FEATURES OF THE AMARTOLOGY OF ST. PORPHYRIOS THE KAFSOKALYVITE

Abstract

The article presents an analytical review of St. Porphyrios the Kafsokalyvite’s concept of sin and repentance. The amartology of St. Porphyrios is closely connected with his teaching about man; in his judgments he relies on tradition, on the Holy Scripture, on thoughts of holy fathers. At the same time, St. Porphyrios’ understanding of sinfulness and the process of liberation from the power of sin has its own peculiarities. He uses the metaphorical expressions “confused person”, “confusion” when it comes to sinfulness. The article analyses the genesis and semantic content of these concepts. In a person Elder Porphyrios distinguishes the “good Self” and the “bad Self”. In general, sinfulness is interpreted by him in a psychological way, not as an abstract philosophical or theological concept. Speaking about repentance, he also suggests means that are traditional for the Christian tradition, such as confession, and also (which is already unusual for Christian ascetic discourse) he talks about the harm of “fixation” on the problem of sin in a Christian’s life; instead of the strategy of struggling with passions and sins he suggests focusing on acquiring virtue, love and Christ himself.