Guo Kang thought for a while and felt that this made sense.
To deny that the good deeds of pagans are the same as the good deeds of believers is to think that there is more than one source of good, and that there is more than one master. For monotheistic believers, this is even more unacceptable.
Therefore, even if the other party believes in other gods, or even believes in polytheism and does not recognize the basic rules of monotheism, the believer must adhere to this belief and recognize the other party's contribution. Otherwise, there is something wrong with the doctrine itself.
Historically speaking, Orthodoxy has indeed been more tolerant in this regard—even too tolerant. They even treat atheists as saints and praise their achievements...
"What if someone doesn't recognize the saint?" Guo Kang thought for a moment and asked, "If you don't recognize that you can 'transfer' divine grace like this, does that mean you don't have to thank others?"
"What kind of heresy is that..." Father Mikhail said in surprise.
"Uh..." Guo Kang thought for a while and felt that this was indeed the case.
He heard that some believers did not want to thank those who helped them, so they attributed the credit to God to relieve themselves of moral burdens. In response to this type of situation, education must be carried out in advance to prevent it, so as not to cause conflicts and hinder subsequent support policies.
But now upon analysis, this kind of behavior is also immoral in the eyes of the church - if you really don't want to admit it, there are many excuses. Just admit that you have no quality, don't bring out Heavenly Father and Brother, and bring trouble to others.
Guo Kang couldn't remember where he saw the example that made him worry like this.
If you think about it carefully, Tianfang Sect is also trying its best to avoid this kind of problem.
According to the biography of Ghazan Khan, the Persian priests reported to him many times back then, hoping that he would supervise his generals. Because these generals from nomadic tribes had very ungrateful beliefs: when they fought, if they won, they would brag about their bravery and strategy; if they lost, they would blame Hu Da for not protecting everyone.
Ghazan Khan had nothing to do about this.
This kind of attitude in which benefits belong to oneself and responsibilities belong to God can easily undermine the authority of religion. All serious clergymen want to take control of it, but they are always unable to do so.
The ones that really liberalized this behavior in theory are probably the "Protestant" movements of the God Worshiping Sect and the Tianfang Sect.
Taking the situation in Europe as an example, the theory proposed by Martin Luther was summarized as "three solas": faith alone, Scripture alone, and grace alone. These three articles became the origins of various types of Protestantism and are also the most obvious core features.
Sola Fide means not recognizing the “good works” advocated by the Roman Catholic Church. The Catholic Church believes that a person's faith and good deeds are the key to becoming a righteous person and receiving salvation, while Protestantism only recognizes faith and does not recognize the role of good deeds.
The fundamental difference here is the understanding of original sin.
The Roman Catholic Church believes that people can do good things. The Heavenly Father will infuse "righteousness", which is a sanctified and conceptual gift, into those who do good deeds so that they can be saved. If this person persists in righteous deeds throughout his life and is appreciated by the Heavenly Father, he can enter heaven. Whether or not to do righteousness is a personal free choice, and mortals can decide for themselves whether to cooperate with their Heavenly Father.
But Protestantism attaches more importance to original sin, denies the significance of good deeds, and believes that only faith is the determining factor. Later, Calvin further demonstrated this and concluded the theory of "total depravity of man", which means that evil is omnipresent and has penetrated into the foundation and nature of man, making it impossible for man to do good independently.
The scope of this theory extends far beyond the realm of religion. Until hundreds of years later, when Guo Kang lived, many people in the secular field still liked to use the term "corruption of human nature" everywhere, and everything could be attributed to this dark "human nature." In fact, this is a typical Protestant concept, and it is very likely that the more radical Calvinist rhetoric was introduced.
For Orthodox Christians, this theory is even more uncomfortable. Compared to the Catholic Church, the theory of original sin is less important to Orthodoxy. This deliberate emphasis is incompatible from a theoretical basis.
Moreover, denying good deeds and denying people's independent will to pursue good is tantamount to completely denying the feasibility of "education". If people themselves have the basis for doing good, then the church can enlighten and awaken the "righteousness" inherent in people's hearts through education, so that they can embark on the path of kindness and justice and gain the favor of the Heavenly Father. But if this foundation is not recognized, the role of religion in admonishing good deeds and encouraging morality will be completely meaningless...
The Purple Horde Khanate's theory of demonic reform and god worship is full of oriental education and practice concepts, and is even more incompatible with it than ordinary orthodox religion. If we encounter him in the future, we will probably get beaten.
And, as a supplement, there is also the principle of "grace alone" in Protestantism for a straightforward explanation.
The Roman Catholic Church believes that for mortals to be saved, they rely on three parts: the grace given directly by the Father, the merits accumulated by oneself, and the merits provided by saints. Therefore, it is worthy of recognition to work hard to do good deeds and actively pray to Heavenly Father or saints.
But the Protestant side does not recognize saints, nor does it believe that people can do good deeds by their own choices. Even if believers do good deeds, it is God’s work, not man’s. Therefore, only God’s grace can save people, and all other behaviors are meaningless.
For Orthodoxy, especially the Russian Church, this is simply fatal, because it denies the saints and the meaning of the law and moral precepts, making the ascetic tradition a joke.
Guo Kang always felt that even without Rome, the Protestants and the Russians who respected the saints and fools would have to start sooner or later. The rules on these two sides are almost completely opposite to each other...
Of course, speaking truthfully, the most contradictory thing in this world is the teachings of the Purple Horde Khanate. In order to emphasize the particularity of divine grace, Calvin proposed that divine grace is unconditional and irresistible. In short, who the Heavenly Father likes has nothing to do with his performance or his subjective will. It cannot be guessed by people themselves. Even if his behavior does not comply with the rules and he has no intention to practice, as long as the Heavenly Father is willing, he can forcefully infuse him with divine grace and make him the chosen one.
This theory is said to originate from Moses' account, where he told others that the Father had told him that He would have mercy on whom He pleased, and He would have mercy on whom He pleased. The Purple Tent Church directly rejects the deeds of Moses and believes that these words are just nonsense made by an old barbarian shaman who went crazy. Obviously, they are the biggest enemies in doctrine.
(End of chapter)
