V.S. Solovyov on the dynamics of religious consciousness

Abstract

This article deals with the concept of the dynamics of religious consciousness in the philosophy of V. S. Solovyov, where one of the main characteristics of religious consciousness is the process of its gradual formation. It analyzes the basic concepts which help to understand Solovyov’s idea of the dynamics of religious consciousness : consciousness, self-consciousness, spirit, personality, reason. The article presents Solovyov’s views on the dynamic aspect of religious consciousness as a God-human process in which the content of religious consciousness is the divine revelation. This aspect is considered in the article both from the point of view of the historical process of development of religious consciousness, and at the level of individual religious consciousness. The understanding of human freedom and human immortality as two basic truths of human nature from the point of view of both universality and unity of the human spirit is proposed. The author substantiates the idea that in the individual human life the process of disclosing of the divine revelation is sense-forming, in the sense that it constitutes the essence of man’s spiritual being, but this process is impossible without free human volition. It is concluded that this process involves all the spiritual forces of the individual (volition, reason and feelings), as well as religious faith, the creative activity of the individual, and the human spirit being understood by Vl. Solovyov as an integral intelligent being. It is proposed to consider the three temptations of mankind, set out in Vl. Solovyov’s "Lectures on Godmanhood" on the historical path of Western Christianity, at the level of individual religious consciousness in the context of modernity. It is revealed that it is the religious consciousness of the individual, where the "meeting place" of God and the individual human spirit happens.