[St. Francis of Assisi and the Search for a “New” Christianity in the Russian Philosophy of the First Half of the 20th Century (D. Merezhkovsky and N. Berdyaev)]

Abstract: The authors analyse the understanding of St. Francis of Assisi by D. Merezhkovsky and N. Berdyaev, the prominent representatives of the “new religious consciousness”. The analysis is contextualized by the overview of the conception of Francis’ importance in Russian theological and philosophical literature at the turn of the 20th century. In the Orthodox literature was the evaluation of St. Francis directly derived from the evaluation of Catholicism. The concept of Francis as the “embodiment” of the ideal of the Catholic sacrament prevailed. Merezhkovsky and Berdyaev did not consider the differences between Orthodoxy and Catholicism to be essential. In their view, Francis was to rise above historical Christianity and marked the tendency to transform both churches (Catholic and Orthodox) into a new final state. According to Russian thinkers, the Church must go this way in the name of overcoming the religious crisis that all humanity is experiencing.

Authors: Evlampiev, Igor – Petrucijová, Jelena – Feber, Jaromír

DOI: 10.17846/CL.2022.15.1.109-121

Publication order reference: Prof. Igor Evlampiev, DrSc.; St.-Petersburg State University, RF, Institute of Philosophy, Department of Russian Philosophy and Culture, Medeleevskaya nab. 5, 199 034 St.-Petersburg, Russia; email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Doc. PhDr. Jelena Petrucijová, CSc.; Palacky University in Olomouc, Faculty of Arts, Department of sociology, andragogy and cultural anthropology, Av. Svobody 8, 779 00 Olomouc, Czech Republic; email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.; ORCID 0000-0003-2214-6038
Prof. PhDr. Jaromír Feber, CSc.; VSB – Technical University of Ostrava, Department of Social Sciences, 17. listopadu 2172/15, 708 00 Ostrava-Poruba, Czech Republic; email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.; ORCID 0000-0001-9795-0675

Source: Konštatínove listy, 2022, vol.: 15, issue: 1, pages: 109-121 (PDF file)

Keywords: ST. FRANCIS OF ASSISI, MEREZHKOVSKY, BERDYAEV, MOVEMENT OF THE ‘NEW RELIGIOUS CONSCIOUSNESS’, TRANSFORMATION OF CHRISTIANITY

Language: CZECH