Hieromartyr Hilarion as the successor and continuer of the ideas of Professor M.D. Muretova

Contents Similarities in life circumstances Parallels of theological ideas In the spring of 1910, Vladimir Alekseevich Troitsky completed his studies at the Moscow Theological Academy with a candidate's degree in theology. The talent of the young theologian was noted both in his studies (at that time he was the best student at the academy in terms of academic performance over the past 50 years 1) and in his scientific works. Therefore, the enrollment of Vladimir Troitsky as a professorial fellow in the first department of the Holy Scriptures of the New Testament by Honored Ordinary Professor M.D. Muretov, who headed this department, did not surprise anyone, but this circumstance requires some comment. Biblical teachers had no doubts about the admission to the second department of the Holy Scriptures of the New Testament of priest Vladimir Strakhov, who defended his thesis on the New Testament, but in connection with the admission to the first department of V.A. Troitsky, whose dissertation topic was related to church history, M.D. Muretov reasonably explained why he decided to take him: “I can point out... Vladimir Troitsky, a professorial fellow of the current academic year, although he did not work specifically on the Holy Scriptures of the New Testament, but became known to me from the work I read of his candidate’s work (“History of the Dogma of the Church”), which has a special section devoted to the presentation of the teaching of the New Testament about the Church, and shows in the author serious both linguistic and methodological preparation for the scientific study and academic teaching of the Holy Scriptures of the New Testament" 2. The uniqueness of this section (Chapter I) entitled “New Testament teaching about the Church” is that in it Vladimir Alekseevich examines pressing issues about the Church, which will always be relevant and important for every Christian. The chapter has two main thematic blocks. In the first part, the author, through a deep analysis of the text of the Holy Scriptures of the New Testament, tries to determine the essence of the Church. Vladimir Troitsky begins his discussions on the topic of the ontology of the Church with the fact that Christ came not for glory, but for the salvation of lost humanity. But how can this plan be realized if, after the Fall, passions and sins are already rooted in nature itself? Having become incarnate, the Lord first of all restores fallen human nature, gives it the opportunity to correct itself and achieve the Kingdom of Heaven, lost after the fall of Adam and Eve. These immutable truths, according to the word of the Lord Himself, lie at the foundation of the Church: “On this rock I will build My Church” (Matthew 16:18). In accordance with this, Vladimir Alekseevich defines the Church as a society of people united and reborn by the Lord. In other words, people’s faith that Christ is God incarnate, Who gave strength to fight sin and the devil, is the rock on which the Lord creates His Church. In the second part of the first chapter of his candidate’s essay, Vladimir Troitsky reveals the teaching of the Apostle Paul about the Church as the Body of Christ. The author notes that the Apostle Paul, with his teaching about the Church, wants to show, on the one hand, the nature of the Church, its inseparability with the Lord, and on the other, to demonstrate the new principle of life in Christ, where “there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free, but Christ is all and in all” (Col. 3:11). All members of the Body of Christ should be guided by love for one another, and this love unites and unites them in the Lord. Of course, for a person devoting himself to theological science, ancient and new languages ​​are necessary, the knowledge of which Vladimir Alekseevich demonstrated in his work. Its uniqueness lies in its subtle understanding of the Church, combined with the competent use of scientific exegesis, as well as in the use of the sayings of the holy fathers (St. John Chrysostom, St. Ephraim the Syrian, Blessed Theodoret of Cyrus, etc.); he did not base his judgments on Western scholasticism, which certainly interested M.D. Muretova. In addition, Vladimir Troitsky refutes the Protestant theory of the original Church, supporting his arguments with evidence from the Holy Scriptures. It is important that the author writes about the fundamental principles in a fairly easy language, which allows him to expand the circle of readers of his works - from scientists to ordinary people. Of course, the work of Vladimir Troitsky once again confirms his excellent scientific training, but in addition to this, prof. M.D. Muretov saw in him his successor and an aspiring scientist close in ideas. And indeed, if we compare their life paths and understanding of theology, it turns out that they are very similar and close. Similarities in life circumstances Both were born into large families of rural priests. Priest Gennadi Barladeanu in his work “Review of the works of Professor M.D. Muretov in the field of interpretation of the Holy Scriptures of the New Testament" describes the family of M.D. Muretova: “In addition to Mitrofan Dmitrievich, the family had five more children: Ivan (later the director of the gymnasium in Tomsk), Sergei (later a candidate at the Moscow Theological Academy, priest of the church at the Semyonovsky cemetery in Moscow), Sofia and Alexandra (wives of rural priests) and Maria (worked at the school of the Prince of Oldenburg)” 3. Deacon Sergiy Pravdolyubov points out: “Mitrofan Dmitrievich’s childhood passed in an atmosphere typical for the family of a rural priest, the center of which was the church and worship. Mitrofan Dmitrievich retained his good and deep childhood impressions of church services, especially Easter, for the rest of his life” 4 . Father M.D. From childhood, Muretova instilled in his children a love of the Bible and educational literature, which later affected his choice of profession: “Father Dimitri (father of M.D. Muretov) managed to pay attention to his family. Mitrofan Dmitrievich owed his knowledge of Russian, Slavic and Latin languages, as well as his knowledge of the Bible, lives of saints, spiritual and secular literature to his father” 5. The family lived poorly, and the main treasures of M.D. Muretov and his brothers and sisters were the Church, study and the open spaces of the Russian land: “They grew up together with the Russian peasant on manure, in fields, meadows and forests” 6 . A similar thing can be seen in the biography of the Hieromartyr Hilarion. N.A. Krivosheeva describes the family in which he grew up: “Father Alexy’s family had five children: three sons and two daughters. It was not possible to find out how the lives of Vladimir Troitsky’s sisters, Olga and Sofia, turned out. It can be said about the sons of a priest that they devoted their lives to pastoral service. The two eldest - Vladimir and Dmitry - later became archbishops (Vladimir - Archbishop Hilarion († 1929); Dmitry - Archbishop Daniel († 1934), and the youngest, Alexy, after the death of his father became a priest and continued the spiritual care of his fellow villagers. In times of trial, the brothers proved their loyalty to the Church by crowning confessors" 7 . You used to hear the Easter bell rushing over the river, as if the waves of new life were pouring into the soul Vladimir Troitsky was raised by his mother’s sister, who worked as a teacher in a parish school. He quickly mastered literacy. He especially liked the lessons of the Church Slavonic language: “The elements of the Slavic language became native to him” 8 . Later, Hieromartyr Hilarion wrote about his childhood: “I did not have a pampered upbringing in my childhood, growing up among the meadows, fields and forests of my homeland in the gracious simplicity of working life” 9. And one more thing: “Since childhood, my dear friend, I have become accustomed to seeing just such a picture in my homeland, on the banks of my native Oka... You used to come home for Easter. You will go out to the river. It overflowed for several miles and flooded the entire plain. And you hear the joyful Easter peal ringing across the water from all sides in honor of the risen Christ: both from our Tula shore and from the Moscow shore the ringing is heard, as if two churches, two dioceses are merging in one solemn hymn... Nature comes to life, and the humble people celebrate the Feast of the Resurrection. You used to hear the Easter bell rushing over the river, as if waves of new life were pouring into your soul, tears were welling up in your eyes. You stand spellbound for a long time and silently” 10. In the memoirs of M.D. Muretov and Hieromartyr Hilarion about Easter, churches, services, the beauty of their native lands, the depth of their inner world is revealed, in which love for Christ, the Church and the Fatherland lived from early childhood. Therefore, it is not surprising that they connected their future fate with church service. Having successfully completed the seminary, both V. Troitsky and M. Muretov joined the ranks of those who wished to continue their studies at the Moscow Theological Academy. According to the results of the 1873 exams, applicant M.D. Muretov scored the highest score of 11, the same result, only in 1906, was shown by V.A. Troitsky 12. While studying at MDA, they stood out among other students with their abilities. During their studies, their disposition to theological and secular sciences exceeded the success of other students, which was reflected in the student performance charts, where they were listed first 13 . The next stage of their lives was teaching and scientific activity, without which they could not imagine their lives. Their personalities were especially gifted scientifically, but at the same time it is difficult to classify them as practitioners (which they themselves claimed during their lifetime) who felt comfortable in administrative positions. Here we remember that moment in everyone's life when the academy administration appointed them to the post of acting inspector of the MDA. Father Damascene (Orlovsky) writes about the inspection of Hieromartyr Hilarion: “On May 30, Father Hilarion was appointed to the administrative position of inspector of the Moscow Theological Academy. From that time on he lost peace and tranquility. Bishop Hilarion always remembered this time of his administrative activity as some kind of nightmare, almost equal in severity to imprisonment, when a monk thirsting for solitude, inexperienced in administrative and everyday affairs, was dragged to the marketplaces of everyday life, charged with the responsibility of making responsible decisions as, albeit a small, but still superior.” 14 And after a certain time after his appointment, Hieromartyr Hilarion writes in a letter to his family about mental unrest, in which, as he admits, “it is not monasticism that is to blame, but the inspectorate... I am a bad inspector” 15. The same idea about inspectorate can be found in reflections on the calling of M.D. Muretov in the obituary compiled by Hieromartyr Hilarion: “Social activity was not the calling of the deceased. Elected inspector of the academy, he hastened to resign from this post a year later, and afterwards he commemorated this year with an unkind word, assuring that during this year he had shortened his lifespan by a decade. The dear and beloved element of the deceased was science. Here he was powerful. Here he is great and famous” 16. These parallels alone make it possible to see how close M.D. were. Muretov and Hieromartyr Hilarion in their structure, aspiration, and most importantly - spirit. They lived with their whole being in the Church, and for them it was the stronghold on which their activities were built, and, of course, this could not but affect their understanding of science. What was laid down in childhood became the defining core that united them and made them unanimous in life and like-minded in science. Parallels of theological ideas Above all subjects M.D. Muretov put forward the theology of the New Testament. He considered all other disciplines, whether secular or ecclesiastical, to be the handmaiden of New Testament theology. Hieromartyr Hilarion, in his obituary for his teacher, writes about his ideology: “Having a rare philological preparation for exegetical works, having demonstrated through many of his works his ability for painstaking, assiduous work, Mitrofan Dmitrievich, however, placed above all else the ideology of the New Testament, New Testament theology” 17. Here you can add the words of M.D. himself. Muretova: “All church-theological and secular disciplines in contact with New Testament theology, although they must necessarily be studied scientifically, but by no means independently and separately, but only as service aids and auxiliary tools for the scientific system of New Testament theology... But in themselves, as an end in itself and self-sufficiency, without theology, they are as absurd as paints without painters, musical instruments without composers and musicians, grammars without writers and speakers. In theology there is only their meaning, purpose and life - without it they are deprived of the life-giving spirit and turn into a deadening letter” 18. God is indescribable and unlimited, He is the center of theology, and man can only know Him through Christ. Therefore, in church science, the main idea should be God-manhood. The problem of some literalist historians and scholastics is that they do not see and do not want to take the incarnation as the basis for life and scientific research. They want to look more at history, chronicles, that is, here they are engaged, according to prof. M.D. Muretov, in deathly letters, leaving without attention the Life-giving Spirit, Which leads a person to deification. So, the main idea in the study of the New Testament becomes the mystery of God-manhood: “Described and limited in letter and history, the word of God is indescribable and limitless in its spiritual-contemplative side, just as God, who spoke it, is indescribable and limitless in His essence. Therefore, it must be explained and studied according to Christ, that is, under the guidance of the idea of ​​God-manhood, and according to the high ideals of the spirit, and not, in the Jewish way, reduced to the body and earth, that is, to the letter and history, as some of the false Christians do. The mystery of God-manhood (New Testament) is the spiritual fulfillment of the law (Old Testament) through the abolition of the letter that kills and the manifestation of the Life-giving Spirit. Literalist historians do not understand the mystery of the Incarnation and do not want to be in the image and likeness of God, that is, they do not strive for deification, God-manhood and God’s perfection” 19 . The objective historical consequence and manifestation of man’s faith in the Savior-God-Man and the objective historical realization of good and blessedness in the world is the Church In 1915, Mitrofan Dmitrievich finished working on his study “The New Testament as a Subject of Orthodox Theological Study.” This work fully and deeply reveals the main tasks and goals that he set for himself while pursuing New Testament scholarship. The main place in his life was occupied by the Church, which the Lord founded by His coming into the world. His entire New Testament science was built on this; it was these dogmas, important for an Orthodox person, that were the starting point in all the questions that the scientist solved: “The main subject of New Testament theology should be the idea of ​​God-manhood. New Testament epistemology should be a methodological principle for the systematic construction of New Testament ideology. Goodness and bliss are the root cause, the ultimate goal and the highest meaning of existence and life. These ideas should dominate New Testament theology, cosmology and anthropology. The subjective human condition and means to the realization of good and bliss in the world is faith. The Logos-Son of God incarnate and the Savior God-man is the objective object of human faith and the objective condition for the realization of good and bliss in the world. The subjective consequence and goal of a person’s faith in the Savior, the God-man, is the salvation of man. The objective-historical consequence and manifestation of man’s faith in the Savior-God-Man and the objectively historical realization of good and blessedness in the world is the Church” 20 . The Holy Scripture itself, through the mouth of the Lord, says: “Search the Scriptures, for through them you think to have eternal life; and they testify of Me” (John 5:39). All Holy Scripture speaks about the Son of God, and this is not surprising, since it is He who must save humanity. In the Old Testament, the prophets announced the coming of Christ the Savior in the future, and in the New Testament it is told about His coming as an already accomplished fact; accordingly, the whole essence of Holy Scripture lies on these foundations. The religion of God-manhood transforms the whole person, makes him a new creature, and the Holy Scriptures of the New Testament must serve as an instrument for achieving this goal. Only from this perspective, according to prof. M.D. Muretov, the Holy Scripture of the New Testament must be considered. In his work “The New Testament as a Subject of Moral and Theological Study,” he revealed the advantage of the New Testament over various religions, philosophies and other manifestations of the human mind: “The New Testament not only collects and manifests in one highest and central idea the God-man Savior, but also realizes this idea in the ideal person of the actual God-man Savior Jesus Christ, being the expression and implementation of all the highest religious and moral needs and requests of the human soul as image of God, and therefore Christian by its very nature, the real and effective ideal of all religions" 21. Subsequent thoughts from Prof. M.D. Muretova explain the relationship between the Church and Holy Scripture. The dogma of the incarnation of the Son of God is inextricably linked with the dogma of the Church. The Lord became incarnate for the salvation of people, as it is written in the Holy Scriptures: “She will give birth to a Son, and you will call His name Jesus; for He will save His people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21). But how and where the Lord can save a person from his sins is a serious question. The Lord, having come to earth, did not write anything, did not create schools, as, for example, philosophers did. Having become incarnate, the God-man gave Himself to us - “and on this rock I will build My Church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18). M.D. Muretov considered the main source and goal in the study of New Testament science to be Christ, on Whom human salvation is based, and the Church is “an objective-historical consequence and manifestation of man’s faith in the Savior, the God-man, and as an objective-historical realization of good and bliss in the world” 22. With the isolation of a community or person, the need for self-identification, for evidence, for constructions inevitably arises. The Church was given the verbs of truth - the Holy Scriptures. As soon as a person deviates or leaves the Church, Scripture ceases to exist in the true sense in which it was given to the Church; it begins to be distorted due to the fact that it is not possessed by the Church, but by those who have fallen away from it. The Church protects the truth entrusted to her by Christ the Savior, and she protects the same truth in the Holy Scriptures: “Every Christian or Christian community, as soon as they are separated from the general church conciliarity into a separate and unauthorized person, can no longer have self-reliance and infallibility precisely because they are not imbued with the general conciliar consciousness of the Church and cease to be subject to the mysterious action of the conciliarity of the Church of Christ. With the isolation of a community or person, a need inevitably arises for them for self-identification, for evidence, for constructions. The directly living self-consciousness of the Catholic Church is being replaced by the works of private individuals, disagreements, abstract arguments and scholasticism” 23. And due to the fact that over a certain time these false constructions become powerless for similar individuals or circles, “new constructions arise that are artificially reconciled with the old ones, that is, sophistry and scholasticism appear” 24. Such a path, chosen by individual researchers, will inevitably lead to false conclusions, including in relation to the Holy Scriptures 25. “Only the entirety of the Catholic Church, headed and enlivened by Christ and the Spirit, has in itself the immediate and self-sufficient certification and consciousness of its truth and infallibility. The Catholic Church alone remained, remains and will forever remain the faithful custodian of the apostolic and paternal tradition,” because it “is the living Body of Christ and the overshadowing of the Holy Spirit” 26. Hieromartyr Hilarion notices this tendency in the presentation of the Holy Scriptures of the New Testament by M.D. Muretova and concludes that New Testament theology is saturated with the idea of ​​God-manhood, and in isagogy and apologetics the Church occupies the main place 27. As you can see, the idea of ​​the Church in M.D. Muretova played an important role in the construction of New Testament science. Consequently, the main subject of New Testament science is the incarnate Christ, and the Church is the guardian of truth. He tried to convey such fundamental principles to his students by teaching them the Holy Scriptures of the New Testament. They want to be earth and go to earth instead of ascending in spirit to heaven - to God Professor M.D. Muretov can be called an apologist and defender of the traditions of the holy Eastern Churches. His disgust with Western scholasticism began from his student days, and it subsequently led him to study the Holy Scriptures of the New Testament in a patristic manner. There has been a revaluation of values. He tried to engage in philosophy, but soon became disillusioned, concluding that it was sophistication, and he considered the theological science of Western Christianity to be an obscurity of the clear: “I, he recalls, felt, and, I think, rightly, a complete disgust for the unhealthy, perhaps pathological and in any case scholastic-artificial vagueness of German philosophical speculation... all this unsophisticatedness is sophistication, not wisdom... and I’m not even talking about Christian - only the obfuscation of the wise and the obscuring of the clear" 28. Prof. M.D. Muretov considered Western biblical studies to be fruitless, since, having fallen away from the Church, they had lost their true understanding of the Holy Scriptures. Even though Western biblical scholars write a huge number of books, there is no benefit from it, there is only material, but there is no Life-giving Spirit. All the aspirations of these scholastics are reduced to the earthly, bodily; they “do not understand the mystery of the incarnation and do not want to be in the image and likeness of God, that is, they do not strive for deification, God-manhood and God’s perfection. On the contrary, they want to be earth and go to earth instead of ascending in spirit to heaven - to God, into the air - to spiritual light... for constant co-abidence with Him through spiritual contemplation" 29 . But no matter how many enemies the Church has, it still remains to stand for its unshakable truths and traditions. “However,” says the scientist, “even without deliberate evidence, centuries-old historical experience has already shown the unshakable firmness of the Church and the powerlessness of its enemies. Centuries-old attacks by all kinds of enemies and from all sides have not shaken a single stone in the conciliar faith of the Church... They constantly appear and disappear, like rain bubbles, leaving behind no harm to the Church” 30. Having become familiar with the basic concepts and ideas of M.D. Muretov, let us move on to consider the views of the Hieromartyr Hilarion (Troitsky) on the same issues. He, as well as his teacher, placed the Holy Scripture of the New Testament in the first, main place among all other theological disciplines, not to mention secular ones: “In the light of the New Testament, we must realize all our activities” 31. And again: “It is most fitting for us together to seek our guiding light precisely in the books of the New Testament” 32 . Understanding the Holy Scriptures of the New Testament by V.A. Trinity was closely connected with the Church, since the former was part of the latter. Being “wholly and all-absorbingly “ecclesiological”,” as A.I. defines it. Sidorov, while still a student, he devoted the first chapter of his candidate's work to the analysis of the New Testament teaching about the Church 33. Sometimes Hieromartyr Hilarion spoke in general terms about theological science, which includes subjects directly related to God. Of all theological disciplines, in first place he places subjects that study the Holy Scriptures, which give us special knowledge and revelation about God. True theology, in the understanding of Bishop Hilarion, is, first of all, life in God and with God, and if there is no personal experience of Christian life, then theology as a science loses its true meaning. In his reasoning he asks himself: “What is theology? For many it is only knowledge of theological truths, but not knowledge of God. Knowledge of God is an experimental science. Only the pure in heart will see God, and therefore true theology must be piety” 34. Undoubtedly, theological science is necessary for religious life, but in no case is it the most religious life. Theological science should not replace true theology, therefore Hieromartyr Hilarion says: “Undoubtedly, theological science is needed for religious life, but in no case is it the most religious life. Theological science is not even religious knowledge in the narrow sense of the word... Intellectually, God is not seen anywhere (John 1:18)” 35. The Holy Scripture speaks about God, but is it enough to know this for the salvation of the soul? Will the science of the Holy Scripture replace life in God? - Of course not, it can only help in achieving the main goal for every Orthodox Christian - the Kingdom of God, which is important not because of its beauty and paradise gardens, but because there a person is directly in communion with God, following the example of his ancestors. It is in no way acceptable to make it an end in itself, as is observed among Protestants and others who have fallen away from the true Church. Likewise Prof. M.D. Muretov, Hieromartyr Hilarion, coming to the department of the Holy Scriptures of the New Testament, notices in which theological science surpasses all others: “Our theological science, above all others, concerns our life, our salvation and destruction. Theological science is the most vital of all sciences, and not a single science can compare in this regard with theological science” 36. And one more thing: “They call history the teacher of life. But this is not always the case. Are there really a few historical questions that are interesting for science, but completely useless for life? Theological science, which deals with questions of life and which has at its disposal the priceless treasure of knowledge of holy people, deep experts in the human soul, can lay claim more than all other sciences to guide human life.”37 And indeed, the Holy Scripture does not proclaim to people something temporary and material; it first of all speaks about God, about eternity, about those events that changed all of humanity. And, of course, there is no way to put all this on the same plane as hydrogen removal. In conclusion of the discussion about the superiority of theology over other sciences, I would like to cite the following words of the Hieromartyr Hilarion: “Studying the Holy Scriptures... exploring the wondrous destinies of the Church of Christ - is it really possible to compare all this with the construction of factory chimneys, with the study of the scriptures of sin, with the entire construction of the modern Tower of Babel? Of course not!" 38 Working in the first department of the Holy Scriptures of the New Testament, V.A. Troitsky, as a worthy student of Prof. M.D. Muretov, took a lot from his teacher. He places New Testament theology above other theological disciplines. In his opening speech before the start of the school year, Vladimir Troitsky said: “The New Testament, at the same time, for some is simply a literary monument of the 1st and 2nd centuries AD with a rather dark past, but for others it is the living and active word of God, it is Holy Scripture” 39 . Accordingly, one can ask the following question: what could be even higher and more important than the word of God?! Hieromartyr Hilarion considers the incarnation of the Son of God to be the main subject of study in New Testament theology. He saw the Holy Scriptures precisely as help to bring people closer to the main goal, which was an attempt to understand the mystery of the incarnation of the God-Man: why He came into the world and what He gave, uniting the Divine nature with human nature. For the future martyr, the Holy Scriptures are only a means to achieve a goal; they cannot in any way replace life in God. These judgments are especially well expressed in the work of the Hieromartyr Hilarion “Holy Scripture and the Church.” “The incarnation of the Son of God was necessary for the salvation of mankind, and not for writing a book. No book could or can save humanity. Christ is not a Teacher, but rather the Savior of mankind. It was necessary to revive human nature, corrupted by sin, and the beginning of this revival was laid by the very incarnation of the Son of God, and not by His teaching, not by the book of the New Testament” 40. One cannot but agree with the above arguments, since if not for the coming of Christ into the world, neither teaching, nor book, nor anything else would have been able to renew human nature and lead it to the mountain villages. Hieromartyr Hilarion draws this idea from the holy fathers, for example from Saint Irenaeus of Lyons: “If such a thought arises in you and you say: “What new did the Lord bring with His coming? Then know that He brought everything new by the fact that He, the proclaimed One, brought Himself. For this very thing was predicted, that something new would come, that would renew and revive man... He brought Himself and bestowed upon people the previously announced blessings into which the Angels wished to penetrate.”41 Thus, the sermon about Christ, about the fact that God came into the world, was for Father Hilarion the main idea of the entire New Testament theology, which he tried to convey to his listeners. Only in the Church is there genuine observance of Scripture, without adding or subtracting, and reading of Scripture without distortion As for the place of the Church in the New Testament theology of Hieromartyr Hilarion, here we must say this: with his incarnation Christ founded the Church. And the scientist understood the words of the Lord “you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My Church” (Matthew 16:18) as follows: “Your name is a Stone, and the incarnation you confessed will also be the stone on which My Church will be created” 42. When the Church already existed, New Testament writings began to appear, which in turn arose in the Church and for the Church. It is the Church that protects the Holy Scriptures from false teachings and distortions: “Only in the Church is there genuine observance of Scripture, without addition or subtraction, and reading of Scripture without distortion” 43 . Generally speaking, the incarnation in the theology of Hieromartyr Hilarion is in close connection with the Church. The Son of God, having become incarnate, founded the Church, where those who believe in Him are saved from the power of the devil, confessing Him as the Lord of all who came down from heaven. Like Prof. M.D. Muretov, Hieromartyr Hilarion can be called an apologist, a faithful child of the Orthodox Church. He relied only on the church heritage, and in most cases became acquainted with Western sources for criticism. He suffered immensely when he saw the dominance of Western scholasticism in Russian theology: “I want to tell you about the need for a liberation war in the field of Russian Orthodox theology” 44. And one more thing: “The scholastic fortress is our academic section of the common front. If we are living people and living members of the Church of Christ, we must feel that this fortress is interfering with us, our Orthodox life. “Razing the enemy fortress of scholasticism to the ground is our academic task if we want to actually participate in the great war of liberation!” 45 These words were spoken when the First World War was already underway. On the battlefields, Russian soldiers resisted the enemy, and Father Hilarion calls for the same resistance to German dominance in Russian theology. There is another meaning here. The influence of Western scholasticism has been felt in Rus' for a long time. Patriarch Dosifei of Jerusalem, still concerned about this, wrote, seeing the growing influence of Catholics, especially in Moscow: “Papacy is synonymous with atheism, for what is papacy and what is union, if not obvious atheism?” 46 And Patriarch Joachim founded “our current Moscow Theological Academy, called in its first name “Hellenic-Slavic schola”” 47. Therefore, the call of Father Hilarion, an MDA teacher, sounds relevant. He devoted all his strength to this struggle and called on others to do the same, and to the heterodox who used scholasticism, he said: “Everything that exists in our theology is a sad result of the influence of Catholic scholasticism - all this, of course, cannot be more authoritative than the teaching of the Ancient Church and the direct heir of its grace-filled gifts - the Eastern Church” 48. Let's draw some conclusions. Spiritual kinship between teacher and student - prof. M.D. Muretov and V.A. Trinity (future Archbishop Hilarion, martyr) - to a certain extent was based on the similarity of the way of life of their families, the similarity of early impressions and childhood memories. Even the fates of their brothers and sisters later turned out very similar. The Lord endowed both with the ability to understand the sciences, and their love for the Church made them scientists in the field of theological disciplines. They wanted to devote themselves entirely to scientific research, but did not have a calling for administrative activities, which they themselves admitted. Both scholars single out New Testament theology among all theological disciplines. After all, it is the Holy Scripture of the New Testament that preaches to us about the Word of God, about His coming into the world, about the birth of a new life for people with God, which, undoubtedly, is the fundamental truth for all humanity. Hence, for them theology is not only a science, but above all an experience of life with the Lord. Hieromartyr Hilarion and Prof. M.D. Muretov has a similar attitude towards Holy Scripture: Holy Scripture is only one of the means that helps a person come to deification, but in itself it is not the main goal in the life of a Christian. Understanding what Holy Scripture is, Prof. M.D. Muretov linked it with an understanding of what the Church is, although he wrote less about it than Hieromartyr Hilarion: Bishop Hilarion spoke about the importance of the Church in the life of a Christian in almost every work of his. Both learned men were convinced: without the Church of God, the true meaning of Holy Scripture is distorted. Only in the Church does the Holy Spirit live and act, Who gave these sacred writings through the people of God. From here they draw the main conclusion: without the Church it is impossible for the Holy Scriptures to exist. Hieromartyr Hilarion worked especially fruitfully in this direction, devoting quite a lot of time to the study of this issue. He became a worthy successor to his teacher in the first chair of the Holy Scriptures of the New Testament. At the same time, from our point of view, there is no reason to believe that Hieromartyr Hilarion, in understanding this issue, only follows his mentor Prof. M.D. Muretov, because initially they were like-minded people. It is also worth noting that Hieromartyr Hilarion’s reasoning about the Church is much deeper than Prof. M.D. Muretova. Metropolitan Vladimir (Sabodan) especially draws attention to this in his work “Ecclesiology in Russian Theology”; The Bishop singles out Hieromartyr Hilarion among other Russian scientists who have worked in this area. Both learned men did not sympathize with Western scholasticism and put a lot of effort into overcoming it in Russian theology. They did not resort to sophistry, sophistication, or anything else that would lead away from the main source of our salvation - Christ. They were especially concerned that readers and listeners should get the basic essence of all theological science and human life - the coming into the world of the Son of God, which is the foundation of the Church - a new humanity. Their works in the field of theology show what the true meaning of Christianity is. Therefore, students who studied with them could always be convinced of the vitality of their words. In our opinion, the theological works of Hieromartyr Hilarion have an advantage over the works of Prof. M.D. Muretov - great clarity of presentation, for Bishop Hilarion had a rather rare ability to write about complex issues in simple language, which cannot always be said about the works of his teacher Prof. M.D. Muretova. Biography of the Hieromartyr Hilarion, Archbishop of Verei. St. Petersburg, 2004. P. 11. Journals of meetings of the Council of the Moscow Theological Academy (hereinafter - JSS MDA). 1910. pp. 402–403. Barladeanu G., priest. Review of the works of Professor M.D. Muretov in the field of interpretation of the Holy Scriptures of the New Testament. Cand. dis. Sergiev-Posad, 2006. P. 9. Pravdolyubov S., deacon. The contribution of MDA professor Mitrofan Dmitrievich Muretov to Orthodox biblical studies. Cand. dis. Zagorsk, 1978. P. 12. Muretov M.D. Selected works. M., 2002. P. 8. Krivosheeva N.A. “Blessed are the blameless ones who walk on the journey.” Biography of Archbishop Hilarion (Troitsky). M., 1998. P. 210. Hilarion (Troitsky), martyr. Creations: In 3 vols. M., 2004. T. 1. P. 6. Lives of the new martyrs and confessors of the Russian 20th century of the Moscow diocese. December. Tver, 2004. P. 100. Hilarion (Troitsky), martyr. Creations. T. 1. P. 8. Pravdolyubov S., deacon. The contribution of MDA professor Mitrofan Dmitrievich Muretov to Orthodox biblical studies. P. 13. Barladeanu G., priest. Review of the works of Professor M.D. Muretov in the field of interpretation of the Holy Scriptures of the New Testament. P. 12. See also: ZhSS MDA. 1909. P. 144. Lives of the new martyrs and confessors of the Russian 20th century of the Moscow diocese. P. 83. Muretov M.D. Selected works. P. 13. Hilarion (Troitsky), martyr. Creations. T. 1. P. 24. Hilarion (Troitsky), martyr. Creations. T. 2. P. 96. Sidorov A.I. His Grace Hilarion (Troitsky) as a theologian and church scientist // Hilarion (Troitsky), archbishop. Essays on the history of the dogma of the Church. M., 1997. P. 22 Hilarion (Troitsky), martyr. Creations. T. 3. P. 155. Hilarion (Troitsky), martyr. Creations. T. 2. P. 103. Hilarion (Troitsky), martyr. Creations. T. 3. P. 303. Hilarion (Troitsky), martyr. Creations. T. 2. P. 102. Hilarion (Troitsky), martyr. Creations. T. 3. pp. 258–259. Hilarion (Troitsky), martyr. Creations. T. 2. P. 178. Hilarion (Troitsky), martyr. Creations. T. 3. P. 537.