Orthodox Theology and the Politics of Transition

Since Russia invaded Ukraine, I have been moderately surprised at the level of commentary in the Western media about the role Orthodoxy plays in both countries. I suspect we will see a spate of new books on this intersection of theology, culture, and war. Indeed, we are already seeing some, as in this new book: Orthodox Christianity and the Politics of Transition by Tornike Metreveli (Routledge, 2022), 196pp. 

About this new book the publisher tells us this:

This book discusses in detail how Orthodox Christianity was involved in and influenced political transition in Ukraine, Serbia, and Georgia after the collapse of communism. Based on original research, including extensive interviews with clergy and parishioners as well as historical, legal, and policy analysis, the book argues that the nature of the involvement of churches in post-communist politics depended on whether the interests of the church (for example, in education, the legal system or economic activity) were accommodated or threatened: if accommodated, churches confined themselves to the sacred domain; if threatened, they engaged in daily politics. If churches competed with each other for organizational interests, they evoked the support of nationalism while remaining within the religious domain.

Orthodox Revolutions and Lesser Transitions

I am not by nature the sort of person who easily or regularly finds himself attending political rallies, marches, and protests. But I have not forgotten standing in the freezing ice storm in December 2004 on Parliament Hill in Ottawa as the Orange Revolution was unfolding in Ukraine, where I had taught English just three years before that. A goodly number of Ukrainian-Canadians turned out for that rally to show support to those fighting for a new government in Ukraine. 

That was one of several "colour" revolutions in the former Soviet Union. What role did the Orthodox and Catholic churches play in them? In the case of Ukraine, the answer has to be: a very considerable one. But in other countries? That is the question asked and answered in forthcoming book set for release at year's end: Orthodox Christianity and the Politics of Transition: Ukraine, Serbia, and Georgia. by Tornike Metreveli (Routledge, Dec. 2020), 200pp. 

About this book the publisher tells us this:

This book discusses in detail how Orthodox Christianity was involved in and influenced political transition in Ukraine, Serbia and Georgia after the collapse of communism. Based on original research, including extensive interviews with clergy and parishioners as well as historical, legal and policy analysis, the book argues that the nature of the involvement of churches in post-communist politics depended on whether the interests of the church (for example, in education, the legal system or economic activity) were accommodated or threatened: if accommodated, churches confined themselves to the sacred domain; if threatened they engaged in daily politics. If churches competed with each other for organizational interests, they evoked the support of nationalism while remaining within the religious domain.

Orthodox Secularisms and Entanglements

Are there more tedious phrases on the lips of Christians today than "secularism" or "secular humanism"? The whingeing about these developments, which are rarely treated with any attendance upon questions of economics or the role Christianity itself has played in bringing us to the perceived present position, is not only off-putting but also misplaced. We would do well to meditate for a while upon Benjamin Fong's recent observation (discussed in some detail here) that

there is perhaps no more confused assertion, for a critical theorist, than that capitalist society is becoming increasingly 'secular'.

The situation, then, is not at all straightforward even in the Western world, where complaints about "secularism" usually mean nothing more than "declining church attendance" and increasing criticism of Christian beliefs and practices by people (e.g., Beto O'Rourke) who are NQOUCD ("not quite our class, dear").

How much more different and no less complex are the situations faced by several Orthodox countries in Europe treated in a recent book: Tobias Koellner, ed., Orthodox Religion and Politics in Contemporary Eastern Europe: On Multiple Secularisms and Entanglements (Routledge, 2018), 274pp.

About this book the publisher tells us the following:

This book explores the relationship between Orthodox religion and politics in Eastern Europe, Russia and Georgia. It demonstrates how as these societies undergo substantial transformation Orthodox religion can be both a limiting and an enabling factor, how the relationship between religion and politics is complex, and how the spheres of religion and politics complement, reinforce, influence, and sometimes contradict each other. Considering a range of thematic issues, with examples from a wide range of countries with significant Orthodox religious groups, and setting the present situation in its full historical context the book provides a rich picture of a subject which has been too often oversimplified.

Georgian and Armenian Memories of the Caucasian Schism

Stuck as they are by a behemoth to the north, and by the turmoil of the Middle East to the south of them, the Orthodox Christians of Georgia and Armenia are sometimes overlooked, and their history not well known by outsiders. For those who do know something, they might be able to tell you that the Georgian Church is Eastern Orthodox while the Armenian Church is part of the so-called Non-Chalcedonian family.

But what of their earlier history and unity--and later still schism? A new scholarly study sheds light on these events: Nikoloz Aleksidze, The Narrative of the Caucasian Schism: Memory and Forgetting in Medieval Caucasia (Peeters, 2018), 228pp.


About this book the publisher tells us this:

In the early seventh century, the Georgian and the Armenian Churches separated. Since then, the two nations formed their distinct Christian cultures and national Churches. This also resulted in mutual antagonism, the repercussions of which are still observable in modern Caucasia - This is the prevalent narrative that one encounters in modern histories of medieval Caucasia. In the centre of this narrative lies the Schism - a watershed that divides the history of Caucasia into two chronological constituents, the era before and after. Indeed, the Schism is allegedly one of the most well documented events in Caucasian history, infinitely evoked and referred to in medieval Armenian historical accounts. The present study is an attempt to deconstruct this grand narrative by focusing on the formation of the narrative of the Schism, its central element. It argues that the narrative of the Schism was perpetually reconstructed and reinvented by medieval historians for the purpose of sustaining teleological continuity in their perception of the region's history. In the historical imaginaries of different medieval writers in different times and places, the Schism served as an interpretive tool in attempts to create a sound connection between the present and the forgotten past. The Schism was once again reinvented in contemporary Armenian and Georgia national discourses, and thence has made its way into scholarly studies.

Political Orthodoxies

When I interviewed Nicholas Denysenko recently, part of our discussion centred on the role of political theologies in shaping, and often deforming, contemporary Orthodoxy in Eastern Europe. One of the perennial questions, especially in Russia, is the extent to which the Church and state should be intermingled. That question and others will be addressed in a new book by the Orthodox scholar Cyril Hovorun, whom I have interviewed in the past, and hope to do so again for this new book whose timeliness could not be better in this season of Russian war (not only militarily but also theologically) against Ukraine, and virtual war between Moscow and Constantinople over Ukraine: Political Orthodoxies: the Unorthodoxies of the Church Coerced (Fortress Press, 2018), 224pp.

About this book the publisher tells us the following:

As an insider to church politics and a scholar of contemporary Orthodoxy, Cyril Hovorun outlines forms of political orthodoxy in Orthodox churches, past and present.

Hovorun draws a big picture of religion being politicized and even weaponized. While Political Orthodoxies assesses phenomena such as nationalism and anti-Semitism, both widely associated with Eastern Christianity, Hovorun focuses on the theological underpinnings of the culture wars waged in eastern and southern Europe. The issues in these wars include monarchy and democracy, Orientalism and Occidentalism, canonical territory, and autocephaly. Wrought with peril, Orthodox culture wars have proven to turn toward bloody conflict, such as in Georgia in 2008 and Ukraine in 2014.

Accordingly, this book explains the aggressive behavior of Russia toward its neighbors and the West from a religious standpoint. The spiritual revival of Orthodoxy after the collapse of Communism made the Orthodox church in Russia, among other things, an influential political protagonist, which in some cases goes ahead of the Kremlin. Following his identification and analysis, Hovorun suggests ways to bring political Orthodoxy back to the apostolic and patristic track.

Georgian Church Music

I don't know about you, but my library is rather thin on works devoted to Georgian and related musical traditions. Those interested in such histories will be sure to snatch up copies of Svetlana Kujumdzieva's new book, The Hymnographic Book of Tropologion: Sources, Liturgy and Chant Repertory (Routledge, 2017), 194pp.

About this book we are told:

The Tropologion is considered the earliest known extant chant book from the early Christian world which was in use until the twelfth century. The study of this book is still in its infancy. It has generally been believed that the book has survived in Georgian translation under the name ‘ladgari’ but similar books have been discovered in Greek, Syriac and Armenian. All the copies clearly show that the spread and the use of the book were much greater than we had previously assumed and the Georgian ladgari is only one of its many versions.

The study of these issues unquestionably confirms the earliest stage of the compilation of the book, in Jerusalem or its environs, and shows its uninterrupted development from Jerusalem to the Stoudios monastery, the most important monastery of Constantinople. Over time many new pieces and new authors were added to the Tropologion. It is almost certain that it was the Stoudios school of poet-composers that divided the content of the Tropologion and compiled separate collections of books, each one containing a major liturgical cycle. In the beginning all of the volumes kept the old title but in the tenth century the copies of the book were renamed, probably according to the liturgical repertory included, and by the thirteenth century the title ‘Tropologion’ is no longer found in the Greek sources as it became superfluous, and fell out of use.

Georgian and South-European Nostalgia and the Politics of Memory

This fascinating article, about varying memories, many nostalgic and romanticized, of Joseph Stalin in his native Georgia, confirms what I have been hearing from scholars at conferences for several years now based on various research trips to several parts of the former Soviet Union.

Two forthcoming books, both published by Palgrave Macmillan, take us further into the fascinating field of political memory and nostalgia in that part of the world:

Catherine Raudvere, Nostalgia, Loss and Creativity in South-East Europe: Political and Cultural Representations of the Past  (PM, 2018), 238pp.

About this book we are told:

Where nostalgia was once dismissed a wistful dream of a never-never land, the academic focus has shifted to how pieces of the past are assembled as the elements in alternative political thinking as well as in artistic expression. The creative use of the past points to the complexities of the conceptualization of nostalgia, while entering areas where the humanities meet the art world and commerce. This collection of essays shows how this bond is politically and socially visible on different levels, from states to local communities, along with creative developments in art, literature and religious practice. Bringing together scholars from a range of disciplines, the book offers analyses from diverse theoretical perspectives, united by an interest in the political and cultural representations of the past in South-East Europe from a long-term perspective. By emphasising how the relationship between loss and creative inspiration are intertwined in cultural production and history writing, these essays cover themes across South-East Europe and provide an insight into how specific agents – intellectuals, politicians, artists – have represented the past and have looked towards the future.

The second is a more general and methodological study: Memory Politics, Identity and Conflict: Historical Memory as a Variable by Zheng Wang (PM, 2018).

About this book we are told:

This book focuses on the methodology of research on historical memory and contributes to theoretical discussions concerning the use of historical memory as a variable to explain political action and social movement. The chapters of the book conceptualize the relationship between historical memory and national identity formation, perceptions, and policy-making. The author particularly analyses how contested memory and the related social discourse can lead to nationalism and international conflict. Based on theories and research from multiple fields of studies, this book proposes a series of analytic frameworks for the purpose of conceptualizing the functions of historical memory. These analytic frameworks can help categorize, measure, and subsequently demonstrate the effects of historical memory. This book also discusses how to use public opinion polls, textbooks, important texts and documents, monuments and memory sites for conducting research to examine the functions of historical memory.

Religion and Democracy in the South Caucasus

Living as so many countries in the region do in the shadow of the Russian behemoth, smaller countries in Eastern Europe as well as the Caucasus do not often garner nearly the same attention as Russia. In the quarter-century since the collapse of the evil empire, former Soviet states have developed in a variety of ways--as have, not incidentally, their Christian, especially Orthodox, populations. A recent collection examines three Caucasian countries: Alexander Agadjanian, Anscar, Jödicke and Evert van der Zweerde, eds., Religion, Nation and Democracy in the South Caucasus (Routledge, 2014), 296pp.

About this book we are told:

This book explores developments in the three major societies of the South Caucasus – Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia – focusing especially on religion, historical traditions, national consciousness, and political culture, and on how these factors interact. It outlines how, despite close geographical interlacement, common historical memories and inherited structures, the three countries have deep differences; and it discusses how development in all three nations has differed significantly from the countries’ declared commitments to democratic orientation and European norms and values. The book also considers how external factors and international relations continue to impact on the three countries.

Georgian Christian Thought in Context

Brill just sent me a fascinating collection of essays about a small Orthodox country whose patriarch-catholicos has long impressed me, viz., Georgia. The book, a collection of scholarly essays, is Georgian Christian Thought and Its' Cultural Context: Memorial Volume for the 125th Anniversary of Shalva Nutsubidze (1888-1969) (Brill, 2014), 387pp.

Edited by Tamar Nutsubidze, Cornelia B. Horn, and Basil Lourié, with the Collaboration of Alexey Ostrovsky, this book, the publisher tells us,

contains contributions dedicated to the person and the work of Shalva Nutsubidze and his scholarly interests: the Christian Orient from the fifth to the seventh century, the Georgian eleventh century, the Neoplatonic philosopher Ioane Petritsi and his epoch and Shota Rustaveli and mediaeval Georgian culture. Among the articles are a new edition and translation of the original Georgian author’s Preface to the lost Commentary on the Psalms by Ioane Petritsi and the editio princeps with an English translation of an epistle of Nicetas Stethatos (eleventh century), whose Greek original is lost. The traditions of Georgian mediaeval thought are considered in their historical context within the Byzantine Commonwealth and are traced in both philosophy and poetry.

Georgian Churches

The Georgian Orthodox Church has too often remained in the shadow of other, better-known nearby churches both in the Caucasus and in the Slavic lands. A recent book from Brepols helps shed some light on little-known aspects of Georgian liturgical and architectural life: N. Iamanidzé, Les installations liturgiques sculptees des eglises de Georgie (VIIe-XIIIe siecles) (Brepols, 2010), 304pp.


About this book the publisher tells us:

Convertie au christianisme au début du IVe siècle, la Géorgie ancienne, qui a souvent été une frontière religieuse et culturelle entre l'Asie et l'Europe, a laissé beaucoup de monuments remarquables. Néanmoins, malgré sa qualité et sa richesse exceptionnelles, lart chrétien géorgien est longtemps resté méconnu. De fait, si les peintures murales et larchitecture des églises ont attiré d'assez longue date lattention des chercheurs, leurs aménagements et dispositifs liturgiques ont été à peu près complètement passés sous silence. Pourtant ces pièces uniques représentent une part considérable du patrimoine géorgien médiéval et constituent un témoignage archéologique fort important pour cerner non seulement la tradition artistique, mais aussi les rites et les coutumes de l'Orient chrétien. L'ouvrage révèle un matériel archéologique parfois inexploré jusqu'ici, et souvent inédit. Mais cest aussi une première tentative pour faire la lumière sur lorganisation de lespace liturgique dans les églises géorgiennes, sur le rôle spécifique des divers aménagements, les rapports entre la nature des pièces, leur décor et leur fonction, et contribuer ainsi à la connaissance des usages religieux aux confins du monde byzantin.

La recherche se concentre sur trois groupes particuliers : cuves baptismales, tables liturgiques et clôtures de sanctuaire. Les limites chronologiques (VIe-XIIIe s.) correspondent à la période de lapparition puis du développement des images sculptées sur les installations liturgiques en Géorgie : inspirées par lAncien et le Nouveau Testament, celles-ci sarticulent souvent dans des programmes iconographiques amples et accomplis. La signification de ces programmes est ici particulièrement envisagée dans la perspective de leur rôle cultuel.

Mais l'attention est également portée aux problèmes liés à la production de ces monuments et à la répartition géographique des ateliers. Un autre aspect, qui relève dune problématique plus vaste, est ladaptation et linterprétation des modèles byzantins en Géorgie.

On a naturellement reproduit et traduit les nombreuses inscriptions qui permettent dobserver les différents modes de référence aux sources scripturaires, mais aussi de constater l'implication de donateurs sur des supports ; ce qui renseigne directement sur les usages dévotionnels et, dans certains cas, renvoie aux pratiques de collation des sacrements. Ainsi vise-t-on à apporter un éclairage nouveau sur la vie spirituelle et lhistoire religieuse du pays et sur ses relations culturelles avec les autres régions du monde chrétien ; cela reflétant, à côté des traditions locales, des liens étroits entre la Géorgie et les pays voisins mais aussi, à l'occasion, avec les contrées plus lointaines dOccident. L'ouvrage témoigne donc de limportance d'une production artistique qui doit être prise en compte dans toute étude du matériel sculpté paléochrétien et médiéval.

Later this year, a second book will shed further light on the churches of Georgia: Dora-Piquet Panayatova, The Georgian Churches of Oski and Iskhani: Architecture and Ornament (Pindar Press, 2011), 260pp. with 236 illustrations.

About this book, the publisher informs us:

This study deals with the churches of Oski and Iskhani, in the ancient Georgian province of Tao-Klardeti, now in eastern Turkey.

Each church is examined separately, with a focus on the architecture and carved decoration. The architectural sculpture includes the decorative layout of the facades, and the ornamentation of the windows, portals, gallery and porch. This reveals the fusion of antique elements, inherited from the East Byzantine provinces, with Sassanian and Islamic motifs penetrating through contact with the Abbasid world.

These churches were erected by the Bagratid princes in the early years of the 11th century and their construction reflects a fascinating blend of the influence of the Macedonian 'Renaissance' from the Byzantine empire and the Abbasid fashions that had spread through the Mediterranean world at this period.