Russia's Uncommon Prophet: Father Aleksandr Men and His Times

Russia's Uncommon Prophet: Father Aleksandr Men and His Times

by Wallace L. Daniel
Russia's Uncommon Prophet: Father Aleksandr Men and His Times

Russia's Uncommon Prophet: Father Aleksandr Men and His Times

by Wallace L. Daniel

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Overview

This lucidly written biography of Aleksandr Men examines the familial and social context from which Men developed as a Russian Orthodox priest. Wallace Daniel presents a different picture of Russia and the Orthodox Church than the stereotypes found in much of the popular literature. Men offered an alternative to the prescribed ways of thinking imposed by the state and the church. Growing up during the darkest, most oppressive years in the history of the former Soviet Union, he became a parish priest who eschewed fear, who followed Christ's command "to love thy neighbor as thyself," and who attracted large, diverse groups of people in Russian society. How he accomplished those tasks and with what ultimate results are the main themes of this story.

Conflict and controversy marked every stage of Men's priesthood. His parish in the vicinity of Moscow attracted the attention of the KGB, especially as it became a haven for members of the intelligentsia. He endured repeated attacks from ultraconservative, anti-Semitic circles inside the Orthodox Church. Fr. Men represented the spiritual vision of an open, non-authoritarian Christianity, and his lectures were extremely popular. He was murdered on September 9, 1990. For years, his work was unavailable in most church bookstores in Russia, and his teachings were excoriated by some both within and outside the church. But his books continue to offer hope to many throughout the world—they have sold millions of copies and are testimony to his continuing relevance and enduring significance. This important biography will appeal to scholars and general readers interested in religion, politics, and global affairs.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780875807331
Publisher: Cornell University Press
Publication date: 04/20/2016
Series: NIU Series in Orthodox Christian Studies
Edition description: 1
Pages: 468
Product dimensions: 5.90(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.10(d)
Age Range: 18 Years

About the Author

Wallace L. Daniel is Distinguished University Professor of History at Mercer University. He is the co-editor of Perspectives on Church-State Relations in Russia and the author of The Orthodox Church and Civil Society in Russia, as well as many articles on Russian economic, social, and religious history.

Table of Contents

1 Murder in the Semkhoz Woods 1

2 Swimming against the Stream 5

3 "The Stalinism That Entered Into All of Us" 27

4 A Different Education 48

5 Aleksandr Men in Siberia: The Formation of a Priest 65

6 First Years as a Parish Priest 90

7 The First Decade: The Writer 116

8 The Transition to Novaia Derevnia 155

9 Fr. Aleksandr and the History of Religion 170

10 Novaia Derevnia: Reaching Out to a Diverse World 196

11 Under Siege 217

12 Religion and Culture (I) 243

13 Religion and Culture (II) 263

14 Freedom and Its Discontents 282

15 "This Was Not a Common Murder" 297

Epilogue 315

Acknowledgments 327

Notes 331

Bibliography 391

Index 411

What People are Saying About This

Michael Bourdeaux

Wallace Daniel's book is one of the best ever on the Russian Orthodox Church in the communist period. It is much more than a biography: in its way, it is also a history of the Russian Church from the 1950s to the collapse of communism in the days of Mikhail Gorbachev.

Patrick Lally Michelson

This is an accessible, clearly written, sympathetic treatment of an important but largely forgotten or ignored figure in modern Russian Orthodoxy.

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

Russia's Uncommon Prophet is a magnificent, rich, careful study of Fr. Alexander Men, his life and writings, and the complex historical, ecclesial, and intellectual contexts that shaped him and his work. While there have been other books about him, Wallace Daniel's labor of research and love here is without parallel; it is, in fact, incomparably valuable. It is likely to become the standard work on Fr. Men for many years to come, in any language.

Voprosy Filosofii

Most importantly, this is a book written by a professional historian of Russian thought with a special emphasis not only on the history of the church, on the history of the Soviet epoch, on the history of the erosion and dying convulsions of the communist dictatorship in Russia, but also on the intellectual history and especially the intellectual and the philosophical dynamics of the twentieth century.

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