Konstantin Volkodav - Religious Implications of Atheism

For example, the Byzantine emperors were always escorted by spear-bearers (doriforians) during any events. In fact, it was not a guard, but an honorary escort as an expression of the highest honor. The Christian concept of God as the Heavenly King began to be expressed through similar symbols. For example, at the Liturgy, in the Cherubic hymn, depicted the image of God—the Universal King, surrounded by the angelic ranks of the doriforians. The Bible does not say anything about any doriforians angels; this metaphor entered Christian worship from the Byzantine court ceremonial.

Over time, these external expressions of ideas may change. In our time, there are no more doriforians, but the salutation of the highest honor to especially significant persons is still expressed through honorary escort. The Pope has a Swiss guard; the presidential cortege is accompanied by an honorary escort of motorcyclists.

Thus, the conventional “body” of religion—its expression in the social and cultural sphere—is formed according to the same psychological laws as non-religious phenomena, such as art. Therefore, it is possible to find parallels and analogies of religious phenomena with non-religious ones, and this will facilitate understanding of the processes taking place in any historical religion.

Also we should take into consideration the fact that, for various reasons, other ideas, parasitic and even opposing, can mix with the main idea and co-exist in parallel with it. For example, the purpose of art is art itself. If an artist starts thinking about commerce, then he loses inspiration and sense of beauty [36] . Vincent van Gogh and Paul Gauguin and other painters, whose work is now estimated at $100 million per painting, lived in poverty and barely made ends meet. Also, in music, the brilliant Mozart and others geniuses lived in poverty, while the less talented were much better off. . Likewise, in Christianity, some of the fundamental ideas are non-possessiveness and humility: “You cannot serve God and wealth,” “You received without payment; give without payment,” “Whoever wishes to be great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be your slave” (Matt. 6:24; 10:8; 20:26–27), etc. But historical Christianity provides many examples of Christians doing exactly the opposite.

What’s going on? Why Christians are often live quite differently from how the Holy Scripture teaches them? By the way, the same thing can be said about the followers of other religions. This question is sometimes asked by atheists, but most of all it worries the believers themselves.

Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh tells on this subject a very remarkable case. Once, he spent three days of talks on the spiritual life for a group of students who were to be ordained in the Anglican Church. At the final meeting, one of the students on behalf of the others, in front of all the teachers, asked, “How can we find again the faith that led us to the theological school, and which the theological school destroyed?” That is the situation. That’s the edge of the sword! And this is a key question for the future of modern Christianity!

Both Darwin and Stalin were going to become priests, but the church educational institution destroyed their faith, and they became militant atheists. There are so many such examples that it is impossible to attribute all this to special cases and exceptions. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, theology flourished in Russia: many achievements of church science remain unsurpassed to this day. However, four Theological Academies and hundreds of Seminaries ruined the faith in many of their graduates. The atheist revolution of 1917 would not have been possible without the active support without the active support of graduates of religious educational institutions.

In the Bible, some regions, countries, and nations are sometimes described as being one person. Using the same metaphor, one can ask the cardinal question of an Anglican student already on the scale of the entire Christian civilization: “How can Christians revive that faith for a better understanding of which Christians have been creating theology and establishing theological institutions for one and a half thousand years? Why did these theological institutions destroy faith and lead many people to atheism?” Where was the mine of the delayed action hidden? Is this the reason that Greek theologians tried to present Revelation in the language of ancient philosophy? Or is the reason in Western scholasticism, which also used the logic of Aristotle?

Indeed, countries with “young” Christianity, such as Ghana or Samoa, are distinguished by their sincerity and liveliness of faith. There is no crisis of faith and, moreover, no atheism there at all. At the same time in Europe, with its two thousand-years-old Christian history, atheism dominates.

Most likely, the reason for this is not so much in theology and not so much in the conversion of Christianity into a religion, as in betrayal of the fundamental principles of Christianity. Very often, the attention of Christians was focused on ethics and moral perfection: how to become better, fairer, more restrained and kinder. But all this is not the great purpose for which God created man. The main message of Christianity is that God became the Son of so that man could become the son of God. Various holy fathers formulated this idea a little differently, but the meaning is exactly that. [37] . See Irenaeus of Lyons ( Adversus haereses , III, 10, 2 and in the Prologue of the chapter 5); St. Athanasius of Alexandria (Contra Arianos I, 39). Basil the Great and Gregory the Theologian said about the same thing. That is, the Creator, being God ontologically, calls man to become a god by grace. Man was created in God’s image and likeness (Gen. 1:26) in order to achieve not only a moral, but also a personal relationship with his Creator.

Therefore, the central nerve of the Christian life is the sense of God and living relationship with him. [38] . See Скабалланович, «Что мы ждем от обновленных монастырей?», 20. Literally about “touching” (ψηλάφηση) of the Divine was preached by the apostle Paul (Acts 17:27). [39] . Ζητεῖν τὸν Κύριον, εἰ ἄρα γε ψηλαφήσειαν αὐτὸν καὶ εὕροιεν, καί γε οὐ μακρὰν ἀπὸ ἑνὸς ἑκάστου ἡμῶν ὑπάρχοντα (Πράξ. 17,27).

Although it is possible to experience God outside the religious context, the elements of religion either immediately follow or are present as a background. For example, in the life of the Catholic priest, saint Curé of Ars, the following incident is told. Coming to his village church, he found there an old peasant who sat for hours, apparently without even praying. And once the priest asked the old man: “Grandpa, what are you doing here, sitting in church for hours? I noticed that your lips do not move in prayer and your fingers do not run along the rosary, you just sit and look straight ahead. Explain to me what’s going on?” And the old man answered with a smile, “I am looking at him, he is looking at me, and we are so good with each other!” [40] . Quoted from: Антоний Блум (Митр. Сурожский), Труды . Кн. 1, 715.

Another typical example is given by Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh. A man came to his temple to deliver a package for one of the parishioners. He was a convinced atheist and wanted to come after the service, but by chance he came too early. After the service he stayed and turned to the priest with the question, “What is happening in your church? I came here knowing that there is no God, knowing that all this is fiction. But I sat through part of the service, and something struck me. Does it flicker of candles, singing or something else?” The priest answered him, “If you were a believer, I would say that this is God’s presence. But if you know that there is no God, then I cannot say anything.” He then thought and said, “Can I come somehow, when there will be no one in this temple, when you leave, so that nothing will affect me? I want to be alone, to look and smell if there is anything here, or just emptiness, an empty space.” He came several times and then said, “I don’t know if God exists, but I know for sure that there is something here, because when I am alone in the temple, I feel some kind of incomprehensible, unintelligible presence for me . . .” This unbeliever was able to feel something that believers who visit the temple regularly do not often feel.” [41] . Антоний Блум (Митр. Сурожский), Труды . Кн. 1, 821–822.