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THE FEMALE SPIRITUAL ELDER AND DEATH: SOME THOUGHTS ON CONTEMPORARY LIVES OF RUSSIAN ORTHODOX SAINTS
стр.4-24
In contemporary Orthodox hagiography a special type of saint has emerged - blessed female spiritual elders (blazhennye staritsy). In some respects this form of sainthood is a successor to the traditional “fools for the sake of Christ.” Yet the staritsy have their distinctive features, chief among them the saint’s possession of an incurable disease such as blindness or motor function disorders. The meaning of these ailments can be interpreted as a sign of permanent liminality and the person’s divine election. The disorder indicates that while alive the female elder also belongs to the world of the dead (or the next world). The creation of these iconic narratives can be seen as an attempt to democratize the hagiographical canon by including folk religious motifs and images. This “folklorization” of the genre of church hagiography expresses the idea that the Orthodox faith has deep roots in popular religiosity and therefore can be accessible to common people.
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THE PUNISHMENT OF SAINTS AS PIOUS BLASPHEMY IN THE MIDDLE AGES AND EARLY MODERN PERIOD
стр.25-57
This article is devoted to the wide set of practices of coercion and punishment of saints via their images that are well documented in the Catholic world from the early Middle Ages to the Early Modern period. According to the basic historiographical narrative, the humiliation of saints officially practiced by medieval monks and canons was prohibited by the Second Council of Lyon in 1274, leading to the gradual marginalization of this devotional “instrument.” Nevertheless, exempla that presented the coercion of saints as a legitimate (although radical) method of communication with supernatural powers continued to appear in collections for preachers even in the Counter-Reformation period. At the same time, by the late Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, these practices had been gradually reinterpreted as superstition and/or blasphemy (sacrilege). This transformation is due to two interdependent agendas: the growing delegitimization and even demonization of popular religion by Church intellectuals and prelates, and the Protestant iconoclasm of the 16th and 17th centuries, which made the ecclesiastical authorities, who were anxious to protect the core of the traditional faith, much more sensitive to any form of irreverence or deviance toward statues or other images of saints.
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TWO ECUMENISMS: CONSERVATIVE CHRISTIAN ALLIANCES AS A NEW FORM OF ECUMENICAL COOPERATION
стр.58-87
An upsurge in Orthodox anti-ecumenical criticism in 2016 has raised the question of the current state of ecumenism. Examining this topic, the author describes a new form of ecumenical activity associated with the emergence of conservative Christian alliances in defense of traditional values. This “conservative ecumenism,” or “Ecumenism 2.0,” differs from the “classical ecumenism” that arose in the early twentieth century and that continues to be represented today by the World Council of Churches and other ecumenical institutions. The author considers the phenomenon of “ecumenical consciousness” and demonstrates that it can be found in both types of ecumenism. Some of the Orthodox anti-ecumenists who attack classical ecumenism, however, may eagerly opt for this new, conservative “Ecumenism 2.0.” This article discusses the possible competition between the two types of ecumenisms.
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WHAT KIND OF RELIGIOUS PERSONS WERE INVITED TO THE USSR, AND WHO WAS ALLOWED TO GO ABROAD (1943-1985)
стр.88-112
This article explores the history of official “religious” travels to and from the USSR in the period of 1943 to 1985. The main sources are the documents of the Central Committee of the Communist Party. The study analyzes how the trips were prepared and realized, how and why people from various religious confessions were sent abroad and invited to the Soviet Union, and other related issues. The author distinguishes the following types of official missions: diplomatic, recreational, educational, religious-junctional, and pilgrimage. There were three key political objectives - propaganda, information, and recruitment. These trips played an important role as they established a systematic form of communication, which sometimes served as an alternative to official diplomacy.
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BARBARA NEWMAN. 2013. MEDIEVAL CROSSOVER: READING THE SECULAR AGAINST THE SACRED. CONWAY LECTURES IN MEDIEVAL STUDIES. NOTRE DAME, IN: UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME PRESS. - 400 P
стр.113-121
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ELENA SMILIANSKAIA. 2016. MAGICIANS, BLASPHEMERS, AND HERETICS IN THE NET OF RUSSIAN INTERROGATION IN THE 18TH CENTURY (VOLSHEBNIKI, BOGOKHUL'NIKI, ERETIKI V SETIAKH SYSKA XVIII VEKA). MOSCOW: LOMONOSOV (IN RUSSIAN). - 384 P.
стр.122-127
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