(Taken from LEXICON OF MISERIES)
by
the blessed Archimandrite Chrystophoros Kalyvas
Hypocrisy is a way, by which the person devoid of Christian ethos hides his or her true views and feelings, in proportion to the aims he or she is endeavoring to achieve and which always, and according to the rule, are various and selfish. That hypocrisy is also a form of art with the aim of hiding or covering over the real feelings or dispositions of man in the religious, moral, social and even political sphere, this immediately persuades even the most superficial person. This concerns an evil and cunning type [of person] deprived of straightforwardness and sincerity but also honor, because he utilizes the means of deception, of “camouflage”, so that the person who is deceived may be unable on a sound basis to put into question the moral “clear sky”, despite the indications, when these escape on account of the lack of skill of the hypocrite, which could problamatize (make people wonder about or question) our fellow man or even an entire class of people.
Hypocrisy, then, as an art is firstly the unethical means of an evil person for the creating of a basis of support in the heart of him or those whom he has as his aim of manipulating and exploiting, so that through [the gaining of their] trust he might, as it were, administer a narcotic to the one or to the others, so that he may have freedom of movement in the execution of his strategic scheme. The evilness of the hypocrite lies in this: that, though the bad person, the criminal type [of person], in proportion to the nature of his crime, operates with all the means of “prophylactical care”, or of guarding himself, on the one hand, and is usually armed, but [acts] very harshly; the hypocrite, on the other hand, by changing his natural genius into evilness, applies the entire system for deception and for his profit. The evilness, or wickedness, of the hypocrite is his psychical synthesis, or the composition of his soul, and consists of the first foundation for the formation of evilness, or vice, which inflicts injustice upon correctly understood genius; but also pressures the selfish person to use the lie (falsehood) with a scientific cloak, so that this may be believed and construed as being truth. Precisely this transformation of falsehood, and indeed out of one’s free disposition and deliberately, deceives and the danger on the part of the evil ones is obvious and in proportion to the magnitude and the object of deception. Hypocrisy, then, has as its substructure (hypovathron) evilness, or wickedness, and as a motive selfishness. The evilness, or cunningness, of the hypocrite is exhibited as hypostatic (substantial) evilness, in proportion to the domination in the soul in part by the vice: moral and material manipulation and exploitation of the other or others, and always manipulation and exploitation, but with the most modest and [most] formal observance of the forms (proschematon; also:- “types” and “ traditions”) which cover [over] the real [true] dispositions of the hypocrite, who succeeds in not giving rise to suspicions to the one under (hypo) [the] deception. A rough example, at the very least, is the trap they set to apprehend an elephant for the subtraction of his tusks for merchandizing. They open in his passing and in a narrow passage a huge pit; they cover it over with branches, and the mega-beast falls there completely unsuspectingly. There he ends his life and rots. The aim of the hunters is achieved already through the covering over of the means of death of the animal. Oftentimes in the time of military campaigns both soldiers and military means of destruction of the enemy are “camouflaged” in combination of colors analogous to the characteristic nature of the area, so that they may not give a visible shooting target to the enemy. But also the utilizing of bait on the hook is the covering over of the killing means of the fisherman for the fish, as also crocodile tears, or the changing of the coloring essence of the skin of the chameleon and his adaptation to the color of the ground. This sneakiness, as an offspring of the cunningness of the hypocrite, and through speech the covering of the real [true] dispositions of the hypocrite – evil-doer (cacopoio) – for the hypocrite is evil (wicked) and an evil-doer, as he is also cunning (dolios) – are indicative of the baseness or cheapness of his character and is equated in gravity with the deadly sins, and perhaps they surpass [the mortal sins]; because, on the one hand, hypocrisy was elevated into a system of scientific tactic[s], or scheme, for the exploitation or even the multi-formed abuse and betrayal of persons, ideas, principles and for the overthrowing of moral and permanent conditions; and on the other hand, it precludes the improvement of the hypocrite on account of the advanced stage of his moral corruption.
Hypocrisy according to these considerations is not some passing moral fall originating from human weakness with a basis for hope in the resurrection – as the Lord also left to be understood, when directing himself to the Scribes and Pharisees he stressed, that “tax-collectors and prostitutes shall go before you into the kingdom of God” Matt. 21:31) –, but a psychical mechanism that succeeds in covering [over] (kalyptei) [the nature] of reality that is disadvantageous (or unprofitable) for the plans of the hypocrite; a mechanism without the coldness and freezing physical organ or instrument of destruction of the enemy. The hypocrite doesn’t remain psychically without sharing in the emotional movements of the actor or actress he or she is playing the part of, precisely just as the actor, whose success lies in that he achieves in autosuggestion during “show time” and to submit feelings and thoughts, and to e-voke analogous stimuli and reactions in his spectators and audience, who live the lie as a live reality; for which reason we have also proportionate consequences from the impacts of what is seen and heard. The hypocrite doesn’t make his art of acting (hypocrinesthai) simply by his own will, because he will be betrayed and be made the laughing stock, if his character is also not evil and cunning. One can not portray the hypocrite, but he must be of the ethical constituency of the hypocrite, as having an evil ethos (caco-ethes) using hypocrisy for the achievement always of a “blameworthy” (diavletou) aim, which he sets forth beforehand. And his aim is non other than the fruition of benefits (profits) for his own account. For, a sincere and honorable man, if he wishes to act hypocritically (hypocrithi), can, on the one hand, for a moment succeed in it; yet, however, as Scripture notes too and as we from experience know and from our most innocent attempts at trying to be hypocritical, we feel arising in our soul a tempest and crushing waves of conscience, which cost more than the gain of hypocrisy. Wise Sirach notes for this rather peculiar instance, that “the one being a hypocrite unto himself, is as in a ship in a storm” (Wisdom of Sirach 33:2); and that “he shall become scandalized in his self” (Ibid 32:15). The hypocrite who is such by composition of soul, or psychical synthesis, who doesn’t take into account the faith and doesn’t respect ethical principles, evolves into a huge criminal; while a faithful person, an honorable and sincere person, who trembles even when the need demanded that he hide a truth, confesses publicly oftentimes for his fall, being repulsed with disgust even with his own self and proclaiming, that hypocrisy is the promoter of every form of sin, which makes easier for executing various forms of injustice according to the object of its ambitions.
A classic example of hypocrisy we meet among the Pharisees, whom the Lord repeatedly castigated as hypocrites, who made others out to be violators of the Mosaic law, while they themselves in words, on the one hand, were all cut up about its observance; but in deed the trampled upon it flagrantly: “Hypocrite, take out first the log from your own eye, and then you shall see to be able to take out the mote in your brother’s eye” (Matt. 7:5). That is, your ethicology is nothing but a curtain of smoke of your miserableness and not unrest for the paedagogy of the other (person). And in censuring the leader of the synagogue, being cut up supposedly on account of the respect for the day of rest on the Sabbath according to the healing of the woman who was bent over, He said to him: “Hypocrite, does not each of you on the Sabbath loose his cow or donkey from the stable and taking it out gives it water?…” (Luke 13: 15-16). And because, according to the system of cunningness, the Pharisees, to prove that they are fasting, they put oil on their faces with technical means, the Lord recommended the avoidance of this tactic or scheme: “And when you fast, don’t become morose like the hypocrites; for they disfigure their faces so that they may appear to be fasting to people” (Matt. 6:16). Characteristic is the case of the question of the Pharisees concerning the payment of taxes, which was revealed as a temptation of the Lord Jesus and was characterized as hypocrisy for his entrapment (Mark 12:15), with their flatteries concerning His uprightness and His showing no partiality among men having preceded: “We know that you are true and are not a respecter of persons; for you do not look upon the face of men…” (Ibid 12:14).
For the comprehension of hypocrisy as an immoral means for the producing of the fruit of benefits (profits) through deliberate scientific deception, it suffices for one to study the entire 23rd chapter of the Gospel according to Matthew, in which hypocrisy is struck upon publicly now in the person of the Scribes and Pharisees through the “woe unto you” by Jesus, revealing the depths of their corrupt conscience according to the “types”, on the one hand, of those evil people practicing the religion of the Law, but in essence (substance) were criminal figures, who in the name of the performance of religious duties had been transformed into religion-merchandizers, merchants of the religious sentiment of the simple people and evolved into classic beings of hypocrisy to the point where, when someone is about to be characterized as a “hypocrite”, he was called a “Pharisee.” For, the word “Pharisee” embodies the notion of evil, of the cunning, of the imposter, of the exploiter, of the vulgar or rude person, who in every case is a criminal in camoflague, that dangerous type, on account of the means that he uses for the execution of crime of whatever form. For which reason they are denounced by the Lord as “anti-lawists” adversaries of the law and non-consequential with the attribute of religious people, who “say but don’t do”: who clothe themselves with imagination to impress those practicing religion and the enforcement upon them of materialistic dispositions and ambitions, without any spiritual depth; who seek the seats of honor and first seats in the Synagogues, so that they may become separated from the simple people, demanding to be called “teacher teacher”; who in the excuse for long prayers devour the houses of widows; who shut up the road of others to the Kingdom of the Heavens, while they don’t enter; who get all cut up about acquiring a proselyte, and they transform him into a consumer of hell; who try to convince the people (laos), that the quality of the offered gift in the Temple has greater value than the Temple itself and the holy Trapeza (Altar Table); who give an insignificant tax, while trampling the faith and the love towards the brethren; who strain the knat and swallow the camel; who externally appear clean and proper, while internally are like the grabbing vultures and the unchaste flesh-worshippers; who project themselves externally as whitewashed tombs, while internally are full of bones and every form of filth, tombs that symbolize their unclean soul which is enveloped in hypocrisy and lawlessness; which, while they are of the same criminal dough as their murderous progenitors; who, though they are snakes of vipers, as her grandchildren, they portray (hypocrinontai) innocence so that they may (more easily) mortally bite their victim (prey) etc.
The Apostle Paul, these lying hypocrites, he judges as having seared their conscience (to the point of complete callousness) (1 Tim. 4: 2), and the Apostle Peter considers hypocrisy as a harmful tumor of the soul which must be cut out (1 Peter 2:1). The hypocrites, in seeking through deception lawless interests, are more dangerous in the religious sphere, because wholly unconscientiously they exploit the superficial religious ones and oftentimes create problems in the health-producing teaching of Christ and through it the healthy faith and virtue, which was never used by honest and sincere workers of the Gospel as a means of evil aims and enrichment, as it was by the Pharisees. The hypocrite never sacrifices himself for the truth as did the martyrs, because he is lacking in ideals, but hypocrisy is the most serious accusation that one can attach to another person, because, on the one hand, the whores were justified, but the hypocrites were stigmatized as deliberately committing crime against the faith and the virtue of Christ in order to inflict and commit injustice upon their meek and unsuspecting fellow human beings.