GŁUPI W CHRYSTUSIE. O MNICHU-IKONOPISARZU OJCU GRIGORIJU KRUGU
FOOLISHNESS FOR THE SAKE OF CHRIST: ABOUT THE MONK AND ICONOGRAPHER FATHER GREGORY KRUG

Summary/Abstract: The text contains a reconstruction of the biblical sense of the concept of foolishness, narrowed down to its specific use by Saint Paul in the Letter to the Corinthians, as well as a detailed presentation of how the meaning inherent in the latter use was implemented in the life and work of Father Gregory Krug, a 20th-century monk and iconographer. Based on the Pauline words “We are fools for the sake of Christ” (1 Cor 4:10), the term ‘foolish wisdom’ has provided a foundation for the type of holiness manifested by a number of figures in the Christian world, such as ascetics, mystics or yurodivys. It was the type of holiness Krug embraced, updating models of religiosity anchored in the Old Russian tradition and expressing his theological thought through icon writing, which was both a kind of service to God and a kind of theology; Krug’s knowledge of God was not discursive but drawn from his experience of contemplation and prayer. To lead the life of a monk and icon writer was a deliberate choice made by Krug who rejected theoretical theological reflection, while testifying to God with his life and his iconographic works. Although Father Gregory Krug had deep theological knowledge, he was primarily an icon writer and thus a ‘theologian of light.’

• Details
• Contents