theodicy – RCS

Zinaida Andreevna Lurie PhD in History, assistant lecturer, Institute of foreign modern languages, St. Petersburg State University (Universitetskaia nab., 7/9, Saint-Petersburg, Russia, 199034)
z.lurie@spbu.ru

Lurie Z. A. Space of meanings of the biblical drama «The Sacrifice of Abraham» by Theodore de Beza, 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, 2022, vol. 10, pp. 158–183.

doi: 10.24412/2308-0698-2022-10-158-183

Language: Russian

The article examines the tragedy «The Sacrifice of Abraham» (1550) by Theodore de Beza, the reformer of Lausanne and Geneva, that was one of the first tragedies in French. This text was republished many times and influenced other evangelical Biblical dramas of the 16–17th centuries. Potentially, using the example of the Old Testament patriarch, many moral and social topics can be revealed. However, de Beza focuses on the most important issue in the life of a Christian, i.e. fight against temptation. This spiritual test, the struggle of the Spirit with the Flesh and victory over sin and devil are the signs of a true believer, who has been chosen for Salvation. Thus, the plot about the Old Testament righteous man who decided to violate the Commandment and trampled his natural attachment to his son actualizes the doctrine of predestination. This aspect of the confrontation between the individual and society was very important for de Beza himself. Besides, in the visual layer of tragedy — which we can be reconstructed in parts — the importance of Satan, who has lost part of his comic persona in comparison with the folk theater, the lack of imagery of God and other elements of confessional propaganda can be marked out.

Key words: patriarchs, Biblical drama, humanism, Calvinism, predestination, faith, the Apostle Paul, Isaac, Sarah, urban stage space

URL: http://rcs-almanac.ru/en/lurie-2022-en/

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Mark Arkav’evich Youssim PhD in History, scientific researcher, Institute of World History of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Leninskiy Prospekt, dom 32a, Moskva, Rossiya, 119334)
youssimm@mtu-net.ru

Youssim M.A. Cardinal Gasparo Contarini and John Calvin on predestination, 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. 56–71.

doi: 10.24411/2308-0698-2020-00023

Language: Russian

The article is based on the report on conference «Calvinism-FranceEurope: 500 years later… View from Russia» (November 23–24, 2017,Faculty of History, Lomonosov Moscow State University). The questionregarding divine predestination of people towards good or evil, became oneof the central in the religious discourses during the times of Reformation.
The radical way of thinking of Protestant ideologists that would insiston the thesis of «justification and salvation of a sinner by faith alone», wasexcused: by the corruption and secularization of the Roman Church inthe spiritual respect; by the new formed European countries seeking emancipation in the political respect.
Among the Catholic prelates were ones who sympathized the reformsof the Church, such was Gasparo Contarini who, in fact, was the executorof the Roman party at the Regensburg colloquiums in 1541. At that assemblywere made the attempts of ideological convergence of Catholics and Protestants, where among the latter John Calvin was present. In the article, onthe basis of the short analysis of the texts are presented the views of both —Contarini and Calvin concerning this particular issue of predestination.
The article presents the similarities of the approach, its consequent logicalproblems and the lack of possible solutions for the contradiction that is incorporated in the issue of Theodicy. The main role in the colloquiums’ failure, aswell as in the further attempts to find the consent, played not the theoreticalcontroversies of the discussed theses, but the starting presuppositions of the participants that were shaped by many outward factors and their «party» identity.

Key words: predestination, theodicy, justification by faith, free will, Contarini, Calvin, Colloqy of Regensburg

URL: http://rcs-almanac.ru/yusim-2020-en/