99,st4 ,margaret's1 ,westminster99 ,,sermons ,,on ,,subjects ,,suggested ,,by ,,the ,,war ,,third ,,series 99,,the ,,religious ,,spirit ,,of ,,the ,,slavs99 ,,three ,,lectures ,,given ,,in ,,lent1 #aiaf ,,by ,the ,rev4 ,,father ,,nicolai ,,velimirovic ,priest of the ,serbian ,church1 and ,professor of ,theology in the ,university of ,belgrade ,i4 ,,slav ,,orthodoxy ,,ii4 ,,slav ,,revolutionary ,,catholicism ,,iii4 ,,the ,,religious ,,spirit ,,of ,,the ,,slavs #aiaf ,i ,,slav ,,orthodoxy ,the ,holy ,synod and ,tolstoi4 ,when ,count ,tolstoi was excommunicated by the ,holy ,synod of ,russia because he preached the teachings which are contrary to the ,christian faith1 the world was divided in opinion and sympathy into two parts4 ,the partisans of ,tolstoi were in the majority in the ,western world2 those of the ,holy ,synod in ,russia and the ,orthodox ,east4 ,yet ,holy ,russia rejected ,tolstoi with much more compassion than ,western ,europe approved of him4 ,it was a human tragedy which is not often repeated in history and was understood only by ,russia4 ,the conflict was more stern than appeared on the surface4 ,the problems in question meant not less than the dilemma3 either the ,christian world was to continue or it must return to the starting point of human history and begin all anew4 ,a little blade of grass in the field said to its green neighbours3 ,why do we grow up8 ,it is nonsense and pain4 ,in growing up we grow in complications1 which enhance the darkness and pain of our lives4 ,i propose1 therefore1 to go back into seeds1 from which we have grown big and unhappy4 ,so spoke one blade of grass to the field4 ,and the field replied3 ,although perhaps we are growing in nonsense and pain1 still we cannot return1 we must grow and go our way in the belief that we are not mistaken4 ,that is the simile of ,tolstoi and the ,holy ,synod4 ,a ,circle or a ,drama4 ,tolstoi perceived life as a circle1 with the beginning everywhere and with the end everywhere4 ,the ,holy ,synod1 representing ,slav ,orthodoxy1 perceived life as a drama with a beginning and an end in space and time4 ,from his point of view1 ,tolstoi thought it possible for mankind to stop a mistaken course of things and to begin anew1 to cast away all the burdens of culture1 of ,state1 ,church1 militarism1 worldly ambitions1 the vanities of towns1 to draw the curtain on the past and to come back to the field and forest1 to plough and sow1 to listen to the life of ,nature and to live with ,nature and ,god in unison4 ,the ,holy ,synod1 from their point of view1 thought that the past is the very foundation of the present and future1 and that in separating us from the past we were as an uprooted plant1 condemned to inevitable death1 while in continuing the world-drama we are going the only possible way4 ,the beginning of sin in this drama is in ,adam1 the beginning of salvation is in ,christ4 ,we cannot live without taking notice even of the life of ,adam and without connecting our life with ,christ's4 ,and all the other millions of human beings between those two milestones1 between ,adam and ,christ1 and ,christ and us1 are greater or smaller foundations1 or conditions1 or even disturbances of our own life4 ,my understanding is against your traditions1 said ,tolstoi4 ,our traditions are against your understandings1 replied the ,holy ,synod4 ,but that was not all4 ,the difference existed also in views on ,,happiness ,,and ,,atonement4 ,tolstoi was much troubled by the suffering of men4 ,he himself saw1 felt and described an immense amount of this suffering in various forms4 ,the problem of happiness was his most cherished problem4 ,he believed that men can be made happy in this life1 and even more--that they are created in order to be happy4 ,he refused quite definitely the idea of atonement as inconceivable and contrary to the idea of ,god4 ,human life has been normal and happy as long as men lived their simple life without towns and without all urban complications4 ,life can again be made a normal and happy one as ,god wills1 if we only return to the primitive simplicity of the peasants4 ,the ,holy ,synod was not opposed to the happiness of men1 but they did not believe either that happiness is attainable in this world or that it is the aim of our life on earth4 ,did it not occur quite in the beginning of the world's history that there lived on earth two brothers1 ,cain and ,abel1 two farmers1 without any burden of culture1 and with all the ,tolstoian simplicity of life8 ,yet is it not reported that one killed the other8 ,life is a drama1 a tragic drama even1 and not at all a metaphysical immobility or a quasi-mobility1 or even an eternal circulus viciosus4 ,there are three stages of human life3 the first stage before the sin1 in ,god-like navet1 the second in sin1 and the third after the atonement1 life in perfection1 when there will be a new earth and a new heaven4 ,we are in the middle stage1 where life means sin and atonement1 therefore in the most tragic stage4 ,life in the first and third stages may consist entirely in contemplation1 but the life which we are actually living consists of deeds1 of sins and virtues1 i4e41 of the struggle between good and evil1 of suffering and purification1 of a tragic heroism1 of atonement4 ,,dreams ,,about ,,the ,,reality4 ,it was not until the decline of the glorious ,byzantine ,empire that the ,slavs embraced ,christianity4 ,for nine hundred years the ,greeks were the principal representatives1 protectors1 elaborators and explorers of ,christianity4 ,when the ,greeks visited the ,slav country with their divine message1 the ,slavs were heathens4 ,their heathenism was like a confusing dream4 ,nature stood before them with its contradictory forces4 ,the primitive ,slavs regarded all the forces of ,nature encircling a human creature as being alive and stronger than this creature4 ,all the forces1 whether friendly or unfriendly to man1 are man like1 anthropomorphic1 and none of them are indifferent to human life and doings4 ,the practical conclusion come to was3 men must give sacrifices to both of them1 to the good and to the evil2 to the good in order to encourage them to be more good1 to the evil in order to induce them to be less evil4 ,it was necessary to pray equally to the good as to the evil gods4 ,the best worship was the best balance between the good and bad spirits2 not to offend any of them1 but to be reconciled with all of them6 ,skilful diplomacy was indeed needed in worshipping all the terrible1 invisible representatives of the forces of ,nature seemingly fighting around man and because of man4 ,and men are too weak to take their part decisively in one or other fighting camp4 ,everything useful or beautiful for men was regarded as being possessed by a good god or spirit4 ,everything dangerous and unfriendly was considered to be possessed by an evil god or spirit4 ,the supreme god ,perun1 supreme because the strongest1 was considered as acting equally for good and for evil4 ,the curious fact is that the supreme divinity in every pagan theology was imagined to be acting equally strongly for good and for evil1 as ,zeus ,jupiter1 ,wothan4 ,you cannot call ,zeus or ,jupiter or ,wothan or ,perun a good god1 but only a mighty god4 ,with ,christianity came into the world1 including the ,slav world1 decisiveness1 and every confusion disappeared4 ,the ,slavs learned to know that they could not serve two masters1 but only one1 and that they had not to balance between good and evil but to go straightway on the side of good4 ,reality as a ,dream4 ,the ,byzantine ,emperors promised to the ,serbs peace and land in their ,empire in the ,balkans if they accepted the ,christian faith4 ,and the ,serbs accepted the ,christian faith4 ,the ,emperors ,basil and ,constantine agreed to give their sister in marriage to ,vladimir1 ,king of ,kieff1 if he would embrace the ,christian faith4 ,and ,king ,vladimir embraced the ,christian faith4 ,these may be considered very petty motives6 ,yet this was not the price to tie the mighty idol ,perun on a horse's tail and to carry him into the water of ,dnieper4 ,the principal motive was the striking reality of the ,christian foundation4 ,the ,christian message was like a dream 7,we have been in ,heaven1 reported the ,russian delegates1 returning from ,saint ,sophia7--the ,slavs loved dreams and poetry very much2 but the ,christian faith was stated to be a reality1 and the ,slavs1 as men the world over1 considered reality as more solid than any dream4 ,instead of a nightmare of youthful dreams1 as the ,slav pagan theology was1 came now a bright poetry warranted both as a past and present reality4 ,it will remain as the greatest wonder in history how a poor ,man1 who preached in ,palestine for about two years1 who scarcely had a hundred followers at the end of ,his mission1 who was crucified and died a shameful death1 whose cause seemed a quite desperate episode1 scornfully rejected or fearfully abandoned by all those who knew it--how this poor ,man replaced successively the mightiest gods the human imagination ever invented3 ,zeus in ,olympus1 ,jupiter in the ,capitol1 ,wothan in the ,north1 and at last also ,perun in ,kieff4 ,the secret lies1 ,i think1 in the reality of ,his human life1 in the mystery of ,his resurrection1 and in the amazing enthusiasm with which thousands of ,his followers afterwards suffered death for ,him and ,his cause4 ,however1 ,christ entered the ,slav world in an epoch when1 not only one man after another bowed before ,him1 but nation after nation4 ,he came to our ancestors no more as a humble preacher1 but as a ,lord1 under whose feet lay already conquered ,zeus1 ,jupiter and ,wothan4 ,he came to us1 not from a poor ,bethlehem cottage1 but from the most brilliant temple upon earth1 from the ,saint ,sophia in ,constantinople4 ,he came with a wonderful three-fold mission1 to serve1 to fight1 to reigning one word1 to be all in all4 ,he entered the ,roman world as a humble servant4 ,i am afraid ,he remained in this world for ever only as a servant4 ,but ,he entered the ,slav world as a ,lord1 and until to-day ,he remains there as the ,lord4 ,,christus ,,militans4 ,with ,christ's coming among the ,slavs the balance between good and evil spirits was lost4 ,quite unlike ,perun1 ,christ was a decisive fighter for good4 ,he showed only one--exclusively one--way1 the narrow way leading to the kingdom of good1 which is the ,kingdom of ,god1 the ,highest and the ,best1 ,deus ,optimus1 not only as a dream of ,pagan humanity1 but as a provable reality4 ,although good seems very often to be a weak and losing party in this world1 men must not waver but always take cheerfully the part of good4 ,evil spirits in men and around men are very powerful in this world4 ,christ ,himself was overwhelmed for a time by the evil spirits of this world4 ,but it was only for a time which is now over4 ,it was at the new beginning of the world1 so to say1 when ,he came to break the power of ,pagan men1 hold the balance between the good and evil spirits and to stop the serving of two masters4 ,the start was very unpromising2 ,he was trodden down1 but ,he got up and proved ,himself the victor4 ,he came now as a victor to the ,slavs to make new armies of men1 who would consent to undertake ,his burden1 and to go ,his exclusive way of good1 worshipping and serving only one ,god1 ,his ,father and the ,father of all men4 ,he came claiming everyone1 telling each one not to be ashamed--as it is wonderfully expressed in the ,english ,baptism formula--manfully to fight under ,his banner1 against sin1 the world1 and the devil1 and to continue to be ,christ's faithful soldier and servant unto his life's end4 ,tolstoi exalted only ,christ's ,sermon on the ,mount1 i4e41 only ,christ's teaching1 or part of ,christ's teaching4 ,the ,orthodox ,church exalted ,christ himself1 as an exceptional1 dramatic ,person1 suffering for good2 as a divine hero1 fighting against all the evil powers of the world4 ,a teaching or a life drama--i4e41 ,tolstoi or ,orthodoxy6 ,the ,church thought3 there is something greater than ,christ's words1 that is ,christ ,himself4 ,his words are extraordinary1 it is true1 no man spoke as ,he1 but ,his person and ,his life were more extraordinary still4 ,thousands of martyrs died for ,him1 not for the ,sermon on the ,mount4 ,his words died with ,his death and came to life again only with ,his resurrection4 ,the fate of ,his words was quite dependent on the fate of ,his person4 ,consequently ,his words have been only a shadow of ,his personal drama1 only an inadequate expression of ,his individuality and ,his world mission1 only the secondary fascination for the coming generation4 ,he himself was the essence of the human drama2 ,he himself--the essence of ,god and ,man2 ,he himself--the incarnated good and the standard of the good in the world's history4 ,he is incomparably better than ,zeus1 ,jupiter1 ,wothan or ,perun1 because ,he is a reality1 a divine reality among men4 ,the ,petrified ,church4 ,so ,professor ,harnack from ,berlin called the ,orthodox ,church of the ,east4 ,i know his reasons for that very well4 ,comparing the unchangeable image of ,christ1 fixed in the ,east once for all1 with the confusing thousand opinions of ,christ in ,protestant ,germany1 he was quite justified in calling our ,church by a striking name1 so differentiating her from his own4 ,i am glad that he invented the name petrified4 ,with the proud spirit of a ,protestant scientist1 ,i wonder why ,he did not invent a worse name for ,eastern ,orthodoxy4 ,i wonder much more that ,professor ,harnack1 one of the chief representatives of ,german ,christianity1 omitted to see how every hollow that he and his colleagues made in traditional ,christianity in ,germany was at once filled with the all-conquering ,nietzscheanism4 ,and ,i wonder1 lastly1 whether he is now aware that in the nineteen hundred and fourteenth year of our ,lord1 when he and other destroyers of the ,bible1 who proclaimed ,christ a dreamy maniac1 clothed ,christianity in rags1 ,nietzscheanism grew up the real religion of the ,german race4 ,what is the fact about the petrified ,church8 ,if petrified means intact1 or whole1 or undestroyed or living always in the same dress1 but still living1 then the famous ,professor may be right4 ,yet this petrified ,church has always come victorious out of any test to which she has been put4 ,the ,christian ,church is always on trial1 and ,i think she is never so much ,christian as when she is being tested4 ,she does not shine or develop or make progress otherwise than through hard tests4 ,christianity is founded upon a drama and not upon a science2 therefore its growth and development are dramatic and not scientific4 ,let us take an example4 ,eastern ,orthodoxy was put to the test for centuries to fight for its existence and its ideals against the ruling ,islam4 ,roman ,catholicism was put to a similar test in ,spain4 ,german ,protestantism was put to the test of ,german science4 ,what happened8 ,islam was defeated in ,russia and in the ,balkans1 not only physically1 but morally and intellectually4 ,the epoch of the catacombs and the bloody days of ,nero and ,diocletian have been repeated once more in the ,balkans1 in ,russia1 and are still being experienced in ,armenia and ,asia ,minor4 ,the killed and martyred kings1 princes1 bishops1 priests and laymen from these countries will not be ashamed before the martyrs from the ,coliseum4 ,orthodox ,christianity stood the test very well4 ,it saved itself2 it gave the inspiration for resistance2 it showed itself superior even afterwards when the enslaved countries were liberated4 ,holy ,russia counts her greatness from the time when she got rid of ,islam4 ,during the five years of their freedom ,serbia1 ,greece and ,bulgaria built more than the ,turks built during #ejj years of ,turkish rule4 ,roman ,catholicism in ,spain came through its test very badly4 ,before the ,islamic invasion1 and after it for a long time1 the ,christian population showed itself inferior to the ,moors1 in work1 in justice1 in progress4 ,but to the honour of ,roman ,catholicism ,i must say that it stood the test very well in ,croatia and in ,hungary in its struggle against ,islam4 ,german cathedral ,protestantism failed in its test4 ,it is destroyed as a religion1 it exists only as an archival science4 ,it ceased to be what ,christianity really sought to be--a drama2 it is transformed into an indifferent scientific medium for reading1 exploring1 classifying1 comparing1 criticising4 ,it is no more a living1 dramatic being--no more the serving1 ruling and suffering ,christ4 ,there is very little heroic or divine in it6 ,why not then worship ,wothan again instead of ,christ8 ,and ,anglicanism8 ,it had the worst enemy4 ,that was wealth1 comfort1 quiet business1 lack of big disturbances and of great sufferings4 ,the ,english ,church still succeeded in preventing all the misuses and abuses of life under such circumstances4 ,this success can be appreciated only if the ,british ,empire is compared with an antique ,pagan ,empire4 ,where in this ,empire is there a ,lucullus or a ,caracalla8 ,the astonishing luxury1 the bestial1 insatiable passions8 ,or the furious competitions in petty things with which the social life of ,rome was daily intoxicated8 ,yet ,english ,christianity is neither so dramatic and full of contrasts as ,dante's ,catholicism1 nor so vibrating a lyric as ,dostojevsky's ,orthodoxy1 but rather a quiet1 smooth epic like ,milton's poetry4 ,,the ,,great ,,dogma ,,of ,,sin ,,and ,,suffering4 ,the ,anglican ,church has formulated this dogma much in the same words as that of the ,orthodox ,church4 ,yet it is not nearly so vivid in the daily faith of the ,english people as in that of the ,slavs4 ,the friends of the reunion of the ,anglican and ,orthodox ,churches never mention this difference1 which is1 ,i think1 the only really great difference between them4 ,this life on earth for the ,english ,christian conscience is a normal one with some few objections4 ,given some correction1 and life here on earth would be quite normal and perfect4 ,slav ,orthodoxy1 on the contrary1 emphasises very emphatically the abnormality of human life on earth from the beginning4 ,sin is the beginning of life1 and sins are the continuation of it4 ,the first man deviated in some way from ,god's will2 the first brother killed his younger brother2 the first-born nation made war with the second-born nation1 and this bloody business of men1 of which1 in the greatest degree1 we are the witnesses to-day1 continued through many thousands of years4 ,the development of human virtues is not so obvious as the development of human sins4 ,still1 nobody has written a work on the development of sins4 ,the ,orthodox ,church believes quite seriously in this fatal development2 she believes more than seriously that the whole world lies in evil4 ,suffering is a consequence of sin4 ,even the righteous man suffers1 not because of virtue1 but because of sin4 ,if he himself has no personal sins still he must suffer because of the sins of other men1 no matter if near or far from him in space or time4 ,for all men from the first to the last are made from the same piece of clay1 therefore they all1 from the first to the last1 form one body and one life4 ,each is responsible for all1 and each is influencing all4 ,if one link of this body sins1 the whole body must suffer4 ,if ,adam sinned1 you and ,i must suffer for it4 ,if ,st4 ,paul suffered1 it is because his suffering is a consequence of the sins of other links of the same body4 ,if ,christ suffered and died because of ,adam1 it is also just4 ,it is not good1 but it is just4 ,the suffering of nature around us is incomparably small compared with the suffering of men4 ,the abnormality of the animal1 plant or mineral world is not nearly so obvious as the abnormality of our life4 ,god's creatures1 who were created on the sixth day and destined to be the most perfect among creatures1 are abased by sin to an imperfection which is unknown among the creatures made before the sixth day4 ,,the ,,repetitions4 ,in no other ,churches are there so many repetitions1 in no other so many symbols1 as in the ,orthodox ,church4 ,the whole worship is a continual repetition for thousands of years4 ,in ,byzantium was fixed the image of ,christ1 ,his mission1 ,his worship4 ,the whole system of belief and worship came1 fixed and accomplished1 over to us ,slavs4 ,to keep that system intact for ever was the first duty taught us by those who brought it4 ,its tendency was to impress the image of ,christ in the imagination and heart of the generations as much as possible and always in the same way4 ,we are living in a world of evil2 ,christ is leader of the struggle against this evil4 ,men lived thousands of years wavering between good and evil1 worshipping good and evil4 ,now they must be for good4 ,they are educated and accustomed to weighing things for themselves4 ,therefore it has become necessary to ask them every day1 every hour even1 to confess that they are with ,christ4 ,they must repeat it again and again1 in prayers1 in signs1 in symbols1 until it becomes a new custom1 a new education1 a new blood and spirit1 a new man1 a new earth4 ,they must be reminded in every place and at all times that they are soldiers of ,christ and not of ,perun4 ,churches1 shrines1 chapels1 ikons1 candles1 processions1 priests1 bells1 monasteries1 travelling preachers1 every day's saints1 fast seasons--everything is the repetition of the same idea1 namely1 that ,christ is the ruler of life and we are ,his followers4 ,christ must be expressed everywhere1 indoors and outdoors4 ,many ,englishmen have remarked that the ,bible is read very seldom in the home in ,russia and ,serbia4 ,that is true4 ,people read the ,bible more in symbols1 pictures and signs1 in music and prayers1 than in the ,book1 ,our religion is not a book religion1 not even a learned religion4 ,it is a dramatic mystery4 ,the ,bible contains the words1 but in this dramatic mystery there is something higher and deeper than words4 ,slav ,christianity is something greater than the ,bible4 ,looking at an ikon1 a ,russian mujik perceives the ,bible incarnated in a saint's life-drama4 ,mystery of sin1 mystery of atonement1 mystery of heroic suffering1 mystery of the daily presence of ,christ among us in holy wine1 in holy bread1 in holy water1 in holy word1 in holy deed1 in every sanctified substance1 even in matter as in spirit1 mystery of communion of sins and of virtues--all are recorded once in the ,bible1 and all are recorded and repeated also in our daily life--that is what we call our ,slav ,orthodoxy4 ,we take the mystic outlines of the ,bible and do not care about the details4 ,in those mystic outlines we put our daily life1 with its details of sins and sufferings4 ,we conceive the ,christian religion neither so juristic as the ,roman ,catholics1 nor so scientific as the ,protestants1 nor even so reasonable and practical as the ,anglicans1 but we conceive it rather as dramatic4 ,,slav ,,orthodoxy ,,is ,,not ,,self-,,sufficient4 ,we are quite conscious that our religion is not solely ,christ's work4 ,every drop of blood of a ,christian martyr is a stone in the work4 ,every suffering man with heroic ,christian hopes1 and every dying human being with optimistic ,christian belief is a collaborator of ,christ1 or is a founder of our ,church4 ,the ,church is not at all solely ,christ's work1 she is the collective work of many and many millions who1 in the name of ,christ1 decisively took part in this mystic race of earthly life4 ,that is just what ,christ wanted and prophesied4 ,that is why ,he washed the feet of ,his disciples4 ,the work of ,tolstoi is the work of a man2 ,slav ,orthodoxy is the work of the generations4 ,orthodoxy was first defined by the ,christian ,jews and ,greeks during the first eight hundred years4 ,during the other thousand years ,orthodoxy was enriched by the ,slav ,bible1 i4e41 by ,slav religious experiences1 by ,slav martyrs1 saints1 heroes1 by ,slav sins and repentances1 by ,slav struggles and convulsions for ,christ4 ,it is a very large record1 a very large ,bible indeed1 a wonderful drama1 quite new1 fresh1 original1 although in old forms and words1 and signs4 ,still ,slav ,orthodoxy is not self-sufficient4 ,she would become by human inertia self-sufficient1 unless ,providence sent her punishment from time to time4 ,tolstoi was for ,orthodoxy a punishment4 ,he was like a whirlwind which pulls down many things but at the same time purifies the unhealthy air4 ,he was not at all a demon1 but a man sent by ,god to help our ,church2 and he helped very much indeed--as all the sects and critics of ,christianity from the beginning have helped the ,christian cause1 ridiculing and exposing the ,christian ,paganism manifested in ecclesiastical pride1 in superstitions1 prejudices1 intolerance1 etc4 ,what are the present needs of ,slav ,orthodoxy8 ,oh1 her needs are great1 her thirst is immense4 ,she does not need so much what ,tolstoi proposed for her1 or what ,harnack could give her1 neither does she thirst after the stricter and clearer juristic definitions1 nor after a sweet reasonableness1 as ,matthew ,arnold expressed ,christ's being1 a new theology or a new worship4 ,she needs more ,christian dramas blended in one4 ,she needs more of ,christ on earth1 more votes for ,christ1 all the votes for ,christ instead of dividing them between ,olympus and ,golgotha4 ,she needs to be united with all other ,churches in one ,christ-like body and spirit1 in order that all the pieces of a broken mirror may be recomposed and that ,christ could see in it ,his whole face4 ,she is thirsty for more stigmata1 more suffering1 more sins4 ,yes1 she is thirsty for more sins1 ,i say1 and more virtues2 she likes to have all the sins and all the virtues of the world confessed and recognised as the common burden and common good4 ,she is thirsty for a communion of sins and virtues among men1 she is thirsty to call you brothers4 ,she is thirsty to cry in exaltation to every man under the sun3 ,poor child1 give me just your sins 7you don't need them7 and ,i will give you my virtues1 in order that ,i may be ashamed of your sins and you may be proud of my virtues4 ,for centuries ,slav ,orthodoxy seemed to the ,western world like an immobile tortoise with a multi-coloured shell and with no great probability of its being inhabited by a living being4 ,the outside world looked at this multi-coloured1 hard and unchangeable shell1 sometimes with love1 sometimes with horror--always with an intense curiosity and almost always with a doubt that there could be any living thing in it4 ,i will try to show you that there was and still is a living being contained therein1 with many more movements1 dissatisfactions1 convulsions1 longings and sufferings than it seems possible could exist4 ,,ii ,,slav ,,revolutionary ,,catholicism ,a ,,far ,,aim ,,and ,a ,,narrow ,,way4 ,if ,providence bestows on the ,english ,church only once in every half century a man like ,bishop ,westcott1 this ,church1 ,i think1 can be sure of a solid and sound longevity4 ,well1 this ,bishop ,westcott spoke once enthusiastically of the noble catholicity which is the glory of the ,english ,church4 ,my intention in this lecture is to describe to you an island in the ,roman ,catholic ,church among the ,slavs1 which island is distinguished by a noble catholicity4 ,i believe in the holy catholic apostolic church4 ,this sentence that you repeat in ,london1 as do the ,roman ,catholics in ,rome1 and we ,orthodox in ,moscow1 has always two meanings1 a sectarian and a universal1 or a narrow one and a sublime one4 ,the first meaning belongs to the people who imagine ,christ standing at the boundary of their ,church1 turned with his face to them and with his back to all other schismatic peoples4 ,the second belongs to the people who think that ,christ may be also beyond their own churchyard2 that the dwelling of their soul may be too narrow for ,his soul1 and that their self-praisings and schismatic thunderings are very relative in ,his eyes4 ,i propose to speak to-night about the people of this second category1 i4e41 of the people who are in the ,christian history like a link connecting the different parts1 the different ,churches1 into a higher unity4 ,i will limit my considerations in this lecture to ,slav ,roman ,catholicism4 ,i call my theme of to-night ,slav ,revolutionary ,catholicism4 ,why revolutionary8 ,why not8 ,is not ,christianity a revolutionary movement from its very beginning8 ,is it not the most wonderful and the most noble among the revolutionary movements in history8 ,cardinal ,newman and many others spoke about the evolution of ,christianity4 ,revolution is the word much more applicable to it4 ,the spreading of this revolution from a poor village in ,galilee over all the world--that is the history of the ,church2 or1 if you like1 the evolution of a revolution4 ,as a volcano is an internal movement of the earth which gives a new shape to the surface1 so the ,christian revolution was also an internal movement1 which gave a new form to the drama of human life4 ,the ,christian religion seemed very simple1 it was even poor in simplicity1 and still--what an incalculable impression it made6 ,it was simple in aims and in means4 ,it had but one aim1 and there was one way only to it3 to attain good only by good deeds2 to fight for justice only with means that were just2 to realise ,love only by ,love itself2 to push darkness away1 not by a greater darkness1 but by light2 to come to ,god the ,perfect by a perfect way4 ,christ preached a new aim and showed a new way--a very sublime aim and a very limited way indeed4 ,in the pre-,christian world there were manifold aims and manifold ways and means4 ,in ,sparta1 skilfulness in sinning and hiding sins was tolerated and even applauded4 ,in ancient ,rome1 till the full sunset of its strength1 a good man was regarded as a weak man4 ,among the pagan ,slavs1 a prosperous man was envied more than a virtuous man4 ,christianity cleared the spiritual atmosphere and deepened human life4 ,ye cannot serve ,god and ,mammon4 ,it was very clear4 ,narrow is the way which leads unto life4 ,it was very deep4 ,through ,hell you never will reach ,heaven4 ,in making the devil your companion you will never come to ,god4 ,and ,god is the only aim1 ,christ the only way to that aim2 a very far aim1 a very narrow way4 ,,jan ,,huss',s ,,revolution4 ,your great compatriot1 ,wycliffe1 is rightly considered as the beginner of the ,reformation4 ,wycliffe spoke1 and his word was his great mission on earth4 ,but his word in ,bohemia became flesh--yea1 more than flesh--blood and fire4 ,human words are never great except when transformed into a drama--when incarnated into life4 ,wycliffe was never so great in ,england as he became in ,bohemia4 ,christianity in ,bohemia was at that time relatively young1 nearly three times younger than in ,rome4 ,but since ,prince ,borivoj was baptised by the ,slav ,apostle1 ,methodius1 never did ,bohemian ,christianity stand nearer to the primitive ,bohemian paganism than at the time when ,king ,wenceslas ruled in ,bohemia1 and ,pope ,john ,,xxiii ruled in ,rome1 and ,jan ,huss served as preacher in a ,prague chapel called the ,bethlehemian4 ,the paganism under the style of poor ,jesus1 against which fought ,huss1 was much more obstinate and aggressive than the paganism under the style of ,perun1 against which fought ,st4 ,methodius4 ,everywhere was found a substitute for ,christ1 everywhere a pretext for an easy life and for a broad way instead of the narrow one4 ,sins and virtues had been equalised by means of money4 ,the ,church buildings had been transformed into public places for the exchange of sins and virtues4 ,repentance1 not ,money6--exclaimed ,jan ,huss4 ,but his voice was stifled by the piercing sounds of the drums by which the sale of absolution for sin was announced in the streets4 ,again exclaimed ,jan ,huss3 ,the whole ,bohemian nation is longing after ,truth4 ,but the traders in ,christ's blood and tears laughed him to scorn4 ,the doctors of theology asked their colleague ,huss to confess that the ,pope is the head and the ,bishops the body of the ,church1 and all their orders must be obeyed4 ,but ,huss did not care very much either about the head or the body1 but principally about the spirit of the ,christian ,church4 ,and this spirit he saw eclipsed4 ,he saw men again falling back to the creed of serving two masters4 ,he looked to the heart of the ,christian religion and saw that it was sick1 and his soul revolted against it4 ,but his righteous revolution was regarded as a malevolent innovation1 his words as a scandalous licence1 and his tendencies as a deliberate destruction of ,christianity4 ,therefore ,jan ,huss was brought before a tribunal of ,christian judges1 condemned to death and burnt to ashes1 ad magnam ,dei gloriam1 as the ,bishop of ,lodi preached on that occasion4 ,the fact was that the ,council of ,constance was a great innovator1 and that ,huss stood for the true catholicity of old4 ,he fought for the primitive ,christian spirit which always inspired1 vivified and purified the ,christian world1 and his judges introduced a quite anti-,christian1 a quite new spirit into the ,church1 the spirit of judging and killing4 ,the sufficient proof--if you need proof at all--of this is that ,huss suffered as a ,christian martyr and through painful suffering brought his cause to glory2 whereas his judges killed him in the hope through a crime to promote the ,christian cause1 and so covered their names with shame4 ,the truth and glory of ,jan ,huss's cause were manifested last year throughout the whole of the globe4 ,the whole world celebrated the quincentenary of his martyr death4 ,i participated in this celebration in ,new ,york4 ,it was a rare spectacle1 that the ,new ,world saw4 ,the ,orthodox ,christians1 ,roman ,catholics1 ,protestants1 ,anglicans1 ,methodists and ,baptists1 all the ,churches and denominations participated in it4 ,we went together1 we prayed together1 and we felt united in one and the same spirit4 ,that was a great moment1 for many of us the unique moment1 when we experienced what is meant by the catholicity1 by the noble catholicity1 of the ,christian ,church1 as ,bishop ,westcott called it4 ,it was an elevated and sweet feeling4 ,the diabolical spirit of the ,council of ,constance never could unite us1 but the ,christian ,catholic spirit of ,jan ,huss united us4 ,the memory of ,pope ,john ,,xxiii divides the world1 whereas the memory of the great apostle of the ,bohemian nation unites it4 ,yet the revolution of ,jan ,huss was not of a personal character4 ,it was not directed against ,john ,,xxiii1 or against the ,vatican as ,vatican--it was directed against the spirit of ,forum ,romanum which crept into the ,vatican and dwelled there4 ,it was directed against ,jupiter1 who took the place of ,christ in ,rome and who invisibly inspired the ,council of ,constance2 and against ,perun1 who1 disguised1 smiled from every church in ,prague1 and with a smile ruled over the souls in ,bohemia under the name of ,christ4 ,,the ,,polish ,,revolution4 ,mickiewicz1 ,sienkiewicz6 ,two great milestones in the history of the ,polish soul2 two great milestones in ,christian history also6 ,both ,roman ,catholics and both revolutionists in religion4 ,the religious revolution they made can be characterised only by the words noble catholicity4 ,both of them were attracted by ,primitive ,christianity much more than by the official ,church of their own time4 ,sienkiewicz's work ,quo ,vadis8 is by far better known than ,mickiewicz's lectures on ,the ,official ,church and ,messianism4 ,yet the same religious ideal has been pictured in both these works4 ,mickiewicz put on record as the true ,christian men of suffering1 of intuition and of action 7hommes de douleur1 d'intuition1 d'action74 ,sienkiewicz described the first ,christians as being such men4 ,he revived the first days of ,christianity in ,rome4 ,what striking contrasts between paganism and ,christianity6 ,two quite different worlds in conflict--one world consisting of men of pleasure1 and the other of men of suffering4 ,on one side3 ,nero1 ,petronius1 ,vinicius1 ,seneca himself1 and a mass harassed only about panem et circenses4 ,on the other side3 ,paul of ,tarsus1 ,petrus1 ,lygie1 ,ursus and many others willing to suffer and to die1 and singing in suffering and in dying3 pro ,christo6 pro ,christo6 ,on the one side1 the proud ,roman citizens1 who adored force and who gave sacrifices to good and to evil spirits equally in order to save or procure their miserable1 fleeting pleasure4 ,on the other the humble inhabitants of the suburbs of ,rome who adored only the ,good ,spirit of the ,universe and did not care about pleasure1 but about ,justice and ,love4 ,nero or ,christ6 ,the ,emperor of the ,casa ,aurea1 who1 oversaturated and annoyed by life1 finished by suicide2 or the ,prophet from ,nazareth who came to establish the ,kingdom of ,god on earth and who was forcibly crucified by the adorers of darkness6 ,i have read many ,roman ,catholic teachers of catechism4 ,i doubt whether all those teachers did for ,christianity as much as an artist--,sienkiewicz --did with his charming story1 ,quo ,vadis8 ,he aroused so much interest1 and so many sympathies even among the unbelievers2 ,i am sure he converted to ,christianity many more than any propaganda fides working on a half-political1 half-scientific foundation4 ,he put ,christianity on a purely religious foundation1 and he was understood not only by the ,roman ,catholics but by the whole world4 ,he found the very heart of the noble catholicity1 and he inspired the world4 ,he showed once more that ,christianity is a drama and not a science4 ,sienkiewicz loved ,christianity1 but he saw that it was still far from gaining a decisive victory4 ,he knew the horrible injustice done to his ,christian nation by the surrounding ,christian nations4 ,he was horrified looking at ,bismarck4 ,he called ,bismarck the true adorer of ,thor1 because he was a true follower of a pagan philosophy expressed in the ,iron ,chancellor's sentence--,might over ,right4 ,yet ,sienkiewicz prophesied that ,germany in the future cannot live with ,bismarck's spirit4 ,she must change her spirit1 she must expel ,thor and again kneel before ,christ1 because the ,christian religion of two thousand years is an invincible power1 a much greater power than bayonets4 ,mickiewicz hoped that only the ,christian religion can save mankind4 ,christ is for him the central person in the world's history4 ,christ never made concessions to evil4 ,but ,his ,church to-day is making compromises with all kinds of evil4 ,the official ,church is publishing diplomatic ,notes and promoting the publishing of books4 ,that is all4 ,the ,church is afraid of suffering1 although there are even to-day enough occasions for the ,church to suffer4 ,prelates wear the purple which symbolises martyrdom3 ,but who on earth has heard lately of the martyrdom of a ,cardinal8 ,mickiewicz bitterly complains that the high clergy deserted the way of the ,cross4 ,they never would suffer4 ,in order to escape suffering they fled as refugees to books1 theology and doctrines4 ,but la force ne vient que de la douleur4 ,the lower clergy1 the ,russian as the ,polish1 conserved the depot of faith intact1 but still they are in a darkness of prejudice and vice4 ,it is remarkable how large a view of the ,christian ,church had ,mickiewicz4 ,he did not care only for the ,roman ,church4 ,he called the ,russian ,orthodox and the ,polish ,roman ,church by one name--the ,church of the ,north4 ,he cared about ,christ's ,church1 and he believed steadfastly in her ,messianic rle in the world4 ,the men of conventions must be defeated1 he said4 ,the pride of the high clergy and the fear of suffering must disappear4 ,the first need for a modern man is to be inspired and elevated1 de s'allumer et de s'lever4 ,the ,church is the only bearer of inspiration and elevation2 not the official ,church1 but the ,messianic ,church of men of suffering1 intuition and action1 i4e41 the primitive ,church of ,christ1 which ,sienkiewicz so magnificently described and for which ,jan ,huss so heroically fought4 ,,the ,,southern ,,slav ,,revolution4 ,in the beginning of the sixteenth century1 a preacher of the ,gospel in ,trieste and ,laibach1 ,primus ,trubar1 published successively the ,new ,testament1 ,psalter and ,catechism in the vulgar ,slovene language4 ,it produced the greatest imaginable excitement amongst the ,slovene clergy and people4 ,christ and the ,prophets spoke for the first time to the people in mountainous ,carniola and ,istria in a language that the people could understand4 ,a minority of the clergy shared the popular excitement1 whereas the majority was filled with fury against the innovator4 ,but ,trubar went his way courageously and continued to publish and republish the sacred books in the ,slovene tongue4 ,the affair had the usual ending3 the violent persecution of the disturbers of the semper eadem1 and the victory of the persecuted cause4 ,trubar died in exile from his country1 his books were burnt1 the churches in which his books had been read pulled down1 and the people who dared to speak with ,christ and the ,prophets in their native language terrified4 ,at the same time1 the ,turks1 after having devastated ,serbia and ,croatia1 descended on ,slovenia with the sword1 burning pulling down1 and terrifying everywhere4 ,yet the great question of the ecclesiastical language could not be stifled4 ,even before and after ,trubar1 the ,slavs on the ,adriatic coast of ,dalmatia and ,istria insisted on the so-called ,glagoliza as the language which should be used in the divine service4 ,glagoliza is not the common language of the ,croats and ,slovenes1 but it is an old and sacred form of the same tongue4 ,rome opposed for a long time1 declined afterwards1 opposed or half-opposed again1 till the question is to-day brought to a very acute phase4 ,pope ,paul ,v permitted the use of the ,glagoliza in the ,church4 ,this permission was repeated by ,john ,,viii4 and ,urban ,,viii4 ,there was printed a ,missale ,romanum1 slavic lingu1 glagolitico charactere 7,rome1 #ahic74 ,still1 one can say that although it is theoretically allowed1 it is practically forbidden4 ,it is used to-day in some new places1 like ,krk1 ,cherso1 ,zara1 ,sebenico1 in ,senj1 ,spalato1 etc4 ,but the fact remains that the ,southern ,slavs1 or the ,slavs generally1 do not like the ,latin language in the divine service4 ,for the ,slav conscience it is something incongruous3 the ,latin language of ,nero and the spirit of ,christ4 ,every language is the bearer of a certain spirit4 ,latin is the bearer of a juristic and despotic spirit4 ,ranke said3 ,the ,papal ,church is a legacy of ancient ,rome4#a ,if this be true1 the language doubtless was one of the principal reasons for it4 ,with the language of the ,csars also crept into the ,church the spirit of the ,csars4 ,this spirit was brought to a triumph in #ahgj at the ,council of the ,vatican4 ,as the ,croats and ,slovenes protested against the language of the ,csars1 so they protested also against the triumphant spirit of the ,csars in the ,church4 ,bishop ,strossmayer opposed the dogma of ,papal ,infallibility with a sincerity1 obstinacy and eloquence which can be compared only with the spirit of the golden age of ,christian history4 ,in a letter to an old ,catholic friend1 he wrote3 ,it is nonsense to say that the ,popes cannot live without these miserable rags called temporary possessions4#b ,is this not true apostolic language8 ,again he wrote3 ,what occurs to-day in ,rome is obviously ,god's punishment and at the same time a providential way to those reforms which the ,church needs in order to fulfil her mission with more success in the future than she has done till now4#c ,and to ,dr4 ,dllinger he confessed quite openly3 ,and what about my nation and its future8 ,it seems to me quite certain that it will one day get rid of ,roman despotism4#d ,footnote #a3 ,history of the ,popes1 ,chap4 ,i4 ,footnote #b3 ,letter to ,professor ,reinkens1 ,schulte3 ,der ,altcatholicismus41 ,footnote #c3 ,ibid4 ,footnote #d3 ,ibidem4 ,,the ,,scientific ,,revolution4 ,by its interference1 religion can inspire science1 and again science by its interference can purify religion4 ,the most beautiful spectacle in human society is a priest contributing to science and a scientist contributing to religion4 ,the one-sided man is always an imperfect man2 and an imperfect man as a teacher of perfection is a dangerous teacher for young generations4 ,two ,slavs1 ,nicolaus ,copernicus1 from ,thorn1 and ,ruggiero ,boscovich1 from ,ragusa1 both ,roman ,catholic priests1 were at the same time both ardent scientists4 ,copernicus postulated the heliocentric planetary system instead of the geocentric4 ,this happened soon after ,columbus made a great revolution in geographical science by discovering ,america4 ,some people thought the end of the ,church had come after ,copernicus' discovery that the sun and not the earth is the centre of the world4 ,but ,copernicus not only did not think so1 but continued quietly in his vocation as a priest and dedicated his famous work to ,pope ,paul ,,iii4 ,ruggiero ,boscovich was not such a great discoverer as ,copernicus2 still he was one of the most distinguished scientific and philosophic minds in the eighteenth century4 ,in his ,theoria philosophi naturalis1 he tried to prove that bodies are composed not of a continuous material substance but rather of innumerable point-like structures or particles which are without any extension or divisibility4 ,these elements are endowed with a repulsive force which can1 under special circumstances 7of distance71 become attractive4 ,boscovich's philosophical system can be called a dynamistic atomismus4 ,men with much smaller scientific successes sometimes consider it their duty to separate themselves from the ,christian ,church4 ,but great men like ,copernicus and ,boscovich possessed in a high degree the noble catholicity which should always exist between religion and science4 ,for every great revolution in science meant also a great revolution in religion4 ,a scientific revolution could never shake the realities of religion1 but only the illusions of religion4 ,this was likewise the great result of the religious revolutions among the ,slavs3 not to shake the realities but the illusions of religion4 ,pride1 superstitions and hatred have produced all the revolutions in the ,church1 the revolutions which meant for the ,church real ventilation or punishment4 ,these revolutions gave light and air to the ,roman ,church4 ,either the official books admit it1 or they do not4 ,no matter2 the living ,church admits it4 ,she has built monuments to the prophets whom she killed or persecuted4 ,no one is without a glorious monument--neither ,huss nor ,savonarola1 neither ,bruno nor ,hieronymus of ,prague1 neither ,trubar nor ,strossmayer4 ,the living ,church always admired men of suffering and not men of pleasure4 ,it was not the self-sufficient prelates who promoted the ,christian cause1 with their books and notes and discussions1 but the sufferers1 hungry and thirsty for the ,kingdom of ,god4 ,christ was victorious over ,nero in the ,coliseum1 but oftentimes afterwards ,nero was victorious over ,christ in the ,church4 ,but ,nero must go1 and ,christ come4 ,we have all pledged our word in our childhood to act so that ,nero's spirit may decrease and ,christ's spirit increase in the world4 ,we cannot otherwise keep our pledge unless we adhere to the noble catholicity of the ,christian ,church1 which is the very kernel of vulgar and verbal catholicity4 ,but we cannot grasp all the ,christian centuries and generations behind us and bind our own life with what is noble and catholic in all of them unless we are men of suffering1 intuition and action4 ,and we can be all three4 ,,iii 99,,the ,,religious ,,spirit ,,of ,,the ,,slavs99 99,,we ,,are ,,not ,,alone ,,in ,,this ,,world499 ,that is the principal feeling of the ,slav soul3 we are neither alone in this world nor destined for it4 ,whether ,i wander in the streets of ,london or stand in the green fields outside1 ,i have always the same feeling of human loneliness and helplessness on one side1 and the company of some overwhelming and invisible powers on the other4 ,i say the feeling and not thought1 because ,i feel they touch me and ,i am unhappy because ,i cannot touch them4 ,they seem to be like shadows1 and still ,i am sure they are greater realities than ,i am4 ,my life is dependent on theirs and their lives are connected with1 but not dependent on1 my life4 ,my being is quite transparent to these higher intelligences1 while their beings ,i can feel only in the most lucid moments of my life4 ,the dreamy nature around me is pervaded by them1 and my own life1 ,i feel1 is pervaded by them also4 ,in some way they disindividualise me1 but on the other hand they give me strength1 light and inspiration4 ,what is the number of these powers surrounding us8 ,many1 answered ,paganism4 ,one only1 answered ,judaism and ,islam4 ,one in ,trinity1 answered ,christianity4 ,so--,christianity is a vi media between limitless ,polytheism and absolute ,monotheism4 ,professor ,haeckel of ,jena1 in his hatred of ,christianity1 instanced ,mohammedanism as a better religion and scornfully called the ,christian religion ,polytheism4 ,the definition is not altogether untrue4 ,paganism was not wholly false4 ,the ,christian dogma of the ,trinity in relation to this world symbolically means unity in multitude4 ,this dogma expresses a principle1 an idea1 rather than a number4 ,as we cannot define ,god's being chemically1 historically1 psychologically1 etc41 how can we hope to define ,him mathematically8 ,god is beyond numbers2 ,he is beyond scientific research2 beyond all expression4 ,one in three1 that is half-way to ,polytheism and to ,monotheism4 ,one in three gives the substance of ,god's life and binds ,him to ,his own work1 the created world4 ,god's own life is dramatic internally1 and externally 7in relation to the world74 ,that is the real meaning of the dogma of the ,trinity4 ,god is somehow one1 and yet not one2 rather ,he is a pluralistic unity4 ,he can take part in the human drama and still remain the ,god of the ,universe4 ,he can suffer and still remain perfect4 ,he can be omnipresent in the world and still not be wholly immersed in it4 ,i cannot understand it2 it is a mystery to me1 exclaimed ,tolstoi4 ,certainly he could not understand it2 who could8 ,we cannot understand our own beings4 ,modern biology discovered that a human body consists of millions and millions of corpuscles1 minute organic cells which live their life and go their way unconscious of the human person formed by themselves4 ,new discoveries may open up new problems1 but the ancient mysteries about everything in the world continue to be omnipresent4 ,how could we have more knowledge about ,god except some few glances1 some imperfect allusions1 some symbolical combinations8 ,however1 lacking a clear and perfect understanding1 we still feel that we are not alone in the world4 ,god is all round us like the atmosphere that we breathe4 ,the more we try to escape from this atmosphere1 the closer it seems to pervade us4 ,tolstoi felt this as strongly as the most orthodox ,fathers of the ,church4 ,yet his doctrines on ,god1 vague and pantheistic as they are1 slow to ascribe to ,god any traditional qualities and trying in vain to invent new ones--his doctrines on ,god are less comprehensible than the dogma of the ,trinity--less comprehensible1 less applicable1 and unfruitful4 99,,god ,,only ,,is ,,great99 ,not ,napoleon1 but ,god2 not ,london1 but ,god4 ,tolstoi analysed ,napoleon's life and character1 and found that he was no better or greater than thousands of other men who followed him4 ,why should ,london be called great8 ,yes1 perhaps it can be called great compared with anything on earth1 except ,god4 ,i say1 except ,god1 because after a thousand years1 i4e41 after one ,god's day1 ,god will be surely the same1 and ,london8 ,will it be in existence a thousand years hence8 ,who knows8 ,walking in the streets of ,london ,i look round me and see nothing great except ,god4 ,the famous ,russian literature from ,gogol to ,dostojevsky is the finest psychological analysis of men4 ,the result of this analysis was3 there exists no great man4 ,no one is great3 neither ,shakespeare nor ,napoleon1 neither ,peter the ,great nor ,kutuzov1 neither the ,russian landlords nor the ,czar himself1 neither ,prince ,bolkonsky nor ,raskolnikov1 neither ,nero nor ,st4 ,paul1 neither ,beaconsfield nor ,osman ,pasha1 neither ,pope nor ,patriarch1 neither ,dalai-,lama nor ,sheik-ul-,islam4 ,how could they be great since they must sleep1 and eat1 and be sick and disappointed1 and despair1 and die8 ,a review was made by the ,russian authors--a review of ancient and modern great men--and a verdict arrived at4 ,for a thousand years ,christian ,russia kept silent and listened to the hymns to the ancient and modern great men1 to the heroes whom they worshipped4 ,she listened to the hymns and worship of the great men while she begrudged praise to the good and saintly and suffering men4 ,russia is called ,holy1 not because she pretends to be holy1 but because her ideal is holiness--not greatness but holiness4 ,she first made use of the word in the nineteenth century4 ,the poet ,pushkin first used it1 and he used it in the customary way1 like ,lord ,byron1 or ,goethe1 praising the great men1 although still alluding here and there to the true ,russian ideal--to the good and saintly man4 ,but he spoke not in order to say a new1 an original word to the world1 but only to break the silence and to attract the attention of the world to ,russia4 ,he was the first of a series of preachers4 ,he was listened to and applauded1 but he said nothing new4 ,after him followed the preachers3 ,gogol1 ,tolstoi1 ,goncharov1 ,tchehov1 ,turgeniev1 ,dostojevsky1 and many others1 like a choir1 in which three voices are still the strongest and most expressive3 ,gogol1 ,tolstoi1 ,dostojevsky4 ,what did they say8 ,they held a grand review of the souls1 of the ancient and modern souls1 and found that there exists no great man among them4 ,that was their verdict4 ,in all their writings they tried to show in the clearest manner1 and to the smallest detail1 that there is no great man in the world4 ,they analysed everyone who was mentioned and adored by worldly society or by tradition as a great man1 and proved that he was not a great man at all4 ,it was very courageous indeed to speak like that in a world which was accustomed from the beginning1 in the pagan as in the ,christian epoch1 to adore greatness1 to divinise great men1 to imitate and to worship heroes4 ,it was still more courageous to speak like that in the nineteenth century1 when the worship of great men found so many advocates1 when the name of the demi-god ,napoleon filled every corner of the earth2 when ,german philosophy1 poetry and music emphasised personality and individuality when the whole continental theology followed the way of ,csar and interpreted ,christianity as a teaching and promotion of individualism in human life4 ,yea1 it happened in the time when ,carlyle1 fascinated by ,german theories1 ended the matter and pressed the whole world's history into some few biographies4 ,carlyle's ,heroes and ,hero-,worship--curiously enough--was published about the same time as ,tolstoi's ,war and ,peace4 ,two antipodes6 ,dostojevsky's ,brothers ,caramazov was published nearly at the same time as ,nietzsche's ,zarathustra with its message of the ,superman4 ,again two antipodes6 ,you will in vain try to find such contrasts in the world as the ,russian and ,germano-,carlylean literature4 ,petronius and ,seneca could read and understand very well ,goethe and ,carlyle1 but they could not read and understand ,tolstoi and ,dostojevsky1 nor could they understand the ,christianity of their own time4 ,great men6 exclaimed the ,roman world on their dying beds4 ,great men6 exclaimed rejuvenated ,western ,europe in the nineteenth century4 ,history consists of great men4 ,the very aim of history is to produce great men4 ,no1 answered ,holy ,russia1 who kept silent for a thousand years4 ,the ideal of the great man is the fast ideal of the childhood of mankind1 of the youthful ,pagan world4 ,we are grown up in the ,christian spirit2 we can no longer live in the childish illusions and dreams of great men4 ,we see them as they are4 ,there has never existed and does not yet exist a great man4 ,no one great man ever existed4 ,on this point ,tolstoi and the ,holy ,synod were in agreement with each other and with the common spirit of the ,russian people4 ,they all agreed with their whole heart in the denial of the ,greco-,roman worship of great men1 which worship was everywhere revived in modern ,europe in poetry1 philosophy1 politics1 art and even in theology4 ,for eighteen hundred years ,western ,europe was the spokesman of the ,christian world and ,russia kept silent4 ,when1 after eighteen hundred years1 ,russia came to the world1 her answer was a decisive ,no4 ,but that was not all she had to say4 ,she had also to say a decisive ,yes4 99,,panhumanism499 ,no and ,yes4 ,there is in the ,slav religious conscience a ,no and a ,yes4 ,no--for a great man2 ,yes--for a saintly man4 ,no--for pride2 ,yes--for humility4 ,no--for individualism2 ,yes--for panhumanism4 ,no--for longing after pleasure2 ,yes--for longing after suffering4 ,history has proved that a great man is impossible and1 even more1 undesirable1 and that a saintly man is both possible and desirable4 ,it is proved also that a so-called great man meant a great danger for mankind2 a saintly man never could be dangerous4 ,we do not need great men at all1 we need good and saintly men4 ,we ought not to seek after greatness1 but after goodness and saintliness4 ,greatness is no real virtue1 but goodness and saintliness are virtues4 ,greatness is only an illusion1 but goodness and saintliness are realities4 ,christianity came to impress these realities on the human conscience and to sweep illusions away4 ,the whole history of ,christianity is a continual struggle between realities and illusions4 ,all the wars between ,christians and pagans1 and between ,christians themselves1 from the time of ,christ until our time1 had always the same meaning--a struggle between the ,christian realities of goodness and saintliness and the pagan illusions of greatness4 ,the present ,war has the same meaning as all the wars since ,christ came until ,bismarck4 ,this war was prophesied by ,dostojevsky forty years ago4 ,dostoievsky was the only contemporary man towards whom ,nietzsche felt respect and even fear because of his deep thought and clairvoyance4 ,with his genial insight into human nature1 ,dostojevsky saw clearly the inevitable conflict of the different camps of ,europe1 whose apparent and hypocritical peace was only a busy preparation for conflict4 ,everything will be pulled down1 he said1 especially ,european pride4 ,he had also a vision of what will come after this great conflict4 ,christ1 he said1 nothing else but ,christ ,himself will come in the form of panhuman brotherhood and panhuman love4 ,,your ,,sins ,,are ,,my ,,sins4 ,love the sinner as well6 ,do not fly away from the sinners1 but go to them without fear4 ,after all--whoever you may be--you are not much better than they are4 ,try to love the sinners2 you will see that it is easier to love those whom you despise than those whom you envy4 ,the old ,zosim 7from the ,brothers ,caramazov7 said1 ,brothers1 don't be afraid of the sins of a sinner2 but love a sinner also--that is the record of love upon earth4 ,i know you love ,st4 ,peter and ,st4 ,john1 but could you love the sinner ,zaccheus8 ,you can love the good ,samaritan but love1 please1 the prodigal son also6 ,you love ,christ1 ,i am sure2 but what about ,judas1 the seller of ,christ8 ,he repented1 poor human creature4 ,why don't you love him8 ,dostojevsky--like ,tolstoi and ,gogol--emphasised two things3 first1 there is no great man2 secondly1 there is no worthless man4 ,he described the blackest crimes and the deepest fall and showed that the authors of such crimes are men just as other men1 with much good hidden under their sins4 ,servants and vagabonds1 idiots and drunkards1 the dirty katorzniki from the ,serbian prisons--all those people are ,god's sons and daughters1 with souls full of fears and hopes1 of repentance and longings after good and justice4 ,between saintliness and vice there is a bridge1 not an abyss4 ,the saintliest and the meanest men have still common ground for brotherhood4 ,your sins are my sins1 my sins are your sins4 ,that is the starting-point for a practical and lucid ,christianity4 ,i cannot be clean as long as you are not clean4 ,i cannot be happy as long as you are unhappy4 ,i cannot enter ,heaven as long as you are in ,hell4 ,what does that mean8 ,it means that you and ,i are blended together for eternity1 and that your effort to separate yourselves from me is disastrous for you and for me4 ,as long as you look to the greatest sinner in the world and say3 ,god1 ,i thank thee that ,i am not as that man1 you are far from ,christ and the ,kingdom of ,god4 ,god wants not one good man only1 ,he wants a ,kingdom of good men4 ,if ninety-nine of us are good and saintly but one of our brothers is far from our solace and support1 in sin and darkness1 be sure ,god is not among us ninety-nine1 but ,he has gone to find our brother whom we have lost and forgotten4 ,will you follow him or will you stand self-sufficient8 ,never has there existed in the world such a social power binding man to man and commanding each to take and bear the other's sorrows as ,christianity did4 ,your sins are my sins1 my sins are your sins4 ,such a conception of the ,christian religion had ,tolstoi in common with ,dostojevsky and ,gogol1 with the ,holy ,synod1 with the popular religious conscience of millions and millions of the living and the dead1 in the orthodox world1 and with all the jurodivi1 the fools for ,christ's sake4 ,that is the religious spirit of the best of the ,slavs4 ,,christianity ,,and ,,civilisation4 ,the following is the ,slav point of view3 ,christianity came into the world1 not in order to inaugurate a new civilisation1 but to infuse a new religious spirit1 to clear and purify the human conscience4 ,a perfect ,christian spirit can exist quite outside civilisation as well as in the midst of the most complicated civilisation4 ,a ,christian negro1 in his nudity1 picking up dates under a palm tree1 can be as good and saintly a man as any business man from the ,strand in ,london or from the ,fifth ,avenue in ,new ,york4 ,and1 on the contrary1 the most civilised men1 like ,bismarck and ,nietzsche can be of a much more anti-,christian spirit than any primitive human creature in ,central ,africa or ,siberia4 ,many civilisations have been created without ,christianity4 ,you cannot say that ,christian ,london is a more perfect and beautiful city than ,pagan ,rome or ,mohammedan ,cordova were4 ,but you may perhaps say that the spirit of ,london is more sublime and humane1 more good and saintly1 than the spirit of ,rome and ,cordova4 ,well1 it is the spirit which regards ,christianity1 and nothing else4 ,civilisation is only an occasion for ,christianity to prove its spirit4 ,it is an occasion of suffering1 and also of corruption4 ,in both cases ,christianity has to be tested4 ,christianity has to fight against a ,pagan civilisation as well as a ,pagan barbarism4 ,it is sometimes harder for the ,christian spirit to fight against the first than against the second form of ,paganism4 ,it was easier for the ,christian mission to ,christianise barbarous ,africa than cultivated ,rome4 ,and imagine how much it will cost till ,bismarckian and ,nietzschean ,germany changes her spirit as ,sienkiewicz foretold4 ,i mention this relation between ,christianity and civilisation to prove that a civilisation with any spirit is not attractive to the ,slav1 but rather the civilisation with the ,christian religious spirit only4 ,tolstoi denied all civilisation just because he did not see the ,christian spirit in it4 ,the ,church was reserved towards modern science and art just because she saw the anti-,christian1 proud1 egoistical spirit in many expressions of them4 ,better the poor ,christian spirit in a cottage of ,macedonia than a rich and cultivated ,paganism in ,vienna4 ,the spirit with which a railway is made counts and not the railway itself4 ,we are never alone but always in the presence of a great ,spirit who encircles and inspires us4 ,whatever we do through this inspiration is living and good2 whatever we do without ,his inspiration1 but under the supposition that we are alone in this world1 is wrong and dead4 ,a great civilisation may be wrong and dead ,yea1 as there is no great man1 there is no great civilisation4 ,the ideal of ,slav ,christianity is a good and saintly man1 and also a good and saintly civilisation4 ,the very essence of life is mystic and religious4 ,what is a man or a civilisation without mysticism and religion8 ,they are like a painted landscape on paper4 ,you enjoy it from a distance1 but when you touch it you are disappointed4 ,everything without ,god is discontentment1 emptiness4 ,blessed are those--,i wish you all may be numbered among them--whose life is full of ,god4 ,they are connected with the sun and the stars1 with the living and the dead1 with the past and the future4 ,they possess a wonderful bridge over every abyss in life1 and they are always safe4 ,they are bright in darkness1 joyful in suffering1 hopeful in death4 ,their life on earth1 in this very limited sphere of life1 is escorted by the whole of the ,universe1 from one end to the other4 ,i wish that such a religious spirit belonged not only to the ,slavs but to all mankind4 ,,printed ,,in ,,great ,,britain ,,by ,r4 ,,clay ,,and ,,sons1 ,,ltd4 ,,brunswick ,,street1 ,,stamfordstreet1 ,s4,e41 ,,and ,,bungay1 ,,suffolk4