Could «School» Theology Become «Experimental»? (Saint John of Kronstadt as a Graduate of a Higher Theological School)

Abstract

The article is devoted to the relations of St. John of Kronstadt with the higher theological school and academic theology. The author touches on the three main issues that determine the structure of the basic part of the article: school theology in general and in the St. Petersburg Theological Academy, especially during the period of Ivan Sergiev’s training there; the attitude of St. John to the higher theological school and the academy that brought him up; the theology of St. John in relation to the theology of the school that brought him up. The study is based on the complex of St. John’s works, which includes early works (PhD thesis and catechetical discourses), some sermons («Words») and diaries. The research has resulted in the conclusions which imply further discussion and new prospects for studying. The case of Fr. John demonstrates that «school» theology can turn «experimental», and even the diary notes of Fr. John become not just a practical pastoral text, but theology, although in the form different from the academic one. Fr. John never tried to revise, much less reject, either the knowledge he received at the academy or the tradition that brought him up, no matter how he viewed its state at different stages. Moreover, by his advice and communication in the academies — with students, future pastors, first of all — Fr. John tried to make up for the insufficiency of this tradition. The theological ideas studied at the academy were further tested by Fr. John’s personal experience of life in the Church. Under the influence of this experience, the acquired theological knowledge was in some ways preserved, somehow clarified and deepened, but at the same time the inevitable school teaching definitions, schemes and structures were overcome. The grain of «school» theology was destroyed outwardly, sprouting into a new — «experimental» — theology, which inherited something from the destroyed grain, developed something into a new and more vital one in the sense of true life. And the new criterion for the truth of theological ideas and conclusions is already life in Christ. In fact, this is what the theological school expected from its graduates: the acquired set of knowledge, the given coordinate system determined a certain perspective, which could only be realized by personal efforts. Thus, St. John of Kronstadt, having understood this properly, realized what was inherent in the very concept of spirituality of the school, no matter what historical factors determined the appearance of this definition.

Keywords

• saint john of kronstadt
• saint petersburg theological academy
• academic theology
• experimental theology
• orthodox pastoral ministry