In 1885–1890, three Russian ecclesiastical scholars engaged in a sort of curious polemic in absentia. Hieromonk Alexy Vinogradov (1845–1919/20), in the first volume of his “History of the English and American Bible”, written about 1885–86, provided a text-critical introduction to the field of biblical studies and listed major critical editions of the Old and New Testaments. He fully relied on the best English-language studies of the day and assumed English Protestant views on his subject. In doing so, Vinogradov radically rethought the protective position of V.G. Rozhdestvensky (1839–1917). In his New Testament introduction (1878), the latter promulgated a conservative and restrictive opinion: that only the Church had the power to decide upon the text of the New Testament. Vinogradov – perhaps even unbeknownst to him – twisted the meaning of this quotation, making it look as if Rozhdestvensky promoted rational principles of textual criticism as the ultimate criterion. Later, the official reviewer appointed by the Holy Synod, A.A. Lebedev (1833–1898), whose report is preserved in the Russian State Historical Archive, praised the high quality of Vinogradov’s work yet commented on the English and Protestant tendencies that he had rightly observed in it. This report was approved by K.P. Pobedonostsev.
Key words: Hieromonk Alexy Vinogradov, V.G. Rozhdestvensky, A.A. Lebedev, K.P. Pobedonostsev, textual criticism, biblical studies, critical reception, marginality, mainstream
DOI: 10.22250/2072-8662-2026-2-143-151
About the author
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Dimitri A. Bratkin – PhD (History), Associate Professor, Assistant Professor at the Department of the Philosophy of Religion and Religious Studies, St. Petersburg State University; 5 Mendeleevskaya lin., St. Petersburg, 199034, Russia; This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. |