Religion and Enlightenment in Catherinian Russia: The Teachings of Metropolitan Platon

3. Divine Providence and Human History

C H a P T E r T H r E E Divine Providence and Human History Th e r e i s i n t h e J u d e o - C h r i s t i a n religious tradition an enduring tension—some would say an outright contradiction—between the harsh realities of human history and a belief in divine providence. given the modern commitment to individual conscience and earthly progress, the persistence of human suffering calls into question the idea that history unfolds according to the divine plan of a beneficent creator. difficulties arise on two counts. First, what is the meaning of individual conscience, a form of human freedom, if god governs the universe, his creation, and intervenes directly in historical events? What, in other words, is the purpose of free will if history leads to an inevitable divinely ordained end, the establishment of god’s kingdom on earth?1 Equally important, and of more immediate concern to Enlightenment intellectuals, if god is all powerful and benevolent and if by definition his creation can only be good, why are the innocent and righteous made to suffer? if god the creator rules over his creation, why is he unable or unwilling to protect the righteous? irrespective of any promised afterlife or final judgment, why does he not punish evildoers in this life on earth? Following the great Lisbon earthquake, tsunamis, and fire of 1755, these questions captured the imagination and aroused the ire of enlightened thinkers across Europe. in the words of nicholas shrady, “god had ceased to be just and nature to be beneficent.”2 intellectuals such as Voltaire, who in 1759 explored the problem of human suffering in the philosophical novel Candide, or Optimism, excoriated the likes of alexander Pope and gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz for excessively rosy interpretations of the human condition.3 Troubled by the idea that because god is all powerful and  rELigion and EnLigHTEnMEnT in CaTHErinian rUssia good, his creation and all that happens in human history cannot be other than it is, Voltaire adopted the spinozist notion of a clockmaker god, a god of nature, who had created the universe but did not directly manage human affairs. Throughout the eighteenth century the association of god with nature appealed to many a progressive thinker. But while Voltaire did not personally reject the reality of divine providence, critics of deist thought had good reason to fear a slippery slope leading from spinozist naturalism to materialism and unbelief. in the minds of radical philosophers , the righteous sufferer, like the biblical Job, directly challenged Judeo -Christian conceptions of god. among Christian believers, enlightened theologians, and moderate enlighteners , the question of the righteous sufferer also aroused concern. For these thinkers, however, the god of nature could not provide a satisfactory solution to seemingly unjustified human suffering. Christians knew that Christ, the apostles, and numerous martyr saints had suffered painful torment and premature death, despite their righteousness. in biblical and theological terms the divine purpose behind their suffering could be effectively explained. But what accounted for the suffering of humble human innocents? Because the Enlightenment idea of progress assumed that through the use of reason and the advance of knowledge the human condition could and should be ameliorated, religious enlighteners also needed to explain the relationship between human actions and divine providence, between the conditions of earthly life and “god’s sovereign care in governing his creation.”4 Their understanding of how human history fit into the divine order highlighted both the adaptability of established religion and the transformative limits of (the) Enlightenment. The Spiritual Feat of Everyday Life Celebration of Tsarevich Dimitrii What has become known as the theodicy question—the problem of innocent and righteous sufferers in a universe governed by divine providence —also attracted the attention of the russian religious enlightener Metropolitan Platon.5 as pastor and moral teacher, Platon could not equate the everyday trials of Christian believers with the spiritual feats (podvigi) of holy men and women, but neither could he ignore their humble human struggles. Writing at a time when church intellectuals sought to encourage Divine Providence and Human History  more cognitive forms of religious belief and practice, Platon worked hard to bridge the gap between mundane and holy lives. His sermons commemorating the feast day of Tsarevich dimitrii of Uglich (1582–1591) illustrate this ongoing endeavor.6 a minor russian saint but one who enjoyed...