Such inconsistent ideas, to my great pity, one may find in «The School of Prayer» by Metropolitan Anthony, the dignified doctor of theology, respected by many heretics and regarded as an embodiment of love. But true love is not like that. This is what writes about love St. Maximos the Confessor: «I am not willing for the heretics to suffer, and I am not happy about their hardships. God save me! — But I'm especially happy about their conversion! For what can be better for the faithful as to see the dispersed children of God unite! I'm not insane to advise to value mercy more than love for mankind. On the contrary, I advise to do good things for all people and be helpful to everyone in need. But at the same time I tell you: it is forbidden to help the heretics in strengthening their insane beliefs, that is where you should be tough and uncompromising. For I wouldn't call love, but I would call hatred for people and falling away from God's love when someone establishes the heretic in their delusion leading to their due ruin» 78.
From the work of the Most Reverend Anthony comes the smell of ecumenism. The followers of this false teaching accuse the Church in deviating from truth, claiming that it has broken Christ's commandment of unity. Such thinking is false for the True Church is holy and immaculate, and if some have broken the commandment of unity, then those are the ones who fell apart from the righteous unity of the Orthodoxy. But even for them the doors of the Church are open. We accept even them, after denying their delusions. Ecumenical heresy aims at smoothing out all the corners, making all religions equal in a certain universal state so that everyone may acknowledge this «unity». For this purpose ecumenists under the pretext of love try to find new points of overlapping, avoiding any arguments; His Eminence Anthony found such possibility in the theme «Of Prayer».
That is why it is important for any Orthodox to be attentive with the books he is reading in so as not to accept the spirit of ecumenical virus. Each one will have to answer on the day of Final Judgment not only for reading, but as well for spreading such books, and for the silence, when your nearest is reading them. St. Ignatius writes: «Don't be charmed by a pompous title of a book, promising to give the lesson of Christian perfection to those who still need the food of babies, don't be seduced either by the richness of edition, or by paintings, or the strength and the beauty of words, or by the writer's being as if a saint who proved his sanity by numerous wonders... A soul can be ruined by only a thought, containing any kind of blasphemy, very sophisticated and unnoticeable for a novice...79
Great God's saints, having learned the weak nature of human beings, feared the poison of heresy and lie, and that is why with scrupulousness avoided talking to people, infected by false teachings, and reading heretic books. Remembering the example of degradation of the most educated Origin and sophisticated in arguments Arius, and eloquent Nestorius and the others rich in wisdom of the world, those who ruined themselves due to their self-esteem and self-assuredness, they [the saints] sought for salvation and found it in avoiding false teachings and precise obedience to the Church»
An Orthodox doctor I. N. Andreev.
Endnotes
1. St. John Chrysostom (the Goldenmouthed). Works, SPb.: 1898, vol. I, book 2, p. 660.
2. Antoine de Saint-Exupery (1900-1944). In April 1935 the newspaper Paris-soire sends him as a correspondent for a month to Moscow. A giant soviet airplane for agitation «Maxim Gorky» crashes in May — S.-E. responds to the tragic event with a compassionate item in «Izvestia» (a soviet newspaper). Then a series of essays about the USSR follows. They are full of amiable consideration towards the socialist present daylife. Being married he never thought it a sin to have sexual links with other women.
3. St. Irenaeus of Lyon. «Against some heresies», M.: 1898. B.3, ch. 4.
4. Podvig /rus/ — an ascetic feat, spiritual labor or simply Christian struggle.
5. St. Ignatius Brianchaninov. Bishop of the North Caucasus. SPb.: «Ascetic Experience», 1886, vol. 1, p.115.
6. «Would not anyone read anything which does not serve to please God», — says St. Martyr Peter of Damascus, — «and if he happens to read something of the kind through his ignorance, then he should strive to erase it from his memory by reading Holy God’s Scriptures and especially those which lead to the salvation of his soul and which accord with the state of mind he has reached. Books opposite to these he shouldn’t read at all. Why accept the sly spirit instead of Holy Spirit? The one who practices in such a word receives the very word, though the inexperienced do no see this as clear as the spiritually experienced do». St. Peter of Damascus. Book 1, «On Considerations», «Love for Goodness», Vol. Ш.
7. St. Basil the Great. «Exhortations for the youth how to use heathen scriptures», M.: 1895, p.9.
8. Jean-Batist Marie (1786-1859). A Catholic known under the name Vianne.
9. Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh. «The School of Prayer», Klin: the fund «Christian life», 2001, p.10.
10. Obsessive neurosis, or neurosis of induced states
11. 1 John. 1, 8.
12. Ephraim the Syrian. Works. M.: 1995, vol. IV, p.70.
13. St. Ignatius Brianchaninov. «The Patristic», SPb.: 1886, vol. VI, p.323.
14. 2 Cor., 12, 11.
15. James. 4, 6.
16. St. Ignatius Brianchaninov. Vol. I, p.122.
17. St. Ignatius Brianchaninov. Vol. I, p. 118.
18. St. Ignatius Brianchaninov. Vol. IV, p.485
19. Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh, p.20.
20. Pope Pius XI in 1933 concluded an agreement with Hitler and blessed his attacking Russia.
21. Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh, p. 20.
22. St. Ignatius Brianchaninov. Vol. I, p. 243.
23. In response to those who treat the Latin Faith favorably St. elder Ambrosy of Optina wrote: «In vain some of the Orthodox wonder at the existing Roman Church propaganda, sham selflessness and the activity of its missionaries and the assiduity of its nurses; and they wrongly attribute to the Roman Church such importance as if after its separation from the Orthodox Church the latter should seek unity with it. On being strict investigation this opinion turns out to be false and the energetic Latin activity not only leaves you indifferent, but on the contrary it excites great regret in the hearts of positive-thinking people who are loyal to truth. But the Roman Church deviated into heresy and innovation long ago. It was Basil the Great who exposed some of the Bishops of Rome in his Epistle to Eusebius of Samosat: "They do not know the truth and they do not wish to know; they controverse those who reveal the truth to them and themselves proclaim heresy” (Epistle, 7). Apostle Paul commands to abstain from those harmed by heresy and not to seek any union with them saying: (Tim. 3, 10-11) What communion has light with darkness? (2 Cor. 6, 14). That is the light of the truth of Christ can not be compatible with the obscurity of heresy. The Latin do not want to abandon their heresy and persist in it. Those who are loyal to the Latin should meditate instead on what is said in the psalms: I have hated the congregation of the evil doers (Ps. 26, 5) and be compassionate to those who for the sake of power greed for money and other mundane aims and benefits made the whole world indignant by their inquisition and sly Jesuitical intrigues... Would it be rational to seek union with these people? The same reason makes it worth wondering on the assiduity and sham selfishness of those doers who are the Latin missionaries and nurses. Those are really pitiful heroes. They don’t strive to turn people to Christ but to their Pope only. What else shall I add to the question can the Latin Church and other denominations be called New Israel and the Ark of Salvation. It is only the faithful church that can be called New Israel and the one harmed by heretic philosophizing cannot. St. Apostle Paul says: One Lord, one faith (Eph. 4, 5) — that is one faith to be true, and not that any faith is good, what those who separated from the only true church think.