An open letter to N. A. Berdyaev regarding his book “The Fate of Man in the Modern World”

Dear and dear Nikolai Alexandrovich! I have just read with great interest your latest book: “The Fate of Man in the Modern World”, and it made a very strong impression on me. I would like to tell you some thoughts that have arisen in my mind. This may not be interesting to you, but for me it is very important to speak out and, perhaps, hear your corrections to my incorrect judgments. You painted a terrible, stunning picture of both the historical process and the state of modern humanity, striking in its hopelessness and hopelessness. And what’s most terrible is that in every word you say there is one undoubted, unexaggerated, terrible and merciless truth. But at the same time, this truth seems to me one-sided, not covering the fullness of life, which is why the picture itself seems so terrible and hopeless. It is about this one-sidedness of your picture that I want to write to you. In your depiction of the destinies of humanity and the fate of modern man, you pass over one point in complete silence - the vital participation in the destinies of men of the living God, that God who at one time sent His Only Begotten Son into the world, so that everyone who believes in Him would not perish, but have eternal life; that God, about whose living and active presence in the world the Gospels and the messages of the Holy Apostles tell us so much. Does this God exist or not? And if He exists, does He continue to take part in our lives or not? And if he accepts, then how is this participation expressed? If God so loved the world that He did not even spare His Only Begotten Son for it, is it possible that He should now remain silent? 1 And if He is silent, does that mean He has retreated from the world? Hid from him? Left him to perish in pitch darkness, outside the light of God, outside the love and help of God? In other words, does this mean that God’s judgment on the world has already taken place? And we are already condemned to remain in darkness and the shadow of death, sank to the bottom of hell, and there - somewhere, far from us, in some unknown and inaccessible world - the Kingdom of God has opened and bright and righteous souls live? This is the first question that came to my mind after reading your book. Second question - in your book you didn’t say a word about the Church of God, and its place and significance in the world. Meanwhile, Jesus Christ founded his Church on earth as the power and truth of God, which the “gates of hell” will not overcome, and which will forever remain “the pillar and foundation of the truth.” Does this Church of Christ exist on earth, this bride of Christ, “having no filth or vice in herself,” or has she also hidden from us, flown away from us to bright heavenly abodes inaccessible to us? Apparently, on earth, you do not see this Church: on earth there are only various historical churches, more or less erring, and mired in human weaknesses, with their infighting and squabbles, and in them, in these historical churches, you do not see the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church of Christ, by the power and holiness of which all these local churches are alive, by the power and holiness of which we all, sinful members of the Church of Christ, we are strengthened and sanctified and come into contact with the heavenly grace-filled life in its prayers and sacraments, and without which we could not be saved. Maybe the existence on earth of this particular Holy Church of Christ, covered with the rubbish of our human sinfulness, and unnoticed by many, is one of the manifestations of God’s living participation in our terrible and hopeless modern existence, which you depicted so brightly, deeply, truthfully and mercilessly in your book? If God has not yet abandoned us, and if His Holy Church still exists on earth, then doesn’t this introduce a radical amendment to the picture of modern human life that you painted, and doesn’t this open up the hope of salvation for us? Without belittling or hiding from ourselves the terrible truth that you have shown, and which, perhaps, is already warning us about the coming kingdom of the Antichrist, we will not be troubled by this in spirit, for we believe that God is still alive among us, His Holy Church exists, and in It there is His Holy Life-giving Cross and the holy and saving Mysteries of the Body and Blood of Christ, this source of Eternal Life and Joy, are performed. And we do not need to expect that future revival of Christianity, which you write about at the end of your book, and which may or may not happen, but we must now cling more closely to the Holy Church of Christ that already exists among us, invincible by any forces of hell, and while remaining in Her, live in the name of the truth and holiness of God. These are the thoughts that came to my mind after reading your wonderful, but also terrible book, I would like to know your opinion about these thoughts of mine. And if you find my questions and reasoning quite serious and generally interesting, then perhaps you would even find it possible to publish my letter and your answer to it in the next issue of “Path”. Deeply respecting you and devoted to you Archpriest Sergius Chetverikov. P.S. Your book struck me with the hopelessness of your pessimism, to which you did not find it possible to oppose any counteracting light force. But now I remember that your pessimism goes even deeper. Apparently, you do not admit the sovereignty of God: at least, you explain human freedom from another source that is outside the power of God... I would like to find out for myself how this point of view of yours can be combined with the Christian worldview, which, as far as I can judge, does not allow limitations on the sovereignty of God? Sorry to bother you and burden you with these questions... In this regard, the point of view of Orthodox ascetics is exactly the opposite - they see the action of God in everything. You might be interested in: