The “Holy Kingdom” of the Russian Empire in the Era of Modernization: Ideological and Political Positions of Metropolitan Philaret (Drozdov)

Abstract

The article offers an analysis of the church-political views of the Metropolitan of Moscow and Kolomna Philaret (Drozdov). For almost sixty years, during the reign of the three emperors, St. Philaret was regarded as a leading church figure. The authors consider a number of stories in the history of church-state relations during the reign of Alexander I, Nicholas I and Alexander II, in which Metropolitan Philaret was actively involved, and analyze his position. It turns out that Philaret’s views often contradicted the prevailing political ideas. Defending the need to translate the Bible into Russian under Alexander I, falling under the scrutiny of the Third Department under Nicholas I, he, however, advocated corporal punishment and opposed liberalism in the era of “Great Reforms". Considering that the Church should determine the course of social and political life, he did not agree with the proposal to include the episcopate in the Council of State. Nevertheless, Philaret always remained an authoritative theologian and he was within the inner circle of those who determined church policy.