Resolution of ecclesiological problems of Russian theology of the 18th - early 19th centuries.

March 18, 2007 marked the 70th anniversary of the death of the Honored Ordinary Professor of the Petrograd Theological Academy, Doctor of Theology of the Moscow Theological Academy N. N. Glubokovsky. To commemorate this date, the Center for the Study of Church History of the Russian Abroad at the Moscow Theological Academy prepared for publication the “Biblical Dictionary,” which had long been considered lost by domestic researchers. The rediscovery of this monument of Russian biblical scholarship was possible thanks to the cooperation between the Moscow Theological Academy and the Holy Trinity Theological Seminary in Jordanville, which has been actively developing in recent years. The typescript of the dictionary was kept in the archives of the Holy Trinity Seminary, where it was transferred by Archbishop Averky (Taushev, † 1976), a student of Glubokovsky at the Sofia Theological Academy. Vladyka Averky, in turn, received it from the Patriarchal Exarch in Western Europe, Metropolitan Nicholas (Eremin, † 1984). It was to Metropolitan Nicholas in 1962 or 1963 that the wife of Glubokovsky’s colleague at the Sofia Theological Academy, M.E. Posnova, Elena Grigorievna Posnova, gave part of the handwritten heritage of the outstanding scientist, including the “Biblical Dictionary”. Archbishop Averky, being an excellent biblical scholar himself, wanted to publish this dictionary, but he never succeeded. The publication of this monument was the first project of the Center for the Study of Church History of the Russian Abroad, which was created with the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Alexy of Moscow and All Rus' at the Moscow Theological Academy in 2005. Work on preparing the “Biblical Dictionary” for printing turned out to be extremely difficult due to the poor quality of the typescript, a large number of typos and errors in the text, and began long before the results of the work of the commissions on dialogue between the Moscow Patriarchate and the Russian Church Abroad became known. Therefore, it is especially gratifying for everyone who worked on this book to realize that its publication was timed to coincide with the reunification of the two parts of the Russian Church. At the opening of the exhibition “The Russian Orthodox Church in the 20th–21st centuries”, held in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior after the Divine Liturgy on the day of signing the Act on Canonical Communion, His Holiness Patriarch Alexy said in particular: “The time has come for common, joint work. There are already examples of good cooperation. One of them is the publication of the “Biblical Dictionary” by N. N. Glubokovsky, on which the outstanding Russian theologian began working in Russia, continued his work in exile, but was unable to publish it. The manuscript was considered lost, but it was discovered in the archives of the Holy Trinity Theological Seminary in Jordanville and published today jointly with the Moscow Theological Academy. Professor Glubokovsky, like many of our compatriots abroad, lived in the hope that the day would come when what was created in exile would be in demand at home. And it happened." To get acquainted with the emigrant period of Glubokovsky’s scientific activity and the history of the creation of the scientist’s last work on biblical studies, readers are invited to an introductory article to this publication, written by the head of the department of biblical studies of the Moscow Academy of Sciences, Archpriest Leonid Griliches and the teacher of the Moscow Academy of Sciences, priest Dimitry Yurevich, as well as the author’s preface to the dictionary. The center’s employees hope that the publication of the “Biblical Dictionary” by the outstanding Russian theologian and biblical scholar N. N. Glubokovsky will contribute to the church-wide cause of restoring the unity of the Russian Church.