A floor-length skirt, long sleeves of a blouse reaching to the wrists, a headscarf or scarf on the head - Orthodox women can be recognized immediately. It's not just their clothes that are surprising. Having talked to them more closely, you understand that these people are truly not of this world.

Just a hundred years ago, the entire morality of Eastern and Western Europe was based on Christian ethics. Questions of faith were a matter of conscience for every person, but it was not difficult to understand a believer. Today dictates completely different values, so it turns out that citizens of the same country speak different languages ​​of moral values. Let's try to figure out what ideals Christianity so stubbornly defends and how different they are from generally accepted views on life.

Family and marriage

In an era when European countries are legalizing same-sex marriage one after another, when living together before marriage has become commonplace, Christianity firmly stands on its own - only the legal marriage of a man and a woman will be happy. This behavior can be considered an atavism of the past, but if you think about it, it contains exactly the healthy grain that is so necessary for harmonious relations. Without legalizing her relationship, a woman will be internally tense: after all, it is better to give birth to children in marriage. As for the attitude towards LGTB, imagine what would happen if all the inhabitants of the Earth went over to this camp? Humanity would simply die out. So, Christianity defends the gender relations inherent in nature.

Selfishness and altruism

Sometimes deeply religious people literally amaze those around them with their hypertrophied altruism. They literally take off their shirt to help even a stranger get out of a difficult situation. And they do it in such a way that you don’t even immediately understand that they are giving away their last. If the icon of Panteleimon the Healer came to the city, they, leaving their affairs, would take the old grandmother to the temple and order a prayer service for all the sick. Knowing that some family is in difficult circumstances, they will offer their help and please people with gifts.

People unfamiliar with Christianity sometimes consider such behavior to be hypocrisy, a desire to earn points for a happy life in the afterlife. In fact, mercy and good deeds become a daily need Orthodox man. And the point is not even in the well-known “Give to the one who asks, do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow,” but in that very commandment of the New Testament about love for one’s neighbor. In our age, when selfishness elevated to the absolute has become the norm of life, such behavior is unusual, unexpected... and healthy.

Empires built on force collapsed, but just rulers remained in the people's memory for a long time. Mercy, compassion, nobility of soul, which Christianity preaches, are the key to sustainable development of society. Teams where mutual assistance is developed are united and viable.

In Orthodox ethics, although it does not fit into today’s norms of behavior, there is a lot of common sense and rationality. That is why the revival of traditions begins. Little by little, a measured icon is entering our lives, and weddings are becoming more and more commonplace. This means that there is every chance that modern civilization will take all the best from Orthodox ethics, becoming more harmonious and stable.

Orthodox work ethic

In Orthodoxy, work ethics, as well as in Catholicism and Protestantism, does not represent any specific code of labor laws or set of regulations. She gives general principles and guidelines designed to Christianly comprehend and ennoble human labor, turn it to serve higher goals. To understand work ethics in Orthodoxy, it is important to understand the teachings about freedom, will, salvation, ways to achieve holiness and ideas about the ideal of life.

The doctrine of salvation emphasizes the need for both divine and human will. Salvation is not some one-time act, but a constantly affirmed state, which is confirmed by active love for God and neighbor by “doing good.” Doing good implies the presence of feat, asceticism in the broad sense of the word: self-education, self-improvement, abstinence, humility, and in general, an effective striving for good.

Asceticism occupies an important place in Orthodoxy. Having an ascetic feat means considering earthly life as a preparation for eternal life, as a step, as part of eternal existence, and not as a separation of them. Each person must cast off sins, both carnal (fornication, gluttony, etc.) and spiritual (passion of love of money and greed, acquisitiveness, pride, etc.). Therefore, any work performed for the sake of wealth, acquisition, love of money, fame, power, etc., means a departure from the requirements of asceticism and is condemned. An Orthodox Christian must perform exploits and good deeds “for Christ’s sake.” “It is only for the sake of God the man that good done brings the fruits of the Holy Spirit.”

Features of the Orthodox work ethic

What are the features of the Orthodox work ethic, its distinctive features? Firstly, in my opinion, one cannot fail to note the collectivist values ​​inherent in it, as indeed in the entire Russian economic culture. This is mainly due to the fact that, as O. Platonov notes, “the Russian model of economic development belonged to the communal type of economy.” The categories of community and artel determined the conditions of cohabitation and economic activity Russian families, not only in the countryside, but also in the city. At first, the community was formed, one might say, under the pressure of necessity, since together it was easier to survive in harsh climatic conditions in endless spaces. Subsequently, the community defended against the threat of conquest by neighboring tribes and ensured security in the economic, legal, moral and ethical spheres.

The Orthodox Church finally strengthens the status of the community; the values ​​of collectivism in the Russian Christian community are embodied in conciliarity. It is conciliarity that becomes the spiritual basis of national unity and the creation of a great Russian power.

The predominance of collectivism over individualism is also explained by the fact that even before the advent of the brigade form of labor organization in Russia, people worked in artels and cooperatives, and Russian entrepreneurship was formed and developed on these foundations. And if Western technology followed the path of “Taylorism”, “conveyorization”, then Russian entrepreneurs improved the artel form of labor organization, stimulating interest in work and promoting the development of ingenuity, knowledge, skills and mutual assistance.

Thus, we can say that Russian collectivism with its conciliar spirit contributes to the fact that Russian state becomes, in a way, a large community. As for the values ​​of rationalism and practicality of Russian economic culture, they begin to manifest themselves not only at the level of the individual economy, but also at the level of this large community in the readiness of Russian entrepreneurship to serve public good, to your Fatherland. Ideas about righteous labor are also changing; if in the medieval “Domostroy” they manifest themselves in the non-acquisitive economy of a self-sufficient economy, then subsequently the ideal of righteous labor is embodied in active charitable and philanthropic activities in the name of Great Russia. This contributes to the growth of entrepreneurial activity in the 19th and early 20th centuries.

One of the first researchers of the work ethics of Orthodoxy is Fr. Sergei Bulgakov, who paid much attention in his works to the problems of economic life in Orthodox Russia. Like the famous Western sociologist M. Weber, who drew attention to the importance of the Protestant work ethic for the economic development of Europe, S. N. Bulgakov notes the importance of the religious factor that shapes the value-motivational attitude towards work, wealth and accumulation. Touching on the topic of the Christian attitude to work, S. Bulgakov writes: “Labor is of irreplaceable importance for a person, as a means of developing the will, combating bad inclinations, and finally, as an opportunity to serve others.” This definition of work can be called a general Christian one. However, speaking about the historical role of Christianity, which “raised consciousness of the dignity of labor,” Bulgakov notes, first of all, Christian monasteries, which are centers of economic culture. Thus, we see that from the point of view of an Orthodox person, the ideal of labor service is embodied in the image of a hard-working monk.

Indeed, the positive influence of the Orthodox work ethic is clearly demonstrated in the thriving economies of many monasteries. A striking example of this, for example, is the Solovetsky monastery, where even citrus fruits were grown with titanic labor in the harshest climatic conditions. Diligence as a virtue in Orthodoxy is most clearly reflected in “labor” - labor obedience and performing the hardest work, which was an integral part of spiritual development and life in an Orthodox monastery. However, work in Orthodoxy was far from the only way to be pleasing to God, as, for example, in the Protestant work ethic, prayer, fasting, and contemplation were higher in their soul-saving value. In addition, the monastic ideal completely denied private property; the work of a Christian in the monastery was not measured in monetary terms, which contributes to a certain attitude towards wealth. S. Bulgakov says that Orthodoxy does not guard private property as such, the author emphasizes the opposite approach to this issue catholic church which sees private property as the establishment of natural law. In the Orthodox attitude to wealth, as well as in relation to work, the paramount importance of freedom of spirit, but a spirit subordinate to the Divine Will, is emphasized. Man, in Orthodox understanding, only the manager of the material world, and only God is its sovereign owner. As for the attitude towards accumulation, the Orthodox work ethic simultaneously condemns wastefulness, and at the same time, teaches the use of one’s wealth for the benefit of others, mercy and charity.

ETHICS IN ORTHODOXY

It goes without saying that Orthodoxy does not know autonomous ethics, which represents the primary area and peculiar spiritual gift of Protestantism. Ethics for Orthodoxy religious, it is an image of the salvation of the soul, indicated religiously and ascetically. The religious and ethical maximum is achieved here, therefore, in the monastic ideal, as perfect following of Christ in bearing one’s cross and self-denial. The highest virtues for monasticism are humility achieved through cutting off one’s will and maintaining purity of heart. The vows of celibacy and non-covetousness are only a means to this end, although not obligatory for everyone, as the end itself is obligatory. Orthodoxy does not have different scales of morality, but uses the same scale when applied to different situations in life. It does not know different moralities, secular and monastic; the difference exists only in degree, in quantity, and not in quality. One can see in this straightforward maximalism of the monastic ideal the lifelessness and renunciation of the world of Orthodox morality, which turns out to be unresponsive to the questions of practical life in its diversity. Therefore it would seem that the advantage here is on the side of the flexible and practical Catholicism with its two moralities, for the perfect and the imperfect (commandments and counsels), as well as Protestantism with its worldly ethic of everyday honesty. It cannot be denied that any maximalism is more difficult than minimalism, and in its failures and distortions it can lead to worse consequences. However, truth itself is inflexible and maximalistic, which tolerates incompleteness of its implementation, but does not tolerate belittlement and half-truths. The Christian path is a narrow path, and it cannot be expanded. Therefore, there can be no bargaining or concessions towards accommodation in the fundamental principles. However, the reproach that Orthodoxy is world-denying must be set aside. It can be applied, at most, to only one of the historical faces of Orthodoxy, which was determined under the one-sided and excessive influence of Eastern monasticism with dualistic and pseudo-eschatological pessimism in relation to the world. But it absolutely cannot be applied to all of Orthodoxy, which is full of the light of the Transfiguration and Resurrection. Orthodoxy can be defined from an ethical point of view as mental health and balance, for which, with all the tragic seriousness inherent in the “kingdom not of this world,” there remains room for an optimistic, cheerful attitude towards life within the limits of earthly existence. Monasticism is not the only and, in any case, not always the most difficult way of doing the commandments of Christ, and this becomes obvious if we focus on the composition of the saints glorified by the Church: here we have, along with the heroes of monastic asceticism, and secular figures - pious warriors, kings and princes, pious wives and mothers, and this is direct evidence of the known equivalence of different paths. Everyone should be a monk or an ascetic in his heart. And if we can talk about monasticism as necessary for every Christian, then this refers only to internal self-denial for the sake of Christ, whom one must love more than anything else in the world and more than one’s own life. This rejects pagan immersion in the world, undivided and boundless, and the need for ascetic confrontation with it is established, in which those who have must be, according to the word of the apostle. Paul, as the poor. This is walking before God, walking your path of life with the thought of God, with responsibility before Him, in constant verification of your conscience. Work on the inner man is sometimes called “spiritual art” in Orthodox asceticism, that is, it is equated to art. Love for Christ is the inner sun of life, towards which it turns in all its manifestations. And this establishes a special image ascetic acceptance of this world and its life, ascetic labor and creativity in it. No areas of life are condemned or abolished, as such: “everyone must remain in the rank in which he is called” (Cor. 7:20), taught the apostle. Paul, and yet be a Christian in everything. Through this internal spiritual activity, a world of Christian values ​​is created in the state, in the economy, in culture; what is called in spirit life. Orthodoxy demonstrated its strength in the education of the peoples of the East - Byzantium, Russia, the Slavic peoples with their unique history, and it, of course, has not exhausted these strengths and now faces new tasks (as discussed below).

Based on the above, the historical relativism of tasks and means, in general methods of Orthodox morality, is established with the unity and absoluteness of the goal, with its Christocentrism. Man lives in the world and in its history, he is subject to the compulsory necessity of this world, but he does not belong to it and is capable of rising above it. Through this confrontation between the forces of the world and spiritual aspirations, the historical diagonal along which life moves in a given era is established in man.

A peculiar difficulty in Orthodox ethics is the already indicated feature that Orthodoxy has a basic ideal that is not so much ethical as religious-aesthetic: a vision of “smart beauty”, which requires special “smart art” and creative inspiration to be approached. The latter remains the lot of the few, and the majority are content with morality, which in itself has no spiritual taste, does not inspire, but only disciplines. Orthodoxy, indeed, is not characterized by that moralism that received its apotheosis in the rigoristic and autonomous ethics of Kant, the philosopher of Protestantism, as well as that practical probabilism that often constitutes the vital nerve of Catholicism. Nevertheless, it cannot be denied that the specified spiritual aestheticism of Orthodoxy is historically sometimes expressed in indifference to the requirements of practicality and, in particular, to the methodological education of the religious will, which sadly manifests itself in times of historical crises. Here the rule must be valid that whoever is faithful in little must be faithful in much, and the presence of high inspirations should not detract from the importance of everyday life. But when comparing between Orthodoxy (at least Russian) and non-Orthodox Christianity, usually that special sincerity and cordiality that most corresponds to the character of the first appears. The character of the Orthodox is defined as the main features of humility and love. Hence that benevolent modesty, sincerity and simplicity, which is so incompatible with the spirit of proselytism and authority (compelle intrate) characteristic of Roman Catholicism. Orthodoxy does not convince or entice, it captivates and attracts, this is its way of acting in the world. It bears the stamp of Johannine Christianity: “children, love one another!” And this love for everyone, even without differences in their faith, is a feature that unites Orthodox elders and ascetics and secular writers, who in their consciousness even move away from Orthodoxy (such as L. Tolstoy, Leskov, etc.). Orthodoxy educates first of all heart, and this is its main difference, the source of both its superiority and its weakness, perhaps most manifested in the education of religious will. Christian ethics, as it develops in different Christian confessions, although it reflects their doctrinal differences, is, at the same time, imprinted with a special character different nations, like them historical destinies. Practical morality, Christian philanthropy is the area in which the division of the Christian world is least felt, and on this basis it is most easily united (the Stockholm “Life and Work” movement of our days). And it seems that in mutual communication, different Christian peoples belonging to different confessions can now mutually learn from each other. In particular, the West can compensate for its dryness with the inspiration of Orthodoxy, while the Orthodox East can learn a lot in the field of religious regulation of everyday life from the Christian West. For although Martha and Mary were different from each other, they were both loved by the Lord.