Table of Contents
o
1. About the Reason for man’s
Apostasy from God
o
3. About the second coming of Christ
o
4. Networks of the peacekeeper
o
6. Conclusion from the "Otechnik"
[on Fatherland] compiled by Bp. Ignatius
About
the end of the world.
1. About the reason
for man’s apostasy from God
“He
that believeth on the Son (of God) hath everlasting life:
and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth
on him” (John 3:36).
So defines the unfalse Word of God. This determination
of the Word of God takes place, in particular, over people, and takes place over
entire nations. It happened with particular obviousness over the people of Israel,
who were originally chosen by God's people, and subsequently became a predominantly
outcast people. In the womb of the Israelite people, the God-man became human and
accomplished the salvation of mankind; to no other people did he address his divine
sermon; all His blessings He poured out exclusively on the chosen people; the chosen
people rejected the God-man. In vain for fifteen centuries the divinely inspired
legislator of Israel proclaimed terrible executions to him if he disobeyed God.
In vain, for a whole millennium, the royal prophet of Israel delivered an exhortation
to Israel about accepting the Redeemer granted by God to mankind: “accept the punishment (kiss the Son — according to the translation from the
Hebrew), lest He be angry, and ye perish from
the way, when His wrath be kindled but a little” (Ps.2:12). In vain was Moses recited every Saturday, in vain were the psalms of David
sung at every divine service, in vain were the threats of the holy legislator and
the exhortation of the holy king repeated: the Jews rejected the Savior, stretched
out their god-killing hands on the incarnate God. They reckoned the All-Perfect
God to the category of criminals and gave him a reproachful execution as a criminal,
as a criminal among criminals.
