Faith movement. Alexey Ledyaev: biography and ministry New generation church management structure
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If we stop meditating on the Word, then there is a danger that the enemy may steal it from us. We need to watch over the Word of God. “The birth of Jesus Christ was like this: after the betrothal of His Mother Mary to Joseph, before they were combined, it turned out that She was pregnant with the Holy Spirit. And Joseph her husband, being righteous and not […]
“Whoever receives you receives Me, and whoever receives Me receives Him who sent Me; whoever receives a prophet, in the name of a prophet, will receive a prophet's reward; and whoever receives the righteous, in the name of the righteous, will receive the reward of the righteous. And who will give one of these little ones only a cup to drink cold water, in the name of the disciple, I tell you truly, he will not lose his reward.” (Matthew 10:40-42). Jesus […]
"They pushed me hard to make me fall, but the Lord supported me. The Lord is my strength and song; He has become my salvation." (Psalm 117:13-14) "Behold, God is my salvation: I trust in him and do not fear; for the Lord is my strength, and my song is the Lord; and he was for my salvation." (Isaiah 12:2) "Lord, my strength […]
Renewal is prepared for us by the Lord. Faith grows in us. God wants it. Our faith must develop and grow from the words "I want, I hope, maybe" to "I believe, I am sure, I know." It comes from walking with God. When you hear from God personally, you can act on these words: "I believe, I am sure, I know." Paul says: […]
He is our reality. We live, move and have our being. He is not a silent God. He can hear us and communicate with us. “We have such confidence in God through Christ, not because we ourselves are able to think something from ourselves, as if from ourselves, but our ability is from God. He gave us the ability to […]
The portrait of God is a reflection of the work that will be done with your life. The portrait that you have within you is a reflection of what God can accomplish within you. If the portrait of God in your head is a detached universal mind - then you will live a life in which you are one on one with this world. You […]
Why do most people not see a direct path from God? “Enter through the narrow gate, for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and many go in through it” (Matthew 7:13). Narrow is the way and narrow the gate. This gate can only be entered if you meet certain requirements. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was […]
What is real faith in Jesus? What is true following of Christ? “He says to them: And who do you say that I am? Simon Peter, answering, said: You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God. this to you, but my Father who is [...]
Dmitry Savin, head of the Stavropol New Generation. Photo: http://stavropol.ishod.net/news/?id=1952
In Stavropol, a criminal case has been opened against 32-year-old Dmitry Savin, who is suspected of committing a crime under Part 1 of Art. 239 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (creation of a religious association whose activities involve violence against citizens), reports the Investigative Committee of Russia on January 26.
We are talking about the New Generation Church. According to the investigation, it has been operating in Stavropol since 2013. Various media outlets report that complaints against the religious organization have been coming in since 2014. Residents of the city expressed concern that this church was drawing in young people using dubious methods of influence. On January 25 of this year, employees of the TFR in the Stavropol Territory conducted searches in the premises of the church, during which they seized documentation, electronic media with records of worship and “ a bag containing a plant-derived substance, presumably a narcotic drug". The leadership of the religious organization has been detained.
The website of the Investigative Committee states that " in the course of their activities, the employees of the association, who did not have a medical education and a license to conduct classes, used hypno-suggestive influence, namely trance leads, feedback, hypnotic and post-hypnotic suggestions, mind manipulation and many other classical influences. When conducting religious rites, using the specified methodology, the head and other employees of the association instilled in the parishioners a feeling of fear, helplessness, guilt, thereby making people dependent on the religious association and imposing the idea that the parishioners are weak people, with problems that can be saved from them. obedience to pastors».
Divine service in the New Generation Church. Photo: http://stavropol.ishod.net/news/?id=1952
Also The Investigative Committee reports on the psychological research, which showed that Citizens involved in religious rites and ceremonies showed abrupt changes in reactions, mood swings, increased psychopathic experiences with a tendency to heteroaggression».
Recall that the international religious movement "New Generation" is led by a citizen of Latvia, Alexei Ledyaev, who is banned from entering the territory of the Russian Federation. In Russia, New Generation operates through a network of rehabilitation centers for drug addicts called the Association of Non-Commercial Organizations Homeland Without Drugs. Recently in Novosibirsk there was a high-profile trial related to the "correctional work" of such rehabilitation centers. The "New Generation" movement includes the "Exodus" church, which also focuses on organizing rehab centers with cheap labor force(the correction of former drug addicts is carried out through labor), through which the recruiting of adherents is carried out. Rehabilitated and trained specialists establish similar rehabilitation centers in other cities, ensuring the growth of the network structure.
It should be noted that Church "Exodus" also works in the cities of the Yaroslavl direction of the Moscow Railway, in particular, she is especially active in the city of Shchelkovo, where recently at a scandalous round table devoted to the fight and prevention of drug addiction, representatives of new religious movements spoke about how former drug addicts are now organizing rehabilitation center to save those who have not yet got out of drug captivity. Preparing them another captivity.
About salvation
Section three of the Discipleship manual, published internally by the New Generation Bible School of the Church, deals with the "truth" about the devil. Reading it, you can agree with something, but ... Firstly, the text is written in the style of a slogan, and secondly, if at first glance everything seems correct, then reading the subsequent one reveals a contradiction to the above. In the subsection of this section titled "How is Evil Born?" declares: “Evil is not a characteristic of an imperfect creation, it is a characteristic of an imperfect choice that a perfect creation makes. A perfect creature makes an imperfect choice." Here we see problems with Christian anthropology among the new generations. Creation cannot be perfect and was not created in a perfect state: firstly, by definition, and secondly, if it were perfect, it could not make an imperfect choice, fall and depart from God. According to the saying of the Fathers of the Church, man was created in a state of nature, which gave him the right to choose between good and evil. Having sinned, man fell into a state below the natural, and to this day has an inclination to sin. After the resurrection from the dead, living here on earth, with God and in God, he will acquire a supernatural state, by faith in Christ the Savior and His grace, he will receive a transfigured, deified nature.
Further, in the New Generation manual, the question of the righteous is again raised: “God has his own “police”, “FBI”, “special forces”. The righteous are his “commandos.” Then the author again returns to the question of Christ and the Church, as already mentioned above. He does not manage to reconcile in his perception of Christ and the Church! “Christians go to church, but the righteous go to God. The church cannot save people, only Jesus saves.” Yes, indeed, there is a huge gap in soteriology - the doctrine of salvation, which, however, is absent among neo-Protestants, for only one postulate is affirmed: believe in the Redemptive Sacrifice of Christ, and you are saved, you are righteous. “Atonement is the foundation of righteousness… Jesus has a profession – Redeemer… a righteous man… if you screwed up, then immediately run to the Father: “Daddy, darling, please forgive me…””; “But we must remember that we are forgiven and holy because of the Atoning Sacrifice of Christ, we are saved. “I am righteous and holy.”
The Lord teaches us to pray with the words “Our Father”, and not “My Father”: the salvation of the individual is not conceived outside the catholicity of the Church
AT Orthodox Church salvation is understood in a completely different way than in the Catholic or Protestant churches and among neo-Protestants. Unlike Protestants and neo-Protestants, we do not have a doctrine of "personal" salvation - in their understanding of this issue. Yes, Scripture speaks of a person's personal responsibility before God: “What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? (Matthew 16:26); and the Revelation of John the Theologian, presenting a picture of the Judgment of God, reads: “and every one was judged according to his deeds” (Rev. 20:13). But Protestants teach that a person does not need the Church or its hierarchy for salvation - nothing and no one. According to Orthodox teaching, a person is saved in the Church - and only in her; in Orthodoxy, the salvation of the individual is not conceived outside of the Church, outside of her catholicity.
In general, the idea of catholicity permeates everything in Orthodoxy. Look, for example, at what the apostle said about the family—seemingly private—life of a person: “If anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever” (1 Tim. 5:8). It turns out that what we could call our “personal salvation” also depends on our relationships with our neighbors, on our relationships in the family. However, all the commandments of God govern the relationship between man and man, or between man and God. After all, the Lord teaches us to pray with the words "Our Father", and not "My Father" - here the conciliar unity rises above the diabolical egoism of an individual, closed in on himself.
On the other hand, the Catholic teaching about the special role of the hierarchy in the work of salvation is unacceptable to the Orthodox. Clerics do not save the Church: they themselves are saved in it along with the rest of the people of God. And the only Savior of all is the Lord Jesus Christ.
In the Orthodox understanding, the salvation of a person consists, as it were, of three steps. It's redemption, sanctification, oh about zhenie. Three different virtues correspond to these stages of spiritual growth: faith, hope, love. As well as three different states of man in relation to God: slave, mercenary, son.
Let's look at these three steps in detail.
“The first step is redemption. Redemption is accomplished by the Blood of the Lamb of God, the Blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Bible says that after the fall of our first parents, the Lord made them leather garments (see: Gen. 3:21). According to the interpretation of the Holy Fathers, this means that at that time the first blood sacrifice was made, the first sacrificial blood was shed, which foreshadowed the coming redemption of mankind by the Blood of the Son of God. And people dressed in the skins of sacrificed animals as a constant reminder, first of all, of the coming sacrifice. The stage of redemption corresponds to the biblical virtue - faith. “And without faith it is impossible to please God; for whoever comes to God must believe that he exists” (Heb. 11:6). That's what the Scripture says. And this stage corresponds, in turn, to the “social” position described in the Bible – a slave. A slave does not expect a reward. The sinner who comes to God hopes only for mercy. It can be said that the entire Protestant world in their thinking stopped only at this level, although truly Protestants did not even rise to this level, but only further removed from the mystery of the Atonement. For them, redemption through faith is the most important thing in salvation. “Only by faith is a man saved,” taught the heresiarch Martin Luther. (By the way, if you follow this vicious logic, then the demons must also be saved. After all, it is said in Scripture: “and the demons believe, and tremble” (James 2: 19). However, this is a topic for another conversation.)
The second step is consecration. The Bible says, “For the will of God is your sanctification” (1 Thess. 4:3). This step corresponds to another biblical virtue - hope. A person does not just believe, he hopes, he relies on the fruits of his faith, that faith, which “is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen” (Heb. 11:1). First of all, it is work, it is a way of life. The person here is a hired worker. Having reached a certain perfection in his active faith, he can already rely on what he has achieved with his prayers, fasting and good deeds. At this stage, the Catholic world stopped - and then only in its reasoning. In reality, the Catholics did not rise to either the first or the second step.
The third step in the work of salvation about zhenie, a concept known only to Orthodox Eastern Christian theology. In the Sermon on the Mount, the Lord Jesus Christ says: “Be perfect, even as your Heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5:48). We can discuss with you what, for example, the perfection of Moses consists of: he did not steal, did not commit adultery, he was righteous, pious ... But when are we called to the perfection of God?! What is it? We do not know what to say in response, but the Lord calls us to be like that!
The Bible says, “God is love” (1 John 4:8). Love is the mystical entry into the life of the Holy Trinity. This stage of salvation no longer corresponds to a “social”, but an approximate, “family”, kindred relationship of a person to God - a son.
So, salvation is an ascent in grace along the steps: a slave, a hired hand, a son - through the virtues of faith, hope, love. Not a single Orthodox person can say about himself: "I am saved." Salvation is the work of his whole life. “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling” (Philippians 2:12).
“The Orthodox did not understand salvation the way it is taught on the Protestant (rationalist) or Catholic (scholastic) levels. Salvation is not only a renunciation of drunkenness, drugs, external participation in the life of the parish, prayers, observance of fasts. Salvation is much more than that. We heard how the first man was before the fall, to what heights the Lord called him, and we see how low he fell. But we also know that there is a Second Adam (see: 1 Cor. 15:45, 47-49) - the Lord Jesus Christ; We know why the Son of God came into this world. He came to regenerate mankind, to reveal the beginning of a new life, to give us a new nature. He came to take us to Heaven. We all know, to one degree or another, that we need grace-filled salvation. Each of us feels and realizes the need for change. Everyone feels that he needs change. Our current state does not suit anyone! And if someone said that “I am rich, I have grown rich and have need of nothing,” then the Church’s task is to show that such a person is “unfortunate and miserable, and poor, and blind and naked” (Rev. 3:17). The Word of God teaches us: “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned” (Rom. 5:12). Yes, indeed, we all died in Adam, but we, by the grace of God, must be resurrected in Christ.
As has been repeatedly noted, there are many contradictions in the New Generation manuals. First it says that the Church is not needed, then we read that “the Church can live without you, but you will never live without the Church.” It is difficult to say what the author means by rushing from one extreme to another. One thing is clear - there is no understanding and knowledge of the Bible, and its graceless perception leads to inconsistency in reasoning.
The manual goes on to say that "Jesus doesn't want weaklings." To say so means to forget again or not to know the Holy Scripture, where it is said: “For, although He was crucified in weakness, He lives by the power of God; and we also, though we are weak in him, yet we shall live with him by the power of God” (2 Corinthians 13:4). God is waiting for us to stop confusing faith with self-confidence, and then He will work His power in us, according to our weakness.
We have already touched briefly on the misunderstanding of the word hypostasis. As a result, there is further confusion in understanding the nature of Christ. The author of the manual says the following: "Jesus was crucified in a sinful body (sickness, iniquity, etc.), and resurrected in a holy body." Nowhere in Scripture does it say that the body of Christ was sinful. There was no sin in Him and in His body. He was like us in every way except sin. As it is said: "like us, tempted in everything, except sin" (Heb. 4:15). Yes, He took upon Himself our iniquities, all diseases, but did not merge with them and did not succumb to the temptation of sin. As the Fathers of the Church expressed His Incarnation at the Council of Chalcedon: two natures, human and Divine, abide in Christ inseparably, immutably, inseparably, inseparably. Therefore, one cannot say: "Jesus was crucified in a sinful body." The Apostle Paul in his Epistle to the Corinthian Church writes: “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that in Him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21). And the apostle John says: “And you know that He appeared to take away our sins, and that in Him there is no sin” (1 John 3:5). We must be more careful in our statements and statements and, as the author of the manual correctly advises, check everything with the Bible. But he himself, apparently, did not have enough time to consult the Scriptures. Although this would hardly help, because the manual contains many errors in understanding the Scriptures, and simply not seeing many texts, and the result of this may be “walking through the wide gates” of those who perceive the lessons of the manual, and people may never find that “narrow path” leading to salvation, about which our Lord Jesus Christ spoke.
I would like to advise the leaders and leaders of the "New Generation" and their followers to study the Holy Scriptures more carefully and thoughtfully, since, according to the word of Christ, Eternal Life depends on it. And at least sometimes stop and think without emotion and enthusiasm: am I on the right path, and why are there so many serious mistakes regarding the work of my salvation in the teaching aids, which, in essence, should help me in a correct understanding of the Bible? The prophet Jeremiah has good advice: “Thus says the Lord: stand in your ways and look, and inquire about the ancient ways, where is the good way, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls” (Jer. 6: 16).
Let us now turn to the consideration of the next manual of the New Generation Bible School, entitled "The Church." Above, when analyzing the manual “Gifts of the Holy Spirit”, we already touched on the question of the Church and said that the Church is one, created by Christ here on earth and, according to the definition of the Savior, is invincible.
Toolkit The "Church" directly teaches the followers of the "New Generation" doctrine about the Church and its structure. And it’s not that ancient heretical teachings that emerge, but new incomprehensible fictions. So, for example, it turns out: “People help Jesus Christ build the Church, not Jesus Christ helps people build the Church.”
However, it is enough to open the Bible symphony and find the word “created” to make sure that God Himself is the Creator and created everything, does not need any human help, since by definition He is Self-sufficient. What kind of God is this who needs to be served by human hands? “God, who created the world and everything in it, He, being the Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in man-made temples and does not require the service of human hands, as if having need of anything, Himself giving life and breath and everything to everything” (Acts 17:24-25). To say that God needs something is to fall into paganism. Blessed Theophylact, interpreting this text, writes: “He lives not in man-made temples, but in the human soul, and does not require human hands, such as, for example, offering sacrifices, etc.” And St. John Chrysostom continues: “How? Didn't God dwell in the temple in Jerusalem? No, but he just acted. Did He not accept service at the hands of men from the Jews? Not from the hands, but from the heart, and he demanded this not because he needed it. In a strict understanding of this issue, God does not need us, but we need Him. Starting to help God, soon you can refuse His help.
In the 5th century in the history of the Church there were contentious issues concerning the work of man's salvation. The heresiarch Pelagius said that a person, by exerting an effort of his will, can be saved, and he came to the point that he no longer needed the grace and help of Christ. In a polemic with him, Blessed Augustine fell into the other extreme and argued that in the matter of salvation, man himself can do nothing, but everything is done by grace and Christ.
Rev. John Cassian: “both the grace of God (Christ) and our free will participate in our salvation”
The truth lies between these two extremes. No wonder the fathers warned that "extremeness is the essence of a demonic matter." The Monk John Cassian resolved this dispute in the following way: “For our salvation, both the grace of God (Christ) and our free will take part.” God does not save us without us. “From a person, feasible zeal, but grace (help) is always from God.”
I repeat again and again: we must turn to the Church in resolving doctrinal issues. Why step on the same rake twice? Global plans are not being implemented, and, like the pagans, the gods are begging to obey the human will, and if it doesn’t work out, we will help: “People help Jesus Christ build the Church, not Jesus builds the Church.” Therefore, with all sorts of bewilderment, they try to “help” Him.
Here, on this page of the manual, the words from the Gospel are quoted: “Without Me you can do nothing” (John 15:15). Only the apostle John says this in chapter 15 verse 5, and not in 15:15. So it is: “I am the vine, and you are the branches ... apart from Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). But not vice versa: I am without you. “By the example of the branches, the Savior clearly shows us that from Him power and life are given to those who please Him.” And if Christ is the vine, from Him is the source of strength, and people are branches, then who needs Whom initially in the work of building the Church? Branches without vines lie on the ground. The vine gives birth to them and nourishes them with life-giving juice in their growth and fruiting.
On the Blasphemous "Divine Hierarchy", or Misconceptions about Christ and the Holy Spirit
We have already considered more than one theological error of the New Generation Church. New means young, and, of course, there are difficulties in understanding and confessing the trinitarian question. And again and again we see attempts to deduce - without Holy Tradition, without the Church and its historical and theological experience - an understanding of the Trinity only on the basis of Scripture. Trying to understand only the mind in those mysteries that are comprehended by faith through a change of mind (repentance), one comes to blasphemous delusions.
Attempts to understand only the mind in the mysteries comprehended by faith through a change of mind (repentance) lead to blasphemous delusions
Consider which research method is applied to the above text. And then we will try to solve two questions:
- What is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit?
- What is the reason why such blasphemy will not be forgiven?
So, a quote from the manual: “Whoever blasphemes against Jesus will be forgiven, and whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.” Although the quoted words are in quotation marks, but there is no reference, here we have an inaccurate gospel text. And this is not at all accidental.
The Gospel says: “Therefore I say to you: every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven people, but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven people; if anyone speaks a word against the Son of Man, he will be forgiven; but if anyone speaks against the Holy Spirit, he will not be forgiven either in this age or in the next” (Matthew 12:31-32).
The Holy Spirit is God, the third Hypostasis of the Holy Trinity. Those who listened to Christ's speech were the Pharisees, for them the expression "Holy Spirit" was equivalent to the word "God" or "Spirit of God." Thus, the expression "blasphemy against the Holy Spirit" was, for the Pharisees' ears, equivalent to the words: "blasphemy against God." If so, then it becomes clear why any other sin and blasphemy will be forgiven people, but blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, that is, against God, will not be forgiven. Because the latter is a crime against God Himself and at the same time the approach of the human spirit to the evil spirit, whose guilt will not be forgiven. This is, so to speak, a fundamental blasphemy, the greatest slander, peculiar only to the rejected spirits of malice, who can never repent. In this blasphemy, God Himself is rejected as an All-good, All-righteous, Omnipotent Being, with all His properties, and at the same time, all religion, all morality is denied. Here the deepest fall of man is assumed, from which the grace of God cannot lead him, because it is denied in such blasphemy. The human spirit, uttering such a blasphemy, stands on the same level as the unclean spirit: “Your father is the devil; and you want to do the desires of your father” (John 8:44). The rapprochement of the Pharisees with unclean spirits of malice gives the Savior a reason to speak not about God, but about the Spirit.
And the word spoken against the Son of Man can be forgiven: in the eyes of the Pharisees, the Son of Man was not God, the Son of God. “Not everything is revealed to Jesus,” says the manual of the New Generation, and this means that for the new generations, as well as for the Pharisees, He is not God and not the Son of God. Let us recall the inaccuracy of the above quotation: “Whoever blasphemes against Jesus will be forgiven.” The Gospel says, “If anyone speaks a word against the Son of Man” (Matt. 12:32). On the Son of Man, not on Jesus! From what has been said above, it is obvious that such an amendment has a semantic meaning and gives a different understanding of the text under consideration. The Pharisees saw in Christ only a man, and the Lord, knowing their hearts and unbelief that He is the Son of God, says: “against the Son of Man, he will be forgiven” - that is, as if someone offended a simple person.
“What did these words mean,” St. John Chrysostom asks, “blasphemy against the Spirit?” “You said a lot against me,” the saint argues, as if on behalf of the Lord, “that I am a deceiver of God. I will forgive you if you repent… But blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven even to those who repent. How so? After all, this too was released to the repentant. In fact, many who spoke even this later believed, and everything was released to them. What then do these words mean? That this sin is more unforgivable than any other. Why? Because they did not know who Christ was, but they had already received sufficient knowledge about the Spirit. For everything that was spoken under the inspiration of the Spirit, and in the Old Testament, everyone had a clear understanding of Him. Therefore, the words of Christ have this meaning: let you be offended about Me because of the flesh in which I have put on, but can you say about the Spirit that we do not know Him? Therefore, your blasphemy will be unforgivable, and here and there you will be punished.
Our Lord Jesus Christ Himself spoke of His Sonship and power, equal to that of God the Father, and pointed to His participation in the providential action of the Father. When the Pharisees accuse Him of violating the Sabbath, Christ replies, "My Father is working until now, and so am I" (John 5:17). The Pharisees, hearing this statement of the Savior, became indignant with Him. The reason for the anger was that He called God His Father, making Himself equal to God. At the same time, the Lord not only does not correct the Pharisees, but, on the contrary, confirms that they understood Him correctly: “My Father is doing until now, and I am doing ... The Son cannot do anything of Himself unless He sees the Father who does: for what He does , then the Son also creates” (John 5:17, 19).
For new generations, Christ also does not have a Divine essence, because "not everything is revealed to Him." Can it be that “not everything is revealed” to God? “The Holy Spirit stands higher than Jesus Christ”… The spirit that exalts itself above God has been known to the Church of God since ancient times. This is the same spirit that “said in his heart, ‘I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God, and I will sit on the mountain in the assembly of the gods… I will be like the Most High’” (Isaiah 14:13–14).
According to the teachings of the Holy Fathers, the essence of the Godhead and its distinctive properties, that is, the unbeginning and infinity of being and Divine dignity, belong equally to all three Hypostases. The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are its manifestations in the Persons, and each has the fullness of the Divine essence and is in inseparable unity with it. Hypostases differ from each other only in personal (hypostatic) properties.
Now let's turn to the verses of the Gospel, in which the God-man and the Son of God Jesus Christ speaks about the Holy Spirit:
“And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Comforter, that he may be with you forever” (John 14:16);
“But the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name” (John 14:26).
From them we see that the Holy Spirit is different from the Son, He is another Comforter, but at the same time there is no opposition between the Son and the Spirit, there is no relationship of subordination. It only points to a certain relationship between Them, and not to the supremacy of the One over the Other – the Spirit over Christ. Moreover, it should be noted that these relationships “are not established directly between Them, but through the relationship of the Second and Third Hypostasis to the Father. The Lord speaks of the Holy Spirit as “the Spirit of truth, which proceeds from the Father” (John 15:26).
Let us pay attention: Christ, who came to baptize with the Holy Spirit (see Luke 3:16), promises to send the Spirit to his disciples (see John 15:26). As we can see, the Holy Spirit is delivered in exactly the same relation to Jesus Christ - in the work of our redemption - as God the Father. At the same time, the Holy Spirit is sent into the world from the Father by the Son to be a Comforter and Mentor to people and a Witness to the redemptive feat of the incarnate Son of God before them.
But let's continue to analyze the New Generation manual. Then there is such a thing that there is nothing to argue about: military-political agitation begins again with elements of religious rhetoric. "The Church is the house of God." This is true. And in the line below: “The Church is the military representation of the Kingdom of God on earth or military base» . And the Apostle Paul says that “the Church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth” (1 Tim. 3:15). And we also read in the manual: "The Church is like an aircraft carrier." I think the author wanted to say rather: the Church should have aircraft carriers. Among the new generations, when they hint at something, they say: whoever is in the spirit will understand. Because further already underway plain text: “The Church is a military threat to all enemy plans. It is impossible to destroy godlessness and damnation without a military invasion.” Moreover, all these words are underlined and highlighted in bold. But below is a religious disguise, so light: “The church is the deck of an aircraft carrier from which missionaries, evangelists can launch to bomb and return back in order to refuel and re-arm. It has a great team." Then again, a disguise in the following approximately spirit: “Planet Earth is poorly equipped for the Kingdom of God. And we need to re-equip it, and for this we need to destroy what is of the devil. What to destroy is certainly known, and who will destroy is very clear. “The aircraft carrier approves the laws of his country everywhere. The church in the city is an omen of death for all enemies, the aircraft carrier approached the shores of the enemy country. The Church is an international chamber of commerce. After hostilities need to restore the economy. War does not build, but destroys... The Church performs its functions, first it bombs, and then it builds.”
And one more thing: “The Church is a dealership, a distribution center for heavenly goods.” Apparently, the new generations have already captured the sky, since factories have been built there and even goods are already being produced. The case remains for a few - the capture of the Earth. “Any product of the “New Generation” church (prayer, sermon, video, audio, etc.) must have an imprint - “Made in Heaven”.” “It is the constitution that determines the fate of the country. It is theology that defines churches. Theology determines the fate of the church. Either it will be fiery or religious. The teaching in the church is the constitution."
As you can see, there are only slogans instead of harmonious theology. And if something more or less similar to a theological concept appears in the New Generation manual, then this concept does not last long. The presentation itself is chaotic and spasmodic. Indeed, the author is right: whoever builds on what basis receives such a structure or disorder. There is a lot in the manual that, to put it mildly, does not look like reverent praise and is a disorder in full sense this word.
The manual, outlining what the Church is in the understanding of the “New Generation”, is replete with similar military-political slogans and commercial terminology (“rank determines the level of power”, “ economic strategy church”, “contact and dialogue with the government”). There are also more frank confessions, for example: “God makes us head, not tail” (very frankly and self-critically) or “ new technology awakening “n****a” (the word is used with the meaning of “empty, go before the wind”). How to respond to such expressions? Reading this, you lose all respect for the author and the New Generation Church. I don’t want to stoop to a boorish level, but still they are not our fathers, and therefore, out of a sense of compassion - advice: there is constipation good remedy in the pharmacy, it’s called “bisacodyl”, the pharmacists simply mixed up the second letter. This would all be funny if it weren't so sad.
The Concept of the Holy Spirit and the Church in the Orthodox Faith
Let us consider what the Church is in its Orthodox understanding, the action and manifestation of the Holy Spirit in it, as well as in the life of every person.
The Holy Spirit finds perfect fulfillment in historical event Pentecost, when He descended upon those who were reconciled to God in Christ, and formed the Church out of them. Archpriest George Florovsky writes: “Revelation consists in the creation of the Church and the descent of the Holy Spirit into the world. And since then the Spirit of God has been in the world forever - as He was not in the world before. V. Lossky clarifies: “The action of the Holy Spirit in the world before the Church and outside the Church is not the same as His presence in the Church after Pentecost.”
The Holy Spirit, dwelling in the Church, keeps it and directs it in accordance with the Divine plan: “To one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom, to another the word of knowledge, by the same Spirit; faith to another, by the same Spirit; to another gifts of healings, by the same Spirit; miracles to another, prophecy to another, discernment of spirits to another, different languages to another interpretation of tongues” (1 Cor. 12:8-10); distributes gifts and favors to the Church for a fruitful life and ministry, “as He pleases” (1 Cor. 12:11). By the assistance of the Spirit, the Church carries out the preaching of the Gospel and multiplies: “our gospel with you was not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit” (1 Thess. 1:5). He teaches the Church: “But the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything and remind you of everything that I have said to you” (John 14:26). Protects the Church, once and once created by Christ, by apostolic succession; the successors - the bishops - are the living bearers of the Spirit: "Keep a good deposit through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us" (2 Tim. 1:14). In perfection the Spirit has been in the days of the Apostolic Church through the laying on of hands, and the clergy today are the heritage of Christ born in the Spirit: “I remind you to kindle the gift of God that is in you through the laying on of hands” (2 Tim. 1:6). The Holy Spirit acts in the Sacraments of the Church: “He saved us not according to the works of righteousness that we would have done, but according to His mercy, by the bath of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit” (Tit. 3: 5).
Saint Athanasius the Great writes: “Through the communion of the Spirit, we become partakers of the Divine nature.” Saint Irenaeus of Lyon teaches about the Church as a single organism participating in the inner life of the Holy Trinity. In the Church, each believer receives his personal relationship to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Christ is the giver of the Spirit of the Church. “The Word of God conversed with the patriarchs who were before Moses, after that, having become a Man, sent down the gift of the Holy Spirit to the earth.” The sending down took place at the time of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit “poured out in a new way on mankind throughout the earth, renewing man for God.” In this outpouring, the apostles "were clothed from above with the power of the descending Holy Spirit, were filled with all His gifts, and received perfect knowledge." They "were made perfect by the Holy Spirit after the ascension of the Lord." "One and the same Spirit, Who proclaimed through the prophets ... He also preached through the apostles." "The Holy Spirit, which they received, they communicated and taught to the believers, and thus founded the Church in every order."
From the creation of the Church as a community of believers in one Spirit, St. Irenaeus concludes that “the pillar and foundation of the Church is the Gospel and the Spirit of life”; “like a flying eagle points to the gift of the Spirit hovering (hovering) over the Church”; “for in the Church ... God has placed apostles, prophets, teachers (see: 1 Cor. 12: 28) and all other (means) of the action of the Spirit, of which all those who do not agree with the Church, but themselves take away the life of the evil doctrine and the worst course of action. For where the Church is, there is also the Spirit of God; and where the Spirit of God is, there is the Church and all grace, and the Spirit is truth.”
In the pneumatology of St. Irenaeus great importance has the idea of the Spirit as the One Who makes a person a participant in the spiritual, Divine life. In this he sees the meaning and ultimate goal of the entire dispensation of the Holy Spirit - in uniting man through Himself with God and about human life. And in the light of this basic idea, the saint comprehends the actions of the Spirit before the Coming of Christ, and His participation in the events of the New Testament, and His present presence in the Church. By the way, let's note that the manual of the new generation does not say anything about the Second Coming of Christ. They were going to take everything into their own hands, and His Coming would probably be just as inappropriate for them as it is described in F. Dostoevsky's novel The Brothers Karamazov. There, the events of the Coming of Christ to earth are described, and the Antichrist in the form of the Pope of Rome asks Him: “Why did You come? We are fine without You - everything is arranged. And people worship us, they want power, tough power, they don’t need any kind of vows of freedom and love.”
Misunderstanding about Baptism
The “New Generation” manual talks about baptism… No, not about the baptism with the Holy Spirit, which we are used to hearing from neo-Pentecostals, with the sign of tongues. It's about being baptized into the cloud. The point of this teaching about cloud baptism is this: “Cloud baptism is baptism into the personal anointing of your minister. The cloud is the anointing." All this is supported by the text of Ex. 19 where God spoke to Moses in the cloud.
A. Ledyaev considers himself Moses, seeing himself as a patriarch, from whom we should receive laws on a new world order. What kind of baptism into the cloud is this, and what does Ledyaev dream about? “Ledyaev’s dream is that in every New Generation church there is the same food, the same drink.” Further explanation: "The cloud is a personal, personal, unique anointing inherent in this minister." Baptism into the cloud is imitation and copying of the pastor. In essence, this means nothing more than immersing yourself in your pastor's cult of personality. Trying to find a succession connection, they came to idolatry. The cult of personality is an idol that a person creates for himself from a person. “If you don’t imitate someone and try to start with individual experiments, then you will become a freak,” the New Generation teaches.
“140 cassettes by K. Copeland; the Swedes from the “Word of Life”…” – here is the continuity revealed!
When in the controversy between Orthodox and neocharismatics it comes to apostolic succession, which, by the way, we can show from the Apostle Andrew to the current Patriarch Kirill, you often hear a reproach addressed to us: they say, you Orthodox are engaged in genealogies. The New Generation Church found its continuity through baptism into the cloud "from Moses." "From Moses" - of course, in quotation marks. I wonder if they are going to keep the entire Law of the Old Testament - all 613 commandments in this case? Probably also in quotation marks. "Moses"-Ledyaev finds his continuity in not so distant times. “Pastor Alexei,” the New Generation manual says, “studied 140 C. Copeland tapes in the early 1990s. The Swedes from the "Word of Life" taught me to pray and shout." Here is the continuity. But from whom?
In the Church, the continuity, we emphasize once again, is from the apostles, and the apostles received from Christ, and Christ is “everything that he heard from the Father” (John 15:15), and showed us the Father. The Spirit proceeds from the Father, dwells in the Church with Christ in the Sacraments - all the days until the end of the age.
2000 years The Comforter has run the Church, not 140 cassettes teaching pastor Alexei to scream since the early 1990s. And we are baptized into Christ, and clothed in Christ, and not in Ledyaev and his leaders. Even in the early apostolic Church, a similar error arose, and the Apostle Paul reproached the Corinthian Church: “I understand what you say: “I am Pavlov”; “I am Apollos”; “I am a Kifin”; "But I am Christ's." Was Christ divided? did Paul crucify for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?” (1 Cor. 1:12-13). We, having been baptized in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, are taught the rules of faith from the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church, and not from K. Copeland's cassettes and screaming Swedes. “The minister screams,” the author of the manual continues to instruct, “and you scream.” No, the apostle does not teach us the gospel by shouting, but “he who demands an account from you in your hope to give an answer with meekness and reverence” (1 Pet. 3:15). And we imitate, according to the instruction of the Apostle Paul, the holiness of the apostles and Christ: "imitate me, as I imitate Christ" (1 Cor. 4:16). Christ Himself gives authority to the apostles: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:19-20). When instructing the disciples to serve, the Savior “breathed, and said to them: receive the Holy Spirit. To whom you forgive sins, they will be forgiven; on whom you leave, on him they will remain ”(John 20: 22-23).
According to the Lord's words, the apostolic ministry includes: teaching (“teach”), priesthood (“baptizing”), and the ministry of administration (“teaching to observe”). The words "receive the Holy Spirit" indicate that ministry is connected with the special gifts of the Holy Spirit. Here is the continuity of the Church! And what about the “New Generation”, where they have already begun to be baptized into each other: “Before the pastor demands to be baptized into herself and into her wife, let the wife first be baptized into the cloud of her husband”? What kind of church is this, where Christ needs human help and where there is something that He does not know, where the Spirit rises above the God-man, people yell and baptize each other?! At the same time, they produce products with the label "Made in Heaven", and the church should be a distribution company?
“God from the Spirit on the apostle puts on the pastors, and then from the pastors on the church. And then there is unity in the whole church,” – that’s “revelation from the spirit.” The Spirit stands not only above Christ, but also above God. “God,” as it is written in the manual of the “New Generation”, “from the Spirit rests on the apostle.” So God takes something from the Spirit. It turns out that God lacks something and He must take it from the Spirit and put it on the apostles? Sounds like the heretical doctrine of Montanism. It turns out that the Spirit rises not only above Jesus Christ, but also above God the Father. But in this chain, an attempt is again being made to find and build continuity. The author finds such an opportunity so far in the "clouds".
Further, it is said about baptism not only into the cloud, but also into the sea. "The sea", according to the author of the manual, is the people. And the following conclusion is made: the people must be baptized into a pastor, the pastor into the people. Approximately the same as with the baptism into the cloud. Only there a person should become a photocopy of the pastor, each personally, otherwise he will be a freak. Just like in the fairy tale about Alyonushka and brother Ivanushka, but there was a warning: do not drink from the hoof, you will become a kid. And here - everything to the masses, everything to the people.
Why such a thirst for baptism in the cloud, baptism in the sea and the cherished dream of Ledyaev that everyone would have “one food and one drink”? The answer, apparently, should be sought in ... The first letter of the Apostle Paul to the Corinthians: “I do not want to leave you, brethren, in ignorance that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea; and all ate the same spiritual food; and all drank the same spiritual drink: for they drank from the spiritual subsequent stone; but the stone was Christ... And these were images (eikon) for us, so that we would not be lustful for evil, as they were lustful” (1 Cor. 10: 1-6). St. Cyril of Jerusalem comments on the text of the Apostle Paul in the following way: “There is Moses sent by God to Egypt, here is Christ sent from the Father into the world. There to bring the oppressed people out of Egypt, here is Christ to deliver the people weighed down by sin in the world. There the blood of the lamb turned away the destroyer, here the Blood of the Most Pure Lamb of Jesus Christ put the demons to flight.” And further: “What we eat and drink, the Holy Spirit calls you in one place, saying: “Taste and see how good the Lord is! Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!” (Ps. 33:9). In the Sacrament - Christ. Therefore, this food is not bodily, but spiritual.
Everything that was in the Old Testament Church was incarnated and transformed into the New Testament. And the Sacrament of Baptism, and Confirmation, and Holy Communion (“one food and one drink” - Ledyaev’s dream), and even the fact that God appeared figuratively, in a cloud, in a pillar of fire - we have images. From the Greek it will be so: “image” is an icon. Everything that the New Generation Church dreams of is in the New Testament Church. “So whoever is in Christ is a new creation; the ancient has passed away, now everything is new ... we are messengers on behalf of Christ, and it is as if God Himself admonishes through us; in the name of Christ we ask: be reconciled to God” (2 Cor. 5:17, 20). Reconciliation happens through repentance.
Holy Baptism, Confirmation, Eucharist as the beginning of the fulfillment of the path of salvation
In the Sacrament of Chrismation, after water Baptism, everyone receives the seal of the gift of the Holy Spirit, Who resurrects the baptized person to this life and seals (preserves) for Eternity. To look for another spirit or baptism on the side of someone who has been baptized in Orthodoxy is either ignorance or apostasy.
“The work of Christ refers to human nature, which He presides over in His hypostasis. The work of the Holy Spirit relates to human personalities, addresses each of them individually ... The Holy Spirit, as the Spirit of peace and love, not only reunites various individuals, but also becomes a source of inner peace, wholeness and composure in each soul. As St. Theophan the Recluse explains, in the matter of man’s salvation, “two points must be distinguished: the dispensation of salvation, or the arrangement of everything necessary for salvation, and the bringing about of the salvation of each person. The first was done by the Lord Jesus Christ by the good pleasure of the Father, but not without the Holy Spirit; and the second is done, by the good pleasure of the Father, by the Holy Spirit, but not without Christ the Lord, the Son of God.
The Holy Spirit leads the Church to meet the Savior at His Second Coming: “And the Spirit and the bride say: Come!” (Rev. 22:17). It is today that the Holy Spirit gives a foretaste of the future blessings of the Kingdom of God. The very dwelling of the Spirit of God in a person, taught to him through the grace-filled Sacraments in the Church, is a guarantee of his resurrection: “If the Spirit of Him Who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you, then He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies with His Spirit, the living in you” (Rom. 8:11).
Spiritual charm is the dominant factor in psychological reasons neo-charismaticism
Everything in the Old Testament was images. The sacrament of the Eucharist was figuratively revealed to the Old Testament people of God, as we have seen above; in the New Testament it is established by the Savior Himself and concerns our salvation: “He who eats My Flesh and drinks My Blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For My Flesh is truly food, and My Blood is truly drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him” (John 6:54-56). And these things are not symbols and images. Saint Sophrony of Jerusalem teaches: “... let no one think that this saint is the image of the Body and Blood of Christ, but let him believe that the offered bread and wine are changed into the Body and Blood of Christ.” Many, when they heard these words, were seduced by their meaning, and, as it is written, departed from Christ. “Then Jesus said to the twelve: Do you also want to go away? Simon Peter answered Him: Lord! who should we go to? You have the words of eternal life: and we believed and knew that you are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (John 6:67-69).
Pride as a desire of a person to rise above any constraint and limitation and to be an absolutely free agent in the world results in the theoretical elimination of God and the placement of a person in His place, that is, self-exaltation. about zheniya. A proud self-deluded person considers any kind of mediation in the matter of salvation to be superfluous, since he has his own "means of salvation." From here, ascending from “perfection to perfection”, it reaches “sinlessness” and “holiness” by itself. The Church, such a person believes, imposes shackles on free will, torments the spirit, enslaves boldness, so he does not need it, for the Holy Spirit and so with him. In his opinion, the hierarchy, the Sacraments, fasts and statutes, crosses and icons are all a delusion; if not, then all this has nothing to do with the accomplishment of the work of salvation.
In Proverbs it is said: “Pride goes before destruction” (Prov. 16:18), and in the prophet Obadiah we read: “The pride of your heart has deceived you” (Obd. 1:3) And knowing that “God opposes the proud, but the humble gives grace” (James 4:6), it becomes clear that spiritual delusion is the dominant factor in the psychological causes of neo-charismaticism. In the Church, this is simply called prelest.
The delusions of the "new generation" are obvious. If the issue were secondary, one could not pay attention to their teaching, but the matter concerns the most important thing - the salvation of the human soul. The whole perniciousness of sectarian teaching lies in the fact that souls are stolen from God from the Kingdom of God. Therefore, the research and polemical approach to the teachings of sectarians is more positive than looking for human shortcomings and collecting compromising evidence on a particular sect.
The above analysis of the teachings of the “New Generation” sect will help those who have fallen into the net of charismatic sectarianism to understand the errors, while an answer is also given, showing the path leading to the Kingdom of God, on the basis of the Bible and the fathers and teachers of the Church. Also, our material can serve as a guide for Orthodox missionaries to debate with charismatics.
In connection with the frequent letters to the editors of our site, from the sectarians of the New Generation, we conducted a study of what the New Generation is.
The "new generation" belongs to the movement of charismatic Christian churches with the base church, under the direction of Alexey Ledyaev, in Latvia, Riga.
A. Ledyaev
Ledyaev is known to the religious world as the spiritual mentor of the head of the "Embassy of God" Sunday Adelaja and the developer of the doctrine of the New World Order, the purpose of which is to bring representatives of neo-Christian religious organizations to power and establish a theocratic form of government. Ledyaev is banned from entering Russia, his church is called a sect, and he himself is called “a religious machine that has crippled more than one thousand souls with the help of a sick doctrine.”
A characteristic destructive sign of the organization's activity is negative impact on the psyche of the adept, the emergence of psychological dependence "to be in the organization." The ideology of the organization often denies other religious directions, contains rejection of traditional cultural and confessional foundations, and therefore, Alexei Ledyaev and his wife are prohibited from entering the territory Russian Federation. (Please note that after the ban on the sect in Russia, this organization began to actively spread to other CIS countries, including Ukraine.)
Experts attribute the teachings of the "New Generation" movement to the so-called "third wave" of neo-Pentecostals, also called "prosperity theology." Leaving verbiage aside, the essence of this "theology" is extremely simple: only the Christian who has achieved prosperity and wealth is blessed. It is no coincidence that ironic theologians have called this teaching "the gospel of a full refrigerator."
The moral commandments of Christ, the desire for cleansing from sins, the ability to forgive, to be responsive - all this is practically replaced by one thing - one must be rich and successful. True, Jesus Christ said: “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God,” but “prosperity theology” tries to keep silent about this.
The "new generation" is a characteristic product of the development of business in religion. Ron Hubbard's phrase "if you want to make a million dollars, create your own religion" has already become a classic. Today, a million pastors of neo-Pentecostal sects are not enough. They turn over much larger sums. Prosperity Theology is a great technique for taking money from people.
The approach here is extremely simple: the more you donate to the sect “in the name of Jesus”, the more will come back to you, as the preachers themselves from the “heavenly bank” like to say. Pastors continually remind of this. The so-called "doctrine of theocracy" - the undivided power of a pastor who can manipulate his parishioners, completely controlling their personal lives - also poses a great danger.
In addition, in neo-Pentecostal sects, believers are often subjected not only to "tithes", but also to numerous exactions - people are often forced to sacrifice everything they have, promising that only in this way "their deposits in the heavenly bank will increase." Thus, in organizations that promise material prosperity to parishioners, in fact, only leaders who collect "heavenly tribute" thrive.
The leaders of the neo-Pentecostal communities use occult-magical methods of influencing the personality at their meetings, resort to methods of mass suggestion and other means of mind control, which causes mass hysteria among those present. Such widespread and often obligatory practices for neo-Pentecostals, such as “speaking in tongues”, “holy laughter”, “defeat in the spirit”, “prayer of birth pains”, “destruction of tribal sin”, etc., destabilize the psyche and are not Christian.
Within the framework of charitable activities, representatives of this religious organization carry out the rehabilitation of drug addicts and those suffering from alcoholism "through the study of the Bible", thank God that without using drug treatment at least officially, at the same time they use the labor of the rehabilitated free of charge, they are engaged in the so-called. occupational therapy.
If we talk specifically about the New Generation church, then in its theory and practice it is worth noting the following disturbing points:
The “New Generation” doctrine of unity only promotes unity within the New Generation and not with World Christianity (the Body of Christ), which makes the New Generation movement in literally sect words.
Pastors of the "New Generation" swear allegiance personally to the leader of the movement.
The leader of the movement alone decides to spend the money of the movement on expensive concerts and so on.
The connection between the leader of the movement and the pastors is carried out exclusively through financial interests. Which clearly shows that the “New Generation” project is just a business.
Ledyaev claims in his sermons that the New Generation church will one day enter politics and bring world order.
There is also a clear connection between Ledyaev and government agencies and religious organizations in the United States.
On February 7, 2007, Pastor Alexey Ledyaev arrived in the US capital, Washington, at the invitation of the head of the Department of Religious Freedoms of the US State Department, as well as the head of Faith - Based and Community Initiatives (a human rights organization at the White House). During the conversation on the Capitol Hill, not only the problems connected with the New Generation were discussed, but also with the Christian traditional values of Latvia in general.
From March 20 to March 30, 2009, Alexey Ledyaev conducted a tour of the cities of North America where the branches of his organization are located.
During his tour, Ledyaev also visited the Impact American Church in Roseville. Pastor Ledyaev chose patriotism and service to his city and people as the main theme of his sermon. He taught American Christians to always "be watchmen on the walls." In other words, Ledyaev openly expressed support for the policy of the American government, embellishing his message with religious phraseology.
From this we can draw a very definite conclusion that the religious organization "New Generation" is not only a totalitarian sect, alien to our mentality, but at the same time a politicized propaganda organization that is the conductor of the US expansionist policy.
Today it is no secret to anyone that many different Protestant sects are now active in Russia. Our Krasnoyarsk Territory, and my native Zheleznogorsk (where the church of this “New Generation” is now being built) is no exception.
In order to understand what these sects are, and specifically the New Generation movement of Evangelical Christians, I suggest that you read the report on the activities of the New Generation from the antisect.rf website (http://xn--80aaollp3age.xn--p1ai/articles /doklad_o_sekte_novoe_pokolenie/)
The report on the activities of the sect in general and on the territory of the Krasnoyarsk Territory is written in an accessible way, and it is interesting to read it. And we will talk about more specific facts about this sect in our city, and about my impressions about the social groups of this organization later.
In the meantime, the report:
The neo-Pentecostal movement of Evangelical Christians "New Generation" is actively operating on the territory of the region, representing 11 churches with the center in Krasnoyarsk.
Registered:
1 Krasnoyarsk - Pastor Sergey Senokosov (Leader of the New Generation Church in Krasnoyarsk in the title photo for the post)
2 Sosnovoborsk - pastor Alexander Kryntsov
3 Zelenogorsk - pastor - Evgeny Nikolaev
4 Zheleznogorsk - pastor Sergey Somov
5 Divnogorsk - Pastor Dmitry Pastukhov
6 Borodino - Pastor Ivan Korobeinikov
Not registered:
7 p. Emelyanovo - pastor Vladimir Ivanov
8 p. Irbeyskoye - pastor Evgeny Nikolaev
9 p. Podgorny - pastor Alexander Kryntsov
10 p. Shalinsky - pastor Sergey Sizikov
11 p. Kuskun - pastor Sergey Yurovsky
The leader of the New Generation Church in Krasnoyarsk is Sergei Viktorovich Senokosov, born on September 21, 1972, a native of Krasnoyarsk. Previously convicted for theft and drugs (1991, 1995).
Meetings of the "New Generation" in Krasnoyarsk are held in the premises of the House of Culture "Combine Builders" (Bograd St., 134), the House of Culture "Sverlovsky" (Vavilov St., 1B), the All-Russian Center "MikhMakh" (Televisionnaya St., 1/9). Approximate number of attending services is 500-600 people.
Also meetings of adepts are held in apartments.
The total number of adherents of this religious direction in the Krasnoyarsk Territory is about 2 thousand people.
The "New Generation" belongs to the movement of charismatic Christian churches with a base church, led by Aleksey Ledyaev, in Latvia, Riga.
Ledyaev is known to the religious world as the spiritual mentor of the head of the "Embassy of God" Sunday Adelaja and the developer of the doctrine of the New World Order, the purpose of which is to bring representatives of neo-Christian religious organizations to power and establish a theocratic form of government. Ledyaev is banned from entering Russia, his church is called a sect, and he himself is called "a religious machine that has crippled more than one thousand souls with the help of a sick doctrine."
A characteristic destructive sign of the activity of the organization is the negative impact on the psyche of the adherent, the emergence of psychological dependence "to be in the organization". The ideology of the organization often denies other religious directions, contains rejection of the traditional cultural and confessional foundations of the Russian people and other indigenous peoples of Russia, in connection with which, Alexei Ledyaev and his wife are denied entry into the territory of the Russian Federation.
Experts attribute the teachings of the "New Generation" movement to the so-called "third wave" of neo-Pentecostals, also called "prosperity theology." Leaving verbiage aside, the essence of this "theology" is extremely simple: only the Christian who has achieved prosperity and wealth is blessed. It is no coincidence that ironic theologians have called this teaching "the gospel of a full refrigerator."
The moral commandments of Christ, the desire for cleansing from sins, the ability to forgive, to be responsive - all this is practically replaced by one thing - one must be rich and successful. True, Jesus Christ said: “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God,” but “prosperity theology” tries to keep silent about this.
The "new generation" is a characteristic product of the development of business in religion. Ron Hubbard's phrase "if you want to make a million dollars, create your own religion" has already become a classic. Today, a million pastors of neo-Pentecostal sects are not enough. They turn over much larger sums. Prosperity Theology is a great technique for taking money from people.
The approach here is extremely simple: the more you donate to the sect “in the name of Jesus”, the more will come back to you, as the preachers themselves from the “heavenly bank” like to say. Pastors continually remind of this. The so-called "doctrine of theocracy" - the undivided power of a pastor who can manipulate his parishioners, completely controlling their personal lives - also poses a great danger.
In addition, in neo-Pentecostal sects, believers are often subjected not only to "tithes", but also to numerous exactions - people are often forced to sacrifice everything they have, promising that only in this way "their deposits in the heavenly bank will increase." Thus, in organizations that promise material prosperity to parishioners, in fact, only leaders who collect "heavenly tribute" thrive.
The leaders of the neo-Pentecostal communities use occult-magical methods of influencing the personality at their meetings, resort to methods of mass suggestion and other means of mind control, which causes mass hysteria among those present. Such widespread and often obligatory practices for neo-Pentecostals, such as “speaking in tongues”, “holy laughter”, “defeat in the spirit”, “prayer of birth pains”, “destruction of tribal sin”, etc., destabilize the psyche and are not Christian.
Within the framework of charitable activities, representatives of this religious organization carry out the rehabilitation of drug addicts and those suffering from alcoholism “with the help of Bible study”, thank God that they do not use medical treatment at least officially, while using the work of those being rehabilitated for free, they are engaged in the so-called. occupational therapy.
If we talk specifically about the New Generation church, then in its theory and practice it is worth noting the following disturbing points:
The “New Generation” doctrine of unity promotes exclusively unity within the New Generation, and not with World Christianity (the Body of Christ), which makes the “New Generation” movement literally a sect.
Pastors of the "New Generation" swear allegiance personally to the leader of the movement.
The leader of the movement alone decides to spend the money of the movement on expensive concerts and so on.
The connection between the leader of the movement and the pastors is carried out solely through financial interests. Which clearly shows that the “New Generation” project is just a business.
Ledyaev claims in his sermons that the New Generation church will one day enter politics and bring world order.
There is also a clear connection between Ledyaev and government agencies and religious organizations in the United States.
On February 7, 2007, Pastor Alexey Ledyaev arrived in the US capital, Washington, at the invitation of the head of the Department of Religious Freedoms of the US State Department, as well as the head of Faith - Based and Community Initiatives (a human rights organization at the White House). During the conversation on the Capitol Hill, not only the problems connected with the New Generation were discussed, but also with the Christian traditional values of Latvia in general.
From March 20 to March 30, 2009, Alexey Ledyaev conducted a tour of the cities of North America where the branches of his organization are located.
During his tour, Ledyaev also visited the Impact American Church in Roseville. Pastor Ledyaev chose patriotism and service to his city and people as the main theme of his sermon. He taught American Christians to always "be watchmen on the walls." In other words, Ledyaev openly expressed support for the policy of the American government, embellishing his message with religious phraseology.
From this we can draw a very definite conclusion that the New Generation religious organization is not only a totalitarian sect, alien to our Russian mentality, but at the same time a politicized propaganda organization that is a conductor of the US expansionist policy.