On the Possibility of Christian Philosophy

Abstract

The article analyzes the correlation between theology and philosophy and discusses the fundamental possibility of creating Christian philosophy. Historical and experimental theoretical grounds for the possibility of developing Christian philosophy within the framework of Catholicism, Protestantism, and Orthodoxy are consistently analyzed. On the basis of the historical and philosophical analogy, the authors trace the origin of those positions and approaches that have received their detailed substantiation and justification for the relationship with philosophy within these confessions. The problems on the way to the creation of Christian philosophy are revealed. The role of Christian philosophy in Catholicism is examined on the basis of the Thomist concept of the coexistence of theology and philosophy. The approach to the building of Christian philosophy from the standpoint of Protestantism is represented both by its radical branch and by its alternative cultural Protestantism. As the specific characteristics of the Eastern Christian knowledge of God the unity of the contemplative and activity-based path, spiritual cognition and theology are singled out. The importance for Orthodox thought of the apophatic way of cognition, the apophatics of the individual instead of the apothatics of the essence is emphasized (G. Palamas, V. Lossky, D. Staniloae). In the final statements, the authors come to the conclusion of the possibility of Christian philosophy in the Orthodox version, which is the possibility coordinated with Christian dogmatics, an experience of its living, and therefore reasonable comprehension.