The history of the Imyaslav polemic in the context of foreign Church journalism

Abstract

In the history of the holy Mount Athos, there were not so many bright historical events, one of them was the dispute about the Name of God and the Name of Jesus. Having arisen among the Russian monks of Mount Athos in 1912 – 1913, the dispute did not attract the active participation of representatives of other nationalities. One of the features of this phenomenon was that from the very beginning it received a categorically negative definition from the Patriarchate of Constantinople. This definition has not undergone a significant revision among foreign ecclesiastical and secular historians and publicists over the past hundred years. At the same time, in Russia, the topic of the history and essence of imyaslaviya since its appearance and still continues to be debatable. The author of this publication separately examines the position that prevailed among the Greek monks and clergy on Mount Athos in relation to the Imyaslav dispute. It is also noteworthy that both sides (both opponents and supporters of imyaslavy), arguing their polar opposite points of view from the very beginning of the Imyaslavsky discourse, appeal to the same sources – the Holy Scripture and the works of the Holy Fathers of the Church, especially to the theological heritage of Gregory of Nyssa, Basil the Great, Dionysius the Areopagite, Gregory Palamas. However, certain statements are sometimes quoted tendentiously selectively outside the entire context of the source. This is especially true for authors whose works criticize and refute the Imyaslav teaching. Without setting a task to consecrate all aspects of this topic, which in itself is worthy of a separate study, the author of the publication tries to show the general history of the discussion, as well as how objective were the assessments about the Imyaslav teaching itself, expressed from the very beginning of its appearance, and how these assessments influenced the further course of the Imyaslav process as a whole.