scholarly journals The Rise of the Third Rome: Russkii Mir and the Rebirth of Christendom

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 71-88
Author(s):  
David K. Goodin
Keyword(s):  
Political Theology ◽  
Armed Forces ◽  
Theology Of The Cross ◽  
The Political ◽  
Russian Orthodox ◽  
Orthodox Church ◽  
Russian Orthodox Church ◽  
The Russian Federation ◽  
The Cross ◽  
The Church

This essay brings Douglas John Hall’s engagement with the theology of the cross for a post-Christendom context into dialogue with the political theology of Russkii mir by the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC). Russkii mir is a theology that claims to be Christendom reborn. It signals a new alliance between the ROC and the Russian Federation by sanctioning military conquest of foreign lands, including Crimea and the ongoing conflict in eastern Ukraine. This essay documents the emergence of this new political theology in terms of its historical precedents and how this history is being distorted, and even invented, to justify the claims to Christendom. Particular attention is given to the architecture and militaristic symbolism for the newly christened Cathedral for the Russian Armed Forces, dedicated on June 14th, 2020. Finally, these claims are critically examined using Hall’s theology of the cross as a disestablishment for all such “theologies of glory” in light of scripture, tradition, and the true mission of the church. I also bring Hall’s work into dialogue with similar thought from the Orthodox East.

scholarly journals The Rise of the Third Rome: Russkii Mir and the Rebirth of Christendom

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 71-88
Author(s):  
David K. Goodin
Keyword(s):  
Political Theology ◽  
Armed Forces ◽  
Theology Of The Cross ◽  
The Political ◽  
Russian Orthodox ◽  
Orthodox Church ◽  
Russian Orthodox Church ◽  
The Russian Federation ◽  
The Cross ◽  
The Church

This essay brings Douglas John Hall’s engagement with the theology of the cross for a post-Christendom context into dialogue with the political theology of Russkii mir by the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC). Russkii mir is a theology that claims to be Christendom reborn. It signals a new alliance between the ROC and the Russian Federation by sanctioning military conquest of foreign lands, including Crimea and the ongoing conflict in eastern Ukraine. This essay documents the emergence of this new political theology in terms of its historical precedents and how this history is being distorted, and even invented, to justify the claims to Christendom. Particular attention is given to the architecture and militaristic symbolism for the newly christened Cathedral for the Russian Armed Forces, dedicated on June 14th, 2020. Finally, these claims are critically examined using Hall’s theology of the cross as a disestablishment for all such “theologies of glory” in light of scripture, tradition, and the true mission of the church. I also bring Hall’s work into dialogue with similar thought from the Orthodox East.

scholarly journals Protocol of the Penza Diocesan Congress of the Clergy and Laity

2020 ◽  
pp. 149-180
Author(s):  
Радомир (Роман) Владимирович Булдаков
Keyword(s):  
Social Relations ◽  
The Political ◽  
General Tendency ◽  
Russian Orthodox ◽  
Orthodox Church ◽  
Church Organization ◽  
Russian Orthodox Church ◽  
Local Council ◽  
Political Events ◽  
The Church

В настоящей публикации представлен ранее нигде не публиковавшийся Протокол Пензенского епархиального съезда духовенства и мирян, который проходил с 25 апреля по 1 мая 1917 г. Он отражает общее настроение рядового духовенства и мирян Русской Православной Церкви начала XX в. на примере конкретной епархии. Пензенский Съезд проходил одновременно с аналогичными Съездами многих других епархиальных центров, чьи постановления получили своё развитие на Всероссийском Съезде духовенства и мирян в Москве и далее на Поместном Соборе Православной Российской Церкви 1917- 1918 гг. Вопросы, рассматриваемые участниками Пензенского Съезда, касались как общецерковных проблем, так и внутренних дел самой епархии; часть постановлений вошла в состав решений Поместного Собора. Количество вопросов, поднятых на Съезде, превышает два десятка и относится к самым разным сферам церковно-государственных и церковно-общественных отношений, а также к внутренним преобразованиям самой Церкви, одновременно олицетворяя общую тенденцию к Её обновлению и являясь следствием этих перемен. Но среди них важнейшими, по мнению делегатов Съезда, считались вопросы об отношении к происходящим в стране политическим событиям и о поэтапной реформе церковной организации, начиная с прихода и заканчивая уровнем Поместной Российской Церкви. This publication presents the previously unpublished Protocol of the Penza Diocesan Congress of the Clergy and Laity, which took place from April 25 to May 1, 1917. It reflects the general mood of ordinary clergy and laity of the Russian Orthodox Church at the beginning of the 20th century by the example of a specific diocese. The Penza Congress was held simultaneously with similar Congresses of many other diocesan centers, whose resolutions were developed at the AllRussian Congress of Clergy and Laity in Moscow and further at the Local Council of the Russian Orthodox Church in 1917-1918. The issues considered by the participants of the Penza Congress concerned both general church problems and the internal affairs of the diocese itself; some of the decisions were included in the decisions of the Local Council. The number of issues raised at the Congress exceeds two dozen and relates to the most diverse spheres of church-state and church-social relations, as well as to the internal transformations of the Church itself, at the same time embodying the general tendency towards Her renewal and being a consequence of these changes. But among them the most important, in the opinion of the Congress delegates, were the questions about the attitude to the political events taking place in the country and about the gradual reform of church organization, from the parish level to the level of the Local Russian Church.

scholarly journals Everyday Life of the Russian Nuns in the Holy Land at the Time of Changes in the Middle East, 1940s–1950s

2021 ◽  
pp. 190-200
Author(s):  
N.A. Beliakova
Keyword(s):  
Everyday Life ◽  
The State ◽  
The Political ◽  
Russian Orthodox ◽  
Orthodox Church ◽  
Holy Land ◽  
Russian Orthodox Church ◽  
The Everyday ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Church

This study aims at providing an overview of the everyday life of Russian nuns in Palestine after World War II. This research encompassed the following tasks: to analyze the range of ego-documents available today, characterizing the everyday life and internal motivation of women in choosing the church jurisdiction; to identify, on the basis of written sources, the most active supporters of the Moscow Patriarchate to examine the nuns’ activity as information agents of the Russian Orthodox Church and Soviet government; to characterize the actors influencing the everyday life of the Russian nuns in the context of the creation of the state of Israel and new borders dividing the Holy Land; to present the motives and instruments of influence employed by the representatives of both secu-lar and church diplomacies in respect to the women leading a monastic life; to describe consequences of including the nuns into the sphere of interest of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the USSR; to show the specific role of “Russian women” in the context of the struggle for securing positions of the USSR and the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in the region. The sources for the study were prodused by the state (correspondence between the state authorities, meeting notes) and from the religious actors (letters of nuns to the church authorities, reports of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission, memoirs of the clergy). By combining the methods of micro-history and history of the everyday life with the political history of the Cold War, the study examines the agency of the nuns — a category of women traditionally unnoticeable in the political history. Due to the specificity of the sources, the study focuses exclusively on a group of the nuns of the Holy Land who came under the jurisdiction of the Moscow Patri-archate. The majority of the Russian-speaking population of Palestine in the mid-1940s were women in the status of monastic residents (nuns and novices) and pilgrims, and in the 1940s–1950s, they were drawn into the geopolitical combinations of the Soviet Union. The Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in Jerusalem, staffed with representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church, becomes a key institution of influence in the region. This article shows how elderly nuns became an object of close attention and even funding by the Soviet state. The everyday life of the nuns became directly dependent on the activities of the Soviet agencies and Soviet-Israeli relations after the arri-val of the Soviet state representatives. At the same time, the nuns became key participants in the inter-jurisdictional conflicts and began to act as agents of influence in the region. The study analyzes numerous ego-documents created by the nuns themselves from the collection of the Council on the Affairs of the Russian Orthodox Church under the USSR Council of Ministers. The study shows how nuns positioned themselves as leading a monastic life in the written correspondence with the ROC authorities and staff of the Soviet MFA. The instances of influence of different secular authorities on the development of the female monasticism presented here point to promising research avenues for future reconstruction of the history of women in the Holy Land based on archival materials from state departments, alternative sources should also be found. The study focused on the life of elderly Russian nuns in the Holy Land and showed their activity in the context of the geopolitical transformations in the Near East in the 1940s–1950s.

scholarly journals Political Events of February 1917 in the Diocesan Periodicals of Western Siberia

2020 ◽  
pp. 227-238
Author(s):  
A. A. Valitov ◽  
D. Yu. Fedotova
Keyword(s):  
Western Siberia ◽  
The Political ◽  
Russian Orthodox ◽  
Orthodox Church ◽  
Russian Orthodox Church ◽  
Historical Justice ◽  
Political Events ◽  
First Time ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The Church

The events of February 1917, presented on the pages of the church periodicals of Western Siberia, is examined in the article. The relevance of the study is due to the fact that for the first time in Russian historiography the political upheavals of this period have been analyzed on the basis of materials from regional diocesan records. The authors note that the diocesan records are an important historical source. A detailed analysis of the content of articles of Omsk, Tobolsk, Tomsk periodicals (“Diocesan Gazette”) on the presentation of the political events of February 1917 in them is carried out. The novelty of the research lies in identifying the attitude of the regional clergy to the revolutionary events in the period from February to April 1917. The presented results of the comparative analysis can be grouped according to the chronology and significance of the events that took place. The article concludes that it was during this period that one could hear the opinion of the Russian Orthodox Church on political changes in the country. It is noted that of particular interest were the issues of the relationship between the Church and the Provisional Government, this topic remained the most acute after the fall of the monarchy. It is shown that the representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church wanted to restore historical justice and receive autonomous government and independence from the secular authorities.

The Current Legal Status of Theological Educational Institutions of the Russian Orthodox Church in the Russian Federation

2020 ◽  
pp. 17-33
Author(s):  
Наталия Сергеевна Семенова
Keyword(s):  
Russian Federation ◽  
Legal Status ◽  
Educational Institutions ◽  
Russian Orthodox ◽  
Orthodox Church ◽  
Educational Organizations ◽  
Freedom Of Conscience ◽  
Russian Orthodox Church ◽  
The Russian Federation ◽  
The Church

Статья посвящена церковному и государственному регулированию правового положения духовных учебных заведений Русской Православной Церкви в Российской Федерации в современный период. Основная цель исследования заключается в анализе правового статуса духовных учебных заведений как религиозных организаций, с одной стороны, и как образовательных организаций, с другой стороны. Первичность правового статуса религиозной организации отличает правовое положение духовных учебных заведений от остальных образовательных организаций. В связи с необходимостью соблюдения положений Конституции России, касающихся свободы совести и вероисповедания, положений Федерального закона «О свободе совести и о религиозных объединениях», а так же норм международного права, государство и Церковь ведут поиск правовых решений во избежание дискриминации христиан в реализации их права на подготовку священнослужителей, церковнослужителей и религиозного персонала согласно внутренним установлениям Русской Православной Церкви. В статье представлены особенности церковного статуса духовных учебных заведений, связанных, прежде всего, с предъявлением требования к студентам и преподавателям высокого уровня христианской нравственности, а также особенности государственного статуса, которые призваны обеспечить, по возможности, все требования церковного статуса духовных учебных заведений. The article is devoted to the Church and state regulation of the legal status of theological educational institutions of the Russian Orthodox Church in the Russian Federation in the modern period. The main purpose of the study is to analyze the legal status of religious educational institutions as religious organizations, on the one hand, and as educational organizations, on the other. The primacy of the legal status of the religious organization distinguishes the legal status of theological educational institutions from other educational organizations. In connection with the need to comply with the provisions of the Constitution of Russia concerning freedom of conscience and religion, the provisions of the Federal Law «On Freedom of Conscience and Religious Associations», as well as the norms of International Law, the state and the Church are looking for legal solutions to avoid discrimination training of clergy and religious personnel in accordance with the internal regulations of the Russian Orthodox Church. The article presents the features of the church status of theological educational institutions, associated, first of all, with the presentation of requirements for students and teachers of a high level of Christian morality, as well as the features of state status, which are designed to ensure, if possible, all the requirements of the church status of theological educational institutions.

VAN PROKHANOV’S CRITICISM OF THE MOSCOW CAESAROPAPISM

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 119-129
Author(s):  
N. Maryukhno ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Political Theology ◽  
Church And State ◽  
Russian Orthodox ◽  
Orthodox Church ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Russian Orthodox Church ◽  
Imperial Period ◽  
Russian State ◽  
Spiritual Freedom ◽  
The Church

The article examines the socio-political theology of Ivan Prokhanov as a prominent Russian religious and social figure of the early twentieth century, chairman of the All-Russian Union of Evangelical Christians. His critique of the сaesaropapism as structure in the Russian state-church relations of the imperial period is studied. It is proved that Ivan Prokhanov sharply denounced the negative manifestations of caesaropapism, and above all the resistance of the Russian Orthodox Church to constructive reform in accordance with Christian evangelical values. The positions on the church-religious life of the evangelical theologian Ivan Prokhanov and the Ober-Procurator of the Holy Synod Konstantin Pobedonostsev, the leader of the reactionary resistance to any changes, the ideologue of the counter-reforms Alexander III, were compared. In his sharp critique of caesaropapism, he relied on the Christian doctrine of man and society, believing that the legal precondition for overcoming its negative consequences was the separation of church and state, and the need for evangelical awakening of the Russian Orthodox people to gain spiritual freedom.

scholarly journals Political and Communicative Interaction in Public Space Between the Russian Government and the Russian Orthodox Church: Directions and Priorities

2021 ◽  
pp. 41-53
Author(s):  
Elena Drinova ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Public Space ◽  
Soft Power ◽  
Armed Forces ◽  
The State ◽  
Russian Orthodox ◽  
Russian Society ◽  
Orthodox Church ◽  
Russian Government ◽  
Russian Orthodox Church ◽  
The Church

Introduction. The aim of the work was to analyze the leading directions of interaction between the state and religious authorities in the modern public space. It is shown that the result of this interaction was the politicization of the Russian Orthodox Church (hereinafter ROC). It is proved that in recent decades the Church continues to exert direct and indirect influence on the state, which, in turn, uses its spiritual potential to stabilize the socio-political system. Methods and materials. Institutional and modernization approaches were used as the research methodology. Within the framework of the institutional approach, an analysis of the interaction of government structures and the ROC in the context of adaptation, cooperation and competition in the course of democratic transformations in the country was carried out. Within the framework of the modernization approach J. Haber formulates the fundamental thesis on the increasing role of religion in a secular (modernizing) society and its strengthening in the national state. Analysis. It is noted that in the 1990s the leading direction of interaction between the state and the ROC was exclusively the political sphere, which was associated with the democratization of public life, the involvement of the clergy in political modernization. At the beginning of the 21st century the state proclaimed a course towards depoliticizing the institution of religion. The activities of political religious parties were prohibited. Subsequently, the ruling United Russia party began to focus on mutually beneficial partnership with the ROC, priority was given to the patriotic education of young people. The result of joint activities of the Main Military-Political Directorate of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation and the ROC was the formation of a new type of soldier, a bearer of spiritual and moral values, a statesman, defender of the Fatherland. The ROC, as the dominant religious figure in the public space, actively participates in the domestic and foreign policy of the country, challenging other confessional structures. The highest officials of the state and the church share the common values of conservatism, but at the same time, each of them defends its own interests, which initiates the limitation of their mutual support. Results. The state power, together with the ROC, solves internal political problems, including the formation of spiritual, moral, patriotic constants in modern Russian society. In the context of the sanctions policy, the activity of the ROC as a conductor of the “soft power” of the state contributes to the improvement of the countrys image. The result of the interaction of state and religious structures is the formation of a new ideological paradigm based on the principles of religious ethics, conservative values, as well as national identity, patriotism.

The Patriotic Turn in Russia: Political Convergence of the Russian Orthodox Church and the State?

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-28
Author(s):  
Gaziza Shakhanova ◽  
Petr Kratochvíl
Keyword(s):  
Public Schools ◽  
Critical Discourse Analysis ◽  
Historical Memory ◽  
Space Station ◽  
Armed Forces ◽  
Russian Orthodox ◽  
Orthodox Church ◽  
Russian Orthodox Church ◽  
Political Role ◽  
The Church

Abstract Following two decades of a state-supported patriotic campaign, the Russian Orthodox Church has dramatically increased its presence in the public sphere: in the Armed Forces, in public schools and universities, and even in retirement houses and prisons. The Church's recent activities seem to have no territorial limits: they reach up to the space station “Mir” and the Russian Antarctic Station, as well as the (Russian) Orthodox believers in 62 states. Using a critical discourse analysis of the speeches of top Church leaders as our main methodological tool, our research explores the Church's policies on patriotism and patriotic education, its re-interpretation of historical memory, and the role of the Church in Russian politics. We try to show that while the Church's agenda and approach to politics are idiosyncratic, the Church has become a key actor with an increasingly important political role.

Mesyatseslovs memory of the Russian Orthodox Church

2020 ◽  
pp. 160-198
Author(s):  
Макарий Веретенников
Keyword(s):  
Russian Orthodox ◽  
Orthodox Church ◽  
Russian Orthodox Church ◽  
Analysis And Synthesis ◽  
Liturgical Texts ◽  
History Of ◽  
Complete Form ◽  
Characteristic Features ◽  
Heaven And Earth ◽  
The Church

Статья посвящена содержанию, общим принципам построения и характерным особенностям календаря, или месяцеслова, Русской Православной Церкви. Автор использует методы анализа и синтеза. В итоге делаются нижеследующие обобщения. Месяцеслов был принесён на Русь из Византии в достаточно завершённом виде, однако в процессе исторического развития он дополнился особенными русскими праздниками. Календарь-месяцеслов - это грандиозный собор святых, подвизавшихся в разных местах на протяжении веков, единение Церкви Небесной и земной, история святости и история нашей Церкви. Месяцесловным памятям посвящены составленные гимнографами богослужебные тексты, которые поются и читаются в храмах. Традиционно почитается день кончины угодников Божиих, память открытия мощей святых, перенесения их святых мощей или же день канонизации угодников Божиих, реже - день их рождения. Фенологические наблюдения русского народа связаны с повседневной деятельностью и увязаны с месяцесловом, что свидетельствует о его проникновении в повседневную жизнь русского человека. The article is devoted to the content, General principles of construction and characteristic features of the calendar, or mesyatseslov, of the Russian Orthodox Church. The author uses methods of analysis and synthesis. As a result, the following generalizations are made. The mesyatseslov was brought to Russia from Byzantium in a fairly complete form, but in the course of historical development it was supplemented with special Russian holidays. The calendar-mesyatseslov is a grandiose council of saints who have labored in different places over the centuries, the unity of the Church of Heaven and earth, the history of holiness and the history of our Church. Liturgical texts composed by hymnographers, which are sung and read in churches, are dedicated to the mesyatseslovs memory. Traditionally, the day of the death of saints, the memory of the discovery of the relics of saints, the transfer of their Holy relics, or the day of the canonization of saints, less often - the day of their birth are honored. Russian people’s phenological observations are related to their daily activities and are linked to mesyatseslov, which indicates its penetration into the daily life of the Russian people.

THE EMERGENCE OF RESISTANCE TO ECUMENISM IN THE RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH (ROC) IN THE POST-PERESTROIKA PERIOD OF RUSSIA

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 74-93
Author(s):  
V.A. LIVTSOV ◽  
◽  
A.V. LEPILIN ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Russian Federation ◽  
Russian Orthodox ◽  
Orthodox Church ◽  
International Level ◽  
World Council Of Churches ◽  
Russian Orthodox Church ◽  
The World ◽  
World Council ◽  
The Russian Federation ◽  
Emergence Of Resistance

The main purpose of the article is to analyze the emergence of opposition to ecumenism in the Rus-sian Orthodox Church (ROC) in the post-perestroika period of Russia. The article examines the issues of interaction between the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) and the World Council of Churches (WCC), the aspects of opposition to the ecumenist movement in the Russian Federation in the post-Soviet realities. The author comes to the conclusion that in the post-perestroika period, a number of representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church were negatively disposed towards ecu-menism and considered this movement a heresy. The issues of this kind caused disagreement not only at the international level, but also within the structure of the ROC itself.

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