Imiaslavie
SAMUEL NEDELSKY
Imiaslavie (lit. “glorification of the name”) was a doctrine, popular among Russian monks on Mount Athos in the first two decades of the 20th century, maintaining that the name of God is itself divine; it resulted in a major controversy culminating in the expulsion of over 800 Russian monks in 1913. Adherents referred to this teaching as imiaslavie (“name-glorifying”) and called themselves imiaslavtsy (“name-glorifiers”); opponents referred to this doctrine as the imenobozhnicheskaia eres’ (“the nameworshipping heresy”) and to its adherents as imenobozhniki (“name-worshippers”). The controversy arose in reaction to the book Na Gorakh Kavkaza (In the Mountains of the Caucasus) by Schema- monk Ilarion, first published in 1907 with ecclesiastical sanction. Although primarily concerned with the practice of the Jesus Prayer, it came under criticism for passages appearing to identify the name of Jesus with Christ himself. The key phrase under dispute (one not used by Ilarion) became “the Name of God is God Himself” (Imia Bozhie est’ Sam Bog). By 1911–12 Russian Athonites were divided into opposing camps. On January 12, 1913, following a disputed election to the abbacy, the imiaslavtsy forcibly drove their opponents out of St. Andrew’s Skete. Several official condemnations of both the actions and teachings of the imiaslavtsy were subsequently published: an epistle of Patriarch Germanos of Constantinople on February 15, 1913; a written judgment by the faculty of the theological school at Halki on March 30, 1913; and an epistle by the Synod of the Russian Church on May 15, 1913. In 1913 Bulatovich’s pro-imiaslavie work Apologiia very vo Imia Bozhiia i vo Imia Iisus (Apology of Faith in the Name of God and in the Name Jesus) was published with an unsigned foreword by Pavel Florensky. When efforts to convince the imiaslavtsy to renounce their teaching failed, the Russian Navy forcibly removed over 800 monks from Athos in the summer of 1913. This marked the end of the movement, although some imiaslavtsy remained active in the Caucasus through the 1920s. The theological issues raised in this controversy were on the agenda for discussion at the 1917–18 All-Russian Council, which was interrupted before turning its attention to this question.
SEE ALSO: Florensky, Pavel Alexandrovich (1882–1937); Jesus Prayer; Monasticism; Mount Athos
REFERENCES AND SUGGESTED READINGS
Alfeev, I. (2007) Spory ob imeni Bozhiem. Archivnye dokumenty 1912–1938 godov. St. Petersburg: Izdat. Olega Abyshko.
Dykstra,T. (1988) “Heresy on Mount Athos: Conflict Over the Name of God Among Russian Monks and Hierarchs, 1912–1914.” Unpublished MDiv thesis. Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary.
Graham, L. and Kanton, J.-M. (2009) Naming Infinity: A True Story of Religious Mysticism and Mathematical Creativity. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. Hamburg, G. (2003) “The Origins of ‘Heresy’ on Mount Athos: Ilarion’s Na Gorakh Kavkaza (1907),” Religion in Eastern Europe 23, 2.
Kenworthy, S. (2003) “Church, State, and Society in Late Imperial Russia: Nikon (Rozhdestvenskii) and Imiaslavie.” Paper presented to the Midwest Historians’ Workshop, Miami University. Nedelsky, S. (forthcoming) “Archbishop Antonii (Khrapovitskii), Imiaslavie, and Hesychasm,” in V. Tsurikov (ed.) Archbishop Antonii (Khrapovitskii). Jordanville, NY: Holy Trinity Seminary Press.