Interview of Dr. Alexei Bodrov with Gorky Media

 Philip Nikitin

Open theological education

5 June 2025

Interview with Dr. Alexei Bodrov, editor-in-chief of the BBI publishing house

For thirty years, the publishing house of St. Andrew's Biblical Theological Institute (BBI in Russian) has been setting standards for the publication of books of intellectual value for both specialists and those who are simply interested, whether believers or non-religious. Without any formal occasion, Philip Nikitin spoke with Alexei Bodrov, editor-in-chief of BBI, about the history of the publishing house and the books dear to his heart that have been published through his efforts.

Since 24 February 2022, we have all been faced with the onset of barbarism, violence and lies. In this situation, it is extremely important to preserve at least the remnants of culture and uphold the values of humanism — including for the sake of Russia's future. Therefore, the editorial staff of 'Gorky' will continue to talk about books, reminding our readers that there is still a place in the world for thought and fiction.

PN: This year, BBI published the book "Religious Values in a Post-Secular Society". In the section "About the authors and editors," it is stated that you are a researcher at the Institute for Eastern Christianity at the University of Nijmegen (Netherlands). This is the first time I have seen this affiliation next to your name. Please tell us about your work at this institution.

AB: The Institute for Eastern Christianity at the University of Nijmegen (formerly the Catholic University of Nijmegen) has a long history of cooperation with Russian organisations, including BBI. Some of our students have written their dissertations there, and our lecturers have done internships. So it is not surprising that I am now affiliated with this institute. It is a continuation of my work at the Faculty of Religion and Theology at the Free University of Amsterdam. I participate in several projects related to interfaith and interreligious dialogue in the post-Soviet space, the development of theological education in Eastern Europe, the relationship between religion and society, and so on. It is a fairly loose affiliation, so I just continue to do what interests me and what I consider necessary.

PN: You knew Father Alexander Men, attended his lectures, and were director and secretary of the board of trustees of the Public Orthodox University, which was founded by this Orthodox figure. Who is currently studying and promoting Fr. Men's legacy in Russia and abroad? How successful do you think this is? Do you see any interest in his legacy in Russian society?

AB: Yes, there is definitely still interest in the legacy of Father Alexander Men, and I think it has become deeper and more serious. His legacy is so diverse that it is difficult to keep track of everything. I have always been more interested in the direction of open theological education, including the publication of theological books, and Father Alexander's role in the creation (revival) of the Russian Bible Society, including the translation of the Bible into Russian and the multifaceted development of biblical studies. This is exactly what I continue to do. I know that there are many groups of people in Russia and abroad who are developing other aspects of Father Alexander's legacy. I'm not sure if there is any coordination between them. I don't think it's necessary. Father Alexander had a huge impact on the revival of Christianity in Russia, and that's how he went down in history. And history, as you know, is a living thing and always relevant.

PN: You are a member of the editorial boards of 'Studies in Violence, Mimesis, and Culture' and 'Breakthroughs in Mimetic Theory', two book series founded by René Girard. Please share with us the books on René Girard and the mimetic theory that you consider most significant.

AB: René Girard is perhaps my favourite contemporary philosopher-anthropologist. It is not necessary to agree with all of his ideas (which also changed throughout his life) in order to appreciate the depth and influence of his mimetic theory on contemporary anthropology and even literary studies. His books can really show familiar things and concepts in a completely new light, especially when it comes to religion, particularly Christianity and the Bible. I am very happy that we have managed to publish a number of his books in Russian. My favourites are "I See Satan Fall Like Lightning", which is the best apology for Western civilisation I have ever read, and "Theatre Of Envy. William Shakespeare" which is the only book by Girard written in English. It offers a completely new perspective on Shakespeare's work, naturally with references to contemporary issues.

René Girard had many talented disciples from different countries and fields of knowledge — philosophers, theologians, anthropologists, historians, specialists in practical dialogue (his mimetic theory is actively used here). The journal he founded, Contagion, and the two book series you mentioned, as well as the traditional annual Girard seminar, allow his disciples and other specialists interested in the mimetic theory to stay in touch with each other and develop joint projects. We have also held conferences in this field and published several books by Girard's disciples, including James Allison: "Living in the End Times: The Last Things Re-imagined" and "Knowing Jesus: An Accessible Introduction to Christology". This is theological literature of the highest level.

PN: How would you assess the state of the theological literature market in Russia?

AB: It depends on what you mean by theological literature. There are popular theological books, and they are doing more or less well, in the sense that their print runs can be quite significant. And it seems to me that the quality of such books has also improved. Some of our books in this category have become "intellectual bestsellers": "Theology and Music: Three Speeches on Mozart", books by Father Iannuarij Ivliev, books by Tom Wright. The situation is completely different with fundamental academic theological literature, which is our publishing house's specialisation — the best theological books from different Christian traditions, which can and should form the basis for the development of modern theological education and research. Here, to my great regret, I do not see any particular success on the book market. Print runs have been small and continue to decline. I think this is simply a reflection of the fact that we have very few serious specialists in academic theology and theological education remains at a low level.

PN: What problems and trends can be observed in the European theological market?

AB: The European theological market responds very quickly to the current problems of modern society, the development of religion and spirituality in various forms (see our translation of Charles Taylor's "A Secular Age") and their interaction with different cultures and traditions. Radical orthodoxy (see our translation of John Milbank's "Beyond Secular Order: The Representation of Being and the Representation of the People") and so-called weak theology (see our coming translation of John Caputo's "The Weakness of God: A Theology of the Event") are generating a lot of interest and discussions, which is always good for the development of science. And, of course, everything related to intercultural and interreligious dialogue.

PN: Recently, there has been an active and forced promotion of theology in academic institutions in Russia. How do you feel about this? Why do you think this is happening?

AB: It would be fine if theology became herewith academic. But this is not happening. Newman's "idea of the university" does not work here at all. The level of theological education remains low, and often catastrophically low. Why is this happening? It means that there is an ideological demand, but there is a lack of resources and capabilities.

PN: St. Andrew's Biblical Theological Institute published an academic quaterly 'Pages: Theology, Culture, Education'. The last issue according to your website is dated 2022. Am I correct in understanding that the journal has been suspended?

AB: Yes, it is with great regret that we have discontinued our journal. The reasons were practical — the print run was very small. Only specialists were interested in the journal, and there are very few of them. But we are confident that during its 25 years of existence, the journal has become an important stage in the development of theology in Russia in its interaction with culture and education. The journal is available in digital form on our website.

PN: Which organisations are the most active in ordering books published by BBI?

AB: Intellectual bookshops, theological seminaries and academies, some universities and libraries.

PN: Please name the most popular books published by BBI.

AB: I'm afraid I can't remember them all. Of course, there's "Theology of Music: Three Speeches on Mozart" by Hans Urs von Balthasar, Karl Barth and Hans Küng, "Dostoevsky: From Duality to Unity" by René Girard, "Co-creation of the Image: Theology of the Icon" by Irina Yazykova, "Unity and Diversity in the New Testament. An Inquiry Into the Character of Earliest Christianity" by James Dunn, "The Orthodox Liturgy. The Development of the Eucharistic Liturgy in the Byzantine Rite" by Hugh Wybrew, "The Text of the New Testament" by Bruce Metzger, books by Iannuarij Ivliev, and many others.

PN: Which books published by BBI are most dear to your heart?

AB: What an interesting formulation of the question. I am usually asked about the best or most important books. The books that are most dear to my heart are those with which I have many personal memories from communicating with the author and from working on the book itself. Bruce Metzger's "The Text of the New Testament" is definitely one of them: it was one of our first books, and its author was our first patron, who had a huge influence on me and on the formation of our institute. The works of Jaroslav Pelikan, Jürgen Moltmann, Hans Küng, and Archbishop Mikhail Mudyugin should also be included in this list. All of them were patrons of BBI, and I have fond memories of each of them. Charles Taylor's "A Secular Age" and the editing of its Russian edition also had a great influence on me — much more than just an intellectual journey with the author.

PN: BBI publishes many high-quality theological works. Would you consider joining forces with a Russian publisher to increase the print run and make the book available to a wider audience? I am reminded of the collaboration between BBI and Theoesthetics, which resulted in the publication of John Milbank's book.

AB: Yes, we have thought about it and sometimes we try to do it. I am very positive about joint publications. We will continue to try.

PN: How would you assess the results of more than thirty years of your publishing activity?

AB: I'm afraid it would be immodest. We have published about 400 books — the crème de la crème of world biblical studies and theology. It's a whole theological library and a constellation of great theologians! I think it is fair to say that BBI is a leader in the publication of academic theological literature in Russian. Although print runs are not high on average, our books are available in university and seminary libraries and are actively used there — we know this from numerous reader reviews.

PN: Please tell us about the conferences that have resulted in the publication of many books by the BBI.

AB: At the very beginning of our existence, we realised that it was impossible to seriously develop academic theology and theological education without creating a theological environment where students, teachers and other specialists could freely communicate and discuss the results of their scientific work. This led to the creation of academic paper competitions, summer theological institutes and, of course, academic conferences. The range of topics is extremely wide, and we always try to invite specialists from different fields of knowledge: interdisciplinary dialogue is not only fruitful in itself, but also a good tool for introducing theology into the academic environment.

Initially, we did not plan to publish books based on the results of our conferences, although selected papers were published in our quaterly 'Pages'. But if we feel that a conference has been particularly interesting and we would like to involve a wider range of experts and students in the discussion of the issues raised, we publish a book on the theme of the conference. These are collections on a specific theme, not conference proceedings. Such collections are actively used by both students and specialists.

PN: What are the BBI's immediate publishing plans?

AB: Our biggest and most important project right now is continuing the Russian translation of Hans Urs von Balthasar's grand trilogy. We have just started on his "Theodramatics." John Caputo's book "The Weakness of God: A Theology of the Event" is being prepared for publication, and we are continuing to publish books by Father Iannuarij Ivliev. The second volume on theology of culture, edited by Irina Yazykova, will be out soon. This is by no means an exhaustive list.

PN: What theological books have you read recently that have particularly impressed you?

AB: I will mention one, but it is a very large book — "The Oxford Handbook of Russian Religious Thought." I cannot say that I have read it, but I often refer to it. It has a wonderful team of authors and an interesting selection of topics.

Original in Russian (Transaltion with DeepL): https://gorky.media/context/otkrytoe-bogoslovskoe-obrazovanie