O CONTROVERSĂ INEDITĂ DIN RUSIA SECOLELOR XV‑XVI PRIVITOARE LA AVEREA BISERICEASCĂ:

DISPUTA DINTRE AGONISITORI ŞI NEAGONISITORI ŞI CONSECINȚELE SALE NOMOCANONICE

Abstract

During the years of the Renaissance, issues surrounding the relationship between the Church and the State as well as between the Church and the world at large came into high relief throughout Europe. The status quo of the Middle Age was both widely questioned and vigorously upheld by opposing groups. At one
end of the spectrum of opinion concerning these relationships were groups like the Spiritual Franciscans, who advocated ecclesiastical poverty and the renunciation by the Church of all secular power. At the opposite end of the spectrum of opinion were organizations like the Inquisition, which sought to expand the temporal power of the Church and to use that power against the Church’s enemies. One manifestation
of this debate occurred in Russia, where the Orthodox Church was split between the Possessors, who advocated the ownership of land and serfs by the Church and a close relationship of the Church with the State, and the Non‑Possessors, who advocated the spiritual poverty of the Church and a distancing of the Church from secular powers.