Bogdanov A.P. The Writer's Revisions of "the Debate with the Greeks on Faith"

Abstract: The article presents new facts concerning the history behind the creation of Arseniy Sukhanov’s outstanding publicist work “the Debate with the Greeks on Faith”. The central research objects of the study are the recently found autograph of Sukhanov and the famous authorised manuscript of the Posolsky Prikaz as compared to the subsequent manuscript tradition. The author demonstrates that during the summer and autumn of 1650 the first three versions of this source were created, the last of which was circulated in December by Sukhanov himself. The article reveals the circumstances under which Sukhanov, having initiated an investigation into the case of the affront to the sovereign's honour, as a consequence was forced to reflect in the text the arguments of the debate with the Greeks, which formed the system of substantiating the primacy of the Russian Church and of tsardom in the Orthodox world. The author substantiates the conclusion that the significance of “the Debate” lay outside of the forthcoming Schism of the Church. The fate of Sukhanov and his ideas, which had a major impact on the formation of the 17th century ideology, confirms this conclusion.

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