Judas the Corrupt: on the new theology of the head of OCU

The head of the OCU, Sergei (Epiphany) Dumenko, posted a publication on the fight against corruption on his Facebook page. In his opinion, the pages of the entire Holy Scriptures are permeated with this struggle.

We will not quote the rather long text by Sergei Dumenko verbatim. It boiled down to the following: corruption is an all-encompassing phenomenon in the history of mankind. The Old Testament prophets, the Lord Jesus Christ and the Holy Fathers also opposed it. Corruption began in paradise when our forefathers could not resist the temptation of the devil. Corruption must be fought at all levels, but it can only be defeated with the help of a "vaccine" (as S. Dumenko put it), which means the words of the Apostle Paul: "Therefore, put on the full armour of God..." (Eph. 6: 13-17).

The vaccine, by the way, is the same pathogenic infection, only weakened, which is introduced into the body in order to develop immunity. If, according to the head of the OCU, immunity should be developed against the “armour of God”, then this already makes one think about the theological methodology of the author. And, of course, the main opus of Sergei Dumenko is that nothing but corruption brought Judas to a rope. The impression from the reading is that corruption is the greatest ever evil. And accordingly, there is nothing more necessary for a person than to fight corruption.

When you try to keep up with the "right" people

Before analyzing the topic of corruption from the point of view of the Gospel and the Holy Fathers, we would like to make a few remarks about why Sergei Dumenko wrote this text. This publication appeared on December 9, when all "progressive humanity" celebrates the International Anti-Corruption Day. If we take a close look at the agenda that the Western liberal elites are promoting, we will see that two topics are being promoted and demonized in every possible way, these are climate change and corruption.

Certainly, both global warming and corruption are negative phenomena. Definitely, we must fight them. But one cannot fail to notice that these phenomena are deliberately inflated to incredible proportions in the mind of a person. And meanwhile, as S. Dumenko correctly noted, mankind has lived with corruption from time immemorial, and people simply cannot influence climate change. It is enough to refer to the Wikipedia (a liberal resource, by the way) to find out that the anthropogenic emission of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere accounts for the maximum of 8% of the total figure. Why, then, do the Western liberal elites suggest that these two topics are the obstacle to the happy future of humanity? Why are all efforts targeted to combat precisely these phenomena, and not some others, no less harmful? The answer is simple – fighting them allows you to exercise control over states on a global scale.

Only a very lazy political scientist did not say that the system of anti-corruption bodies in Ukraine was created not to fight corruption (it has only increased since then) but to control the Ukrainian authorities from abroad. Therefore, S. Dumenko, with his publication on the International Day against Corruption, pours water on the mill of foreign curators of Ukraine, who need it to realize their rather than our national interests.

Also S. Dumenko uses a rather successful psychological method of conducting polemics, which consists in substituting concepts or using them in such a broad sense that they will already describe completely different phenomena. In the publication of the head of the OCU, corruption is identified with sin in general. Indeed, when committing a sin, a person transgresses the commandment and in return receives something of a material or immaterial nature.

Take, for example, the passage that the reason for the temptation of Adam and Eve is corruption. Corruption, according to the most common definition, is “the use by an official of his power and rights entrusted to him for personal gain, contrary to established laws and regulations”. Corruption is a concept associated with the concepts of state, power and authority. None of this was in paradise or among the apostles. Neither Adam nor Judas was an official. They committed a sin, transgressed the commandment in the hope of getting something. But this was not corruption at all. So why is S. Dumenko trying to fit a square peg in a round hole? Why does he find corruption motives in any sin and give it all out to the public on the International Anti-Corruption Day? The answer should be sought in the words of one of the founding fathers of the OCU, Petro Poroshenko, that the OCU is the basis of Ukrainian statehood. In this capacity, Sergei Dumenko contributes to what the state should do – fight corruption, though he does this rather awkwardly, which is probably forgivable, given the level of his theological education.

Is the Bible permeated with references to corruption?

Now let's consider what the Scriptures say about corruption. The Gospel contains a description of how Christ communicated with the most real corrupt officials in the classical sense of the word. These are the publicans, tax collectors for the benefit of the Roman Empire, under whose rule Palestine was then. The principle of collecting taxes was as follows: the tax collector paid the Roman authorities the tax in advance from his own pocket, and then collected it from his fellow citizens, naturally in a larger amount than was supposed to. That is, the tax collectors were simultaneously committing two shameful acts: they served the occupiers and robbed their fellows. For this, they were hated and despised.

The first such case is the calling of the holy Apostle Matthew. The Gospel of Luke tells about it this way: “After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector by the name of Levi sitting at his tax booth. ‘Follow me,’ Jesus said to him, and Levi got up, left everything and followed him. Then Levi held a great banquet for Jesus at his house, and a large crowd of tax collectors and others were eating with them. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law who belonged to their sect complained to his disciples, ‘Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?’ Jesus answered them, ‘It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance’” (Luke 5: 27-32).

Christ does the same with another publican, later the apostle Zacchaeus: “Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. He wanted to see who Jesus was, but because he was short he could not see over the crowd. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him since Jesus was coming that way. When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, ‘Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.’ So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly. All the people saw this and began to mutter, ‘He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.’ But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, ‘Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost’” (Luke 19: 1-10).

After reading these passages from the Gospel, it is impossible not to see the huge difference between the words and actions of Christ and the text of Sergei Dumenko on Facebook. The Lord does not say a word about corruption, as well as about the sins of these two people in general, but he recognizes them as sinners and sick, who need a doctor. What prompted them to give up their sins? Not condemnation and censure but meeting with Christ.

There is also a parable of the publican and the Pharisee, in which the Lord, using the example of the repentance of the tax-collector, shows all the vanity of the Pharisee's narcissism. “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’ But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’ I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted” (Luke 18: 10-14).

In general, the scribes and Pharisees who considered themselves righteous and even formally were such are the only ones whom the Lord denounces in very harsh terms.

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. <...> Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayer. <...> Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when you have succeeded, you make them twice as much a child of hell as you are. Woe to you, blind leaders <...> Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. <...> Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. <...> Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs <...> Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous.  <...> You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell?" (Matt 23: 13-33).

Therefore, it was not corruption at all but pride and arrogance that the Saviour recognized as the most pernicious infection that a person can be infected with. And in Paradise, the forefathers could not commit any act of corruption, among other things, also because they already possessed everything according to the word of the Lord: “So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, ‘Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground’”(Gen. 1:27, 28). ... And the reason for their fall was pride: "You will be like gods." It was the same with the devil himself: “How you have fallen from heaven, morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations! You said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to the heavens; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of Mount Zaphon. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.' But you are brought down to the realm of the dead, to the depths of the pit” (Isa 14: 12-15).

Corruption, bribery in the Church Slavonic, is unconditionally condemned both in the Holy Scriptures and in the works of the Holy Fathers. For example:

"Do not pervert justice or show partiality. Do not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and twists the words of the innocent...." (Deut. 16:19).

“Both hands are skilled in doing evil; the ruler demands gifts, the judge accepts bribes, the powerful dictate what they desire — they all conspire together”(Micah 7: 3).

“Do not do violence for the reason that you rule; do not covet because you are strong; on the contrary, since you have the advantages of power, then show the rights of justice”(St. Basil the Great).

“Do not buy the intercession of a mortal and perishable man, because today he exists, and tomorrow he does not” (Rev. John the Prophet).

Sergei Dumenko's publication, if we remove the obvious theological opuses from it, could probably be recognized as useful in the eradication of corruption if it were written by a person who is himself pure from all this. Let's remember some of the facts Dumenko is involved in.

Should a corrupt official call for the fight against corruption?

In the election of the head of the OCU, Sergei Dumenko was "pushed through" by Filaret. The “Unification Council” itself lasted for 14 hours only because Mikhail Zinkevich was begged for a long time and was literally forced to withdraw his candidacy in favour of Sergei Dumenko. Is this not a manifestation of corruption?

A few months after the “Unification Council”, Filaret said that Poroshenko and Epiphany had entered into an agreement to deprive him of access to power in the OCU. Is this not a manifestation of corruption?

Registration of the OCU under the name "Ukrainian Orthodox Church", that is, the obvious identity theft of the name of the UOC, – is this not a manifestation of corruption?

Holding hundreds of illegal gatherings in the villages of Ukraine under the guise of meetings of the religious community of the UOC with subsequent re-registration to the OCU – is this not a manifestation of corruption?

The organization of violent seizures of UOC churches, backed by local authorities and nationalists, – is this not a manifestation of corruption?

Finally, "grabbing" the property of your former teacher Filaret – is this not a manifestation of corruption?

These are only questions that are "on the surface", and this list can be extended. If such a person speaks about corruption, then his words will have the exactly opposite effect.

So Judas hanged himself because of corruption?

Finally, what was the motive for Judas's betrayal and suicide? It is unlikely that this was corruption since Judas received very miserable pay. Probably, as treasurer of the community of Jesus Christ and his disciples, he controlled and stole much larger sums. Thirty pieces of silver are the price of a runaway slave. If corruption was the motive for the betrayal, then Judas could well ask for much more. What then? Most of the Holy Fathers say that the reason for the act of Judas was the love of money.

But Judas did not covet thirty pieces of silver. When Christ went to Jerusalem for the last time, the apostles believed that he was going to restore the Kingdom of David, to raise a rebellion against the Romans and reign in Jerusalem. The apostles John and James, on the eve of this expected accession, asked Christ to sit on the right and left of Him, all the apostles argued among themselves, which of them is more important, and what the thieving treasurer should have dreamed about, who “... had a money box and carried what they put there”(John 12: 6)? Probably about managing the entire budget of the Kingdom of David. But the ambitious dreams of the apostles were not destined to come true, and this became clear a few days after the Lord's entry into Jerusalem. And realizing the failure of his hopes, Judas decides to betray Christ to the Pharisees. Bishop Sylvester (Stoychev), Rector of Kyiv theological schools, writes that the opinions of theologians about the reasons for this boil down to two main versions.

The first reason is revenge. “Judas first believes in Christ, then becomes disappointed, stops believing. He is driven by hatred of Jesus, the desire to receive satisfaction for the years and efforts spent, for unfulfilled expectations and dreams. That is, in fact, Judas banally wants to take revenge on the One with whom he connects the failure of his hopes. And getting 30 pieces of silver in this terrible scheme of betrayal is far from the main thing (this is not such a large amount). 30 pieces of silver is only a small compensation for 3.5 years ... But it is more important to take revenge on the hated one."

The second is an attempt to provoke a clash between Christ and the Sanhedrin, in which, as Judas believed, the Lord would simply be forced to use his Divine power and become the King of the Jews. “Judas does not give up hope for the accession of Christ. He continues to believe that Jesus can defeat all enemies. After all, He worked miracles that Judas witnessed. Therefore, the apostle seeks opportunities to provoke Christ to manifest Himself in power and glory. That is, Judas creates a provocative situation in which, as he expected, Christ will be forced to manifest all His power, and thus, the triumph of Christ and his disciples will take place. Consequently, Judas sought to get what he wanted with the help of a kind of speed march. This point of view on the motivation of Judas was held by the famous pre-revolutionary publicist Fr. Pavel Alfeyev. Also, this opinion was mentioned in the book 'The Last Days of the Earthly Life of Our Lord Jesus Christ" by St. Innokenty of Kherson'."

The most successful tragedy of Judas in the context of the development of sin in humanity from our ancestors was described by the Serbian ascetic, St. Justin (Popovich):

“Human evil, which flowed from Adam, and for centuries spread throughout human nature, throughout all people, forged in people its logic, the logic of evil. According to this logic: people do not need God. With His presence, He only hinders them; it is necessary to remove God from the human being, from human nature, from the whole world. It means: it is necessary to kill God everywhere, in everyone, and in everything. The logical justification for this is provided by the logic of evil, which is most richly and luxuriously dissolved in Judas and later in the inquisitorial papism. Fascinated by the seductive syllogisms of the logic of evil and the dialectic of sin and vice, Judas decided to betray God and kill God. Judas clearly knew that he had God in Jesus before him. This consciousness remains clear in him even after the betrayal: I sinned by betraying innocent blood (verse 4).

But this is both the horror and the nightmare of the Judas' betrayal of God, that he consciously, logically, dialectically justifiably betrays God, kills God. All the logical reasons for the philosophy of evil here stand on the side of the betrayal of God and deicide. But the personality of Judah, in which the logic and power of evil reached such perfection and strength that even when he wants to repent, he can no longer because everything is permeated and driven mad by evil: conscience, mind, heart, and will. In his repentance, Judas turns not to God but to himself. This is the focus and heart of the Judas tragedy. He turns to himself, the slave of evil and the slave of the logic and dialectic of evil; therefore, his repentance comes down to the fact that he threw the pieces of silver in the temple, in front of the chief priests and elders, went and hanged himself."

***

All of us, each to a different extent, are infected with the sin of love for money. We all carry other sins in our souls, and we all need to take an example from the corrupt official from the parable: “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner!’"