Towards Understanding of the Practice of Proclamation: The Core Element of Russian Baptist Worship, Timofey Cheprasov, 2015

he common spirit of the congregation. That is why the proclamations of the preachers, as a rule, are impersonal. For example, ayn they use the pronoun “we” instead of “I”. Sobornost implies also an uncritical reception of preaching. The authority of leaders stands above any doctrine or ethical norm. Criticism of the clergy in Orthodoxy is one of the gravest sins.*° Let me offer a brief summary of the argument of this section up to this point. According to the understanding of Orthodox theologians, sobornost cannot be properly rationally explained and understood. It is beyond reason. It has to be experienced by being part of the Church through the mystical unity with Christ, since sobornost is not a human 33 Ibid., p 8. 4 Elorovsky, Puti Russkogo Bogoslovia, p 351. 5 A. Popov, “The Evangelical Christians-Baptists...,” p 125. *© Ibid., p 125. 40 characteristic, but a quality of God. Thus the doctrine of sobornost is a teaching about the Church that is mystical and invisible, the Church as a mystical Body of Christ. Such understanding highlights the mystical nature of the sacraments, understood as acts which are exclusively in the Church and for the Church. And since the Church is a reality, which is beyond rational understanding, these events may have no connection to the rational world, nor do they require rational understanding.*’ Although preaching is not present in the traditionaly accepted list of sacraments, *® some Orthodox theologians still perceive it as sacramental in character, particularly, through the sacrament of Holy Orders, or priesthood.*” Therefore, God continues to work through the act of preaching regardless of its rhetorical value — God’s work is a mystery, which happens through the act itself. This brings me to the last element of my brief review of the Orthodox context — its preaching. 2.3 Preaching in the Russian Orthodox Church The subject of preaching in the Russian Orthodox Church has attracted a lot of attention from both secular and religious authors, covering a wide spectrum of aspects from the overview of its development through history to the analysis of preaching as a particular genre of public speech. Obviously, it is impossible and unnecessary to address all those issues here. Hence, | will concentrate on a particular period in the development of preaching (late 19", early 20" century), which will provide a helpful insight into the context in which first Russian baptistic communities were being shaped. There were two main approaches to preaching in the Orthodox Church. The rhetorical approach emphasized practical methods of conviction and persuasion. It was developed at the end of the 17" century by Archimandrit loannikii Gol’atovskii and later by Bishop Fiofan Prokopovich.”° The followers of this homiletical school believed = Knorunjii, Posie Pereriva, p. 6. See also Khomyakov, Polnoie Sobraniie Sochinenii, Vol. 2, p 115. 38 Although there is