ANTHROPOLOGICAL CONCEPTS IN THE HOMILETIC WRITING OF ARCHBISHOP FEOFAN (PROKOPOVICH)

Abstract

The article attempts to reconstruct the theological anthropology of Archbishop Feofan Prokopovich based on his homiletic heritage. As everyone knows, Feofan was one of the main preachers of the era of Peter the Great and had a great influence on the theory of church preaching. In addition, he left a great homiletic legacy, which can be clearly divided into the Kiev and St. Petersburg periods of his life. Preaching as the living word of the Church has always occupied a special place in church life: it is from the church pulpit that the most important doctrinal and dogmatic truths are proclaimed. The situation in which Bishop Feofan found himself demanded from him a reaction to the changes taking place both in the church and in the state environment. A faithful ally of Peter I, he responded to all the key events of the era, covering them in his sermons. Feofan’s sermons of the St. Petersburg period (from 1716) began to be more political in nature unlike the Kiev period, where moral and ascetic themes prevailed. Despite all this, they did not lose their theological content, which, of course, began to occur less frequently. Analyzing words and speeches of Feofan (Prokopovich), the author of the article builds his anthropology based on three key provisions of the doctrine of man: the primordial state, the fall and rebirth by grace. Particular attention is paid to the comparison of the anthropological positions of Archbishop Feofan, reconstructed from his sermons, with those theses that are set forth in his writings about man.

Keywords

• anthropology
• homiletics
• rhetoric
• preaching
• man
• beatitude
• the fall
• justification
• russian theology
• feofan prokopovich