THE SYSTEM OF RELIGIOUS VALUES IN THE POETICS OF MITROFAN DOVHALEVSKY “POETIC GARDEN” (1736/37

Abstract

All the believers in a conscious or unconscious way perceive religious values. It is an important component
of religious identity, which still has a need to be researched. The article compares modern view on the
values with a system, which has been reconstructed and based on the research on the topic of versiication
(poetics) in Kyiv-Mohyla Academy in the 1736–1737 schooling year.
Approximately eighty verses have been analyzed due to four levels of religious values, which are mentioned
by modern researchers (God and faith, purposes, means, values of life on the Earth). It has been stated
that Mitrofan Dovhalevsky pays more attention to God instead of all the other religious values in his
poetics. Values having the end in some way are not mentioned here. Only the Eucharist and almsgiving
are mentioned in the verses in poetics considering religious values/means. Although, almsgiving is based
on something more than Christianity. Scriptures are not mentioned at all. We suggest that the values
of human life have no religious meaning here.