Faith Is Not a Checker Piece for a Spectacular Match
Arguments about faith on social media increasingly resemble no-holds-barred fights. We ask a saint who sixteen centuries ago knew how to speak with those who need nothing but a fighting arena.
Under news of yet another UOC church being seized, several hundred different comments accumulate within an hour. Under other posts, some non-believer demands that someone "prove" the Trinity in three sentences. Someone openly mocks priests. Someone quotes the holy fathers with exclamation marks, at times without even consulting the original source. At a family celebration, an uncle who hasn't set foot in a church since his Baptism suddenly, between the salad and another shot of vodka, starts talking about "what you've all made up there in the Church." And bloggers rack up views on videos with loud titles like "The Priest Couldn't Answer."
We find ourselves facing an unpleasant choice. We can get drawn into a squabble and an hour later discover that we are angry, hurling barbs, and no longer remember why we started the conversation. Or we can stay silent and then spend the whole evening reproaching ourselves for cowardice. Both paths feel like defeat.
To find a "golden mean" in theological debate, let us mentally transport ourselves to Constantinople in the year 380. In the capital, where almost all the churches were already in the hands of the Arians, a small Orthodox community gathers around its pastor – St. Gregory, whom the Church would later call the Theologian. In the evening, by the light of a lamp, he is preparing a homily against the Eunomians – people who had turned talk about God into a street contest. We come to him with questions familiar to anyone who has ever opened the comments under Church posts.
Bloggers as Showy Wrestlers
– Your Grace, why does any conversation about faith end in conflict these days? It feels as though people come not to listen to their opponent, but to win a verbal battle.
St. Gregory sets aside his manuscript, smiles bitterly, and answers as though he had just been reading a news feed:
– For there are, truly there are, people whose ears and tongues, and even, I see, hands, itch at our speeches. They resemble showy wrestlers, who stage not that struggle which leads to victory by the laws of combat, but that which draws the eyes of those who know nothing of the matter and wins their approval.
He fell silent for a moment and then added ironically:
– And they love to play with words as with checkers.
One could not put it more precisely. The commenter who loves to argue needs an audience for self-affirmation. He often doesn't even hope to convince his interlocutor, but counts on gathering the approval of followers who understand theology no better than he does. For him, faith is a checkerboard, and sacred things are just another piece that can be spectacularly "captured" after a successful move.
When, Before Whom, and How Much to Preach
– So what should we do? Keep silent? Then it turns out we are ashamed of our faith.
The bishop shakes his head and raises a finger, as if warning us of our mistake:
– It is harmful to the soul to theologize ceaselessly. The trouble lies not in theologizing, but in untimeliness, in failing to observe measure. Even honey, if taken in excess and to satiety, induces vomiting.
And he adds:
– One may philosophize about divine things not always, not before everyone, and not touching on everything, but one must know: when, before whom, and how much.
The saint himself encourages conversations about God. He only forbids feeding honey to someone who has already overeaten, and doing so at the wrong moment. A conversation about the Trinity between idle toasts at a feast is precisely such honey. A sermon about God's Judgment to a person who has just lost a son, however great a sinner the son may have been, is poison too. Even the most correct words, spoken at the wrong time, provoke revulsion in the listener.
– And before whom may one preach, Your Grace?
– Before those who occupy themselves with it earnestly, and not alongside other things, speaking of God after horse races, spectacles, and songs, after satisfying the belly and what is worse than the belly; for to the latter it is a pastime to dispute about such matters and to distinguish themselves by the subtlety of their objections.
Hippodromes have today been replaced by TV series and football, but man has remained the same. For one, talk about God is a matter of life and destiny; for another, it is entertainment between two other entertainments. The ability to distinguish between these two states is a valuable skill.
Brothers Who Do Not Behave Like Brothers
– Your Grace, and what if the interlocutor has come only to argue and will not leave until he hears an answer that suits him?
The archpastor answers sternly:
– Let us not run beyond the goal like hot and unrestrained horses, having thrown off the rider – reason – and cast aside the good bridle – reverence.
The saint's opponents were very well versed in theology. Eunomius taught that the essence of God could be exhausted by a single definition. He assured people that he knew the Divine essence as well as he knew himself. If a mystery can be fitted into a formula, it can be shouted out in the square. The saint reminds us that God is greater than any definition, and that one can speak of Him only with reverence.
At the same time, he does not disown his opponents. One can continue to hold to one's convictions without turning the interlocutor into an enemy. Even the most aggressive debater can be answered without malice, or one can quietly withdraw from the conversation without slamming the door.
We leave the saint with unexpected relief. It turns out that winning every argument on the internet is not necessary, and that there is no need to be ashamed of silence where a discussion has turned into a spectacle. What matters is to remember Whom we are speaking of and for what purpose we speak at all.
At the threshold of his cell, Bishop Gregory sees us off with a final admonition:
– If it is impossible to eradicate enmity, then at least let us speak of the mysterious mysteriously, and of the holy holily.
He lays a hand on our shoulder and, after a pause, adds:
– To remember God is more necessary for us than to breathe.
