7/25/2019 Excratct: To the Serbs an Episle From Moscow Extract

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Alexei Stepanovich Khomyakov

TO THE SERBS AN EPISTLE FROM MOSCOW

Extract

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... 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,

7/25/2019 Excratct: To the Serbs an Episle From Moscow Extract

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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.

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