Ever since the beginning of the early Christian Church, all those who aspired to true spiritual values have had a need for a critical rethinking of the teachings arising from the Holy Scriptures. After all, since the belief in the ideals of Christ appeared, dissent has also arisen among his followers. A special need for comparative analysis arose in the era of the Ecumenical Councils, when the dogmas of the main existing and still Christian denominations were being formed. In the 18th century, a special discipline arose in Russia: comparative theology. She was engaged in a review and critical rethinking of all existing in the world, non-Orthodox creeds. And this subject, which, however, for a long time was considered part of dogmatics, was actively taught in theological seminaries and academies.
Comparative Theology and Modernity
The necessity of this discipline in our days is due to the existence andthe constant emergence in the Christian world of ever new trends, many of which have deep historical roots. The lack of their proper systematization and the spiritual illiteracy of the population make it difficult to correctly perceive these teachings, and also deprive the ministers of various churches of the opportunity to correctly navigate them when working with parishioners, believers and doubters. Special literature created by literate priests, who today are recognized as true followers of Christ's precepts, connoisseurs of Scripture and religious dogmas, helps to eliminate such gaps. These benefits include the textbook by Archpriest Valentin Nikolaevich Vasechko "Comparative Theology".
Issues Covered
The main problem covered in this book is the attitude of the Orthodox towards representatives of foreign religions and the dogmas they accept. To fully cover this issue, the author examines the history of ideological and theological disputes that once served as the reason for the division of confessions. Of course, according to the author of the textbook, the unity of Christians is the duty of every deeply religious person. But what can be sacrificed for the sake of maintaining harmony and peace, the absence of conflicts on religious grounds? And is it possible here to accept behavior that is in fact a deviation from the faith and a violation of the commandments of Christ?
Basic Western Beliefs
The author of the study guide provides a detailed overview of the major Western foreign faiths. PrimarilyRoman Catholicism. This is the most organized and popular offshoot, and is followed by the majority of contemporary Christians around the world. This branch broke away from Orthodoxy in 1054. And according to the author, although she retained the foundations of spiritual Christian values, she subjected them to numerous distortions.
The book "Comparative Theology" also analyzes Protestant confessions that broke away from Catholicism during the Reformation in the 15th century. The theologian believes that this was the reason for the loss of signs of churchness by this religious branch, and its sacraments were deprived as a result of apostasy of grace.
Protestant branches and sectarianism
A feature characteristic of Protestantism has always been an endless process of crushing it into various branches. There were also numerous disagreements in understanding the ideas of Christ among his followers. And the emergence of each of the currents has its own historical background and reflects important milestones in the development of the Reformation from the Middle Ages to the present day. The ideas of Protestants have been subjected to critical review in the comparative theology of Orthodoxy more than once over the centuries.
The first of the largest branches is Lutheranism, which originated in Germany at the dawn of the Reformation. In it, as can be read in the book, one should see an unsuccessful attempt to combine Christian traditions with the desire for church renewal.
Calvinism, which originated in Switzerland, seems to the author Protestantism in its mostugly, even absurd form. Anglicanism is shown as a kind of dual religion, gravitating towards both Catholicism and Protestantism, a current that is no longer religious, but political in nature.
In Comparative Theology, Valentin Vasechko brings to the attention of his readers that Protestantism continues to split up today, giving rise to many false, sometimes extremely dangerous movements, religious offshoots and sects that are distinguished by their unusual originality.
The goal of modern Orthodoxy
The past century brought many innovations to the life of Christians. And one of the aspirations of the followers of Christ was the desire to unite. And this, in turn, gave impetus to the emergence of an ideology based on the principles of all-Christian unity. It was called ecumenism and especially spread in the post-war period, although, according to the author, it was a rather controversial movement.
But the goal of a true Orthodox today, as V. N. Vasechko states in Comparative Theology, is to study everything that is connected with the life and ideology of Western Christianity. After all, only by sensibly comprehending alien values, a true believer gets the opportunity to protect himself from delusions and help representatives of other concessions to see their mistakes. The theologian is convinced that it is the Eastern Christian branch that turns out to be the most ancient and pure.
Author biography
Valentin Nikolayevich is an associate professor at the Department of Systematic Theology and a hereditary priest. He was born in the Tver region in the village of Zavidovo, it happened in August 1963. From childhood, a religious boy helped in the performance of divine services in the temple of his father, being an altar boy. Feeling called to serve God, he entered the seminary in St. Petersburg in 1987.
Vasechko studied in the USA, where he graduated from a religious educational institution, receiving an honorary degree of master of theology. He has been teaching since 1996. Two of his children were born in a happy marriage with Yulia Sergeevna Shubina. Now he works for the benefit of the church in the position of rector at the Catherine's Church in Moscow. Awarded: pectoral cross. The textbook "Comparative Theology" was written by him in 1996. It was published in 2012 with a circulation of 2000 copies.
