Saint Theophan the Recluse in the Struggle with Shtunda

Abstract

The object of research in the article was the correspondence of Saint Theophan with N. V. Elagin, Archpriest Nikolai Florinsky and Archpriest Dimitri Zhdanov. The subject of the correspondence is religious and moral fraternities («shtund») for Bible study, which appeared in the early XIX century in the southern regions of Ukraine and quickly increased their influence among Orthodox Christians. The research methodology is based on the complex application of traditional scientific methods: source-based, historical-logical and comparative-historical. The study was reconstructed history of editions of works by A. D. Ushinsky «a little Creed of Stundists, dismantled on the basis of Holy Scripture in the conversations of an Orthodox layman with zealots» against Stundists identified and involved in the preparation of the edition of St. Theophan the Recluse. The work of A.D. Ushinsky, written with the active participation and support of Saint Theophan, was one of the first dedicated to shtunda. The book published and analyzed in detail the doctrinal statements of the shtundists, which went in handwritten form or were distributed only orally.