Editorial foresight: Nikolay Nekrasov, Leo Tolstoy, Nikolay Strakhov

The author of the article assesses the special editorial vision of Nikolay Nekrasov, from the first works of the future great writer who saw his sight in Leo Tolstoy, and in Nikolay Strakhov – a person close to literature, but who initially had the makings of a critic, not an artist of the word. The article notes the special merit of Nikolay Nekrasov in the discovery of new talents and support of novice writers, we analyse the manner and specificity of the first works of Leo Tolstoy and Nikolay Strakhov, sent to Nikolay Nekrasov's journal Sovremennik (The Contemporary). The author of the work turns to the origins of the literary path of the writer and critic, denotes their peculiar convergence in themes: both novice authors were strongly influenced by the sentimental tradition and were attentive to spiritual quests, but that at the same time explains the difference in the talent of Leo Tolstoy and Nikolay Strakhov, which manifested itself even in relation to their own first works of fiction, as can be judged by their letters to Nikolay Nekrasov.

DOSTOEVSKY’S SPIRITUAL PATHS IN 1830s AND 1840s

Dostoevsky’s early works are normally excluded from the field that concurs to form the image of his theological system. Conversely, the aim of the present chapter is to “rehabilitate” this early period and find its place within the overall picture of Dostoevsky’s https://doi.org/10.22455/978-5-9208-0663-5-267-304 © 2021. Tatiana G. Magaril-Il’iaeva 268 Татьяна Магарил-Ильяева theology; this will be achieved, not by considering the different works separately, but rather through the disclosure of their common spiritual worldview which was developed by the author at that time. The research analyses the reasons why the ontological level of Dostoevsky’s early works is so difficult to read, especially when compared with the mature novels. The essay describes the spiritual context where the formation of young Dostoevsky took place and identifies in it the most important impulses that influenced the future writer. Starting from an analysis of the 1930s correspondence between Dostoevsky and his brother the work raises questions about the destiny of man in a world where spiritual and material elements are present on radically unequal terms, about the correlation between the earthly and the divine dimension, about the manifestation of a spirit which is constrained in matter, and about the possibility of knowing God in the reality at man’s disposal. Furthermore, all these questions are situated within the philosophical and mystical context of that time. The final part of the research shows how the spiritual quests through which Dostoevsky underwent at young age transformed into art during 1840s, thus becoming instruments for the spiritual transformation of man.

Karelian epic poem by F. N. Glinka as a historical Christian legend

The article discusses the peculiarities of Fyodor Nikolayevich Glinka's poetry, his work, and the distinctive features of his poems. The attention is focused primarily on the poems: «Karelia, or the Imprisonment of Marfa Johannovna Romanova» (1830), «The Maiden of Karelian Forests» (1826). The poem Karelia, or the Imprisonment of Marfa Johannovna Romanova» is about the events during the Time of Troubles. The prince's mother, Marfa Ioannovna Romanovna, is exiled to Karelia as a result of a conspiracy. A traveling monk helps her survive her exile. He introduces her to the mythology and life of Karelia, comforts her and tells her about the divine miracles that occur in the north. Eventually, Marfa Ioannovna finds the strength to survive her exile and returns to her homeland. The poem also attracted the attention of A. Pushkin who wrote a review of the poem in 1830. The characters of the poem The Maiden of Karelian Forests are contemporaries of the author. A young man arrives in Karelia. There he meets a girl and her father who is hiding from the law. The poem ends with the return of the girl and the main hero from Karelia. Fyodor Glinka's artistic images, in particular the image of Karelia, attracted other poets as well, namely Eugeny Barstynsky and Vladimir Benediktov. Eugeny Barstinsky wrote his poem «Eda» in 1826. This poem is about love between a Finnish girl and a visiting hussar. The poet Vladimir Benediktov wrote several poems devoted to Glinka himself and Karelia. They were published in 1856. These poems are: The Cliff, The Lake and To the Playmates. All these poets wrote about Karelia, but only Glinka wrote in his poems about Christianity and history. Whereas Yevgeny Baratynsky and Vladimir Benediktov depict the splendor and beauty of Karelia, Fyodor Glinka's characters are engaged in spiritual quests among the Karelian nature and eventually gain true inner freedom.

Empathy with Emerging Generations as a Foundation for Ministry

Ministry leaders’ concerns for young people’s spiritual and religious lives often lead them to adopt programmatic solutions in order to remain relevant to emerging generations. We speculate that a more foundational shift is needed. We argue that ministry leaders can support the spiritual quests of young people by reconsidering their teaching and learning assumptions, renewing their empathy skills, and reframing their assumptions about who young people are and what they truly need.

Theory from the hills

Highlander suggests that geography, and especially, altitude matters. And indeed things look different depending on where you stand. Climb a mountain and the perspective changes as does the landscape itself; the flora, fauna, smells, the air and much more change. High altitude gives a sense of clarity, you can see further out in the distance, things otherwise hidden reveal itself and patterns, traces, paths emerge. It is perhaps no surprise that mountains are places of introspection and spiritual quests. Yet again how altitude matters in a more precise manner in the workings of society is harder to tell. James C. Scott famously argues that hills are difficult to govern and therefore allow for more egalitarian, democratic and non-state types of polities to flourish (2009). His take on “Zomia”, originally proposed by Willem van Schendel, has encouraged scholars to think regions, and geography more generally, outside the dominant framework of nation-states. For Scott, the hills carry a political vision of an anarchist or acephalous society. Indeed, we need to be reminded that another world is possible. Zomia is a powerful image for this.

Shi Tiesheng and the Nature of the Human

This article approaches the contours of contemporary intellectual faith through the work of Shi Tiesheng (d. 2012). Shi is best known in China as a “disabled writer,” while the theological depths of his writings on fate, life, and faith have rarely been the focus of attention. The article focuses on Shi’s representation of the human across his fiction and nonfiction writings, arguing that the more explicitly religious nonfiction toward the end of his career offers a philosophical commentary on his earlier stories, and that his non-orthodox interpretations of Christian ideas provide important insight into the spiritual quests of Chinese intellectuals.

سائنس اور رُوحانیت کی تمثیل،ایک تحقیقی جائزہ

Spirituality is usually understood as a way of being that flows from a certain profound experience of reality, which is known as ‘mystical’, ‘religious’, or ‘spiritual’ experience. There are numerous descriptions of this experience in the literature of the world’s religions, which tend to agree that it is a direct, non-intellectual experience of reality with some fundamental characteristics that are independent of cultural and historical contexts. Spiritual and scientific quests are two complementary inquiries into reality. Any feeling of antagonism between them is a product of a narrow vision. Science deals with what is measurable; religion is the quest for discovering and understanding the immeasurable. A scientist is not intelligent if he denies the existence of the immeasurable. There is nothing that is anti-science but there is a lot that is beyond science. The two quests have to go hand in hand. We not only need to have an understanding of the laws that govern the phenomena occurring in the external world around us but also we need to discover order and harmony in our consciousness. Human understanding is incomplete unless it covers both aspects of reality: matter as well as consciousness. Indeed the division between the scientific and spiritual quests is itself the creation of the human mind. Reality is one undivided whole which includes both matter and consciousness. Our thoughts, being limited by our experience, divide the external world from the inner world of our consciousness, in much the same way as our mind divides time from space though they are both two aspects of a single continuum۔

Heirlooms of the Everyday: The Material Performances of Slamet Gundono

Javanese actor, puppeteer and musician Slamet Gundono (1966–2014) created performances with everyday objects and materials (mud, dried grass, cooking utensils, condoms and food) in combination with conventions from wayang kulit puppetry. His performances were based on personal, often controversial, interpretations of well-known stories, from the Mahabharata epic to the nineteenth-century literary work Serat Centhini. By analysing three of his performances, I argue that Slamet Gundono's objects become temporarily endowed with the status of heirlooms (pusaka). Each of his performing objects is a non-spiritual pusaka that is used to take attention away from the spiritual quests that dominate traditional wayang. Gundono invokes everyday objects to focus on the more mundane, though urgent, questions of gender inequality, religious intolerance and environmental destruction.