The priestless Old believers did not have the sacrament of marriage because they did not have a priesthood. Unions between men and women were therefore regarded as sinful, and this difficult situation caused much debate. In this dissertation, the history of the debate itself is studied both for its Intrinsic interest and as a means to explore the development of the ideas, beliefs and behaviour of priestless Old Believers. Chapter 1 is devoted to the resolutions of the Novgorod council of 1694, including the prohibition of marriage, and to Feodosy Vasil'ev (1661-1711), who was an active participant in the council and the founder of the Theodosian branch of the Old Believers. Chapter 2 deals with the first debate on the nature of marriage between Andrey Denisov (1674-1730) of the Vyg community and the already mentioned Feodosy Vasil'ev. Chapter 3 examines the doctrines of Ivan Alekseev (1709-1776) who polemicized against the priestly Old Believers, but also tried to find some arguments in favour of marriage for the priestless. Chapter 4 is an attempt to show the practical implications of the prohibition of marriage, and of the meaning of the doctrine within the Old Believer communities. Other Old Believers who took part in the debate are briefly mentioned. Chapter 5 is dedicated to Pavel Onufrevich Lyubopytny (1772-1848) and his radical revision of Old Believer conceptions of religion, the church, ritual, history and marriage. Chapter 6 expounds the ideas and writings of Sergey Semenovich Gnusin (?-1839), the most prominent ideologist of Theodosian conservatism. Chapter 7 shows how the debates among the priestless Old Believers were misunderstood by the Government, causing unjustified alarm which resulted in the setting up in 1820 of a Secret Committee on the Old Believers and in a partial return to policies of intolerance and persecution. The dissertation is based on both published and unpublished sources, and on archival materials.

No description available.

Thesis (Th. M.)--St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary, Crestwood, N.Y., 2003. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 261-263).

Thesis (Th. M.)--St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary, Crestwood, N.Y., 2003. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 261-263).

Thesis (Th. M.)--St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary, Crestwood, N.Y., 2003. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 261-263).

This research is devoted to the circumstances of the emergence of Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia (ROCOR). The introductory part briefly presents the position of the Russian Orthodox Church before and after the 1917 revolution, including splits that have been arisen in this historical period. In the next part are explored problems of emergence of Russian church emigration ň, its main centers, as well as the reasons for the canonical and political debate that led to the fragmentation of the Russian church emigration and its separation from the Moscow Patriarchate. The research illustrates the root causes of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia and its subsequent development. Key words: Russian Orthodox Church, Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia (ROCOR), Council in Sremski Karlovci, russian church emigration, splits in Russian Orthodox Church.

There is a consistent thread throughout Russian history of governmental management of culture. Tsars and Communist bureaucrats alike have sought to variously promote, censor, or exploit writers, filmmakers, and musicians to control and define the country's cultural content. Often, these measures were intended not necessarily to cultivate Russia's aesthetic spirit, but to accomplish specific policy goals. The promotion of a State ideology and other efforts to stave of social unrest were chief among them. With the fall of Soviet power and the loss of an official ideology promoted by the state, the concept of cultural politics fell to the wayside. It has remained largely ignored ever since. Despite numerous high-profile incidents of persecution of the creative class, analysts have not linked them together as part of an overarching cultural policy. However, the Russian government under Vladimir Putin has faced consistent policy challenges since the beginning of the 2000s that could be mitigated through the implementation of such a policy. In some ways, the breadth and character of State involvement in the cultural sphere follows the pattern of the country’s autocratic past. In others, it demonstrates that it has adapted these policies to function in the hybrid regime that Putin has created, as opposed to the totalitarian ones that preceded it. A recent case that exemplifies this new breed of cultural policy is the persecution of the radical feminist punk band Pussy Riot. While largely unknown to many Russian citizens, the group’s overt opposition to the patriarchal model of rule established by Putin with the help of the Russian Orthodox Church was met by the most comprehensive crackdown within the cultural sphere since perestroika. Examining this case in detail can reveal the extent to which the Russian government is concerned about its ability to maintain popular legitimacy. The fact that it has continued to try to manage the cultural sphere may indicate the level of democracy that has or has not been established in Russia so far today. / text

One of the most significant acts of protest against the rule of Vladimir Putin was staged by the punk group Pussy Riot in Christ the Saviour’s Cathedral in Moscow in February 2012. The protest was one of several actions during the last decade where Russian artists had questioned the role of the Russian Orthodox Church, but this time the role of the Church in relation to the State rule was directly highlighted. This caused strong reactions internationally and in Russia, and there is a need to look into the arguments used in the debate in detail, using discourse analysis. This thesis, therefore, investigates what discourses the most prominent stakeholders – the Church, the State and Pussy Riot – rely on in the public debate around the Pussy Riot performance and the trial. Interconnections between different discourses are also investigated in order to gain a better insight into how religion, politics and popular culture interact in Russia today. The most important conclusion in this thesis is that religion and religious discourse affect legal and political practices in Russia today in ways that are not normally expected in a modern and secular state.

This thesis seeks to shed light on a remarkable figure in Russian history, Father Alexander Men’. How and why did Men’ identify Vladimir Solovyov, Nikolai Berdyaev, and other pre-revolutionary cultural figures as representatives of authentic Russian religious culture? Why would a popular Russian Orthodox priest present the writings of mystics, anarchists, and the Silver Age counterculture as the antidote for seventy years of Soviet materialism? What role did Judaism and the Russo-Jewish intellectual tradition have on Men’s identifications as an Orthodox priest? I use a semiotic theory of culture following Yuri Lotman and the Tartu–Moscow Semiotic School as a framework to analyze the historical development of Orthodox personalism. Through this we find a coherent justification for Men’s cultural project. This thesis traces this line of thought from theories of cultural unity by Pyotr Chaadayev, through Christian universalism in Vladimir Solovyov, the existential personalism of Nikolai Berdyaev, and finally through Men’s personal relationship with Nadezhda Mandelstam.

Master of Music / School of Music, Theater, and Dance / Virginia Houser / Alexander Tikhonovich Gretchaninoff (1864-1956) was a prolific composer from Russia’s Romantic age who explored the art of musical writing within an extensive number of genres and forms and showed an unusually strong interest in the creation of solo piano pieces for and about children. It is important that musicians in general and pianists in particular investigate his compositions and gain an understanding of their nature and potential usefulness as teaching pieces and as works worthy of public performance. My research consisted of an examination of Gretchaninoff’s autobiography, the study of numerous secondary accounts of his life and personal analysis of piano scores written by the master. My investigation uncovered the almost hidden existence of a large number of attractive musical works which Gretchaninoff wrote for solo piano as well as insightful details concerning the circumstances and motives that inspired the master to compose within the parameters of this genre. The following pieces are performed as part of this presentation: (from Children’s Album, Op. 98) A Tale, In the Camp of the Lead Soldiers, Lead Soldiers on the March, Hobby-Horse, Nurse Is Sick, Lullaby, Little Dance, Dreadful Event, After the Ball, On a Travel Tour, The Little Would-be Hero; (from 12 Little Sketches for Children, Op. 182) Sunrise, With the Fishing Rod, On the Swing, A Country Lad; (from A Child’s Day, Op. 109) Morning Prayer, The Broken Toy, The Happy Return Home; (from The Grandfather’s Book, Op. 119) My Dear Mommy, Swallow Dance, Pussy Is Ill, On the Swing; (from Glass Beads, Op. 123) Morning Promenade, On a Bicycle, Difficult Work; (from Andrusha’s Album, Op. 133) The Dance of the Gold Fishes, My Little Dog Joujou; (from Album Leaves, Op. 139) After Walking; (from Nina’s Album, Op. 141) After Mass, Dreaming, At the Wheel; (from Arabesques, opus number in dispute) Russian Folksong, A Sad Little Story; Sonatina in F major, Op. 110, #2 – 1. Allegro giocoso, 2. Menuet (Moderato grazioso) and Trio, 3. Finale – Allegro.