Theological Academy Research Articles

A Károli Gáspár Református Egyetem megalapításának története

The History of the Foundation of Károli Gáspár Reformed University. Plans to found a Hungarian Reformed university in Transylvania were conceived during the reigns of princes Gábor Bethlen (1622) and Ákos Barcsai (1658, then at the initiative of János Apáczai Csere), but unfortunately external circumstances prevented the establishment of such a university. At the end of the 18th century, the idea was raised again in Pest (József Vay, 1796). However, the circumstances made it only possible to establish a joint Evangelical-Reformed theological faculty (Pál Török, Theological Academy of Pest, 1855). In 1993, under the more favourable conditions of the regime change, the longed-for university could be founded, with the merger of the Theological Academy and the Teachers’ College of Nagykőrös and the establishment of a faculty of humanities in Budapest. Our study presents the circumstances, processes, debates, and key personalities behind the founding of the university 30 years ago. Keywords: Theological Academy of Pest, Károli Gáspár University of the Reformed Church in Hungary, Bishop Loránt Hegedűs, Christian higher education, history of the Reformed Church in Hungary

SCIENTIFIC JOURNAL “VOLYNSKYY BLAHOVISNYK”: A SHORT HISTORY ON THE OCCASION OF THE 10th ANNIVERSARY

The glorious center of spirituality and science in the western lands was the Volyn Theological Seminary, which since its founding in 1796 has educated and graduated a large number of students, including prominent hierarchs of the Church of Christ, devotees of piety, representatives of theology. For a long time in different periods of the seminary’s existence, an important and integral part of its functioning was scientific activity. Improvement of the educational process, intensification of scientific life, development of the infrastructure of theological school led to the reorganization of the Volyn Theological Seminary into the Volyn Orthodox Theological Academy. The status of the Academy has significantly intensified the teaching staff and students to persistent research work with clear objectives: to preserve the traditions of spiritual education, to increase the experience and to integrate into the world educational and scientific space. The scientific life of any educational institution is unthinkable without its scientific journal, therefore an important event in the life of the Volyn Orthodox Theological Academy was the appearance in 2013 of the theological and historical scientific journal “Volynskyy Blahovisnyk” (VB) in its own publishing house “ΕΙΚΩΝ”. Since the founding of the “Volynskyy Blahovisnyk” (VB) in 2013 and up to today, there have been many changes in the publication of the scientific journal, in particular, the composition of the editorial board and reviewers has significantly increased, to which international scientists have also joined, there have been some changes in the appearance and design of the journal, etc. Every year, each subsequent issue was improved, which made it possible to start indexing in the leading scientific and metric databases and also to be included in the List of scientific specialized publications of Ukraine of category “B” (specialty – 041 Theology). This article briefly presents information about the history of the establishment of the professional periodical of the Volyn Orthodox Theological Academy “Volynskyy Blahovisnyk” (VB), noted the main events in the development of the scientific publication, which became a platform for the exchange of scientific achievements between science and theology, providing mutual integration and incorporation.

I INTERNATIONAL SCIENTIFIC AND PRACTICAL CONFERENCE “DOCTORS AND NURSING – MEDICAL FRONT IN UKRAINE AND THE WORLD”

On May 11–12, 2023, the I International Scientific Practical Conference “Doctors and Nursing – Medical Front in Ukraine and the World” took place in Lutsk, Ukraine. The conference was dedicated to the 150th anniversary of the Shevchenko Scientific Society (SSS).
 The conference was organized by the Municipal Institution of Higher Education Volyn Medical Institute of Volyn Region Council, in collaboration with Danylo Halytsky Lviv National Medical University, I.Y. Horbachevsky Ternopil National Medical University, Vilnius University (Lithuania), Higher Private Educational Institution Lviv Medical University, the Shevchenko Scientific Society, and Health Tech Without Borders (Switzerland, USA). The conference was held with the support of the State Institution “Center for Nursing Development of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine”. Partners in conference organization also included Volyn Orthodox Theological Academy, Maastricht University (the Netherlands), Volyn Region Emergency Medical Center and Disaster Medicine Municipal Enterprise, German-Ukrainian Association of Nurses, NeanderklinikHarzwald (Germany), “Myloserdia” Association of Volyn Nurses PO and Lviv Association of Allergists, Immunologists, and Rehabilitologists Charitable Organization.
 During the course of the event, a total of over 100 speeches were delivered by medical scientists and practicing physicians, as well as researchers in diverse disciplines from Ukraine, the United States, Great Britain, Poland, Lithuania, Germany, the Netherlands, and Switzerland. Workshops were conducted on relevant issues in medical practice in times of war.
 A total of approximately 1100 individuals participated in the conference, comprising physicians from diverse disciplines and nurses, emergency medical professionals and disaster medicine specialists, scientific and pedagogical personnel, employees of the State Emergency Service, physical rehabilitation specialists, psychologists, representatives of the clergy and public organizations, and young scientists.
 A new interdisciplinary format of scientific dialogue has been started between representatives of medical and nursing specialities, the education sector, psychologists, and clergy. It helps find ways to address relevant issues in the medical sector in complex conditions of the present day.

The All-Russian Congress of Learned Monasticism at the Moscow Theological Academy in 1917

The All-Russian Congress of Learned Monasticism at the Moscow Theological Academy in 1917

A typical student of the Moscow Theological Academy at the end of the 19th century: statistical analysis

A typical student of the Moscow Theological Academy at the end of the 19th century: statistical analysis

Z dziejów przyjaźni polsko-ormiańskiej

FROM THE HISTORY OF POLISH-ARMENIAN FRIENDSHIP: THE CASE OF MARIA GROCHOLSKA (1917-1989)
 Maria Grocholska (1917-1989) played a significant role in Polish-Armenian cultural relations during the Soviet era. Born in St. Petersburg to a Polish family, she studied Russian philology and Armenian philology in Leningrad. Her studies continued in Yerevan from 1940 to 1945, and from 1945 to 1948 she worked there as Professor Gurgen Sewak’s assistant. After abandoning the completion of her doctoral studies, she worked in primary and secondary schools in Armenia, where she taught Russian and Armenian. From 1955 to 1960, she taught Russian at the Academy of Theology in Etchmiadzin. She was a fervent advocate of the Armenian language during the Russification era. In 1962, she translated into Armenian Bohdan Gębarski’s essay on the Armenian genocide in the Ottoman Empire, titled List do starego tureckiego znajomego [A Letter to an Old Turkish Acquaintance], which resonated widely in Armenia. She also translated several literary works by Polish authors into Armenian, including Stanisław Lem’s well-known novel Solaris. She moved to Poland in 1969, where she taught Russian at a high school in Grodzisk Mazowiecki and assisted Bohdan Gębarski in translating literature from Armenian. Grocholska died in Warsaw. In March 1989, a solemn memorial service was held in Etchmiadzin in her honor performed by Catholicos Vazgen I.

Hussism as Evaluated by the Petersburg Slavophiles (From I.S. Palmov’s Letters to V.I. Lamansky)

The article precedes the publication of two letters from the Slavist, Professor of the St. Petersburg Theological Academy Ivan Savvich Palmov to his teacher Vladimir Ivanovich Lamansky, which reveal the circumstances of Palmovs mission to the Slavic lands in the years 1881-1882. It is noted that during the mission, Palmov continued to collect materials on the history of the Hussite movement in the Czech Republic, referring primarily to the works of predecessors and followers of J. Huss. Lamanskys views on the origins and character of Hussiteism, which were reflected in his lecture courses at St. Petersburg University, are examined. Lamanskys point of view, which coincides in general with the Slavophile interpretation of Hussitism as an attempt to return to the traditions of the Cyrillic and Methodius (pre-Catholic) version of Christianity and to the liturgical practice of the Orthodox Church, is presented. The connection of Lamanskys perception about Hussiteism with his historiosophic conception is noted. According to this conception the doctrine of J. Huss and the wars of the Taborites was one of the manifestations of the civilizational confrontation between the Romano-Germanic and the Greek-Slavic worlds. The article reproduces Lamanskys critical remarks about representatives of the Czech intelligentsia and the contemporary situation of the Czechs, which led to the conflict in the St. Petersburg Slavic Benevolent Society. Moreover, some facts illustrating the nature of mutual relations between the two academics are presented.

Rousseau in narratives of Kyiv academic philosophers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries

This article aims to reveal the semantic dynamics of narratives on Rousseau in Kyiv academic philosophy of the 19th and early 20th centuries. through the separation of the informational layer from the rhetorical one in their content and the identification of hidden (unarticulated) elements that determined both the general nature of the narrative and the evaluative judgments of the narrators. Based on archival primary sources and printed editions (mostly bibliographic rarities), a historical and philosophic study of the narratives on Jean-Jacques Rousseau and his philosophy of education performed, which were created and broadcast by professors of Kyiv Theological Academy and St.Volodymyr University Pamfil Yurkevych, Sylvester Gogotskyi, Markellin Olesnitskyi, Mykola Makkaveiskyi, Oleksandr Selikhanovych, and Vasyl Zenkovskyi. Keeping almost the same informational core, the narratives of Kyiv academicians on Rousseau differ significantly in terms of rhetoric. While the “older generation” goes into philosophical criticism of the pedagogical ideas of the Swiss thinker as the Stranger, the “younger ones”, limiting themselves to remarks about their controversial nature, represent him as the Self. This difference is due to both personal factors and institutional conditions for the development of Kyiv academic philosophy, as well as changes in the general political situation in the period of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Vasil Ekzemplarsky and Petro Kudryavtsev: at the Crossroads of Creative Paths

In the article, for the first time, a comparative analysis of the creative biographies of Kyiv thinkers, pupils and teachers of the Kyiv Theological Academy (1819–1924), Pyotr Kudryavtsev (1868–1940) and Vasyl Ekzemplyarskyi (1875–1933) was carried out. The educational, cultural and historical background of the formation of religious-philosophical and religious-publicist views of Kyiv philosophers is reproduced, the common origin of their creative intuitions is shown. The main similar research ideas, topics and directions of their scientific and educational activity are revealed. The similarity in the interpretation of one of the core ideas of their work – the Christian idea of the kingdom of God – is shown. The origin of this idea in the philosophical worldview of thinkers is admitted, the significance of this idea in their ethical and historicalphilosophical heritage is demonstrated. Both thinkers have distinctly similar interpretations of the themes of religious journalism, the core of which are: religious revival, the relationship between politics and religion and politics and morality, state-church relations in the Russian state, ways of church reformation. The inseparable unity of their philosophical and worldview foundations, theoretical principles with life, the practical implementation of the ideas advocated by the thinkers, which allowed them to preserve the integrity and organicity of their own personality, is shown. It was also demonstrated the importance for the development of philosophical thought of the unique communicative space created by Kyiv academic philosophers, the atmosphere of lively communication, within which similar philosophical and worldview intuitions, value-meaning principles and life guidelines were developed.

“Speeches on Religion” by Friedrich Schleiermacher in the Vision of Kyiv Academic Fedir Ornatskyi: an Example of Apologetic Reflection

In this article, we delve into the religious readings of notable Kyiv academic professors from the late 19th to the early 20th centuries. Their works contain a wealth of empirical evidence and theoretical concepts that are crucial to understanding the development of the “science of religion” within the local intellectual tradition. We’re showcasing the work of Fedir Ornatskyi, a scholar from Kyiv Theological academy. Our analysis focuses on one of Ornatskyi’s notable pieces, which delves into the religious perspectives of Friedrich Schleiermacher, a renowned German theologian. A researcher from Kyiv is updating the accomplishments and ideas of F. Schleiermacher, aiming to find connections between the cultural, intellectual, and ideological situations of the late 18th and late 19th centuries. This includes the crisis of religiosity and the rejection of church institutions. Following this vision, F. Ornatskyi is interested in exploring the limitations of rationalist theology. He aims to understand F. Schleiermacher’s search for arguments supporting religion based on inner experience. However, the Kyiv researcher demonstrated that many of the German theologian’s ideas went beyond traditional orthodox church discourse, despite his apologetic motivation. F. Ornatskyi criticises his opponent’s controversial and odious statements, such as the absolutization of subjectivity and sensuality in religion; pantheism and impersonalism; subjectivism and relativism in religious knowledge; denial of the connection between religion and morality; speculative evaluations of specific religions, especially Christianity. At the same time, the Kyiv academician’s study of Schleiermacher’s stories about the relationship between cognitive and emotional-sensual components of religion demonstrates the elements of religious analysis, which combines historical, structural, psychological and phenomenological approaches; the seeds of the psychology of religion and religious cognitivism are found. The modern interpretation of F. Ornatskyi’s work provides a new perspective on Schleiermacher’s ideas, foreshadowing contemporary trends in religious evolution in the post-secular era.

The Russian Tradition of Publishing Illuminated Bibles

The article is devoted to the tradition of publishing engraved biblical albums in Russia (17th — early 20th centuries), made by Russian engravers after the prototypes of European engravings or after author’s drawings by graduates of the Russian Academy of Arts. Illustrated collections on the subjects of the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testament based on drawings by Russian artists — A.E. Egorov, A.A. Agin, M.N. Koshelevskaya, V.S. Kryukov, V.D. Fartusov — are considered. The source material for the work were copies from large collections of graphic art: the isofond of the Russian State Library, the Museum of Christian Art “Church-Archaeological Study” of the Moscow Theological Academy and the Sergiev Posad State Historical and Art Museum-Reserve, which are first introduced by the author into the scientific turnover.At present, Western European illustrated Bibles are widely studied by specialists in various fields of scientific knowledge as a large-scale phenomenon of book culture. The ways of penetration and distribution of foreign editions in the Moscow state are studied; the search, accounting and description of copies in domestic library collections are carried out; marginalia on the pages of albums and captions to images are investigated; techniques, biographies of masters, stylistics of works and methods of copying foreign samples in Russian artistic practice are studied. At the same time, the tradition of publishing Russian illuminated Bibles, created by analogy with foreign ones, remains poorly studied.Pre-revolutionary catalogues of Russian illustrated editions contain descriptions of Bible albums of the first half of the 19th century, while the vast array of illustrated printed matter of the second half of the century has not yet been systematised and catalogued.The purpose of this study is to partially fill this lacuna, to restore the chronology of the appearance of the first domestic folio Bibles, and to present an overview of lithographed editions of pictures of the Sacred History of the Old and New Testament of the second half of the 19th century.

Кенотическая экклесиология М. М. Тареева: Опыт реконструкции

The article attempts to reconstruct and comprehensively analyze the ecclesiological conception of Mikhail Mikhailovich Tareev (1867-1934), Professor of Moral Theology at the Moscow Theological Academy at the beginning of the 20th century. The study consistently outlines the characteristic features of Tareev's theological approach, examines the features of his ecclesiology, proves the author's definition of his ecclesiology as kenotic. The specifics of the Tareev’s method is the division of the elements of the problem being analyzed into categories of absolute (internal) and relative (external). In other words, this problem appears in his extensive legacy as a problem of the correlation of content and form. Russian theologian understands the Church as a form of Christianity. Christianity as an inner, mystical, spiritual life has the life of the Church as its vestment. Christianity is possible only in the Church, and produces it. Being the realization of spiritual life in the world (“mir”), the Church must be holy and free from the world. At the same time, it is through the Church that the Christian spirit, or the spirit of Christ, influences the world, transforms it by Christ’s grace. According to Tareev, Christians represent a golden chain, on the one hand, connected with Christ and the saints, on the other hand, uniting all the living faithful. The Church is defined by the Russian theologian as a Society, a Kingdom, an Organism, a Union etc.; it is founded by Christ during His sufferings. Church’s purpose is to serve as an intermediary between the mystical life of the individual and the historical life of society. Due to the symmetry of Tareev's Christology and ecclesiology, the latter is defined as kenotic. The article ends with the designation of possible reasons for Tareev's formulation of his idea of the Church

Everyday Life of Students of the Kazan Theological Academy during the First World War

This article summarizes the results of a study on the daily life of students at the Kazan Imperial Theological Academy in 1914–1917 when the life of civilians was severely affected by the First World War. Through the analysis of archival materials and literary sources, a close look is taken at such major constituents of everyday activities as space and time, material means, as well as clothing and dietary habits. During that period, most students resided in boarding houses, which also determined their living conditions: state-paid students received food, sleeping and working space, clothes, treatment, etc. The life of all students of the Academy revolved around the main building on the Arsk Field of Kazan. They spent most of their time there but were occasionally allowed to make short-term trips into the city. When the First World War broke out, the students started visiting more places. They went to the infirmaries and hospitals to take part in religious sermons and entertainment events. Many of them fell into a poor financial situation because the annual basic scholarship was only enough to pay for staying at the boarding house. The canteen no longer served sufficient meals, especially during the fast, so the students were malnourished and forced to seek out other sources of food. They were offered nutritious food only on holidays. The statutory clothes (raincoats, uniforms, jackets, trousers, and shoes) supplied by the Academy were of little use to keep warm in the cold seasons. In 1917, the biggest changes occurred. The premises of the Academy were gradually militarized. By the end of the year, due to the social upheavals and the economic crisis, only 142 out of 300 students continued their education. They were mainly accommodated in government apartments, and the classes were held either in the assembly hall or in the rector’s apartment.

Blitz interview with Archpriest Vladislav Tsypin, professor emeritus of the Moscow Theological Academy, on the appointment of a church court

Blitz interview with Archpriest Vladislav Tsypin, professor emeritus of the Moscow Theological Academy, on the appointment of a church court

Всероссийская научно-практическая конференция «Введение пробации в Российской Федерации: взаимодействие государственных органов и общественных организаций» (10 марта 2023 года)

On March 10, 2023, the All-Russian Scientific and Practical Conference “Introduction of Probation in the Russian Federation: Interaction of state bodies and public organizations” was held on the basis of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation in St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region. It was dedicated to the Federal Law «On Probation in the Russian Federation», adopted on February 6, 2023. The Academy of the Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia and the St. Petersburg Theological Academy also co-organized this event. A feature of the event was a wide range of analyzed law enforcement, legal and theoretical problems that already take place depending on the specifics of various regions of our country, and will also arise in the near future in the interaction of state bodies and public organizations in the context of the use of all types of probation (penitentiary, executive and post-penitentiary).

New material to the biography of the first elected rector of the Moscow Theological Academy, Archpriest Anatoly Petrovich Orlov: Family origins and student years at the Moscow Theological Academy

New material to the biography of the first elected rector of the Moscow Theological Academy, Archpriest Anatoly Petrovich Orlov: Family origins and student years at the Moscow Theological Academy

Журналы духовных академий Российской империи второй половины XIX — начала ХХ века о «старокатолическом вопросе»

Журналы духовных академий Российской империи второй половины XIX — начала ХХ века о «старокатолическом вопросе»

Профессора церковного права в российских университетах и духовных академиях в 1906–1917 гг.

The article examines the scientific potential of higher schools of the Russian Empire, universities and theological academies, in the field of ecclesiastical law during the active discussion of church reforms in 1906-1917. The author comes to the conclusion that at the beginning of the XX century it is necessary to talk about three developed scientific schools of ecclesiastical law: the St. Petersburg University school of M.I. Gorchakov, associated with it the Moscow University school of N.S. Suvorov and the Kazan School of I.S. Berdnikov. At the same time, only the latter one can be described as having preserved a close connection between the academy and the university. Universities were aimed at replacing the staff of the departments of ecclesiastical law with their graduates. In St. Petersburg and Moscow, it was possible to do this at the beginning of the XX century: V.N. Beneshevich and P.V. Gidulyanov, university graduates, became professors of the Department of Ecclesiastical Law. And the statistics of doctoral dissertations reveal the special role of Moscow University in the training of secular specialists in ecclesiastical law and shows that university scientific schools should be recognized as dominant in science. Strict administrative control and frequent changes of professorial staff at the departments of ecclesiastical law in the St. Petersburg and Moscow Theological Academies in the examined period obviously hindered the development of their own stable scientific traditions. Some stagnation is also noticeable in the Kiev Academy, where M.I. Mishchenko, the Master of Theology, was permanently at the similar department during this period. The inclusion of ecclesiastical law in the list of legal sciences has significantly expanded the scope of research: in addition to the actual study of history or the interpretation of the canons, church-state relations, problems of freedom of conscience, the relationship of the church court and state jurisdiction, as well as civil and family law began to be studied. Scientific achievements turned out to be relevant in the preparation of church reform in pre-Council forums, where university professors were invited mainly.

Письма профессора И. В. Попова из научной командировки 1901–1902 гг. профессору С. И. Смирнову: к реконструкции академических связей

In this publication are presented the letters written by Prof. of Moscow Theological Academy I. V. Popov. The letters of Prof. I. V. Popov, written during the period of his internship in German universities (1901–1902), and addressed to his trusted friend, Prof. of Moscow Theological Academy S. I. Smirnov. These letters are interesting in two respects: on the one hand, because they provide Popov’s impressions of his trip abroad, which throw light on his subsequent academic career, particularly in the field of organization and reform of native theological education; on the other hand, because they reveal the nature of the relationship between the two professors, and clearly show Popov’s intellectual influence on his friend and colleague Smirnov during the preparation of his future dissertation “The Spiritual Father in in the Early Eastern Church” (1906). Popov helps to Smirnov to adjust his view of the chosen research problem, which, according to his original plan, should have concerned a more comprehensive treatment of the sources, and considerably broaden the subject of his research. The published letters are held in the manuscripts department of the Russian State Library in the collection of S. I. Smirnov.

Źródło idei ukraińskiego katolickiego uniwersytetu i dzieje jej realizacji w Ukrainie po 1991 r.

THE IDEA OF A UKRAINIAN CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY: ITS ORIGINS AND ITS IMPLEMENTATION IN UKRAINE AFTER 1991 The historical predecessors of the today’s Ukrainian Catholic University were the Greek-Catholic Theological Academy founded in 1928 in Lviv by Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky, and the Ukrainian Catholic University of St. Clemens the Pope in Rome, established by Metropolitan Josyf Slipyj in December 1963, after his release from the Soviet imprisonment. In 1994, the Lviv Theological Academy was restored in the independent Ukraine, and in 2002 it was transformed into a university. The very name of the institution reflects the three consecutive stages of its history. As first, during the interwar period, when Western Ukraine was within the borders of Poland, the principal task was to provide Ukrainian youth with a possibility to pursue higher studies in their native language. During the Soviet period, when the Greek-Catholic Church in Ukraine was banned and persecuted, the top priority was to maintain links with the Catholic world. Nowadays, in the independent Ukraine, the UCU seeks to become a new type of university offering an alternative to the post-Soviet educational approach and forming leaders to serve with professional excellence in Ukraine and internationally – for the glory of God, the common good, and the dignity of the human person.