Πολλοί, μὴ γνωρίζοντας τὴν ἐκκλησιαστικὴ ἀνθρωπολογία, φαντάζονται τοὺς χριστιανοὺς σὰν νὰ μὴν εἶναι ἄνθρωποι, γι' αὐτὸ καὶ τοὺς θέλουν χωρὶς ἁμαρτίες, χωρὶς ἀδυναμίες, χωρὶς πτώσεις· τοὺς θέλουν ἄτρωτους. Ὁ κοσμικὸς μπορεῖ νὰ κάνη ἀναρίθμητες ἁμαρτίες, δὲν δίνουν καμία σημασία. Ὁ καλόγερος, ἢ ὁ παπᾶς, ὅταν κάνη μία ἁμαρτία, αὐτὸ θὰ λάβη ἀμέσως δημοσιότητα. Εἶναι, βέβαια, ἡ κακότητα ποὺ ἔχουν μέσα τους, καθὼς καὶ ἡ διάστροφος διάθεσίς τους ἐναντίον τῆς Ἐκκλησίας, εἶναι ὅμως καὶ ἡ ἄγνοιά τους, διότι οὐδέποτε ἀγωνίσθηκαν, οὐδέποτε πάλεψαν πνευματικά, οὐδέποτε γνώρισαν τί σημαίνει ἔλεος τοῦ Θεοῦ, οὐδέποτε ἀντιμετώπισαν τὰ πάθη τους καὶ τὴν ἁμαρτία τους· ζοῦν σὲ ἕναν φανταστικό κόσμο καὶ νομίζουν ὅτι οἱ χριστιανοὶ δὲν εἶναι ἄνθρωποι, ὅπως καὶ αὐτοί.
Αρχιμ. Αιμιλιανός Σιμωνοπετρίτης
Many people, not knowing the Church’s understanding of human nature, imagine Christians as though they were not human beings. That is why they expect them to be without sins, without weaknesses, and without falls; they want them to be beyond reproach.
A person who lives according to the ways of the world may commit countless sins, and no one pays any attention. But when a monk or a priest commits even one sin, it immediately becomes public knowledge.
This is, of course, due to the malice within them and their perverse attitude towards the Church. But it is also due to their ignorance, for they have never struggled, never engaged in spiritual warfare, never come to know what the mercy of God means, and never confronted their own passions and sins. They live in an imaginary world and imagine that Christians are not human beings, just as they themselves are.
Archimandrite Aimilianos of Simonopetra
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