We all know that Joseph Jughashvili was one of the greatest patriarch's of the Russian Orthodox Church. According to the history books he was thinking at one time of leaving the seminary. What do you think would have happened if he had?
DBWI-What else do you think Joseph Jughashvili would have done as a career?
- Thread starter gladiator8085
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In the early days (before GW1) he was involved in the bolshevik rabble run by Trotsky and even changed his name to Joseph Stalin for a short while. Fortunately, he left them prior to the catastrophic Whitsun Uprising and became a clergyman.
Had he not seen the error of his ways before the disastrous Whitsun Uprising, he would've been hanged like the other communist leaders that were caught or would have been forced into hiding. He would not have become the scheming councillor to the weak and ill Tsar Alexei and the true power behind the throne we know him as, earning him the nickname "Russia's Richelieu." He was the world's last clergyman to wield serious political power. Perhaps ironic that modern biographers believe he was atheist and that he viewed the Church as a means toward power. Whether we like it or not, his policies helped put Russia back on the map.
Dolan
Banned
That was what Catholic and Protestant Heretics said to belittle the achievement of our great Patriarch, brother.
He did rise to power by rallying the Orthodox Church against the threat of the Bolshevik Revolution, but his most long-lasting and enduring achievement would be quelling of Finnish, Polish, and Central Asian rebellions. Sure, the forced conversion to Orthodox Faith did earn him bad names in the West, but it works in the end.
Patriarch Joseph can't be an Atheist, because if he is, there will be no need for him to run his "Strong Shepherd" movement to convert all Russia's minorities to follow the Orthodox Church.
Patriarch Joseph was also responsible for the modern version of the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow. The original church structure, which was opened in 1860, was controversially demolished in 1946 for a larger, more grandiose-looking church building we have today that opened at the time of the Patriarch's passing in 1953. In fact, the church is famous for regular performances of Russian Orthodox liturgical music.
Dolan
Banned
Yeah, the very fact that the new grandoise Cathedral was designed by a German Architect, even if he converted to Orthodox Faith, has been source of endless debate in Russia even today, especially among the Nationalists.
Outside the marble-and-jade Onion domes and massive series of stained glass windows that depict the life, death, and second coming of Jesus Christ, the structure as a whole has much more in common with contemporary Brutalist architecture. Yes, the Cathedral would be forever remembered as one of the most iconic 20th Century Period Piece, but then, it has the distinction of clashing influence between Traditional Russian Arts compared to Brutalist Backbone.
If Patriarch Joseph has a different careeer, I think the career of German-Russian Architect Adolf Hitler would be butterflied too, as it was Patriarch Joseph who gave him job when he was a peniless street artist.
If he disappeared into obscurity we'd lose out on some great historical quotes. It's hard to imagine any other Patriarch with the balls to ask the Pope how many divisions he's got.
Dolan
Banned
Thankfully, his successors, Patriarch Alexy of Moscow and Patriarch Athenogoras of Constantinople, end up being much more conciliatory toward the Roman Catholic, preferring to work within the frameworks of peace, and laid the groundworks of Russian and Constantinopolitan Democracy as we know today.
Sure, Turkey is still being angry about the Russian invasion of Constantinople, but then, Patriarch Joseph merely liberating an important historical seat of the Orthodox Church, and at least he set-up State of Constantinople to be an independent state instead of directly annex them to Russia.