The role of spiritual enlightenment in the formation of Russian religiosity: A historical and philosophical analysis

The study examines the attitude of society and the state to church culture from the position of Russian religious philosophers. In Russia, the attitude towards Orthodoxy as a fundamental tradition laid the foundation for the perception of the Byzantine understanding of state power as a patron and defender of churchliness. In the second half of the 15th century, Muscovy became the only Orthodox state. Archpriest Georges Florovsky, in his spiritual diagnosis of Russian culture, indicated a gradually growing concept of the Church as an object that benefits the state, with the subsequent subordination of the Church as an instrument to meet state needs. The centuries-old suppression of the hierarchy and ordinary clergy by the state repressive mechanism led to the fact that the authorities, following the elites who received Western education, ceased to see in the Orthodox clergy the bearers of a living Christian experience with a protective value and constructive socializing potential. The article examines the influence of spiritual enlightenment on the process of formation and development of Russian religiosity from the standpoint of a historical and philosophical approach and a religious analysis. The complex nature of the relationship between the state mechanism, especially the elites who have received Western education and upbringing and representatives of the Orthodox church clergy, who are carriers of a living Christian experience, with its marked constructive socializing potential and protective value, is substantiated.