What is your opinion, do you oppose the European tradition of men shaving their faces? After all, God created men so that they had a beard. The people of God of the Old Testament did not shave their beards, unlike the Egyptians. Isn't the custom of laughing at a beard a kind of disagreement with the Creator? Did this tradition appear for some sexual motives? After all, the growth of facial hair is distinctive male quality, and a face without hair is a feminine quality?
It is true that shaving the face has many meanings in the Bible and I will present this aspect below.
Shaving a man's face was a sign of mourning
In the Old Testament, God gave this commandment to His people:
Do not cut your head around, and do not spoil the edges of your beard. For the sake of the deceased, do not make cuts on your body and do not prick inscriptions on yourself. I am the Lord your God. (Leviticus 19:27-28)
Why did God give this commandment? Because this is how the pagan peoples around them expressed mourning and horror. When the destruction of Moab is described, the prophet Jeremiah writes:
Each one has a naked head and each one has a reduced beard; all have scratches on their arms and sackcloth on their loins. On all the rooftops of Moab and in its streets there is a general cry, for I have crushed Moab like a vile vessel, says the Lord. (Jeremiah 48:37-38)
These peoples were idolaters also at death, or when misfortune came, because in this way they wanted to draw the attention of the idols they worshiped. God never allowed His people to practice these pagan practices, and as the idolatrous peoples shaved between the eyes when someone died, God said the following to the people of Israel:
You are the sons of the Lord your God; do not make cuts on your body and do not cut off the hair above your eyes after the deceased; for you are a holy people to the Lord your God, and the Lord has chosen you to be his own people out of all the nations that are on the earth. (Deuteronomy 14:1-2)
The way the pagan peoples expressed mourning and horror was a manifestation of their despair and hopelessness. The children of God have a God in heaven who will not leave them in despair and hopelessness.
In today's world, the opposite expression of mourning
If in ancient times people expressed pain when someone close died by shaving their head or beard, or the corners of the beard, or between the eyes, today pain and mourning are expressed by allowing hair to grow on the face. If a man is dressed in dark clothes and not shaved, then others assume that he is in mourning.
Shaving the beard is a manifestation of culture and good manners
When Joseph was in an Egyptian prison, Pharaoh had a dream and one of the servants said that Joseph could give an interpretation of the dream:
And Pharaoh sent and called Joseph. And they hurriedly brought him out of the dungeon. He cut his hair and changed his clothes and went to Pharaoh. (Genesis 41:14)
Joseph was a decent man and did not compromise his faith and worship among the pagan people where he lived. If shaving his face had been contrary to the will of God, Joseph would not have shaved. Or, if shaving the face had a pagan or sinful meaning in Egypt, Joseph would not have done it. The fact that he shaved is a manifestation of culture and respect for the authority of the pharaoh to whom he was going.
Shaving a man's face has no sexual motives
Nowhere does the Bible make such a statement, and even in the culture of our day, I have never heard that shaving a man's face is a manifestation of sexuality or a sexual consequence.
Translation: Moses Natalia
“It should also not spoil the hair on the beard and change the image of a person contrary to nature. Do not bare, says the law, your beards. For this (to be without a beard - author's note) the Creator God made acceptable for women, and He recognized men as obscene. But you, who bare your beard to please, as opposed to the law, you will be abominable to God, who created you in His image.
The decrees of the holy apostles, book 1, pp. 6-7.
In the first books of the Bible, namely in the book "Leviticus", the Lord gives commandments to his chosen people, and among these commandments there is this: do not shave your head and do not spoil the edges of your beard". Thus, the Lord strictly commands that every believer, every pious person, if he is a man, by all means wore (that is, did not shave) his beard. And why, exactly, should it be so?
Well, actually we shouldn't be asking that question! If the Lord has given us such a commandment, then we must accept it simply as the will of God, as an instruction to us on behalf of our Lord, the Creator of the entire visible and invisible world. And if we accept this commandment with just such a mood, then we will have no doubts about the need to fulfill it - since the Lord wants this from us, then it must be so. But today we still allow ourselves to reflect on the importance and meaning of this commandment.
The creation of the first people, Adam and Eve, as we know, the Lord made "in His own image and likeness." This implies that the natural form that man received from the hands of his Creator is the image of God, the reflection of the Lord in each of us. And therefore, we, recognizing ourselves as the creation of God, must also accept with gratitude the form that we, each of us, have received from God.
But maybe someone will say: “What do I have to do with it? After all, Adam received his appearance from the hands of God! And I was born like this from my mother? Nevertheless, is each of us the architect of his own body? Does everyone construct their own flesh and appearance? No! Everyone is born into the light of God from their parents, and this happens in an inexpressible way, according to God's command, which He spoke to our forefathers, Adam and Eve. And so, from Adam to you and me, as well as to those who will live on Earth after us, in the birth of each new person, this mysterious blessing of God is fulfilled again and again. None of us brought ourselves into earthly life, and therefore it is already believed that the external appearance that we have inherited, we must protect as the seal of God's creation. Hence follows the requirement of the Law - not to interfere in any unnatural way in that external image that we initially received from the Lord and which is dear and natural to us. That is why they are considered unnatural and sinful, and therefore unacceptable, any kind of action to distort the human appearance, including the very widespread in Lately sin shaving beard and mustache in men.
However, it should be noted that for the same reason, not only barbering is considered sinful, but also whole line similar encroachments on the image of God: in particular, the custom that has spread over the past two decades among “tough guys” to shave their heads almost completely, which is also unnatural and not pleasing to God. And we see even more liberties today in women. These are cosmetics, and haircut / coloring / curling of hair, and all sorts of tricks in the field of manicure; this includes plastic surgery, and much, much more, invented by the devil not at all for the salvation of our souls. And all this is a deliberate perversion of the image of God, which is given to each of us, and a conscious opposition to the will of God, an unwillingness to accept from the hands of God the image that the Lord Himself handed over to each of us. But today we will talk, first of all, precisely about the beard.
18th century illustration Shaving the beard. In the pre-schismatic Russian Church, barbering was considered a blasphemy against God.I must say that in the past, even quite recently - about 100 years ago, wearing a beard for men it was quite natural. Even at the beginning of the last century, seeing a shaven man, and especially somewhere in the outback, among ordinary Christians, was a rarity. And if such a person could meet someone, then it was immediately clear that this was either a foreigner, or a non-believer, or some other renegade, in a word - anyone, but not a real, true believer. But in the past 20th century, as we know, terrible events took place in our country; these events broke the established life, turned people's minds upside down, perverted customs, and turned a lot of things upside down. And today our common misfortune is that we often do not even understand what's what and why. Therefore, I am sure that this simple question today causes some bewilderment among many, both men and women:
“Well, of course, we believe in God ... And what does the beard have to do with it?”
The whole law of God agrees that it is not enough just to "believe," that is, to believe in words. Faith in the Lord - if it is real, real - our faith must be confirmed not by verbal assurances, not by ostentatious beating in the chest “I am a Christian!”, but by concrete deeds: by keeping the commandments of God. And if our life, our actions contradict the commandments of the Lord, then it is premature to call ourselves Christians, for, according to the words of the Apostle John the Theologian, “Whoever says: “I have known Him,” but does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and there is no truth in him. "(1 John 2-4).
There are many instructive examples of the strict observance of the Lord's ordinances regarding the part of the beard. In 1341 in Vilna for refusing to fulfill the will of the Lithuanian prince Olgerd (he demanded shave your beard) suffered to death Martyrs Anthony, John and Eustathius; their bodies rest incorruptible (their memory and service on April 14). For refusing to bless the prince's son, the barber, Archpriest Avvakum was also thrown off the ship into the Volga (see his "Life ..."). There are many other examples when, right up to the shedding of blood, true Christians were ready to suffer - for the sake of wearing a beard in order to fulfill this important commandment of God.
But today everything has become much simpler: no one is forcing us to do anything, no one is threatening us with anything - live as you please. Now it has become not at all difficult for everyone to keep the commandments of God, now everyone can begin to organize their life according to the Law of Christ! This is when Christian piety should flourish! But - no ... On the contrary: it is at the present time that zeal for keeping the commandments has decreased - as never before! So, is it really not for the benefit of us today's freedom, modern social well-being? Or have we become so weak in our faith that we fear not only some kind of threats, but often even the simplest question, like a terrible one: “ Listen, what are you - a beard has become grow, whether?».
This question is presented here not at all for the red word. Such, or similar questions, must have been heard, probably, by every man who once decided grow a beard. Well, so what? What is the problem? Is it difficult to answer such a question? Yes, I decided to grow”- and all questioners quickly lose interest in this topic! But the trouble with many of today's men is that even such a small, fleeting question asked suddenly it can cause them a serious fright ... And it happens that some adult man, the head of the family, the father of his children - suddenly begins to tremble, like an aspen leaf, from such questions! Although - if you still think about it - what are we afraid of? Who can prevent us today from fulfilling the commandment of God, if we want it? What fears, what oppressions prevent us from doing this? Only one thing - our lack of faith! If we doubt, it means that the Lord God is not so terrible to us, and His saving commandments are not so dear to us, but the sidelong glance of a neighbor or the sarcastic question of a colleague at work seems much more terrible to us - this frightens us much more. And the fact that we have trampled on, trampled on God's commandment - it turns out that we are not at all afraid? Yes-ah-ah ... But if you think about it - in essence, why should we be afraid of the opinions of other people? Yes, let them think what they want! We should answer for our conscience before God!
And in general - when we want to look back at others, we should always think: what do we want to see, what to learn from the people around us? Okay, if good, truth and good faith! But there is little truth around us, and goodness - not so much, and even examples of the good faith of Christ - this is the least of all. And then - why do we look around? Are we afraid that we will look somehow “unfavorable” in the eyes of our friends, neighbors, colleagues? Afraid of the questions they might ask us? Are we afraid to seem like "white crows" among others? But you and I know that all the world, almost all the people who surround us today, all of humanity that has not come to the saving church fence - this whole world will perish overnight, and this hour is approaching. Only a select few will be saved, and God grant that we are among them. That is why we should not be sick with our dependence on the outside world. This is what the Lord calls us to, and His apostles tell us about this:
“And if you call Him the Father, Who impartially judges everyone according to their deeds, then spend the time of your wandering (through earthly life) with fear, knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible silver or gold from the vain life given to you from the fathers, but with precious Blood Christ as a lamb without blemish and without spot" (1 Peter 1:17-19).
And now, when we have been redeemed from the world around us, mired in fuss and sins, at such a high price - are we really going to look back at this fallen world around us, looking for understanding and support there? And why do we need it? On the contrary - brethren, let's stop this our looking around, for the Lord Himself redeemed us, and gave us freedom from any sin, from any unkind dependence. And therefore, looking back at the godless world around us, taking examples from various sinful customs that have been registered around us - this is a pernicious deed, contrary to the Christian conscience. Not only will this not help the cause of our salvation, but it can lead even deeper into the abyss of a sinful life and deprive us of the Kingdom of God. No, brethren, it does not profit us from the fact that we look back at the surrounding atheists! But if we compare ourselves with anyone, then with those people who live today according to the faith of Christ or who lived in times gone by.
Today, many of the women, listening to me, may be perplexed: “It is clear that barbering is a sin, but what do we have to do with it? After all, this is a purely masculine problem, so talk about it with the peasants!” However, dear sisters, this is not entirely true: in general, today there are no “purely male” or “purely female” sins, and everyone should think about their participation in this or that issue that may have something to do with human sins. The Lord at the Last Judgment will ask not only for the perfect deeds, but also for the intentions, for the advice given to someone, or even for the assessments expressed. And we must already today carefully think about all this and reflect soberly.
For example, a certain man wanted to fulfill the commandment of God and decided grow a beard, but is afraid to directly say this to his wife, and thinks to himself: “ I won’t shave for a couple of days - I’ll see how my wife reacts to this? If she likes - grow a beard If you don't like it, I'll shave it off. I wonder what she'll tell me? Maybe they won't even notice?". And on the second day of this “experiment”, the wife so casually says: “ Listen, I don’t understand – is your razor broken?» Having met with a sort of manifestation of care, a rare man will have something to answer. And now, with sighs, he shaves off the traces of his failed experiment - the issue is resolved. But who, in this case, will be more to blame for the sin of the completed barbering? And you say - "man's sin"!
That is why you, dear sisters, show that Christian consciousness that will help your husbands, and your children, and other loved ones to shake off this human weakness from themselves, and at least in their outward image come closer to God! It is good for us to learn even from this small example to follow the commandments of God. And only in this way, supporting each other and helping each other in matters of our salvation, can we come to God and inherit His Heavenly Kingdom.
Former pious Christians, who unquestioningly believed in the authority of the Holy Church teaching expressed in sacred books, to recognize the sinfulness or holiness of some custom, were content with how such a custom was recognized in the patristic books (Basil the Great, rules 89, 91 ). For example, barbering in these books is recognized as a sinful act.
"...do not spoil the edges of the beard"
The pagan, ancient world, which Christianity was called to replace by God's Providence, believed the ideal of beauty in youth and youthful freshness (Wisdom Sol. 2), while old age for the pagans served as a sign of the exhaustion of bodily forces and the destruction of man. They recognized only earthly life, denying the spiritual, afterlife.
"But behold, merriment and joy! They kill oxen and slaughter sheep; they eat meat and drink wine: "We will eat and drink, for tomorrow we will die!" (Is.22:13)
"Do not be deceived: bad associations corrupt good morals" (1 Cor. 15:33; Ps. 72; Job 21).
Therefore, the pagans, and especially the Greco-Roman world, depicted almost all their gods as beardless, effeminate. Meanwhile, Christianity teaches, first of all, about the spiritual beauty of man, i.e. about the degree of his religious and moral perfection, as far as the person has learned, managed to implement all this or manifest it in his life.
And since in order to achieve spiritual maturity in the spiritual and moral sense, in order to apply the Christian teaching assimilated by a person, it is necessary to live longer, fight the temptations of the world, then, naturally, in the Christian understanding, senile, mature types, having a beard like sign of maturity and experience. The believing gaze saw in the image of the elders, whitened with gray hair on their heads and beards, in this external form of the body, the ageless light of the spiritual world. That is why one of the ways by which in Christianity it became customary, in special honor to wear a beard as a natural adornment of men, was Christian icon painting, as a plausible image on St. icons of people who actually existed.
In the Christian Church there is a dogma about the veneration of saints, and hence the need for their image on St. icons. Christian art could not but pay attention to the fact that the faces depicted on the icons are not fictional, but really once lived on earth, in a visible, definite image. And when depicting the saints of God, a characteristic feature of the husbands was their beard.
Constituting the necessary accessory of the depicted saints, it could serve as a characteristic difference between one person and another, and therefore served to recreate the icon-painting type. And that in the beginning, before the retreat into heresy, and among the Latin Catholics everyone wore beards, you can see in their early images (see Pope Sixtus "Sistine"). The originals describe the face of the saints.
January 5, Savva the Sanctified, fell into a pit with fire near the Dead Sea, scorched his beard and face. The beard did not grow, remained small and rare. He thanked God for such an ugly beard that there was nothing to boast about.
January 11, Theodosius the Great, from the beard of St. Marciana carefully took the grain, put it in the granary, and they became full.
On June 23, "The Repentance of Theophilus", who sold himself to the devil, the enemy of the soul stroked his beard, kissed him on the mouth.
February 10, Kharlampy, a long beard, the tormentors put coals on his beard, but fire broke out of the beard and burned 70 people. June 12, Onufry, beard to the ground.
April 14, John, Eustathius, strangers learned that they were Orthodox by their beards - they did not want to cut their hair.
September 01, Simeon the Stylite, when he died, the patriarch wanted to take the hair from his beard, his hand immediately withered.
November 20, Proclus, saw apostle paul, his beard is wide, there is no hair on the front of his head. May 8, Arseny the Great, beard to the waist. January 2, Evfimy, with a large beard with gray hair.
The descriptions were compiled partly according to legend, partly on the basis of already existing icon images:
About Dionysius the Areopagite: gray-haired, with long hair, with a somewhat long mustache, with a sparse beard.
About St. Gregory the Theologian: the beard is not long, but rather thick, bald, with blond hair, the end of the beard with a dark tint.
About St. Cyril of Alexandria: the beard is thick and long, the hair on the head and beard is curly, with gray hair, etc.
In addition, there are descriptions of saints where only one beard is named, for example, Patriarch Herman - "old, rare beard";
St. Euthymius - "beard to the lid";
Peter Athos - "beard to the knees";
Macarius of Egypt, "beard to the ground". Christians have always imitated not only in the deeds of the saints, but also in their appearance.
The beard was considered a sign of that image of God, in the likeness of which man was created.
In 1054, Patriarch Michael Cerularius of Constantinople, in his letter to Patriarch Peter of Antioch, accused the Latins of other heresies and of "cutting their beards."
The Monk Theodosius of the Caves expressed the same accusation against the Latins in his "Sermon on the Christian Faith."
Barbering is a fornication heresy to tempt and corrupt good morals, leading to the distortion of the sexes, to the sin of Sodom; and the princes of Russia punished with fines those who, during a fight, tore out part of their beard. So, under the Grand Duke Yaroslav, for pulling out a tuft of beard from the guilty, a fine of 12 hryvnias was collected in favor of the treasury, and in the 15th century, the guilty person’s hand was cut off for pulling out a beard.
One of the authoritative councils in Russia, which was attended by three Russian saints, the Stoglavy Cathedral, determined: “The sacred rules forbid Orthodox Christians to everyone: not to shave their beard and mustaches and not to cut their hair; such are the Orthodox, but Latin and heretical.
lore Greek king Konstantin Kovalin; and about this the apostolic and patristic canons forbid and deny: the canon of the saints The Apostle says this: if someone shaves his beard and passes away like this, he is not worthy to serve over them, do not sing magpies over him, nor prosphora, nor bring candles to church on him, with let it be reckoned with the unfaithful, from the heretics this is used up "ch. 40.
About the same interpretation of Rule 96, VI Ecumenical Council on cutting the beard: “What was not written in the law about cutting your beards: do not cut your beards.
"...do not spoil the edges of the beard" (Lev.19:27).
But you, doing this human for the sake of pleasing, are contrary to the law, you will be hated by Him who created you in His image, and if anyone wants to please God, then depart from such evil. "The negative attitude towards barbering - the evil custom of Catholics and atheists, has reached its highest The time of troubles in Russia, when the Latins, before the eyes of the Russians, insulted everything that hitherto the Russians were accustomed to consider inviolable and holy, they laughed at the faith, life and customs of the Russians.
Therefore, a curse was placed on barbering.
In the Potrebnik of 1639 and in the Service Book of 1647, an instruction was placed: "do not shave beards and do not cut mustaches."
The Great Requirement said this: "I curse the God-hated and fornicating image, the charm of the soul, destructive from darkened heresy; and so as not to cut the beard (sheet 600 on the back) and not to shave it." In the missal of Patriarch Joseph it is written: "destructive charm of the soul, stupefaction from heresy, do not cut your beard (sheet 600 on the back) and do not shave it."
“And I don’t know how our Orthodox people and at what time in great Russia a heretical disease entered, as according to the chronicle books, the legend of the king of Greece, or better to say the enemy of the Christian faith, and the lawbreaker Konstantin Kovalin and the heretic, to cut their beards, or shave , in other words, to corrupt God-created goodness.Or else, let's say, according to the annals, [we find] confirmation of the whole evil heresy [arising from] the new son of the devil and Satan, the forerunner of Antichrist, the enemy and apostate from the Christian faith, the Roman Pope Peter the Gnawed, for and having supported this heresy, he commanded the Roman people, especially their sacred ranks, to do such things in order to cut and shave their beards.
***
- About the sin of barbering- Ignatius Lapkin
- Is shaving your beard an expression of unmanliness and a sin?- Dmitry Tsorionov
- Can an Orthodox shave his beard?- hegumen Vitaly Utkin
***
Epiphanius of Cyprus called this heresy Eutych. For Tsar Konstantin Kovalin and a heretic legitimized this, and everyone knows that they are heretical servants, because their beards are trimmed "(Edited in summer 7155, sheet 621).
The Monk Maxim the Greek wrote: “If those who deviate from the commandments of God are cursed, as we hear in sacred chant the same oath shall those who devour their beards with a razor" (Word 137).
“It should also not spoil the hair on the beard, and change the image of a person contrary to nature.
Do not expose, says the law, your beards, for this [to be without a beard) the Creator God made fit for women, and He declared obscene to men. The same, exposing his beard to please, as one who resists the law, you will be disgusting with God, who created you in His image (post. apost., ed. Kazan, 1864, p. 6).
St. Epiphanius of Cyprus writes: “What is worse and more disgusting than this, to cut off the beard - the image of the husband, and grow the hair on the head; the word of God, the teaching prescribes about the beard in the decrees of the Apostles, so as not to spoil it, that is, not to cut the hair on the beard " (his work, part 5, p. 302, ed. M. 1863).
Rule 96 of the Sixth Ecumenical Council with the interpretation: “Those who tint their hair to make it light or golden, or tie it up to make it curly, or wear someone else’s hair, are subject to penance and excommunication. shaving beards their own, so that they grow more evenly and more beautifully, or so that they always appear young and beardless. Likewise those who burn their facial hair with small tweezers to appear softer and prettier, who tint their beards so as not to appear old.
Women who use whitewash or rouge to attract men to themselves are subjected to the same penance. Oh! how can God recognize in them His creation and His image when they wear a different, devilish face? Don't they know that they are like the prodigal Jezebel? So, all men and women who do anything like that are excommunicated. If all this is forbidden to the laity in general, then even more so to the clergy and priests, who must teach the people both in word and deed, and outward piety "(Greek helmsman" Pedalion "p. 270, ed. 1888).
“Barbering is a heretical and ungodly custom, and therefore true Christians must keep themselves from this abomination, so that through the transgression of the commandments of God and patristic traditions we will not be deprived of eternal and unending bliss in the future afterlife. For the Lord will say to His good servant and active servant:
"Good servant, faithful in little, I will set you over much; enter into the joy of your Lord" (Luke 19:17).
Genesis 34:2, 7, 9, 26 says, "As the son of Emorr the Hive slept with Dinah the daughter of Jacob, he did violence to her, he did dishonor to Israel."
In another place we read: “And Annon took the servants of David, and shaved each of them half of their beard, and cut off their clothes in half, to the loins, and let them go. When this was reported to David, he sent to meet them, since they were very dishonored, and the king commanded them to say, Stay in Jericho (the city of the curse) until your beards grow, and then return" (2 Sam. 10:1-5).
And if rape was called dishonoring, and so it is today: for in regard to the flesh New Testament did not make any changes to her creation, then the word very dishonored shows that barbering is a greater sin than the loss of virginity. And just as there those guilty of dishonor were all destroyed, so in the case of violence against beards. And if David did not let the dishonored with spoiled beards into earthly Jerusalem, then shouldn't those who are preparing to enter Heavenly Jerusalem, the Kingdom of Heaven, not be more attentive?
"Do not cut your head around, and do not spoil the edges of your beard" (Lev.19:27).
"How good and how pleasant it is for brothers to live together. It is like precious oil on the head, flowing down on Aaron's beard, flowing down on the edges of his clothes" (Ps. 132).
Ancient leaders and people wore beards:
"Hearing this word, I tore the bottom and outerwear mine, and tore the hair of my head and my beard, and sat mournful" (1 Ezra 9:3)
The loss of the beard was a sign of the loss of God's favor, the wrath of the King of Heaven:
"On that day the Lord will shave off the head and the hair of the legs with a razor hired on the other side of the river by the king of Assyria, and will even take away the beard" (Is.7:20)
"... all of their heads are shorn, their beards are all shaved" (Is.15:2)
"And you will do the same thing that I did; you will not cover your beards, and you will not eat bread from strangers" (Ezek.24:22)
In Dan.7:9-13 - God is shown as the Ancient of Days and, of course, with a beard. Such are the images of saints in temples. But in temples (of pagans, heretics and sectarians)
"priests are sitting ... with shaved heads (like Buddhists and Hare Krishnas) and with shaved beards" (Letter Jeremiah 30).
And if you are not faithful in small things (is it a great thing not to shave your beard), then what can we say about the preservation of morality and chastity.
September 21, Dmitry Rostovsky, nominee to the Rostov cathedra from Peter the Great, this terrible Russian Antichrist, who destroyed all the foundations of ancient piety, a cynic and blasphemer of all that is holy, who commanded to forcibly "chop" beards. And when Dimitry of Rostov told the zealots, suffering from the rapists of the Antichrist, to their question whether they should be allowed to cut their beards, he replied: "Let them cut off the beards, the second ones will grow back, and if the heads are cut off, then they will not grow back." Peter the Transformer liked these words so much that he ordered this treatise on beards to be printed.
Peter's window to Europe, into which the whole of Russia fell through together with the house of the Romanovs, lost its beards, unity divided Russia, and was the beginning of its death. And, as Nekrasov writes, at first they pointed the finger at those who smoke (there were so few of them), but they will come (and have already come) when they point the finger at those who do not smoke. Same with the beard.
March 28, Hilarion Novy: they smeared beards with pitch - and smeared over the image of God, joined the beardless Europe, became Catholic through Uniatism, Ukraine and Belarus, lost the image of God, the Russian man.
All saints, pray to God for us!
Asks DmitryAnswered by Alexandra Lantz, 02/19/2010
Dmitry asks:"Please clarify to me the essence of what the Lord God said in "Do not cut your head around, and do not spoil the edges of your beard." It turns out that you cannot cut your hair very short? How to understand these instructions of our Lord?
Peace be with you, Dimitri!
The Most High never taught His children whether they should or should not wear a beard. There is not a single verse in the Bible that states that God is "for" or "against" a beard. The Almighty also never set rules for people to cut their hair. (And what we see in the Nazarite rite has in itself the law on cutting / not cutting hair, but a symbolic indication of how God Almighty is served).
The Old Testament attitude to the beard and the length of the hair is human relation. In those days, it was almost universally believed that a man should wear a long beard. The reasons for such a "fashion" are unknown to us, but it is known for sure that God had no claims either to shaved chins or to unshaven ones. This from the point of view of people It was considered shameful if a man's beard was forcibly cut off. God nowhere commands a man to raise her.
"And Annon took the servants of David, and shaved each of them half of their beard, and cut off their clothes in half, to the loins, and let them go. When this was reported to David, he sent to meet them, since they were very dishonored. And he ordered the king to say to them: stay in Jericho until your beards grow, and [then] return "().
Read this passage and you will see that this was purely David's decision, because in his time what happened was considered a disgrace. And God has nothing to do with this decision.
People, and not God, considered a beard a sign of the dignity of a man, so God, not resisting their desire, using the example of "beards" explained to them His will, His attitude to what was happening. In other words, knowing what the beard is in human tradition, the Savior sometimes used it as a symbol to explain His actions. See for example:
"On that day the Lord will shave off the head and hair of the legs with a razor hired on the other side of the river by the king of Assyria, and will even take away the beard."
This is not at all about whether it is bad or good to have a beard, but about what if in the minds of people beard and hair on the head and legs of a man is a sign of his strength, etc., then through the use of this human "opinion" God figuratively shows that he will completely destroy the strength of people.
Now let's look at the passage that interests you:
"Do not eat with blood;
don't guess and don't guess.
Do not cut your head around, and do not spoil the edges of your beard.
For the sake of the deceased, do not make cuts on your body and do not prick inscriptions on yourself. I am the Lord" ().
Do you see that here there is an enumeration of what the Jews used to do, but now they cannot do it?
They used to eat with blood like everyone else.
They used to tell fortunes and guess, like everyone else.
Previously, they cut their heads around, i.e. they cut their hair at the temples ... From the history of pagan cults, we know that many pagan priests cut their heads this way, there is even a mention of this in and,. God calls the Gentiles people who cut their hair at the temples.
Does this mean that He has something against the haircut itself? No. But God wants His people, in whose minds this type of haircut was associated with pagan rites and caused a certain “reaction” of memory, to stop doing this action, so as not to be tempted to cling to the sign of paganism with their mind and, as a result, fall into idolatry and etc.
It's the same with beards. Reread the passage and say: Is God talking about growing a beard here? or He says that if you have a beard, then do not spoil its edges in the way pagan nations do. It follows from the context, doesn't it?
In other words, the Savior says that His children should stop doing what they learned to do while living among paganism: eating blood, telling fortunes, cutting their temples, ruining their beards, making cuts on the body ...
Can you cut whiskey now? The answer depends on your attitude to what you mean by this: a pagan way of serving God or an ordinary comfortable hairstyle? If the first, then it is impossible, if the second, then it is possible. Do you understand why not? Because such an action will surely lead you to other pagan "interests" of the flesh and turn you away from God.
If you grew a beard, and then decided to trim its edges in a special pagan way, then you are on the path of sin, because you are trying to perform some kind of magical ritual act that God did not ask you to do. But if you just carefully trim the edges of your beautiful beard, without putting any ritual meaning into it, then you are just taking care of your appearance and nothing more.
Simply put, whatever you do: whether you cut your hair short, whether you shave your beard or grow it - you must first of all think that your manipulations are not filled with pagan "meaning" and would not lead you into the abyss of paganism as such.
Sincerely,
Sasha.
Read more on the topic "Miscellaneous":
The holy Apostle Paul, warning Orthodox Christians against the seduction of heretics, writes: "Remember your teachers, who have spoken the Word of God to you, theirs looking at the end of their residence, imitate their faith" (Heb., ch. 334) and "in teaching is strange and different don't apply."
Here we, without entering into a detailed discussion of the manifestation of lawlessness among the children of the Church, will dwell on the most visible and conspicuous evil - barbering.
This epidemic disease, the Latin heresy, quickly takes root among some young people, who, having left the due obedience of their parents and not hearing the living, exposing their iniquity, the instructive word of the pastors of the Church, not embarrassed and not ashamed of anyone or anything, enter in such an unchristian form into the holy God's temples.
This fornicating charm that infects some Christians was always condemned by the Fathers of the Church and recognized as the work of filthy heretics and heresy.
The fathers of the Stoglava Cathedral, discussing barbering, set out the following decree: “The sacred rules for Orthodox Christians are forbidden to everyone, so as not to shave their beard and not cut their mustaches, such is the fear of the Orthodox, but the Latin and heretical traditions of the Greek Tsar Konstantin Kovalin. And about this, the apostolic and paternal rules the greats forbid and deny... Well, isn't it written in the law about cutting your beard? there is an abomination before God; for this is from Constantine the king of Kovalin and the heretic, there is legitimacy. On this, I know all that they are heretical servants, by whom the brothers were tonsured. If you want to please God, then depart from evil. and a terrible rebuke, do such an unbecoming thing for the Orthodox" (Stogl., ch. 40).
The apostolic decree on the prohibition of the evil of beard farming contains the following dictum: “You should also not spoil the hair on the beard, and change the image of a person contrary to nature. Do not expose, says the law, your beards. for women, and for men He recognized it as obscene. But you, who bare your beard to please, as resisting the law, you will be abominable with God who created you in his own image "(Decree of the Holy Apostle. Kazan, 1864, p. 6 ).
The holy apostles and fathers of the Church, recognizing barbering as heresy, forbidding Orthodox Christians to indulge in this abomination, took various measures to correct this epidemic of barbering. In the Big Potrebnik it is stated as follows: "I curse the God-hated fornication image of charm, the soul-destroying heresies to shave and shave off the beard" (l. 600v.) The fathers of the Stoglavnago Cathedral, in order to finally stop the evil of barbering, acted more strictly than stated in the Big Potrebnik. They set out the following definition: "If someone shaves his beard and passes away like that, he is not worthy of serving over him, neither singing a magpie on him, nor prosphora, nor bringing candles to church on him, let it be reckoned with the unbelievers, from a heretic, more than a master" (ch. .40). And the interpreter of the rules of the Zonar church, interpreting 96 rule 6 Ecumenical Council and, condemning barbering, he says: "And so the fathers of this council paternally punish those who do what they said above, and subject them to excommunication." This is how the holy apostles and holy fathers of the conciliar determined it; Now let us hear how the Fathers of the Church, in particular, looked at this plague of Christianity.
Saint Epiphanius of Cyprus writes: “What is worse and more disgusting than this? They cut off the beard - the image of the husband, and grow the hair on the head. About the beard in the decrees of the apostles, the Word of God and the teachings are prescribed so as not to spoil it, that is, not to cut the hair on the beard "( His work, part 5, p. 302. Moscow, 1863).
St. Maximus the Greek says: "But if those who deviate from the commandments of God are cursed, as we hear in sacred hymns, the same oath is subject to those who destroy their razor brothers" (Word 137).
The Missal of Patriarch Joseph says: “And we do not know, in the Sisian people of Orthodoxy, at some time in great Russia a heretical affliction was introduced. As if according to the chronicle books, the legend of the king of Greece, more than an enemy and apostate of the Christian faith and a lawbreaker Konstantin Kovalin and a heretic, hedgehog to cut the beard, or shave, as if speaking God-created kindness to corrupt, or packs of words according to chronicles confirming the evil heresy of the new Satan, the son of the devil, the forerunner of the Antichrist, the enemy and apostate of the Christian faith, the Roman Pope Peter Gugnivago, as if I supported this heresy, and the Roman people, moreover, and by their sacred rank I commanded to create, even brady cut and shave. tonsured" (Edition of summer 7155, sheet 621).
Similarly, the Serbian Metropolitan Demetrius wrote: “The repentance of the Latins fell into many heresies: on Holy Fortecost on Saturday and a week they eat cheese and eggs, and they do not forbid their children during the whole fast. They shave their beards and cut their mustaches, and the evil ones and the worst do it and bite their mustaches... all this received from the father of your worst son of Satan, Pope Peter Gugnivago, shave your beards and mustaches. your brothers, behold, the Lord is vile" (his book chapter 39, sheet 502).
Pointing out to the bards the law of the Church, the instruction, denunciation and punishment of the shepherds of Christ's Church, we will also remember the zeal of Christians, counted among the saints, who, fearing the censure of the fathers of the Church, did not agree to fulfill the order of the wicked Prince Olgerd to shave their beards, for which suffered.
In the saints with lives printed under Patriarch Joseph in the 7157th summer, it is said: "Anthony, Eustathius and John suffered in the Lithuanian city of Vilna from Prince Olgerd, the first for barbering, and for other Christian laws, in the summer of 6849" (see under 14th of April). Under the same date of April, in the Menaion, it is indicated that Anthony, Eustathius and John were only known from Prince Olgerd by Christians because, contrary to pagan custom, they grew their hair on their brads.
Such suffering of the holy martyrs for Christian customs, between which a beard flaunted in the foreground, should serve for true Christians as an example of modesty and a way of pious life. Not to shave or cut your beard is a Christian matter, an important matter - this is the fulfillment of the law prescribed by the Church, which is obligatory for those who believe in God and His holy Church.
The holy martyrs, having grown their arms as required by the duty of a Christian, showed the impious Prince Olgerd that they are no longer worshipers and servants of the demon, but imitators of the way of life of Christ in the flesh, which he led on earth for the salvation of the human race. Such a pious life and wearing a beard according to the Christian custom was commanded to us by the fathers of the 6th Ecumenical Council; for they say: “Those who have put on Christ by baptism have vowed to imitate in the flesh His life” (rule 96 of the Sixth Sovereign Sob. Full Transl., interpretation of Zonara).
So, cutting and shaving a beard is not a Christian custom, but of filthy heretics, idolaters and unbelievers in God and His Holy Church. For such a filthy custom, the Church Fathers severely condemn and punish, and betray an oath; and those who have not repented and reposed in this lawlessness are deprived of all Christian parting words and commemoration.
We pray to our Lord Jesus Christ, may this abomination cease - bardry in our brotherhood, we also pray to you, our shepherds, that you teach the flock of Christ entrusted to you by God, according to the sacred rules of your children, all Orthodox Christians would be taught and punished, so that from all those evil heretical deeds would cease and would live in pure repentance and in other virtues.
Quotes from Holy Scripture
Levit, 19
1 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
2 Declare to all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say to them, Be holy, for holy am I, the Lord your God.
27 Do not cut your head around, and do not spoil the edges of your beard.
Leviticus 21:
1 And the LORD said to Moses, Tell the priests, the sons of Aaron, and tell them...
5 They shall not shave their heads, nor trim the edges of their beards, nor make incisions in their bodies.
2 Samuel 10:4 And Annon took David's servants, and shaved each of them half of their beard, and cut off their garments in half, to the waist, and let them go.
2 Samuel 10:5 When this was reported to David, he sent to meet them, as they were very dishonored. And the king commanded to say to them: stay in Jericho until your beards grow, and then return.
2 Samuel 19:24 And Mephibosheth the son of [Jonathan the son of] Saul went out to meet the king. He did not wash his feet, [did not cut his nails,] did not take care of his beard and did not wash his clothes from the day the king went out until the day he returned in peace.
Ps. 132:2 It is like precious oil on the head, running down on his beard, Aaron's beard, running down on the hem of his garment...
Is. 7:20 On that day the Lord will shave off the head and the hair of the legs with the razor hired on the other side of the river by the king of Assyria, and will even take away the beard.
Seq. Jer. 1:30 And in their pagan temples sit the priests in torn clothes, with shaved heads and beards, and with uncovered heads.
Whether it is a sin for an Orthodox Christian to shave his ford and mustache or not, decide for yourself!
Beard as a virtue.
Priest Maxim Kaskun
Father, Dmitry asks:
“Hello, I recently heard the monologue of one philosopher (Alexander Dugin) “The Virtue of the Beard”. Is it true that having a beard is a virtue? Or should it be perceived as a ritual that is necessary only for the clergy, and not for the laity?.. Does wearing a beard help in any way in spiritual growth? Clarify please. Save me, God!"
- Well, firstly, wearing a beard is, of course, not a virtue - but an honor for a man. Because virtue is something that can be acquired, acquired through labor and achievement. The beard grows naturally, it can be compared with the character given to a person. But it is a certain accompanying factor for the spiritual life of man.
For example, in ancient times, for a person whose beard was shaved, this was a shame; and even, for example, the messengers of David were not allowed into the city because they were dishonored and disgraced, that is, they cut off their clothes (shortened) and, accordingly, cut off their beards. And until they grew a beard, they were not even allowed into the city.
And today we see that a beard does not have such an honor. On the contrary, there is mockery. Therefore, if we consider the beard as an honor, then today it turns out to be in dishonor. But why, after all, do the Orthodox wear a beard and even insist?! And they do it right! First of all, the main purpose of a beard is to help a person in his spiritual life. How does a beard help? If we take animals - they have whiskers that help them navigate when there is no light: they walk by feeling even when they do not see anything. The same role, only in spiritual sense, plays and beard for man. She helps him. Because the structure of the hair of the beard is also empty, it is hollow, like a mustache; completely different hair on the head. It is hollow and really helps a person to somehow tune in spiritually. These are things that you need to experience ... Let's say a person who shaves off his beard - how does he feel? Yes, he feels naked, as if his underwear has been removed. Why? Because, indeed, a beard both ennobles and gives some kind of feeling of support. But this is certainly a mystery that only one who wears a beard can know. And therefore, today the Orthodox, of course, should wear it, not only because the beard helps, but also in order to revive ancient attitude to a beard as an honor for a man; but, on the other hand, somewhere ... and like a sermon! If you are a Christian, you must still wear a beard; you should not merge with this world, because in this world there is a cult of flesh that came to us with ancient rome, where for the first time officially, so to speak, they began to constantly shave. Although the Egyptians started before them, but, nevertheless, the Romans were more successful in this regard, because their influence on the surrounding culture was decisive. They also influenced the Church: that is, all Roman priests always shaved, with rare exceptions. If we look at the holy fathers of the Ancient Roman Church, who are glorified in the face of saints (by us) - they were all with a beard. Augustine of Hippon, Ambrose of Milan, Pope Leo the Great - all with a beard. And only after the separation they began to shave. When they fell away from Orthodoxy, then they completely changed their attitude towards this and, in general, EVERYONE without exception began to shave. ... And Protestants generally say: "When I shave, I then feel the breath of the Holy Spirit on me" ...
- Thank you.
Stay up to date with upcoming events and news!
Join the group - Dobrinsky Temple
