The Financial Situation of the Scholarly and Theological Journals of the Theological Academies at the Beginning of the 20th Century

The author of the article examines, on the basis of new archival data, the history of the publication and the status of the scholarly and theological journals of the four theological academies of the Russian Empire in the last pre-revolutionary years. The years following 1905, due to the weakening of censorship restrictions, witnessed a revival and growth of the press, including of church periodicals. This in turn led to competition, which theological and academic journals could not withstand for a number of reasons, and thus entailed a decrease in the number of subscribers, circulation and, as a result, income. Increasing costs pushed the journals of the theological academies to the brink of bankruptcy and closure. Under these conditions, the periodicals, which were the flagships of Russian theological science, could only be helped by the Holy Synod, which, albeit not immediately, but nevertheless entered on the path of providing systematic state material assistance to the theological journals.