The civilization of Europe is nothing but the
result of man’s agonized and persistent effort to place his throne above the
throne of God. It is nothing but the erection of a new tower of Babel;
confusion about the method of erection may prevail, but the goal remains
common for all concerned. …
Catholicism, Protestantism, and atheism are
on the same level. They are offspring of the same mentality. All three
are philosophical systems, offspring of rationalism, that is, of the notion
that human reason is the foundation of certainty, the measure of truth, and
the way of knowledge.
Orthodoxy is on a completely different level.
The Orthodox have a different mentality. … They respect human reason as no
one else, and they never violate it. They regard it as one of the useful
factors in detecting falsehood and uncovering error. But they do not accept
it as capable of giving man certainty, of enlightening him to see the truth,
or guiding him to knowledge.
Knowledge is the vision of God and of His
creation in a heart purified by divine Grace and the struggles and prayers
of man. «Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God».
Truth is
not a series of definitions, but God Himself, «Who appeared concretely in
the person of Christ, Who said: «I am the Truth». …
The beginning of faith is the heart’s ability
to grasp that the truth speaks in the small book called the Gospel, that in
that commonplace church of poor and faithful people, God descends and
dwells. When fear takes hold of one because he steps on the earth which the
hand of God laid out, because he gazes at the great and broad sea, because
he walks and breathes, then his eyes will begin to shed tears -tears of
repentance, tears of love, tears of joy- and he will feel the first
caresses of unspeakable mysteries. …
