The Master and Margarita - “Cowardice is the most terrible vice!” Fear is not a sin, but cowardice is a vice

No matter how long humanity exists, it will always be worried moral problems: honor, duty, conscience. These are the questions raised by M.A. Bulgakov at his best philosophical novel“The Master and Margarita”, forcing the reader to rethink life and appreciate the importance of the moral aspects of a person, and also to think about what is more important in life - power, might, money or one’s own spiritual freedom, leading to goodness and justice, and a calm conscience. If a person is not free, he is afraid of everything, he has to act contrary to his desires and conscience, that is, the most terrible vice- cowardice. And cowardice leads to immoral acts, for which a person expects the most terrible punishment - pangs of conscience. Such pangs of conscience haunted the main character of the Master’s novel, Pontius Pilate, for almost 2 thousand years.

M.A. Bulgakov takes the reader to ancient Yershalaim to the palace of the fifth procurator of Judea, Pontius Pilate, to whom they brought a defendant from Galilee, arrested for inciting the destruction of the Yershalaim temple. His face was broken and his hands were tied. Despite the headache that tormented the procurator, as a man exposed to power, he was forced to interrogate the criminal. Pontius Pilate, a powerful, formidable and domineering man who did not tolerate objections and was accustomed to the submissive obedience of his subordinates and slaves, was outraged by the prisoner’s address to him: “ kind man, trust me!" Summoning Mark Krysoboy (the head of the special kunturia), he ordered the defendant to be taught a lesson. No wonder the procurator himself called himself a “fierce monster.” After the punishment, Pontius Pilate continued the interrogation and found out that the arrested person named Yeshua Ha-Nozri was a literate person who knew Greek, and spoke to him in Greek. Pontius Pilate becomes interested in the wandering philosopher, he understands that he is not faced with a hypocrite, but with an intelligent and wise man, which also has wonderful property relieve headache. The procurator also makes sure that the spiritual position of Ha-Nozri: “ evil people not in the world”, sincere and aware that Yeshua lives according to his own laws, the laws of goodness and justice. Therefore, he believes that all people are free and equal. Even with the procurator he behaves like an independent person: “Some new thoughts came to my mind that might, I believe, seem interesting to you, and I would be happy to share them with you, especially since you make a very impressive impression.” smart person" The procurator is surprised at how simply and directly Yeshua objects to him, the master, and is not indignant. And the arrested person continued: “The trouble is... that you are too closed and have completely lost faith in people. You can’t, you see, put all your affection into a dog. Your life is meager, hegemon...” Pilate felt that the condemned man was absolutely right in something important and his spiritual conviction was so strong that even the tax collector, Matthew Levi, despising money, followed his Teacher everywhere. The procurator had a desire to save the innocent doctor and philosopher: he would declare Ga-Notsri mentally ill and send him to the island in the Mediterranean Sea, where his residence is located. But this was not destined to come true, because in the case of Yeshua there is a denunciation of Judas from Kiriath, which reports that the philosopher told “a kind and inquisitive man” that “all power is violence over people and that the time will come when there will be no the power of neither the Caesars nor any other power. Man will move into the kingdom of truth and justice, where no power will be needed at all.” Thus, having offended the authority of Caesar, Yeshua signed his own death warrant. Even to save his life, he does not renounce his beliefs, does not try to lie or hide something, since telling the truth is “easy and pleasant” for him. Yeshua was led to execution, and from that moment Pontius Pilate lost peace because he sent an innocent man to execution. It seemed to him vaguely “that he didn’t say something to the convict, or maybe he didn’t listen to something.” He felt that his action would not be forgiven, and he hated everyone who contributed to the condemnation of the philosopher, and first of all himself, since he quite consciously made a deal with his conscience, afraid of the inner desire to restore justice. He, smart politician And skillful diplomat, I realized long ago that, living in totalitarian state, one cannot remain oneself, that the need for hypocrisy deprived him of faith in people and made his life meager and meaningless, which Yeshua noticed. Unshakable moral position Ha-Nozri helped Pilate realize his weakness and insignificance. To alleviate his suffering and somehow clear his conscience, Pilate orders the death of Judas, who betrayed Yeshua. But the pangs of conscience do not let him go, therefore, in a dream in which the procurator saw that he had not sent him to execution wandering philosopher, he cried and laughed with joy. And in reality he executed himself because he was afraid to take Yeshua’s side and save him, because to have mercy on Ha-Nozri meant to put himself at risk. If there had not been an interrogation protocol, he might have released the wandering philosopher. But career and fear of Caesar turned out to be stronger than my inner voice.

If Pilate had been at peace with himself and his concept of morality, his conscience would not have tormented him. But he, having authorized the execution of Yeshua, acted contrary to “his will and his desires, out of cowardice alone...”, which turns into a two-thousand-year torment of repentance for the procurator. According to Bulgakov, people with double standards, like Pontius Pilate, are very dangerous, because because of their cowardice and cowardice they commit meanness and evil. Thus, the novel indisputably proves the statement of the bearer of goodness and justice, Yeshua, that “cowardice is the most terrible vice.”

DEBT THEORY

Cowardice is habitually condemned by society

Many people have heard M. Bulgakov’s phrase that cowardice is the most terrible vice. Well, that’s true. However, it is very bad when, under the pressure of such maxims, a conscientious person gives up on himself after a cowardly act.

Of course, the cats are already scratching at his soul, and in addition, society invisibly repeats to him: “You have reached the most terrible vice!”

But pay attention - after all, Bulgakov hardly condemned anyone. Rather, he simply stated a fact that was obvious to him. And I will allow myself to add to the famous phrase:

Cowardice is the worst of vices if you don’t fight it.

It is not cowardice itself that is immoral, but the unwillingness to resist it.

I repeat - for thousands of years, leaders of all stripes have cultivated cowardice in people using the most cruel means. She has ingrained herself into our soul, she has literally become a part of it! This is why, when we are threatened, we instinctively strive to obey.

Under these conditions, one cannot blame a person who succumbs to cowardice. It would be more correct to honor the one who was able to overcome it!

There is a striking episode in the Gospel when the Apostle Peter denied Christ. Just before this, he passionately convinced the teacher that he would never leave him. To which he will receive the answer: “... Truly I tell you that this night, before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.” And so it happened - under the threat of being captured, Peter denied Christ three times - and then the rooster crowed. And Peter, gone, wept bitterly...

So, do we now consider Peter a scoundrel and a traitor? No. Having overcome his fear, he then became a successor to the work of his teacher - and at the end of his life he also accepted martyrdom.

And now I’ll give an excerpt from E. M. Remarque’s book “On western front no change,” which describes the shelling:

“A recruit lying scared to death next to us...

He covered his face with his hands. His helmet rolled to the side.

I pull it up and am going to put it on his head.

He looks up, pushes his helmet away and, like a child,

crawls his head under my armpit, pressing tightly to mine

breasts His narrow shoulders tremble...

Gradually he comes to his senses. Suddenly he turns red like a poppy,

Confusion is written on his face. He carefully touches his hand

pants and looks at me pitifully. I immediately realize what's going on:

he has gun disease. I try to console him:

- There is nothing to be ashamed of; It also happened not like you

shit in their pants when they first came under fire. Go behind the bush

take off your underpants and that’s the end of it...

There is not a drop of blame or condemnation in this episode. Not only gods, but also people are wise, understanding the nature of cowardice and not making a judgment out of it. Cowardice is not bad in itself, but only when you refuse to fight it. In this case, we can safely equate cowardice and laziness of the soul...

Okay - but what should you do if you commit a shameful, cowardly act?

Paradoxically, the first thing to do is to perk up your spirit a little. Thousands and thousands of people are absolutely not ashamed of their cowardice - their weak consciousness is designed in such a way that it instantly displaces all unpleasant memories from their memory.

You are not like that. There is some kind of vigilant guard in your soul that does not allow you to relax. And this, on the one hand, is good. But on the other hand, you may soon simply overstrain yourself from endless reproaches of your conscience. Especially if you still don’t have enough strength to follow her voice...

I suggest you adopt debt theory . If at some point in your life you did not have the courage to act according to your conscience, write this action down as a liability. Rest assured - fate, seeing the intention to get even with the debts of the past, will definitely provide the opportunity to do this

One of the most striking episodes in my life was when I did not stand up for a woman who was robbed on a bus. When we, tightly squeezed in the car, approached the stop, she became agitated and shouted: “Driver, don’t open the door! My wallet was stolen! I know who stole it - this one!” And she pointed to the big guy next to me, who was grinning and looking away to the side. And I stood right at the door and could well have said: “I’m ready to show my pockets. You do the same, or give me your wallet.” Moreover, I was pressed so tightly against the door that, if I wanted, I could prevent it from opening.

But... The bus pulled up to the stop, the driver, turning his face to the side, opened the door, the big guy immediately jumped out into the street - and was gone...

I was extremely ashamed to remember this episode until I said to myself: “Simply tormenting the soul will not help the matter. They will only wear me down. Therefore, I write this episode down as a credit to myself. As soon as I witness again similar situation- I will be ready to intervene in it...”

Almost every one of us has allowed cowardly things in our lives, shameful acts. It is commendable to worry about this - but only if the worries lead to a specific positive result.

Cowardice comes only from a lack of...desire

R. Descartes

THEORY OF SMALL CASES

The eyes of fear are great

What does this saying mean? Yes very much simple thought- we tend to exaggerate the scale of the unknown. As Shakespeare said: “Real horrors are not so terrible as the horrors of imagination.”

The main tool for defeating cowardice is practice. If you are afraid of the dark, go into the darkness. If you are afraid of gopniks, reprimand them for swearing in a public place.

But, of course, do it wisely. If you go into the dark, then go into one where there are no swamps and sharp branches. After all, your task is to return alive, healthy and with the experience of victory over cowardice.

If you reprimand a gopnik, do it in a place where those around you can help you if something happens. Yes, and for the first time you should choose a cooler Gopnik - in case of a possible fight.

Starting with small steps, you will gradually feel the ground under your feet more and more confidently. And soon you will realize that you can make comments even drunk company in a train compartment - and instead of a fight, you are met with confused glances...

In general, it has long been said that you cannot overcome fear without going through the path that frightens you. Moreover, the more often you find yourself in extreme situations, the faster your body adapts to it. It's all about practice!

Human He fears only what he does not know; with knowledge all fear is overcome.

V. G. Belinsky

HOW SCARY THE HELL IS IT?

Often we do not dare to act only because we have been instilled with the idea of ​​​​the terrible consequences of the act...

Man is a lazy creature. Having found a more or less comfortable corner in life, we prefer to keep a low profile, so as not to lose even the illusion of well-being. Habit is a terrible thing.

Wife tolerates a drunken husband because she thinks it will be harder for her alone.

Employee tolerates a boorish boss because he’s not sure

will find an equally well-paid job

People tolerates power because it assumes that in the event

disobedience, she will apply the most severe measures of influence to him

So - pay attention: “thinks”, “not sure”, “assumes”... In general, we live by the principle of the immortal phrase: “No matter what happens!” It’s difficult for us to even decide to experiment - what will happen if I do...

So, let's carry it out anyway - in a safe way for now, laboratory conditions. Take a pen, a piece of paper and write the name of the situation at the top. Now, in two columns below, write the pros and cons as a result of its change.

Work calmly, without rushing. Weigh all your options carefully. And it may well turn out that the prospect of being fired from your job is no longer so scary. Or what a failure public speaking does not threaten disaster at all. Etc.

A separate issue is fights. To be honest, many of us give in to them. Therefore, start by carefully watching video recordings of fights, which, unfortunately, are offered in huge quantities on the Internet today. Then summarize: what characterizes fights? How do they go? What result awaits me if I get into a fight?

After this, you should carefully study expert advice about how to behave in a fight. After this, it’s a good idea to take a self-defense course without weapons - fortunately, there are a lot of them now. And so you will find that your confidence has now increased - to the point that you have mastered the icy ability to extinguish a fight before it starts.

Our the fears are half groundless and half simply shameful.

K. Bovey

IF YOU'RE AFRAID, DON'T DO IT, IF YOU DO, DON'T BE AFRAID

In conclusion, I want to say this again:

Dare to brave act Only those who feel the strength should do so. This does not mean that you can enter into a fight with hooligans only after learning kickboxing. But in in this case It is not physical preparation that is important, but mental strength.

History has repeatedly shown examples of how big men and big men retreated from a weaker enemy only because he was not going to give up. Desperate, focused resistance sometimes works wonders. But only internally mature people are capable of such resistance.

So don't rush the time. If you have taken a course towards courage, that’s already good. Work tirelessly and consistently towards your goal. Be prepared for failure. Think of them as training and conditioning. Get up from your knees and walk forward again.

And at one point there will come a calm inner feeling that you have already don't be afraid.

Don't be afraid of gopniks.

Don't be afraid to argue with your boss.

Don't be afraid to openly express your position on the forum.

Don't be afraid to live.

Few human vices have received as many criticisms and serious accusations as cowardice. Sometimes it is easier to say about yourself “scoundrel” than to admit that it is more consistent with reality - “coward”.

This is not surprising, for cowardice is the characteristic of the soul that we find it most difficult to admit; and how can one dare to make such a revelation, if cowardice presupposes precisely a complete inability to truthfully admit one’s shortcomings... after all, such a confession is frightening!

What is Cowardice and who is a Coward? Definitions

Cowardice is a criminal weakness based on fear. Why exactly criminal weakness? Because a coward is capable of committing almost any crime because of his fear.

Cowardice can also be defined as the inability to take necessary and responsible actions at a moment of certain danger due to fear. Let's take a closer look:

A coward is a slave to his fear, a person weak in spirit and will. If a person is a slave to fear, this means that he has completely surrendered to it, does not control himself (is not able to think with his head and make decisions), but obeys his fear 100%.

They say: “We always despise a coward and a traitor!” Why? Because if a person is a coward, then he is, in fact, a potential traitor and criminal; out of fear, he can deceive, frame, slander, betray, even abandon his child or a woman in danger, and much more. etc.

How does a Coward differ from a normal person who is afraid, in whom there is fear?

Decent or just normal person who is afraid is not capable of committing terrible crimes due to fear (deception, slander, betrayal, murder), that is, he is able to overcome or at least control his fear. He has moral and ethical restrictions (principles) in his Soul that will not allow him to commit a criminal act out of fear.

A coward is like an animal driven by fear, in the power of which he does not understand anything and does everything to save his own skin, often at the expense of evil committed against others. Therefore, a coward is always despised, and cowardice is a shameful quality that evokes only contempt and disgust.

But since fear lives in almost every person, this line between cowardice and ordinary fear is often very thin, and until you get into extreme situation It’s hard to know whether you’re a coward or not.

If, even despite fear, you are able to do what you have to do, fulfill your duty, act with dignity, that is, embrace fear and overcome it for a good purpose - you are not a coward, you are a worthy person!

I hope I will make you happy if I say that everything can be treated, and fear can be eliminated, and a coward can re-educate himself, becoming a worthy person and even a fearless warrior.

What should we replace Cowardice and Fear with?

Cowardice is replaced by self-control and subjugation of your fear! With the help of your mind and will, right decisions and attitude, fear - you need to learn to keep it in a cage like a mad dog, always under your thumb, tightly controlling it. So that he is your slave, and not you his weak-willed servant.

Fear itself is replaced by such valiant qualities as Fearlessness and Courage. It is inherent the best people history and modernity: Warriors, Knights, Officers, Samurai, Spartans, Legionnaires, Rulers and simply strong and worthy men and women.

Eat beautiful saying: “A warrior dies only once and always with dignity, a coward dies thousands of times, every time he is afraid, and he always dies like a cowardly jackal.”

How to get rid of Cowardice? Algorithm

The work will consist of two parts:

Learn to overcome and control your fear. Essentially, stop being afraid of your fear and become its master, begin to subjugate it to yourself, your will, your spirit.
And after that, you can remove the fear itself and work directly with its causes.
Algorithm and practical steps:

1. It's always motivation. Create a motivation that will give you the strength and energy to go through this work on yourself to the end, to victory. Let me remind you that we always work with motivation in writing:

• Write a detailed list of at least 30 points - what troubles await you and what you will lose if you remain a slave to your fear, a coward, throughout your life. You must understand everything clearly and clearly negative consequences your weakness and really want to get rid of it.
• Write down at least 30 reasons and reasons that are most important to you - what you will gain, what you will get rid of, who you can become, how your life will change if you become brave, get rid of cowardice and learn to conquer your fear.

This is a very important task that needs to be completed first.

2. You must fully believe that you can get rid of cowardice, stop beating yourself up and destroying yourself because of this shortcoming. To do this, I bring you a combined text from the book “47 Principles of the Ancient Samurai or the Leader’s Code.” This is your attitude, read it completely and more than once:

Samurai Code of Honor. How cowardice is overcome

Some calculations from the texts of the Ancient Samurai, on the basis of which preparations have been going on for 700 years senior managers Japan.

“It is important to realize that the one from whom not even a name remains and the one who became famous throughout the centuries fell, experiencing the same pain when their heads were cut off by the enemy. But if death is imminent, the leader's task should be to die in an act of great valor capable of defeating both comrades and enemies.

How different this is from the fate of the coward, who is last in battle and first in flight. During an attack on the fortress, he is shielded by his comrades as a shield from the enemy. Struck, he falls and suffers a dog's death, and his comrades walk over his body. This is the greatest shame and should never be forgotten.

The main principle of a leader: right and wrong

If a Warrior knows how to achieve the first and avoid the second, then he will choose the unmistakable path of a leader. Understanding the essence of the phenomenon, we will see that it all comes down to cowardice.

As an example, consider an ancient battle. Those who are born brave will see nothing special in fighting under a hail of arrows and bullets. Devoted to fidelity and duty, he will expose his breast to the fire of the enemy and mount the enemy, showing in his magnificent valor an indescribably wonderful example. There is one whose knees tremble and whose heart trembles, but he wonders: how can he act honorably in the midst of all the dangers?

And he continues to participate in the battle because he is ashamed to be the only one who hesitates in the face of his comrades. Thus he strengthens his resolve, and he will attack the enemy along with those who are brave by nature. And although at first he is weaker than the brave man, but after some repetitions of such experience he gets used to it and begins to follow the example of one born brave; in his exploits he grows into a Warrior, not inferior to one who was born fearless from the beginning.

So, in order to do the right thing, and in order to gain valor, there is no other way than the one that goes through a sense of shame and a clear conscience.

And when the time of our physical death comes, it will seem that only a moment has passed after reading these words. And by what code will we live in the short moments that follow?”

I hope this text inspired you as much as it did me :)

Therefore, the second thing you need to do is set a goal for yourself to learn to overcome your fear, turn your face to it, walk, step on it. This is a constant training in which your courage and fearlessness grow, and your cowardice melts before your eyes. Start doing what you are afraid of, but not with your greatest fear, and let you have the first positive experience in overcoming your fear, and in gaining initial control over it, so that you feel and believe - “Yes, I can do this!”

To the question Why is cowardice the most terrible vice? given by the author Throw the best answer is if we cowardly avoid a responsible decision and, without heeding the voice of conscience, choose easy way, which others call correct, although we ourselves feel it is incorrect and thus, contrary to our conscience, we follow the path indicated by others, what do we do then? We're jamming divine voice within us; we choose the lower, not the higher, the lighter, but the more chesty, we decide to renounce our will, instead of purifying it; and even though the path we took at the direction of others was the better of the two, we will still harm our evolution by not doing what we in our conscience considered more correct.
The most terrible death- this is spiritual, the instinct of self-preservation should not work here
This is all nonsense.
The reason for cowardice is that most people act this way. And everyone is ready to find an excuse for their stupidity and gloating.
It is almost impossible to love cowardly people.
This is truly terrible.

Reply from I-beam[guru]
Nope, philosopher, I object to you. There is no worse vice than betrayal!

Reply from Fomart[guru]
cowardice is a product of darkness and everything connected with it
the feeling of danger is a diametrically different feeling, namely instinct, AWARENESS of the difference

Reply from Farrow[guru]
Even the greatest heroes were cowards; only psychos are not afraid. Panic is probably the worst thing.

Reply from Protonych[guru]
Perhaps the answer to this question can be found in the Master’s statements in M. Bulgakov’s remake of “The Master and E.P. Kruglyakov”
(download text)

Reply from User deleted[guru]
cowardice does not allow a person to grow, to be strong, to overcome obstacles, cowardice makes people do rash acts, for example: they will accuse me of this, I will be caught doing this, oh, I’m afraid they will find out about me, but let me intimidate or kill this person, I I’m afraid that they will judge me, or I’m afraid to say “no” and be used and that’s why I’m so unhappy, no, I’d rather sit in the “hole” than stick my head out, they’ll eat me, and I’m afraid to become strong, in case it doesn’t work out ....

Reply from Evgeniy Sobolev[guru]
There are different types of cowardice. Sometimes a person knows what awaits him, but he is a coward - this is a vice. But when he doesn’t know what awaits him and is a coward, that’s instinct. And Ha Notsri meant that if you know your fate and are afraid (i.e., you cannot accept it), then this is a vice. He already knew that he was going to certain death and was not afraid. That's why I was calm. Agree, if he began to rush around in hysterics and ask for forgiveness, it would lower him to a level... well, no lower, but he became a god.

Reply from Girl with a maple branch[guru]
How we need excuses! How we need to be perfect! Well, at least in someone’s eyes!

Reply from Volkhov[newbie]
Cowardice is the greatest betrayal before God, who endowed us with all his greatness from the beginning.

Reply from Forever Man[guru]
1) Vice (SIN) No. 1 is the hypocrisy of the first “persons” - the supreme shaggy-snouted churchmen (ROC) and high-ranking shaved snouts** of the Tsarist secret police (FSB). **It’s hard to say, people just can’t help but say it.
Pornography No. 1 or the biography of Harlot No. 1 (church) is nothing more than the Bible (Book of Dead Souls)
2) Based on the novel “Ma$Ma” and on the aFFTAr of the question, you can easily build an idiotic logical chain:
Vice - Betrayal.
Betrayal is a product of Cowardice.
Cowardice is a product of Lack of spirituality.
Lack of spirituality is a product of a brain that is poor in convolutions.
Poverty (mental) is not a vice....:-)))
3) Everything is much simpler.
Cowardice little man, for example, a child or a person from common people, incomparably small and insignificant compared to COWARDNESS powerful of the world this.
4) Lord demons! Don't you know what awaits you? However, you have a chance to reduce the “depth” of the abyss by several trillion years...
😉
Signature: Eternal

Reply from Yovetlana Karpova[guru]
The instinct of self-preservation is a fear that can be overcome. Cowardice cannot be overcome. But I'm not sure that this is such a terrible vice. It is known that cowards live longer than brave men.

Reply from Tajmahal[guru]
There are many such vices, pride is even worse. And yet... weakness of spirit is a disease of the spirit. What should I ask the patient?

Reply from T T[guru]
herd feeling.

Reply from Maya matveeva[newbie]
This is how cowardice gives rise to betrayal!

Reply from Ovidy Bazhenov[guru]
What does the instinct of self-preservation and cowardice have to do with it?
The “instinct of self-preservation” is an uncontrollable reaction to a threat to life.
Cowardice is the fear of possible negative consequences.
Why is cowardice the worst vice?
Delve into yourself, remember the most shameful actions, and behind them there will be cowardice.

Reply from Alyona 185[newbie]
The words that cowardice is one of the most terrible vices belong to Yeshua Ha-Nozri, the hero of the Master’s novel. They were addressed to Pontius Pilate due to the fact that the latter did not dare to risk his career and sent an innocent man to death rather than go against the crowd. We can call all people cowardly who largely disagree with the actions of any leadership, the authorities in general, but will not talk about it publicly, only in their narrow circle. These are those who do not agree, but will comply, are dissatisfied, but do not protest. And these are the majority. Cowardice is dangerous because it is very common and, in general, unpunished. Regarding

Every person has many vices. Writers tried to reveal these vices through the prism of their heroes and their lives. Thanks to example literary heroes, the reader could see himself from the outside and fight this negative trait character. And so, Bulgakov is no exception. He reveals the problem of cowardice in his famous novel The Master and Margarita. Just today we will turn to his famous work and in the essay on the work The Master and Margarita we will trace the problem of cowardice, which the writer considered the most terrible vice.

One of Bulgakov's main works is the novel The Master and Margarita, which reveals moral problems, the problem true love, good and evil, loyalty and betrayal. The author also touched upon the topic of vices, where among all human negative characteristics highlights cowardice. Every person can be afraid and have fear of something, but it is cowardice that is destructive. It does not allow one to admit mistakes, it affects the personal I, making a person a simple individual, but not a person.

It is cowardice that is a terrible vice, and this problem is clearly visible in The Master and Margarita through the example of the characters. For example, the Master cannot be called a hero, he is not a fighter, he could not go to the end. By abandoning his manuscript, the Master showed his cowardice; he allowed himself to be broken. Unlike Yeshua, who showed courage and spiritual strength, the Master turned out to be the opposite.

Pontius Pilate, who has power, also shows cowardice. He is afraid of losing authority, he is simply broken by the masses. He could not insist on the truth, he could not save a person whose guilt he doubted, he abandoned moral principles for which he paid.

Cowardice is the worst vice

The writer calls cowardice the most terrible vice, and it is very difficult to disagree with him. Why? This is because it is precisely this shameful quality of humanity that pushes people to commit crimes. It is she who controls the actions of traitors; those who often flatter their leadership are also guided by cowardice. It is the coward who lies, and all because he is afraid. Afraid to admit guilt and afraid to tell the truth. And you need to be above your vices. As one philosopher said, after courage, there is nothing more beautiful than admitting cowardice. I also completely agree with this statement.