The Reverse Perspective of the Semantic Accents of the Manuscript “Introduction to Theology and Religious Studies” by an Unknown Author

The article is devoted to the study of a newly discovered manuscript of the Russian spiritual and academic philosophy of an unknown author entitled “Introduction to theology and Religious Studies”, which in some way illustrates the process of abandoning the use of non-Orthodox manuals in Latin in Russian theological educational institutions and the process of the emergence of their own theology in Russian, which began in the first half of the 19th century. The author of the article emphasizes the relevance of this kind of research due to the lack of scientific information about the period of the origin of modern Russian theology. The above-mentioned manuscript is analyzed in a meaningful and methodological way, both its positive aspects and controversial ambiguous decisions of the author of this work are revealed, who sometimes deviates from the general spiritual and academic theological tradition. Special attention is paid in the article to the so-called reverse perspective in the arrangement of semantic accents, which is not typical for the works of representatives of spiritual and academic philosophy. The reverse perspective is especially pronounced in the definition of the concept of “theology” proposed by an unknown author of the manuscript and in the order of the main components of this work. Attention is drawn to the tendency of the unknown author of the manuscript to unique lengthy reflections and philosophizing about the world, man and God through the prism of a religious worldview, which deserve a separate more detailed study. The conclusion of the article highlights some ambiguity in the handwritten work “Introduction to Theology and Religious Studies”, which is largely explained by the lack of ready-made Russian samples of theological works in Russian in the first half of the 19th century. In this regard, it is proposed to treat the manuscript under study as one of the first attempts, thanks to which modern theology was eventually formed.