On October 16, the third issue of the journal “Theological Bulletin of the Smolensk Orthodox Theological Seminary” was released in the current year 2023 (No. 3 (20) 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 history, and humanitarian disciplines on the basis of partnerships with spiritual and secular higher educational institutions. This ensures a high level of scientific research.
Let us 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 magazine was created with the blessing of Metropolitan Isidore of Smolensk and Dorogobuzh with the participation of the teaching staff of the theological school. The journal is included in the scientific database “Russian Science Citation Index” and in the Church-wide 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 current thematic areas: church history, theology, humanities, and research by young scientists.
The “Theological Bulletin of the Smolensk Orthodox Theological Seminary” opens with church-historical research.
The section “Church Historical Research” begins with an article by Archbishop of Elista and Kalmyk Justinian (Ovchinnikov) “Resistance of the Orthodox community of Bessarabia to the transition of worship to the New Julian style in the 1920-1930s.” The presented article examines the events associated with the resistance of the Orthodox community belonging to the Chisinau diocese to the transition of worship to the New Julian style in the 1920-1930s.
The author of the presented work is familiar first-hand with the life of Orthodox Christians in the Republic of Moldova, therefore he considers it very important to turn to the historical events of a hundred years ago in the Bessarabian lands. The presented article examines the events associated with the resistance of the Orthodox community belonging to the Chisinau diocese to the transition of worship to the New Julian style in the 1920-1930s. The author of the presented work is familiar first-hand with the life of Orthodox Christians in the Republic of Moldova, therefore he considers it very important to turn to the historical events of a hundred years ago in the Bessarabian lands.
Further, the article by Metropolitan Isidor of Smolensk and Dorogobuzh “Guidelines of the Council for the Affairs of the Russian Orthodox Church under the Council of Ministers of the USSR for 1959 (based on materials from the archives of the Kalinin region)” includes the publication of a number of archival documentary materials reflecting the organizational activities of the Council for the Affairs of the Russian Orthodox Church under the Council of Ministers of the USSR during the specified period.
Based on a detailed analysis of the presented texts, it is possible to give a holistic description of the actions of the apparatus of the Council for the Affairs of the Russian Orthodox Church at the time of the beginning of the “Khrushchev” persecutions. The presented documentary materials make it possible to trace the processes of regulation of the activities of Orthodox dioceses through the guidelines of the central bodies of church authority (Administration of the Moscow Patriarchate, His Holiness Patriarch Alexy).
The article by Abbot Agafangel (Gagua) “The formation of Archbishop of Molotov and Solikamsk Alexander (Tolstopyatov) as an Orthodox theologian-apologist in the era of Soviet theology” demonstrates the process of formation of the Eminence Alexander (Tolstopyatov), “as an Orthodox theologian-apologist in the era of Soviet theology.” According to the author of the scientific article, the apologetic works of Archbishop Alexander (Tolstopyatov) are “historical monuments of the era of their creation.”
The section “Church Historical Research” closes with an article by representatives of the Smolensk branch of the Russian Academy of National Economy and Public Administration under the President of the Russian Federation, A. M. Ivanov and S. Yu. Mikhailenkov, “The revival and organization of the Orthodox Scout movement in the early 1990s, using the example of Smolensk region». “The presented article is devoted to the creation, activities and revival of Orthodox scouting in Russia.” It should be noted that new archival sources and periodical materials have been introduced into scientific circulation.
The “Theological Research” section opens with an article by Priest Maxim Mishchenko, assistant rector of the Smolensk Orthodox Theological Seminary for design and publishing work, “Problems of the historicity of the concept of “Eucharistic ecclesiology” by Fr. Nikolai Afanasyev.» Ecclesiology Fr. Nikolai Afanasyev and its church-historical relevance remains poorly studied, so it is necessary to use new analytical approaches when studying this original concept.
According to Father Maxim, “Eucharistic ecclesiology” claims to actualize the project of “return to the Fathers,” being a kind of cohesion of the theology of the Russian diaspora. XX century and academic (“school”) theology of the 19th century. Jurisdictional disputes in the Russian Orthodox Church in the interwar period, the collapse of the national-social and legal models of the Church, also became important motivational factors in the revision of traditional ecclesiological concepts carried out by Fr. Nikolai Afanasyev. “Eucharistic Ecclesiology” is one of a number of intellectual projects implemented in the religious and philosophical environment of the Russian diaspora. XX century.
Next, Archpriest Andrei Melnichuk, associate professor of the department of theological and church-historical disciplines of the Smolensk Orthodox Theological Seminary, in the article “Hymnographic description of the betrayal of Judas Iscariot in the Orthodox service of Holy Week” addresses the topic of liturgical theology. The hymnography of the Orthodox Church expresses through poetic language the main narratives of gospel and church history. This article is devoted to the analysis of the hymnography of the event of the betrayal of our Lord Jesus Christ by His disciple Judas Iscariot in the liturgical texts of Holy Week (Maundy Wednesday and Maundy Thursday).
The section “Humanitarian Research” opens with a joint article by A. M. Ivanov and E. K. Aksyonova “Creation and activities of religious communities of Evangelical Christian Baptists in the 1950-1970s. based on materials from the Smolensk region.» The presented article is devoted to the creation, organization and activities of religious communities of Evangelical Christian Baptists in the Smolensk region in the second half of the 20th century. The authors “using the example of the Roslavl religious community of Evangelical Christian Baptists show what problems religious societies faced during registration.”
Further, the Theological Bulletin presents the scientific article “God-man and man-god: spiritual transformation and physical transformation as polar categories of the Orthodox worldview and philosophical transhumanism” authored by Emiliano Mettini, candidate of pedagogical sciences. The presented work is an attempt to conceptually examine the ideology of transhumanism based on an appeal to the heritage of leading European intellectuals of recent times (J. Agamben, M. Foucault, S. Zizek).
Of course, no scientific journal of a higher religious institution can do without the theological works of young researchers. The final article of the journal “Theological Bulletin of the Smolensk Orthodox Theological Seminary” was the article “Methodology for teaching the Church Slavonic language of the Hieromartyr Thaddeus (Uspensky), developed on the basis of the experience of translating the Bible by St. Philaret (Drozdov)” by a student at the Tambov Theological Seminary A. V. Klinkov.
This article examines the controversy between St. Philaret (Drozdov) and Alexander Semenovich Shishkov regarding the translation of the Bible from Church Slavonic into Russian, which served as the methodological basis for teaching the Church Slavonic language, developed by Archbishop Thaddeus (Uspensky).
Link to the new issue of the “Theological Bulletin of the Smolensk Orthodox Theological Seminary”: http://theologyjournal.ru/2022_320/
Executive Secretary of the magazine «Theological Bulletin of the Smolensk Orthodox Theological Seminary»
Priest Maxim Mishchenko
