Within the framework of the “The Church and the Law” interview series, Iravaban.net spoke with Father Bardughimeos Hakobyan, the spiritual pastor of St. Nahatakats Church of the Araratian Patriarchal Diocese, on the topic of “Spiritual Issues and Delusions.”
-What is spiritual delusion and which are its main signs?
-It’s when a person deviates from true spiritual values or guidelines. At first glance, they know they’re keeping what’s written in the Holy Book in the best way, but they’ve fallen into, for example, pride. Meaning they feel so important, have such great self-confidence, that they think they can criticize other Christians, and even the clergy. This is the extreme state, when a person has spiritual achievement, but that achievement no longer serves them in a positive sense and leads to a great sin, which is pride.
-What is the main cause of spiritual delusions and how can they be avoided?
-In my opinion, the main cause of spiritual delusions is excessive self-confidence. We want Christians to be confident. God inspires confidence in people through various means, so that people are confident in their faith, in their conviction, and in God, but when a person becomes overly confident in themselves – thinking they are now sinless, can no longer sin, this very thought loses many Christians.
-What are the main delusions common among contemporary Christians?
-I would say from the beginning of the world, the motivation and number one status of these spiritual delusions has remained the same, because Adam and Eve were in exactly this status when they sinned. There is a status where a person considers themselves equal to the Creator. The example of Adam and Eve speaks about exactly this. For them, everything is within the bounds of permissibility. Years have passed, but the sin, the mistake has remained the same. Only the packaging has changed. The core remains the same – to bring a person to spiritual pride.
-How to distinguish genuine spiritual experience from delusion?
-In reality, a person becomes more tempered in experience, becomes more mature and finds those paths which can be applied during the next trial. Our Christian brothers and sisters think that by following God, they shouldn’t be subjected to trials. Let’s look at Christ, from the very first day of birth he went through trials. We must trust God, otherwise we will fall into spiritual delusions.
-How to protect spiritual security in the modern world?
-A Christian must always think about their spiritual security. At first glance this expression might sound strange and many might not even understand what it’s about, but a person must be protected. We must have vigilance. When Christ tells us – be awake, pray so you don’t fall into temptation, he was speaking about this spiritual awakening. We must be vigilant, attentive, and be in prayer.
-How to maintain faith during personal tragedies and losses?
-It’s not about how one should maintain faith, but rather faith should help the person overcome personal loss and suffering, if a person wavers in faith, then this is a much more serious situation for the person. These feelings usually occur because we materialize everything, the material is important to us.
Details in the video.
