LOPUKHIN, ALEKSANDR PAVLOVICH. - Russian theologian, master of theology and professor at the Ecclesiastical Academy of St. Petersburg. Born in the governorate of Saratov in 1852, died on August 22 (old style) 1904. The son of a priest, he studied at the Seminary of Saratov and, from 1874 to 1878, at the Ecclesiastical Academy of St. Petersburg. From 1879 he was a psalmist at the Russian Church of New York. In 1882 he returned to Russia to defend his dissertation: Roman Catholicism in North America (1881). From 1882 he taught comparative theology, and from 1885 ancient universal civil history.
L. translated some works of the English theologian F. W. Farrar (1831-1903), composed the extensive Biblical History in the Light of the Most Recent Investigations and Discoveries (St. Petersburg 1892-1895), wrote numerous articles especially in the theological or ecclesiastical journals Strannik (The Pilgrim), Tserkovnyj Vestnik (Ecclesiastical Herald) and Christian-shoe Ctenie (Christian Reading); of the first he was, for a certain time, editor, of the last two for 10 years editor-in-chief. He inspired the complete Russian translation of the works of Chrysostom. He further oversaw the edition of the work History of the Christian Church in the 19th Century (I-II, St. Petersburg 1900-1901) and especially of the first 5 volumes of the Orthodox Theological Encyclopedia (which was continued up to vol. XII by N.N. Glubokovskij in a more scholarly manner).
L. concerned himself in particular with the reunion of separated Christians (above all of the Russians with the Anglicans, Old Catholics and Nestorians) and took a special interest in current biblical problems. He sought to broaden the horizon of Russian theologians, making known the theological novelties appearing abroad, and at the same time to popularize theology. Some reproached him for such popularization of theology, and for not yielding enough to the rationalistic tendency of the time in biblical matters. He also published, among other things, a Manual of Biblical History of the Old Testament (St. Petersburg 1888), and a Manual of Biblical History of the New Testament (ibid. 1889).
Bibliography
Bernardo Schultze