Apokatastasis in Russian philosophical and theological thought

Abstract

The doctrine of apocatastasis in the era of early Christianity was debatable, in the era of the Ecumenical Councils, the discussion ended with the decisions of the Fifth Ecumenical Council. In modern times, a religious and ideological need arose for a new understanding of Christian doctrine. The revival of the theory of apocatastasis has theological, philosophical and psychological prerequisites that arose at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. This article describes the understanding of the idea of apocatastasis in the Russian philosophical and theological thought of the twentieth century, analyzes the elements of the doctrine of apocatastasis in the works of V. V. Rozanov, N. A. Berdyaev, V. V. Zenkovsky, N. O. Lossky, A. E. Zhurakovsky, P. Florensky, P. N. Evdokimov, archpriest S. Bulgakov, L. A. Zander et al. According to the research, Orthodox philosophers of the twentieth century prepared important prerequisites for rethinking the idea of apocatastasis, but none of the thinkers gave a complete doctrine of universal salvation — neither the time nor the style of thought of Orthodox theology of that period contributed to this. The author has identified the most important prerequisites and components of building a theoretical basis for the hope of universal salvation in the Orthodox context, which provides the necessary material for finalizing the idea of apocatastasis in modern theology. The article introduces numerous Russian authors, classical writers and theologians, the vision of theologians of European thought and Christian saints.

Keywords:

apocatastasis, Russian philosophy, eschatology, soteriology, unity, universalism