The Image of the Church – Present and Future – in the Works of Nicholas Berdyaev. Article two: Post-Constantinian Era and the “Chiliastic Hope”

Author: korolevaNV / Date: 30-09-2025 /
Publication Title: 
The Image of the Church – Present and Future – in the Works of Nicholas Berdyaev. Article two: Post-Constantinian Era and the “Chiliastic Hope”
Publication author(s): 
S.V. Androsenko
Abstract: 

This article focuses on the analysis of the image of the Church, both present and future, in the works of N.A. Berdyaev between 1911 and 1948. In the second part of the article the author demonstrates the impact of the philosopher’s interpretation of divine and human freedom, as well as of the Christian revelation of the fall and redemption on his understanding of the image of the Church. The anthropological meaning and ecclesiological significance of the myth of “uncreated freedom” (Ungrund) are explained. Berdyaev’s specific understanding of the eschatological dimension of the life of the Church is shown, in the context of which his idea of the Church as a Divine-human process is analyzed. The article grasps and explains the principal traits of Berdyaev’s image of Church – those which express his perception of its innermost nature – against a backdrop of the Post-Constantinian era, which commenced before the philosopher’s very eyes. The historiosophical and anthropological meaning of Berdyaev’s “chiliastic hope” is explained. The author shows how Berdyaev’s ecclesial intuitions went on to be embodied in the historical life of the Russian Church – both in Soviet Russia and in exile – in the 20th century.

 

References: 

(Sources)

Collected Works

  1.  Berdyaev, N.A. O dukhovnoy burzhuaznosti: Sbornik sochineniy [On Spiritual Bourgeoisness: Collected Works]. Moscow: Nouveaux Angles (Moskva); Editions des Syrtes (Parizh), 2022. 184 p.
  2.  Nisskiy, Grigoriy. Ob ustroenii cheloveka [On the Structure of Man], in Tvoreniya svyatogo Grigoriya Nisskogo [Works of St. Gregory of Nyssa]. Moscow: Tipipografiya V. Got'e, 1861–1871. Part 1, 1861, pp. 76–222.
  3.  Kuz'mina-Karavaeva, E.Yu. Ravnina russkaya: Stikhotvoreniya i poemy. P'esy-misterii. Khudozhestvennaya i avtobiograficheskaya proza. Pis'ma [Russian Plain: Poems. Mystery Plays. Fiction and Autobiographical Prose. Letters]. Saint-Petersburg: Iskusstvo-SPb, 2001.
  4.  Mat', Mariya (Skobtsova). Nastoyashchee i budushchee Tserkvi [The Present and Future of the Church], in Mat' Mariya (Skobtsova). Vospominaniya, stat'i, ocherki. T. 2 [Memories, Articles, Essays. Vol. 2]. Paris: YMCA-PRESS, 1992, pp. 239–249.
  5.  Mat', Mariya (Skobtsova). Vospominaniya, stat'i, ocherki. T. 1 [Memories, Articles, Essays. Vol. 1]. Paris: YMCA-PRESS, 1992.
  6.  Velichanskiy, A.L. Pepel slov. T. 1 [Ashes of Words. Vol. 1]. Moscow: Progress-Traditsiya, 2010. 712 p.
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Individual Works

  1. Berdyaev, N.A. Filosofiya neravenstva: Pis'ma k nedrugam po sotsial'noy filosofii [Philosophy of Inequality: Letters to Enemies in Social Philosophy]. Berlin: Obelisk, 1923. 246 p.
  2. Berdyaev, N.A. Filosofiya svobodnogo dukha: Problematika i apologiya khristianstva [Freedom and the spirit: Problems and Apology of Christianity], in Berdyaev, N.A. Filosofiya svobodnogo dukha. Ya i mir ob"ektov. Sud'ba cheloveka v sovremennom mire. Dukh i real'nost' [Freedom and the spirit. Solitude and society. The Fate of Man in the Modern World. Spirit and Reality]. Moscow: Respublika, 1994, pp. 14–228.
  3. Berdyaev, N.A. Istina i otkrovenie: Prolegomeny k kritike Otkroveniya [Truth and Revelation: Prolegomena to the Critique of Revelation]. Saint-Petersburg, 1996. 384 p.
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  5. Berdyaev, N.A. Nauka o religii i khristianskaya apologetika [The Science of Religion and Christian Apologetics], in Put', 1927, no. 6, pp. 50–68.
  6. Berdyaev, N.A. Novoe srednevekov'e. Razmyshlenie o sud'be Rossii i Evropy [The end of our time. Reflections on the Fate of Russia and Europe]. Moscow: Feniks KhDS-press, 1991. 483 p.
  7. Berdyaev, N.A. O naznachenii cheloveka: Opyt paradoksal'noy etiki [The Destiny of Man: An Experience of Paradoxical Ethics]. Paris: Sovremennye zapiski, 1931. 320 p.
  8. Berdyaev, N.A. O rabstve i svobode cheloveka: Opyt personalisticheskoy metafiziki [Slavery and Freedom: An Essay on Personalistic Metaphysics]. Paris: YMCA-Press, 1939. 224 p.
  9. Berdyaev, N.A. Problema khristianskogo gosudarstva [The Problem of the Christian State], in Sovremennye zapiski, 1927, no. 31, pp. 280–305.
  10. Berdyaev, N.A. Russkaya ideya (Osnovnye problemy russkoy mysli XIX veka i nachala XX veka) [The Russian idea: Fundamental problems of Russian thought in the 19th and early 20th centuries]. Saint-Petersburg: Azbuka-klassika, 2008. 300 p.
  11. Berdyaev, N.A. Samopoznanie (Opyt filosofskoy avtobiografii) [Dream and Reality (An Experience of Philosophical Autobiography)]. Moscow; Berlin: Direkt-Media, 2016. 451 p.
  12. Berdyaev, N.A. Smysl tvorchestva (Opyt opravdaniya cheloveka) [The Meaning of the Creative Act: A Justification of Man]. Moscow: Izdanie G.A. Lemana i S.I. Sakharova, 1916. 358 p.
  13. Berdyaev, N.A. Spasenie i tvorchestvo (Dva ponimaniya khristianstva) [Salvation and Creativity: Two Understandings of Christianity], in Put', 1926, no. 2, pp. 26–46.
  14. Berdyaev, N.A. Stat'i «Khristianskoe uchenie o svobode, zle i iskushenii», «Khristianskoe uchenie o dobre», «O chude», «Vera i znanie», «O prirode zla», «Vremya i vechnost'», «O smysle smireniya» [1910–1948] [Articles “The Christian Doctrine of Freedom, Evil, and Temptation”, “The Christian Doctrine of Good”, “On Miracles”, “Faith and Knowledge”, “On the Nature of Evil”, “Time and Eternity”, “On the Meaning of Humility” [1910–1948]]. RGALI. F. 1496. Op. 1. Ed. khr. 262.
  15. Berdyaev, N.A. Tsarstvo dukha i tsarstvo kesarya [The Realm of Spirit and the Realm of Caesar]. Paris: YMCA-Press, 1951. 165 p.

(Articles from Proceedings and Collections of Research Papers)

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(Monographs)

  1. Soulen, R.K., Woodhead, L. (ed.) God and human dignity. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2006.
  2. Minin, P.M. Glavnye napravleniya drevne-tserkovnoy mistiki [Main Directions of Ancient Church Mysticism]. Sergiev Posad: tipografiya Svyato-Troitskoy Sergievoy lavry, 1915.
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Key words: 
ecclesiology, Divine humanity, the fall of man, integral understanding of Church, uncreated freedom, experiential knowledge, Post-Constantinian era, sobornost, chiliasm, Christology of man, eschatology
2025. Issue 3 (87)
The DOI index: 
10.17588/2076-9210.2025.3.073-091
Publication file: 
str.73-91_87.pdf