This article analyzes the role of religious narratives in the formation of power in Russia in the 16th–18th centuries. The author examines three main narratives in Orthodox notions of power. The first is associated with the perception of the Church and the state as a single entity, striving for the salvation of the people through the joint pursuit of religious and political goals. In this narrative, the tsar is seen as a guardian of Orthodoxy sent by God. The main proponents of this concept were Joseph of Volotsk and his followers, who developed the idea of ​​the identity of priesthood and kingship. However, the administrative practices of Ivan the Terrible revealed the limitations of this model and raised questions about its consistency with Orthodox morality. The second narrative, the separation of earthly and heavenly cities, was formulated by St. Augustine, and in Russia, its proponents were the Non-Possessors, who preached a monastic path to the Kingdom of Heaven, denying the role of state power in salvation. In the medieval period, these ideas were not widespread and were not supported by the authorities. The third narrative is associated with the Petrine reforms of the 18th century and the concept of Feofan Prokopovich. He created the ideology of the Synodal period, when secular power dominated, and the state, having subordinated the Church and retained the rhetoric of Orthodoxy, rejected religious legitimation. The monarch's power was justified by the benefit of the fatherland and the social contract. In this narrative, the Church served as an instrument for maintaining the monarchy, not as a spiritual leader independent of the authorities. As a result, the Church lost its ability to be an authoritative source of public morality for broad sections of Russian educated society.

Keywords: narrative, Orthodoxy, church, state, power, tsar, political theology, theology.

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Sitnikov A.V. Religious Narratives of Power in Russian Political Theology of the 16th–18th Centuries. Theology: Theory and Practice, 2026, vol. 5, no. 2, pp. 5–17. https://doi.org/10.65324/ttp027

In the article through the lens of the relationship between science and religion (“knowledge- faith”) was analyzed the formation and development of the medieval Armenian philosophical and theological tradition, which lacks a clear distinction between scientific, philosophical, and theological knowledge. Based on a study of primary sources (the writings of medieval Armenian thinkers) and the works of leading Armenian Armenologists, was constructed a medieval Armenian epistemological model with a hierarchical correlation of the levels of knowledge. This model presents the sensory, rational, and spiritual-contemplative levels of cognition as interconnected links in a single cognitive process. Faith is defined as the highest form of knowledge. In such an epistemological model, which in different variations “works” both among early Christian Armenian thinkers (5th-7th centuries, Mesrop Mashtots, Yeznik Koghbatsi, Yeghishe, David Anhaght, Anania Shirakatsi), and among thinkers of the high Armenian Middle Ages (14th-15th centuries, Hovhannes Vorotnetsi, Grigor Tatevatsi), it is fundamentally impossible to oppose science and religion, knowledge and faith. The medieval Armenian philosophical and theological tradition represented more than just a powerful theoretical and ideological construct. It began to emerge in the early Middle Ages as an ideological and philosophical opposition to ancient philosophy and Persian Zoroastrianism, and in the High Middle Ages this established tradition became an ideological and ideological shield against the spread of the Catholic Unitarian movement in Armenia. It is precisely these circumstances explain the specificity of the Armenian epistemological model and its difference from the Western epistemological model, in which the «tension» between science and religion, knowledge and faith, was historically prepared by the internal differentiation of forms of knowledge, which, in the late scholastic era and especially in the modern era, led to the institutional and theoretical-methodological distinction between science and religion, knowledge and faith. The problem of the relationship between science and religion, knowledge and faith in the Armenian philosophical and theological tradition was not only of a purely cognitive nature, but had a clearly expressed political and ideological significance, since it was connected with the issue of preserving the cultural identity of the Armenian nation and preserving the Armenian Apostolic Holy Church as a national institution. This issue remains relevant for the Armenian nation and the Armenian Church to this day.

Keywords: theological truth, philosophical truth, science and religion, knowledge and faith, philosophical and theological tradition, epistemological model, hierarchy of forms of knowledge, Middle Ages.

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Mirumyan R.A. To the problem of the relationship between «science and religion» («knowledge-faith») in the Armenian philosophical and theological tradition of the Middle Ages. Theology: Theory and Practice, 2026, vol. 5, no. 2, pp. 18–47. https://doi.org/10.65324/ttp028

This article examines the Epistle to the Hebrews, which plays a key role in the development of Christian theology. It is shown that the Epistle was addressed to a Christian community consisting largely of Jews who were facing persecution, experiencing a lack of faith in Jesus Christ, and standing on the brink of apostasy and a return to Judaism. The author of the Epistle exhorts the community. To do so, he draws upon the Tanakh, which held authority for a Jewish audience, and particularly the Book of Isaiah. Research has shown t that the audience to whom the Book of Isaiah was addressed was, at the time, in a situation much like that of the New Testament community; they, too, struggled with their faith in the Creator and were on the verge of apostasy. It is shown that the author of the Epistle attempts to resolve the problem of faith for his readers in the same way that Isaiah did for his. The author constructs the Epistle largely by mirroring the Book of Isaiah. A common thread running through both books is chiastic parallelism, which employs narratives designed to strengthen the readers’ faith. Both authors employ the same narratives and utilize similar literary techniques and themes. It is demonstrated that the Book of Isaiah played a key role in shaping the theology of the New Testament Epistle.

Keywords: faith, Epistle to the Hebrews, Book of Isaiah, narrative of faith, Jesus Christ, theology, Judaism, New Testament, Tanakh, Bible.

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Shumilin A.V. The The Theology of Hebrews through the Lens of Isaiah. Theology: Theory and Practice, 2026, vol. 5, no. 2, pp. 48–65. https://doi.org/10.65324/ttp029

Recent ecclesial and media discourse increasingly frames Orthodox Christianity as a locus of “traditional masculinity,” allegedly attracting a new wave of converts, particularly young men. This article critically examines the theological coherence of such claims through the lens of Orthodox Christian anthropology and patristic theology. It argues that contemporary appeals to “Orthodox masculinity” function less as expressions of Orthodox doctrine and more as reactionary cultural constructs shaped by modern gender anxiety. Drawing on Gregory of Nyssa and Maximus the Confessor, the article demonstrates that patristic anthropology relativises gender within a Christological and eschatological horizon, thereby resisting its elevation into a normative theological category. The fixation on masculinity, the article contends, emerges where Orthodox anthropology remains insufficiently articulated in contemporary theological discourse. Rather than defending or rejecting masculinity, the article reframes the debate by proposing that renewed engagement with patristic anthropology offers a more theologically coherent and spiritually fruitful response to modern concerns surrounding gender, identity, and conversion. The article concludes that the Church’s engagement with this media-generated phenomenon risks subordinating its theological voice to cultural agendas, and advocates for a proactive recovery of a patristic vision of personhood capable of dissolving the masculinity question altogether.

Keywords: Orthodox Christianity, masculinity, theological anthropology, gender, Gregory of Nyssa, Maximus the Confessor, patristics, conversion, modernity, patriarchy, media narratives.

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Narinskaya E. Orthodox Masculinity Reconsidered: Patristic Anthropology, Gender Anxiety, and Contemporary Conversions. Theology: Theory and Practice, 2026, vol. 5, no. 2, pp. 66–86. https://doi.org/10.65324/ttp030

This article focuses on the biblical album “Die Bibel in Bildern” by German artist Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld, which was one of the most popular illustrated editions in the second half of the 19th century. An introduction provides a brief overview outlining the place of illustrated Bibles and engraved biblical albums in the history of European culture from the 15th to the 19th centuries. Julius Schnorr improved his artistic skills among German and Austrian artists in Rome known as the Brotherhood of St. Luke or the Nazarenes. That period had a high importance not only for his personal artistic style but also for the very idea of ​​a biblical album, which accumulated both religious views and educational goals of the Brotherhood. Julius Schnorr’s role in the process, followed by his efforts for preparing images and publishing the album, is reconstructed from his Roman letters to his father and friends as well as a few modern studies on the album itself and the art of the Nazarenes. The main part of the article is devoted to the structure and style of Schnorr Bible, as well as its compositional techniques. They played a key part in artistic interpretation of the Holy Scripture that help to reinforce the expressiveness of the narrative. They also can be divided in two groups defined as theatrical and rhetorical. The theatrical techniques relate to the staging of the depicted event, while the rhetorical ones refer to the genre. Each technique, however, contains a specific set of artistic devices aim to achieve both an emotional response in the viewer and illustrative expressiveness. All of these devices are analyzed on the images from the album. The conclusion provides information on the Schnorr Bible distribution outside Germany and the forms of its adaptation.

Keywords: biblical album, Holy Scripture, Schnorr Bible, the Nazarene, engraving, lithography, church art, theology.

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Lisovskaya E.L. Artistic Interpretation of the Sacred History in Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld’s Biblical Album. Theology: Theory and Practice, 2026, vol. 5, no. 2, pp. 87–115. https://doi.org/10.65324/ttp031

This article examines the interpretation of Isa 7:14 in Matt 1:23 within the broader context of the development of Jewish theology of mediation during the Second Temple period. The central hermeneutical difficulty arises from the discrepancy between the historical-grammatical meaning of Isaiah’s prophecy, which in its original context relates to the events of King Ahaz’s reign, and the New Testament claim concerning the virgin birth of the Messiah. In modern scholarship, this problem is commonly explained through historical-critical approaches, typological interpretations, or the influence of the Septuagint. However, such approaches do not always fully account for the theological logic underlying the evangelist’s interpretation. The article proposes to examine Matt 1:23 within the wider historical and theological development of Jewish thought. The methodological framework of this study is a five-step analytical model for identifying elements of Jewish hermeneutics in the New Testament’s interpretation of the Tanakh, encompassing the analysis of scholarly interpretations, as well as historical-grammatical, theological, comparative-hermeneutical, and rhetorical-narrative analyses. The study demonstrates that Matthew’s interpretation emerges within the hermeneutical culture of Second Temple Judaism and reflects the development of different models of mediation between God and the world. In apocalyptic traditions of the Second Temple period, mediation is associated with the elevation of a human figure to a heavenly status. In contrast, Hellenistic Judaism, as represented most prominently by Philo of Alexandria, understands mediation as the descent of the divine Logos into the world. The text of the Septuagint plays a significant role within this interpretive context, as it allows for a messianic reading of Isa 7:14. The study demonstrates that Matthew’s Christology may be understood as a theological synthesis of these traditions and as a response to the problem of mediation in Second Temple Judaism, in which the figure of Jesus is presented as a unique mediator between God and humanity, uniting divine origin with human history.

Keywords: Jewish hermeneutics, mediatorial theology, Gospel of Matthew, Septuagint, Second Temple period, Hellenistic Judaism, apocalyptic literature, virgin birth.

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Trupbergenov A.M. Isaiah 7:14 in Matthew 1:23 and the Evolution of Jewish Theology of Mediation. Theology: Theory and Practice, 2026, vol. 5, no. 2, pp. 116–133. https://doi.org/10.65324/ttp032

The article is devoted to a comprehensive theological and legal analysis of the institution of triple divorce (talaq) in Islamic law and the identification of conflicts between Sharia norms and the family legislation of the Russian Federation. Based on the reconstruction of Quranic verses, hadiths, and the works of classical scholars (al-Shafi’i, Ibn Rushd, and al-Ghazali), the historical evolution of the practice of divorce is substantiated: from the recognition of the triple recitation of the formula as a single divorce during the time of the Prophet Muhammad to its legalization as a triple decision during the reign of Caliph Umar. The empirical part of the study is based on an analysis of the activities of the Fatwa Department of the Muftiate of the Republic of Dagestan and a survey of imams, which revealed widespread ignorance of the Idda norms, violations of the conditions for divorce, and disregard for the intention (niyyah). The authors analyze the legal anomalies that arise due to the lack of harmonization between the religious and civil statuses of marriage. As a practical solution, a model of mandatory Sharia mediation before divorce has been proposed, similar to the legislation of Azerbaijan and Morocco. The results of the study aim to reduce the number of irreversible divorces and preserve family values in regions with a Muslim population.

Keywords: triple divorce, talak, idda, Sharia, Family Code of the Russian Federation, Dagestan, Umar al-Khattab, niyyah, mediation, marriage.

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Magomedov M.M., Akhmedova D.S. Three-Time Divorce in Islamic Law: Regulatory Foundations, Historical Evolution and Mazhab Specificity of Modern Practice in Russia (on the Example of Dagestan). Theology: Theory and Practice, 2026, vol. 5, no. 2, pp. 134–148. https://doi.org/10.65324/ttp033

The article examines representations of the papacy articulated in the charters of Pope John XII (955–964), treating them both as a source for normative and rhetorical models of papal authority and as a channel of ecclesiastical-political communication between Rome and recipients on both sides of the Alps. The source base is the corpus of papal acts: the pastoral letter of 955 to William, archbishop of Mainz; monastic privileges (Subiaco, Monte Cassino, Fulda, and others); grants of the pallium (Trier, Canterbury, Salzburg); the documents of 962 concerning the establishment of the diocese of Magdeburg; acts connected with the crisis of 963–964 etc. The study combines formulaic and contextual analysis, focusing on titulature, the preamble (arenga), formulas of primacy and appeal, exemption, sanctions, and the symbolism of the pallium as a sign of participation in apostolic ministry. It shows that the universalist discourse is firmly grounded in appeals to apostolic foundation and to canonical tradition and “ancient custom,” while addressing concrete aims: securing the status and property of ecclesiastical institutions, shielding them from external interference, regulating episcopal authority through norms governing the pallium and admonitory formulas, and articulating projects of ecclesiastical organization and mission within an imperial context. The article also discusses the role of papal sanctions in enforcing discipline; crisis-period documents reveal a shift toward a harsher, judicial-punitive register. Overall, papal authority in John XII’s charters is reconstructed as a bond of primacy, pastoral care, judgment, and sanction, while the protection of rights and property receives an explicitly sacral grounding. The material is organized by functional types of acts (privileges, confirmations, judicial and disciplinary decisions, organizational directives), making it possible to trace how the rhetorical profile of the papacy varies with addressee and circumstance and to determine the place of John XII’s acts within tenth-century papal diplomatics as a whole.

Keywords: John XII, Pope, papal charters, primacy, appeal, jurisdiction, exemption, monastic privileges, pallium, anathema, Otto I.

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Cherepenin A.A. Representations of the Papacy in the Charters of Pope John XII (955–964). Theology: Theory and Practice, 2026, vol. 5, no. 2, pp. 149–163. https://doi.org/10.65324/ttp034

This article offers a theological and patristic interpretation of programs that simulate communication with the dead and of digital doubles as a new form of post-mortem simulation. Its concern is not the general ethical debate over digital modes of remembrance, nor a catalogue of permitted and prohibited practices, but a more precise question: can an algorithmically reproduced speech model be understood as the continuation of the same person after death? The study argues that such systems rest on a subtle yet decisive shift: personhood is treated as the sum of data, habitual responses, recurrent verbal formulas, and behavioral traces. For this reason, ecclesial commemoration is displaced by technologically generated responsiveness, and memory itself begins to operate according to the logic of simulation. Methodologically, the article brings contemporary research on digital post-mortem presence into dialogue with Orthodox dogmatic and patristic understandings of the categories πρόσωπον (person), ἀνάμνησις (commemoration), and ἀνάστασις (resurrection). In so doing, it moves the question of digital communication with the dead beyond the sphere of narrow practical evaluation into the domain of theological reflection on the human person, death, and the ultimate destiny of personal existence. The study’s novelty lies in its reading of simulated communication with the dead as a displacement of ecclesial memory, while its consequences are interpreted as expressions of a distorted understanding of death, presence, and hope for resurrection and personal identity. It concludes that simulated post-mortem presence does not preserve the person, but reproduces only the outward pattern of earthly self-expression. The article thus clarifies the boundary between remembrance and pseudo-dialogue, and between preserving a trace and claiming personal presence. Its practical contribution lies in a dogmatic distinction between memory, simulation, and hope that is necessary for contemporary ecclesial thought within technoculture.

Keywords: digital afterlife, griefbot, digital double, personhood, hypostasis, memory, commemoration, resurrection, incorruption, patrology, orthodox anthropology.

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Popov A.P. Griefbot and the Problem of Simulated Presence after Death: An Orthodox-Patristic Analysis. Theology: Theory and Practice, 2026, vol. 5, no. 2, pp. 164–180. https://doi.org/10.65324/ttp035

This article presents a new direction in the theology of the Book of the Prophet Isaiah, which is closely connected with biblical counseling and has not been previously presented in the works of researchers. In it, God is shown as a Spiritual Counselor who helps the chosen people of Israel and all nations in a state of apostasy to find spiritual healing and peace with their Creator. Studies of the Book of Isaiah have shown that God’s primary concern is not prophecies, which are intended to instruct, comfort, rebuke, and foretell the future, but His relationship with His chosen people Israel and with the nations who do not yet know Him. The paper shows how God works with these nations, desiring to show them the way of spiritual healing. The main research methods are hermeneutical, biblical-spiritual and comparative. It is shown that the book of Isaiah contains many direct appeals to Israel and the nations, in which God reveals Himself to people, instructs them, rebukes, warns, comforts, shows them the way, and calls them to turn to Him. God’s desire to reveal Himself to the people more fully encourages them to think logically. The book contains many questions, particularly rhetorical questions, of God to Israel and to all nations. It shows that God is willing not only to speak but also to listen, to meditate with His people together and to answer their questions and prayers. The Book also contains questions Isaiah asked God, but obviously reflecting the mood and thoughts of the entire nation of Israel, of which he was the representative. God’s address and questions to the nations already contain and presuppose their response to the call. At the same time, the book also contains God’s answers to the people’s concerns. The article shows that one of the main reasons for apostasy is ignorance of God. It shows how God reveals Himself, how and on what basis He diagnoses mankind and what way of healing He offers. The findings may provide the foundation for a new direction in the theology of the Book and may also serve as an aid to biblical counseling.

Keywords: The Book of Isaiah, God, Israel, nations, theology, biblical counseling, thinking, knowledge, spiritual healing, OldTestament, the Bible.

For citation
Shumilin A.V. A New Look at the Book of the Prophet Isaiah: Biblical counseling at the heart of theology. Theology: Theory and Practice, 2026, vol. 5, no. 2, pp. 181–193. https://doi.org/10.65324/ttp036