Gospel Simplicity

Annunciation. Caravaggio   

When we hear the Savior or the apostles calling for simplicity in the New Testament, we find ourselves at a crossroads of understanding. This concept sounds highly ambiguous to people, with some viewing it through the lens of worldly “common sense” and others from the metaphysical heights of philosophy. However, what we must do is to strive to comprehend it in the light of the Good News.

The Worldly View

In the world, the word “simplicity” has a range of meanings. When applied to people, it can mean a kind and childlike simplicity, or a primitive and limited nature, or even a dangerous foolishness. Its meanings range from harmless to malicious. On the one hand, “be simple and people will love you”; on the other hand, “simplicity is worse than theft.”¹

So-called “common sense” does not consider simplicity to be a virtue at all.

So-called “common sense” does not consider simplicity to be a virtue: a person who is too “simple” runs the risk of being seen as a naive fool who can be easily manipulated. On the contrary, what is valued is cunning, multi-faceted reasoning, the ability to calculate moves, suspicion, and a lack of trust—all of which are the exact opposite of simplicity. In a society where success is often achieved through cunning and calculation, simplicity can be seen as suspicious, either as a complete lack of intelligence or as a hidden game.

Simplicity in philosophy

From the point of view of metaphysics, genuine simplicity is unity. What is completely simple is that which consists of a single, indivisible element. According to philosophers and theologians, only the absolute God possesses such simplicity. He is the Very Simplicity, the Very Unity, from which all created beings originate. Everything created by a simple God is fundamentally complex. The simplicity of God means that there are no contradictions, parts, or changes in Him: He is all Being, Truth, Power, Life, and Love.

Man is the most perfect and perhaps the most complex creation of God, consisting of a soul and a body, which in turn consist of their own elements. The existential complexity of the human being is of divine origin; therefore, it is objective and fundamentally ineradicable. It is impossible for a human being with a body to become as simple as an angel, let alone as simple as God Himself. Philosophical simplicity is beyond the reach of humans. So, what kind of simplicity is Christ talking about?

The New Testament Witness

Let's turn to the New Testament. In its Greek text, the root word ἁπλ- appears a total of 11 times:

• noun ἁπλότης (simplicity, sincerity, directness) – 8 times,

• adjective ἁπλοῦς (simple, whole, healthy) – 2 times,

• adverb ἁπλῶς (simply, generously, without reproach) – 1 time.

Of these 11 references, only two are found in the Gospels themselves: Matthew 6:22 and Luke 11:34, where the Lord speaks of the “single eye.” (ὀφθαλμός σου ἁπλοῦς) All other cases are found in the Epistles of the Apostle Paul (2 Corinthians 1:12; 8:2; 9:11, 13; 11:3; Romans 12:8; Ephesians 6:5; Colossians 3:22) and the Epistle of James (James 1:5), where simplicity is understood as sincerity, generosity, and straightforwardness of heart.

Nowhere in the New Testament is simplicity considered foolishness or naivety.

At the same time, not a single time in the entire New Testament are the words of this group used in a negative or mocking sense. Nowhere is simplicity considered stupidity or naivety. On the contrary, the Apostle Paul wishes us to be wise unto that which is good, and simple concerning evil. (Romans 16:19—the original has ἁπλοῦς).

So, gospel simplicity is an exceptionally high moral quality. It is always bright, always virtuous, and always good.

Careful readers should have noticed that the list of New Testament passages about simplicity does not include the phrase from Matthew 10:16: Be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves. Here, the word ἀκέραιος (akéraios) is used, which means “unmixed” or “pure”; in a figurative sense, it means “unspoiled” or “whole.” As we can see, according to its literal and figurative meanings, it is a synonym of the word ἁπλοῦς. Therefore, the Synodal Russian translation (итак, будьте мудры, как змии, и просты,² как голуби.) is quite justified.

The language of simplicity

The Greek noun ἁπλότης (haplotes) and the adjective ἁπλοῦς (haplus) are derived from the root meaning “one,” “simple without folds,” and “whole.” Imagine a piece of fabric that has been spread out, with no wrinkles or folds, and does not need to be unfolded. This is how a simple person is described, without any “inner folds” or curves.

The antonym of this word is διπλοῦς (diplus), which means “double” or “folded in two.” A “double” person is a hypocrite or a trickster who has one thing in mind and another on their tongue. Simplicity in Greek is the absence of duplicity, the honest directness of the soul, when a person's “eye” is clear, healthy, and looks at one thing and sees one thing, rather than being divided, as the Lord Himself says: if therefore thine eye be single (ἁπλοῦς), thy whole body shall be full of light. (Matthew 6:22; cf. Luke 11:34).

The Slavic and Russian word “prostota” contains the same image of directness. The root *st- means “to stand.” “Simplicity” is, first of all, straightness, standing vertically, and not bent. Let us remember that the words “prostynya” (an unfitted bedsheet, which is a straight cloth) and “prostit’” (to forgive, therefore: to make straight, to straighten relations) come from the same root. A simple person is a straight person, not a crooked one, not bent in obsequiousness, and not folded in hypocrisy.

Christian simplicity as the integrity of following Christ

As we can see, Christ and the apostles do not call us to foolish infantilism or metaphysical dissolution in the Absolute. They speak of the simplicity of the Christian life, which consists in a whole and unwavering following of Christ, in a direct and unyielding standing before the face of God.

Man, as God's most perfect creation, is complex, but he can and should become simple without losing his original complexity.

Man, as God's most perfect creation, is complex, but he can and should become simple without losing his original complexity. Man is called to become simple in his complexity. Man will become simple when his soul becomes simple. The soul will become simple when its mind, intellect, will, and feelings become simple, and when they form a harmonious hierarchical unity of personality. This will happen when Christ dwells in the heart as in a temple, and by His grace He will heal, enlighten, sanctify, transform, and simplify both the soul and the body.

The human mind is simple when it is not divided between the knowledge of truth and its deceitful distortion. If therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. (Matthew 6:22). A pure eye is a simple mind that looks directly at God, does not make false conclusions to justify sin, and does not speak deceitfully. The Apostle James warns, A double minded man is unstable in all his ways. (James 1:8). The simplicity of the mind is the absence of even a hint, even a shadow of reversal—when the mind says “yes” to God entirely, without reservation.

The will is simple when it does not vacillate between good and evil, and does not choose the “middle way” of compromise with them. No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. (Matthew 6:24). A simple will is a clear-cut determination: “I am following Christ, no matter what.” In contrast, a sinful will is complex, as it combines self-love, self-justification, indulgence, doubt, and cunning reasoning.

Feelings are simple when they are not hypocritical or duplicitous. A child's heart cannot love and hate at the same time. A person's sinful heart is often like a dark pool where opposites coexist: pity and cruelty, tenderness and cynicism, love and hatred. Often, a person does not know what will emerge from this pool in a particular situation, whether it will be a good or evil side of their personality.

The Lord says, Love your enemies (Matthew 5:44), commanding us to love everyone without exception. Love them wholeheartedly, simply, directly, without exceptions, without conditions, without reservation. True love is simple and uniform for all. God, Who is Love, loves everyone equally, and He calls us to do the same. This kind of love requires a simple, pure heart, free from hidden bitterness, envy, pretense, judgment, or jealousy.

Hierarchy of the soul

A person is like a choir: each voice may be pure in itself, but if they sing on their own, it will result in a cacophony. The simplicity of individual mental abilities is not enough. They must be coordinated with each other in a hierarchical order. This order is created by the obedience of the will and senses to the mind, of the body to the soul, and of the entire person to God.

When the soul is free from sinful and worldly thoughts, desires, and feelings, it becomes unified and whole, ready to receive the graceful revelations of the mind. However, when the soul becomes distracted from its communion with God and allows sinful and worldly thoughts, desires, and emotions to enter, it inevitably becomes clouded, cluttered, and complex, leading to divisions and conflicts within itself.

The simplicity of the soul is determined by its obedience to the mind, which in turn is obedient to God. Obedience means unity: the obedience of the mind to God means complete and gracious unity with Him, complete and gracious concentration on Him; the obedience of the soul to the mind is unity with the mind and through it with God. Grace is the power of God that heals and unites the mind and all other mental abilities in response to the efforts of the mind.

Through the soul, grace flows into the body and makes it one with the soul and mind in a special transformed way. This happens in response to the arduous ascetic work of bringing the flesh into obedience to the spirit (mind) and to God. When the belly demands excess, when the hand reaches out to steal, when the feet lead to places of sin, the body lives its own carnal life, exerting pressure on the higher faculties of the soul (mind, will, and senses), tempting them and trying to draw them to its earthly side. The simplicity of the body is a state in which it is no longer a party to the conflict with the soul, but an obedient tool in the hands of God, a conduit of His grace for others.

So, Christian simplicity is when the mind is focused on praying to God, the will is fully obedient to His commands, the heart is fully devoted to righteousness and hates evil, and the body serves as their home and temple. Such a person is as simple as a stringed instrument that produces a single pure sound. There is no duality, no falsity, and no dissonance.

Sin is a complication of our relationship with God

Sin always brings a split in a person—a split with God, with one’s neighbors, and with oneself. Let us recall the fall of Adam, when he lost his original simplicity and became ashamed of the Creator, his wife Eve, and himself. Feeling guilty before God and his wife, he began to justify himself and blame them for his fall, and he did not want to repent, thus introducing an ever-increasing complexity of sinful passions into his life.

The sinful complexity of our free will either rejects God altogether, so as not to obey Him (this is the deep reason for atheism), or begins to bargain with Him: “I will do it, but under certain conditions, for a certain fee,” “I will obey, but only if it is beneficial to me,” “I will keep the commandment, but not this one, but an easier one.” The obedience of a wicked person is always a contract, a bargaining, a search for loopholes. Let us remember the rich young man: he had kept from my youth but when the Lord called him to simplicity, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me (Matthew 19:21), he departed with sadness, for his heart was divided: one part longed for Christ, while the other clung to wealth.

The Simplicity of Obeying God

The unconditional simplicity of obedience to God is revealed in the Virgin Mary's words, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. (Luke 1:38). The Ever-Virgin responded to the angel's good news, which she could not comprehend, without conditions, fear, or doubt. She did not divide her heart into “I agree” and “I am afraid.” She said “yes,” and that “yes” encompassed everything.

The simplicity of obedience means that we don't ask: “What if?”, “Why?”, “What for?”, “Why me?”

The simplicity of obedience means that we don’t ask: “What if?”, “But why?”,” “What for?”, “Why me?” When God ordered Abraham to sacrifice his son, the latter did not enter into discussion or controversy—he took Isaac, a knife, wood, and a donkey and went. His obedience was as simple as it was terrifying to the human mind. And this was imputed to him for righteousness.

Ease of dealing with others

If it is so difficult for us sinners to be simple in our relationship with God, how much more difficult is it to be simple in our relationship with our neighbors? After all, our neighbor is often unreasonable, demanding, unjust, deceitful, and aggressive. Every man is a liar. (Psalm 115:2). How can we be simple in our relationship with someone who deceives and/or insults us, who hates and/or wants to destroy us, and who controls our career and material well-being?

The Lord gives a clear and painfully simple answer: Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them (Matthew 7:12) or in another way: Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. (Matthew 22:39). Not “if he deserves it”, “if he starts first”, “if it's fair”. The simplicity of obeying the commandment of love for one's neighbor does not know the subjunctive mood.

What prevents us from being simple with our neighbors? Our selfishness, which builds complex structures: “I’ll help him, but he should be grateful,” “I’ll forgive him, but he should apologize,” “I’ll tell him the truth, but I'm afraid of offending him…” All this wisdom loses its simplicity. A simple person simply acts, simply forgives and asks for forgiveness, simply helps without considering the backlash. A simple person forgives and forgets, leaving everything in the past. A simple person speaks the truth with love, without embellishing or softening it, but also without insulting.

The Apostle James exclaims, And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace. (James 3:18). The simplicity of obedience to one's neighbor is the ability to keep the peace without engaging in complex games of “outsmarting” or “outranking” others. A simple person is like a pure child. And the Lord said, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 18:3). Childlike simplicity doesn't know how to stay offended, to plot, or to hold a grudge.

St. John Chrysostom remarked: “Nothing so disposes to love as simplicity, and nothing so removes from it as guile and suspicion.”³ When we simplify our dealings with others-without being hypocritical, flattering, or judgmental-we become transparent, like a clear glass through which the simple God Himself can be seen.

It is important to understand that obedience to God and obedience to one's neighbor are inseparable. If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar (1 John 4:20). If a person is deceitful towards their neighbor, he cannot be simple and sincere before God. On the contrary, those who have learned to simply obey God in small things, such as fasting, prayer, and fulfilling the commandments, gain strength and grace for simple, sincere service to their neighbor.

The sense of simplicity

When, by the grace of God, you find yourself in the presence of a truly simple person, such as an elder, you feel that he is all with you, all here and now, in a simple and unified way, and that a simple and unified, pure, and all-encompassing light emanates from him, and that you are simply loved. In the presence of holy simplicity, it becomes evident that all our worldly concerns and worries are not worth discussing. In comparison to the simplicity of graceful communion with God and our neighbors, they are all vanity.

Simple people do not divide themselves into “now” and “later,” into “for work” and “for the soul.” They do not save their attention or engage in petty, selfish calculations. Instead, they exude a sense of peace rather than tension. This is because they do not engage in struggles for self-assertion. Instead, they are already established in God, and God is established in them.

When we meet them, we, all so complex and fragmented, suddenly feel for the first time that it is possible to live without these eternal “yes, but” and “if only,” without being two-faced, without masks and roles. We feel ashamed of our busyness, of the emptiness of our complex lives. Unlike Adam's shame, this is a good shame, because it leads to simplicity, rather than away from it.

Acquiring simplicity

How can we attain the simplicity spoken of in the Gospel? The short answer is to follow the example of Christ. The long answer is to bring our entire being (from our minds to our bodies) into obedience to God through the confession of faith, the fulfillment of the commandments, and the acquisition of grace through prayer and the Sacraments.

The simplicity of the mind is acquired by the constant prayer of the Lord Jesus, which cuts off thoughts; the simplicity of the will is confirmed with every “yes” we say to God, in spite of wanting to say a complex and sly “but”; the simplicity of feeling is strengthened by non-condemnation and the forgiveness of love.

Here is the measure of simplicity of obedience: when you are told “go,” you go; when you are told “come,” you come; when you are told “do,” you do, like the centurion whom Christ said, “I have not found this kind of faith in Israel” (Matthew 8:10). This centurion was simple: he did not require complex rituals or lengthy explanations from Christ; he knew what authority and obedience were, and he applied them to the Kingdom of God.

Simplicity of God's freedom

“Forgive them, O Lord, for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34); this is the ultimate simplicity of Christ, who did not divide His heart between anger and love even on the Cross. He simply loved everyone. And with this simple love, He overcame and conquered everything, even death, for our salvation.

Freedom is not a difficult choice between good and evil, but a clear movement along the path of good. Simplicity is this freedom from internal hesitation

Forgive us, O Lord, for our complexity, which is always looking for excuses for our unfaithfulness to You: “It's difficult,” “I can't,” “He doesn't deserve it.” Grant us the simplicity of the apostles, who, upon hearing “Follow Me,” left everything and followed their Master (Matthew 4:20).

Freedom is not a difficult choice between good and evil, but an unambiguous movement along the path of good. Simplicity is this freedom from internal hesitation. For only such simplicity—obedient, undivided, and whole—is true freedom in Christ.