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[German Version] (before 1410 – Apr 17 [?], 1478), co-founder of the Solovetsky Monastery and an outstanding example of the attraction of the ascetic life in his period; canonized in 1547. He is not to be confused with the similarly named (a) metropolitan (1490–1494), (b) author of a pilgrimage account (1423), or (c) character in F. Dostoyevsky’s novel The Brothers Karamazov. Michael Hübner Bibliography On Zossima: K. Appel, “Zosima,” BBKL XIV, 1998, 588f. (bibl.) On the metropolitan: P. Nitsche, LMA IX, 1998, 676f. On the pilgrim: F.B. Poljakov, ibid., 677 On the fictional character…

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[German Version] (Jan 13, 1854, Ostaškov – Apr 18, 1900, St. Petersburg), Russian church historian who began studying at the Spiritual Academy of St. Petersburg in 1875. Because of his outstanding accomplishments he was appointed even before the end of his studies to the chair of early church history, becoming lecturer in 1879 and professor in 1885. In his “theses” on the Filioque Bolotov attempted to interpret the latter not as a dogma but as a Western theologoumenon and thus to strip it of its chur…

[German Version] (Sep 13, 1921, Tallinn, Estonia – Dec 13, 1983, Crestwood, NY). From 1940 to 1945, Schmemann studied theology at the Institut Saint-Serge in Paris; he was ordained to the priesthood in 1946. Beginning in 1951, he taught at St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary in the United States; in 1962 he succeeded G. Florovsky as dean. Influenced by the …

[German Version] I. Terminology All the major concepts in soteriology have biblical roots. Of central importance today is the notion of reconciliation (II), which bridges the theological and secular realms. The original Greek word καταλλαγή/ katallagḗ involves the notion of exchange, which was early taken to imply that Christ takes the place of the sinner before God, so realizing atonement (at-one-ment) and making expiation. Associated ideas include substitution and representation, which conceive Christ as standing in for the sinner before God. Particular theolo…

[German Version] The basis of the Orthodox blessing of water is the blessing of the water used in baptism (IV, 2), attested since the Early Church. In connection with the commemoration of Christ’s baptism on Jan 6, o…