Correspondence between Lev Karsavin and Gustav Vetter
Abstract
During one year, from June 1939 until June 1940, Lev Karsavin intensively corresponded with a young Austrian man, later a Jesuit, who was then studying at Pontificium Collegium Russicum in Rome, – Gustav Vetter. This intense interfaith dialogue touched on some essential aspects of Christian metaphysics which were close to the philosophy of existentialism. At that time, dogmatic beliefs began to be interpreted in a new way in the West, and this sometimes led to a change in the very practice of philosophizing, as can be seen from the correspondence between Karsavin and Vetter. The focus of both interlocutors was the idea of unity which was considered in the conrexts of the humanity, church, Creator and the created world. Here the main concept of Karsavin unfolds: his ideas about the creation and God incarnation are combined in the idea of kenosis. What makes them consistent is the process of sacrificial self-separation and restoration of the unity. It is shown that Karsavin’s understanding of the Trinity resulted from his ideas mentioned above basically coincides with that which was developed in Orthodoxy. The idea of “possession due to devotion” was under a lively discussion in Western philosophy; in the correspondence it was expressed in theological terms. The main significance of this dialogue is that it helps to understand some of the difficulties in the development of both confessions; besides that, it shows that some philosophical and theological questions were considered the same.
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