The Theology of the Degraded General: the Religious Views of the Decembrist M.A. Fonvizin

Mikhail Fonvizin, general of the Russian army and Decembrist, became interested in religious problems while in Tobolsk. In 1852 he wrote his sole completed theological article, and beside that religious topics were present in his extensive correspondence. A sincere believer and former parishioner of the Orthodox Church, he was the forerunner of ecumenism of the 20th–21st centuries. His broad and unorthodox religious views were combined with personal piety, which attracted Orthodox believers to him. Among his acquaintances were Archimandrite Makarii (Glukharev) and Archpriest Stefan Znamensky, who were canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church. Serious interest in socialism did not make him a socialist, and religious repentance did not lead to repentance before the state and the tsar. The present article examines the content of his theological article and the influence on him of Protestant theologians of the 18th–19th centuries