Number DOI: http://doi.org/10.33209/2519-4348-2707-9627-2022-10-113

VB. – № 10, 2022. – P. 47-65

Summary

Christian theology has always singled out such topics and sought answers to questions that are not only prematurely relevant, but also of absolute importance. How can one see through the veil of the tragedy of the life of creation, through the shell of the everyday presence of suffering and death, the radiance of the beauty of God’s love for him?… The goodness of God, touching the merciful heart of man, makes him able to see the beauty of creation in what we call the world, which lies in evil. The reason for the latter, as is known, is the freedom of creation in self-determination in relation to God, which determines the emergence of evil as a conscious rebellion against the Creator. Thus, the reality of the created world includes the tragic consequences of the Fall. God’s answer to the question of human suffering is the Crucifixion. The cross of Christ is not just an eternal confirmation of pain and death, but their transgression. Easter frees from slavery and fear of the “elements”, defeats the “world”. The tragic circumstances of the trial by war become an encounter with Christ, which awakens the awareness of the calling of Christians to testify to the Creator’s care for creation by their active presence. Modern theologians from the Biblical and patristic experience emphasize the key aspects of the relationship between the Creator and creation, which manifest themselves in the suffering and torment of the fallen world, which, nevertheless, preaches the beauty of God’s mercy, to discern and reveal what man is called to do. They offer theory and practice, experience and mechanisms for transforming the cry of pain of war into the joyful cry of meeting the Creator. The realities of the world, which lies in evil, seem to deny its beauty and purpose to be a mirror of the goodness of God the Creator. All his efforts are motivated by the conviction of a practically realized possibility for a person to become a living testimony of the immutability of God’s attitude towards creation. This is what modern world Orthodoxy speaks so optimistically about, and, in particular, through the mouths of leading Ukrainian theologians who are directly in the tragic conditions of being tested by the pandemic and war. It will be promising for further research to highlight actual problem areas and outline the answers to them by modern Ukrainian Orthodox theology, taking into account the general world trends and searches.

Key words: God, man, Christianity, Orthodoxy, world, beauty, peace, suffering, war, death.

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