Church and State in the Views of St. Philaret (Drozdov)

Abstract

The article is dedicated to the legacy of Saint Philaret (Drozdov). Based on statements taken from sermons, opinions, reviews and letters of Metropolitan Philaret, which touch upon the themes of the origins of statehood and the structure of public life in the country, the features of his views on the relationship between the Church and the state are revealed. The article analyzes the range of ideas associated with his teaching on the structure of the earthly state in the image of the Kingdom of Heaven. It is noted that the Metropolitan’s views on church-state relations are based on the idea of the state as part of God’s plan in human society. Despite the fact that the Church and the state have different natures and origins, and the forms of their relationship are continuously developing in a historical context, the saint defines their common goals, attaching great importance to the role of the earthly city in the preparation of citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven. The Moscow Metropolitan points out a direct connection between the political stability of the state and the moral level of its citizens. The article focuses on the fact that in these conditions the Church acts as a bearer of spiritual and moral values. The legacy of the saint is of interest from the point of view of political axiology in terms of a deeper understanding of the provisions of the 809th Decree of the President of Russia, which specifies the concept of “traditional values”. Decree 809 includes moral guidelines passed down from generation to generation, which shape the worldview of Russian citizens and form the foundation of the all-Russian identity.