REFLECTION OF THE INFORMATION VALUE OF CLERics STATEMENTS IN HISTORICAL LITERATURE

Abstract

Historical and ecclesiastical issues occupy an increasing place in the mass media and in the life of Russian society, since the Orthodox Church, along with other confessions, acts not only as a social institution, but also as a guardian of the material and spiritual culture of the past. In this regard, the history of the Orthodox confession in the country as a whole and in individual regions is of genuine interest. Various problems of the history of Orthodoxy are increasingly reflected in scientific research. Among the most pressing problems are aspects of the social and mental history of society, which caused the need to study historical sources, which previously, due to their vastness or dryness, had no major significance. The article presents an overview of the historical literature on the clerics statements, which were the material for accounting for the parish clergy and the Orthodox population of the Russian Empire since 1769. Introduced into scientific circulation more recently, the clerics statements are a specific historical source about the parish life of Russia during the imperial period. The article presents a historiographical review of the literature on clerics statements and focuses on works in which researchers, one way or another, using the materials of church records of the population, revealed various aspects of the functioning of an Orthodox parish. In general, historical literature can be divided into several blocks. Among them, scientific publications devoted directly to the social status of the parish clergy, their origin, education, moral character, and the practical activities of clerics occupy a leading position. A number of works reveal the state of the flock, its social structure, attitude towards the church and the Orthodox faith in general. Clerics statements are a unique source about the history of a particular parish, locality, diocese, and church art. Of separate note are the works in which the genesis and further changes in the structure and form of the document are considered. In general, the clerics statements have a huge information potential in the study of social history and confessional policy of the state.