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Quote 319
St. Anthony the Great
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Quote 319 - Форум
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Quote 319
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| readeralexey | Дата: Среда, 10.09.2025, 14:22 | Сообщение # 1 |
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| If we make every effort to avoid death of the body, still more should it be our endeavour to avoid death of the soul. There is no obstacle for a man who wants to be saved other than negligence and laziness of soul.
Venerable and Godbearing Father Anthony the Great
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| claudholloway | Дата: Понедельник, 15.09.2025, 22:24 | Сообщение # 2 |
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| The second part of this quote really speaks to me, because salvation is actually not that complex at all, I think. I mean, struggle with sins is very hard, but the instructions or rules (I don't know if I can call it that way) are quite simple. The New Testament is a clear example and explanation of how to lead good and virtuous life, and we just have to follow that way. It is hard, as I said, but that's what this quote is about. With Christ's name in mind we can fight every sinful urge.
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Мария П.
Сообщение отредактировал claudholloway - Понедельник, 22.12.2025, 17:10 |
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| mariafokina99 | Дата: Понедельник, 15.09.2025, 22:50 | Сообщение # 3 |
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| The idea in the statement by Saint Anthony the Great is that one should not value the physical, mortal body more than the immortal soul. I fully agree with this, as it aligns perfectly with my understanding of Christianity. Our body is given to us for a short time, but our soul will live on eternally. Therefore, we must care for our soul and strive to avoid falling into apathy and laziness. We must focus on how to rise in glory, not in condemnation. Saint Augustine describes spiritual death as follows: "...Death happens when God leaves the soul... This death is more painful and terrible than all evils; for it does not consist in separating the soul from the body, but in uniting them for eternal torment" (The City of God).
For me, this statement has practical applications in my daily life. It serves as a reminder in various situations: when I have conflicts with my family and feel anger, when I find it hard to forgive and follow the commandments, or when I feel the fear of aging and death. Through spiritual development, I am learning to cope with these challenges.
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Сообщение отредактировал mariafokina99 - Четверг, 18.09.2025, 21:26 |
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| runovasveta2005 | Дата: Вторник, 16.09.2025, 02:39 | Сообщение # 4 |
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| I totally agree with this statement. Although our body is the temple for our soul, the latter is still more important than any material thing in this world, including our body too. The extract from the Holy Scripture which correlates with this piece in the best way is, from my point of view, the couple of verses from the 6th chapter from the Gospel of Matthew which describes Christ’s Sermon on the Mount: “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?” (6:25); “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these” (6:28-29). In this extract the Lord commands us to take care of our soul first, not the body. Because the salvation of the soul is the main purpose of human existence, for it is the only way to get into the Kingdom of Heaven.
In this regard I also think we should worry about our soul more because the care of our body will be taken by God and we should not worry about it. But the salvation of our soul is the task for us, because we are all endowed with free will and avoiding of the spiritual death depends largely on us, although not without God’s help.
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Сообщение отредактировал runovasveta2005 - Вторник, 23.12.2025, 18:28 |
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| oksanaoni2159 | Дата: Вторник, 16.09.2025, 19:11 | Сообщение # 5 |
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| Worse than physical death is the death of the soul, as noted by Anthony the Great.
The Bible commands us to above all guard our hearts, whether in dealing with difficult people, going through trouble and doubt or having to deny ourselves. We must stay vigilant against sin that wants to get in through the cracks. We mustn't let it make its way into the depth of our being. Our minds are ours to control and God gave us all the necessary tools to overcome obstacles we face.
Beyond that the Bible instructs us to flee temptation, not to stay in its presence, not to engage in a conversation with it, not to entertain it in our minds. We are to make a run for our life away from even an implication of sin. The worldly doors must be closed by us as Christians deliberately because we are told to hate sin and hate the enemies of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Christianity is not a way of compromise and concession. It is the greatest gift to, through the blessing of Jesus Christ, care for our souls.
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С уважением, Онищенко Ксения
Сообщение отредактировал oksanaoni2159 - Понедельник, 22.12.2025, 16:37 |
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| mariablansh | Дата: Вторник, 16.09.2025, 20:03 | Сообщение # 6 |
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| I would like to break this quote into two parts. The first part seems more clear to me. I believe, nobody enjoys being ill. When we get sick, we are concerned about getting better, we take care of our bodies, we rest and take medicine. When we get sick, we see a doctor, but the only one who can heal our souls is God. Everyone's soul is sick with sins, which we must treat through prayer, fasting, repentance and good deeds. We sometimes forget that the body we live in is temporary, but the soul is eternal. Therefore, it is logical to prioritize the health of the soul.
The second part of the statement is more difficult for me, and I must admit that I had never thought about the fact that there are specific things that prevent people from being saved. I had always thought that each person has their own temptations and that everything is individual.
So, I think the author of the quote is partially right. We can say that everyone has a chance to be saved, no matter how low they have fallen or what terrible things they have done. The key is to have a desire and work hard. You can't just come to God on special occasions or when you're in trouble, you need to learn to live with God every day - I think, it's a part of a Christian's path. However, there's something about this quote that puzzles me. Can people judge what exactly prevents them from being saved, can they find a common cause? I believe only God knows for sure.
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Баушова М.
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| davydenkololita | Дата: Среда, 22.10.2025, 21:24 | Сообщение # 7 |
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| I don't think anyone really cares to avoid death of the body. To postpone -- yes, maybe. This is where I see the difference between these two matters: one can avoid death of the soul, but our body is going to go to dust anyways. I suppose that nobody is going to contest that, so there is no logical connection between the two parts of the first sentence.
Thus, it is probably a rhetorical speculation where the author of the quote is trying to make a parallel between two very different matters by vaguely comparing them on a false premise, thinking that people are going to agree with him just because "he says so" or just because they are going to fulfil the space he left for them to imagine what exactly he meant by saying so. I despise such speculations.
Lastly, I would not like anyone but our God to be the judge of what exactly is preventing us from being saved, if it is Him -- the Saviour -- Who will decide for each person individually.
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[See a comment below.]
Сообщение отредактировал davydenkololita - Среда, 22.10.2025, 21:27 |
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| solkinaanna57 | Дата: Пятница, 19.12.2025, 21:03 | Сообщение # 8 |
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| Venerable Anthony the Great draws a clear distinction between care for the body and care for the soul, reminding us that spiritual death is far more dangerous than physical death. I find this teaching especially convincing, because in everyday life people naturally try to avoid illness, pain, and bodily harm, yet often remain careless about their inner state. The death of the soul begins not with dramatic sins, but with negligence, spiritual laziness, and indifference to prayer and repentance.
In my own experience, periods of spiritual neglect were always accompanied by apathy and loss of meaning. When the soul grows lazy, even simple spiritual labors - prayer, fasting, attending church services - begin to feel unnecessary or burdensome. However, Anthony the Great emphasizes that there is no external obstacle to salvation for a person who truly desires it. God’s grace is always offered, but it requires cooperation and attentiveness.
To care for the soul means to struggle against passions, to remain vigilant, and to take responsibility for one’s spiritual life. Without this effort, the soul slowly withers, even while the body remains alive.
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| graveqid | Дата: Пятница, 19.12.2025, 21:19 | Сообщение # 9 |
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| St. Anthony gave a very useful quote that compares death of our body and death of our soul. It is natural to be afraid of death and to avoid sicknesses and it is totally fine to do healthy things like exercise or eating good food. But the thing is that we also should pay attention on doing things that make our souls better. It is important not to be spiritually lazy and make ourselves better inside. For example, to pray daily and to avoid sinning not because it is a rule, but because sinning wounds our souls. There is a Russian saying «There is a healthy spirit in a healthy body», I think the best way to be saved by God is to combine doing both things together to make us better inside and outside.
Каледа В.Ф.
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| readeralexey | Дата: Воскресенье, 21.12.2025, 14:27 | Сообщение # 10 |
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| Цитата graveqid (  ) There is a Russian saying «There is a healthy spirit in a healthy body», I think the best way to be saved by God is to combine doing both things together to make us better inside and outside.
This is not a Russian, but a classical saying. It originates from Juvenal's 10th Satire, and the meaning is opposite to what it is usually assumed to be ("Orandum est, ut sit mens sana in corpore sano" - this is a tentative hope, not a cause-effect guarantee).
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| readeralexey | Дата: Суббота, 27.12.2025, 16:54 | Сообщение # 11 |
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| Цитата davydenkololita ( ) Thus, it is probably a rhetorical speculation where the author of the quote is trying to make a parallel between two very different matters by vaguely comparing them on a false premise, thinking that people are going to agree with him just because "he says so" or just because they are going to fulfil the space he left for them to imagine what exactly he meant by saying so. I despise such speculations.
Лолита, the word "despise" is too strong to be used in academic writing (as well as "scorn" that you have used elsewhere). And yes, people tend to agree with saints "just because they say so". No words of St. Anthony the Great can be taken for a "rhetorical speculation" because of the life he lived. His life is a basis of his authority for the faithful. This authority is not purely rational, even though it is not irrational either.
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| vvecheslova | Дата: Пятница, 16.01.2026, 19:44 | Сообщение # 12 |
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| We spend enormous energy protecting our bodies: we eat carefully, avoid danger, rush to doctors at the first sign of illness. Yet sometimes we treat the soul as if it's indestructible, or even worse, as if it doesn't matter much at all. St. Anthony reminds that the death of the soul is far more terrible that the death of the body, because the soul is eternal. And what can kill it? Of course not a sudden catastrophe, but slow decay like negligence and laziness. Not only some great sins, but quiet drift away from prayer, from repentance, from attention to God. It's the "I'll do it tomorrow" that becomes a bad habit. The skipping of morning and evening prayers, the indulgence in bitterness, envy, etc. Over time, these small surrenders harden the heart and leave the soul spiritually asleep, even while the body lives on.
St. Anthony says there's not real obstacle to salvation except this inner laziness. Not lack of time, not even difficult circumstances. Many saints lived in deserts and poverty, even in prisons, and still they attained holiness. It's because they had vigilance and took their souls seriously.
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