Christianity or the Church? - St. Hilarion Troitsky (Pt. II/III)

Part II of "Christianity or the Church?" Listen to part I here: https://youtu.be/zh2OwJhlxG4Read the text here: http://orthodoxinfo.com/inquirers/sthilarion_church.aspx0:05 To be a Christian means to belong to the visible Church and obey Her hierarchs1:10 Heretics and schismatics do not have the true, unifying love of God 2:00 Not only no Christian love outside the Church, but no Christian teaching in the true sense3:32 According to Saint Cyprian, to be outside the Church and yet remain a Christian is impossible, for to be outside the Church is to be outside Christ's camp.4:46 St. Cyprian: "He who does not have the Church as his mother cannot have God as his Father."5:13 For this reason St. Cyprian called for schismatics to enter the Church by baptism6:07 Council of Carthage 256 (and later the 6th EC in Trullo) affirms St. Cyprian’s canon though modified his view that all schismatics should be received by baptism. “On this point, the views of Blessed Augustine differ somewhat, although his view of the relationship of Christianity to the Church remains exactly the same.”7:27 The teaching of Blessed Augustine8:18 If schismatics retain true baptism, is the Church necessary? Is salvation possible outside the Church? Bl. Augustine answers “No.”9:03 St. Hilarion repeating Bl. Augustine: “All the wealth of the Church which is possessed by those who have separated themselves from the Church brings them absolutely no benefit, but only harm.”11:39 “Schismatics are deprived of the hope of salvation not only because their baptism is invalid, but also because they are outside the Church and in enmity with it.”13:28 “The points of view of Saint Cyprian and Blessed Augustine can be seen to differ somewhat, but they both arrive at exactly the same conclusion: outside the Church there is no salvation!”15:00 Christ is not only a great teacher, but the Savior of the world. He gave life, not merely teaching15:48 On the ninth article of the Creed: “[I believe] in One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church”18:19 “Thus it seems that we will not err if we express the thought that the truth of the Church, above all other truths, touches the very life of each Christian, defining not only his beliefs, but also his life.”19:56 The effects of Latinism on the Church20:23 Protestantism was created from Latinism and is a purely human creation21:28 St. Hilarion identifies the Church with love and those who have broken off do not have the love of God in the Church22:06 “Protestantism placed a papal tiara on every German professor…”22:48 “The human soul is Church-prone by nature.”23:04 “Self-love and Self-will received a sort of sanctification and blessing from Protestantism.”24:02 Individualism blossoms in Protestantism in the West25:22 Russian Literature has suffered from Protestantism’s influence as well26:22 The Russian people have lost the habit of being Church-minded27:33 This de-Churchification is a “subtle venom”28:51 Wisdom from St. Vincent of Lérins29:29 Christ left no system, no writings31:15 “Does it become a highly educated European of the twentieth century to accept on faith all that is said by some "fishermen"?"32:58 When Christianity = The Church then Christ the God-Man = Jesus of Nazareth35:04 The irreligious contemporary man can’t understand the dogmatic struggle that ensued in the 4th century, and why it matters today.St. Hilarion writes:He who does not adhere to the unity of the Church cannot think that he is preserving the faith. Any separation from the Church is, without fail, connected with the distortion of the faith. "The enemy has contrived heresies and schisms in order to overthrow the faith, distort the truth, and dissolve unity. His servants proclaim the treachery under the pretense of faith, herald the antichrist in the name of Christ and, concealing the lie by means of imitation righteousness, subtly and guilefully destroy the truth."In his works against the Donatists, Blessed Augustine argues in detail for the validity of schismatic baptism. If, however, it is possible to preserve true teaching outside the Church and if even the sacraments performed in schism from the Church are valid, then is the Church really necessary? Is salvation not possible outside the Church? Does not Blessed Augustine make a distinction between Christianity and the Church? To all these questions a negative reply is given in the system of Blessed Augustine. He ascribes Christian life, which leads to salvation, only to the Church. Outside the Church this life cannot exist.Protestantism placed a papal tiara on every German professor and, with its countless number of popes, completely destroyed the concept of the Church, substituting faith with the reason of each separate personality. It substituted salvation in the Church with a dreamy confidence in salvation through Christ in egoistic isolation from the Church.