Духовна превирања IV и V века
Spiritual Turbulences of 4th and 5th Centuries

Summary/Abstract: In this paper, the author reviews spiritual movements of 4th and 5th centuries in connection with great ascetic Church Fathers. Special attention was dedicated to individuals and movements that decisively shaped Eastern Christian way of thinking, such as Origen of Alexandria and Origenist movement, Gnosticism, Evagrius Ponticus, Saint Macarius the Great, and Saint Diadochos of Photiki. Some of these movements, such as early heretical Gnostic movement, were repressed in the very beginning, while the others survived through the centuries and later reemerged, somewhat changed, in late Middle Ages. Especially strong was Origenist movement among Eastern monks, mostly due to Evagrius Ponticus and his ascetic thought. Even Saint Gregory of Nyssa, who is considered to be one of the pillars of Orthodox theology, was influenced by Origen, as evidenced by his teaching of apokatastasis (universal salvation, although Gregory was more in line with the theory of recapitulation as formulated by Irenaeus of Lyuons). Another important movement was anthropomorphism, whose representatives ascribed human features to God. They were especially numerous in Egypt, Syria, and Palestine. Although many of mentioned movements, or at least some of their ideas, survived well into Middle Ages, the reaction of Church Fathers during 4th and 5th centuries against them has strongly contributed to the final victory of Orthodoxy. Nevertheless, it would be wrong to assume that the ideas of these non-Orthodox movements did not influence Eastern Christian way of thinking, especially in ascetic theology. The author, therefore, examines these movements and their influence on the development of Orthodox theological thought.

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