There is no art higher than an art of

education. A painter and a sculptor create

only  lifeless figures. And a wise tutor

creates  an alive image, looking on which God and people are pleased.

(St.. John Chrysostom)

Holding from October, 3 till October, 8 the Bishop’s Council of the Russian Orthodox Church, which should be still evaluated in future by both church, and secular public, placed high emphasis on questions of religious education. It was reflected both in the report of the Most Holy Patriarch Alexy and in sessions of working group, as well as in final documents. So, in particular, the Most Holy Patriarch mentioned in the report: “By its nature and purpose the Church and the state perform different tasks in the world. For the Church the main thing is to lead a person to eternal salvation. People vested in a temporal power are called by the Holy Scripture to use force for restriction of evil and support of good. That is a moral sense of state existence. Sphere of collaboration between the Church and the state is first of all peace-making, strengthening of spiritual and moral health of people and the society, education of children and the youth, concern for the wretched, spiritual care for warriors, prisoners, and support of national culture”.

Attending the Council President of Russia also spoke about the importance of cooperation between the Church and the state in sphere of education. And it is not casual. The protection of education has always been an integral part of the Church life. Speaking about positive experience of modern Church-state cooperation, the Most Holy Patriarch also expressed serious concern about some misunderstanding of a problem of education on the part of temporal powers. “Unfortunately, concepts of "secular education" and "freedom of worship" are frequently treated one-sidedly, crafty, - from positions of agnosticism or atheism, to the detriment of the country’s future interests and its citizens’ rights. In practice it results in the loss of rising generation’s opportunity of developing cultural-historical and national-spiritual traditions”. But, according to the Most Holy Patriarch’s words, “the barrier artificially created between religion and culture, between believers and the other part of the society is being broken down before our eyes. Now more and more people realize that violent replacement of religion from cultural space and individual consciousness is not only wrongful, but also threatens the society with disintegration. The Orthodoxy is an integral part of Russian culture which has a Christian view of the world around and the history in its basis“

No matter in what way we understand the word "education" - either as disclosing of God’s image in a person or as reception of a certain sum of knowledge - emotionally everyone immutably associates it with definite prospects, with the future. Wherefore education is youth, hope, therefore a good education system is a prospect of a prosperous society.

Once great Russian historian Nikolay Karamzin said that “the history is somewhat a holy book of peoples: main, necessary, reflecting their life and activity, a table of revelations and rules, a covenant of ancestors to descendants, addition, explanation of the present and an example of the future”. These words contain the deep truth: prospection is impossible without correctly realized retrospection. This convincingly testifies that our education in moral sense was focused on orthodox Christianity from its very cradle, while collaboration between spiritual and temporal authorities traces its roots back to even Kiev Russia.

Historical sources have it that the first book in our native language was Gospel from John and the first words written in Slavic – “ In the beginning was the Word” (Jn. 1:1). And the first product of Russian literature, according to numerous scientists, was an annalistic Word about education of Russia which academician D.S.Lihatchev called “The Legend on initial Christening of Russia”. From the very beginning school was subordinated predominantly to Christian purposes and the mere term "education" was synonymous to Christianity.

The main goal of the first Russian school was to teach Russian people rules of belief and morality. The Holy Scripture, liturgical books and hagiography were subjects of school training, and mainly learned monks were teachers. The founder of Russian monasticism St. Theodosius of Kiev Caves placed high emphasis on this, considering that one of main monastic duties of obedience was to teach lay people. And old Russian monasteries, being large town monasteries, actively served social needs of their fellow citizens.

Father of our history St. Nestor, the chronicler considered year 988, the year of the Baptism of Russia, a starting point of the state education system that was established with St.Vladimir’s order. In 1030 Grand Prince Yaroslav the Wise continued this policy in Novgorod. Thus, from the very beginning of our history the government rendered a most serious support to school and education.

The system of education was developed seriously at those times, even the Greek language was taught at many schools. The first Metropolitan of Kiev Michael even made common rules for training children, calling teachers and pupils “ to keep godliness and avoid obscene and indecent speeches “. It was he that said that children should be taught “not in rage, cruelty, and anger, but with gentle instructing and reasoning, in order for them not to despond physically and spiritually”. The same chronicler tells us about educational activity of Grand Prince Yaroslav in Ancient Russia. Russian women also had access to education. St. Euphrosinia of Polotsk was one of the most educated people in Russia.

The Old-Russian school was a national school in the full sense of the word. Not only children of clergy and nobility, but also some of unknown origin, including slaves and captives were educated there, frequently together with the adults. It should be also mentioned that after close analyzing of an Old-Russian education system it becomes clear that many principles borrowed by our school from German pedagogics during the New Time, were familiar to our ancestors. The main task of the Old-Russian school was moral and educational upbringing; moreover, there prevailed a principle of Gospel love and meekness (while lash or birch were an immutable means of education in the West).

The school served its people and the state and was therefore patriotic. The state had been supporting school and the system of education during its almost one thousand-year history, except for a few epochs marked with political misfortune. The type of school varied in the course of time; having passed through a period of scholastic pedagogics, having undergone Western influence in the late XVII-XVIII^ths centuries, having become a class one, the Russian school still kept beneficial light of the Orthodoxy which was initially lit in its cradle. The Gospel and Psalter have still remained favourite reading of our ancestors for centuries, and Sunday and parochial schools have been a source of literacy and education for simple people. By the early XX^th century in Russia there were almost 35000 initial schools (parochial schools and literacy schools), subordinated to the Holy Synod. More than one million hundred thousand pupils – almost one third of all primary schools pupils of the Russian Empire - were educated there.

The best wits of Russia, our great compatriots who made its glory, treated a problem of education as having a paramount importance. Such was Michael Lomonosov who made the Gymnasium charter; A.S.Pushkin who submitted a note “On national education” to Emperor Nikolay I in 1826. Dmitry Mendeleyev spoke that “the school is an enormous force determining life and history of peoples and states, judging by basic subjects and principles laid in the foundation of the school education system”. In the opinion of the scientist, it is necessary to have a system of education corresponding to “national needs and benefit of Russia in that sense of the most possible common national prosperity which is incorporated in our history and should be naturally developed by future generations”. St. Philaret of Moscow spoke that “the sole light of scientific education without the light of Christ’s truth is like the moon light without the sun, that is cold and lifeless, alien and borrowed, which will never warm, recover and encourage our hearts to works and exploits...”. The soul without God vainly thinks of its progress and growth as “only a spirit of self-love is developed in it; it rises only with pride, grows only in harm, goes forward trough vanity that leads to perdition”. St. John of Kronstadt considered that disclosing of conscience as one of the most important and difficult problems of education. “A person without conscience is like a society ulcer. A person with inconsiderate conscience, or too pliable, or wily is an unreliable member of a society. Where are the ways of education of fair people? The science and mental education do not save us from disgraceful acts”.

N. Gogol, F. Dostoevsky, Vladimir Solovyev also fell on explanation of orthodox culture and education problems.

Now it’s time for us to comprehend the development of orthodox culture system creatively and to use these achievements within the framework of pedagogics. This task is dictated by the life itself, it is absolutely not far-fetched, and last events, especially tragic ones, testify to the necessity of theological education in school. The school cannot perform its task outside of life; it cannot isolate a child from life, as well as cannot live and develop outside of a traditional cultural heritage. “In future Russia, - Ivan Ilyin wrote in his article “Russian teacher”, speaking about our time – traditional education should not be separated from spiritual education neither in folk school, nor in gymnasiums, neither in professional schools, nor in universities. Education is formal by its essence. Mental, or intellectual education makes a person half-educated and, even unscrupulous, giving him self-conceit and slyness. Half-education withdraws from spirit and God. Unscrupulousness leads to a devil service”. This position is echoed by St. Macarius (Nevsky), Metropolitan of Moscow and Kolomna: “Nowadays there are a lot of knowledge, but little education”.

We live in multireligious country, in the state where a freedom of worship principle is proclaimed a norm of life. But, as the Most Holy Patriarch ascertained on the Bishops’ Council, “the state recognition of its secular character does not mean a statement of unbelief at all, but only specifies that fact that no religion is a state one”. Frequently school directors are afraid to teach “Basics of the Orthodox culture” referring to that it can infringe people of other faiths’ rights. However, introducing in the curricula subject “ World religions”, at all respect for cultures of various peoples, we should take into account that religion of the Polynesia islands that probably may be interesting in cognitive sense, has no direct relation to our history. The Bishops’ Council expressed serious concern in the fact that in the secular school many parents have no opportunity to train children basics of the Orthodox culture. Therefore if we mean good to ourselves, our Fatherland, not abstract, but concrete, where we were to be born, we should seriously and practically think about the problem of education using experience of our historical legacy. The problem of education should comprise practical and spiritual tasks. Practical tasks are getting ready for real life in the world, performance of our civil and professional duties, in other words, social service. Spiritual ones are our self-comprehension as historic figures living not momentary life, but connected with the past; understanding our responsibility for the future of our Fatherland and thus harmonizing with Eternity, with Heaven. Thus, education leads to beneficent and effective change of our modern society. In this case collaboration between the state and the Church started by our devout ancestors in the beginning of our Fatherland history can have worthy continuation nowadays.

Protopriest Sergey Makhonin