The clergy of the ancient Ecumenical Church. Lebedev A.P., Professor

Alexey Petrovich Lebedev (1845-1908) - an outstanding Russian historian, author of works mainly on the history of the Byzantine Church, Honored Professor of the Imperial Moscow Theological Academy and professor of Moscow University. His work "The clergy of the ancient Ecumenical Church." Until now, it is an unsurpassed study on the origin and development over the first nine centuries of church officials and posts (from apostolic times to the 10th century). The emergence of bishopric power, the formation of the Metropolitan and the Patriarchal forms of the Church Management are considered in detail. The moral and material status of the clergy during this period is clearly and vividly described. The author devotes a large section to the development of theological schools and science. A separate chapter is given to the formation of lower church ranks and posts. The author founded his conclusions on attracting a wide material of sources, using the achievements of modern science. Compared to the first publication, significant editorial and bibliographic corrections were made. For all those interested in the history of the ancient Church.