Forms of scientific communication of the teaching community of church historians of the second half of the XIX - first quarter of the XX centuries (on the example of the Moscow Theological Academy)

The article is devoted to the study of scientific communication among church historians - teachers of the Moscow Theological Academy of the second half of the XIX - first quarter of the XX centuries (A.V. Gorskiy, E.E. Golubinskiy, N.F. Kapterev, A.P. Lebedev, etc.). Such forms of scientific communication as interaction with scientific societies, publication of works, scientific management, correspondence with students and colleagues, lectures, disputes, scientific coteries are considered. A.V. Gorskiy developed the approach, the essence of which is that church history is subject to general historical laws, designed to gather facts and find a connection between them. The researcher stressed the need to use only reliable sources, while remembering that church history is not a “collection of facts”, but a science that penetrates into their internal connection. In the archive of the scientist, drafts of lecture courses have been preserved, testifying to the ongoing work on their updating and improvement. At lectures in the Academy, A.V. Gorskiy was not afraid to discuss ambiguous issues, to present different points of view. From students he demanded an understanding of the methodology of the studied science and the classification of historical sources. Scientific communication was implemented by researchers through correspondence with students, colleagues, graduates of the Academy. Scientific communication was carried out in the form of interaction with the Academy of Sciences, the Russian Geographical Society, the Russian Archaeological Society, the Society of Russian History and Antiquities, the Historical Society of Nestor the Chronicler, the Society of Lovers of Spiritual Education, the Society of Lovers of Natural Science, Anthropology and Ethnography. Correspondence has been preserved in which the variety of forms of cooperation is presented: discussion of research programs, issues of publishing scientific papers; advising on books and manuscripts stored in the library of the Moscow Theological Academy and other book storages. Another form of scientific communication was public disputes on the protection of master's and doctoral dissertations introduced by the academic charter of 1869. Disputes attracted the attention of representatives of secular science, the highest church hierarchy, the local clergy; writers, gymnasium teachers, editors of Orthodox magazines. The positive aspect of the introduction of disputes was that society had partly stopped blaming theological schools for isolation, beginning to treat theological issues more seriously and intelligently. Popularization of church historical science took place. In many ways, the experience of public speaking and participation in discussions was acquired in scientific circles. Coteries provided an interesting opportunity for students to self-organize, update knowledge, and communicate with teachers at a new level. Scientific communication of the faculty community of theological academies of the second half of the XIX - the first quarter of the XX centuries, based on objectivity, work with historical sources, responsibility, civic activism, recognition of the value of a scientific school, contributed to the flourishing of ecclesiastical education and science.

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