THEOSISTheophan the Recluse
People contend that my teachings are rigorous. However, my teachings are not for me to claim, nor will they ever belong to me. From this revered space, no individual should preach their own teachings. If I or anyone else attempts to do so, we should be removed. We proclaim the teachings of our Lord and God and Savior Jesus Christ, as well as those of His holy Apostles and the Holy Church, guided by the Spirit of God. We diligently strive to ensure that these teachings remain preserved in your minds and hearts, unblemished and pure, with careful consideration in every thought and word we utter so that we do not cast a shadow over this radiant divine doctrine. It is impossible to act otherwise.
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A fundamental law for preaching in the Church on behalf of God has been established since the dawn of time and is to remain until the end of days. The holy prophet Moses, having conveyed God's commandments to the people of Israel, remarked: ‘Let not the words which I command you be added to the word which I command you, neither let you take away from it: keep the commandments of the Lord our God, which I command you, and as I command you.’ This principle of unchangeability is so steadfast that our Lord and Savior Himself, when instructing the people on the mountain, affirmed: ‘Do not think that I am come to destroy the law, or the Prophets: I am not come to destroy it, but to fulfil it. Amen I say unto you, till heaven and earth pass away, not one jot or one speck shall pass from the law, till all be’ (Matthew 5:17-18). He conferred the same authority to His teachings, declaring before elucidating the commandments in the spirit of the Gospel: ‘Whosoever shall break one of these little commandments, and shall teach men so, shall be called a fool in the Kingdom of Heaven’ (Matthew 5:19). This means that anyone who misinterprets or undermines their significance will be rejected in the afterlife. Such was His proclamation at the onset of His sermon. He reiterated this to St John the Apostle in the Revelation, where regarding the ultimate destiny of the world and the Church, He says: ‘I testify.... To every one that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book: if any man shall add unto these, God shall put upon him the plagues written in this book: and if any man shall depart from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of the living, and out of the holy city’ (Rev. 22:18-19). For all time between His First Coming and His Second Coming, this law has been entrusted to the holy Apostles and their successors: ‘Teaching all tongues.... teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you’—which is to teach not what anyone desires, but what I have commanded—until the end of time: “And behold, I am with you ... to the end of the age” (I am with you ...). to the end of the world’ (Matthew 28:19-20). The apostles embraced this law and willingly gave their lives to uphold it, responding to those who sought to silence them through threats of punishment and death: ‘If it is righteousness in the sight of God to listen to you more than to God, judge: for we cannot, what we have seen and heard, not speak’ (Acts 4:19-20). This law was handed down by the Apostles to their successors, and it has been accepted by them and remains in effect in the Church of God—thus it is called ‘the pillar and bulwark of the truth’ (1 Tim. 3:15). Observe this unwavering strength! Who will dare to disturb or question anything within the doctrines and laws of Christianity after this?