Why does God allow wars and terrorism? God's help during the war
As a result of the Second World War, many states, including the victorious countries, suffered serious losses. The only winners were financial and industrial corporations, for which the most destructive war in history turned out to be a real gold mine.
"Friedrich Krupp"
The German Krupp dynasty has always played a major role in the economy of German militarism. Therefore, the Treaty of Versailles, concluded following the results of the First World War, became a real tragedy for Gustav Krupp. The coming to power of the Nazis not only restored lost opportunities to Krupp, but also revived hopes for the establishment of an unlimited power of monopolies.
During the formative years of the German military machine, the income of the Friedrich Krupp company grew by leaps and bounds. The forcing of the military industry during the Third Reich gave Germany a powerful impetus, thanks to which it today ranks second in the world after the United States in steel production.
The son of the aging Gustav Krupp Alfred, having learned back in the late 1930s about Himmler's plans to create concentration camps, invested huge funds in this project. For him, the camps were not primarily death factories, but sources of profit, which settled in his pockets through the use of prisoner labor. Alfred Krupp was the owner of 10 concentration camps, it was in the Krupp box office that the camp guards and guards received salaries.
By the time of Germany's capitulation, Alfred Krupp approached fully armed: huge amounts of money in foreign currency were securely resting in Swiss banks, documents denouncing him as having links with the Nazis were destroyed, and the factories were transferred under the protection of the American military police.
Siemens
The military-industrial boom did not bypass the Siemens House, at the helm of which was the third son of the founder of the famous company. Factories that produced electrical equipment, including radar systems with panoramic scanning, supplied the army, navy and merchant fleet of Germany with their products. In addition to hired workers, prisoners of concentration camps, prisoners of war and Ostarbeiters worked at Siemens factories, which made it possible to make the family business as profitable as possible.
Standard Oil
One of the largest concerns in Germany, IG Farbenindustrie, which was the main sponsor of Hitler's election campaign, was controlled by the American oil company Standard Oil, owned by the Rockefellers. Even when the US entered the Second world war, Standard Oil continued to cooperate with the Nazis, regularly supplying them with fuel and continuing to receive dividends. Only investments in the German economy were invested in the amount of 120 million dollars.
General Electric
Another American company that managed to cash in on the war, run by the Morgan clan, was fined by the US government for misbehavior in 1946. Together with the Krupp General Electric Corporation, he deliberately inflated prices for tungsten carbide, which was a vital important material for the mechanical processing of metals, necessary for the needs of the front. The $36,000 fine was minuscule compared to the $1.5 million he received from the scam.
American banks
In the 1990s, a French government commission investigating the seizure of Jewish valuables and accounts during World War II stated that five American banks were involved in the theft: Chase Manhattan, J.P Morgan, Guaranty Trust Co. of New York, Bank of the City of New York and American Express.
The Chase bank was especially active, which significantly improved its business after the “Kristallnacht” - the pogrom of the Jews of Austria and Germany, which occurred in 1938. The bank later froze the accounts of French Jews in occupied France.
One of the main shareholders of Chase Bank, John Rockefeller, directly financed the eugenics experiments of the Nazis. Between 1936 and 1941, Chase, together with other American banks, helped the Germans get over 20 million in dollar terms. The banks made over $1.2 million from the deal, half a million of which went into Chase's pocket.
Swiss banks
Hitler's ambitious plans were generously financed by American and British bankers, and the Swiss banks acted as an intermediary in this. It was this circumstance that allowed little Switzerland to stay away from the drama that was being played out on the European fronts.
During the years of the Second World War, the leaders of the Reich invested 15 billion Reichsmarks in gold in Swiss banks - more than $ 40 billion at the modern rate. These were, first of all, the gold reserves of the occupied countries, as well as confiscated property. Concentration camps served as a separate source of gold, from where hundreds of kilograms of gold crowns were supplied.
The Nazis also sold paintings to Switzerland that were not interesting to the Reich from the point of view of art. To the Swiss dealer Hans Wendland, for example, they sold 28 Impressionist paintings in exchange for one Rembrandt painting and two 16th-century tapestries. The paintings received from the German authorities, among which were the works of Van Gogh, Renoir, Corot, the Swiss realized very profitably.
Nestle
In 2000, the Swiss company Nestle was conditionally ordered to pay nearly $15 million in compensation to Jewish organizations. This is pennies compared to the capital that the company made during the war years. Nestle profitably sold tons of instant coffee to the American army, because of the overproduction of which Brazil suffered.
This popular firm recently admitted that in 1947 it acquired a company that used forced labor during the war years. “There is no doubt, or it can be assumed, that some corporations from the Nestle group operating in countries controlled by the National Socialist regime exploited forced laborers,” the company said.
It is known that in 1939 in Switzerland, Nestle provided financial assistance to the Nazi Party, winning a lucrative contract for the supply of chocolate for the needs of the entire German army during World War II.
Fanta
The world famous trade brand Fanta owes its birth to Nazi Germany. When problems arose with the import of cola ingredients to Europe after the start of the war, Coca-Cola's manager in Germany, Max Keith, was able to quickly refocus. Its technologists managed to create a formula for a delicious chemical drink that could be produced for the Germans based on available materials.
1941 was Fanta's debut on the German market. Kite's efforts to keep the Coca-Cola division running smoothly throughout the war allowed the company to make substantial profits, and after the end of the war, the German subsidiary of the American company returned to distributing Coca-Cola to American soldiers stationed in Europe.
USA
According to many experts, despite the huge costs incurred during the war, the United States benefited from it in many ways. Thus, the profits of American corporations rose from $6.4 billion in 1940 to $10.8 billion in 1944. President of General Motors Corporation Charles Wilson once said: "What is good for General Motors is good for the United States, and vice versa."
Thanks to the profits of military-industrial corporations, the American post-war economy experienced a real boom.
But the United States enriched itself in another way. So, after the defeat of Poland by Germany, the country's government took out the gold and foreign exchange reserves, which eventually ended up in France. From France, Polish gold, in company with Belgian, Dutch, Norwegian and French gold reserves, migrated to Dakar, where it was expropriated by the Americans who landed there.
It is known that the gold reserves of the French National Bank amounted to 2 billion 477 million dollars, the Norwegian reserves were estimated at 84 million dollars.
In addition, business owners and individuals in Europe preferred to transfer their savings to American banks, as the safest place. If in October 1939 the US Federal Reserve held $17 billion worth of gold, by February 1940 this amount had increased by a whole billion ($1 in 1940 equals about $25 today).
With the beginning of the active phase of the war in Europe, the influx of gold increased markedly. From May 10 to May 14, 1940 alone, $46 million worth of gold arrived in the United States, and after France was doomed, another $500 million entered the US banks.
Sweden
During the war years, Sweden was able to increase its gold reserves by trading iron with Germany. For example, in 1939, 70 percent of Swedish iron and 50 percent iron ore. With the outbreak of war, Sweden's share of German imports only increased.
In addition, Germany could not do without the products of the Swedish concern SKF, which produced bearings for military equipment.
The total value of Sweden's benefits from trade with the Reich can be estimated at 10 billion modern dollars. In the future, these capitals became the material basis for the reforms that led to the building of Swedish socialism.
Portugal
This Iberian state occupied a very profitable geographical position, which allowed her to contact both the UK and the countries of continental Europe. By providing trade services to both the allies in the anti-Hitler coalition and the Axis countries, Portugal managed to increase its gold reserves from $63 million in 1938 to $438 million in 1946.
The republic possessed huge reserves of tungsten, without which the production of high-quality steel is unthinkable. It is not surprising that both the Germans and the British tried to buy it to the maximum, as a result of which metal prices constantly rose.
I am a local, I was born in Vditsko. We have a lot of water: both the lake and the river Ravan, wherever you dig, the water comes through. From the water and the name went. The village was large, ancient, with 127 households. Houses on both sides of the road were five-walled, lined with elms. The chapel is beautiful with ancient icons, a dove fence, double-leaf gates; century-old lindens grew around. The fence was demolished during the war, when the pits under the graves were blown up. The dead in the chapel were stacked in rows like firewood: there were many of them - not to count ...
There was no such highway - after the war, the captured Germans laid it, and the road itself - from Lyuban to Luga, has been passing here since tsarist times. In 1941, a whole pandemonium was going on on it: some from Lyuban, some wandering to Lyuban with knapsacks ...
Before the war there was a lumber station in Ogorelye (3 kilometers from us); railway sent. Further, in Rogavka - peat enterprises: Tesovo-1, Tesovo-2, hydropeat was mined. Behind Rogavka in 1941, women made a blockage against tanks in a strip of 50 meters. A ditch 3 meters deep was dug, but the tanks did not go there.
In August, our troops moved from Luga. Tired, ragged, wounded. Then the Germans showed up. They didn’t stop at our place, they were afraid of the forests, they moved to Krivino and Novaya Derevnya.
My husband was a railroad fireman. As the trains stopped running, he joined the partisans. Three times he came home, brought cereals, sugar. Our little boy is two years old, and the little girl is only a month old ...
In January, ours began to advance. A volley of Katyushas was fired at Krivino - they took the village. We made an airfield, put two anti-aircraft guns in the cemetery. The hospital was located in the houses, the wounded were taken by wagons.
The German bombed heavily, almost every day. One bomb fell next to us, my granary burned down. The funnel has not yet overgrown, we draw water from it - to water the garden.
In winter, typhus began. They collected typhoid people in one house, from there - to the chapel. Many people died of typhus... Then the hospital was transferred to the forest, tents were set up, the bombing in the forest was different.
By spring, food became bad. Supplies are out and no delivery. The plane will sometimes drop canned food or crackers in a paper bag, another time they will knock down a hearty one ... After the war, residents in Lake Tigoda found one "corncob", sawed off the tail: 75 kopecks were paid for 1 kilogram of aluminum.
Soldiers lived in my house, they felt sorry for the children, they shared as long as there was something. I chew the cracker and into a rag and give the girl to suck. And when they give a piece of sugar ...
In May, it became completely impossible. The shelling is non-stop. We spent three nights in the bushes. The army was ordered to retreat, and we were ordered to withdraw with the army.
Nothing to do, gathered the children and went. They stomped along the lezhnevka to Rogavka, and then moved through the forest to Myasny Bor. There was no further passage, and we spent a month in huts in the forest. How they survived - only God knows, all the grass, as it is, and ate the leaves.
One day the soldiers said: "We will fight our way through." One soldier helped me: he took Vitka on his shoulders. God grant him health, if he is still alive ... And I tied the girl to me with a scarf and went with everyone along the flooring. What was done there - do not convey! Shooting from all sides, smoke, roar. Nyusha, a neighbor, was blown to pieces by a mine ... The forest burned like a fire, and it was necessary to go right through it. In this fire, only straps remained from my sundress, but somehow I got out. I myself am surprised that the children remained alive, thanks to the soldier, I saved them. They got out to Malaya Vishera, and there was no such horror there and there were no Germans.
Few of our people passed through Myasnoy Bor, most of them returned to the village and died of hunger. And it looks like God helped us.
The First World War could have been the last. But the Russian Revolution of 1917 marked the beginning of a tragic chain of events that once again brought the world to the brink of universal catastrophe. The monarchical principle in Europe was finally shaken, and the new democracies and republics leaned too easily towards dictatorship. Leaders, Fuhrers and Duce, playing on the instincts of the crowd, easily threw it into battle in the name of one or another chimera. Against this background, the First World War became only a rehearsal for the terrible events of the future.
Don't walk away from the war
After February 1917, the Russian army quickly lost its combat capability. The command had to abandon the plan for a naval operation to capture the Bosphorus. The summer offensive that began at the Marseillaise at the front ended in a shameful flight. Now Germany was able to transfer its best parts to the Anglo-French front.
After the conclusion of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with Soviet Russia, the Germans gained control over vast territories rich in food and raw materials that Germany needed so much. The defeat of Russia allowed them to hold out until the end of 1918. The Treaty of Versailles could have been much more difficult for Germany and resulted in its division into a number of small states, which would have eliminated the threat of a new global war, but due to the defeat of Russia, the victors could not achieve this.
Germany retained its unity, and later began an active recovery. In this, it could rely on the USSR: both countries were striving for a way out of isolation and mutually beneficial cooperation.
The inevitable after the prosperity of the 1920s, the Great Depression and the growing threat of Bolshevism in Eastern and Central Europe provoked the victory of Nazism in Germany. However, now it was no longer possible to create a new Entente to counterbalance the Germans.
The world is heading towards the Second World War. Italy and Japan this time took the side of Germany. France and Britain met new war in much worse shape than in 1914: as a result of the victorious blitzkrieg, the first ceased to exist, and the second was driven into a dead defensive.
It was not for nothing that Winston Churchill called both world wars one "new Thirty Years' War" of 1914-1945. For our country, the Great Patriotic War became an inevitable retribution for the revolution, but we managed to win the worst test in all of Russian history, relying no longer on Soviet ideology, but on much more significant values - eternal ones.
In the first year and a half of the war, the losses of the Red Army in killed, dead from wounds and prisoners amounted to more than 5 million people (which already exceeded the personnel strength of the Red Army or the losses of the Russian army during the entire First World War). The territory was lost, where about 40% of the country's population lived, the vast majority of the military industry was located, more than half of the coal and iron ore were mined, and almost half of the grain was collected. Leningrad - the "cradle of the revolution" that took place during the Great Lent of 1917, a quarter of a century after it was subjected by the Nazis to a monstrous post - blockade.
1937 census: more than half of believers
In 1933-1938, the “godless five-year plan” thundered across the Soviet country, during which the Russian Church as an organization was almost completely destroyed. But only as an organization: in 1937, a population census was conducted in the USSR, during which more than half of the population openly recognized themselves as believers (as a result, the census materials were made public only half a century later).
By the beginning of World War II, only 4 bishops were in their chairs: Patriarchal Locum Tenens Sergius (Stragorodsky), Metropolitan Alexy (Simansky) of Leningrad, as well as 2 of their vicars - Archbishops of Dmitrovsky Sergius (Voskresensky) and Peterhof Nikolai (Yarushevich).
However, with the outbreak of international conflict in 1939-1941. 15 more dioceses were formed as part of the Russian Church - in the territories annexed to the USSR and therefore not experienced two decades of persecution (Western Ukraine, Western Belarus, the Baltic States, Moldova). True, in the very first weeks of the Great Patriotic War they were all under occupation...
The leadership of the Third Reich set out to restore religious life in their new territories, but intended to keep it under tight control and direct it in a beneficial direction. However, the Nazis miscalculated.
In August 1941, the Episcopal Cathedral in the Pochaev Lavra created a temporary church autonomy, which was headed by the exarch, Metropolitan of Volyn Alexy (Gromadsky). The Germans never succeeded in getting the episcopate to create a separate Ukrainian Church.
In October 1941, at the initiative of the German administration, a council of the Orthodox Church in Belarus was also held in Minsk, which made the proclamation of its own autocephaly dependent on "recognition of it by all autocephalous Orthodox Churches." Thus, the Church in the occupied territories maintained a prayer connection with Moscow. During the period of occupation, 33 departments were created in Ukraine, Belarus, in the occupied regions of Russia and in Latvia.
On the other front line, events developed no less rapidly. Already on June 22, 1941, Metropolitan Sergius delivered a message in which there were the following words: “Let us remember the holy leaders of the Russian people, for example, Alexander Nevsky, Dimitry Donskoy, who sacrificed their souls for the people and homeland. … The Church of Christ blesses all Orthodox for the defense of the sacred borders of our Motherland. The Lord will give us the victory."
Stalin's famous address of July 3, 1941 with the words "Brothers and sisters!" and the speech at the November 7 parade was largely a repetition of the metropolitan's message. With the beginning of the war, there was a sharp revival of church life in the Soviet rear as well. Already in September 1941, the formation of new dioceses began. In total, 27 new departments were created in the territories that were not occupied during the war years. By Victory Day, 10,547 churches and 75 monasteries were already operating in the USSR (later this figure would be surpassed only in the 1990s).
The changes clearly affected the warring army. On December 10, 1941, the slogan "Proletarians of all countries, unite!" was removed from military newspapers. On July 29, 1942, at the beginning of the Battle of Stalingrad, the day after the release of the famous order No. 227 “Not a step back!”, The orders of Alexander Nevsky, Suvorov and Kutuzov were established. Later, the Order of Glory was established, the ribbon of which had the colors of the George Cross (they were allowed to be worn together). On January 6, 1943, when the ring had already closed around the 6th Army of Paulus, shoulder straps were introduced in the Red Army, which were unequivocally associated with the "old regime".
The NKVD recorded army conversations: “Apparently, this was nevertheless done under pressure from England and America, or maybe in order to raise the authority of the Red Army, since many peoples, like Ukrainians and Belarusians, have ceased to love and trust it ... Now they will all respect the honor of the Russian military uniform. ... And maybe with the introduction of shoulder straps, an eagle will soon jump on them. One thing was obvious: the army could not liberate the western territories of the USSR in the form that everyone remembered as a symbol of retreat.
Rehabilitation of Russia: from the patriarchal title to the national anthem
Beginning in August 1943, after the Battle of Kursk, the Red Army (this name remained until 1946) developed a powerful offensive in Ukraine. Before winter, it was planned to cross the Dnieper and liberate the entire Right Bank. It was these events that prompted the Allies to prepare for the opening of the Second Front in Europe. In August, a decision was made to hold the first meeting of the top leaders of the Big Three.
Intensive preparations for the Tehran Conference went on throughout the autumn. As part of the strengthening of allied ties, in the second half of September, a delegation of the Anglican Church headed by the Archbishop of York was scheduled to visit Moscow.
The day before, the Kremlin stepped up its contacts with the Russian Church. On September 4, Stalin's famous meeting with Metropolitans Sergius, Alexis and Nikolai took place. And already on September 8, on the day of the Presentation of the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God, the council of bishops elected a new patriarch. The new patriarchal title "Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia", judging by the protocol of the meeting with the head of state, was the initiative of Metropolitan Sergius himself.
In the title of the former patriarch - St. Tikhon - as well as the patriarchs of the 16th-17th centuries, it meant "all Russia". However, its use was hampered by the fact that Russia was formally only one of the 16 union republics (RSFSR). As a result, a new canonical concept of "Rus" appeared, which included the entire territory of the USSR, except for Georgia, which had its own local church (at the same time, on November 19, 1943, communion between the Russian and Georgian Churches, interrupted back in 1917, was restored).
Enshrined since 1943 in the patriarchal title, the concept of "Rus" means not only the territory Russian Federation, but the entire canonical territory of the Moscow Patriarchate.
As early as May 15, 1943, the Comintern, the obsolete ghost of the world revolution, was liquidated. The former Soviet anthem "The Internationale" was also retired. In the summer of 1943, a competition was announced for the text of a new anthem. Dozens of well-known authors competed, but Stalin settled on the version of Sergei Mikhalkov, in which the same word was present as in the newly approved title of the patriarch - "Rus".
In October, the decision was actually made. Mikhalkov recalled his joint work with G. El-Registan: “We had to hear from fellow writers that it was not worth using the word “Rus” in the Soviet anthem, since this concept is archaic, ancient and sounds wild today. But it seemed to us that it was this word that was significant, timely, and, perhaps, it was it that attracted Stalin's attention.
On January 1, 1944, the new anthem was first heard on the radio: "The Union of the indestructible republics of the free rallied forever great Russia."
According to intelligence agencies, the anthem was received positively. As reported to Stalin, the head of the Main Artillery Directorate of the Red Army, Colonel-General Yakovlev, spoke as follows: “Abroad, this will be regarded as a step back, as a concession to the allies, but in fact it is not. After all, how many such steps we took during the war: the commissars were liquidated - nothing happened, they even began to fight better, they introduced general officer ranks, put on shoulder straps for everyone - they strengthened discipline. The Holy Synod was created, a patriarch was elected, the Comintern was dissolved and, finally, the International was abolished, and all this is for the benefit of the Motherland.
The head of the intelligence department of the headquarters of the Belorussian Front, Major General Tekmazov, said: “ New text The anthem teaches to love the motherland, the fatherland specifically, and not in general. He sums up the meaning of the concept of the fatherland and, most importantly, that the Soviet Union was rallied by Great Russia.
Motaev, head of the department of the Main Directorate of the Air Force Engineering and Aviation Service, noted: “Finally, they remembered great Russia, otherwise it was completely forgotten. This word was deleted from the Russian lexicon. This was a big mistake. The basis of our state, from which the Soviet Union arose, was Russia. It is on this basis that we must educate. This word creates the great traditions that we so much need.”
And the special correspondent of the long-range aviation newspaper Krasny Sokol, Major Golydev, even stated: “This is a collection of roughly rhymed slogans, which does not have the strength and beauty as in the monarchist hymn God Save the Tsar.”
Easter Victory
The last major battles of World War II in Europe died down on Holy Week, when Berlin was taken. In 1945 Orthodox Easter coincided with the feast of the Great Martyr George the Victorious on May 6.
On this day, negotiations began at the headquarters of the Western Allies in Reims on the surrender of German troops. Surrender was signed at night, but at the request of the Soviet side, two days later (on the night of May 9) a new signing took place with the participation of official representatives of the USSR. So the country found Victory Day - its civil Easter.
The new western borders approved by the Potsdam Conference generally corresponded to those discussed in Russian government circles after Russia's entry into the First World War: the annexation of Galicia, Ugric Rus (Transcarpathia), Bukovina, East Prussia, the weakening of Germany, the restoration of Poland within ethnographic borders . The same principles were implemented in the east of the country.
In an address to the Soviet people on the occasion of the end of World War II on September 2, 1945, Stalin said: “The defeat of the Russian troops in 1904 during the period Russo-Japanese War left deep memories in the minds of the people. It fell on our country as a black spot. Our people believed and expected that the day would come when Japan would be defeated and the stain would be eliminated. We, the people of the old generation, have been waiting for this day for forty years. And now, that day has come.”
Minister of Foreign Affairs V.K. Molotov later recalled: “After the war, a map of the USSR with new borders was brought to Stalin's dacha - a small one, like for a school textbook. Stalin pinned it with buttons on the wall:
“Let's see what we got ... In the North, everything is in order, normal. Finland was very guilty before us, and we moved the border away from Leningrad. The Baltics are primordially Russian lands! - again ours, Belarusians now all live together with us, Ukrainians - together, Moldovans - together. It's fine in the West. - And immediately moved to the eastern borders. - What do we have here? .. The Kuril Islands are ours now, Sakhalin is completely ours, look how good it is! And Port Arthur is ours, and our Farthest, - Stalin held a pipe through China, - and the CER is ours. China, Mongolia - everything is in order ... I don’t like our border here! ” - said Stalin and pointed to the south of the Caucasus. Asia Minor, Constantinople and the Straits haunted...
This, of course, is not about some kind of "rehabilitation of the leader." He acted brutally, pragmatically, and in the interest of maintaining his own power. However, it is worth remembering that even the Soviet system with its powerful state machine and repressive apparatus from the Russian and Orthodox tradition it was impossible to leave - she eventually turned out to be stronger.
Disputes between Brahmin theists and atheist Buddhists flared up in earnest even half a millennium before Christ. After all, faith in loving Vishnu, the ruler of the world, or in Brahma, the creator of the universe, existed even then. The main argument of the Buddhists against the Brahmins in this topic was just this one. A good creator could not create a world full of suffering. According to Buddhism, life itself is suffering. Any talk about what they say is sinful people abusing the freedom of choice given to them does not stand up to criticism, and there are at least two reasons: firstly, God had to provide for the boundaries of a person’s permissible freedom, and he himself created him like that, with his inclinations cruel, otherwise he is not omnipotent. Why then blame a person if he himself created him this way? Secondly, this applies not only to humans. Because any animal is a much more cruel creature than man. Comrades whining about unity with nature somehow forget that animals are generally devoid of pity and often kill each other ...
“There is so much madness in the world that only the fact that he does not exist can excuse God,” Stendhal once said. The entire history of mankind is a history of suffering. From time immemorial, people have been haunted by endless wars, violence, oppression and bullying, terrible crimes, cruel executions, the triumph of injustice crying to Heaven. Even in peacetime, earthlings are tormented and exterminated by diseases, hunger and all kinds of natural disasters. And, it would seem, really - well, why did the Lord never put things in order on Earth, allows so much evil and allows his creatures to suffer so much?
Temptation of Adam and Eve
If there is no God, then all earthly madness can be explained solely by human stupidity, natural selection, the eternal struggle for a place under the sun and ridiculous accidents. But in this case, the very existence of people and their suffering, in fact, become meaningless and hopeless. From the point of view of Orthodox Christians, everything in the world has deep meaning and can be explained....
Suffering is pain, uncertainty, loneliness, rejection, sickness, infirmities, fears. And we all have suffering in some area of life: spiritual, mental, physical, material, personal. Why do we suffer?
The world created by God was not intended for suffering, but as a result of the fall of the first people, the devil brought suffering to the earth.
The devil confused the first people. He sowed doubts about God in their hearts. And to this day, using different situations, the devil does everything so that we stop believing in God.
CHRIST DIDN'T AVOID SUFFERING
It is interesting that Christ, having come to earth, did not abolish suffering, but Himself experienced everything that we endure on this earth. Moreover, He voluntarily took our pain upon Himself. This is written in the 53rd chapter of the book of the prophet Isaiah: “He was despised and humbled before people, a man of sorrows and acquainted with sickness, and we turned our faces away from Him; He was despised, and we regarded Him as nothing. But He took upon Himself our infirmities and...
David Pawson is the most famous English theologian of our time. David Pawson is the author of dozens of theological books, his teachings are recorded on audio and video cassettes, which allow millions of people to understand the great mysteries of Scripture and help many answer life's pressing problems.
A lot of people ask me a question about suffering. I know this feeling - I experienced a personal tragedy in the family circle. But I ask myself: why didn't I suffer more? Many Christians feel the same way, their question is not why they suffer, but why they do not suffer more, considering all that we have done to God. It amazes me that we are still alive. As a minister, I have seen a lot of suffering. I think ministers are second only to doctors and nurses in this regard, they have just as many people going through suffering and pain before their eyes. I turned to God to get peace of mind, because my mind asked me the same question: “Why, ...
Answers of the Archbishop of Yekaterinburg and Verkhoturye to questions from viewers of the Orthodox television company Soyuz.
- “In the program“ News ”were shown Orphanage. It treated children very cruelly: the older children beat the younger ones (the children were schoolchildren 7-8 years old). How does the Lord God allow little children to suffer like this? They are already punished."
We transfer our sins to God. The Lord has nothing to do with children being beaten or insulted. The Lord has given every person free will. Man, as a rational being, must act according to the truth of God, according to the rules of life on earth, which the Lord has established for man. But since people have departed from God, from the truth of God, from moral life, they break the law, and for this they receive punishment from God.
We need to make more efforts and diligence in order to educate people in morality, spirituality, in the fear of God, so that they are not evil and their malice is not ...
More serious than questions about miracles or the relationship between science and the Bible is the torturous problem of why the innocent suffer, why children are born blind, why a promising life collapses in its prime, or why social injustice exists. Why do wars break out all the time, in which thousands of innocent people die, children are burned alive, and many turn into cripples for life?
In the classical formulation, this problem sounds like this: either God is omnipotent, but not good and does not want to put an end to evil, or God is good, but not omnipotent if He cannot stop evil.
There is a general tendency to blame God for evil and suffering and hold Him fully responsible for it.
There is no simple answer to this complex question. This issue cannot be taken lightly or scholastically. As the famous expression says, "those who have not had wounds have no scars." However, there are a few factors to keep in mind in this regard.
We should never...
Maximillian DeVille Supreme Intelligence (101421) 7 years ago It's all sad...
Especially if you think about what, as a rule, is not written on the graves.
About the causes of death.
Oh yes, of course, I want to believe that it was a quick painless death.
Baby falls asleep... and wakes up already in Paradise, because the Good God saw such an earthly angel and decided to make him a heavenly angel.
But that doesn't happen... This is not always the case.
It could have been some kind of terrible and unpleasant injury ...
I once heard the news about a raped 2-year-old girl ...
These could be severe congenital diseases, from which the child dies painfully over the course of several months, or even years ...
The options that God decided to transfer the best that is on Earth to Heaven are rejected ...
For why in such ways?
Kara parents?
Interesting interpretation of God. . punishing parents, sending torment to nothing ...
Why does God allow wars?
P. I. ROGOZIN
WHY DOES GOD ALLOW WARS?
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“You have acted recklessly now.
Therefore from now on you will have wars” (2 Chronicles 16:9)
Why does God allow such atrocities?”, “Why doesn’t God make sure that there is no war?” These questions were on everyone's lips and literally hung in the air during the two world wars. Now, when the ominous clouds of mutual extermination are again gathering in the world, the question is: “Why does God allow wars?” - becomes vital and relevant again.
For the historical stage we are going through, there is no more acute topic than the "inevitable clash" of two mutually exclusive camps ... Everyone asks questions: "What is the coming day preparing for us?" and “How will it all end?”.
How to avoid war is the main problem of our generation. All other problems have receded into the background.
In his centuries-old apostasy from God, man has reached such limits when he must or ...
Will there be something else like the Flood in the future? Why does a good God allow mass death and suffering of people? Is it right for a Christian to be afraid of catastrophes, and how can this fear be overcome?
Why does God send disasters to people like a flood, an earthquake, etc.?
The very similar formulation of the question - "for what?" - from a Christian point of view is incorrect. When it comes to the suffering of an entire nation during a natural disaster, it is possible to explain this catastrophe by the action of an angry God only from the position of pagan religions, but not from those ideas about God that are revealed in the Gospel. True, in the Old Testament one can also find references to God being angry with people, God the avenger of evil, God the destroyer of sinners. But the Old Testament Revelation was given to one, quite specific people, based on its level of intellectual, moral and general cultural development. And in those days, this level among the people of Israel was not much different from culture ...
Why does God allow evil?
The nature of evil is the realm of hidden knowledge
Our mind is not the mind of the Lord or even of angels, therefore a number of categories of being are simply unknowable due to the nature of our consciousness. In addition, no matter how far science would go, there is a part of knowledge that will never become the property of mankind due to its “secrecy”. The Bible talks about this, for example, in the book of Deuteronomy (29:29): “The hidden knowledge belongs to the Lord, and the revealed (that is, which can be revealed by scientific means) is to us and to our sons forever.”
Guesses about the original origin of evil can be built endlessly. No one has an exhaustive answer, tk. this question belongs to the category of "hidden knowledge". We are only dealing with the axiom of the real existence of evil, with which we are forced to fight. In order to be successful in this business, it is necessary to clearly understand ...
THIS QUESTION is the most common question people ask about God. If God loves everyone, then why? evil people prosper while the innocent perish? Why shouldn't God intervene: help them, save them, save them from their troubles.
… Millions of people died during World War II. Innocent people are dying today all over the earth. Children are born handicapped, teenagers are maimed, adults become disabled, the elderly become paralyzed. Everywhere you look - everywhere they kill, deceive, steal, rob. And who are the victims? Mostly defenseless, innocent people - children, old people.
Where does God look, you ask? Doesn't He love people? Didn't He create man? Why doesn't He help then? Why is this allowed? After all, everything is in His power! To understand this and find out whether it is possible to solve the problems facing humanity today, we must go back to the very beginning.
1. BATTLE OF TWO KINGDOM
As the Bible tells us, even before the creation of man, Lucifer, the chief of…
Why does God allow such suffering?
You spare everything, because everything is Yours, soul-loving Lord.
Little by little You rebuke those who err, and, reminding them of what they sin, You admonish, so that, having departed from evil, they would believe in You, Lord. Possessing power, You judge condescendingly and govern us with great mercy, for Your power is always in Your will.
(Wisdom 11, 27; 12, 2, 18).
My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord. But as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.
(Isaiah 55:8-9).
If we judged ourselves, we would not be judged. Being judged, we are punished by the Lord, so as not to be condemned with the world.
(1 Cor. 11:31-32).
God would not want to give us sorrows, but our misfortune is that without sorrows we do not know how to be saved!
Priest Dionysius.
That is why it (the earth) is called the vale of weeping; but some people cry, while others jump, but the last ...
Human history is a real history of torment and suffering. At all times, people were pursued by wars, violence, humiliation, cruel crimes and executions. Even now, when there is no war (at least in our country), people are still exterminated by deadly diseases, hunger and various natural disasters. Why doesn't our Creator bring order to the Earth, why does he allow evil to rule the world and allow suffering to his creatures? The answers to these and many other questions can be found by reading this article in its entirety.
Why was Adam shown an apple? The first people living on Earth were happy, because they lived not just on Earth, but in paradise. But suddenly Adam and Eve acted frivolously: they listened to the tempting serpent and thereby violated God's only commandment. As soon as they tasted the forbidden apple from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, the whole world was instantly attacked by evil, and the nature of all living things was distorted: many animals became predatory, harmful insects appeared, ...
As an answer to the question - “Why does God allow suffering?”, We present an interview with Archbishop Kirill of Yekaterinburg and Verkhoturye. In his interview, Vladyka answers other equally important questions.
- “The program “News” showed an orphanage. It treated children very cruelly: the older children beat the younger ones (the children were schoolchildren 7-8 years old). How does the Lord God allow little children to suffer like this? They are already punished."
We transfer our sins to God. The Lord has nothing to do with the fact that children are beaten or insulted. The Lord has given every person free will. Man, as a rational being, must act according to the truth of God, according to the rules of life on earth, which the Lord has established for man. But since people have departed from God, from the truth of God, from moral life, they break the law, and for this they receive punishment from God.
You don't have to blame God for this. You have to blame yourself.
We need more effort and effort to educate ...
Why does God allow the innocent to suffer? Does it make sense? How can faith in an all-powerful, loving God be reconciled with such blatant injustice? Reflects Bishop of Smolensk and Vyazemsky PANTELEIMON. Bombing again. 1941 Photo by B. Yaroslavtsev
Deserved suffering is easier to accept
Probably, it is easier to die for a lofty idea, maybe it is joyful to die in the name of love, you can calmly go to death if you have committed a serious crime and you understand that you are worthy of punishment. Sometimes criminals want to be punished. In the lives of the saints there is a story about a robber who killed many people, including children. In those days, criminals sometimes hid from justice in monasteries. The monks lived separately, wore special clothes behind which they could hide. This robber also went to the monastery and was received by the monks. At first he deceived them, but then he repented and received forgiveness from God - every sinner receives forgiveness from God if he sincerely repents of ...
This lesson is entirely devoted to the problem of theodicy, that is, a doctrine that reconciles faith in God with the presence of suffering, various disasters, and evil in the world. Although this term was introduced in the 17th century, the problem itself has been known since ancient times. If God is an omnipotent and infinitely good (i.e., good) Being, then why do various natural disasters, wars, illnesses and death occur in the world? Every day news of new terrible events comes. It would seem that if God exists, wishes everyone good and is powerful enough to achieve everything he wants, then none of the above should be! But every day we encounter evil and suffering in the world, which means that either God desires the existence of all this (i.e., He is not all-good), or He does not achieve everything that He wants (i.e., He is not omnipotent), or God is not exists at all. In the religions of the world, this difficult issue is resolved in different ways. For example, ancient polytheism simply replaced the almighty God with many small ...
May 29th, 2013
The feat of veterans of the Great Patriotic War
wars of 1941-1945, who heroically fought against the fascist invaders,
will forever remain in our hearts. The memory of this cruel struggle
who claimed the lives of a huge number of people - this is an example for posterity how
people can unite not only physical, but also spiritual efforts for
mutual assistance and protection of their Fatherland
.
The period of the Second World War - cruel and
bloody time. Many people could not stand the test, gave up,
give up, go crazy...
It is known that enemy troops often
used brutal inhuman methods of warfare.
The practice of using Soviet prisoners of war was especially popular.
when clearing the area...
“... It is necessary to keep in mind the mined
terrain. The use of sappers is not always possible. The battalions must
will fight on their own, without expecting help. I recommend using like
this was successfully practiced in the first battalion of the 464th regiment, Russian
prisoners of war (especially sappers). Any remedy is justified when
need to get over the area quickly.
Source: Criminal Intentions -
criminal means. Documents on the occupation policy of the fascist
Germany on the territory of the USSR (1941-1944). Moscow: Economics, 1985,
pp. 137-138 with reference to the TsGAOR of the USSR, f.7445, op.2, d.103, l.35,
translation from German.
Despite the hardships,
the spiritual forces of the people were still not broken, unity and
mutual assistance. In territories occupied by German troops,
temples operated, people did not lose faith in God and hope for the best.
During World War II there were
miraculous inexplicable phenomena witnessed by many people.
Memories of them can be found in historical sources, some
eyewitnesses of these events are still alive. These miracles of God supported
the fighting spirit of the defenders of the Fatherland, spiritually strengthened the distressed people,
converted even the most hardened atheists. God's intercession
miracles of faith and turning to God in the era of all-consuming atheism is
irrefutable facts of the war years. Let's talk about some famous
events testifying to God's help to people in this difficult time.
Archival documents testify to
miraculous inexplicable phenomenon during the Battle of Stalingrad. Exactly
This event was a turning point in the course of the entire Second World War. In the midst of
the soldiers of one of the units of the army of General Chuikov saw the battle in the night
the sky of Stalingrad A sign indicating the salvation of the city and victory
Soviet troops. This event is recorded in the archives. See: GARF. F.
6991. Op. 2. D.16. L. 105.
After this legendary battle, Marshal Chuikov, who distinguished himself in it, began to visit Orthodox churches frequently.
According to eyewitnesses, April 9
1944 in the city, shortly before the curfew, in the lower church
Holy Dormition Cathedral Odessa, a prayer service was served
in front of the Miraculous image of Our Lady of Kasperovskaya for the salvation of the townspeople,
which was attended by women, children, the elderly. That was the answer
residents of the city and the clergy on the order of the German invaders to close all
windows in houses, but leave gates and doors open. People who survived
this night and those who prayed, believe that the Queen of Heaven herself once again
saved the people of the city.
L.N. Arueva in the book "Russian
Orthodox Church during the Great Patriotic War" describes
the following: “In the first months of the defense of Leningrad from the Vladimir Cathedral
carried out the Kazan icon of the Mother of God and walked around with it procession
around Leningrad. The city was saved.
Then the Kazan icon was transferred to
Stalingrad. There, before her, there was an unceasing service - prayers and
commemoration of fallen soldiers. The icon stood among our troops on the right
bank of the Volga, and the Germans could not cross the river. Despite the desperate
the efforts of the Nazis, they could not defeat our fighters, since there
was the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God.
The icon was brought to the most difficult areas
front, where there were critical situations, to places where they were preparing
offensive. The priesthood served prayers, the soldiers were sprinkled with holy water.
Kyiv was liberated by our troops on October 22 (on the day of the celebration
Kazan Icon of the Mother of God according to the church calendar).
In early September 1941, the Germans
attacked the station Vyritsa and conducted its intensive shelling. Someone from
commanders of our army decided that as an object of guidance
used the high dome of the temple, and ordered to blow up the church. For this
a demolition team was sent from the station - a lieutenant and several
fighters. When the wagon with the deadly cargo arrived at the temple, Lieutenant
ordered the soldiers to wait for him at the gate, saying that he should familiarize himself with
the object of destruction. The officer entered the fence, and then into the temple, which in
turmoil was not locked...
After a while the soldiers heard
the sound of a single revolver shot and rushed to the temple. Lieutenant
lay lifeless, lying next to his revolver. The soldiers panicked
and, disobeying the order, they fled from the temple. Meanwhile it began
retreat, and the explosion was forgotten. So the Vyritskaya church in honor of the Kazanskaya
icons Holy Mother of God was saved from destruction...
And another miracle: the Germans, having occupied Vyritsa, quartered in it a part consisting of ... Orthodox.
There is a famous story about a military pilot,
who was saved by Saint Nicholas during the Great Patriotic War.
The mother of this pilot was a believer, and the son was far from the Church, but
reconciled when the parent sewed him some kind of military uniform
medallion. The pilot had to fight in the north. Once in battle his plane
hit, and he jumped out with a parachute. The pilot was doomed: he did not drown
could, as he was with a life belt, but the water temperature in
the Barents Sea was so low that death from cold would
pretty soon. Suddenly he heard the splash of oars. Looks: a small boat, in
her - an old man who dragged the pilot into his boat, drove to the shore and
landed on a hillock, from where the lights of the village were visible. And from there already
people rushed to help. The pilot was warmed up, fed and very surprised
How did he get to shore? No boat, no old man, of which he
said he was nowhere. And when the pilot began to change wet clothes
underwear, they found a medallion sewn into it. In the image on the medallion
the pilot recognized the old man who had saved him. It was an icon of St. Nicholas,
to whom the mother prayed throughout the war for help to her son - and he returned from the front
alive.
Such events during the Great
There was a lot of Patriotic War, and as a result - a lot
Soviet people brought up in an atheistic spirit became believers,
feeling the love of the Lord and realizing the destructiveness of his former
provisions.
The appearance of the Mother of God to a German officer saved the lives of the inhabitants of an entire Belarusian village
Residents of the village of Rozhkovka in September 1942 almost repeated the fate of the infamous Khatyn. June 22, 1941 - the beginning of one of the bloodiest wars. Belarus, unprepared for confrontation, was quickly occupied by the Nazis. However, the area covered with forests, villages and swamps proved to be ideal for guerrilla struggle.
The Germans, plagued by a long partisan confrontation against which they could not do anything, decided to eliminate the support of the partisans by destroying the villages. The victim of such a punitive action was Khatyn, as well as 186 Belarusian villages. In September 1942, the Germans also sentenced the village of Rozhkovka, Kamenets region, to be burned. The village was already surrounded, the inhabitants were herded into a pit for execution. A little more and the sentence would have been carried out. Suddenly a plane landed on the field. The German major asked to stop the execution for 4 hours. After the specified time, the mysterious pilot returned with a pardon in his hands. A few hours later, the entire village learned the reason for their miraculous escape.
As it turned out, during the flight, the German pilot saw the Virgin Mary in a blue robe. The major, seeing this as a sign from above, canceled the shooting of the village. And after a while he brought the face of the Virgin Mary herself painted by him. History is now passed down from generation to generation. In memory of all those who died during the hard times, a memorial sign was erected on the Rozhkov field. And the Savior Herself is now in the most honorable place in the village church in honor of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God. For 66 years, the icon of the Mother of God Rozhkovskaya has not changed at all. The colors are just as bright, and every year there are more and more people who want to bow to the shrine.
