Russian Religious Renaissance
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The Russian Religious Renaissance was a period from roughly 1880 -1950 which witnessed a great creative outpouring of
Russian philosophy Russian philosophy is a collective name for the philosophical heritage of Russian thinkers. Historiography In historiography, there is no consensus regarding the origins of Russian philosophy, its periodization and its cultural significance. Th ...
, theology and spirituality. The term is derived from the title of a 1963 book by
Nicholas Zernov Nicolas Michaelovich Zernov ( - 25 August 1980) () was a Christian White Emigre, Russian émigré who settled in Britain, and taught theology at Oxford University. He wrote many books about the Orthodox Church, and about Christianity in Russia, ...
called, ''The Russian Religious Renaissance of the Twentieth Century'' (). The renaissance began in the late nineteenth century but was unexpectedly driven out of Russia due to the violent upheavals of the
Bolshevik Revolution The October Revolution, also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution (in Soviet historiography), October coup, Bolshevik coup, or Bolshevik revolution, was the second of two revolutions in Russia in 1917. It was led by Vladimir L ...
and early
atheistic Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...
Communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...
regimes. This dislocation led to the resettlement of many Russian intelligentsia in Europe and the West where the renaissance reached its full expression. Although often viewed as a development within the
Russian Orthodox The Russian Orthodox Church (ROC; ;), also officially known as the Moscow Patriarchate (), is an autocephaly, autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox Christian church. It has 194 dioceses inside Russia. The Primate (bishop), p ...
world, the spiritual ideals of the Russian Religious Renaissance were carried throughout the wider
Eastern Orthodox Church The Eastern Orthodox Church, officially the Orthodox Catholic Church, and also called the Greek Orthodox Church or simply the Orthodox Church, is List of Christian denominations by number of members, one of the three major doctrinal and ...
and even into the
Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...
and
Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...
communities.


Philosophical origins

Theologian Paul L. Gavrilyuk explains that the Russian Religious Renaissance was an attempt to interpret all aspects of human existence: culture, politics, even economics, in Christian terms.Gavrilyuk, Paul L., The Orthodox Renaissance, Article appearing on the website firstthings.com The philosophical origins of the Russian Religious Renaissance can be found in the main currents of nineteenth-century western European and Russian religious thought: German idealism especially Schelling, the existentialism of Kierkegaard, religious questions raised by
Tolstoy Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy Tolstoy pronounced his first name as , which corresponds to the romanization ''Lyov''. () (; ,Throughout Tolstoy's whole life, his name was written as using pre-reform Russian orthography. ; ), usually referr ...
and
Dostoevsky Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky. () was a Russian novelist, short story writer, essayist and journalist. He is regarded as one of the greatest novelists in both Russian and world literature, and many of his works are considered highly influenti ...
and the sophiology of Vladimir Solovyov. Solovyov's metaphysics of all unity stimulated an
ontological turn Ontology is the philosophical study of being. It is traditionally understood as the subdiscipline of metaphysics focused on the most general features of reality. As one of the most fundamental concepts, being encompasses all of reality and every ...
in Russian religious thought and thinkers such as Sergius Bulgakov engaged and developed this theory extensively.


The Paris School

With the establishment of the
St. Sergius Orthodox Theological Institute The St. Sergius Orthodox Theological Institute ( French: ''Institut de théologie orthodoxe Saint-Serge'') in Paris, France, is a private university of higher education in Orthodox theology. Founded in 1925 by a group led by Metropolitan Eulogiu ...
in Paris in 1925, Russian émigré theologians, philosophers and historians began to create a diverse range of ideas and writing. The label "Paris School" has sometimes been applied collectively to the theology and religious philosophy of the founders of St. Sergius and other Russian émigré intellectuals in Paris including
Georges Florovsky Georges Vasilievich Florovsky (; – August 11, 1979) was a Russian Orthodox priest, theologian, and historian. Born in the Russian Empire, he spent his working life in Paris (1920–1949) and New York (1949–1979). With Sergei Bulgakov, V ...
,
Vladimir Lossky Vladimir Nikolaievich Lossky (; 1903–1958) was a Russian Orthodox theologian exiled in Paris. He emphasized '' theosis'' as the main principle of Eastern Orthodox Christianity. Biography Vladimir Nikolaievich Lossky was born on 8 June ( OS 26 M ...
,
Sergius Bulgakov Sergei Nikolayevich Bulgakov (, ; – 13 July 1944) was a Russian Orthodox theologian, priest, philosopher, and economist. Orthodox writer and scholar David Bentley Hart has said that Bulgakov was "the greatest systematic theologian of the twen ...
,
Alexander Schmemann Alexander Dmitrievich Schmemann (; 13 September 1921 – 13 December 1983) was an influential Orthodox priest, theologian, and author who spent most of his career in the United States. Born in Estonia to émigrés from the Russian Revolution, ...
, Nicholas Lossky and
Nicholas Berdyaev Nikolai Alexandrovich Berdyaev (; ;  – 24 March 1948) was a Russian philosopher, theologian, and Christian existentialist who emphasized the existential spiritual significance of human freedom and the human person. Biography Nikolai Be ...
. This label must be nuanced however by pointing out that there were at least five theological strains among the so-called Paris School. It was during the early decades of St. Sergius that the Russian Religious Renaissance reached its apogee for Eastern Orthodox Theology. By 1950, the older generation of émigrés had died (Bulgakov, Berdyaev and Shestov) so roughly this would mark the end of the renaissance. Several theologians from St. Sergius later became influential teachers in America.
John Meyendorff John Meyendorff (; ; February 17, 1926 – July 22, 1992) was a leading theologian of the Orthodox Church of America as well as a writer and teacher. He served as the dean of St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary in the United States unt ...
and
Georges Florovsky Georges Vasilievich Florovsky (; – August 11, 1979) was a Russian Orthodox priest, theologian, and historian. Born in the Russian Empire, he spent his working life in Paris (1920–1949) and New York (1949–1979). With Sergei Bulgakov, V ...
began at St. Sergius and later became professors at
St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary (SVOTS) is an Eastern Orthodox seminary in Yonkers, New York. It is chartered under the State University of New York and accredited by the Association of Theological Schools in the United States and ...
.


Spirituality of the Russian Religious Renaissance

In addition to the philosophic and theological aspects, the Russian Religious Renaissance included a resurgence of Russian spirituality and its introduction to the West. The spiritual aspect of the renaissance is associated with people such as
Silouan the Athonite Silouan the Athonite (Russian: Силуан Афонский) also sometimes referred to as Silouan of Athos, Saint Silvanus the Athonite or Staretz Silouan (January 17, 1866 – September 24, 1938) was an Eastern Orthodox monk of Russian origin, ...
, Archimandrite Sophrony, Archbishop Anthony Bloom and Mother Maria Skobtsova. Another notable Russian spiritual figure was
Catherine Doherty Catherine de Hueck Doherty (née Ekaterina Fyodorovna Kolyschkina; August 15, 1896 – December 14, 1985) was a Russian-born Catholic activist who founded the Madonna House Apostolate in 1947. She was a pioneer in the struggle for interracial ju ...
(Ekaterina Fyodorovna Kolyschkine de Hueck Doherty) a Russian émigré from the Bolshevik Revolution.


Russian spirituality in Roman Catholicism

The Russian Religious Renaissance extended beyond the Eastern Orthodox Church. Probably the most notable example is Catherine de Hueck Doherty, a Russian émigré who escaped during the Bolshevik Revolution. She later became a convert to Roman Catholicism and founder of Madonna House, a lay apostolate based in Combermere Canada. Madonna House is a Roman Catholic institution which includes Eastern Rite liturgies and many aspects of Russian spirituality such as poustinia, sobornost and molchanie. Catherine Doherty sought to incarnate the Gospel in all aspects of Christian life and her vision included many of the ideals of Solovyov, especially the re-unification of East and West. Wild, Fr. Robert, Catherine Doherty: A Bridge Between East and West, video lecture, A video lecture given at Saint Paul’s University, Ottawa, Ontario on September 26, 2013.


References

{{Reflist Russian diaspora in Europe 20th-century Eastern Orthodoxy History of Eastern Orthodoxy in Russia