Fall from grace: prehistory and consequences

Abstract

The suggested article presents the results of a theological-exegetical analysis of the writings of His Holiness Patriarch Filaret concerning the issue of sin, fall, and mortality. The subject of the article includes but is not limited to such important anthropological concepts as sin and fall of ancestors, sheds light on the theological thoughts of Patriarch Filaret, and gives us an opportunity to understand the influence of the Holy Fathers on the formation of the anthropological thoughts of the Holy Bishop. Patriarch Filaret, in his anthropology, pays special attention to freedom as a gift of God, which man should use for the benefit of his soul. Our salvation depends directly on revealing this freedom. In order to unite with God, one must purify one's conscience, as it is a dynamic process and requires great effort. Our conscience serves as our guide, pointing us to the path to the heavenly abode. Sinfulness prevents us from seeing ourselves as true and therefore can lead us to spiritual death, as the Holy Bishop observes. As we move away from the light, we become a possession of darkness. After the Fall, Patriarch Filaret focuses his attention on the struggle of the bodily and the spiritual, the desire of the flesh to subordinate the spiritual grain within a human being. But the Lord does not abandon his creation, giving him the strength to fight temptation. Only in God can we rest again, restore harmony in the universe, and find our own place in this world. Being a child of light and not identifying with evil, this content of thought can be conveyed by analyzing the anthropology of the holy Patriarch Filaret. The topic of this article has the prospect of further research, namely, the doctrine of passion and their genesis in the writings of Patriarch Filaret in order to see a complete picture of the anthropological views of the holy lord.

Keywords

• patriarch filaret
• the sacred writing
• sin
• the image of god
• freedom
• spiritual death