By Fr. Thomas Vamvinis
Slothfulness and Excuses for Unwillingness
The Evangelist Luke records the words spoken by Christ when His Seventy Disciples returned from the villages of Judea, to which He had sent them to preach the coming of the Kingdom of God:
“I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and have revealed them to infants. Yes, Father, for so it was well-pleasing before You.”
This is one of the sayings used by those who, in the words of St. Nektarios, “boldly advocate ignorance” — that is, those who consider being ignorant an asset for becoming a good and holy Christian. They also regard educated people with suspicion, believing that they distort the faith. This is an age-old, distorted view that is still very widespread in our own days.
Indeed, throughout the centuries, there have been many educated people who distorted the faith. All the great heretics had a philosophical education. However, many uneducated people also live a religious life that has nothing to do with the truth of the Church or with the teaching of Christ, the Apostles, and the Holy Fathers. They live a form of religiosity steeped in superstition and containing many pagan elements. We see this, moreover, in their popular traditions, which they preserve with reverence because of their ignorance.
In particular, regarding those who maintained that literary and theological education is not necessary for someone to become a shepherd of the Church, but that holiness alone is sufficient, St. Nektarios, in his Pastoral Theology, quotes, among other things, a statement by St. John Chrysostom, which says: “These are excuses and pretexts, slothfulness and excuses for unwillingness.”
St. Kosmas the Aitolos established Greek schools so that children could learn Greek letters, in order to know their faith and the worship of their Church. According to his saying, “The school opens the Church.”
Infants in Evil, Mature in Understanding
Who, then, are the “infants” to whom God revealed His wisdom and power? Are they the uneducated, the slow-witted, those who did not wish to receive even a “secular education”? They are not these people. They are those who possess the simplicity of a child, the purity and goodness of an infant. They are the people to whom Christ's words apply:
“Unless you turn and become like little children, you will by no means enter the Kingdom of Heaven” (Matthew 18:3).
Therefore, the person who receives the great wisdom of God is the one who seeks to simplify his heart, to drive wickedness out of himself, to cast away selfish interests, to rid himself of falsehoods, and to be freed from everything that darkens the human heart and makes it hard. In other words, man needs to become an infant with regard to evil. The Apostle Paul urged the Corinthians:
“Brethren, do not become children in your understanding; but in evil be infants, and in your understanding be mature” (1 Corinthians 14:20).
The person who is an infant with regard to evil and is mature in understanding is wise according to the Spirit of God. He is the one who knows the wisdom of God. And he does not merely know the truth of God, but also receives the power of God within himself. He receives the grace of the Holy Spirit.
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
The Evangelist Luke records the words spoken by Christ when His Seventy Disciples returned from the villages of Judea, to which He had sent them to preach the coming of the Kingdom of God:
“I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and have revealed them to infants. Yes, Father, for so it was well-pleasing before You.”
This is one of the sayings used by those who, in the words of St. Nektarios, “boldly advocate ignorance” — that is, those who consider being ignorant an asset for becoming a good and holy Christian. They also regard educated people with suspicion, believing that they distort the faith. This is an age-old, distorted view that is still very widespread in our own days.
Indeed, throughout the centuries, there have been many educated people who distorted the faith. All the great heretics had a philosophical education. However, many uneducated people also live a religious life that has nothing to do with the truth of the Church or with the teaching of Christ, the Apostles, and the Holy Fathers. They live a form of religiosity steeped in superstition and containing many pagan elements. We see this, moreover, in their popular traditions, which they preserve with reverence because of their ignorance.
In particular, regarding those who maintained that literary and theological education is not necessary for someone to become a shepherd of the Church, but that holiness alone is sufficient, St. Nektarios, in his Pastoral Theology, quotes, among other things, a statement by St. John Chrysostom, which says: “These are excuses and pretexts, slothfulness and excuses for unwillingness.”
St. Kosmas the Aitolos established Greek schools so that children could learn Greek letters, in order to know their faith and the worship of their Church. According to his saying, “The school opens the Church.”
Infants in Evil, Mature in Understanding
Who, then, are the “infants” to whom God revealed His wisdom and power? Are they the uneducated, the slow-witted, those who did not wish to receive even a “secular education”? They are not these people. They are those who possess the simplicity of a child, the purity and goodness of an infant. They are the people to whom Christ's words apply:
“Unless you turn and become like little children, you will by no means enter the Kingdom of Heaven” (Matthew 18:3).
Therefore, the person who receives the great wisdom of God is the one who seeks to simplify his heart, to drive wickedness out of himself, to cast away selfish interests, to rid himself of falsehoods, and to be freed from everything that darkens the human heart and makes it hard. In other words, man needs to become an infant with regard to evil. The Apostle Paul urged the Corinthians:
“Brethren, do not become children in your understanding; but in evil be infants, and in your understanding be mature” (1 Corinthians 14:20).
The person who is an infant with regard to evil and is mature in understanding is wise according to the Spirit of God. He is the one who knows the wisdom of God. And he does not merely know the truth of God, but also receives the power of God within himself. He receives the grace of the Holy Spirit.
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
