«Eucharist. The Sacrament of the Kingdom» as an Example of the Formation of the Personality and Theological Views of Protopresbyter Alexander Schmemann

На основании источников рассматривается написание протопресвитером Александром Шмеманом главной книги его жизни - «Евхаристия. Таинство Царства». Цель анализа - проследить изменение отдельных взглядов и суждений отца Александра и историю формирования финального текста его главного богословского труда. Для этого были проанализированы «Дневники» отца Александра и его публикации на страницах «Вестника Русского Студенческого Христианского Движения». Два эти источника (один личного, а другой открытого характера) позволили представить, как шла работа над текстом книги, как многие её аспекты переосмыслялись и переписывались практически до последних дней жизни автора. Многие мысли относительно Евхаристии были опубликованы отцом Александром в «Вестнике». С одной стороны, многие идеи в книге повторяются, например, понимание богословия через богослужение. С другой стороны, «Евхаристия» - это действительно главный труд жизни отца Александра, и в ней он переосмыслил многие аспекты своих взглядов. Одной из сложных глав, которую Шмеман переписывал неоднократно, стала глава «Таинство Святого Духа». Во многом это связано с попыткой автора рассмотреть проблему Востока и Запада, православия и католицизма на страницах данной главы. On the basis of the sources, Protopresbyter Alexander Schmemann writes the main book of his life - «The Eucharist. The Mystery of the Kingdom». The purpose of the analysis is to trace the change in individual views and judgments of Father Alexander and the history of the formation of the final text of his main theological work. For this, the «Diaries» of Father Alexander and his publications on the pages of the «Bulletin of the Russian Student Christian Movement» were analyzed. These two sources (one personal and the other open) made it possible to imagine how the work on the text of the book was going on, how many of its aspects were rethought and rewritten almost until the last days of the author’s life. Many thoughts on the Eucharist were published by Father Alexander in the «Bulletin». One of the difficult chapters, which Schmemann rewrote many times, was the chapter «The Sacrament of the Holy Spirit». This is largely due to the author’s attempt to consider the problem of East and West, Orthodoxy and Catholicism on the pages of this chapter.

Father Sergiy Bulgakov: Two Years in Prague

Based on diaries, letters, and other documentary evidence, the article examines the Prague period in the life of Fr. S. N. Bulgakov in exile: from May 1923 to June 1925, events related to life in Prague — lecturing at the Russian Faculty of Law, participation in the congresses of the Russian Student Christian Movement (RSHD) and the Brotherhood of St. Sophia, meetings with representatives of Catholic clergy and the gradual overcoming of the “Catholic temptation”, travels to Europe to raise funds for the Theological Institute being created in Paris, polemics with the Eurasians the first clashes with the episcopate caused by Bulgakov’s teaching about Sofi a, friendship with Yu. N. Reitlinger and other personal circumstances. It is shown that staying in Prague was an important stage in comprehending the life path after expulsion from Russia and the formation of a creative credo at a new, theological stage of creativity.

Visser ’t Hooft, 1900-1985

God’s diplomat, the pope of the ecumenical movement, but also an acerbic theologian and a difficult person: this is how journalists characterised Willem Adolf Visser ’t Hooft (1900-1985). He was one of the best-known Dutch theologians outside the Netherlands and he left his mark on the world church. Even at an early age, he made profound efforts in support of international ecumenical youth and student organisations (Dutch Student Christian Movement, YMCA and World Student Christian Federation). He led the World Council of Churches during its formative stages (from 1938), and after its formal establishment in 1948 became its first general secretary, serving until 1966. To Visser ’t Hooft, the unity of the church was both an article of faith and a pragmatic organisation of church influence in a disunited world.

The Context of Michael Polanyi’s “What to Believe”

This essay contextualizes Polanyi’s 1947 talk, “What to Believe.” After reviewing connections that probably led to Polanyi’s invitation to make this presentation at the Student Christian Movement conference in Manchester, I comment on Polanyi’s effort to compare the connection between understanding, believing and belonging in science, Christianity and “civic morality.” The main ideas in this talk should be viewed in relation to other writing from the mid-forties to the early fifties when Polanyi begins to develop his “fiduciary” philosophy as an alternative to what he views as the excessively skeptical disposition of the modern mind.

What to Believe

“What to Believe” is a brief, hitherto unpublished talk that Michael Polanyi gave at a spring 1947 conference of the Student Christian Movement in Manchester, UK. Polanyi criticizes the way in which modern skepticism undercuts Christianity and what he calls “civic morality” and also promotes a misleading account of modern science. Polanyi outlines and compares the ways in which believing and belonging underlie understanding in science, Christianity and “civic morality.”

Bonds of Empire: The Formation of the National Federation of Canadian University Students, 1922–1929

The origins of the National Federation of Canadian University Students (NFCUS), Canada’s first secular, student council-based national student organization, are explored. The NFCUS originated in the internationalizing context of the Confédération internationale des étudiants and British concern for redefining and strengthening Dominion relations. The following events are examined: the 1924 Imperial Conference of Students, held in England; the 1926 imperial debating tour that promoted national student organizing; the 1926 Conference of Representatives; and the First Annual NFCUS Conference, held in 1927. The formative in- fluences on the NFCUS of the Student Christian Movement and pro-British Canadian university authorities are also examined. The NFCUS leaders held a narrow conception of the student interest and, moreover, were united by a pervasive and paradoxical imperial ideology that stressed both loyalty to the British Empire and a desire for Canadian national independence and identity. As such, the NFCUS was a highly political organization aligned with the university authorities, themselves associates of the British-Canadian elite. Résumé Cet article explore les origines de la Fédération nationale des étudiants universitaires canadiens (NFCUS), première organisation étudiante nationale et laïque au Canada. La NFCUS a vu le jour dans un contexte marqué par l’internationalisation de la Confédération internationale des étudiants et la volonté de la Grande-Bretagne de redéfinir et de renforcer les relations avec le Dominion. Parmi les événements ayant marqué la formation de la fédération, nous examinons : la conférence impériale des étudiants tenue en Angleterre en 1924; la tournée des débats impériaux de 1926 faisant la promotion de l’organisation nationale des étudiants; laConference of Representatives de 1926; ainsi que la première conférence annuelle de la NFCUS tenue en 1927. Nous explorons également de quelle manière le Student Christian Movement et les autorités universitaires britanniques canadiennes probritanniques ont influencé la formation NFCUS. Développant une conception étroite de l’intérêt des étudiants, les dirigeants de la NFCUS partageaient une idéologie impérialiste omniprésente et paradoxale qui insistait à la fois sur la loyauté envers l’Empire britannique et sur le sentiment d’indépendance et d’identité nationale canadienne. Ce faisant, la NFCUS était une organisation politique alignée sur les autorités universitaires, elles-mêmes associées à l’élite anglo-canadienne.

Christian Radicalism and the Enactment of Secular Theology

This chapter outlines three examples of how secular theology was put into practice in the 1960s: Nick Stacey’s innovations in the parish of Woolwich; the radicalization of the ‘Parish and People’ organization; and the radicalization of Britain’s Student Christian Movement, which during the 1950s was the largest student religious organization in the country. The chapter argues that secular theology contained an inherent dynamic of ever-increasing radicalization, which irresistibly propelled its adherents from the ecclesiastical radicalism of the early 1960s to the more secular Christian radicalism of the late 1960s. Secular theology promised that the reunification of the church and the world would produce nothing less than the transformative healing of society. As the 1960s went on, this vision pushed radical Christian leaders to sacrifice more and more of their ecclesiastical culture as they pursued their goal of social transformation.