A Theological Analysis of “Teaching Everyone To Live Like Christ”

This article is a theological analysis of the hymn, “Teaching Everyone to live like Christ,” written in support of the 2020/2021 theme of Methodist Church Ghana (MCG). The hymn emerged from the author’s pastoral and theological analysis of the MCG’s theme, “Discipleship: Teaching everyone to live like Christ” (Col. 1:28-29). The hymn touches on two key functions of the universal Church, namely, mission and nurturing of believers. The author brings out the message embedded in the hymn through an expository study of the lyrics together with secondary sources such as books, articles, and others. The paper contends that the survival of the Christian Church now and in the years to come depends on effective disciple-making, which places high emphasis on the teaching ministry. Keywords: Hymn, Christ, Teaching, Church, Perfect, Mature.

Learning and Revealing the Thoughts of the Holy Scriptures through the Preachers as Perceived by Rev. Zygmunt Pilch (1888–1962)

The text of the article is an analysis of selected issues from the teaching of Rev. Zygmunt Pilch (1888–1962) PhD, who directed his thoughts not only to students of preaching but also to preachers. His teaching is still relevant today. The homiletics lecturer appealed to the preachers of the Word of God that they were obliged to communicate the Word of Salvation to the world. The text of the Holy Scriptures, according to the homiletics teacher, is a natural source of preaching, as it is the Spirit of God Himself who speaks through it, through the teaching Church. From the inspired text, the preacher should draw content, spirit, anointing, life and grace. A preacher reading the Scriptures is bound to grasp the meaning of God’s speech. By reading the text, he looks for thoughts and meanings, wanting to capture the inner content of the text. The primary concern in reading the Bible is to know its literal meaning, which is directly apparent from the words of the text. There is also a typical sense in the holy books. The preacher’s task is to convince the faithful to live by faith, according to the Lord’s thought contained in types. Reading the Word of God requires appropriate methods that understand its symbolic meaning, revealed in allegories. Christ often made use of parables as the means of visual teaching, drawing images from everyday life. Devoted completely to preaching, Z. Pilch reminded that the Holy Scriptures, being the treasury of the revealed truth, were the main literature for every preacher. The teaching of the prelate Zygmunt Pilch seems to be still relevant and is still an undiscovered treasury.

FEATURES OF THE TEACHING METHODOLOGY OF CHURCH SINGING IN KYIV EPARCHY (XIX – EARLY XX CENTURY)

The article analyzes the church press publications of the XIX – early XX century, which contains information about the methods of teaching church singing. It is shown, that church singing was an important subject of the students' curriculum of the parochial schools, the most common type of schools. It is noted, that Kyiv eparchy periodicals contain a number of publications on the importance of teaching church singing, on the church singing program for parochial schools, on the problems of training singing teachers, on manuals on singing lessons in primary schools. The magazine's publications about the methods of teaching church singing to students of public schools are analyzed in more detail. Especially, there are many notes on this topic, which are published in the magazine "Parochial School". The church periodical press is a very informative source for the study of primary schoolish in the second half of the XIX – early XX century. These publications contribute to the deepening study of church singing in general, in the cultural and educational role of the Orthodox Church. The identification and systematization of publications in the church periodicals of the Kyiv eparchy made it possible to show that the church and school administration paid close attention to teaching church singing. The press noted that the church singing has an irreparable religious and moral impact on the pupils' souls, since in general, in the form of church chants, children are more easily remember church truths and prayers. The church singing provides a sensual and emotional perception of worship. The peculiarities of the methodology of teaching children singing in parochial schools are highlighted: it is also described how the teacher taught the lesson, and what methods and techniques he used. The used teaching literature is indicated. The recommendations of the methodologists of the XIX - beginning of the XX century. The practical significance of this scientific research lies in contributions to the source expansion for the study of church schoolish and the role of the Church in the history and culture of Ukraine.

On the problems of teaching church history subjects in the clergy of the Russian Orthodox Church

Статья посвящена проблемам, которые существуют в преподавании церковноисторических дисциплин в духовных заведениях Русской Православной Церкви. По мнению автора, основные проблемы заключаются в исключении курса «Общая церковная история» из учебного плана бакалавриата, во введении новых предметов и как следствие этого, в размывании тематических границ между церковно-историческими дисциплинами. Автор высказывает своё частное, субъективное мнение относительно вариантов улучшения преподавания церковно-исторических дисциплин в духовных заведениях Русской Православной Церкви. The article deals with the problems that exist in the teaching of church-historical disciplines in ecclesiastical institutions of the Russian Orthodox Church. According to the author, the main problems are the exclusion of the course "General Church History" from the Baccalaureate curriculum, the introduction of new subjects and, as a consequence, the blurring of thematic boundaries between church-historical disciplines. The author expresses his private, subjective opinion on the options for improving the teaching of church history disciplines in ecclesiastical institutions of the Russian Orthodox Church.

Administrative and Scientific-Pedagogical Activity of Professor Nikolaĭ Ivanovich Muravyev in Moscow Theological Schools

Статья посвящена личности и деятельности профессора московских духовных школ Николая Ивановича Муравьёва (1891-1963). Закончив в 1915 г. Киевскую духовную академию, Н. И. Муравьёв, пройдя Первую мировую и гражданскую войны, работая на различных предприятиях, только через тридцать лет, уже в зрелом возрасте, поступает на службу в московские духовные школы. Всё своё время и энергию Н. И. Муравьёв отдал Московской духовной академии, преподавая церковно-исторические дисциплины, а с 1948 по 1958 гг., с небольшим перерывом, занимал должность секретаря учёного совета Академии. В 50-е гг. Николай Иванович Муравьёв, вместе с ректором и инспектором, входил в так называемую «начальственную тройку», которая плодотворно руководила жизнью Московских духовных школ. В статье будет предпринята попытка восстановить образ профессора Николая Ивановича Муравьёва, уточнить некоторые факты из его биографии, проанализировать научно-педагогическую и административную деятельность. The article is devoted to the personality and activity of Professor of Moscow theological schools Nikolai Ivanovich Muravyev (1891-1963). Having finished in 1915 the Kiev theological Academy, N. I. Muravyov, having passed the First world war and civil war, working at various enterprises, only thirty years later, already in adulthood, enters the service in Moscow theological schools. All his time and energy N. I. Muravyov gave the Moscow theological Academy, teaching Church historical disciplines, and from 1948 to 1958, with a short break, served as Secretary of the Academic Council of the Academy. In the 50s, Nikolai Ivanovich Muravyov, together with the rector and inspector, was a member of the so-called “top three”, which fruitfully led the life of Moscow theological schools. The article will attempt to restore the image of Professor Nikolai Ivanovich Muravyov, to clarify some facts from his biography, to analyze scientific, pedagogical and administrative activities.

On the methodology of teaching church history

Статья посвящена вопросам методологии, встающим перед современными исследователями в области гуманитарного знания, в частности проблемам междисциплинарных связей в церковно-исторической науке и опасности редукционизма. Процесс широкой дифференциации научных дисциплин неразрывно связан с образованием в XIX веке. Такое положение обеспечило бурное развитие науки. Примером служат исторические дисциплины Московского университета. Целый ряд учёных историков высказывался за широкое взаимодействие наук при изучении истории. Задачей исторической науки стало избежать редукционизма, уйти от обособленного, узко понимаемого исторического исследования, практиковать его многонаправленность, то есть интегральность. Освободиться истории от однонаправленности помогает филология. Историк, осмысливающий природу социальной информации, которую он воспринимает через исторический источник (как правило, текст), и, с другой стороны, литературовед, исследующий природу информации, воспринимаемой посредством того же текста, выходят за пределы узкопрофессиональных исследовательских целей и задач, и сближение их исследовательских подходов представляется весьма перспективным. Теории и методология, заимствованные из литературоведения, оказали существенное влияние на современное состояние исторического знания. Чем более широким кругом компетенций будет обладать специалист, тем более качественные исследования он сможет осуществлять в рамках конкретной научной области. The article is devoted to methodological issues facing contemporary researchers in the field of humanities, in particular the problems of interdisciplinary links in church-historical scholarship and the dangers of reductionism. The process of wide differentiation of scientific disciplines is inseparably connected with education in XIX century. This situation ensured a rapid development of science. The historical disciplines of Moscow University serve as an example. A number of historians advocated a broad interaction of the sciences in the study of history. The task of historical science was to avoid reductionism, to move away from isolated, narrowly understood historical research, to practice its multidirectionality, i.e. integrality. Philology helps history to free itself from one-sidedness. The historian, who comprehends the nature of social information, which he perceives through a historical source (usually a text), and, on the other hand, the literary scholar, who studies the nature of information perceived through the same text, go beyond narrow professional research goals and objectives, and the convergence of their research approaches seems very promising. The theories and methodology borrowed from literary studies have had a significant impact on the current state of historical knowledge. The broader the range of competences a professional possesses, the better research he/she will be able to carry out within a particular scientific field.

Η διδασκαλία της Εκκλησιαστικής Ιστορίας στη σχολική εκπαίδευση: Θεωρητική προσέγγιση και πρακτικές εφαρμογές

Teaching Church history in primary and secondary education can be interesting and create prospects for broader learning as long as it follows the new pedagogical and didactical approaches to studying history through sources. Our theoretical requirements and applying them in school classes were based on empowering students' critical and creative thinking skills by studying and debating controversial and sensitive issues in history. The teaching scenario we propose concerns the proclamation of the Autocephalous Church of Greece. We adopted the principles of inquiry learning and the methodology of problem-based learning. The results of the evaluation indicate that teaching Church history can be effective and interesting, if it is taught in a way that can encourage students to become self-motivated independent learners. In addition, these teaching approaches help students develop multiple skills leading to a deeper knowledge of the past and citizen involvement.