The Perspectives of Russia’s Intellectual Circles on the Church, Orthodoxy, and the Union by 1839

The article focuses on the perception of Orthodoxy and Uniatism within Russian intellectual circles on the eve of the reunification of Belarusian Uniates with the Orthodox Church in 1839. The article also examines the religious perspectives of both governmental figures (S. S. Uvarov, M. M. Speransky) and public figures (N. M. Karamzin, A. S. Sturdza, A. S. Pushkin, N. G. Ustryalov, D. N. Bantysh-Kamensky, I. I. Sreznevsky, P. Ya. Chaadaev). In the 1810s and 1830s, secular circles began to formulate ideas about Orthodoxy as a religion of love, firmly rooted in the original Christian tradition. Orthodoxy was regarded as a religion characterized by dogmatic certainty, devoid of relativism and false mysticism. The primary distinction from Catholicism lay in the absence of a pursuit for secular power, and consequently, a rejection of the practice of violence. Additionally, the Orthodox Church was viewed as the historical church of the Russian people. The author of the article concludes that by this time, a significant segment of society, particularly those concerned with religious matters, had already developed relatively stable ideas about the union. The union was perceived as the result of religious manipulation and coercion by papal Rome, as well as the enticement of certain Western Russian church hierarchs. The article underscores the Orthodox population’s rejection of the union within the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, particularly among the common people. Hence, the effort to overcome the union was deemed justified. Furthermore, the Uniates could not be regarded as fully integrated members of the Russian people until they were reunited with both the Church and the Russian national spirit. Within the framework of the intellectual circles’ ideas that emerged during that period, religious and secular reasoning were closely interwoven and found historical validation.

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