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Quote 318
St. John of Karpathos
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Quote 318 - Форум
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Quote 318
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| readeralexey | Дата: Воскресенье, 07.09.2025, 02:20 | Сообщение # 1 |
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| It is more serious to lose hope than to sin.
St. John of Karpathos
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| claudholloway | Дата: Понедельник, 08.09.2025, 22:12 | Сообщение # 2 |
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| I absolutely agree with this quote, because it shows the most important aspect of Christianity - God's infinite mercy. Our life is constant struggle, we are trying to avoid sinning, but inevitably fail, every day. Life is not possible without sinning, so we are just doing our best to be as close to God as we can. We only can be saved through synergism, and for God at least one little movement towards Him is enough. But we can't be saved if we lose hope in God, because in that case we are doing nothing to be saved, so we always should rely on God's mercy.
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Мария П.
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| mariablansh | Дата: Понедельник, 08.09.2025, 22:47 | Сообщение # 3 |
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| This quote is fully true to me. I think, the point is we should repent of our sins, no matter how terrible they are. Besides, we shouldn't lose hope for mercy. One can realize that they has done something really awful and, instead of praying and trying to become a better person, firmly decide that he or she will never be forgiven by God. Obviously, after that this person will decide that there's no sense any longer to strive to the right way of life and will do bad deeds not because it's their temperament, but because of the desperation.
Even apostle Peter renounced Christ, but after that he deeply repented. He became one of the apostles who were sent to teach their faith, preach and baptize people, so, as we see, God forgave him.
I have never thought about our faith at this angle before, but the quote is definitely very wise and it gives good space to think.
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Баушова М.
Сообщение отредактировал mariablansh - Понедельник, 22.12.2025, 17:46 |
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| sophianesterenok | Дата: Вторник, 09.09.2025, 01:20 | Сообщение # 4 |
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| I completely agree with this quote.
Sin is more serious than death, and all other suffering, as it draws us away from God. However, in Christ we have redemption and forgiveness of sins (Ephesians 1:7). The only “unforgivable sin” is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit (Mark 3:29), and the Spirit gives us hope for our salvation (Romans 15:13, Galatians 5:5). Despair, or hopelessness, is blasphemous, because it portrays God as who He is not, as if His love and mercy had a limit. It is extremely serious: it prevents us from turning to God and repenting, while most other sins do not. This is spiritual death. Thankfully, it can still be reversed for those who put their hope in Christ again: “Behold, the eye of the Lord is upon them that fear him, upon them that hope in his mercy; to deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine”(Psalm 33:18-19).
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Сообщение отредактировал sophianesterenok - Вторник, 09.09.2025, 01:21 |
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| oksanaoni2159 | Дата: Вторник, 09.09.2025, 15:42 | Сообщение # 5 |
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| If there was a list of things to avoid at all costs in one believer's life, what would go on that list?
Surely, it should be something unambiguous, something biblical, something all the Holy Fathers would agree on.
Ten Commandments is a list itself. Or the two commandments Jesus summarized all the Law and the Prophets into. If it is worded differently, yet is still in possession of the Holy Tradition, we might get what St. John of Karpathos wrote, "It is more serious to lose hope than to sin."
The absolute worst thing that can creep into the life of any believer is desperation. For centuries Christians all over the world have sustained persecutions, have been falsely accused, have suffered injustices, and have gone through trying times. Yet, what Christianity offers at its core is that in the end, when the Lord's day comes, all wrongs will be made right, and the eternal reign of God will console all the weeping souls. As Christians, we very well know that with the Incarnation of Jesus there came into action the greatest promise made to humanity by God. It is that of salvation, reconciliation, and bliss in the ever-shining light of God. Now, to ignore this hope is to ignore Christianity itself. To neglect hope in favor of desperation and depression is to denounce what our faith is built on.
The question of where hopelessness may lead is a philosophical one, appropriately discussed in the criminological or psychological works. One thing that can be said for certain is that walking on the path laid for us by Jesus and living life striving to be more Christ-like do not include even an ounce of hopelessness.
Our spiritual leaders teach that after sinning it is still possible to partake of the Communion after due procedures done to cleanse the spirit and to turn away from one's sins. The Church welcomes sinners and in the warm embrace of church life sinners turn into those whom God makes into saints. Therefore, desperation with it being a sin can still be trampled down and overcome by the grace of God.
There isn't a bad behavior in which we engage or a demon in hell that could prevent God's will and God's purpose on our lives from being done before our very eyes. That's why I'm not sure If Christians need the list of things to avoid at all. But if we were to put something at the top of it, the words of Saint John of Karpathos would fit it perfectly.
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С уважением, Онищенко Ксения
Сообщение отредактировал oksanaoni2159 - Понедельник, 22.12.2025, 16:35 |
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| boriskorsun3 | Дата: Пятница, 12.09.2025, 00:30 | Сообщение # 6 |
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| I agree with John of Karpathos' quote that losing hope is much more serious than committing a sin. Hope is essentially a kind of bridge to God's providence, one of the components of the foundation for faith. The loss of hope can be equated with despondency - the loss of a bold desire to believe, which leads to even more serious sins. If sin is something that can still be redeemed, then the loss of hope also means the loss of the possibility of atonement for sins, since it begins to seem meaningless to a person. Here, for example, is the story of a prodigal son who left his lonely father. His father's entire inheritance was quickly squandered without the slightest regret. However, the son did not lose hope that his father was still waiting for him somewhere in his native land, and hoped that he would return someday. It doesn't matter how great that hope is. The main thing is that it exists at all, thereby motivating the son to return back, repent to his father and reconcile. However, what would happen if the son lost all faith in his father's favor? Then the story would have ended much sadder. The son would not have returned to his father, because he simply did not notice the point in this. The belief that his father would take him back turned into the belief that returning would cause even more wounds and regrets, that there was no turning back, that there was no home for his son either. There have also been people in my life who have lost hope. However, much more often I met those who were not even particularly aware of their situation. This state of the human soul causes only pity. However, I cannot say that all of them lost all hope in the end. Many people are hoping for luck, some are hoping for time, some are hoping for bright days. Unfortunately, there are those who have come to terms with the fact that perhaps nothing can be undone without fully realizing their situation and the possibility of escaping from it.
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Добавлено (12.09.2025, 00:45)
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I agree with Anthony the Great's quote that it is necessary to remember not only the health of our body, but also of our soul. However, I don't think anything should be a priority, because both the soul and the body are a distinctive feature of humans from all other creatures, which will remain with us not only during our earthly life. Yes, it is possible that to one degree or another it is easier for someone to monitor their physical body - to exercise, eat right, and eliminate bad habits. On the contrary, it is easier for someone to monitor the state of their soul - weekly visits to the temple with their family, fasting, daily prayers. Although nowadays the problem is more pronounced precisely in taking care of your soul. If there is a choice between body and soul, most people will certainly choose the body, as it is the outer shell that largely determines a person's face. The soul is our inner side, which not only lacks attention, but is completely forgotten about. This leads to spiritual death, respectively, distance from God, hope, and faith. Therefore, it is necessary to devote a lot of time for both the body and the soul, to eat healthy food accordingly, and not to forget about prayer.
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Сообщение отредактировал boriskorsun3 - Понедельник, 22.12.2025, 17:45 |
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| mariafokina99 | Дата: Понедельник, 15.09.2025, 18:36 | Сообщение # 7 |
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| I agree with this statement. The main idea is that we can overcome sin through faith and prayer to God. Faith is a path that will always include trials, but if we remember that God is alive and hears us, we can persevere. Sometimes when I struggle, I think of this quote: “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened” (Matthew 7:7).
When I feel I am not ready to suffer, I also remember Job the Long-Suffering. He was a righteous man who did not commit any great sin, yet he was prepared to suffer as if he had. His strong faith in God's will helped him overcome the loss of his family and his illness. In the end, he was blessed with even more than he had before. This shows that our faith can ultimately give us more than our sins ever could.
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Сообщение отредактировал mariafokina99 - Четверг, 18.09.2025, 21:23 |
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| davydenkololita | Дата: Среда, 22.10.2025, 21:41 | Сообщение # 8 |
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| Despondency is the only sin that doesn't have a counterbalancing virtue, does it? Probably it is so because hope that is so hard to catch or be firm in is the only force against that. Sometimes people fall, but if they have even the smallest strain of it, they will rise again. If they don't, they won't. If they sin searching for hope but then they find it, they are going to have forces to stand on their feet firmly and repent for the bad part they had committed while their soul was struggling to survive without hope.
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Сообщение отредактировал davydenkololita - Понедельник, 29.12.2025, 17:42 |
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| davidkushakov | Дата: Пятница, 19.12.2025, 11:30 | Сообщение # 9 |
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| I definitely agree with this quote. The key idea is that sin can be repented, but losing hope kills the possibility to turn back. This isn’t completely new to me, but it’s a powerful reminder. For example, if you make a big mistake such as hurting someone, you can either apologize and try to do better (that’s repentance with hope), or you can give up and think, “I’m just a bad person, why even try?” The second attitude is much more destructive. And this reminds me never to lose hope, even when I fail badly. Holding onto hope is what keeps me moving toward what is right.
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Сообщение отредактировал davidkushakov - Понедельник, 22.12.2025, 23:34 |
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| runovasveta2005 | Дата: Пятница, 19.12.2025, 20:32 | Сообщение # 10 |
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| I totally agree with this point. I think, losing hope is a great sin in itself, especiallyif we talk about hope of forgiveness. Because every sinner, no matter how terriblehis sin is, can hope for forgiveness, but to lose hope for being forgiven meansto question God’s mercy. It is a great mistake to think your sins to be so grievous that you can’t be forgiven and to think yourself to be the most terrible person in the world. Thinking in such way is a sign of pride, which is the worst sin, as we know. It is a huge mistake, and there were some cases when this mistake was fatal. The most famous example of it is Judas’s suicide. He also lost hishope to be forgiven and this thought led him to the horrible consequences. So,that’s true that losing hope is rather more serious and dreadful thing than sin.
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Сообщение отредактировал runovasveta2005 - Вторник, 23.12.2025, 18:21 |
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| solkinaanna57 | Дата: Пятница, 19.12.2025, 20:48 | Сообщение # 11 |
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| St. John of Karpathos teaches that losing hope is more serious than committing a sin, and this truth resonates deeply with my own experience. I know from within what it means to lose hope completely. During a long period of depression marked by apathy and inner emptiness, hope seemed inaccessible, and spiritual life became almost impossible. In such a state, prayer feels silent, repentance feels meaningless, and the soul is overwhelmed by despair. This condition is more destructive than a particular sin, because it paralyzes the will and separates a person from trust in God’s mercy.
Sin can be confessed and healed, but hopelessness whispers that healing is no longer possible. I have also witnessed how despair can lead to tragic consequences when a person believes that suffering has no end. Only recently, after receiving medical help, I began to recover my capacity for joy and gratitude, which allowed hope to return. This experience taught me that Christian hope is not emotional optimism, but perseverance in faith. Without hope, spiritual life withers; with hope, even deep wounds may begin to heal.
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| graveqid | Дата: Пятница, 19.12.2025, 21:01 | Сообщение # 12 |
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| I think this quote might sound strange at first. Obviously, sinning is bad because it breaks God’s commandments. But I think that this quote is about the state of one’s soul. One of the most important things God gave us is an opportunity to be forgiven. When we sin, we are able to ask God for mercy and forgiveness through confession. If we lose our hope, we stop believing that God can forgive us. To explain why losing hope is bad we can pay attention on two persons - Peter and Judas. They both sinned terribly, one denied God, the other betrayed him. But after that Peter repented and was forgiven by God’s love while Judas lost his hope and that led him to despair. I think it illustrates why losing hope is more serious. Sins can be healed.
Каледа В.Ф.
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Сообщение отредактировал graveqid - Понедельник, 22.12.2025, 12:02 |
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| busiginaliza00 | Дата: Пятница, 19.12.2025, 23:02 | Сообщение # 13 |
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| I agree with St. John of Karpathos. In Christian teaching, sin is breaking God's law. But despair-losing hope in God's mercy-is worse. Why? Because sin has a remedy: repentance and confession. The Church offers a clear path back.
Despair has no such path. It means giving up on God's forgiveness. A person who sins but has hope can still repent and try again.
A person in despair stops trying altogether.
They believe change is impossible.
The Bible shows this difference. Peter sinned by denying Christ, but he hoped for forgiveness, repented, and was restored.
Judas also sinned, but he fell into despair, believed he could not be forgiven, and was lost.
We must fight to keep hope. This means praying even when we feel guilty, seeking confession even when ashamed, and trusting God's promise of mercy more than our own feelings of failure.
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Сообщение отредактировал busiginaliza00 - Пятница, 19.12.2025, 23:03 |
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| vvecheslova | Дата: Пятница, 16.01.2026, 20:05 | Сообщение # 14 |
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| Well, we're all taught to fear sin, ans rightly so. But at this quote the saint points to something even more dangerous, to despair itself. It's because sin can be repented of. Like, I have an image in my mind that the door of mercy is always open for us, Christ stands ready to forgive, heal and restore. But when we lost our hope, the soul stops knocking in that door of mercy. It turns away even. Despair whispers: "You've gone too far", "God has given up on you", "There's no point trying anything anymore". And in that moment repentance becomes impossible, not because God refuses, of course, but because our heart closed itself off from grace.
At the same time, St. John isn't minimizing sin. He's just revealing its antidote, hope. Not wishful thinking, but the deep, stubborn trust that God's love is greater than any failure. Actually, that's why the Church calls us to metanoia, not just sorrow for sin, but a turning toward Christ.
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