VARIA

Emergence of “Church Subjectivity” in Russia on the Example of Normative Texts about Orthodox Clergy (Late 18th — Mid 19th Century)

This article describes the changes in understanding the role and identity of the Russian Orthodox priesthood during late 18th — mid-19th centuries. The analysis of normative texts defining the image of parish priests reveals the gradual differentiation of the social contexts. While at the start of the period the priest acts within a more or less homogenous society, during the first decades of the 19th century this context is gradually reconsidered within binary opposition of church vs. civil (secular).

Phenomenology of the Sacred and Fiction: The Fantastic World of Algernon Blackwood

The article deals with the work of Algernon Blackwood, the British classic of horror and science fiction literature. His novels and stories’ central theme is manifestations of another world in everyday life. To analyze Blackwood’s worldview, the author uses the tools of the phenomenology of religion, in particular, Mircea Eliade’s ideas on the sacred and the profane dichotomy and the hierophany; Rudolf Otto’s theory of the numinous; and the phenomenological theories of W.B. Kristensen and G. van der Leeuw.

The Holy Scripture Through the Eyes of the Japanese Underground Christians: the Book «Tenchi Hajimari-no Koto» («The Beginning of Heaven and Earth»)

The article analyses Tenchi Hajimari-no Koto (“The Beginning of Heaven and Earth”), one of the rare written monuments of the Japanese underground Christians and a unique example of interaction between Western Christian and Japanese traditions. The aim is to reconstruct a specific understanding of the Holy Scripture by the people, who were for a long time cut off from any connection with Christianity.

Discourse about the Russian Muslims in the Materials of the Special Meetings of 1905–1914

This article provides a short overview of the so called five “Special meetings” organized by various imperial ministries on the issues of faith tolerance and above all on the situation of Muslims in Russia, from 1905 to 1914. For each of these meetings, the authors give the names of the major protagonists within the imperial elite: officials, Church leaders, Orientalists/ethnographers, and then a short sketch of topics discussed.

The Influence of Religious Norms and Communal Traditions on the Social Image of the Soviet Family in the 1920s

The article, based on archival and other documentary and sociological material, explores the influence of religious norms of life and communal traditions on the evolution of the Soviet family in the 1920s. A certain institutional stabilization of the family was the result of a turn of policies in support of traditional foundations, including the Church and communal norms of life. The attitudes of large groups of population towards these norms were ambiguous.

Humility and Economic Ethics of the Russian Orthodox Church

Using a number of concepts from the Weberian sociology of religion (economic ethics/ethos, typology “asceticism/mysticism”, Weber’s reception of the Nietzschean idea of ressentiment) the author analyzes the economic ethos of contemporary Russian Orthodoxy. The article analyzes “humility” (smirenie) — one of the key virtues of the contemporary economic ethics of the Russian Orthodox Church. The author builds a typology of various understandings of humility in today’s Russian Orthodoxy in connection with economic practices of Ortho‑ dox actors.

Exploring the Postsecular. Three Meanings of «the Secular» and Their Possible Transcendence

In this article the author constructs a typology of the different senses secularization has been understood, and how these various senses correlate to different models of secularization in the modern world. He engages with the works of Jürgen Habermas and argues that Habermas’s conception of secularization is too closely linked to the European model in which secularization and modernization are correlated. Casanova argues that the world may be becoming “post‑secular,” characterized by the re‑emergence of religion as a public issue in some societies.

Three Models of Church-State Relations in Contemporary Russia

This article looks at state‑religion relations in Russia at two levels: legal and political. After an introductory overview of the development of religious freedom legislation in Russia since the fall of the USSR, I analyze the current model of religion‑state relations in Russia. I then move from the legal to the political plane and argue that in Russia not one, but three models of religion‑state relations are at play, which coexist and in part contradict each other.

Ziauddin Sardar: A Critical Mode of Rational Ethics by a Muslim Polymath

The article presents an overview of the ethical discourse of the con‑ temporary English‑speaking Muslim intellectual Ziauddin Sardar. While Sardar grew up in the UK in the family of immigrants from Pakistan and received his education in Europe, he continues to consider himself not only European and British, but also Pakistani and Mus‑ lim. His interests vary in a wide spectrum of topics and include Islam in the contemporary world, philosophy of science, «Islamic science,» sociology, education, etc.

Do Religious Senses and Ideas Really Exist? Critique of the Current Psychology of Religion

Since the 1990s, there has been a huge discussion in religious studies on the uses of the terms «secular» and «religious». In this article we use the methodology of critical study of religion within the psychology of religion. There are two main strategies to construct an object of research in this field: 1) studying of how religious senses occur (neurotheology, transpersonal psychology) and 2) studying of how religious representations emerge (cognitive religious studies).

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