Epistemological and social prerequisites for the moral teaching of St. Theophan the Recluse

Annotation. The article discusses some of the philosophical prerequisites for the formation of the moral teaching of St. Theophan the Recluse. Turning to the study of the ethical teachings of St. Theophan, the Recluse of Vyshensky, one should, first of all, pay attention to the era in which he lived, which largely influenced the development of his ideas. It is also necessary to trace the influence of his own views on the moral teaching of thinkers of subsequent generations. The influence of the cultural environment on the work of Theophan the Recluse was multifaceted, and therefore it is impossible to determine this influence in one or several theses. We have to substantively examine the influence of specific spiritual factors on the development of the moral teaching of Theophan the Recluse. In general, the second half of the 19th century. can be characterized as the time of greatest development of religious and philosophical thought in Russia, associated with the names of V.S. Solovyov, F.M. Dostoevsky and L.N. Tolstoy, Theophan the Recluse and other thinkers. Their ideological creativity has had and continues to influence many generations of creative intelligentsia and therefore remains relevant to the present day. There is no doubt that such a high development of Russian thought could not arise out of nowhere. It was the fruit of a rich, centuries-old Russian culture, the potential of which lay in its spiritual and secular spheres. But these spheres not only coexisted, but mutually complemented and enriched each other. Vivid examples of such cultural development are the meetings of the secular intelligentsia of the 19th century: Solovyov, Tolstoy, Dostoevsky and others with the elders of Optina Pustyn. However, this cultural exchange did not prevent, for example, L.N. Tolstoy took up strict opposition to the official church and state authorities with their traditions, within the framework of which the seclusion of Bishop Theophan existed as a certain type of eldership. The era in which Theophan the Recluse lived was ambiguous and contradictory; on the one hand, this was the time when spiritual education reached its highest development, and on the other hand, the very foundations of spiritual and moral development were being squeezed out of it. This period, in the context of the development of religious and philosophical thought in Russia, can be characterized as the time of development of patriarchal pietism (lightweight worldly piety), based on Western European teaching. Theophan the Recluse was not a supporter of pietism, despite the fact that many of his compatriots adhered to it. This teaching became widespread back in the 40s and 60s. in Germany, which contrasted church rituals and dogmas with a deep religious feeling. This opposition came from the different specifics of cultural and historical development, which also affected different confessional understandings of asceticism. Thus, Orthodox teaching considers asceticism a general Christian moral duty, carried out in various forms both in monasticism and in the world. Asceticism is understood as the conscious use of appropriate means to acquire Christian virtue and achieve religious and moral perfection. Protestant theology, on the contrary, proceeds from the idea of ​​secularizing the principles of asceticism, dissolving it in the utilitarian-ethical norms of frugality, abstinence, hard work, and so on. And Catholic theology considers the principle of asceticism primarily as the ethics of monasticism, focused on fulfilling not what should be, but what is supererogatory [7, p. 27]. In general, in the second half of the 19th century in Russia, two main approaches were put forward among Russian thinkers on the relationship between secular society and the Church. One of them, whose supporter and ideological inspirer was V.S. Solovyov, developing the concept of Christian humanism, proposed to renew culture through its churching. Another approach, on the contrary, set itself the task of adapting the Church to the world, accepting and assimilating secular culture by the Church. It is this second approach that has received the greatest development. V.V. Zenkovsky noted that not only philosophy and science, but also moral and aesthetic creativity gradually became autonomous and separated themselves from the Church and religious consciousness. He believed that all modern culture developed precisely in this direction - and although ties with Christianity were not completely severed, in fact, cultural dualism developed in the 19th and 20th centuries. with increasing force [5, p. 97]. Prot. Georgy Florovsky drew attention to the fact that the development of Russian religious and philosophical thought in the second half of the 19th century was also greatly influenced by the teachings of Western romanticism, which in Protestant Germany replaced theology with religious philosophy. This teaching had a noticeable influence on the development of Catholic speculative theology of the Romantic era. According to him, for Russia this is a time when “moral topics overshadow metaphysical topics” [20, p. 491]. One of the expressions of the theological moralism of this period was a direct appeal to the sources of Protestant ethics and Catholic moral theology. They were adapted to seminary and academic Orthodox education. On this occasion, Theophan the Recluse noted in his letters that among his contemporaries who formally belong to the Orthodox Church, many are among the freethinkers who adhere to the teachings of Voltairianism, naturalism and Lutheranism, who, despite the fact that they were educated in higher theological institutions, essentially remained alien to Orthodox teaching [12, p. 88]. The current situation was also reflected in the educational programs that were taught in theological schools of Russia at that time. Thus, the seminary program on moral theology according to the charter of 1867 was compiled in relation to the system of Chr. Palmer and “Theological Ethics” by R. Rothe. The Moscow Academy adhered to the Christian ethics of K. Sailer. At the Kazan Academy, Filaret Filaretov read moral theology according to the liberal Protestant theologian De-Wette. The textbook of moral theology by Plato of Thebes was compiled primarily according to the Catholic system of F. Stapf. Published in the 60s. course of moral theology prot. P.F. Solyarsky was also compiled from Protestant and Catholic manuals [20, p. 126–127]. In contrast to the supporters of pietism and freethinking, there were also major representatives of Orthodox traditional spiritual education. However, as a rule, at this time they were not engaged in teaching activities in theological schools, but were at rest or in seclusion, and expressed their opinions in their letters and other works. The most prominent among them were Ignatius Brianchaninov and Feofan the Recluse. They tried to rebuild their teaching about Christian life according to the principles of patristic asceticism. Thus, Theophan the Recluse published a book entitled “The Path to Salvation,” based on a course of lectures he gave in 1845–1847 at the St. Petersburg Theological Academy [9, p. 103]. According to Feofan the Recluse, in this book, along with the work “Letters on Christian Life,” he depicted “a fairly complete active Christianity,” i.e. in it they described guidance in spiritual and moral life, intended for Orthodox Christians [4, p. 436]. In this book, the fundamental principle of moral theology is the principle of spirituality. Moral theology was considered in it as a doctrine about the spiritual life of a Christian. Theophan the Recluse notes here that the development of Christian life differs from the development of natural life. This depends on the special character of the Christian life and its relation to our nature. Since a person is not born a Christian, but becomes one after Baptism [15, p. 11–12]. By this teaching, Theophan the Recluse differs from many of his contemporaries, who tried to identify natural morality with Orthodox morality. He noted that the entire modern higher European culture historically took shape and developed under the influence of the humane educational ideas of Christianity, which are based on moral principles. However, the natural virtue of a person, when he tries to acquire moral perfection on his own without grace, makes him good only externally, but “there is no inner spirit of life in him” [14, p. 56]. And therefore, the doctrine of progress of the 50s - 60s of the 19th century, which tried to build modern culture, underestimating the religious factor in its development, is incomplete and one-sided [11, p. 52–53]. If we consider the question of whether Theophan the Recluse himself used the works of Western thinkers, then an affirmative answer should be given. But it must be added that he applied a critical approach, reviewing and selecting the best research achievements, making his own adjustments where necessary, even if this work was translated. For a clear example, we can refer to his work “Invisible Warfare,” the authorship of which goes back to the book of the Italian Catholic monk Lorenzo Scupoli (1529–1610) [10]. Saint Theophan made significant amendments to its individual chapters, and rewrote some almost entirely [8]. Theophan the Recluse did not so much translate as he retold the texts [18, p. 347], introducing into them his personal perception. This was noted, for example, by Prof. A. A. Bronzov. He noted that Theophan the Recluse not only understood and assimilated the patristic views, but was imbued with them so deeply that they dissolved in his worldview and formed an inextricable whole with him [3, p. 261]. In secular society there is a widespread misconception that an ascetic, ascetic, and even more so a reclusive life is incompatible with an active life. However, Saint Theophan the Recluse, in his teaching and by his own example, including the period of his retreat, showed the mutual necessity of active and contemplative life with a correct understanding of their essence. In his written works, he expressed thoughts that necessary everyday and social affairs do not remove a person from God and they must be fulfilled as a commandment. But at the same time, he distinguished the concepts of care in relation to public and civil affairs from the concept of over-concern. He defined care as a necessary certain action, a commandment that is recognized by a person as his duty. Much care, on the contrary, he considered a matter unworthy of a person. Since it lacks the concentration of the heart and the intention of a person to dedicate these matters to God [19, p. 187–190]. In this matter, he largely followed the patristic heritage, in particular, as set out in the teaching prescribed by Hesychius, presbyter of Jerusalem, that worldly carelessness deprives a person of the opportunity to fully live a virtuous life [6, p. 44]. According to the figurative expression of Theophan the Recluse, which is cited by Metropolitan. Anthony of Sourozh is a man who is focused only on himself, like shavings wrapped around his own emptiness [2, p. 642]. Saint Theophan advised to avoid being overly concerned, by which he meant vain vanity and empty troubles [17, p. 369]. Much care, according to Theophan the Recluse, differs from care in that it considers worldly blessings to be the main goal and considers present life as final life, without caring about the future life [16, p. 228]. At the same time, he noted that although everyday affairs are never complete without worries, they can almost always be turned into matters of love [17, p. 164]. Thus, according to Theophan the Recluse, the main difference between care and over-concern is that care is associated with a focus on other people, through whom it shows love, which has eternal, lasting meaning. While over-concern is associated with egoistic activity that turns on itself, when the individual’s intention is connected only with this worldly life. Saint Theophan believed that every person in his life, to the extent possible, needs to jointly perform good deeds, good dispositions and firm determination, which together constitute the “work of good deeds” [13, p. 38]. Every person, according to the teachings of Theophan the Recluse, has natural morality, by which he means a natural moral law. However, for the rebirth of his entire life, she alone is not enough. To do this, he needs a special replenishing force. It is given in the action of Divine grace and is contained in the Christian faith [4, p. 99]. On this occasion, he noted that when Christian teaching teaches that without the action of God’s grace we cannot do anything good, then this does not mean individual good deeds, but the rebirth of all life, which leads to salvation [14, p. 36]. A feature of the ethical teaching of Theophan the Recluse is the non-division of ethics into secular and religious. It appears to him, first of all, as Christian ethics. As one of the modern researchers notes, for Theophan the Recluse “the Christian principle is truly moral, and the morally good, in turn, is the embodiment of the Christian spirit” [1, p. 8]. This approach makes it possible to use the ascetic teaching of St. Theophan in a broad universal meaning and has enduring significance. 1. Averin N.M. Feofan the Recluse - Orthodox moralist and life teacher // Bulletin of Tambov University. 2002. No. 1. 2. Anthony (Sourozhsky), Metropolitan. Proceedings. M.: “Praktika”, 2002. 3. Bronzov A. A. Moral theology in Russia during the 19th century. St. Petersburg: Publishing house of the St. Petersburg Theological Academy, 1902. 4. Georgy (Tertyshnikov), archimandrite. Symphony based on the works of St. Theophan the Recluse of Vyshensky in 2 books. Ryazan: “Father's House”, 2003. Book. 2. 5. Zenkovsky V.V. Fundamentals of Christian philosophy // Christian philosophy. M.: Institute of Russian Civilization, 2010. 6. Gold sparkles. From the manuscripts of St. Theophan the Recluse: thoughts and sayings of St. ascetics from times. paterich. Sat.: Per. from Greek M.: Publishing house Mosk. Patriarchies, 1998. 7. Nazarov V.N. Asceticism // Ethics: Encyclopedic Dictionary / Ed. R. G. Apresyan and A. A. Guseinov. M.: Gardariki, 2001. 8. Nicodemus Svyatogorets. Invisible abuse. Per. from Greek St. Feofan (Govorov) the Recluse of Vyshensky. M.: "DAR", 2005. 9. Letters of Theophan the Recluse to the future elder Theodosius of Karula, Holy Mountain // Russian Pilgrim. 2001. No. 24. 10. Scupoli L. Spiritual warfare, or the science of complete self-victory. St. Petersburg: ABC-classics, 2009. 11. Smirnov P. A. The life and teaching of St. Theophan the Recluse. M.: Syntagma, 2008. 12. Theophan the Recluse, St. Letters on spiritual life. M.: “Father's House”, 2008. 13. Theophan the Recluse, St. Letters on the Christian Life. M. "Father's House", 2009. 14. Theophan the Recluse, St. Orthodoxy and science. Guide book of sayings and teachings / comp. abbot. Feofan (Kryukov). 15. Theophan the Recluse, St. The path to salvation. A short essay on asceticism. M.: “Rule of Faith”, 2008. 16. Theophan the Recluse, St. Collection letters in 5 volumes. T. 1. Letters to the laity. Instructions on prayer and piety. 17. Theophan the Recluse, St. Collection letters in 5 volumes. T. 4. Caring for the family. About Christian life. M. “Rule of Faith”, 2012. 18. Theophan the Recluse, St. collection Letters in 5 volumes. Volume 5. About church life. About publishing your works. Subject index. M.: “Rule of Faith”, 2012. 19. Theophan the Recluse, St. What is spiritual life and how to tune in to it? M.: “Father's House”, 2009. 20. Florovsky G., prot. Paths of Russian theology. M.: Institute of Russian Civilization, 2009.