Where have all the people gone? (Sept 2025)

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In this article, I will explain in detail where people disappeared to in September 2025 (this event may be delayed by 3-4 years, but the main version is September-October 2025).

All the answers are in the Bible! I will tell the story of my discoveries. This article is aimed at atheists and agnostics with a scientific mindset. Those who want to know all aspects of the universe in detail. Those for whom science is an obstacle to faith in God (and the basis of knowledge of the world).

After each heading, there will be a link like this so that you can skip that point and move on to the next one. It is for those cases when you are not interested in any specific information and want to skip it.

Next chapter (Why I began studying the Bible)

Русская версия: https://teletype.in/@mvrshmvllxw/sep

Backups in Telegram: https://t.me/septe2025

Important videos at the end of the article!

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Why did I start studying the Bible?

Next chapter (Evidence for the Truth of the Bible)

I spent many years studying economics, particularly the stock market. My desire to understand the intricacies of pricing led me to study not only market microstructure, microeconomics, mathematics, dynamic chaos, etc., but also to ask more fundamental questions: Does true randomness exist? What is its nature? What laws govern our universe?

My subsequent research led me to quantum physics. And here I had a lot of questions. After all, quantum physics says that there is no such thing as matter. There are no atoms. They are just information. There is no space, it is just an illusion. The laws of quantum physics fundamentally contradict classical physics. Everything that surrounds us, including ourselves, at the most basic level of the universe consists only of bits of information. Does this remind you of anything? Exactly. This fact suggests that, literally, our world is not so different from any computer game.

If we can assume that our world is virtual, then we can also assume that the original world is something completely different. For example, in our world, infinity exists only in theory. What if the original world is this very infinity? What if “infinity” has a mind of its own and, at its will, created our “virtual world” within itself?

In fact, this is exactly how the Bible presents God...

Evidence for the Truth of the Bible

Next chapter (The Creation of the World Through the Big Bang)

Why do I believe the Bible is true? I will be very brief.

1) Biblical prophecies. The first coming of Jesus was predicted 500 years in advance. The restoration of Israel (1948 AD) was predicted 2,500 years in advance. And you can easily verify these prophecies by simply opening the Bible and picking up a calculator!

2) Logic. The Bible's picture of the universe, if examined with the mind of a modern person rather than relying on outdated ideas, perfectly describes reality. Everything fits together perfectly from a logical point of view. I will talk about this in the chapters in which I reveal the essence of God (the Trinity) and His plan.

3) The complexity of the Bible. If you perceive the Bible as a collection of ancient myths, you will see nothing more. But if you dig deeper, you will discover many prototypes, riddles, allegories, and codes. There are codes in the text at the level of letters. There are codes in the stories at the level of prototypes. And all the many books of the Bible, written at different times by different authors, complement each other PERFECTLY and reveal the mysteries. I am absolutely certain that no human being could have written such a book! The Bible is like a huge puzzle. From what I can see, humanity has not deciphered even 10% of the Bible!

4) Personal confirmations. After I deeply understood God's plan and repented, I receive everything I ask God for... Although my requests are only for the most important things and in extreme cases, it is simply a miracle how everything comes true. God is here, He hears everything, and wants to give us everything that will not harm us but will lead to salvation.

5) Many false teachings. Many religions that are completely contrary to the Bible. Many distortions of faith among Christianity. Many people who call themselves “Christians” only discredit the faith in the eyes of the world. When they sell indulgences, burn scientists at the stake, deny the Big Bang (the birth of the universe). They teach hatred instead of love. During prayer, they go wild and dance in ecstasy. Of the people who consider themselves Christians, how many are true believers who follow the path of Jesus? 3%? 5%? And society judges religion by the remaining 95%. If there are so many false paths that try to lead you away from the true faith, perhaps that is where the truth lies?

6) Sin. Anyone who has ever thought about cleansing themselves of sin and passions will understand how difficult it is. And how accurately the Bible describes the relationship between man and sin. Moreover, modern society clearly shows where evil leads. And, perhaps most importantly, the sacrament of communion really works! I learned from my own experience that communion, received with faith and repentance, instantly frees you from sinful passions! What is impossible for a person to do, a believer receives as a gift from God.

The creation of the world through the Big Bang

Next chapter (Problems of free will)

I would like to note that the author of the Big Bang Theory is a Catholic priest. Georges Lemaître (full name: Georges Henri Joseph Édouard Lemaître, French: Georges Henri Joseph Édouard Lemaître); July 17, 1894, Charleroi, Hainaut — June 20, 1966, Leuven, Brabant) — Belgian priest, astrophysicist, cosmologist, and mathematician, author of the Big Bang theory. One of the most influential astrophysicists of the 20th century.

[ Introduction ]

Next chapter (Problems of free will)

If God wanted to convey the process of creating the universe through the Bible, He would have used images that were understandable to ancient people. Words like “quark” and “photons” were unknown to them, so the only way was to use simple and familiar images that could survive for millennia.

Let's compare the Bible and the Big Bang.

[ Planck Era ]

Next chapter (Problems of Free Will)

We have already agreed that a certain image is recorded here. What does it look like? The heavens are empty, the earth is solid. Space and matter! In other words, in the beginning God created space and matter. Logical? But why “in the beginning”? The beginning is the start of time. That is, this verse speaks of the appearance of time, space, and matter.

And what was there at the very beginning of the Big Bang?

1. Planck epoch (up to 10⁻⁴³ seconds): Space and time began to exist at the moment of the Big Bang. This is the earliest period in time that we can talk about based on current physical theories. At that time, all fundamental forces (gravity, electromagnetism, weak and strong interactions) were combined into one. Our modern physics is not capable of adequately describing the processes that took place during this period.

Space and time did indeed appear at the very first moment of the Big Bang. But what about matter? After all, the first particles appeared much later.

Let's take a look at what existed in this era besides space-time:

Quantum fluctuations: Due to extremely high energies, quantum effects played a significant role. Vacuum fluctuations created temporary particles and antiparticles.
Primitive forms of energy: During this era, energy existed in forms that are not yet fully understood, possibly in the form of a high-energy quantum field.
Fundamental interactions: All four fundamental interactions (gravity, electromagnetism, weak and strong interactions) were presumably unified into a single interaction at this stage.
Quantum gravity: In this era, the effects of quantum gravity (which unifies general relativity and quantum mechanics) could be significant, although the exact nature of quantum gravity is still unknown.

And what are quantum fluctuations?

Quantum fluctuations are temporary changes in the amount of energy at a point in space that occur due to Heisenberg's uncertainty principle. These fluctuations can lead to the appearance of virtual particles, which exist for a very short time and then annihilate.

Virtual particles play an important role in quantum field theory and in understanding the interactions of fundamental forces. For example, virtual photons mediate electromagnetic interactions, and virtual gluons mediate strong interactions between quarks.

Quantum fluctuations that occurred in the early universe may have played a role in creating the initial conditions that led to baryogenesis. For example, in the context of inflationary cosmology, quantum fluctuations during inflation could have created inhomogeneities in energy density, which subsequently led to the formation of the structure of the universe.

The process, called baryogenesis, explains how a slight preponderance of matter over antimatter arose in the early universe. This preponderance led to some “excess” matter remaining after the annihilation of matter and antimatter, which makes up the modern universe.

Fluctuations occur even in a vacuum, where, seemingly, there is nothing. In quantum mechanics, a vacuum does not exist in the classical sense of emptiness; it is filled with virtual particles that appear and annihilate almost instantaneously.

Quantum fluctuations, first, played a role in the emergence of matter. And second, they generate virtual particles. And it is in the next verse that the Bible will call the earth “formless and empty.” A similar comparison? “Formless and empty particles.”

What is darkness? What about water? H2O? No. Why steam? For now, just remember these symbols and that they already existed at the beginning of the Planck era. A little later, the Bible will explain what this means. Patience.

Light is gravity as part of a single fundamental force. Why gravity, and not the Sun? We will find out in the next verse, but for now, let's read about a single fundamental force.

The emergence of a single fundamental force. According to modern scientific ideas, a single fundamental force that united all four fundamental interactions (strong, electromagnetic, weak, and gravitational) existed in the very first moments after the Big Bang.

The moment of the emergence of this unified fundamental force is usually associated with the Planck epoch—the period from 0 to approximately 10^-43 seconds after the Big Bang. The Planck epoch was dominated by colossal energies and temperatures of around 10^32 K—extreme conditions under which the four fundamental interactions could not exist separately and were combined into a single fundamental force. It is believed that before the Planck epoch, the laws of physics that we know did not apply, and describing this period requires the creation of a quantum theory of gravity.

Thus, from the point of view of modern physics, a single fundamental force appeared in the very first moments after the Big Bang - in the Planck era, which lasted about 10^-43 seconds. During this brief period, all types of fundamental interactions were combined into a single force.

We remember the single fundamental force. We will need it again and again. We are still in the Planck era.

Next verse.

Now let's see what happened to gravity in the Planck era:

Gravity separated from the unified force at the end of the Planck epoch. The Planck epoch is the period from 0 to approximately 10^-43 seconds after the Big Bang. At this moment, all fundamental forces of nature (gravity, electromagnetic force, weak and strong interactions) were unified into a single force. However, at a temperature of about 10^32 Kelvin (and a time of about 10^-43 seconds after the Big Bang), gravity separated from this unified force, marking the end of the Planck epoch and the beginning of the next period — the epoch of the grand unification.

Thus, gravity separated from darkness. Darkness, obviously, is a single fundamental force.

And by the way, do you remember where else we had darkness? In the very first verse, at the moment of creation.

The abyss is the state of space-time at that moment (singularity). In other words, the Bible says that the fundamental force already existed. And so it is.

But if gravity arose as part of a single fundamental force at the very earliest moment of the universe's creation, then why was the previous verse about the creation of light necessary?

Here, we are talking about the fact that quantum effects of gravity played an important role in the Planck era, even though gravity had not yet separated from other fundamental interactions.

The question of quantum effects of gravity in the Planck era is closely related to the theoretical field known as quantum gravity. Quantum gravity attempts to unify general relativity, which describes gravity at the macroscopic level, with quantum mechanics, which describes the other three fundamental forces at the microscopic level.

In the Planck era, we are dealing with extreme conditions where the energy density and curvature of space-time were so great that classical gravity theory (general relativity) does not apply. Therefore, it is assumed that quantum effects of gravity did indeed play an important role during this period. However, we still do not have a complete and experimentally confirmed theory of quantum gravity, such as loop quantum gravity or string theory, that would describe these effects in detail.

Thus, quantum effects of gravity presumably occurred in the Planck era, even before gravity separated from the unified force. But our current scientific base does not allow us to describe these effects accurately and in detail.

[ The Age of Great Unification ]

Next chapter (Problems of Free Will)

Next verse:

Let's figure this out, starting with the first part. We already agreed that light is gravity, and darkness is a single fundamental force. Why did they need to be renamed?

Why did God call light day? That is, he renamed gravity. It seems we can guess that in the previous era, gravity separated from the single force. So now it stands on its own, and it is worth renaming it. Okay. Let's remember this hint.

If we rename darkness (the single force), does that mean something else separated from it?

The era of Grand Unification represents a period in the early history of the universe that began approximately 10^−43 seconds after the Big Bang and lasted until approximately 10^−36 seconds. At this time, the temperature of the universe was extremely high, around 1027 Kelvin.
Unification of interactions: During this period, three of the four fundamental interactions (electromagnetic, weak, and strong) were unified into a single interaction described by Grand Unified Theories (GUTs). Gravity had already separated earlier, during the Planck epoch, at approximately 10^−43 seconds.
Strong interaction separation: At the end of the Grand Unification era, when the temperature of the universe dropped to a certain critical value, the strong interaction separated from the electroweak interaction. This led to the emergence of quarks and gluons, which became the main particles interacting through the strong interaction.
Phase transition: The separation of the strong interaction can be interpreted as a phase transition, similar to the transition from a liquid to a solid phase in more familiar conditions.
Inflation: Some models of Grand Unification Theory link the end of this era with the beginning of the inflationary expansion of the universe—a period of exponential growth in its size. Inflationary theory explains the homogeneity and isotropy of the observable universe, as well as its flatness.
The era of the Great Unification is an extremely important period that laid the foundation for the subsequent development of the structure of the universe, including the formation of elementary particles and forces that we observe today.

Here it is. A strong interaction separated at the end of this era.

But what do the lines mean:

Evening and morning complete day and night to make a day. The first day is the beginning of time. But didn't time appear in the first moments of the Big Bang?

[ The Inflationary Era ]

Next chapter (Problems of Free Will)

The next era is the Inflationary Era. Now let's see how it relates to space-time.

The inflationary era occurred very early in the history of the universe, approximately 10^−36 seconds after the Big Bang, and lasted until 10^−32 seconds. During this brief period, the universe expanded exponentially, increasing in size by a factor of thousands. This expansion was extremely rapid and significant, much faster than the current expansion of the universe. The main consequences of inflation include:
Smoothness and homogeneity of the universe: Inflation explains why the universe appears so homogeneous and isotropic (has the same properties in all directions) on large scales. Before inflation, any inhomogeneity or curvature of space-time would have been “smoothed out” by exponential expansion.
Fluctuations: Small quantum fluctuations in the early universe were stretched to macroscopic scales by inflation. These fluctuations served as “seeds” for the formation of galaxies and other large structures in the universe.
Flatness of the universe: Inflation predicts that the geometry of the universe should be very close to flat (Euclidean). Observations of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) confirm this prediction.

And most importantly:

With the onset of the inflationary era, when the universe began to expand rapidly, conditions became more “orderly” and understandable within the framework of modern physics. It was then that time and space began to acquire the characteristics that we can measure and observe today. Thus, we can say that time and space existed during the era of the Big Merger, but their properties were significantly different from those we observe during the period of inflation and in the modern universe.

Therefore, these lines refer to the era of Inflation:

Time and space take on the form we are familiar with.

[ The Electroweak Era ]

Next chapter (Problems of Free Will)

So, the Inflation Era is over. What next? Here is what the Bible says.

Do you remember that in the beginning, the Spirit of God hovered over the waters? And here we have water again. It seems you already guess that we will again separate fundamental interactions. But why water? Darkness, later renamed night, as we agreed, is a designation of a single fundamental force. It has existed since the Big Bang. And we separate the waters. That is, the waters are the same forces that make up the single fundamental force, only separately. Except for gravity, because the Bible calls gravity light. But the Bible indicates the existence of gravity as part of a single force in the Planck era with the word “hovered.”

That is, in scientific language: a single fundamental force consists of:

- gravitational interaction;
- electromagnetic;
- strong;
- weak.

In biblical language: darkness consists of:

- light;
- water 1;
- water 2;
- water 3.

And when the light separated, it was no longer darkness, but night consisting of three elements:

- water 1;
- water 2;
- water 3.

Incidentally, after gravity was separated, a single force remained that united strong, weak, and electromagnetic interactions. This state of a single force that unites three of the four fundamental interactions (but not gravity) is called the Grand Unified Theory (GUT).

And at the moment when gravity was present in the force, it is not distinguished by any designation, but is sometimes written as “Theory of Everything” (TOE).

Does this remind you of anything? Again, the name changes depending on the presence of gravity.

So, let's return to the quote.

A dome appeared to divide the waters. What is it? It's simple. The Higgs boson.

In modern particle physics, the Higgs boson is an indivisible particle responsible for the mechanism of mass appearance in some other elementary particles. If it weren't for the Higgs field, nothing could have mass. By the way, let me clarify: any elementary particle is a disturbance of its field. The Higgs boson is a disturbance of the Higgs field.

Now let's forget about particles for a moment and return to the epochs. What epoch follows the inflationary one? The electroweak one. Actually, this means that this verse from the Bible should refer to it. Let's read it.

The electroweak epoch (or epoch of electroweak interactions) is one of the epochs in the early history of the universe. It lasted between 10^−32 and 10^−12 seconds after the Big Bang. The temperature of the universe is still very high. Therefore, electromagnetic interactions and weak interactions are still a single electroweak interaction. Due to very high energies, a number of exotic particles are formed, such as the Higgs boson, W boson, and Z boson.

Here comes our arch (the Higgs boson).

Now, pay attention.

The electroweak interaction, which combines electromagnetic and weak interactions within the Standard Model of particle physics, is actually split into its components thanks to the Higgs mechanism.

The Higgs mechanism explains how particles acquire mass. The Higgs field plays a key role in this process. When the universe cooled after the Big Bang, the Higgs field acquired a non-zero value in the vacuum. This led to the electroweak interaction “splitting” into the electromagnetic and weak interactions.

Before the symmetry breaking caused by the Higgs field, the interaction was described by a single electroweak interaction with carriers: W and Z bosons, and a photon. After the symmetry breaking, the W and Z bosons acquired mass, which limited the range of the weak interaction, while the photon remained massless, making the electromagnetic interaction long-range.

Thus, the Higgs mechanism and the corresponding Higgs field play a central role in the separation of the electroweak interaction into weak and electromagnetic interactions.

The Higgs boson did indeed separate interactions.

As we already know, renaming in the Bible indicates changes in the object. In that case, what happened to the Higgs field? At the moment of creation, it was in a symmetrical state (and all particles were massless). The Higgs boson existed as a potential possibility in this high-energy environment.

And when the universe cooled to a critical temperature, the Higgs field “broke” the symmetry, and a phase transition occurred. The Higgs field acquired a non-zero value in the vacuum. This led to particles interacting with the Higgs field, acquiring mass. It was at this moment that the Higgs boson began to manifest its properties.

What about:

Evening and morning—indications of time. We remember that. Did time change in any way during this period? No. So what did it mean? Probably a division into periods, because:

Although the Higgs mechanism itself did not change the course of time, it influenced the further evolution of the universe, since particle masses determine the dynamics of interactions and processes occurring within it.

That is, it is precisely during this period that the direction of the universe's evolution changes.

So far, the chronology of the Bible and the Big Bang coincide in an amazing way... We have not removed a single verse (or even a single word from the Bible) and have not omitted a single stage of the Big Bang.

[ The quark-gluon epoch ]

Next chapter (Problems of free will)

What epoch comes next?

The quark epoch is a period in the evolution of the early universe when fundamental interactions, namely gravity, electromagnetism, strong interaction, and weak interaction, took their present form, but the temperature of the universe was still too high for quarks to combine and form hadrons.

There were no significant events during this era that would fit into the context of the biblical narrative. The Quark Era is like a brief summary of all past events.

[ Era X ]

Next chapter (Problems of free will)

Finally, something about Earth! But isn't it a little early? Let's see what happens next.

Yes, definitely about the Earth.

Let's read on.

Okay. But now there's a contradiction. First, we are told about the epochs of the Big Bang in perfect sequence, and now suddenly the Sun and Moon were created later than the Earth? But maybe, again, the information is encrypted?

In the meantime, here is an interim summary in the form of a table:

[ The Andron, Lepton, and Photon Epochs ]

Next chapter (Problems of Free Will)

At which epoch did we stop? The Quark Epoch, in which there were no significant events in the context of the biblical narrative. And what comes after it? The Andron Epoch, the Lepton Epoch, and the Photon Epoch. Three is enough for now.

Let's read about them.

Hadron epoch. In physical cosmology, the hadron epoch, or hadron age, is a period in the evolution of the early universe during which hadrons dominated the mass of the universe. It began approximately 10^−6 seconds after the Big Bang, when the temperature of the universe had cooled enough to allow quarks from the previous quark epoch to combine into hadrons. Initially, the temperature was high enough for hadron/antihadron pairs to form, keeping matter and antimatter in thermal equilibrium. However, as the temperature of the universe decreased, hadron/antihadron pairs ceased to appear. Most hadrons and antihadrons then annihilated each other, leaving only a small remnant of hadrons. The destruction of antihadrons was completed within the first second after the Big Bang, when the next, lepton epoch began.

In physical cosmology, the lepton epoch, or lepton era, is a period in the evolution of the early universe during which leptons dominated the mass of the universe. It began approximately one second after the Big Bang, after most hadrons and antihadrons had annihilated each other at the end of the hadron epoch. During the lepton epoch, the temperature of the universe was still high enough to create lepton/antilepton pairs, so leptons and antileptons were in thermal equilibrium. About 10 seconds after the Big Bang, the temperature of the universe dropped to the point where lepton/antilepton pairs ceased to form. Most leptons and antileptons were destroyed in the process of annihilation, after which only a small remnant of leptons remained. After that, photons began to dominate the energy of the universe, which marked the beginning of the next photon epoch.

In physical cosmology, the photon epoch, or photon era, is a period in the evolution of the early universe during which photons dominated the energy of the universe. The photon epoch began after most leptons and antileptons annihilated each other at the end of the lepton epoch, approximately 10 seconds after the Big Bang. Atomic nuclei were formed during nucleosynthesis, which occurred during the first few minutes of the photon epoch. After the initial nucleosynthesis, the universe contained hot, dense plasma consisting of atomic nuclei, electrons, and photons—the proton epoch began.

Now let's return to the verse we stumbled upon.

If we are not talking about Earth, then we already know what this is about. Water is a fundamental force that suddenly gathered together to create dry land. Hmm... Let's read about the role that fundamental forces actually played in the creation of hadrons, leptons, and photons.

The appearance of hadrons, leptons, and photons in the early universe is linked to the fundamental forces and conditions that existed immediately after the Big Bang. Let's take a closer look at this.

1. Hadron epoch:
o Time span: Approximately 10^−6 seconds to 1 second after the Big Bang.
o Mechanism: During this epoch, the temperature of the universe was extremely high (about 1012 K). Under these conditions, quarks and gluons existed in a state known as quark-gluon plasma. As the universe expanded and cooled, quarks began to combine to form hadrons—such as protons and neutrons.
o Fundamental forces: The strong interaction (which binds quarks into hadrons) and the electromagnetic interaction (which becomes significant as electrically charged particles appear) play a major role in this process.

2. Lepton epoch:
o Time span: Approximately 1 second to 10 seconds after the Big Bang.
o Mechanism: As the universe continued to expand and cool, the energy became low enough for leptons (such as electrons and neutrinos) to exist in stable states. During this time, annihilation reactions and the creation of lepton-antilepton pairs occur.
Fundamental forces: Electromagnetic and weak interactions play key roles. The weak interaction is responsible for processes such as beta decay and lepton annihilation.

3. The photon era:
o Time span: From approximately 10 seconds after the Big Bang to 380,000 years (recombination).
o Mechanism: During this era, the universe was filled with hot plasma consisting of free electrons, protons, and photons. As the universe expanded and cooled, electrons and protons began to combine to form neutral atoms (mainly hydrogen), allowing photons to propagate freely.
o Fundamental forces: Electromagnetic interaction plays a key role. It is this interaction that binds electrons and protons into atoms.

Thus, the appearance of hadrons, leptons, and photons in the early universe is indeed related to the action of fundamental forces, as well as to the process of cooling and expansion of the universe.

Here we go. All these particles were formed thanks to fundamental interactions. But! There is something else very interesting. What interactions were involved here? Strong, electromagnetic, weak. Three in total.

Now remember—how many interactions are there? Four. We forgot about gravity. And what does the Bible call these three interactions? Waters. It singles out gravity separately and calls it light. Even here, the Bible is so accurate. Isn't that amazing?

Let's repeat the verse we are analyzing:

So, we know that land is particles and water is forces. But what is the sky here for? As we remember, the sky is the Higgs boson (renamed vault).

Particles such as leptons (e.g., electrons) and quarks (which make up hadrons such as protons and neutrons) acquire mass through interaction with the Higgs field.

In other words, in biblical terms, the land appeared thanks to the interaction of water and the sky. In the language of physics, particles appeared thanks to the interaction of fundamental forces and the Higgs field. We should note that the photon is an exception; it does not interact with the Higgs field and therefore does not fall under the concept of “land.”

Incidentally, renaming occurs again here. But we already know that it is associated with some transformations, though not radical ones. In the Andronian era, for example:

However, as the temperature of the universe decreased, hadron/antihadron pairs ceased to appear. Most hadrons and antihadrons then annihilated each other, leaving only a small remnant of hadrons.

By the way, remember the verse:

Let me remind you that it says that light changed in the past era, and darkness changed in the present era.

In our verse:

The logic is the same. The dry land changed right now (androns, leptons, and photons moved on to the next phase). And the waters (fundamental interactions) changed one step back. It was during the Electric Age that fundamental interactions acquired their modern form, and the division was finally completed. Why is the dry land called earth, since the earth was already mentioned in the very first verse? Because androns and leptons are the matter we are familiar with. Not faceless, not virtual, but physical.

In other words, the Bible not only consistently preserves designations and follows chronology, but even uses the same techniques to designate similar events.

Let's read on.

[ The Proton Age ]

Next chapter (Problems of Free Will)

But what is the purpose of plants, fruits, and seeds? We will learn about this in the next era. Next—Protonic.

In physical cosmology, the proton epoch is a period in the evolution of the early universe, between 3 minutes and 379,000 years after the Big Bang. During the first 20 minutes of the proton epoch, primordial nucleosynthesis continues, during which elements lighter than lithium are formed. The standard Big Bang model (Lambda-CDM model) predicts the following element ratios: 1H — 75%, 4He — 25%, D (2H) — 3⋅10−5, 3He — 2⋅10−5, 7Li — 10−9. Approximately 70,000 years after the Big Bang, matter began to dominate over radiation, which led to a change in the expansion mode of the universe. At the end of the proton epoch, approximately 379,000 years after the Big Bang, the temperature of the universe dropped to a level where nuclei could capture electrons and create neutral atoms. The universe became transparent to thermal radiation photons. As a result, photons no longer interacted with matter as frequently, recombination occurred, cosmic background radiation began to spread, and subsequently, the large-scale structure of the universe was formed.

Thus, during the proton epoch, key processes took place in the formation of elements and the transition to a state in which atoms and the large-scale structure of the universe could form.

And so fruits with seeds inside appeared—atoms with nuclei.

The atomic nucleus is the central part of an atom, in which most of its mass (more than 99.9%) is concentrated. The nucleus is positively charged, and the charge of the nucleus determines the chemical element to which the atom belongs.

What could the word “vegetation” mean? A generalized name for something that will appear later from particles (earth). Let's replace it with the word “structure.” And note that when the Bible talks about trees, it mentions a structure of three elements (tree - fruit - seed), and in the case of plants - only two elements (plants and seeds).

And what structures exist at the atomic level? Chemical elements and molecules are fundamental concepts in chemistry.

Chemical elements: A chemical element is a substance that consists of atoms of the same type. Each element has a specific number of protons in the nucleus of its atoms, which is called the atomic number. Examples of chemical elements include hydrogen (H), oxygen (O), carbon (C), gold (Au), and iron (Fe). Elements are designated by symbols, usually consisting of one or two letters, such as H for hydrogen and O for oxygen. All known chemical elements are listed in the Periodic Table of Elements.

Molecules: A molecule is two or more atoms joined together by chemical bonds. The atoms in a molecule can be the same (as in the oxygen molecule O2) or different (as in a water molecule, H2O). Molecules can be elementary, consisting of atoms of one element, or complex, consisting of atoms of different elements. Molecules determine many properties of substances, such as their state of aggregation (solid, liquid, gaseous), solubility, chemical activity, and others.

Thus, chemical elements are the basic building blocks of matter, and molecules are the structures that form when these elements combine.

By the way, if we take a more detailed translation:

After its kind and in its likeness... doesn't it resemble chemical elements and molecules?

For example, a hydrogen atom can form chemical compounds with almost all elements in the periodic table:

1. With oxygen (O): Water (H₂O)
Hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂)
2. With carbon (C): Methane (CH₄)
Ethane (C₂H₆)
Propane (C₃H₈) and other hydrocarbons
3. With nitrogen (N): Ammonia (NH₃)
Hydrazine (N₂H₄)
4. With sulfur (S): Hydrogen sulfide (H₂S)
5. With halogens (F, Cl, Br, I): Hydrogen fluoride (HF)
Hydrogen chloride (HCl)
Hydrogen bromide (HBr)
Hydrogen iodide (HI)
6. With metals: Sodium hydride (NaH)
Calcium hydride (CaH₂)
7. With phosphorus (P): Phosphine (PH₃)

It can be said that these elements are, to some extent, a type of hydrogen.

The question remains: did land transformed into soil really contribute to the emergence of atoms? Let us recall what particles were formed in past eras and what role they play in the creation of atoms:

Hadron epoch: During this epoch, hadrons (protons and neutrons) were formed from free quarks. These protons and neutrons are the building blocks of atomic nuclei. Without the formation of hadrons, atomic nuclei could not have come into existence.

Lepton epoch: During this epoch, interactions occurred between leptons (electrons and neutrinos) and hadrons. An important event in this epoch was the establishment of the ratio between protons and neutrons, which determined the future composition of light elements. Electrons, which also formed during this epoch, would be necessary for the formation of neutral atoms.

Photon epoch: This began after the lepton epoch and lasted until recombination. At this time, the universe was too hot and dense for electrons to stably combine with protons to form neutral atoms. The photon epoch ended with recombination, when the temperature of the universe dropped enough for electrons to bind with nuclei, forming the first neutral atoms (mainly hydrogen and helium).

Let's clarify:

Leptons: Leptons are a family of elementary particles that includes electrons, muons, tau leptons, and their corresponding neutrinos (electron neutrino, muon neutrino, and tau neutrino). In the context of atoms, the most important lepton is the electron, which revolves around the atomic nucleus.

Hadrons: Hadrons are particles consisting of quarks held together by strong interaction. Hadrons are divided into two main types: baryons (e.g., protons and neutrons) and mesons. Protons and neutrons, which make up the atomic nucleus, are baryons.

Thus, atoms consist of:
Electrons (leptons), which are found around the nucleus.
Protons and neutrons (hadrons), which make up the nucleus of the atom. Protons and neutrons, in turn, consist of quarks, which are held together by gluons, but quarks and gluons themselves are not considered separate parts of the atom in the everyday sense.

Thus, atoms (fruit) really consist of androns and leptons (earth, renamed land).

Now let's rework the entire verse:

And we get:

Let particles (androns and leptons) produce structures: molecules and submolecular particles (radicals, ions, clusters, and complexes), and various types of chemical elements from subatomic particles, which consist of atoms with an atomic nucleus inside, said God, and so it was. Androns and leptons produced structures: different types of molecules and submolecular particles, and all types of chemical elements consisting of atoms with an atomic nucleus inside. And God saw that it was good. There was an important stage—the third.

Incidentally, translations of the Bible differ slightly, and if we take another one:

The difference is only in one thing. Not “an atom with a nucleus inside,” but “an atom with a nucleus consisting of leptons and androns.” Even more detailed.

[ Dark Ages ]

Next chapter (Problems of Free Will)

The next period is called the Dark Ages. The world is ready, but there is no light. There are no significant events during this period. The Bible only mentions that there is still no light during this period, so in the context of the biblical narrative, this period can be combined with the next one.

The Dark Ages in the cosmological history of the universe is a period of the universe's development; the interval between the emergence of relic radiation and the formation of the first stars. The universe is filled with hydrogen and helium, relic radiation, and atomic hydrogen radiation at a wavelength of 21 cm. There are no stars, quasars, or other bright sources.

[ Reionization ]

Next chapter (Problems of Free Will)

Next verse.

Well, here it is, in plain text, about the era of Reionization. The first stars, quasars, galaxies, clusters, and superclusters of galaxies are formed. Reionization of hydrogen by the light of stars and quasars.

By the way, how can we understand that we are really talking about stars here? If light is gravity, then a luminous body is a source of gravity.

According to Einstein's general theory of relativity, gravity arises from the curvature of the space-time continuum under the influence of mass and energy. Stars, having significant mass, curve space-time around themselves, which we perceive as a gravitational field. This field affects the motion of planets, other stars, and objects in space.

Let us recall that day is renamed gravity, and night is renamed unified force. Do stars have processes that involve all four fundamental interactions?

Thermonuclear fusion is a process in which light atomic nuclei merge to form heavier nuclei, releasing enormous amounts of energy. Several fundamental interactions are involved in this process:
Strong nuclear interaction: This is the main interaction directly responsible for the fusion of nuclei. It begins to act when the nuclei are very close to each other (on the order of femtometers). It is the strong interaction that overcomes the Coulomb barrier (electrostatic repulsion between positively charged nuclei) and holds protons and neutrons together in the new nucleus.
Electromagnetic interaction: This manifests itself as Coulomb repulsion between positively charged nuclei. In order for the nuclei to get close enough to start thermonuclear fusion, this repulsion must be overcome, which requires high temperatures and pressures.
Electroweak interaction: In the process of thermonuclear fusion, it plays a role in the conversion of protons into neutrons and vice versa. For example, in the solar thermonuclear cycle (pp cycle), some protons are converted into neutrons through beta decay, which involves the weak interaction.
Gravitational interaction: It plays an indirect role in thermonuclear fusion, especially in stars. Gravity creates high pressures and temperatures in their cores, which are necessary to overcome the Coulomb barrier and initiate nuclear reactions. In laboratory conditions, gravity is not a significant factor for thermonuclear fusion.

Further:

What does time have to do with it?

Large stars are indeed connected to space-time, and their influence on space-time can be explained in terms of Albert Einstein's general theory of relativity.
Gravity and the curvature of space-time: In general relativity, gravity is seen as a curvature of space-time caused by mass and energy. Large stars with significant mass create a strong gravitational field that curves space-time around them. The more massive the star, the stronger the curvature.
Stellar remnants and black holes: When massive stars reach the end of their lives, they can collapse into black holes, objects with such strong gravity that not even light can escape from them. Black holes create extreme conditions for space-time, distorting it to the limit and creating event horizons that cannot be seen beyond.
Time dilation effect (gravitational time dilation): Near massive objects, time flows more slowly compared to places where gravity is weaker. This effect is predicted by general relativity and has been confirmed experimentally. For example, time on the surface of a neutron star (one of the possible remnants of a massive star) flows significantly slower than time on Earth.
Gravitational waves: When large stars interact, for example, in the process of merging black holes or neutron stars, they can create gravitational waves—oscillations in space-time that travel at the speed of light. These waves were first detected in 2015 and confirmed the predictions of general relativity.

And the last part of the verse:

Well, here it is literal: stars are the source of light in the universe. The firmament can be interpreted as “the universe” because:

The Higgs field is a hypothetical scalar field that permeates all of space-time. It is an integral part of the Standard Model of particle physics, which describes fundamental particles and their interactions. The Higgs field influences other particles, giving them mass through a mechanism of spontaneous symmetry breaking. This field is present throughout the universe, and its interaction with elementary particles affects their properties, such as mass. Thus, the Higgs field can be considered a fundamental component of the universe that influences its structure and dynamics at the most basic level. Without the Higgs field, our world would be radically different, as elementary particles would have no mass, which in turn would radically change all physical processes and structures, including the formation of atoms, molecules, and ultimately stars and planets.

Finally.

[ The Age of Matter ]

Next chapter (Problems of Free Will)

The creation of the Sun, Moon, and Earth. Another period of the evolution of the universe is complete.

If you did not notice the stage of the creation of the Earth, it is implied in the lines:

That is, the Earth was created during the same period, but it is not specified whether it was before the Moon or the Sun, or after. Incidentally, it is no coincidence that all three objects are mentioned in the same verse, since they came into being at practically the same moment:

Sun: The Sun formed about 4.6 billion years ago. It is approximately halfway through its life cycle. Currently, the Sun is a main sequence star burning hydrogen in its core. In about 5 billion years, the Sun will become a red giant and then shed its outer layers, leaving behind a white dwarf.

Earth: The Earth is about 4.54 billion years old. This age was determined by radiometric dating of the oldest Earth minerals and meteorites, as well as by studying lunar samples brought to Earth during the Apollo program.

Moon: The Moon formed shortly after Earth, about 4.5 billion years ago. The most widely accepted theory of its formation is the giant impact hypothesis, according to which the Moon was formed from debris ejected into space as a result of a collision between the young Earth and an object the size of Mars, which was named Theia.

Why is the creation of stars mentioned if it happened in the previous stage? It's simple:

Stars are constantly being formed, and the process of star formation occurs in various parts of the galaxy, including those that are visible from Earth. Younger stars can be found in star clusters, such as open and globular clusters, as well as in areas of active star formation, such as nebulae. The Sun is about 4.6 billion years old, and stars can be both older and younger than this age. For example, the stars in the Orion Nebula, one of the closest regions of active star formation, are significantly younger than the Sun.

What other part of the verse have we not explained?

and

I think you can figure this out yourself. But you can also interpret it literally, and you won't be wrong.

The results are presented in the table below:

???

The Bible described all the main events of the Big Bang.

How can we calculate the probability of such coincidences? It is a very difficult task. We must take into account that the meaning of all the statements in the Bible coincided with the Big Bang. The strict sequence must also be taken into account. But it is also necessary to determine what is “fantasy” and what is a real coincidence. This is, of course, a rather subjective task.

But even if we take a very simple approach. Let's say there are 8 lines, and each can have 100 different meanings. What is the probability that each line will have the one meaning we need, and in perfect order?

P=(1/N)^8
Here, 8 is the number of coincidences, and N is the possible number of meanings in each line.

Thus, if we take 8 random lines that can contain 100 different meanings, they will match the original ones, taking into account the strict order, with a probability of:
P = (1/100)^8 = 10^-16
That is, 0 and 15 zeros after the decimal point.
And if each verse could have 200 different meanings?
P = (1/200)^8 = 3.90625×10^−19
That is, 0, then 18 zeros, and 390625.

Problems of free will

Next chapter (The Nature of God and Human Salvation)

The Creation of Angels

Job 38:4-7 talks about how angels, called “sons of God,” rejoiced as they watched the creation of the human world. These lines suggest that angels already existed at the time of the creation of our universe (matter). Angels are essentially spirits, just like God. This means that they exist on a more basic level than our universe (matter); they are closer to God.

Human Free Will

Humans are created in the image of God (Genesis 1:26–27). The key here is personality, free will, and freedom of choice. Free will is the ability of a person to do whatever they want. Freedom of choice is the right of a person to choose how to exercise their free will: through good or evil.

Free will can be exercised within two frameworks, and choice encompasses these frameworks. This can be represented graphically as follows.

Why can't people see God?

God wants people to stay free. Just think: if we could clearly see the almighty and holy God, who doesn't tolerate sin, right in front of us, who would dare to do evil? But not because they really wanted to, but out of fear. The very obviousness of God's presence would deprive us of true freedom.

That is why the world was created through the Big Bang and evolution. It always preserves the illusion of independence — so that people have a choice: to believe or not to believe, to do good or evil.

Human free will is the foundation of God's plan and our universe.

The freedom of angels

Why do angels dwell before God? Their freedom has limits: they act in accordance with the Divine will, retaining some independence, but not complete arbitrariness.

Do angels have the freedom to choose between good and evil? Yes, but only once. Their decision is final — they cannot reconsider it, only confirm it. The reason lies in their nature: they are immortal spirits, which means that their personality cannot be destroyed (changed). An immortal personality either grows in holiness or sinks into darkness.

Angels possess free will, but not complete freedom, as humans do. Their nature is to serve the divine plan, and even fallen spirits cannot act outside this framework. If God's will is the salvation of man, then fallen angels, being deprived of the ability to do good, can only distort this path, leading the soul to destruction.

Human mortality

Humans were not created in mortal bodies by accident. Our physical nature is subject to destruction: cells die, the brain that forms consciousness gradually changes. This fragility gives man a unique opportunity — the ability for inner transformation. Unlike immortal spirits, the human personality is malleable, capable of repentance, growth, or decline during earthly life.

Catastrophe

After death, only the immortal soul remains—unchanging, like that of angels. But this is an intermediate state. At the end of time, God will resurrect people's bodies, making them imperishable, and reunite them with their souls (Daniel 12:2; John 5:28–29; 1 Corinthians 15:42–44; Revelation 20:12–13). From that moment on, there will be no more changes—only eternal confirmation of one's choice, because an immortal body is incapable of changing its choice or getting rid of sinful qualities.

What remains for God if a person remains in sin forever? Only to isolate him, like the fallen angels, so that evil does not spread. Even the slightest sin deprives a person of holiness — and then there would be no one left in paradise. But God has salvation: a way that overcomes this hopelessness. Not because people have become worthy, but because His mercy is stronger than our destruction. But more on that later.

Human Nature

Now you understand why the world seems so “natural.” The world was created autonomously (through the Big Bang and evolution) to ensure true free will.

Mortality is a necessary condition for personality change. An immortal essence is incapable of destroying anything within itself. A personality residing in a mortal brain can change (cells can die, neural connections can be destroyed). The soul is its eternal imprint, so that the personality does not perish along with the body, and the spirit is the source of eternal life.

Man and his personality are like a construction set: the body is made of matter, and consciousness is made of neural connections controlled by hormones and instincts.

Unlike animals, which act on instinct without sin, humans have free will. The original plan was this: the spirit controls the body. For example, the joy of the spirit triggered the corresponding hormones in the body so that the brain felt joy.

The Fall is an inversion of this order: now the spirit is subject to the body (instincts), which seeks pleasure and enslaves the personality. The body begins to desire pleasure at any cost and subjects the human spirit to bodily passions. The meaning of following Christ is to once again subordinate the body to the spirit, ceasing to harm others for the sake of one's own pleasures.

At the same time, pleasures themselves are not sinful. Man was created by God for eternal joy. Sin occurs when pleasure becomes the meaning of life, for which man will do anything.

The Nature of God and Human Salvation

Next Chapter (How to Accept Salvation)

To comprehend the plan of salvation, one must first understand the nature of the Creator.

God is a Trinity

From the Gospel, we know that God has three persons—the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. These three persons are absolutely omnipotent, infinite, and holy. They themselves are the source of everything. And in eternity, they glorify one another. This is how we can picture it. (Trinity: John 10:30, John 14:9-11, John 14:16-20, 26, Matthew 28:19b, John 17:21. Glorification: John 17:1, 5, John 16:14, Revelation 5:12-13)

Why does each person glorify others? Because, being infinite, they need nothing. Glory is not an internal self-affirmation, but a gift that can only be received from outside, from another person. Therefore, the only thing that infinite persons can exchange is glory.

God, being a Trinity, possesses glory in Himself: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit constantly glorify each other. But no Person glorifies Himself—for self-glorification is pride, sin. In this lies the perfect harmony of the Divine nature: glory is not appropriated, but freely given.

Sin

Since Scripture says that “God is love” (1 John 4:8, 16), the very essence of His being is unceasing sacrificial love: each Person in the Trinity gives Himself completely to the others. In this is the perfect harmony of Divine life.

Consequently, sin is the complete opposite of such being—it is when one person forcibly takes something away from another. To illustrate this schematically:

The sin of theft is the appropriation of another's property. Lying is the theft of truth. Gossip is the theft of a good name. Atheism is the usurpation of divine glory.

The Functions of God

The Bible reveals to us that each person has a role to play. The Father conceives. The Son conceives. The Spirit brings to perfection. (Eph. 1:3-5, John 6:38, John 1:14, Heb. 10:7, Col. 1:16, John 16:13-14, Rom. 8:11)

This is explained by the very nature of divine harmony. If each Person of the Trinity were to both conceive and execute simultaneously, the result would be either chaos or three independent worlds—but not perfect unity.

The deeper meaning lies in voluntary self-restraint: the Son, possessing the fullness of omnipotence, consciously chooses the path of obedience to the Father (John 5:19). This is not a diminution of His nature, but the highest manifestation of unity—when perfect freedom is expressed in perfect agreement.

And yet, why did the Son, being an almighty free personality, choose to surrender His will to the Father?

The love of God

God is three persons, three infinities. Each person dwells in the other (John 10:38, John 14:10-11, John 17:21, Romans 8:9-11, John 14:26, 1 John 4:15-16). Each person has complete knowledge of the other persons. If we imagine each Person as a circle, these circles do not simply touch each other—they completely overlap and interpenetrate each other.

Since God is love by His very nature (1 John 4:8), each Person of the Trinity acts solely according to the desires of the others. That is why the Son fearlessly surrenders His will completely to the Father—for the Father knows the Son as Himself and intends only what is in accordance with the Son's will. And the Son, in carrying out the plan, does so not of His own accord, but in perfect agreement with the Father's will.

The essence of love in the Trinity

True love is a deep knowledge and fulfillment of the desires of another person (of course, only holy and sinless ones). In this sense, only God possesses perfect love, for:

• The fullness of knowledge — only He knows the other Person completely;
• The infinity of the gift — only He can give Himself without limitation, without diminishing others.

Thus, the Trinity reveals the ideal of love: not submission, but voluntary unity, where each Person, while preserving His identity, is completely open to others.

The Tragedy of Human Nature

We know from Scripture that man was created for eternal communion with God, to live in love (Deut. 6:5; Matt. 22:37; Mark 12:30; Luke 10:27). But sin has enslaved his nature—instead of love, man chooses evil, and he cannot correct himself.

What does God do? The Son, by the will of the Father, becomes a man—Jesus. Why? To acquire human nature for himself and live a completely righteous life, revealing:

• Love for the Father—by doing His will;
• Love for people — by doing good.

Love is measured by what a person gives: property, time, care. But the highest manifestation of love is to give one's life. Jesus, being a true Man, did this:

• He completely fulfilled the will of God, achieving perfection in the love of His human nature for God;
• He gave His human life, showing the highest love for people.

Christ did not simply accept human nature—He brought it to its intended purpose, becoming the perfect Man—as Adam should have been.

Jesus restored the ideal of human nature. Now in Him is the way to restoration for all who connect with His victory through faith.

The Nature of God

Orthodox Christianity believes that the Son and the Holy Spirit proceed from the Father. Catholicism believes that the Son proceeds from the Father, and the Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son. Which is correct?

Quantum fields

If you look closely, everything in the universe and in humans is created in the image of God. For example, the three spatial dimensions (and one special dimension—time) are like the three hypostases of God (and another future, special hypostasis—humans). Or like the three aggregate states of matter: solid, liquid, gaseous (and one special one — plasma). Or: in humans, functions are divided in the image of God (the brain thinks, the body embodies, the mouth speaks).

Therefore, if our world at the quantum level consists of fields (fields of photons, electrons, Higgs, etc.), then we can assume that God is also an infinite field.

The image shows layers of fields.

If the Father is an “infinite field” and the Son proceeds from the Father, then it follows that the Son, as infinity, is within the infinity of the Father. By this logic, the Spirit is within the Son.

This is roughly how it can be depicted.

The empty circle represents the Father. The shaded circle represents the Son. The filled circle represents the Spirit. They are all infinite, but the Spirit is in the Son, and the Son is in the Father.

The Creation of the Universe

If the universe is a virtual world, in which personality does it exist? Which personality creates? Jesus. In that case, our universe is in Jesus. Not literally, but on a virtual level. Because only God is real, and we are a virtual world within Him.

The filled-in circle is our universe. The circle next to it is the Holy Spirit.

UPD: The diagram is schematic. The universe is not on the same level as the Holy Spirit. In reality, there are three persons: the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. And the universe is a virtual creation within the Son. Therefore, the Spirit also permeates our entire universe, just like the Son. You can imagine it this way: we are in the Son, the Father permeates our universe from above, and the Spirit from below.

Baptism in the Holy Spirit

Man is created in Jesus. Man performs the same function as Jesus—he creates, but he creates according to the will of the Father. Man was created to abide in God. Moreover, the church is called the body of Jesus.

Note:

• The Son is in the Father. And man is in the Father, but through Jesus.
• The Spirit is in the Son. But the Spirit is not in man.

This is precisely why we need:

• water baptism (a person symbolically dies to sinful life and is born to life in Jesus, becoming one with the Son and with the Father through the Son).
• confirmation, in which the believer receives the gift of the Holy Spirit, who will guide him in life.

In the picture, the left circle is the universe, and inside it are people's personalities. The Holy Spirit (on the right) connects with each person's personality.

Baptism in the Holy Spirit is only the first stage of human salvation. Man has been reconciled with the Father through Jesus and has received the Holy Spirit, but he still finds himself in an isolated universe.

Human salvation

God's plan is that at the end of time, when there will be a universal resurrection of all people, man will become part of Jesus. Jesus speaks of the same unity among believers that exists between Him and the Father.

This does not mean that a person's individuality in God will disappear! That is impossible! Each person's individuality will remain unique. This is because God is infinite, and man is finite. Man gained the ability to become part of God only because Jesus acquired human nature through incarnation.

The picture shows it like this:

The first circle is the Father. The second is the Son. The circle in the center is the Spirit. And the divisions within the Son, like slices of pizza, are the personalities of people. What is the meaning of this reunion of God and man?

First, it gives man freedom from sin. Jesus, as an infinite and absolutely righteous personality, becomes a new nature for the believer. When the human personality passes into Him, it is completely preserved, but deprived of the possibility of sinning, since there is no sin in the nature of Christ. Man acquires the holiness of God Himself, becoming part of His being. At the same time, thanks to the infinity of God, the personality receives the opportunity for eternal development through the constant knowledge of the Creator.

If you are concerned that such a transformation will change your individuality, you are mistaken. God values the uniqueness of each personality above all else. But if a person consciously rejects union with God during his lifetime and does not want to part with sin (which is expressed in the absence of repentance), then the Lord leaves him in his former sinful nature. This is the free choice of the person himself, the consequence of which is to remain in hell.

Such people do not become part of the holy nature of Jesus. In our diagram, they also look like pieces of pizza, but with a circle inside, which is their sin.

Secondly, by becoming part of the divine nature, man gains full access to the perfect love that exists between the Persons of the Trinity. It is the experience of this love that constitutes the essence of heavenly bliss.

Sinners, however, are deprived of this gift, since sin creates an insurmountable barrier between them and God. Their torment comes primarily from the awareness of their own guilt and missed opportunities. Before God, there is only one just solution: to isolate them from the righteous.

Thus, the saved will remain forever in God's love, while those who have rejected grace will find themselves without God, alone with their sins. Their sin will be the source of their hellish suffering. Although there will be an abundance of material goods in Paradise, the main reward, eclipsing everything else, is the very opportunity to feel the love of the Creator—everything else pales in comparison.

The causes of sin

God is an infinite personality. We represent Him as a circle. Then let us represent man, a finite personality, as a square.

The circles inside represent the thoughts of the individual (1). Thoughts are both actions and memories that influence future decisions. When humans were created, all their thoughts were righteous (white circles).

But over time, sinful thoughts (black circles) appeared, which are stored in memory and shape personality (2).

Sin affects the further development of the personality, and the person becomes increasingly poisoned (3).

Where does sin come from? God is infinite and omnipresent. He permeates everything, including the other Persons of the Trinity, and therefore knows every thought and feeling from within. This makes compassion the foundation of His nature.

Man, however, is finite. His consciousness is closed in on itself—he knows only his own experiences, and understanding others requires effort. As a result, sooner or later, he places his desires and pleasures above the needs of those around him.

If man were infinite, he would become another divine personality, merging with the Trinity. But the meaning of human nature lies in individuality: unique desires, tastes, interests. This is what shapes personality.

Sin is not a consequence of individuality, but its distortion. It is not a feature, but a disease that destroys a person.

The image shows a person repenting and struggling with sinful thoughts (4). Repentance requires effort—it is no coincidence that in our world everything is achieved through hard work. Physical effort teaches us that spiritual change also requires work.

Suffering is not meaningless either: it teaches empathy, and through it, love and repentance (ideally). The world is arranged so that through labor, pain, suffering, and empathy, a person can grow into what they were meant to be from the beginning.

If a person wins, he will be freed from sin for a short time (5).

Sinful qualities have disappeared. But, note that the number of righteous people has also decreased. The fact is that sin leads to a loss of individuality, and therefore to a loss of human personality. Since all people have the same sins, evil people are very similar.

What will happen next to a repentant and purified person? He is guaranteed to fall into sin again, because his nature is finite and his feelings are focused on himself.

Salvation from sin

Now let's imagine the personality of God. The circle is infinity. The small circles are thoughts.

As we know, salvation lies in union with God. There is no sin in Him, nor can there be, for He is Love itself and absolute Holiness.

But why is a sinner unable to unite with God in his present state? Because in such a union, his sinful qualities simply cannot exist. And since a person's personality is defined by the totality of their qualities (thoughts, desires, inclinations), the violent removal of sin would lead to the disappearance of the former “I” and the emergence of a completely new personality. This would contradict God's very plan for human free will.

Conclusion:

• Only the personality itself can change itself.
• Only those who:
• either completely purified themselves (as in images 1 or 5),
• or sincerely repent and struggle with sin (as in image 4) will enter Paradise.

Paradise is a harmonious union of man (conditionally represented by a square) with God (a circle), where freedom and holiness exist in perfect harmony.

With this reunion, an amazing transformation takes place: the righteous person completely retains his unique personality (since the sinner cannot unite with God of his own free will). However, now his consciousness is not separated from the Creator, but is within God Himself.

Previously, man was the independent source of his thoughts and decisions. Now, God becomes the source of his thinking. Since the Divine nature is absolutely holy, even limited human consciousness, dwelling in Him, will generate only righteous thoughts and desires.

It is important to emphasize that this does not mean that God will “think for man.” It is quite the opposite: the infinite nature of God contains all possible pure thoughts. Man will still think independently, but all his thoughts will now be drawn from this boundless source of holiness. In fact, these are the same thoughts that would arise in him even apart from God, but purified of all the filth of sin.

Thus, individuality is preserved in full, but acquires a new quality of existence — in perfect harmony with the Divine will. This is not a suppression of personality, but its healing and elevation to the original plan of the Creator.

The Fall

Although the Bible does not explicitly state that the Fall occurred before the fruit was eaten, there are hints that the apostasy began earlier.

The serpent tempts Eve with the promise, “You will be like gods” (Genesis 3:5–6). The desire to exalt themselves and doubt God's word was already a manifestation of pride—that is, sin.

After the Fall, Adam and Eve hide from God (Genesis 3:8–10), but even before that, at the moment of temptation, they allowed themselves to distrust Him, which can be considered the beginning of their apostasy.

In theology (especially in the Orthodox tradition), the Fall is understood not only as an act, but also as an internal agreement with falsehood. As stated in James 1:14–15, sin originates in the heart and then moves into action. This means that Eve first accepted the serpent's deception internally, and only then ate the fruit.

What, then, was the meaning of the apple (the fruit, to be more precise)? Although man was originally capable of sin, he did not realize the difference between good and evil, nor did he realize guilt. And if there is no law, there is no violation. But after tasting the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, man developed a conscience. Now he knows what is right and what is wrong. And most importantly, now man can choose between good and evil.

Note that God did not punish man immediately after the meal. God asked man if he wanted to repent for his actions. And only when man hid from God and did not admit his guilt, thereby choosing sin and refusing to get rid of it, did God expel man from Paradise (in order to bring him to repentance). That is, the Fall was not the fact of sin itself, but man's voluntary and conscious choice to accept sin into himself and remain with it.

Could the Fall have been avoided? Yes, if Adam had repented of his sin. Then God would have allowed him to taste from the tree of life. But in that case, I do not understand the mechanism by which man could attain righteousness, since God did not have human nature at that time and union with Him was impossible... Perhaps the deification of man could have happened without the incarnation of God, but only until Adam had never accepted sin in his heart and until sin had become a part of him.

Has God abandoned humanity?

No! Even in fallen humanity, God's grace remains. If a person denies God and leads an immoral lifestyle, grace still transforms the human “heart” to the extent that the person is open to goodness. In the period before the end of the world (the Great Tribulation), God will completely remove His grace, and then people will hate each other and begin to kill.

Therefore, keep this in mind. If there is love in a person, it is not his merit. It means that this person is open to love. But he is transformed solely by the power of God's grace. Without grace, we are all sinners. No one has enough strength to overcome sin. But we must fight constantly. The struggle proves our disagreement with sin and gives God the opportunity to change us. If we attribute the merits of holiness to ourselves rather than to God, we will close the door to God's work in us by our own will. Do not do this.

How to accept salvation?

Next chapter (Where did the people go?)

Let's imagine a person as a circle. The small circles inside are thoughts or qualities. The light ones are good, the dark ones are sin.

Which of them can God save?

• The first person (unrepentant sins—black dots):
• All his sins remain uncleansed.
• God cannot change him against his will—such a person will go to hell.
• The second person (repentance for all sins, crossed-out circles, struggle):
• He sincerely repents and resists sin.
• God grants him His righteousness, and such a person will be saved.
• The third person (one unrepentant sin):
• Will he go to Heaven? No.
• Even one unrepentant sin remains part of his personality.
• If a person does not want to get rid of it, God will not forcibly “remake” him — this would violate free will.

Salvation is only possible for those who are completely open to God — either already purified or actively fighting sin. One unrepentant sin is a conscious choice against God, and therefore against salvation.
Why is it so difficult to be saved?

Let's imagine a graph. I will duplicate it below without changes, just so you don't have to scroll up.

Let's take as our basis a hypothetical person who has not made a choice in favor of righteousness or sin. This person's righteousness is at point 0, where it says “start.” If he commits a sin, he will go to the left; if he is righteous, he will go to the right. He believes that Jesus died for his sins. Will he go to Heaven? Since this person has not repented of his sins, no (because in reality there are no people who have not sinned; 0 is a hypothetical point meaning a minimum of sin). Anyone at point 0 goes to hell.

If a person repents and stays awake (actively fighting his sins), his righteousness will move to point 1. But Heaven (the Kingdom of Heaven) begins only at point 7. What should be done?

If you answer “do good deeds,” you are very much mistaken. He does not need to do anything else. Jesus will give his righteousness to a repentant Christian. Jesus always gives (conditionally) 6 units of righteousness. Now the person has 1+6=7 units of righteousness and enters Paradise. But at this point, the devil begins to set traps.

Conditions for salvation

Is faith alone sufficient for salvation? No.

And in John 15:16, Jesus emphasizes:

A Christian must bear fruit. If you say that the Bible says that people are saved by faith alone, it is worth clarifying:

That is, true faith cannot be inactive—it will necessarily manifest itself in life (for example, in repentance, love, holiness). And here is the good news! For sincere repentance of sins is already a fruit!

True repentance is not just regret for sins, but a change of mind and life.

It includes:

• Awareness of sin (Psalm 50:6).
• Aversion to evil (Proverbs 28:13).
• Seeking God and making amends (Acts 26:20).

The thief on the cross (Luke 23:39-43) repented at the last moment, did not have time to do good deeds, but his faith and sincere conversion saved him.

Reward for good deeds

Now let's move on to the mistake that will cause many Christians to go to hell, so read carefully and to the end.

Let's go back to the chart.

A repentant person receives one point of righteousness (1), Jesus adds 6, and the person ends up in Paradise (7), but without a reward.

If a person reaches level 2 righteousness during their lifetime, Jesus will add 6, and in Paradise they will already be at level 8, not the base level of 7. If a person reaches level 3 or 4 during their lifetime, they will be at level 9 (3+6) and 10 (4+6) in Paradise.

Now the question is, can we desire a reward from God?

Examples of biblical heroes who desired rewards

It is okay to desire a reward from God, but there is a trap here!

The trap of sin

So, you have found faith, repented, and begun to do good deeds in order to receive your reward in the Kingdom of Heaven. You help the poor financially, tithe to the church, preach to atheists about the existence of God and the forgiveness of sins, and rebuke sinners, trying to set them on the right path.

You have worked hard for five years doing good deeds. And now, summing up the results of your labors, you say to yourself, “I have done many good deeds, so my reward in Paradise is assured.” And then you add: “Look, so many Christians don't do good deeds, they will be without reward, unlike me.” Congratulations, you are guaranteed to be in hell!!!

Remember the nature of God: the Father glorifies the Son and the Spirit, the Son glorifies the Father and the Spirit, the Spirit glorifies the Father and the Son. During his earthly life, Jesus did everything exclusively for the glory of the Father! He did nothing for himself! Because glory must always come from another person. And giving glory to oneself is pride, a mortal sin.

Now let's return to the schedule:

Pride instantly cancels out repentance and takes you from 0 to 1. Now Jesus cannot give you righteousness because you are in sin. Moreover, the more good deeds you have done, the more pride you will have, and the greater the torment that awaits you in hell. From a righteousness level of 2, you will fall to a level of -2, and from a level of 4 to -4.

What should we do?

Is it possible to refrain from doing good deeds altogether so as not to become proud? As I pointed out above, good deeds are a necessary condition for salvation:

If you slip up and stop bearing fruit, you are not saved. Moreover, doing good deeds is your duty if you want to be saved. Read the parable:

So how can we do good deeds?

Read these lines:

Translation:

• To enter Heaven, you must love God with all your heart and mind.
• If your love is sincere, the Holy Spirit will transform you and make you like Christ.
• If you become like Christ, you will inevitably do good deeds out of love for God and people.
• good deeds are not your merit; since the beginning of time, God has allowed various life situations so that you would have the opportunity to do good deeds; in Heaven, you will not have the opportunity to do good, because there will be no evil and no sorrow; a good deed is literally a gift from God so that you can show Him your love;
• Good deeds are not a way to get to Paradise, but a measure that shows how close you are to the image of God.
• The reward in Paradise depends on your love for God (the more you love Him, the more you will be able to absorb His love). Good deeds are an indicator of your love and, as a result, of your possible reward.
• When doing good deeds, your goal should be to get closer to the image of Christ and show your love for God.
• If you give yourself credit for your deeds, you will instantly fall into pride and go to hell if you do not repent in time.
• You must dedicate every good deed to God, saying: I do this for the glory of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
• God is the source of your future divine glory; the more you glorify God, the more He will glorify you.

Where have all the people gone?

Next chapter (The Antichrist)

1. The Rapture of the Church

This is the greatest event in human history—the moment when Jesus Christ will secretly take His Church away.

• Living believers will be instantly transformed—their bodies will become incorruptible and immortal (1 Cor. 15:51-52).
• Those who have died in Christ will be resurrected—their souls in Paradise will be reunited with new, perfect bodies (1 Thess. 4:16-17).
• All of them will meet the Lord in the air and be taken to heaven.

The world's reaction:

• Millions of people will suddenly disappear, causing chaos.
• False explanations will appear: UFO abductions, Allah killing Christians, the work of Satan, etc. — don't believe them!
• If you are reading this after the mass disappearance of people, it means that the rapture has already happened, and now your task is to endure until the end.

2. The Beginning of Tribulation: Deception and Persecution

After the rapture, a seven-year period of tribulation (possibly six years) will begin—a time of God's judgment and satanic deception.

The first 3.5 years—false peace and deception

• The Antichrist (world leader) will make a covenant with Israel (Dan. 9:27) and create a single religion and economic system.
• The false prophet will perform false miracles (Rev. 13:13-14) to deceive people.
• Christians will be persecuted: their property will be taken away, they will be forbidden to buy and sell, and they will be imprisoned.

But salvation is still possible!
“But he who endures to the end shall be saved” (Matthew 24:13).

3. Great tribulation: the most severe trials

The second 3.5 years will be much more terrible—this will be a time of open rule by the Antichrist and God's wrath.

• The Antichrist will receive power from Satan (Rev. 13:4-5), declare himself to be God, and demand worship.
• Those who believe in Jesus will be killed (beheaded—Rev. 20:4).
• Global catastrophes: wars, famine, earthquakes, falling stars (Rev. 6-18).

But even now, God is giving us a chance to repent!

The second half of the tribulation (after 3.5 years) will begin with the abomination of desolation. The Antichrist will be killed in the temple in Israel, then resurrected and demand to be worshipped as a god. Those who refuse will be killed (death for Jesus is salvation for your eternal life).

At about the same time, two prophets will be killed, but they will rise again on the third day and be taken up to Heaven.

4. How to be saved during the Tribulation?

❶ Do not deny Christ — under any circumstances!

• “Whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father” (Matthew 10:33).
• Even under torture, remember: physical death is better than eternal hell!

❷ Do not accept the mark of the Antichrist!

• The mark of the beast (chip, tattoo, digital identification, formal recognition of the Antichrist's authority, or something else) is eternal destruction (Revelation 14:9-11).

❸ Do not believe false prophets!

• Everyone will see the true return of Christ (Matthew 24:27).
• Any “secret appearances” of Christ are a deception.
• This is very important! False prophets can destroy your soul!

❹ Prepare for martyrdom.

• “Do not fear those who kill the body... but rather fear Him who can destroy both soul and body” (Matthew 10:28).

❺ Pray and hold fast to your faith.

• “God will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you can bear” (1 Corinthians 10:13).

5. The End of Sorrow: The Second Coming of Christ

When suffering reaches its peak, Jesus will appear in glory (Rev. 19:11-16):

• He will destroy the Antichrist and his army.
• He will resurrect the martyrs in immortal physical bodies.
• He will establish the Millennial Kingdom.

6. The Millennial Kingdom and the Last Judgment

• Jesus will reign on Earth for 1,000 years.
• After 1,000 years, this universe will be destroyed, and God will create a new one.
• The city of New Jerusalem will remain, since it is not in our universe, but in Heaven.
• Whether the righteous, resurrected after the tribulation, will live in Heaven or in the Millennial Kingdom, I do not know.

The main thing:

• If you are not yet a true Christian, repent now!
• If the Tribulation has already begun, hold fast to Christ until the end!

Be ready. The time is near.

Why salvation through death?

Salvation is the transformation of your personality by God. God must cleanse you from sin. But He cannot do this until you give Him your permission through the exercise of your free will.

Your permission is absolute trust in God. Absolute love for God. That is why salvation requires a person to love God with all their heart. Otherwise, whatever is higher on a person's list of priorities will prevent God from changing them. During the period of grace, a person shows love for God through faith and obedience. During the period of sorrow, when the cards are already on the table, you will have only one chance left — to follow the path of Jesus. To give your life for God. This is how you will show Him the utmost love and be saved.

Remember that you must develop trust in God. Pray every day for everything you need and hope that God will give it to you. And if He doesn't, it means He has a better path for you. Don't be afraid of anything. Remember that God is timeless, He controls everything, nothing can happen to you without His permission. He will not give you more trials than you can bear.

But remember: if you missed out on admiration, then the path to Paradise is now closed to you. Do not be deceived: repenting, finding humility and love for God is a very difficult task that requires years of hard work. During your time of mourning, you will not even have time to truly realize your sins. Therefore, do not give in to those who will deceive you. For example, that God has deliberately left you in sorrow, not because you are a sinner, but because you have a mission. Ask God for forgiveness for all your sins every day. Ask for humility, for the ability to repent. Ask Him to deliver you from deception. And trust no one, and doubt even your own thoughts! All hope must be placed exclusively in God.

The Antichrist

Next chapter (In what year will the rapture of the church take place?)

Donald Trump and Elon Musk have suspiciously revealed a lot about themselves with references to the Bible (in a negative context). D. Trump simply displays all the signs of the Antichrist. Musk may be a false prophet.

BUT! I am only talking about coincidences! Just be careful! The real Antichrist will be liked by everyone, he will sign treaties and rule the world. So you will easily recognize him. Just remember that there will be LIES everywhere. Just as Trump now pretends to be a Christian, although when you study the issue, it becomes clear that faith is just political slogans for him. The image of the beast that people will be forced to worship is somewhat reminiscent of AI. So be careful with technology too.

Most likely, Donald Trump is not the Antichrist, but only his prototype. Just as the 12-day war is a prototype of the 6-day war. Just as the murder of Charlie Kirk is a prototype of the future murder of two prophets. Just as QR codes from COVID are a prototype of the future mark of the beast.

Try to figure everything out for yourself. I mean, don't listen to other people. Because there will be false prophets and deceivers around. If people who predicted the date of the rapture now declare themselves prophets of God, don't believe them! All your hope is in sincere prayer to Jesus. Only He can save you and protect you from deception.

Remember that the false prophet will create a single world religion. Accepting it means rejecting Jesus and condemning yourself to eternal suffering. Do not abandon your faith in Jesus for a moment. If you deny Jesus before anyone, He will deny you.

Do not allow fear to drive you into a situation where you feel “uncomfortable” or “afraid” to say that you believe in Jesus. It is better to learn to profess your faith publicly right away. This will help you in extreme situations not to do something foolish out of fear.

All you have to do is make a choice: are you with Jesus or against Him? Your words and actions confirm your choice.

And don't believe in Islam. A detailed study of the Koran will show that it is the complete opposite of the Bible and was probably written not just because of human lust, but because of Satan. There is plenty of evidence for this in the Koran itself. The Koran leads people as far away as possible from the love of God and salvation through Jesus.

In what year will the rapture of the church take place?

Next chapter (The probable date of the rapture of the church)

Prophecy about the restoration of Israel

There are many prophecies in the Bible, and they come true day by day, even if they were predicted 3,000 years ago. For example, the Old Testament predicted the exact year of Jesus' first coming 500 years in advance.

But now let us turn to the prophecy about the restoration of the state of Israel.

In these verses, we see that God will punish Israel for 430 years (390+40). And if Israel does not repent of its idolatry, He will multiply the punishment sevenfold. Now let's calculate. From history, we know that Israel's captivity began in 606 BC and ended in 536 BC in the month of Nisan. That is, Israel was in captivity for 70 years (there is also a prophecy about this).

This was the first punishment. But Israel did not repent at the end of the captivity. Therefore, God renewed the punishment, and Israel never regained its independence. When will the punishment end? Let's calculate. God promised 430 years. Israel was in captivity for 70 years, leaving 430-70=360 years. We multiply by 7 = 2520 years. Considering that in the Bible a year = 360 days, when converted to our format (365 + leap year) we get 2483.8 years. We add this date to the date of the end of Israel's captivity (taking into account the zero year) and get 1948 - the date of the founding of the State of Israel. Thus, the year of Israel's independence was predicted more than 2500 years ago...

Incidentally, the prophecy about the formation of Israel in one day is contained in the Book of Isaiah, 66:8:

And so it happened: in 1948, at the Yalta Conference, the decision was made to give the Jews a state.

A parable about Israel

Throughout the Bible, Israel is referred to as a fig tree. Even a few verses earlier, Jesus said that God cursed the fig tree, so there is no doubt about it. The fig tree puts forth leaves—it is not difficult to guess that this refers to the restoration of Israel, which began in 1948.

There is also a line that says that this generation will not pass away until all these things happen. In Psalm 89 (in some translations Psalm 90), verse 10:

70 or 80 years. But this is an approximate figure. Is there a more accurate one?

Jacob was 84 years old when he married Leah and Rachel. Jacob worked for seven years before marrying Leah and Rachel, a perfect parallel to the period of mourning. And the reunion of God and man is referred to throughout the Bible as a wedding. That is, the potential second coming will be from May 14, 2032, to May 14, 2033.

And the mourning will begin in the period from May 14, 2025, to May 14, 2026. This means that the rapture could be on any day in 2025. Or 2026. But most likely in 2025.

Traditionally, it is believed that in this story Abraham symbolizes God the Father, Isaac symbolizes the Son, Eliezer symbolizes the Holy Spirit, and his wife (Rebekah) symbolizes the church. Now pay attention. When did Isaac get married? In 2025 BC...

At the age of 77, Jacob had a dream about ascension (a ladder to heaven). In 2025, it will be 77 years since Israel was proclaimed a state on May 14, 1948.

In general, the number 84 (1948 + 84 = 2032) is encrypted in many places in the Bible.

Is 2025 a reliable year?

I have only given the main arguments pointing to the imminent rapture of the church. But there are hundreds of them. At the same time, there may be a delay in the fulfillment of the prophecy from 2025. The rapture could happen in 2026, 2027, or 2028. But there are hundreds of signs that the rapture will happen in this century. And most of them point to the coming years.

The development of technology, medicine, communications, society. From Adam to the end of the world is 6,000 years. If we count from Jesus, it is 2,000 years. This is indicated by Hosea 6:2 and the book of Genesis, because the history of mankind is also encrypted in the lines of the creation of the world (where the Big Bang is described).

Incidentally, on September 23, 2017, there was a sign:

The constellations align as described in this verse only once every 6,000 years.

Most likely, there will be no delay in the fulfillment of the prophecy, and the rapture will occur in 2025.

The probable date of the rapture of the church

Next chapter (Salvation in practice)

The rapture of the church is one of the greatest mysteries of the Bible. Its prototype can be found in many stories. Many pages contain codes that refer to the rapture.

In general... I deleted this point because it is impossible to describe everything. Thousands of verses in the Bible, hundreds of mysteries from the surrounding world, hundreds of predicted events. Everything points to autumn 2025. But I don’t know the exact day.

Conditions for salvation

Next chapter (concept of God and the universe)

God is absolute love. He will never forcibly change a person's personality, because such an action would destroy it. Therefore, God cannot save you unless you make an effort yourself (and it will take a lot of effort).

Conditions for salvation: baptism (water baptism and baptism with the Holy Spirit), faith (which bears fruit in the form of love and good deeds), repentance.

It is very important that your faith be SINCERE and deep.

Repentance is the most difficult thing. If you have even ONE unrepentant sin, God cannot do anything for you. Because you yourself do not want to part with sin. And you cannot enter Heaven with sins. Repentance means changing your lifestyle, renouncing sin, or at least actively fighting against it.

The last condition is personal communication with God. You must PERSONALLY turn to God with repentance. You must talk to Him. Talk about your difficulties, your hopes, ask for forgiveness.

In other words, God must be first in your life. Above all and above everything else.

Concept of God and the universe

Next chapter (God = freedom)

Before moving on to questions of salvation, you must have a correct understanding of the universe. Here I will present some theses that explain many misconceptions.

God is Love itself, and you are His creation. Only in Him is true happiness. And it is not only because of His omnipotence, but because He knows you more deeply than you know yourself. Your dreams, aspirations, even things you don't know about yourself — everything is completely open to Him.

Look closely at the world around you. Majestic nature, the boundless universe, inexhaustible opportunities for knowledge and creativity—all these are God's gifts to humanity. Only God possesses true creativity—only He is capable of creating from nothing, not following ready-made patterns, but creating the very essence of being.

The apparent “naturalness” of the world is a manifestation of God's wisdom. If God's existence were absolutely obvious, humans would have no real freedom of choice. Faith would cease to be a voluntary decision and would become a forced recognition of the obvious. Therefore, God has left us room to search — so that everyone can freely choose between faith and unbelief, between good and evil.

Man is created for eternity, but his eternity depends on his choices. Your immortal soul is a complete reflection of your personality, all your thoughts, decisions, and actions. Although the physical body is temporarily mortal, at the end of time there will be a universal resurrection:
- The righteous will receive glorified, imperishable bodies—perfect and free from all suffering (1 Cor. 15:42-44).
- Sinners will also be resurrected in physical bodies, but these bodies will have a special nature that allows them to experience eternal torment to the fullest. Their bodies will not decay, but will become eternal “vessels of suffering” — just as the soul in Hell is constantly tormented by separation from God, so the resurrected body will experience unquenchable torment (Matt. 10:28; Mark 9:43-48).

Death and suffering are not cruelty, but the path to salvation. A perfect, imperishable body is not subject to destruction, which means that the personality within it can no longer change—only develop in the chosen direction. If man had originally received such immortality, sin would have become the eternal lot of all people.
But thanks to our mortal period, we have a precious opportunity: even if we fall into sin, we can realize it, repent, and change. Mortality is God's mercy, a temporary limitation that allows us to make a final choice in the face of eternity.

Love is the ability to fully feel another person's feelings as your own. However, due to our limited nature and closed individuality, people are incapable of perfect love in its absolute manifestation.
That is why suffering and difficulties in this world are not accidental, but rather an essential tool for spiritual growth. Through pain and trials, God teaches us:
- to truly understand the experiences of others,
- to empathize deeply,
- to show mercy and compassion.
Only by going through their own suffering can people break through the boundaries of their individuality and come closer to the perfect love to which God calls us (1 John 4:7-12).

The eternal fate of the sinner: limiting evil for the sake of love. When the sinner is resurrected in his eternal body, his personality will be permanently fixed—he will no longer be able to change, and his evil will know no bounds. In this state, he will eternally increase his hatred, pain, and destruction.
Gehenna is not just punishment, but also an act of God's mercy:
The fire of suffering will prevent evil from spreading endlessly, protecting the universe from complete chaos.
This is the last way to help those who consciously rejected the path of goodness — to limit the consequences of the choices they made in life.
- God does not deprive them of their freedom, but gives them a reality appropriate to their condition, where evil cannot affect others (Rev. 20:14-15; Matt. 25:41).

The Great Sacrifice: the highest manifestation of divine love. God the Father, moved by boundless love for humanity, gave His Son to death for our salvation. This act is the perfect expression of love, both of the Father for mankind and of the Son for the Father and for us.
The meaning of Christ's sacrifice:
- It was an act of restoration:
- Jesus, showing absolute love and obedience, healed human nature damaged by sin.
- His sacrifice became a gift that gives us the opportunity to attain righteousness—not by our own efforts, but through faith in Him (Rom. 3:21-26).
The sacrifice was not necessary for God, but for us — to:
- show what true love is capable of,
- open the way to restore our relationship with God,
- give us ready-made righteousness that we can accept as a gift (Eph. 2:8-9).

Trials as a manifestation of God's care. Difficulties, illnesses, and sorrows in your life are not a sign of rejection, but God's call for change. Through suffering, He:
- stops you on dangerous paths,
- teaches mercy and humility,
- leads to repentance and true love.
It is important to understand:
- The problem is not with God, but with our resistance to His will.
- Earthly life is only preparation for eternity. God is willing to sacrifice your temporary comfort to save your soul (Hebrews 12:6-11).
The paradox of God's approach:
- He often does not send sorrow to those who stubbornly reject Him — let them enjoy temporary blessings, for eternity without Him awaits them (Luke 6:24-25).
- But He allows those He loves to go through purifying trials (Rev. 3:19).

Divine providence: hidden harmony behind “coincidences.” Being eternal and omnipotent, God exists outside of time, yet actively participates in every moment of your life. Nothing happens without His knowledge—He even allows evil as a tool for the salvation of souls.
How does this work? - The illusion of chance is a wise disguise for God's presence so as not to violate your free will.
- Daily guidance: Every morning, God offers you new opportunities for repentance and growth through:
- - encounters with certain people,
- - unexpected circumstances,
- - inner insights.
- Constant rejection: Although people often ignore these signs, God patiently continues to guide them in various ways (2 Peter 3:9).
- Practical advice: Carefully analyze the events of the day—many of them contain God's hint, a call to change your heart (Acts 17:26-27).

Trusting God means having confidence in His loving providence. When you completely surrender your life to the Lord, you acknowledge:
- Absolute control: Everything that happens to you—no accident, no sorrow—is within God's permission (Matthew 10:29-31).
- Sorrows for good: Even the most painful trials are:
- - a tool for purifying the soul from sinful attachments,
- - training for faith that strengthens your spirit (1 Peter 1:6-7),
- - merciful intervention to save you from eternal destruction.
Scripture example:
Job, having lost everything, was able to say, “The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away” (Job 1:21). His suffering not only purified him, but also revealed God to him more deeply than all his previous blessings.
How to apply:
When trials come, don't ask “Why?” but “What for?” God is ready to reveal His purpose to you if you seek Him in your afflictions (Romans 8:28).

Recognizing your dependence on God is the key to spiritual strength. The truth is simple:
All strength comes from God—both now and in eternity. In Heaven, you will create only by His power, and it is wise to begin living by this principle already on Earth (John 15:5).
Human weakness is not a flaw, but a condition for miracles: when we acknowledge our weakness, God's grace is at work (2 Cor. 12:9-10).
Game metaphor:
Imagine that:
You are a player whose abilities are limited by the game code.
God is the Developer, for whom nothing is impossible (Luke 1:37).
Important: This does not mean that you are powerless — but your strength lies in co-creating with Him. Every worthy deed is accomplished when you ask for His help (Phil. 4:13).
Practical step:
Before any action (from everyday decisions to spiritual choices), consciously turn to God: “Lord, without You I can do nothing. Give me Your strength and wisdom.”

All glory belongs to God alone. Remember: in the Trinity, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit eternally glorify one another. Love is giving, but in Paradise, we, as finite creatures, will be unable to give the infinite God anything but glory. Remember that giving glory to yourself is pride, a mortal sin. Therefore, give glory to God for everything. Do not seek to be glorified by people, but seek the glory with which God will glorify you if you are worthy of Him.

Earthly life is a unique time to show love for God.
The essence of love is sacrifice for the sake of another. In Paradise, where there will be complete abundance, you will not have the opportunity to sacrifice. But here and now you can:
- help others, especially when you yourself are struggling — the more difficult your situation, the more valuable your sacrifice and the stronger your love for people and God;
- endure sorrow with faith, accepting it as a path to eternal life — this is also a manifestation of love for the Creator;
- find time to study the Bible, because it is a direct appeal to God's Word — another way to express your love for Him.

Paradise is perfect union with God, where a person will experience such fullness of divine love that they will literally “faint with bliss” (as described in Scripture). This state cannot be compared to anything earthly—it surpasses all human notions of joy.
What awaits the righteous: - The material world in Paradise will be — God, as a loving Father, will fulfill all the desires of His children (including material ones), for nothing is impossible for Him (Ps. 36:4).
- The main delight will not be things, but the very presence of God, which will fill everything around and the very soul of man with infinite light.
- Important: This is not just a “reward,” but a natural consequence of living with the One who is Love Himself (1 John 4:8).

Love for God requires complete devotion.
The Lord loves you infinitely and personally—as someone unique and irreplaceable. But love must be mutual:
- The stronger your love for Him is now, the more of His love you will be able to receive in Heaven.
- He must be your top priority — above family, wealth, and all earthly attachments (Matthew 10:37-39).
- This is not just advice — it is a condition of salvation. If you find it difficult to love God in this way:
- - Sincerely repent of your coldness.
- - Ask Him for help — pray:
“Lord, teach me to love You with all my heart! Make it so that I can enter Your Paradise!” Important: God values honesty before Him, not beautiful words. Tell Him the truth — even if it is an admission: “I don't know how to truly love You yet.”

No one deserves Heaven.
The truth is that we are unworthy even to approach God, let alone have Him serve us. No good deeds, feats, or sacrifices can “buy” eternal life.
Heaven is a gift that:
- Is given only by grace (Eph. 2:8-9) — God's undeserved mercy;
- Must be accepted — through repentance (acknowledging our sinfulness) and faith in Jesus Christ (John 14:6).
Don't deceive yourself:
- If heaven could be earned, Christ would not have had to die for us.
- If we could save ourselves, God would not call it a “gift” (Rom. 6:23).
Your step:
Simply accept this gift — turn to God with sincere repentance and trust.

On the cross, Christ accomplished everything for your salvation.
Jesus:
- Lived a perfect life without sin (Hebrews 4:15);
- Overcame all temptations;
- Willingly gave His life as a sacrifice for you.
Now He gives you His gifts:
- His righteousness—so that you may appear before God as purified (2 Cor. 5:21);
- His Kingdom—so that you may reign with Him in eternity (Rev. 3:21);
- His merits—as if you yourself had fulfilled the entire Law;
- His glory — which He now shares with believers (John 17:22).
This is already a done deal — all you have to do is:
- Accept this gift by faith (John 1:12);
- Give thanks for what you could not earn yourself.

In Paradise, there will be different degrees of reward—some will receive greater closeness to God, special crowns, beautiful dwellings, while others will receive less glory. But how can we attain the highest reward?
1. The right attitude toward oneself—Realize your complete unworthiness:
“I have done nothing good myself — but Jesus did everything for me and gives me His reward.”
- This humility opens the way to the greatest grace (James 4:6).
2. The right motivation for good deeds - Not to “earn” a reward, but out of love for God:
- Every good deed is not a reason to be proud (“I am so righteous!”), but a response to God's love.
- “God loved me so much — and I want to love Him in return, so I do it only for Him” (1 Cor. 10:31).
3. What specifically should we do? - Seek God (prayer, Scripture)
- Repent of sins as soon as we realize them
- Do good — but not for the praise of people, but in secret (Matthew 6:4), so that only God sees.

God is the only source of true glory.
1. The danger of self-glorification If you do good deeds and boast about yourself (“I am so good, I have done so much!”), then:
- You are stealing the glory that belongs only to God (Isaiah 42:8).
- You create the illusion of your “righteousness” — but before God it is empty “nonsense” (1 Cor. 3:12-15).
2. What will happen at the judgment? - When Christ wants to give you His glory, He will see that you have already filled yourself with your own.
- Your “glory” will not stand the test — it will burn like straw in a fire.
- You will remain “naked” (without rewards), but still in Paradise (if you have not fallen into pride!) — for salvation is given by grace, not by works (Eph. 2:8-9).
3. What is the right thing to do? - All good things are only for the glory of God (Matthew 5:16).
- Don't say, “I did it,” but “God helped me.”
Then He will reward you — but with His own eternal glory (John 12:26).
Remember:
Your “glory” is tinsel.
God's glory in you is imperishable gold.

God knows you more deeply than you know yourself.
He:
- Sees every thought you have before you even realize it (Ps. 139:4);
- Understands the true meaning of your words, even when you cannot express yourself;
- Knows all your dreams and pains—even those you hide from everyone else.
Jesus is closest to you. He:
- Doesn't just “know” you — He wants to be your closest Friend (John 15:15);
- Waits for you to reveal to Him what you would never trust anyone else with — your fears, shame, and most secret desires.
How can you do this? - Talk to Him honestly—without “churchy” phrases, as you would with a loving Father.
- Confide in Him what you are afraid to say out loud—He will not condemn you (Hebrews 4:15-16).
- Tell Him about your dreams — He wants to give you good things (Ps. 36:4).
Remember:
You are not burdening Him. For Him, there are no topics that are “too silly” or “too scary.”

From the bondage of sin to the shining freedom of God's love We come into this world bound—invisible chains of sin shackle our will from birth. No matter how hard we try, we cannot break these chains on our own. Even our best deeds are tainted with selfishness, like noble gold mixed with dirt.
But there is a way to freedom! Not through struggle, but through humility; not through force, but through voluntary submission to the One who is the Truth itself. To become a “servant of God” means to find true freedom, just as a sick person who trusts a skilled doctor receives healing.
It is an amazing exchange:
- Instead of helplessness in the face of sin — victory through the power of Christ;
- Instead of the illusion of freedom — the true ability to do good;
- Instead of death — eternal life in the One who conquered death.
How to take this step?
- Acknowledge your powerlessness — but don't give up.
- Say in prayer: “God, take control of my life!”
And every day, check your path against the light of His Word.

God is Love itself, and only in Him does our heart find the ability to truly love. He is the perfect Person, the source of all harmony and beauty. Just as sunlight comes from the sun, so all true love comes only from Him. Without Him, our love is only a pale imitation, a shadow devoid of strength and depth. It is fickle, full of selfishness, and cannot go beyond earthly limitations.
But when we turn to God, everything changes. The love He gives is eternal, sacrificial, and unchanging. To know it, we must draw near to Him: in prayer, in meditation on His character, in obedience to His word. The more we let His light into ourselves, the more our hearts learn to love — not as before, weakly and uncertainly, but as originally intended: unconditionally, without fear, without end.
And then love ceases to be just a feeling — it becomes part of eternity.

Heavenly worship is the highest melody of love, where the soul meets God in an eternal dance of delight. It is not a cold ritual, but the living beat of a heart captivated by the beauty of the Creator. Just as a lover, breathless with emotion, gives flowers, so you will bring Him the only worthy gift in eternity — praise born from the depths of a grateful heart.
And in that moment, you will experience a bliss similar to that felt by a person who sees happiness in the eyes of the one to whom he has given joy. The more complete your glorification, the more vividly the bottomless ocean of His love will reveal itself to you, and in this sacred exchange, an eternal symphony of happiness will be born.
Worship in Paradise is not a duty, but the height of delight: you give Him the song of your soul, and He gives you Himself without measure, and with each moment this wonderful union becomes only sweeter, deeper, more beautiful.

There are no earthly marriages in Paradise, for they are only a prototype of the eternal union of the soul with God. There, you will find bliss so unearthly that the mortal mind cannot comprehend it. And although your former earthly bonds will be transformed, nothing will separate you from those dear to your heart—everyone will be nearby, having found an eternal home in the shining streets of New Jerusalem.

The most severe punishment for sinners will be the realization of how much God surpasses their limited understanding. Throughout their lives, without bothering to learn about the universe, they allowed for the existence of the Creator, but attributed human weaknesses to Him—cruelty, selfishness, indifference. However, when the time comes and God is no longer hidden behind the veil of free will, He will reveal Himself in all His fullness — and the immensity of His Holiness, Goodness, and Love will be revealed to everyone.
That Love surpasses the wildest imagination of mortals. The righteous will immerse themselves in its bright waters, finding eternal joy, while sinners will forever know the torments of repentance, for they will see that everything they so passionately desired was possible, but rejected by themselves.

Lack of faith can be an obstacle. If you do not believe that God is the source of absolute happiness, He cannot make you happy. If you do not believe that He is the source of infinite blessings, He cannot bestow heavenly riches upon you. If you do not believe that He paid for your sins, He cannot grant you forgiveness.

Our world seems rather slow and drawn out. Events take a long time to unfold. But this is an illusion. Because the real battle is taking place in people's hearts. God and Satan are fighting there. Every moment of your life. Every thought you have reflects the winning side. The trouble is that only you can determine the winner. Every second of your life. Don't sleep. There is an active war going on.

In physics, there are various theories describing the nature of time. According to the Bible, there is no past or future. Time exists only in the present moment (there is a similar hypothesis in physics). How does God know the future? First, with His infinite mind and knowledge of man and the world, He can predict the future with perfect accuracy. And even with different variations.
Second, time is a creation; God has no time. At the same time, God is unchanging. This means that He cannot learn “something new”; “something new” cannot happen to God. There was no specific moment when God wanted to create man. He always had this desire. There was no moment when God learned about a specific person. He knew all people forever, even before the creation of the world. Because God cannot change, which means that everything God interacts with has always been in Him. Everything that will happen to us in the future has always been in God. God is like a single point; He has no process or chain of events.

God's love. Realize that God created you because He loved you. He created such a diverse world just for you. He created even more in Paradise. God became a man so that you could enter Paradise. Most importantly, Jesus is fighting for your soul right now and hopes with all His heart that you will love Him as He loves you. He hopes that you will choose Him over sin and temporary pleasures.

God's “computational abilities” are infinite. If He created something, He foresaw everything. Not a single detail can escape God. This means that everything you do in your life was already permitted by God at the moment of creation. Good deeds, understanding of the Bible, faith—these are not your achievements. God gave them to you at the moment of creation. If you have financial resources, power, or simply the opportunity to do good, it is only because God arranged the world so that you would have them. This is God's will. It is not a coincidence. Your personal sorrows were permitted by God from the beginning of the world because He foresaw the choices you would make and sent what could save your soul your way. But accepting salvation still depends only on you.

You should get rid of the misconception as soon as possible: you cannot do what God would not allow. Nothing can happen to you that God would not allow. You must learn to rely on God. Because everything depends only on Him.

How can we see God's love? There is no need to chase after illusory visions or ecstatic revelations. Just look around you — all the beauty of this world, every moment of joy, the very ability to feel happiness is a reflection of Divine love. All of creation is like a letter written by Him, and through it you can learn about His character. Just separate what has been brought into the world by sin — suffering, decay, death — and the bright face of the Creator will be revealed to you.

If you are captivated by the beauty of this world — whether it be the awe of sunset, the depth of music, or the warmth of human love — it is wise to give thanks not to the creature, but to the Creator. For everything that touches your heart is only a shadow of the true good that awaits you in Him.

But most importantly, realize this: God did not just create you — He fights for your soul every day. He knocks on the door of your heart through chance encounters, quiet insights, through pain and comfort, through life itself. He respects your freedom, but looks at you with hope — for the choice between Him and the world is a choice between eternity and illusion.

And what awaits those who respond to Him with love? No earthly comparison can convey this. Even saints who were granted a momentary glimpse of Paradise were lost for words—everything there is new, brighter, and more vivid than even the wildest dreams. They cannot describe what they saw because there is nothing even remotely similar in our world. It is not a “place” or a “state” — it is God Himself, revealing Himself to those who sought Him with all their soul.

To love Him means to gradually learn to see His hand in everything, to hear His whisper in the silence, and one day, casting aside all earthly images, to meet Him face to face.

The dual nature of love
As we established earlier, love manifests itself in a willingness to give, while sin manifests itself in selfish appropriation. However, giving is only part of a deeper truth. To understand love in all its fullness, let us turn to the nature of God.

God, being a Trinity, shows us the perfect example of love:
- Giving — the three Persons constantly glorify each other.
- Unity — while remaining distinct persons, They form an absolutely harmonious Whole, where each Person plays a unique role.

Since “God is love” (1 John 4:8), we can conclude that true love is not only sacrifice, but also a deep union of personalities.

Love between people: imitating the Trinity Let us apply the logic of the dual nature of love to human relationships.
- Giving — the desire to give everything necessary for the happiness and salvation of one's neighbor.
- Unity is an attempt to sincerely understand another person, to “enter their world” through:
- - Communication that is not formal, but aimed at understanding their inner state.
- - Sympathy and compassion are the ability to “take on” another person's emotions.

The more common “points of contact” (values, experiences, interests), the deeper the unity. That is why God instituted marriage — a school of daily unity through everyday life, where two people learn to act as “one flesh” (Genesis 2:24).

Feelings vs. The Essence of Love
In the mass consciousness, love is often reduced to emotions. This misconception stems from a misunderstanding of the threefold nature of human beings:
- The body is the source of temporary emotions (chemical processes in the brain).
- The soul is the immortal “chronicle” of our personality.
- Spirit — the divine spark that is meant to control the body.

Feelings are not love, but its “echo.” For example, studies of monks have shown that during prayer, the brain produces “happiness hormones” (dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin). Why? Because the spirit, connecting with God, transmits joy to the body so that we can feel it.

The same is true in human relationships: emotions are only the spirit's reaction to the actual unity of souls, which is transmitted to the physical body. The deeper this unity (as in marriage), the more intense the feelings.

Love for God — the pinnacle of unity
Human personalities cannot merge completely — we are limited in our knowledge of each other. But with the Infinite God, absolute harmony is possible, for He:
- Is omnipresent — He knows us down to the smallest detail.
- Gives growth — by connecting with Him, a person does not lose but multiplies their individuality, drawing from Him new facets for self-discovery.

Paradoxically, love for God does not dissolve the personality but enriches it, which in turn enhances the ability to love others.

The tragedies of separation: why love fades
The pain of losing loved ones (death, divorce) is a direct consequence of the unity of souls: a “part” of your personality disappears, your spirit begins to grieve and transmits the bitterness of loss to your body. Similarly, the disappearance of feelings in marriage can be explained by:
- Loss of interest — without effort to understand each other, souls “drift apart.”
- Lack of mutual growth — if personalities do not develop, they have nothing to share.
- Routine — the absence of shared joys “erodes” the connection.
Love requires work: like a garden, it withers without daily care — attention, shared activities, and work on oneself.

Matter as an instrument of love
It is no coincidence that God created the world material and diverse. Through creativity (art, labor, improving our lives), we:
- Embody our uniqueness.
- Give others “footholds” for understanding our personalities.
- Create a shared space of love (home, traditions, memory).

Love is a movement toward unity, where giving and knowing the other become a path to harmony, similar to the Trinity of God. It begins with a decision, not emotions, and requires constant “building” — but it is in this labor that the true joy of being is born.

God = Freedom

Next Chapter (Temptations)

The first commandment says:

But how can we love someone we cannot see? We begin our journey by getting to know God's character—

• in the Holy Scriptures, where His voice is heard,
• in His creation, where His character is revealed.

However, this is not enough. What should we do? We live in a world where sin enslaves us. And the most destructive sin is judgment. Without realizing it, we take away the freedom of others, limit their personality, and cause pain with our opinions, even if it seems that it is “for the good.”

Sin robs us of our freedom. It makes us not ourselves. We become prisoners of other people's views, rules, and fears. We think we are free, but in reality, we have simply learned to hide our true selves.

Jesus is liberating. He does not condemn you. He does not demand pretense. He sees the preciousness in you, even when you yourself do not notice it. With Him, you can be real—without fear, without a mask, without restraint.

God is Love. God is Goodness. God is Freedom. And when you dream of freedom, you are actually dreaming of Him. When you long to be yourself, you are seeking Him. He is the dream of everyone who wants to throw off the chains of sin and find true, liberating love.

Temptations

Next chapter (The Battle for the Soul)

It is very important to understand that this is serious. It is difficult to get to Heaven. We are at war with ourselves—with the passions that control us. Some sins are so cleverly disguised that a person is convinced that everything is fine, when in fact he is already perishing.

There is also an external threat: Satan. Although we most often tempt ourselves, he does everything he can to prevent us from recognizing lies, finding the truth, and standing firm.

An example is Islam. If you study the Koran and the biography of Muhammad, it becomes clear that he was deceived by a fallen spirit. His “revelations” justify violence and oppression. It is clear from the suras of the Koran that calls for the murder and oppression of unbelievers are accompanied by promises of heavenly rewards.

But Satan works not only through false religions—whether paganism, occultism, or the worship of pleasure, money, or fame. He works even within Christianity. That is why Orthodoxy is so cautious about visions, “prophetic” dreams, and voices—they are not revelations, but delusions. When a person begins to trust their feelings, they deceive themselves. And Satan only encourages this state of mind.

Be careful: ecstasy and “other tongues,” which are considered gifts, are found among Muslims, shamans, and atheists. This is not a gift of the Holy Spirit. The Bible is already a revelation; it has everything you need. Do not chase after a new “voice of God.” He has already said everything necessary for salvation.

The Battle for the Soul

Next chapter (How to be saved?)

A person has three sources of thoughts: their own, from God, and from demons. And it is precisely demonic thoughts that are most often accepted with joy — they easily settle on a corrupt heart.

Demons constantly pressure you—even if you don't notice it. Their thoughts (black arrows) penetrate your consciousness if you lose your vigilance. But don't make excuses by saying, “It's all the demons.” The human heart is deeply damaged in itself and can give birth to evil no worse than Satan. When a person wants to fight with himself, demons do everything to make him lose.

The most dangerous thing is not only evil thoughts, but also spiritual delusions. Dreams, voices, ecstasy — all of this most likely comes not from God, but from the evil one. For one can discern the truth only in dispassion — a state that almost no one achieves. Therefore, one should not trust “revelations,” especially those who proclaim them. This is the path to delusion.

Look at the diagram: on the left is God, the source of truth, love, and light. On the right is man, separated from Him by a wall of sin and free will. All that man has are fragments of truth mixed with lies. The world around him is filled with darkness, demons are nearby, and each of them seeks to deceive you.

Realizing this, you will not condemn others — neither atheists, nor people of other faiths, nor the fallen. You will understand that you cannot even evaluate yourself objectively. You can be deceived at any moment. Therefore, humility is the only safe state of mind before God.

How to be saved?

Next chapter (God's plan of salvation)

Our world is a place of delusion. Truth is hidden, and mistakes are constant. You can always sin—even unconsciously. Any thought can be sinful. In such a reality, there is no other way out but true humility.

True humility is the realization that you are incapable of thinking absolutely. You cannot be sure of yourself, your feelings, or your reasoning. Only when a person calls out to God—not with pretension, but with supplication, a broken heart, and repentance—only then does the path to salvation open up.

The Holy Fathers distinguish the following gradation of degrees of humility:

The first step is to acknowledge your spiritual poverty. This is not simply understanding that you cannot overcome sin. It is realizing that you do not even know where truth lies and where falsehood lies. This is the beginning of the journey. Without this acknowledgment, true humility is impossible.

It is very important to note that the struggle against sin and passions is not a choice, but a duty. Without it, salvation is impossible. Even if you have managed to overcome one passion, do not relax. Passion can take on another form, become more subtle, more invisible. Even if it has disappeared, you will be aware of the depth of the damage to your heart for the rest of your life; the struggle will never end.

But there is no need to despair. Our goal is not complete victory over sin by our own strength, but the realization that we are incapable of it without God. We struggle because in this struggle the cry of the soul is born: “Save me, Lord!” And it is this cry that is the key to God's mercy.

God saves those who have not given up. If a person dies while still struggling, God grants him forgiveness, righteousness, and eternity with Him. But for those who have surrendered to sin, God's help can no longer be accepted. The main thing is not to stop. Struggle is the path to God.

No matter what merits you have, no matter how many good deeds you have done, no matter how much you love God and people, if you leave the state of spiritual poverty, everything else will be crossed out, and you will lose your salvation.

Always remember that your successes in virtue are God's mercy. If you lose it, you will immediately drown in the lake of sin. You are no different from other sinners.

Visually, it looks something like this.

You are the brick on the left. If Jesus lets you go, you will find yourself at the bottom.

Advice: learn to recognize vanity. If you talk about your achievements and feel sweetness in your soul, that is vanity. Once you see it, learn to quickly recognize this passion. It is the least noticeable compared to other passions, which is why it is dangerous.

The only normal state for a fallen person is to feel unworthy before God. To realize that you are incapable of doing good. That you have absolutely nothing to justify yourself before God. But at the same time, ask and believe that God will have mercy on you.

God's Plan of Salvation

Next Chapter (Heavenly Rewards)

Sorrows in life are not just difficult episodes, but a special gift from God, through which the soul is purified and draws closer to salvation. Illness, betrayal, loss, loneliness, fear, deprivation — all these things are allowed by God to nurture meekness, patience, and humility in us.

Why does God allow suffering?

• So that we may see our weakness and stop relying only on ourselves.
• So that through the realization of our powerlessness, we may turn to God with trust.
• So that our hearts may be freed from pride, judgment, resentment, and hidden animosity.
• So that we may learn true love — not reciprocal, but sacrificial.

True spiritual growth does not occur in calmness, but in turmoil. And when a person, despite the pain, accepts it as God's will, peace is born in the heart that “surpasses all understanding.”

But should we seek suffering? No. Christianity is not a religion of self-torture. If there is an opportunity to ease grief — to heal, to get out of a difficult situation, to eliminate the source of pain — this too can be God's will. Refusing help when it is available is not a feat, but a temptation caused by pride or delusion. God does not require us to suffer for the sake of suffering. He wants our salvation — and each of us has our own path to it.

For example: If an illness can be cured, then seek treatment. But there are sufferings that cannot be avoided—inner breakdowns, losses, trials that come without our consent. These are the sorrows that God sends in His wisdom. To accept them is to become disciples of Christ.

Be careful with pride. When a person feels that he has “humbled himself,” there is a temptation to consider this his own achievement. But humility is a gift, not the result of effort. It is given by God to those who sincerely ask for it and do not attribute victory over their passions to themselves.

Hold on to Christ. Christ's yoke is not a heavy burden, but a path of love, trust, and inner liberation. Through sorrow, God leads us to Him. The main thing is not to run away from this work in your soul, but also not to immerse yourself in suffering artificially.

Heavenly Rewards

Next Chapter (Transformation of Thinking)

If a person renounces the world—not in the spirit of radical rejection, but with an inner decision that his main goal in life is to strive for Heaven—he may come to the conclusion that salvation requires the highest spiritual efforts. They try to strengthen their faith, do good deeds, and nurture their love for God, expecting to be rewarded in the world to come for everything they believe they have achieved.

Such a desire is not evil in itself, but it is easy to slip and fall into pride and vanity on this path. Here is some useful advice: do not dream of the gifts of Paradise. Because when a person finds God, he finds everything. God is the highest reward that cannot be surpassed. Therefore, one should free oneself from any desires for rewards or privileges.

Imagine the gates of Paradise — and let them become your guide, your ultimate goal. The most important thing is to enter them. For no matter how confident you are in your righteousness, a fall can come suddenly. One false thought, inspired by evil, is enough for pride to supplant humility, and then a person risks not only losing the reward, but remaining outside of Paradise altogether.

Therefore, act not for future glory, but for the mercy of being accepted. Ask God not for gifts, but for permission to pass through the narrow gate. If it is difficult for you to do without images and goals, visualize this very moment — not bliss, but admission.

Ideally, we should live and do good not for the sake of Heaven or reward, but out of sincere love for God. But it is difficult for us to even understand what it means to “love God,” so I offer this option. In your prayers, ask God for forgiveness, ask Him to lead you through the narrow gate of Heaven.

Transformation of Thinking

Next Chapter (Prayers of Repentance)

Several techniques for dealing with sins.

True perfection of thought lies not in strict rules, but in the ability to love, to sympathize, and to see God's light in every person. Start small, and one day your heart will become a pure mirror reflecting His grace.

Prayers of Repentance

Next article (Prophecies in Genealogies)

1) Sign of the Cross

2) Our Father:

3) Ask the Father for help in repenting in your own words

4) Recognize your violation of the commandments:

5) Recognize your sins

Sins can be divided into eight passions (according to St. John Climacus) or seven deadly sins (Western tradition).

1. Pride (the mother of all sins)

2. Gluttony

3. Lust (sexual sins)

4. Greed (avarice)

5. Anger

6. Despondency (sloth of the soul)

7. Vanity (thirst for glory)

8. Worldly sorrow (incorrect regret)

Additionally:

5) Heavenly King (Holy Spirit):

6) Ask the Holy Spirit to pray to the Father through the Son for our salvation and to transform our prayer, because man is incapable of praying correctly, especially one who prays infrequently.

7) Canon of Repentance to Our Lord Jesus Christ (SHORT):

8) Rejoice, Virgin Mary:

9) My Most Blessed Queen:

10) Ask the Virgin Mary to intercede before God for your salvation

11) Psalm 50:

12) Ask God for salvation:

Sincerely tell Jesus that you want to live forever in Heaven with God and all the saints. Sincerely ask for salvation.

13) During the course, pray a short prayer to Jesus:

Prophecies in genealogies

Next article (How many people will there be in Heaven?)

Just as an example of how every word in the Bible is imbued with mystery and has several levels of hidden meaning (the first example is the article about the Big Bang).

The biblical genealogy from Adam to Noah:

Now put all the words together in a sentence, and you get: “Man is destined to die. He who possesses the glory of God will come down to teach. He who is sent to death will destroy it and bring comfort.”

A direct reference to Jesus, written several thousand years before Him.

Next.

“Glory will heal the branch on the other side. It will divide friends. The fierce branch will come to the Father.”

In other words: Jesus will heal the Gentiles. The Gentiles will come to God.

“Glory is forever justified by healing through kinship with a high place.” (Salvation is a gift that is given when we connect with Jesus.)

“Look, son, listen and join in the praise of the Judge who fights against God. The happiness and blessings that are the reward at home will be multiplied by the Son of the right hand.” (Those who fight against God are the Jews, the judge is Jesus)

“With praise, you will break through to the protected high place of my noble people from the serpent. The servant receives clothing that has power as a gift, like a beloved.”

Genealogy of the priests from the tribe of Levi

“Join the gathering of the exalted people on the mountain, God will help you have a silver tongue.”

“The Lord is exalted and generous. The Lord is my father.”

How many people will there be in Heaven?

Next article (Love for God)

Information for sobering up.

Love for God

Next: video

God should be your top priority. But not in the way you might think: 1. God 2. family 3. work 4. hobbies (for example). It's completely different: 1. God.

That is, God should not just occupy the first place in your heart, but your whole heart. Absolutely nothing else should be next to Him.

Does this mean that you cannot love other people, animals, entertainment? No, not at all. The secret is that everything else should not be next to God, but inside God.

In this way, love for other people will be drawn from God Himself, and you will become perfect in love (to the extent that you are close to God). Likewise, love for material things, being in God Himself, is purified and becomes dispassionate.

It is quite difficult to achieve such love. It is impossible by your own efforts. Therefore, ask Jesus to correct your heart.

Video

Next: Why did God allow the Fall?

A message from Koolcat for those who stayed behind after rapture

UPDATE: The theory involving deception through UFOs is outdated. He concluded that everyone would know that God had taken people away. The deception would be that the Antichrist is God.

The doctrine of predestination (salvation belongs to Jesus, not to us)

About false prophets

Events after the rapture of the church

On Pride, the Cause of Man's Fall, and the Need for Love for the Bible

Kelly's latest video on the story of Jeroboam:

Why did God allow the Fall?

Next: Who should we pray to?

Could God have hidden the tree of knowledge or prevented Satan from tempting Eve? Yes. But why didn't He intervene?

Angels

Angels were created by God immediately in His presence. From the moment of their appearance, they immediately possessed complete knowledge of God as their creator, of His greatness, and, most importantly, of His will. Therefore, they do not have free will. They have a very small range of will, which allows for minimal deviations from God's will. But they do have freedom of choice. They can reject God's will. But even in that case, they will not have complete freedom. They will only be able to do what is not in accordance with God's will (evil).

Angels are spiritual and immortal beings. Immortality also means that their personality cannot change. For example, if they acquire a bad habit, they will never be able to get rid of it. Therefore, angels can only make a choice between good and evil once.

Satan was the first to fall. He became proud and sinned (pride). From that moment on, sin began to develop in him and completely take possession of him. Satan began to seduce other angels to follow him. A third of the angels chose Satan and fell into sin, becoming demons. The rest of the angels remained faithful to God and rooted themselves in goodness and love.

Thus, all angels made a choice (good or evil). They have no second chance. Their personalities will continue to develop eternally in the direction they have chosen.

Man: free will

Man is created in the image of God — he possesses not only freedom of choice, but also free will (he does absolutely everything he wants). Free will is possible for man only in one case — if he does not know about the Divine will.

Adam and Eve did not have knowledge about God; they did not know who He was by nature. They only heard His voice and chose whether to trust Him or not. That is why our world was created through the Big Bang and evolution: so that we would not have reliable knowledge about God. So that our world could theoretically exist separately from God. So that our origins would not force us to acknowledge the existence of God.

Thus, people have complete free will because they do not know God's will. If angels were created with all knowledge, then man is like a baby. Man had no knowledge of the world; he had to learn about his surroundings. Accordingly, not knowing God, man could not distinguish good from evil.

Let me clarify: personally, I assume that since the whole world was created through evolution, there was death and predators on Earth. Adam and Eve lived in the Garden of Eden—a secluded place where God created paradise-like conditions. Man did not need to work or hunt for food. But man was mortal.

Man: freedom of choice

Since man was created as a child, knowing neither the world nor God, he could not make a conscious choice between good and evil. That is why God created the tree of knowledge. From the moment he tasted the fruit, man began to distinguish, with the help of his conscience, what was in accordance with God's will (and was good) and what was not (evil).

Technically, man made his choice at the moment when he trusted the serpent (Satan). He had already chosen to violate God's will. Just as the angels were faced with a choice: God or Satan, so was man. But this moment is not considered a fall into sin. Why? Because it was an unconscious choice, made without understanding. That is why at that moment there was no falling away from God.

But at the moment when people ate the fruit and received knowledge of good and evil (of God's will), God again gave them a choice: to repent, ask for forgiveness, and remain with God, or to lie and shift the blame onto someone else. And here, man makes a conscious choice in favor of sin, followed by falling away from God. The personality of man begins to develop along the path of sin.

Man: a second chance

God expels Adam and Eve from Paradise so that they do not eat from the tree of life and become immortal. That is, man was mortal. And this is what gives us a second chance. Unlike angels, we exist not only in the spiritual world, but also in the material world. Our consciousness is in a mortal body. Thanks to this, our personality can change: neural connections with sinful habits can be destroyed.

Man still retains free will, so he does not need to know about God. But man must find God of his own free will through faith and fight against sin. That is why the conditions of existence in the fallen world are so harsh: so that man would seek another world, eternal life, God, love, and righteousness. The whole world serves only this purpose.

The tree of life

But what if man had remained faithful to God (had not listened to Satan) or repented of his deeds? God would have allowed him to eat from the tree of life. Man would have gained eternal life. But how?

Now Jesus opens the way to eternity for us. He accepts us into His body. But at that time, God did not have a human incarnation, human nature, and therefore it was impossible to attain eternal life through union with God.

The most logical option is that man, having tasted from the tree of life, would have gained an imperishable physical body. He would have been like an angel, but only in two worlds: spiritual and physical; and with free will (united with the Divine). Man would have remained forever in communion with God and in contemplation of His glory.

The Fall

Now let's continue the logical chain. God allowed the Fall. Sin must be punished because God does not tolerate injustice. But God took upon Himself all the punishment that we should have received. Jesus not only endured humiliation and physical pain.

In hell, people suffer according to the severity of their sins. At the moment of death, because Jesus took upon Himself the sins of the whole world, He went through separation from God. God the Son lost the presence of the Father. This is the most intense torment that can exist. Hellish torment is the torment of being unable to receive God's love.

And now, to the fact that Jesus (God the Son) lost the love of the Father, add the fact that Jesus took upon Himself all the sins of mankind throughout the history of the Earth. Therefore, the suffering of Jesus at the moment of death is something unimaginable for us. Neither physical pain nor the eternal torment of sinners in fiery hell can ever compare to how God suffered. This brings us back to the question of why God chose this path.

The Deification of Human Nature

The price for sin has been paid. Thanks to Jesus, we can once again become partakers of divine love. At the moment of the future resurrection of our physical bodies, God could once again follow the path of the tree of life. He could cleanse our personalities of sin (if we died in repentance) and renew our physical bodies so that we would be like angels.

But Jesus said otherwise. He accepts us into His body. He deifies us, makes us gods by grace, makes us the fourth hypostasis of God. Deified people will have their own source of eternal life (God). What does this change? We become one with God without losing our personality. The most valuable thing is that we will be able to experience the being of God. We will not feel Him from outside like angels. We will feel the love that dwells within the Trinity. We will be able to know Him as He is. Think about these words. This is something impossible for creation. God has done something impossible!

Let's return to the question: why doesn't God simply restore us as angels? Out of His mercy and love, God decided that people who have gone through the fallen world (searching for God, struggling with sin, death, sickness, persecution, laboring for survival) will receive a greater reward than was originally planned.

Once again, it was not originally planned that humans would become partakers of God's being. This is a reward that God, in His mercy and love, decided to give to those who have gone through the fallen world.

For the sake of this union, when creation will be able to share God's love in the form in which it exists with Him, the Fall was allowed to happen. God decided that His suffering was worth this miracle.

And this also explains why, despite the fact that the vast majority of people will go to hell, God created the world. Because the miracle of the union of God and creation cannot be compared to any suffering of sinners. Moreover, they themselves rejected the gift that was given to absolutely everyone.

The Millennial Kingdom

After Jesus returns to Earth, the Millennial Kingdom will begin (1,000 years on Earth before its destruction and the creation of the new Heaven). Jesus will rule from Jerusalem.

People who survive the tribulation that precedes the Second Coming will live on Earth for a thousand years and raise families. They will remain in mortal bodies, but will probably not die for 1,000 years. There will be no temptations, diseases, or suffering on Earth. Animals will not kill each other. People will know about God, but not from absolute knowledge, but from deified people who will rule the Earth.

But people born at this time will still have freedom of choice. They can still choose sin because of their own lust. Because of the desires of their hearts, not because of external factors. Whoever commits sin will be killed instantly.

After 1,000 years, Satan will be released, and he will once again begin to tempt the nations and gather his army. In the end, God will send Satan and all his followers to the fiery Gehenna. From that moment on, there will be no more sin or death.

Parallels with Paradise

If you notice, the conditions of people born in the last 1,000 years perfectly match the first plan regarding Adam and Eve (no sin, no suffering, only one choice). Therefore, with a high degree of probability, since these people will not go through the Fall, they will not receive the highest reward—union with God.

Most likely, they will become like angels. They will be able to live forever and dwell in divine glory. But they will not be able to know God as we do. They will not have the source of divine glory within them. They will not be able to feel the fullness of God's love.

But this is only a supposition! Perhaps God, in His infinite mercy, will give them the gift of sharing His being.

In any case, think about it and realize what a great gift Jesus gave us... He could have gone another way, but chose to suffer for the sake of the eternal joy of the righteous.

Who should we pray to?

Next: Periods of abandonment (my own experience)

God is one in three Persons, but this does not mean that the Persons lose their uniqueness. God is one because all three Persons dwell in perfect love and complete harmony. Their will is one, and there is no disagreement between Them. At the same time, each Person has His own functions:

• The Father creates the plan and governs the world at the level of design and will. He can be compared to a CEO.
• The Son embodies the Father's plan and governs the world on a physical level, like a chief engineer.
• The Holy Spirit brings the world to perfection by transforming and sanctifying man.

In most cases, requests should be addressed to the Father. But it is important to remember that it is the Holy Spirit who lifts up our prayers to Him, and we receive the right to address Him only through the adoption given to us by the Son. Thus, all three Persons of the Trinity are involved in prayer to the Father.

Although the Father gives “orders,” this does not mean that He is superior to the Son or the Spirit. Governance is His function, not a sign of higher status. The fact that Jesus fulfills the will of the Father does not indicate a subordinate position, but rather His own function within the overall plan.

It is also important to remember that the court is completely devoted to Jesus. Therefore, prayers for mercy (for example, the Jesus Prayer) are legitimately directed to Him.

The Holy Spirit is our Comforter and Teacher. He fills us with Truth and love, guiding us on the path to salvation. Therefore, in our prayers to Him, we usually ask for the transformation of our personality, for the gift of strength and spiritual gifts.

If we are having an internal dialogue with God in general, we can simply say, “God,” meaning the entire Holy Trinity.

In the Old Testament, Jesus communicated with the prophets—He appeared to them and spoke to them in their dreams.

Now, in our earthly life, we are learning to perceive:

• The Father—literally as our own Father (Abba, Father!), Who always loves, hears, and cares for us.
• Jesus—as our most faithful Friend and older Brother, who went through the same trials and is always near. At the same time, we never forget that He is the Lord, King of kings, and our Redeemer, worthy of all worship.
• The Holy Spirit — as our Helper and Comforter, who is always with us. He convicts, instructs, gives strength, and comforts in sorrow, quietly leading us to Christ.

In Paradise, this communion will be complete and perfect:

• With Jesus as our Friend, Brother, and Lord, our relationship will be absolutely complete. We will speak with Him face to face, share our joy, and at the same time worship Him as the Lamb seated on the Throne.
• With the Father, our sonship will reach its peak. We will turn to Him as the most loving Father, the Source of all life, and glorify Him as the Creator.
• With the Holy Spirit, our communion will reach incredible depths. We will know Him as the Source of living water (Rev. 22:1), the life-giving Power and Joy emanating from the throne, thanking Him for bringing us to this glory.

Physically, we will be close to Jesus, but through Him we will be in perfect unity with the entire Holy Trinity, as one Family.

Periods of abandonment (my own experience)

Next: Humility (an example from my daily practice)

I noticed something strange. When you make a new discovery, you realize how much God loves us, you draw closer to Him, your soul is filled with joy, peace, tranquility, and certainty of God's existence, you feel communion with God, and passionate thoughts do not overwhelm your mind.

But there are moments when everything changes. First, you notice that shameful thoughts are intensely attacking your mind. Then your mood drops, a slight sadness appears, and then a feeling of loneliness and abandonment. You even begin to doubt the existence of God (although for me the evidence is 100 percent certain).

And at such moments, sometimes immediately, sometimes after a long time, you begin to suspect that something is wrong and try to get out of this state. To understand what the cause is. How to fix the situation. To understand whether God is near, whether he is guiding my life, or whether it is all self-deception.

I noticed that it is precisely at this time that new breakthrough ideas come, deeper understanding and joy return. It feels as if God deliberately takes away His grace (or reduces it) in order to put a person under stress and direct them onto new paths, bringing them closer to Himself...

The experience of the holy fathers (for example, John Climacus, Ignatius Brianchaninov) fully confirms these assumptions:

It is important to remember that the influx of sinful thoughts is our normal fallen state. A person cannot get rid of passions during his lifetime. But if Jesus dwells in us, He gives us the strength to resist sin: when a thought arises, our mind immediately detects it and fights it, turning to God for forgiveness. We do not get rid of thoughts, but thoughts arise in us that expose them and confirm our fallen nature and our need for a Savior.

Humility (an example from my daily practice)

Next: Contradictions in prayer

A few more practices against pride and vanity.

1) I have nothing. If I have any achievements, they are given to me by God, for my sake. It is not me for God, it is God who gave them to me, controlling my actions through changes in my life circumstances. At the gates of Paradise, I will be poor and naked, having nothing.

2) I cannot even do anything for God in return. Because every good deed must have the right motive. I am not able to sincerely make the glory of God and love for Him my motive.

3) The more I delve into the structure of existence, the more questions I have. The universe is extremely complex. It is impossible to understand. We perceive everything only through the prism of our desires. We will only know the truth when we see God. Right now, I have no certain knowledge about anything. I have no right to teach, judge, or correct anyone.

4) My dream is to be a child of God, to communicate with Him, to enjoy Paradise. To continue researching the universe, ride a lamba, and create computer games. I perceive all other inhabitants of Paradise as follows:

1. adults (all people except me);
2. elders (people who have performed great feats of faith);
3. angels.

Since absolutely everyone is “older” than me, I have no right to teach them, judge them, or prove anything to them. I don't even claim to have any knowledge or awards, and I don't participate in arguments or clarifications. I just don't get involved in “adult matters.” My business is enjoying communication with God and Paradise. And dreams, dreams, dreams... I don't care who is “above me” or who has achieved more. Everyone is above me. I am just a child. I have placed angels above everyone else because they carry out the pure will of God. I have no right to place angels below myself, even though they are not deified.

Contradictions in Prayer

Next: Trust in God or Boldness in Prayer?

On the one hand, Jesus says that He will give us whatever we ask of Him. He even points out that we must ask with unwavering faith and boldness:

The parables convey the same meaning: about a persistent friend, about an unjust judge, about a prodigal son (the obedient son could always ask his father, but he did not ask, and then he took offense).

On the other hand, God knows our needs and provides for us, so we do not need to worry about the future:

Thirdly, it follows from the Bible (and practice) that God's will is always better than ours. God knows better what to give us, when, and how. Fulfilling our will can cause us harm or even lead to destruction.

So how can we reconcile these seemingly contradictory ideas? Even Orthodox priests answer this question differently, each according to their own worldview and experience.

Trust in God or boldness in prayer?

Next: Types of prayer

I offer a logical (in my opinion) answer.

Should we ask God for our needs?

Yes. God promises to provide us with the minimum necessary for our existence. But He will not make our lives perfect without our asking. Because we have free will, God respects it and will not interfere. If we ask for something, and at least part of that request coincides with God's ideal will for our lives, then He will certainly fulfill it at our request.

For example, you can ask to acquire absolute faith, and God will lead you to it. But if you didn't ask, He wouldn't lead you to it. That is, you should ask for everything that goes beyond the minimum necessary. This applies to both spiritual gifts (humility, love, understanding of Scripture) and material gifts (I want to live in a certain city, I want a family, etc.).

Should we insist on having our way?

Here we need to classify our requests:

The first group. Global changes that can alter our destiny.

Healing from illness, a high-paying job, moving to another country, starting a family, etc. Such requests can change our path and thus destroy our soul. For example, wealth can make us evil, or acquiring a wife can take our focus away from God, and this will prove fatal for us. Or, because of healing from illness, we may return to sin.

Therefore, in all similar requests, we must absolutely trust in the perfect will of God. He knows our desires, and He wants to give us everything, but only He knows what will be good for us, when, and how. Perhaps your request will be fulfilled in 10 years in the most amazing way, and you will thank God for leading you on His path, which gave you much more. And if it is not fulfilled, thank God that He did not fulfill your wishes and protected you from eternal destruction.

The second group. Local requests that have no long-term consequences.

Healing from a mild cold. A little financial help. Assistance with a difficult project. Small miracles. How to beg your father for ice cream. Such requests will not change our destiny, but they will show God's care and love. That is what prayer is for. So that we can not only read about God's infinite love, but feel it, touch it. In this way, seeing sincere prayers come true, we can establish a personal relationship with God.

It is in such cases that we need to ask boldly, with absolute faith in fulfillment. Based on examples from the Gospel, I would also add to this category requests for healing from very long and complex illnesses, if they have already fulfilled their function of bringing a person to humility. If we understand that we would be better off without the illness than with it, we can ask boldly. Or, if we ask for the healing of another person, thereby showing mercy and preaching Jesus.

The components of bold faith

If we ask boldly, our faith must consist of the following basic points:

1) desire does not bear sin and does not tempt God;

2) confidence in God's omnipotence;

3) sincere desire for the result;

4) faith in God's goodness. This is the most difficult point. We often imagine God as an evil tyrant. Adam and Eve were the first to make this mistake, thinking that God was hiding His goodness from them. We need to realize that God is love, He is never stingy, He is ready to give infinitely. Jesus never refused to heal anyone; He never said, “It's too early for you to be healed, wait a little longer.” God's love surpasses anything we can imagine. He is ready to perform any unimaginable miracle, but the problem lies only in our faith.

Remember the point about “global requests.” We ask for them without boldness. We trust God. But if our faith were strong: a perfect understanding of the Bible and God's plan and Himself, then we could perfectly determine what is best for us and for other people in “global desires” and could ask with boldness. But we do not do this because we are too far from God and are in ignorance. Out of ignorance, we ask not for good, but for destruction, which is why God does not grant our requests. It is not because He is stingy.

The meaning of petitions

The whole point of petitions in prayer is to taste God's love. To realize that He is a loving father. To establish personal contact. To draw closer to Him. The meaning is not in the blessings, but in the source. That is why you should not neglect petty desires and wishes. Every little miracle is a big step in knowing the true nature of God.

Why does God talk about persistence (perseverance) in asking?

• During long prayers, we become more deeply aware of our desires, their roots, their motives, and whether they are useful to us. A request may conceal vanity, greed, pride, etc. God does not answer such prayers.
• Long prayer itself brings us closer to God.
• When the answer is delayed, our faith is tested. If we do not stop asking, it means we believe that God will grant our request.
• It is a test of the sincerity of our desire. If we want it with all our heart, we will not give up and will implore God until the very end.

“Thy will be done”... If you say this phrase in prayer, consider carefully what meaning you put into it.

• Correct: I understand that God loves me with all His heart, His will is perfect, it is the best thing that can happen to me. I am glad that God cares for me.
• Incorrect: Heal me, God, if it is Your will. And if I am not healed, then it is not Your will, and I am destined to suffer further.

In the second case, we do not trust God, but simply hide our disbelief in healing behind these words. You will not receive healing if you mask your disbelief.

Conclusion:

1) When praying, you need to be discerning in order to understand whether you can ask boldly.

2) When praying boldly, the main obstacle can be the idea of God as an evil tyrant. Only by believing in His absolute love and goodness can you get what you want.

God's will in human life

I will briefly mention that in addition to praying for your desires, you must try to understand God's will for your life. There are three ways to do this:

1) Anything that leads to sin is not God's will. You must renounce anything that can distance you from God. Without compromise.

2) If you start something and it doesn't work out, it is most likely that this endeavor is contrary to God's will. If the endeavor is successful, God is helping you.

3) You can pray fervently, asking God to reveal His will to you. And at the same time, listen carefully to the answer: through events in your life, coincidences, other people.

Types of Prayer

Next: True Faith

True Faith

Next: How to master the prayer of tenderness?

What kind of faith is meant here? Not intellectual agreement with the fact of God's existence (according to the Apostle James, even demons have this kind of faith), but living, heartfelt faith and hope. It is a relationship of trust that comes from the depths of the heart. Such faith cannot be “made” with the mind; it is born in the heart.

Why is a “mustard seed” a symbol of heartfelt faith?

• Living vs. Dead. A mustard seed is not a pebble or a grain of sand. It is a living seed with enormous growth potential. Jesus contrasts not “little faith” and “great faith,” but living, active, organic faith with formal, dead, theoretical faith.
• Dead faith: Knowledge of God in the mind, but a cold heart. Prayer is a ritual or a list of requests.
• Faith-seed: Knowledge that has come alive in the heart, giving rise to personal trust and hope. It is this trust that is the power that moves mountains.
• Rooted in the heart. A tiny mustard seed must fall into the soil in order to sprout. Intellectual, abstract faith floats in the clouds. Faith capable of miracles must “fall into the soil” of the heart and take root there. “Heartfelt prayer” is a sign that the seed of faith does not just lie on the surface of the mind, but has sprouted deep down, into the very center of your being.
• Strength is not in size, but in nature. A physicist would say that strength is not in the size of a uranium nucleus, but in the nature of the nuclear reaction that takes place within it. So it is here: strength is not in the enormous volume of our theological knowledge, but in the “nuclear reaction” of the encounter between our hope and God's grace, which takes place in the heart.

What is this “faith as small as a mustard seed” in practice?

• It is the unwavering heart that James speaks of (James 1:6). In a state of heartfelt prayer, doubts recede and pure hope remains.
• It is boldness born not of arrogance but of confidence in the Father's goodness. You ask, knowing whom you ask.
• It is integrity, when your mind, will, and emotions (that is, your whole heart) agree on one thing: “I believe that You can and want to help me.”

When you pray such a prayer—whether it is a brief cry of “save me!” or a quiet “I trust in You”—you are praying with a grain of faith. And it is precisely this kind of prayer, according to Christ's words, that is the condition for a miracle.

How to master the prayer of tenderness?

Next: Faith that moves mountains

These lines are literal. If you sincerely try to realize how much God is involved in your life. How much He cares for you and tries to save you. At the same time, recognize that you have no merits, only gifts from God. Then, at the very moment when you humble yourself and open yourself to God, grace will touch your heart. You will feel warmth and joy, and tears will flow.

If your realization is very deep, lasting, strong, and sincere, then grace will turn into a heartfelt prayer of tenderness. You will feel close to God, and at the same time you will thank Him verbally, because you will not be able to help saying “thank you” for His care.

Heartfelt prayer is not a reward or a skill. You don't need to seek it as a phenomenon, otherwise you may get “charm.” It is grace that God pours out on all who have opened themselves to Him. It is a consequence of realizing God's love and your own weakness.

“Remaining in Him” is the state of union that comes from humility, gratitude, and accepted grace.

Remembering God's blessings

A classic method for experiencing God's love. Recall all the miracles God has done for you. Focus on His love and goodness.

• This is the biblical way. The entire book of Psalms is full of examples where David recalls God's past deliverances and miracles to strengthen his faith in the midst of present affliction (e.g., Ps. 76, 106).
• This is the work of the mind and heart. As you replay God's gifts in your mind (life, salvation, specific instances of help, the beauty of creation), you are not simply “recalling facts.” You are calling your mind to actively focus on God and your heart to respond with gratitude. This is the work that, combined with humility, opens the door to grace.
• It is an antidote to discouragement and unbelief. In times of abandonment, when God seems distant, the memory of His past blessings becomes an anchor that holds your faith. You believe not in feelings, but in the real experience of His love.

Is it permissible to pray while lying down?

Orthodox priests respond as follows: one should pray while standing, but it is permissible to pray while sitting if the body is too tired. Those who are in poor health may pray while lying down.

I do not share this point of view. The ascetic practices of the holy fathers described above are called “intellectual work.” This is not just reading texts, but deep inner work — analyzing life, remembering God's blessings, focused conversation. This work really requires maximum freedom from physical distractions. For me, lying down or sitting with my eyes closed is the optimal condition for such work.

The purpose of prayer is to meet with God. If this meeting happens deeply and truly for you when you are lying down, then this posture serves its highest purpose.

In theology, detachment from all sensory experiences (including bodily sensations) is called the “apophatic way” — a way of focusing on the Divine. Closed eyes and a motionless body are the classic method for this.

Faith that moves mountains. Part 1. God is the only infinite source

Before exploring the issues of true, living faith, let us turn to the following lines:

This phrase from the Apostle Paul is not a beautiful metaphor, but a harsh and accurate diagnosis of human existence. From birth, we are programmed to live for someone or something. Trying to live “for ourselves” is an illusion that leads to spiritual hunger and exhaustion.

Why can't we live “for ourselves”?

Imagine an electrical device that declares, “I will work for myself!” It unplugs itself from the outlet, relying on its own charge. It will work for a while by inertia, but eventually its screen will go blank. Its purpose is to consume energy from outside and convert it into useful work.

A person (their soul) is a complex, unique device created to fulfill a great purpose: to shine with the light of Love, to do Good, and to know the Truth. It has a display (consciousness), a processor (mind), memory, and, most importantly, a built-in, insatiable thirst to connect to Something Greater.

God is the Source of energy, being, and life. He is an infinite “power station” of Love and Meaning.

And the “outlet” is what we connect ourselves to. It is what we choose as the central value of our life, our main refuge, and source of strength.

• The “Lord” Outlet: When we connect in obedience, faith, and love for God, we connect with the First Source. The device begins to function as the Engineer intended: it sits steadily, shines brightly, and performs its tasks. It finds peace, joy, and Life with a capital L. It is not simply charged—it is powered directly from Infinity.
• The “Idol” Outlet (Family, Career, Pleasures): When we try to plug our plug into these limited sources, one of two things happens:
• A power surge. The idol cannot withstand the load of being a god and “burns out” (disappointment, betrayal, crisis).
• Constant undercharging. The device runs at half power, flickers, overheats from futile attempts to get from the finite source what only the Infinite can give. We call this state longing, existential anxiety, depression.

Trying to live “for yourself” is like trying to power a device from the device itself. It creates a short circuit that leads to rapid depletion and “burnout.”

The only logical choice: Live for God

If you cannot live for yourself, and living for creatures is a path to disappointment, then the only logical and viable option is to live for the Creator.

What does this mean in practice?

It does not mean becoming a mindless performer of rituals. It means:

1. Make God the ultimate goal of all your actions. I work to serve Him and my neighbors with the talents He has given me. I create a family to learn love, which is a reflection of His love. I rest to thank Him for the gifts of creation.
2. Seek Him as your source. Do not demand from your husband, wife, children, or friends the fullness of acceptance and meaning that only God can give. This makes relationships with people easier and freer—we stop using them and begin to truly love them.
3. Find true freedom. When your Source is infinite, you stop fearing the loss of earthly goods. You can possess them without becoming enslaved to them, and you can lose them without losing your footing. Your personality, your “I,” finally finds true support and unfolds to its full potential because it is connected to Infinity.

Conclusion: The Apostle Paul is not talking about limitation, but about great liberation. To live for God is not to limit oneself, but to finally find the true, full, and eternal life for which we were created. Everything else is just a pale and short-lived substitute for it.

Fear of trusting God

If you are afraid or find it difficult to make God the main goal of your life, ask yourself an honest question: what exactly am I afraid of losing? Most often, we find that we are repeating the mistake of Adam and Eve in Eden. The devil convinced them (and continues to convince us) that God is a jealous tyrant who forbids us from having the best things in life for fear that we will become “like gods.” We unconsciously believe that if we trust Him completely, He will surely take away our precious relationships, interesting careers, favorite hobbies, or sources of pleasure.

But this is a colossal lie. God does not want to take anything away. He wants to transform everything.

He does not want to separate you from your loved one—He wants your love to become deeper, purer, and stronger, ceasing to be an idol. He does not want to take away your job—He wants to fill it with true meaning and become your support in your work. He is not against your hobby — He wants you to enjoy it as His gift, not as an escape from reality.

God does not take away our “gardens of paradise.” He wants to bring us back to them, but for that we need to leave those poor, homemade huts that we have built for ourselves, mistaking them for the only possible happiness. Trusting God is not a step into the void, but a step out of the cramped cage of our fears into the spaciousness of His infinite goodness.

Faith that can move mountains. Part 2. The components of true prayer

Above, I listed the fundamental principles of faith:

• absolute certainty in the existence of God;
• certainty in the omnipotence of God (our world is just information, God does what He wants);
• certainty that God wants the salvation of all sinners (and we are sinners);
• confidence that God loves us so much that we cannot even imagine it. That He is good, He wants our happiness, He does not want to take anything away or do evil. That He treats us like a loving Father, He will give us any toy we ask for, as long as it does not harm us;
• To God, we are just children asking for toys (that is why He created us); the only nuance is that some toys can damage our souls.

I have experienced not only prayers of tenderness, but also cries and hopes. Based on this practice, I will continue my research.

Joy?

These prayers showed no signs of heartfelt prayer (closeness to God, joy, tears, warmth). Therefore, the “root” of faith is not in these manifestations. It is not in love for God, nor in gratitude.

My appeals were both hopeful and rebellious, expressing disagreement. In them, I felt distant from God; there was despair, not joy. There was disagreement, not gratitude. In some, I begged: “I want, I want, please.” In others, I said: “If that's the case, then I don't need heaven, I'll go to hell, You can't save me by force.” But all the prayers worked, miracles happened, I received an answer!

What stood out about them?

Absolute sincerity. We often hide our motives even from ourselves. But at that moment, I wasn't hiding behind any mask; I opened my heart completely. I revealed the whole truth of my heart.

A very strong exercise of my will. “I really, really want this.” “I really, really don't want this!” In the first case, it was hope; in the second, it was a cry from the soul. I did not hide behind the words “Thy will be done.” I refused to accept God's will. I rejected all thoughts of blindly following God's will; I was against it; I wanted to be myself.

The only hope. If you read between the lines, the fact of my conversion and conversation with Him confirms that I perceived God as the only authority that could help me. And not only that. The subtext shows that I believed in His love, that He needed me. I was indifferent to possible punishment, even eternal hell.

Strong faith should move mountains. And in my case, it moved the “mountains” of disbelief in God's love. It revealed the true God.

Conclusion: sincerity, manifestation of will, the only hope.

Faith that moves mountains. Part 3. Holiness

The main question: how can we acquire such faith that all miracles become possible? How can we bring sincerity, determination, and single-minded hope into our prayers?

The answer that follows from all of the above is paradoxical: stop making miracles your main goal and make God Himself your main goal.

My experience of crying out, rebelling, and hoping shows that miracles did not happen when I believed in miracles, but when I bared my heart and entered into an authentic, personal relationship with the Living God. I projected the core of my personality into prayer—my will, my desires, my pain. And God responded to this authenticity.

Faith that moves mountains is not a magic formula. It is the power of a deified human personality living in synergy, in cooperation with God.

The goal of human life in the Orthodox understanding is deification (theosis in Greek). It is not simply “becoming a good person” or “getting into heaven.” It is a real, grace-filled union of human nature with God, in which a person, while remaining a creature, becomes a participant in the divine nature (2 Pet. 1:4).

This union begins already in earthly life through the action of the Holy Spirit in the Church (in the sacraments, in prayer, in spiritual life). The Apostle Paul says:

However, this union has degrees:

• Beginning: This is what is available to every believer—the feeling of God's presence, tenderness in prayer, the action of grace in the heart.
• Acquisition of the Holy Spirit: As St. Seraphim of Sarov said, this is the goal of Christian life. It is a state in which a person constantly abides in grace, and the Holy Spirit acts in him as a life-giving source.
• Deification: The highest degree, when this union becomes so complete that a person is filled with divine light (as on Mount Tabor), his will is completely in harmony with the will of God, and he becomes a conduit of divine power for performing miracles.

Holiness is understanding God's love and complete trust

The holy fathers became saints not because they were cleansed of sin, but because they understood how much God loves us sinners and were able to trust God completely.

Purification from sin (struggle with passions) and trust in God (humility) are not two different processes, but two sides of the same coin.

Imagine a dirty, sooty glass vessel.

• Purification is the work of scrubbing away soot and dirt (fighting passions through fasting, prayer, and attention to thoughts).
• Trust and love are when you place this vessel before the Sun (God). You turn its purest side toward the light (humility, openness, trust).

What is happening?

Sunlight (God's grace) does not simply illuminate the vessel from the outside. Passing through the clean parts of the glass, it begins to burn away the dirt from within and fill the vessel with its light so that it begins to shine on its own.

• You cannot cleanse the vessel without the Sun (you cannot overcome sin on your own).
• But you also cannot simply “trust” without doing anything, because the dirt will not allow the light to penetrate inside.

Thus, without awareness of God's love and without trust in Him, all our ascetic labors turn into self-admiration and pharisaism, which only tarnish the vessel even more. It is the encounter with the Loving God that is the engine that gives meaning to all the work of purification and makes it truly effective.

Conclusion: Holiness is the radiance of Divine light in the human personality. This radiance becomes possible when a person, working on purifying his heart (purifying the vessel), at the same time opens himself with his whole being to Love and trusts it (exposes the vessel to the Sun). We work on purifying our hearts not for the sake of fighting passions, not for the sake of holiness, but for the sake of God Himself. Because if we love Him, we do what pleases Him.

Faith that moves mountains. Part 4. Deification

Let's look at the necessary steps that bring us closer to deification.

You need to understand how sinful you are

This does not mean taking a list of sins and checking them off: “Yes, I lie, yes, I envy.” To see your sinfulness is to see the abyss between God's holiness and your own nature. This is so painful for our “ego” that the psyche activates all kinds of defenses:

• Justification: “Yes, I am sinful, but no more than others.”
• Comparison: “I don't steal or kill; I'm generally a good person.”
• Repression: We simply don't think about it, occupying our minds with trivialities.
• Religious compensation: We begin to take pride in our “spirituality” and the performance of rituals, replacing genuine humility with them.

Seeing ourselves as we really are is like living for years in a room with dim, warm light that hides the dust and clutter, and then suddenly finding ourselves under the merciless glare of an operating room light. Every speck of dust, every stain, every crack becomes visible with terrifying clarity. The pain and shock of this sight cause us to instinctively recoil and seek the comfort of the dim light again.

A saint is not someone who does not see dust and cracks. It is someone who, without looking away from the destruction, discovers a source of light in it — and sees that this healing Light pours from the hands of the Surgeon, ready to cleanse and restore everything. His gaze is fixed not on his wound, but on the Face of the Physician.

We need to understand how good God is and love Him

To love God is not just to have warm feelings toward Him. It means:

• To recognize His absolute authority over every area of your life: finances, relationships, plans, ambitions.
• Entrusting your future to Him, giving up the illusion of control.
• Forgiving those who have hurt you, because if God has forgiven me, how can I not forgive others?

Our fallen nature clings tenaciously to its “independence.” We agree to let God be a “traveling companion” on our journey, but not the Lord who determines the route. We are afraid that if we trust Him completely, we will lose ourselves.

A saint is someone who has gone through this fear and discovered that, by losing their supposed “independence,” they have found true freedom and identity in God.

Deification is not the state of a sinless robot. It is a state in which God's grace so fills a person that his main, dominant state becomes love, peace, and a thirst for God. Sin can still attack, but it no longer finds a response in the heart; it becomes something foreign, like dust on the surface of the shining sun.

“If you abide in Me” is an invitation to deification.

When Christ says:

He describes not a magic formula, but a state of synergy (cooperation), which is the essence of deification.

• “Abiding in Me” is not simply believing in Him, but being with Him in such a living, organic unity as a branch is connected to the vine. The branch feeds on the same sap as the vine and lives the same life.
• “My words will remain in you” means that His teaching, His spirit, and His will become the inner law by which a person lives. These are not external rules, but a new nature.

In this state, a person's desires begin to come from God. He no longer asks for anything selfish or harmful because his heart and mind have been transformed. His “I want” becomes aligned with God's “I want.” And in this context, any prayer will be answered because it will essentially be God's own prayer pouring out through this person.

Thus, “abiding in Me” is a dynamic, living process of deification.

Faith that moves mountains. Part 5. Healing

Let's look at the hierarchy of healing in the light of deification:

• The main healing is the healing of the soul from sin. This is the main goal. This is what saves a person for eternity. A sick soul is the root problem of humanity.
• Healing of the heart and will. As we have already discovered, this is the healing of the will from selfishness and its union with the will of God.
• Healing of the body. The body is an integral part of the human personality. Sin and death entered the world together, and God desires to heal the body as well. The miraculous healings in the Gospel are signs confirming Christ's authority over all creation, including physical laws.

When a person surrenders completely to God (enters into a state of “abiding in Christ”), he opens a channel for the action of divine grace in all its fullness — in spirit, soul, and body.

Stage 1: Fallen Will (the illusion of freedom)
Our will is like a compass near a powerful magnet. The needle wobbles, pointing first one way, then another. It wants pleasure (even harmful pleasure), then the approval of people, then revenge, then laziness. We think, "This is my freedom! I can want anything!“ But in reality, our will is enslaved by passions, habits, and sin. This is not freedom; it is chaos and slavery. A person in this state is not the master of their will, but a hostage to their own random ”desires."

Stage 2: Healed Will (True Freedom)
Now let's imagine that we have removed the magnet (the power of sin). What happens to the compass? The needle calms down and points to true North.

• What is the “true North”? It is God's will. And God's will is Love. It is not an arbitrary set of commands, but the very nature of being, harmony, truth, and goodness.
• What does the needle do? It no longer convulses. It finds peace in its true purpose—to point north.

Have we become robots? No. We have found true freedom — freedom from the tyranny of chaotic passions. Our will can now desire what is truly good, true, and beautiful. It desires what it has always desired by its God-given nature, but could not achieve because of interference.

Faith that moves mountains. Part 6. Deification during life

Deification during life does not mean that you will never again feel sinful urges. The memory of your body and soul, your habits, the world around you — all of this will send you signals, “offering” you old patterns of behavior. Even Christ in the desert felt temptation from the devil.

This means that a new, dominant reality is born and strengthened in you — “the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 8:2).

The holy fathers did not simply teach abstractly about the purification of the will, but also described how it feels to a person. It is not a lifeless robotic state, but the attainment of genuine, powerful, and joyful freedom. Here is how they describe this state.

1. A feeling of lightness and absence of inner struggle

As long as the will is divided (“I want to do good, but I do evil” — Romans 7:19), a person feels like a battlefield. They feel heaviness, tension, and inner discord.

St. Theophan the Recluse called this “the division of the will.” When the will is healed and united with God's will, this internal struggle subsides. The painful state disappears when one part of you reaches out to God and the other clings to passion.

How it feels: Not mindless calm, but deep peace. Making decisions ceases to be torture. You simply see the path of goodness and follow it without internal strife or regret.

2. A sense of strength, boldness, and “rightful authority” over oneself

Passions make a person weak. They cannot resist anger, despondency, or lust. Their will is like a boat without a rudder in a storm.

St. John Climacus wrote that the pure in heart reach a state where “passions subside and the mind gains power over them.”

How it feels: You will not feel “stifled” by prohibitions. On the contrary, you will feel the strength and power not to obey sinful thoughts. It is a feeling of true inner strength, when you are the master of your own house, not a powerless witness to its plundering.

3. A feeling of joy and naturalness in doing good

This is a key point. For a person struggling with passions, doing good is often a duty, an effort, a “must.” He forces himself to be patient, forces himself to pray.

The holy fathers (such as St. Seraphim of Sarov in his conversation with Motovilov) say that when the Holy Spirit enters a person, the main fruit of this is unspeakable joy. Goodness becomes not a duty, but a natural, joyful need of a healed nature. Just as it is natural and pleasant for a healthy person to breathe deeply, so it is natural and joyful for a saint to love, forgive, and pray.

How it feels: You will want to pray. You will enjoy doing good. You will look for opportunities to show love, because it will bring you joy, like the joy of a fish that has found clean water.

4. Feeling of wholeness and unity with the world

A divided will gives rise to a feeling of disconnection: from God, from people, from oneself.

St. Maximus the Confessor saw the goal of spiritual life as bringing all the powers of the soul — the will, fierce and desirous — to unity and harmony when they are directed toward God.

How it feels: The feeling of inner division will disappear. You will feel like a unified whole. Your thoughts, desires, and actions will be in harmony. And from this inner unity will come a feeling of unity with all creation, because your will will be tuned to the same “frequency” as the Creator's plan for the world.

Faith that moves mountains. Part 7. Sincerity

The path is narrow and difficult not because God has established many complicated rules, but because He demands absolute sincerity in conditions of total uncertainty.

Why are these conditions “uncertain”?

1. Paradox as a tool. God says, “To find life, lose it.” “To be first, be last.” “To gain freedom, become a slave.” The rational mind is stumped. This cannot be “understood” logically. It can only be lived and tested. He presents us with a choice that seems absurd so that we turn not to reason, but to something deeper—to hope.
2. The hiddenness of God. He does not appear in fire and lightning to every passerby. He is hidden. His voice is often “the sound of a gentle wind” (3 Kings 19:12), which can be mistaken for one's own thoughts. His will can be read in a complex mosaic of circumstances that can be pieced together into different pictures. Why? Because faith born of the obvious is not faith, but a statement of fact. True faith is born precisely in this “fog of war,” when there are no guarantees, only the decision to trust.
3. Replacing sincerity with “correctness.” The “right” way is to blindly cut off the idol and be proud of it. The “sincere” path is to be indignant, to rebel, and in this darkness of despair to stumble upon the real, living God. The system of “right answers” leads to hypocrisy. The system of “sincere questions” — even the most bitter ones — leads to Him.

So what is the “test” then?

The test is not whether you did the right thing, but whether you sought Him Himself in your actions, whether right or wrong.

• The Pharisee prays “correctly” and leaves the temple unjustified.
• The tax collector beats his breast, says the “wrong” words (“be merciful to me, a sinner”) — and receives justification.

The test is a check of the heart's capacity for authenticity. Will your heart withstand the strain of this uncertainty without turning to the well-trodden path of formal religiosity? Will you, like Job, be able to say to God, “Behold, He kills me, but I will hope” (Job 13:15)?

“The gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and there are few who find it” (Matthew 7:14) — because most people seek clear instructions rather than a living Person. They seek guarantees rather than faith. They want to know where to go rather than trust the One who leads.

Faith that can move mountains. Part 8. Why are there so few saints?

If it's all so “simple”: humility, love, trust — why are there so few saints? After all, there are many sincere believers among monks and priests.

The answer lies not in the plane of desire, but in the plane of the goal, the price, and the quality of that desire.

Imagine that there is a Source of living water (deification). A difficult, steep path leads to it.

• Many know about the Source, believe in it, and periodically approach its foot to scoop up water and quench their thirst. They live nearby, work in its gardens, and guide other seekers. They are sincere. Their lives are devoted to the Source. But their goal is to quench their thirst.
• Only a few see not just water, but the Source itself as their sole goal. For them, there is no such thing as the “surroundings” of the Source. Everything else — work, relationships, even “religious life” itself — has meaning only as a stepping stone to complete immersion in it. Their goal is not to drink water, but to live in the Source itself.

Now let's translate this from the language of analogy into the language of spiritual reality.

1. The difference in purpose: Serving God vs. Surrendering oneself to God

• A sincere believer/priest/monk often strives to live a righteous, pious life. He wants to serve God, keep the commandments, be obedient, and pray. This is wonderful and necessary. But this can be done while remaining within certain boundaries, in a zone of spiritual comfort.
• A saint does not seek a “righteous life,” but God Himself, without reserve. His prayer is not a rule, but a breath. His goal is not to avoid sin (which is a negative goal), but to encounter God face to face (a positive and all-consuming goal). It is a thirst that overshadows everything else.

Many people have a desire to “connect with God,” but it coexists with other, perfectly good desires: to start a family, to serve the Church, to have spiritual authority, to live in peace. For a saint, this desire consumes all others, becoming the sole content of life.

2. The difference in price: Readiness for total death

The Reverend Silouan the Athonite said: “Keep your mind in hell and do not despair.”

This phrase sums up the whole price. The saint agrees to what even a very good person unconsciously avoids:

• To the “hell” of humility: To the constant, painful vision of one's weakness and sinfulness, without attempting to find justification for oneself.
• To the “death” of the will: Not to external obedience, but to internal, voluntary destruction of one's self, one's “I” as the center of the universe.
• To the “cross” of abandonment: To a willingness to go through periods of complete abandonment by God, when there are no feelings, no consolations, but only a bare, willful hope in the invisible God.

Many sincere believers want God's love, but do not want the cross of that love — the very “hell” that must be passed through in order to be resurrected for true deification.

3. The difference in the quality of desire: A thirst that cannot be quenched

The desire of a saint is not just one of many desires. It is a fire that consumes everything else.

Imagine two people sitting by a fire.

• One warms himself at a respectful distance. He is warm and comfortable, and he can chat and drink tea. He loves this fire.
• The other sees the fire not as a source of warmth, but as the very essence of fire. He is constantly drawn to it. He comes so close that his clothes begin to smolder, he is in pain, but he cannot tear himself away. He is ready to burn in this flame in order to become it.

The saint is the second. His desire for union is a thirst for burning. “For I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me” (Gal. 2:19-20). This is not a metaphor, but a real spiritual law.

Conclusion: Individuals become elders and saints not because they are “better” or “more sincere” than others. It is because their hearts were struck by a qualitatively different thirst.

They paid a qualitatively different price — the price of complete self-denial, not only of sin, but also of the right to their own spiritual life.

Faith that moves mountains. Part 9. Obstacles on the path to deification

On the path to deification, the soul encounters two major, profound obstacles. They cannot be circumvented—they must be understood and overcome.

Obstacle 1: “The Path of Struggle”—when we replace repentance with self-flagellation

At first glance, there is nothing more pious than a determined struggle against one's sins. We become “warriors of Christ,” we “do something for God.” This path flatters our pride, creating the illusion of control and spiritual achievement.

But there is a trap here: we try to overcome pride with a proud effort. We try to achieve humility by willfully commanding ourselves. This is an internal contradiction that dooms us to failure.

A person realizes that he has been on the wrong path only when the “path of struggle” leads him to complete bankruptcy, to the bitter realization: “I struggled all my life — and nothing came of it.”

And this is a moment of grace. For where our strength ends, God's action begins. It is in this despair that the encounter with the living God takes place.

What is true repentance (metanoia)?

It is not a meticulous list of transgressions at confession. It is a radical change of mind. A paradigm shift:

• Before: “I struggle with my passions.”
• After: “I surrender my soul, defeated by my passions, to the Physician of souls and bodies.”

This is precisely why there are so few saints. Few dare to go through the collapse of their righteousness in order to rediscover the Gospel — as Good News not for the “healthy” but for the “sick”; not for the ‘righteous’ but for “sinners.”

Obstacle 2: “Fear of death” — when we are afraid of losing ourselves

Deification is the union of our will with the Father's will. But in order to unite, our willful, selfish part must die.

Even if we agree with this in words, our hearts may shrink in fear. We intuitively fear that by dying to our will, we lose our identity. It seems to us that in place of a living, albeit sinful, person, there will remain a soulless “robot” programmed for good.

• God says, “Come to Me, and I will give you true Life, Joy, and Love.”
• A person hears, "Come to Me, and you will die. You will lose yourself. You will lose the right to be the center of your universe. You will lose control. You will no longer be able to live as you wish. You will have to give up everything you considered to be ‘yourself.’"

There is only one way to overcome this fear—through the revelation of God's love.

We need to learn from experience, not from books, that God is not a tyrant who takes away our freedom, but a Father who transforms it. That “God's will for us is not what God wants, but what we want, but these desires are purified by His holiness. For God is Love” (1 John 4:8).

Until this knowledge becomes as real to the heart as breathing, fear will stand at the threshold. This knowledge comes only in a personal encounter when, trusting Him against all odds, we discover that we have not lost ourselves, but found ourselves for the first time.

Faith that moves mountains. Part 10. The essence of everything

After long research, through experiences of falls and revelations, we come to a surprisingly simple and clear conclusion. Christianity is not a system of rules or a program for self-improvement.

It is a personal relationship with the Living God.

And the entire fabric of this relationship is woven from three threads:

1. Longing for God
This is the engine. It is a thirst that cannot be quenched. It is not a duty, but a hunger of the soul that drives us forward, even when we have no strength or feelings. It is a decision of the will to seek His Presence in everything: in prayer, in work, in joy, in sorrow. Without this longing, everything else is just ritual.

2. Sincerity with God
This is the foundation of communication. We come to Him not wearing the mask of the “perfect Christian,” but in the truth about ourselves: doubting, weak, rebellious, sinful. We do not bring Him “correct” prayers, but our genuine “I want” and “I don't want.” It is precisely this truth, even if it is ugly, that becomes the language in which God hears us best.

3. Trust in God
This is a bridge over the abyss of our weakness. It is not passivity, but active surrender. We admit: “I cannot overcome sin, I cannot do truly good deeds, I cannot save myself. But I believe that You can. I entrust to You my will, my life, my salvation.”

Good deeds and the struggle with passions do not disappear. But they cease to be an end in themselves and a source of pride. They become the natural fruit of this relationship. We do good not to “earn” it, but because He loves us. We fight not with our own strength, but with the strength of the One who

It is in this trinity—Aspiration, Sincerity, Trust—that the very faith and hope are born that can say to sorrow, “Go from here to there.” Because this is no longer your faith, but the faith of Christ, working in a humble and trusting heart.

This is the beginning of deification.

Faith that moves mountains. Part 11. Is the thirst for God from man or from God?

Short answer: Both. It is a divine gift that requires human consent.

1. The source of longing is God

Fallen, sinful human nature alone is incapable of igniting a genuine, holy longing for God. The apostle Paul says plainly, “No one can say ‘Jesus is Lord’ except by the Holy Spirit” (1 Cor. 12:3).

This thirst is not a natural human need, like hunger or thirst. It is a supernatural call that God puts in the heart. It is He who first loved us (1 John 4:19) and touched our hearts with His grace, awakening in them a longing for Himself.

Thus, the very possibility of desiring God is already an undeserved gift and an act of His prevenient (preceding) grace.

2. The answer to thirst—a person's choice

God, having awakened this thirst in us, does not force us to drink. He places the Source before us and says, “Let the thirsty come, and let the one who desires take the water of life without cost” (Rev. 22:17).

This is where our freedom comes in. We can:

• Listen to this thirst and respond to its call.
• Ignore it, drowning it out with busyness, sin, or religious routine.
• Try to quench it with substitutes—idols that give temporary relief but do not satisfy the thirst for the Source.

How does this work together? An analogy

Imagine that you are sleeping in a dark, cold room.

• God is someone who lights a small candle in the distance and gently calls your name. This is the action of His grace—awakening your thirst for light and warmth.
• Your awakening, your decision to get up and go toward that light—that is your response, your choice, your effort.

You did not light the candle. But you got up and went. And as you walk, the light grows brighter and your thirst to reach it grows stronger.

Faith that moves mountains. Part 12. Two paths to one goal

The path of the holy fathers: long work on oneself

This is a path that can be called classic. Its essence is in the gradual purification of oneself from passions.

• It begins with struggle. A person looks inside himself, sees his sins and shortcomings, and begins to fight them. It is constant work, as if you were working in the garden all day long, weeding out the weeds.
• St. John Climacus wrote: “Whoever has known his sin has known himself.” That is, first you need to see that not everything is right inside you.
  Humility comes through failure. A person tries for years to fight his passions and sees that he has little success. Through these defeats, they realize that they are weak on their own. This is how true humility is born — not because it is necessary, but because you have felt your own weakness on your own skin.
• Love is a reward. The feeling of living love for God comes later, as a result of this long work and purification. First comes labor, then consolation.

My theory: focus on your relationship with God

I think there is another way. Don't start by actively fighting every passion. Instead, focus on trying to build a personal, sincere relationship with God.

But this is no less difficult.

• The difficulty lies in sincerity. The main difficulty is being completely honest with God. Not hiding behind pretty words, but coming to Him as you are: with doubts, with resentments, with silly requests. Without this sincerity, it is impossible to truly know Him as a Person and understand that He really loves you. It is not quick or easy.
• Trust comes from experience. To truly trust God, you will have to go through situations where you will see for yourself that He is good and cares for you, even when you don't understand it. This is also a kind of struggle — a struggle with your own unbelief and fear.
• Humility comes from closeness. You probably won't come to humility through a series of defeats in struggle. It will come in a different way. When, in prayer and in life, you begin to understand a little how great, good, and holy God is, and how small and needy you are before Him, that knowledge in itself humbles you. You feel like a child who simply trusts his Father.

What is the difference?

• According to the holy fathers: First, he saw sin -> began to fight it -> through defeat, he understood his weakness (humility) -> learned to trust God.
• In my theory: I wanted to know God personally -> through sincerity in prayer, I began to understand His love -> this understanding gave birth to trust -> and trust led to humility before Him.

Both paths lead to the same thing — to stop relying on yourself and start living with God. It's just that one path is like a long school where you are gradually taught, and the other is like an encounter that changes your whole life.

My path is not easier or more correct. It is simply different. God leads each person along the path that is right for them. For some, it is through many years of hard work, and for others, it is through a sudden revelation of His love that turns everything inside them upside down.

Faith that moves mountains. Part 13. Trust as preparation for instant transformation

Reflecting on my path—a path of complete and rapid entrusting myself to God—I asked myself: how does it relate to the eschatological perspective, to the teaching about a sudden encounter with Christ, whether it be the rapture of the Church or personal death?

And I came to the conclusion that this method of trust is not just one of the options for spiritual life. It is, perhaps, the very essence of preparation for instant transformation.

Gradual and instantaneous: two actions

The classic patristic path is one of gradual, step-by-step purification and transformation of human nature. It can be compared to the work of a gardener who tends to a tree year after year so that it will bear fruit. This is an action from the inside out, where our effort and God's grace work together over time.

But the encounter with Christ on the day of rapture or death is an event of a fundamentally different order. It is not a gradual process, but an instantaneous action that comes entirely from God. It is an external force that changes our nature in an instant (1 Cor. 15:52). At that moment, there will be no time to “grow” virtue or “kill” the last passion. Only one thing will be required of us—to be ready to accept this change.

Trust as a state of readiness

And here my path finds its direct application. What does it mean to be “ready” for God's instantaneous and total action?

It means having a heart attuned to complete surrender.

Imagine two people who are suddenly and rapidly swept away by a powerful current.

• One will instinctively tense up, try to swim on their own, fight the current, which will lead to panic and exhaustion.
• The other will relax, trust the power of the current, and allow themselves to be carried along.

The first is a person whose spiritual life has been focused solely on their own efforts, on control, on “correct” performance. The second is a person who has already lived the experience of absolute trust.

My method is constant training in this “relaxation in God,” this entrusting of oneself to His will. This is not passivity, but an active, volitional decision: “I renounce the right to control myself and entrust myself completely to You.”

Perfect Preparation

Thus, the path of radical trust is the perfect way to prepare your spirit for rapture.

• The path of the fathers gradually prepares human nature, purifying it so that it will not be hurt by the touch of Divine light.
• The path of trust prepares the human will, tuning it so that at the decisive moment it does not shrink in fear, does not cling to its imaginary independence, but joyfully and peacefully says, “Yes, Lord, I agree. Transform me.”

A person living in a state of such “prayer-surrender” will not be shocked or frightened by a sudden transformation. For them, it will be a welcome and logical conclusion to what their heart has been striving for all this time. Their soul has long since said “amen” to any action of God, and now that “amen” will be said in response to the greatest of them all.

Conclusion

Therefore, my boldness and my method are not a denial of tradition, but perhaps its deepening and actualization for times when the spirit must be ready for a sudden encounter. It is the cultivation of that childlike, unconditional trust that allows one not only to withstand the hour of trial, but to enter eternity with great peace and joy.

Faith that moves mountains. Part 14. Practicing faith: how to ask God for a miracle

Our study has brought us to the summit—to the understanding that faith that moves mountains is born in deification, in the complete union of the human will with the divine will. But what about the numerous cases of healings and miracles that occur through the prayers of ordinary people who have not yet attained this fullness? How can someone who is just beginning their journey pray for a specific need?

The experience of the Gospel gives us a clear answer: God responds not to the degree of our holiness, but to the quality of our faith at a given moment. And this faith has its own practical structure.

The basis of any conversion: Desire, Sincerity, Trust

Before we move on to specific steps, it is important to remember the foundation we discovered earlier. That very faith-trust, capable of miracles, is born in the heart, where three components live:

• Desire — a fervent, insatiable desire of the heart turned toward God.
• Sincerity — complete inner truth before God, when we come to Him without masks, with all our “wants” and “can'ts.”
• Trust — reliance on His love and goodness, even when we do not understand His ways.

It is in this trinity—Aspiration, Sincerity, Trust—that the very faith and hope are born that can say to sorrow, “Go from here to there.” Because this is no longer your faith, but the faith of Christ, working in a humble and trusting heart.

It is this foundation that makes all our prayers effective, including prayers for a specific miracle.

“The Anchor of Faith”: How God Nurtures Our Trust

When this foundation of desire, sincerity, and trust is present, but faith has not yet been strengthened, an amazing principle comes into effect, which we see in the Gospel. People who ask for a miracle set a kind of “anchor” for themselves—a specific condition under which, they believe, the miracle will happen.

• The woman with the issue of blood said to herself, “If I only touch His garment, I will be healed” (Mark 5:28). Her anchor was touch.
• The centurion proclaimed, “...only say the word, and my servant will be healed” (Luke 7:7). His anchor was the power of Christ's word.
• The blind Bartimaeus believed that if he cried out incessantly, he would be heard (Mark 10:47). His anchor was persistence.

The main point here is that Christ does not correct their “anchors.” He does not give a lecture on proper prayer, but says, “Your faith has saved you.” Why? Because this “anchor” is the outward expression and focus of their faith. In their despair and hope, they found a simple form in which to express their trust. And God, as a loving Father, responded to this childlike, simple, but sincere trust.

Practical step: how to establish your “anchor of faith”

Based on this, here is a practical way to ask God for a miracle.

• Lean on the foundation. Start with your heart. Honestly bring your desire (a strong desire for healing/help), your sincerity (admit your fear, weakness, impatience), and your trust (say that you believe in His love and goodness, even if you don't feel it right now) to God.
• Set your “anchor.” Ask yourself: What do I need to believe in order for my faith to become concrete and firm in this request? This is your personal agreement with God, coming from the depths of your heart. It might be something like this:
• “I believe that if I pray for this every day with complete devotion...”
• “I believe that if I completely give up dictating terms in my prayer and say ‘Thy will be done’...”.
• “I believe that if I ask with absolute confidence, without a shadow of doubt...”.
• Act according to your faith. Your faith must be realized. If your anchor is prayer to the end, pray to the end. If your anchor is a specific action (such as touching your clothes), do it.

Conclusion

Your “anchor” is not magic, but the crystal of your hope. God sees in it not a ritual, but a passionate heart that is trying with all its might to trust Him. Responding to such a prayer, He not only performs a miracle, but also strengthens our trust, leading us to an ever deeper relationship with Him — to the very faith that is the beginning of deification.

How can we understand and fulfill God's will?

Question

Many Orthodox priests respond as follows: if the desire corresponds to God's will according to the criteria of the Gospel, fulfill it. If it violates it, reject it. If you cannot understand, ignore it, because God will forgive, but the devil may lead you to hell.

In Orthodoxy, it is believed (in the most widespread teaching, but not by the holy fathers) that since God's will is the best for man, man must reject his own will and blindly follow God's will. It is explained that God's will is true freedom for man because it is free from sin. But how can we understand God's will? Many priests say to pray and listen for the answer through life events. Some say that you need to trust God, and He Himself will create all the conditions necessary for life in your life. All your life circumstances are the will of God. People try to find out how to do the right thing: what job to look for, who to marry, what city to live in.

And in theory, this is all correct. We understand that our will is affected by sin, that we cannot see the future. Therefore, God's will is the best choice for us. It seems like humility. We acknowledge the sickness of our will.

But. As my study of the Gospel and the whole logical picture of free will shows, there is a huge mistake here. The mistake is that we are trying to destroy our will and blindly accept God's will.

Now, three questions:

1) If this is what God wants, why is it so difficult to know His will? Even if we receive an answer from Him, it will not be absolute; we will still have a choice: to believe that the answer is from God, or that it is just a coincidence.

2) If we just need to renounce our will and accept God's will, then why, at the moment of this decision, is our will not immediately healed? Why don't passions disappear in an instant, but are treated for decades, and even then not completely?

3) If we just need to replace our will with God's will, why do we need a lifelong struggle with passions?

Answer

The answer is this. Although the model described is true, it is too superficial. The mistake is that we should not destroy our will, but heal it. God created us in His image. He does not need robots or puppets. He needs individuals with their own desires and dreams. He wants to communicate, not give orders.

The healing of a fallen will begins with the realization of our own responsibility for all decisions. We have been repeating this mistake since the time of Adam. When we seek God's will, the hidden motive is often the fear of taking responsibility. The desire to find an easy path. A path without fear of making mistakes.

But growth is only possible through mistakes! We must know the Gospel criteria of God's will and, whenever possible, receive answers through prayer about real situations, not in order to blindly fulfill God's will, but in order to learn!

We must make an effort to learn to make decisions as God does. And this path may involve mistakes. But you should not be afraid of the consequences of life or of falling into hell. You must take risks, while relying on God's strength, not your own. The parable of the talents also speaks of risk. But we must be aware of the possible consequences. When you take responsibility, you realize that whatever choice you make, you should:

1) Check your choice against the Gospel criteria of God's will.

2) Ask God not to allow your choice to be realized if it is too bad and will lead to disastrous consequences.

3) Ask that through this choice He will give you experience in making decisions.

What is the difference?

The difference between the two approaches can be easily demonstrated using the example of the beginning of eternal life.

The first approach. Healing the will by replacing human will with God's will.

During his lifetime, a person fully accepted God's will. Upon entering Paradise, human will is destroyed and replaced by God's will. A person begins to do only what God wants. But God is good, so He wants only what will bring joy to a person. A person who does God's will rejoices for all eternity. Because God knows better how to make a person happy...

The second approach. Healing the human will through learning

During their lifetime, people struggle with their passions and learn to make better decisions even in neutral situations. People have not overcome sin, but they have an aversion to it.

At the moment of entering Paradise, God gently asks a person:

Do you want Me to give you the strength not to judge?
Do you want Me to give you the strength not to be angry?
Not to slander?
Not to envy?
To love Me and all the saints?
Etc.

If the person's soul answers “yes” to all the questions, God gives the person strength, and with God's help, the person rejects sin forever. And their will is healed. The person keeps their will, but becomes a saint.

But God continues to say, "I see all your secret dreams. I see what your soul desires. I see what will bring you eternal joy. You are free; you can do it yourself. But I am God, I know how to do everything perfectly, so that you are not just happy, but your joy is perfect. If you want to listen to me, here are the instructions: go there and do this."

And all people will agree. Because God does not dictate. He suggests how a person can realize their desires not just well, but perfectly. And based on the practice of the holy fathers, God will speak to us not with voices in our heads, but at the level of a slight prompting in our will, which we will hear clearly.

If you want to bake a cake, but God knows the perfect recipe for the very cake you have in mind, would you refuse His help?

We will always remain free because God wants to communicate with His living children, who have their own desires. He does not need slaves.

Moreover, this model is consistent with the works of the holy fathers of the church. But, unfortunately, the first model is widespread even among Orthodox priests.