Next issue of the ‘Church and Time’ journal

NEXT ISSUE OF THE ‘CHURCH AND TIME’ JOURNAL

4th (21st) issue of the ‘Church and Time’ Journal for 2002 has appeared in print.
You can see on its pages:

International Integration and Civilizational Diversity of Humanity – address of Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad, Chairman of the Department for External Church Relation of the Moscow Patriarchate at the inaugural meeting of the European Council of the Religious Leaders, Oslo, 11-12 November 2002. ‘The division of Europe into two ideologically hostile camps now belongs to a bygone era. It appears that the 21st century will not be a century of ideologies. Too much blood had been poured and too many resources had been wasted in the 20th century for the sake of the triumph of ideological doctrines, and it seems that humanity is not willing to repeat this dramatic experience. Yet, the ideological factor is evidently not the only one, which can potentially lead to and is already leading to conflicts and even wars…’

Orthodox Theology in the New Century – a report of Metropolitan Filaret of Minsk and Slutsk, Chairman of the Synodal Theological Commission at the ‘Russian Theological Traditions: Past and Present’ symposium, which was held in St. Vladimir’s Theological Seminary (Crestwood, New York, 2-4 October 2002). ‘We, Christians of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st, could seen that time and history have speeded up. The humanity has entered the new century, which promises to be even more dynamic than the previous one. We expect new changes in social, cultural and religious life. The Church is called as ever to discern the signs of the times and to hear what the spirit says to the Churches (Rev 2:7) This news from the above should not be confused with ‘the spirit of the world’. On the contrary, according to the Apostle, it is necessary to test the spirits to see whether they are of God. (1 Jn 4:1) To hear the voice of God and to bring God’s message to the world is the essence of the prophetic ministry of the Church…’

Report of Metropolitan Juvenaly of Krutitsy and Kolomna at the ‘Christianity and Islam. 21st century’ Conference – The 12th International Conference on ‘Christianity and Islam’ in commemoration of Archpriest Alexander Men was held in the All-Russian State Library of Foreign Literature, in Moscow on 10-11 September 2002. The theme of the conference ‘has a centuries-old history and indeed deserves our thorough and friendly attention’, -Metropolitan Juvenaly said.

Principles of Interpretation of the Holy Canons of the Church – this publication contains the extracts from the ‘Canon Droit’, a book by prof. Vlasy Fidas, Rector of the Institute of Orthodox Theology at the Orthodox Center of the Patriarchate of Constantinople. The book was published in French in Chambesy, Switzerland, and is a kind of summing up the research work done by the outstanding Orthodox canonist and church historian during many years.

‘Holy canons are the main source of canon law. They secure the witness of the faith in all matters which the Church has dealt with in different times and under different circumstances. In order to evaluate the canons as a source of canon law it is important to look objectively at the divine and human nature of the Church, at the spiritual nature and specific features of the canons, and at the particular role they have played in history…’

What is the price? Chronicles of the parish that never closed. – An article by the historian D. Pospelovsky, Honored Professor of the University of Western Ontario, Canada, tells about the Church of the Meeting of the Lord at the Zaostrovie village, the Pomor district, Arhangelsk region, under Bolsheviks’ persecution. ‘Some very strong, selfless and faithful to the Church persons led the people of Zaostrovie and reminded them of the role of personality in history. Being an image and likeness of God, human person is God’s co-creator and co-creator of history… By the example of the church in Zaostrovie we can see that even the totalitarian Soviet machine backed down before people’s firmness and willingness to sacrifice…’

The 10th International Conference ‘Holy Elders of the Optina’ – the journal presents materials of the conference held at the Monastery of the Transfiguration in Bose, Italy, on 19-21 September 2002. Among the issues discussed were ‘Spiritual Heritage of the Optina’s Elders’ delivered by Archbishop Evlogy of Vladimir, ‘Optina’s Monk Viktor (Veidengammer) – Spiritual Son of the Elder Josef. ‘The Way to Salvation’ by A. Lubomudrov, ‘Archimandrite Moses (Putilov) and the Revival of the Optina’ by S. Firsov, ‘Phenomenon of Russian Eldership in its Spiritual and Anthropological Basis ‘ by S. Horuzhy.

The Journal also presents memoirs of ‘Orthodox Paris’ written by Christos Yannaras, modern Greek theologian, an article by Rev. Georgy Zavershinsky ‘Basic Milestones in the Shaping of Patristic Pneumatology’, translation of the kontakion for the Ascension by Romanos the Melodus with the parallel Greek text, and other materials.