RELIGION AND CHURCH IN RUSSIA AND WORLDWIDE
All-Russian Church Council of 1917–1918 as a Phenomenon of the Conciliar Practice of the ChurchBeglov, Alexey (2016) “All-Russian Church Council of 1917–1918 as the Phenomenon of the Conciliar Practice of the Church”, Gosudarstvo, religiia, tserkov' v Rossii i za rubezhom 34(1): 51-73.
The author considers All-Russian Church Council of 1917 – 1918th as
a special phenomenon of the conciliar practice of the Orthodox Church.
He analyses the composition and arrangement of the Council in its
historical context, paying particular attention to the role of the laity
and bishops. A strong representation of laity allowed to avoid the
conflict between married and monastic clergy. In addition, this system
of representation was the visible realization of the idea of sobornost’,
which the Council of 1917 – 1918th considered
to be essential to restore. Thus, it built a balance between the
principle of sobornost’ and the Church as hierarchy based upon the
principle of apostolicity. The latter was implemented by the special
role played by the bishops’ meeting, which acted as dogmatic and
canonical “filter”, testing the decisions, adopted at the Council. The
article then explores the previsions for the future All-Russian local
councils which were supposed to undergo important changes in composition
and functions.