Alexey Osipov, professor of theology: biography, personal life, books, sermons

2024 Author: Miguel Ramacey | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 06:11

This extraordinary man devoted almost his entire life to God and science. This love absorbed Alexei Ilyich Osipov without a trace so much that he never worried about such earthly goods as money, fame, or even the birth of his own children. Despite the fact that the professor's faith is strong and unshakable, he refused to take the priesthood, explaining that his true vocation is teaching. Books are his only treasures, over which the scholar-theologian has been poring over for many years.

“Now, thanks to the absolutely wonderful lectures of theology professor Alexei Osipov, it is finally slowly opening up for me what Christianity is, what Orthodoxy is, what humility is, what love is, who Jesus Christ is and what he did for us, people” (People’s Artist of the Russian Federation Dmitry Pevtsov)

Childhood

Osipov Alexey Ilyichwas born on March 31, 1938 in the city of Belyaev (Tula region). Parents were ordinary civil servants. When the boy matured a little, the family moved to the Kozelsky district (the village of Otpitno). Somewhat later, the future professor Alexei Osipov moved to Gzhatsk.

Youth

When he was very young and went to school, he was offered to become a member of the Komsomol, to which the guy replied with a firm refusal. The reason for this was probably the belief in God, which was prosecuted under the law during the time of communism. In 1955, Alexei Ilyich flatly refused to enter the Higher Educational Institution, which his parents could not influence in any way.

The young man took a completely different path, and for several years he studied theology in depth, becoming a student of Abbot Nikon. Three years later, the future professor Alexei Osipov went to receive spiritual education at the Moscow Seminary. A letter of recommendation from a spiritual mentor helped him enter the fourth grade right away, which spoke of the young man's extraordinary abilities and perseverance.

In 1959, Alexei already became a student at the Moscow Theological Academy. It was there that he presented his first work on the subject of the ancient Greek language. After graduating from an educational institution, Osipov defended his PhD in theology and, according to distribution, had to go to serve in the Smolensk diocese. However, in addition to this, he was offered to become a graduate student of the Theological Academy, to which he gratefully accepted.

Scientist career

When a theology professor -Alexey Osipov - finally received the highest academic degree, then remained in his native educational institution as a teacher. At that time, the discipline "Ecumenism" had just appeared, according to which he instructed his students. Two years passed, and the young professor began to lecture on Basic Theology, and a little later began to teach this subject in the seminary.

But what is "ecumenism"? This word is translated from Latin as "universe", since this technique carries the idea of \u200b\u200bunifying all Christian conventions. During his postgraduate years, Alexei Ilyich gave lectures on the topic of contemporary religious problems, the Protestant movement, and also taught the history of religious philosophical thinking. In addition, he had to teach his students about Catholicism, since he taught this subject.

Gradually, his career went uphill, and in 1969 the young scientist became an assistant professor. However, already in 1975 he received the degree of professor of theology, and in 1984 he defended his doctoral dissertation.

Why didn't he become the rector of the church?

According to the majority of people familiar with the works of Alexei Ivanovich, he should have taken the holy orders and retire from worldly affairs long ago, but this did not happen. Why, then, did he spend the better part of his life studying theology? After all, the monastic vows could well have become a logical end to a career. However, the thing is that the professor sees himself as a teacher - this is his true purpose, and he will always have time to hide in the walls of the monastery.

Professor AlexeyOsipov rightly believes that taking the priesthood, being a teacher at the Theological Academy, is at least strange. After all, a clergyman should have his own Parish and community - his job is to guide people on the true path and pray for the souls of God's children. Therefore, the holders of the church dignity should not teach at the academy, since the rector is the head there, and the students are the flock. Here is a comparison.

Merit to the Russian Orthodox Church

Besides teaching, Alexei Ilyich has another life, connected mainly with religion.

1. In 1964, the theologian was appointed secretary to the commission of the Russian Orthodox Church (Russian Orthodox Church) and was responsible for the proper preparation of material for the Athenian Religious-Ethnic Encyclopedia.
2. In 1967-1987 and 1995-2005 was a member of the collegium of the almanac "Theological Works".
3. In 1973–1986 was a member of the teaching committee of the Holy Synod.
4. From 1976 to 2004 he was a member of the commission of the Holy Synod.
5. For a long 22 years, Alexei Osipov was in charge of the postgraduate branch of the Moscow Theological Academy in the Department of External Church Relations.
6. The professor worked for a long time as the editor-in-chief of the Theological Method newspaper.
7. For some time co-chaired a global conference called “Science. Philosophy. Religion.”
8. For almost ten years, Alexei Ilyich has been an active member of the Presidium of the Inter-Council Presence.

Parallel work

For a period of his life, the scientist worked in the coordinating committee for interaction between the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation and the Russian Orthodox Church, and at about the same time - in a book publishing house under the Moscow Patriarchy. Alexei Ilyich also repeatedly acted as a diplomat with such denominations as the German-Lutheran, Catholic, pre-Chalcedonian and national churches of North America. He also took part in religious assemblies of international scale.

The sermons of Alexei Ilyich Osipov repeatedly appeared on television and radio, and millions of people were finally able to hear what lay on the heart of the theologian. In addition, many Orthodox publications published excerpts from his best books. Alexei Ilyich Osipov's conversations, conducted by him in various educational institutions, at international conferences and in some churches, charged the listeners with his inspiration and love for God. Since 2014, the great theologian has officially retired, but he is still an active lecturer.

Books by Alexei Ilyich Osipov

During his entire career, the theologian has "fixed" on paper a lot of his own thoughts on Orthodox topics. Many articles have been published, but books are the real treasure trove of wisdom. They reflect his vision of religion and the attitude of all mankind towards it. Books give food for thought, and as long as a person thinks and works with his head, he will not turn into a primitive animal. And despite the fact that there are opponents of histeachings, there are still more followers. Here is a list of especially penetrating works of this deeply religious man:

• “Spiritual Life”;
• "Love, marriage and family";
• "Sacrament of Baptism";
• "God";
• From Time to Eternity: The Afterlife of the Soul;
• "About the beginnings of life";
• "Carriers of the Spirit";
• "How to live today?";
• "Why does a person live?".

After reading these books, you can find answers to many questions that concern each of us throughout our lives. It is not at all necessary to agree with everything written, however, for self-development, a new opinion will never be superfluous.

Religious views

Aleksey Ilyich reasonably believes that each belief has a purely personal idea of God, who is such within the framework of a particular community. After all, Christ is the image of the invisible Lord, but for the Orthodox this is an unshakable truth. Understanding God comes from his teachings and ideas about him. The Christian Almighty is strikingly different from Kali (the goddess of destruction), whose image is decorated with human skulls.

The opinion of Alexei Ilyich Osipov regarding the prophecies completely coincides with the thought of the Monk John of the Ladder and is as follows: “When we entrust our own salvation to anyone, then before starting a dangerous path, we roughly imagine the hardships that we may face. We must, first of all, tempt the one who should come to our aid in order to gain confidence in his strength. That's why to everyonepredictions should be treated with caution. It is necessary to find out everything properly, to see, to try and even to tempt, but not to take anything for granted without thinking.

In the printed publication Literatura Rossii, Alexei Ilyich said that among people who call themselves Orthodox, there are many who are indifferent to the religious and moral dogmas of this religion. In his opinion, the Church (in recent times) has become a union of believers who are indifferent to the truth of Jesus Christ. Obviously, this happens because Russian Orthodox Christians do not know much about their own religion, so they easily believe in various signs and amulets, like pagans.

About modern education

According to the theologian, individuals who propose to remove the works of Fyodor Dostoevsky from the school curriculum are provocateurs of the withering away of humanity in people. After all, the tendency to destroy the cultural heritage of Russia has recently become popular even in the education system. Such an ideology has many facets, so it is not possible to immediately understand what's what. The answer lies not on the surface, but somewhere in the depths.

About global

Professor Alexei Osipov rightly noted that in our time it is becoming more and more clear that the fact that humanity will soon die. After all, even world justice does not affect the fact that people are programmed for self-destruction. To survive, it is necessary not only to preserve the environment, but also to restore the entirethe integrity of the nature we have crippled. In his opinion, the problems associated with the environment are primarily of a spiritual nature, and man is the center of everything.

Family

The personal life of Alexei Ilyich Osipov is shrouded in a veil of secrecy. His biography describes the most significant events of his life, but there is not a single line about whether he created a family. It is known that this religious man passionately loves the science of God, which swallowed him up. Perhaps Alexei Ilyich Osipov never married anyone, because there is no place in his heart for worldly love.