THE CONTROVERSY «RELIGIOUS MODERNISM / RELIGIOUS FUNDAMENTALISM» AND THE LITURGICAL MUSIC OF PROTESTANT CHURCHES IN MODERN RUSSIA

Abstract

For some Protestant churches the development logic is characterized by the alternation of periods of institutionalization of religious life and periods characterized by a desire to return to the foundations of the Christian faith. At the same time, the controversy “fundamentalism – modernism” is reflected not only in theology, but also in various aspects of the practical life of believers. First of all, the ministers of the churches are faced with the question of their attitude to music at worship services - should it consist of traditional hymns and spiritual songs, or should they involve modern musical forms that are understandable to a new generation of believers. In this article, using the example of liturgical music of Protestant churches in modern Russia, we show how the above-described logic of the development of Protestantism is reflected in the sphere of liturgical music. According to the research, disputes about the nature and content of music during a worship service remain one of the essential factors of the believer’s separation. Having studied the musical and ceremonial side of Protestant communities’ religious life in modern Russia, we can compare it with the tendency of confrontation between religious modernism and fundamentalism revived in the last three decades. Thus it can be said that the logic of “religious modernism / religious fundamentalism” in relation to the development of liturgical music proves to be untypical.

Keywords

• religious fundamentalism
• religious modernism
• traditional hymns
• spiritual songs
• protestantism
• liturgical music