Missionary activity of the Russian Orthodox Chutch in the second half of the 19th-beginning of the 20th century (historiographical review)

  1. Lemma
  2. Миссионерская деятельность Русской Православной церкви во второй половине XIX начале xx вв. (к историографии вопроса, 60-е гг. Xx нач. ХХI вв. )
  3. Russian
  4. Asliturk, Miriam
  5. Ecumenism and dialogue > Education
  6. 17-05-2018
  7. Кочеткова, Е. И. [Author]. Миссионерская деятельность Русской Православной церкви второй половины XIX - начала XX вв (К Историографии вопроса 60-е гг. ХХ - нач. ХХI вв.
  8. ИЗВЕСТИЯ ТУЛЬСКОГО ГОСУДАРСТВЕННОГО УНИВЕРСИТЕТА. ГУМАНИТАРНЫЕ НАУКИ
  9. Russian Orthodox Church - missionary activity - Old Believers - non-Orthodox population - proselytizing - religious education - Post-Soviet Russia - Russian Empire
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    1. <p>Кочеткова, Е. И. (2010). Миссионерская деятельность Русской Православной церкви во второй половине XIX начале xx вв. (к историографии вопроса, 60-е гг. Xx нач. ХХI вв. ). <em>Известия Тульского государственного университета. Гуманитарные науки</em>, (2), 75-83. Retrieved from: <a href="https://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/missionerskaya-deyatelnost-russkoy-pravoslavnoy-tserkvi-vo-vtoroy-polovine-xix-nachale-xx-vv-k-istoriografii-voprosa-60-e-gg-xx-nach-hhi-vv">https://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/missionerskaya-deyatelnost-russkoy-pravoslavnoy-tserkvi-vo-vtoroy-polovine-xix-nachale-xx-vv-k-istoriografii-voprosa-60-e-gg-xx-nach-hhi-vv</a> </p>

    1. The author speaks about the development of research on missionary activity of the ROC since 1990s. Soviet era research of the question was, in the author’s view, characterized by a negative attitude towards missionary efforts of the ROC. These efforts have always been divided into internal and external efforts. The external mission operated mainly among non-Orthodox populations both inside and outside Russia. The internal one targeted the Old Believers and sectarians. The ROC’s Synod was responsible for rules, regulations and statutes for missionary organizations, schools and libraries, and conducted all-Russian and local missionary congresses. Missionaries were led by missionary brotherhoods, evangelical unions and other similar organizations.

      Soviet historians have emphasized the scattered activity of numerous missionary organizations in the XIX century. According to this historiographical tradition, this was the reason for the shift in the ROC’s policy toward the end of the 19th century, when it abandoned its work among non-Christians – to focus primarily on fighting against the growing sectarian movement and the Old Believers.

      Post-Soviet studies of the ROC’s missionary activity tend to see them in a positive light and point out the efficiency of the Church’s efforts. They stress that the ROC never abandoned its external mission and managed through educational and cultural programs to actively engage with and convert non-Christian populations in various regions. Its work among Old Believers and sectarians is also characterized by more recent scholarship as non-aggressive and relying primarily on educational tools.