Saint Theophan the Recluse and Russian theology of the 19th century

Annotation. The 19th century was the time of the return of the Russian Church to patristic Orthodoxy. The influence of St. Theophan the Recluse on Russian theology of the 19th century, as well as on the theology of subsequent times, is undeniable. He was the theologian who did not simply speculate abstractly on theological topics, but one for whom theology was the core of his life. The service of the word was for him the service of the Incarnate Word - Christ the Savior; It was precisely his writing activity that the Vyshensky recluse saw as the way in which he could most fulfill his episcopal duty; His shutter was connected with this. As noted by Doctor of Historical Sciences, Candidate of Philosophical Sciences N.N. Lisova, “... our entire 19th century and the beginning of the 20th - all this was the return of the Russian Church to patristic Orthodoxy. Because in the history of the Russian Church there was, as we know, a turning point associated with the Petrine era, with the synodal period, with the Spiritual Regulations” [4]. L.D. Bitekhtina wrote that “... the peculiarity of the state of Russian theology and science for this period was fixed in the task of “catching up” with Western enlightenment (in particular, Germany). The problem was that, focusing on the Western school of theology, ours did not proceed from internal need and conviction” [1]. Saint Theophan, undoubtedly, was one of the most influential spiritual writers of the 19th century, who had a great influence on the development of Russian theology and on social thought in general, actively publishing and entering into correspondence on spiritual issues. Correspondence with the laity was probably one of the most important areas of the spiritual activity of Saint Theophan during the period of his retreat in the Vyshenskaya hermitage. Having retired to the Vyshenskaya hermitage near Tambov, Saint Theophan conducted daily services in his house church for more than 20 years, was engaged in book translations and conducted extensive correspondence, answering several dozen letters a day. The questions he answered, including those related to spiritual life, public morality, mass interest in the occult and non-Christian religiosity, are still relevant today. According to his contemporary biographer Archimandrite Georgy (Tertyshnikov), “In the feat of spiritual and moral creativity, Saint Theophan saw great service to the Church of God. He speaks about this in one of his letters: “Writing is a necessary service for the Church.” <...> Almost no aspect of spiritual life escaped his deep, careful observation. But the main theme of his works is salvation in Christ” [2]. “In the 19th century, the Athonite Russian Panteleimon Monastery, capital and regional domestic printing houses, and periodicals, both spiritual and secular, were involved in the publication of the works of St. Theophan. Books outlining the moral teachings of the Christian Church went through multiple reprints during their lifetime: “Letters on Christian Life”, “Outline of Christian Moral Teaching”, “The Path to Salvation. A short essay on asceticism”, “What is spiritual life and how to tune in to it?”, “Letters to various persons on various subjects of faith and life”, “Letters on spiritual life”, dogmatic essay “The Soul and the Angel - not the body, but the spirit”. St. Theophan translated many ascetic and mystical works, paying particular attention to the works of St. Pachomius, St. Basil the Great, St. John Cassian, St. Benedict, "Philokalia". His interpretations of the Epistles of St. are also very important. Apostle Paul, written in the form of sermons. The saint’s works summarize the spiritual experience of many ascetics of the Church [9]. The famous church historian Archpriest Georgy Florovsky in “The Ways of Russian Theology” characterized the theological activity of the saint as follows: “Theophan’s literary activity develops especially during the years of seclusion. He immediately outlines a whole system of work. First, he sets out to interpret the New Testament. Secondly, he decides to translate the Philokalia into Russian. This work lasted for 20 years. Theophan only managed to interpret the letters of the Apostle Paul (without the letter to the Jews). The Gospel, he thought, needs not so much to be interpreted as to be reflected upon; This is how his “Gospel story about God the Word” was compiled. Theophan always relies on patristic interpretations, most of all on Chrysostom and Theodoret. But he very willingly used new Western commentaries, stocking up on books from “the coolest ones,” but he especially loved English commentaries. His library contained many foreign books, in particular the collections of Min, and not only his “Patrology”, but also his other series, preaching dictionaries, and a theology course. Theophanes did not build a system either dogmatic or moralizing. He only wanted to outline the image of Christian life, to show the direction of the spiritual path. And this is its incomparable historical significance. He continued and completed the feat of Elder Paisius 1. He realized the Russian Philokalia and managed to build his living worldview completely in the fatherly style and spirit [7, p. 501–502, 508]. According to N.N. Lisovoy, who analyzed the translation of the Philokalia by St. Theophan the Recluse, “...if he comes across some passage that is difficult to literally translate into Russian, then he explains it using modern language and a modern conceptual apparatus - regardless of the fact that the translation will not be very similar to the language of some Abba of the 7th century. Let it be different - he tells it. As a rule, it is quite accurate. At the same time, Saint Theophan was accused of inaccuracy by everything in the world - the fact is that Saint Theophan did not translate at all in the sense that is familiar to us. He created his patristic text [4]. L.D. Bitekhtina wrote: “... the theological historical-genetic method in the development of dogma and the method of self-determination in the principle of personality development constitute the methodological basis of psychology in the spiritual teaching of St. Feofan. In other words, the concept of internal experience, an internal situation, is like a unit of analysis of internal mental activity, which is paramount for a Christian. The importance of this direction lies in the fact that this is a study not of passionate states, but of the “image of God,” which has a true relationship to the essence of the soul, and related theological and psychological topics raise such important issues as freedom of human will, the relationship between grace and freedom, freedom and predestination, ways of perceiving divine revelation, psychological proof of the existence of God” [1]. Doctor of Theology, Archpriest Pavel Khondzinsky wrote: “Patristic anthropology (and with it Christology and triadology) spoke the language of its time - in other words, the language of ancient metaphysics. The era of modernity poses problems for theology associated with a radical change in the anthropological component in philosophy. The replacement of theocentrism with anthropocentrism leads to the emergence of new terminology, irrelevant terminology of the fathers” [8, p. 24]. In this situation, Saint Theophan “managed to maintain a balance between tradition and the anthropological discoveries of modernity. In his reasoning, he used both old metaphysical and new psychological terminology. However, this testified not to the eclecticism of his views, but, first of all, to the fact that his thought “inhabited” not a philosophical, but a theological horizon [8, p. 25]. According to Archpriest Pavel Khondzinsky, of the theologians contemporary to St. Theophan, “only his anthropology takes into account and deploys in a different theological and historical situation the teaching and experience of the ancient patristic tradition” [8, p. 25]. The eccleosiological teaching of St. Theophan also seems important. As M.V. noted in his article published in the magazine Church and Time. Legeyev, “The nature of the Church is, undoubtedly, the nature of man with all its inherent features, properties and qualities. As St. Theophan says, the life of the Church “embraces with its churchliness the whole person and throughout life”” [5, p. 335], “embraces the whole life of a person, from birth to death, and, moreover, in all its manifestations and orders” and, thus, embraces the entire internal structure of human nature - spiritual, mental and physical. The Church surrounds us comprehensively.” The ascetic idea that the whole nature of man takes part in his salvation, and all of it perceives the subsequent sanctification (which runs like a red thread through ascetic patristic theology) is fully applied by Saint Theophan to the field of ecclesiology, expressed in short and succinct words: “Everything that is in the Church is necessary” for salvation. Everything is necessary, everything is necessary, everything is edifying, everything is holy! The theme of the spiritual body, so characteristic of many, many saints, originating from the theology of the Apostle Paul “The spiritual body is sown, the spiritual body is raised” (1 Cor. 15:44), with St. Theophan again finds its resonance and ecclesiological content. As the saint says, everything in the Church, not only invisible, but also visible, external, is not carnal, but spiritual. According to the meaning and spirit of the teachings of St. Theophan, the Church itself could be called, using the terminology of St. Simeon the New Theologian, the “all-spiritual body” of Christ. This epithet in no way denies the external attributes of the Church, but quite the contrary, it points to the internal, spiritual meaning and quality of everything externally visible in the Church: its statutes, orders and dispensations - the entire diverse structure of the church, leading a person to salvation. The disorder of the internal Church necessarily entails, as St. Theophan teaches, external destruction - the destruction and desecration of churches, captivity and disorder [6, p. 289]. In general, the spirit of the Church, its internal component, or, as the saint puts it, “the spiritual body of the Church” is connected with freedom - of course, with the freedom of its members, human hypostases. Everything external to the Church: churches, rituals, etc., on the contrary, is subject to necessity and is only a necessary consequence of the internal structure [5, p. 342]. “Having clothed itself (in externals),” teaches Saint Theophan, “the Church did not bind itself to this; Her power over her appearance was not stopped; but she remained powerful in relation to her for all times” [5, 342; 3]. The influence of St. Theophan the Recluse on Russian theology of the 19th century, as well as on the theology of subsequent times, is undeniable. He was the theologian who did not simply speculate abstractly on theological topics, but one for whom theology was the core of his life. The service of the word was for him the service of the Incarnate Word - Christ the Savior; It was precisely his writing activity that the Vyshensky recluse saw as the way in which he could most fulfill his episcopal duty; His shutter was connected with this. The liberation of the theology of the Russian Church from the influence of both Latin scholasticism and the Protestant preference for the letter over the spirit, which began in the 19th century, became possible thanks to various domestic devotees of piety and theologians, of whom St. Theophan is of particular importance. 1. Bitekhtina L.D. Methodological foundations of psychology in the spiritual teachings of St. Feofan the Recluse (origins, developments, prospects). URL: https://www.xpa-spb.ra/libr/Bitehtina/m-Feofana-Zatvornika.html (access date 12/20/2020) 2. Georgy (Tertyshnikov), archimandrite. Saint Theophan the Recluse and his theological heritage. URL: https://www.xpa-spb.ra/libr/Bitehtina/m-Feofana-Zatvornika.html (access date 12/20/2020) 3. Legeev M.V. Teaching about the Church of St. Theophan the Recluse in the context of patristic tradition and ecclesiological issues of the 19th-21st centuries/ URL: https://mospat./ru/church-and-time/1332 (access date 12/22/2020) 4. Lisova N.N. Two eras - two “Philokalia”: St. Paisius Velichkovsky and St. Theophan the Recluse. URL: https://www.ippo.ru/old/library/prav/person/2/index.html (accessed 12/22/2020) 5. Saint Theophan the Recluse. 7th letter to St. Petersburg regarding the heresy there // Theophan the Recluse, St. About various subjects of faith and life. Collection letters. M., 2007. 6. Saint Theophan the Recluse. For the consecration of the chapel of the Holy Great Martyr Catherine // Theophan the Recluse, St. Word of faith. Words and Sermons. M., 2002. P. 289. 7. Florovsky G., prot. Paths of Russian theology. M.: Institute of Russian Civilization, 2009. 8. Khondzinsky P.V., prot. Anthropology of St. Theophan the Recluse and the emergence of the first personalistic concepts in Russian theology // Bulletin of PSTGU. Series I. Theology. Philosophy. Religious Studies. 2017. Vol. 70. 9 . Shcherbakova M.I. Saint Theophan the Recluse in the spiritual life of Russia in the 19th century. URL: https://www. lifted.asia/2014/04/16 svyatitel-feofan-zatvornik-v-duhovnoj-zhizni-rossii-xix-veka/ (accessed 12/21/2020). This means according to the translation of the Philokalia. The Greek “Philokalia” was translated into Slavic by St. Paisius Velichkovsky, and later St. Theophan the Recluse carried out great work on translating the collection into colloquial Russian.