THE CATEGORY OF SALVATION IN THE THEOLOGICAL AND PEDAGOGICAL HERITAGE OF TIKHON ZADONSKY

Abstract. The article discusses the main reasons for the formation of St. Tikhon of Zadonsk as a theologian. The salvation of man in God is one of the main theological themes of the saint. The doctrine of salvation contains the creation of the world, the creation of man, the fall, redemption. The saint showed that all three persons of the holy Trinity participate in the work of human salvation.

Keywords: Salvation, the creation of the world, the creation of man, the fall, love, redemption, the church, the sacrament, education.

The theological heritage of St. Tikhon of Zadonsk is great and multifaceted. It is conventionally divided into moral and ascetic works, pastoral theology, letters, moral words, as well as words spoken and addressed to the Voronezh flock. According to his works, Symphonies on his creations and an alphabetical index to the works of the saint were compiled.

His biography sheds light on the formation of the saint as a theologian. The future saint was born in 1724 on the territory of the Novgorod province in the village of Korotsk in the family of the rural sexton Savely Kirilov and his wife Dominika. His parents gave him the name Timofey. His father had a very modest income. Widowed early, the mother supported seven children as best she could. All of them were in dire need of daily bread. In order to somehow help his mother, young Timofey was hired by wealthy land users to dig up beds for a small fee or for food. Despite all the hardships of life, the children were brought up in love with God, in the hope of His all-good providence. And it was this hope that saved the family from excessive grief and sadness, and formed the children compassionate, caring and loving.

Having barely reached the age of thirteen, Timofey was sent to a theological school, which was established at the Bishop's Novgorod house. But the training there was not free. The poor mother was unable to pay for her son's education. And the elder brother Peter took all the costs of Timothy's education on himself. Timofey himself, knowing the difficult financial situation of the family, worked part-time wherever he had to. All this in the boy even more excited the desire to study. This is evidenced by the fact that when in 1740 the school was transformed into a seminary, Timofey, among the best students, continued his studies at the seminary at the state expense. There he devoted himself with every zeal to reading theological patristic literature and prayer. The future saint will carry the knowledge gained within the walls of the seminary through his whole life. It is knowledge, deep and meaningful, that will help him form as a theologian, a bishop of the Church. In 1750, while still a student of the theological class, Timothy was given the honor of teaching Greek, and at the end of the course, he was entrusted with the position of teacher of rhetoric and philosophy. In 1758 Timofey took monastic vows with the name Tikhon. During the same period, he took the place of the prefect of the seminary. But soon he was summoned to St. Petersburg, where he was ordained a hierodeacon, and then a hieromonk. In 1759, Father Tikhon was sent to the Tver diocese, where upon arrival he was elevated to the archimandrite of the Zheltikov Monastery. A little later, he was sent to the Otroch monastery and appointed to the post of rector of the Tver Seminary and a teacher of theology. In May 1761, Archimandrite Tikhon was consecrated bishop of Kexholm and Ladoga, and in 1763, by the decision of the Holy Synod (at the insistence of the Empress), St. Tikhon was appointed to the Voronezh department (instead of the deceased Ioannikiy Pavlutsky).

Bishop Tikhon found the Voronezh department in a deplorable state. Many things in it needed to be reorganized and corrected, there was an acute shortage of clergy. The consequence of the above problems was the terrifying religious and moral state of the laity, among whom pagan prejudices reigned. Bishop Tikhon, having assumed the duties of the ruling bishop of the Voronezh diocese, quickly got his bearings in the situation and immediately, as soon as possible, took the necessary measures to correct the situation. He personally toured villages and villages with a sermon, received and listened to visitors, organized schools. He tirelessly worked to improve the moral and educational level of the diocesan clergy entrusted to him. To do this, St. Tikhon recreated the Voronezh Seminary, which has always been under his personal control. Bishop Tikhon based his sermons and conversations with seminarians, clergy and laity on evangelical themes. The theme of salvation in God ran like a red thread through all the conversations of the saint. She is the main one in all his epistolary heritage.

The doctrine of the Salvation of St. Tikhon of Zadonsk echoes the soteriology of the holy Fathers of the Church of the classical theological period. In his works, anthropological views are preceded by reflection on God's creation of the world, His Providence for the world. By Providence, the saint understands the management and guidance of the world to the realization of His Divine plans. The anthropology of the saint is based on the fact that man came out of the hands of the Creator in the most perfect form, both in bodily and spiritual nature, being the crown and completion of all earthly creation. The Council of the Holy Trinity, which preceded the creation of man, gives the right to believe that God decided to create a being of high dignity and special purpose. This appointment of a person is seen by the saint in eternal unity with Himself. About man as the crown of creation, the saint points to the image of God, according to which man was created, and to the likeness of God. The saint understands the likeness of God in man as an indestructible conscious striving for his Prototype and the fulfillment of His holy will. That is, a person must constantly become like the Prototype in his life, and through this become the heir of eternal goods. Tikhon Zadonsky exclaims about this: "O most gracious and most beautiful creature of God, man: the image of God, as he has the royal seal in himself, the tsar is honest, his portrait is also honest. God, the Heavenly King, is worthy of every honor: man is also worthy of honor."

The essence of a person is determined not only by the soul, but also by the body, since God created both the soul and the body. But the saint considers the soul to be a more important component of the essence of man: "The beauty of the soul is eternal ..., the beauty of the body is temporary." The soul has the breath of life in it and is the bride of the Son of God, the daughter of the Heavenly Father and the temple of the Holy Spirit. Hence, the primary role of man in the world becomes obvious. The Creator, being omnipotent, endowed man with the ability to creatively create and rule. The real greatness of man lies not in his indisputable kinship with the universe and not in the superiority of his position among creatures, but in the fact that he has a part in the Divine life, being the bearer of a God-like soul. In his theological works, the saint does not separate the concepts of soul and spirit. He considers them only different states of the same entity.