The Founding and Launch of the Journal

Bogoslovlje, the scholarly journal of the Faculty of Orthodox Theology at the University of Belgrade, was founded in 1926. The idea of establishing a journal devoted to theological scholarship emerged shortly after the faculty began its work in 1920. The initiative and the financial support required for its publication came from Serbian Patriarch Dimitrije Pavlović (1846–1930), of blessed memory.

At its meeting on 14 May 1924, the Faculty Council resolved that the proposed journal should be entitled Vera i nauka (Faith and Science), with the subtitle A Journal of the Faculty of Orthodox Theology for Theological Scholarship and Church Life. The formal decision to proceed with publication was adopted on 19 October 1925, once the necessary conditions had been secured. At the Council meeting of 14 December that year, the original title was replaced by Bogoslovlje: The Organ of the Faculty of Orthodox Theology. At the same meeting, the dean, Archpriest-Stavrophor Stevan Dimitrijević, was appointed as the journal’s representative, designated its “proprietor” in the terminology of the period. In 1936, on the editor’s recommendation, Professor Dragutin Anastasijević (1877–1950) assumed this responsibility.

The first issue of Bogoslovlje appeared in early 1926 under the editorship of Professor Dimitrije Stefanović (1882–1945). Its publication marked the beginning of one of Serbia’s oldest scholarly journals in the humanities, whose tradition continues to the present, notwithstanding an interruption during and after the Second World War.

The First Period of Publication (1926–1940)

Bogoslovlje was initially intended to appear in four issues annually, each comprising five to six printer’s sheets. In the introductory statement to the inaugural issue, the editorial board set out the journal’s programme, establishing the principles that would shape its scholarly and editorial character over the following fifteen years.

The journal published scholarly articles and studies, together with reviews of theological books and periodicals. By the end of 1940, sixty issues had appeared, generally at a rate of four per year, with occasional combined issues. In 1935, for example, issues 2 and 3 were published together to accommodate the larger number of contributions commemorating the seven-hundredth anniversary of the repose of Saint Sava.

During the bombing of Belgrade on 6 April 1941, the Privrednik printing house was destroyed, together with the entire print run of the first issue of Bogoslovlje prepared for that year. Wartime conditions brought the work of the faculty, and consequently the publication of the journal, to a halt.

The Post-War Period and the Resumption of Publication

Following the Second World War, the Serbian Orthodox Church and the Faculty of Orthodox Theology faced severe political, staffing, and financial difficulties. The journal’s pre-war editor, Dimitrije Stefanović, died in 1945; Dr Sava Đukanović had been executed by the Italian occupation authorities during the war; and a number of the faculty’s academic staff and associates had emigrated.

These circumstances made an immediate resumption of publication impossible. As an interim measure, the faculty published three volumes of the Collected Papers of the Faculty of Orthodox Theology between 1950 and 1954.

Following the separation of the Faculty of Orthodox Theology from the University of Belgrade in 1952, the Serbian Orthodox Church assumed responsibility for its financial support, gradually creating the conditions necessary to revive the journal.

Since financial hardship remained a substantial obstacle, the World Council of Churches in Geneva, responding to a request from the Holy Synod of Bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church, granted a regular subsidy towards the printing of Bogoslovlje. This support enabled publication to resume in 1957, and the journal has appeared without interruption ever since.

Between its revival in 1957 and its centenary year in 2026, ninety-two issues were published. Up to and including 2010, issues 1 and 2 appeared separately only in 1957, 1958, 1987, 2002, 2006, 2008, and 2009. Since 2011, the journal has maintained a regular twice-yearly publication schedule.

Editors of the Journal

The first and long-serving editor of Bogoslovlje was Professor Dimitrije Stefanović (1926–1940).

The issues published in 1957 did not identify an editor. In the subsequent decades, the editorship was held by Dimitrije Dimitrijević (1958; 1960), Čedomir Drašković (1958; 1961–1976), Blagota Gardašević (1959), Pribislav Simić (1977–1989; 1991–1996), Vladan Perišić (1990), Dimitrije Kalezić (1997; 2000), Radomir Popović (1998–1999; 2001–2004; 2013–2016), Maksim Vasiljević (2005–2009), Bogdan Lubardić (2010–2012), Rodoljub Kubat (2017–2019), and Vladimir Vukašinović (2020–2025).

Since 2026, Professor Vladan Tatalović (b. 1977) has served as editor-in-chief of Bogoslovlje.

Scholarly Significance and Recent Developments

Bogoslovlje has played a major role in documenting and shaping the development of Serbian academic theology from the early twentieth century to the present. The articles published between the two world wars attest both to the high standard of scholarly research and to the endeavour to bring Serbian theology into active engagement with contemporary developments in theology and the wider humanities.

The journal has published work by distinguished figures from Serbian and international scholarly and cultural life, including theologians, historians, archaeologists, philosophers, philologists, legal scholars, and researchers in other disciplines. Among its contributors were Dragutin Anastasijević (1877–1950), Filaret Granić (1883–1948), Radoslav Grujić (1878–1955), Aleksandar Dobroklonski (1856–1937), Kiprijan Kern (1899–1960), Borislav Lorenc (1883–1975), Lazar Mirković (1885–1968), Vladimir Mošin (1894–1987), Vladimir Petković (1874–1956), Đorđe Radojičić (1905–1970), Aleksandar Solovjev (1890–1971), Stanoje Stanojević (1874–1937), Teodor Titov (1864–1935), Sergije Troicki (1878–1972), and Veselin Čajkanović (1881–1946).

Following its revival in 1957, Bogoslovlje continued to publish substantial and influential scholarly studies, contributing both to the development and to the preservation of Serbian theological thought amid the complex social and political circumstances of the second half of the twentieth century.

The closing decades of the twentieth century and the beginning of the twenty-first brought renewed impetus to the journal’s development. The reintegration of the Faculty of Orthodox Theology into the University of Belgrade in 2004, together with the growing participation of its academic staff and associates in international scholarship, further strengthened the scholarly and editorial profile of Bogoslovlje.

Today, the journal publishes original research across theology and related disciplines in the humanities. It seeks to advance critical inquiry into the theological tradition, interdisciplinary dialogue, and international scholarly collaboration. Contributions appear in Serbian and other languages, and the journal is indexed in ERIH PLUS and CEEOL.

The Journal’s Centenary (1926–2026)

In 2026, Bogoslovlje marks the centenary of its foundation. This anniversary provides an opportunity for a comprehensive assessment of the journal’s history, its contribution to Serbian theological scholarship, and its role in sustaining the continuity of academic theology through changing historical circumstances. It also invites reflection on the journal’s future development, particularly with regard to scholarly and editorial standards, international visibility, digital accessibility, and collaboration with researchers and academic institutions throughout Serbia.             As a reflection of the scholarly work of the Faculty of Orthodox Theology and of broader currents in contemporary theological thought, Bogoslovlje, particularly in its centenary year, remains open to researchers from other academic institutions and related disciplines in the social sciences and humanities. It recognises interdisciplinary dialogue and international collaboration as essential to its continuing development. This openness rests on the fundamental conviction that theology, grounded in its tradition and committed to the highest standards of contemporary scholarship, bears a responsibility to address the challenges that the modern world poses to Orthodox Christianity, society, and the humanities as a whole. The continuing development of Bogoslovlje is thus inseparable from its foundational theological vocation: to bear witness, at the meeting point of faith, scholarship, and culture, to the meaning of human existence in the contemporary world.