Vol 20, No 2 (2023)

The article presents a part of a Russian translation (with an introduction and commen­taries) of the valuable treatise: Dalil al-mutahayyirin (“A Guide for the Perplexed”) by Sayyid Kazim Rashti, one of the founders of the Shaykhi school. The work is dated 1842. The translation is made from the Arabic original and two Persian translations of the treatise.

According to the doctrine of the so-called docetic Christology, the earthly Jesus and the heavenly Christ were two different persons; it was Jesus who suffered on the cross, whereas Christ just entered Jesus’ body for a while and abandoned it before his death on the cross; consequently, the suffering of Christ was mere appearance. Based on some passages from Gnostic texts containing examples of docetic Christology, the author attempts here to trace the origin of that concept, starting with the New Testament (Pt. 1: Synoptic Gospels); in previous parts of the article (Pt. 2.1; 2.2; 2.3; 2.4), he analyzed such Paul’s passages as Rom. 1.3–4, Gal. 4.4–7, 1Cor 8.4–6, Phlp. 2.5–11, Col 1.15–20; in this part he is dealing with the writings of the so-called Johannine corpus, i.e., John and 1–2 John. To be continued.

The article is the third essay on the life and scholarly activity of the outstanding French scholar Abbоt J.-J. Barthélemy as part of a series of publications on the history of the decipherment of West Semitic writing (events and people). The essay examines the circumstances of Barthélemy’s appointment in September 1753 to the post of the Keeper of the Royal Cabinet of Medals. This event, long awaited by the abbot, became possible with the help and mediation of Marquis de Gonto and Comte de Stanville, both close to Marquise de Pompadour. Some events that led to the rapprochement of the influential mistress of the king with Comte de Stanville may, in a sense, be regarded as a background to this important appointment for Barthélemy. This Barthélemy’s appointment to a new post was the occasion for his personal acquaintance with de Stanville family, with whom the abbot would associate for the rest of his life and to which, by his own admission, he would sacrifice his scholarly career and the name that he could have in scholarship.

The main purpose of this article is to introduce into scholarly circulation the full text of the Instruction for Travelers Sent to China with Respect to Oriental Linguistics, History and Literature, compiled in 1829 in German by the Mongolist and Tibetologist I.J. Schmidt for the members of the 11th Russian Orthodox Ecclesiastical Mission to Beijing, and its translation, contemporary with the original. The article briefly highlights the historical context in which the document emerged, the role of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences in its preparation, provides archaeographic reference and comments on the text of the translation. These documents may be of interest to specialists from the viewpoint of an objective assessment of the level of development of individual areas of Oriental studies in Russia in the first quarter of the 19th century, and also may present material for further studies, including comparative ones.