Library › Metropolitan Platon of Moscow › Orthodox Doctrine (Summary of Christian Divinity)
Orthodox Doctrine (Summary of Christian Divinity)
Metropolitan Platon of Moscow, tr. Pinkerton, 1814
7. Part 3, Section 7: The Third Commandment
The third commandment forbids the making use of the name of God without due respect to his glorious Majesty, and thereby it prescribes to us every proper means of divine worship.
With the great name of God, there is united his most exalted and inexpressible glory, which the creature ought at all times to contemplate with the highest reverence and fear. The transgressors against this commandment are,
1st, Blasphemers, who use blasphemous language against God himself, and our Saviour the Lord Jesus Christ, or against some of his most eminent saints: for example, those who say that God is the author of our sins, because he gives men opportunities to commit sin, or that he will overlook our sins; or who call him unjust and unmerciful, because he does not grant them those things which, according to their opinion, they should have; or who say that he punisheth men more than they deserve; or who pretend to sit in judgment on his divine works, saying that this is not right, and that might have been framed better; or who accuse the present system of things, alleging, that in the whole there is disorder, and speak as if God paid no regard to it. They also are guilty, who, when called to suffer misfortunes or diseases, bear them with impatience, murmuring against God, and charging him with injustice. These, and such like awful blasphemers of the name of God, are guilty of the greatest of sins.
To this class belong those also who attack the word of God, or the Holy Scriptures, with their blasphemous tongues, and dare to say that they contain fables, or endeavour to find contradictions in them, and places that are against sound reason, or who recommend some of the writings of heathens, and respect them more than those of the divinely inspired penmen. Such blasphemers were commanded to be put to death under the Old Testament, Lev. xxiv. 16. And from the present society of Christians they ought to be expelled.
2. Perjured persons, who swear and take oaths falsely, or give right oaths, but do not act according to them; for thus they blaspheme against God, whom they call upon to be the guarantee of what they swear to, and therefore “the oath shall enter into the house of the thief, and into the house of him that sweareth falsely by my name: and it shall remain in the midst of his house, and shall consume it.” Zech. v. 4.
3. Those who make use of the name of God without necessity; that is, on the most trifling occasions, and who have a detestable practice of mixing the glorious name of the Lord in all their speeches and common conversation; who say, for example, By God! God knoweth it is so! By the commandments of the Gospel! And sometimes, even in jest, are heard to exclaim, O heavens! O fate! With these lawless characters, must also be reckoned those who swear by the names of the Heathen deities, as by Jove, by Venus, &c. which the word of God forbids to remember in any other way than by endeavouring to root them out.
4. False prophets, or teachers of lies, who declare that which is false, predicting it in the name of God, and proclaim that God has made to them such and such revelations, which he commanded them to make known unto others.
5. Those who present improper petitions to God; thus, for instance, some pray to God to take vengeance on their enemies, or the robber prays to him to assist him in his depredations, and thereby such persons desire to make God, as it were, a party in the gratification of their wicked passions.
6. Those who violate their vows, or who, having promised something to God, do not perform their promise. As, for example, those do who, for certain divine blessings received, vow before God to erect a temple to him in some place where there is need of it, and to build for the poor and needy an asylum, or to give something for the support of schools, or to leave off the gratification of certain passions, and notwithstanding all this, do not perform these their vows.
On what occasions is the name of God permitted to be used?
1. We may, and we ought to use the name of God, 1st, When we are engaged in his service, and in singing his praise. 2d, On certain important and necessary occasions, such as take place in courts of law, in which, according to the words of Paul, “An oath for confirmation, is to them an end of all strife;” Heb. vi. 16. 3d, When the lawful authorities require of us an oath in affairs that are sanctioned by the word of God. Here it is necessary to remember, that a lawful oath should not be made in the name of any creature, but in the name of God alone, as that being who is omnipresent, and the only searcher of hearts.
2. This commandment clearly forbids the using of the name of God without becoming reverence, and enjoins that awful veneration which man is bound to shew to the Supreme Being. The worship of God is the testifying of our internal subjection of spirit before God; and we have already, in some degree, treated of this under Section xi. of the First Part. The principal parts of divine worship are, the love and the fear of God. The love of God is the ardent desire of our souls to be united to him, as the most desirable of objects, or as love itself. “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind;” Mat. xxii. 37. This union takes place through the pure contemplation of God, and through virtue. Hence it follows, that the pious soul, burning with love to God, 1st, Meditates on the law of God continually, and finds real delight only in this holy exercise. 2d, By sincere prayer, the soul ascends to him in thought, and approaches the throne of grace. 3d, On every occasion it glorifies his name, and declares his gracious deeds. 4th, For the mercies received, it brings the most heartfelt acknowledgments, and keeps in remembrance every one of his bounties. 5th, It places all its hope on God, and trusteth all the concerns of life to his holy providence. Hence, 6th, The man who possesses these sentiments with meekness, obeys all the commandments of the Lord, and joins hope with patience. 7th, He loves his neighbour, as he desires to be beloved of God; “For if a man say, he loves God and hateth his brother, he is a liar;” 1 John iv. 20.
In opposition to the above mentioned virtues, are the following vices: 1st, Hatred of God, which consists in neglecting to obey his commands. 2d, Spiritual insensibility, which produces carelessness about the duties of godliness, that is, about prayer, spiritual contemplation, going to public worship, &c. 3d, Ingratitude, which sometimes is joined to murmuring against God. 4th, A distrust in the divine promises, or a presumptuous trust in God, or real despair.
What is the fear of God?
The second constituent part of divine worship is, the fear of God, which consists in, a due consideration of his omnipotence and justice, and ought to make us take care not to do that which shall displease him.
From the fear of God, spring, 1st, Poverty of spirit, which is a humbling of one’s self in the presence of God, and confessing ourselves guilty before his bar. In opposition to this, is that pharisaical pride, by which men boast of their own doings. 2d, Repentance, or the acknowledgment of our sins, with a reliance upon the divine mercy. When this acknowledgment is performed verbally, then it is called confession. Impenitence, or a kind of deep sleep in sin, is opposed to this. 3d, Fasting, or a denial of our appetites, by restraining their impetuosity, and subjecting them to reason. In order to restrain our appetites, it is good sometimes to refrain from food, thereby to bridle the lusts of the flesh, which, by luxury and gratification, are rendered more ungovernable, and thereby the soul is brought into a state of debility.1 Intemperance is in opposition to this, that is, an unrestrained gratification of the fleshly passions, from which arise gluttony, overgrown corpulency, drunkenness, and every kind of luxury. Our Saviour warns us against these in Luke xxi. 34, “Take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares.” 4th, Self-denial, that is, the abandoning every thing, however fascinating it may be, which may prove a hindrance to our salvation. For example, honours, riches, relatives, &c. ought to be considered as nothing, when they obstruct our duty to God.
When a Christian observes all the above parts of divine worship carefully, then, with propriety, he is called godly.
Notes
- “In the Greek church there are four great fasts or lents in the year. During these fasts, the Russians are not permitted to eat flesh, milk, eggs, or butter; but confine themselves to vegetables, bread, and fish fried in oil. The fast before Easter is regulated by that moveable feast; it continues eight weeks, and is called the Quadrigesimal. In the first week they eat butter, eggs, milk, &c. and abstain only from meat; it is called Maslonitza, that is, butter week, and may be looked upon as their carnival; it being spent in public diversions. The next is called St Peter’s fast, and lasts from the Monday after Whitsunday, to the 29th of June; and consequently, is sometimes longer and sometimes shorter. The fast of the blessed Virgin is immoveable; it begins always on the 1st and continues to the 15th day of August. St Philip’s is also immoveable, beginning on the 15th of November, and continuing to the 26th of December. Besides these, the usual weekly fasts, are Wednesdays and Fridays throughout the year. These institutions were intended, originally, for Monasteries; but the second and seventh precepts of the church bind them upon all its members alike; except that monastics are never allowed to eat flesh.” Dr King, p. 455.
In addition to the above, it is proper to observe, that all the fasts are strictly kept by the common people and merchants; but few of the nobility observe any of them, except the first or last week of the great fast before Easter, when they are about to take the communion.