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The article contains first complete and systematic analysis of the studies devoted to dogmatics and liturgy, the history and the modern state of Catholicism published by Kyiv Theological Academy professors and pupils in the journal “Trudy Kievskoi dukhovnoi akademii” starting from the 1860s to the beginning of 1900s. This paper considers the main problems, themes, ideas which became the subject of interest of the Kyiv thinkers in studying this Christian denomination as well as highlights the specificity of the approach of the authors to certain aspects of the issue raised in the articles. The main directions of research on Catholicism are singled out, and an attempt is made to give a characteristic to each of these directions: 1) researches of dogmatic and canonical principles of the Catholic Church (these investigatios were of polemical and historical-critical character); 2) history of Catholicism – history of cathedrals, papacy, missionary and educational activity of monastic orders in Western European and Ukrainian territories and at the same time the history of certain prominent personalities of Catholicism (groundbreaking historical researches characterized by attracting a considerable amount of archival documents, handwritten and printed primary sources, multiplying a source of research on the history of Catholicism); 3) review and assessment of the religious life of Western Europe in the middle of the 19th – early 20th centuries through the prism of important events within the Catholic Church (coverage of the modern challenges faced by Catholicism and the response of the Catholic Church to them).Consideration of the journal publications allows author to conclude that they present a rather fruitful experience of comprehending one of the most influential religious traditions of the Western Catholicism.Article received 16.09.2018

The article considers the history of implementation and evolution of Accusatory (Polemical) theology in the Kyiv Theological Academy. The author shows the place where the controversy with other religions and other Christian denominations took place in the curriculum of the Kyiv Theological Academy after the introduction of the Statute of the religious schools of 1808–1814 in Kyiv. The article deals with the content of the lecture courses of Archbishop Smaragd (Kryzhanovsky), Archimandrite Antonin (Kapustin), Bishop Sylvester (Malevansky), Philip Ternovsky, and Bishop Augustine (Gulianitsky). The author shows that the Accusatory theology was not an independent academic discipline at first, but it was part of the general course of theology. For the first time, lectures on accusatory theology were given in Kyiv in 1823. On the recommendation of the Commission of theological schools, teachers of this discipline were to use the book of the German Lutheran theologian Johann Ernst Schubert «Institutionum Theologiae polemicae» during the preparation of lectures. Comparison of this book with the lectures of hieromonk Smaragd (Kryzhanovsky) shows that the work of the German theologian was used by the Kyiv teacher quite selectively. Next, the article shows how in the following decades the content of the course of accusatory theology varied, depending on the general situation in theological education in the Russian Empire. In particular, the changes that took place in the curriculum of the Kyiv Theological Academy in the 1840’s were characterized on the initiative of the Chief Procurator of the Holy Synod, Mykola Protasov. The author drew attention to the personal preferences of professors who found a reflection in their curriculum in Accusatory theology. In particular, Bishop Sylvester (Malevansky) in his course substantially expanded the controversy with the latest philosophical currents that opposed Christianity. Instead, Philip Ternovsky and Bishop Augustine (Gulianitsky) actively used the historical method, resulting in their courses representing the history of the controversy of the Orthodox Church with its various opponents. In the 1860’s, when a large-scale reform of theological education was being prepared in the Russian Empire, the idea of a radical revision of the accusatory theology teaching concept was heard at the Kyiv Theological Academy. At the same time, some professors even advocated the abolition of accusatory theology as an independent discipline and for joining it to the course of church history. Special attention is paid to the fact that the courses of accusatory theology in the Kyiv Theological Academy in the nineteenth century were based on typical contemporary ecclesiology and soteriology of that time. The purpose of the course was seen not in the equal dialogue with opponents, but in revealing their mistakes and attempts to convert them to the Orthodox Church.

The article presents the first attempt of a complete analysis of historic studies of Protestantism, published by the Kyiv Theological Academy professors and students in the journal “Trudy Kievskoi dukhovnoi academii” starting from the 1860s to the beginning of the 1900s. The author outlines the main directions of historical studies, including the history of the main religious protestant directions, trends, and movements; the history of theological problems; the history of the modern Protestant movements, aimed at union with Orthodoxy; the history of dogmatic and canonical Protestant principles; the history of the symbolic and liturgical books of religious denominations; research of prereform movements; and biographical studies. The article proves the effectiveness of comparative and hermeneutic methods used by Kyiv historians in determining the specifics of religious phenomena. It has established that a characteristic feature of their historical studies is the consideration of religious phenomena in the broad historical perspective by clarifying the historical preconditions of formation and development of these phenomena. The analysis of historical studies shows transformation in Kyiv historians understanding of the theoretical and methodological foundations of the study of religious traditions different from Orthodoxy. In the works on the history of Protestantism from the 1860s till the 1870s the use of dogmatic-theological approach is common, while in the studies from the 1880s to the beginning of the 1900s the use of church-historical approach is widespread. The first dogmatic-theological approach concentrates on researching only dogmatic principles of a certain religion, while the second church-historical approach pays attention to the definition of the religious phenomenon specificity. The Jjournal publications present the results of the Kyiv Theological Academy professors’ and students’ involvement in the solution of the actual Church life problems in the end of the 19th– beginning of the 20th century, such as the problem of Anglican and Orthodox Churches dialogue. Article received 16.02.2019