THEOSISVissarion (Nechaev)
You have gathered the transgressions of Manasseh through your will, establishing as abominations desires and multiplying, O soul, indignation against God. Manasseh ruled over Judah following his father, King Hezekiah. While the father was devout, the son was exceedingly wicked. Manasseh obliterated within his realm all that Hezekiah had established in favor of true piety. He reinstated the worship of Baal and Astarte that had been brought back by his sinful grandfather Ahaz, sacrificed children to Moloch in the valley of Gehenna, bowed down to the heavenly bodies, and engaged in sorcery. He was also a ruthless oppressor of the faithful, and at his command, the prophet Isaiah, who revealed his iniquities, was sawn in two with a wooden saw.
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Regrettably, Christians often fall into similar depravity when, acting on whims, they place passions in their hearts instead of idols and, eager to please themselves, engage in actions against God, leading themselves further into sin. Self-indulgence ensnares them; for instance, their fixation on entertainers, such as singers and dancers, causes them to lose all sense of human dignity; their obsession with worldly pleasures breeds indifference, even hostility, towards living in accordance with the Church's teachings; their desire for material wealth makes them disregard honor and conscience, among other things.
In some, faith in God and reliance on Him have weakened to such an extent that they resort to sorcery, reminiscent of the disgrace brought upon Manasseh. It is futile to try to rebuke those who imitate Manasseh or to shed light on their actions; they despise the reprovers and would, if unrestrained by the fear of earthly judgment and punishment, perpetrate the same cruelty that Manasseh inflicted upon Isaiah.