DOI: 10.7256/2454-0609.2019.5.30972

Abstract: The research subject of this article is the issue of the lack of a sufficiently clear differentiation and clarity in the definition of the phenomenon known in Russian history as church renovationism of the early 20th century. The lack of clarity in the concept of “renovationism” in the history of the Russian Orthodox Church leads some scholars to unjustifiably mix historical phenomena that differ chronologically and in content (church reformism in 1905-1907 and renovationism in 1920-1925), others - to philosophical speculation on the subject of renovationism yesterday and today, and others yet to affirmations that the negative portrait of the renovationism in the 1920s made it impossible to renew the church life of its contemporary century. By analyzing the possibilities of the narrative and using the analytical method, the author establishes the reasons for the lack of a clear differentiation between church reformism in 1905–1907 and the renovationism of the 1920s, first by proposing to introduce differentiation into the church reform movement, which thus allows us to solve the problem of definitions and differentiation of movements for church renewal in the first third of the 20th century. The issue of definitions and differentiations was identified over 16 years ago and remains relevant today. It arises every time scholars address the topic of church renewal. The solution to the issue of the differentiation of movements makes it possible to determine the definition of whether to call church reformers "renovationists," as they indeed were often called in the press of the period of 1905-1908, or forever assign them the status of reformers, i.e. not to apply to church reformers of 1905–1907 the term "Renovationists," but to use it in relation to the leaders and members of the Renovationist Church.

DOI: 10.7256/2454-0609.2018.3.26325

Abstract: The subject of this study is the contribution of V. V. Rozanov to the formulation of the doctrine of the "new religious consciousness," which started the movement for the modernization of the Orthodox Russian Church. 120 years ago, the writer became interested in the history of Christianity and put forward a hypothesis concerning the religiousness of gender. Perhaps the only person who supported this hypothesis was the priest of the Russian Church Alexander Ustinsky. In 1901, the works of V. V. Rozanov, included among other topics, were brought to the meetings of religious and philosophical assemblies in St. Petersburg (1901-1903), while the doctrine of the "new religious consciousness" was proposed to the Russian Church as an alternative to historical Christianity. In this study the author applied the method of historicism, which assumes a sequential description of events and their analysis on the basis of their chronology and internal logic, as well as in connection with the general historical process, in this case - with the post-reform history of Russia, on the eve of socio-historical modernization. The author also applied the retrospective-associative method, which allowed to identify the preconditions of the studied phenomenon. The author adheres to the principles of academicism and scientific objectivity. The novelty of this research consists in its introduction into scientific circulation of V. V. Rozanov's archival correspondence from 1898 - 1899, which shows that one of the theoreticians of the religious movement for church modernization in Russia at the beginning of the 20th century, V. V. Rozanov owes his fame as an expert on the history of Christianity and as a religious thinker (candidate of theology) to a great extent to the Archpriest Alexander Ustinsky. The author comes to the conclusion that by the beginning of the 20th century, both activists created the conditions for translating into the public consciousness the idea of the need to introduce into practice church divorce, remarriages for the clergy and to overcome the ascetic tradition.

DOI: 10.7256/2454-0609.2017.4.23223

Abstract: In Russia during the first decade of the 20th century unfolded several church-reformation and liberal-reformist movements, directed at reforming the church. In these movements were involved the religious, ecclesiastical and outside of the church intelligentsia, educated workers, as well as clergymen. The problems put forward by this eclectic social movement, apart from various proposals of religious and philosophical nature and the question of "reform or reformation?", included also requests defined by the era. The participants of the movement hoped that at the church council all their proposals would receive a positive decision. But the majority of their proposals were in conflict with the Orthodox tradition. The article's author examines which questions raised by the movement as a whole were among those discussed at the church Local Council of the Russian Orthodox Church in 1917–1918 and presents the resolutions made by this legislative church body. The author applied the method of systematic historical analysis, which takes into account the causal relationship between events and the objective approach to events and documents. The author also used the retrospective approach. The scientific novelty of this study is determined by the fact that in the article the liberal religious movement is for the first time presented in the context of the events from the canonical sphere – the work of the Local Council of the Russian Orthodox Church in 1917–1918. The author refutes the existing opinion that the reformatory activity of the religious intelligentsia and the liberal clergy in the beginning of the 20th century was left without attention by the Local Council of the Russian Orthodox Church in 1917–1918. The author analyzes the discussions between the liberals and the conservatives. The author based his study on the material of his ten-year research on the formation in pre-Revolutionary Russia of the social movement for church reform, the analysis of the church reformer K. M. Aggeev and a review of the documents ("Deeds") of the Local Council of the Russian Orthodox Church in 1917–1918.

DOI: 10.7256/2454-0684.2016.11.21000

Abstract: The subject of this research is the journal “Zhivaya Zhizn” (1907-1908), the specialty and content of which has not previously been systematized in the context of participation of its publishers in the church reforms movement of the Russian Orthodox Church in the early XX century. The work examines the reason of emergence of the journal, carries out a detailed review of its most important articles of Christian socialists V. P. Sventsinsky and V. F. Ern who published the journal along with S. N. Bulgakov and filled it with the articles by members of the Christian Brotherhood of Struggle. The author studies the social value of the journal, as well as analyzes the history of its publishing and reformist direction of the articles within the framework of succession of five publishers of the early XX century of the religious-reformist orientation (“Novyi Put”, “Voprosy Zhizni”, “Vek”, “Narod”). The author demonstrates that despite the declaration of opposition to “Neo-Christians”, the journal “Zhivaya Zhizn” carried out its part of the task among publishers that presented themselves as publishing bodies of the free religious thought. Namely in these periodicals of pre-revolutionary Russia, the ideology and philosophy of the “new religious consciousness”, social Christianity, and Church “liberation”, were the subject of the open discussion. This research shows that the journal “Zhivaya Zhizn” serves as the source for accumulation of facts that during the period of 1907-1908 the ideology of its publisher Christian Brotherhood of Struggle, despite the claimed opposition to “Neo-Christianity”, was in line with the religious reformism evolved in the early XX century in Russia.

DOI: 10.7256/2454-0684.2015.11.11973

Abstract: The subject of this research is the initiation of dialogue between the Russian Church and secular society in the course of establishment of the genre of church publicity in the works of notable church leaders of the middle and the second half of the XIX century – Clement (Mozharov), John (Sokolov), Nikanor (Brovkovich), and Ambrose (Klyucharev). Secularization of the social and cultural contributed into the emergence in the periodical literature of Russia of such trend as church publicity. This concept originated from the pastor’s “word”, and developed within the strict rules of the theological homiletics, gradually expanding its frameworks. The works of these renowned representatives of clergy compiles the material that provides the ability to sequentially trace the stages of evolution of the church publicity and preaching. This article demonstrates the review of the emergence of church publicity in Russia during the period of 1830-1840, its formation and peculiarities. At all stages of its development, church publicity within the framework of the Orthodox tradition, was seeking the answer to the problem of secularization of the Orthodox conscience of Russia. This research determines four of these stages, and their interconnection with the historical and cultural evolution in Russia. 

DOI: 10.7256/2454-0757.2015.8.12375

Abstract: The beginning of the XXth century was marked with the tendency towards modernization of Christianity in the Catholic West and in Russia. The process of preparation for that phenomenon started in the second half of the XIXth century and went on with different instensity. At the beginning of the XXth century it evolved into direct contacts at the private level in the course of which information was exchanged. During the period since 1904 to 1914 Fernand Portal sent his students to Russia to study Russian religious environment as well as to perform ecumenical mission. Portal's students made acquaintances and established contacts with both neo slavophiles an dreligious authors and intelligentsia in general. This fact has allowed to raise a question about the influence of the Roman Catholic modernism on the religious movement of the first decade of the XXth century in Russia. By analyzing the first translations from French into Russian (articles written by Dmitry Merezhkovsky and Joseph Wilbois) made especially for the present research as well as researches of Georges Nivat and Danilova about Slavophilism among the followers of Portal's teaching and the correspondence between 'Neo Christians' and a 'Neo Catholic' Zdziechowski published in her previous articles, Vorontsova specifies the nature of contacts between 'Neo Christians' and Ferdinand Portal's students. As an illustration, Vorontsova publishes the translation of the letter written by the 'Neo Christianity' leader Dmitry Merezhkovsky for the Journal of Portal's followers. This is the first translation of this letter published in Russian academic literature. As the topic for an individual research, the author of the article also touches upon the relations between 'Neo Catholics' and 'Neo Christians' in the first decade of the XXth century. The author presents the translation of Dmitry Merezhkovsky's article from the 'Catholic Journal of Churches' and uses the direct quotation of a French article of Joseph Wilbois on the religious consciousness in Russia. The author of the article concludes that contacts of 'Neo Christians' with the followers of Portal's school had different tasks and goals and proves the fact of mutual influence of those that was especially evident in the first decade of the XXth century.

DOI: 10.7256/1339-3057.2014.2.12367

Abstract:

DOI: 10.7256/2454-0757.2013.6.8080

Abstract: