EVIDENCE OF GOD'S EXISTENCE IN THE THEOLOGICAL SYSTEM OF ARCHPRIEST FEDOR GOLUBINSKY

Mikhail I. Zhigalov

Kostroma Metropolia, Kostroma, Russia

Email: brfhec2@yandex.ru

ORCID: 0000-0002-9789-5386

Issue: № 3 (31), 2025

Pages: 28

Annotation

The theological concept of Archpriest F. A. Golubinsky is outlined in his lectures on speculative theology. Golubinsky's theory of theology consists of three parts, where the first place is occupied by the section "On the existence of God," which examines in detail the evidence of the existence of God. F. A. Golubinsky prefaces his lectures on speculative theology with ontology, the doctrine of being as the first and fundamental concept for everything that exists. Here he clearly separates the existence of finite (created) beings and the existence of the Infinite, pointing to the fundamental properties of their existence: space and time for creation, omnipresence and eternity for the Creator. Analyzing the evidence of the existence of God, Golubinsky does not set out to prove this truth, because according to Father Theodore, every person is born with the idea of God. He calls this idea the axiom of consciousness. The proofs that are carried out are necessary for a person only as natural aids that help reveal the idea of the Infinite, which in itself is an organ of communion with God. He considered the most powerful proof of the existence of God to be the consciousness of God's action in oneself, when a person strives in his life to fulfill the will of God. The properties of God are divided into two parts: proper properties that belong to God in essence and perfections that belong to God as a Perfect Spirit. The properties of God include the idea that God is an absolutely necessary, unconditionally independent Being, the most perfect and infinitely perfect, omnipotent, as well as such features as eternity, immutability, incorporeality, immeasurability and omnipresence, inner and outer unity. The perfections of God are expressed in His Omniscience, Wisdom, holiness, and goodness. The works of God in relation to the world are divided into creation and Providence of God. God created the world not out of necessity, but out of free will, with the aim of discovering Himself, His perfections and bliss in moral beings. God's providence manifests itself in three actions, the first of which is the preservation of peace, the second is the governance of the world, and the third is the cooperation of God, that is, the combination of God's action with the action of forces created to maintain, strengthen, and guide them. This article has been prepared on the basis of the theses of the report "The Theological concept of the Proto. Feodore Golubinsky", delivered at the XV International Scientific and Theological Conference "Topical Issues of Modern Theology and Church Science" (September 28-29, 2023, St. Petersburg Theological Academy).

Keywords

Archpriest Feodore Golubinsky, speculative theology, proofs of the existence of God, properties of God, criticism of proofs, properties of God, works of God, Providence of God