Julia A. Safronova Regulating Restrictions on the Reading of Books by Students of Orthodox Theological Seminaries in the First Years after the 1867 Reform of Theological Education

Abstract

This article examines the imposition of restrictions on the reading of anti-religious and anti-social literature by students of Orthodox theological seminaries following the 1867 reform of theological education. The reform led to a reconceptualisation of the administrative system governing these seminaries, both centrally, with the establishment of the Synod’s Educational Committee, and locally, as seminary boards were granted broad autonomy, including in matters of library acquisitions and the organisation of extracurricular reading. The discovery of seminarians reading «pernicious» literature in the very first year after the reform tested the resilience of this new system. The article demonstrates how, over several years, the Educational Committee was compelled to shift from issuing recommendations to individual seminary boards to promulgating circular decrees and, ultimately, introducing mandatory «Regulations Concerning the Acquisition of Books for Student Libraries and the Order of Their Reading by Students» (1872). The study raises the question of why the seminary boards failed to utilise the autonomy granted to them and why the category of «prohibited literature» became a zone of ambiguity due to inconsistent understandings of what specific reading material was «incompatible with the goals of theological education». The case study examines the diverse range of situations surrounding the book History of the Intellectual Development of Europe by J.W. Draper, which was deemed «pernicious» by Synodal officials. It is shown that members of the boards of theological seminaries, who were responsible for stocking the libraries, typically ordered books based on their titles without familiarising themselves with their content. It was precisely in this manner that «pernicious» new works, such as Draper’s book published in 1862, found their way into student libraries. On the other hand, instructors were capable of reflecting on the degree to which it was undesirable for students to read certain well-known works, for instance articles by V.G. Belinsky and N.A. Dobrolyubov. Their assessments were opposed, ranging from using the works in the classroom to removing them from circulation entirely. Even the Synodal circular decree of 1870, which prohibited seminarians from reading these critics, failed to influence the situation. Thus, the idea of broad autonomy for seminary boards, as enshrined in the Statute of 1867, inevitably led to failures. In the case of book bans, there was a discordance regarding what could be considered «pernicious» or «inconsistent with the goals of theological education», both among members of the Educational Committee and among the teaching staff.

Keywords:

Orthodox theological seminary; the 1867 reform of theological education; bureaucratic practices; the Educational Committee of the Holy Synod; history of reading; prohibited literature

For citation:

Julia A. Safronova. The Regulation of Book Reading Prohibitions for Students of Orthodox Theological Seminaries after the 1867 Theological Education Reform. The Historical Reporter. 2026. Vol. 60. P. 136–161. DOI: 10.35549/HR.2026.2026.60.004

Received 13.11.2025. Revised 15.02.2026. Accepted 16.03.2026.

Julia A. Safronova

C.Sc. (History), Associate Professor at the Faculty of History, European University in St. Petersburg. Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation.

e-mail: jsafronova@eu.spb.ru

SPIN-code: 6428-8640

AuthorID: 917014

ORCID: 0000-0003-3900-1994

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