The Gospel in Brief

A Summary of the Chapters
Jesus in his childhood spoke of God as his Father, There was in Judaea at that time a prophet named John, who preached the coming of God on earth. He said that if people changed their way of life, considered all men equal, and instead of injuring, helped one another, God would appear and His Kingdom would be established on earth. Contents 1 I 2 II 3 III 4 IV 5 V 6 VI 7 VII 8 VIII 9 IX 10 X 11 XI 12 XII I HAVING heard this preaching, Jesus withdrew into the desert to consider the meaning of man's life and his relation to the infinite origin of all, called God. Jesus recognized as his Father that infinite source of being whom John called God. Having stayed in the... (From : Wikisource.org.)

Chapter 12 : The Victory of Spirit over Matter
And so for a man who lives not the personal life but the common life in the will of the Father, there is no death. Physical death is union with the Father. FOR THINE IS THE KINGDOM, THE POWER, AND THE GLORY After this Jesus said: Come now, let us go: he who will betray me is near. Hardly had he said this before Judas, one of the twelve pupils, appeared, and with him a large throng carrying sticks and swords. Judas said to them: I will show you where he is with his pupils, and that you may know him among them all, he whom I shall first kiss, is he. And he at once went up to Jesus and said: Hall, master! and kissed him. And Jesus said to him: Why are you here, friend? Then the guard surrounded Jesus and were about to take him. And Peter snatched a sword from a servant of the high priest and slashed the man's ear. But Jesus rebuked him and said: You must not resist evil. Do not do so. Give back the sword... (From : Wikisource.org.)

Chapter 11 : The Farewell Discourse
The personal life is an illusion of the flesh, an evil. The true life is a life common to all men. BUT DELIVER US FROM EVIL And Peter said to Jesus: Where are you going? Jesus replied: You cannot come where I am going now, but later on you will go there too. And Peter said: Why do you think I have not the strength now to go where you are going? I would give my life for you. Jesus said: You say you would give your life for me: see that you do not deny me thrice before cock-crow. And he turned to the pupils and said: Do not be troubled or afraid, but believe in the true God of life, and in my teaching. The life of the Father is not only the life here on earth, there is another life also. If the life of the Father were only such a life as this, I would promise you that when I die I would go to Abraham's bosom and prepare a place for you there and that I would come and take you and that we should be happy together in... (From : Wikisource.org.)

Chapter 10 : The Struggle with Temptation
So, not to fall into temptation, we must at every moment Of our life be at one with the Father. AND LEAD US NOT INTO TEMPTATION After this, the Orthodox chief priests tried to do all they could to ensnare Jesus, so as in one way or other to destroy him. They assembled in council and began to consider. They said: We must somehow finish with this man. He so proves his teaching that if we let him alone everyone will believe in him and cast off our belief. Now already half the people believe in him. But if the Jews come to believe his teaching that all men are sons of one Father and are brothers, and that our Hebrew people are not different from others, then the Romans will overwhelm us completely and we shall no longer have a Hebrew kingdom. And the Orthodox chief priests and scholars long consulted together and could not decide what to do with him, for they could not make up their minds to kill him. Then one of them, Cai... (From : Wikisource.org.)

Chapter 9 : Temptations
The deceptions of temporal life hide from men the true life in the present. AND FORGIVE US OUR DEBTS AS WE FORGIVE OUR DEBTORS Some children were brought to Jesus and he saw that his pupils were sending them away. He was grieved at this. and said: It is wrong to send children away. They are better than anyone, for they live according to the will of the Father: they are indeed in the kingdom of heaven. Instead of sending them away you should learn from them, for to live in the Father's will you must live as children do. They do not abuse people, do not bear ill-will, do not lust, do not bind themselves by oaths, do not resist evil, do not go to law with anyone, acknowledge no difference between their own and other nations; and so they are better than grown-up people and are in the kingdom of heaven. If you do not become as children and refrain from all the snares of the flesh, you will not be in the kingdom of heaven. Only he u... (From : Wikisource.org.)

This short exposition of the Gospel is a summary of a large work which exists in manuscript and cannot be published in Russia. That work consists of four parts: An account (Confession) of the course of my own life and of the thoughts which led me to the conviction that the Christian teaching contains the truth. An examination of the Christian teaching: first according to its interpretation by the Orthodox Russo-Greek Church, then according to its interpretation by the Church in general-by the Apostles, the Councils, the so-called Fathers of the Church-and an exposure of what is false in those interpretations. An examination of Christian teaching not according to those interpretations but solely according to what has come down to us of Chris... (From : Wikisource.org.)

The False Life
To obtain true life, man must on earth resign the false life of the flesh and live by the spirit. AS IN HEAVEN SO ON EARTH Once his mother and brothers came to Jesus, and could not get to him because there were so many around him. A man seeing them went to Jesus and said: Your family, your mother and brothers, are standing outside wanting to see you. But Jesus said: My mother and my brothers are those who have understood the will of the Father, and do it. And a woman exclaimed: Blessed is the womb that bore you and the breasts that you have sucked! And Jesus replied: Only they are blessed who have understood the spirit of the Father and keep it. And a man said to Jesus: I will follow you wherever you may go. Jesus answered him: There is now... (From : Wikisource.org.)

Jesus Christ's announcement replaced the belief in an external God by an understanding of life. THE announcement of welfare by Jesus Christ, the son of God. The announcement of welfare consists in this, that all men who believe that they are the sons of God obtain true life. The understanding of life is at the basis and the beginning of all. The understanding of life is God. And by the announcement of Jesus it has become the basis and beginning of all things. All things have come to life by understanding, and without it nothing can live. Understanding gives true life. Understanding is the light of truth, and the light shines in the darkness and the darkness cannot extinguish it. The true light has always existed in the world and enlightens ... (From : Wikisource.org.)

The Source of Life
The life of all men proceeds from the spirit of the Father. HALLOWED BE THY NAME Later on, some of John's pupils came to ask Jesus whether it was he of whom John spoke: Did he reveal the Kingdom of God and renew men by the spirits Jesus answered and said: Look for yourselves, and listen to the teaching-and tell John whether the Kingdom of God has begun and whether people are being renewed by the spirit. Tell him what Kingdom of God I am preaching. It is said in the prophecies that when the Kingdom of God comes all men will be blessed. Tell him that my Kingdom of God is such that the poor are blessed, and so is everyone who understands the teaching. And having let John's pupils go, Jesus began to speak to the people about the Kingdom of God ... (From : Wikisource.org.)

The Son of God
Man, the son of God, is weak in the flesh but free in the spirit. OUR FATHER The birth of Jesus Christ was thus: His mother Mary was engaged to Joseph. But before they began to live as man and wife it appeared that Mary was pregnant. Joseph however was a good man and did not wish to shame her: he took, her as his wife and had no relations with her till she had given birth to her first son and had named him Jesus. And the boy grew and matured and was intelligent beyond his years. When Jesus was twelve years old Mary went once with Joseph for the holiday at Jerusalem and took the boy with her. When the holiday was over they started homeward and forgot about the boy. Then they remembered, but thought he had gone with other lads, and on the way... (From : Wikisource.org.)