Archpriest Alexander Gorsky and the Beginning of the Sholarli Theology in Russia
Abstract
The emergence of the scholarly theology in Russia is a problem which is not solved yet in the modern historiography. The author off ers a suggestion about the key role of A. V. Gorsky (since 1860 — archpriest) in the development of the image of the scholartheologian of the second half of 19th — early 20th. He lived during the epoch of the significant shift in the development of theology in Russia. It was in that epoch emerged a higher ecclesiastical education in Russia. There had to be carried the research activity and the development of the theological discourse relevant with the challenges of the era. However, there were some essential contradictions. For example, the lack of opportunity to fully combine the ecclesiastical office with the academic vocation. Thus, some professors of the ecclesiastical academies, coming from the clergy, refrained from both monasticism and from marriage. Naturally, it was not a normative behavioral strategy in the context of the Synodal period and caused distrust of the contemporaries. However, this lifestyle promoted the institutionalization of the theology and thus contributed to the realization of the 1808–1814 system’s mission. Gorsky was the first who integrally fulfill this program of the scholarly theology. There is also an attempt to structure the elements of «scholarly theology» in the context of the Synodal period. It is possible to distinguish the following elements: 1. The estate (soslovie) identity; 2. Being outside of the church hierarchy; 3. The academic everyday life as a meaningful aspect of church ministry. The image of the scholar-theologian in Russia was strongly infl uenced by A. V. Gorsky and next generations of theologians combined those elements of Gorsky's academic practice.
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