Fundamentals of Christianity. Volume I. The Humiliation of Christ

Volume II * Volume III * Volume IV * Volume V Republishing my theological works, I decided to combine them in one collection. I am prompted to do this by the fact that all my theological books are internally united by one idea and reveal one system of religious thought. The entire collection is divided into four volumes. Volume One Christ contains two studies - The Humiliation of Christ and the Philosophy of Gospel History. Volume two The Gospel - faith and life according to the gospel. Volume three Christian worldview in two parts - The purpose and meaning of life and the Temptation of Christ in connection with the history of pre-Christian religions and the Christian church. Volume four of Christian Freedom embraces two essays on the question of the relationship of Christianity to the challenges of our time: Truth and Symbols in the Field of Spirit and The Christian Problem and Russian Religious Thought. In this systematic collection, some works have been significantly abridged: first of all, what stands out from the framework of the general system in the direction of monographic completeness has been thrown out; then, from some works, what has been said on those issues that are specifically examined in other works has been thrown out: what was previously required by the plan of individual publications would have been an unnecessary repetition in the system; finally, everything, according to the author’s consciousness, of little importance and, in particular, school-theological, not having systematically religious interest and due to the special original purpose of some books. Thus, in this collection of theological works the reader has the right to see everything significant in the opinion of the author himself and characteristic of his complete system of religious thought. The author is obliged to declare that this religious system - the result of fifteen years of spiritual work - has in his eyes neither confessional-didactic nor purely objective significance: he gives a personal understanding of Christianity, a personal religious worldview. These books discuss not that side of Christianity that forms the generally accepted church formula and the generally accepted external scientific frame of the Christian religion, but that in Christianity that lies behind this formula and beyond this frame and which inevitably presupposes subjective experience, individual illumination. The author does not pretend to elevate his intimate relationship to the historical Face of Christ to the level of a generally binding norm, which for many years chained his mind to one Image and made this Image his own; he does not take on the tasks of a preacher, he simply wants to share his personal religious experience with his readers - while allowing for others complete freedom of intimate religious life, he can demand it for himself. Οὐκ εἰμὶ μ ό νος ὅ τι ὁ πατὴρ μετ ᾿ ἐμοῦ ἐστιν (In. 16:32). You might be interested in: