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[German Version] I. New Testament – II. Church History – III. Theology I. New Testament 1.…

[German Version] (May 13, 1804, Moscow – Oct 5, 1860, Ternovskoe, Kazanʾ), was a Slavophile philosopher of history and a lay theologian who exerted considerable influence on the Russian spiritual life of the 19th century through his conception of the unity of the church; the after-effects of his ideas in the Russian philosophy of religion also had an impact on the early ecumenical movement in the 20th century. After studying mathematics as well as natural sciences, philosophy, history, and theolog…

[German Version] ( Jan 16/28, 1853, Moscow – Jul 31/Aug 13, 1900, Uzkoe, near Moscow), mystic, poet, pamphleteer, and theologian; still the most significant religious philosopher produced by Russia. Growing up in a devout and cultured family, Solovyov began to engage in ascetic exercises while still a child. He studied the natural sciences in Moscow from 1869 to 1872. His personal involvement with the philosophy of Plato, B. Spinoza, F.W.J. Schelling, A. Schopenhauer, and E. v. Hartma…

[German Version] I. Religious Studies – II. Christianity – III. Judaism – IV. Buddhism – V. Islam I. Religious Studies 1. Overview. Mission is not a fundamentally universal phenomenon in the history of religions; neither is every form in which religion is passed on eo ipso mission. “Primary,” tribal religions are not missionary religions. Their domain is coterminous with their society and its way of life; they are handed down from one generation to the next in the course of natural life. The question of truth does not arise. An individual is born into this religion. Only “secondary” religions, founded by reformers or spiritual leaders, are essentially missionary. Monotheism and an anthropology that embraces all human beings identically are the basis and premise o…

[German Version] I. Natural Sciences and Psychology – II. Religious Studies – III. Philosophy – IV. Old Testament – V. New Testament – VI. Church History – VII. Dogmatics and Ethics – VIII. Judaism – IX. Islam I. Natural Sciences and Psychology 1. Evolution From the perspective of the natural sciences, the theory of evolution offers the most comprehensive framework for understanding human beings. It views the human species as a late product of a biogenetic process that began with the origin of life (VI) on earth some 3.8 billion years ago. Humans are members of the order Primates. Between five and seven million years ago, the hominid clade diverged from the line of apes, with which we still share 98.4% of our DNA. While fossils of the first humans ( Homo habilis and erectus) can be dated to two million years ago and archaic Homo sapiens appeared some 400,000 years ago, the first humans anatomically comparable to modern human beings ( Homo sapiens sapiens) date back not much more than 100,000 years (Human being, Origins). This macroevolutionary perspective raises questions about the place of Homo sapiens in the cosmos. Is the human species the crown of evolution, having left behind the Neanderthals, who lived side by side with us for some 170,000 years before becoming extinct 30,000 years ago? A…

[German Version] (Mar 22, 1806, Moscow – Jun 11, 1856, St. Petersburg), literary critic, journalist, and philosopher, and together with A. Khomyakov the founder of the Russian Slavophiles. He was also a European thinker who wished to overcome the tensions between Russia and Europe as well as the antagonism between reason and faith in Western and Eastern Europe by reclaiming and spreading the synthesis of the Greek church fathers. After studying literature and philosophy in Moscow and under G. Hegel, F.D.E. Schleiermacher, and F. Schelling in 1831, he founded the journal Evropeec in order to promote the exchange of Russian and European culture. However, the publication of the journal was banned by censorship owing to his criticism of contemporary Russia and his call for religious renewal. From 1834 onward, Kireyevsky devoted himself to the doctrine and spiritual practice of the Orthodox Church, engaging in an intensive exchange with Starez Makarij in Optina Pustyn' Monastery for ten years. Until his death, he there published works of the church fathers and monastic literature from the Early Church in Russian translation, with which he aimed to reach a broad public. His reflections …

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