On July 5, 2023, the second issue of the Theological Bulletin of the Smolensk Orthodox Theological Seminary was released 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: theological, church-historical, and humanitarian studies.
«Theological Bulletin of the Smolensk Orthodox Theological Seminary» opens with the article «The concept of «eidos» in anthropology and Christology of the III-V centuries.» by the newly minted doctor of theology, Andrey Vladilenovich Danilov. The author, being a Doctor of Philosophy, represents two significant educational institutions of the Republic of Belarus: the Minsk Theological Academy and the Belarusian State University.
The presented article is devoted to the analysis of the problems of the formation of early Christian anthropology on the basis of the historical and theological disclosure of the concept of «eidos». The author uses the historical-genetic method, which makes it possible to reveal the features and changes in the theological reception of the concept of «eidos» by Origen, schmch. Methodius and Blessed Diadocha.
The section «Church-Historical Research» opens with an article by Metropolitan Isidor of Smolensk and Dorogobuzh «On the issue of the first campaign to seize church valuables in 1918-1919. (on the example of the Smolensk diocese). This article is devoted to the characteristics of church-state relations during the Civil War from a regional point of view, namely, on the example of the Smolensk diocese. The presented work is an attempt at a systematic historical study of the phenomenon of the state policy of the secular authorities in relation to the Russian Orthodox Church (1918 — 1919).
The scientific novelty of the article is due, firstly, to the study of the church policy of state authorities and the change in the degree of participation of the Church in various spheres of state and public life, and, secondly, to the chosen chronological framework covering the period of the Civil War. This formulation of the problem allowed the author to systematically and comprehensively analyze the changes that took place in the relationship between the Soviet state and the Orthodox Church on the example of the Smolensk region in 1918-1919.
Archbishop of Elista and Kalmykia Justinian (Ovchinnikov) in his church-historical study «Resistance to the Romanization of Bessarabia in the 1920-1930s» touches on a very acute topic of the struggle of Bessarabian public associations (“Union of Orthodox Christians”, “Alexander Nevsky Brotherhood”, “Union of the Russian People”) with Russophobia in Bessarabia in the 1920s. The study describes in detail the reaction of the Orthodox Moldovan public to the ban on the Church Slavonic language in worship during that historical period.
Such actions of the Romanian Church on the territory of Bessarabia, as the withdrawal of the Church Slavonic language, became part of the general state policy of «Romanization» of the Bessarabian population. The author notes that “the defense by clerics and believers of divine services in the Church Slavonic language, their right to use the Russian language in church life, divine services according to the Julian calendar was a form of their participation in the Bessarabian liberation movement.”
Church-historical topics are continued by a study on the topic “The Old Believer Question at the Third All-Diaspora Council of ROCOR (1974)” authored by priest Nikita Chernyshov. The present work discusses the discussion of the Old Believer issue at the III All-Diaspora Council of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia (1974). The author examines several documentary sources that influenced the course of the conciliar discussion on this topic. The author of the study believes that the participants in the Council came to the conclusion that it was necessary to remove oaths and other prohibitions from the Old Believers, but left the final decision to the ROCOR Council of Bishops.
The section on Church Historical Research concludes with an article on the topic “Siberian Renovationism in the Conditions of Growing Resistance to Schism: the Second All-Siberian Church Congress and Its Main Decisions” by the leading researcher of the Tomsk Theological Seminary, Candidate of Theology, Deacon Sergiy Kulpinov. The article is devoted to the analysis of the decisions of the Renovationist Second All-Siberian Church Congress, which was held in Novonikolaevsk from May 5 to May 13, 1924. The author pays attention to the analysis of the main resolutions of the Congress, the composition of its participants and the course of work. Father Sergiy Kulpinov comes to the conclusion that the Second All-Siberian Church Congress became the apogee of Siberian renovationist autocephaly.
The section «Humanitarian Studies» opens with the work «Criticism of modern theories of gender in the work «The Temptation» by Jean Baudrillard» by the assistant to the rector for scientific work of the SPDS priest Maxim Mishchenko. This article is focused on the analysis of the work of Jean Baudrillard «The Temptation». The trajectory of J. Baudrillard’s thought is intricate and unpredictable; «The Temptation» reflects the process of reinterpretation of the concepts of «gender», «sexuality», «corporality» in modern culture. To do this, the French thinker introduces a new category of «temptation», which is the fundamental core of criticism of the dominant social theories of the 1970s. (feminism, Frankfurt School, etc.).
The author tries to explain how the French theorist became associated with the criticism of feminism.
The scientific article «Religious Conflictology in the System of Spiritual and Secular Humanitarian Education», co-authored by Archpriest Vladimir Fedorov and P. Yu. Belov, is a description of the result of cooperation between the Church-Practical Department of the St. Petersburg Theological Academy and the Department of Psychology of Crisis and Extreme Situations of the Faculty of Psychology St. Petersburg State University.
The authors developed a pilot project of the textbook «Introduction to Religious Conflictology and Irhinology», substantiated its structure, which grew out of the course «Psychology of Ethno-Religious Conflicts». The necessity of developing a system for studying peacekeeping initiatives — irinology is affirmed.
Of course, no scientific journal of a higher spiritual institution can do without theological research by novice authors. The section “Research of young scientists” is presented by the article “Historical transformation of the concept of the “Kingdom of Heaven” in the Orthodox Church” by nun Afanasia (Erokhina). This article is devoted to the formation of the concept of the «Kingdom of Heaven» in Orthodoxy, and in particular, in hymnographic texts used in worship by the Russian Orthodox Church.
Executive secretary of the journal «Theological Bulletin of the Smolensk Orthodox Theological Seminary»
priest Maxim Mishchenko
