On December 30, 2022, the third issue of the Theological Bulletin of the Smolensk Orthodox Theological Seminary was released this year (No. 4 (17) 2022).
The new issue of The Theological Bulletin of the Smolensk Orthodox Theological Seminary continues the tradition of cooperation with leading experts in the field of theological, church-historical, and humanitarian disciplines on the basis of partnership with spiritual and secular higher educational institutions. Thus, a high level of scientific research is ensured.
Recall that the journal «Theological Bulletin of the Smolensk Orthodox Theological Seminary» is a scientific publication of the Smolensk Seminary, one of the oldest theological educational institutions of the Russian Orthodox Church. The journal was created with the blessing of Metropolitan Isidor of Smolensk and Dorogobuzh with the participation of the faculty of the theological school. The journal is included in the scientific base «Russian Science Citation Index» and in the All-Church list of journals in which it is recommended to publish the results of research by applicants for academic degrees in theology and church history.The new issue of The Theological Bulletin of the Smolensk Orthodox Theological Seminary focuses on several relevant thematic areas: church history, theological, humanitarian studies, and sect studies.The section «Church-Historical Research» opens with an article by Metropolitan Isidor of Smolensk and Dorogobuzh «Implementation of the religious policy of the Soviet government during the Khrushchev anti-religious campaign (1954-1964): a multifactorial analysis.» The presented work is devoted to a comprehensive analysis of the religious policy of the Soviet government during the «Khrushchev» anti-religious campaigns (1954, 1958 — 1964). Based on the latest data, the researcher will present the history of persecution, compiling a multi-level description of the repressive actions of the Soviet authorities in relation to the Russian Orthodox Church.Archbishop Justinian (Ovchinnikov) of Elista and Kalmykia, in his church-historical study «The Occupation of Bessarabia by Romania in 1918 and Its Influence on the Religious Situation in the Region», examines the events associated with the occupation of Bessarabia by Romania and their impact on the religious situation in the region. The historical events that took place in the region about a century ago clearly illustrate once again how great is the influence of state structures on internal church processes, especially in the context of military operations and occupation.The article «Institutionalization of the Renovationist schism in Transbaikalia (1922 — the first half of 1923)» authored by Associate Professor of the Tomsk Theological Seminary Deacon Sergiy Kulpinov is devoted to the analysis of the processes of institutionalization of the Renovationist schism in the Transbaikal diocese. The author pays great attention to the peculiarities of the position of the Church in the Far Eastern Republic, and also points to the internal situation of the Trans-Baikal diocese in 1922. The processes of the formation of the Renovationist schism in the region in 1923 are described in the context of support from the Soviet authorities, the intervention of the Siberian church administration and the aspirations of the local clergy .In the work “Activities of the Religious Association of the Holy Cross Exaltation of the Old Believer Church of the Belokrinitsky Concord in the village of Malye Lipki, Sychevsky District, Smolensk Region in the 1950s-1980s”, Candidate of Historical Sciences A.M. Ivanov, in collaboration with A.S. Azarenkova, turn to a little-studied page Old Believers in the Smolensk region. New archival documents are introduced into scientific circulation, which reveal the problems of the relationship between the Commissioner for Religious Affairs under the Council of Ministers for the Smolensk Region and believers.The “theological” section of the messenger opens with the article “Portrait of a Russian canonist during the end. XIX — early. XX centuries: to the history of the development of domestic canon law” authored by Associate Professor of the Department of Theological and Church-Historical Disciplines of the Smolensk Orthodox Theological Seminary Priest Vladislav Bagan. The author of this article believes that the influence of Orthodox ethics and canon law of the Russian Orthodox Church on the state of the domestic legal system is still little studied.Studies of domestic canonists of the period 1877 — 1917. demonstrated that the Orthodox canonical tradition was a much more diverse and rich phenomenon than was previously assumed in the mass consciousness.The article «Personal Freedom and Responsibility (1 Corinthians 9)» by a post-graduate student of the Moscow Theological Academy Priest Pavel Gudilin is devoted to the exegesis of a fragment of the first epistle to the Corinthians of St. app. Paul. In the fragment of the epistle under consideration, not only the personal experience of the apostle in the use of freedom is revealed, but also a kind of instruction on the behavior of any Christian through the prism of Gospel freedom.Of course, no scientific journal of a higher spiritual institution can do without the theological research of its graduates. The Theological Research section closes with an article in the field of patrology, The Application of the Patristic Doctrine of the Education of “External” Feelings in Modern Pedagogical Practice, authored by V.P. Markov. This work presents the main directions and theoretical possibilities of adapting the patristic teaching on the education of «external» feelings in modern pedagogical practice. The soteriological aspect distinguishes Christian anthropology and asceticism from modern secular psychology and pedagogy.The author puts forward a bold assumption, believing that the patristic anthropological tradition can be used as an effective tool in secular humanistic pedagogy.The section «Sect Studies» includes the article «The activities of the All-Union Council of Evangelical Christian Baptists (AUCECB) in the second half of the 20th century based on the materials of the Smolensk region» (authors: S. Yu. Mikhailenkov, candidate of historical sciences A. M. Ivanov). The authors examine the activities of the Baptists in Soviet times on the example of the Smolensk region. Analytical work has been done with the materials, new archival sources are being put into circulation, and the author’s position regarding the Baptist doctrine is presented.The section «Humanitarian Studies» opens with the work of L. S. Razina, Associate Professor of the Department of General Psychology of the Smolensk University for the Humanities, «Attitude of young people to the digitalization of education.» The article analyzes the prerequisites for the digitalization of education, positive and negative trends in the development of the personality of students in the context of digitalization. The characteristics of the risks associated with the use of digital technologies are given.The article presents a study of the features of the attitude to the digitalization of education of modern youth. The author analyzes the data of a survey of students of Smolensk State University and the Smolensk Orthodox Theological Seminary on satisfaction with education using digital technologies.The final article of the Theological Bulletin of the Smolensk Orthodox Theological Seminary was the article “The Theoretical Hypercriticism of Jean Baudrillard in the Context of Postmodern Social Theory” by Priest Maxim Mishchenko, Assistant Rector of the SPDS for Research. The presented article is a historical and philosophical study of the evolution of the critical concept of Jean Baudrillard in the context of postmodern social theory. The French thinker Jean Baudrillard is regarded as one of the leading authors of poststructuralist and postmodern discourses.Link to the new issue of the Theological Bulletin of the Smolensk Orthodox Theological Seminary: http://theologyjournal.ru/2022_n4/Responsible secretary of the magazine «Theological Bulletin of the Smolensk Orthodox Theological Seminary» priest Maxim Mishchenko.
