Culture and religion in Athens have been closely intertwined since time immemorial. Therefore, it is not surprising that the country has so many attractions that are dedicated to the idols and gods of antiquity. There is probably nothing like it anywhere. But still the most complete reflection ancient civilization became Greek mythology. Gods and titans, kings and heroes from legends - all these are parts of the life and existence of ancient Greece.

Of course, many tribes and people had their own deities and idols. They personified the forces of nature, incomprehensible and frightening ancient man. However, the ancient Greek gods were not only symbols of nature, they were considered the creators of all moral goods and guardians of the beautiful and great powers of the ancient people.

Generations of Gods of Ancient Greece

IN different time there were also different ones. The list of one ancient author differed from another, but it is still possible to identify common periods.

So, during the time of the Pelasgians, when the cult of worship of the forces of nature flourished, the first generation of Greek gods appeared. It was believed that the world was ruled by Mist, from which the first supreme deity appeared - Chaos, and their children - Nikta (Night), Eros (Love) and Erebus (Darkness). There was complete chaos on earth.

The names of the second and third generation Greek gods are already known throughout the world. These are the children of Nyx and Eber: the god of air Ether and the goddess of the day Hemera, Nemesis (Retribution), Ata (Lie), Mom (Stupidity), Kera (Misfortune), Erinyes (Revenge), Moira (Fate), Eris (Strife). And also the twins Thanatos (messenger of Death) and Hypnos (Dream). Children of the earth goddess Hera - Pontus (inner Sea), Tartarus (Abyss), Nereus (calm sea) and others. As well as the first generation of powerful and destructive titans and giants.

The Greek gods that existed among the Pelagestians were overthrown by the Titans and a series of universal catastrophes, the stories of which were preserved in myths and legends. After them a new generation appeared - the Olympians. These are gods in human form Greek mythology. The list of them is huge, and in this article we will talk about the most significant and famous people.

The first supreme god of Ancient Greece

Kronos or Khronov is the god and keeper of time. He was the youngest of the sons of the earth goddess Hera and the god of heaven Uranus. His mother loved him, cherished him and indulged him in everything. However, Kronos grew up to be very ambitious and cruel. One day, Hera heard a prediction that Kronos’s death would be his son. But she decided to keep it a secret.

Meanwhile, Kronos killed his father and gained supreme power. He settled on Mount Olympus, which went straight into the heavens. This is where the name of the Greek gods, the Olympians, came from. When Kronos decided to get married, his mother told him about the prophecy. And he found a way out - he began to swallow all his children born. His poor wife Rhea was horrified, but she failed to convince her husband otherwise. Then she hid her third son (little Zeus) from Kronos on the island of Crete under the supervision of forest nymphs. It was Zeus who became the death of Kronos. When he grew up, he went to Olympus and overthrew his father, forcing him to regurgitate all his brothers.

Zeus and Hera

So, the new humanoid Greek gods from Olympus became the rulers of the world. The thunderer Zeus became the father of the gods. He is the gatherer of clouds and the lord of lightning, the creator of all living things, as well as the establisher of order and justice on earth. The Greeks considered Zeus the source of goodness and nobility. The Thunderer is the father of the goddesses Or, mistresses of time and annual changes, as well as the Muses, who give people inspiration and joy.

Zeus's wife was Hera. She was portrayed as a grumpy goddess of the atmosphere, as well as a guardian of the hearth. Hera patronized all women who remained faithful to their husbands. And also, together with her daughter Ilithia, she facilitated the birth process. According to myths, Zeus was very loving, and after three hundred years of married life he became bored. He began to visit mortal women in a variety of guises. Thus, he appeared to beautiful Europe in the form of a huge bull with golden horns, and to Danae - in the form of star rain.

Poseidon

Poseidon is the god of the seas and oceans. He always remained in the shadow of his more powerful brother Zeus. The Greeks believed that Poseidon was never cruel. And all the troubles and punishments that he sent to people were deserved.

Poseidon is the patron saint of fishermen and sailors. Always, before setting sail, people prayed first of all to him, and not to Zeus. In honor of the lord of the seas, altars were smoked for several days. According to legends, Poseidon could be seen during a storm on the high seas. He appeared from the foam in a golden chariot drawn by dashing horses, which his brother Hades gave him as a gift.

Poseidon's wife was the goddess of the roaring sea, Amphitrite. The symbol is a trident, which granted complete power over the depths of the sea. Poseidon had a soft, non-conflicting disposition. He always sought to avoid quarrels and conflicts, and was unconditionally loyal to Zeus, unlike Hades.

Hades and Persephone

The Greek gods of the underworld are, first of all, the gloomy Hades and his wife Persephone. Hades - god of death, lord kingdom of the dead. They feared him even more than the Thunderer himself. No one could go down to the underworld without Hades' permission, much less return. As Greek mythology says, the gods of Olympus divided power among themselves. And Hades, who inherited the underworld, was dissatisfied. He harbored a grudge against Zeus.

Despite the fact that he never spoke directly and openly, there are many examples in legends when the god of death tried in every possible way to ruin the life of his crowned brother. So, one day Hades kidnapped the beautiful daughter of Zeus and the goddess of fertility Demeter Persephone. He forcibly made her his queen. Zeus had no power over the kingdom of the dead, and chose not to get involved with his embittered brother, so he refused the upset Demeter’s request to save her daughter. And only when the goddess of fertility, in grief, forgot about her duties, and drought and famine began on earth, Zeus decided to talk to Hades. They entered into an agreement according to which Persephone would spend two thirds of the year on earth with her mother, and the rest of the time in the kingdom of the dead.

Hades was depicted as a gloomy man sitting on a throne. He traveled on earth in a chariot drawn by hellish horses with eyes burning in flames. And at this time people were afraid and prayed that he would not take them into his kingdom. Hades' favorite was the three-headed dog Cerberus, who tirelessly guarded the entrance to the world of the dead.

Pallas Athena

The beloved Greek goddess Athena was the daughter of the thunderer Zeus. According to myths, she was born from his head. At first it was believed that Athena was the goddess of the clear sky, who dispersed all the black clouds with her spear. She was also a symbol of victorious energy. The Greeks portrayed Athena as a powerful warrior with a shield and spear. She always traveled with the goddess Nike, who personified victory.

IN Ancient Greece Athena was considered the protector of fortresses and cities. She gave people fair and correct government systems. The goddess personified wisdom, calmness and insightful intelligence.

Hephaestus and Prometheus

Hephaestus is the god of fire and blacksmithing. His activity was manifested by volcanic eruptions, which greatly frightened people. Initially, he was considered only the god of heavenly fire. Since on earth people lived and died in eternal cold. Hephaestus, like Zeus and other Olympian gods, was cruel to the human world, and was not going to give them fire.

Prometheus changed everything. He was the last of the Titans to survive. He lived on Olympus and was right hand Zeus. Prometheus could not watch people suffer, and, having kidnapped sacred fire from the temple, brought it to earth. For which he was punished by the Thunderer and doomed to eternal torment. But the titan was able to come to an agreement with Zeus: he granted him freedom in exchange for the secret of maintaining power. Prometheus could see the future. And in the future of Zeus, he saw his death at the hands of his son. Thanks to the titan, the father of all gods did not marry the one who could give birth to a murderous son, and thereby forever secured his power.

The Greek gods Athena, Hephaestus and Prometheus became symbols of the ancient festival of running with lit torches. The progenitor of the Olympic Games.

Apollo

The Greek sun god Apollo was the son of Zeus. He was identified with Helios. According to Greek mythology, Apollo lives in the distant lands of the Hyperboreans in winter, and returns to Hellas in the spring and again pours life into withered nature. Apollo was also the god of music and singing, since, along with the revival of nature, he gave people the desire to sing and create. He was called the patron of art. Music and poetry in Ancient Greece were considered the gift of Apollo.

Due to his regenerative powers, he was also considered the god of healing. According to legend, Apollo expelled all darkness from the sick with his sun rays. The ancient Greeks depicted God as a blond youth holding a harp.

Artemis

Apollo's sister Artemis was the goddess of the moon and the hunt. It was believed that at night she wandered through the forests with her companions, the naiads, and watered the ground with dew. She was also called the patroness of animals. At the same time, many legends are associated with Artemis, where she cruelly drowned sailors. To appease her, people were sacrificed.

At one time, the Greeks called Artemis the patroness of brides. The girls performed rituals and brought offerings to the goddess in the hope of a strong marriage. Artemis of Ephesus even became a symbol of fertility and childbirth. The Greeks depicted the goddess with many breasts on her chest, which symbolized her generosity as a nurse of people.

The names of the Greek gods Apollo and Artemis are closely related to Helios and Selene. Gradually the brother and sister lost their physical significance. Therefore, in Greek mythology, separate sun god Helios and moon goddess Selene appeared. Apollo remained the patron of music and the arts, and Artemis - of hunting.

Ares

Ares was originally considered the god of the stormy sky. He was the son of Zeus and Hera. But among the ancient Greek poets he received the status of the god of war. He was always depicted as a fierce warrior, armed with a sword or spear. Ares loved the noise of battle and bloodshed. Therefore, he was always at enmity with the goddess of the clear sky, Athena. She was for prudence and fair conduct of battle, he was for fierce skirmishes and countless bloodsheds.

Ares is also considered the creator of the tribunal - the trial of murderers. The trial took place on a sacred hill, which was named after God - Areopagus.

Aphrodite and Eros

Beautiful Aphrodite was the patroness of all lovers. She is the favorite muse for all poets, sculptors and artists of that time. The goddess was depicted beautiful woman emerging naked from the sea foam. Aphrodite's soul was always full of pure and immaculate love. During the time of the Phoenicians, Aphrodite contained two principles - Asherah and Astarte. She was an Asherah when she enjoyed the singing of nature and the love of the young man Adonis. And Astarte - when she was revered as the “goddess of heights” - a stern warrior who imposed a vow of chastity on her novices and protected marital morality. The ancient Greeks combined these two principles in their goddess and created an image of ideal femininity and beauty.

Eros or Eros is the Greek god of love. He was the son of the beautiful Aphrodite, her messenger and faithful assistant. Eros united the destinies of all lovers. He was depicted as a small, plump boy with wings.

Demeter and Dionysus

Greek gods, patrons of agriculture and winemaking. Demeter personified nature, which under sunlight and heavy rains ripens and bears fruit. She was portrayed as a “fair-haired” goddess, giving people a harvest deserved by labor and sweat. It is to Demeter that people owe the science of arable farming and sowing. The goddess was also called "earth mother". Her daughter Persephone was the link between the world of the living and the kingdom of the dead; she belonged to both worlds.

Dionysus is the god of wine. And also brotherhood and joy. Dionysus gives people inspiration and joy. He taught people how to cultivate the vine, as well as wild and riotous songs, which then served as the basis for ancient Greek drama. God was depicted as a young, cheerful youth, his body was entwined with a vine, and in his hands was a jug of wine. Wine and vine are the main symbols of Dionysus.

January 4, 2015 a unique event occurred, the Father (IVO) revealed new Will for our planetary race, which will now be called the Metagalactic race, this is the first. And the second, coming from the first by this decision of the Father, we (the servants) and humanity have passed all the tests, tests and overcome the Gods in our development (neither knowledge, nor intelligence, nor power, etc.). In previous eras, the Gods considered us their slaves, and this tendency took root on the planet, including through Christian religion. We are no longer slaves of the Gods. The slavery of the Gods (the Galactic race of people) on our planet ended and we became FREE from them. We will learn the consequences of this decision of the Father for humanity in the not distant future. It is written here about religious slavery to God, read it and understand from what a person became free.

We often hear the word God from people who are believers with varying degrees and depth of religiosity. We get a lot of information about God and gods from the media. mass media and television in the form of certain programs and broadcasts. This topic is discussed by scientists, theorists, and philosophers. Ordinary people are more familiar with and understand the religious perception of the word God. Religion relies more on the concept of God, God the Father, God, Lord God. We often use words such as: go with God, thank God, God forbid, God forbid, God be with him, oh God, and we are used to and often use them, I would say unconsciously, automatically inserting them in dialogues and conversations. And it doesn’t matter whether you are a believer or an atheist, everyone uses them out of habit. I will not say that this is good or bad, let everyone decide for themselves by making their own conclusion after reading this article.

God there is one of the main religious concepts, meaning an objectified supernatural mythological entity that serves as an object of worship. Thus, God in religion is endowed with the features of an ideal, supreme being; in some concepts he is the creator of the world. Let's look at whether these statements are correct or not.

The representative of the philosophy of Russian cosmism, Vladimir Solovyov, defined who God is, the philosophy of Russian cosmism, the basis of the Philosophy of Synthesis. God is an absolute being, a cosmic mind, a super-personal being, a special organizing force. Breaks down into atoms, which by their movements organize real world. God, the Creator, the Father is the source of life, the external manager, of primordiality. A single cosmo-evolutionary process is the union of man with the Father, through his spiritualization and improvement.

Religions about God.

Who is God? If you look at different religions, then there is the word God, God the Father, God Allah and so on, which is the source of everything, but in the sources of religion, for example in true Buddhism, the word God was never used in the original sources. In Christianity, Jesus, as the founder of Christianity, never used the word God; he always addressed the Father. Among Orthodox believers it is considered one of main prayer This is “Our Father”. Otche Old Church Slavonic form of the vocative case of the word Father. The great misconception is that people, praying and turning for help to higher powers, to a higher mind, to God, to guardian angels, archangels, did not reach the Father in their prayers as the primary source of their life.

Prayer is a verbal appeal to the Father (practice of the Word). Subsequently, prayers turned to addressing deities, angels and archangels as protectors of people. (Monks ascended into Angels, Angels aspired to Gods). God is the same appeal to God.

Faulty Human Perception- this is when he does not distinguish between something higher, for example, the Angel as a form of life and the gods as a form of higher life, as well as the Lords (Teachers), the Father do not differ, and in the end all this for an ordinary person is called Divinity. The meaning of the Divine is beings that are much more powerful than humans.

Divinity- these are creatures of non-human nature who are endowed with power and can do much more than a person, which means they subjugate them and a person must obey them and listen to them. This is the principle of religious ideology in the 5th race, but it was not in the Will of the Father.

This was a definite goal and task to prevent humanity from planet Earth from perceiving Father directly without intermediaries. And the gods became, as it were, intermediaries between people and the true Source of people’s life. And throughout the previous era, humanity followed this path. But among the people there were others who were focused at different speeds and to varying degrees on learning new things and more deeply saw and understood the essence of what was happening in life; they were called Disciples, Initiates.

For example earlier: you worship, pray to God and receive some benefits and abilities, but if you don’t worship God, you don’t receive them. Humans are initially endowed by nature and genetics with the right to freedom of choice and free will. Man is, a priori, a free being. He was created this way by the Father.

And hence, if you want to achieve something, but do not worship some God, then you do not have these opportunities and the person was limited in achievement and his development at a certain stage. And this position is not entirely correct; from the point of view of humanity, it turns out if you do not want to worship God, but want, for example, to learn the same things that God can do, and only through worship could you come to some possibilities and super abilities. And this is not entirely correct worship, it is always dependence. This was the slavish dependence of people on the Gods, which they imposed on people, and it is necessary for humanity to get out of this and overcome it, consciously coming to the realization of new meanings and essences. This is what it tells us, that we do not always have semantic distinctions. But when they appear, we already begin to call the object or subject the perspective of the meaning that we assume based on our level of development.

And so God and Father There are beings that carry some kind of capabilities, abilities, some kind of power for a person, and for a person of the previous formation, the Father is now creating a person of a completely different scale and other possibilities. And even in this, when we begin to delve into it, we discern that the Gods also have limits to their capabilities and their perfection.

Divine life form.

Gods as a form of life- these are the remnants of the Galactic civilization of people, degraded on Who are the goddesses of our Planet (from the point of view of the Metagalaxy), who lived in the synthesis of 3 planes, what were the plans of the Planet here, they did not have a developed mentality and there was no distinction between the subtle and physical worlds.

Gods– this is a more highly developed form, a life line in comparison with planetary man. What forms of life there were on the planet in the 5th race can be read here.

Gods– these are the failed people of the Galaxy (the remnants of Galactic humanity, which destroyed itself), with the orientation of life in the Metagalaxy and the Galaxy. People living in the dimension of one type of cosmic matter.

Gods had the ability to control the laws of nature on our planet. Since man did not learn to control these laws and therefore did not possess these abilities. As for the religion of the ancient Greeks and Romans, this is classical polytheism, because their pantheons numbered several hundred different deities who personified both the forces of nature and the heavenly bodies. For example: Goddess of Fertility, Goddess of Beauty, do you feel? God Zeus, God of Fire Hephaestus, this natural elemental Fire, and so on. That is, these are deities who carried with them the phenomena of one or another law of nature and somehow helped man to build into this natural environment, interacting with humanity, sometimes correctly, sometimes not so much. It was correct when we helped people achieve something, it was incorrect when we made people dependent on ourselves. What is the legend of Prometheus the Titan worth? ancient family gods, who gave people the fire of knowledge and crafts, thereby launching technical progress. Moreover, he committed this act against the will of the gods, for which he paid. Draw your own conclusions about the essence and development of the gods. They were similar in shape to humans, but not all of them. Let us remember the ancient myths, the legends reflect their essence, there were human and animal forms, therefore the gods are not fully realized people.

The gods failed in their essence and in their content, and then in their behavior towards humanity on planet Earth. Seeing that they were more powerful than planetary people, they allowed themselves to make slaves out of planetary people. This conclusion can be put together if we systematize ancient sources and myths. They allowed themselves, like animals, to subjugate man without seeing him as their equal, but who was at a different stage of development, lower in relation to the gods. By this the gods violated the law of the Father “All are equal before the Father” . They demanded that people serve and submit to them. These are animal principles of life, not human ones. In terms of development, the gods were yours, but they could not fully ascend into man. The Father has many lines of life and they are all different, they all go their own way and develop as they can. And a person in this variety of forms and lines of life takes his position and develops from some standards (or racial development) going to other standards, fulfilling them.

Man externally perceived the gods in human form, but there were also animal forms such as Egyptian, Indian, deities and others. And people symbolically called a higher form of life divine and worshiped gods and believed in God. People sought to imitate and prayed to another form of life, and not to the source of their life, which the Father gave to each person.

Who is God from the point of view Metagalactic meanings, and the Metagalaxy has unfolded here and now on the planet and affects everyone and the entire environment. Then, from the position of an observer from the Metagalaxy, there is a clear definition of who the gods are.

God is a non-Father life form, The Father as the source of life for each of us is the essential concept that defines the Philosophy and teaching of Synthesis. Gods, by virtue of their qualities and properties, were powerful rulers on the planet; they had the ability to control natural elements. They took responsibility for management, introducing, as it were, mediation between man and the Father, taking on certain functions without having the authority to do so - this is the main problem of the gods, which they could not see and overcome and thus did not ascend into the Metagalaxy.

From the point of view of the Father's Alphabet “In the beginning was the Word” and the word God can develop us, guide us somehow, but God will not lead us to the source of life, which is the Father. New living conditions develop Consciousness and Awareness in each of us. Understanding this takes us to a different perception of the life around us and the processes in it, as well as our attitude towards the Father. We do not yet understand and do not see many of the processes that are not transparent to us, the actions that take place around us, including in us. We do not always see different Hierarchical levels and essences, different processes. But if we learn and strive, then we are given the right to be Creators and create with the Father new life, moving to higher levels of perception evolutionary development. One could learn both good and bad from the gods.

What was negative from the gods, what should not be taken.

They did not fully express the Father.
In their power in relation to the planet and people, they could allow themselves to manipulate people. This is the animal principle of control. I am God, I am taller than you, that means I am a lower person, this is a manifestation of pride. You can say the relationship between a boss and a subordinate.

We offer a list of the most famous ancient greek gods With brief descriptions and links to full articles with illustrations.

• Hades is the god - ruler of the kingdom of the dead, as well as the kingdom itself. One of the elder Olympian gods, brother of Zeus, Hera, Demeter, Poseidon and Hestia, son of Kronos and Rhea. Husband of the fertility goddess Persephone
• - hero of myths, giant, son of Poseidon and the Earth of Gaia. The earth gave its son strength, thanks to which no one could control him. But Hercules defeated Antaeus, tearing him away from the Earth and depriving him of the help of Gaia.
• - god of sunlight. The Greeks depicted him as a beautiful young man. Apollo (other epithets - Phoebus, Musaget) - son of Zeus and the goddess Leto, brother of Artemis. He had the gift of foreseeing the future and was considered the patron of all arts. In late antiquity, Apollo was identified with the sun god Helios.
• - god of treacherous war, son of Zeus and Hera. The Greeks depicted him as a strong young man.
• - twin sister of Apollo, goddess of hunting and nature, was believed to facilitate childbirth. She was sometimes considered a moon goddess and identified with Selene. The center of the cult of Artemis was in the city of Ephesus, where a grandiose temple was erected in her honor - one of the seven wonders of the world.
• - god of medical art, son of Apollo and the nymph Coronis. To the Greeks he was represented as a bearded man with a staff in his hand. The staff was entwined with a snake, which later became one of the symbols of the medical profession. Asclepius was killed by Zeus for trying to resurrect the dead with his art. In the Roman pantheon, Asclepius corresponds to the god Aesculapius.
• Atropos(“inevitable”) - one of the three moiras, cutting the thread of fate and ending a human life.
• - the daughter of Zeus and Metis, born from his head in full military armor. Goddess of just war and wisdom, patroness of knowledge. Athena taught people many crafts, established laws on earth, and gave musical instruments to mortals. The center of veneration of Athena was in Athens. The Romans identified Athena with the goddess Minerva.
• (Kytherea, Urania) - goddess of love and beauty. She was born from the marriage of Zeus and the goddess Dione (according to another legend, she emerged from the sea foam, hence her title Anadyomene, “foam-born”). Aphrodite corresponds to the Sumerian Inanna and the Babylonian Ishtar, the Egyptian Isis and the Great Mother of the Gods, and finally, the Roman Venus.
• - god of the north wind, son of the Titanides Astraeus (starry sky) and Eos (morning dawn), brother of Zephyr and Note. He was depicted as a winged, long-haired, bearded, powerful deity.
• - in mythology, sometimes called Dionysus by the Greeks, and Liber by the Romans, was originally a Thracian or Phrygian god, whose cult was adopted by the Greeks very early. Bacchus, according to some legends, is considered the son of the daughter of the Theban king, Semele, and Zeus. According to others, he is the son of Zeus and Demeter or Persephone.
• (Hebea) - daughter of Zeus and Hera, goddess of youth. Sister of Ares and Ilithyia. She served the Olympian gods at feasts, bringing them nectar and ambrosia. In Roman mythology, Hebe corresponds to the goddess Juventa.
• - goddess of darkness, night visions and sorcery, patroness of sorcerers. Hecate was often considered the goddess of the moon and was identified with Artemis. Hecate's Greek nickname "Triodita" and the Latin name "Trivia" originate from the legend that this goddess lives at crossroads.
• - hundred-armed, fifty-headed giants, the personification of the elements, sons of Uranus (Heaven) and the goddess Gaia (Earth).
• (Helium) - god of the Sun, brother of Selene (Moon) and Eos (dawn). In late antiquity he was identified with Apollo. According to Greek myths, Helios travels around the sky every day in a chariot drawn by four fiery horses. The main center of the cult was located on the island of Rhodes, where a giant statue was erected in his honor, considered one of the seven wonders of the world (the Colossus of Rhodes).
• Gemera- goddess of daylight, personification of the day, born of Nikta and Erebus. Often identified with Eos.
• - the supreme Olympian goddess, sister and third wife of Zeus, daughter of Rhea and Kronos, sister of Hades, Hestia, Demeter and Poseidon. Hera was considered the patroness of marriage. From Zeus she gave birth to Ares, Hebe, Hephaestus and Ilithyia (the goddess of women in childbirth, with whom Hera herself was often identified.
• - son of Zeus and Maya, one of the most significant Greek gods. Patron of wanderers, crafts, trade, thieves. Possessing the gift of eloquence, Hermes patronized schools and speakers. He played the role of messenger of the gods and guide of the souls of the dead. He was usually depicted as a young man wearing a simple hat and winged sandals, with magic wand in hand. In Roman mythology it was identified with Mercury.
• - goddess of the hearth and fire, eldest daughter of Kronos and Gaia, sister of Hades, Hera, Demeter, Zeus and Poseidon. In Roman mythology, she corresponded to the goddess Vesta.
• - son of Zeus and Hera, god of fire and blacksmithing. He was considered the patron saint of artisans (especially blacksmiths). The Greeks portrayed Hephaestus as a broad-shouldered, short and lame man, working in a forge where he forges weapons for the Olympian gods and heroes.
• - mother earth, foremother of all gods and people. Coming out of Chaos, Gaia gave birth to Uranus-Sky, and from her marriage with him gave birth to titans and monsters. The Roman mother goddess corresponding to Gaia is Tellus.
• - god of sleep, son of Nyx and Erebus, younger twin brother of the god of death Thanatos, favorite of the muses. Lives in Tartarus.
• - goddess of fertility and agriculture. The daughter of Kronos and Rhea, she is one of the elder Olympian gods. Mother of the goddess Kore-Persephone and the god of wealth Plutos.
• (Bacchus) - the god of viticulture and winemaking, the object of a number of cults and mysteries. He was depicted either as an obese elderly man or as a young man with a wreath of grape leaves on his head. In Roman mythology, he corresponded to Liber (Bacchus).
• - lower deities, nymphs who lived in trees. The dryad's life was closely connected with her tree. If the tree died or was cut down, the dryad also died.
• - god of fertility, son of Zeus and Persephone. In the Mysteries he was identified with Dionysus.
• - the supreme Olympian god. Son of Kronos and Rhea, father of many younger gods and people (Hercules, Perseus, Helen of Troy). Lord of thunderstorms and thunder. As the ruler of the world, he had many different functions. In Roman mythology, Zeus corresponded to Jupiter.
• - god of the west wind, brother of Boreas and Note.
• - god of fertility, sometimes identified with Dionysus and Zagreus.
• - patron goddess of women in labor (Roman Lucina).
• - the god of the river of the same name in Argos and the most ancient Argive king, the son of Tethys and Oceanus.
• - the deity of the great mysteries, introduced into the Eleusinian cult by the Orphics and associated with Demeter, Persephone, Dionysus.
• - personification and goddess of the rainbow, winged messenger of Zeus and Hera, daughter of Thaumant and the oceanid Electra, sister of the Harpies and Arches.
• - demonic creatures, children of the goddess Nikta, bringing troubles and death to people.
• - Titan, the son of Uranus and Gaia, was thrown into Tartarus by Zeus
• - Titan, youngest son of Gaia and Uranus, father of Zeus. He ruled the world of gods and people and was dethroned by Zeus. In Roman mythology, it is known as Saturn, a symbol of inexorable time.
• - daughter of the goddess of discord Eris, mother of the Harites (according to Hesiod). And also the River of Oblivion in the underworld (Virgil).
• - Titanide, mother of Apollo and Artemis.
• (Metis) - the goddess of wisdom, the first of the three wives of Zeus, who conceived Athena from him.
• - mother of nine muses, goddess of memory, daughter of Uranus and Gaia.
• - daughters of Nikta-Night, goddess of fate Lachesis, Clotho, Atropos.
• - god of ridicule, slander and stupidity. Son of Nyukta and Erebus, brother of Hypnos.
• - one of the sons of Hypnos, the winged god of dreams.
• - patron goddess of the arts and sciences, nine daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne.
• - nymphs-guardians of waters - deities of rivers, lakes, springs, streams and springs.
• - daughter of Nikta, a goddess who personified fate and retribution, punishing people in accordance with their sins.
• - fifty daughters of Nereus and the oceanids Doris, sea deities.
• - son of Gaia and Pontus, meek sea god.
• - personification of victory. She was often depicted wearing a wreath, a common symbol of triumph in Greece.
• - goddess of the Night, product of Chaos. The mother of many gods, including Hypnos, Thanatos, Nemesis, Mom, Kera, Moira, Hesperiad, Eris.
• - lower deities in the hierarchy of Greek gods. They personified the forces of nature and were closely connected with their habitats. River nymphs were called naiads, tree nymphs were called dryads, mountain nymphs were called orestiads, and sea nymphs were called nereids. Often, nymphs accompanied one of the gods and goddesses as a retinue.
• Note- the god of the south wind, depicted with a beard and wings.
• Ocean is a titan, the son of Gaia and Uranus, the forefather of the gods of the sea, rivers, streams and springs.
• Orion is a deity, the son of Poseidon and the Oceanid Euryale, daughter of Minos. According to another legend, he came from a fertilized bull skin, buried for nine months in the ground by King Girieus.
• Ora (Mountains) - goddesses of the seasons, peace and order, daughters of Zeus and Themis. There were three of them in total: Dike (or Astraea, goddess of justice), Eunomia (goddess of order and justice), Eirene (goddess of peace).
• Pan is the god of forests and fields, the son of Hermes and Dryope, a goat-footed man with horns. He was considered the patron saint of shepherds and small livestock. According to myths, Pan invented the pipe. In Roman mythology, Pan corresponds to Faun (the patron of herds) and Silvanus (the demon of the forests).
• Peyto- goddess of persuasion, companion of Aphrodite, often identified with her patroness.
• Persephone is the daughter of Demeter and Zeus, the goddess of fertility. The wife of Hades and the queen of the underworld, who knew the secrets of life and death. The Romans revered Persephone under the name Proserpina.
• Python (Dolphinus) is a monstrous serpent, the offspring of Gaia. Guarded the ancient oracle of Gaia and Themis in Delphi.
• The Pleiades are the seven daughters of the titan Atlas and the oceanids Pleione. The most striking of them bear the names of Atlantis, friends of Artemis: Alcyone, Keleno, Maya, Merope, Sterope, Taygeta, Electra. All the sisters were united in a love union with the gods, with the exception of Merope, who became the wife of Sisyphus.
• Pluto - god of the underworld, until the 5th century BC. named Hades. Later, Hades is mentioned only by Homer, in other later myths - Pluto.
• Plutos is the son of Demeter, a god who gives wealth to people.
• Pont- one of the most ancient Greek gods, the son of Gaia (born without a father), god of the Inner Sea. He is the father of Nereus, Thaumantas, Phorcys and his sister-wife Keto (from Gaia or Tethys); Eurybia (from Gaia; Telkhines (from Gaia or Thalassa); genera of fish (from Thalassa.
• - one of the Olympian gods, brother of Zeus and Hades, who rules over the sea elements. Poseidon also had power over the bowels of the earth; he commanded storms and earthquakes. He was depicted as a man with a trident in his hand, usually accompanied by a retinue of lower sea deities and sea animals.
• Proteus is a sea deity, son of Poseidon, patron of seals. He had the gift of reincarnation and prophecy.

Gods ancient world, powerful and not so powerful. Many of them had unusual abilities and were the owners of wonderful artifacts that gave them additional strength, knowledge and, ultimately, power.

Amaterasu ("Great Goddess Who Illuminates the Heavens")

Country: Japan Essence: Sun Goddess, ruler of the heavenly fields

Amaterasu- the eldest of three children of the progenitor god Izanaki. She was born from drops of water with which he washed his left eye. She took possession of the upper heavenly world, while her younger brothers got the night and the water kingdom. Amaterasu taught people how to cultivate rice and weave. The imperial house of Japan traces its ancestry from her.

She is considered the great-grandmother of the first Emperor Jimmu. The rice ear, mirror, sword and carved beads given to her became sacred symbols of imperial power. According to tradition, one of the emperor's daughters becomes the High Priestess of Amaterasu.

Yu-Di (“Jade Sovereign”)

Country: China Essence: Supreme Overlord, Emperor of the Universe

Yu-Di was born at the moment of the creation of Earth and Heaven. The Heavenly, Terrestrial, and Underground worlds are subject to him. All other deities and spirits are subordinate to him. Yu-Di is absolutely emotionless. He sits on a throne in a robe embroidered with dragons and holding a jade tablet in his hands.

Yu Di has an exact address: the god lives in a palace on Mount Yujingshan, which resembles the court of the Chinese emperors. Under it function heavenly councils responsible for various natural phenomena. They perform all sorts of actions that the Lord of Heaven himself does not condescend to do.

Quetzalcoatlus ("Feathered Serpent")

Country: Central America Essence: Creator of the world, lord of the elements, creator and teacher of people

Quetzalcoatlus not only created the world and people, but also taught them the most important skills: from agriculture to astronomical observations. Despite his high status, Quetzalcoatl sometimes acted in a very peculiar way. For example, in order to get maize grains for people, he entered an anthill, turning into an ant himself, and stole them.

Quetzalcoatl was depicted both as a feathered serpent (the body symbolizing the Earth, and the feathers representing vegetation) and as a bearded man wearing a mask. According to one legend, Quetzalcoatl voluntarily went into overseas exile on a raft of snakes, promising to return. Because of this, the Aztecs initially mistook the conquistador leader Cortes for the returned Quetzalcoatl.

Baal (Balu, Baal, "Lord")

Country: Middle East Essence: Thunderer, god of rain and elements.

In some myths, the creator of the world, Baal, was usually depicted either in the form of a bull or as a warrior riding on a cloud with a lightning spear. During the festivities in his honor, mass orgies took place, often accompanied by self-mutilation.

It is believed that human sacrifices were also made to Baal in some areas. From his name comes the name of the biblical demon Beelzebub (Ball-Zebula, “Lord of the Flies”).

Ishtar (Astarte, Inanna, "Lady of Heaven")

Country: Middle East Essence: Goddess of fertility, sex and war

Ishtar, sister of the Sun and daughter of the Moon, was associated with the planet Venus. Associated with the legend of her journey to the underworld was the myth of nature dying and reborn every year. She often acted as an intercessor for people before the gods. At the same time, Ishtar was responsible for various feuds. The Sumerians even called wars “the dances of Inanna.”

As a goddess of war, she was often depicted riding a lion, and was probably a prototype of the Whore of Babylon riding on a beast. The passion of the loving Ishtar was destructive for both gods and mortals. For her many lovers, everything usually ended in big trouble or even death. The worship of Ishtar included temple prostitution and was accompanied by mass orgies.

Ashur ("Father of the Gods")

Country: Assyria Essence: God of War

– main god Assyrians, god of war and hunting. His weapon was a bow and arrow. As a rule, he was depicted with bulls. Another symbol of it is the solar disk above the tree of life. Over time, as the Assyrians expanded their possessions, he began to be considered the consort of Ishtar. The Assyrian king himself was the high priest, and his name often became part of the royal name, as, for example, the famous Ashurbanipal, and the capital of Assyria was called Ashur.

Marduk ("Son of Clear Sky")

Country: Mesopotamia Essence: Patron of Babylon, god of wisdom, ruler and judge of the gods

Marduk defeated the embodiment of chaos Tiamat, driving the “evil wind” into her mouth, and took possession of the book of destinies that belonged to her. After that, he cut Tiamat's body and created Heaven and Earth from them, and then created the entire modern, ordered world.

The other gods, seeing the power of Marduk, recognized his supremacy. Marduk's symbol is the dragon Mushkhush, a mixture of scorpion, snake, eagle and lion. Various plants and animals were identified with the body parts and entrails of Marduk. Main temple Marduk - a huge ziggurat (step pyramid) probably became the basis of the legend of the Tower of Babel.

Yahweh (Jehovah, "He Who Is")

Country: Middle East Essence: Single tribal god of the Jews

Yahweh's main function was to help chosen people. He gave the Jews laws and strictly monitored their implementation. In clashes with enemies, Yahweh provided the chosen people with assistance, sometimes the most direct. In one of the battles, for example, he threw huge stones at his enemies, in another case he abolished the law of nature, stopping the sun. Unlike most other gods of the ancient world, Yahweh is extremely jealous, and forbids the worship of any deities other than himself.

Severe punishments await those who disobey. The word "Yahweh" is a replacement secret name God, which is forbidden to say out loud. It was impossible to create his images either. In Christianity, Yahweh is sometimes identified with God the Father.

Ahura-Mazda (Ormuzd, “God the Wise”)

Country: Persia Essence: Creator of the World and all that is good in it

Ahura-Mazda created the laws by which the world exists. He endowed people with free will, and they can choose the path of good (then Ahura Mazda will favor them in every possible way) or the path of evil (serving Ahura Mazda's eternal enemy Angra Mainyu). Ahura Mazda's assistants are the good beings of Ahura created by him. He is surrounded by them in the fabulous Garodman, the house of chants. The image of Ahura Mazda is the Sun. He is older than the whole world, but at the same time, eternally young. He knows both the past and the future. In the end, he will achieve the final victory over evil, and the world will become perfect.

Angra Mainyu (Ahriman, "Evil Spirit")

Country: Persia Essence: The embodiment of evil among the ancient Persians

Angra Mainyu- the source of everything bad that happens in the world. He spoiled the perfect world created by Ahura Mazda, introducing lies and destruction into it. He sends diseases, crop failures, natural disasters, gives birth to predatory animals, poisonous plants and animals. Under the command of Angra Mainyu are the devas, evil spirits, fulfilling his evil will. After Angra Mainyu and his minions are defeated, an era of eternal bliss should begin.

Brahma ("Priest")

Country: India Essence: God is the creator of the world

Brahma was born from a lotus flower and then created this world. After 100 years of Brahma, 311,040,000,000,000 earthly years, he will die, and after the same period of time a new Brahma will spontaneously generate and create new world. Brahma has four faces and four arms, which symbolizes the cardinal directions. Its indispensable attributes are a book, rosary, a vessel with water from the sacred Ganges, a crown and a lotus flower, symbols of knowledge and power. Brahma lives on the top of the sacred Mount Meru and rides on a white swan. The descriptions of the action of Brahma's weapon Brahmastra are reminiscent of the description of nuclear weapons.

Vishnu ("All-encompassing")

Country: India Essence: God is the keeper of the world

The main functions of Vishnu are maintaining the existing world and opposing evil. Vishnu appears in the world and acts through his incarnations, avatars, the most famous of which are Krishna and Rama. Vishnu has blue skin and wears yellow clothes. He has four hands in which he holds a lotus flower, a mace, a conch shell and Sudarshana (a rotating disk of fire, his weapon). Vishnu reclines on the giant multi-headed snake Shesha, which swims in the world's Causal Ocean.

Shiva ("Merciful")

Country: India Essence: God is the destroyer

The main task is the destruction of the world at the end of each world cycle in order to make room for a new creation. This happens during the dance of Shiva - Tandava (which is why Shiva is sometimes called the dancing god). However, he also has more peaceful functions - a healer and a deliverer from death. Shiva sits in lotus position on a tiger skin.

There are snake bracelets on his neck and wrists. On Shiva’s forehead there is a third eye (it appeared when Shiva’s wife, Parvati, jokingly covered his eyes with her palms). Sometimes Shiva is depicted as a lingam (an erect penis). But sometimes he is also depicted as a hermaphrodite, symbolizing the unity of the male and female principles. By folk beliefs Shiva smokes marijuana, so some believers consider this activity a way to understand him.

Ra (Amon, "Sun")

Country: Egypt Essence: Sun God

Ra, the main god of Ancient Egypt, was born from the primordial ocean of his own free will, and then created the world, including the gods. He is the personification of the Sun, and every day with a large retinue he travels across the sky in a magic boat, thanks to which life in Egypt becomes possible. At night, the boat of Ra sails along the underground Nile through afterworld. The Eye of Ra (sometimes considered an independent deity) had the ability to pacify and subjugate enemies. Egyptian pharaohs traced their origins to Ra, and called themselves his sons.

Osiris (Usir, "The Mighty One")

Country: Egypt Essence: God of rebirth, ruler and judge of the underworld.

Osiris taught people agriculture. His attributes are associated with plants: the crown and boat are made of papyrus, he holds bundles of reeds in his hands, and the throne is covered with greenery. Osiris was killed and cut into pieces by his brother, the evil god Set, but was resurrected with the help of his wife and sister Isis. However, having conceived the son Horus, Osiris did not remain in the world of the living, but became the ruler and judge of the kingdom of the dead. Because of this, he was often depicted as a swaddled mummy with free hands, in which he holds a scepter and flail. IN Ancient Egypt The tomb of Osiris was highly revered.

Isis ("The Throne")

Country: Egypt Essence: Intercessor Goddess.

– the embodiment of femininity and motherhood. All segments of the population turned to her with pleas for help, but, first of all, the oppressed. She especially patronized children. And sometimes she acted as a defender of the dead before the afterlife court. Isis was able to magically resurrect her husband and brother Osiris and give birth to his son Horus.

In popular mythology, the floods of the Nile were considered the tears of Isis, which she shed for Osiris, who remained in the world of the dead. The Egyptian pharaohs were called the children of Isis; sometimes she was even depicted as a mother feeding the pharaoh with milk from her breast. The image of the “veil of Isis” is known, meaning the concealment of the secrets of nature. This image has long attracted mystics. No wonder Blavatsky’s famous book is called “Isis Unveiled.”

Seth ("The Mighty")

Country: Egypt Essence: God of destruction

Set was initially revered as a warrior god, the protector of Ra. Some pharaohs even bore his name. But subsequently he gradually acquired negative traits and, in the end, became the embodiment of evil. Set sends sandstorms, destruction, death, provokes wars and patronizes hostile foreigners.

The Day of Set, the third day of the year, was considered the most unlucky among the Egyptians. Out of envy, Seth killed his brother Osiris, but was subsequently defeated by his son, Horus, as a result of an eighty-year struggle. Seth - red hair and red eyes; He was usually depicted with the head of an aardvark.

Zeus ("Bright Sky")

Country: Greece Essence: Thunderer, head of all gods

Zeus's father, Kronos, devoured his children, but his mother replaced the newborn Zeus with a stone. Having matured, Zeus overthrew his father and forced him to spit out his brothers and sisters. Together with them and their descendants, other gods, Zeus resides on Mount Olympus.

His attributes are a shield and a double-sided axe. Zeus is menacing and vengeful: many heroes of Greek mythology became victims of his wrath. The head of the gods is loving. He is often combined with earthly women; To do this, he sometimes turns into various animals (bull, eagle, swan) or even phenomena (he entered Danae in the form of golden rain).

Odin (Wotan, "The Seer")

A country: Northern Europe Essence: God of war and victory

Odin is the main god of the ancient Germans and Scandinavians. He travels on the eight-legged horse Sleipnir or on the ship Skidbladnir, the size of which can be changed at will. Odin's spear, Gugnir, always flies to the target and hits on the spot. He is accompanied by wise crows and predatory wolves. Odin lives in Valhalla with a squad of the best fallen warriors and warlike Valkyrie maidens.

In order to gain wisdom, Odin sacrificed one eye, and in order to understand the meaning of the runes, he hung on the sacred tree Yggdrasil for nine days, nailed to it with his own spear. Odin's future is predetermined: despite his power, on the day of Ragnarok (the battle preceding the end of the world) he will be killed by the giant wolf Fefnir.

Thor (Thunder)

Country: Northern Europe Essence: The Thunderer Thor is the god of the elements and fertility among the ancient Germans and Scandinavians.

This is a hero god who protects not only people, but also other gods from monsters. Thor was depicted as a giant with a red beard. His weapon is a magic hammer Mjolnir(“lightning”), which can only be held with iron gloves. Thor is girded with a magic belt that doubles his strength. He rides across the sky in a chariot drawn by goats.

Sometimes he eats goats, but then resurrects them with his magic hammer. In a day Ragnarok, the last battle, Thor will deal with the world serpent Jormungand, but he himself will die from its poison.

© Russian Seven russian7.ru

Religion can only be called a worldview in which there is the thought of God, the idea of ​​God, the recognition of God, the belief in God. If there is no this, there is no religion. We can call such a faith whatever we want: shamanism, fetishism, astrology, magic... But this is no longer a religion, it is a pseudo-religion, a degeneration of religion. Today I would like to talk to you about a fundamental issue for any religion, of course, for Christianity as well – the doctrine of God.

The question of God is not simple. You will have to hear more than once: “Here you, Christians, tell us about God, prove that He exists. And Who is He? Who are you talking about when you say the word “God”?” We’ll talk to you about this today.

I’ll start from very far away, don’t be surprised and be patient for a minute. Plato, a student of Socrates, has this idea: first principles (simple things that have no complexity) cannot be defined. They are impossible to describe. Indeed, we can define complex things through simple ones. And what about simple ones? If a person has never seen the color green, how do we explain to him what it is? There is only one thing left to say: “Look.” Tell me what it is green color, it is forbidden. Father Pavel Florensky once asked his cook, the simplest, uneducated woman: “What is the sun?” Tempted her. She looked at him in bewilderment: “The sun? Well, look what the sun is.” He was very pleased with this answer. Indeed, there are things that cannot be explained, they can only be seen.

To the question “Who is God?” I have to answer like this. Christianity says that God is O standing Being, the simplest of all that exists. It's simpler than the sun. He is not a reality that we can talk about and through this understand and cognize. It can only be “seen”. Only by “looking” at Him can one recognize Who He is. You don’t know what the sun is - look; you don't know who God is - look. How? – “Blessed are pure in heart, for they will see God" (Matthew 5:8). I repeat, not all things are amenable to verbal description or definition. We cannot explain to the blind what light is, or to the deaf what sound is to the third octave or Re to the first. Of course, there are any number of things that we talk about and explain them quite clearly, but there are many that go beyond the boundaries of conceptual expression. They can only be known through direct expression. And denition.

Do you know what was called theology in pre-Christian Greco-Roman literature and who was called a theologian? Theology meant stories about the gods, their adventures and deeds. And the authors of these stories were called theologians: Homer, Hesiod, Orpheus. (I won’t say what we find in them.) So much for theology and theologians. Of course, there are interesting ideas about God among Anaxagoras, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle and other ancient philosophers, but these ideas were not popular.

What is called theology in Christianity? The term "theology" is a Russian translation Greek word"theology". In my opinion, this is a very unfortunate translation, because the second part of the word “theology” - “logos” - has about 100 meanings (the first is Theos, or Theos, everyone understands - God). The ancient Greek-Russian dictionary of I. Dvoretsky contains 34 nests of meanings of the word “logos”. Each slot contains several more values. But if we talk about the basic religious and philosophical meaning of this concept, then most correctly, I believe, it corresponds to “knowledge”, “cognition”, “in And "The translators took the most common meaning - "word", and translated theology with such a vague concept as theology. But in essence, theology should be translated as knowledge of God, knowledge of God, knowledge of God. At the same time, knowledge, knowledge in Christianity is not meant at all what the pagans were thinking about - not words and reasoning about God, but a special, spiritual experience of direct experience, comprehension of God by a pure, holy person.

Reverend John Climacus formulated this idea very precisely and laconically: “The perfection of purity is the beginning of theology.” Other fathers call this theoria, i.e. contemplation, which occurs in a state of special silence - hesychia (hence hesychasm). The Monk Barsanuphius the Great spoke beautifully about this silence: “Silence is better and more amazing than all stories. Our fathers kissed it and worshiped it, and were glorified by it.” You see how ancient, patristic Christianity speaks, or rather spoke, about theology. It is the comprehension of God, which is realized only through the correct Christian life. In theological science this is called the method of spiritually-experiential knowledge of God; it gives a Christian the opportunity to truly comprehend Him and through this understand the true meaning of His Revelation given in Holy Scripture.

There are two other methods in theological science, and although they are purely rational, they also have a certain significance for the correct understanding of God. These are apophatic (negative) and cataphatic (positive) methods.

You've probably heard of them. The apophatic method proceeds from the unconditional truth about the fundamental difference of God from all created things and therefore His incomprehensibility and inexpressibility by human concepts. This method essentially prohibits saying anything about God, since any human word about Him will be false. To understand why this is so, pay attention to where all our concepts and words come from, how are they formed? That's how. We see, hear, touch, etc. something and name it accordingly. They saw it and named it. They discovered a planet and named it Pluto, discovered a particle and gave it the name neutron. There are concrete concepts, there are general ones, there are abstract ones, there are categories. Let's not talk about this now. This is how the language is replenished and developed. And since we communicate with each other and convey these names and concepts, we understand each other. We say: table, and we all understand what we are talking about, since all these concepts are formed on the basis of our collective earthly experience. But all of them are very, very incomplete, imperfectly describe real things, give only the most general idea about the subject. Heisenberg, one of the founders of quantum mechanics, rightly wrote: “The meanings of all concepts and words formed through the interaction between the world and ourselves cannot be precisely determined... Therefore, through rational thinking alone one can never arrive at absolute truth" (Heisenberg V. Physics and philosophy. – M., 1963. – P. 67).

It is interesting to compare this thought of a modern scientist and thinker with the statement of a Christian ascetic who lived a thousand years before Heisenberg and did not know any quantum mechanics - St. Simeon New Theologian. This is what he says: “I... mourned the human race, because, looking for extraordinary evidence, people bring human concepts, and things, and words and think that they depict the Divine nature, that nature, which none of the angels or people could neither see nor name" (Rev. Simeon the New Theologian. Divine hymns. Sergiev Posad, 1917. P. 272). So, you see what all our words mean. If they are imperfect even in relation to earthly things, then they are even more conditional when they relate to the realities of the spiritual world, to God.

Now you understand why the apophatic method is right - because, I repeat, no matter what words we use to define God, all these definitions will be incorrect. They are limited, they are earthly, they are taken from our earthly experience. And God is above all created things. Therefore, if we tried to be absolutely precise and settled on the apophatic method of cognition, we would simply have to remain silent. But what would faith and religion become then? How we could preach and generally talk about true religion or false. After all, the essence of every religion is the doctrine of God. And if we could not say anything about Him, we would cross out not only religion, but also the very possibility of understanding the meaning human life.

However, there is another approach to the doctrine of God. Although formally incorrect, it is in reality as correct, if not more so, than the apophatic one. We are talking about the so-called. cataphatic method. This method states: we must talk about God. And they should because this or that understanding of God fundamentally determines human thought, human life and activity. Think there's a difference between the following statements: I can't say anything about God; I say that God is Love; I say that He is hatred? Of course, there is a great difference, for every indication of the properties of God is a guideline, a direction, a norm for our human life.

Even the Apostle Paul writes about the pagans that everything that can be known about God, they could know through looking at the world around them. We are talking about some properties of God, about how you perceive some of the actions of God, this simple Being. And we call these the properties of God. His wisdom, His goodness, His mercy and so on. These are only individual manifestations of the Divine that we can observe on ourselves and on the world around us. God is a simple Being.

Therefore, although all our words are inaccurate, incomplete and imperfect, nevertheless, Divine Revelation for our teaching says quite definitely that God is Love, not hate, Good, not evil, Beauty, not ugliness... Christianity says : “God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him” (1 John 4:16). It turns out that the teaching about God-Love is not some vagueness, an abstraction, no, it is the very essence of human life, He is a really existing Ideal. Therefore, “he who does not love his brother remains in death”; therefore, “everyone who hates his brother is a murderer”; therefore, “no murderer has eternal life abiding in him” (1 John 3: 14,15). In other words, know, man, if you have hostility towards even one person, you are mistaken and bring yourself harm and suffering. Just think about what a great criterion is given to a person by the positive teaching about God and His properties. By it I can evaluate myself, my behavior, my actions. I know the great truth: what is good and what is evil and, therefore, what will bring me joy, happiness, and what will insidiously destroy me. Is there anything greater and great for a person?! This is the strength and significance of the cataphatic method.

You understand now Why there is a Revelation of God, which is given in human concepts, images, parables, Why Does He, inexplicable and indescribable, tell us about Himself in our harsh words? If He told us in angelic language, we would not understand anything. It would be the same as if someone came in and spoke Sanskrit. We would open our mouths in bewilderment, although it is very possible that he would communicate the greatest truths - we would still remain completely ignorant.

So, how does Christianity teach about God? On the one hand, it says that God is Spirit and, as a simple Being, cannot be expressed by any human words and concepts, for any word is, if you like, a distortion. On the other hand, we stand before the fact of God’s Revelation, given to us in the Holy Scriptures and the experience of many saints. That is, God speaks about Himself to man in his language, and although these words are imperfect and incomplete in themselves, they are necessary for man, since they indicate to him what he must do in order to come, at least in part, to saving knowledge , V And God's day. And that knowledge of God is partly possible, the Apostle writes about this: “Now we see through a dark glass, darkly, but then face to face; now I know in part, and then I will know, even as I am known” (1 Cor. 13: 12). And the Lord Himself says: “This is eternal life, yes know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent" (John 17:3). Earthly life and there is the beginning of this eternal life.

God the Lord condescends to our limited understanding and expresses the truth to us in our words. I think that when we die and are freed from this “conceptual” language, we will look with a smile at our ideas about God, the spiritual world, angels, eternity... which we had, even reading Revelation. Then, on the one hand, we will understand all the wretchedness of these ideas of ours, on the other hand, we will see how good this hidden Revelation of God about Himself, about man, about the world was for us, for it showed us the path, means and direction of saving life. That is, all this has a direct bearing on the spiritual life of a Christian. We are all filled with passions, we are all proud, we are all proud, but there is a huge difference between people. Which? One sees this in himself and fights with himself, but the other does not see it and does not want to see it. It turns out that the positive (cataphatic) teaching about God gives man correct criteria, a measure by which he can correctly evaluate himself if he really wants to be a believer. Of course, he may hate his brother, calling himself a believer, but then, if his conscience is not yet completely seared and his mind is not completely darkened, he can understand what demonic state he is in.

You know, there are natural and supernatural religions. Natural religions are nothing more than an expression in images and concepts, myths and stories of the immediate, natural human sensation of God. Therefore, such ideas are always either primitively anthropomorphic or intellectually abstract in nature. Here are all kinds of images of gods, filled with all human passions and virtues, here is the divine Nothing, here is the idea of ​​Plato’s Demiurge and Aristotle’s Prime Mover, etc. But all the truths of these religions and religious-philosophical ideas have a pronounced human origin. Supernatural religions are distinguished by the fact that God Himself makes it known about Himself, who He is. And we see what a stunning difference there is between the Christian understanding of God and that which is outside it. At first glance, both here and there are the same or similar words, however, the content of these religions is essentially different from each other. How striking this difference is, the Apostle Paul beautifully expressed it when he said: “But we preach Christ crucified, which is a stumbling block to the Jews, but foolishness to the Greeks” (1 Cor. 1:23). Really, All specifically Christian truths are fundamentally different from all previous analogues. This is not only the crucified Christ, but also the teaching about the Triune God, about the Logos and His Incarnation, about the Resurrection, about Salvation, etc. But this needs to be discussed separately. But let’s talk about one of these truths now. There is another unique truth of the Christian teaching about God, which decisively distinguishes Christianity from all other religions, including even the Old Testament religion. We will not find anywhere except Christianity that God is Love and only Love.

Outside of Christianity, we will encounter any ideas about God. At the same time, His highest understanding, to which certain religions and some ancient philosophers came, boiled down to the doctrine of a just Judge, the highest Truth, the most perfect Reason. No one knew that God is Love before Christ. Here's an example. Our Church has a commission for dialogue with Iranian Muslims. At a meeting last summer, the question of the highest virtue and the highest attribute of God was raised. And it was interesting to hear when Muslim theologians, one after another, said that such a property is justice. We answered: “If so, then the most fair is the computer. And don’t you turn to Allah: “Oh, all-merciful and merciful!” They say: “Yes, merciful, but the Judge. He judges fairly and in this his mercy is manifested." Why did not the non-Christian consciousness (even if it even called itself Christian) know and do not know that God is Love and nothing more? Because we, people, have been distorted the very concept of love. human language love means: forgiveness, absence of punishment, that is, freedom of arbitrariness. Do what you want, that's what "love" means in human terms. We forgive a friend everything, but to someone who is unpleasant to us, we cling to every nonsense. Our concept of love has been distorted. Christianity returns to us its true understanding.

What is Christian love? “God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” Love is sacrifice. But sacrifice is not blind. Look at how Christ responded to evil: “Serpents, brood of vipers.” He takes a whip and drives him out of the temple, overturning the benches of those selling in it. I remember one episode from the book of Archbishop Alexander of Tien-Shan, when he was 14–15 years old. He wrote: I took some book and began to look at a picture in it of horses mating. And suddenly my mother saw it. I have never seen such anger in her. She was always very gentle and kind, but here she indignantly snatched this book from my hands. It was the anger of love, which I remember with gratitude all my life."

People do not know what the anger of love is and by love they mean only indulgences. Therefore, if God is Love, then, therefore, do whatever you want. From here it becomes clear why highest virtue have always considered and continue to believe in justice. We see how even in the history of Christianity this highest teaching was gradually belittled and distorted.

The Christian teaching about God-Love was deeply accepted and revealed by the holy fathers. However, this understanding turns out to be psychologically inaccessible to the old man. The most striking example is the Catholic doctrine of salvation. It comes down, in the true words of A.S. Khomyakov, to a continuous litigation between God and man. What kind of relationship is this? Love relationship? No, court. If you have committed a sin, bring appropriate satisfaction to the justice of God, for by sin you have offended the Divine. They don’t even understand that God cannot be offended, because otherwise He turns out to be not an all-blessed Being, but the most suffering Being. If God is continually offended by human sins, continually shudders with anger at sinners, then what kind of bliss is there, what love! This is the judge. Hence the proud doctrine of the merits and even supererogatory merits of a person, which he supposedly can have before God, was invented. Hence the doctrine of the Sacrifice of Christ as a satisfaction to the justice of God, the doctrine of purgatory, hence indulgences. All Catholic teaching boils down to the Old Testament doctrine: “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.” It all flows directly from a deeply distorted understanding of God.

Well, if God is Love, then how can we understand this Love? Are there human sorrows? Yes. Isn't there retribution for human sins? It happens, and what else. We are on personal experience and the experience of others we can constantly see this. And the Holy Scripture itself speaks of retribution, and so do the holy fathers. What, then, does all this mean, if not that God is Justice? It turns out not. When the facts of human disasters and suffering are assessed as God’s punishment, that is, as God’s vengeance for sins, they make a big mistake. Who punishes a drug addict, who punishes someone who jumps out from the second or third floor and breaks his arms and legs? Who punishes a drunkard? Is it God’s revenge that he becomes broken, mutilated, sick physically and mentally? Of course not. These sufferings are the natural consequences of violating the laws of the external world. Exactly the same thing happens to a person when he violates spiritual laws, which are primary and even more significant in our lives than physical, biological, mental laws, etc. And what does God do? All the commandments of God are a revelation of spiritual laws and a kind of warning to man, just like the laws material world. If you want, you can even say this, God begs us people: don’t harm yourself, don’t sin, don’t jump from the fifth floor, go down the stairs; don’t envy, don’t steal, don’t be deceitful, don’t... - you’re crippling yourself with this, for every sin carries its own punishment.

I remember that as a child, one winter my mother told me that in the cold you should not touch the iron door handle with your tongue. As soon as my mother turned away, I immediately licked her and there was a great cry. But I remembered that incident well and since then, imagine, I have never repeated this “sin” again. So I understood what God’s commandments are and that God is precisely Love, even when it hurts a lot. It was not my mother who punished me, it was not she who stuck my tongue to the iron handle, but I did not want to recognize the laws and was punished. God “punishes” us in the same way. Our sorrows are not God's vengeance. God remains Love and therefore warns us in advance, says, begs: “Do not do this, for this will certainly be followed by your suffering, your sorrows.”

But the idea that God takes revenge and punishes is a widespread and deeply rooted misconception. And a false idea gives rise to corresponding consequences. How many times, I think, have you heard how people are outraged... by God. They rebel against God: “What, am I the most sinful? Why did God punish me?” Either children are born bad, or something burned out, or things go wrong. All you can hear is: “What, am I the most sinful? Here they are worse than me, and they prosper.” They reach the point of blasphemy, curses, and rejection of God. Where does all this come from? From the perverted, pagan-Jewish understanding of God. They just cannot understand and accept that He does not take revenge on anyone, that He is the greatest Doctor, Who is always ready to help everyone who has sincerely realized their sins and brought heartfelt repentance. He is above our insults. Remember, in the Apocalypse there are wonderful words: “Behold, I stand at the door and knock: if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will sup with him, and he with Me” (Rev. 3:20).

Let us now listen to what the Holy Scripture says about God-Love:

He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good and sends rain on the just and the unjust (Matthew 5:45).

For He is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked (Luke 4:39).

For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, so that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16).

When tempted, no one should say: God is tempting me; because God is not tempted by evil and He Himself does not tempt anyone. But everyone is tempted, being drawn away and enticed by his own lust (James 1: 13-14).

That you... may... understand the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God (Eph. 3:18-19).

How do the holy fathers look at this issue? We will find in them (as well as in the Holy Scriptures) many statements that directly speak of God’s punishments for sins. But what do these punishments mean, what is their nature? I will read to you their explanations of this serious issue.

Rev. Anthony the Great: “God is good and impassive and unchangeable. If anyone, recognizing that it is blessed and true that God does not change, is perplexed, however, how He (being such) rejoices over the good, turns away from the evil, becomes angry at sinners, and when they repent , is merciful to them; then it must be said that God does not rejoice and is not angry: for joy and anger are passions. It is absurd to think that God is good or bad because of human deeds and only does good. but it does not harm anyone, remaining always the same; and when we are good, we enter into communication with God - according to our similarity with Him, and when we become evil, we separate from God - according to our dissimilarity with Him. Living virtuously, we become God's. and by becoming evil, we become rejected from Him; but this does not mean that He is angry with us, but the fact that our sins do not allow God to shine in us, but unite us with demons tormentors. If we then gain permission from our sins through prayers and acts of kindness, this does not mean that we have pleased God and changed Him, but that through such actions and our turning to God, having healed the evil that exists in us, we again become capable of tasting God’s goodness; so to say: God turns away from the wicked is the same as saying: the sun is hidden from those deprived of sight"(Instructions of St. Anthony the Great. Philokalia. Vol. 1. §150).

St. Gregory of Nyssa: "For what It is impious to regard the nature of God as subject to any passion of pleasure or mercy or anger, no one will deny this, even those who are little attentive to the knowledge of the truth of Existence. But although it is said that God rejoices over His servants and is angry with rage at the fallen people, then that He has mercy, and if He has mercy, He also gives generously (Ex. 33:19), but with each of these sayings, I think, the generally accepted word loudly teaches us, that through our properties the providence of God adapts itself to our weakness to those inclined to sin for fear of punishment restrained themselves from evil, previously carried away by sin, did not despair of returning through repentance, looking at mercy..." (St. Gregory of Nyssa. Against Eunomius. Creations. Ch.U1. Book.II.M.1864. P.428-429 ).

St. John Chrysostom: “When you hear the words: “rage and anger” in relation to God, then do not understand anything human by them: these are words of condescension. Divinity is alien to all such things; it is said this way in order to bring the subject closer to the understanding of cruder people" (Conversation on Ps. VI.-2. Creation. T.V. Book 1. St. Petersburg. 1899. P. 49).

St. John Cassian the Roman: God “can neither be upset by insults nor irritated by the iniquities of people...” (Interview – X1. §6).

All this is very important to understand because it has great implications for spiritual life. We are separated from God by our sins, but God never departs from us, no matter how sinful we are. Therefore for us Always remains open door saving repentance. It was not by chance, but providentially, that the first to enter heaven was not the righteous man, but the thief. God is always Love.

This understanding of God also stems from the Christian dogma of God, one in essence and threefold in Hypostases - a dogma, again, new, unknown to the world. There is a fatherly expression: whoever has seen the Trinity has seen Love. The dogma of the Trinity reveals to us the prototype of that love, which is the ideal norm of human life and human relationships. Multi-hypostatic humanity, although united by nature, is, however, in its present state not at all united in essence, for sin divides people. The mystery of God the Trinity was revealed to humanity so that it would know that only God-like love can make every person a child of God.

Lecture by Professor A.I. Osipov on basic theology, was read at Sretensky Theological Seminary on October 10, 2000 G.

Birthdays