Alexander Dmitrijewitsch Schmemann

Alexander Schmemann

Alexander Dmitrijewitsch Schmemann ( Russian Александр Дмитриевич Шмеман , born September 13, 1921 in Tallinn , † December 13, 1983 in New York ) was an Orthodox priest and theologian.

biography

Alexander Schmemann was born in Estonia to Russian immigrants. He spent his youth in France, where he also received his school and academic training. From 1930 to 1935 he received instruction at a cadet school . He studied theology at the Institut de Théologie Orthodoxe Saint-Serge in Paris. In 1946 he was ordained a priest. From 1945 to 1951 he taught church history at the Institut Saint-Serge before he received a call from Georgi Wassiljewitsch Florowski to St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary in New York, where he moved with his wife and three children.

In New York, he quickly gained a reputation as one of the leading theologians in the field of liturgical theology, a theology that sees the liturgical tradition of the Church as an important expression of the Christian faith. He also worked at Columbia University and New York University , among others , and held numerous guest lectures in the USA .

From 1962 until his death he was director of St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary and influenced an entire generation of priests. In its time, the seminary also received the reputation of an important theological study institution.

From 1970 he was committed to the autocephaly of the Orthodox Church in America , which at that time became independent from the Russian Orthodox Church .

He died on December 13, 1983 as a result of cancer.

Teaching and views

Alexander Schmemann owes a fundamentally new study approach to orthodox worship and the spiritual laws on which it is based. A summary of this is his work The Eucharist: Sacrament of the Kingdom (published in German under the title Eucharist - Sacrament of the Kingdom ), which he completed shortly before his death.

Schmemann was also ecumenically engaged and from 1962 to 1965 an observer at the Second Vatican Council of the Roman Catholic Church . Yet he only viewed orthodoxy as a force that can counteract general downfall. But for this it is necessary that Orthodoxy finds its way back to Divine Simplicity, to the Good News in its pure form, to joy, peace and truth in the Holy Spirit. Among other things, he criticized orthodoxy for idolatry towards Byzantium , complacency and an overemphasis on external rules and norms. For Schmemann, Christian belief stood in opposition to any ideology . According to Schmemann, belief is neither a religion nor a cult , but a life in faith in Christ: religion and ideology are compatible with one another. Christianity (as a belief) is not compatible with either of the two. Enslave religion and ideology. Only belief liberates. Schmemann believed he recognized ideological tendencies in Alexander Solzhenitsyn, too, which became a burden for his originally friendly relationship with him.

Works

Alexander Schmemann published a large number of works, including:

• Introduction to Liturgical Theology (1966)
• Great Lent: Journey to Pascha (1969)
• For the Life of the World: Sacraments and Orthodoxy (1970)
• Liturgy and Life: Christian Development Through Liturgical Experience (1974)
• Of Water and the Spirit: A Liturgical Study of Baptism (1974)
• The Historical Road of Eastern Orthodoxy (1977)
• Ultimate Questions: An Anthology of Modern Russian Religious Thought (1977)
• Church, World, Mission: Reflections on Orthodoxy in the West (1979)
• The Eucharist: Sacrament of the Kingdom (1988)
• Celebration of Faith: I Believe ... (1991)
• Celebration of Faith: The Church Year (1994)
• Celebration of Faith: The Virgin Mary (1995)
• The Journals of Father Alexander Schmemann 1973-1983 (2000)

Works by Alexander Schmemann translated into German are:

• Eucharist: sacrament of the kingdom of God. Johannes Verlag, Einsiedeln 2005, ISBN 978-3894113889
• Records 1973-1983. Johannes Verlag, Einsiedeln 2002, ISBN 978-3894113711
• The Great Lent. Asceticism and liturgy in the Orthodox Church. EOS-Verlag, ISBN 978-3830672722
• The mother of god. Johannes Verlag, Einsiedeln 2010, ISBN 978-3894114121
• Our father. Johannes Verlag, Einsiedeln 2008, ISBN 978-3894114039
• Living from Joy: A Book of Faith by Orthodox Christians . Koinonia-Oriens eV, Cologne 2000, ISBN 3-933001-60-9

Individual evidence

1. ^ Protopresbyter Alexander Schmemann ( Memento from September 12, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) Protopresbyter Alexander Schmemann 1921–1983; Retrieved March 7, 2011
2. ↑ Study notice on orthodox theology
3. ↑ Father Alexander Mens legacy in modern Russian Orthodoxy (A comparison between Alexander Men and Alexander Schmemann) ( Memento of the original dated November 30, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. ; Retrieved March 7, 2011. 
4. ↑ Article on bogoslov.ru  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. ; Retrieved March 7, 2011.  

Web links

• Bogoslov.ru: "The priesthood should not be a profession", - says protopresbyter Alexander Schmemann. Not religion and ideology, but belief in Christ
• Protopresbyter Alexander Schmemann (English)