Church History Research Articles

Elesha J. Coffman. 2024. <i>Turning Points in American Church History: How Pivotal Events Shaped a Nation and a Faith</i>

The historical pipe organ, an instrument of vast scale and complex construction, has a significant connection to liturgical celebration and to the history of European churches. It is also one of the few musical instruments considered to be a work of architecture. The evolution of organ building, especially in the seventeenth to nineteenth centuries, required deep knowledge of musical culture and technology. The significance of this relationship is illustrated by the example of the former and present organs of the church of St. Mary Magdalene in Wroclaw (Breslau). The first church organs appeared here in the Middle Ages, and as will be shown, in subsequent eras, their location, form, and décor were changed according to evolving cultural and liturgical mandates as well as changes to the structure of the church architecture. The history of the specific organs of the church of St. Mary Magdalene is the product of a rich history of monumental construction, reconstruction, conservation, and restoration, and it is poised to offer a continuation of this tradition in the present and future of the parish and in music history with proposed restorations and renovations of their historic space and instruments.

This article examines the history of the first stone Orthodox church in Port Arthur, constructed in 1898 at the headquarters of the Kwantung Troops in the Old Town. Drawing on a range of archival documents, including the unique Book of Accounting of Church Funds of the Headquarters Church, the study reconstructs the establishment, administration, and clergy of the church. The author analyses the names and movements of the four serving priests — Andrei Bykov, Evgeny Alfeyev, Ivan Nikolsky, and Nikolai Glagolev — to illuminate the organisational and spiritual life of the military parish. The article situates the church within the broader context of Orthodox religious practice on the imperial frontier in North-East China, highlighting its role in shaping the social and religious landscape of Port Arthur at the turn of the twentieth century.

This article aims to analyz the edition of the Primeiro Catecismo da Doutrina Cristã (First Catechism of Christian Doctrine) published by the Vozes publishing house in 1964 which presents significant alterations in relation to editions published in previous decades. It seeks to present evidence regarding the role it played in the formation of the audience to whom it was addressed. Catechisms are religious printed materials that have withstood the test of time with relative stability in relation to the content they convey and have served the purpose of disseminating the doctrines that underpin. Considering that this catechism had high print runs and a large number of editions, this study sought to understand the motivations for the changes undertaken and how, in a critical period of the history of the Catholic Church and Brazilian society itself, the catechism sought to adapt to new demands from the public and the publishing market. The research sources included 13 editions of the catechism published throughout the 20th century; magazines and newspapers available in the Digital Newspaper Library of the National Library of Rio de Janeiro; catalogs from the Vozes publishing house; and official documents resulting from Catholic councils and conferences. The analysis revealed several changes in materiality, mainly through the increase in the book's size, the presence of color illustrations, and the use of a simplified vocabulary; however, the questions and answers remained consistent over time, revealing the preference for tradition due to the success of the official text.

Here we describe one Locution-or thought - that Saint John of the Cross experienced, and how this locution led to the important devotion of the Redentur or Nazzareno, - Christ carrying the Cross - which still draws huge crowds of devotees worldwide. We have traced how this single thought of Saint John of the Cross has been transmitted across time and space to influence large groups of people across the centuries and continue to do so. To do this we have used numerous disciplines including Church History, Art History, Iconography, Anthropology as in Popular Religion and Story Telling and Neuroscience. In Neuroscience, we attribute this transmission through artworks to Embodied cognition, which is mediated via the Mirror Neuron System and the Default Mode Network, which also mediate Empathy and The Perception of The Self.

Abstract The author of the article offers another attempt to explain the etymology of the word (al)-muqawqis, which was used in early Arab Islamic historiography to designate a ruler of Alexandria and Egypt. After having summarized different interpretations of it, including the “Caucasian” one which corresponds to the career of the Chalcedonian Patriarch Cyrus appointed to Egypt in autumn of AD 631, the author decided to follow the steps of the famous Russian church historian V. V. Bolotov, who preferred to etymologize muqawqis in accordance with the Classical Arabic lexicography. The research sources are the two largest national Arabic dictionaries, the Lisân al-‘Arab (AD 1209) and the Tâdj al-‘Arûs (AD 1774). The author examines in detail the entries for the roots Q-Q-S and Q-W-Q-S. The particular attention is paid to a hadîth, which deals with the aftermath of the Battle of Uhud (March 23, AD 625) and to the participation of the Prophet Muhammad in the funeral of one of its heroes. The Messenger of God is said to ride a horse which was prancing under him (yataqawqasu). The author suggests here a parallel with the so-called “Equestrian saints” who were portrayed on levant horses and draws a conclusion that in certain contexts the word muqawqis could be applied to (Egyptian) aristocrats.

President Donald Trump’s executive order to deport illegal migrants and refugees in the United States of America once again brought the plight of millions of migrants and asylum seekers worldwide to the attention of church leaders locally as well as within the ecumenical community. Revisiting the Old and New Testaments’ message on the calling of God’s people to reach out to the ‘other’ in the community, the article points to six perspectives on the church’s calling to minister the migrants and refugees. The perspectives are: (1) all Christians are foreigners and sojourners in the world; (2) following in the footsteps of Jesus; (3) standing with the Lord against injustice; (4) welcoming migrants and refugees into the church; (5) praying for the harassed and helpless; (6) joining in journeys of hope. The circumstances of refugees and migrants, as well as the churches’ calling to minister to them, are high on the agenda. In local churches, in the ecumenical community as well as institutions of theological training, much attention is given to the subject. Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: This article offers a number of perspectives to reach out to the marginalised that may serve as guidelines in the fields of missiology, practical theology, ethics, church history and ecumenical studies to focus on the calling of the Church internationally as well as in South Africa. The article also offers a literature study of older and more recent publications on the subject, presenting several relevant perspectives.

This article sketches four waves of Mennonite peace theology—nonresistance, transformation, reckoning, and responsibility—by recapitulating the influence of Reinhold Niebuhr’s realism in their development. The first wave accepted Niebuhr’s distinction between nonresistance and nonviolence and chose the former (Guy Franklin Hershberger). The second wave was realistic about the self-interest of the state but tended not to be realistic about Christian pacifist groups, at least not in the Niebuhrian sense of accepting sin as a permanent factor in history in the Christian communities they conceptualized and the vision inspiring peacebuilding beyond churches (John Howard Yoder and John Paul Lederach). The third wave is realistic about the church, interrogating and reckoning with sin in Anabaptist church histories, institutions, and communities (Malinda Berry). The emerging fourth wave carries forward elements of the three other waves in the course of developing movements exercising self-critical responsibility. The grassroots movement Mennonite Action is a “front light” of this fourth wave.

The individual is given a central position in this article on church history research. To some extent, it is an article about the individual as a research object, but primarily about the individual as a subject in the research and his or her path through the sometimes difficult landscape of research. First, an introduction is given with some connection to previous research and some terminological delimitations. The fundamental importance of the researcher’s own gaze and location is emphasised. Thereafter, glimpses are given at the individual level from the context and change of a researcher and a research project. What factual and individual factors are crucial to the research process? Examples are given of when obstacles have appeared and confusion has arisen. Concretely, the article illustrates the highly individual context of a research project that reached the end of the road and was therefore, initially completely unplanned, divided into two separate projects, which led onto roads that each required several extensive new investments. An important aspect of the article is what results a psychotherapeutic education and practice can have in the subject of church history. What do these two disciplines have in common and in what way can they be combined with each other? Two such research results are cited. One is a theological doctoral dissertation on Psychoanalysis and Christian faith. The other is a scientific work from a psychological point of view offering a study in Psychoanalysis and History.

When studying the medicine history from antiquity to the present day, the issue of knowledge level that a researcher must have in order to competently select and analyze historical records, prepare a related analytical article or program cannot be ignored. The article is devoted to a new discipline, which has access to a huge part of material for analysis, which is outside the field of view of a specialist historian or a physician studying history. Familiarity with the history of teaching this discipline and the knowledge requirements of a modern Church historian can direct researchers to identify new aspects of a complete understanding of medicine history.

Christian religious education has undergone significant transformations throughout church history. From the apostolic era to the modern age, Christian religious education has evolved and adapted to social, cultural, and theological changes. This article will examine the transformation of Christian religious education throughout church history, focusing on changes in the goals, methods, and content of Christian religious education. The transformation of Christian Religious Education (PAK) is a historical and theological process that takes place along with the church's journey in responding to the social, political, and cultural contexts throughout the ages. This study aims to trace significant changes in PAK from the Early Church era to the contemporary era. With a qualitative, historical, and theological approach, this study explores the dynamics of Christian faith education through a review of primary and secondary literature, as well as an analysis of church history documents. Each period in church history brings different educational models and approaches. The Early Church emphasized oral tradition and living communities, the Middle Ages emphasized church authority and clerical education, the Reformation opened access to Scripture and general literacy, while the modern and contemporary eras face the challenges of secularization and digitalization. From this journey, it can be seen that relevant PAK is one that is rooted in the Gospel and at the same time responsive to changes in the times. As stated by Dr. Jan S. Aritonang, "Church history is a reflection of how believers struggle to shape spiritual life, including in faith education in the midst of a changing world." Therefore, this study aims to Research Objectives, Analyze the development of PAK from the early church era to the modern church. Identifying internal and external factors that influence the transformation of PAK. Developing practical implications for the development of contemporary PAK based on church history.

При работе над главой о Василии Темном В. Н. Татищев использовал XV Академический список Никоновской летописи, лишь в двух местах дополнив его известиями из Степенной книги и, возможно, в одном месте из Владимирского или Воскресенского летописца. Татищев не включил в свой текст около 60 известий Никоновской летописи, касающихся церковной истории, чудес, знамений, храмового строительства и т. п. В главе о Василии Темном читаются около 60 уникальных известий, не имеющих соответствий в сохранившихся аутентичных источниках. Эти татищевские дополнения представляют собой попытки дать реконструкции событий, восполнить реальные или мнимые пробелы в летописном нарративе, представить авторскую оценку произошедшему. Свою версию об условиях выкупа Василия Темного (незначительная единовременная выплата и уменьшенная ежегодная «дань») Татищев представил в виде пересказа документального источника («грамоты»). Татищевские известия о Василии Темном нельзя признать достоверными. To describe the reign of Vasily the Blind, Vasily Tatishchev used the 15th Academic List of the Nikon Chronicle, supplementing it only in two places with information from Book of Royal Degrees, and, possibly, in one place with the Vladimir’s Chronicle or Voskresenskaja Chronicle. Tatishchev did not include in his text about 60 pieces of information from the Nikon Chronicle related to church history, miracles, signs, the construction of temples, etc. In the chapter about Vasily the Blind there are about 60 unique pieces of information that have no analogue in authentic sources. These additions by Tatishchev are an attempt to reconstruct events, fill in real or imaginary gaps in the chronicle and present the author’s assessment of the event. Tatishchev presented his version of the ransom of Vasily the Blind (a small one-time fee and a reduced annual “tribute”) in the form of providing a documentary source (“charter”). Tatishchev’s information about Vasyly the Blind cannot be considered reliable.

This study aims to reconstruct the historical and theological process of Gospel dissemination and the interaction between Christianity and local culture in Tanah Kisar. The research uses a historical method combined with social and theological approaches. Data were collected through literature review, archival research, and in-depth interviews with local traditional leaders, religious figures, and youth. The analysis involved source criticism and data interpretation, which were then compiled into a descriptive-analytical historiography. The findings reveal that the spread of the Gospel in Kisar occurred through five main historical periods, beginning with the Portuguese Catholic mission and evolving into the growth of the Protestant Church of Maluku under local leadership. The spread of Christianity was deeply influenced by colonial socio-political dynamics, often resulting in nominal Christian communities with limited spiritual transformation. The study also highlights that local culture, particularly the indigenous language, plays a vital role in evangelism. The church’s tendency to detach from local culture has hindered the process of inculturation. Therefore, revitalizing local culture through contextual approaches is seen as essential to strengthen the presence of an authentic Christian faith within the Kisar community.

Reformation, Social Theory, Democracy – In the View of Zoltán Gálfy... The study examines a topic in the work of the church historian Zoltán Gálfy (1924–2013): how the renowned professor from Cluj-Napoca interpreted the impact of the Reformation on the life of the society, with special regard to its democratic features, what social dynamics influenced the development of the Reformation in the 16th century, and what consequences had the renewal of faith on the environment of the church. The paper compares the work of the young theologian, only 25 years old, with his later writings under the communist-socialist regime and his scholarly achievements after the change of regime in 1989/90. It can be concluded that Gálfy, in the face of the danger of contextualizing theological scholarship, reached conclusions that are still relevant today. For example, the recognition he often makes – in line with recent European Reformation scholarship – that the Reformation has brought radical changes in four areas: the interpretation of the Bible, the personal experience of faith, the definition of the function of the church, and the relationship of Christianity to the world. In conclusion, Gálfy’s contribution should be seen as emphasizing that, despite all the social influences and counter-effects, it is useful to pay attention to the theological dimensions of the Reformation, to a careful reading of the original sources, and to the fact that “it is not a question of moving into the Reformation building but of rebuilding it in every age”, i.e. that each generation should come to an actualization of the Reformation heritage in its own context.

Priest formation has been a continuous and important topic throughout the two thousand years of church history. In particular, in the midst of rapidly changing times, the Korean church is also facing the global phenomenon of a decline in the number of priests and religious, and has reached a point where it must seriously reflect on how to prepare and educate seminarian who will devote themselves to pastoral work in the future church. In particular, the important reason we have to reflect on the issue of priest formation in the Korean church is the decline in quality of those who pursue priestly formation due to the rapid increase in the number of applicants, not to mention various problems in the lives of those who are pursuing priestly formation. It calls for a reexamination of the topic of priest formation from the fundamental basis. Therefore, based on the experience of priest formation at a seminary for over 30 years, this paper aims to diagnose the problems of priest formation in the Korean church and suggest alternatives. In a reality where times are changing along with the roles and duties that the church must fulfill according to the demands of the times, priests are also called to play diverse and changed roles. Therefore, since the formation of priests is necessary to respond to these changes, the task of priest formation is a topic that all the members of the Korean church are urgently requested to reflect on. In a reality where the number of applicants for priesthood is rapidly decreasing, we must train priests that the church and the times demand through qualitative formation, not quantitative Formation. In addition, in today's church, formation of priests is not the responsibility of seminaries alone. It is important that priests must be trained with the cooperation and interest of all parishes, dioceses, and layman. Therefore, there will be hope for the future church when there are change and renewal through the awareness and recognition of all members of the church regarding the formation of priests.

“Behold, the Guidance of the Past Speaks to Us”. Using References to Church History to Justify Church Policy (1946). Based on László Kósa’s suggestion that historical reference is an important element of communal identification in the Reformed Church, our study examines how the Hungarian Reformed recalled the memory of the Szatmárnémeti Synod of three hundred years ago in their renewal efforts following World War II. Through the analysis of three public speeches, our study illustrates how the church’s past was used to strengthen its present practices. In his New Year’s address, Bishop János Vásárhelyi of Transylvania stresses that the 1646 Szatmárnémeti Synod established order and warned of the importance of obedience. In other words, in Vásárhelyi’s interpretation, the institutions must control the movement. Aladár Szabó, during the summer of 1946, draws the lesson from the Szatmárnémeti Synod that it was an example of the inability of the institution to control the movement, which had a renewing effect without it. Finally, Bishop László Ravasz, in his episcopal report in November 1946, shows the eternal dialectic of movement and institution in the history of the Church and sees the lesson of the Szatmárnémeti Synod as that the institution had apparently won, but in reality, the movement had been legalized. According to Ravasz, the correct relationship between movement and institution is that the institution saves the movement from becoming a sect, while the movement can revive the institution burnt out by institutionalization. Our study also points out that the different interpretations of the commemoration of the Szatmárnémeti Synod also reflect the National Reformed Free Council movement, which began in 1946 to challenge the church government of Ravasz.

The article examines the fate of the wives of priests of the Mukachevo Greek Catholic Diocese, who suffered as a result of the forced liquidation of the church structure in 1949. The Mukachevo Greek Catholic Diocese retained its dominant position until the fall of 1944, when the old government was replaced by the Soviet regime. This process was accompanied by the forcible establishment of one-party power, nationalization, industrialization, collectivization, and mass repressions from 1945. The change of power coincided with the appointment of a new bishop, Bishop Teodor Romzhi, who defended the interests of the diocese together with the clergy. As part of the anti-church policy, the NKVD arrested 127 Greek Catholic clergy who refused to renounce unity with the Catholic Church and transfer to the jurisdiction of the Russian Orthodox Church. The focus of the study is not on the repressed priests themselves, but on their wives, who, after the arrests of their husbands, were left without support and suffered discrimination, persecution, loss of social status and means of livelihood. The relevance of the topic is due to the need to expand the ideas about the mechanisms of Soviet repressions, which covered not only the clergy, but also their family members. The wives of priests became objects of social pressure: they lost the right to work, were forced to change their place of residence and were under constant surveillance. Despite these difficulties, they maintained their faith, spiritually supported their husbands and children and contributed to the preservation of Christian traditions in the private sphere. In many cases, these women became the moral support for their families in conditions of systemic violence. The study attempted to create a list of the wives of repressed priests of the Mukachevo diocese. The results of the study may be useful for further studies in the fields of church history, women's studies and research on totalitarianism

The life and work of Endre Tóth (1899–1970), a reformed theological professor and church historian, first in Pápa and later in Debrecen, is a unique Hungarian 20th-century intellectual destiny. While his quiet character made him averse to official duties, the troubled historical circumstances forced him to hold serious church offices for decades. He held various posts at the Reformed Theological Academy of Pápa and the Transdanubian Reformed Church District from the mid-1920s for two decades, then became professor at the Faculty of Theology of the University of Debrecen between 1947 and 1950. He was then professor at the Reformed Theological Academy, after the Theological Faculty seceded from the State University and operated under the Reformed College, and dean for a decade from 1948. It is also thanks to his wisdom and humility that the pastoral education in Debrecen, while maintaining its former academic quality, has survived perhaps the most difficult decade in its history without serious losses. Under the direction of Endre Tóth, in 1950 the separation from the state university, the move to the college, the admission of theology students from Sárospatak after the nationalization of schools, and the processing of the upheavals of the 1956 events took place, while the Transtibiscan District changed bishops twice (when he arrived in Debrecen, Imre Révész, his predecessor at the department, was still the bishop; after 1948, János Péter, and from 1957 Tibor Bartha was the bishop). In addition to his work as head of an institution, he also performed educational and scientific activities as a church historian.

History over centuries has been seen as the recording of past events. From Eusebius to Denis, the role of history has been to record past events for the archive by using time as the primary mode of analysis. Time, according to philosophers such as Bergson and Deleuze, is a continuous and impenetrable concept. However, philosophers like Foucault disagree. Many African ontologies reflect nature, discussions on ancestors, and land as actualities that form history. With these dynamics in mind, a decolonial and African dynamic of church history and the history of Christianity is attempted in this article. Using Foucault’s concepts of discontinuity and embodiment as well as African ontologies, this article explores and discusses new dynamics in historical methodology. Firstly, the article provides an overview of modernity and postmodernity and their effects on the discipline of history as well as Southern African historical methodology and historiography and its developments. Secondly, the article analyses Foucault’s concepts of discontinuity and embodiment, and African ontologies and their alternative modes of analysis for history. Finally, it proposes new opportunities for decolonial and Africanised storytelling within church history and/or the history of Christianity.

For the first time, the article examines the research activities of Priest Nikolai Ivanovich Shmakov (1829-1902) in studying the history of churches in the Ponoi parish of the Kola deanery of the Arkhangelsk Diocese. The undoubted advantage of his work on local temples is the use of various sources. It turns out that the priest is attracted not only by the local traditions he knows about parish churches, but also by the ancient documents he discovered in the church sacristy dating back to the 18th century. It is assumed that thanks to Nikolai Shmakov, the complex of materials he studied from the Ponoy Peter and Paul Temple became known to the staff of the Archeographic Commission in St. Petersburg. The information published by the priest has not lost its relevance to this day and can be used in the study of parish life in the Kola North.