Crisis and Transformations in Russian Orthodoxy

The Cosmopolitics of Charismatic Orthodoxy: Stefan (Vasilii Karpovich Podgornyi) and His Followers

At the end of Russia’s old regime, the transformation of society initiated by the Great Reforms of the 1860s had also transformed the Orthodox Church. After the Emancipation, former serfs found new opportunities as laborers, factory workers, entrepreneurs, and even priests, monks, and holy men. Vasilii Karpovich Podgornyi was one such serf who, after Emancipation, became a successful businessman. Inspired by traditional piety he used his entrepreneurial skills to create networks of religious communities, primarily composed of pious women.

Soviet Renovationism: A Church Phenomenon or an Instrument of Secret Services?

The article deals with the so‑called Renovationist schism in the Russian Orthodox Church in the 1920–1940s. The nature of Renovation‑ ism is not obvious, which led to the emergence of different historiographical concepts. This phenomenon is explored here on the basis of a wide range of sources, both open (as the press of the 1920s) and previously classified documents (primarily from secret services and the highest Soviet authorities). The real nature of the interaction between the “Living Church” and the GPU in the 1920s and in subsequent years is analyzed.

Soviet Renovationism: A Church Phenomenon or an Instrument of Secret Services?

The article deals with the so‑called Renovationist schism in the Russian Orthodox Church in the 1920–1940s. The nature of Renovation‑ ism is not obvious, which led to the emergence of different historiographical concepts. This phenomenon is explored here on the basis of a wide range of sources, both open (as the press of the 1920s) and previously classified documents (primarily from secret services and the highest Soviet authorities). The real nature of the interaction between the “Living Church” and the GPU in the 1920s and in subsequent years is analyzed.

From Church Revolution to Social Revolution: The Zealots of Church Renewal in 1917

This article examines the PR and practical work of the most active members of the “Brotherhood of the Zealots of Church Renewal” in the aftermath of the Revolution of February 1917, on the basis of archival materials and periodical publications from the time. These personalities include Fr. Konstantin Aggeev, Fr. Ioann Yegorov, Fr. Pyotr Kremlyovsky, and Fr. Mikhail Chel’tsov.

The Issue of Autocephaly of the Georgian Church in 1917 in the Archive of V.N. Beneshevich

This article is devoted to the study of the problem of Church autocephaly made by a prominent scholar, an expert in canonical law, Vladimir Beneshevich. The article is based on the unpublished documents from the Beneshevich archive in St. Petersburg. The documents help reconstructing religious life of the country of the first post‑revolutionary years (1917–1922). Their significant part deals with the problems of the canonical law, mostly related to the issue of autocephaly of the Georgian Church.

Canon Law in a Bolshevik Courtroom: The Russian Revolution as an Orthodox Legal Revolution

This paper examines how the rapid shift in the relationship between the Orthodox Church and the state in 1917 both facilitated and under‑ mined the Church’s longstanding attempt to come to terms with its canonical tradition. Legal restrictions placed upon the Church forced Orthodox leaders to consider the value of their own canonical laws and how to apply them in an inimical context.

The “Spiritual Proletariat” and the Popular Legitimacy of the All-Russian Church Council of 1917–1918

After the February Revolution of 1917, self‑described “spiritual proletarians” of church deacons and readers actively advocated for in‑ creased material support and improved legal status in the Russian Orthodox Church.

Moscow’s Diocesan Revolution

In the months after the February Revolution, the Church was convulsed by a general revolt against ecclesiastical authority. The Church survived this revolt, and organized an “All‑Russian Council (Sobor)” from September of 1917 until August of 1918, which re‑established the Patriarchate of Moscow and negotiated a reform of the Church’s authority structure. The ultimate success of the reform process depended on the ability of the Church’s various communities to forge a com‑ promise in the midst of a political and ecclesiastical revolution.

The Most Holy Governing Synod on the Eve and During the Revolution. An Historical and Sociological Essay

The article analyzes the composition of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church in 1917. It presents the social portrait of the bishops who were members of the Synod just before and during the Revolution. The article explores the social origin, educational background, time of priestly and monastic ordination, and the length of office of all pre‑Revolutionary Synodal members. The author then makes the similar analysis of the new Synod nominated by the “revolutionary” ober‑procurator V.N. Lvov.

The Crisis of the “State Church” in the Focus of the Parish Question. 1860s–1917

In this article, the author looks at the development of the so‑called Orthodox parish issue within the last fifty years of the Russian Empire. This issue helps identifying the main elements of the crisis in which the State Church system would find itself in 1917. The problem was present since the 18th century and then exploded in heated discussions in the beginning of the 20th century.

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