Christianity and Liberalism: the synthesis of values in philosophy and political practices of the Siberian liberals at the beginning of the 20th century

The main question that the author focuses on is whether the ideals of liberalism and Christianity are compatible. The goal of the paper is to identify how the Christian and liberal values were interlinked in the belief system and political practices of the Siberian liberals at the beginning of the 20th century. As the primary sources for the research, the author uses published speeches, lectures, scientific, and scientific-journalistic writings of professors of Tomsk State University D. N. Belikov, I. V. Mikhailovsky, and P. A. Prokoshev, as well as the speeches of V. A. Karaulov, a deputy of the Third State Duma from Yeniseysk Governorate. Addressing the intellectual legacy of the liberal-minded professors allowed to reconstruct different versions of how the orthodox traditions could come together with the liberal ideas of individual freedom and make the basis for the civil order. Doctor of ecclesiastical history, a head of the department of theology, D. N. Belikov emphasized the ethical principles that were common for orthodox Christianity and liberalism. Lawyer, an expert in the field of theory and philosophy of law I. V. Mikhailovsky created an original concept of the state order based on the complementarity of the ideals of theocracy and liberalism. P. A. Prokoshev discussed the essence of the religious crisis in Western Europe and applied his professional expertise in canonical law to harmonization of the clerical and individual patters on the basis of freedom and love. In this paper, the synthesis of liberal and religious values in political practices is showed on the example of V. A. Karaulov’s work as the State Duma deputy. Being an active member of the church, faith and the Old Believer commissions of the State Duma, Karaulov was a staunch proponent of the principles of freedom of conscience, in particular, freedom of faith. In the whole, the research showed that among the Siberian liberals there were advocates of the Christian liberalism. They strongly believed that it is possible to naturally compile religious, national, cultural traditions with liberal values. The desire to use traditional religious and moral values as the foundation for a new model of the state order that would be based on the priority of individual freedom is the sign of the maturity of the liberal culture of appropriation. In the conclusion, the author formulates a hypothesis that it is possible to use the liberal-Christian synthesis as the ground for the all-national consensus based on the reconciliation of the core national values. The author declares no conflicts of interests.

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