FORMING THE "SACRED TEXTS’ CANON" AMONG THE OLD BELIEVERS IN THE XVII CENTURY

2019 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Old Believers ◽  
Sacred Texts ◽  
Xvii Century

scholarly journals Authority and the “Canon of Sacred Texts”, Created by Opponents of Church Reform

2020 ◽  
Vol 19 (8) ◽  
pp. 35-44
Author(s):  
Natalya S. Guryanova
Keyword(s):  
Russian Orthodox ◽  
Church Reform ◽  
Orthodox Church ◽  
Russian Orthodox Church ◽  
Old Believers ◽  
Sacred Texts ◽  
Printed Books ◽  
True Meaning ◽  
Ancient Manuscripts ◽  
The Church

The article studies the conflict between secular and church authorities over the collection of extracts from ancient manuscripts and early printed books that were found by the defenders of the Old Belief in order to prove a violation of the tradition of the Russian Church as a result of the reform of the rite and liturgical practice. Quotes from the Holy Scripture, patristic tradition, and writings of church writers constituted the “canon of sacred texts” for the Old Believers, which was, in their opinion, equivalent to the Holy Scripture. Fragments of texts systematized according to the subjects were copied and distributed as manuscripts. By the importance of the problem to overcome schism secular and church authorities joined forces to solve it. This was especially evident in the activities of the Moscow Council of Russian Orthodox Church in 1681–1682. An analysis of the Council Decree allowed us to conclude that in the Proposal to the Council Feodor III Alexeyevich very precisely outlined the jeopardy of the “canon of sacred texts”. The monarch expressed worry of secular authorities about the distribution of manuscripts that increased the influence of Old Believers. In the Response of the Council, it was decided to stop the spread of “false letters” and do it together with the secular authorities. The article draws attention to the fact that the result of efforts of secular authorities was the execution of some Old Believers’ leaders. The church also did not stand aside and published Uvet Duhovnyi. The article shows, what position the author took with respect to the “canon of sacred texts” and how it reflected in his text. It is concluded that Archbishop Afanasy tried to convince readers that the Old Believer`s manuscripts, “bogomerzkie pisanye tetradki” (heretical handwritten notes), which contained extracts from the Holy Scripture and patristic tradition, had nothing in common with the true meaning of sources. Consequently, they could not argue the deviation of the reformers from the tradition of the Russian Church. The Archbishop Afanasy insisted that only “madness” could explain the doctrine of the defenders of the Old Belief.

scholarly journals Old Believers and Text

2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 32-41
Author(s):  
Natalia S. Gurianova
Keyword(s):  
Religious Education ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Church Reform ◽  
Old Believers ◽  
Sacred Texts ◽  
Printed Books ◽  
Ancient Manuscripts ◽  
Social Views ◽  
Church Policy ◽  
The Church

The article is devoted to the study of the problem of textuality of the Old Believers’ community, where the text was an argument in proving the illegality of the actions of the reformers, determined the ideology of the movement, the political, social views of the participants, and the peculiarities of the religious life of the communities. Due to the appeal to ancient manuscripts and early printed books, a fund of citations was formed, that testified to the validity of Old Believers’ point of view on innovation. Having inherited from the scribes of Ancient Russia respect for the book, bordering on its sacralization, the opponents of church reform began to treat the selected fragments of texts in a similar way. As a result, the “canon of sacred texts” was formalized. As a result, these extracts began to be perceived by the Old Believers as reflecting the tradition of the Russian Church and equated to the reading of the Holy Scripture. The Old Believers used the fund of fragments of authoritative texts, formed by several generations, describing the tradition of the Russian Church, the defenders of which they proclaimed themselves. The canon of Sacred Texts was composed not only of extracts from ancient manuscripts, but also from pre-Nikon Moscow printed editions. Extracts from books published in the time of Patriarch Iosif, the content of which should be characterized as the creative heritage of the Kiev Metropolis, adapted for the Russian reader, became fundamental. Turning to the analysis of church policy in the first half of the 17th century allowed to conclude that the Church, solving the problem of religious education of the population, introduced these texts into circulation. Consequently, opponents of church reform had reason to use them by description of the Russian tradition.

"The Word of St. Gregory": the beginning of a comparative approach to supernatural

1997 ◽  
pp. 40-43
Author(s):  
Natalia Fatyushyna
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Approach ◽  
Old Believers ◽  
Domestic Literature ◽  
12Th Century

In the domestic literature, the beginnings of comparative ideas about supernatural belong to the writing of Kievan Rus. The most meaningful such representation is presented by "The Word of St. Gregory, reproduced in the interpretation of how the first pagans, that is, the pagans, worshiped the idols and laid them down, as they now do." The basis of this monument of the Kyivan culture of the 12th century, also known as the "Word of the Idols," was the sermon of the prominent patriarch Gregory the Theologian on the Epiphany, in which he reacted negatively to ancient paganism. But "The Word," as Y. Anichkov noted, is not a preaching, nor a translation of the thoughts of Gregory the Theologian, but an attempt to study Old Believers: it gives an interpretation of the work of the Byzantine theologian "in the interpretation" of the local paganism.

Redefining the Miraculous: al-Ghazālī, Ibn Rushd and Said Nursi on Qur'anic Miracle Stories

2011 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 86-108 ◽  
Author(s):  
Isra Yazicioglu
Keyword(s):  
Science And Technology ◽  
Natural Order ◽  
Human Knowledge ◽  
Religious Traditions ◽  
Sacred Texts ◽  
Ibn Rushd ◽  
Heated Debate ◽  
Indirect Confirmation ◽  
Said Nursi

Miracle stories in sacred texts have been a source of both fascination and heated debate across religious traditions. Qur'anic miracle stories are especially interesting because they are part of a discourse that also de-emphasises the miraculous. By looking at how three scholars have engaged with Qur'anic miracle stories, I here investigate how these narratives have been interpreted in diverse and fruitful ways. The first part of the article analyses how two medieval scholars, al-Ghazālī (d. 505/1111) and Ibn Rushd (d. 595/1198), engaged with the implications of miracle stories. Taking his cue from miracle stories, al-Ghazālī offered a sophisticated critique of natural determinism and suggested that the natural order should be perceived as a constantly renewed divine gift. In contrast, Ibn Rushd dismissed al-Ghazālī’s critique as sophistry and maintained that accepting the possibility that the natural order might be suspended was an affront to human knowledge and science. In the second part, I turn to Bediuzzaman Said Nursi (1870–1960), whose interpretation offers a crystallisation of al-Ghazālī’s insights as well as, surprisingly, an indirect confirmation of Ibn Rushd's concerns about human knowledge and science. Nursi redefines the miraculous in light of miracle stories, and interprets them as reminders of ‘everyday miracles’ and as encouragements to improve science and technology in God's name.

Looking at Words

2012 ◽  
Vol 6 (1-3) ◽  
pp. 67-82 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Brent Plate
Keyword(s):  
Print Culture ◽  
Semantic Meaning ◽  
Sacred Texts ◽  
Words And Images ◽  
The Way

Regardless of their semantic meaning, words exist in and through their material, mediated forms. By extension, sacred texts themselves are material forms and engaged in two primary ways: through the ears and eyes. This article focuses on the visible forms of words that can stir emotional and even sacred responses in the eyes of their beholders. Thus words can be said to function iconically, affecting a mutually engaging form of "religious seeing." The way words appear to their readers will change the reader's interaction, devotion, and interpretation. Examples range from modern popular typography to European Christian print culture to Islamic calligraphy. Weaving through the argument are two key dialectics: the relation of words and images, and the relation of the seen and the unseen.

Infusions and Fumigations

2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 115-136 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katharina Wilkens
Keyword(s):  
Ideal Point ◽  
Semantic Content ◽  
Social Acceptability ◽  
Medical Procedure ◽  
Religious Traditions ◽  
Sacred Texts ◽  
Point Of Entry ◽  
Linguistic Model ◽  
Written Texts ◽  
Different Types

Written texts, especially sacred texts, can be handled in different ways. They can be read for semantic content; or they can be materially experienced, touched, or even be inhaled or drunk. I argue that literacy ideologies regulate social acceptability of specific semantic and somatic text practices. Drinking or fumigating the Qurʾan as a medical procedure is a highly contested literacy event in which two different ideologies are drawn upon simultaneously. I employ the linguistic model of codeswitching to highlight central aspects of this event: a more somatic ideology of literacy enables the link to medicine, while a more semantic ideology connects the practice to theological discourses on the sacredness of the Qurʾan as well as to the tradition of Prophetic medicine. Opposition to and ridicule of the practice, however, comes from representatives of an ideology of semantic purity, including some Islamic theologians and most Western scholars of Islam. Qurʾanic potions thus constitute an ideal point of entry for analyzing different types of literacy ideologies being followed in religious traditions.

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