“Live” preaching: dynamics of pastoral “word” in Russia in the 2nd half of the 19th - early 20th centuries

With the beginning of the state reforms of the 1860s, a request for participation of Orthodox clergy in the public life arose in the Russian society, which expanded the idea of the boundaries and form of church preaching, its content and ways of improvement. By 1890, there was a transition from “conversations” on biblical topics to moral-ethical precepts. At the beginning of the 20th century, the church-biblical style of preaching was more resembling the secular one. In the 1905-1910, publicist preaching was spread. The purpose of the study is to trace the dynamics of how pastoral “word” was influenced by the historical, cultural and political atmosphere of the 1880-1910. The task of the article is to identify the unexplored scientific topic, the source and sequence of the requirements for church preaching in the era of historical modernization of the country. The starting point is the theological concept of tradition as a norm for the functioning of all areas of church consciousness and the Church as a spiritual, cultural and ideological center influenced by new ideologemes in transitional historical times, but preserving the value of the religious knowledge stored by it. The conclusion is made that Church preaching in different periods of the Russian history was a realm where the Russian Church experienced the strongest influence of the cultural, scientific and political achievements of Russian society. At the beginning of the 20th century, two forms of preaching became established - traditional and innovative, the latter overcame the boundaries of the church tradition, acquiring a publicist form.