Orthodox Internet Preaching in Russia

The article covers a study of the content and stylistic features of modern Orthodox Internet religious sermon in Russian net media space. The language of contemporary Russian Orthodox preachers keeping their Internet video channels, websites, chats, forums and blogs is analysed using semantic, structural, and intertextual methods. A special attention is paid to the analysis of the rhetoric of the most widely known Russian Orthodox Internet preachers: Alexei Osipov, professor of Moscow Theological Academy; Archpriest Fr. Dimitry Smirnov; Archpriest Fr. Andrey Tkachev; Archpriest Fr. Alexander Ilyashenko; Archpriest Fr. Andrei Fedosov ("Kiberpop" [Cyberpriest]); Fr. Georgy Maximov; Fr. Alexander Ku-khta; Fr. Daniil Sysoev; Archpriest Fr. Vladimir Golovin; Protodeacon Andrey Kuraev. 164 digital sermons have been studied in total, of which three quarters are comprised by the sermons of the afore mentioned Russian Orthodox preachers. It is demonstrated that the content of the Internet sermon is largely determined by the Internet users themselves and the topics of their appeals and queries. The fundamental characteristics of the content of the Internet sermon may be regarded as follows: (1) the focus on the individual, private goals and objectives, not just on theoretic theological problems; (2) re-consideration of the phenomenon of one's neighbour; (3) the shift from the classical Orthodox tradition of preaching the importance of inner spiritual concentration to preaching religious interactivity. The features of the style of the Internet Orthodox sermon in modern Russia can be considered as follows: (1) transition from simple answers to the rhetoric of new questions addressed to the audience; (2) empathy towards people in their life conflicts and experiences; (3) desire to share religious information, and not to impose it; (4) various rhetorical techniques for different audiences; (5) tendency to overuse slang, sometimes even against the digital audience's expectations. The equivocal nature of today's Internet Christian sermon is emphasised. It may be both helpful and unproductive regarding the goals of the preacher. Currently, the effectiveness of Internet homiletics in Russia is unclear. There are no statistical data confirming or refuting its usefulness for the Russian Orthodox Church and the task of preaching Orthodoxy. The estimates given in the literature are only qualitative. Compared with the Roman Catholic and Anglican traditions of digital preaching, the Russian phenomenon of Orthodox Internet homiletics is very young. Mainly for this reason, it is difficult to elaborate final or even intermediate conclusions about its efficiency.

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