Main trends in the development of theological education in Siberia in the 18th - early 20th centuries

The aim of this article is to examine the main trends in the development of theological education in Siberia in the 18th - early 20th centuries. This article used commemorative books of individual regions and educational institutions, as well as studies of authors who dealt with the problems of the development of the spiritual and secular education of Siberia. The article considers the problem of the Russian Empire's preservation of new annexed territories which could be solved using Christianization of the local aboriginal population. The process was based on the establishment of theological educational institutions that trained clergy-preachers, spiritual teachers and mentors of the masses. It had a beneficial effect on the voluntary Russification of the local population. Thus, the first educational establishments in the Siberian region became seminaries and colleges. They were opened in the 18th and 19th centuries as a result of the urgent needs of the expanding state. After the founding of the first seminary in Tobolsk, there was an urgent need to open seminaries in other diocesan centers. To prepare students for learning in theological seminaries, religious schools were opened in towns; they gave primary spiritual education. Girls from families of the clergy could receive education in religious schools for the social class - diocesan schools, similar in program to the programs of women's gymnasiums. However, by the early twentieth century seminaries began to experience the outflow of students who went to higher education institutions and increasingly chose secular professions instead of spiritual, due to the lack of pastoral callings among young people and a desire to be better off than the clergy, who had a meager existence. The attempt of the Church to curb the trend by prohibiting representatives of the clergy to engage in worldly activities were not successful. The trend of the outflow of students from religious educational institutions began because of the growth of the number of secondary and vocational schools in Siberia, against which the number of religious educational establishments remained unchanged. The indirect cause of this was special rules of admission to first Siberian universities that welcomed, due to the lack of graduates of general educational institutions, students of theological seminaries. Thus, the growth of religious schools, necessary for the state, almost stopped by the beginning of the twentieth century, which was associated with the choice graduates of the religious schools made in favor of secular education. These trends reflect the significant changes taking place in society, becoming one of indicators of the need for reforms.

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