The Death of the Author as the “death of God” In the ontological model of postmodern consciousness, culture (the world) appears in the form of a text. Literary work from now on? these are not author-organized words that uniquely express the “theological meaning” (“message”

M hi to you, dear visitors of the Orthodox website “Family and Faith”!

B What frightens us most is the sudden death of our loved ones. How difficult it is sometimes to come to terms with the death of young people, those whose lives have just begun... How often people are unable to understand the reason sudden death your beloved relatives, survive it, find the strength to live on...

But herein lies the problem! The problem is that the living do not know how to live on without those they have lost!.. And then the opportunity arises for the living to show their true love and care for the dead. How? Prayer and good deeds about the salvation of the souls of the departed.

There is no need to waste precious time on tears and self-pity, while our deceased are in dire need of our prayerful help! Prayer, the Psalter, good deeds - this is our help for our departed, the one that can change their afterlife fate for the better and give us, the living, the strength to live on!

Here is what priest Vladimir Vostokov writes:

"WITH death is the common destiny of those living on earth, and sooner or later it will lay its hand on each of us. However, she does not resettle everyone at the same time into another world, but some earlier, others later.

It overtakes some in extreme old age, already satiated with earthly life, others mercilessly abducted in mature years, some unexpectedly carried away by it in the time of youth, at the time of freshness and the prime of life, hopes and expectations, and others in the early morning human life- in infancy.

Convinced of the inevitability of death, we more calmly reconcile with it when we see that it takes away from our midst the sick and weak elders, for whom life has already become a burden.

But with deep pity and inconsolable tears we accompany to the grave those whom death overtook in their mature or young years, leaving behind wretched widows and homeless orphans, young children or frail old parents.

In these cases, we usually say: how early, how prematurely did such and such die? Why did the Lord deprive the useful and good man life, and through this made his loved ones unhappy? Sometimes these complaints turn into impudent murmurs and are the cause of gloomy despair and dissatisfaction with life.

But can the death of a person who died before old age be considered premature; is it possible to grieve inconsolably for such a person and increase one’s grief with bitter murmurs against God?

We can find an excellent answer to this question in the life of the martyr Huar, who suffered in the 4th century. As a warrior, he loved to visit Christians imprisoned; washed their wounds, brought them food, comforted them. For his brotherly attitude towards the persecuted martyrs, he was summoned for interrogation. Here he courageously declared himself a Christian, for which he was subjected to cruel torture and beheaded with a sword.

One pious widow named Cleopatra, respecting the martyr for his firmness in faith and virtue, buried his body with honor, and subsequently erected a temple on the grave of the martyr.

Soon after the consecration of the temple kind woman suffered a grave misfortune: her only son, still young, but already achieving military honors, fell ill and died...

The loving mother, weeping inconsolably for her son, threw herself over the tomb of Saint Uar and with all the strength of her soul begged him to ask God for her mercy - to resurrect her son.

Sorrow, tears, fiery prayer tired her, she fell asleep, and in her sleep a wondrous vision illuminated her: Saint Uar appeared before her with her dead son, and both of them were in shining clothes, in shining crowns, joyful, surrounded by extraordinary light.

From this vision, Cleopatra realized that the premature, in her opinion, death of her son is not a misfortune that destroyed her son and poisoned the life of her mother, but there is a good part of him - a transition from temporary life to heavenly joy in Eternal Life, to such joy as Her son would not have experienced it here on earth, even if he would have lived for many more years.

It goes without saying that, convinced of the blessed fate of her son, Cleopatra stopped grieving inconsolably, but, having distributed her property to those in need, she herself settled at the temple of the martyr Huar and fasted and prayed until the end of her days.

And Cleopatra acted wisely, truly in a Christian manner, leaving behind vain grief and earthly sorrows, and humbly submitting to the will of God.

Likewise, all of us, Christians, must firmly remember that death is premature only according to our weak reasoning, but according to God’s wise discretion, everyone dies in a timely manner: at the time when his soul is most ripe for the transition to another life. After all, Christ Himself taught that the all-governing right hand of God is always stretched out over the world, protecting and saving the sons of the earth.

Believing in such mercy of the Creator towards us, we must be convinced that death itself does not befall us by chance, but by His will. And His will, as good and perfect, directs everything towards our happiness and bliss, therefore, we die at the most favorable moment for us.

Let us explain this idea this way: our entire life, with its beginning and end, with its consequences, is completely open before the eyes of the all-seeing God. And just as a skilled painter, finishing his picture, with an attentive glance notices its shortcomings and with a skillful movement of the brush corrects and complements the picture and then takes it out of the studio; so the Lord God, by His wise Providence, directs us to the goals He Himself intended for our existence - and when these goals are achieved by us, when the earthly lot is fulfilled by us, when everything to which we are called is accomplished by us, then He calls us into another world, for another life, even if, according to our human reasoning, the time has not come for this, i.e. old age has not yet approached.

In addition, the Lord, in His mercy, saves us from ourselves, from various evils and troubles of life; The Lord knows, for example, that such and such a person, if he lives any longer, will fall into grave and unrepentant sins, and calls him to Himself, thereby preventing these disasters.

Or the Lord sees that a person is exhausted and tired life path, and so that he does not fall in the fight against adversity, calls him to Himself. According to our limited minds, we do not see this wise care of the Creator for us, therefore we grieve, murmur, become despondent, and sometimes we curse our fate.

But in order to keep our rebellious heart from murmuring against Providence, when, according to His will, something is done that is inconsistent with our desire, let us dwell on the following comparison: let us assume that one of us has a dearly beloved son, and loving father who would not like to part with his son is offered a choice: to keep his son for several years, but then he will lose many benefits; or let him go to a distant country, humbly bear the melancholy of separation from him, and then he will be happy forever. What father wouldn't agree to the latter? And who would grumble about that beneficial separation that leads his son to true happiness? Of course, no one. So, for example, the son of Cleopatra died, according to human reasoning, prematurely, and through this death he acquired eternal joy: who knows, if he had lived to old age, perhaps, among everyday temptations, he would have lost this crown?!

Since 1917, medicine has been recording the sudden deaths of young and seemingly completely healthy people who have never been sick (at least, never consulted a doctor with signs of any disease). At the beginning of the 21st century, sudden death syndrome has become even more common than in the 20th century. Doctors are arguing about what caused this increase in deaths and what is behind it? Some scientists, such as Dr. L. Meyendorff, say that such cases are appearing in Europe and the USA with extraordinary speed. And in her book “Stroke, Heart Attack, Sudden Death: The Theory of Vascular Catastrophes,” Professor E.A. Shirokova writes:“There are no accurate statistics on sudden death, since there is no generally accepted definition of this concept. However, it is estimated that every 60-75 seconds in the United States, 1 person dies from unexpected cardiac arrest. The problem of sudden cardiac death, which has attracted the attention of cardiologists for many decades, has become acute again in recent years, when large population-based studies conducted by the World Health Organization demonstrated an increasing incidence of sudden death among adults, and not only adults. It turned out that cases of sudden death are not so rare, and this problem requires close study.”

What can we say about this? First of all, it is necessary to turn to the description of death made by St. Tikhon of Zadonsk: “The time of our life is constantly running out. It is impossible to return the past tense. The past and the future are not ours, but only the one we now have. Our death is unknown to us. Therefore, always, at every hour, we must be prepared for the outcome if we want to die blissfully. This means that a Christian must be in constant repentance, the struggle of faith and piety. What he wants to be at the end, he must try to be like this at every time of his life, for he does not know in the morning whether he will wait for the evening, and in the evening whether he will wait for the morning.».

In the modern world, very few people remember these words. Recently I personally had to deal with 3 cases of sudden death.

1) One 24-year-old girl graduated from college and got a job in a large commercial structure, with good prospects and a salary exceeding the “average” one, but literally a week after taking up her position, upon arriving at work, she suddenly felt ill, had a severe headache and tightness of breathing. An ambulance was called and arrived 30 minutes later and pronounced him dead.

2) My good friend, with whom I was friends for many years, was not subject to bad habits of alcohol and smoking; on the contrary, he went in for sports throughout the year, was a good family man and did not suffer from various manifestations of stressful situations as much as it would be easy to do. there were no incentives. He was a man who is usually described as “very successful.” But one day in a dream sudden death occurred.

3) Another case from life, a person whom I knew well, was also not subject to bad habits. He was an Orthodox Christian, regularly confessed and received the Holy Mysteries of Christ. But one day, coming home after work, he suddenly felt bad. Death occurred before the arrival of ambulance doctors.

But with what thought and with a repentant heart did these people depart to the Lord, although their death was sudden? This is what Abba Euprenius tells us: « He who loves earthly things more than Heavenly things will lose both Heavenly and earthly things. He who seeks the Heavenly is master of the whole world.”

Doctors put forward many reasons for this sudden death. In his article on this issue, Ivan Pozharov gives different versions of the possible causes of sudden death:

Previous heart attack with a large area of ​​myocardial damage (75% of cases of sudden coronary death are associated with a previous myocardial infarction).

In the first six months after acute myocardial infarction, the risk of sudden coronary death is increased.

Coronary heart disease (80% of cases of sudden coronary death are associated with this disease).

Ejection fraction less than 40% in combination with ventricular tachycardia.

Previous episodes of sudden cardiac arrest.

Family history of sudden cardiac arrest or sudden coronary death.

A personal or family history of abnormal heart rhythms, including short or long QT syndrome, Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, too low heart rate, or heart block.

Ventricular tachycardia or ventricular fibrillation that develops after a heart attack.

Congenital heart defects and blood vessel abnormalities.

Episodes of syncope (loss of consciousness of unknown cause).

Heart failure: a condition in which the pumping function of the heart is weakened. Patients with heart failure are 6 to 9 times more likely to develop ventricular arrhythmias, which can lead to sudden cardiac arrest.

Dilated cardiomyopathy (causes sudden coronary death in 10% of cases), due to a decrease in the pumping function of the heart.

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy: thickening of the heart muscle, especially in the ventricles.

Significant changes in blood potassium and magnesium levels (for example, when using diuretics), even in the absence of any heart disease.

Obesity.

Diabetes.

Drug use.

Taking antiarrhythmic drugs may increase the risk of developing life-threatening arrhythmias.

Other authors give even more fantastic explanations for sudden death. These are the theories outlined by Dmitry Kuznetsov in his article “Sudden Death Syndrome”. And although many of his theories are certainly untenable, I present them specifically to complete the picture on the issues I am describing. This is what we learn from his article: “Several hypotheses can be put forward to explain the occurrence of fatal processes in the body:

1. Chemistry

We live not in the iron, not in the atomic, but in the chemical age. Let's look around us - we are surrounded by almost nothing but artificial materials, from synthetics in clothing to epoxy resin and phenol in chipboard for consumer furniture. The exception is metals, however, they are increasingly undergoing man-made changes and are being replaced by heavy-duty plastic. Such an aggressive unnatural chemical environment cannot but affect the course of biochemical processes at the cellular level. In this case, one should not confuse banal poisoning of the habitat (with subsequent intoxication of individuals living in this environment) with a subtle change in biochemistry. It’s just that at one unfortunate moment, vital reactions in the body slightly (this “slightly” is quite enough) shift in one direction or another and the deadly “hour X” begins.

2. Waves

Almost the same can be said about the electromagnetic situation on the planet. We are simply swimming in an ocean of electromagnetic radiation of various ranges - from ultra-long waves of long-distance communications with nuclear submarines to microwave pulses of the most powerful radars. The Earth has long become the second most powerful radio emission body in the solar system (the first, of course, is our star). Electromagnetic waves superimposing on each other create a chaotic interference pattern with pronounced energy minima and maxima. A person finds himself in such extremes and his electrobiophysiology fails.

3. Exotic

An interesting hypothesis about the causes of sudden infant death syndrome was expressed by a certain Australian scientist. While some experts say the idea is far-fetched, he argues that the reason infants die is because they dream that they are in the womb. Since oxygen is supplied through the umbilical cord before birth, they “forget” to breathe and die. With some stretch, a similar mechanism can be extended to an adult human unit.

4. Ufology

The Clinton government then tried to hush up the incident (by the way, an absolutely normal reaction), but left itself a certain loophole by allowing a strictly measured leak of information. As in other similar cases, the “civilized public” responded with indifferent silence, once again demonstrating a standard example of strategic thinking of a lower order.” And although you should smile after reading the ufology section, we still present this version to complete the picture of the fear of sudden death that worries all of humanity.

But every Orthodox Christian knows that the human soul appears before the Lord at the moment when it is closest to salvation. Each person chooses his own life for himself, each person endowed with free will can either go to Christ, or, on the contrary, move away from him. St. Ephraim the Syrian tells us about this: “Woe to you, soul, that you remain insensitive in this life, every day indulging in luxury, laughter, distraction and living dissolutely; in the Future Age you will cry like a rich man, tormented in an eternal flame.”

“When a sinner is cast out from the presence of God, then his cry and weeping will not endure the foundation of the universe.”

“The wicked will look at the good, and their grief will increase when they see the great glory of the perfect, which they acquired as an inheritance through a short-term struggle, while the wicked, chasing after the insignificant, inherited torment.”

“Eternal Life awaits only those who have accepted the pledge, and at the end, on the day of the appearance of the Great King, they will come out to meet Him; to such are proclaimed endless bliss.”

Some relatives of the deceased approached me with a request to explain to them why the Lord allowed such a sudden death to their relatives and friends? And what does such a sudden death mean? Saint Nicholas of Serbia answered this question in the best possible way more than seventy years ago. I think it is necessary to end this article by quoting the saint:

“People write to me that they often hear talk about sudden death. They say that if it is inevitable, then let it come suddenly and suddenly end your life. This is better than suffering from illness and making others suffer. An expected death is worse than a sudden one. In your town, a car hit a woman to death, her death gave rise to many conversations. Some argue that this is the best death. Someone said this about death: “Let him come, but don’t let him eat!” After all this, you decided to write and ask for an explanation.

You should not wish for sudden death - you should be prepared for it whenever it comes. This is what the Church teaches. There are many canonical prayers in which we ask the Lord to save us from all troubles, which include sudden death. But He, in whose power both life and death, acts according to His holy Providence for the benefit of every human soul, whether He suddenly takes it from this world or leaves it here for a time. Sometimes He overtakes sinners with sudden death, sometimes - but less often - the righteous. In the Old Testament we read how the Lord punished the sons of Aaron with sudden death for their unauthorized service (Lev. 10:1-5), how he punished the rebels against Moses (Num. 13; 14; 16; 17); how Ananias and Sapphira fell dead for lying to the apostles (Acts 5:1-10). Many persecutors of Christians died a sudden death; We read about this in the lives of the holy martyrs. But sometimes it happened that a righteous person died a sudden death, although very rarely. This happened to Athanasius of Athos: when he was building something, a wall fell, and he and several monks died under the stones.

By sending sudden death to sinners, the Lord pursues two goals: punishing the sinner and edifying others. As it happened after the death of Ananias and Sapphira: great fear came over the whole church and all who heard it (Acts 5:11). And when people rely too much on a righteous man and begin to deify him, as was the case with Athanasius of Athos, the Lord suddenly takes the soul of the righteous man to remind people that only He is God and there are no gods besides Him. In all cases of sudden death, the lesson for the survivors is simple, namely: they should constantly prepare their souls for an early separation from this world - through repentance, prayer and alms.

It is said about the famous Valaam elder Nikita that he was very afraid of sudden death and constantly prayed that the Lord would send him a long and serious illness before his death, so that, as he said, “with the patience of illness to appease the righteous Judge, who, if he wants, will consider my patience instead of good deeds that I don’t have.” Someone, lying on his sick bed, consoled his friends with the words: “ I suffered for nine months to enter this world, shouldn’t I suffer just as long to leave it?”

Truly near-death illness is very important. She brought eternal salvation to many sinners. And thousands of sinners came to know God and their own souls only on their sick beds. And having come to know these two great realities, which they had neglected all their lives, they bitterly repented and mourned their unreasonable life, confessed and received communion and, having been cleansed by the tears and Blood of Christ, were worthy to enter His bright heavenly palaces. Therefore, the dying illness is given by the grace of God. Do not worry that our loved ones will suffer because of our serious illness: this suffering is for their good, they will receive a generous reward from the Creator for this».

Doctor of Theology Archpriest Alexander Fedoseev

Information and analytical portal "Creator"

The rector of the Church of St. answers the reader’s question. Peter, Metropolitan of Moscow, p. Lions of the Rostov district of the Yaroslavl diocese, priest Alexander Shantaev.

Hello! Explain to me: why do people die?
After all, we love them, share all our joys and sorrows with them, and need them. Why is it that my father, who experienced many hardships in his life, died at the age of 50, while others live haphazardly - they harass their family, and do not allow strangers to live, but live long life? Why is it so unfair? I have only one mother left, and just from the thought that I could lose her, I start to cry, tears roll down involuntarily. What's the matter? Why does it hurt so much?
Sincerely, Lily.

Dear Lily!
Your letter contains two different questions. The first: “why do people die?” is of a general and comprehensive nature, and presupposes an equally generalized doctrinal answer. The second question is more specific: “why do those who are dear to us die, while others - less worthy, in our opinion - live long lives?”
So: why do people die? All people, as we know, descended from a common forefather Adam, and the answer to the question of death must be sought at the very origins human existence, more precisely, in the event of the Fall. Holy Teaching Orthodox Church, contained in the Holy Scriptures, Tradition and the works of the holy fathers, definitely states: “God did not create death” (Wisdom 1, 13). The Greek theologian Metropolitan Hierotheos (Vlahos) writes: “Sin, as a result of which death was born, is the fall of Adam in the paradise of sweetness. God, having given man the commandment not to eat from the forbidden fruit, at the same time informed him: “On the day on which you if you taste it, you will die" (Genesis 2:17). And indeed, after committing this sin, death entered human nature; first, spiritual death, which consists in excommunication human soul from God, and then bodily death - separation of the soul from the body."
Adam fell away from God, Who is Life; he died first of all spiritually, and the spiritual reality of death was inevitably followed in due time by the physiological one. According to the teachings of the Holy Fathers, we inherit the consequence of his sin, which is mortality, physical and biological temporality in this world. As one of the great teachers of the Church notes, Rev. John Damascene, God created man in His image - rational and free: “He created him into incorruption, ... raised him to incorruption. After, through the transgression of the commandment, we darkened and distorted the features of the image of God in us, then we, having become evil, deprived of communication with God, ... found themselves outside of life, falling into the corruption of death."
We can say that people die because through the crime of Adam, death came to the world, which became fallen and temporary. But it would be wrong to dwell only on this conclusion, since death is not absolute. Death is not a quantity that opposes us, much less God. As ugly as Adam's sin is, its consequence is equally flawed - death, corruption, which is a "non-essence", which is a manifestation of evil, but a manifestation that has its limits and its finitude. For death, too, there is death - and this is our Lord Jesus Christ, who “trampled down death by death,” as we sing in the Easter celebration. Christ's death, according to the most profound saying of the Liturgy of St. Basil the Great, is “life-giving.” "Death! where is your sting?" - exclaims the Apostle Paul (I Cor. 15:55). Having pulled out the sting of sin by his death on the cross, Christ destroyed death as a spiritual reality, as the separation of man from God, which is separation from Life. For this Redemptive gift, this Sacrifice for us, the Incarnation of Christ, and His Crucifixion, and His Resurrection took place. For this purpose, by accepting holy baptism, we die with Christ and are resurrected in Him.
And still physically (bodily) dying as long as the history of the world lasts until the Second Coming, in spiritual reality we do not and cannot have death as the end of everything.
And your father, dear Lilia, did not die, did not end, did not disappear and did not cease to be. He can die for you if you yourself believe in death, if the manifestation of death is greater for you than the manifestation of Christ in your heart. But even if your faith leaves you from the grief of loss, the life of your father’s unique personality did not stop for a moment, only its form temporarily changed. And your communication with a loved one after his death should not stop, only the place of our communication, as Bishop Kallistos of Diocleia writes, “is not the living room, but the temple during the celebration of the Eucharist. The only legal basis for this communication is prayer, primarily in the liturgical sense. We We pray for them (the dead - Fr. A.Sh.) and at the same time we are sure that they are praying for us; in such mutual intercession we are united - beyond the borders of death, in an unshakable and indivisible union."
Let's move on to the second question contained in your letter. It feels not only the suffering of loss, but also the pain of selfish resentment. Resentment may overshadow grief, and that is why you are unfair in your reproaches. Let's remember the parable of the beggar Lazarus in the Gospel of Luke (Luke 16:19-31). There was a poor man, Lazarus, endlessly emaciated, endlessly exhausted, sick, lying in weakness at the gate of a certain rich man, and even “the dogs came and licked his sores.” He would have liked to feed himself on the crumbs from the rich man's table, but those were not there either. Having experienced a lot of suffering and having lived, presumably, not too long a century, Lazarus died and was carried by the Angels to Abraham's bosom - the place of settlement of the righteous. The rich man also died and went to a place of torment - hell. You can read the rest yourself, but I would like to recall the interpretation of this parable by St. John Chrysostom, the meaning of which I convey from memory and in my own words. Some people live their lives full of hardship and sorrow in this century - so as not to lose hope and the opportunity for true happiness and completeness in Eternity. Others, being quite possibly evil, corrupt and cruel, meanwhile live happily ever after, in luxury and abundance, even as if mocking the poverty and suffering of those around them. Foreseeing their future, but not daring to violate their will, the Lord gives them the opportunity to be satisfied in this world. And in the next century, says the Saint, when they find themselves in the place prepared for them because of their sins, they will not have the right to reproach God and accuse Him of injustice, because they have received the full measure of their happiness.
And one more fundamental point, rather a moral one, is that a Christian should not pass judgment on other people and weigh on his biased scales the measure of the meaning and necessity of someone else’s life. In assessing, from our point of view, the meaninglessness of someone’s life, there is hidden the strongest distortion of Christ’s Gospel principle. There is undoubted evil in such a view, which requires repentance.

Priest Alexander Shantaev

In the photo: icon of the Resurrection of Christ