every person (such an understanding is rather characteristic of the Greco-Roman world), we read on its pages not so much about freedom, how much about release or deliverance(from slavery, illness, misfortune or even death). For comparison: today it is customary to talk about health as a core value (healthy lifestyle, etc.), while in more traditional societies it is more about recovery in the case of illness, and the usual state of a person is not at all perceived as morbid (in contrast to the modern manner of doctors to call all their patients "sick"). This does not mean that in ancient times people got sick less often and less severely (rather, just the opposite!), but it means that the perception of health and sickness was different from modern ones. In the same way, people did not perceive their submission to God, the king or the usual boss as something humiliating, requiring immediate intervention.
You can try to explain all this in a dictionary, or even better - in a separate article, but what to do in translation? Here are the main options.
- Use the most basic and traditional notation: servant of God. The risk of misunderstanding is great, but the traditional concept remains.
- Soften this expression by choosing other words: servant/servant of God. The solution is a compromise, with all the pluses and minuses.
- Try to reformulate the expression itself: who is true served God. On the one hand, such a turnover sounds smooth, but it is difficult to apply it consistently, moreover, the “title” of the original is destroyed in this way: for example, in 1 Tit. 1:1, the apostle Paul from the very beginning says about himself that he is "God's servant" (δοῦλος θεοῦ), and this makes the reader immediately recall the similar name of Moses ().
Ecology of knowledge: Many even sincerely believing Christians are sometimes jarred by the word "slave", which they call them in the church. Someone does not pay attention to this, others consider it a reason to get rid of pride, others ask questions to the priests. What does this concept really mean?
Green willow over the swamp
A rope is tied to the willow,
Rope morning and evening
A learned boar walks in a circle.
(translation into Russian of the Polish version of the poem by A.S. Pushkin “At the Lukomorye there is a green oak ...”)
Many even sincerely believing Christians are sometimes jarred by the word "slave", which they call them in the church. Someone does not pay attention to this, others consider it a reason to get rid of pride, others ask questions to the priests. What does this concept really mean? Maybe there is nothing offensive in it at all?
About the meaning of the word "slave"
Of course, the Bible was written at a time when the language and meanings of words were completely different, and besides, it was translated many times from one language to another. It is not surprising if the meaning of the texts has been distorted beyond recognition. Maybe the word "slave" had a completely different meaning?
According to the Church Slavonic Dictionary of Prot. G. Dyachenko the concept of "slave" has several meanings: inhabitant, inhabitant, servant, slave, slave, son, daughter, boy, young man, young slave, servant, student. Thus, this interpretation alone gives hope to the “servants of God” in preserving human dignity in their Christian virtue: after all, they are also a son or daughter, and a disciple, and simply an inhabitant of the world created by God.
Let us also recall the social structure of those times: the slaves and children of the owner of the house lived, by and large, in equal conditions. The children also could not argue with their father in anything, while the slaves were, in fact, members of the family. The student was in the same position if the master of some craft took him into service.
Or maybe "rob"?
As Agafya Logofetova writes, referring to Fasmer's etymological dictionary, the word "slave" is borrowed from the Church Slavonic language and in Old Russian it had the form "robe", "robya", from which the plural form "robyata" is still found in some dialects. In the future, the root "rob" turned into "reb", from where the modern "child", "guys", etc. came from.
Thus, again, we return to the fact that an orthodox Christian is a child of God, and not a slave in the modern sense of the word.
Or "raab"?
The already mentioned Dyachenko dictionary includes another meaning: “Raab or slave is the name of Jewish teachers, the same as a rabbi.” "Rabbi" comes from the Hebrew "rabbi", which, according to Collier's dictionary, means "my master" or "my teacher" (from "rab" - "great", "lord" - and the pronominal suffix "-and" - " my").
Unexpected rise, right? Perhaps the "servant of God" is a teacher, a bearer of spiritual knowledge, called to convey it to people? In this case, it remains only to agree with the phrase of Hieromonk Job, in the world of Athanasius Gumerov (said, however, initially in a slightly different context): "The right to be called a servant of God must be earned."
Modern language
One thing is certain: the way of life and the mentality of the people of that time was too different from ours. The language was different, of course. Therefore, it was not a moral problem for a Christian of that era to call himself a “servant of God,” nor was it an exercise in getting rid of the sin of pride.
Sometimes parishioners on the forums suggest: "... if the Bible has been translated many times, and the meaning of the word "slave" has changed during this time, why not replace it with a more appropriate value?" For example, such an option as “servant” was voiced. But, in my opinion, the word "son" or "daughter" or "disciple of God" is much better suited. In addition, according to the Church Slavonic dictionary, these are also the meanings of the word "slave".
instead of a conclusion. A bit of humor about the metamorphoses of concepts
The young monk was given the task of helping the rest of the ministers of the church rewrite the sacred texts. After working like this for a week, the newcomer noticed that copying was not done from the original, but from another copy. He expressed his surprise to the father rector: “Padre, if someone made a mistake, it will be repeated after that in all copies!”. The abbot, thinking, went down to the dungeons where the primary sources were kept and ... disappeared. When almost a day had passed since his disappearance, the worried monks went down after him. They found him right away: he was banging his head against the sharp stones of the walls and shouting insanely: “Celebrate!! The word was “celebrate”! Not “celibate”!”.
(Note: celebrate (eng.) - celebrate, glorify, glorify; celibate (eng.) - vowed celibacy; celibacy) published
What does Servant of God mean?
Slavery to God is, in a broad sense, fidelity to the Divine will, as opposed to slavery to sin.
In a narrower sense, the state of voluntary submission of one's will to the Divine for the sake of fear of punishment, as the first of the three steps of faith (along with the mercenary and the son). The Holy Fathers distinguish three levels of submission of their will to God - a slave who submits to Him because of the fear of punishment; mercenary working for pay; and a son who is guided by love for the Father. The state of the son is the most perfect. According to St. Apostle John the Theologian: “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear, because in fear there is torment. He who fears is not perfect in love” (1 John 4:18).
Christ does not call us slaves: “You are my friends if you do what I command you. I no longer call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I called you friends...” (John 15:14-15). But we speak of ourselves in this way, meaning the voluntary agreement of our will with His good will, because we know that the Lord is a stranger to all evil and unrighteousness, and His good will leads us to blessed eternity. That is, the fear of God for Christians is not an animal fear, but a sacred awe before the Creator.
All confusion with this phrase comes from ignorance of God. It is terrible to be a slave of a tyrant, but we have no one closer and dearer to God. God is the source of life, truth, love, righteousness, all virtues. Slavery involves work, work, and in the context of relations with God - co-working, because God is self-sufficient, he does not need our work. Is it humiliating to be in such an understanding a slave of Love, a slave of Truth, a slave of Mercy, a slave of Wisdom; a servant of the One who, for the sake of His Creation, voluntarily ascended the Cross?
The fact is that our spoken language is very different from the language of the Holy Scriptures, and such a concept as “God's servant” came to us from the Bible, moreover, from its most ancient part, which is called the “Old Testament”. In the Old Testament, "Servant of God" is the title of the kings and prophets of Israel. Calling themselves “servants of God,” the kings and prophets of Israel thereby testified that they are no longer subject to anyone, they do not recognize anyone else’s authority over themselves, except for the authority of God - they are His slaves, they have their own special mission in the world. There is such a parable in the Gospel: about the evil vinedressers. It tells about how the master planted a vineyard, called on the workers to work in this vineyard, cultivate it, and every year he sent his slaves to them to look at the work and take accountability. The workers of the vineyard drove these slaves away, then he sent his son to them, they killed their son, and after that the lord of the vineyard already passes his judgment. So - pay attention - not slaves work in the vineyard, but hired workers, and the slaves represent the master - these are his proxies, they communicate the will of the master to the workers. These slaves were the prophets of Israel, who communicated the will of God to the people. God Himself spoke to the people through the prophets. Therefore, “Servant of God” is a very high title, which indicated a special relationship between God and man, a special spiritual status of man.
In the New Testament, the title "servant of God" became more widespread, every Christian, every baptized person began to call himself a servant of God, and many people, indeed, this is shocking. But in our minds, a slave is such a powerless creature, chained, and people say - we do not want to call ourselves slaves, we are free citizens, yes, we are believers, but we do not agree to call ourselves slaves! If you think about it, then it is simply impossible to be a slave of God in the sense in which we imagine slavery, because slavery is violence against a human person, but God does not force anyone to do anything.
After all, the very idea that God can forcibly subjugate someone is absurd, because it would be contrary to God's plan for man. After all, God created man completely free and man wants - believes in God, wants - does not believe in God, wants - loves God, wants - does not love God, wants - does what God tells him, but wants - does not do what God speaks to him. Remember, in the parable of the prodigal son, the son comes up to his father and says to him: “Give me the due part of my inheritance, and I will leave you.” And the father does not interfere, he gives that part of the inheritance that was assigned to the youngest son, and he leaves. And today, as in all times, a lot of people turn away from God and leave him, and God does not force them to be with Himself, He does not punish them in any way for this.
He cares about human freedom, so what kind of slavery can we talk about here? The one who really enslaves a person is the devil. A person is enslaved by sin, and once he has fallen into the orbit of the attraction of evil, it can be difficult for a person to get out of this vicious circle. We know, everyone knows from their own lives, how difficult it is to overcome sin. And you repent of it, you repent, you understand that this sin prevents you from living, that it brings you suffering, but a person does not always succeed in escaping from these claws of the devil. Only with the help of God. Only the mercy of God can wrest a person from the power of sin.
Here I will give an example. Of course, this example is extreme, but it is clear to everyone. Look at a drug addict - he would be glad to become a healthy person, he understands that this disease leads him to suffering, leads him to an imminent death, but he cannot do anything! This is a real slave, chained hand and foot, no longer his will, he fulfills the will of his master, he fulfills the will of his master, he fulfills the will of the devil. And in this sense, look, a person can easily leave God when he wants and God does not prevent him, but it can be very, very difficult to escape from the devil!
Of course, the title “servant of God” is used only in the sacramental life of the Church, in such simple human communication we do not call each other servants of God. For example, in the service I do not say to my altar boy: “Servant of God Vladimir, give me a censer,” I call him simply by his first name. But when the Church Sacraments are performed, then we add this title “servant of God.” For example, "a servant of God such and such is baptized", "a servant of God such and such is communed". Or a prayer for health, or for peace - the title “servant of God” is also added before the name. And in this case, the servant of God is evidence of this person’s faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and his intention to do what God commands, because without a person’s faith and without his intention to follow what the Lord tells him, any Sacrament will be profaned.
But what else is important to understand - the servant of God - does not reflect the essence of our relationship with God, because through the Incarnation God became a man, He became one of us, He called us his brothers, moreover, He says: “I don’t call you slaves anymore I call you my friends." Christ taught us to address God as the Father - "Our Father", "Our Father" - we say in prayer. And between family members there is an obligation to each other, and as children of God, we show our love for our Heavenly Father by serving Him, fulfilling His commandments. As the Lord Himself said about it: “If you love Me, then you will keep My commandments!” A servant of God means a servant of God. And since in the New Testament God revealed himself as Love, as Truth, as Freedom, then a person who dares to call himself a “servant of God” must understand that this obliges him not to be a servant of the devil, not a slave of sin, but a servant of love, truth and freedom.