Богословље

Природна теологија и оци IV века

Андреј Јефтић

Богословље: 2 (2009) 43-73
Цео текст (.PDF) УДК 2-21:27-9 "01/07"

 

Abstract. У раду аутор покушава да преиспита тезу према којој природна теологија, као продукт западног ума, представља непознаницу за православну теолошку традицију. Усмеравајући се на четворицу најважнијих отаца IV века који су пресудно утицали на формирање теологије православне Цркве: Атанасија Великог, Василија Великог, Григорија Богослова и Григорија Ниског, аутор истражује у којој мери се у њиховим основним делима могу пронаћи елементи и главне поставке природне теологије. Тако се најпре испитује њихово учење о човеку као икони Божијој, на основу ког се приказују могућности богопознања заснованог на самосагледавању. Потом се анализира како су и у којој мери оци са својим савременицима – незнабошцима, делили сам концепт божанства. Надаље се истражују могућности за заснивање морала на темељу човекове природе и поретка космоса. Поставља се питање да ли, и у којој мери, природа открива Бога, какав однос између Творца и твари стоји иза тога, каквог је карактера сазнање које се на тај начин о Богу стиче, те до које мере се у теолошком говору може употребљавати аналогија између Бога и створеног света. Напослетку, испитује се однос отаца према највишим достигунућима ’природног разума’ тог времена – јелинској паидеји – и њен однос према откривеној истини. На самом крају, аутор настоји да дâ одговор на питање: да ли се може, и на који начин говорити о природној теологији наведених отаца Цркве.

Кључне речи: оци, природна теологија, икона, самоспознаја, здрав разум, очишћење, појам о Богу, природни закон, сведо

Summary. The paper is concerned with the question whether patristic natural theology exists or not. It is in that regard that the paper examines the position, mostly held by orthodox theologians, that natural theology is exclusively inherent in western theology and that it never existed in the orthodox theological tradition. The analysis focuses on the teachings of 4th century fathers, the four great teachers of Church: Athanasius of Alexandria, Basyl the Great, Gregory the Theologian and Gregory of Nyssa. At the beginning, the paper examines the tenets of patristic anthropology pointing to the fact that man inherently moves towards God, that by properly deploying reason he can know Him both within himself (by taking an insight into the structure of his own nature) and in the creation that surrounds him. All those who used reason properly – and in order to do that they had to necessarily be cleansed of sin – managed, to a certain extent, to form a proper concept of God. It is his own nature that provides for man to be capable of recognizing and doing good, just like complete creation recognizes God’s commands and acts accordingly. Further analysis reveals that the fathers held that the entire creation is a testimony of its Creator. It is capable of being so because it is not self-existing – it is permeated with Logos. He keeps it in existence while at the same time keeping its structure, harmony, and beauty, which are the features that spontaneously direct man to God. Creation not only provides the testimony of God’s existence but speaks of Him as being One, and having his own Logos. Creation does not refer to God on its ’own free will’. In other words, it gives testimony of Him, not because it was determined to be that way, but because it was God who wanted it. The author comes to the conclusion that fathers taught that God’s existence can be proved, although knowledge of God acquired from creation, as well as the one acquired from revelation, is not complete and self-evident. Due to the fact that God uses creation to reveal Himself to man, it is possible to talk about God by using analogies with the nature phenomena, but without establishing any essential similarity between God and creation. Finally, the analysis is done of the attitude of the fathers towards Hellenic paideia. It brings to the conclusion that this relation is ambivalent, yet the fathers accept its achievements, provided these were founded on the proper deployment of reason. As such, they partly anticipate the revealed truth. Hellenic wisdom has its place in Christian theology, yet not as a source of truth but as its ’robe’ – a framework and method of its research. In the end, the paper states the existence of the patristic natural theology; it states that it has a Christian and not merely theistic character, as well as that it is inseparable from the revelation along with which it represents the complete knowledge of God that leads to man’s salvation.