FAILURE OF ORTHODOXY: A POLITICAL THEOLOGY AND ORTHODOX CHRISTIANITY

Trajce STOJANOV

Abstract

From Schmitt`s first use of the term in 1922, political theology has become a very potent topic not just for the theological analyses, but for political and philosophical as well. A number of thinkers from Catholic or Protestant space have written a lot on this topic, trying to highlight this relation of the Christianity and politics. But, as far as we are familiar, there are not a lot of studies on Orthodoxy and politics. Just in the recent years, a several studies were published tackling this relation. In this paper we would try to deal with this relation, and to offer a plausible answer why Orthodoxy couldn’t provide satisfying political theology, or why Orthodoxy wasn’t interested in social, cultural and political reality, as that was the case with Catholicism or Protestantism. For that reason, the paper will use historical approach, tracking the origins of the current situation in modern Orthodoxy back in the antient history of Christianity, but in the history of philosophy, as well. We will try to offer an answer to the obvious question posed by numerous researchers before – why Orthodoxy couldn’t produce social, cultural and political reality, as that was the case with western Christianity? While Western Christianity not only became „politicized“, but also managed to create a specific social and cultural ethos. Even more - it managed to create cultural products, derived from their specific confessional space. Tracking back the historical circumstances in Orthodoxy, our conclusion is that it is due to the inherent mysticism of Orthodoxy that doesn’t allowed faith to be „secularized“ into political realities. This paper will also examine the different approaches in East and West Christianity. Actually, this difference will be our main focus, so through it we can strengthen our thesis more firmly.

Pages: 197 - 202