because every one of us has got former ties and has learnt the truth after having had time to become entangled in the seductions of the world; and these temptations hinder each of us from doing that good which we regard as our duty; but the circumstance, that we cannot altogether liberate ourselves from the temptations of the world and cannot completely fulfil the good which we regard as our duty, does not prove, that man cannot fulfil the law of Christ and do God’s work. The law of Christ lies in one object — in fulfilling the will of the Father who sent us into the world. His will is, that men and beings should not be in mutual enmity, but should be united in love, «that they may be one even as we are one»... The only obstacle to this unity are the temptations of the world, and therefore for the attainment of this aim there is only one means: the destruction of those temptations, which separate men and all beings and leading them to enmity in the place of joy, which is proper to them, and love which is good for them. What then can we do for the destruction of those temptations? First of all — acknowledge, that deceit is deceit, — elucidate it so that all the falsity of deceit should become evident to ourselves and to everyone. And it is necessary to do so not only independently of the fact of one’s participating in it, but on the contrary with all the more energy, the more one participates in it. If I am caught in the net of deceit of state service, landownership, military service, or, as you say, commerce, — the first and chief thing, which I should do is not to conceal from myself the unlawfullness and sinfulness of my position; but on the contrary use all the power of my intellect in order to see it. And if such a man will bring the consciousness of the unlawfulness and sinfulness of his position to full lucidity, he will no more be able to continue the activity, which his conscience condemns. And if he be not able to continue it, he will either find means of leaving it («where there is a will, there is a way»), or, if he does not find the means, he will suffer and search for it and feel himself guilty. And this is the most advantageous state of mind for a christian.
In miracles I do not believe, because I believe in reason. One cannot believe in both, you must believe the one or the other. And I prefer to believe in reason: firstly, because reason is undoubtedly given to us by God, wheras we receive miracles by hearsay, from people, who very often are not deserving of our
