Blessed is he who believes - how to understand the expression?

Among the winged expressions are those whose meaning has changed over time. This includes this: "blessed is he who believes." A wide circle of the townsfolk it is known from the work "Woe from Wit" by A. Griboyedov, but his teacher from Nazareth used it much earlier, at the dawn of our era.

In the mouth of Chatsky

Everyone who read the immortal work of Alexander Griboyedov "Woe from Wit", remember the vivid image of Alexander Chatsky. The young man is a maximalist, clever and profound, honest and direct, sincerely surprised at how Sofia could love another, and who - Molchalin, a stupid and two-faced careerist.

Arriving in Moscow and first of all visiting the house of Famusov, Chatsky understands that he is not very happy, and Sophia expresses this claim. She also responds that, they say, they waited every day, every rustle, every guest caused hope. Chatsky has no time and, probably, a desire to reflect on how sincere these words are. And then the author puts in his mouth an expression that fully describes the state of the young man in love, who will not tolerate the shadow of doubt about his feelings: blessed is he who believes.

The meaning of these words is that he has to (and even easier) simply believe, rather than analyze and critically comprehend what is happening. Therefore, it is better to believe on the word and forget those doubts that can torment your breasts. Here you can see the roll call with Pushkin's lines "... Oh, it's not difficult to deceive me, I'm happy to deceive myself."

Of course, blessed is he who believes. This saves a lot of suffering, but does not always give a correct understanding of what is happening, as with Chatsky. By the way, it's interesting to compare the name of Griboyedov's comedy, which proclaims that the grief comes from the mind, with the quote put forward - bliss from the faith.

Negative meaning of expression

This winged expression is most often used in public life in a negative context. For example, many articles on the Internet aimed at criticizing the existing political power, quote Chatsky's words ironically, with sarcasm: "Blessed is he who believes, it is warm to him in the world!" It ridicules the excessive credulity and simplicity of the people, who are so much easier to live, believe that everything will be in order, trust the government, promises. Blessed - means happy. "Happy" those who do not see enough to doubt, who do not analyze, not to be disappointed, in other words, those who live "in pink glasses." Note that the word "happy" we use in quotes, hinting at its portable washed away.

In the mouth of Christ

The Gospel does not contain in its pure form the literal expression "blessed is he who believes." But at the same time we can say with confidence that the source of this statement is exactly there.

Jesus Christ preached the truths about the Kingdom of God in the villages of Palestine. One of his recorded sermons is called "the commandments of bliss." By his teaching he turned over all the ideas of people of that time about happiness. For example, he said that blessed are crying, poor in spirit, hungry and thirsty for the truth, and so on.

But the special meaning of the phrase "blessed, who believes" gets in another episode. After the cross of death and resurrection, Jesus appeared to the disciples. They told the others that they had seen the teacher. One of them, all known since Foma the Unbeliever, said: "... until I see Jesus with my own eyes and put my fingers in the wounds of nails - I will not believe." Soon, when the disciples were gathered together, the Lord appeared among them. First of all, he went to Foma and suggested checking his wounds from the crucifixion. Of course, Thomas fell at the feet of Christ with the confession: "My Lord and my God"! In response, Jesus uttered the famous phrase: "Blessed are those who have not seen, but have believed."

Evangelical meaning

From the above, it becomes clear that Jesus attached great importance to the faith. The fact is that both the people and the rulers constantly demanded signs and wonders, that is, evidence. Despite how many people healed Christ, he resurrected, filled the hungry with a couple of tortillas, most of them did not recognize the Messiah in him. So one day he put a small child in the middle of the crowd to the hill and said, turning to those around him that if you do not, like children, you will not enter the Kingdom of the Father. And who is more open to sincere trust than children? In the true sense, the content of the expression "blessed is who believes"!

Understand the meaning of what was said

So, we found out that the expression under consideration can have a completely opposite meaning, depending on the surrounding verbal background. It does not in any way speak in favor or in condemnation of faith. "Blessed is he who believes" -who said this phrase, in what context is the first thing that needs to be clarified in order to understand the meaning of the expression. If we read or listen to Christian preaching, or it is said by a priest or just a believer, then it sounds in the evangelical sense. If, with the help of this phrase, they want to emphasize the unwillingness of someone to get into the problem, to understand it - then with irony and sarcasm, Chatsky's words are used more negatively.