Christianity or the Church? - St. Hilarion Troitsky (Pt. II/III)
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Part II of "Christianity or the Church?" Read the text here: http://orthodoxinfo.com/inquirers/sthilarion_church.asp 0:05 To be a Christian means to belong to the visible Church and obey Her hierarchs 1:10 Heretics and schismatics do not have the true, unifying love of God 2:00 Not only no Christian love outside the Church, but no Christian teaching in the true sense 3:32 According to Saint Cyprian, to be outside the Church and yet remain a Christian is impossible, for to be outside the Church is to be outside Christ's camp. 4:46 St. Cyprian: "He who does not have the Church as his mother cannot have God as his Father." 5:13 For this reason St. Cyprian called for schismatics to enter the Church by baptism 6:07 Council of Carthage 256 (and later the 6th EC in Trullo) affirms St. Cyprian’s canon though modified his view that all schismatics should be received by baptism. “On this point, the views of Blessed Augustine differ somewhat, although his view of the relationship of Christianity to the Church remains exactly the same.” 7:27 The teaching of Blessed Augustine 8:18 If schismatics retain true baptism, is the Church necessary? Is salvation possible outside the Church? Bl. Augustine answers “No.” 9:03 St. Hilarion repeating Bl. Augustine: “All the wealth of the Church which is possessed by those who have separated themselves from the Church brings them absolutely no benefit, but only harm.” 11:39 “Schismatics are deprived of the hope of salvation not only because their baptism is invalid, but also because they are outside the Church and in enmity with it.” 13:28 “The points of view of Saint Cyprian and Blessed Augustine can be seen to differ somewhat, but they both arrive at exactly the same conclusion: outside the Church there is no salvation!” 15:00 Christ is not only a great teacher, but the Savior of the world. He gave life, not merely teaching 15:48 On the ninth article of the Creed: “[I believe] in One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church” 16:40 The concept of the Church, not Christianity, lay at the head of Christian beliefs from the beginning 17:11 The falsification of the Church with Christianity 18:19 “Thus it seems that we will not err if we express the thought that the truth of the Church, above all other truths, touches the very life of each Christian, defining not only his beliefs, but also his life.” 18:59 Western influence on Russian Society 20:23 Protestantism was created from Latinism and is a purely human creation 21:28 St. Hilarion identifies the Church with love and those who have broken off do not have the love of God in the Church 22:06 “Protestantism placed a papal tiara on every German professor…” 22:48 “The human soul is Church-prone by nature.” 23:04 “Self-love and Self-will received a sort of sanctification and blessing from Protestantism.” 24:02 Individualism blossoms in Protestantism in the West 25:22 Russian Literature has suffered from Protestantism’s influence as well 26:22 The Russian people have lost the habit of being Church-minded 27:33 This de-Churchification is a “subtle venom” 28:51 Wisdom from St. Vincent of Lérins 29:29 Christ left no system, no writings, and “there is nothing easier than to re-interpret Christ's teaching according to one's personal taste and to invent "Christianity," passing off, under this name, the dreams of one's heart and the images of one's own idle fantasy.” 32:58 When Christianity = The Church then Christ the God-Man = Jesus of Nazareth