Russian Christian Research Articles

Book Review: A History of Russian Christianity Volume 1: From the Earliest Years through Tsar Ivan IV

Book Review: A History of Russian Christianity Volume 1: From the Earliest Years through Tsar Ivan IV

An overview of liberation theology in orthodox Russia

The aim of this article is to demonstrate the presence of a theological system of socio-critical and socio-pragmatic strands within Russian Christianity at the beginning of the twentieth century. The political and social situation in Russia at that time was reflected in a reading of the New Testament that went far beyond the more customary ecclesiastic, dogmatic and ethical issues that had traditionally concerned Russian Orthodox theology. Among the Orthodox thinkers there were two camps that focused on anti-oppression issues. Some combined these issues with the liberationist ideology of the Russian Marxists and Socialists; while the other regarded these liberation movements as an anti-Christian way of interpreting Christianity. This article further claims that certain modern developments in Liberation Theology can be found in the period during which the Russian religious thinkers attempted to develop a theological perspective which paid attention to the social and political dimensions inherent in social democracy (Marxism).

Mediaeval Bulgarian and Serbian theological literature: an essential Vademecum

Abstract The name of Gerhard PODSKALSKY is well known to all Byzantinists and his works on Russian Christianity and theology (988–1237) and Greek theology (1453–1821) published by Beck in 1982 and 1988 respectively have become classic works of reference. Since both Bulgaria and Serbia were the Empire's immediate neighbours and at various times integral parts of the Byzantine Empire this book is of greater importance for the Byzantinist than the previous two and without any doubt it will find a place in every scholar's library. In his preface the author stresses (p. VII) that the book has been written with Western scholars in mind and for this reason he not only gives brief summaries of the contents of all original Slav works but also lists translations in Western languages of the works discussed, which makes the book invaluable for scholars who do not have a working knowledge of Slavonic and modern Slav languages.

Doubly chosen: Jewish identity, the Soviet intelligentsia, and the Russian Orthodox Church

This work provides a detailed study of a phenomenon in post-Stalinist Russia - the conversion of thousands of Russian Jewish intellectuals to Orthodox Christianity in the 1960s and in the 1980s, the decades before and after the great exodus of Jews from the Soviet Union. It contends that the choice of baptism into the Church was an act of moral courage in the face of Soviet persecution, motivated by solidarity with Russian Christian dissidents and intellectuals. It considers the dwindling Jewish religious practice in Russia, the transformation of Jews from a religious community to an ethnic one, a longing for spiritual values, and the forging of a new Jewish identity within the dissident movement.

Russia as a Space of Hope: Nineteenth-Century French Challenges to the Liberal Image of Russia

This article analyses the clash of representations of Russia in nineteenth-century France, as part of the more general political struggle for the meaning of ‘Europe’. Against the liberal idea of Europe — according to which Russia was a land of barbarism and tyranny — different groups of romantics, socialists, mystics, anarchists, conservatives and authoritarian thinkers presented Russia as a model for Europe to follow, although for different reasons. Thus, for some conservatives, Russian Christianity offered the promise of religious regeneration, while for others the tsarist hierarchy could well be the model or order that Europe needed. On the other hand, the Russian peasant commune offered romantic intellectuals and socialist and anarchist thinkers the promise of social regeneration or an anti-capitalist model of society. Among others, the article deals with the ideas of Bonald, Maistre, Balzac, Comte, Le Play, Considérant, Cœurderoy, Lèbre, Reclus, de Staël, Herzen, Mickiewicz, Haxthausen, Herder and Cyprien Robert.

Integralist Social Science and Catholic Social Thought

This article relates the Integral sociology perspective of Pitirim A. Sorokin to the teaching of the Catholic Church regarding faith and science. It begins with a summary of the theoretical structure of Integralism and proceed to a discussion of its historical roots in Russian Christian philosophy, especially the tradition of Intuitivism. I conclude that although Integralism is generally consistent with Catholic doctrine, it does not deal with certain fundamentals of the Catholic perspective. Moreover, Sorokin’s formulation seems to imply the possibility of both Christian and non-Christian, theistic and non-theistic variants of Integralism. Nevertheless, Catholic social scientists may find the integralist perspective appealing and useful, especially as compared with other contemporary paradigms.

Can there be a Russian Christian democracy?

A good deal of scholarly attention has recently been given to the impact of religious belief on political attitudes and behaviour in postcommunist Russia. On the pages of this journal Richard Sakwa has traced in considerable detail the emergence and development of the various parties and organisations which over the past few years have presented themselves to the Russian public as the representatives of a coherent 'Christian Democratic' tradition capable of informing the reconstruction of the country's social and political institutions.' This renewed interest in the potential significance of religion as an influential factor on Russia's future development should not of course be a matter for surprise. The dramatic collapse of the Soviet state in the early 1990s created a need for a sustained process of institution-building in the successor states; and the manifest failure of Marxist-Leninist ideology which had for decades served, at least at a rhetorical level, as the formal source of legitimacy for the communist ancien regime also created a kind of 'ideological space' which was quickly filled by a large number of doctrines and Weltanschauungen ranging from classical liberalism to neo-Stalinism. Christian Democracy would at first glance seem to have been well-equipped to compete in the new intellectual market-place. The traditional motifs of Western European Christian Democracy, with their emphasis on social and national reconciliation, appear admirably suited for a country like Russia, suffering from a 70-year legacy of savage social division and fragmentation. And, it is almost superfluous to add, any attempt to import into the political arena values grounded on a metaphysical conception of human existence seemed calculated in the early 1990s to meet with a positive response from a population which had suffered for decades at the hands of a government that looked askance at almost any manifestation of spiritual life. Even so, as Sakwa has shown so well in his second article on the subject, the early hopes which accompanied the birth of the various Russian Christian Democratic parties just a few years ago have faded with bewildering speed. The largest and most important of these, the Russian Christian Democratic Movement (RCDM) headed by Viktor Aksyuchits, moved rapidly to the right, and before long found itself associating with Russian nationalist groups of various kinds. For this reason, the RCDM lost members to other organisations, and the whole Christian Democratic movement fell victim to the kind of squabbling and in-fighting that has been a hallmark of postcommunist politics in Russia. As has so often proved to be the case in Russian history, a commitment to Christian values became intimately associated with a commitment to the territorial integrity of the state,

Christian democracy in Russia

Christian Democracy has emerged as one of the major currents in post-communist life. This article will examine the role of Christian Democracy in Russia, placing it in the broader context of European affairs and discussing the main programmatic points and the role of the movement in Russian politics. The paper will focus on the activities of the Russian Christian Democratic Movement (RCDM), by far the largest and most influential of the numerous Christian Democratic parties and movements. Russian Christian Democracy has a distinctive approach to such issues as the reconstruction of the Russian state, democracy, nationalism and the relationship with the West, and the role of Christian politics under post-communism. However, while much of the activity is both Christian and democratic, it is by no means clear that it adds up to Christian Democracy.

Declaration of the constituent assembly of the Russian Christian democratic movement

Declaration of the constituent assembly of the Russian Christian democratic movement

Russian Christian democracy from a regional perspective: The case of St Petersburg

Russian Christian democracy from a regional perspective: The case of St Petersburg

The fundamental principles of the political programme of the Russian Christian democratic movement

The fundamental principles of the political programme of the Russian Christian democratic movement

Statutes of the Russian Christian democratic movement

Statutes of the Russian Christian democratic movement

Vechi: Een Christelijk-Humanistische Reactie op het Socialisme in Rusland

Vekhi: a Christian Reaction on Socialism in Russia In 1909 a group of 7 Russian christian thinkers published a collection of articles, called Vekhi, „Landmarks”, which evoked violent reactions in Russian society. Vekhi was a sharp criticism of the revolutionary intelligentsia’s philosophical, ethical, cultural and juridical concepts. Instead of the atheism , utilitarianism, collectivism and revolutionism of the then progressive intelligentsia the Vekhi authors propagated religious humanistic values such as personal responsibility, absolute ethics, the acknowledgement o f spiritual culture, the rights of the individual. In general they pointed out that moral and cultural self-improvement is more important for renewing society than external restructuring. The message of Vekhi is best formulated by N. Berdyaev, S. Bulgakov, S. Frank and B. Kistyakovski, whose articles can be considered as classical contributions to Russian intellectual culture. The topicality o f the main themes of Vekhi in the current ethical renewal process in Soviet Russian society is striking. For a long time rejected as reactionaries the Russian thinkers from the beginning o f this century make a remarkable come-back in contemporary Soviet Russia and their thoughts are now dealt with sympathetically in Soviet media.

The 'Russian ideal'

The editor of Vybor, a samizdat journal that seeks the revival of Russian Christian values, talks to Alyona Kozhevnikova about his journal and its aims

The Russian Phoenix: The Story of Russian Christians, A.D. 988-1988. By Francis House and Pilgrim to the Russian Church: An American Journalist Encounters a Vibrant Religious Faith in the Soviet Union. By Jim Forest

The Russian Phoenix: The Story of Russian Christians, A.D. 988-1988. By Francis House and Pilgrim to the Russian Church: An American Journalist Encounters a Vibrant Religious Faith in the Soviet Union. By Jim Forest

REVIEWS

Book reviews in This Article:PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY AND CHRISTIAN MORALITY BY J. Fuchs S.J.THE IDEA OF A CRITICAL THEORY. Habermas and the Frankfurt School by Raymond Gauss.THE ETHOS OF THE BIBLE by Birgar Gerhardsson.FRANCIS AND CLARE: The Complete Works. Translation and Introduction by Regis J Armstrong, O.F.M.Cap, and Ignatius C Brady, O.F.M.EARLY DOMINICANS: Selected Writings. Selected with an Introduction by Simon Tugwell, O.P. Preface by Vincent de CouesnongleIULIA DE BEAUSOBRE: A RUSSIAN CHRISTIAN IN THE WEST by Constance Babington Smith.

Iulia De Beausobre: A Russian Christian in the West by Constance Babington Smith. Darton, Longman & Todd, pp 195. £9.95.

Iulia De Beausobre: A Russian Christian in the West by Constance Babington Smith. Darton, Longman & Todd, pp 195. £9.95.

Zangwill's "The Melting Pot": Ethnic Tensions on Stage

author, opened at Columbia Theater in Washington, D.C. Entitled The Melting Pot,' it told story of David Quixano, a Jewish immigrant who came to United States after his family was slaughtered in a Russian pogrom. During course of play, David writes a great symphony falls in love with a Russian Christian noblewoman. In final scene symphony receives great acclamation, David wins Vera for himself. The opening night audience responded enthusiastically to play. According to Mrs. Zangwill, opening was a great success, theater manager told her husband, 'It's hell of a success for you.' There were cries for Zangwill after every scene, President Roosevelt himself joined in applause. During play he sat next to Mrs. Zangwill and positively raved. When Zangwill took his bows afterward, the President shouted across theater, 'that's a great play, Mr. Zangwill.' 2 This warm reception suggests that The Melting Pot presented a picture that was attractive to many Americans. Throughout drama David argues that United States is a land of universal love brotherhood. He sees it as a place in which divisions among men will soon disappear. Early in first act he proclaims America to be God's Crucible, great Melting Pot, where all races of Europe are melting re-forming! At Ellis Island, he says, they stand in fifty groups with as many languages histories, as many hatreds rivalries. But immigrants will change, for they have come to fires of God. A fig for your feuds vendettas! Germans Frenchmen, Irishmen Englishmen, Jews Russiansinto Crucible with you all! God is making American. David reiterates this vision in play's final scene. Gazing over a brilliant

The Spirit of Russian Orthodoxy

RUSSIAN Orthodoxy and Eastern Christianity in general are characterized by two particular features: strict devotion to Church tradition and the use of the national language in the liturgy-a fact which, from the earliest times, permitted each people to develop its own form of Orthodoxy. However, since Orthodoxy considers itself a universal teaching, its theological essence remains the same and unchanged in each country. Dogmas, canonical structure, faithfulness to fundamental Christian traditions, and the recognition of the authority of the Church are the fundamental precepts of Orthodoxy in all Eastern Christian lands, and adherence to these precepts has continued unchanged over the centuries. But the fact that, throughout its history, Orthodoxy has been opposed to the language uniformity found in Roman Catholicism, has permitted each Orthodox country to develop unique features. The use of native tongues in the liturgy, sermons, holy books, and education brought out these national features, which history in turn deepened and strengthened. It is not surprising, then, to find certain traits in Russian Orthodoxy which cannot be found in any other Orthodox countries. In order to understand the present situation of Russian Christianity and its characteristics, one should bear in mind that Christianity appeared in Russia only in the tenth century. It encountered at first strong opposition from paganism, but by the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries a specifically Russian style of Church life had taken shape, characterized mainly by the rigorous enforcement of fasting, meek submission to God's

Russian Christian names

Journal Article Russian Christian names Get access O. F. B. O. F. B. Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Notes and Queries, Volume CXCVIII, Issue jun, 1 June 1953, Page 270, https://doi.org/10.1093/nq/CXCVIII.jun.270a Published: 01 June 1953