Why are we slaves of God and not children. Why are Orthodox believers called "God's servant" and not "God's son." What awaits the servants of God, what is prepared for them
Vladislav, Omsk
Why are we “God's servants” and not His children?
In other countries where the Orthodox faith is present, people are called "the child of God", but only in Russia they are called "the servant of God." Why is this so?
Good! After reading your question and “running” on the Internet, I turned to my acquaintances who visit other countries who call themselves Orthodox. It turned out from the survey and poll that the name “child of God” is not widespread abroad, most likely it is a tradition of a particular parish or community.
Remembering the words of Christ:
From now on I do not call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing, but I called you friends, because I told you everything that I heard from My Father (John 15:15),
but at the same time earlier:
If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love (John 15:10).
You can recall 1 Cor. 7: 20-21: “... the slave called in the Lord is the free one of the Lord; likewise he who is called free is a slave of Christ».
St. Basil the Great and other Church Fathers have the idea that a person, when he becomes a Church, i.e. Approaching Christ, in essence, and not in name, there are three stages:
- The first is the "slave." The slave is driven by fear, he is afraid of punishment. The servant of God asks the Master for help in order to avoid sin, to gain the fear of God's wrath - for him this is the only way to stop sinning. This is an honest position, without guile and self-deception - you simply admit that you are a slave to your passions, in fact, you are a slave to Satan. The Apostle Paul says: “ Whoever works for whom is also a slave"(Rom. 6:16)
- The second stage is a “mercenary”, he is driven by the desire to receive a reward for his labors and spiritual deeds, abstinence, bows, etc. Probably, we can say that with the cessation of obvious sins, that is, "Transgressions of the Law", the emerging hope for the inheritance of the Kingdom is the main driving force at this stage.
- And finally, the last and, probably, the most difficult state to achieve is Sonship, when a person has renounced his passions and surrenders himself to the Will of the Heavenly Father, the true state to which a person is destined. Man is driven by Love for the Father, the World He created, everything about which He has care. The desire to help every creature of God, the fear of grieving the beloved Father - this is the perfection of the fear of God, and not in the reluctance of "pans and boiling oil."
You can, out of the corner of your eye, look at the Arab princes, well, or at our "majors". " We can do anything - our parents will solve all the issues"! .. The gift given to us" Being a child of God”(John 1:12) there is also the greatest responsibility, it is necessary and internally to correspond to the title. We can be adopted by God through Christ, by baptism. Salvation is a process, the path of our entire life, and not a one-time event. In every minute of our lives, we can exercise our sonship to God (1 John 3: 1-10) or show that we are “ children of the devil”(See John 8:44). The choice is entirely ours. The servant of God cares about his Master, not thinking how to please someone else. Do we do it this way? Maybe it's still not always? Probably everyone, remembering even one day of his life, will find something wrong. We can call ourselves in different ways, but there is a danger here already to feel ourselves a “child” of God, while everyone else is “slaves”. But until you take a closer look at the spiritual quality of your everyday life, I completely agree with you, “the child of God” is exactly me. When you look closely at yourself, then no ...
How to call yourself, in my opinion, is not a matter of paramount importance. The important thing is the feeling of a GIFT, which is simply a GIFT, not our merit. I recall the parable of the prodigal son, who left, squandered his inheritance, but realized his sin and wanted to be a mercenary to his father. The all-merciful Lord will accept us, but it would be good that after all our “travels”, even “having corrected,” we remember the words of Christ:
Likewise, when you have fulfilled all your commanded, say: we are worthless slaves, because we have done what we ought to have done ”(Luke 17:10).
May God grant us all spiritual intelligence, humility and Christian love for our neighbors and those far away!
https://www.instagram.com/spasi.gospodi/. The community has more than 58,000 subscribers.
There are many of us, like-minded people, and we are growing rapidly, posting prayers, utterances of saints, prayer requests, timely posting useful information about holidays and Orthodox events ... Subscribe. Guardian Angel to you!
"Save me, God!". Thank you for visiting our site, before you start studying the information, please subscribe to our Orthodox community on Instagram, Lord, Save and Save † - https://www.instagram.com/spasi.gospodi/. The community has more than 60,000 subscribers.
There are many of us, like-minded people, and we are growing rapidly, posting prayers, sayings of saints, prayer requests, timely posting useful information about holidays and Orthodox events ... Subscribe. Guardian Angel to you!
In church use, there are various rituals, sacraments, which are very often used and we are already used to them. As well as some church words become so familiar to us that sometimes we do not even think about their meaning. So there is a lot of controversy over the use of such an expression as "servant of God." Some believe that such a statement demeans human dignity. But before jumping to conclusions, it is worthwhile to figure out why the parishioners are called the servants of God.
Why do they say the servant of God
In order to get away from insults and insults, you should not borrow legal or social concepts and transfer them to interpretations of higher reality. Our spirituality should be free from worldly concepts. The main purpose of the Lord is to bring everyone to eternal life. If human nature is damaged by sin, then he must not only believe in God, but also completely and completely follow his good will.
It is in the Holy Scriptures about such a person that if he abandoned his sinful thoughts and deeds and surrendered to the saving will of the Lord, then he is called a "servant of God." In biblical texts, such a name is honorable.
There are several interpretations of what a servant of God or a servant of God means:
- In Judea, the word “slave” did not carry a derogatory meaning in its context. It simply meant a worker.
- The main task of the Lord is to desire only good things for us and to lead us to perfection. It is the submission to his will that has nothing humiliating in it.
- The emotional component of this phrase should draw our attention to the degree of trust in the Lord and our faithfulness to him. We shouldn't turn to him only when necessary and in difficult times.
- It is also necessary to remember about historical features of the time when there was a slave-owning way. There were only slaves and their mercenaries. But in this case, the "slave" is not a powerless being.
- Why a servant of God and not a son of God? It is believed that the relationship between the Lord and man must go through certain stages of development: a slave, a mercenary and a son. This classification is found even in the parable of the prodigal son.
As the church explains
Many clergymen say that the stress in the phrase "servant of God" should be placed on the second word. If you relate to the Lord, then you cannot be anyone else. To become a slave of God means to gain incredible freedom. "Slavery" to the Lord is also considered a greater measure of freedom than slavery over one's passions and stereotypes.
Servant of god -
1) a person who believes in the One and True, realizing his dependence on Him as the Creator and Provider, accepting His power as the power of the Heavenly King, striving to please Him) ();
2) (in the Old Testament, plural) representatives of the Old Testament ();
3) (in the New Zav., Plural) Christians ().
Slavery to God is, in a broad sense, loyalty to the Divine will, as opposed to slavery to sin.
In a narrower sense, the state of voluntary submission to the Divine will for the sake of fear of punishment, as the first of the three degrees of faith (along with the mercenary and the son). The Holy Fathers distinguish three levels of submission of their will to God - a slave who obeys Him out of fear of punishment; a mercenary working for pay; and a son who is guided by love for the Father. The son's condition is the most perfect. According to St. Apostle John the Theologian: “ There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear, because in fear there is anguish. Afraid of imperfect love» ().
Christ does not call us slaves: “ You are My friends if you do what I command you. I no longer call you slaves, for a slave does not know what his master is doing; but I called you friends ... " (). But we speak of ourselves in this way, meaning the voluntary coordination of our will with His good will, because we know that the Lord is alien to all evil and unrighteousness and His good will leads us to blessed eternity. That is, the fear of God for Christians is not an animal fear, but a sacred awe before the Creator.
Everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin ().
If the Son sets you free, you will be truly free ().
If you abide in My word, then you are truly My disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free ().
The slave called in the Lord is the free Lord ... ()
The Lord is Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. ()
“Behold, the Servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word ”().
Do you not know that to whom you give yourself up as slaves for obedience, that you are slaves to whom you obey, or slaves of sin to death, or obedience to righteousness?
Thanks be to God that you, being previously slaves of sin, have become obedient from your heart to the way of teaching that you have given yourself up to. Having been freed from sin, you have become slaves to righteousness. I speak according to human reasoning, for the sake of the weakness of your flesh. Just as you delivered your members as slaves to uncleanness and lawlessness for wicked deeds, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness for holy works. For when you were slaves to sin, then you were free from righteousness. What fruit did you have then? Deeds of which you yourself are ashamed today, because their end is death. But now, when you are freed from sin and become slaves to God, your fruit is holiness, and the end is eternal life. ()
Is it honorable to be a servant of God? Is it strength or weakness?
Let us also recall the Last Supper. The Lord Himself girded himself, seated His disciples, came up and began to serve them, and washed their feet. (). Let's look at the position of the "good slave" in the Gospel, is it humiliating? Is it humiliating to be a slave of such a King, a slave of God?
Interpretation of this Gospel passage:
For such a servant, the Lord Himself becomes the servant. For it is said: "and he will sit them down, and, coming up, he will serve them." The Lord in this parable is Christ the Son of God (as a Person without beginning, born and born of the Father before all ages, as light is born from light, and there cannot be a source of light without the light itself, but if the source of light is eternal, then the light emanating from it eternal, has no beginning, but is born eternally and continuously). He, taking human nature as a bride and uniting with Himself, created marriage, cleaving to her in one flesh. He returns from heavenly marriage, open to everyone, at the end of the universe, when He comes from heaven in the glory of the Father. And also returns invisibly and unexpectedly at any time, at the death (at death) of everyone in particular. Blzh Theophylact.
"Blessed are those servants ..." With this inflowing utterance, the Lord wants to point out the certainty of the righteous reward that all His faithful servants will receive at the opening of the glorious Kingdom of the Messiah: the master himself will pay as much attention to such slaves as they do to him, so the Messiah will adequately reward His awake slaves. ).
“And if he comes in the second watch, and in the third watch he comes, and finds them in this way, then blessed are those servants. You know that if the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief would come, he would have been awake and would not have allowed his house to be undermined. Be ready, too, for at an hour you don’t think the Son of Man will come. Then Peter said to Him: - Lord! Do you speak this parable to us, or to all? The Lord said: - Who is the faithful and discreet steward, whom the master has appointed over his servants to give them in due time the measure of bread? Blessed is that servant whom his master, when he comes, will find doing so. Truly I say to you that he will put him over all his possessions. " ().
(Explanation of the concept of the first, second, third "guard" - a different age of a person: the first is youth, the second is courage, and the third is old age. virtue).
“If that slave says in his heart:“ My lord will not come soon, ”and begins to beat the servants and maidservants, eat and drink and get drunk, then the master of that slave will come on the day on which he does not expect, and at the hour, into which he does not think, and will cut him, and subject him to the same fate with the unbelievers. But the servant who knew the will of his master, and was not ready, and did not do according to his will, will be beaten many times; but he who did not know, and did what was worthy of punishment, will be beaten with less. And from everyone to whom much has been given, much will be required, and to whom much has been entrusted, from him they will demand more. " ()
The love of the Heavenly King for His slaves. The measure of God's love
“If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love. I have said these things to you, that my joy may abide in you and your joy may be full. This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. There is no more love than if someone lay down his life for his friends. " ().
“I am a good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. A mercenary, not a shepherd, the one to whom the sheep are not his own, sees how the wolf comes and leaves the sheep and runs (and the wolf kidnaps them and scatters them), because he is a mercenary and does not care about the sheep. I am the good shepherd, and I know Mine, and they know Mine. As the Father knows Me, I also know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. And I have other sheep - not from this fold, and those I must bring, and they will hear My voice, and there will be one flock, one Shepherd. Therefore the Father loves Me, because I lay down My soul in order to receive it again. Nobody took it from Me, but I lay it down Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again. I received this commandment from My Father. " ().
In the Gospel, Christ repeatedly said that He did not come to earth to "be served, but to serve and give His soul for the ransom of many" (Gospel of Mark, chapter 10, verse 45).
How the position of the servant of God is described in the Gospel
In order to give eternal life to His slaves, our King diminished (exhausted) Himself, and He Himself took the form of a slave, becoming like men and in appearance becoming like a man. " ()
Interpretation of the text: He voluntarily robbed himself, - he emptied himself, he laid his own with Himself, having removed the visible glory and majesty inherent in the Divine and Him, like God, belonging. In this respect, some have belittled them understand: He has hidden the glory of His Godhead. "God by nature, having equality with the Father, hiding dignity, chose extreme humility" ().
The following words explain how He belittled Himself. - We will accept the spirit of a slave - that is, we will accept the created nature. Which one exactly? Human: in the likeness of the former humanity. Has not human nature received any difference from this? Not. Like all people, this is how He was: the image was found as a man.
I assumed the image of a slave. Who! He who is in the image of God is God by nature. If He accepted, as God, then even after acceptance there was God, who took the form of a slave. The appearance of a slave is not a sign, but the norm of a slave. The word: slave is used in contrast to the Divine in the words: in the image of God. There the image of God means the norm of the Divine nature, the Creative Deity; here the appearance of a slave means the norm of a slave - nature, working for God, created. We accept the form of a slave - by accepting the created nature, which, no matter how much it stands, is always workable for God. What followed from this? That which is beginningless begins; omnipresent - determined by place, eternal - lives for days, months and years; all-perfect - grows with age and reason; all-containing and all-living - nourished and maintained by Others; omniscient - does not know; almighty - binds; exuding life - dies. And He passes through all this, in the nature of God, taken by Him on Himself by the nature of creation. Holy. ...
So, Christ's self-abasement is the most beautiful manifestation of love (). When Christ came to the sinful world, He did not have riches and glory (), was subjected to ridicule, temptations and torments (), endured suffering according to human nature (), becoming like a man in everything except sin (), experienced Godforsakenness (), was condemned as the criminal, endured death and burial (), taking upon our sins () and restoring human nature for a renewed life with God (). So Christians, wanting to live according to the Gospel, deny themselves and carry their cross with joy (), not being carried away by the blessings of this world, privileges, wealth, pleasures.
The servant of God is a warrior of Christ and an adopted son of God the Father, a co-corporeal of Christ - God by nature
A person receiving Baptism is called not just a slave, but a soldier of Christ. In baptism, the unclean spirit that was in him from birth to Baptism is expelled from his heart. And he joins the victorious ranks of the soldiers of Christ. God cannot but be the victor, and the soldiers of Christ are victors, because possess the infinite power of the Uncreated God.
Against whom the warrior of Christ is fighting, St. ap. Paul: "Our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against the spirits of evil in heaven" ().
It is precisely against the cunning of demons, their wiles, that St. Paul advises us as soldiers of Christ to stand vigorously: “Stand, girding your loins with truth and putting on the armor of righteousness, and shod your feet with the readiness to preach the gospel of peace; and above all, take the shield of faith, with which you can quench all the fiery arrows of the wicked one; Take the helmet of salvation, and the spiritual sword, which is the Word of God. " ().
I will say more: in Baptism, a person is adopted by God, and dares to call God the Creator of the whole world his Father. "Our Father", this is how the servants of God address their Great King, the Uncreated God.
“You are my friends if you do what I command you. I no longer call you slaves, for a slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have told you everything that I have heard from My Father. I am going to my Father and your Father. " ()
What awaits the servants of God, what is in store for them?
“The eyes did not see, the ear did not hear, and that did not come into the heart of man, which God had prepared for those who loved Him” ().
“But the fearful and the unbelievers, and the abominable and murderers, and the fornicators and sorcerers, and idolaters and all liars, their lot will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone. This is the second death "()
“Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor malaki, nor sodomy, nor thieves, nor covetous people, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor predators, will inherit the Kingdom of God. " ().
Many voluntarily deprive themselves of the honor of the title of "servant of God", not wanting to cleanse the dirt from their souls in Baptism, Confession and Communion, or denying Christ, and fulfilling their whims, pleasing their passions, they become slaves of "simple shoemakers" - vile, unclean demons, fallen angels, they are the masters of all God's non-slaves.
So, I urge all Christians to worthily bear the honorary title of the servant of God - the Almighty of the whole world, the title of the warrior of Christ, and not to lose the divine adoption given to us as a gift.
Save everyone, Christ!
Servant of God - Difficulties in Translation
From the book "Modern Bible Translation Theory and Practice"
A believer in the Bible calls himself servant / servant of God. For that culture, this was a completely ordinary name that did not contain any negative connotations, the lower called himself a slave when referring to the higher, even if it was the king and his entourage. Freedom for us is an absolute value, so in our modern culture the word slave is associated with powerlessness and humiliation, and the word servant not much better (only, unlike the word slave, it does not form a stable phrase with the word God). Maybe it's better to say servant of god? But this expression, in turn, is associated with a clerical subtext: this can be called a certain very important bishop, but not a simple believer. There is no perfect solution. There are two words in the Altai language: cool"Slave" and jgreedy"Employee" (from jal"pay"). Part of the readership didn't like both of them: the first sounds too belittled, the second hints at the presence of a board. It was decided to translate verbally: jgreedy bolup“Being a servant,” which, according to readers, mitigated the negative effect of the second word.
It is worth noting in the margins that for the people of the biblical era, freedom was simply not a basic value, as it is for us. The Bible practically nowhere speaks of it as an integral part of every person (such an understanding is more typical for the Greco-Roman world), we read on its pages not so much about freedom, how much liberation or deliverance(from slavery, illness, misfortune or even death). For comparison: today it is customary to talk about health as a basic value (healthy lifestyle, etc.), whereas in more traditional societies it is more about recovery in the case of illness, and the normal state of a person is not at all perceived as painful (in contrast to the modern manner of doctors to call all their patients "sick"). This does not mean that in ancient times people were sick less often and less severely (rather, just the opposite!), But it means that the perception of health and sickness was different from modern ones. In the same way, people did not perceive their submission to God, a king or an ordinary boss as something humiliating, requiring immediate intervention.
You can try to explain all this in a dictionary, or even better - in a separate article, but what to do in translation? Here are the main options.
- Use the most basic and traditional notation: servant of God. The risk of misunderstanding is high, but the traditional concept remains.
- Soften this expression by choosing different words: servant / servant of God. The solution is a compromise, with all the pros and cons.
- Try to reformulate the expression itself: who is right served God. On the one hand, such a turn sounds smooth, but it is difficult to apply it consistently, moreover, this is how the “title” of the original is destroyed: for example, in 1Tit. 1: 1, the Apostle Paul from the very beginning says about himself that he is a "servant of God" (δοῦλος θεοῦ), and this makes the reader immediately recall the similar naming of Moses ().
Some words in the Church become so commonplace that you often forget what they mean. So it is with the expression "Servant of God." It turns out that for many people it hurts the ear. One woman asked me: “Why do you call people servants of God at divine services? Aren't you humiliating them? "
I must confess that I could not immediately find an answer to her, and decided to first figure it out myself and look in the literature why such a phrase was established in the Christian East.
But first, let's see what slavery looked like in the ancient world, say, the Romans, so that we have something to compare with.
In ancient times, a slave stood close to his master, was his household, and sometimes an adviser and friend. The slaves, who spun, weaved and milled grain near the mistress, shared their occupations with her. There was no abyss between masters and subordinates.
But over time, the order changed. Roman law began to consider slaves not persons (personae), but things (res)... The masters became kings, the slaves became pets.
This is what a typical house of a Roman aristocrat looked like.
The mistress of the house - the matron - was surrounded by a whole gang of servants. Sometimes there were up to 200 slaves in the house, each of whom carried out her own special service. One carried a fan for the lady (flabelliferae) , the other was on her heels (pedissquae) , third in front (anteambulatrices) ... There were special slaves for blowing up coals (ciniflones) dressing (ornatrices) wearing an umbrella for mistress (umbelliferae) , storage of shoes and wardrobe (vestiplices) .
There were also spinners in the house (quasilliriae) , seamstresses (sarcinatrices) , weavers (textrices) , wet nurse (nutrices) , nannies, midwives (obstetrices) ... There were also many male servants. The lackeys scurried about the house (cursores) , coachman (rhedarii) , porters of palanques (lectarii) , dwarfs, dwarfs (nani, nanae) , fools and fools (moriones, fatui, fatuae) .
There was necessarily a domestic philosopher, usually a Greek (Graeculus), with whom they chatted to practice Greek.
Outside the gate was on guard ostiary, doors - Janitor... He was chained to a shack at the entrance, opposite the chained dog.
But his position was considered quite decent in comparison with the curate. This one, during a drunken orgy of gentlemen, wiped up their vomit eruptions.
A slave was not allowed to marry, he could only have a concubine (contubernium) "For offspring"... The slave had no parental rights. The children were the property of the owner.
Runaway slave (fugitivus) thrown into food for predatory fish, hung or crucified.
The ancient Jews did not renounce slavery, but their laws were distinguished by gentleness and humanity, unusual for the ancient world. It was impossible to burden the slaves with hard work, they were responsible for them in court. On Saturdays and other holidays they were completely released from work (Ex. 20, 10; Deut. 5:14).
Christianity, too, could not immediately abolish slavery. The Apostle Paul says bluntly: "Slaves, obey your masters according to the flesh with fear and trembling, in the simplicity of your heart, as to Christ."(Ephesians 6: 6).
Holy. Theophan the Recluse interprets this verse as follows: “Slavery was widespread in the ancient world. St. Paul did not rebuild civil life, but changed human mores. And therefore he takes the civil order as it is, and instills in them a new spirit of life. He leaves the external as it was established, but turns to the internal, and gives it new system... The transformation of the external proceeded from within, as a consequence of the free development of spiritual life. Remake the inner, and the outer, if it is absurd, will disappear by itself. " .
But if the slave was a powerless and dumb working cattle, then why did we still have the term servant of God, although the Greek word "Doulos" can be translated in different ways. He, after all, has three meanings: slave, servant, subject.
In many European languages, when translating the New Testament, they took a softer meaning: servant. For example, Servant in English, Knecht or Magd in German, Sl`uga in Polish.
The unnamed Slavic translators preferred a more poignant version - a slave, from the Proto-Slavic root orb, akin to the Sanskrit arbha - to plow, to work in someone else's house. Hence - a slave, a worker.
Their motives are clear. The Christian East was very fond of the image of the Suffering Christ. The Apostle Paul has already said this about Him: “He (Christ), being the image of God, humbled Himself, taking the form of a servant (morfe doulou) having become like men and in appearance becoming like a man ”(Phil. 2: 6-8).
This means that the Son of God left his dwelling in glory, accepting shame, dishonor and curse upon Himself. He submitted Himself to the conditions of our mortality, and hid His glory in suffering and death. And in His own flesh he showed how much the man, whom He created in the image of His perfect beauty, disfigured himself by the fall.
Hence - the natural desire of the believing heart to imitate Him, to become a servant of God in gratitude for the fact that for our sake He began to be called a slave.
“All servants of God are by nature,” says saint. Theophan the Recluse, for the wicked Nebuchadnezzar God's servant but Abraham, David, Paul and others like them are servants for the love of God. "
In his opinion, the servants of God are God-fearing, God-pleasing people. They live according to the will of God, love the truth, despise lies, and therefore you can rely on them in everything.
And the first who called himself so, most likely, was the Apostle Paul in his epistle to the Romans: “Paul is the servant of Jesus Christ” (Rom. 1: 1).
Such a slavery to each of us ....!
"Slavery appears with the development Agriculture about 10,000 years ago. People began to use captives in agricultural work and forced them to work for themselves. In early civilizations, captives long remained the main source of slavery. Another source was criminals or people who could not pay their debts.
Slaves as a lower class are first reported in written records of the Sumerian civilization and Mesopotamia about 3,500 years ago. Slavery existed in Assyria, Babylonia, Egypt, and ancient societies in the Middle East. It was also practiced in China and India, as well as among Africans and Indians in America.
The growth of industry and trade contributed to an even more intensive spread of slavery. There was a demand for a labor force that could produce goods for export. And therefore, slavery reached its peak in the Greek states and the Roman Empire. The slaves performed the main work here. Most of them worked in mines, handicrafts or agriculture. Others were used in the household as servants and sometimes as doctors or poets. About 400 BC. slaves made up a third of the population of Athens. In Rome, slavery was so widespread that even ordinary people had slaves.
In the ancient world, slavery was perceived as a natural law of life that has always existed. And only a few writers and influential people saw evil and injustice in him. " (The world Book Encyclopedia. London-Sydney-Chicago, 1994. P. 480-481. See in more detail the large article "Slavery" in: Brockhaus F. A., Efron I. A. encyclopedic Dictionary... T. 51. Terra, 1992.S. 35-51).
Kareev N.I .. Educational book of ancient history. M., 1997. S. 265. “According to the teachings of ancient Roman law, the slave was not considered a person (person). Slavery removed a person from the circle of legitimate beings, made him a thing, like an animal, an object of property and arbitrary order of his master. " (Nicodemus, Bishop of Dalmatian-Istritsky. Rules Orthodox Church with interpretations. T. 2.SPb .: Reprint, 1912, p. 423).
However, the Roman norms on slavery are characterized by internal contradictions, which affects both the personal and property side of the legal status of slaves.
“The master's right to a slave is an ordinary property right - dominum or proprietas. At the same time, the quality of a slave as a thing ... is, as it were, a natural innate property. Therefore, the slave remains a slave even when for some reason at the moment he does not have a master - for example, the master abandons the slave, refuses him (servus derelictus). A slave in this case will be servus nullius (no man's), and like any thing will be subject to the free occupatio of everyone ... Nevertheless, Roman lawyers often speak of persona servi (slaves as persons). While recognizing the master's right to the slave as ordinary property, they at the same time sometimes call this right potestas (administrative rights), in which expression is already the recognition of a certain personal element in the relationship between master and slave.
In practice, the recognition of the human personality of the slave was reflected in the following provisions.
Already ... from ancient times it was established that although a slave is a thing, like other animals (cetera animalia), the burial place of a slave is a locus religious (sacred place), to the same extent as the grave of a free man.
Further, the blood relations of slaves - cognationes serviles - are also recognized: in close degrees of kinship, they constitute an obstacle to marriage. In classical law, even a prohibition is developed when transferring slaves to separate close relatives from each other - wife from husband, children from parents ... The edict of Emperor Claudius announced that the old and sick slave, abandoned by the master to the mercy of fate, is made free. More decisive were the two constitutions of the emperor Antoninus Pius: one of them subjected the master for the unlawful (sine causa) murder of his slave to the same criminal punishment as for the murder of a stranger; and the other ordered the authorities, in cases where ill-treatment forced a slave to seek refuge in a temple or near a statue of the emperor, to investigate the case and force the master to sell the slave to other hands. To what extent these prescriptions achieved their goal is another matter, but legally, the master's power over the personality of the slave is no longer unlimited.
A slave, as a thing, cannot have any of his property, cannot have any rights ... However, the consistent implementation of this principle would often not be in the interests of the masters themselves ... Since ancient times, the slave has been credited with the ability to acquire - of course, in favor of his own Mr. ... Behind him is recognized ... the ability to perform legal acts, that is, legal capacity. At the same time, he is considered as a certain acquisitive organ of the master, as an instrumentum vocale (speaking instrument), and as a result, the legal capacity necessary for transactions is borrowed from the master - ex persona domini ... The slave can thus conclude all those transactions that his master is capable of ; this latter, on the basis of these transactions, can bring all claims in exactly the same way as if he were acting himself "(Pokrovsky I.A.History of Roman law. Petrograd, 1918. S. 218, 219, 220)
“The situation of slaves, little known to the master personally, often hardly differed from that of domestic animals, or, perhaps, was worse. However, the conditions of slavery do not freeze within a certain framework, but gradually, through a very long evolution, change for the better. A reasonable view of their own economic benefits forced the masters to take a thrifty attitude towards slaves and mitigate their fate; it was also caused by political prudence, when slaves outnumbered the free classes of the population. Religion and custom have often had the same influence. Finally, the law takes the slave under its protection, which, however, was used by domestic animals even earlier ...
Ancient writers left us with many descriptions of the dire plight of the Roman slaves. Their food was extremely scarce in quantity, but in quality it was not good: just enough was given out so as not to starve to death. Meanwhile, the work was exhausting and lasted from morning to evening. The situation was especially difficult for slaves in mills and bakeries, where they often tied a millstone or a board with a hole in the middle to the slaves' necks to prevent them from eating flour or dough - and in mines where the sick, crippled, old people and women worked under the whip until fell from exhaustion In the event of a slave's illness, he was taken to the abandoned "island of Aesculapius", where he was given complete "freedom to die." Cato the Elder advises selling “old bulls, sick cattle, sick sheep, old carts, scrap iron, an old slave, a sick slave, and in general everything unnecessary. The cruel treatment of slaves was sanctified by both traditions and customs and laws. "(Brockhaus F. A., Efron. I. A Decree. Cit. Pp. 36, 43-44).
Andreev V. The Classical World - Greece and Rome. Historical sketches. Kiev, 1877.S. 279-286.
Hypocrisy was the most characteristic feature of these stuck:
Nikifor, archimandrite. Bible Encyclopedia. M., 1990. Reprint, 1891.S. 592-593.
“In Israel, people captured in hostilities fell into slavery (Deut. 20, 10-18) ... If an Israelite was sold into slavery due to special need (Exodus 21, 4, 6), then after 6 years he was released (Ex. 21, 2) with the payment of the due bribe (Deut. 15, 13), but only if he did not want to voluntarily remain in the family to which he belonged. The law also protected slaves (Ex. 21, 7-11; Lev. 19, 20-22) ... Sometimes there were violations of the law on the freeing of slaves (Jer. 34, 8), there are cases of redemption of slaves during captivity (Neh. 5, 8 ). As household members, slaves could take part in religious holidays (Deut. 12, 18), and through circumcision (Genesis 17, 12) they were accepted into the community. "(Die Religion in Geschichte und Gegenwart. Auflage 3. Band 6. Tuebingen 1986. S. 101).
“The New Testament reflects contemporary views on slavery, for example, in parables (Matthew 18: 23-35; 25, 14-30; Luke 12, 35-48) and norms of behavior (Luke 17, 7-10). Terms borrowed from slavery and captivity? Paul describes the necessity of man's deliverance and the economy of salvation (eg, Rom. 6: 15-23). At the same time, he equalizes the state of a free man and a slave - through baptism, both become one in Christ (Gal. 3:28), and, expecting the near coming of the Savior (parousia), calls on the newly converted from slaves to remain in their title and obey their masters, now according to religious motives, masters obliges to treat slaves in moderation and brotherly (1. Cor. 7, 20-24) ... Thus, he seeks not to overcome slavery, but to make it more humane "(Lexikon fuer Theologie und Kirche. Band 9. Freiburg - Basel - Rom - Wien, 2000. S. 656-657).
Saint Theophan the Recluse. Interpretation of the Epistle of St. the apostle Paul to the Ephesians. M., 1893.S. 444-445.
In the ancient Church “Already Clement of Alexandria (+215), influenced by the ideas of the Stoics about universal equality, believed that in his virtues and appearance slaves are no different from their masters. From this he concluded that Christians should reduce the number of their slaves and do some of the work themselves. Lactantius (+320), who formulated the thesis of the equality of all people, demanded that Christian communities recognize marriage among slaves. And the Roman bishop Calistus I (+222), who himself came out of the class of unfree people, even recognized the relationship between high-ranking women - Christians and slaves, freedmen and freeborns as full-fledged marriages. In the Christian environment, the emancipation of slaves has been practiced since the time of the primacy of the Church, as is evident from the admonition of Ignatius of Antioch (+107) to Christians not to abuse freedom for unworthy purposes.
However, the legal and social foundations of the division into free and slave remain unshakable. Constantine the Great (+337) also does not violate them, who, undoubtedly, under the influence of Christianity, gives the bishops the right to free slaves by means of the so-called announcement in the church (manumissio in ecclesia) and publishes a number of laws that facilitate the plight of slaves.
... In the 4th century, the problem of bondage is actively discussed among Christian theologians. So the Cappadocians - Basil, Archbishop of Caesarea (+379), Gregory Nazianzen (+389), and later John Chrysostom (+407), relying on the Bible, and perhaps on the teachings of the Stoics about natural law, express an opinion about a paradise reality, where equality reigned, which due to the fall of Adam ... was replaced by various forms of human dependence. And although these bishops did a lot in order to Everyday life alleviate the plight of slaves, they vigorously opposed the general elimination of slavery, which was important for the economic and social order empire.
Theodorite of Kirsky (+466) even argued that slaves have a more guaranteed existence than the father of the family, who is burdened with worries about the family, servants and property. And only Gregory of Nyssa (+395) opposes any form of human enslavement, since it not only tramples on the natural freedom of all people, but also ignores the saving work of the Son of God ...
In the West, under the influence of Aristotle, the Bishop Ambrose of Mediollan (+397) justifies legitimate slavery, emphasizing the intellectual superiority of the masters, and advises those who, as a result of war or accident, unjustly fell into slavery, to use their position to test virtue and faith in God.
Augustine (+430) was also far from the idea of challenging the legitimacy of slavery, for God does not free slaves, but makes bad slaves good. He sees the biblical and theological justification for his views in the personal sin of Ham against his father Noah, because of which all mankind is condemned to slavery, but this punishment is at the same time a healing remedy. At the same time, Augustine also refers to the teaching of the Apostle Paul about the sin to which everyone is subject. In the 19th book of his treatise "On the City of God", he paints an ideal image of human community in the family and state, where slavery takes its place and corresponds to the plan of God's creation, earthly order and natural difference between people "(Theologische Realenzyklopaedie. Band 31. Berlin - New-York, 2000. S. 379-380).
See more: Lopukhin A. P. Biblical history of the New Testament. Holy Trinity Sergius Lavra, 1998.S. 707-708.
A Patristic Greek Lexicon edited by G. W. H. Lampe. Oxford University Press, 1989. P. 385.
Langscheidts Taschenwoerterbuch Altgrieschisch. Berlin-Muenchen-Zuerich, 1976. S. 119.
In the Greek of the New Testament, another word was used for the slave oiketes (Phil. 10-18), even more ambiguous than doulos. This is a slave, a household, a servant, a worker. (Nicodemus, Bishop of Dalmatian-Istritsky. Decree. Op. Pp. 165-167.)
For the Slavs, the origin of the Latin word sclavus is interesting, from which - it is. Sklave, eng. Slave, fr. Esclave. It arose from the tribal name of the Slavs (ethnonym), and was then used in Latin to designate slaves or slaves. (Lexikon fuer Theologie und Kirche. Op. Cit. P. 656).
Here are some examples.
"Daniel, slave of the living God!" (Dan. 6, 20).
"O Daniel, servant of the living God!" (Dan. 6, 20). Servant - servant, minister, servant (Müller V.K. English-Russian Dictionary. M., 1971. S. 687)
"Daniel, du Diener des lebendigen Gottes" (Dan. 6.21). Diener - servant, servant (Langenscheidts Grosswoerterbuch. Deutsch-Russisch. Band 1. Berlin - Muenchen, 1997. S. 408)
"Danielu, slugo zyjacego Boga!" (Dn. 6, 21). Sluga - (book) servant. Sluga Bozy is a servant of God (Gessen D., Stypula R. The Great Polish-Russian Dictionary. Moscow - Warsaw, 1967. p. 978
"Jacob, servant of God and the Lord Jesus Christ" (James 1, 1).
"James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ" (Jas. 1, 1).
"Jakobus, Knecht Gottes und Jesu Christi, des Herrn" (Jak. 1, 1). Knecht is a servant, a worker. Knecht Gottes - a servant of God, a servant of God (Langenscheidts Grosswoerterbuch. Op. Cit. P. 1009)
"Jakub, sluga Boga i Pana Jezusa Chrystusa" (Jk. 1, 1)
"Paul is the servant of God, but the apostle of Jesus Christ" (Tit. 1, 1).
"Paul, a servant of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ" (Tit. 1, 1).
"Paulus, Knecht Gottes und Apostel Jesu Christi" (Tit. 1, 1).
"Pawel, sluga Boga I apostol Jezusa Chrystusa" (Tt. 1, 1).
Or a famous verse from the Annunciation of the Virgin Mary:
"Then Mary said: behold the servant of the Lord" (Luke 1b 38).
"And Mary said, behold the handmaid of the Lord" (Lk. 1, 38). Handmaid - (mouth) servant (Müller V.K., op. P. 352).
"Da sagte Maria: Ich bin die Magd des Herrn" (Lk. 1, 38).
Na to rzekla Maryja: "Oto ja sluzebnica Panska" (Lk. 1, 38). Sluzebnica is a servant, a maid. (Hesse D., Stypula R. Decree.p. 978)
Bible, books of the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments. Brussels, 1989.S. 1286, 1801, 1694,1575.
The Holy Bible containing the Old and New Testament. (King James version). New York, b. P. 2166, (New Test.) 631, 586, 162.
Die Bibel. Einheitsuebersetzung der Heiligen Schrift. Stuttgart 1999 S. 1004, 1142, 1352, 1334.
Pismo Swiete Starego i Nowego Testamentu. Poznan-Warszawa 1987 S. 1041, 1372, 1356, 1181.
Note that in the Great Concordance to Luther's Bible, the word Sklave (slave) is used about 60 times, Skavin (slave) - about 10 times, while Knecht (servant) - appears in different meanings and forms of unity. and sets. numbers - about 500 times, and Magd (maid) - about 150 times (Grosse Konkordanz zur Lutherbibel. Stuttgart, 1979. S. 841-844; 975-976; 1301).
In the Symphony on the Old and New Testament in Russian, in which the dictionary entries are not developed in such detail as in the Concordance, the word slave in various forms is noted in approximately 400 cases, and the words slave, slave - more than 50 times. The words Servant and servant in different case forms and numbers (singular and plural) - about 120 times, maidservant, servant - about 40 times (Symphony. Old and New Testament. Harvest, 2001. S. 638-641, 642, 643 , 729, 730, 731).
Preobrazhensky A. Etymological dictionary of the Russian language. M., 1910-1914. S. 169-170. The primordially Russian form "rob" means a servant, a slave, respectively, a robe - a servant, a slave. (Fasmer M. Etymological dictionary of the Russian language. T. 3. M., 1987. S. 487.)
Lossky V. Dogmatic theology. Theological works, No. 8. M., 1972. S. 172-173.
Venerable John Damascene. Exact presentation Orthodox faith... Book 3. Chapter 21. On ignorance and slavery. Complete collection creations. T. 1.SPb .: Reprint, 1913.S. 287.
Saint Theophan the Recluse. Interpretation of the pastoral epistles of St. the apostle Paul. M .: Reprint, 1894.S. 435, 29.
Why do Christians call themselves slaves of God? After all, God gave people free will.
Priest Afanasy Gumerov answers:
God gave people free will and does not take it away from anyone. Otherwise, there would be no evil-doers and perishing, because the Lord desires salvation for everyone and calls everyone to holiness: “Sanctify yourself and be holy, for I am the Lord your God, holy” (Lev. 20: 7). People who fulfill this commandment and believe in His All-good Creator become slaves (i.e. workers) of God and do His all-perfect will. According to the apostle's word to his children: “we are co-workers with God, and you are God's field, God's building” (1 Cor. 3: 9). Only on this path does a person acquire genuine, and not illusory, freedom from the power of corruption, the devil and hell over him: “you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free” (John 8:32).
A person who does not want to live according to the will of his Creator, does not want to be a slave of God, falls away from the Source of Life and inevitably becomes a slave to sin, passions, and through them, dark forces hostile against God. "Do you not know that to whom you give yourself up as slaves for obedience, that you are slaves to whom you obey, or slaves of sin to death, or obedience to righteousness?" (Rom. 6: 16). There is no third. “For when you were slaves to sin, then you were free from righteousness. What fruit did you have then? Deeds of which you yourself are ashamed today, because their end is death. But now, when you are freed from sin and become slaves to God, your fruit is holiness, and the end is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord ”(Rom. 6: 20-23). A Christian who has entrusted himself into the hands of the Lord receives from Him (according to his spiritual perfection) great gifts. “If you abide in Me and My words abide in you, ask whatever you desire, and it will be done for you” (John 15: 7). This has been proven by the experience of the saints.
