Francis Berger
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Nikolai Berdyaev: The Other Reason For My Profound Respect

1/27/2022

12 Comments

 
Readers of this blog are probably aware of my deep respect for the Russian Christian philosopher, Nikolai Berdyaev -- specifically for his ideas on freedom, objectification, personality, creativity, and the further development of Christianity.

Though I often explore Berdyaev's ideas and themes on this blog, I don't profess to be a Berdyaev expert. In fact, I'm certain that I don't really "get" many of Berdyaev's ideas. All the same, most of his work resonates with me -- some of it quite deeply.

Having said that, my respect for Berdyaev extends past his philosophy and goes all the way to the man himself. He spent most of his life concentrating on Christianity, but unlike so many others who do the same, Berdyaev was one of those rare souls who actually practiced what he preached when it mattered most.

Alexander Solzhenitsyn refers to Nikolai Berdyaev a few times in The Gulag Archipelago. The philosopher's name first appears in the second chapter of Gulag in which Solzhenitsyn painstakingly outlines how the secret police went about rounding up suspected enemies and counterrevolutionaries in the early 1920s. Appropriately enough, Solzhenitsyn called this harrowing chapter The History of Our Sewage System, and in the opening pages of this chapter he devotes some time to the arrests and persecutions of religious figures (bold added):

Men of religion were an inevitable part of every annual "catch", and their silver locks gleamed in every cell and in every prisoner transport en route to the Solovetsky Islands. 

From the early twenties on, arrests were also made among groups of theosophists, mystics, spiritualists. (Count Palen's group used to keep official transcripts of its communications with the spirit world.) Also, religious societies and philosophers of the Berdyaev circle. The so-called "Eastern Catholics" -- followers of Vladimir Solovyev-- were arrested and destroyed in passing, as was the group of A.J. Abrikosova. And, of course, ordinary Roman Catholics -- Polish Catholic priests, etc. -- were arrested, too, as part of the normal course of events. 


Later, in Chapter Three -- The Interrogation -- Solzhenitsyn intensely explores the psychological and spiritual implications of being interrogated after arrest and succinctly illustrates the manner in which Nikolai Berdyaev dealt with interrogation after he was rounded up by the secret police:

So what is the answer? How can you stand your ground when you are weak and sensitive to pain, when people you love are still alive, when you are unprepared?

What do you need to make you stronger than the interrogator and the whole trap?

From the moment you go to prison you must put your cozy past firmly behind you. At the very threshold, you must say to yourself: "My life is over, a little early to be sure, but there's nothing to be done about it. I shall never return to freedom. I am condemned to die -- now or a little later. But later on, in truth, it will be even harder, and so the sooner the better. I no longer have any property whatsoever. For me those I love have died, and for them I have died. From today on, my body is useless and alien to me. Only my spirit and my conscience remain precious and important to me. 

Confronted by such a prisoner, the interrogation will tremble. 

Only the man who has renounced everything can win that victory. 


But how can one turn one's body to stone?

Well, they managed to turn some individuals from the Berdyaev circle into puppets for a trial, but they didn't succeed with Berdyaev. They wanted to drag him into an open trial; they arrested him twice; and (in 1922) he was subjected to a night interrogation by Dzerzhinsky himself. Kamanev was there too (which means that he too was not averse to using the Checka in an ideological conflict). But Berdyaev did not humiliate himself. He did not beg or plead. He set forth firmly those religious and moral principles which had led him to refuse to accept the political authority established in Russia. And not only did they come to the conclusion that he would useless for a trial, but they liberated him. 

A human being has a point of view!
12 Comments
Whitney
1/27/2022 23:43:21

My liturgy of the hours is old so his feast was a couple days ago on the 26th and I read this for the first time.

http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/polycarp-smyrnaeans.html

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Epimetheus
1/27/2022 23:52:02

Remarkable. I read The Meaning of the Creative Act on your recommendation. It's extraordinary, but like you I haven't a clue what he's talking about at times. He points off into a fogbank.

In our day, we're not offered the dignity of a life-and-blood torturer. All we have are screens on the torture-chamber wall. They speak lies and terror to us, but we can't make them listen back. At least the torturers in olden days needed the fortitude or psychopathy or whatever to confront you face-to-face and not look away from your eyes.

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Francis Berger
1/28/2022 10:43:17

@ Epi - I regard The Meaning of the Creative Act as one of B's best and most lucid works, but there are parts of it I still can't wrap my head around, and other parts I don't really agree with. In my view, the fogbank reflects the more "mystical" elements of his thought -- difficult to comprehend unless you are able to approach it from a mystical perspective.

Fogbank or not -- B proved his mettle. His mystical views provided him with incomprehensible strength and fortitude. There was something there hidden in the apparent fog.

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Ann K.
1/28/2022 02:52:25

Thank you for this. It brings tears to my eyes,
I just finished reading Fr. Arsenie Papacoic’s “Eternity in the Moment” (available for free online as a .pdf).
He was a Serbian priest who experienced the most brutal conditions in Communist prisons.
I pray every day for the strength of faith that these bright lights have shown us.

Reply
Francis Berger
1/28/2022 10:47:13

@ Ann K. - Thanks. I agree. I find these sorts of autobiographical/biographical details inspiring -- especially when they are set against the cowardice and compliance of our contemporary world.

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bruce charlton
1/28/2022 10:18:50

"not only did they come to the conclusion that he would useless for a trial, but they liberated him. "

That is one of those things that would sound too far fetched and unrealistic if it were included in fiction. It shows me that each individual's fate is linked to his own providence - and that God does not regard as as mere representatives or group members; but that quite extraordinary, implausible, vastly improbable things Can happen - when they serve God's purposes (which we can never know in advance).

Here is another remarkable and vastly improbable story - about the accountant to a gangster boss who left and betrayed the gang (in court!) due to finding Jesus (I think it was Billy Graham or one of his followers who converted him in a meeting) - yet was Not killed nor punished by the boss - but instead the two men remained friends!

My interpretation is that both Berdyaev and Vaus did the right thing for the right reasons without regard for their own safety - and God (the creator) found a way through the many choices of Men, so that they could continue their work in the world.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zzqkewBdRxE

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Francis Berger
1/28/2022 10:53:26

@ Bruce - Thanks for video link. I was aware of the gang boss, but not the man who testified against him. Amazing story.

"It shows me that each individual's fate is linked to his own providence - and that God does not regard as as mere representatives or group members; but that quite extraordinary, implausible, vastly improbable things Can happen - when they serve God's purposes (which we can never know in advance)."

Yes, and this ties in well with the importance of alignment, of actively choosing to be on the side of God and Creation -- despite our sins, errant behavior, etc.

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Ingemar
1/29/2022 15:52:34

I recently was placed on unpaid leave because of my refusal to accede to the Devil Juice Peck policy.

Prior to this job loss, I did apply for a religious exemption in order not to take it. You have been thematically correct on a great and many things, Francis--namely, the society-wide abandonment of the very notion of rights in favor of (a question-begging notion of) "safety."

My insistence upon my legally-protected rights and even the fact that I am 100% a remote worker fell on deaf ears. Furthermore, the SCOTUS decision against the Peck mandate did not so much as budge HR and management.

Something that struck me furthermore was that I perceived, for the first time, spiritual deadness in action. It did not matter to them that I managed one of the most critical territories in the business nor that my absence created upheavals and severe disruptions in the team's ability to do work. The Devil Juice became the cardinal principal upon which each person is judged above all other merits; ultimately, religious and medical exemptions are a fig leaf by which the Company can pretend to have tolerance, but when it comes right down to the line, they can veto these fake measures of tolerance at will and whim.

They did it to me, twice.

While my parents sympathize with my decision to remain unPecked, ultimately they themselves got Pecked and their own understanding of the situation is that the System is right and I have to abide by them. While my own family situation is not as bad as others, they do not perceive the gravity of the situation as we do--and even if they can be argued into accepting that the System is evil, they know no other good and cannot even fathom a token amount of resistance, let alone willingly choosing economic uncertainty over submission to evil.

I do not see myself as a Berdyaev, but I do see eye-to-eye with him in the sense that once evil has made itself manifest, the only way "out" is to accept that while it has dominion over your body, it doesn't have authority over your soul.

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Francis Berger
1/29/2022 18:38:13

@ Ingemar - I am sorry to hear about your difficulties. I can empathize in many ways. I too have lost a job because of the peck.

Demonic fingerprints are all over what you have described -- if you were able to complete your work remotely, then why is the peck even an issue?

Yes, some would argue that there is a larger, societal health issue at play, but that's balderdash -- even at the level of basic, natural human rights. The malicious spiritual motivations are as clear as day. I went through a process similar to what you described. In the end, I was fired because I had the audacity to declare that the peck went against my beliefs and convictions.

"they do not perceive the gravity of the situation as we do--and even if they can be argued into accepting that the System is evil, they know no other good and cannot even fathom a token amount of resistance, let alone willingly choosing economic uncertainty over submission to evil"

This is the elephant in the room very few Christians want to talk about. I've addressed this a few times on this blog, and Bruce has recently written a solid piece about this. If the malevolent spiritual implications of the peck -- and the System in general -- are not recognized, actions that willingly comply with this obvious evil will remain unrepented. Even worse, they will be regarded as necessary and good things in and of themselves.

You may not see yourself as Berdyaev, but the actions you have taken thus far place you alongside him in spirit. More importantly, I firmly believe your actions have kept you aligned with God and Creation. The significance of this cannot be overemphasized as it opens the door to divine providence.

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Ingemar
1/30/2022 18:45:44

I hope you find a way back on your feet too, Francis.

NLR
1/29/2022 17:55:37

Very impressive.

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bruce charlton
1/30/2022 10:40:12

My best wishes to Ingemar. I recognize the spirit of the bureaucracies, from my own experiences. And the lack of support from those one would have hoped would understand.

Such experiences made me realize how very wrong are those who assume that money is the root of all evil - since such decisions risk or lead to considerable loss of money for businesses.

These reprisals and sackings are also grossly dysfunctional at an institutional and social level. But thta doesn't matter either.

So - the principles on which our society is administered (when the chips are down) do not pursue money, nor do they pursue functionality - or any other material good.

They are indeed 'ideological' in the sense of being a spirit-denying spiritual stance.

The activities of these HR-type bureaucrats are akin to an evil parasite, which will use-up the resources of its host organization (even to the point of destroying its own niche) in its zeal to harm its ideological enemies. These enemies being any one or thing that is regarded as on the side of Good (as Good is understood by Christians, or tradition, or just common sense).

Not many people can perceive that this kind of mainstream/ normal/ System activity is an actively destructive force of very pure evil; because the assumptions of good and evil have become so incoherent - even when they are not actually inverted.

But now is the time of testing - when each person is confronted by unavoidable value choices - with consequences pointing in opposite directions.

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