Title of the article:

DAVID BRADSHAW “THE MIND AND THE HEART IN THE CHRISTIAN EAST AND WEST”

Author(s):

Sokolov, I.A., Bedina, N.N.

Information about the author/authors

Ivan A. Sokolov — Master of Culture Studies, Lomonosov Northern (Arctic) Federal University, Severnaya Dvina Emb., 17, 163002 Arkhangelsk, Russia.
E-mail: ivansok33@yandex.ru 

Natalya N. Bedina — DSc of Culturology, Associate Professor, Lomonosov Northern (Arctic) Federal University, Severnaya Dvina Emb., 17, 163002 Arkhangelsk, Russia.
ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000‑0002‑1613‑4164
E-mail: bedina-nat@yandex.ru

Section

Theory and history of culture

Year

2024

Volume

Vol. 73

Pages

pp. 18 46

Received

October 08, 2023

Approved after reviewing

February 13, 2024

Date of publication

September 25, 2024

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.37816/2073-9567-2024-73-18-46

Index UDK

230.1 + 81‑26

Index BBK

86.37‑4 + 81.18

Acknowledgements

The paper “The Mind and the Heart in the Christian East and West” by David Bradshaw, modern American theologian, patrologue, dean of department of Philosophy at the university of Kentucky, was written in 2008–2009 and published in the journal ‘Faith and philosophy: Journal of the Society of Christian philosophers’ (2009. Vol. 26, Iss. 5. Art. 10) [6]

Abstract

Having moved from Protestantism to Orthodoxy at a conscious age, David Bradshaw begins to scrupulously explore the Orthodox Church multifaceted teachings. The theological and philosophical categories of mind and heart are one of the aspects of church doctrine. Philosopher indicates that his research interest is focused on understanding the parallels and the division between the Greek-speaking (Eastern) and Latin-speaking (Western) branches of Christianity, as well as between the three great monotheistic traditions of the Middle Ages — Christian, Jewish and Islamic. The book ‘Aristotle in East and West: Metaphysics and the Division of the Christian World’ (2004) ‘examines these East-West differences through the lens of ‘energeia,’ a Greek term lying at the root of both the concept of the divine energies (in the East) and that of God as pure act (in the West)’ [30]. This book was translated into Russian in 2012. The philosopher’s subsequent works continued this comparative study in the context of such theological issues as Divine freedom, time and eternity, predestination and election, etc. 

In the study ‘Mind and Heart in Understanding the Christian East and West’ David Bradshaw attempts to consider the paradigms of Eastern and Western understanding of mind and heart, starting from their common origins in biblical and classical antiquity. Special attention is paid to the psychosomatic holism of the biblical perception of environment. The philosopher defines it as both the central core and one of the conditions for the interaction of mind and heart in the position of the Eastern Christian Church. Speaking about the interpretation of the mind and heart in the texts of the West and the East, David Bradshaw emphasizes the importance of the connotative field of their perception, and the different interpretation of concepts determines the level of their relevance. 

Actualizing the position of Eastern Christianity in relation to the bodily state of man, David Bradshaw speaks about the internal dependence of holism on the concept of ontological dualism of mind and heart, which is very unexpected from the traditional Western philosophy’s point of view. Nevertheless, based on the logic of the development of Eastern Christian theological thought, such dependence seems consistent and convincing. Moreover, the author concludes his reflection saying: ‘…it seems both coherent and plausible, at least given Christian presuppositions; and it offers real hope that the mind and the heart need not always stand apart, but can in fact be reunited.’ 

Since the text of David Bradshaw’s paper uses a series of quotations from Holy Scripture and patristic writings as an illustration, we decided to follow the Old and New Testaments in Synodal Translation. While translating other texts we use existing translations into Russian. References to the used publications are noted in the comments.

Keywords

Mind, Heart, Western Christianity, Eastern Christianity, Holism, Dualism, Hesychasm.

Reference

Bredshou, D. Aristotel’ na Vostoke i na Zapade: Metafizika i razdelenie khristianskogo mira [Aristotle in East and West: Metaphysics and the Division of Christendom]. Moscow, Iazyki slavianskikh kul’tur Publ., 2012. 383 p. (In Russ.) 

Bredshou, D. “Um i serdtse na khristianskom Vostoke i Zapade (perevod s angl. D. K. Maslova)” [“The Mind and the Heart in the Christian East and West (trans. from the English by D. K. Maslov)”]. Nauka i chelovecheskaia priroda: rossiiskaia i zapadnaia perspektiva [Science and Human Nature: Russian and Western Perspectives]. Moscow, IF RAS Publ., 2009, pp. 93‑114. (In Russ.) 

Archimandrite Ioanichie Balan Elder Cleopa of Sihastria. Lake George, Colorado, New Varatec Publ., 2001, 384 p. (In English) 

Archimandrite Ioanichie Balan “Shepherd of Souls: Elder Cleopa the New Hesychast of Romania.” Orthodox Word, 36.2 (March 2000), pp. 61–78. (In English) 

Boyle, Marjorie O’Rourke ‘The Law of the Heart: The Death of a Fool’ [I Sam. 25]. Journal of Biblical Literature, no. 120, 2001, pp. 401–427. (In English) 

Bradshaw, D. “The Mind and the Heart in the Christian East and West.” Faith and Philosophy, Vol. 26, Issue 5, 2009, pp. 576–598. (In English) 

Butler, Edward Cuthbert Western Mysticism: the teaching of Augustine, Gregory and Bernard on contemplation and the contemplative life. New York, Harper Publ., 1966. LXII + 242 p. (In English) 

Cabassut, Andre ‘Changement des Coeurs.’ Dictionnaire de Spiritualité, vol. 2. Paris, Beauchesne, 1953, col. 1046–1051. (In French) 

Doueihi, Milad A Perverse History of the Human Heart. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Press, 1997. IX + 172 p. (In English)

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