Ancient philosophers and philosophy in the sermons of St. Dimitry of Rostov

The paper considers the views on the ancient philosophy of St. Dimitry of Rostov, an outstanding preacher and writer of the Russian Orthodox Church at the turn of the 17th and 18th centuries, and relying on handwritten sermons focuses on three of them. The first one considers philosophy as the art of studying nature, helping come to God; the second one treats it as the art of self-understanding, preparing a person to accept the Gospel; the third one describes it as an example of "outer" wisdom, opposed to the “inner” wisdom of Christianity. Findings of the research show that the views of St. Dimitry of Rostov on ancient philosophy and the "Hellenic sages" are ideas traditional for Eastern Patristics but clothed in the form of baroque rhetoric.

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