The Quarterly Journal of St. Philaret’s Institute

Theology traditionally affirms that the priority accorded to the question of personal salvation is grounded in the Gospel. Therefore, the numerous appeals by martyr Maria (Skobtsova) to care primarily for one’s neighbor rather than for personal salvation appear all the more striking. For the correct interpretation of this viewpoint, the article demonstrates that Mother Maria’s thoughts on personal salvation were part of her broader socio-political and theological ideas. The origins of these ideas can be traced to her familiarity with broad debates that took place within educated Russian society from the mid-19th century up until the ­pre-revolutionary years. These debates, which began around the concept of «rational egoism», transformed into theological and philosophical disputes about personal salvation, or «transcendental egoism», as Konstantin Leontiev termed it. This discourse also addressed the issue of more active involvement of monastics in the social life of society. Later, in emigration, Mother Maria largely continued the line that, before the revolution, had been associated with Vladimir Solovyov, Nikolai Berdyaev, and their supporters. As shown, Mother Maria’s statements on this matter do not deny the established understanding of the importance of personal salvation and the traditional monastic path. However, from her perspective, achieving personal salvation is impossible without active service to one’s neighbor. She believed that for believers, the fulfillment of the first Gospel commandment (of love for God) is inseparable from the unconditional fulfillment of the second (of love for one’s neighbor), and that precisely in this unity lies the correct understanding of Christian asceticism. The article also demonstrates that the form in which Mother Maria expressed her ideas was significantly influenced by her inherent uncompromising nature and the traits of her fervent character, which, even during her lifetime, were not universally accepted.