The Doctrine of the New Martyr John Popov on Conscience in the Context of Moral Theology of the XIX Century

Abstract

The article is devoted to the doctrine of conscience of one of the most interesting, original and profound researchers of morality of the last quarter of the XIX century — the Martyr John Popov. As the «soil» on which grew the doctrine of Professor I. V. Popova, the article presents the views on conscience of his predecessors: arhim. Plato (Thebes), prot. I. Hualianfa, Archimandrite. Gabriel (vocal), FR. F. A. Golubinsky, prot. I. yanysheva, SVT. Innokenty (Borisov), SVT. Theophanes the Recluse, as well As Vs Solovyov. When referring to the theology of Ivan Vasilyevich himself, the article updates the review of associate Professor A. I. Vvedensky — the only surviving description of the candidate’s work of I. V. Popov on conscience, its essence and origin. However, his master’s thesis «Natural moral law» was chosen as the main work, on which the main attention was paid. The analysis of this work has allowed to claim that I. V. Popov has formulated deep and in own way unique doctrine about conscience. He not only connected the rational and the sensual with the functions traditionally distinguished in it in an original way, but also outlined the formal and substantive sides in it. At the same time, the specificity of his research method allowed him to combine tradition with creative, original presentation in his work.