Diseases, their origin and ways of healing. God's punishment or let's talk about oncology

- Nowadays, as we know, healthy people No. We are all sick to one degree or another. What is illness from a spiritual point of view, father?

- Man was created by God sinless and immortal. This means that illness (and the death that results from it) is not created by God. But the corruption of man’s soul, his falling away from God through sin, was the cause of illness and death. Thus, illness is not a natural process, but a lack of human integrity, a lack of human unity with God and with himself, because even the word “heal” means “become whole.”

- What is the cause of illness - is it punishment, retribution for personal sins?

- This is not entirely and not always the case. There is also such a story in the Gospel: when, at the sight of a man born blind, “His disciples asked Him: Rabbi! Who sinned, he or his parents, that he was born blind? Jesus answered: “Neither he nor his parents sinned, but this was so that the works of God might be revealed in him” (John 9:2-3). And he healed the man born blind. That is, illness is not always a consequence of personal sins.

- Many people say that all diseases are caused by nerves. Is this true?

- What are nerves? First of all, these are manifestations of our passions, that is, constant readiness, tractability towards sin. If a person easily becomes irritated, the passion of anger acts in him; if he can’t tear himself away from a cigarette, from a bottle, the passion of gluttony, drunkenness reigns in him... And many diseases arise from passions, as their natural consequence.
A person with passions can either fight, conquer with spiritual life, or indulge them, and then the passions grow, and the person becomes their slave. Just as there is no limit to perfection in good, so sin can bring a person to the extreme degree of slavery, when he has no spiritual freedom left. And today everywhere we see how the “civilized world” means mass media They constantly deceive people by calling for “freedom.” What is meant by freedom? Satisfaction of all desires and whims, indulgence of one’s passions. But if only a person tries to overcome and conquer sin, he will immediately see in what heavy dependence on his passions he is.

It's not a matter of nerves, it's not that we have such a weak nervous system, but the fact is that we ourselves give free rein to our passions, do not fight them, and therefore, sooner or later, such a life bears its bitter fruits.

- Why do small children suffer, who have not yet lost their freedom, becoming slaves of passions?

- Children are not separated from human society. Even after retiring to desert island, a person bears the stamp of this universal damage by sin, and as a consequence, a tendency to illness. The Apostle Paul has these words: “if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it” (1 Cor. 12-26). We know that blood poisoning in one finger can lead to infection of the entire body and even death of a person.

First of all, the child is not separated from his parents. When the baby is in the womb, he is connected with her bodily, he breathes and eats what the mother breathes and eats. If she smokes, drinks, watches obscene films, etc., this cannot but affect the baby. When a baby is born, the connection with the parents is not interrupted. The lifestyle of parents and their family relationships influence not only the mental development of children, but also their physical health.

- It turns out that children are paying for the sins of their parents? Is this fair?

- You can't say that either. The fact is that such a problem as children's illness is insoluble from the point of view of human justice. Therefore, godless people constantly speculate on it; for them this problem is a stumbling block. With God there is nothing useless or meaningless. Every Divine act is revealed in the perspective of Eternity, Eternal Life, good Providence of God. For each individual person, this means concern for the salvation of his soul, healing and protection from sin. Often illness little man is that saving shield that, in our difficult conditions, can protect a person from many sins and temptations. After all, often we simply cannot take part in some sinful activities due to our health.

In addition, when a sick child appears in a family, parents begin to rethink their lives, realizing its sinfulness, they begin to treat each other with greater understanding. From a godless point of view, the suffering of a baby is injustice and nonsense, but from the point of view of Divine Providence, it has a deep meaning. As in the story of the man born blind, the glory of God appears next to the sick child: broken families are united, spouses turn to God, and move away from a sinful life. Seeing the zeal of the parents and listening to their prayers, the Lord can heal the child. But if He sees that this disease leads to common salvation, that without it the family will again turn to destruction, He can leave the disease.

- According to the teachings of the Holy Fathers, illness is the time when God visits a person; It brings a person a physical illness, as a bitter medicine for mental and spiritual illness. Does this mean that healthy people who live prosperously do not suffer from mental and spiritual illnesses? Or has the Lord abandoned them and they will not be saved?

- Indeed, in the lives of saints there are stories about how the monks cried bitterly and lamented that they already had for a long time everything is going well, and even illness does not visit them. But, of course, no person lives without sorrows. It is only in movies that you can see people who are healthy, rich, happy and living happily ever after. In our world this is impossible. “For we know that the whole creation groans and is tormented together,” said the Apostle Paul (Rom. 8:22). And wealth, according to the words of one of the saints, is like salt water that you drink, but you want to drink even more.
It is impossible to run away, hide from God, as Adam tried to hide from Him. God's love will overtake us everywhere. He does not need everyone to be healthy, well-fed and rich, although He could do this, just as He fed more than five thousand people with five loaves of bread. God needs our soul, but it does not become purer from a prosperous life.

- Tell me, father, who does the Church not bless to receive treatment?

- The person who touched church life, intuitively understands who not to go to. Firstly, it is quite obvious that various kinds Sorcerers are not allowed to walk, they are direct servants of Satan. These include a variety of magicians and sorcerers. Previously, if a person resorted to the services of a magician or sorcerer, he was subjected to strict church punishment, he was excommunicated from communion for several years, etc. Today, if a priest sees that a person sincerely repents and decides not to turn to such healers anymore, he is given leniency.

Secondly, you cannot turn to the so-called traditional healers and other healers who heal with candles, folk remedies, conspiracies, etc. After all, they, unlike ordinary doctors, claim some kind of spiritual guidance: “they will remove the damage,” “they will correct the aura,” they honor conspiracies. By the way, these conspiracies can even look like Orthodox prayers: “Our Father...”, “Virgin Mother of God...”, but for them this is not an appeal to God for help, but a mysterious set of words, a conspiracy. After similar treatment There may be a temporary relief of symptoms, but then the disease will certainly return, and in a much more severe form. Not to mention the soul that simply dies from such treatment.

- Father, if a person is sick, where should he go - to the Church or should he still go to the clinic?

- There is no need to avoid visiting doctors. Doctors are servants of God, and the Bible says this quite clearly: “The Lord created medicines from the earth, and a prudent person will not neglect them. This is why He gave people knowledge, so that they would glorify Him in His wonderful deeds: with them He heals a person and destroys his illness. The one who prepares medicines makes a mixture from them, and his work does not end, and through him good comes on the face of the earth. My son! In your illness, do not be careless, but pray to the Lord and He will heal you.” (Sir. 38. 4.6-10).

- What if a person doesn’t want to go to the doctor, because, among other things, not everyone can afford to find a qualified doctor, even get tested, not to mention medications? If a person lives without turning to doctors, does not receive treatment, and thus develops illnesses, does he commit a sin?

- Of course it's a sin. “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who lives in you... and you are not your own?” says the Apostle Paul (1 Cor. 6:19). Everyone should take care of their “temple”, so much so as not to be a burden to others, but, on the contrary, to be useful to their neighbors, to bring joy and love to people. It is clear that everyone’s options are different: one can be treated in Switzerland, while the other can only use herbs from the garden, or stand in line for a voucher to see a local doctor. But you cannot neglect your health; you need to take care of your body - as much as possible.

Another thing is that physical healing is impossible without spiritual healing, and treatment by ordinary doctors must be accompanied by healing of the soul, because it is necessary to treat not just the symptoms, but the whole person. And the healing of the soul occurs through church sacraments: Repentance, Communion, and, of course, Unction...

- Father, why is Unction being held? What kind of sacrament is this?

- This is a sacrament that is performed over a sick person, in which the special grace of God is asked to heal bodily ailments.

- Acupuncture, breathing exercises, homeopathy, herbal treatment - which of these methods are not blessed by the Church, father?

- I personally know priests who have been treated with acupuncture and homeopathy. As far as I know, there is nothing sinful in these methods. Breathing exercises It’s also quite possible to do it. In general, if the method is not associated with the worship of some alien spiritual entities or with their invocation, if there are no spells or conspiracies, then such treatment does not contradict Orthodoxy.

- Should you take off your cross during certain procedures and operations, if the medical staff or doctors insist on it?

- Of course, you can and should ask to leave a cross to strengthen your strength. But this is not always possible. In the very fact of removing the cross to provide medical care there is nothing seditious. The main thing is that the cross is in the heart. But it is better not to part with the shrine unless necessary. IN as a last resort You can draw a cross on yourself with iodine or brilliant green.

- In what cases can you call your priest?

- The priest is called to the house in case of serious illness, infirmity, when a person cannot reach the temple. It must be remembered that not calling a priest in cases where there is a threat to life, when the patient’s condition sharply worsens, is a crime for neighbors. A person must be guided by the Holy Mysteries into Eternal Life. Therefore, not calling a priest to a dying person is a crime and a great sin.

- Father, how can we learn a Christian attitude towards illness, towards death, because it is impossible for a person to come to terms with this?

- Saint John Chrysostom said: “Whoever has learned to thank God for his illnesses is not far from holiness.” Cultivate in yourself Christian attitude to illness, to sorrow, to death, because all this is inevitable in our lives. And to treat the patience of sorrows in a Christian way means to believe in God’s help, to look at any phenomenon in terms of eternity, realizing oneself as an instrument of His Good Providence. The Lord never leaves us, and perhaps in illness we feel Him even more strongly. The people expressed this with a proverb: “The deeper the sorrow, the closer God is.” Not because God is moving away from us or drawing closer, just in sorrowful life circumstances the soul especially opens to God. Sorrows naturally drive away passions, and to such a soul, cleansed of passions, God can approach and fill it with His grace, reveal the lost meaning of life, the purpose of suffering. Understanding all sorrow in this way, you see that illness is truly a visit from God, an amazing spiritual medicine that heals the most important thing in a person - his soul.

Interviewed by Svetlana Sergeeva

 ( 17 votes: 4.29 out of 5)

That is, the sin of disobedience led to the mortality and sickness of every person. In our weak bodies we carry the aspiration towards death. Therefore, they are objective for us, and we cannot be without illness and we carry in our mortal members, as the Apostle Paul writes, those of our illnesses that bring us closer to the Lord’s illness on the cross.

“My grace is sufficient for you, my strength is made perfect in weakness” - the Apostle Paul heard this from Christ himself. All Christian ascetics, all the apostles, martyrs, and saints were by no means heroes. And this is the main proof that illness is not a punishment.

Let us recall the description known from the acts of the Apostle Paul and his first disciple Thekla (this is apocryphal, but it is one of the oldest and is confirmed in the letters of the Apostle). We see on the icons the Apostle Paul as a hero with a sword, the two-edged word of God, the Apostle Peter with the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven, but they were very weak.

"Apostle Paul". Part of a polyptych from the Church of Santa Maria del Carmine in Pisa.

The Apostle Paul was frail, small, bow-legged, overgrown eyebrows, small eyes, a hooked nose, bald, and also with a croaking voice - he stuttered like Moses. His eyes hurt (he writes to the Galatians: well done, Galatians, if you could, you would have given me your eyes, because I see poorly). He suffered epileptic seizures. The fact is that the Apostle Paul was from Tarsus. And there, in Cilicia, a distant province of the Roman Empire, fever periodically raged. And Paul suffered the consequences of this disease in the form of seizures.

He writes to the Galatians: I thank you that you did not spit while listening to me. This is a literal translation from Greek, in the Russian text it is slightly dissected. Why? Because while preaching he often fell. This was considered a spiritual disease such as leprosy, and usually people, seeing such an epileptic, spat in order to ward off demons, spirits of evil in heaven. The Apostle Paul was a very sick man; he even kept his favorite disciple Luke, as a doctor, with him at all times, because he could not travel without a doctor.

So, Paul complained to the Lord himself, as we read about in the letter to the Corinthians: Lord, why have you given me the angel of Satan, a thorn in the flesh that oppresses me? What is a thorn in the flesh? Skolops - translated from Greek is a stake on which inveterate robbers were impaled. This is the most terrible painful execution. Paul asked, “Lord, deliver me from the thorn in the flesh.” There are different opinions about what kind of illness this is, but the main thing is that he suffered from illnesses, and the Lord did not heal the Apostle Paul, but only said: “My grace is sufficient for you, my strength is made perfect in weakness.” Our strength is accomplished in bearing the disease on the cross.

Ambrose Optinsky

For most of his life, from the age of forty (and he lived for quite a long time - eighty years), he lay in bed. All diseases known and unknown to the 19th century nested in his mortal body. AND intestinal diseases, and stomach, kidneys, liver, spine - everything suffered. He literally lay on his deathbed for forty years. They offered him a fish for Easter, and he said: “I can’t eat it, let me at least smell this fish for Easter.” Doctors did not know the cause of these diseases.

He suffered on his deathbed, was in grave pain. We usually read that the monk very easily gives his pure, holy soul to God. No. Hegumen Sergius of Radonezh suffered greatly before dying.

Take Joasaph of Belgorod. He lived very short, about fifty years, in my opinion. At the end of his life he said: “What a pity that in my young years I did not take care of my health, I ate only bread and water, and as a result I cannot do what I wanted all my life, to complete all my labors. And he died prematurely.

Because He took upon Himself all the sins of the world, and even the Father turned away (“God, why have you forsaken me?”). Christ on the cross took on all sins, and as if in His face He personified the most terrible sinner. In the eyes of his Father He appeared as the most terrible sinner and died death on the cross. And with his death he trampled death. Because without such death it was impossible to enter hell in order to appear there before Satan. As he writes, he descended into the abyss below every abyss where the devil was. And by his appearance and by the breath of his lips he defeated the devil. And for this it was necessary to die on the cross. The Lord died as the very last sinner, taking upon himself the entire sins of the world, being counted on the same level with the robbers. The Lord Himself endured such terrible diseases.

We can live in truth only by imitating the sufferings of the Savior on the cross. In order for us to be human, especially Orthodox Christians, we need to bear illness. The Apostle Paul writes: “I bear the wounds of my Lord Christ in my body.” And these words are written on the paraman of every monk. Because without this it is impossible for us to be saved. We live in imitation of Christ.

John of Kronstadt

Remember. He also had to get sick a lot, he was by no means of a heroic build. But he was faithful to his goal to the end. When he was very seriously ill, the doctors said: “If you do not eat fast food, you will die.”

And yet, after consulting with his mother, Saint righteous John Kronstadsky decided to refuse the doctors' demands and not break his fast. And his mother wrote to him that it was better to die, but not break the fast. And this is also an example for us of enduring sorrows and illnesses.

All saints, with rare exceptions, suffered illness - in the form of some kind of severe sorrows or real illnesses, being martyrs for the name of Christ. The Lord Himself, in the Gospel of John in chapter 5, says that we humans bear our image of God in a mortal body. Although this mortal body becomes for us, with all its ailments, a temple of the Holy Spirit living in us.

The fifth chapter talks about a paralytic who was paralyzed for 38 years. We always read this Gospel at the water prayer service. In Jerusalem, on a common font, lay many sick, blind, lame, dry, waiting for the movement of water.

- this is not only someone who cannot see, but also a blinkered, prejudiced one who sees the miracles of Christ and does not perceive. Spiritual illness is, as it were, projected onto physical illness.

The deaf are those who are sick and cannot hear. When a person is blinkered and does not perceive the word of God, he comes to church every Sunday and confesses the same sins, because he cannot tear himself away from his sins and commits the same sins that he confesses every week. He hears the word of God, but does not perceive it. As a result, he remains deaf throughout his life.

A dry person is a person who has dried up in his faith. He had faith, but it dried up under the influence of various circumstances, he no longer has life-giving grace, although he often receives communion, and confesses, and participates in other sacraments, but he has petrified in his heart and only formally comes to the temple and sometimes participates in life of the Church. It all falls on the dry soil of the heart.

Everything is interconnected. Our physical illnesses and our spiritual illnesses often go hand in hand. We are all sick and grieving. And so the Lord comes and says: “Do you want to be healed?” That is, do you want to bring your bodily infirmities and your image of God into harmony? You cannot free yourself from diseases, this is impossible, because a person carries within himself this charge of death. Sooner or later he dies, and bodily death wins. And death is a sacrament that helps us cross the threshold of eternity and unite with the Lord. Therefore, the Apostle Paul said: “For me Christ is life. And death is gain." What kind of death? This is physical death.

- a short-term sleep that necessarily ends in awakening. This death awaits us all, like a short-term dream, which is why we call the dead “deceased.” That is, the person fell asleep, and until the Second Coming he sleeps. And during the Second Coming, which will definitely come, the Lord will resurrect all those who have fallen asleep, and the immortal soul will unite with the resurrected, transformed body.

And here is the most terrible death- this is death as a result of spiritual illness, when a person leaves God. The Apostle Paul recognizes only this death, spiritual. Spiritual death is much more dangerous than all the causes that lead to temporary death, than all the diseases that we carry in our bodies.

Such mortal illnesses visited me in 2005, when I was 55 years old. I was accidentally diagnosed with prostate carcinoma, oncology. And I had to undergo radiation. Thank God, five years have already passed. Despite all the possible consequences of such radiation, I am alive. In 2006, a year after radiation, I had a heart attack and, in order to be able to serve, I agreed to have a heart bypass. I had 3 shunts installed. Moreover, 4 times I had a hernia ring sutured on each side ( inguinal hernia), and then such minor operations as breast microma.

I myself feel that without shedding blood it is impossible to inherit the Kingdom of Heaven. But the Kingdom of Heaven is in need, therefore, when the Lord asks: “Do you want to be healed?”

In Greek it goes like this: do you have the will to be healed? Of course, everyone wants to get rid of the disease, but do you have the will, that is, can you accept the Lord as your God?

So what happens? This paralytic said: “Yes, of course, Lord.” And then the Lord says: “Take up your bed and walk.” And heals him. Some time passes, as he writes St. Augustine, and this paralytic becomes the executioner of the Lord Jesus Christ. He hits him on the cheeks and strangles him. It turns out that he expressed his desire formally, but in fact betrayed the Lord. And, of course, his death becomes light sleep, but eternal death, apostasy from God.

This dynamic occurs in the life of every person. We want to be healed, we are ready to give everything for healing, we ask, pray: “Give us healing!” And the Lord asks: “Do you want it?” That is, do you have the will to keep my commandments? And we say: “Yes, yes, of course.” But some time passes and we retreat. Our dynamics follow a sinusoid.

We sometimes strive for perfection, and then fall into the abyss of the sin of despair, murmuring, and cowardice. Then we get up, repent again, take up our cross, climb again and fall again. But everything is decided by the vector: either it is directed up or down. The Lord calls us to go upward - seek first the Kingdom of God and His Truth, and all things will be added to you.

It depends on us free choice and the desire to be with the Lord not only with lips, but also with concrete deeds, to fulfill his will. So, when the Lord heals Peter’s mother-in-law, the Russian text says: “And the mother-in-law begins to serve them,” that is, the apostles and Christ. The original Greek says: “And she begins to serve Him,” that is, Christ. We receive healing in order to serve God.

The Lord sometimes visits us with mortal illnesses in order to bring our form and content into harmony. He visits us with illnesses so that we can guide our spirit towards improvement. Sometimes a person who is haunted by terrible illnesses begins to look at the world differently, and the illness becomes an incentive for his improvement. And he, knowing that he will soon die, already turns with his whole life, with all the fibers of his soul, to the love of Christ.

The Lord leads each of us to salvation: through illness, through sorrow, through horrors, wars, dramas, separation from neighbors, through family tragedies, so that the outer shell matches main task perfecting the image of God, becoming like God.

Our task is to constantly improve the soul, the mind for truth, the feelings for holiness, the will for good, in order to be in the likeness of God.

Every person has cancer cells, and we don’t know how they will evolve, but the Lord knows. We reach a certain stage when we need a visit from God in the form of illness, without which we cannot become people, especially Christians, especially Orthodox Christians.

Often people simply hide their illnesses; they try to look courageous so as not to show them. In fact, everyone has sores, everyone has their own infirmities. The Lord, like a caring doctor, heals everyone. If a person’s heart is not broken, then the Lord breaks a person’s bones for salvation. The prophets also talk about this. The wise Solomon spoke about this. If a person becomes ossified in his life, his heart becomes stone, then the Lord, in order to crush the stony heart, crushes the bones of a person - so that this heart becomes capable of receiving the life-giving power of the word of God and Divine love.

The anatomy of the disease is beautifully presented in the Gospel. Centurion, centurion, that is, a junior officer in the Roman troops (like a lieutenant), who professes the cult of the emperor, makes sacrifices to the emperor as a god who, in the eyes of the Jews, is an outcast from salvation, who sympathizes with the God of Israel, but also worships many other gods of the pantheon of the pagan world - this centurion comes and turns to Christ, clutches at the last straw: “Lord! My boy is sick, and so I came to you so that you could help me.” And the Lord says: “Well, okay.” And the pagan answers: “Lord, I am not worthy for You to come under my roof.” And what does the Lord say: “In Israel I have not met such faith as that of this pagan.” That is why they will come from the East and West and lie down in the bosom of Abraham, and those who pretend to be the sons of the Kingdom of God will be cast out.

A pagan came to intercede for his servant, slave or relative, and is amazed by such humility: “Lord, you only speak the word, and my boy will be healed. I am not worthy for You to come under my roof.” And the Lord heals. This means that it is not through our merits that we receive healing. One of the Gospels says that the Jews come and say that this centurion is a secret proselyte, that is, he is favorable to the Jews, he built a synagogue for us, so he is worthy, do a miracle for him. And the Lord seems to answer them: “Not according to merit, but solely out of necessity.”

Some say: why have I worked so hard for the Church, reached such positions in the hierarchy, for example, and am so terribly ill? But because the Lord heals not because of our merits, but solely because of what is necessary for our salvation. So the centurion needed his son to be healed. And we may need more to bear the disease, our cross.

On December 2, 2008, I had to preach in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. They told me: take longer to preach the sermon, because he has not arrived yet (he was returning from the hospital, where he was treated for his heart).

I had to speak for 40 minutes. He managed to enter the altar. The Lord gave him a few more days of life (he died on December 5) so that he could make the last point. A whole group of priests, deacons, and protodeacons were to receive awards that day. And the Patriarch, being in such a painful state, awarded all the priests, and then, on the next day, the fourth, he served in the Assumption Cathedral, and since it was the day of the enthronement of Patriarch Tikhon, he also went to the Danilovsky Monastery and performed a prayer service there. And only after that the Lord accepted his soul.

God grants us healing not because we perform prayers for health in forty monasteries or order magpies. If we need to we like Reverend Ambrose Optinsky, we lay on our deathbed in order for the soul to enter eternity, then the Lord will grant us exactly this, although we ask for something completely different.

The Savior very often grants us healing through the prayers of people completely unknown to us. The priest, who was in a hurry to serve in the Jerusalem temple, crossed to the other side so as not to even touch the dead man with his eyes. The Levite did the same, and only a Samaritan came up and saved the unfortunate Jew, who had fallen from the robbers. Moreover, he tore his last shirt to bandage his wounds, poured oil and wine, put him on his donkey and took him to the hotel.

– How should a Christian’s life change after he finds out that he is terminally ill? How to come to terms with illness?

– When I found out that I had carcinoma, I wrote pieces of paper and hung them in front of me next to the desk on the door and in the kitchen. He wrote this: “The commandment of the Lord: if you want to live, don’t think about anything.” And “We will give ourselves and each other and our whole life to Christ our God.” If we think about our ailments, they will get worse.

The Lord is always with us. He is in our lives. Here we partake of the Body and Blood - He enters into us in its entirety, and physically. But what medicine prescribes to us, we must perceive as a gift from God. Moreover, for many, medical prescriptions become the basis for their special discipline during fasting. If a person is advised to eat some special food during fasting, this food becomes medicine for him, and he must definitely eat such food. For example, Tsarevich Alexei had to eat meat, he had hemophilia.

If we honor the ancient fathers, they say this: do not apply your heart and do not reject it. We don’t need to reject what medicine gives us, we don’t need to put our hearts into it, that is, we need to devote our whole lives to the Lord and at the same time use a medical remedy.

I am sixty years old, and I remember how many priests of seventy, eighty, ninety years old treated their illnesses. There was such a priest - Archpriest Andrei Uskov, Church of the Archangel Michael in the village of Mikhailovskoye. He had many illnesses, but he tried not to disclose that the Lord gave him miraculous healing. He had trophic ulcers, he had a stomach ache, he had cerebral ischemia, blood pressure, and he prayed to the Lord, and the Lord gave him strength, because he still needed to fulfill the will of God. And he said this: “Never say that you feel better, that the Lord healed you.” This is from the Gospel, when the Lord heals the blind, he says: “Don’t tell anyone about this.” As soon as a person begins to say, “The Lord has given me healing,” the evil one is right there. Therefore, if a person receives healing, it is better not to tell anyone about it. Thank the Lord, but leave it a secret.

– How much should a Christian take care of his health? Where is the line after which one begins to no longer trust in the Lord, but worry about one’s ailments?

– We don’t know what will happen tomorrow. We don't know what will happen in a year, in ten years. And tomorrow is in the hands of God. We don’t know whether we will be among those five hundred people who die every day in Moscow and the Moscow region. Or among the twenty thousand who die every minute all over the world.

It’s better not to think about it, not to put your heart into it. Don't reject it, but don't put your heart into it either. The day has passed, and thank God. We do not refuse what medicine offers us, but in no case should we get hung up on it.

– There is an opinion that the will to recover can work wonders. The more you want to get better, the faster you get better. They say you need to keep yourself positive to increase your chances of success. speedy recovery. Do you agree with this?

– There is a rational grain in this. In the apostolic age, in the era of the first Christians, this positive was the constant expectation of the Messiah, the coming of Christ. It was this daily expectation of the coming of Christ that gave strength to people. And when we believe in the positive, which is no longer associated with some new medicine, a new method of treatment, but with the help of God, this positive has a beneficial effect on us.

We believe - Lord, tomorrow I will take communion, I will completely fulfill Your commandments, I will change my thoughts. I will do repentance, real repentance, I will treat you differently, I will treat my neighbors differently, my mind will turn 180 degrees, I will move away from sin, I will only rush to you, tomorrow I will meet you and the day after tomorrow I will meet you. And so, every day, it has a positive impact.

– Is it right if a person does not spare his health for the sake of good deeds?

“Unfortunately, we are often reckless with ourselves.

I remember one of my teachers of the last century, Vladimir Nikolaevich Paneshnikov, he studied holy sources. Back in 1935, he saved the Lavra springs when they wanted to build factories there.

He was 86 years old, and he believed that the water of these holy springs could heal all diseases. And so it really was. I am also following in his footsteps. Every Sunday, already at that age, he went to the springs and brought cans of water. And then one day he took a heavy 5-liter can and went to two sisters, one of whom was blind, to visit them and give them water. And this risk turned out to be fatal. On the way I felt bad. When did I arrive ambulance, he was dead. We need to calculate and distribute our forces in such a way as to achieve the final goal.

The Apostle Paul says in his letter to the Corinthians: “I am running.” This means “I am running a marathon.” You need to live like an athlete who runs a marathon; he knows when to speed up his run, when to slow down, stop for a while and under no circumstances expose himself to mortal risk. Because if an athlete rushes right away, he will immediately fall and may die. You need to be able to distribute your forces in order to achieve your cherished goal, and not take reckless risks.

● Sin and illness. What could be common between these two concepts? We often get sick, but we never think that this is due to our wrong actions, which turned into sin. If you believe in God, you will certainly understand that all illnesses come from the fact that we live in sin.

What diseases are caused by sins ● Tachycardia and hypertension. Diseases arise against a background of fear, anger, suppressed rage. ● Diseases of the small and large intestines. From the patient's obvious social dissatisfaction. ● Liver diseases. Our liver is destructively affected by suppressed anger, pent-up aggressiveness, and hostility that you carefully hide. In addition to the liver, fear also greatly exhausts the kidney system. Kidney disease is nothing more than retribution for self-pity, sadness and despondency. Jealousy and greed also affect the kidneys. ● Diabetes mellitus- this is not only retribution for gluttony and lust, but also a consequence of experiencing dissatisfaction with the attitude of people significant to you and loved ones. ● Urolithiasis and cholelithiasis. This is the result of rancor and psychological grievances. ● Allergic diseases. Occurs against the backdrop of disruption spinal cord due to tears, stress and strong feelings. Negative emotions and suppressed aggressiveness result in bronchial asthma. This disease provokes an unrealized lust for power.

● Asthmatic syndrome. Appears in people if there is no bright mood in their souls. The bronchial tree is destroyed by constant hatred of a particular person and rancor. Respiratory system gives a significant failure if a person stops thinking independently, solving his problems, that is, does not live by his own mind. ● Intestinal diseases occur in people who seek to subjugate the people around them (relatives and acquaintances). The bad habit of seeing only the bad in everything. Fear of responsible action also leads to intestinal diseases. ● Varicose veins veins are a consequence of constant conflicts and family problems.

● Back. Causes of back pain. They appear when we expect others to stab us in the back and get wedged in the center of the spine. The upper back area to the shoulder blades is the emotional support of friends (this is when you rely on someone’s support). Spinal diseases are the price to pay for pride. ● People who go somewhere secretly and hide it have their feet hurt. Arrogant and proud people have knee pain. If your feet hurt in the morning, you should change jobs. And if this happens when you return home, try to change something in the family environment. ● Fractures of the bones of the hands and pain in the hands - this means that a person takes something that does not belong to him and lies “badly”.

● Atherosclerosis – from a lack of mental energy. ● If someone does not “digest” what the people around him say, the information is transferred to the stomach. A stomach ulcer is a persistent, fixed experience, retribution for gluttony; Stomach disease is caused by cunning and deception. ● Teeth decay and hurt – bad habit speak badly about yourself, about people, about your destiny and, worst of all, about your parents. Periodontal disease - the reason lies in slander against the father. Dental disease is a retribution for gluttony and voluptuousness. ● Any hernia arises from curses, and tumors (benign and malignant) are grievances.

IN modern world people often hear about God or the Bible on TV, radio or from friends. I hear many words from Holy Scripture, including the word “sin”. When faced with the unknown, we do not know what it is and how new knowledge is applicable to our lives.

To find out the answers to your questions, let's go on an interesting tour of the Bible and the Koran, consider the concept and types of sin, what are the punishments for sin and how to save the soul from eternal suffering.

What is sin?

Sin is a word of Greek origin and is literally translated as “missing”, “missing the mark.” God, when creating man, prepared a wonderful plan for all of us, but people did not hit the target, but missed the target. If literally translated from Hebrew, the language in which the Old Testament is written, the semantic word, which is identical to sin, means “lack,” “lack.” The first people did not have enough trust in God, inner strength, and devotion to carry out the plan conceived by the Creator regarding human participation in the universe.

In legal terms, sin is a violation of a norm, that is, mandatory rules of behavior. Norms are divided into two types: moral (social) and state.

When we sit at the table as a guest, it is customary not to slurp or regurgitate food. They won’t kick you out or punish you for this, but there are rules that don’t allow such behavior at the table. In many cases, moral (psychological) condemnation is much harder to bear than official, public condemnation.

There are rules of behavior that are established by the state. Theft, hooliganism, insult, and slander may result not only in condemnation by society, but also in heavy fines, mandatory community service, and even imprisonment.

God established rules of conduct so that people would be happy if they followed them. But people wanted to live in their own way, and did not want to fulfill divine norms. This is sin (disobedience, disobedience).

Sin can be committed involuntarily, out of weakness, or consciously and on purpose (lawlessness). These are two types of sin, but for each a person will be held accountable before God.

If sin is done on purpose, intentionally, then it is lawlessness. Speaking in Christian terms, lawlessness is a deliberate violation of the rules of behavior established by God.

Lawlessness is a serious form of sin. If, due to his sinful nature, a person does not intentionally commit an offense before God, then lawlessness is a sin that can give a person pleasure, and he commits it, knowing the consequences. This is rebellion, disagreement, pride.

How sin came into the world

God created Adam and Eve with certain types on the first people. One of important functions, which the Creator entrusted to man was the care of the world that He created in Eden. The Creator placed people in ideal conditions, and gave one commandment (law) that man should not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. In Genesis 2:16,17 we read:

And the Lord God commanded the man, saying: Of every tree of the garden thou shalt eat, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil thou shalt not eat of it, for in the day that thou eatest of it thou shalt die.

The devil appeared in Eden. He didn't want the person to have ideal relationship with God, and therefore began to tempt Eve. He argued that, having tasted the forbidden fruit, people will become like gods and will distinguish between what is good and what is evil. Adam and Eve found this interesting: to be God and not depend on anyone has been the dream of mankind since ancient times. Eve knew about the prohibition of eating from the tree where the fruit was, and she knew that God told Adam: if they taste the fruit, they will die. But despite such harsh warnings from God, people showed freedom of choice and wanted to become equal to the Creator.

Adam and Eve disobeyed God, broke the law and sin, and came into the world through this disobedience. And at the level of genetics, we are already born sinners.

We can conclude that sin sits in people from the moment of conception, sits in our cells, veins, blood. In our entire being. Because we are the descendants of Adam and Eve.

The First Consequences of Sin

When Adam and Eve were expelled from Paradise for violating God's commandments, they had children - Cain and Abel. The eldest son, Cain, was a good farmer, and the youngest, Abel, a cattle breeder. It happened one day that they made a sacrifice to God. Abel brought himself best meat, and Cain the best and ripe vegetables and other fruits of the earth.

God liked Abel's offering, but He rejected Cain's gifts. The Creator saw Cain's sad heart and thoughts, and said to Cain (Genesis 4:7):

If you do good, don’t you lift your face? and if you do not do good, then sin lies at the door; he attracts you to himself, but you dominate him.

Sin, like a magnet, draws people to it for us to commit, but we can have power over it. However, Cain was unable to overcome sin in his heart. The sinful nature gave birth to envy in Cain, and envy prompted him to kill sibling. And he carried out the intentions of his heart: Cain took his brother out into the field and dealt with Abel there.

This was the first consequence of sin - envy and murder.

What sins exist

There are a lot of sinful acts in life, some of them are rare, while others are part of our nature:

1. Envy.“I hate my work colleague, he is happy all the time, and my life is full of problems!” This feeling gnaws at you until you finally take out all your anger on the person. A striking example The story of Cain and Abel described above serves as a source of envy.
2. Pride. Very often we hear such exclamations: “Where is your pride!”, “I also have pride.” In this context, many people confuse pride with willpower and toughness. Pride is a terrible sin, and means that a person’s own “I” is at the center of everything. “I want”, “you should do this because I want”.
3. Fornication and adultery. Fornication is sexual relations before marriage, adultery is cheating on a spouse or partner in marriage. Adultery is described in Old Testament How grave sin. When God gave Moses the commandments on Mount Sinai, one of the commandments was “thou shalt not commit adultery.”
4. Murder. God gives life to man, and only He can take this life. When one person forcibly takes the life of another person, this is one of the terrible sins of humanity.
5. Love of money. The literal translation is “to love silver.” A typical sin of the world in which we live. Money is important in life, but if it begins to occupy all our thoughts, this leads to slavery and dependence on sin.
6. Idolatry. One of the most invisible and subtle sins modern civilization. If something in our life takes precedence over God, then it is an idol. For example, TV, books, money attract us to ourselves, and we spend all our time on them, forgetting to devote at least an hour to God during the day.

Hidden Sins

People themselves do not notice how they sometimes commit sins. It seems to us that we are committing doing the right thing or actions that are completely normal for a person. Usually such things are called in the modern world “natural impulses”, “well, I am who I am”, “this is the kind of person I am”, “it’s difficult for me to change, and who among us is without sin.” People state the facts, but do not want to confront or fight sin.

Sins also include the following manifestations of our flesh and thoughts that are unnoticed in our lives. Among them are such sins as:

• Anger.
• Quarreling.
• Hatred.
• Deception.
• Slander.
• Foul language.
• Selfishness.

For part of humanity, committing such sins is the norm, but it should be remembered that the works of the flesh lead to condemnation by God. You need to watch your actions, deeds, tongue and heart.

Before Christ and after

It is logical that if there is an offense, then punishment will follow. In the Old Testament, the penalty for mortal sin was death. Mortal sins in those days were considered to be divination, sexual intercourse with animals, adultery, murder, use physical strength to their parents, selling a person into slavery, idolatry. The sinner was taken outside the city and thrown off the mountain or stoned.

There were sins that God forgave if a person sacrificed an animal. Basically, these were sins committed by accident, mistake or ignorance, for example, failure to keep the commandments. In Leviticus 4:27-28 we read that God allowed in this situation to slaughter a young goat without blemish and sacrifice it. Then human sin was forgiven. A sinful man brought a clean animal to the Levite (priest), and the Levite made a sacrifice, and the sin was “washed” by God.

The Lord became incarnate human body, was born of a woman and died on the cross, shedding blood. He sacrificed himself, slain instead of a lamb (sheep), so that humanity would have the opportunity to live without sin if people believe and accept God into their lives. And the punishment for mortal sins will not be remembered by God if people accept Jesus Christ and follow the commandments of God.

The wages of sin is death

If a person lives and enjoys life, but does not think about eternal life and does not try to change anything in his sinful nature, then after death he will face a second death - spiritual death. Then God will punish people for their sins with hell, where there will be “gnashing” of teeth and eternal torment. In Romans 6:23 we read:

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Every person dies, God determined so because of our fall. But it is very scary if what awaits us in eternity is not eternal life with Jesus Christ, but torment and pain.

Through the Bible, the Lord tells us that all people have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, that is, humanity cannot live in the presence of God if we are sinners. And for sin, God already in Eden determined the punishment for man - physical death, pain and suffering. Addressing Adam, the creator tells him that if he does not obey the orders of the Lord, he will die. But physical death is not the worst punishment for sins. The scary thing is what awaits people after death.

A sinful life leads people not only to spiritual death, but also to physical death. The more sin there is in life, the faster the end can come. According to Scripture, the punishment for sin is hell after physical death. If a person does not come to his senses and take the righteous path, he will not accept the Lord into his life.

Spiritual death, or the second death, is God's most important punishment for sin.

Disease and sin

Man is imperfect, and life path Even believers make mistakes and blunders. What punishments for sins can God use in our earthly life? The most important punishment is death. However, in in rare cases God uses illness as a form of punishment. God's punishment The Creator carries out illness for sins when he wants to stop a person from rash actions, or to make people think about their behavior in life.

There lived in Judah King Hezekiah, who loved God. One day Hezekiah fell ill and the prophets declared that he would not recover. Came to Hezekiah famous prophet Isaiah, he advised the king to prepare a will to leave power to his descendants, since his time was running out. But Hezekiah was in no hurry; he turned away from him and prayed to God in tears. The Creator heeded the king’s prayer and blessed him with health for another fifteen years. This story can be read in 2 Kings chapter 20. Here we see that illness is a consequence of man's sinful nature. God did not want King Hezekiah to die, but sickness is common to all people, and no one can escape from it.

God does not punish people through illness, as many people think. “I am a sinner, the Lord gave me the disease.” No. Disease is a manifestation of sin, the sinful body of a person, which we have from the very moment of birth and, accordingly, are initially susceptible to disease.

There are cases in the Bible when God punishes sins with illnesses. For example, Moses' sister Miriam became covered with leprosy. Miriam reproached Moses for his wife, and for this she became covered with leprosy, the skin on her face became white as snow. Moses took pity on his sister, and through his prayer God healed Miriam

But in the modern world, God more often uses death as a punishment for people’s sins, and illnesses as a test or an opportunity for a person to see God’s healing through illnesses and believe in the existence of the Creator.

Repentance and Salvation

All people are afraid of death, everyone is afraid to die. But someday everyone must appear before God. The punishment for sins is death, eternal death. But there is only one opportunity to receive forgiveness and avoid punishment for sin - this is Jesus Christ.

The Lord Himself, when He walked the earth, spoke these words (Gospel of John 14:16):

Jesus said to him: I am the way and the truth and the life; no one comes to the Father except through Me.

The Lord is the only way to see God. To do this, every person needs to repent and allow the Lord to change his heart and life. And then all sins will be forgiven.

And in the famous verses of the same gospel from John 3:16,17 we read:

For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.

God came up with an amazing plan to save humanity. He sacrificed his Son so that each of us would be saved and have eternal life.

Salvation from sin lies in the Lord Jesus Christ. By accepting into our lives the good news that God came down to earth and died for our sins, we gain salvation and forgiveness. We may stumble, but God finally forgives us of sin, and sin no longer has power over us.

In order not to depend on sin and sinful thoughts and to live in anticipation of meeting God, people need to accept Jesus Christ as a personal savior, let Him into their lives and completely trust the Creator. To do this, a person needs to kneel down and ask God to come into life and change it.

The only thing God will not forgive, according to the Bible, is if a person blasphemes (blasphemes God); if he denies Jesus Christ in public.

Islam about sin and punishment for sin

Islam, like Christianity, also develops the idea of ​​sin. According to the Koran, the most terrible and serious sins are:

• Murder.
• Witchcraft.
• Stopping the performance of prayer.
• Don't fast.
• Disobey and disobey your parents.
• Do not perform the obligatory Hajj.
• Homosexuality.
• Cheating in marriage.
• False evidence.
• Theft.
• Lie.
• Hypocrisy.
• Curse your neighbor.
• Dispute.
• Harming neighbors.

There is punishment from Allah for sins in Islam, but the Almighty forgives all sins, except unbelief, if the believer himself asks for forgiveness. If a person has sinned, then, according to Islam, he simply needs to sincerely repent, and then Allah will forgive him.

In Islam, it is believed that Adam's sin does not pass on to the genetic level, and each person is responsible only for the actions that he committed during earthly life.

Islam preaches that a person has a choice according to which he makes a decision: to have salvation or to live in sin. If a mortal man lives and works honestly, but stumbles and asks for forgiveness from Allah, then he will be saved and will see Paradise.

More and more specialists in the field of medicine are inclined to believe that diseases, in addition to physical ones, have so-called psychosomatic reasons. When psycho-emotional problems arise in a person, it sends impulses to one or another organ - and an illness develops. What is the connection between certain diseases and our inner world?

Famous psychotherapist Valery Sinelnikov states: “Modern orthodox medicine does not cure people precisely because it fights disease. That is, she seeks to suppress it or eliminate the consequences. And the reasons remain deep in the subconscious and continue their destructive effect.”

So, say psychosomatics experts, if something actually hurts, then most likely you feel guilty before someone. Pain- This is a punishment for guilt.

Allergy - defensive reaction associated with self-doubt, stress and fear. Same reason for skin diseases. A boils they get enough sleep because the person is constantly “boiling” inside.

Diseases throat- a sign of resentment. Children whose parents constantly quarrel often have a sore throat. Coughing can be a unique form of defense when rejecting any situation.

If it hurts neck, this indicates that we are stubborn and refuse to accept a point of view different from ours. Problems with thyroid indicate that we are at the moment are unable to realize their life plans.

Diseases lungs reflect our unconscious fear of life. A cardiovascular the system suffers because of such negative emotions like guilt, depressed or unrequited, despair. Men most often die from heart attacks and strokes, as they are accustomed to going ahead and achieving life goals by any means necessary.

High blood pressure (hypertension) suffer those who regret some events in the past. Low pressure ( hypotension) - those who experience an inferiority complex.

Problems with eyes indicate that we “refuse” to see some realities of our lives, and with ears- mean that we don’t want to hear something. Ear pain signals irritation caused by what you hear.

Trouble with stomach signal that we cannot adapt to a new situation for ourselves. Ulcer stomach pain occurs when we are afraid of a situation. A overweight, completeness appear as psychological protection from life's negativity. Stones in the kidneys, liver, gallbladder“grow” when we are very angry about something.

Ailments spine- a sign that you lack emotional support or you can’t decide on your life priorities. Diseases genitals are always associated with problems in the love sphere, with uncertainty about one’s masculine or feminine viability.

Legs- a symbol of vital support, therefore, if they hurt or swell, this means that a person does not feel the “soil” under his feet - he is dissatisfied with his life, unsure of the future. Arthritis and those who suffer are those who feel a lack of love from others, are too critical of themselves, and are offended by the whole world.

And finally, any kind tumors arise from what a person experiences strong feeling hatred of something or someone.

Try to understand exactly why you got sick, and perhaps this will be the beginning of a cure.