Messianism in Russia: Religious and Revolutionary
Two sets of Russian messianisms, religious and revolutionary, have many similar, if not identical, characteristics, and both have immensely contributed to the dominant cultural values in the Soviet Union today. In doctrine and in structure, the revolutionary movements were profoundly influenced by t...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Interlibrary Loan: | Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany) |
| Published: |
[1971]
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| In: |
Journal for the scientific study of religion
Year: 1971, Volume: 10, Issue: 4, Pages: 277-338 |
| Further subjects: | B
Tsars
B Religious rituals B Catholicism B Faith B Sectarianism B Russian Culture B Marxism B Collectivism |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (Resolving-System) Volltext (doi) |
| Summary: | Two sets of Russian messianisms, religious and revolutionary, have many similar, if not identical, characteristics, and both have immensely contributed to the dominant cultural values in the Soviet Union today. In doctrine and in structure, the revolutionary movements were profoundly influenced by the religious messianism and also consistently exhibited an impressive number of undeniably religious characteristics. Both sets served very important functions in the social change surrounding the events of 1917. Paradoxically, then, the new rulership after the November 1917 coup-d'etat did not need Karl Marx or any other Western ideologist to convince their subjects of the messianic religion-like quality of monism and collectivism leading to the inevitable salvation of the millennium through twain cosmogony and other eschatological means. The Russian cultural heritage was much more congenial and, for the purpose of legitimizing the not-so-new system, vastly superior than anything Rousseau, Saint-Simon, Comte or Marx could offer. It appears then that the non-Russian Communist-ruled nations in Eastern Europe (and perhaps China) are rejecting precisely the Russian cultural heritage represented in the messianisms when they are rebelling against the Russian domination in their own cultures (or countries). |
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| ISSN: | 1468-5906 |
| Reference: | Kritik in "Some Comments concerning Murvar's "Messianism in Russia (1972)"
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| Contains: | Enthalten in: Journal for the scientific study of religion
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.2307/1384779 |