The Discussion on Stoicism in Russian Thought of the second half of the 19th –early 20th century and the History of the Study of Christianity

Abstract

The aim of the article is to identify and analyze the polemical discourse in Russian thought in the second half of the 19th – early 20th century about the relationship of Stoic philosophy and Christianity in the period of the emergence of the early Christian church, as well as the formation of Christian doctrine and its moral component. In preparing the article, methodological principles of intellectual history were used, with attention being paid to the existence in that period in Russia of two trends in the history of religion in general and in the history of Christianity in particular: confessional and academic, regulated by strict censorship frameworks. The article is based on the methods characteristic to the intellectual history and disciplinary history of science. The use of these methodological foundations made it possible to identify and analyze an interesting discussion in the Russian social thought, which has not lost its relevance in our days. In the framework of this discussion three points of view were formed. According to the first two opinions, which relied on church tradition, Christian moralizing did not experience any influence from the side of Greco-Roman philosophy in general, and Stoicism in particular. The similarity of many ideas of Stoicism and Christianity revealed in antiquity was explained by supporters of the first point of view by the presence of a common source or a reflection of common opinions. Proponents of the second point of view explained this similarity by the influence of Christianity on Stoic philosophy. The adherents of the third point of view, supporting the opinion of the contemporary European scientific critics, believed that Stoicism, along with neo-Platonism and Jewish messianism, had a significant impact on the Christian doctrine.