The concept of the “Christ-loving host” in Russian theological and philosophical discourses of the 19th century as a phenomenon of politics of memory

Abstract

The problem of correlation of the ideals of Christian ethics and real politics arose almost immediately with the advent of Christianity. In the 19th century in the Russian Empire, this issue again became relevant in connection with frequent wars and attempts by the state to use Orthodoxy and the army as an instrument of ideological education and, even, re-education, of citizens. Moreover, the solution to this problem was fraught with a number of theological, philosophical and worldview issues. The concept of the "Christloving host", which actively began to take shape in Russian theological and philosophical discourses in the 19th century, tried to answer most of them. In particular, the theological and religious-enlightening aspect of this problem was raised in the writings of such figures of the Russian Orthodox Church as St. Innocent (Archbishop of Kherson and Tauride). Secular philosophical criticism and an attempt at a theological answer from the point of view of the "new religion" were attempted by Leo Tolstoy and his followers.

Keywords

• moral theology
• christ-loving host
• saint innocent
• leo tolstoy