Romilo Aleksandar Knežević
NIKOLAI BERDYAEV AND THE THIRD KIND OF NON-BEING
Publishers:
Archives of Vojvodina, Novi Sad
University of Niš, Centre for Byzantine and Slavic Studies
International Centre for Orthodox Studies
Editors in Chief
Nebojša Kuzmanović, PhD
Professor Dragiša Bojović, PhD
Editor
Tatjana Cavnić
Bibliographic Editing and Cover Design:
Ivana Gavrilović
Layout and Typesetting:
Željko Radaković
The most pressing challenge for contemporary humanity is to overcome the dual consciousness: the scientific belief in the impossibility of increasing the amount of world’s energy and the religious conviction that the creation of the world cannot continue. In his seminal work The Meaning of the Creative Act (1916), the renowned Russian philosopher Nikolai Berdyaev thus describes the predicament of contemporary humanity. In his uncompromising style, Berdyaev urges us to transcend two axioms—the foundational pillars of our dominant Weltanschauung.
Berdyaev recognizes that his identification of a convergence between scientific and religious consciousness in denying creativity may surprise many. Is it not widely accepted that religion and science are adversaries? Nonetheless, Berdyaev pushes his argument further. He contends that scientific consciousness is merely a secular extension of the religious denial of creativity. In other words, this understanding of the universe is a secular reflection of our conception of the theistic God. Berdyaev suggests a surprising affinity between God’s omnipotence and perfection and the law of conservation of energy.