preaching – RCS

«Beel» by Sixte Birck: Introductory Article, Translation, Commentary

Zinaida Andreevna Lurie PhD in History, associate professor, Pushkin Leningrad State University, Faculty of History and Social Sciences (Sankt-Peterburgskoe shosse, dom 10 lit.A, Pushkin, Sankt-Peterburg, Russia, 196605)
zinaidalourie@gmail.com

Lurie Z. A. «Beel» by Sixte Birck: Introductory Article, Translation, Commentary, Religiya. Tserkov’. Obshchestvo. Issledovaniya i publikatsii po teologii i religii [Religion. Church. Society: Research and publications in the field of theology and religious studies], pp. 242–327.

doi: DOI

Language: Russian

The present publication offers a translation of the Beautiful Tragedy Against Idolatry by Sixt Birck (ca. 1501–1554). This work is one of the first theatrical texts by evangelical authors based on the book of Daniel. Written within the context of the Reformation in Basel, it played a dual role. It was a product of school didactics and, at the same time, a tool for broad evangelical preaching and socio-religious satire aimed against Catholics. «Bееl» underwent several reprints and editions, including Latin versions, maintaining its relevance throughout the confessional era of the 16th and 17th centuries. For this translation, the Augsburg edition included in Birck’s collected works has been chosen. This publication gives the firtst possibility for Russian readers to become aware this remarkable author of the Reformation era.

Key words: Reformation, Basel, school, prophecy, reformers, iconoclasm, theater

URL: https://rcs-almanac.ru/lure2025-en/

Jesus in Islam

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Markus Alajoki Pastor, Director of International Missionary Service SEKL, Director of International Missions Department at FLM
markus.alajoki@sekl.fi

Alajoki M. Jesus in Islam, Religiya. Tserkov’. Obshchestvo. Issledovaniya i publikatsii po teologii i religii [Religion. Church. Society: Research and publications in the field of theology and religious studies], pp. 54–61.

doi: DOI

Language: Russian

In the article «Jesus in Islam» it is shown that Jesus of Christianity and Isa of Islam are not two identical historical figures. The Quranic Isa al-Masih and the Biblical Jesus Christ, Son of God, are completely different individuals. The purpose of this article is to present what kind of Jesus Muslims know through their Quran and what similarities exist between the Islamic Isa and the biblical Jesus. Understanding what a Muslim, perhaps more precisely an educated Muslim, can know about Jesus from the Quran may help us understand how to approach Muslims with the Gospel.

Key words: missionary work, preaching, Qur’an, Bible, prophet, God

URL: https://rcs-almanac.ru/alajoki2025-en/

Lutheran preaching and drama: an attempt at a comparative typology

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Zinaida Andreevna Lurie PhD-student, Institute of History, Saint-Petersburg State University (Mendeleevskaya linia, dom 5, Saint-Petersburg, Russia, 199034), z.lurie@spbu.ru; zlourie@gmail.com

Lurie Z. A. Lutheran preaching and drama: an attempt at a comparative typology , 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, 2015, vol. 4, pp. 234–249.

doi: 10.24411/2308-0698-2015-00011

Language: Russian

The article deals with formal and thematic peculiarities of the Lutheran sermon in its evolution as a prototype of other didactic genres. Biblical drama that appeared soon after the Reformation as independent and prevailing type of dramatic works was in many aspect a rhetorical genre. That allows to make a consistent comparison between sermon and drama in the early Lutheran tradition. The author shows that thematically both literature genres were aimed at preaching of Law and Gospel. Ethical, political and social problems (ordo ecclesiasticus, ordo politiciis, ordo oeconomicus) composed an important part of confession didactic, especially, in Melanchton interpretation. However, they were valuable only in the light of Apocalyptical consciousness. All loci that were typical for the Lutheran sermon and, for example, were named by Melanchton in the Augsburg confession of 1531, also appear in dramatic works. Speaking of formal features, logic and structure, biblical drama seem to be orientated as well on the rhetorical model of Melanchton (epitrepticum, paraeneticum and genus didascalicum) that fit the homiletical aims. All this make possible with more certainty to speak about Biblical drama as a part of phenomenological confessional model, reflected mainly in Luther Biblical translation and commentary.

Key words: Melanchthon, Luther, confessionalisation, the Bible, Sixt Birck, Joachim Greff, Paul Rebhun, Tomas Naogeorgus, preaching, sermons, drama, theater

URL: //rcs-almanac.ru/lurie-2015-en/