The teaching of archbishop Kirill (Bogoslovsky-Platonov) on the four states of human nature: the philosophical anthropological aspect

The paper presents the results of the author’s anthropological teaching research of Archbishop Kirill (Bogoslovsky-Platonov), the representative of spiritual and academic philosophy of the first half of the 19th century, on the composition of a man. In his philosophical and anthropological teaching, Archbishop Kirill identifies four states of human nature. In an effort to systematize the material presented, Archbishop Kirill defines the components of a person and consistently examines them in different states. The author of this study points out the peculiarity of the Archbishop’s position, who develops the doctrine of the three-part composition of man, in contrast to his teacher, Metropolitan Filaret (Drozdov) and Archimandrite Eutychian (Lestev), who were inclined to a two-part composition. In the basis of his trichotomous views, Archbishop Kirill believes a fragment from the epistle of the St. Paul, who calls the spirit, soul and body of a man. Attention is paid to the high level of education of the St. Petersburg Theological Academy, largely due to which the anthropological thinking of Archbishop Kirill was formed.