The Dangers of Intellectualism (Starets Sergius)

Dr. Jean-Claude Larchet

 

 

Like many Russian spiritual fathers, the Elder (Starets Sergius [Chevitch of Vanves]) is particularly critical of the overestimation of intellectual capacities encountered in the Western world. Western Christianity suffered from this overestimation during the Middle Ages, when theology, under the influence of scholastic rationalism, had become an exclusively conceptual exercise, and the faith of many Christians had been reduced to mere ideas about God.

The Elder often referred to Dostoevsky’s short novel Notes from Underground, in which the author criticizes the “Euclidean mind,” that is, rationalism and Western intellectualism. In his teachings, the Elder frequently expresses his opposition to experiencing the faith in a purely intellectual manner and to studying Scripture or “theologizing” in an excessively conceptual way. He assures us that the intellect accounts for only twenty-five percent of human functioning and, consequently, should not occupy a greater place in the spiritual life than properly belongs to it.

He emphasizes the need for the intellect to function in union with the heart, not only in prayer but also in all other activities of the spiritual life. The intellect proves to be clearer and functions even better when it does not operate independently, but is united with the heart and follows its guidance. Reason should not be exercised independently, except to recognize its own limitations and dangers.

Here we encounter once again a theme of Pascal, familiar in the circles of Christian existentialists that the Elder himself frequented in his youth. The exercise of rational thought is justified as a pedagogical means for others, but not for ourselves. Logical arguments may occasionally be used to express and communicate the truths of the Faith, but they are never the best means of doing so.

The Elder emphasizes that in the life to come, intellectual speculations will be of absolutely no use to us. He observes that simple people often make greater progress in the spiritual life than intellectuals (a view also shared by his friend, Elder Sophrony).

The Elder insists that we must not merely know or understand God, but must love Him. For Father Sergius, it is of great importance that we not violate the mystery of God by attempting to analyze it intellectually. We need not fathom this mystery (even if it were possible to do so), but rather accept it, reverence it, and worship it with fear and love.

The Elder, like the protagonist of Dostoevsky’s Notes from Underground, often said on this subject, in a manner that undoubtedly shocks the Western intellectual mind: “I am content when I do not know.” He considered it essential to preserve—or to recover, if he had lost it—the sense of mystery. And, paradoxically, he believed that when we acknowledge our ignorance, the way is opened before us to true knowledge of spiritual truths, and that when we renounce the attempt to comprehend God, His mysteries are revealed to us. Thus, in the simplest and most experiential manner, the Elder expressed the very essence of the apophatic tradition of Orthodox theology.

 

Greek source: https://agiazoni.gr/slug-9/