The 45th issue of the scientific and theological journal "Theological Herald" is published by MDA

The 45th issue of the scholarly and theological journal "Theological Herald", the second for the year 2022, was published by the Moscow Theological Academy.   The issue contains 19 articles on a wide variety of topics:   biblical studies, theology and philosophy, comparative theology, patrology and Christian literature, the history of the Russian Orthodox Church, liturgics, hagiography and Russian literature.   There are also two reviews in this issue: one on the book by hegumen Arseniy (Sokolov) with a commentary on the prophet Hosea, and another on V. V. Baidin's book on Old Russian pre-Christianity.   In this issue:   Hieromonk Irinei (Pikovsky) in his article "Christ as King and High Priest in Light of the Hasmonean Dynasty (2nd-1st centuries B.C.)" offers a study in order to determine the background of the author's use of the image of Melchizedek to point to the royal and high priestly dignity of Jesus Christ (Heb. 7:24-26; 8:1; 10:21 etc.). The question as to why the author of the epistle chose Melchizedek (cf. Genesis 14: 18-20; Psalm 109: 4) as the image of the deliverer of the king-priest has often been neglected by scholars. The answer to this, in the opinion of the author of the article, can be found when turning to sources relating to the period of the Hasmonean Dynasty and Herod the Great in Judea (163-164 BC.), when for the first time in the history of Israel were in power kings and high priests, who by blood succession and personal qualities did not fit the patriarchal ideals. A comparative analysis of the sources of early Judaism and biblical texts shows that even before Christ's birth in Israel there were expectations of two messiahs: from the tribe of Levi and from the tribe of Judah. In the opinion of the author, both attributes of power were very suitable for Jesus, whose high priesthood was celebrated in the uncreated tabernacle (Hebrews 9:11). The researcher concludes: the author of the epistle to the Hebrews did not choose the image of Melchizedek by chance at all in order to describe the character of the "eternal high priesthood" of Jesus Christ. The religious and political situation in Judea before the destruction of the Second Temple (70 AD) contributed to this.   Deacon Nikolai Shablevsky in his article "The words of Jesus Christ in Matthew 11:25 as an exegetical motif for the interpretation of Proverbs. 9, 4-10 and 11Q5 (11QPsa. Col. XVIII)" offers an exegetical analysis of the words of Scripture - Matthew 11, 25 and the parallel passage - Luke. 10, 21. The author suggests that the words of Jesus Christ serve as an exegetical motive for understanding Proverbs. 9:4-10 and 11Q5 (11QPsa. Col. XVIII). In turn, 11Q5 is an exegetical motive for understanding Proverbs. 9, 4-10. It is the author's opinion that Jesus Christ may have known the text of 11Q5, Psalm 154, possibly taken to interpret Proverbs. 9: 4-10 and characterizing the true wisdom of His apostles.   Stefan Parakhin in his article "The Abomination of Desolation and the Flight of Christians to Pella" analyses the passage from the Gospel of Mark containing the prophecy of the abomination of desolation standing where it should not stand (Mk 13:14). The focus is on the following questions: What is meant by the abomination of desolation? How does its appearance relate to the call to flee to the mountains? Is there a connection between this gospel verse and the account of the flight of Christians to Pella? To answer these questions, the author studied the texts of primary sources, did a comparative analysis of parallel passages in the synoptic Gospels and made a survey of scholarly literature which dealt with these issues.   Monk Neil in his article "A Philological Commentary on Selected Places in the Council Epistles" offers a philological commentary on three verses of the Council epistles: two in the Epistle of James and one in the Second Epistle of Peter. These verses present certain difficulties, albeit of a different kind. The first deals with the establishment of the original text and the author's intended meaning, the second with the possibilities of grammatical interpretation of the participle, and the third with the relationship between lexical semantics and theology. These three examples present three lines of philological analysis of the New Testament text (textual, grammatical and lexical-semantic), which provide a necessary basis for further theological work. Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Solonchenko in his article "Distance in theology of J.-L. Marion" reveals the concept of distance in the theological project of J.-L. Marion. The author provides a comparative analysis of Marion's views with the ideas of E. Levinas and G. W. von Balthasar. The first part gives a description of the idea of the infinite and the concept of the "Other" in Levinas. The second part analyzes the concept of distance in Balthasar's theology and identifies four different levels of use of the concept. The third part identifies the main meanings, aims and purposes of Marion's notion of distance and shows the similarities and differences with the ideas of Levinas and Balthasar. The author concludes that with all three thinkers "distance" is not a spatial category, indicating the radical difference, the ontological otherness of the poles between which it "passes". In addition to the four levels on which 'distance' is applied by Balthasar, Marion uses the category to develop a method of iconic theology. In this case "distance" is intended to show the irreducibility of God to any rational doctrine of Him. At this level, Marion's 'distance' fulfils the same role as Balthasar's 'analogy of being' but, compared to the 'analogy of being', 'distance' places greater emphasis on the irreducibility of the poles.   Rosalia Moiseevna Rupova in her article "The World as Sacrament in the Liturgical Theology of Archpriest Alexander Shmemann" touches on secularism, which is seen by Archpriest Alexander Shmemann as an anthropological heresy that undermines the understanding of man as a being who worships God, with worship being the primary act that both defines human nature and shapes it. Archpriest A. Schmemann's liturgical theology paves the way for the actualization in our time of the true meaning and power of worship, which means revealing its cosmic, ecclesiological and eschatological dimension and content. By perceiving the world as a Sacrament included in the liturgical action, it is possible to find the lost eucharistic being of man. The author substantiates the belonging of Father Alexander's theology to the direction of neopatristic synthesis, relevant in our days and far from exhausting its creative potential.   Hierodeacon Alexis (Ochkanov) in article "Role of Russian Orthodox Diaspora in Great Britain in strengthening Anglican-Orthodox interaction in 1920-1940s" offers analysis of the activity of St. Albans and St. Sergius of Radonezh Commonwealth in strengthening the links between Russian Orthodox and Anglican Churches. The article is written using problem-chronological and historical-genetic methods of research which help to analyse the activity of the Commonwealth during the first twenty years of its existence. Special attention is paid to the themes of annual Anglican-Orthodox congresses held by the Commonwealth and attended by leading figures of Russian Orthodoxy. The main result of the study is the conclusion that Commonwealth members have succeeded to some extent in strengthening the relationship between the Church of England and the Russian Orthodox Church in the context of the latter's international isolation. Thanks to the activities of the Orthodox members of the Commonwealth, many Anglican theologians and clergymen have been able to learn the basics of the Orthodox Faith. Although the Commonwealth members had no official authority to speak for their churches or to make any responsible decisions, their educational work has been of considerable benefit to Anglican-Orthodox dialogue, including large segments of the English ecclesiastical community in its orbit.   Dmitriy V. Larionov and priest Alexander Larionov in their publication "Problem of "historical Jesus" in Russia in the late XIX century on the example of books by D.F. Strauss" examine the perception of Russian authors in the second half of XIX century popular in Europe and new for that time ideas of Tübingen school on the example of books by David Friedrich Strauss, a prominent representative of biblical rationalism and author of "mythical theory". The aim of the study is to show how ambiguously Russian educated society perceived theological trends relevant to Europe. The article presents the diverse range of opinions of Russian authors of the 19th century regarding the works of the German theologian. In his study "A Philological Analysis of the Parable of the Wicked Vinedressers and its Problems in Cline Snodgrass," Priest Alexander Ovchinnikov attempts to show the characteristics of the philological analysis of the parables of the Lord Jesus Christ as an important part of the biblical critical studies of the American biblical scholar of the second half of the 20th century. Cline Snodgrass. In the course of the study the author concludes that philological basis plays a key role in the biblical studies of Snodgrass, and many theological constructions of the American biblical scholar concerning the text of Scripture are based on an in-depth philological elaboration of this text.   Hegumen Dionysius (Shlonov) offers a study on "The Three Spiritual Stages: Purification, Illumination and Deification (κάθαρσις, φωτησμός /ἔλλαμψις, θέωσις) in the Byzantine tradition". In the fourteenth century, St Gregory Palamas and his supporters and successors, on the basis of the preceding theological and Hesychast tradition of the Church, emphasised the doctrine of the vision of the non-divine light of Tabor and the attainment - in a state of utmost purity - of states of illumination and deification. The author is guided by the work of the famous theologian of the Orthodox world, Archpriest John Romanidis, The Hierarchical Theology, who believes that the doctrine of purification, illumination and theosis conveys the very essence of Orthodoxy, and in all aspects of its existence is reduced to these three concepts. This publication attempts to give a historical overview of each of the three terms, not only to assess Fr. John, but also to present in greater relief the place of Palamitic theology in the wider sacred theological tradition with the inner ideal of holiness as an absolute imperative.   Priest Anatoly Lipatov in his article "Sacramentological and ecclesiological aspect of the soteriology of St Cyril of Alexandria" considers the teaching of St Cyril of Alexandria about the Church and its sacraments, without participation in which a person cannot inherit eternal life. St Cyril teaches about the sacraments in a distinctly experiential aspect of soteriology. The scientific novelty of the study lies in the fact that a search of the literature on the topic revealed the absence of any research work specifically devoted to St Cyril's teaching on the sacraments and their role in relation to our salvation. The exception is a number of publications which deal with the sacrament of the Eucharist in the teachings of St Cyril, but these studies deal with the Eucharist within the general context of his theological system. This publication is the first attempt in Russian historiography to explore the sacramental and ecclesiological aspects of the soteriology of the great saint. As a result it is shown that all the soteriological teaching of St Cyril is inevitably connected with the teaching of the Church and its sacraments.   In the second part of his article, "A Motherly Blessing: On the Involvement of the Miracle-Making Theodore Icon of the Mother of God in the 1613 Invocation of Tsar Mikhail Feodorovich Romanov," the Metropolitan Ferapont (Kashin) describes the events of 1613 in Kostroma, which became the beginning of the historical path of the Romanov dynasty and analyses information from various sources concerning the involvement of the miracle-working Feodorovskaya Icon of the Mother of God in these events. Based on the comparison of the "Tale of Abraham Palitsyn", the "New Chronicler" and other sources concludes that the traditional version of the events of March 14, 1613 at the Holy Trinity Ipatiev Monastery requires a critical assessment because it is based on the fact that the events of March 14, 1613 took place in the Ipatiev Monastery. requires a critical assessment as it is based on the "Tale of Avraamy Palitsyn", and the author of the "Tale" biased selection of facts to present in his work, which prompts some researchers in our time to question the participation of the main shrine of Kostroma in the calling to the throne of Mikhail Romanov Feodorovich. The author notes the similarity and difference between the descriptions of the ceremonies of February 21, 1598, at the Novodevichy Convent near Moscow (the calling to the throne of Boris Godunov), and that of March 14, 1613, at the Ipatiev Monastery. Explains the lack of mention of the participation of the Feodorovskaya icon of the Mother of God in the events of March 14, when describing these events in sources up to 1630. The article discusses various versions of what icon and how the mother of Mikhail Feodorovich, the nun Martha, blessed her son for tsarist service. Archimandrite Macarius (Veretennikov) in his article "His Holiness Patriarch Nikon: The Beginning of His Life" examines the beginning of the life of His Holiness Patriarch Nikon from his birth to his work at the Novospassky monastery. Many extant sources, on the one hand, and the scattered biographical data, on the other hand, represent a challenge to researchers to compare and analyze them in order to determine the most accurate chronology of life of Patriarch Nikon. The author decided to solve this problem and determine the trajectory of the Patriarch's life path within the framework of this article. On the basis of biographical sources and external historical data the author reconstructs the main stages of his life and also clarifies and corrects the dates of the events defining his life.   In his article "Spiritual Censorship in the Period of the First Russian Revolution", Paul Lipovetsky, using legislative materials and observations of the evolution of periodicals, reconstructs the Synod's reaction to changes in censorship and steps to revive control over church publications. The author came to the following conclusions: The Synod restored censorship control through a series of resolutions. Some of them were aimed at restoring prior censorship of the next issue of publications belonging to church institutions. Others were aimed at restricting the ability of the clergy to express themselves on political issues in both church and civil periodicals. As a result, censorship control over publications belonging to the church was fully restored. However, the possibility of uncensored publications on church issues remained outside the administrative influence of the Synod and other church structures.   Archpriest Sergii Zvonarev in his article "Metropolitan Districts in the Pre-Conciliar Debate" represents the experience of the pre-Conciliar debate of the metropolitan districts at the beginning of the 20th century, about their place in the system of church government, their role and significance in the organization of the Church life. The analysis of the discussion reveals the intersection of two main types of regional church organization: church districts organized according to the regional principle and districts formed according to the principle of purpose and authority. The choice of one or the other form of metropolitan districts had to address the urgent tasks facing the Russian Church at that time: first, to promote the development of Church life at the regional level, as well as synodality; second, to relieve the Holy Synod, overwhelmed by the multitude of local matters, by transferring some powers from the central church level to the regional ones; and third, to promote internal consolidation of the Church in the suburbs and to prevent possible centrifugal processes. The decisions of the Presidium gave priority to the metropolitan districts as pastoral and missionary centres. This was due to the fact that this model of organising church life at the regional level was very convenient and inexpensive. At the same time, it did not solve the urgent problem of the transfer of administrative and judicial powers from the centre to the places, and synodality was limited to the pastoral and missionary spheres. The draft church documents did not develop the theme of the powers of metropolitans and district councils, which made the whole project of creating metropolitan districts in the Russian Church vulnerable. A considerable amount of work was transferred to the All-Russian Church Council, which was to decide on the creation of some form of ecclesiastical district.   Hieromonk Davud Elantoni (Pasilios) in his article "On the Question of the Liturgy of the Apostle Mark" analyses the text of the anaphora of the Apostolic Mark liturgy, in order to distinguish its theological and textual content from the liturgies of both the Alexandrian type and the Constantinopolitan tradition. The difference in the structure of the anaphora causes a difference in the theology of the Eucharist due to a shift in certain emphases. The discovery of manuscripts of St Mark's liturgy in the 20th century and its translation from Strasbourg manuscripts into Russian in 2003 has increased the attention of the scholarly community to this topic. All this is catalysed by the recent increased interest in the liturgical revival in the Russian Orthodox Church. The author has also attempted a textual analysis of the entire sequence of the Liturgy of the Apostle Mark, identifying characteristic features, illustrated by a liturgical example. Among other things, the current and important research on this problematic in national scholarship is reviewed. Alexander Semanin in his article "On the Extended Edition of the Vita of St. Andrew of Smolensk" for the first time conducts a textological analysis of the Extended Edition of the Vita of St. Andrew of Smolensk in order to identify and analyze the sources of the edition, as well as to classify the text of the lists into groups. The author's textual analysis showed that the expanded edition was created on the basis of the preceding Minoan: some new chapters were added. The new chapters were taken from the hagiography of St Daniel of Pereslavl and attributed to St Andrew erroneously, as they are about a person who lived much later, most likely about the Metropolitan of Moscow Athanasius, before his tonsure - Andrew. It has been established that the lists of the Vita of the Enlarged Edition can be divided into three groups: Trinity, Rumyantsev and Uvarovsky types.   Varvara V. Kashirina in her article "Historical Descriptions of Monasteries by Archimandrite Leonid (Kavelin) in the Tradition of Church History Works" performs the task of revealing the peculiarities of Archimandrite Leonid (Kavelin) church-historical works on the material of historical descriptions of monasteries. To fulfill the task a source analysis of Father Leonid's writings was carried out using methods of comparative analysis, systematization and critical interpretation of sources. As a result of the study it was found that Archimandrite Leonid (Kavelin) showed himself as an innovator in his first historical work dedicated to the Optina Hermitage (1847) having set as its main goal spiritual enlightenment. In the historical descriptions of Archimandrite Leonid several goals were realized at once: collecting and preservation of historical information about the monastery; creation of a spiritual chronicle of the monastery; encouragement of acquaintance with the Orthodox relics of the Russian land. As the years passed and many archive documents were lost, the writings of Father Leonid became an important and often the only source on the history of the monasteries. Archimandrite Leonid was one of the first Church scholars to address the history of female monasticism, compiling descriptions of three monasteries, whose nuns were brought up under the spiritual guidance of experienced elders. The historical descriptions of the monasteries written by Father Leonid are of not only great historical but also spiritual significance and are now important monuments to church history.   Svetlana Burmistrova in her article "F. M. Dostoevsky in Church Academic Periodicals at the End of XIX - Beginning of XX Century (on the material of the Theological Herald of the Moscow Theological Academy)" considers the problem of the perception of F. M. Dostoevsky's works in the church academic periodicals of the end of XIX-XX centuries. A rather large body of material related to Dostoevsky is featured in The Herald of Theology, a journal of the Moscow Theological Academy. Typical formulas used to define the writer's image on the pages of Theological Herald include preacher of Orthodoxy, teacher of shepherds, pan-Slavicist, psychologist, philosopher, genius, etc. In the majority of publications of the Herald of Theology, Dostoevsky's writings serve not so much as an object of historical and literary analysis, as are used as material to comment on current moral and philosophical issues of our time or, as in articles of a theological nature, to illustrate in accessible language for readers the dogmatic foundations of Christianity and Orthodox asceticism. In the "Herald of Theology" creative heritage of F. M. Dostoevsky is seen as the supreme phenomenon of Russian literature and an important factor in the Russian Orthodox culture.   Buy   CONTENTS   List of Acronyms   STUDIES AND ARTICLES   Biblical Studies   Hieromonk Irinei (Pikovsky)   Christ as King and High Priest in the light of the Hasmonean Dynasty (2nd - 1st century B.C.)   Deacon Nicholas Shablevsky.   The words of Jesus Christ in Matthew 11:25 as an exegetical motive for the interpretation of Proverbs. 9: 4-10 and 11Q5 (11QPsa. Col. XVIII).   Stephan Andreevich Parakhin.   The Abomination of Desolation and the Flight of the Christians to Pella   Monk Nil (Lazarenko).   A Philological Commentary on Selected passages of the Epistles of the Council   Theology and Philosophy   Alexander Alexandrovich Solonchenko   "Distance" in theology of J.-L. Marion   Rosalia Moiseevna Rupova   The World as a Sacrament in the Liturgical Theology of Archpriest Alexander Shmemann   Comparative Theology   Hierodeacon Alexey (Ochkanov)   The Role of the Russian Orthodox Diaspora in Britain in Strengthening Anglican-Orthodox Interaction in the 1920s and 1940s   Dimitry V. Larionov, Priest Alexander Larionov   The Problem of "Historical Jesus" in Russia in the Late XIX Century by Examples of Books by D. F. Strauss   Priest Alexander Ovchinnikov   A Philological Analysis of the Parable of the Wicked Vinedressers and its Problematics by Klein Snodgrass   Patrology and Christian Literature   Hegumen Dionysius (Shlonov) The Three Spiritual Stages: Purification, Illumination and Deification (κάθαρσις, φωτησμός / ἔλλαμψις, θέωσις) in the Byzantine tradition   Priest Anatoly Lipatov   Sacramentological and Ecclesiological Aspect of the Soteriology of St Cyril of Alexandria   History of the Russian Orthodox Church   Metropolitan Ferapont (Kashin)   A Maternal Blessing: On the Involvement of the Miracle-Making Icon of the Mother of God during the Consecration of Tsar Mikhail Romanov in 1613. Part 2   Archimandrite Makary (Veretennikov)   His Holiness Patriarch Nikon: the Beginning of Life   Pavel Lipovetsky   Spiritual Censorship in the Period of the First Russian Revolution   Archpriest Sergiy Zvonaryov   Metropolitan districts in the pre-Conciliar discussion   Liturgics   Hieromonk Davoud Elantoni (Pasilios)   Concerning the Liturgy of the Apostle Mark   Hagiography   Alexander Semanin   On the Extended Edition of The Life of St Andrew of Smolensk   Varvara Kashirina   Historical Descriptions of Monasteries by Archimandrite Leonid (Kavelin) in the Tradition of Church History Works   Russian Literature   Svetlana Vladimirovna Burmistrova   Ф. F. M. Dostoevsky in the Church Academic Periodicals of the Late XIXth - Early XXth Century (on the material of the Theological Herald of the Moscow Theological Academy)   REFERENCES   Vladimir Belski   Review of the publication: Arseniy (Sokolov), Hegumen C. The Book of Hosea: Commentary. Moscow: OCAD; Publishing House "Poznaniye", 2019. 640 с. (Studies of the Old Testament). ISBN 978-5-906960-75-7   Archpriest Oleg Korytko.   Review of the publication: Baidin V. V. Old Russian pre-Christianity. SPb.: Aletheia, 2020. 352 с. ISBN 978-5-00165-070-6   Press Service of the Moscow Theological Academy