Lutheranism in Russia: Amidst Protestantism,Orthodoxy and Catholicism

When religious confessions that were suppressed or seriously persecuted in Soviet times are regenerating themselves, the result is sometimes quite novel religious movements that have no prerevolutionary precursors. To some extent this applies to all confessions. Even postsoviet Orthodoxy is nothing like the prerevolutionary Russian Orthodox Church. The metamorphosis of Russian Lutheranism, however, goes a good way beyond the norm for novelty in Russian confessions. In Russia today Lutheranism is unexpectedly becoming quite different, doctrinally and psychologically, from what it ever has been anywhere before. It could well play its own unique role on the future Russian religious scene. Until the 1980s virtually the only Lutherans in Russia were communities of Germans, most of which had been deported from European Russia to the Urals and Siberia by Stalin. These were mostly old people with not much education, and their numbers were rapidly declining because of increasing emigration. All the signs were that there was no future for Lutheranism in Russia. Over the last 15 years, however, the situation has changed radically. Most Russian cities now have Lutheran parishes, and most of the parishioners are Russians. In some cities - for example Izhevsk, Vladivostok, Krasnoyarsk and Novosibirsk - the Lutheran parishes are several hundred strong. In some of these cities the number of practising Lutherans is comparable to the number of practising Orthodox. There has been just as much of a radical change in the social makeup of the Lutheran parishes, with young people, students and people with higher education now playing a prominent role. They are a living refutation of Dostoyevsky's famous dictum that 'Russian means Orthodox': they see themselves as Russian patriots but at the same time faithful followers of Lutheran teachings. There is a widely held conviction among them that they are more faithful disciples of the Wittenberg reformer than today's Germans or Swedes. At the start of the twenty-first century Lutheranism has turned out to be the religious niche most suitable for many Russians who are seeking God but have failed to find him either in Orthodoxy or in more radical forms of Protestantism.     

The Theology of Atonement in Eastern Orthodoxy and Lutheranism Viewed Through Hymnody

Abstract : The last twenty years have seen a resurgence in dialogue between Lutheranism and Eastern Orthodoxy, especially as the dialogue pertains to deification, known as theosis. For Eastern Orthodox Christians, theosis is one way to describe atonement. This paper approaches the theology of atonement through the lens of each tradition's hymnody. Although the images in the hymns are not identical, their themes are similar enough to reinforce the present‐day dialogue between these two traditions.     

The Encounter between Eastern Orthodoxy and Lutheranism: A Historical and Theological Assessment

After the fall of the Byzantine Empire in 1453 and the following centuries of Ottoman occupation, especially in Eastern Europe and the Balkans, a series of unpredictable and difficult factors prevented Eastern Orthodoxy from engaging in a creative dialogue with the emerging Reformation of Martin Luther (1517), an event that decisively changed the course of Western history by triggering a chain of events at all levels of life. In spite of this, Luther and other Lutheran leaders initiated a continuing relationship and frank dialogue with various Orthodox churches, especially the Ecumenical Patriarchate. This encounter culminated in an official bilateral dialogue during the second half of the 20th century. In addition to the intensive formal efforts made by both traditions to find their way toward Christian unity, the long process of direct and indirect dialogue between theologians of both traditions points to a fundamental common doctrinal background shared by both church families.     

Impressions of the Church of Sweden: liberal and catholic with nuances of Lutheranism

The Church of Sweden is difficult to describe or to characterise, whether as a Folk Church, a national church, as catholic or liberal, or as, in some sense, Lutheran. This article refers to aspects of its complex relations with the Roman Catholic Church and with Lutheranism at large. The author detects, from ecumenical agreement and practice, an incipient new communion of churches, based on a common claim to be catholic and also to be open to developments in society. This group includes the Church of Sweden, the Church of England, the Episcopal Church in the USA, the Old Catholic Churches of the Union of Utrecht and the Philippine Independent Church, all of which are in communion with each other. The author's presentation is set out in relation to the Church of Sweden's liturgical and sacramental life, its church–state relations, and in an account of the rather asymmetrical shape of ecumenism in Sweden, in all of which the question of gender plays a role.     

Political Responses to Dissatisfaction in Russia

This paper seeks to determine how Russian citizens deal politically with the widespread discontent in the Russian Federation. Citizens are not only dissatisfied with their personal life, their job, and their financial situation but their dissatisfaction is also extremely high with government performance on several public problems. To analyze the responses to this deteriorating situation in the Russian Federation, a modified theory of Hirschman (1970) is used.The problems that beset citizens in their daily lives are not translated in political activity. In order to cope with self-located problems on housing, job and financial conditions, private rather than political means are activated. However, when we look at socially located problems, that are objects of government policy – e.g., employment, rising prices, crime rise – the readiness to voice concerns on these issues through political activities is rather small; citizens that are ready to voice prefer to do this by means of voting.Citizens that do not consider the voice alternative as a reaction to their dissatisfaction, cannot be equated to loyal citizens. Silent non-voice lumps together two phenomena. One form of silence may be loyalty, the other form of silence can be covered by the concept of neglect. Political neglect – in the literature sometimes under the label of political alienation or political apathy – is a serious alternative, that deserves a place next to Hirschman's options of active opposition (voice) and diffuse positive support (loyalty). Empirically, the phenomenon of neglect appears to be a widespread response to political dissatisfaction in the Russian Federation.The voice and loyalty response – although treated as alternatives in Hirschman's theory – are different sort of variables. Loyalty is an attitude, whereas voice is an action. Both are related. Loyalty can activate voice, whereas neglect can hamper the operation of voice. Although neglect and loyalty can be treated as mutually exclusive attitudes, voice can manifest itself in combination with both feelings. Voice can thus manifest as a loyal voice and a cynic voice. It is shown in the analysis that if people are ready to voice in Russia it is a voice of the latter kind, with little hope on future improvement.     

Between certainty and uncertainty--observations on psychoanalysis in Russia

'Diversity', the theme of our conference, carries a subversive sub-text in totalitarian societies. This is one of the themes presented as the current revival of psychoanalysis in the more democratic post-Communist Russia is explored. The history of psychoanalysis in Russia is summarized with a focus on its politicization, which led to initial interest in its theory (by way of a misapprehension of its tenets), and then to ultimate suppression of psychoanalytic thinking as an ideology deemed antagonistic to the totalitarian regime. In contrast, features of psychoanalysis and democracy are explored for their mutual affinities. The background of the resourceful new generation of analytic therapists is discussed, especially in regard to their experience of the parallel meanings of the word 'repression' (political, psychological). There is a persistence of some traits in patients and practitioners alike that are referable to past repression, such as the newness of verbal treatments, the inhibition of psychological curiosity, the ambivalent lure of certainty, and the pressure of authoritarian introjects. It is noted that psychoanalysis has its own history of a posture opposed to pluralism and diversity, which deepens the dialogue on the mutual engagement between psychoanalysis and the vicissitudes of its history in Russian culture.     

Response to Selinger on Dreyfus

My claim is clear and unambiguous: no machine will pass a well-designed Turing Test unless we find some means of embedding it in lived social life. We have no idea how to do this but my argument, and all our evidence, suggests that it will not be a necessary condition that the machine have more than a minimal body. Exactly how minimal is still being worked out.

Income and Satisfaction in Russia

The Russian Federation has undergone some drastic economic, social-cultural, and political changes since 1989. The income of nearly half of the population has sunk below the poverty line, which has had an enormous impact on their emotional life. In this study, the relationship between income and satisfaction in Russia was examined. Three theories – need, comparison, and personality theory – were considered. Data were drawn from the first three waves of the Russet panel study (1993–1995). Russians were a little more satisfied with their income and life when they had a higher income. A positive change in income caused an increase in income-satisfaction over a one-year period. Results also showed that there was a reciprocal relationship between income-satisfaction and life satisfaction, indicating that in addition to bottom-up effects, top-down mechanisms were also at work: life satisfaction is partly a sum of domain satisfactions, but it also reflects a more trait-like character. Furthermore, within comparison theory, social comparison had the largest effect on income-satisfaction, closely followed by income needed (person-environment fit theory), and income deserved (equity theory) with the smallest effect. The need effect of income on income-satisfaction became non-significant when controlled for these three comparison mechanisms. Correction for measurement error of relationships between the endogenous variables resulted in overall stronger effects.     

Poverty in Russia

This paper is intended to shed light on the extent of poverty in the Russian Federation. We present estimates of poverty lines and poverty ratios derived from subjective questions used in a data collection for a large household panel (RUSSET). We estimate poverty using a subjective approach, where the level of the poverty line is derived using the opinion of the individual, rich or poor, on poverty. This approach differs from the objective approach to poverty, which defines poverty according to the opinion of experts. Three subjective poverty lines are presented: one the Financial Satisfaction Poverty Line, two the Leyden Poverty Line, and three the Subjective Well-Being Poverty Line. The first two poverty lines are based on subjective questions regarding income and economic welfare while the last concept focuses on satisfaction with life as a whole. The results obtained are compared with each other and with results derived using objective measures and official figures.     

Marx and Russia

I present the scope andcharacteristics of Marx's interest in Russiaand review its evolution. Initially, Marx'sattitudes were marked by russophobia,pronounced anti-panslavism, assessments ofRussia as an outpost of European reaction andcounterrevolution, and even as the head of aconspiracy to block the world revolution. Withtime, however, Marx came to consider Russia asthe country in which the outbreak of theRevolution was most likely. In his research forsucessive volumes of Capital, he readRussian theoretical works by, among others, V.Bervi-Flerovskij and A. Koshelev. Marx'sattitudes to the anticipated peasant revolutionin Russia remained ambivalent; to a certaindegree he feared its occurrence suspecting thatit could take on an `asiatic' hue.