Alexander Kireev : Turn-of-the-century Slavophile and the Russian Orthodox Church, 1890-1910

Abstract

John D. Basil, Alexander Kireev: turn-of-the-century Slavophile and the Russian Orthodox Church, 1890-1910. Alexander Kireev was an active Neo-slavophile in Russian Orthodox Church politics throughout his public career, which spanned the time between 1870 and 1910. The princi pal points of what he called his Weltanschauung included (a) the need for a holy and indissoluble link among church, state and the people of Russia (b) the belief that special gifts had been granted to Slavic peoples, and (c) the conviction that the basis of Western Christianity was weak. He rejected parliamentary and democratic рпх-edurcs as unsuited for Russia, but favored a version of ecumenical theology. His views are still popular with some Russians. During his lifetime, Russian liberals criticized him as a reactionary, while conservatives criticized him for converting tradition into an ideology. Kireev died in 1910. His letters were published in two volumes in St. Petersburg in 1912.

Konstantin Petrovich Pobedonostsev: An Argument for a Russian State Church

“…Certainly Pobedonostsev was far more cogent than General Alexander Kireev, who constructed his world view almost exclusively on the basis of an anti-papal polemic, or of Mikhail Katkov, whose political strategy called for only the defense of the state. 40 Pobedonostsev based his belief on the need to maintain a strong and visible connection in civic life between popular morality and political leadership. The link was necessary for maintaining harmony and righteousness in the unstable conditions created by modern life, and in Russia could mean only a close working union between the Russian Orthodox Church and the monarchy.…”