Excratct: To the Serbs an Episle From Moscow Extract
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Transcript of Excratct: To the Serbs an Episle From Moscow Extract
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7/25/2019 Excratct: To the Serbs an Episle From Moscow Extract
1/2
Alexei Stepanovich Khomyakov
TO THE SERBS AN EPISTLE FROM MOSCOW
Extract
)2 9
... In truth, 0 Serbs, God has bestowed great favors upon you,
greater, we think, than you yourselves know. A healthy body is one of
man's greates t blessings, but he realizes this only when he loses it, or when
he observes the illnesses of others and compares them with his own healthy
state. In the same way you can come to know your advantages only
through comparison with the shortcomings of other societies (and you
have not yet attended to such a comparison), or through the frank
xmfession of such other societies, who know from experience their
sicknesses and their causes. Let this knowledge serve as a warning to you,
NO
that you might avoid the er rors which other nations have no t been able
to avoid, and so that, in adopting what is good and useful, you will not be
infected by those malignant principles which often accompany good
things, unnoticed by the inexper ienced eye.
The first, most important and priceless bless ing which you, the Serbs,
possess is your unity in Orthodoxy, that highest wisdom and highest truth,
the root of all spiritual and moral growth. Such is your unity in the faith
th at for the Turk the words Serb and Orthodox are synonymous. You
must value this f ines t of all blessings above all others, and guard it as you
would the pupil of your eye; after all, what is Orthodoxy if n ot the pupil of
one's inner, spiri tual eye?
Christianity was not sown by force in the world ; nor did it develop
through violence, but by overcoming all violence. Thus it must not be
preserved by violence, and woe to him who seeks to protect the might of
'1\I'i5twith the feebleness of human weapons Faith is a matter of spiritual
lrcc dom , and it tolerates no compulsion. True faith is conquering the
world, but it does not seek the temporal sword for its triumph. Therefore,
res pec t
all freedom of conscience and faith, in order that no one should
offend against the truth by say ing that it fears falsehood and does not dare
ompcte
with falsehood armed only with thought and words. Defend
( lc)(I s honor, not wi th t imidity and doubt as to its might, but boldly and
w ith
t calm 'confidence in its victory.
O u t ,
on the other hand, always bear in mind the signif icance and
d lijn ity of the faith. Those who think that it is simply a matter of creed,
ri tu a l s , o r
even the direct communion of man with God, are quite wrong.
No, f ith pen e tra tes m an s whole being an d a ll h is relations with his
1I I ll l1hhO l,
At i with invisible thl ond s or I oots it b ind s toge ther
ti ll
his
I lm ll o U N 1 1 1 1h i ll
convl cuo u
n u d 1 1 1 1h i ll l lH p h l It l( ) l l . It I s I I 11 01 ( c f
rn rcf led u lr,
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7/25/2019 Excratct: To the Serbs an Episle From Moscow Extract
2/2
A. S. KHOMYAKOV
recreating and transforming within him every mundane principle, or a
luminous light, illuminat ing al l ris mora l concep tions and al l hi s views on
other people and the inner laws which bind him to them. There fore, fai th is
a lso the highest social principle; for soc iety it se lf i s precise ly the v isible
man ifestation of our inner r ela tions with other people and our union wi th
them.
healthy civil society is based on its citizens understanding of
brotherhood, truth, justice and mercy; but this understanding cannot be
the same among men if their faiths are different. The Jew and the
Mohammedan profess one God, just like the Christian, but is their
understanding of truth and mercy the same as ours? Of course, it will be
said that they know neither the Sacrament of the Holy and Ever-
Worshipful Trinity, nor the love of God, which is our salvation through
Christ, and that consequently the difference between them and us is too
great. But we know that even Christians, apart from the true Orthodox
Church, possess nei ther a totally clear understanding nor a totally sincere
sense of brotherhood. Such an understanding and such a sense develop
and strengthen only in Orthodoxy. It is no accident that the commune, the
sanctity of the communal verdict and the unquestioning submission of
each ind ividual to the unanimous dec ision of his brethren are prese rved
only in Orthodox countries. The teachings of the faith cultivate the soul
even in social l ife. The Papist seeks extraneous and personal authority.just
as he is used to submitting to such authority in matters of faith; the
Protestant takes personal freedom to the extreme of blind arrogance , just
as in his sham worship. Such is the spirit of their teaching. Only the
Orthodox Christ ian, preserving his freedom, yet humbly acknowledging
his weakness, subordina tes his freedom to the unanimous resolution of the
collect ive conscience. I t is for this reason that the local commune has not
been able to preserve its laws outside Orthodox countries. And i t i s forthis
reason that the Slav cannot be fully a Slav wi thout Or thodoxy. Even our
brethren who have been led astray by the Western falsehood, be they
Papi st s or Protestants, acknowledge this with grief . This principle applies
to a ll matte rs of just ice and t ruth, and to all conceptions about society; for
at the root of it l ies b rotherhood.
86