The University course of basic theology by archpriest Fyodor Fedorovich Sidonsky in the context of academic lectures by his contemporaries

Abstract

The only published dogmatic material of the Russian philosopher of the middle of the 19th century, Archpriest F. F. Sidonsky, is “A genetic introduction to Orthodox theology”, a course of lectures delivered by him in 1872 at St. Petersburg University. The purpose of the study is a comparative analysis of the principles of its construction and methodology with similar courses taught at the theological academies by Metropolitan Makariy (Bulgakov) and Archpriest A. V. Gorsky. In contrast to the repeatedly reprinted “Introduction to Orthodox theology” by Metropolitan Makariy (Bulgakov), the notes of Archpriest A. V. Gorsky were discovered in his archive, stored in the Russian State Library and have not yet been introduced into scientific circulation. The analytical part of the article is preceded by a brief overview of biographical information about the scientific and teaching activities of Archpriest F. F. Sidonsky, Archpriest A. V. Gorsky and Metropolitan Makariy (Bulgakov). All the authors belong to the same generation, but to different academic schools: St. Petersburg, Moscow and Kiev; they have been awarded the highest degrees of not only academic, but also secular science Archpriests Theodore and Alexander read their courses much later than Metropolitan Makariy (Bulgakov), therefore, they pay considerable attention to refuting the natural-scientific criticism of Christianity, which intensified in the late 1850s. The originality of the presentation of the subject by Professor F. F. Sidonsky in comparison with his colleagues is largely due to his secular audience.