Isaev Sergey Aleksandrovich

Doctrine of Law by St. Nicholas of Serbia (1880–1956): an Attempt of Systematization and Estimation

Sergey Aleksandrovich Isaev PhD of History, Master of Theology, assistant professor, Saint-Petersburg Theological Academy (naberezhnaya Obvodnogo kanala, 17, St. Petersburg, 191167)
isayevsviir@yandex.ru

Isaev S. A. Doctrine of Law by St. Nicholas of Serbia (1880–1956): an Attempt of Systematization and Estimation, Religiya. Tserkov’. Obshchestvo. Issledovaniya i publikatsii po teologii i religii [Religion. Church. Society: Research and publications in the field of theology and religious studies], Saint-Petersburg, 2019, vol. 8, pp. 34–59.

doi: 10.24411/2308-0698-2019-00005

Language: Russian

The author proposes his own systematization of law, in order to estimate the doctrine of law proposed by Serbian Orthodox scholar. He distinguishes between the law, as the rule of repeating some outward experience, and the law as the norm of human’s behavior, elaborated and coined in words. Dealing with «outward» law, he supposes that laws organizing material world, like by Newton and Mendeleev, were created by God, but laws not committed by anything material, like of multiplication or logic, can be considered as God Himself, available to rational humans even without revelation. Dealing with «human» laws, he considers the doctrine of natural law, in its Paulinistic understanding (Decalogue, available even for pagans), as basic for proper jurisprudence, whereas the other components can be labeled as the positive law. In St. Nicholas’ doctrine of law the author notices the tendency to reject the existence of any outward law, but at the same time to glorify the «moral law», in fact natural law, as the only existing law.

Key words: Decalogue, justice, law, laws of the Mountain Sermon, miracle, natural law, positive law, St. Nicholas of Serbia (1880–1856)

URL: http://rcs-almanac.ru/en/isaev-2019-en/

Landmarkist Baptism:now in Russia! Review of the book by V. N. Sobolev «Baptists: Who Are They?» (Chelyabinsk, 2015)

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Sergey Aleksandrovich Isaev PhD in History, Master of arts in Theology, assistant professor, Saint-Petersburg Theological Academy (naberezhnaya Obvodnogo kanala, 17, Sankt-Peterburg, 191167)
isayevsviir@yandex.ru

Isaev S. A. Landmarkist Baptism: now in Russia! Review of the book by V. N. Sobolev «Baptists: who are they?» (Chelyabinsk, 2015), Religiya. Tserkov’. Obshchestvo. Issledovaniya i publikatsii po teologii i religii [Religion. Church. Society: Research and publications in the field of theology and religious studies], Saint-Petersburg, 2018, vol. 7, pp. 318–343.

doi: 10.24411/2308-0698-2018-00016

Language: Russian

The review of a book written by a Baptist from Chelyabinsk on Baptism at large. Having read what Sobolev wrote on the origin of Baptism and its relation to the Reformation, the reviewer concludes that it is the reproduction of the mythology of Landmarkism — the trend in U.S. Southern Baptism, emerged about 1847. The Landmarkists believe that during all the history of the Christian Church the secret tradition of adult re-Baptism existed.

Key words: Luther, Calvin, John Knox, James Graves, William Whitsett, Thomas Eaton, Edgar Young Mullins

URL: http://rcs-almanac.ru/isaev-2018-en/

What is forensic/declared in justification, according to the Lutheran viewpoint?

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Sergey Aleksandrovich Isaev, PhD in history, principal scientist, Saint-Petersburg Institute of History of the Russian Academy of Sciences(Petrozavodskaja ulitsa, 7, Saint-Petersburg, Russia, 197110)
isayevsviir@yandex.ru

Isaev S. A. What is forensic/declared in justification, according to the Lutheran viewpoint?, Religiya. Tserkov’. Obshchestvo. Issledovaniya i publikatsii po teologii i religii [Religion. Church. Society: Research and publications in the field of theology and religious studies], Saint-Petersburg, 2012, vol. 1, pp. 91–98.

DOI: 10.24411/2308-0698-2012-00003

Language: Russian

What is forensic/declared in justification, according to the Lutheran viewpoint?

It was just in polemics with Andreas Osiander when the Lutheran viewpoint of justification was worked out as «declared». Based on his experience while writing his articles for the Orthodox Encyclopedia, the author compares Russian and Latin texts of the relevant articles in the Defense of the Augsburg Confession and the Formula of Concord, as well as John Theodore Mueller’ Christian Dogmatics. The article examines the terms and outlines the Orthodox and Catholic viewpoints.

The author sums up interpretation of the Lutheran dogma: justification and imputation are actual, not declarative. Righteousness in the sense of impeccancy is declarative, but it is also actual in the sense of justification. Accordingly, solely impeccancy and capability for expiation of one’s own sinfulness with his or her deeds and merits are declarative. The Lutheran viewpoint is entirely different from that of Catholic and Orthodox churches and yet is reductive or distorted in various handbooks on religious studies.

Key words: justification, righteousness, sinfulness, imputation, the Defense of the Augsburg Confession, the Formula of Concord, comparative theology

Key words: Confessio Augustiana, Lutheranism, innocence

Permanent link: http://rcs-almanac.ru/isaev-s-a-2012-en/

Review of the monography by V. A. Bachinin «Europeamn Reformation as spiritual war» (Kiev, 2017)

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Sergey Aleksandrovich Isaev PhD in history, senior researcher, Russian Academy of Sciences, Institute of History (Petrozavodskaya ulitsa, 7, Saint-Petersburg, 197110) , isayevsviir@yandex.ru

Isaev S. A. Review on the monography by V. A. Bachinin «European Reformation as spiritual war» (Kiev, 2017), Religiya. Tserkov’. Obshchestvo. Issledovaniya i publikatsii po teologii i religii [Religion. Church. Society: Research and publications in the field of theology and religious studies], Saint-Petersburg, 2017, vol. 6, pp. 406–417.

doi: 10.24411/2308-0698-2017-00020

Language: Russian

The book is considered as a product of culturological scholarship created by Russian Calvinist. Vladislav Bachinin is sure that the Roman Catholic Church in the late medieval Europe was infected by Renaissance ideas — paganistic and anti-Christian. According to Bachinin, the Reformation saved the European Christianity from this threat. The main savior, according to Bachinin, was John Calvin. Martin Luther is considered as the great «pathfinder» of Reformation and harbinger of Calvin.

Key words: Luther, Calvin, Jan Huss, theology, culture, Calvinism, Europe

URL: http://rcs-almanac.ru/isaev-2017-en/

«Here we stand. Who are the Lutherans?» by Herman Sasse: Why this is not a good book should be translated into Russian [Zasse G. Na tom stoim. Kto takie lyuterane? [Here we stand. Who are Lutherans?] (Transl. K. Komarov; Ed. A. Komarov), Saint-Petersburg: 1994

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Isaev Sergey Aleksandrovich, Sergey Aleksandrovich Isaev, PhD in history, principal scientist, Saint-Petersburg Institute of History of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Petrozavodskaja ulitsa, 7, Saint-Petersburg, Russia, 197110)

isayevsviir@yandex.ru

Isaev S. A. “Here we stand. Who are the Lutherans?” by Herman Sasse: Why this is not a good book should be translated into Russian [Zasse G. Na tom stoim. Kto takie lyuterane? [Here we stand. Who are Lutherans?] (Transl. K. Komarov; Ed. A. Komarov), Saint-Petersburg: 1994, Religiya. Tserkov’. Obshchestvo. Issledovaniya i publikatsii po teologii i religii [Religion. Church. Society: Research and publications in the field of theology and religious studies], Saint-Petersburg, 2014, vol. 3, pp. 337–340.

doi: 10.24411/2308-0698-2014-00021

Language: Russian

Translation of the book “Here we stand. Who are the Lutherans?” by Hermann Sasse appeared twenty years ago and was thought, as follows from its title, to clarify the features of confessional identity for Russian Lutherans. However, the author argues that the title is absolutely misleading and can cause perplexity of a neophyte reader. The translation made by K. Komarov was highly inaccurate and fool of annoying errors and misspellings, while the interpreter itself as well as the editor demonstrated complete ignorance of historical and theological realities. H. Sasse’s book appeared immediately after Nazis coming to power and their attempts to create a unified Protestant church under their leadership. Among Nazis opponents were many Christian denominations — Catholics, Lutherans and Calvinists. H. Sasse himself found a middle path lashing both Nazis and Christian-antifascists. This allowed him to speak out openly on issues of the Church conversions, keeping loyalty to the regime and pursuing a career of lecturer. Thus, reading this book without understanding the context of its creation, which is partially reflected in the review, can hardly contribute to the understanding of the features of the Lutheran beliefs. The author gives the brief amount of the historical background and analyses some errors, made by translators.

Key words: Barmen Declaration, Karl Barth, Hermann Sasse, Bekennende Kirche, Calvinism, Lutheranism, Prussian Union

URL: http://rcs-almanac.ru/isaev-2014-en/