The name of Archbishop Feofan (Prokopovich), whose brief biography formed the basis of this article, has firmly entered the history of the Russian Orthodox Church. This extraordinarily talented and gifted man had a double role for fate: being an advocate of enlightenment and progressive reforms that could bring Russia to the European level of development, he at the same time did much to preserve and strengthen the autocracy in its most patriarchal and outdated form. Therefore, when evaluating the activities of this church hierarch, one should take into account both its positive and negative sides.
On the path to understanding science
In the biography of Feofan Prokopovich, very scarce information can be found regarding the early years of his life. It is only known that he was born in Kiev on June 8 (18), 1681, in a middle class merchant family. Having left an orphan early, the boy was taken up by his maternal uncle, who in those years was the viceroy of the Kiev Brotherhood Monastery. Thanks to him, the future hierarch received elementary education, and then studied at the Theological Academy for three years.
Having successfully completed the training course, Theophanes went to Rome to replenish his knowledge in the walls of the Jesuit college of St. Athanasius, about which he had heard a lot. He achieved the desired, but for this he had to give up his religious beliefs and, according to the conditions of admission, convert to Catholicism. This forced victim was not in vain.
Homecoming
After graduation, the young Russian became famous in academic circles for his extraordinary erudition, well-read, and the ability to easily navigate the most complex philosophical and theological issues. The Roman Pope Clement XI became aware of the outstanding abilities of Feofan Prokopovich, and he offered him a place in the Vatican. However, despite all the benefits of such a prospect, the young man answered the pontiff with a polite refusal and, having traveled two years in Europe, returned to his homeland. In Kiev, he first of all brought proper repentance and again converted to Orthodoxy.
Since that time, the extensive teaching activities of Feofan Prokopovich began, which he deployed at the Kiev-Mohyla Theological Academy, from where he once went to the European voyage. He was entrusted with leading such disciplines as poetics, theology and rhetoric. The young teacher was able to make a great contribution to these areas of knowledge by compiling manuals distinguished by the complete absence of scholastic methods and the clarity of the presentation of the material.
The beginning of literary and social activities
Teaching poetics - the science of the origin and forms of poetic activity - he managed to expand it, encompassing the laws that underlie all literary genres. In addition, in accordance with the tradition that instructed teachers to create their own poetic works, Feofan wrote the tragicomedy “Vladimir” in which he extolled the victory of Christianity over paganism and ridiculed the priests, exposing them as champions of ignorance and superstition.
This essay brought Theophan Prokopovich the fame of an ardent advocate of education and, most importantly, a supporter of the progressive reforms initiated at that time by Peter I, which did not go unnoticed and eventually brought abundant results. The famous article also belongs to this period, some of which were subsequently quoted by his followers. In it, Theophanes convicts those representatives of the clergy who do not stop talking about the grace of suffering and see in every cheerful and healthy person a sinner doomed to eternal death.
The first sovereign graces
The next step on the way to the foot of the sovereign throne was his performance with a laudatory sermon written on the occasion of the victory of the Russian army in the Battle of Poltava, won on June 27 (July 8), 1709. After reading the text of this composition, sustained in enthusiastic patriotic colors, Peter I was very pleased and ordered the author to translate it into Latin, which was done with great zeal. So a young Kiev teacher, who had recently neglected the proposal of the Roman pontiff, came into the view of the Russian emperor.
For the first time, royal mercy poured out on Feofan Prokopovich in 1711, when the sovereign summoned him to his camp during the Prut campaign and, honoring his audience, appointed him rector of the Kiev-Mohyla Academy. In addition, given the young man’s comprehensive knowledge of theology, the sovereign placed him abbot of the Bratsk Monastery, in which he had once taken monastic tonsure.
A fighter with remnants of the past
Feofan combined his further teaching activities with work on essays on a wide range of theological issues, but, irrespective of the topics touched upon in them, they all differed in a lively language of presentation, wit, and a desire for deep scientific analysis. Despite the fact that, while studying in Rome, he was forced to follow the traditions of Catholic scholasticism, the spirit of European enlightenment largely determined his worldview. The lectures given at the universities of Leipzig, Jena and Halle put him among the foremost people of his time, unconditionally taking the side of the philosopher-educators Rene Descartes and Francis Bacon.
Returning to his homeland, where at that time the spirit of patriarchal stagnation still prevailed, and having written his first satirical work “Vladimir”, Feofan Prokopovich waged a relentless struggle against the remnants of the past, to which he attributed, in particular, the priority of church authority over secular. He challenged the right of the clergy to all sorts of privileges, than already in this early period of his activity he made himself very dangerous enemies. However, when it became known about the goodwill shown to him by the sovereign, his opponents were forced to remain silent in anticipation of a more suitable moment.
Faithful servant of the autocracy
In 1716, Peter the Great began preparations for a large-scale church reform, and in this regard surrounded himself with the most advanced people from among the higher clergy. Knowing the way of thinking and the outstanding abilities of Feofan Prokopovich, he called him to Petersburg, making him one of his closest assistants.
Once in the capital, Feofan proved himself not only as a talented preacher and publicist, but also as a very clever courtier who was able to win the sovereign’s favor, acting in full accordance with his thoughts and beliefs. Thus, speaking with sermons to numerous audiences in the metropolitan audience and proving to them the need for the king’s reforms, he smashed from church pulpits all those who secretly or obviously tried to resist them.
Scripture Arguments
Particularly striking was his speech, the text of which was subsequently published under the heading "A Word about the Royal Power and Honor." It was timed to coincide with the return of the sovereign from a trip abroad and contained in himself evidence from the Holy Scriptures that an unlimited monarchy is an indispensable condition for the prosperity of the state. In it, the preacher mercilessly exposed those church hierarchs who tried to establish the supremacy of spiritual authority over the secular. The words of Feofan Prokopovich were like arrows, without a blunder striking everyone who dared to encroach on the priority of autocracy.
Byzantine law revived in Russia
It is quite understandable that such appearances raised the Kiev theologian even higher in the eyes of the sovereign, as evidenced by his subsequent elevation to the rank of archbishop. Feofan Prokopovich, continuing to develop the same line, became an active propagandist of the theory, which later became known as “Caesaropapism”. By this term, it is customary to understand the relations between the church and the state established in Byzantium, in which the emperor was not only the head of state, but also carried out the functions of the highest spiritual hierarch.
Voicing the thoughts and aspirations of Peter I himself, he argued that the emperor should be not only the head of secular authority, but also a pontiff, that is, a bishop placed over all other bishops. In support of his words, he declared that no one can stand above the anointed of God, of whom the lawful sovereign is. The same doctrine was tirelessly promoted by the scientific team of Feofan Prokopovich, assembled by him from the young and ambitious theologians of St. Petersburg.
It should be noted that in the synodal period, which lasted from 1700 to 1917, the principle of Caesaropapism was the basis of the ideology of the Russian Orthodox Church. Thus, each new member of the Holy Synod, taking the oath, the text of which was compiled by Theophan himself, vowed to unconditionally recognize the emperor as the supreme spiritual and secular ruler.
Beloved sovereign
A brief biography of Feofan Prokopovich, the basis of this story, is striking in the abundance of favors shown to him by the sovereign. So, in early June 1718, while in St. Petersburg, he became bishop of Narva and Pskov, securing a place for himself as the chief tsarist religious adviser. After that, when three years later, Peter the Great established the Holy Synod, he became its vice president, and soon as the sole head, concentrating in his hands an almost unlimited spiritual power. Above him was only the king.
Having risen to the top of the church hierarchy, Feofan Prokopovich became one of the richest people in the capital and led a lifestyle that was fully consistent with his position. At the heart of his well-being lay numerous gifts made personally by the sovereign. Among them are several villages, an extensive compound located on the banks of the Karpovka River, and, in addition, huge amounts of money are regularly deducted.
Dark streak of life
This state of affairs persisted until the death of Peter I, which followed in 1725. With the death of the royal patron, difficult times came for many of his former favorites. Among them was Feofan Prkopovich. Briefly describing the current situation, we should first mention the church hierarchs - fierce haters of the theory of enlightened absolutism. All of them fiercely hated Archbishop Feofan for his policy, which supported the priority of secular power over the spiritual, but could not conduct an open struggle, fearing to incur the wrath of the sovereign.
When Peter the Great died, their party raised its head and poured out all its hatred on Theophanes. It is characteristic that the charges brought against him were purely political in nature and threatened with very serious complications. In an atmosphere of ongoing harassment, the former royal favorite survived two short reigns: first, Catherine I - the widow of the deceased sovereign, and then his son Peter II Alekseevich.
Russian Torquemada
Only after the accession to the throne of Anna Ioannovna Feofan managed to regain his former influence at court. This happened due to the fact that he promptly led the party of the middle ranks that was formed then, whose members prevented the highest dignitaries from restricting the autocratic power. Having thus earned the recognition and boundless trust of the new empress, the wise bishop strengthened his position and now he himself was persecuting his yesterday's accusers. He did this with extraordinary cruelty and the polemic was not in the pages of print media, but in the dungeons of the Secret Chancellery.
This period of the life of Archbishop Feofan was marked by his close cooperation with government agencies engaged in political investigation. In particular, for the employees of the Secret Chancellery he compiled detailed instructions on the theory and practice of interrogation. In subsequent years, many domestic historians characterized Theophanes as the Russian embodiment of the great inquisitor Torquemada.
Denial of past truths
The strong position at the court of Anna Ioannovna required him to formally abandon many previous beliefs and principles. Thus, declaring himself in the reign of Peter I as a fierce supporter of progressive reforms and various innovations aimed at overcoming remnants of antiquity, now he unconditionally moved to the camp of conservatives more pleasing to her. From that time until his death, Feofan Prokopovich shamelessly justified in his public speeches the regime of lawlessness and arbitrariness that had established in the country, pushing Russia far back from the borders that it had achieved thanks to the transformations of Peter the Great. If we turn to his most cited statements of this period, then in them we can clearly note the same tendency to deviate from previous principles.
End of life
His Grace Theophanes died on September 8, 1736 in one of the rooms of his courtyard, which was once given to him by Emperor Peter I. His last words: “Oh my head, filled with reason, where do you lean?” Also became a common quote. The cause of death was a heart attack.
The body of the deceased bishop was transported to Novgorod and there, after the funeral, performed by the vicar archbishop Joseph, was buried in the tomb of St. Sophia Cathedral. Among its rich heritage, the extensive library, which included several thousand volumes of religious works, was of particular value. By decree of the empress, she was completely donated to the Novgorod Theological Academy.