medieval philosophy. Abstract: Christian philosophy, its specificity and main features

As a result of mastering this section, the student must:

know

• the chronological and geographical framework for the development of early Christian philosophy;
• philosophical and religious premises of Christian philosophy;
• the most important periods in the development of early Christian philosophy;
• main schools and directions of early Christian philosophy;
• basic concepts of early Christian philosophy;

be able to

• trace the links between the ideas of ancient philosophy and Christian doctrine;
• identify similarities and differences between ancient philosophical teachings and Christian doctrine;
• to classify the schools of early Christian philosophy according to epistemological criteria;

own

The conceptual apparatus of early Christian philosophy and the skills of analyzing the corresponding philosophical texts.

Christian philosophy

Formation of Christian philosophy

Christianity arose in the 1st century. AD in the eastern province of the Roman Empire - Palestine - and in the II-III centuries. spread widely throughout the empire and even beyond its borders. Since Christianity has declared that there is only one true god, then all the "official" Roman gods (Jupiter, Mars, Romulus, etc.) were understood in Christianity as false gods or even demons. And since a sign of the loyalty of Roman citizens was taking oaths before the statues of Roman gods and "divine" emperors, Christians who refused to perform such rites looked extremely suspicious in the eyes of the Roman authorities. Therefore, it is not surprising that in the I-III centuries. Christians were persecuted by the authorities. (The first of these was at the end of the 1st century, when, after the devastating fire of Rome, the emperor Nero accused the Christians of setting fire to the city.)

By the beginning of the IV century. Christian communities on the territory of the empire had already become a serious force that emperors had to reckon with.

In 313, the emperors Constantine and Licinius issued the Edict of Milan, according to which Christianity was equalized in rights with other religions of the empire.

In 325, Emperor Constantine issued a decree by which Christianity became the state religion of the Roman Empire. And already at the end of the IV century. (c. 395) Emperor Theodosius the Great by his decree banned pagan religions and closed all pagan temples. After that, Christianity remained the only official religion in the empire. Since that time, the persecution of pagans by Christians has begun, an active struggle has been waged (including at the state level) against pagan culture, including pagan philosophy.

In 529, Emperor Justinian closed the last pagan philosophical school- Plato's Academy in Athens.

The development of Christian philosophy in the I-III centuries. proceeded extremely slowly and was associated with a number of difficulties. Thus, a number of prominent ideologists of Christianity (Tertullian, Justin, Tatian, and others) argued that Christians do not need any philosophy at all, so all previous philosophy should simply be discarded. Others believed that philosophy could help substantiate and clarify the Christian faith. And for this you can even use the ideas of the pagans, of course, having previously cleared them of their own pagan content.

The formation of Christian philosophy was significantly influenced by the teachings of the Jewish-Hellenistic philosopher Philo of Alexandria.

First philosophical ideas Christian doctrine can be found in biblical (New Testament) texts: in Gospel of John and in The Epistles of the Apostle Paul (scheme 36).

Scheme 36.

The first attempts actually philosophical reflection ideas of Christianity can be considered gnosticism, the teachings of Origen, apologetics and patristics (Table 31).

Since, in accordance with Christian doctrine, the main goal of human life is the attainment of heavenly bliss, the most important place in Christian theology and philosophy has taken soteriology - the doctrine of salvation, i.e. about the ways of gaining heavenly bliss and approaching God.

Table 31

Directions in early Christian philosophy

• The beginning of AD in European chronology, it is customary to consider the time of the birth of Christ.

Where is she, the truth? Which way can you find it? If I just affirm, they say "Meli Emelya is your week." I'm trying to prove - everyone laughs. Why? Even with the correct logic, my parcels seem empty. On what basis did Hegel assert that all this being is the development of an idea? He just asserted that's all, then his logic was good, correct. No wonder he wrote a whole book, The Science of Logic.

So, before what was human thought? Before a complete failure in the attempt to find, approve and, if you like, prove the truth through our rational research. On this "ashes" of philosophy stands new idea. I say exactly “idea”, because, unfortunately, it has not acquired development. This is the idea of ​​Khomyakov Alexei Stepanovich, Kireevsky Ivan Vasilyevich. These are the fathers of Slavophilism, amazing in mind, erudition. They put forward an idea that can only be the only one. All previous philosophical systems lacked a solid foundation. Do not be seduced by impeccable logic, it does not give the truth if the grounds from which our reasoning comes are incorrect.

What did Khomyakov and Kireevsky claim? They said that we must recognize that there is One whom we can call reason, love, truth. Khomyakov called this "intelligible mind." We must acknowledge and study the One who is called God. This is already evidenced not only by the entire historical experience of life, because not a single atheistic tribe was found, despite all the desperate efforts of the 19th-20th centuries to find one.

We must then understand that the existence of this "willing mind" is confirmed not only by history, but also by the amazing personal experience of countless people. His existence is confirmed by the study of outside world, the so-called teleological proof. The recognition of "willing reason" has great grounds, contrary to everything that we had in philosophy. And if we take this as the basis of our reasoning and conclusions, then here we will be able to solve the question of why this “willing mind” is true and what is the meaning of human life. Here we can find both truth and meaning. Khomyakov and Kireevsky argued that it is on this premise that we can build a truly reasonable, well-founded system of thought, a philosophical system.

What is philosophy? Ultimately, worldview building. What do we see in history? One philosopher contradicts another. Whatever the philosopher, then his statement, moreover, having a basis. Each of them tries to give a worldview to a person, and, as we see, these worldviews failed both ontologically and rationally.

What is the difference between Christianity, which the Slavophils paid attention to? They said that only with the recognition of God as truth, with great grounds for acceptance, can we really build a rational system of thought in which our search for truth and the search for the meaning of human life will find justification.

Christianity gives a person a worldview that answers all the most pressing questions of human life. It answers precisely, and precisely in the event that we take the existence of God as truth as the beginning of everything. The Slavophils asserted, if we do not accept this, that the whole history of philosophy is nothing but useless disputes between philosophers.

The Christian worldview, if viewed from the point of view of the search for truth and justification of its statements, then it gives the affirmation of being as God, not relative being, not some kind of “first element”, but asserts that this being is primarily a Personality. Christianity reveals even more - the depth of the inner being of God, the trinity of this God. First, it reveals the existence of God, and any person can check it; this being is a fact from which no man can escape by a reasonable consideration of the matter. Christianity appears as a kind of integral worldview.

Take at least the famous "Thoughts" of Pascal, which remained in the form of unformed sketches. He set himself the goal of setting up such a work that all skeptics and atheists would be silent for all eternity. In "Thoughts" he has an interesting conclusion. If we admit that there is a Christian God, then the person who recognizes this loses nothing: neither the joy of life (neither drug addict, but a healthy whole), moreover, it gives a person peace of mind, peace of mind, strength of life attitudes and - if God is - opens for him the gates of a worthy eternity. If there is no God, then what a person loses, if he lives according to the laws of Christianity, according to the laws of conscience, he loses nothing. But not believing God, not following Him, he loses everything if there is a God. This is Pascal's famous bet. The believer wins everything: both here and there. The unbeliever already loses most of it here and loses everything there.

In this sense, the Christian worldview is justified not only from a philosophical, but also from a practically vital point of view.

When I believe that something unpleasant that happens to me in life is an act of God's love towards me. He is a Doctor, and doctors do unpleasant things to make me well, and I know that this is good. If there is no God, then what happens to you? Just coincidences? actions evil people? A person lives in constant fear, because he cannot foresee anything. His life is completely dependent on chance - how terrible! Even from a purely psychological point of view, how much Christianity gives a person when he firmly believes that a hair from his head will not fall without the will of the One Who is Love. What a blessing a person acquires even in this life. The one who does not believe in this turns out to be a toy of chance, a toy of evil people: haters and envious people. Hear what a great advantage Christianity is already here in this life.

Abba Agathon said: even if the sky falls on my head, my soul will not tremble. Of course, this was said by a saint who reached great heights. But every believer should remember this, and especially when what we call sorrows occurs. This is the advantage in what we call the Christian worldview.

Christianity answers the main questions of various directions: both ontology and epistemology, the two main aspects of philosophy. Answers, and moreover, answers reasonably, answers in such a way that he gives vitality. Imagine if we believe that there is a God who is Love, and a hair will not fall from our head without the will of this Love. We completely forget about it, my friends.

Transcription: Yulia Podzolova.

1. Features of medieval philosophy.

2. The period of patristics (Augustine Aurelius).

3. Scholasticism (Thomas Aquinas).

4. Basic principles of the Christian worldview.

Medieval philosophy represents that period in history European philosophy which is directly related to the Christian religion. Christianity originated in the 1st century AD. in Palestine, and then spread throughout the Roman Empire. From the end of the 4th century, it becomes the dominant religion of Rome. This leads to dramatic changes in the relationship between religion and philosophy. If in ancient Greece and ancient Rome religion and philosophy coexisted together, without encroaching on each other's independence, then in the Middle Ages philosophy fell into complete dependence on Christian religion. The Christian church at this time becomes a complete monopoly in the field of education and culture. Therefore, all social, spiritual and scientific life proceeded under the direct and strict control of church authorities.

An eye feature of medieval philosophy was that all the philosophers of this period were clergymen. Their main specialization was theology and theology. And they turned to philosophy for only one purpose, in order to rationally confirm the Christian dogma and cult with its help, and thereby strengthen the position of Christianity.

The first period in the development of medieval Christian philosophy was defined as patristics (5-8 centuries). The term "patristics" comes from the word "pater" - father, meaning the holy father of the church. The main task that the Church Fathers solved was the task of developing the foundations of the Christian worldview. In order for this worldview to become accessible to the general population, it was necessary either to create a new terminology to reveal the most important provisions of the Christian religion, or to rely on existing ones. To solve this problem, the ideologists of Christianity turned to the philosophy of Plato and Neoplatonism, since by its nature it is closest to the Christian faith.

Outstanding representatives patristics were Basil the Great, Clement of Alexandria, Tertullian, Origen, and others. But the greatest contribution to the development of Christian philosophy in the era of patristics was made by Augustine Aurelius or the Blessed (354-430).

Augustine carried out what his predecessors had only planned for - he made God the center of philosophical thinking. God is the highest essence, he created the world from nothing, i.e. not only order and arrangement, but matter itself. God not only created the world, but also constantly preserves it, which means that the process of creation continues.

human soul, Augustine interprets in the spirit of Plato's ideas. The soul does not contain anything material, it has only the function of thinking, will, memory, but has nothing to do with biological functions. The soul differs from the body in perfection. Such an understanding also existed in Greek philosophy, but Augustine was the first to assert that this perfection comes from God, that the soul is like God and is immortal. He was one of the first to raise the question of human personality. A person is not just a "servant of God", he is a person connected with God. A person is a likeness of God, which means that he can have a will and direct it to faith or unbelief, to good or evil. Evil is the lack of good, it is rooted in human nature. God is not responsible for the existence of evil. God is the highest grace, love and goodness. After the martyrdom of Christ, every person is given the opportunity of salvation if he believes in God, turns away from evil and directs his will towards good.

Augustine Aurelius, in accordance with Hellenistic philosophy, believed that the purpose and meaning of human life is happiness. Happiness can only be achieved in God. A person can come to God through reason (knowledge of God) or through faith, manifested in the will of a person. Faith and reason complement each other: "Understand that you may believe, believe that you may understand." But the mind is still unreliable, prone to errors, so faith is higher than reason.

Augustine also stood at the origins of the "philosophy of history". He rejects the ancient understanding of history as an eternal repetition, a whirlwind of historical processes. History is determined by divine providence, it has meaning and direction towards the ultimate goal. The movement towards the final goal is the movement from the "earthly city" (the state) to the "city of God" (the kingdom of Christ, which the church serves as a prototype). Historical progress is expressed in the increase in people who turned away from paganism and came to Christianity. The history of mankind will end with the second coming of Jesus Christ, the Last Judgment and the establishment of the Kingdom of God.

The second period in the development of medieval philosophy is called scholasticism (9th-15th centuries). The term "scholasticism" was formed from the Latin word "schola" (school) and means school educational philosophy. All those who were engaged in the sciences and especially philosophy were called at that time scholastics.

Representatives of scholasticism understood that the philosophy of Plato, which was followed by Augustine Aurelius and most of the philosophers of the Middle Ages, leads to a confrontation between spirit and nature. And this, in turn, led to the formation of heresies (Manichaeans, Albigenses, Waldensians, Cathars, etc.), who claimed that nature and the human body are the creation of Satan. Scholastics saw the theoretical roots of heresies in deviations from Platonism. But it was possible to criticize the great Plato, relying on no less significant authority. Therefore, scholastics turn to Aristotle as the first and greatest critic of Plato. As a result, the influence of Plato's philosophy begins to fall and the influence of Aristotle begins to spread, with his clearly expressed position of realism and developed logical thinking.

Prominent representatives of this trend were Eriugena, Benaventure, Anselm of Cantebria, Roscelin, Abelard, Albert the Great and others. However, Thomas Aquinas (1225 - 1274) made the greatest contribution to the development of scholasticism.

The whole philosophy of Thomas begins with the category of "ens" (real being). And this real being is the way it is given to a person in his sensations. Things may change, but things don't change, they just take on different forms. For example, water becomes steam and ice. In fact, they are the same thing, but they are different in form. It follows from this that real being includes the following proposition: a thing is what it is + what it can become. Things are constantly changing, which means they are not complete, but all things are part of something complete, whole, some kind of ultimate fullness of being. This ultimate fullness of being is God. God is a finite reality, his forces are constantly in action.

Based on this concept of being, Thomas Aquinas clearly separates the areas of faith and science. The task of science is to explain the laws of the world (real being). The source of knowledge of the world is not participation in divine ideas, but experience and sensory perception. The human mind processes the information received through the senses and comes to the truth. And although sensory knowledge is objective and true, it covers only the real physical world. The whole fullness of being, i.e. God can only be known through faith. Theology should be the study of this supernatural world. Philosophy, on the other hand, should serve as theology, that which explains religious dogmas in terms of reason and logically refutes any arguments against faith. This is where its role should be limited.

Based on reason, Thomas Aquinas believed, one can even prove the existence of God. In his works, he gives five logical proofs for the existence of God.

1. In this world, everything moves, and every thing is set in motion by something else. It is impossible, however, to continue this series to infinity, for in such a case there would be no prime mover, and consequently, that which is moved by it, since the next moves only because it is moved by the first. This determines the necessity of the existence of the first engine, which is God.

2. There are a number of operating causes in the world. But it is impossible for something to be the efficient cause of itself, because then it would have to be before itself, which is absurd. In such a case, it is necessary to recognize the first efficient cause, which is God.

3 . The third proof follows from the relationship between the contingent and the necessary. When studying the chain of this relationship, one cannot go to infinity either. The contingent depends on the necessary, which has its necessity either in another necessity or in itself. In the end it turns out that there is the first necessity - God.

4 .The fourth proof is the degrees of qualities that follow one after another, which are everywhere, in everything that exists, therefore there must be the highest degree of perfection, and again it is God.

5 .At the basis of this proof lies the utility that is manifested in all of nature. Everything, even seemingly random and useless, is directed towards some goal, has meaning, utility. Therefore, there is an intelligent being who directs all natural things to a goal, and that is God.

Thomas Aquinas, being a follower of Aristotle, was interested not only in the “city of God”, but also in the “city of the earth”, the center of his interests were not only spiritual, but also social problems. Like Aristotle, he identifies society and the state. The state exists then to take care of the common good. But he resolutely opposes social equality, society should be class-based, all people should be divided into masters and subjects. Subjects must obey the masters, humility is their main virtue, like all Christians in general. The best form of state is a monarchy, the Monarch must be in his kingdom what the soul is in the body, and God in the world.

The main goal and meaning of human existence is the achievement of heavenly bliss. It is no longer the state that leads a person to it, but the church. The role of the church is higher than the role of the state, and therefore the lords secular world must be subordinate to the hierarchs of the church, in particular the Pope.

Having done tremendous intellectual work, Christian theologian philosophers have created an integral religious picture of the world. This worldview embraced most of the civilized world and had a decisive influence on further development humanity. Consider the main features of the Christian worldview.

Creationism and theocentrism. According to Christian doctrine, God created the world out of "nothing", created it by an act of his will, thanks to his omnipotence. Divine omnipotence continues to support the existence of the world every moment. The maintenance of the existence of the world is the constant creation of it by God again. If the creative power of God ceased, the world would immediately return to non-existence.

Unlike ancient gods, which almost everyone identified with nature, the Christian God stands above nature, on the other side of it, and therefore is a transcendent God. All the attributes that ancient philosophers endowed with being are attributed to him: God is eternal, unchanging, immense, self-sufficient, etc. But the main difference of the Christian God is that, for all that, He is a Personality. Therefore, God is not only the highest being, but also higher intelligence, the highest Truth, the highest Love, the highest Good and the highest Beauty.

Anthropocentrism. The essence of this doctrine lies in the assertion of the exclusive role of man among the creations of God. According to the Bible, God did not create man along with all creatures, but on the sixth day of creation in "his image and likeness." Hence the conclusion that man is the crown of creation, he is the center of the universe and the ultimate goal of creation.

What exactly are the properties of God that make up the essence of the human person? It is clear that outwardly man has nothing in common with God. The divine qualities of a person are enclosed in the spiritual sphere - this is the mind, conscience, and will. Man, like God, is given the ability to think, to distinguish between good and evil, to experience. Free will allows a person to make a choice in favor of good or evil. The first people (Adam and Eve) made this choice unsuccessfully. They chose evil and thereby committed the fall. From now on, the nature of man turned out to be corrupted, he is constantly affected by the fall. A person is not able to overcome his sinful inclinations by his own strength. He constantly needs divine help, the action of divine grace. You can get this help only in the Church of Christ, which is the mediator between God and people.

providentialism. The world does not develop by itself, but according to God's providence. God's providence extends to the entire surrounding world and gives natural and social processes a meaningful and purposeful character. In the philosophy of history, providentialism claims that the divine plan predetermines the history of people, it breaks through everything historical events and facts. It remains for people to either contribute to the implementation of this plan, and thus work for the salvation of the world and man, or to oppose it, for which God subjects people to various punishments.

Eschatologism. To what end is the course of human history directed? Final goal historical process- Kingdom of God. Christian theologians portray this kingdom as a true, beautiful, perfect world, in which a person will be in complete union with God.

When will humanity achieve this goal? Then, when the end of the world comes, the second coming of Jesus Christ, the resurrection of the dead and the Last Judgment will take place. Only those who receive forgiveness from God will have eternal life in the Kingdom of God.

How can a person be saved and reach the kingdom of Christ? According to Christian doctrine, even in his original, pre-sinful state, man was completely dependent on God, being in complete unity with him. The essence of the fall into sin lies precisely in the fact that a person separated from God, wished to become equal to God, wanted to live according to his own principles and norms. Having lost contact with God, people are mired in sins and vices.

It follows from this that a person can be saved in only one way - by returning to his original, pre-sinful appearance, through a new acquisition of the "image and likeness of God." And this can be done only through faith and the acquisition of divine grace. Grace is poured out only on the one who not only believes in God, but also strictly fulfills his commandments, as well as the sacraments and rituals. christian church. Faith without works is dead!

Questions and tasks.

1. What are the features of medieval philosophy?

2. Describe the philosophical views of Augustine Avrels

3. Describe the philosophical views of Thomas Aquinas.

4. What is the essence of creationism and theocentrism?

5. What is anthropocentrism?

6. What is the essence of providenciolism and eschatology.

The concept of "Christian philosophy" summarizes all the religious postulates created within the framework of the Christian worldview. The author of the concept is the Dutch scientist E. Rotterdam. He united dozens of currents in one direction of philosophy, simplifying and streamlining their classification. Among the numerous schools of Christianity, the Orthodox, Catholic and Protestant ones predominate.

Fundamentals of Christian Philosophy

In ancient times, God was perceived as a supreme being, inaccessible to human understanding. The philosopher F. of Alexandria was the first to try to present God as a person. He described him as the Creator who created the world and people by the power of his thinking. Particles of the divine mind are present in every person. People can know God and draw closer to him if they follow his will.

The physical embodiment of God on Earth is his son Jesus Christ. He was sent by his father to save human race from immersion in sinful darkness. Jesus, by his voluntary death on the cross, atoned for the sins of mankind and set an example of life in accordance with Christian canons. To get into the Kingdom of God and be worthy eternal life, Christians must observe 10 rules - commandments. Christians are forbidden to kill, envy, slander, be cruel, greedy, selfish. Hell awaits those who break the commandments after death - the kingdom of Satan, in which the souls of sinners are forced to endure eternal torment, paying for their deeds committed during life.

Philosophy of Orthodox Christians

Popularization of the first branch of Christianity began in Byzantium. In the ancient city, they adhered to the ideology of Neoplatonism, relying on the postulates of the idealists. A key role in the development of Christianity was played by the works of I. Damaskin and the medieval hesychasts. Religion gradually developed, acquiring separate areas involved in the study of metaphysics, the theory of knowledge, and academic knowledge.

Asceticism is at the heart of the Orthodox ideology. Orthodox Christianity presupposes the rejection of worldly joys: temptations lead the soul into darkness and away from God. The person whom God endowed with his appearance has the ability to comprehend his creator. To do this, he must subdue his flesh and uplift his spirit. Only the soul of the righteous is allowed to be in paradise: the Kingdom of God, in which he reigns eternally, surrounded by the souls of his creatures.

Philosophy of Catholics

The Catholic Church gained the most power during the Middle Ages. Until the 13th century, philosophy and theology were not separated. The Church had a tremendous impact on people's lives, determining the political course, moral norms and ways of development of society.

The birth of scholasticism contributed to the distinction between theology and philosophy. Thinkers opposed them to each other, endowing theology with the “light of glory”, and calling philosophy the fruit of the human mind. During the Renaissance, the confrontation died down, and during the Reformation it escalated again. In the 19th century, interest in scholasticism resumed: religious texts began to be considered from the perspective of new concepts. Catholicism partially regained control over the political situation in Western Europe, receiving many new trends.

Philosophy of Protestants

The main role in the development of Protestantism was played by the theologian M. Luther. He was one of the leaders of the Reformation - the process of splitting the united Church into separate directions. The prerequisite for the Reformation was the birth of capitalism. Society split into supporters of the new mode of production and adherents of feudalism. The Catholic Church supported the feudal system, which was beneficial to dogmatic religion: under capitalism, the power of religion could gradually weaken.

Protestantism quickly gained popularity among the masses. Representatives of different strata of society united to form a new belief, liberal and close to the needs of a developing society.

The main provisions of the Protestant Church:

• modest life;
• accumulation;
• saving;
• self-confidence;
• self management.

Protestantism gradually spread to European countries and became the basis for the formation nation states. Churches were assigned to them minor role: it could no longer directly influence the political course of the state.

The development of science in Christianity

The peculiarity of the development of science in Christianity, as a philosophical direction, is caused by the need to combine faith and knowledge. The first Christians were poorly educated people, they had enough faith as an explanation for all aspects of human existence. Representatives of the intellectual strata of society who had become involved in religion considered it necessary to add a rational approach to Christianity.

The theory of harmony of faith and reason was an attempt to combine faith and logic. To fully accept religion, a person must understand what his faith is based on, have convincing evidence. Therefore, the development of science is necessary for the popularization and development of religion, and the development of science is impossible without faith.

free will

One of the questions critics of Christianity present as an argument for the unreality of God's existence is why do people do evil? If God is absolute good, and people are created in his image and likeness, then they should be incapable of evil deeds.

Christianity explains this by the presence of free will in man. God gave people freedom, allowing them to choose between good and evil. According to the philosophy of Christianity, a person must take care of his soul: good cleanses the soul, and evil denigrates it. The God-fearing Christian always chooses to do good, even when the forces of evil tempt him. He refuses material goods, fame and power for the sake of saving his soul. If a person himself does not want to protect the soul from evil, God cannot help him. Freedom is a gift to man, and, at the same time, his heavy burden.

Features of scholasticism

Scholasticism is a direction in philosophy designed to decipher Christian dogmas. Most religious writings are written in difficult-to-understand language. They use specific terminology, unsubstantiated arguments. The task of scholasticism is to make religious texts accessible.

In modern philosophy, scholasticism is perceived as a theoretical doctrine that is not used in real life. She analyzes texts and their individual abstracts, using the same dry terminology that non-specialists are not familiar with. Because of this, scholasticism is considered impractical and somewhat unnecessary.

The role of theology in Christianity

Christian theology is understood as a set of theological disciplines that analyze the plans of God, explain the secrets of nature and the history of the universe. The disciplines are based on handwritten works containing religious dogmas. Since there are several directions in Christianity, each of them gradually formed its own theological school.

The most influential theological trends:

• systematic (basic);
• comparative;
• practical;
• biblical studies;
• historical disciplines.

Theological teachings are aimed at preserving the original meaning of religious texts. Theologians were engaged in the translation and adaptation of the texts of the Holy Scriptures and Holy Tradition, the Bible and the lives of the apostles.

Christianity and philosophy

Christians of various churches are very often very wary of philosophy. How justified is this attitude? At first glance, there are basics for it. This foundation - if you wish, of course - can be found at least in the following words of the Apostle Paul: "Be careful, brethren, that no one captivate you with philosophy and empty deceit, according to human, according to the elements of the world, and not according to Christ" (Col. 2 :8). Let's try to figure out what kind of philosophy the apostle warns us against... Is any philosophy reprehensible from a Christian point of view? In other words, is all philosophy an empty delusion?

The word "philosophy" literally, in its original meaning, means "love of wisdom." It is unlikely that Paul warns Christians against love for wisdom as such, against love for wisdom, not only not contrary to the Gospel, but, on the contrary, having a firm foundation in the Good News of Jesus Christ. He speaks of empty deceit according to human tradition, according to the elements of the world, and not according to Christ. I am convinced that not every philosophical doctrine is an empty seduction according to the elements of the world... Therefore, Christian philosophy is possible and has long existed - a philosophy that not only does not contradict the Gospel and the words of the Apostle Paul cited earlier, but, on the contrary, is based on the saving Gospel message.

But first, a few words about philosophy in the most general sense...

What does philosophy do?

I think it is impossible to give a definitive answer to this question in general view. There are so many philosophical doctrines - the most diverse - that it is impossible to more or less fully "embrace" them with a brief description. But at least a few explanatory remarks are not only possible, but necessary.

The word "philosophy" is of Greek origin and means literally "love of wisdom", or, as in the XVIII century. wrote in Rus', "love of wisdom." It can be said that philosophy is an intellectual enterprise, the task of which is the search for wisdom ...

Various philosophical theories are the results of these searches.

The sphere of reflection of the philosopher is the so-called final questions of being, which include, for example, the following:

How is the world?

Does the soul exist? Is she immortal?

What is free will?

What is a sense of life?

What is the meaning of history?

The most important tasks of philosophy include a clear expression in language and a systematic substantiation of some general principles, which people usually perceive in the course of their individual development without criticism, on faith ... Examples of such principles: “Every event has its cause”, or “The world outside of me is exactly the way I perceive it - I see, hear, smell, touch, etc. d.", or "Different things are built from the same type of elements", etc.

Philosophers analyze these principles, improve their formulations, study and refine their areas of applicability, and so on.

A characteristic feature of philosophy, which distinguishes it from specific sciences - mathematics, physics and others, is, as a rule, the lack of unity of opinion on any general philosophical question. Thus, materialists argue with idealists, supporters of free will - with opponents, philosophers who believe that history has an internal meaning - with philosophers who argue that there is no such meaning and cannot be. Philosophers of different schools and directions cannot agree with each other in any way. Philosophical disputes have been going on for at least two and a half thousand years. So, maybe it is worth stopping them, abandoning philosophizing as such, or finally developing the “only correct” eternal philosophy? There is, for example, the only correct arithmetic, which is studied in elementary school!

The question, however, is not as simple as it might seem at first glance. I am convinced that people will never be able to give up philosophizing. Similarly, I am convinced that it is impossible to create a "only correct" eternal philosophy. In other words, the diversity of mutually exclusive philosophical positions on the same issues is indestructible.

What is the reason for this indestructibility? With the fact that philosophers are very diverse in their life positions and by temperament, by which I mean the aggregate typical ways response of a person to various circumstances and events.

People have different temperaments, and philosophers, so to speak, "are" representatives of these temperaments.

“Why are you saying this? - they can ask me. - And physicists differ in temperament. But physics, as a science, is one. If philosophy is a science, then even in it the diversity of temperaments of philosophers can be neglected.

The fact of the matter is that philosophy is essentially not a science, although in it, as in the real sciences, there are logically rigorous doctrines.

The eminent British philosopher Bertrand Russell spoke of philosophy as follows: “Philosophy is something intermediate between theology and science. Like theology, it consists in reasoning about subjects about which exact knowledge has hitherto been unattainable; but, like science, it appeals to human reason rather than to authority, whether tradition or revelation.”

This is largely a correct characterization of philosophy, although, in my opinion, the assertion that exact knowledge is unattainable in theology is doubtful, I think that it is still achievable in a wide variety of theological doctrines. It can also be added that philosophy, in its essence, is perhaps closer to fiction than to science. Therefore, it is not surprising that a number of great works fiction has a deep philosophical content. (Let us recall at least the works of L. N. Tolstoy, F. M. Dostoevsky.)

Thus, philosophers often do not so much reflect the world as express their soul - the content of their soul ...

Why, or rather, who needs philosophical doctrines? I think that they are, to one degree or another, not without interest for all people who are not alien to spiritual inquiries. In addition, they are a vital necessity for a certain type of people, which can hardly be more precisely defined than "philosophical people." Philosophy helps people of this type to live, cope with life's difficulties, maintain a state of peace of mind, avoid the fear of death, or at least try to “talk” this fear and thereby at least partially “reconcile” with the thought of death. For such people, philosophy is a kind of rational psychotherapy, that is, the awn of psychotherapy that eliminates mental ailments through persuasion. (One of the following chapters will be devoted to philosophy as a specific psychotherapy.)

By the way, the variety of philosophical doctrines provides flexibility and variety of methods of philosophical psychotherapy: some are well “helped” by Hegel in solving their problems, others by Schopenhauer, others by Russell, etc.

But any kind of treatment, any kind of medicine is good in moderation and only in those cases when it is really applicable for the treatment of a particular disease. This remark is fully applicable to philosophy as a kind of spiritual therapy. Philosophy is the healer of the soul, overdoing it, can lead the soul into the temptation of pharisaic complacency. This temptation is also manifested in the desire to create so-called "comprehensive" philosophical systems. This desire, in my opinion, is nothing more than a desire to once and for all get at your disposal a certain “universal answer” to all worldview questions, a kind of “universal master key” to all the “locks” of worldview problems. The realization of this desire finds its expression in the construction of closed, artificial conceptual worlds, examples of which are the world of self-developing absolute idea of ​​Hegel, as well as the world of self-developing matter of Marx and Engels.

As a rule, the creators of such "worlds" claim to substitute their "creations" for God's Revelation about the world contained in the Bible.

It is against such philosophical doctrines that the apostle Paul warns us.

Having discovered philosophy "to our liking" and accepting it as the foundation of our views on the world, we are by no means guaranteed against the temptation to believe in some kind of Absolute, as in God, in an artificial conceptual world invented by one philosopher or another. IN in a certain sense any philosophical doctrine that claims to be "absolute" is nothing but idolatry, asserting that the "current" understanding of the world, the current "fitting" of the world into one or another conceptual scheme, is absolute. Philosophy in this case turns into a dream of a darkened mind, which dreams that the world, for example, is nothing more than a gigantic machine operating according to the strict laws of classical mechanics.

It must be said that people - and professional philosophers are not in this case exception - they tend to absolutize the "framework" of their understanding of the world. This absolutization is idolatry.

Idolatry can be characterized as a lack of perception of the world, a stoppage in the movement towards God. By the way, this or that theological doctrine can also fall into specific idolatry if it begins to claim its own completeness and absolute perfection in the knowledge of God.

Knowledge of God is potentially infinite: we can always take one more step on the way to God… And we must take this step… We must not stop!..

A good illustration of the idea of ​​the potential infinity of the process of our approach to God is the statement of one of the heroes of the novel by Yu. Karabchievsky "The Life of Alexander Zilber". He argues as follows: “People are sitting below, on the seashore, and do not know how to climb the mountain - and God is on the mountain for them. And it is true. But many years pass, perhaps hundreds or thousands of years, and people climb the mountain, and God is not there, because He is much higher ... - in the Cosmos. But people will fly into space, and it will be the same there. Because - listen to what I tell you! - because God is always above people, And no matter how high a person rises, God will remain five hundred years of the way higher!

A deep realization that God is always beyond our conception of Him helps us to draw closer to Him spiritually...

A few more words about philosophizing as a specific form of idolatry. The possibility of turning philosophizing into idolatry becomes a reality for an agnostic and especially atheistically oriented philosophical mind, for those “fools” who “have said in their hearts: ‘There is no God’” (cf. Ps. 13:1). In such cases, the philosophical doctrine seeks to replace the truth of the Christian faith, to become the “way, truth and life” of a person outside of God, outside of Christ, that is, it turns into another idol. And “service” to this idol, which is expressed by limiting the horizons to the framework and actions performed according to its “recommendations”, is idolatry, no matter what formulations that claim to be scientific and rational, it may be masked.

Philosophical idolatry, from the theological point of view, is nothing but pride, the result of the separation of our mind from God. Pride is the “devilish spirit of arrogance” (St. John Cassian), the beginning of all sin, the selfish turn of a person’s attention to himself, such an exclusive interest in himself that his own “I” becomes the center of the universe. Pride is the beginning of the "encapsulation" of the darkened mind in itself, the beginning of man's rupture with God, the "original sin", which at one time marked the beginning of the rupture of the creature and the Creator. Pride is a wall between us and God. And all these characteristics of pride are fully applicable to the part of philosophy that has become idolatry.

In conclusion, I repeat once again: the Apostle Paul calls us to beware not of any philosophy, but only that which becomes our “idol”, a “barrier” between us and God, and which people begin to worship and serve as God.

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