NOTES for Ti1 4:4-5

"For every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be refused if it is received with thanksgiving, for it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer." In connection with these words, the words of blessed Augustine come to mind: ama et fac quod vis, love and do what you will. The kinship of these words is twofold. Both, when taken apart from their context, give rise to a "bad interpretation" along the lines of: everything is possible, everything is permitted, as long as you are kind to everyone and thank everyone. And what is this "everything is possible" in the imagination of fallen man? It is complete "freedom." In reality, there truly is freedom here, but of a completely different kind. This is the second facet of the kinship of these words. Here there is most blessed freedom.

And this is easy to understand. We will resort to three maxims of ordinary modern Russian. The first: what is natural is not ugly. There is a point in this and a certain alliteration with the words: "every creature of God is good." We may greatly value this somewhat Rousseau-like impulse in today's person worn down by the city. But it turns out that some needs are quite natural by nature, yet forbidden by law. For example, relations before marriage, not to mention adultery, where things are more complicated because deception is also mixed in. So what then? We have also heard people cite these words to justify their unwillingness to fast. Though why justify it: fasting is joy, not obligation. Eat food, enter into marriage, the apostle says in the previous verse.

When a person hears from a priest, "I am afraid to tell you, everything is possible," and interprets these words as "he did not say it is forbidden," such a person still does not have access to this most blessed freedom. He is like a person who sat in prison for many years and all that time beat his head against the prison walls in despair that there was no one to rescue him. And then the one who will lead him out comes, and leads him out. The former prisoner looks around: what open space! Go wherever you want. He starts running, so filled with the feeling of freedom, but at the same time loses his bearings from the joy that has seized him and again strikes his forehead against the wall of his prison, now from the outside.

And finally two more maxims of ordinary language: "everything is possible, but not everything is beneficial" and "everything is possible, but some things can be done only once." Let us entrust ourselves with caution and sense to biblical, theological, and simply human wisdom. And no word can give absolute meaning; words are too precise to express the essence that is beyond words. If we remember this and hold prayerfully to God, we will never fall into deception.