Faith and Science in Russian Religious Thought

Abstract

The book brings forth a comprehensive presentation of one of the most interesting of contemporary issues, namely an analysis of the relation between science and faith in Russian religious thought. It is a synthetic approach on the development of the problem throughout the whole history of Russian thought, starting from the medieval period and arriving in contemporary times. The key topic is considered the relationship between science and religion in the eighteenth century, the so-called academic philosophy of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the thought of Peter Chaadaev, the Slavophiles, and in the most influential literature figures, such as Fedor Dostoevsky and Lev Tolstoy. The book also analyzes two channels of the formation of philosophy in the context of the relationship between theology and science in Russia. The first is connected with the attempt to rationalize the truths of faith and is exemplified by Vladimir Soloviev and Nikolai Lossky; the second, the apophatic tradition, is presented by Fr. Pavel Florensky and Semen Frank. The book then describes the relation to scientific knowledge in the thought of Lev Shestov, Nikolai Berdyaev, Sergius Bulgakov, and Alexei Losev as well as the original project of Russian Cosmism (in the examples of Nikolai Fedorov, Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, and Vladimir Vernadsky). Finally, the book presents the current state of the discussion on this topic by paying attention to the Neopatristic synthesis (Fr. Georges Florovsky and his followers) and offers a brief comparative analysis of the relationship between science and religion from the Western and Russian perspectives.

What is in a name? Does the difference between onto-theology and theo-ontology direct the way from eco-theology to theo-ecology? Specific Russian theological perspectives

“…A unidirectional movement of this maxim of Polkinghorne leads to either foundationalism or fideism, and eventually to compartmentalisation of faith and reason. Obolevitch (2019) summarised it neatly:…”

“…Philosophy and theology are birds of the same feather: 'Russian philosophy is always theology' (Cassedy 1990:100). Obolevitch (2019) concurred when posing that the methodological distinction between the analytical-critical and synthetic-constructive approach is artificial in Russian cognition:…”

Philosophical and scientific interaction between Vladimir Vernadsky and Pavel Florensky

“…Vernadsky was then elected assistant rector to his successor, professor Alexander Manuilov. During his activity in the Psychological Society, Vernadsky published the article "On the Scientific Worldview" (1902) 6 in the Society's journal Voprosy filosofii i psikhologii, where he wrote: "…the development of science undoubtedly evokes… the extraordinary extension of the boundaries of philosophical and religious consciousness of the human spirit" [6, p. 164]. Nemeth pointed out that "the paper displayed Vernadskij's extensive knowledge of the history of science that later would lead to his correspondence with the Belgian-American founder of the history of science as a discipline, George Sarton (1884-1956)" [9, p. 288].…”

“…In Nemeth's words, Vernadsky gave a commemorative address, 'The Characteristics of Count S. N. Trubeckoj's Worldview' , at Moscow University in 1908, which was published in the journal Russkaja Mysl' [Russian Thought].Arguably indicative of his general attitude toward philosophical reflections on science, however, is his diary entry from December 1890: "It is surprising how 'philosophical' thinking, lagging behind scientific data due to inadequate scientific education, chiefly in the natural and mathematical sciences, often leads to comical statements" [9, p. 288] 6. The essay "O nauchnom mirovozzrenii" [On the Scientific Worldview] originally served as an introduction to the course of the history of natural science, which Vernadsky held at the beginning of 1900s at the Moscow University[11, p. 573].…”