The 1st issue of the Theological Bulletin of the Smolensk Orthodox Theological Seminary was released in 2023

On March 31, 2023, the first issue of the Theological Bulletin of the Smolensk Orthodox Theological Seminary was published this year (No. 1 (18) 2023).

 

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, humanitarian, natural science disciplines based on 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 research, as well as research work of young scientists, graduates of the Smolensk Theological School.

 

The section “Church-Historical Research” opens with an article by Metropolitan Isidor of Smolensk and Dorogobuzh “The state of source studies in the field of church-state relations during the “Khrushchev” persecution of 1954-1964. (on the example of the Tver region).

This article is a description of the research potential of regional archival materials (on the example of the Tver region) for the study of the religious policy of the Soviet government during the «Khrushchev» anti-religious campaigns during 1954 — 1964. The author tries to reflect the state of source studies in the field of church-state relations of the specified chronological period. The scientific novelty of this work lies in the fact that for two years the author studied the office documentation of the authorized Council for Religious Affairs under the Council of Ministers of the USSR for the Tver Region (materials of the State Archives of the Tver Region).

Archbishop Justinian (Ovchinnikov) of Elista and Kalmykia, in his church-historical study “The Formation of the Romanian Patriarchate in 1925 and the Prerequisites for the National-Political Conflict in Bessarabia”, touches upon the very acute topic of the non-canonical jurisdictional transfer of the Kishinev diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church to the diocese of the Romanian Orthodox Church. The main thesis of this article is the assertion that the jurisdictional actions of the Romanian Church on the territory of Bessarabia have become part of the general state policy of «Romanization» of the Bessarabian population.

According to the author, «the transformation of the Chisinau diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church into a Romanian diocese was carried out at the cost of replacing a significant part of the local clergy with Romanian.»

 

The section «Humanitarian Studies» opens with a unique work of the Doctor of Cultural Studies, Professor of the Department of Philosophy, Religious Studies and Pedagogy of the Russian Academy of Arts E. V. Bilchenko «The Philosophy of Music of M. I. Glinka in the Optics of Classical and Non-Classical Aesthetics». The paper analyzes the philosophy of music of M. I. Glinka through the conceptual prism of classical and non-classical aesthetics.

The article “A Look at the Phenomenon of the “Church Blog” from the Point of View of R. Yakobson’s Communication Theory” by SPDS Assistant Vice-Rector for Research Priest Maxim Mishchenko presents an analysis of such a topical phenomenon for modern Christian denominations as the Orthodox mission on the Internet, in particular, missionary practices in the digital platform of «social networks». The sphere of communication is currently concentrated within social media. The phenomenon of the «church blog» is evaluated from the point of view of R. Jacobson’s theory of communication.

The scientific work “The Threat of Transhumanism in the Paradigm of the New Age Movement” by Candidate of Theology, Associate Professor of the Department of Theological and Church-Historical Disciplines K. Yu. Kulakov is devoted to a conceptual analysis of the origin and development of the ideology of transhumanism. The author also tries to trace the main directions of transhumanism, clearly reflecting aspects of the socio-cultural crisis of modern civilization. The result of this study was the theological characterization of the ideology of transhumanism, its theoretical base was revealed.

The work «The Fall of the Theocratic Regimes of New England» authored by Ya. F. Makarov, a lecturer at the Department of Theological and Church-Historical Disciplines of the SPDS, is a brief historical excursion into the political history of New England in the 17th century. The author reveals the specific differences of the colonial system of government in the New England colonies.

The “theological” section of the Bulletin opens with the article “The Interpretation of “Church Law” in the Works of Alexei Stepanovich Pavlov and the Development of Domestic Canonism” by Priest Vladislav Bagan, Ph.D. This article is devoted to the analysis of the canonical heritage of the famous Russian specialist in the field of church law Alexei Stepanovich Pavlov. The «golden age» of Russian canonism is considered to be the period covering the second half of the 19th century. and the first two decades of the 20th century.

The author, on the basis of documentary evidence, puts forward the thesis that it was A.S. Pavlov who was the key representative of a number of prominent domestic specialists in the field of church law at the turn of the 19th — 20th centuries.

 

Another study in the field of biblical studies is the work of MTA postgraduate G.S. Tsebruk “Teaching about the superiority of Christian righteousness in the Gospel of Matthew”. This article is devoted to the analysis of the statement of Jesus Christ in the Sermon on the Mount: “For I tell you, unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven” (Matthew 5:20). The author carried out a detailed analysis of the context of the statement on the scale of the entire Gospel.

Of course, no scientific journal of a higher spiritual institution can do without the theological research of its graduates. The section «Research of young scientists» is presented by an article in the field of the history of the Russian Orthodox Church «On the problems of periodization of the anti-bell campaigns of the Soviet government in modern church historiography» by K. K. Garin. This article is of purely scientific interest for the simple reason that there are extremely few studies devoted to the consideration of «Stalin’s anti-bell campaigns». This article is devoted to the problems of periodization of the anti-bell campaigns of the Soviet government in modern church historiography.

The author, within the framework of the study of «anti-bell» campaigns of the period of «Stalinist» repressions, tries to trace the change in religious policy during the 1920s — 1930s.

 

Link to the new issue of the Theological Bulletin of the Smolensk Orthodox Theological Seminary: http://theologyjournal.ru/2023_1/

 

Responsible secretary of the magazine «Theological Bulletin of the Smolensk Orthodox Theological Seminary» priest Maxim Mishchenko

 

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