Church Formation Research Articles

Eurasianism as claim to the ideological paradigm of russia

The article traces the emergence, evolution and transformation of Eurasian ideas, views and postulates over a considerable (almost a century) period of time, and states the theoretical inability of this phenomenon to acquire the status of the state ideology of the rf. In view of the transformation of the russian orthodox Church into a satellite of the criminal kremlin putin regime, the author refutes the idea of the leading role of russian orthodoxy in shaping the spiritual personality of russians proposed by Eurasians and criticises the postulate of the church's formation of a “symphonic personality”. The author analyses in detail the substantive components of the ideological paradigm of Eurasianism as a defining component of the views and orientations of its authors from the standpoint of the civilisational achievements of mankind, critically assesses certain postulates of Eurasianism regarding the reduction of the functions of the people to the satisfaction of economic needs, the preservation of the hierarchical division of citizens, the ideological, elitist way of forming power, and aggressively messianic views towards other peoples. It is concluded that these views can objectively contribute to the growth of russia's geopolitical ambitions and attempts to realise them in the most dangerous, military way.

"Our System": Father Robert T. Kennedy, the American Legal Tradition, and the Development of Administrative Law in the Revision of the Code of Canon Law

As an American civil and canon lawyer, Father Robert Kennedy offered much to the study of canon law and the revision of the Code of Canon Law. As president of the Canon Law Society of America and chairman of the Society's Ad Hoc Committee on Due Process, Kennedy advocated subsidiarity and the development of means of legal recourse through committees of arbitration and administrative courts. With the Church's formation of a Code Commission to study the revision of the code, Kennedy's work as a consultor for the De processibus subcommittee allowed him to advance the cause for subjective rights, due process, and administrative procedures. Kennedy's studies in the United States and Rome provided him with unique insights that he was able to apply concretely to the revision of the code. These insights were influenced by his personal experience of the Universal Church and the American tradition.

ОСОБЛИВОСТІ СТАНОВЛЕННЯ ХРИСТИЯНСЬКОЇ ЦЕРКВИ В РАННЬОХРИСТИЯНСЬКИЙ ПЕРІОД

The article is devoted to the analysis of key aspects of the formation of the Church in the period of early Christianity. The evolution of the meaning of the word "church" from the ancient Greek understanding of it as a popular assembly to the Christian understanding as the Body of Christ is shown. It is proved that the organizational structure of the Church was formed under the influence of historical, social, political and economic factors. It is shown that the early Christian Church was formed in the conditions of fierce external and fierce internal disputes. Already in the period of early Christianity, the Church made a turn from self-isolation to communication with society, and Christian ontological ideas are embodied in various spheres of life – social, political, economic, and so on. An important role was played by the early period of the Church's formation in the anthropological aspect. Christian anthropological ideas formed new meanings of social consciousness, a new type of man, which combines the divine and earthly, eternal and perishable, and whose spirit goes far beyond the horizons of all possible philosophical or ideological ideas. The understanding of man as the image and likeness of God served to affirm human dignity and new moral and ethical guidelines in all spheres of his existence.

A social ethical analysis of the United Church of Canada's historical approach to human sexuality

This article provides a feminist ethical analysis of the United Church of Canada's approach to sexuality between the Church's formation in 1925 and 1980. An examination of this period in the Church's history is essential to an adequate understanding of the development of its current approach to sexuality. Two paradigm shifts can be observed from this analysis. First, the Church's understanding of the purpose of human sexuality has moved from the conviction that such expressions must be limited to procreation and the strengthening of the union of heterosexual married couples, to the belief that intimate expressions of human sexuality have intrinsic value within marriage. Second, the understanding of human sexuality has been transformed from a primarily act-centred ethic (rules related to specific actions) to a primarily relational ethic (discernment based on the entire complex of inter-human relationships).