author: Oleksandr Tsisar
Urgency of the research. Innokenty Gizel belongs to the prominent Ukrainian church and cultural figures of the middle of the 17th century. Under the leadership of Innokenty Gizel and with his blessing, the printing house of the Kyiv-Pechersk Monastery published a number of important publications that contributed to the improvement of church life. Among them, a voluminous treatise on issues of moral theology, «Peace with God to a Man», which was published in 1669, stands out. In addition, the interpretation took into account the conditions of development at that time. This work had a significant impact on Ukrainian theological thought and Ukrainian culture of the late 17th and early 18th centuries. The philosophical and theological work «Peace with God to a Man» also influenced the Orthodox Church in the Eastern Slavic region. In view of this, consideration of the treatise «Peace with God to a Husband» is important for the study of Ukrainian culture, in particular, the theological thought of the early modern period.
Target setting. The analysis of modern scientific research and consideration of generalized interpretations regarding the religious conceptualization of Innokenty Gizel’s teaching on morality shows insufficient coverage of its defining features. Therefore, such a study is quite natural, taking into account the changes associated with the development of philosophical thought.
Actual scientific researches and issues analysis. One of the first works to provide an overview of Innokenty Gizel’s work was the book «Innokenty Gizel» by Mykola Sumtsov, a researcher of ancient Ukrainian writing, published in 1884 in Kyiv. Dmytro Chyzhevskyi, a well-known researcher of Ukrainian and Russian philosophy, took certain steps to «rehabilitate» ancient Kyiv scholarship. Dmytro Chyzhevsky is the author of the work «Ukrainian Literary Baroque.
The research objective. The purpose of the study is a comprehensive review of the religious conceptualization of Innokenty Gizel’s teachings on morality, including the interpretation of sins, their circumstances, and atonement.
The statement of basic material. Innokenty Gizel played a prominent role in cultural and religious movements in Ukrainian lands in the middle of the 17th century. However, the life and work of this church figure, writer, philosopher and theologian remained out of the attention of researchers for a long time. The same can be said about the treatise «Peace with God to a Man», published with the blessing of Innokenty Gizel and under his editorship. The treatise «Peace with God for a Man» should be considered as an exposition of religious and moral norms inherent in Christianity. By religious morality we mean a set of concepts and principles that are conditioned by a religious worldview. Religious morality is interpreted as having a divine origin. However, its norms depend in a certain way on socio-cultural circumstances. This is what is substantiated in the treatise «Peace with God to a Man». A lot of attention is paid to the problems of good and evil, moral virtues and vices, sinfulness, as well as moral duty. Such an orientation was intended to expand the range of cultural assets that could be used by the Orthodox. As a rule, researchers consider the treatise «Peace with God to a Man» and the work of Innokenty Gizel in general in the context of Ukrainian Baroque culture. In the treatise «Peace with God for a Man», Innokenty Gizel gives a broad classification of sins as moral defects, which are interpreted from a theological point of view. In the foreground are sins of a religious or purely ecclesiastical nature. Then there are sins that concern worldly life, in particular, family relationships, the activities of people of various statuses and professions. It is worth noting that it is generally problematic to clearly distinguish the religious and secular components in the interpretation of sins in the treatise «Peace with God to a Husband». Considering religious and ecclesiastical sins, Innokenty Gisel, despite referring to the Bible and the works of the Fathers of the Church, relies on the realities of life in Ukraine at that time. When analyzing universal (common) sins, he appeals not only to his contemporary realities, but also to church tradition, and emphasizes religious aspects. Innokenty Gisel assumed that the basis of social relations is the family. In the treatise «Peace with God for a Husband» a lot of attention is paid to family sins. Giving preference to the patriarchal family, he still advocated the humane attitude of men to women, for harmonious moral relations. The treatise pays attention to children, their upbringing, instilling in them good customs and faith in God. The main social force in the treatise «Peace with God to a Man» is the Orthodox clergy. It is structured, divided into bishops and monks. The main mass is white parish clergy. Innokenty Gisel knew well the life of the Ukrainian Orthodox clergy, the violations and defects inherent in its environment. When describing the sins of spiritual persons, he relied mainly on the realities of his time. I understood that the clergy, being influenced by trade and market relations, increasingly began to «serve mammon». Innokenty Gisel describes the sins of the worldly people separately for each condition. He draws attention to the fact that those in power treat their subjects humanely. He calls on the representatives of the social classes to respect the authorities and their masters, not to raise riots or uprisings.
Conclusions. Innokenty Gizel focused on the model of a socially structured stable society. He understood that the then Ukrainian society was far from ideal, that representatives of different social statuses, including and the clergy, commit illegal and often immoral actions. Moreover, people endowed with power and wealth do it more often and more. That is why Innokenty Gizel sought to improve church life. I found a number of violations in the activity of the higher clergy, the elimination of which would make the activity of the Orthodox Church in Ukraine more effective. He insisted on the responsible performance of their duties by clergymen, tried to direct the activities of clergymen, preachers and monks in the proper direction. Fulfillment of Innokenty Gizel’s proposed requirements to the Orthodox clergy fully corresponded to the spirit of confessionalization.
Keywords: theology (theology), religious conceptualization, religious morality, sins, confessionalization, baroque, early modern society
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