Though he anticipates the development, he is quick to admit that we do not yet have this religion of the Spirit replete with its new revelation, mostly because the revelation “depends upon man's creative activity as well. It is not to be understood as only a new revelation of God to man: it is also the revelation of man to God.”
Berdyaev’s vision for the further development of Christianity “presupposes a radical change and a new orientation in human consciousness”, a “revolution of consciousness” that “will include higher achievements of spirituality.” Berdyaev defines this radical change of consciousness as a sign of “man's maturity, leaving behind him his childhood and adolescence....”
In the religion of the Spirit, the religion of freedom, everything will appear in a new light: there will be neither authority nor reward: the nightmare of a legalistic conception of Christianity and of eternal punishment will finally disappear. It will be founded, not upon judgment and recompense, but on creative development and transfiguration, on likeness to God.
In a nutshell, Berdyaev presents the religion of the Spirit as the fulfillment of Christianity, not as a replacement for Christianity; however, he does maintain that in a “certain sense, we may say that Christianity is ending and that we may expect a renaissance only from the religion of the Holy Spirit...”
The Divine and The Human appeared in 1947, shortly after the Second War. The “new orientation of human consciousness” Berdyaev expected has not appeared in the 77 years since his ideas on the matter were published, casting a long shadow of doubt on his contemplations concerning the further development of Christianity.
Of course, Berdyaev was not entirely optimistic about his expectations, at least in the short term.
The process of the decomposition of the cosmos ... is nearing its end. {but} least of all does this mean an optimistic concept of the destiny of history. The discovery of light does not mean a denial of darkness. On the contrary: before the advent of the epoch of Spirit man will have to pass through deepened shadow, through the epoch of night.
Berdyaev offers no clues as to how long this epoch of night would last, but I think it is safe to say that we remain firmly in its grips. Perhaps it is more accurate to say we are nearing or have reached the darkest point of this epoch of the night. Berdayev would likely concur. In Truth and Revelation, which appeared six years after The Divine and The Human, he notes, “I am not at all an optimist. Rather I am inclined to think that we are entering an epoch of darkness and of vast destruction.”
With this in mind, it becomes clear that the religion of the Spirit might be on the other side of this epoch of darkness and vast destruction. At the same time, the radical change in consciousness Berdyaev anticipates would have to begin in the dark and destructive epoch to bring the epoch to an end.
As much as I value Berdyaev’s ideas concerning the further development of Christianity and human consciousness, I find that I presently have little use for his “grand scheme of things” and prophetic perspective, much of which is grounded in his firm assumptions concerning the Second Coming and his distinctly Russian focus on the communal/collective/societal aspects of Christianity.
Nevertheless, I believe Berdyaev is pointing in the right direction regarding human consciousness and what individual Christians should concentrate on in this epoch of darkness and vast destruction.
In a post from earlier this week, Dr. Charlton argues that if Christianity is a society, a structure of authority, a group of people, or even a future situation or state that we should be working towards (such as Berdyaev’s third epoch or religion of the Spirit), then Christianity is finished. Dr. Charlton ends his post with the following assertion:
Unless you or I can be a real and full Christian here-and-now, starting with ourselves as we are, in this situation; and not depending upon any other people or authority to instruct, validate, or cooperate-with us - then there is, and shall be, no Christianity.
And unless we acknowledge this independence, and therefore take total and personal responsibility for ourselves Being Christian Now - then sooner or later we will Not be a Christian.
(Whatever we decide to call ourselves.)
This echoes Berdyaev’s point that “in a certain sense we may say that Christianity is ending.” Christians can no longer solely and passively rely on conventional Christian externals to guide them as they journey through this epoch of darkness and destruction. Something more is needed, and this involves personal responsibility.
Although I hold reservations concerning the minutiae of Berdyaev’s religion of the Holy Spirit, I am very drawn to the connection between the Holy Spirit and the shift of consciousness he foresees, which reminds me of a lucid comment Wm Jas Tychoneveich made on this blog:
"The ultimate spiritual authority is the Holy Ghost speaking to each believer's mind and heart, and all other authorities are downstream from that."
The new revelation of the Spirit Berdyaev expected has not appeared on the horizon, primarily because we have not taken total and personal responsibility for ourselves being Christian. We are not hearing the Holy Spirit as it speaks to our minds and hearts.
Most of us remain fixated on the downstream external authorities as primary authorities (over and above the Holy Spirit) or perhaps we are passively awaiting some future development in consciousness that promises to spiritually awaken us and usher in a golden era.
Taking total and personal responsibility entails setting all of this aside. We have to make our own choices going forward, but we cannot do this alone and in complete isolation. We must actively seek the guidance and cooperation of the Holy Spirit, who can and will guide us and cooperate with us individually, provided our motivations are sincere.
What Berdyaev terms the religion of the Spirit is not some future epoch.
The religion involves an individual Christian and the Holy Ghost.
It is already here.
It has always been here.
Right from the beginning.