Sex, the Family, and Religion in the Correspondence of V. V. Rozanov with S. A. Rachinsky

Abstract

The author analyses the correspondence between Rozanov and Rachinsky from the point of view of matters pertaining to sex, the family, and their connection with religion. Each of the two philosophers represents a different and opposing school of thought in regard to these issues. The main problem is whether sex, marriage, and the family should be thought of as belonging to the sacred or profane sphere. It would seem constructive to view this question taking into account some contemporary theories about the sacred. Questions of sex for Rozanov are intimately related to his thought on the relationship of sex and religion. Rozanov noted that the thought of the Church regarding sex was highly equivocal. On the one hand, marriage in theory is regarded as a sacrament and is blessed by the Church. On the other hand, in practice, sex is subject by the Church to all sorts of administrative measures of a repressive nature and is a forbidden object for discussion. Rachinsky, in this, shared the opinion of Rozanov. For Rozanov, the best and highest proof of the intimate connection of sex and religion is the fact that at the moment of conception, God intervenes and creates a soul for the newly conceived human being. Accepting sex as a blessing, is, according to Rozanov, the best medicine against all sorts of theories of free thought, atheism, and other similar anti-theistic philosophies. These problems which Rozanov described have in our time not diminished but on the contrary have become even more relevant. The ideas expressed in Rozanov's correspondence with Rachinsky may offer us new suggestions for ways to solve similar problems in contemporary society

Keywords

• sex
• family
• marriage
• love
• religion
• human nature
• sin
• spirituality holiness
• V. V. Rozanov
• S. A. Rachinsky