Within the framework of “The Church and the Law” series of interviews, Iravaban.net talked about the “Golden Rule” with Paren Arakelyan, the spiritual minister of Saghmosavank Monastery Complex of Aragatsotn Diocese,
– The “Golden Rule” of the Bible says: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. How did this message of Jesus Christ reach us?
– “The Golden Rule” is not a separate sentence in the Holy Book, it is in the last part of the famous Sermon on the Mount. And it teaches us how to build our life with our environment.
– And why is it called the “Golden Rule”?
– For a very simple reason, because we call the best things gold. There are many rules in the Bible. This rule is called golden, because it is the key to human life, as the best rule, it was called the “Golden Rule”.
– Please explain, what is the principle of the “Golden Rule” and what valuable advice does it contain?.
– I said a little while ago that it is a key to life and there are many rules in the Gospel as keys to organize our life. The “Golden Rule” contains great moral principles, if you want to build your friendly, family, and social life in a manner worthy of a Christian, you must follow the “Golden Rule”. If you do bad things to the other person, do not be surprised if the other person does bad things to you. If you cheat on the other person, don’t be surprised that the other person will cheat on you. If you want to make friends, you have to be friends.
– Father Paren, and when a Christian follows this rule, but the other person does not treat him the same way, what should a Christian do in this situation?
– This rule is given to all Christians. When I read and follow the rule, it is assumed that the other person should also read and follow that rule, so this issue is solved, but still we come across many cases in our life that you follow the “Golden Rule”, but not receiving an adequate answer from another person, the answer to this is very clear in the Gospel. Once the Apostle Peter came and asked Christ: “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?” Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times. A Christian’s life is not really with people, but with God. You must not be hostile.”
– Is following the “Golden Rule” a Christian’s duty?
– It is not only the Christian’s duty to follow the “Golden Rule”, but also the evangelical canons. I would like to address the word duty, it sounds a bit harsh and a bit artificial, if you do it as a duty, one day you will get tired of doing that duty. We can say the same whether loving is the duty of a Christian. Yes, it is a duty, but I am sure that when a Christian loves, in general, when a person loves, he does not think whether he is doing a duty or not.
– Does this imply that in contact with people, we should have any expectations from them?
– There is the famous prayer of Mother Teresa, “In any case”, where she says: What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight. Build anyway. There is one sentence at the end, it says: in the end, everything is between you and your God. A Christian does not do this as a duty, it is something like breathing. At the moment when he thought that he was doing his duty, in my opinion, he will fail at that moment. We should use that rule, not to expect benefit from people, but we should do it because it is right.
Details in the video.
Hasmik Sargsyan
