Religion and Progress Cover Image
  • Price 4.50 €

Религия и прогрес
Religion and Progress

The Philosophical-historical Reflections of Ivan Gyuzelev

Author(s): Nina Ivanova Dimitrova
Subject(s): Philosophy, History of Philosophy, Special Branches of Philosophy, Philosophy of Religion
Published by: Институт по философия и социология при БАН
Keywords: Ivan Gyuzelev; religion; Christianity; social progress; perfection;

Summary/Abstract: The text discusses philosophical and historical issues present in the works of the prominent Bulgarian educator Ivan Gyuzelev (1844–1916). His publications in the religious periodicals Church Newspaper and Associated Labor are commented on. The ideas of the philosopher regarding the connection between religion and social progress are analyzed. The article concludes that Gyuzelev represents a paradoxical combination between the basic views of the French Enlightenment and Christianity. His conception defines religion as a natural striving for perfection. According to this Bulgarian mathematician and philosopher, the relationship between Christianity and material and spiritual progress is directly proportional. His thesis is that Christianity is a religion of progress, and progress – just like Christian asceticism – is one of the pathways to the Kingdom of God.

  • Issue Year: XXIX/2020
  • Issue No: 2
  • Page Range: 89-95
  • Page Count: 7
  • Language: English, Bulgarian