Natural theology of the Moscow Theological Academy professor archpriest Fyodor Golubinsky (1797-1854)

The article is devoted to studying the rational theology heritage of archpriest Fyodor Golubinsky (1797-1854), the Moscow Theological Academy professor of philosophy. The main provisions of his lecture course on natural or speculative theology have been analyzed. The philosophical influences discovered during the research, which to one degree or another determined his course content, have been demonstrated. It has been noted that undoubted advantages of archpriest Fyodor Golubinsky’s Speculative Theology include: 1) his development of questions about the conditions for effective use of rational methods of knowledge of God and for epistemic status of the proofs for God’s existence, 2) the presence of a detailed analysis of the arguments for criticizing traditional proofs for God’s existence (including Kant’s criticism of ontological argument), 3) determination of the ultimate significance or evidential power of these arguments for natural theology and for the formation of a religious worldview. The following conclusions have been drawn: 1) some of archpriest Fyodor Golubinsky’s solutions remain relevant for modern analytical philosophy of religion and for philosophical theology, 2) despite the eclectic nature of his rational theology constructions, in general, archpriest Fyodor Golubinsky managed to create an original system of natural theology, which became the basis for further development of national fundamental theology in theological academies (while the author himself can be considered one of its founders).