9 September 1990 Alexander Men Murdered Russian Priest Russian dissident who had been targeted by the KGB was mysteriously brutally murdered by a man with an ax with no apparent motive. Fr. Men's ministry, which lasted for more than thirty years, coincided with the very difficult times for the Russian believers, and he personally became a target as had kept his independence through the Brezhnev years, refusing to cooperate with the KGB. He taught underground Bible classes. His theological works were published abroad under a pseudonym and in the Soviet Union in underground editions.
The murder was around the time of the collapse of the Soviet Union,when he told his brother Pavel, he felt like "an arrow finally sprung from the bow," able to preach and lecture in churches and auditoriums, on radio and television, all without fear. Despite orders from within the Soviet (and later the Russian) government that the case be further investigated, the murder remains unsolved. But people widely believed it was not a petty crime as only his brief case was taken and he had many enemies: the antisemites of Pamyat, the conservative zealots in the Russian Orthodox Church establishment, the police, the KGB. Father Alexander Men was a voice "crying in the wilderness" during the time of the Soviet atheistic domination of Russian culture and also during the critical transition of Russia into freedom in the late 1980s, when Mikhail Gorbachev declared the policies of perestroika and glasnost. Alexander Minkin, compared Men's death with the Polish secret police's assassination of pro-Solidarity priest Jerzy Popieluszko in 1984 -- "an event that once and for all set the people against the forces of power in Poland.
The murder was around the time of the collapse of the Soviet Union,when he told his brother Pavel, he felt like "an arrow finally sprung from the bow," able to preach and lecture in churches and auditoriums, on radio and television, all without fear. Despite orders from within the Soviet (and later the Russian) government that the case be further investigated, the murder remains unsolved. But people widely believed it was not a petty crime as only his brief case was taken and he had many enemies: the antisemites of Pamyat, the conservative zealots in the Russian Orthodox Church establishment, the police, the KGB. Father Alexander Men was a voice "crying in the wilderness" during the time of the Soviet atheistic domination of Russian culture and also during the critical transition of Russia into freedom in the late 1980s, when Mikhail Gorbachev declared the policies of perestroika and glasnost. Alexander Minkin, compared Men's death with the Polish secret police's assassination of pro-Solidarity priest Jerzy Popieluszko in 1984 -- "an event that once and for all set the people against the forces of power in Poland.
Alexander Men - Wikipedia
Murder[edit]
On Sunday morning, 9 September 1990, he was murdered while walking along the wooded path from his home in the Russian village of Semkhoz to the local train platform. He was on his way to catch the train to Novaya Derevnya to celebrate the Divine Liturgy. Men had served at the parish in Novaya Derevnya for 20 years. His assailant's or assailants' use of an axe indicated a possible revenge motive.
The murder occurred around the time of the collapse of the Soviet Union, and despite orders from within the Soviet (and later the Russian) government that the case be further investigated, the murder remains unsolved. His funeral was held on the day in the Orthodox calendar which commemorates the beheading of John the Baptist.
The murder occurred around the time of the collapse of the Soviet Union, and despite orders from within the Soviet (and later the Russian) government that the case be further investigated, the murder remains unsolved. His funeral was held on the day in the Orthodox calendar which commemorates the beheading of John the Baptist.
Alexander Vladimirovich Men (Russian: Александр Владимирович Мень; 22 January 1935 – 9 September 1990) was a Russian Orthodox priest, theologian, Biblical scholar and writer on theology, Christian history and other religions.
Men wrote dozens of books (including his magnum opus, History of Religion: In Search of the Way, the Truth and the Life, the seventh volume of which, Son of Man, served as the introduction to Christianity for thousands of citizens in the Soviet Union); baptized hundreds if not thousands; founded an Orthodox open university; opened one of the first Sunday schools in Russia as well as a charity group at the Russian Children's Hospital.[1] His influence is still widely felt and his legacy continues to grow among Christians both in Russia and abroad.
He was murdered early on a Sunday morning, on 9 September 1990, by an ax-wielding assailant outside his home in Semkhoz, Russia.
Biography[edit]
Men was born in Moscow to a Jewish family on 22 January 1935. He was baptized at six months along with his mother in the banned Catacomb Church, a branch of the Russian Orthodox Church that refused to cooperate with the Soviet authorities.[2]
When Men was 6 years old, the NKVD arrested his father, Volf Gersh-Leybovich (Vladimir Grigoryevich) Men (born 1902).[3] Volf spent more than a year under guard and then was assigned to labor in the Ural Mountains. His son Alexander studied at the Moscow Fur-and-Down Institute in 1955 and transferred to Irkutsk Agriculture Institute from which was expelled in 1958 due to his religious beliefs. In the same year one month after his expulsion, he was ordained a deacon. In, 1960 he became a priest upon graduating from the Leningrad Theological Seminary.[4] In 1965, he completed studies at Moscow Theological Academy.
Alexander Men became a leader with considerable influence and a good reputation among Christians both locally and abroad, among Roman Catholics and Protestants, as well as Orthodox. He served in a series of parishes near Moscow. A unique combination of broad erudition, openness to secular culture, science, to other confessions, to non-Christian religions, and deep Christian roots from the Catacomb Church propelled him into the ranks of leading Christian preachers.
Starting in the early 1970s, Men became a popular figure in Russia's religious community, especially among the intelligentsia.[5] Men was harassed by the KGB for his active missionary and evangelistic efforts. In the late-1980s, he utilised the mass media to spread the message of Christ (he was offered to host a nationally televised program on religion); his days and nights were full of teaching and lecturing at packed lecture halls.[5] Men was one of the founders of the Russian Bible Society in 1990; that same year he founded the Open Orthodox University and "The World of the Bible" journal.[2] His strenuous efforts in educating the Russian populace in the basics and dynamics of the Orthodox faith has garnered him the label[by whom?] as a modern-day apostle to the Soviet people. However, some representatives of the Orthodox circles and those interested in Orthodoxy evaluated the views of Father Alexander as being not fully “orthodox”, and advised against using his books as an introduction to Orthodoxy.
Murder[edit]
On Sunday morning, 9 September 1990, he was murdered while walking along the wooded path from his home in the Russian village of Semkhoz to the local train platform. He was on his way to catch the train to Novaya Derevnya to celebrate the Divine Liturgy. Men had served at the parish in Novaya Derevnya for 20 years. His assailant's or assailants' use of an axe indicated a possible revenge motive. The murder occurred around the time of the collapse of the Soviet Union, and despite orders from within the Soviet (and later the Russian) government that the case be further investigated, the murder remains unsolved. His funeral was held on the day in the Orthodox calendar which commemorates the beheading of John the Baptist.
Legacy[edit]
Since his death, Men's works and ideas have been seen as controversial among the conservative faction of the Russian Orthodox Church, citing his strong tendencies towards ecumenism which his books advocate. Nonetheless, Men has a considerable number of supporters, some of whom argue for his canonization. His lectures are regularly broadcast over Russian radio. His books are published freely in Russia nowadays. During his lifetime, they had to be printed abroad; mainly in Brussels, Belgium by the publishing house Foyer Chrétien Oriental and circulated in secret. Several key Russian Orthodox parishes encourage following his example as one who faithfully followed Christ.[6] Two Russian Orthodox churches have been built on the site of his assassination and a growing number of believers in both Russia and abroad consider him a martyr.[7]
In conjunction with the 25th year Commemoration of Memory, the Moscow Patriarchate Izdatel'stvo publishing house has begun a project to publish Fr. Men's "Collected Works" in a series of 15 volumes.[8]
Men's son, Mikhail Men, is a Russian political figure who from 2005 to 2013 served as the Governor of Ivanovo Oblast and now as Minister of Construction Industry, Housing and Utilities Sector in Dmitry Medvedev's Cabinet. He is also a musician known outside Russia for the Michael Men Project.
Works[edit]
Alexander Men's greatest work is his History of Religion, published in seven volumes under the title In Search of the Way, the Truth, and the Life (volumes 1-6, Brussels, 1970—1983; 2nd edition Moscow, 1991—1992) in which the author examines the history of non-Christian religions as a way for Christians in the struggle of Magiism and Monotheism. Also including as the seventh volume his most famous work, Son of Man (Brussels, 1969; 2nd edition Moscow, 1991). Because of the persecution in the Soviet Union at the time, the Brussels editions were published under a pseudonym. Father Alexander Men was one of the first pioneers of Christian “samizdat” (self-publishing) of the 1960s.
An English translation of Son of Man by Mormon author Samuel Brown was completed in 1998 but is now out of print, as are several other works in English translation. In 2014, a new project was commenced by Revd Alastair Macnaughton (1954-2017), an Anglican priest and Russian scholar, to translate the entire History of Religion, into the English language for the first time. Volume 1 was published in 2018.[9]
Recent works of Alexander Men in English translation include:
- "An Inner Step Toward God: Writings and teachings on Prayer", (2014)ISBN 978-1612612386;
- "Russian Religious Philosophy: 1989-1990 Lectures" (2015)ISBN 978-0996399227 (in 25th Year Memory Commemoration).
- "The Wellsprings of Religion. The History of Religion: In Search of the Way, the Truth, and the Life Vol 1", Trans. Alastair Macnaughton. (2018) ISBN 978-0881416039
Many other works by Alexander Men have been published in Russian, most notably:
- Heaven on Earth (1969), published abroad under pseudonym, later reissued in Russia;
- "Where Did This All Come From?" (1972), published abroad under pseudonym, later reissued in Russia;
- "How to Read the Bible?" (1981), published abroad under pseudonym, later reissued in Russia;
- "World Spiritual Culture" (1995);[10]
- "The History of Religions" (Volumes 1-2, 1997);
- "The First Apostles" (1998);
- "Isagogics: Old and New Testaments" (2000);
- "Bibliological Dictionary" (Volumes 1-3, 2002).[2]
- “Mystery, Word, Image” (Brussels, 1980, 2nd edition. M.1991), published abroad under pseudonym.
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ Alexander Men Charity Group at Russian Children Clinical Hospital
- ^ Jump up to:a b c Alexander Men Foundation
- ^ [1]
- ^ St. Petersburg Theological Academy
- ^ Jump up to:a b Orthodox America on A.Men
- ^ Bishop Seraphim (Sigrist) on A.Men, Saint Michael's Chapel, A Russian Catholic Community of Byzantine Rite
- ^ Reflections on Fr. Alexander Men, Dean John H. Erickson of St Vladimir's Seminary, at the Alexander Men Conference hosted by Nyack College Manhattan campus, August 2004
- ^ http://www.rop.ru/?q=node/349
- ^ https://www.svspress.com/the-wellsprings-of-religion/
- ^ http://www.alexandrmen.ru/books/mdc/mdc.html
- 11. https://radubrava.ru/event/alexander-men-static-exhibition/
External links[edit]
 | Wikimedia Commons has media related to Alexander Men. |
Wikiquote has quotations related to: Alexander Men - Slidefilm by Sergei Bessmertny - English version
- Alexander Men' Foundation, Moscow, in Russian
- Fr Alexander Men' Open Orthodox University, Moscow (English version)
- Saint Pachomius Library Links on Alexander Men
- In pictures » Fr. Alexander Men: Russian Orthodox priest of fearless faith BBC - Religion & Ethics photo gallery with captions
- Content on this page has been translated from the corresponding article in OrthoWiki. http://www.vehi.net/men/index.html-
Categories:
- 1935 births
- 1990 deaths
- Russian Eastern Orthodox priests
- 20th-century Eastern Orthodox clergy
- Russian murder victims
- Murdered Eastern Orthodox priests
- Russian theologians
- Russian biblical scholars
- Russian Jews
- Soviet dissidents
- Unsolved murders in the Soviet Union
- People murdered in the Soviet Union
- Eastern Orthodox theologians
- 20th-century Eastern Orthodox martyrs
- Converts to Eastern Orthodoxy from Judaism
- 20th-century Eastern Orthodox priests
- 20th-century Eastern Orthodox theologians
*Sources
Alexander Men - OrthodoxWiki
https://orthodoxwiki.org/Alexander_Men
Born Jewish, Alexander Men was baptized as an infant along with his mother, who had become a member of the underground church in Russia under Soviet suppression.
Father Alexander Men was a voice "crying in the wilderness" during the time of the Soviet atheistic domination of Russian culture and also during the critical transition of Russia into freedom in the late 1980s, when Mikhail Gorbachev declared the policies of perestroika and glasnost.
Fr. Men's ministry, which lasted for more than thirty years, coincided with the very difficult times for the Russian believers, and he personally became a target for the KGB. His influence on contemporary Russia is unquestionable, and his life remains to this day a powerful example of witness for our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Father Alexander Men was murdered with an ax on September 9 1990 in a forest as he made his way to church. His funeral was held on the day commemorating the Beheading of St. John the Baptist, who was "the voice crying in the wilderness to prepare the way of the Lord."
Life · CriticismCriticism
Priest Daniel Sysoev considered Alexander Men as a heretic, listing 9 major beliefs, which are incompatible with Orthodoxy:
- Manichaeism. - The doctrine of Satan's complicity in the creation of the world, the result of which was allegedly an evolution.
- The doctrine of man as transformed ape. Contradicts the definition of five Ecumenical Council against Origen (there proclaimed that the soul and the body appeared at the same time. Regarding Men's teaching, his opinion was condemned by the Synod of the Moscow Patriarchate of 7.12.1935 in the case of Fr. Sergius Bulgakov)
- The rejection of the divine inspiration of the Holy Scripture (see anathemas of Sunday of Orthodoxy).
- The rejection of original sin and postulating independence the death of human sins (see 124 rule of Carthage Counsil)
- The rejection of the existence of personal Adam and the introduction of kabbalah teaching of Adam Kadmon.
- Rejection of authorship almost all the Old Testament books (see anathemas against Theodore of Mopsuestia of 5 Ecumenical Council).
- In the teachings of the Church - the adoption of the theory of branches (condemned at Jubilee Council 2000).
- Syncretism <...> condemned (along with theosophy) at the Council in 1994
- Encouragement of magic and extrasensoric (in a lecture to students of extrasensory school) entails 25 years of excommunication from the Communion. And it is almost only guilt which dump on the priest at once two penalties - defrocking and excommunication. (Rules of 6 Ecumenical Council, Basil the Great, Gregory of Nyssa, etc.)
Note: The Moscow Patriarchate has not censured either Fr. Men or his writings.
AlexanderMen
alexandermen.com/
Who is Father Alexander Men? Father Alexander Men (1935-1990) was a great leader, and one may say architect, of religious renewal in Russia at the end of ...
Alexander Men
www.alexandrmen.ru/english/index.html
Aleksander Men (1935-1990), Orthodox priest, theologian, biblical scholar, preacher, writer. Born in Moscow, in a Jewish family. Baptized at seven months along ...
BBC - Religion & Ethics - In pictures: Fr Alexander Men
https://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/galleries/alexandermen/
During Communist suppression, Alexander Men devoted his life to reforming the Russian Orthodox Church and teaching the younger generation Christianity.
Struck down, Orthodox priest Alexander Men also struck a chord ...
https://www.ncronline.org/.../struck-down-orthodox-priest-alexander-men-also-struck...
Sep 27, 2014 - 9, 1990, Russian Orthodox priest Alexander Men left his cottage. Someone came up behind him with an axe, struck his skull and fled.
Son of Man : The Story of Christ and Christianity: Father Alexander ...
https://www.amazon.com/Son-Man-Story-Christ-Christianity/dp/1879038285
Son of Man : The Story of Christ and Christianity [Father Alexander Men, Samuel Brown] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Fr. Men's major ...
Amazon.com: Russia's Uncommon Prophet: Father Aleksandr Men ...
https://www.amazon.com/Russias-Uncommon-Prophet-Father.../dp/087580733X
Amazon.com: Russia's Uncommon Prophet: Father Aleksandr Men and His Times ... Alexander Men: A Witness for Contemporary Russia a Man for Our Times.
LAMENT FOR A MURDERED PRIEST - The Washington Post
https://www.washingtonpost.com/...murdered-priest/88d4e773-4b3f-498b-8f01-15f57d...
Oct 18, 1990 - An ax: the traditional Russian symbol of revolt, one of the symbols of the ... in the Russian Orthodox Church establishment, the police, the KGB.
SEMKHOZ, U.S.S.R. -- "What is written with a pen cannot be hacked away by an ax."
Russian proverb
In the morning twilight, the village priest opened the door and headed for the train platform less than a half mile away. It was Sunday, and Father Alexander Men always caught the 6:50 elektrichka from his village near Zagorsk to his parish church in Novoya Derevnya, a small town just outside Moscow.
Father Alexander, a healthy man of 55 with a thick beard of black and gray, was the emerging spiritual leader of the Russian Orthodox Church. Unlike countless others, he had kept his independence through the Brezhnev years, refusing to cooperate with the KGB. He taught underground Bible classes. His theological works were published abroad under a pseudonym and in the Soviet Union in underground editions. Now, he told his brother Pavel, he felt like "an arrow finally sprung from the bow," able to preach and lecture in churches and auditoriums, on radio and television, all without fear.
... from behind an oak, someone leapt out and swung an ax at Alexander Men. An ax: the traditional Russian symbol of revolt, one of the symbols of the neo-fascist group Pamyat. The blow hit Men on the back of the skull. The wound was not very deep, but it severed major arteries. The killer, police sources said, grabbed the priest's briefcase and disappeared into the woods.
... as an honest, charismatic and, not least, Jewish-born priest, had scores of enemies: the antisemites of Pamyat, the conservative zealots in the Russian Orthodox Church establishment, the police, the KGB.
..."No one believes this was merely a petty crime," Pavel Men said. A thief, the Ogonyok article said, "goes after a woman wearing jewels on the street or a well-dressed man with a fat wallet. But rich people don't go to work at 6 a.m. on a Sunday morning. The rich don't live in Semkhoz.
.. ax is instrument of terror
but the ax is an instrument to remind us of our fear. They are reminding us that we are defenseless."
...Alexander Minkin, compared Men's death with the Polish secret police's assassination of pro-Solidarity priest Jerzy Popieluszko in 1984 -- "an event that once and for all set the people against the forces of power in Poland.
... Alexander Men was, in a way, the spiritual equivalent of a political dissident. While a few village priests dared under Brezhnev to attack the regime for its assaults on the church and the church hierarchy for compromising themselves, Men took another road.
... He was a spiritual adviser to a range of artists and writers including Nadezhda Mandelstam and Solzhenitsyn. He was a close friend of the late Andrei Sakharov and other leaders of the human rights movement.
.. after a long period when he was called in for interrogations by the KGB, suddenly found himself able to teach without fear. Suddenly he was giving lectures in meeting halls and speaking on the radio. He taught a course at the Historical Archives Institute, an outpost of nonconformist academics in Moscow. Young people who attended his lectures taped them and then circulated the tapes throughout the country. The Russian republic's new television station was going to give him air time at least once a week to speak on religious topics.
... Alexander Men was, in a way, the spiritual equivalent of a political dissident. While a few village priests dared under Brezhnev to attack the regime for its assaults on the church and the church hierarchy for compromising themselves, Men took another road.
... He was a spiritual adviser to a range of artists and writers including Nadezhda Mandelstam and Solzhenitsyn. He was a close friend of the late Andrei Sakharov and other leaders of the human rights movement.
.. after a long period when he was called in for interrogations by the KGB, suddenly found himself able to teach without fear. Suddenly he was giving lectures in meeting halls and speaking on the radio. He taught a course at the Historical Archives Institute, an outpost of nonconformist academics in Moscow. Young people who attended his lectures taped them and then circulated the tapes throughout the country. The Russian republic's new television station was going to give him air time at least once a week to speak on religious topics.
