Foolishness for Christ (Greek:διά Χριστόν σαλότητα;Church Slavonic:оуродъ, юродъ) refers to behavior such as giving up all one's worldly possessions upon joining anascetic order or religious life, or deliberately flouting society's conventions to serve a religious purpose—particularly of Christianity. Such individuals have historically been known as both "holy fools" and "blessed fools". The term "fool" connotes what is perceived asfeeblemindedness, and "blessed" or "holy" refers to innocence in the eyes of God.[1]
The termfools for Christ derives from the writings ofPaul the Apostle.Desert Fathers and other saints acted the part of Holy Fools, as have theyurodivy (or iurodstvo) ofEastern Orthodoxasceticism. Fools for Christ often employ shocking and unconventional behavior to challenge accepted norms, deliver prophecies, or to mask their piety.[2]
Certainprophets of theOld Testament who exhibited signs of strange behaviour are considered by some scholars[3] to be predecessors of "Fools for Christ". The prophetIsaiah walked naked and barefoot for about three years, predicting a forthcoming captivity in Egypt (Isaiah 20:2, 3); the prophetEzekiel lay before a stone, which symbolized beleagueredJerusalem, and though God instructed him to eat bread baked on human waste, ultimately he asked to use cow dung instead (Ezekiel 4:9–15);Hosea marrieda harlot to symbolize the infidelity of Israel before God (Hosea 3).
In the opinion of certain scholars,[4] these prophets were not considered fools by their contemporaries, because they sought to gain people's attention in order to awaken theirrepentance.[4]
According to Christian ideas, "foolishness" included consistent rejection of worldly cares andimitating Christ, who endured mockery and humiliation from the crowd. The spiritual meaning of "foolishness" from theearly ages of Christianity was closely related to that of rejection of common social rules of hypocrisy, brutality and quest for power and gains.[4]
By the words ofAnthony the Great: "Here comes the time, when people will behave like madmen, and if they see anybody who does not behave like that, they will rebel against him and say: 'You are mad',—because he is not like them."[5]
Part of theBiblical basis for it can be seen in the words of theApostle Paul in1 Corinthians 4:10, which famously says:
And also:
In Western Christianity there have been several saints who lived lives that were rather eccentric and seemingly foolish. Among the earliest of them was St.Nicholas of Trani, a young homeless man who died in 1094 AD. He apparently never stopped repeating the phrase 'Kyrie Eleison' and behaved foolishly.[3] Similarly BlessedPeter of Foligno lived in voluntary poverty and was deemed crazy.[5]
Other notable lay men who led saintly albeit eccentric lifestyles wereBlessed Peter of Trevi,Teobaldo Roggeri,Benedict Joseph Labre, St.Salaun of Brittany,Ludovico Morbioli andCasimiro Barello among others. The key characteristics of foolishness for Christ in Western Christianity are sleeping rough (outdoors) and homelessness, a minimalistic lifestyle with very few if any possessions and a strict dedication to prayer and self-renunciation.
Some ascetics are known asmendicants and are organised intomendicant orders. The most famous example in the Western church isFrancis of Assisi, whose order was known for following the teachings of Christ and walking in his footsteps. Thus, upon joining the order, Franciscans gave away all possessions and focused on preaching in the streets to the common man.
Servant of God, Brother Juniper, an early follower of theFranciscan order, was known for taking the doctrine of the Franciscans to the extreme. Whenever anyone asked for any of his possessions, he freely gave them away, including his clothes. He once even cut off the bells from his altar-cloth and gave them to a poor woman.[6] His fellow Franciscans had to watch him closely, and strictly forbade him from giving away his clothes. While such behaviors were embarrassing to his brothers, he was also recognized as a pure example of the Franciscan order and thus esteemed.
"The Little Flowers of Saint Francis of Assisi",[7] which documents the oral traditions of the Franciscans, told several stories of "Brother Juniper". The most famous of these is the story of how Brother Juniper, when he heard a sick brother request a pig's foot as a meal, took a kitchen knife and ran into the forest, where he saw a herd of swine feeding. There, he quickly cut the foot off of one of the swine and carried it back to the brother, leaving the swine to die. This angered the herdsman, who complained to Saint Francis. Saint Francis confronted Brother Juniper, who joyfully exclaimed, "It is true, sweet father, that I did cut off the swine's foot. I will tell thee the reason. I went out of charity to visit the brother who is sick." Brother Juniper likewise explained to the angry herdsman who, seeing the "charity, simplicity, and humility" (Hudleston, 1953) in Brother Juniper's heart, forgave him and delivered the rest of the pig to the brothers.
The Holy Fool oryuródivyy (юродивый) is theRussian version of foolishness for Christ, a peculiar form ofEastern Orthodoxasceticism. The yurodivy is a Holy Fool, one who acts intentionally foolish in the eyes of men. The term implies behaviour "which is caused neither by mistake nor by feeble-mindedness, but is deliberate, irritating, even provocative."[8]
In his bookHoly Fools in Byzantium and Beyond,Ivanov described "holy fool" as a term for a person who "feigns insanity, pretends to be foolish, or who provokes shock or outrage by his deliberate unruliness."[8] He explained that such conduct qualifies as holy foolery only if the audience believes that the individual is sane, moral, and pious. The Eastern Orthodox Church holds that holy fools voluntarily take up the guise of insanity in order to conceal their perfection from the world, and thus avoid praise.[8]
Some characteristics that were commonly seen in holy fools were going around half-naked, beinghomeless, speaking inriddles, being believed to beclairvoyant and aprophet, and occasionally being disruptive and challenging to the point of seemingimmoral (though always to make a point).
Ivanov argued that, unlike in the past, modern yurodivy are generally aware that they look pathetic in others’ eyes. They strive to preempt this contempt through exaggerated self-humiliation, and following such displays they let it be known both that their behaviors were staged and that their purpose was to disguise their superiority over their audience.[8]
Fools for Christ are often given the title ofBlessed (блаженный), which does not necessarily mean that the individual is less than a saint, but rather points to the blessings from God that they are believed to have acquired.
TheEastern Orthodox Church recordsIsidora Barankis of Egypt (d. 369) among the first Holy Fools. However, the term was not popularized until the coming ofSymeon of Emesa, who is considered to be apatron saint of holy fools.[2][9] In Greek, the term for Holy Fool issalos.
The practice was recognised in thehagiography of fifth-century Byzantium, and it was extensively adopted inMuscovite Russia, probably in the 14th century. Themadness of the Holy Fool was ambiguous, and could be real or simulated. They were believed to have been divinely inspired, and were therefore able to say truths which others could not, normally in the form of indirect allusions orparables. They had a particular status in regard to theTsars, as a figure not subject to earthly control or judgement.
The first reported fool-for-Christ in Russia wasSt. Procopius (Prokopiy), who came from the lands of theHoly Roman Empire toNovgorod, then moved toUstyug, pretending to be a fool and leading an ascetic way of life (slept naked on church-porches, prayed throughout the whole night, received food only from poor people). He was abused and beaten, but finally won respect and became venerated after his death.[10]
TheRussian Orthodox Church numbers 36yurodivye among itssaints, starting fromProcopius of Ustyug, and most prominentlyBasil Fool for Christ, who gives his name toSaint Basil's Cathedral inMoscow. One of the best-known modern examples in the Russian Church is perhapsSt Xenia of Saint Petersburg.
"Crazy for God" is an expression sometimes used in the United States and other English-speaking countries to convey a similar idea to "Foolishness for Christ." It has been especially connected to theUnification Church of the United States. InThe Way of God's Will, a collection of sayings popular among church members,Unification Church founderSun Myung Moon is quoted as saying: "We leaders should leave the tradition that we have become crazy for God."[11]
In 1979 Unification Church criticChristopher Edwards titled a memoir about his experiences in the six months he spent as a church member:Crazy for God: The nightmare of cult life.[12]
In 2007, authorFrank Schaeffer titled his autobiographyCrazy for God: How I Grew Up as One of the Elect, Helped Found the Religious Right, and Lived to Take All (or Almost All) of It Back. It tells of his upbringing as the son of a well-knownevangelical minister and his later conversion to theGreek Orthodox Church.[13]
In the same yearStephen Prothero, author and chairman ofBoston University's Department of Religion, wrote in theHarvard Divinity Bulletin: "I am crazy for people who are crazy for God: people nearly as inscrutable to me as divinity, who leave wives and children to become forest-dwellingmonks inThailand, who wander naked across the belly ofIndia in search of self-realization, whospeak in tongues andtake up serpents inAppalachia because the Bible says they can."[14]
One of the more recent works in theology isFools for Christ[15] byJaroslav Pelikan. Through six essays dealing with various "fools," Pelikan explores the motif of fool-for-Christ in relationship to the problem of understanding the numinous:
The Holy is too great and too terrible when encountered directly for men of normal sanity to be able to contemplate it comfortably. Only those who cannot care for the consequences run the risk of the direct confrontation of the Holy.
There are a number of references to theyurodivy holy fools in 19th century Russian literature. The holy fool Nikolka is a character inPushkin's playBoris Godunov andMussorgsky's opera based on the play.[16][17] In Pushkin's narrative poemThe Bronze Horseman, the character of Evgenii is based in the tradition of the holy fools in his confrontation with the animated statue ofPeter the Great.[18]
The yurodivy appears several times in the novels ofDostoevsky.The Idiot explores the ramifications of placing a holy fool (the compassionate and insightful epilepticPrince Myshkin) in a secular world dominated by vanity and desire.[19] According toJoseph Frank "though the gentlemanly and well-educated prince bears no external resemblance to these eccentric figures, he does possess their traditional gift of spiritual insight, which operates instinctively, below any level of conscious awareness or doctrinal commitment."[20] InDemons, the madwoman Marya Lebyadkina displays many of the attributes of the holy fool,[21] as do the characters of Sofya Marmeladova inCrime and Punishment and Lizaveta inThe Brothers Karamazov.[22]
Another fool-for-Christ is Grisha inTolstoy'sChildhood. Boyhood. Youth.[10] Callis and Dewey described Grisha as follows:
Grisha's abnormal social conduct, seizures, and rants were common behaviors amongst holy fools. The esteem expressed by adults was also common. In his autobiography, Tolstoy expressed such esteem in reaction to overhearing Grisha praying:
A further example is Kasyan in the ninth sketch fromTurgenev'sSketches from a Hunter's Album.[24] The protagonist's coachman describes him as "one of those holy men," who lives by himself in the forest. Kasyan strictly differentiates between eating bread ("God's gift to man") and "tame creatures" on the one hand, and birds "of the free air" and creatures "of the forest and of the field" on the other, regarding the latter category as sinful.
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