Title of the article:

HESYCHASM IN THE CULTURE OF MUSCOVITE RUS’ IN 14^th–15^th CENTURIES

Author(s):

Natalia S. Zhirtueva

Information about the author/authors

Natalia S. Zhirtueva — DSc in Philosophy, Associate Professor, Professor of the Department of “Political Science and Philosophy”, Institute of Social Sciences and International Relations, Sevastopol State University, Sevastopol, Russia. 

ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2386-1332
Е-mail: zhr_nata@bk.ru

Section

Theory and history of culture

Year

2022

Volume

Vol. 66

Pages

pp. 43–52

Received

May 27, 2021

Approved after reviewing

December 29, 2021

Date of publication

December 28, 2022

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.37816/2073-9567-2022-66-43-52

Index UDK

008+1(091)

Index BBK

71(2)4+86.37

Abstract

The “hesychast disputes” that unfolded in Byzantium and influenced other Orthodox countries came to be the critical event of the 14^th century for the Christian world. The doctrine of synergy, the theory of the “deification” (“theosis”) of a person and the metaphysics of light, developed by the hesychast Gregory Palamas, were creatively reworked in the consciousness of Muscovite Rus’ in the 14^th–15^th centuries. As a result, the original Old Russian Hesychasm emerged, transforming the doctrine of synergy into the veneration of the Holy Trinity. For the young Orthodox state, which was in the process of establishing its statehood, the Holy Trinity became the personification of national unity and breaking dependence on the conquerors. The doctrine of St. Sergius of Radonezh about the Trinity, the Trinity concept of Epiphanius the Wise, the growing popularity of the Trinity theme in icon painting, the special celebration of the Trinity Day, the construction of Trinity temples act as evidence of the strong consolidation of the cult of the Holy Trinity in Moscow culture. Another important theme for the Old Russian culture of the 14^th–15^th centuries was the concept of “deification” of a person as the highest form of his creativity. It found its theoretical form in the teachings of Gregory Palamas, while its visible expression became the iconography of Andrei Rublev and Dionysius. Old Russian icon painters were able to convey the moral ideal of hesychasm — the ideal of the transformed man who achieves a new ontological status of existence through deification. The doctrine of deification was intimately connected with the hesychast metaphysics of Tabor light, reflected in the Old Russian aesthetics of light and color.

Keywords

Byzantine Hesychasm, Old Russian Hesychasm, “theosis”, Tabor light, Trinity Sergius Lavra, Trinity cult.

References

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