UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA
Ivan Vyshensky and the Religious Polemics of the Seventeenth Century
Description:
CIUS Seminar Audio Part 1 and 2.
On March 12, Dr. Taras Zakydalsky, who is currently associated with the Institute's Ukrainian Encyclopedia Project, gave the seminar, "Ivan Vyshensky and the Religious Polemics of the Seventeenth Century." Vyshensky's ascetic worldview was the source of practical solutions to the problems confronting the Orthodox Church in Ukraine at the turn of the seventeenth century. Believing that this life should be renounced for the sake of salvation, he denounced the love and pursuit of luxury, secular knowledge, and power. Since the Orthodox faith and the keeping of Christ's commandments were sufficient to salvation, each man was responsible for his own fate. All Christians, according to Vyshensky, were equal before God; hence, the faithful laity had the right to elect new priests and bishops to replace those who had joined the Union with Rome in 1596.
Vyshensky' s epistles from Mt. Athos were not published in his lifetime, and must have had a very limited influence on the polemics of that period. He was not a deep or original thinker, but he was a passionate and forceful writer. His language, which is close to the vernacular, and his vivid imagery make him one of the first great writers in the history of Ukrainian literature.
Found in CIUS Newsletter Vol 3 Issue 2 (Spring 1979)
On March 12, Dr. Taras Zakydalsky, who is currently associated with the Institute's Ukrainian Encyclopedia Project, gave the seminar, "Ivan Vyshensky and the Religious Polemics of the Seventeenth Century." Vyshensky's ascetic worldview was the source of practical solutions to the problems confronting the Orthodox Church in Ukraine at the turn of the seventeenth century. Believing that this life should be renounced for the sake of salvation, he denounced the love and pursuit of luxury, secular knowledge, and power. Since the Orthodox faith and the keeping of Christ's commandments were sufficient to salvation, each man was responsible for his own fate. All Christians, according to Vyshensky, were equal before God; hence, the faithful laity had the right to elect new priests and bishops to replace those who had joined the Union with Rome in 1596.
Vyshensky' s epistles from Mt. Athos were not published in his lifetime, and must have had a very limited influence on the polemics of that period. He was not a deep or original thinker, but he was a passionate and forceful writer. His language, which is close to the vernacular, and his vivid imagery make him one of the first great writers in the history of Ukrainian literature.
Found in CIUS Newsletter Vol 3 Issue 2 (Spring 1979)
Author:
CIUS
Publisher:
CIUS
Date:
March 12, 1979
Contributor:
Taras Zakydalsky
Language:
English, Ukrainian
Original Format:
Magnetic tape, audio cassette
Files
Collection
Citation
CIUS, “Ivan Vyshensky and the Religious Polemics of the Seventeenth Century,” CIUS-Archives, accessed April 24, 2024, https://cius-archives.ca/items/show/1991.
