1995 0-7734-8871-5 These essays by leading Russian scholars represent an attempt to give meaning to the interaction of religious consciousness and culture as it exists at the current stage of Russia's development. They are an exposition of historical, theological, ecclesiastical, philosophical and moral problems from the point of view of the religious consciousness, a function which till now has been the exclusive prerogative of the clergy, and consequently absent in scholarly literature of the Soviet period. The collection as a whole witnesses to the liberation of Christian thought in Russia. With an Introduction by Natalia Pecherskaya, Director of the St. Petersburg School of Religion and Philosophy.