Global Orthodoxy: Desperate Need for Self-critique
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.24193/theol.cath.latina.2024.LXIX.2.02Keywords:
Symphonia, Ideology, Fascism, Dictatorship, WarAbstract
New concerns about Orthodoxy grow within and without it. Many no longer have a romantic outlook on Orthodoxy of the sort that flourished in the second half of the 20th century but see it as intrinsically susceptible to weaponisation. To correct this outlook, the Orthodox need to start a thorough self-evaluation through ecclesiology and political theology. The paper explores the ecclesiological and theopolitical preconditions that have led to the support of dictatorships in the past, as well as the modern wars waged between the Orthodox peoples. It also suggests ways out of the ongoing crises of the Orthodox identity and theology based on the Church’s emancipation from imperial and authoritarian phantoms, as well as on observing the demarcation lines between the church and the state. Shifting from the “ecclesiology from above” to the “ecclesiology from below” could help the Orthodox church overcome the crises.
Article history: Received 10.11.2024; Revised 01.11.2024; Accepted 1.11.2024.
Available online: 11.01.2025; Available print: 30.01.2025
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