DEIFICATION AND FREE WILL: THE THEORY OF FREE WILL OF N.O. LOSSKY

Wang Qiang

Christian Orthodox teaching has been reflecting for many centuries on the ultimate goal of a Christian's life – deification (salvation), inextricably linked by the contradiction between the will of God and the will of man. Representatives of Russian religious philosophy also worked on these problems. N.O. Lossky, in his theory of metaphysical personalism (according to him), which includes the concept of free will, offers his own unique option for resolving this contradiction between the self-manifestation of a free agent and the will of God. The article examines important theoretical positions within the framework of this topic, explores the concepts of freedom, free will, deification, Divine creation, being, etc., formulated by Lossky. The originality of Lossky's teaching is also comprehended, which manifests itself: in his interpretation of deification as the free subordination of substantial figures to the will of God; in describing the differences between formal freedom and material freedom; in the conclusions that the freedom of substantial figures does not contradict their submission to the will of God, and this submission does not eliminate their freedom of will, and moreover, such submission to the will of God is a prerequisite for the acquisition of genuine and complete freedom.

Keywords:N.O. Lossky, deification, Godlike, substantial figure, real person, formal freedom, material freedom