The Oxford Handbook of Russian Religious Thought is an authoritative new reference and interpretive volume detailing the origins, development, and influence of one of the richest aspects of Russian cultural and intellectual life - its religious ideas. After setting the historical background and context, the Handbook follows the leading figures and movements in modern Russian religious thought through a period of immense historical upheavals, including seventy years of officially atheist communist rule and the growth of an exiled diaspora with, e.g., its journal The Way. Therefore the shape of Russian religious thought cannot be separated from long-running debates with nihilism and atheism. Important thinkers such as Losev and Bakhtin had to guard their words in an environment of religious persecution, whilst some views were shaped by prison experiences. Before the Soviet period, Russian national identity was closely linked with religion - linkages which again are being forged in the new Russia. Relevant in this connection are complex relationships with Judaism. In addition to religious thinkers such as Philaret, Chaadaev, Khomiakov, Kireevsky, Soloviev, Florensky, Bulgakov, Berdyaev, Shestov, Frank, Karsavin, and Alexander Men, the Handbook also looks at the role of religion in aesthetics, music, poetry, art, film, and the novelists Dostoevsky and Tolstoy. Ideas, institutions, and movements discussed include the Church academies, Slavophilism and Westernism, theosis, the name-glorifying (imiaslavie) controversy, the God-seekers and God-builders, Russian religious idealism and liberalism, and the Neopatristic school. Occultism is considered, as is the role of tradition and the influence of Russian religious thought in the West.

This book explores the changes underwent by the Orthodox Churches of Eastern and Southeastern Europe as they came into contact with modernity. The movements of religious renewal among Orthodox believers appeared almost simultaneously in different areas of Eastern Europe at the end of the nineteenth and during the first decades of the twentieth century. This volume examines what could be defined as renewal movement in Eastern Orthodox traditions. Some case studies include the God Worshippers in Serbia, religious fraternities in Bulgaria, the Zoe movement in Greece, the evangelical movement among Romanian Orthodox believers known as Oastea Domnului (The Lord's Army), the Doukhobors in Russia, and the Maliovantsy in Ukraine. This volume provides a new understanding of processes of change in the spiritual landscape of Orthodox Christianity and various influences such as other non-Orthodox traditions, charismatic leaders, new religious practices and rituals.

"Our Lord Jesus Christ is the Conqueror of death, and, consequently, of the death of our departed ones. Let us say to them in Him, not 'Farewell,' but 'Until we meet again, beloved spouse, good parents, dear brother or sister. Until we meet again!'" While many are now abandoning traditional religious practice, none the less, the reality of death and questions regarding the afterlife remain at the forefront of spiritual consciousness. How Our Departed Ones Live is the answer to those who seek the truth as expressed through the experience of the Orthodox Church. This comprehensive book discusses the source of death and mortality, the inner connection and mutual relationship between the living and the departed, intercession by the living for the departed, and life beyond the grave. It will comfort the grieving and inspire all Christians to strengthen their resolve as they seek first the Kingdom of God, and His righteousness.

These letters and short theological treatises provide a rich guide to the emerging traditions and organization of the infant Church.

"It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us," the apostles declared at the conclusion of their council described in Acts 15. This apostolic council was only the first of many councils as Christians sought to discern the will of God in the midst of historic challenges. The faithful continued to struggle to express that apostolic faith in new words, new languages, new places, and new times. Many issues-the interaction of science and faith, divinity and humanity, the relationship between Church and State, how differing religious communities can learn to live together in common geographic areas and political systems-will still seem familiar and pertinent. This is the story of that struggle from the days of the New Testament up to the fall of the city of Constantinople (AD 1453). It is the story of the Christian community in the eastern Mediterranean which eventually became known as the Byzantine Empire. Each chapter examines the personalities and theology that were inextricably entwined at the heart of the conflicts, debates, and events that shaped the medieval world and the modern cultures of Greece, the Middle East, and Eastern Europe.

The icon of the Mother of God "Quick to Hear" is widely venerated throughout the Orthodox world; a copy of the icon--brought from Mount Athos to Russia in 1877--survived both a fire and the destruction of churches under communism to come to rest at the St. Alexander Nevsky Lavra in St. Petersburg. This book offers a short history of the icon's place in the Russian Orthodox Church and recounts some of the miracles associated with its veneration. Included here are stories of the help and consolation given to faithful from all walks of life, including farmers, merchants, homemakers, soldiers, dukes, duchesses, and the much loved St. Elizabeth the New Martyr.

In The Way of a Pilgrim, an unknown pilgrim describes his wanderings through mid-nineteenth century Russia and Siberia, from one holy place to another, in search of the way of prayer. R. M. French's superb translation conveys the charm of the original text, as well as brilliantly communicating the spiritual truths of the gospel. In the much-loved sequel, The Pilgrim Continues His Way, the narrator shares more of his story, as desire burns within him to discover deeper experiences of prayer, and to draw closer to the heart of God.

The catholic, or general, epistles of the "other apostles"-James, Peter, Jude and John-are sometimes overshadowed by the stirring theology of the great Apostle to the Gentiles, St. Paul. But these seven epistles are quiet gems of instruction, encouragement and exhortation for all believers. Written at various times and locations and to differing audiences, the general epistles nevertheless share some common themes: endurance under persecution, living out the Faith in a hostile society, discerning heresy by its fruits-namely, immorality and lack of love-and resisting it, holding fast to the apostolic faith. As Fr. Lawrence Farley deftly shows in this commentary, all these are timely themes from which believers today can richly profit.Working from a literal translation of the original Greek, this commentary examines the text section by section, explaining its meaning in everyday language. Written from an Eastern Orthodox and patristic perspective, it maintains a balance between the devotional and the exegetical, feeding both the heart and the mind.

St Symeon was one of the most remarkable advocates of the mystical experience. He addresses such themes as predestination, the knowledge of the saints in the world to come, the day of judgment as the "day of the Lord, " and the experience of the sacraments. Includes index.

Christianity and monasticism have long flourished along the Nile in Middle Egypt, the region stretching from al-Bahnasa (Oxyrhynchus) to Dayr al-Ganadla. The contributors to this volume, international specialists in Coptology from around the world, examine various aspects of Coptic civilization in Middle Egypt over the past two millennia. The studies explore Coptic art and archaeology, architecture, language and literature. The artistic heritage of monastic sites in the region is highlighted, attesting to their important legacies in the region.

From diverse international and multi-disciplinary perspectives, the contributors to this volume analyze the experiences, challenges and responses of Orthodox Churches to the foundational transformations associated with the dissolution of the USSR.

An exposition of Orthodox systematic theology, 'Gazing on God' is written from the point of view of the experience of the faithful, drawing on traditional icons and liturgy. By tracing the depth of some key Christian concepts -salvation, Logos, the Trinity- Andreas Andreopoulos provides a framework for the theology of experience. In the following chapters seven select icons are analyzed, in order to demonstrate the theological ideas and themes that may be revealed by studying Christianity through iconography. The analysis touches on topics such as time (the eternity of God, 'flat' liturgical time), space, the Church as the Body of Christ, and the Trinity. 'Gazing on God' offers to all Christian traditions a demonstration that, while our understanding of the development of Christian views and attitudes is guided by the history of theological ideas, Christianity includes from the beginning a strong dimension of meta-linguistic knowledge, which is expressed in its liturgy, as well as in its symbolism.

The category of the 'West' has played a particularly significant role in the modern Eastern Orthodox imagination. It has functioned as an absolute marker of difference from what is considered to be the essence of Orthodoxy, and, thus, ironically, has become a constitutive aspect of the modern Orthodox self. The essays collected in this volume examines the many factors that contributed to the 'Eastern' construction of the 'West' in order to understand why the 'West' is so important to the Eastern Christian's sense of self.