Третий Рим и Новый Иерусалим - два полюса политического богословия русского Средневековья

The article is devoted to a comparative analysis of two Russian medieval "ideas of heritage" – the Byzantine, which found its fullest expression in the theory of "Moscow, the Third Rome", and the Old Testament, embodied in a number of synonymous concepts: New Israel, New Jerusalem, Holy Russia and others. According to the author, the main problem in the interpretation of these ideas is a simplistic view of their relationship: the differences between them are either underestimated or, on the contrary, absolutised. The author proves that both currents of Russian medieval thought express the key tendencies of its development, being both genetically related and polar opposite: while the idea of New Israel is based on the concept of absolute predestination, the theological basis of the theory of the Third Rome is the doctrine of synergism – the interaction of Providence and free human will.