Aleksey Stepanovich Khomyakov (russian: Алексе́й Степа́нович Хомяко́в; May 13 ( O.S. May 1) 1804,

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

– October 5 (O.S. September 23), 1860, Moscow) was a Russian theologian, philosopher, poet and amateur artist. He co-founded the

Slavophile Slavophilia (russian: Славянофильство) was an intellectual movement originating from the 19th century that wanted the Russian Empire to be developed on the basis of values and institutions derived from Russia's early history. Slavoph ...

movement along with Ivan Kireyevsky, and he became one of its most distinguished theoreticians. His son Nikolay Khomyakov was a speaker of the

State Duma The State Duma (russian: Госуда́рственная ду́ма, r=Gosudárstvennaja dúma), commonly abbreviated in Russian as Gosduma ( rus, Госду́ма), is the lower house of the Federal Assembly of Russia, while the upper hous ...

Biography

Khomyakov's whole life was centred on Moscow. He viewed this "thousand-domed city" as the epitome of the Russian way of life. Equally successful as a landlord and conversationalist, he published very little during his lifetime. His writings, printed posthumously by his friends and disciples, exerted a profound influence on the

Russian Orthodox Church , native_name_lang = ru , image = Moscow July 2011-7a.jpg , imagewidth = , alt = , caption = Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow, Russia , abbreviation = ROC , type ...

and Russian lay philosophers, such as Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Konstantin Pobedonostsev, and Vladimir Solovyov. For Khomyakov, socialism and capitalism were equally repugnant offspring of Western decadence. The West failed to solve human spiritual problems, as it stressed competition at the expense of

co-operation Cooperation (written as co-operation in British English) is the process of groups of organisms working or acting together for common, mutual, or some underlying benefit, as opposed to working in competition for selfish benefit. Many animal ...

. In his own words, "Rome kept unity at the expense of freedom, while Protestants had freedom but lost unity".''History of Russian Philosophy'' by Nikolai Lossky p. 87 Khomyakov's own ideals revolved around the term ''

sobornost Sobornost ( rus, собо́рность, p=sɐˈbornəstʲ "spiritual community of many jointly-living people") is a Russian term whose usage is primarily attributed to the 19th-century Slavophile Russian writers Ivan Kireyevsky (1806-1856 ...

'', the Slavonic equivalent of ''

catholicity Catholicity (from , via ) is a concept pertaining to beliefs and practices that are widely accepted by numerous Christian denominations, most notably by those Christian denominations that describe themselves as ''catholic'' in accordance with th ...

'' found in the

Nicene Creed The original Nicene Creed (; grc-gre, Σύμβολον τῆς Νικαίας; la, Symbolum Nicaenum) was first adopted at the First Council of Nicaea in 325. In 381, it was amended at the First Council of Constantinople. The amended form is ...

; it can be loosely translated as "togetherness" or "symphony". Khomyakov viewed the Russian '' obshchina'' as a perfect example of sobornost and extolled the Russian peasants for their humility. Khomyakov died from

cholera Cholera is an infection of the small intestine by some strains of the bacterium '' Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea that lasts a few days. Vomiting an ...

, infected by a peasant he had attempted to treat. He was buried next to his brother-in-law, Nikolai Yazykov, and another disciple,

Nikolai Gogol Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol; uk, link=no, Мико́ла Васи́льович Го́голь, translit=Mykola Vasyliovych Hohol; (russian: Яновский; uk, Яновський, translit=Yanovskyi) ( – ) was a Russian novelist, ...

, in the

Danilov Monastery Danilov Monastery (also ''Svyato-Danilov Monastery'' or ''Holy Danilov Monastery''; Данилов монастырь, Свято-Данилов монастырь in Russian) is a walled monastery on the right bank of the Moskva River in Moscow. ...

. The Soviets arranged for their disinterment and had them reburied at the new Novodevichy Cemetery.

Later evaluation of work

The Russian religious philosopher

Nikolai Berdyaev Nikolai Alexandrovich Berdyaev (; russian: Никола́й Алекса́ндрович Бердя́ев; – 24 March 1948) was a Russian philosopher, theologian, and Christian existentialist who emphasized the existential spiritual sig ...

located Khomyakov's significance in his attempt to free Christianity from rationalism. As he wrote in his 1912 book, ''Aleksei Stepanovich Khomiakov'':

Khomiakov will be eternally remembered, first and foremost, for his statement of the problem of the Church and his attempt to reveal the essence of the Church. Khomiakov approached the essence of the Church from within, not from outside. First of all he did not believe that it is possible to formulate a concept of the Church. The essence of the Church is inexpressible; like all living organisms, she cannot be encompassed by any formula, is not subject to any formal definitions. The Church is, first of all, a living organism, a unity of love, ineffable freedom, the truth of the faith not subject to rationalization. From the outside the Church is not knowable or definable; she is known only by those who are within her, by those who are her living members. The sin of
scholastic theology Scholasticism was a medieval school of philosophy that employed a critical organic method of philosophical analysis predicated upon the Aristotelian 10 Categories. Christian scholasticism emerged within the monastic schools that translate ...
was that it attempted to formulate rationalistically the essence of the Church; that is, it attempted to transform the Church from a mystery known only to believers into something subject to the knowledge of objective reason.''On Spiritual Unity: A Slavophile Reader'' by Boris Jakim and Robert Bird

For Khomyakov, freedom must be "actualized in ''sobornost'', not in individualism". However, ''sobornost'' is also a site of freedom:

It is difficult to find a freer sense of the Church. Nothing coerces Khomyakov. In his relation to the Church there is nothing from outside; all is from within. For him, life in the Church is life in freedom. Indeed, the Church is unity in love and freedom. The Church is not an institution and not an authority. The Church has nothing juridical, no rationalization. For Khomyakov, wherever one finds genuine love in Christ, freedom in Christ, unity in Christ, there one finds the Church. No formal characteristics define the essence of the Church. Even the universal councils are genuinely universal and therefore authoritative only because they are freely and lovingly sanctioned by the people of the Church. Free ''sobornost'' in love -- this is where one finds the true organism of the Church. This is a very bold conception of the Church, which must frighten official theologians. This conception may be alien to theological scholasticism, but it is close to the spirit of
sacred tradition Sacred tradition is a theological term used in Christian theology. According to the theology of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox and Assyrian churches, sacred tradition is the foundation of the doctrinal and spiritual authority ...
and the
Holy Scripture Religious texts, including scripture, are texts which various religions consider to be of central importance to their religious tradition. They differ from literature by being a compilation or discussion of beliefs, mythologies, ritual pra ...
. Khomyakov ascribes special significance to sacred tradition, since he sees the spirit of ''
sobornost Sobornost ( rus, собо́рность, p=sɐˈbornəstʲ "spiritual community of many jointly-living people") is a Russian term whose usage is primarily attributed to the 19th-century Slavophile Russian writers Ivan Kireyevsky (1806-1856 ...
'' in it. For him the Holy Scripture is only an inner fact of the life of the Church, that is, it is grasped through sacred tradition.

Berdyaev's contemporary Pavel Florensky, also a renowned religious philosopher, was not so sanguine. In his 1916 pamphlet, ''Around Khomyakov'', he accused Khomyakov of taking away the transcendent truth of Christianity by placing so much emphasis on human agreement. Florensky considers that to be immanentism, which ultimately veers into

Protestantism Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

Does not Khomyakov, a waterfall of ideas and themes, provoke many acute and troubling doubts? The chief of this, of course, is the attribution of
Protestantism Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...
to Khomyakov. For Khomyakov, the essence of Protestantism consists ''only'' in protest against
Romanism Romanism is a derogatory term for Roman Catholicism used when anti-Catholicism was more common in the United States. The term was frequently used in late-nineteenth and early-twentieth century Republican invectives against the Democrats, as pa ...
, but with the fundamental premises and characteristic modes of thought of the latter preserved. But is that really the case? The development of Protestantism and its derivatives ''after'' Khomyakov has undeniably shown that Protestantism, as the chief expression of the culture of recent times, is based on
humanism Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential and agency of human beings. It considers human beings the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry. The meaning of the term "human ...
, the elevation of humanity, the divinization of humanity. To use a term borrowed from philosophy, Protestantism is based on ''immanentism'', meaning humanity's intention to create all reality out of itself, outside of and apart from God, that is, out of nothing, and, first and foremost, sacred reality; to create this reality in all senses, beginning with the formation of concepts and ending with spiritual reality. Meanwhile, the essence of
Orthodoxy Orthodoxy (from Greek: ) is adherence to correct or accepted creeds, especially in religion. Orthodoxy within Christianity refers to acceptance of the doctrines defined by various creeds and ecumenical councils in Antiquity, but different Church ...
is '' ontologism'' -- "the reception of reality from God" as given, not as created by humanity. The essence of Orthodoxy is humility and gratitude. But what do we see in Khomyakov? ... Inquiring more attentively into Khomyakov's theories, we, to our sorrowful surprise, see the same spirit of immanentism that constitutes the essence of Protestantism, although in an immeasurably improved form -- chiefly through the introduction of the idea of ''sobornost'' (although the idea of the ''sobornost'' of consciousness is not completely foreign to Western philosophy, for instance, to Kant, not to mention Schelling of the final period, Feuerbach, Comte, and so on.) ...do not the very foundations of his opinion seem suspicious to an Orthodox believer when they are examined attentively? Whereas, for a man of the Church, the Church expresses the Truth -- for that is "the Holy Spirit's desire," and her task is to ''discover'' the truth abiding in God that is independent of her -- Khomyakov's theory of the Church leaves the impression that the decrees of the whole Church are true because they are the decrees of the ''whole'' Church. This word ''whole'' suggests that the decrees of the Church are not a discovery of the Truth but an ''invention'' of the Truth, as if the Truth were immanent to human reason, even if the latter is taken in its ''sobornost'', and not transcendent to human reason and revealed to the latter from its transcendence. I have used the word ''impression''. Yes, impression, for this sort of aim could not have distinctly arisen in Khomyakov's consciousness, and even less could he have expressed it. Khomyakov's thought tends to evade ontological determinacy, glistening before us in its play of mother-of-pearl. But this play of surface tones, brilliant but not substantial, and therefore changing their contours at the slightest turn of the head, does not yield a stable content of thought and leaves alarm and doubt in one's heart. Immanentism -- that is the flavor of Khomyakov's theories.

Nevertheless, Florensky is by no means dismissive of Khomyakov. He insists that "there is hardly any need to doubt the significance of Khomiakov the thinker and the nobility of his person. No one doubts his talents and intellect, nor the purity of his person and the selflessness of his intentions."

Works

* ''Полное собранiе сочиненiй''. Томъ I-VIII. Москва, 1900-1914.

References

External links

English translations of three poems

{{DEFAULTSORT:Khomyakov, Aleksey 1804 births 1860 deaths Writers from Moscow People from Moskovsky Uyezd Russian Orthodox Christians from Russia Russian philosophers Russian male poets Russian theologians Eastern Orthodox theologians Eastern Orthodox philosophers Slavophiles Russian nationalists 19th-century poets 19th-century male writers 19th-century Eastern Orthodox theologians 19th-century writers from the Russian Empire Corresponding members of the Saint Petersburg Academy of Sciences Infectious disease deaths in Russia Deaths from cholera Burials at Novodevichy Cemetery

Biography

Later evaluation of work

Works

See also

References

Further reading

External links