The idea of Christian philosophy. Early Christian philosophy

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Introduction

2. Patristics

4. Scholasticism

5. Thomas Aquinas

Conclusion

Introduction

An important period in the development of European philosophy was the Middle Ages. Its time frame is from the first centuries AD to the 14th century. Philosophical thought, having passed through a bizarre synthesis of ancient thought and Christian ideas over several centuries, became the basis for the rise of the ideas of the Renaissance. Without the medieval religious philosophy of Europe there would have been no subsequent stages; this is an important and natural stage in the development of social thought.

Augustine the Blessed (most famous work- “On the City of Earth and the City of God”) and Thomas Aquinas (“Summa Theology” and “Summa Contra Pagans” (“Summa Philosophy”) are two of the most famous philosophers of this period, representatives of two stages of medieval philosophy - patristics and scholastics.

The purpose of the work is a general description of medieval philosophy, an overview of its periods and the largest representatives.

1. Formation Christian philosophy, periodization and main features of medieval theological philosophy

The concept of the Middle Ages was first introduced in the 15th century. humanists of the Renaissance. In the 18th century, it acquired the derogatory meaning of the interminable, “dark time,” a synonym for which was the “Middle Ages.” Serious historical research in the 19th century changed this view. Nowadays, the generally accepted view is that the philosophy of the Middle Ages is the result of a kind of rapprochement, fusion, and syncretism of Christianity with the achievements of ancient thought. “The Christian authors treated the pagans like the Jews in the book of Deuteronomy, who shaved the heads of their captives, cut their nails, dressed them in new clothes, and then took them as wives.”

Until recently, medieval philosophy was most often represented as a conglomeration of eclectic and relativistic ideas. The dominant worldview of the Middle Ages was Christianity, the main ideas of this time were theological ideas concerning how to understand God, the Trinity, creation, etc. Philosophy was considered the “handmaiden of theology,” in which philosophers of modern times, and often of modern times, saw its debased status. The very concept of what philosophy is was copied from the concept of it in antiquity or in modern times, therefore medieval philosophy could seem like a para- or pseudo-philosophy, within which individual free minds reshaped the Christian worldview in the spirit of Platonism, Aristotelianism or Stoicism. With this approach, this meant: independent philosophizing did not exist at that time; it was a preservative of ancient traditions with one theorizing tool - formal logic and with one tool for coordinating the universal and the individual - the symbol.

The specificity of medieval philosophy was determined by the emergence and development of Christianity. The end of ancient philosophy is the end of pagan civilization. However, ancient philosophy gave rise to the development of what we call European tradition in philosophy, and what organically entered into the philosophical thought of the new civilization associated with the emergence of Christianity.

At all stages of its development - approximately the first 14 centuries - medieval philosophy was organically connected with the interpretation of the ideas of Plato, Aristotle and the Neoplatonists.

I-III centuries can be considered a transition period from antiquity to medieval philosophy. At this time, a motley and complex conglomerate of old and new ideas takes shape. First attempts philosophical understanding Christian doctrine, then the beginning of medieval philosophy should be attributed to the 2nd century.

You can select next steps medieval philosophy.

1. Patristics.

2. The transitional period from patristics to scholastics (Severinus Boethius).

3. Scholasticism

All researchers unanimously date the time of “exhaustion” of medieval scholasticism to the 14th century.

2. Patristics

Patristics (from the Greek rbfYus, lat. pater - father) is the philosophy and theology of the church fathers, that is, the spiritual and religious leaders of Christianity until the 7th century. The teachings developed by the church fathers became fundamental to the Christian religious worldview. Patristics made a huge contribution to the formation of ethics and aesthetics of late antique and medieval society.

There are Roman and Greek directions of patristics.

Semantic-axiological sources for the design of patristics are ancient philosophy (the general rational method and the specific content of such philosophical movements as Platonism and Neoplatonism, Stoicism, etc.), on the one hand, and Christian teleological doctrine (primarily the idea of revelation, as well as the semantic figures of theism , creationism, teleologism, etc.) - on the other. In the evolution of patristics, three substantive stages can be distinguished:

1. Early patristics, or apologetics (2nd-3rd centuries), associated with the activities of such authors as Justin (d. about 165, main works: “Apology” to Antoninus Pius and “Apology” to Marcus Aurelius, “Conversations with Tryphon the Jew”, etc.); Tatian (c. 120 - c. 175, main work: “Address to the Greeks”, set of four Gospels “Diatessaron”, etc.); Athenagoras (d. c. 177, main works: treatise “On the Resurrection of the Dead” and “Epistle” to Marcus Aurelius); Tertullian; Clement of Alexandria (d. before 215, main works: treatises "Exhortation to the Hellenes", "Teacher", collection of essays "Stromata" ("Patchwork Carpet"), conversation "Which rich man will be saved?"; Origen.

The central problem of patristics is the problem of the relationship between Christianity and the ancient heritage, within the framework of which both a direction focused on the harmonious synthesis of the Christian idea of revelation with the philosophical tradition of ancient rationalism (Justin, Athenagoras, Clement of Alexandria, etc.) and the direction that proclaimed them took shape incompatibility and sharply distancing Christianity as the “wisdom of the barbarians” (Tatian) of Hellenic book learning (Tatian, Tertullian, etc.); the idea was acutely actualized in Christian mysticism, which emphasized the value of “the sincere silence of the illiterate commoner” in comparison with the sophisticated speculative wisdom of the learned theologian with his “voluptuousness of words” (Jerome) and rationality instead of heartfelt faith, as well as in Protestantism in its early versions).

2. Mature patristics (3rd-5th centuries), realizing itself in the Greek East - in the activities of the Cappadocian circle: Basil the Great of Caesarea (c. 330--379, main works: “On the Holy Spirit”, “Six Days” ), his brother Gregory of Nyssa (c. 335 - c. 394), Gregory the Theologian of Nazianzen (c. 330 - c. 390, main work: “On my life”, “On my destiny”, “On suffering” my soul"), Amphilochius of Iconium and others, who synthesized the Christian doctrine and philosophical methods of antiquity; and in the Latin West - in the activities of Augustine.

The central direction in the development of patristics of this period was the fight against heresies (Arianism, Montanism, Docetism, Monophysitism, Gnosticism, etc.), which is associated with Christianity gaining the status of a state religion and the official formulation of the Christian Creed at the Nicene Ecumenical Council (325), which constituted basic tenets of the doctrine. Within the framework of mature patristics, the texts of Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite ("Areopagitica") are drawn up, laying the foundations of apophatic theology and Christian mysticism in general.

3. Late patristics (5th-8th centuries), focusing on the problem of systematization of Christian doctrine. The key figure is John of Damascus (c. 675-753) - a Byzantine theologian and poet who completed the systematic formulation of the foundations of Christian theology; also Leontius (c. 475-543) in the East and Boethius (Antius Manilius Torquatus Severinus, c. 480-525, main work: “Consolation of Philosophy”) in the West. The systematizing activity of John of Damascus and Boethius’s orientation towards the ancient philosophical tradition (primarily comments on Aristotle and Porphyry) laid the foundations of medieval scholasticism. Despite the fact that many of the theses of patristics (especially in its early version) were condemned after the adoption of the Nicene Creed (Origen’s ideas about the plurality of worlds, universal salvation, the pre-existence of souls, the priority of the second hypostasis - God the Father - in the structure of the Trinity; denial Tatian's dual nature of Christ (in the Diatessoron the earthly biography of Christ and information about his origins from the line of David were omitted) and his docetism - the doctrine of the illusory nature of Jesus's physicality), patristics played an outstanding role in the development of Christian culture.

Within the framework of patristics, the foundations of systematic Christian theology were laid in both its cataphatic (from Clement of Alexandria and Origen to John of Damascus) and apophatic (from Augustine to Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite) variants, and the initial foundation of exegesis was formed (from Origen to Gregory of Nyssa) , the first Christian catechisms were formalized (Tertullian), many fundamental conceptual structures of Christian theology were introduced (for example, Tertullian - regarding the structure of the Trinity). Patristics not only significantly contributed to the substantive stabilization of Christian dogma, but also significantly influenced the development of the depth psychologism of Christianity with its refined culture of reflexive introspection (from Gregory the Theologian to Augustine). It was within the framework of patristics that the conceptually fundamental idea for Christianity of the priority of the individual (Personalism) in relation to abstract humanity (the anthropology of Gregory of Nyssa) was finally constituted.

The problematics of patristics largely determined the problem field of both Orthodox (Palamite discussions within the framework of hesychasm and analysis of the Christological problem in patristics) and Catholic (the problem of will and grace in patristic and anti-Lutheran literature) theology.

The most famous patristic philosopher should be called Augustine the Blessed.

Aurelius Augustine (lat. Aurelius Augustinus; 354-430) - Bishop of Hippo, philosopher, influential preacher, Christian theologian and politician. Holy Catholic and Orthodox churches(at the same time, in Orthodoxy it is usually referred to with the epithet blessed - Blessed Augustine). One of the Church Fathers, founder of Augustinianism. Founder of Christian philosophy of history. Augustine's Christian Neoplatonism dominated Western European philosophy and Catholic theology until the 13th century, when it was replaced by the Christian Aristotelianism of Albertus Magnus and Thomas Aquinas. His most famous theological and philosophical work is “On the City of God.”

Human history, which Augustine sets out in his book “On the City of God,” “the first world history,” in his understanding is a struggle between two hostile kingdoms - the kingdom of adherents of everything earthly, enemies of God, that is, the secular world (civitas terrena or diaboli), and the kingdom of God (civitas dei). At the same time, he identifies the Kingdom of God, in accordance with its earthly form of existence, with the Roman Church. Augustine teaches about the self-reliability of human consciousness (the basis of reliability is God) and the cognitive power of love. At the creation of the world, God laid the embryonic forms of all things in the material world, from which they then independently develop.

Augustine's influence on the fates and dogmatic side of Christian teaching is almost unparalleled. He determined the spirit and direction of not only the African, but also the entire Western church for several centuries to come. His polemics against the Arians, the Priscillians, and especially against the Donatists and other heretical sects, clearly demonstrate the extent of his importance. The insight and depth of his mind, the indomitable power of faith and the ardor of imagination are best reflected in his numerous writings, which had incredible influence and determined the anthropological side of the doctrine of Protestantism (Luther and Calvin). Even more important than the development of the doctrine of St. Trinity, his research on man's relationship to divine grace. He considers the essence of Christian teaching to be precisely man’s ability to perceive God’s grace, and this basic position is also reflected in his understanding of other dogmas of faith.

4. Scholasticism

Scholasticism (Greek uchplbufikt, “scholar, school”) is a systematic medieval philosophy, concentrated around universities and representing a synthesis of Christian (Catholic) theology and Aristotelian logic.

Early scholasticism (IX-XII centuries), which was still based on the indivisibility and interpenetration of science, philosophy, and theology, is characterized by the development of the scholastic method in connection with the understanding of the specific value and specific results of the activity of the mind and in connection with the dispute about universals. The main representatives of scholasticism: in Germany - Raban the Maurus, Notker the German, Hugo of Saint-Victor; in England - Alcuin, John Scotus Eriugena, Adelard of Bath; in France - John Roscelin, Pierre Abelard, Gilbert of Porretan, John of Salisbury, Bernard of Chartres, Amalric of Ben; in Italy - Peter Damiani, Anselm of Canterbury, Bonaventure.

Middle scholasticism (XIII century) is characterized by the final separation of science and philosophy (especially natural philosophy) from theology, as well as the introduction into Western philosophical thinking of the teachings of Aristotle, which, however, was available only in a Latin translation. The philosophy of the great orders, especially the Franciscan and Dominican, as well as the systems of Albertus Magnus, Thomas Aquinas, and Duns Scotus, was being formed. This was followed by a dispute between the supporters of Augustine, Aristotle and Averroes, a dispute between the Thomists and the Scotists. This was the time of the great philosophical and theological encyclopedias.

Other main representatives of scholasticism: in Germany - Witelo, Dietrich of Freyberg, Ulrich Engelbert; in France - Vincent of Beauvais, John of Gendun; in England - Roger Bacon, Robert Grosseteste, Alexander of Gaelic; in Italy - Aegidius of Rome; in Spain - Raymond Lull.

Late scholasticism (XIV and XV centuries) is characterized by rationalistic systematization (thanks to which scholasticism received a negative meaning), the further formation of natural science and natural philosophical thinking, the development of logic and metaphysics of an irrationalist direction, and finally, the final dissociation of mysticism from church theology, which became increasingly intolerant. When at the beginning of the 14th century the church finally gave preference to Thomism, scholasticism from the religious side became the history of Thomism. The main representatives of late scholasticism: in Germany - Albert of Saxony, Nicholas of Cusa; in France - Jean Buridan, Nicholas of Oresme, Peter d'Agli; in England - William of Occam; in Italy - Dante; in Spain - the Salamanca School.

During the period of humanism, the Renaissance, and the Reformation, scholasticism ceased to be the only spiritual form of Western science and philosophy.

By its general nature, scholasticism represents religious philosophy in the sense of the application of philosophical concepts and methods of thinking to Christian church doctrine, the first experience of which is represented by the patristic philosophy that preceded scholasticism. Patristics and scholasticism differed from each other in that for the latter this content was the Holy Scripture and for the dogmatic formulation of the actual revealed teaching it used philosophy - while for patristics the content of faith consisted in the dogmas established by the fathers and philosophy was applied primarily to the clarification, justification and systematization of the latter.

The relationship between scholasticism and patristic philosophy can be more precisely defined as follows: the former realizes and develops what has not yet reached realization and development in the latter, although it was in it as an embryo.

The view of philosophy as a handmaiden of theology, although not strictly pursued by all scholastics, nevertheless expressed, one might say, the dominant tendency of the time. The tone and direction of all spiritual life in the Middle Ages was given by the church. Naturally, philosophy at this time also takes on a theological direction and its fate is connected with the fate of the hierarchy: with the rise of the hierarchy it reaches its highest flowering, with its fall it falls. From here historians derive some other features of scholastic philosophy.

Institutions of a practical nature must be strictly organized system: this is one of the conditions for their prosperity. Therefore, the Catholic hierarchy, during the period of its gradual rise, was preoccupied with the collection into a system of canonical rules that should form the basis of its structure. Such a systematizing desire is also reflected in the philosophy of the Middle Ages, which also strives for a system and, in place of the experiences of fragmentary, more or less random patristic philosophizing, gives a number of more or less integral systems. This is especially evident in the flourishing time of scholasticism, when theological philosophical systems Albertus Magnus, Thomas Aquinas and Duns Scotus.

Scripture speaks to us in three ways: through its speech, through its teaching, and through its commandments that regulate our lives. “The manifold wisdom of God, as it is clearly conveyed to us in Scripture, lies secretly at the basis of all knowledge and nature.” The trinity of speech, teaching and commandment gives the division of science or philosophy; The truth of reason is threefold - the truth of speech, the truth of things and the truth of morals. The three branches of philosophy are directed towards these three areas of truth. Rational philosophy aims at the truth of speech. But every speech serves a threefold purpose: to express a thought, to facilitate its assimilation by others and to persuade them to do something; it must be appropriate, true and effective - which determines the task of the three departments of rational philosophy: grammar, logic and rhetoric.

Christian philosophy patristics theological

5. Thomas Aquinas

Thomas Aquinas (otherwise Thomas Aquinas or Thomas Aquinas, lat. Thomas Aquinas Italian. Tommaso d "Aquino) (born in 1225, Roccasecca Castle, near Aquino, died near Naples - March 7, 1274, Fossanuova Monastery, near Rome) - philosopher and theologian, systematizer of orthodox scholasticism, church teacher, Doctor Angelicus, Doctor Universalis, “princeps philosophorum” (“Prince of Philosophers”), founder of Thomism, member of the Dominican Order; since 1879 recognized as the most authoritative Catholic religious philosopher who connected the Christian faith ( in particular, the ideas of Augustine the Blessed) with the philosophy of Aristotle. Formulated five proofs of the existence of God. Recognizing the relative independence of natural existence and human reason, he argued that nature ends in grace, reason in faith, philosophical knowledge and natural theology based on the analogy of existence , - in supernatural revelation.

The works of Thomas Aquinas include two extensive treatises covering a wide range of topics - "Summa Theology" and "Summa against the Gentiles" ("Summa Philosophy"), discussions on theological and philosophical problems ("Debatable Questions" and "Questions on Various Subjects") , detailed commentaries on several books of the Bible, on 12 treatises of Aristotle, on the “Sentences” of Peter of Lombardy, on the treatises of Boethius, Pseudo-Dionysius and on the anonymous “Book of Causes”, as well as a number of small works on philosophical and religious topics and poetic texts for worship, for example the work "Ethics". “Debatable Questions” and Commentaries” were largely the fruit of his teaching activities, which, according to the tradition of that time, included debates and reading of authoritative texts, accompanied by commentaries.

Aquinas distinguished between the fields of philosophy and theology: the subject of the former is the “truths of reason,” and the latter, the “truths of revelation.” Philosophy is in the service of theology and is as much inferior to it in importance as the limited human mind is inferior to divine wisdom. Theology is a sacred doctrine and science, based on the knowledge possessed by God and those who are worthy of blessedness. Communicating with divine knowledge is achieved through revelation.

Theology can borrow something from philosophical disciplines, but not because it feels the need for it, but only for the sake of greater clarity of the provisions it teaches.

Aristotle distinguished four successive stages of truth: experience (empeiria), art (techne), knowledge (episteme) and wisdom (sophia).

In Thomas Aquinas, wisdom becomes the highest knowledge about God, independent of other levels. It is based on divine revelations.

Aquinas identified three hierarchically subordinate types of wisdom:

* wisdom of Grace.

* theological wisdom - the wisdom of faith using reason.

* metaphysical wisdom - the wisdom of reason, comprehending the essence of being.

Each is endowed with its own “light of truth.”

Some truths of Revelation are accessible to human understanding: for example, that God exists, that God is one. Others are impossible to understand: for example, the divine trinity, the resurrection in the flesh.

On the basis of this, Thomas Aquinas deduces the need to distinguish between supernatural theology, based on the truths of Revelation, which man is not able to understand on his own, and rational theology, based on the “natural light of reason” (knowing the truth by the power of human intellect).

Thomas Aquinas put forward the principle: the truths of science and the truths of faith cannot contradict each other; there is harmony between them. Wisdom is the desire to comprehend God, while science is a means that facilitates this.

Cognition begins with sensory experience under the influence of external objects. Objects are perceived by humans not entirely, but partially. When entering the soul of the knower, the knowable loses its materiality and can only enter it as a “species”. The “look” of an object is its knowable image. A thing exists simultaneously outside of us in all its existence and inside us as an image.

Truth is “the correspondence between intellect and things.” That is, the concepts formed by the human intellect are true to the extent that they correspond to their concepts that precede in the intellect of God.

At the level of external senses, initial cognitive images are created. Inner senses process the initial images.

Inner feelings:

* general feeling is the main function of which to collect all sensations together.

* passive memory is a repository of impressions and images created by a common feeling.

* active memory - retrieval of stored images and ideas.

* intellect is the highest sensory ability.

Knowledge takes its necessary source from sensuality.

The higher the spirituality, the higher the degree of knowledge.

* Angelic knowledge is speculative-intuitive knowledge, not mediated by sensory experience; carried out using inherent concepts.

* Human knowledge is the enrichment of the soul with substantial forms of cognizable objects.

Three mental-cognitive operations:

1) creation of a concept and retention of attention on its content (contemplation).

2) judgment (positive, negative, existential) or comparison of concepts;

3) inference - linking judgments with each other.

Three types of knowledge:

1) mind - the entire sphere of spiritual abilities.

2) intelligence - abilities of mental cognition.

3) reason - the ability to reason.

The beginnings of moral acts with inside are virtues, from the outside - laws and grace. Thomas does not think of moral life apart from the presence of theological virtues - faith, hope and love. Following the theological ones are four “cardinal” (fundamental) virtues - prudence and justice, courage and moderation, with which the other virtues are associated.

The teachings of Thomas Aquinas, despite some opposition from traditionalists (some of the Thomist positions were condemned by the Parisian Archbishop Etienne Tampier in 1277), had a great influence on Catholic theology and philosophy, which was facilitated by the canonization of Thomas in 1323 and recognition of him as the most authoritative Catholic theologian in the encyclical Aeterni patris of Pope Leo XIII (1879). The ideas of Thomas Aquinas were developed within the framework of a philosophical movement called “Thomism” and had some influence on the development of modern thought (especially evident in Leibniz). For a number of centuries, the philosophy of Thomas did not play a noticeable role in the philosophical dialogue, developing within a narrow confessional framework, but since the end of the 19th century, the teachings of Thomas again begin to arouse widespread interest and stimulate current philosophical research; A number of philosophical trends arise that actively use the philosophy of Thomas, known under the general name “neo-Thomism.”

Conclusion

Christian philosophy became the ideological basis of the new medieval society of Europe. Originating in the last centuries of the Western Roman Empire, it became a bridge from the later ancient society to the new, from the barbarian kingdoms developing into the European medieval Christian world. At all stages of its development - approximately the first 14 centuries - medieval philosophy was organically connected with the interpretation of the ideas of Plato, Aristotle and the Neoplatonists.

Its first stage - patristics - laid down ideas that would later receive further development in scholasticism. The most famous patristic philosopher should be called Augustine the Blessed. Augustine's Christian Neoplatonism dominated Western European philosophy and Catholic theology until the 13th century, when it was replaced by the Christian Aristotelianism of Albertus Magnus and Thomas Aquinas. His most famous theological and philosophical work is “On the City of God.”

Medieval Christian philosophy received further development at the second stage - scholasticism. His classic is Thomas Aquinas. He connected Christian doctrine (in particular, the ideas of Augustine the Blessed) with the philosophy of Aristotle, formulated five proofs of the existence of God; recognizing the relative independence of natural being and human reason, he argued that nature ends in grace, reason in faith, philosophical knowledge and natural theology, based on the analogy of existence, in supernatural revelation.

In our time, the philosophy of Thomas (Thomas) Aquinas has become the basis of a philosophical movement - neo-Thomism.

List of used literature

History of Philosophy: Encyclopedia. -- Mn.: Interpressservice; Book House. 2002

Kirilenko G.G., Shevtsov E.V. Philosophy. Higher education - M.: Philol. o-vo "SLOVO": LLC "Publishing house "EXMO"", 2003

Kuznetsov V.G., Kuznetsova I.D., Mironov V.V., Momdzhyan K.Kh. Philosophy: Textbook. - M.: INFRA-M, 2004

Spirkin A.G. Philosophy: Textbook. -- 2nd ed. - M.: Gardariki, 2006.

Philosophy: Textbook. 2nd ed., revised. and additional Rep. editors: V.D. Gubin, T.Yu. Sidorina, V.P. Filatov. - M.: TON - Ostozhye, 2001

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Principles of Christian philosophy and their brief description

The basic principles of Christian philosophy include:

monotheism
theocentrism
creationism
personalism
providentialism
revolutionism
linearity of history

Monotheism. The Bible for the first time speaks of God as one and unique, radically different from everything else, making it possible to understand the transcendent in the only possible way. In Greek philosophy, Plato pointed to the cosmos as a visible God, Aristotle called the stars “divine,” but after the Bible such consciousness became impossible. “And when you turn your eyes to the sky and see the sun, the moon, the stars, and everything that is in the sky, do not let yourself be lured and do not make a cult out of it.”

Theocentrism is a concept opposed to anthropocentrism and cosmocentrism, in which God is considered the absolute highest being.

Theocentrism is based on the following ideological and religious principles:

faith in one God, he is all that exists, and not nature.
belief in the universal presence of God.
God's creation of man in the image and likeness of God
The most important component of a person’s earthly life is his spiritual knowledge, adherence to moral laws, and love for one’s neighbor.

Creationism is the concept that God is the creator of all existence, based on the Word and Divine Will.

Today there are various concepts of creationism, both Christian and non-Christian, claiming to be scientific. There are two currents in Christian creationism:

Literalistic (young earth) creationism - that is, the world was created in literally six days, as it is written in the Bible and about 6000 years ago.
Metaphorical (old earth) creationism - according to which the six days of creation are a metaphor that is adapted for people with different levels of knowledge, in fact, the earth was created over billions of real years. This is due to the fact that in the Bible the word “day” does not always mean a day, but also an indefinite period of time.

Providentialism is a historical and philosophical method that consists in the study of historical facts as the providences of God, the highest Providence, the movement of history according to God’s pre-prepared plan for the salvation of man.

Note 1

The first Christian philosophers who considered world history as a consistent system of branching events on the path to the eschatological kingdom of God were Eusebius and Jerome, and also in the works of St. Augustine, the movement of the historical process is based on the Divine will. It was he who set the consideration of history before the appearance of Christ and after, according to the “six ages” of the world, “according to the four world monarchies.”

Personalism is an existential-theistic concept, according to which personality is viewed as the highest spiritual value, while God is understood as the supreme person.

Personalism in Christian philosophy, unlike various other types of personalism, is based on the belief in the divine origin of man and his creation in the image and likeness of God. It is also important that the freedom of personal choice in Christianity is one of the spiritual values.

Linearity of history. In antiquity, time was generally understood as cyclical and infinite. In Plato, for example, the idea of cyclical history was expressed in the opinion that events in history periodically repeat themselves, including the philosopher himself and his school.

Note 2

According to researchers, the Old Testament, with its eschatological ideas, laid the foundation for understanding time as unique and irrevocable. Thus, Augustine considered the idea of cyclical time to be false, because the cyclicality and repetition of time makes the unique appearance of Christ and the final salvation of man at the Last Judgment impossible.

Revolutionism - revelations of God are the basis of medieval epistemology, all necessary knowledge for the salvation of man are revealed by God in the Holy Scriptures. In this case, the intuitive, spiritual knowledge of God occupies an important place.

The Greek philosopher Plato put forward the theory of eros, and eros is understood as the desire for improvement. Christianity proposed a new concept of “agape” - love, which is God’s selfless and eternal gift to people. At the same time, God loves first of all, but a person turns out to be capable of new love only by changing his inner self, becoming like God in good deeds and actions. If I speak in the tongues of men and angels, but do not have love, then I am a ringing brass, or a sounding cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries, and have all knowledge, and all faith, so that I could move mountains, but do not have love, then I am nothing.

Patristics is an early Christian philosophy.

The process of development of Christian philosophical thought, which began already in the 1st century of Christianity, continued in subsequent centuries. The spread of Christianity not only throughout the ancient ecumene, but also beyond its borders, as well as the strengthening of the Church, posed questions and tasks for the most educated part of Christians related to the in-depth development of not only doctrinal dogmas, but also the philosophy of Christianity. For a long time, these problems were solved by Christian thinkers, whom the Church subsequently called the Holy Fathers and Teachers of the Church. As a result, the body of their creations began to be called patristics (from the Latin pater - father), and the period of their work was called patristic. Patristics is usually historically divided into two periods: pre-Nicene, or apologetic, and post-Nicene, where the first Ecumenical Council held in Nicaea in 325 serves as a kind of watershed. Also geographically - into Western Christian and Eastern Christian patristics; by the way, such a division can be considered a prototype of the future split of the Christian Church into Western Catholic and Eastern Orthodox.

The ideas formulated by patristic literature left an indelible imprint on the worldview and culture not only of the era in which the works of the Holy Fathers were written, but influenced all subsequent cultural development throughout the entire Christian world and even beyond its borders. It was patristics that gave rise to Western scholastic philosophy, and even in subsequent eras, despite the processes of secularization of society, the ideas of patristics were not completely excluded, but rather modified the form of perception. Patristic literature became one of the main sources of Russian culture and philosophy, and its influence is clearly visible until the beginning of the twentieth century. Thus, we can state the fact that direct or indirect influences of the ideas of Christian patristics also take place in modern culture and philosophy.

Patristic literature had as its goal not only religious and moral edification or defense of Christianity from heresies and attacks of pagans, but also, to a large extent, the study and systematization of the philosophical ideas of Christianity. The patristic period in the development of Christian philosophy is characterized by the greatest wealth and wide range of literary works in which Christian thinkers solved the philosophical problems posed by their opponents, answering them in philosophical words and concepts, actually “theologically speaking.” Such a disclosure of the Christian doctrine was fully the “tip of the iceberg”, the basis of which, of course, was the very life of the Christian community, thus these were purely theoretical positions not divorced from reality, which revealed the direct movement of philosophical Christian thought.

One of the elements of the early Christian worldview in relation to ancient culture was a wary and negative perception of philosophical ideas. This was expressed in the Holy Scriptures of the New Testament, and above all in the letter of the Apostle Paul to the Colossians: “Take heed, brethren, lest anyone lead you away through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the rudiments of the world, and not according to Christ...” [ Col. 2:8]. These words of the “apostle of tongues” reflect the generally cautious attitude of early Christianity towards human learning, which is opposed to the divine word of Christ.
The book “The Acts of the Apostles” describes a discussion in the Athenian Areopagus, initiated by some ancient philosophers from Athens: “Some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers began to argue with him; and some said: what does this fool want to say?, and others: it seems that he is preaching about foreign deities, because he preached to them Jesus and the resurrection. And they took him and brought him to the Areopagus and said: Can we know what this new teaching is that you are preaching? For you are putting something strange into our ears. Therefore, we want to know what it is?” [Acts 17:18-20].

It is this event, described in the book “The Acts of the Holy Apostles,” that can be considered one of the first public discussions between two directions of philosophical thought, existing - ancient and emerging - Christian. And although it is worth noting that some thinkers (for example, Gilson E., Mel R. and some others) of later times sometimes rejected the very existence of “Christian philosophy” as a phenomenon, nevertheless, to deny the existence of this religious philosophical tradition means to refuse from an objective view of historical reality, because “all so-called patristics - early Christian philosophy - is also a page of philosophy (intertwined with religion) of the ancient world, but this is a special page...”. A generally accepted point of view can be considered to be that there are three main directions (“motifs”) in early Christian views on philosophy. Firstly, the rejection of philosophy as human wisdom, which is opposed to the teachings of Christ transmitted to the apostles. Secondly, the search for the possibility of a “synthesis” between Christianity and ancient philosophy, in which the achievements of ancient thought could be creatively assimilated by Christianity. And thirdly, the emergence and development of the concept of Christian philosophy as love for the Divine Sophia - the Wisdom of God - Christ, where the comprehension of wisdom is understood as an increase in the knowledge of God and the desire for a virtuous life. Archimandrite Cyprian (Kern) notes in this regard: “The Christian writers of antiquity, in essence, were more afraid of philosophy than they were carried away by it and gave themselves over to its obedience. They appealed to the wisdom of the ancients when circumstances forced them, but to be unconditional disciples of one or another "They would never have agreed to another philosopher. At the same time, one can name quite a few highly educated writers of the ancient church who studied all philosophical systems, but serious scientists do not dare to enroll them as unconditional disciples of any particular philosopher, without the risk of falling into artificial constructions."

The confrontation between Christian and ancient philosophy must be considered in a historical context, not as a phenomenon, but as a process. Moreover, it should be noted that one of the most important reasons for this confrontation lies, first of all, in the fact that ancient philosophy itself was, at the same time, ancient theology, in accordance with the religious consciousness of antiquity. As V.V. Zenkovsky quite reasonably notes: “At one time, she [i.e. e. ancient philosophy] grew out of mythologies created by religious consciousness, and ended with Plotinus and his followers with constructions in which philosophical ideas are inseparable from theology.”

Indeed, from the very beginning of philosophy, Greek philosophers criticized traditional Greek mythology, accusing it of logical inconsistency and immorality. But speaking as a critic, the philosopher in no way breaks with the cultural tradition, with the morals and customs of the social community to which he himself belongs, and does not create a doctrine as if out of “nothing”, in a new “bare” place. Absolutely right P.P. Gaidenko emphasizes: “The whole drama of the history of philosophy - and the historical fate of philosophers is often dramatic, sometimes even deeply tragic - is rooted in the philosopher’s attitude to tradition - religious and moral, cultural and artistic, political and legal, and finally, to traditional forms of life and way of life.” .

Contrasting itself to the “old wisdom of this age,” the emerging Christian philosophy was not only a contrast, but also, in a way, a successor to ancient philosophy and, at the same time, its further development. Nevertheless, the dependence of Christian philosophy on the ancient Neoplatonic dialectic “is only formal-conceptual, structural, but in no case a dependence in content, that is, not a content-personal dependence.”

Of course, Christian philosophy borrowed some ideas from ancient philosophy, but this process was quite complex and controversial. It would be a mistake to believe that there was an arithmetical addition of Christianity, as a religion, with ancient philosophy, as a result of which Christian philosophy appeared. Christian philosophy arose and “sprouted” in that cultural and historical environment, which was formed, including and not least, thanks to the efforts and works of ancient pagan philosophers; it could not have been otherwise. “The theological and philosophical speculation of the Church Fathers arises and develops, like Christianity itself, in the Hellenistic world, deeply agitated by religious and philosophical quests, intensely striving towards absolute truth.”

It is obvious that among early Christian thinkers there was no clearly formed attitude towards ancient philosophy. Between the two extreme opinions, from the complete and unconditional rejection of ancient paganism to the equally complete merging of Christian ideas with the philosophical ideas developed by ancient thinkers, there was a great variety of opinions and points of view that had a decisive influence on the history of the formation and development of Christian philosophy. An example is St. Justin the Philosopher and his student Tatian the Assyrian, who had, one might say, diametrically opposed points of view on contemporary philosophy. The first is convinced that “philosophy in truth is the greatest and most precious acquisition in the eyes of God: it alone leads us to God and makes us pleasing to him, and those who have directed their minds to philosophy are truly holy...”, “without philosophy and sound no one can have wisdom." Tatian’s opinion, on the contrary, expresses extreme rejection not only of pagan polytheism and ancient philosophy, but of literature, science, etc. “Your books are like labyrinths, and those who read them are like a barrel of Danaids. By sharing wisdom, you have removed yourself from true wisdom,” Tatian is indignant.

However, both cautious supporters (Clement of Alexandria, the Cappadocians, etc.) and opponents of ancient philosophy (such as Lactantius, Tertullian, etc.) willingly and with maximum benefit used both the philosophical methodology and the philosophy of antiquity itself, not to mention the developed its terminology and conceptual apparatus. And there is nothing paradoxical or, especially, negative in this. Christian writers - the Fathers of the Church - were born and raised in the ancient cultural and historical environment, they were not foreign aliens, alien to the heritage of the departing ancient world, the ancient world was their world, Hellenistic culture was their native culture, Greek language was their native language. “It would be very strange if the Church Fathers did not speak the language of their time and their people. And precisely the language in which it was then only possible to theoretically express the truth was the concepts and hypotheses of Hellenistic philosophy, which were also developed not without the participation of Christians. All this points not to the conditionality of Christianity by paganism, but to the historicity of Christianity.”

In the eyes of Christians, as bearers of a new, universal, Christian worldview, all religions of the ancient ecumene appeared as pagan, i.e. folk religions, religions of “one language”, focused on separate, relatively closed ethnic communities of people and inherent in a particular people. Thus, the religious beliefs of the ancient Greeks became the basis on which the outstanding minds of the ancient world - Plato, Aristotle, Plotinus - built their philosophical systems. The loss of influence by ancient religions and the spread of Christianity meant at the same time the emergence of a new philosophy. Together with Christianity, the universalism of the worldview is established, and although Christianity coexists with paganism for a long time, a new type of philosophizing arises, corresponding to Christian universalism. This type of philosophizing is based on the fundamental ideas expressed by the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments.

But here a contradiction arises that requires resolution. Appeals to an unbelieving audience based on the authority of Holy Scripture are meaningless, because... to prove the truth of the entire system of Christian doctrine, the texts of Holy Scripture and references to Holy Tradition have no meaning. The Scriptures and Tradition will acquire their value and authority for those who already believe in their truth, and for this it is first necessary to have conviction and faith that these texts were accepted by the Church, that they were correctly understood and interpreted, that they were expressed or written down by the apostles, that the apostles correctly understood the teachings of Jesus Christ, and, most importantly, that Jesus Christ Himself is God. "Found truth Christian religion on the texts of Holy Scripture means to base the beginning on the end, i.e. spin in a logical circle." The Holy Scriptures are intended primarily for those who believe in them. St. Hilary of Pictova expressed this most clearly: “Scriptra est non in legendo, sed in intelligendo.” The Message emanating from God as Holy Scripture is written in the community and for the community, which with its faith testifies to its truth and sacredness, because the biblical canon is defined and approved by the Church. Tertullian generally refused to appeal to Scripture to all those outside church communion. In his famous work “De praescripcione haeriticorum”, he argues that Scripture belongs to the Church, and heretics have no rights to other people's wealth, they should not even refer to it, because. they have not received the Divine Message, and therefore have no access to it.

God, by the transmitted Message, unites the various parts of Scripture into a single whole and through the Message reveals himself to those who believe in him, thus the God of Sacred Revelation is Deus Revelatus, and not Deus Absconditus. This Message itself is not just a testimony about God, it itself is the Manifestation of God. Therefore, Truth is not an idea, but a Person, Jesus Christ Himself incarnate - the God-man.

It is quite obvious that pre-Christian antiquity did not know a personal and one God, in the full and real sense. In Greek mythology, the gods appear more like ordinary people, as if endowed with immortality. Therefore, already in the early stages, mythology is subjected to harsh, one might say, crushing criticism from ancient philosophy, which, for example, warns against worshiping something formless and indefinite (“meon”). For example, “Plotinus saw all the hollowness and emptiness of the then folk-traditional and already outdated idolatry.”

Already in the philosophy of Plato, the One expresses the principle of delineation, separation, and in Aristotle it is supplemented by the idea of formed integrity (Mind as the “form of all forms”). Unlike the pagan worldview, which allows for the existence of other divine beings besides the One, the Christian understanding of God excluded the possibility of meaning anything else by “divine.”
Hellenistic late antique philosophy was ready to accept Christianity, but only by combining it in many sects with a bizarre interweaving of various directions of ancient philosophy and the inclusion of elements of Judaism. This direction, as an eclectic mystical-philosophical teaching, in general, had little to do with Christianity. It adopted the general name “Gnosticism” after the name of its representatives, the Gnostics, “knowing” or “having knowledge” (from the Greek ;;;;;; - knowledge), historically the term “gnosis” had a specific meaning, as a special way knowledge of God through mystical illumination available to the chosen few. Gnosticism originates, according to one of the early Christian writers, St. Irenaeus of Lyons, from the Samaritan Simon the Magus, whom the Apostle Luke mentions in the book of the Acts of the Holy Apostles [Acts. 8:9-23]. Gnosticism, which attempted to combine the idea of a personal God with emanationism and subordinationism, inevitably came into conflict with the Holy Scriptures not only of the New Testament, but also with Old Testament Judaism.

Such a connection was unacceptable for Christianity, because would destroy its very foundation, which is why the Holy Fathers of the early patristic period entered into harsh opposition to Gnosticism, protecting themselves from “false knowledge” with the dogmas of faith. In defending the most important foundations of Christian doctrine, there was an urgent need for Christian philosophy as an instrument.
The idea of a personal God required justification in the form of overcoming emanationism, contrasting it with the doctrine of the creation of the world “out of nothing,” and overcoming, on the basis of Christian trinitarian dogma, ancient subordinationism.

The dogma of the creation of the world “out of nothing” was one of those dogmas that ultimately formed the doctrinal foundation of the Church.
The entire countless series of Gnostic sects, which interpreted their beliefs in different ways, were primarily united by cosmology, which carried a single meaning, which was the opinion that the world is not the result of the creative will of God the Creator, but a “disease” of certain eons (from the Greek. ;;;;) – emanations of the Divine. The question of the creation of the world by God, which is very significant for Christians, loses its meaning in Gnosticism, because for them, creation is not a manifestation of the free will of the Creator, God the Creator as a Personality, who created the world “out of nothing,” but a mistake, a disease of divinity, its darkness, “ignorance.” Thus, the question of the origin of the world is resolved by the Gnostics in the spirit of Neoplatonistic emanationism.

Representatives of various Gnostic sects, defining in different ways the origin of “eons”, their number and properties, agreed on one thing - that the Holy Scripture is a narrative, for the interpretation of which some special “ secret knowledge" Such “knowledge,” according to the sarcastic remark of St. Irenaeus of Lyon, who, according to him, had personal conversations with representatives of Gnosticism, the Gnostics found in their heads, from which they “threw out their brains,” as well as in “apocryphal and forged writings, which they themselves compiled in order to amaze people who are senseless and those who do not know the true Scriptures." As a direct example of the cosmological fabrications of the Gnostics, one can cite the so-called. “Apocrypha of John” from the collections of the Gnostic library from Nag Hammadi, which lists a long string of “eons”, one of which, Ialtabaoth, born of Wisdom, the first archon who created “for himself other eons in the flame of bright fire... And he set seven kings... And he separated them from his fire, but did not give them from the power of light, which he took from his mother, for he is the darkness of ignorance. And when the light mixed with the darkness, it caused the darkness to shine. And when darkness mixed with light, it darkened the light and became neither light nor darkness, but became sick...” All this was perceived by early Christian thinkers as “profound idle talk” and “the way in which they deceive their minds, raping the scriptures and attempting to confirm their fiction with them,” since creation in this form is not such, but is self-unfolding, self-propagation, “complication » Deities, direct, natural action internal energies, producing existing things by virtue of the Divine nature itself. Moreover, what exists happened not only without the participation of the Will, but even against the Will of the Creator. Against this St. Irenaeus of Lyons writes: “Those who say that the world was created against the Will of the Most High Father by angels or some other creator of the universe are mistaken... for this is the superiority of God, that He does not need other instruments to produce what has been created, but His own Word is capable and sufficient to create everything." The birth of one eon from another (even before 365), as claimed by the Gnostics, as a result of which the world appeared, is considered impossible by representatives of Christian philosophy, “since birth,” says St. John of Damascus is a natural action and comes from the very essence of God, it must be beginningless and eternal, otherwise birth would cause change, there would be a God “before” and a God “after” birth, God would multiply, As for creation, it is a matter of divine Will and therefore God is not co-eternal. The creation of the world is not necessary. God might not have created it." St. Basil the Great notes: “it’s very funny to invent a beginning for a beginning,” therefore, in contrast to the “Matryoshka” idea of self-unfolding worlds - eons (“dimensions”) nested within each other, the only beginning of the world, of everything and at once, of the entire space-time continuum, is opposed “before creation” nothing could exist. And when Scripture and the Holy Fathers say “out of nothing,” this means not only matter, in the sense of matter, but space itself and time itself, which do not exist outside of each other. “For this reason, he who wisely explains to us the existence of the world, while discussing the world, very opportunely added: “in the beginning he created,” that is, at this beginning, at the beginning of time, ... that is, suddenly and instantly.” All “emanations of eons,” if they existed, must be extended in time, because they “happen,” but since there is time, that means there is space, there is a world that already exists, created, and “eons” have no place in it, in a world created by God “out of nothing.” Unlike the Gnostics, the Christian Church has the basis for its doctrine of the creation of the world in the Holy Scriptures and in the Patristic Tradition: “In the beginning God created heaven and earth” [Gen. 1; 1], “all things came into being through Him, and without Him nothing came into being that was made” [John. 1; 3], “God created everything out of nothing...”.

Another particularly difficult problem that required resolution from Christian philosophy was the problem of the trinity of God. Alexey Fedorovich Losev formulated this problem as follows: “...in the original, pre-Nicene theology, the ontological hierarchy was still preserved, which, as we know, is characteristic of all pagan philosophers, including the Stoics and Neoplatonists. One or another higher principle was recognized; everything else was interpreted as an outflow, or emanation, of this first principle. Christianity, which recognized the absolute Personality as the first principle, could not in any way settle on such a pagan subordination position, which was nothing more than consistent pantheism, excluding any personalistic monotheism."

It is customary to distinguish, as it were, three historical forms of subordinationism in Christianity. The first, the exponent of which was Tertullian, is the so-called “economy” subordinationism, which grew on the soil of Stoic philosophy, where the Son is subordinated to the Father in the order of revelation and revelation. Origen revealed the second, subordinationism, which appeared under the influence of Neoplatonic teaching, and bears the name “ontological” - i.e. in the process of the internal dialectic of the Trinity. And the third form is “cosmological” subordinationism, which emerged from the philosophical views of Aristotle, associated with the name of the Alexandrian priest Arius and his teaching, which received the name Arianism, where the Son is subordinate to the Father at the moment of the creation of the cosmos.

The overcoming of hierarchical subordinationism took place, first of all, in the course of Christological and Trinitarian disputes. The long process of discussion, which sometimes turned into a violent confrontation, escalated by the beginning of the 4th century, during which the first two Ecumenical Councils were held (the first in Nicaea in 325, the second in Constantinople in 381), which formed the basis of dogmatic doctrine in the form Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed. But with the victory of Christianity at the Councils of Nicaea and Constantinople, its confrontation with emanationism and subordinationism did not end. It manifested itself periodically until the 14th century, in different places with different strengths, when ancient ideas appeared under a new guise, and in the 19th and 20th centuries they acquired a “second life”, scattered in a modified form among many religious and quasi-religious groups around the world.

By the middle of the 4th century, the holy Cappadocian fathers - Archbishop of Caesarea of Cappadocia Basil the Great, his closest friend Archbishop Gregory of Nazianzen the Theologian and the younger brother of St. Basil, Bishop Gregory of Nyssa. As Prof. quite rightly noted. A. Spassky, the Cappadocians “once and for all put an end to the substantial subordinationism that dominated the previous theology, and in its place they put co-hypostatic subordination, which did not in the least detract from the Divine dignity and unity of the Hypostases.”

In general, the time of activity of the Cappadocian fathers was the heyday of Eastern Christian patristics, during which the basic Christian dogmas were formulated using the accumulated experience of philosophizing. This period is often called the "golden age" of Christian theology and Christian philosophy. In addition to the three great Cappadocians, the fourth century is inextricably linked with the names of great writers: St. Athanasius of Alexandria, St. John Chrysostom, and besides them, the so-called. "lesser teachers": St. Cyril of Jerusalem, Didymus the Blind of Alexandria, Serapion of Tmuite and Amphilochius of Iconia. During the same period they became famous: exegete Blessed. Jerome of Stridon; exegete Rev. Ephraim the Syrian, historian Eusebius of Caesarea; hereseologist St. Epiphanius of Cyprus; Theologians of St. appear in the West. Hilary of Pictavia and St. Ambrose of Milan (Milan). In the same century, Christian ascetic literature arose, where, first of all, the following should be mentioned: St. Anthony the Great, Rev. Macarius the Great, Evagrius of Pontus.

This flowering of Christian philosophical and theological writing can be partly explained by the fact that the church, since the Edict of Milan in 313, entered a new historical period. It is gradually becoming an institution that the state no longer only recognizes and does not persecute, but also begins to pursue a policy of protectionism towards the church. In these new conditions, Christianity was able, without fear of external persecution, to devote itself to creative work in the field of thought, interpretation of the Scriptures, deepening into the inner spiritual life, development of Christian philosophy, etc. But on the other hand, internal upheavals in the life of the church itself. As Savrey V.Ya. notes: “As church issues also became public issues, dogmatic disputes and disagreements lost their local character. They were now brought to wide discussion, giving rise to abundant polemical literature.” It was during this period that the vagueness of concepts, the underdevelopment of the emerging Christian philosophical thought, and dissatisfaction with borrowings from ancient philosophy became fully apparent. But the thought of that era was not yet sufficiently prepared to grasp all the shades of terminology and comprehend all the issues included in it.

This manifested itself, first of all, in the clash with heresies of a new type. Previously existing differences of opinion were of a “random” nature and always local, regional. Questions of the inner life of the Divine, or, what is the same, the Trinitarian theme was not at all alien to the writers of the 2nd and 3rd centuries, both Orthodox and their opponents - heretics. In the fourth century, Christianity came face to face with the first major theological heresy, of significance and scale, one can definitely say, universal. Arianism and the subsequent disputes about the Holy Spirit excited not only the province of Alexandria, Antioch, or any other; They, threatening the purity of faith of the entire Church, posed a danger to the entire Christian world. An important question arose about the very existence of the Christian faith. The main dogma of Orthodoxy, the doctrine of the Holy Trinity, was jeopardized by the emergence of that doctrine, which went down in history with the name of the Alexandrian presbyter Arius, but received its further ideological development from Aetius, Eunomius and others, who, if not wholly shared the Arian teaching, then in any case, hostile to the Orthodox confession. The active phase of this struggle took almost three quarters of a century, and here the formation of Orthodox dogmatic teaching was possible only thanks to a very deep, systematic and thoughtful justification of the Nicene faith. The very process of developing dogmas was one of the most important that determined its development. At the same time, it is necessary to emphasize the caution with which the dogma of the Christian Church was developed, because the formulation of dogmas did not occur “by itself” and not at all for the purpose of “developing” Christian teaching, but as a response to an already challenged challenge in order to reject false interpretations of this teaching.

In this process, St. played a special role. Gregory of Nazianzus, Archbishop of Constantinople, later nicknamed the Theologian. It should be noted that only three people have been awarded such a name in the history of Christian thought: the beloved apostle of Jesus, one of the four evangelists John the Theologian, the aforementioned Archbishop Gregory the Theologian, and St. Simeon the New Theologian, whose nickname, however, initially had a clearly expressed ironic connotation, assigned to him by his enemies. This is evidence that among the Cappadacian fathers St. Gregory of Nazianzus occupies a special place, as well as in general among philosophers and theologians of late antiquity and early Middle Ages in the Christian East.

2/ Basic principles of religious and philosophical thinking and worldview

Z/ Knowledge as likeness to God. Mysticism and scholasticism 4/ Religious intellectualism and religious anti-intellectualism. The problem of the relationship between reason and faith

Christian apologetics: main issues and ideological origins

In historical science, the Middle Ages in Western Europe are dated to the V-XV centuries. However, in relation to philosophy, such dating is not entirely correct. Medieval philosophy in Western Europe is Christian philosophy. Christian philosophy began to take shape much earlier. The first Christian philosophers - Athenagoras, Theophilus, Irenaeus, Justin, Tatian and others developed and propagated their ideas in the 2nd century. n. e.

The philosophy of early Christianity was called apologetics, and its representatives are apologists. They received this name because their writings often bore the name and character of apologies, that is, writings aimed at defending and justifying Christian doctrine and the activities of Christians. The early Christians solved two interrelated problems: directly practical and ideological-theoretical. The essence of the first was the need to protect Christian communities from persecution, defend the right to profess a new religion, strengthen their organizational unity, prevent its adherents from abandoning Christianity, and attract broad sections of the population to it. The solution to this problem involved clarifying the relationship of supporters of the new religion to the state and society, and their religious beliefs - to the state religion and the requirements of civic duties, to public morality, to the fight against rumors spread about Christians as atheists, sacrileges, immoral people performing cannibalistic rituals , to prove the superiority of Christianity over other religions, etc. In writings addressed primarily to government officials - Roman emperors, governors, Christian apologists convince them of the loyalty of adherents of the new religion.

In the face of constant persecution, the ideologists of early Christianity sought out legal arguments to defend the right to civil existence for their religion. At that time, they appealed to natural and civil law, advocated for the uniform application of laws to all citizens of the empire, regardless of their religion, and demanded the application of the principle of freedom of conscience. Addressing adherents of Christianity, apologists sought to encourage them, to instill in them the idea of exclusivity and God's chosenness. Often, the ideologists of primitive Christianity deliberately pushed their “brothers in faith” to martyrdom. They used suffering and fanatical self-sacrifice, as a manifestation of the high moral and volitional qualities of adherents of the new religion, as an argument in missionary activity.

Along with solving immediate practical problems related to ensuring the normal functioning of Christian organizations and conducting missionary activities, Christian apologists paid a lot of attention to the development and theoretical justification of their faith. The fact is that Christian apologetics appeared and began to function at the moment of the formation of the church. At that time, Christianity still existed in the form of scattered communities or episcopal churches that did not have a single, generally accepted creed. It was only necessary to create this creed.

Where did the necessary mental material come from? First of all, the object of comprehension of Christian apologists were numerous mythological images and ideas of empirical religious consciousness, partly borrowed from the Middle Eastern, Greek and Roman religions, partly re-formed in the Christian consciousness under the influence of new social and spiritual factors. Hellenistic philosophy of late antiquity also provided great material for philosophical reflection. Christian apologists had to organize all this heterogeneous material, bring it into some kind of system, if possible, clarify the most important provisions, make them accessible to the perception of their adherents and protect them from attacks by opponents of Christianity.

When developing the foundations of religious doctrine, Christian philosophers did not need to reinvent the conceptual apparatus and methodology for operating with these concepts; they could and did use the conceptual language of ancient Greek and Roman philosophy. Researchers of the history of Christianity note that the direct theoretical sources of early Christian philosophy were Hellenistic philosophy of the 1st-2nd centuries, primarily the system of the Judeo-Hellenistic philosopher from Alexandria Philo and vulgarized Greek, especially Stoic philosophy.

Philo's philosophy was based on the idea of God as a supreme being, standing outside of time and space, transcendent to the world (located beyond the world). Due to his transcendence, God could not come into direct contact with the world; for this, an intermediary was needed. At the mythological level, this problem was resolved in Christianity through the image of the lamb - Jesus Christ, who accepted the sacrificial death of the three threes of humanity in the name of its salvation. However, the emerging Christian philosophy needed to provide a solution to this problem on a theoretical level. On this basis, the so-called Christological problem was formed, which with particular force stimulated theological searches and opened up a wide field for philosophical reflection.

In ancient philosophy, certain approaches had already been developed to solve the problem of overcoming the dualism of the world and its essence. The Pythagoreans, Plato and his followers laid down the basic methodological principles of the doctrine of the spiritual unity of the world. But neither the classics of ancient philosophy nor the Neoplatonists created the concept of God as a person. They interpreted the One as a certain original, which produced all being from itself, as an absolute abstract impersonal individuality. Personal Understanding of God first given by Philo of Alexandria.

That which is personal, unique and indestructible is not composed of something impersonal, Philo reasoned. An attempt to explain personality causally and genetically leads to a transition from one element to another, ad infinitum. With this fragmentation, personality is lost. Consequently, in order to preserve the personality in all its individuality, originality and unity, it is necessary to admit that it can be created out of nothing, without any prerequisites. Personality, like God, is without prerequisites. If God is an absolute beginning, then He cannot but be a person, for if He is not a person, then something preceded Him, and therefore He is not an absolute beginning. Thus, God is a person and requires a personal relationship and understanding.

The characterization of God as a person was a significant step forward in the direction of the Christian worldview, but it did not completely bridge the gap between God and the world. To bridge this gap it was necessary to introduce mediating forces. For this purpose, Philo uses one of the central concepts of ancient philosophy - the concept of Logos. Just as in ancient philosophy, Philo’s Logos is endowed with a rational-logical and structural-ordering function. Logos is world order, beauty and harmony. This is the law that brings all the diversity of things to unity. From him is all form, all stability and certainty. Taken by itself, in abstraction from bodily Shchvy, Logos is the kingdom of eternal intelligible ideas, identical with divine thoughts. The world is created by God according to the model of these ideas and serves as their reflection.

But unlike ancient philosophy, Philo’s Logos appears as a spirit created by God, which is originally the divine mind. After the creation of the real world, the divine mind became immanent in the world. Accordingly, ideas and logos, as divine components, also become immanent to the world. In Philo's view of Logos All that was missing was his identification with the Messiah - Christ. The Logos, identified with Christ, appears shortly after the death of Philo, in the Gospel of John:

“In the beginning was the Word [Logos in the original Greek] and the Word was with God and the Word was God” (John 1:1). And further, the author of the work brings Jesus Christ closer to God through the Logos. “The Word became flesh and dwelt in him” (John 1:4). Thus, a version arises that the eternally existing Logos was incarnated in Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is interpreted as God, but the concept of “God” is not identical to the concept of “Christ”. There is a certain difference between them, for otherwise it is difficult to understand the meaning of the earthly existence of the Logos, its purpose and purpose in the world. God the Father is invisible, and Logos the Son must incarnate among people so that through him they learn about the Father.

The doctrine of the divine Logos was also developed by representatives stoicism. However, the main contribution of Stoicism in the formation of the Christian worldview is that it represented Christianity system of moral values. Stoicism is characterized by the preaching of apolitism, disregard for the realities of concrete social life, the denial of the values of the objective-corporeal and the opposition of the physical to the spiritual, as a higher sphere of vital interests. One of the most important tasks of philosophy is, according to Seneca, the task of establishing a special community between people, imbued with an invisible, but the strongest connection, a community of holy righteous people, uniting the divine world and the human world. Such a community, he thought, could be created by people who embodied the ideals of the sage - the Stoics. These people, free from all kinds of passions and needs, are real masters of themselves, possessing all the virtues, always doing the right thing and achieving all these qualities by an attitude of non-resistance and religious submission to the providential order of the world.

Basic principles of religious and philosophical thinking and worldview

The main provisions of the Christian faith take the form of guiding principles that determine the way of perception, comprehension and processing of mental material, that is the form of the basic principles of religious and philosophical theorizing and worldview.

The dominant idea of the Christian worldview is the idea of God. If the ancient worldview, in its essence, is cosmocentric, then the medieval one is theopentric. The reality that determines everything in the world for Christianity is not nature, space, and the supernatural beginning - God. The idea of the real existence of the supernatural and the possibility of establishing certain relationships with it is one of the essential aspects of all developed religions, including Christianity. Christian thinkers give the supernatural the role of a determining principle in all processes occurring in the world, making the existence of nature, man, and society dependent on it.

The idea of the real existence of the supernatural forces us to look from a special angle at the development, the meaning of history and the universe, human goals and values, gives them their own special, as if supra-worldly perspective, rising above finite everyday and historical situations, rooted in something eternal, absolute , eternal, located beyond everything earthly, relative, temporary, transitory. This point of view on everything that happens in the world, enshrined in the doctrine and cult practice of religious institutions, takes in theology and religious philosophy the form of a guiding attitude, which determines the way of perception, comprehension and processing of all mental material, and acquires the status of the main principle of religious and philosophical theorizing - supranaturalism(from Latin super - above and natura - nature). The principle of supranaturalism is carried out in theology and religious philosophy through the entire system of concepts, worldview schemes and more particular attitudes: creationism, theism, providentialism, etc.

Acting as the most important attitude, a fundamental element of the religious philosophical style of thinking, supranaturalism is concretized in Christian theology by a number of other principles. Among these principles, special mention should be made soterio- Logism (from Lat. soter - savior) - the orientation of all human life activity towards the “salvation of the soul”. Jesus Christ is seen as the savior of the world and humanity, who atoned for the sins of humanity with his martyrdom on the cross. Salvation itself is interpreted as a process of deification, the union of man with God in the so-called “divine kingdom.”

In Christian theology, in accordance with soteriologism, there is a reduction of man as a subject of activity, knowledge and communication to the object and subject of “salvation”. The meaning of human existence, from the point of view of Christian theorists, is not in the knowledge and transformation of nature and society, but in union with God in the so-called “divine kingdom.” With this approach, all aspects of human life are viewed through the prism of religious values, as factors that favor or hinder “salvation.” As a result, a person’s life in religious concepts receives, as it were, two dimensions: the first is a person’s relationship to God, the second is a person’s relationship to nature and other people.

Of course, one cannot categorically assert that the social activity of man, his cognition and transformation of the world completely lose their significance for religious thinkers. own meaning. In various philosophical and theological systems, these aspects of human life are given unequal importance. But the main thing that defines them is given to the first attitude, since it is in it that the meaning of human life is revealed, it is here that everything good and moral is acquired. The second relationship acquires significance for a person only insofar as it contributes to the formation of his spiritual world and acts as a means of spiritual ascent to God.

Another important principle of understanding and processing mental material in Christian theology is closely related to supranaturalism and soteriologism - Relationism, or the principle of divine revelation(from Latin revelatio - revelation). The transcendence and incomprehensibility of God, the finitude and sinfulness of man - these are the principles of Christian philosophy, on the basis of which religionism functions.

The principle of revelation presupposes, first of all, the existence of something “mysterious” that people need to know for salvation. But they are not able to obtain this knowledge with their minds. Precisely because the content of revelation is a transcendent being, which infinitely surpasses the possibilities of natural knowledge, the need for such a form of communication between God and man arises. Communication itself is understood in Christian philosophy as the process of God transmitting his “secret” to people, as an act of divine self-disclosure through the prophets and apostles in the Holy Scriptures (the Bible).

Christian apologetics, which provides for the unfolding of revelation over time, recognizes the possibility and right of interpretation of its content on the part of the church. And the church itself is considered as its only and never mistaken interpreter. Recognition of the exclusive right of the church to interpret the content of revelation is formalized in the recognition of such a form of revelation as the Sacred Tradition, enshrined in the Sacred Tradition. This trend has been most developed in ", the Catholic Church, where not only the writings of the church fathers, the decisions of the first seven Ecumenical Councils (Orthodoxy), but also the documents of the Pope began to be considered as Holy Tradition. The dogma of the infallibility of the Pope was the logical continuation and completion of this practice.

An important way for God to convey his secret is through direct communication, the entry of God into man through mystical intuition. Revelation in this case is understood as the direct contemplation of God, the assimilation of the “mystery” due to its self-evidence. This method of revelation, according to orthodox Christian views, is the privilege of saints, and also of those who, through special efforts, comprehend at some point states of holiness.

Revolutionism presupposes the attitude of Christian philosophers to the original material of thought not as the result of a theoretical study of man, but as an eternal and unchangeable truth received from the outside, in ready-made form, which people must accept by virtue of the authority of the one from whom it was received - God, the church. This approach inevitably leads to an authoritative, dogmatic type of thinking. A characteristic aspect of the attitude of Christian ideologists to the content of their mental material is the attitude of faith, which expresses not just trust in authority or agreement with it, but complete submission to it, the elimination of one’s own critical thought, the suppression of any possibility of doubt.

Theocentrism, as the most characteristic Christian worldview, permeates all parts of philosophical theory: the doctrine of being - ontology, the doctrine of man - anthropology, the doctrine of knowledge - epistemology and the doctrine of historical development - eschatology. In the field of ontology, theocentrism is revealed through the principle of creationism, in anthropology - through the principle of anthropologism, in epistemology - through the principle of God-likeness, in the philosophy of history - through the principle of providentialism and eschatologism. Let us give a brief description of these main points of the Christian worldview.

Creationism. According to Christian doctrine, God created the world from “nothing”, created it by an act of his will, thanks to his power. Divine omnipotence continues to support the existence of the world every moment. Maintaining 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 oblivion.

Unlike the ancient gods, who were related to nature and were often identified with it, the Christian God stands above nature, on the other side of it, and therefore is a transcendental God. Thus, in the Christian worldview, the active creative principle is, as it were, withdrawn from nature, from the cosmos and transferred to a transcendental force - God. God is interpreted as the absolute creative principle. All those attributes that the ancient Greek philosophers endowed with existence are attributed to him: he is eternal, unchangeable, self-identical, does not depend on anything else and is the source of all that exists. However, Christian philosophy, as noted earlier, has a spiritual and moral orientation and orients a person towards the salvation of his soul. Therefore, Christian ontology is built on the principle that God is not only the highest being, but also the highest Good, the highest Truth and the highest Beauty.

Anthropocentrism. In the context of a religious worldview, this is a set of views that affirm the exclusive role of man among God's creation. According to Christian teaching, God created man not together with all creatures, but separately; a special day of creation was allocated for him. Christian philosophers emphasize the special position of man in the world. If all other material systems are just simple creations, then man

The crown of creation. He is the center of the Universe and the ultimate goal of creation. Moreover, he is a being who dominates the Earth.

High status human existence is defined by the biblical formula “man is the image and likeness of God.” What exactly are the properties of God that constitute the essence of human nature? It is clear that neither omnipotence, nor infinity, nor beginninglessness can be ascribed to man. Christian theology gives an unambiguous answer to this question: the divine qualities of man are reason and will. It is reason and free will that make man a moral being and a representative of God in this world, a continuer of divine acts. Man, like God, is given the ability to express judgments and distinguish between good and evil. Free will allows a person to make a choice in favor of good and evil. The first people - Adam and Eve

We made this choice unsuccessfully. They chose evil and thereby committed the Fall. From now on, human nature turned out to be corrupted, and the Fall constantly affects him. Therefore, Christian thinkers define human nature as dual. The duality of human nature is the most important feature of the entire Christian worldview. The greatest medieval philosopher Augustine called this division of man “a disease of the soul,” its disobedience to itself, that is, to a higher principle. According to the Christian worldview, a person, on his own, is not able to overcome his sinful inclinations. He constantly needs divine help, the action of divine grace. The relationship between nature and grace is the central theme of Christian anthropology - the doctrine of man.

Providentialism and eschatologism. The Christian concept of history is based on the idea of a constant and necessary connection between man and God. Man is interpreted as a being created by God, saved by Christ and destined for a supernatural destiny. With this approach, the historical process is presented

It is a revelation of the divine-human relationship, characterized, on the one hand, by decline, regression caused by the Fall and alienation of man from God, and on the other hand, by man’s ascent to God. The main mission of history is characterized as saving, redemptive, testing and edifying. With this approach, the historical process receives, as it were, two dimensions: horizontal and vertical. Horizontal characterizes the historical process from the point of view of its internal development:

people's activities, their struggle for power, for improving well-being, etc. Vertical - characterizes the influence of God’s action on the historical process, his intervention in the course of historical development. The Christian worldview is providential at its core. The world does not develop on its own, but according to the providence of Bojasius. According to this worldview, 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 asserts that the divine plan predetermines the history of people, it breaks through all 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 all sorts of punishments.

Providentialism is inextricably linked with eschatology - teaching about the end of the world. History in the Christian worldview is depicted as an expedient process directed by God towards a predetermined goal - the kingdom of Eschaton (“the kingdom of God”). Christian thinkers depict the “kingdom of God” as a world of true, beautiful and perfect, in which man will be in complete unity with God. Achieving the “kingdom of God” is final goal and the meaning of human existence. This position is the basis of the Christian worldview and is recognized by all areas of Christian philosophy and theology. The differences between them begin when it comes to the interpretation of this “kingdom” and the paths leading to it. To what extent and under what conditions is it possible to create the “kingdom of God” in earthly conditions, in historical existence? Is a person, to any extent, capable of preparing the “kingdom of God”, etc., on his own without divine action?

Knowledge as God-likeness. Mysticism and scholasticism Since in the Christian worldview the goal and meaning of knowledge is determined not by the material needs of people and not by the thirst for self-improvement, but by the need for “salvation of the soul,” the ultimate goal of human cognitive efforts is recognized not

knowledge of the objective world - nature and history, but the acquisition by man through the process of cognition of his original “pre-sin” appearance, the acquisition of the “image and likeness of God.” One of the most important provisions of Christian philosophy is the interpretation the process of cognition as God-likeness. The Christian theory of knowledge is based on the biblical concept of the radical lack of independence and inferiority of human nature. From the point of view of Christian ideology, only God can be a full-fledged subject of activity and knowledge. Man is a being derived from God, and for this reason alone he is not capable of knowledge.

According to the Christian view, even in his original, “pre-sin” state, man was completely dependent on God. The peculiarity of this “pre-sin” state, as described by Christian philosophers, is that man did not live on his own, but in a divine way, was in unity with God, and was involved in the supernatural. The essence of the Fall, in their opinion, lies precisely in the fact that man separated from God, wanted to live according to his own principles and norms, wanted to become equal to God, in other words, a free subject of activity and knowledge. Assimilation to God, man's regaining of the divine image and likeness is interpreted by orthodox Christian ideology as a person's renunciation of his claims, his subjectivity, his “I.” God-likeness is nothing more than a person’s self-denial, a complete transition into man’s subordination to God.

The form of such a transition, according to Christian thinkers, is faith. At the same time, they resort to a rather expanded interpretation of the phenomenon of faith. They interpret faith as a universal dimension of human consciousness, subjectivity, spirituality, which expresses a rationally opaque attitude to reality. Faith is interpreted both as a psychological attitude, confidence, commitment to something, and as a belief in the supernatural, as a religious faith. Using the first meaning of the term “faith,” Christian philosophers consider faith as a special, supernatural, cognitive and ideological position of the subject. According to their teaching, faith has deep emotional and volitional foundations and is psychologically primary in relation to discursive thinking. “If you do not believe, you will not understand... Knowledge mediated by faith is the most reliable,” says Clement of Alexandria. Anyone seeking the truth, he believes, must start from some initial principles that determine the path of development of his search, take a certain cognitive and ideological position, and believe in something. Faith, as an attitude of consciousness, is identified by Christian philosophers with religious faith. It is interpreted as a form of unity between a person and Bo

home, as a channel through which God influences human cognitive abilities, heals, fertilizes and improves them.

The position of the radical lack of independence of man as a subject of knowledge receives its highest expression through the introduction of the action of divine grace into the cognitive process. The characterization of God as mystical Love - grace in Christian systems is no less, and often more significant, than his definition as Reason. Divine grace appears in Christian epistemology as the main driving principle and regulator of cognitive activity. The need to use this factor in the cognitive process is explained by Christian philosophers by the fact that man, due to the “sinfulness” of his nature, cannot in himself become like God.

To explain the mechanism of divine intervention in the cognitive process, Christian philosophers often use light symbolism, which is presented in concentrated form in the so-called enlightenment theories or insights. This theory was borrowed by Christian thinkers from Neoplatonism and is shared to one degree or another by most schools of Christian philosophy and theology.

According to this theory, the mind ultimately understands the world not by virtue of its own potencies, but with the help of divine light, the mystical outpouring of the deity, enlightening both the things themselves and human thinking. Without this light, say the ideologists of Christianity, the essence of the subject would remain unexposed, hidden from the mind. Divine light appears in the systems of Christian philosophers to a certain extent as a figurative representation, a symbol, but at the same time, this symbolic image is often given real, physical meaning.

The doctrine of divine penetration into human knowledge is the basis of one of the largest trends in medieval philosophy - mysticism. This teaching originates in the system of the largest representative of medieval philosophy, Augustine Aurelius (354-430). According to the teachings of Augustine, the whole world is permeated by reason, logos, which contains the nature of light, since it has a common cause of its origin - God. However, Augustine argued, neither things nor the human Soul contain light in themselves. They glow with reflected light. Everything is visible, everything is real only through God. God " - this is the Sun-Tse, which itself is not visible, but makes everything else visible. All knowledge is carried out through the rays of divine light. The created light makes it possible to know bodily things, the light of the mind - intelligible objects, the light of grace - the truths of revelation.

Mysticism found its most vivid expression in the Orthodox tradition of John the Theologian, Basil the Great, Gregory of Nyssa;

in the Catholic - Bernard of Clairvaux; Giovanni Fidanza (Bona Ventura).

Mysticism teaches that before the Fall, man was a being of spiritual, light substance. The Fall led to the fact that he lost his original essence and was cast into the world of sensory existence. Now, in the process of “salvation,” a person must renounce everything corporeal, the “world,” and return to his former light spiritual appearance. This process includes three stages: the first - cleansing the soul from sensual passions and attachments (catharsis); the second - enlightenment of the soul with wisdom - the intelligible light of divine truths;

and the third - insight, mystical ecstasy, the merging of man with God. All these three steps are inextricably linked with each other.

Catharsis considered in mystical systems as a precondition for enlightenment. In order for a person to be able to perceive the divine light, he must return from a fallen state to a state of pristine purity. The role of catharsis is to restore in man the divine image darkened by the Fall. The purification process requires great ascetic efforts. In the end of this process, according to Christian mystics, there should be a dematerialization of man, his detachment from everything earthly. Having thrown off the previous bodily coverings, which became heavy and pulled downward, the soul gets the opportunity to put on new clothes of light, which, due to their lightness, pull it upward. Thus, man enters a new stage of becoming like God - stage of enlightenment. At this stage, the mind gradually ascends from the lower manifestations of “light energy” to higher ones.

Ultimately, this process must culminate in direct communication between God and man. The outward expression of the ever-increasing unity of man with God is mystical ecstasy - divine illumination. In systems of mysticism it is interpreted as a phenomenon to the consciousness of truth in its self-evidence. The soul at the moment of illumination contemplates not only intelligible reality, but also light itself, that is, it sees God himself - the source of all light - in his incorporeal essence. At the highest stage of the soul’s ascent to God, the soul returns to its original form, i.e., “the image and likeness of God.” Only then, according to the concepts of mystics, does a complete merger of man with God occur.

Along with mysticism, scholasticism (from the Latin schola, or school) enjoyed enormous influence in medieval philosophy. And this term can be translated as “school philosophy,” that is, a philosophy that was adapted for broadly teaching people the basics of the Christian worldview. Scholasticism formed

took place during the period of absolute dominance of Christian ideology in all spheres of public life in Western Europe. When, in the words of F. Engels, “the dogmas of the church simultaneously became political axioms, and biblical texts received the force of law in any court.”

Scholasticism is the heir that continues the traditions of Christian apologetics and Augustine. Its representatives sought to create a coherent system of Christian worldview, where a hierarchy of spheres of existence was built, at the top of which was the church. While winning over early Christian thinkers in the breadth of their coverage of problems and the creation of grandiose systems, the scholastics were significantly inferior to them in the originality of problem solving and creative approach. One of the most characteristic features of the scholastic style of thinking is authoritarianism. The scholastics, in essence, do not care about the origin of certain provisions with which they operate. The main thing is that they are approved by the authority of the church.

Authoritarianism - a characteristic feature of the entire religious style of thinking. But representatives of early patristics - apologists - recognized the absolute authority of the “Holy Scripture”; they themselves created the church at that time. Their epigones added here the authority of the “church fathers” themselves. The possibilities for a creative approach with such double pressure are reduced to a minimum. The creative potential of the scholastics goes into the sphere of formal logical research.

As medieval researchers note, a number of factors contributed to the decline in the level of philosophical research in scholasticism. The main one is the collapse of the slave system and the establishment of a feudal mode of production. The transition from a slave system to a feudal system in Western European countries is accompanied by a decline in economic activity. In these countries, a subsistence economy was established, crafts fell into decline, trade declined, and populous and lively cities fell into disrepair. With the decline of cities, regression took over all areas of culture: literature, art, science. Philosophy has lost the nourishing juices that it drew from the development of scientific knowledge. Of no small importance was the fact that the volume of literary, scientific and philosophical sources inherited from antiquity and available to European philosophy of the early Middle Ages was extremely limited. The main philosophical works of the ancients were either completely lost or forgotten.

A certain role in reducing the theoretical level of medieval philosophy was also played by the fact that early-Wei patristics and scholasticism faced different tasks. Representatives of the early patristics actively participated in the creation of the foundations of religious doctrine and constantly entered into polemics with heretics and pagans. The scholastics spoke at the moment when the church strengthened its

positions and Christianity took an exclusive place in the life of feudal society. During this period, the formation of dogmas was basically completed, and the efforts of the scholastics were aimed primarily at clarifying and systematizing the unchangeable provisions of the faith, bringing them into such an order that it would be easier to teach and learn.

The development of scholastic philosophy proceeded mainly within the framework of formal-logical schematism. They had to process the material, completed in the main parts, and present it in the schemes of Aristotelian-Stoic logic. Scholastic intellectualism brings content is sacrificed to form. Its representatives strive to replace the study of reality with a procedure of definitions; they give endless definitions and distinctions. The famous researcher of ancient philosophy Windelband gives the following characterization of the scholastic method. “Scholastics only discuss, systematically prove, draw consequences ad infinitum, without checking the foundations. All their logic is reduced to a syllogism. The abuse of syllogisms entails pettiness, a passion for divisions and subdivisions, reduces logical reasoning to verbal mechanics, and promotes excessive care in the external expression of thought to the detriment of the thought itself.” (Vindelband V. History of Philosophy.- St. Petersburg, 1898.- WITH. 36).

Religious intellectualism and religious anti-intellectualism. The problem of the relationship between reason and faith.

The dispute between representatives of scholasticism and mysticism about the most effective means of introducing people to religion at the level of philosophy and theology resulted in a dispute about the best forms and methods of protecting and justifying the Christian worldview. Various approaches to solving these issues have formulated two main trends: religious intellectualism and religious anti-intellectualism.

In religious intellectualism a clearly expressed desire to rely on the rational principle in human consciousness, to appeal to social and intellectual experience, common sense. The goal of intellectualism is to develop in a person a conscious perception of religious doctrine, based not only on authority, but also supported by reasonable arguments. Representatives of intellectualism, to a certain extent, allow the participation of reason and the associated means of theoretical analysis and evaluation in the religious life of people. They strive to put reason at the service of faith, to reconcile science and religion, and to make maximum use of the possibilities of rational means of influencing people.

In contrast to religious intellectualism, representatives religious anti-intellectualism They believe that the rational approach to religion, which contains a moment of coercion and obligation for God, excludes creativity, freedom, arbitrariness, and omnipotence. The actions of God, from the point of view of anti-intellectualists, are not subject to the laws of reason. God is absolutely free, his actions are absolutely unpredictable. On the path to God, the mind is a hindrance. To come to God, you need to forget everything you knew, forget even that there can be knowledge. Anti-intellectualism cultivates blind and thoughtless faith among religious adherents.

The struggle between religious intellectualism and religious anti-intellectualism runs like a red thread through the entire history of medieval philosophy. However, at each specific historical stage of history, this struggle had its own characteristics. During the period of the formation of Christian apologetics, it was conducted on issues of attitude towards ancient culture in general and towards ancient philosophy, as a theoretical expression of this culture, in particular. Representatives of anti-intellectualism took a negative position towards ancient culture. They sought to discredit it in the eyes of their adherents as false, contradictory in nature views that lead people away from their true purpose - “the salvation of their souls.”

The negative position of anti-intellectualism in relation to ancient culture was partly explained by the fact that in Christian communities at the first stage the absolute majority were illiterate, poorly educated people. The position that the truth proclaimed in Christianity - complete and final, sufficient to solve all the problems of human existence - to a certain extent satisfied its adherents and ensured the functioning of Christianity in society. However, the ideologists of Christianity constantly sought to expand the social base of the new religion. They wanted to win over the educated layers of Roman society: the patricians, the intelligentsia. Solving this problem required a change in policy towards ancient culture, a transition from confrontation to assimilation.

Representatives of intellectualism believed that conceptual and rational means of influence should not be thrown aside, much less left in the hands of enemies. They must be put at the service of Christianity. As V.V. Sokolov notes, Justin already outlined a conciliatory line in relation to Hellenistic philosophy (see: Sokolov V.V. Medieval philosophy.- M; 1979- S. 40).

The orientation towards familiarization with ancient culture finds its highest expression in the concept developed by Augustine. theories about the harmony of faith and reason. Augustine demands recognition of two

ways of introducing people to religion: conceptual-rational (logical thinking, achievements of science and philosophy) and non-rational (the authority of the “Holy Scripture” of the church, emotions and feelings). But these paths, from his point of view, are unequal. Augustine gives undisputed priority to irrational means. “It was not by human teaching, but by inner light, as well as by the power of the highest love, that Christ could convert people to saving faith.” According to Augustine’s views, religious faith does not imply rational justification in the sense that in order to accept certain provisions of religion it is necessary to know, understand, and have evidence. In the sphere of religious life one should simply believe without requiring any proof.

At the same time, Augustine is clearly aware of the important role played by rational means of influence. Therefore, he considers it necessary to strengthen faith with evidence of reason, and advocates for the internal connection of faith and knowledge. Healing the soul, according to him, is divided into authority and reason. Authority requires faith and prepares a person for reason. Reason leads to understanding and knowledge. Although reason does not constitute the highest authority, the learned and understood truth serves as the highest authority. Reason obedient to religion and faith supported by reasonable arguments - this is the ideal of Augustinian apologetics. However, it should be noted that the theory presented by Augustine about the harmony of faith and reason does not allow for the possibility, at least to some extent, of making faith dependent on reason. Decisive importance in his system, without any doubt, is given to revelation.

Augustine created his theory of the harmony of faith and reason in the 4th-5th centuries. in the early period of Christian history. IN XI-XII centuries in the struggle for ideological dominance in society, the influence that originated in the depths of feudal culture begins to exert an ever-increasing influence freethinking. The emergence of medieval free-thinking is associated with a number of objective factors: the separation of crafts from the peasant economy and the development of cities on this basis, which gradually became a significant factor in medieval life. A secular culture begins to take shape in cities. One of the most important consequences of this factor is that the church has ceased to be the absolute bearer of education and sophistication. In connection with the development of crafts and trade among the urban population, the need for knowledge of law, medicine, and technology increases. Private law schools are emerging, which are under the control of the church and city government.

Medieval freethinking takes shape as a movement for the desacralization of certain spheres human life activity , for recognition of their autonomy in relation to religion and the church. Representatives of medieval freethinking Pierre Abelard (1079 - 1142), Gilbert of Porretan (c. 1076 -1154), Siger

Brabant (c. 1235 - 1282), Boethius of Daccia and others did not reject religion. This was impossible in Western European conditions of that period and did not correspond to their sentiments as Christian believers. Therefore they recognized the existence of a supernatural order under the direction of a supernatural God. In their works, medieval freethinkers constantly refer to the authority of the “Holy Scripture” and the “fathers of the church.” At the same time, they defend the rights and capabilities of the human mind, the maximum independence of rational-philosophical research and, thereby, objectively undermine the foundations of revolutionary dogmatism.

The first steps of medieval freethinking were associated with the penetration into religious doctrine of dialectics as the science of the laws of correct thinking. A prominent representative of this period is Pierre Abelard. During the period of absolute dominance of theological authoritarianism, Abelard made an attempt to raise his voice in defense of philosophical reason. The starting point of Abelard's concept is the identification of Christ with the Logos. “Christ is both the Logos (word, reasoning) and the wisdom of the father - Sophia. And just as the name “Christians” arose from Christ, so logic received its name from Logos. Its followers are called philosophers the more truly, the more true lovers of this highest wisdom they are. This greatest wisdom of the highest stage, when it is clothed in our nature in order to enlighten us from worldly love to love in relation to himself, of course, makes us equally Christians and true philosophers... The Lord Jesus Christ Himself defeated the Jews in frequent disputes and suppressed their slander both by writing and by reflection, with proof to strengthen faith in ourselves not only with the power of miracles, but especially with the power of words... We must attract to faith with the help of reasonable evidence those who seek wisdom...” (Abelard P. Objection to a certain ignoramus in the field of dialectics // Anthology of world philosophy. V4-xtt.T. 1.- P. 802). Abelard's assessment of the role of reason in religious life may look even more modest than that of Clement or Augustine, but in the 11th century it sounded extremely revolutionary, and not least for this assessment, Abelard was subjected to severe persecution.

The rationalistic aspects of the ideology of medieval freethinking found their highest expression in two truth theory or "dual truth". This theory transfers the problem of the relationship between faith and reason, religion and knowledge into the sphere of relationships between theology and philosophy. The main meaning of the theory of “two truths” is to assert the independence of science and philosophy from religious dogmas of theology.

In medieval thought there were various versions of the theory of “two truths.” One of them, represented by the Chartres school, boiled down to the affirmation of the differences in the subject and methods of theology.

gy, on the one hand, science and philosophy, on the other. Theology was given to the area of the supernatural, science and philosophy - the area of knowledge related to the natural world. The truth of supernatural revelation, by virtue of the authority of “Holy Scripture” and the church, must be accepted on faith. Philosophy in its research relies on reason and experience. The main efforts of the representatives of the Chartres school were aimed at proving the absence of contradictions between theology and philosophy due to the differences in their subject areas and methods, although the undoubted primacy was given to theology.

The version of the theory of “two truths” presented by the Latin Auveroists Siger of Brabant to Boethius of Daccia looks more radical. Representatives of this trend of free speculation act in new historical conditions. By this time, the works of Avicenna Alfarabi, Maimonnides, Ibn Gebrol, and a number of works of Arabic-language science - medicine, astronomy, mathematics, optics - had been translated into Latin. Translations of the ancient philosophers Plato, Plotinus, and Proclus played an even greater role. Of particular importance was the translation of Aristotle's Metaphysics.

Unlike the representatives of the Chartres school, Siger of Brabant and Boethius of Daccia are already fighting, if possible, for the complete autonomy of scientific and philosophical knowledge and go so far as to recognize the possibility of complete opposition between theology and philosophy on a number of important issues. In self-reproach O Numetric unity of mind Siger of Brabant put forward the idea of the eternity of the world and the eternity of reason as a natural quality of man. According to Seeger's teachings, the universal and eternal mind provides adequate knowledge of the world to every person, since he is involved in this mind. An individual can make a mistake, but reason as such never makes a mistake. In essence, here confidence is expressed in the objective value of human knowledge, accumulated over centuries and verified by human experience. The data of science and research of the human mind, according to Seager, are, as it were, outside the sphere of faith, based on the laws of thinking and nature. An important means of justifying the autonomy of the conceptual-rational sphere was the emphasis by the Latin Auveroists on the irrational nature of religious dogma, the impossibility of justifying it by means of reason, and the opposition to the very principles of science. ,

Catholic theologians were tasked by the leadership of the church to develop means of countering the influence of freethinking, and at the same time take into account the increased authority of science and philosophy. In the best way, from the point of view of the church, this problem was solved by Thomas Aquinas (1225 - 1274). The teachings of Thomas Aquinas were recognized as official shortly after his death

teachings of Catholicism. The cornerstone of the entire enormous philosophical-theological system of Thomas Aquinas is the new, in comparison with Augustine, version of the theory of the harmony of faith and reason. Aquinas proclaimed that faith should not contradict reason, that some fundamental provisions of the doctrine can be rationally justified. For example, reason is capable of proving dogmas about the existence of God, the creation of the world, the immortality of the soul, etc. Ultimately, reason and faith are aimed at knowing the same Truth - God, but they do this in different ways. Reason is based on science and philosophy, faith is based on theology. The possibility of harmony of reason and faith is based on the fact that God is revealed to man in two ways: natural - through the created world and supernatural - through revelation. Science and philosophy, through the means of reason, cognizing the created world, come to the idea of the existence of God and God’s control of all processes in this world. Theology, based on supernatural revelation contained in the Bible and the decisions of the church, allows a person to accept the most important truths of the faith.

Recognizing the possibility of coincidence of conclusions to which a person comes on the basis of reason and faith, Thomas Aquinas at the same time emphasized that they cannot and should not contradict each other. Reason and faith are fundamentally different paths to Truth. The basis for accepting the truths of reason is their internal persuasiveness, the evidence of all initial positions, while the basis for accepting the truths of faith is the authority of God who proclaimed them. The result of the activity of the mind is knowledge. The result of the activity of faith is doctrine. Knowledge is the realm of obvious and provable truths, while faith is the realm of non-obvious and unprovable truths.

One and the same truth cannot be known and believed in at the same time. A person either knows for certain about something, or he takes it for faith. Agreement with the truths of reason is a consequence of logical necessity, while agreement with the truths of faith is an act of free will. Having made a clear distinction between reason and faith, Thomas Aquinas separated science and philosophy from theology and thereby substantiated their relative independence. But relative independence, according to Aquinas, did not at all mean the complete separation of faith from knowledge and knowledge from faith. Thomas Aquinas excludes the possibility of accepting the theory of two truths. According to his teaching, in science and philosophy, something that is false from theological point of view cannot be recognized as true. In the event of a Meekdu conflict, the decisive criterion is the truths of revelation, which surpass in their truth and value any rational evidence. Thus, Thomas Aquinas recognized the value of scientific knowledge, rational evidence, and at the same time retained the control of theology over science and philosophy.

So, medieval Christian philosophy, while maintaining adherence to the basic principles of the religious philosophical style of thinking and worldview, went through a long path of development. Starting with small in volume and quite simple in content "Apology" she ended with the creation of grandiose philosophical-theological systems in which all aspects of philosophical theory were reflected and developed: ontology, epistemology, philosophy of history, ethics and aesthetics.

The idea of Christian philosophy. Early Christian philosophy

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