“Enlightened Faith” as the “substance of things hoped for”

Abstract

The article is an experience of analyzing the concept of “enlightened faith” based on the ideas of Russian religious writers and thinkers of the XIX — first third of the XX century. The views of the Lubomudras and Slavophiles, N. V. Gogol, F. M. Dostoevsky, N. F. Fedorov, V. S. Solovyov, S. N. Bulgakov and others are analyzed. It is shown that the concept of “enlightened faith” becomes a manifestation of the antisecular tendencies of Russian culture, being associated with the desire for a complete churchification of human life and activity, with the liturgical image of the “Light of Christ”, which “enlightens everyone”, with the ideal of “integral knowledge”. The lines of interaction of the ideological complex, which is the essence of the concept of “enlightened faith”, with the idea of converting dogma into a commandment, the tradition of justifying history, the concept of extra-temple liturgy are demonstrated. It is shown that “enlightened faith” requires the fullness of Christian action, involving in it all areas of knowledge and human practice, highlighting and transforming them from within, setting them the highest religious goal — co-working with God in the transformation of the world into the Kingdom of Christ.

Keywords

• enlightened faith
• russian literature
• russian religious philosophy
• the idea of the churchification of life
• true enlightenment
• faith — knowledge — action
• extra-temple liturgy
• просвещенная вера
• русская религиозная философия
• русская литература
• идея оцерковления жизни
• истинное просвещение
• вера — знание — действие
• внехрамовая литургия