Orthodox Christianity/Theology and Human Rights
Journal of Eastern Christian Studies , 2019
This introductory survey to a collected volume on "Human Dignity and Patristic Tradition" tries t... more This introductory survey to a collected volume on "Human Dignity and Patristic Tradition" tries to identify possible contributions of Patristic concepts about human nature to current debates concerning the actual meaning of the term ‘human dignity’. Eastern Orthodox theology, in particular with 20th century’s ‘neo-patristic renaissance’, has offered concepts of personhood as a critical response to Western narratives about the emancipation of the human individual. Pure individualist concepts often, and in many respects have betrayed inherent weaknesses in modern debates. The current intellectual climate with its focus on normative anthropology appears to be favorable to the re-assessment of the value of the Father’s writings, but includes also certain temptations. Ancient Christian sources indeed do offer inspiring visions on human nature and destiny, but to make them fruitful for current debates requires …
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Tijdschrift voor Recht, Religie en Beleid, 2019
Dit artikel onderzoekt de relatie van de tegenwoordige orthodoxe, oosters-christe-lijke theologie... more Dit artikel onderzoekt de relatie van de tegenwoordige orthodoxe, oosters-christe-lijke theologie tot de mensenrechten. Tegenwoordige controverses worden in een grotere historische context geplaatst, waarbij de achtergronden van de verschil-lende posities van het oosters christendom worden toegelicht, bijvoorbeeld ten aan-zien van actuele onderwerpen zoals kerk en staat, universalisme van mensenrech-ten of theologische antropologie. De stelling is dat er nog veel schatten te vinden zijn in deze theologische traditie, die echter ten bate van allen nog moeten worden opgedolven. In maart 2016 hield patriarch Kirill van de Russisch-Orthodoxe Kerk een preek in zijn 'huiskerk', de Christus-Verlosser-Kathedraal te Moskou, waarin hij opriep om het christelijk geloof te verdedigen tegen wat hij 'een globale heresie [ketterij] van de mensenverering' noemde. Aan de mens en zijn egoïsme en zijn grillen worden volgens de patriarch tegenwoordig alle rechten toegekend, terwijl God geleidelijk uit de samenleving wordt verdreven. 1 Ook al zei hij het niet expliciet, toch is deze preek vaker in de Russische pers samengevat als een aanval op de mensenrechten. In het Westen heeft men hier weinig aandacht aan besteed. De alleen in het Rus-sisch gehouden en niet gepubliceerde toespraak is grotendeels aan de aandacht van westerse getuigen ontsnapt. Het lijkt immers alsof het anders genoeg aanlei-ding had geleverd voor een schandaal-nog eens een voorbeeld van de naar het schijnt al bekende achterstand en het autoritarisme van de orthodoxe kerken. Dat is minstens het stereotiepe beeld. Naar het schijnt hebben de kerken in over-wegend orthodoxe landen zoals Rusland, Griekenland, Roemenië en Bulgarije 2 dit stereotype bij veel gelegenheden bevestigd. Hierbij valt te denken aan protesten van orthodoxe clerici tegen popconcerten in Athene, de draconische straffen die voor de punkband Pussy Riot werden geëist, de anti-homowetgeving in Rusland en vele andere voorbeelden, waarover in de westerse pers regelmatig irritant ver-slag wordt gegeven gedurende de laatste jaren. Het was volgens sceptische inschattingen al snel na het einde van het communisme dat de orthodoxe kerken moeite hadden met individuele vrijheden en met een seculiere staat; ze zijn dank-zij hun theologische traditie dichter bij conservatieve, of zelfs autoritaire en theo-1 'Patriarch Kirill prizval k zasjtsjite very ot "global"noi eresi tsjelovekopoklonstva', Interfax 20 maart 2016, geraadpleegd via www. interfax. ru/ russia/ 499346. 2 Dit artikel neemt vooral de Oost-Europese orthodoxe kerken van de Byzantijnse traditie in ogen-schouw. Hiernaast is er ook een rijke theologische traditie bij de christenen in het Midden-Oos-ten: in Turkije, Libanon, Syrië, Irak enz. Deze kerken hebben een lange geschiedenis als religieuze minderheden en van co-existentie met de islam. Hierop kan hier echter niet verder worden inge-gaan.
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The article explores several critical themes in the dialogue between Eastern Christian theology a... more The article explores several critical themes in the dialogue between Eastern Christian theology and the concept of Human Dignity and Rights. Despite the publication of a basic document on the issue by the Russian Orthodox Church in 2008 this dialogue currently has reached a dead end. There is some agreement with the Human Rights idea, but a mainstream among Orthodox theologians remains skeptical. Critical issues are to be found in divergent understandings of human dignity, and — more or less derived from that — in emphases on either 'freedom' or 'morality' as guiding principles struc-turing the system of law and the public sphere. As it is argued, existing antagonisms are not necessarily unbridgeable. Attempts to overcome existing divergences in recent times have been made both within the discourse about Human Right and from the part of Orthodox theology. To make use of such possibilities would require both interdisci-plinary approaches and further reflection on how to translate spiritual terms into socio-political concepts.
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in Gosudarstvo, Religiia, Tserkov’ v Rossii i za rubezhom 32, 2014, no 3, pp. 166-196.
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in Vasilios Makrides, Jennifer Wasmuth, Stefan Kube (eds.): Christentum und Menschenrechte: Aktue... more in Vasilios Makrides, Jennifer Wasmuth, Stefan Kube (eds.): Christentum und Menschenrechte: Aktuelle Debatten in Ost und West, (Frankfurt/M.: Peter Lang, 2016) (=Erfurter Studien zur Kulturgeschichte des östlichen Christentums, 11), pp. 103-120.
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Contemporary Orthodox Christianity
Religion und Gesellschaft in Ost und West (RGOW), 2021
Belarus lag jahrhundertelang an einer "Grenzzone der Imperien", was die Kultur-und Religionsgesch... more Belarus lag jahrhundertelang an einer "Grenzzone der Imperien", was die Kultur-und Religionsgeschichte des Landes entscheidend prägte. Heute nur noch eine kleine Minderheit Konfessionen im Land. Für das Entstehen einer belarusischen nationalen Bewegung spielten die Konfessionen keine tragende Rolle. Reformation, Gegenreformation und Union Das 16. Jahrhundert brachte weitere Entscheidungen. Der Personalunion von Krewo folgte eine politisch-administrative Hauptstadt des Großfürstentums Litauen. Burgruine und katholische Verklärungskirche.
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The article analyzes diverse reactions within the Orthodox church on ongoing protests in Belarus,... more The article analyzes diverse reactions within the Orthodox church on ongoing protests in Belarus, and puts them into context with the general standpoint taken by Russian Orthodoxy in relation to political processes. The apparently noble principle of a church deliberately neutral and acting "beyond politics", as is argued, is less simple and less easy to maintain in a case of political conflict than it seems. Remaining "neutral" in a conflict is not always the same as contributing to a peaceful solution.
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in Journal of Eastern Christian Studies 67, 2015, no. 3-4, pp. 375-393.
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in Pieter Vos, Onno Ziijlstra (eds.), The Law of God. Exploring God and Civilization (Leiden: Br... more in Pieter Vos, Onno Ziijlstra (eds.), The Law of God. Exploring God and Civilization (Leiden: Brill, 2014), pp. 84-104.
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Journal of Eastern Christian Studies 66, 2014, no. 1-2, pp. 73-90
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Religious History of Ukraine
in Journal of Eastern Christian Studies 67, 2015, no. 1-2, pp. 103-142:
In its first part, this a... more in Journal of Eastern Christian Studies 67, 2015, no. 1-2, pp. 103-142:
In its first part, this article tries to systematize information about religious life and societal activities of Christian communities, mainly the Eastern rite churches in Ukraine since Ukrainian independence in 1991. What emerges from this attempt is a picture consisting of manifold initiatives to bridge and overcome old antagonisms formerly vigorously active in a borderland society, starting from grassroots ecumenism, inclusive approaches towards religiosity, up to conciliatory historical narratives and joint socio-political organizations. This “project Ukraine” in various respects came under threat since the outbreak of the Maidan protests in November 2013, and the crisis that followed. The second part of the article therefore analyses further developments up to June 2015, and tries to explore the prospects of the named “project” and its potential for de-escalation and peace-building.
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in Mikhail V. Dmitriev, Daniel Tollet (eds.), Confessiones et nationes. Discours identitaires nat... more in Mikhail V. Dmitriev, Daniel Tollet (eds.), Confessiones et nationes. Discours identitaires nationaux dans les cultures chrétiennes. Moyen Age – XXe siècle (Paris: Éditions Honoré Champion, 2014), pp. 239-263.
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M. Dmitriev, D. Tollet [see above]
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Religious History - Early Modern (RUS/UKR/POL)
Cahiers du Monde Russe, 2017
Parish life and parish priests belong to the classical subjects of Russian church history. So the... more Parish life and parish priests belong to the classical subjects of Russian church history. So the issue is anything but new for research. We already have a threefold layer of highly instructive studies out of recent decades, extensive chapters in classical compendiums of church history, and – last not least – an abundance of first hand explorations in Russian journals since late 19 th century. The image of the parish priest of Russia's Early Modern period, which emerges from all these studies, is mostly a negative one: ignorant, often drunk, and hardly distinct from the peasants of his parish both economically and culturally. This very image was equally drawn by many foreign travelers in Russia during this period, and through their testimony ultimately made it also into widespread overviews of Russian History of our times. However, such a stereotype is perhaps distorted and does not entail the complete story. It is the aim of this article to question the established image of the parish clergy on some points, to add some important nuances at least-and to do so through an appropriate application of the " social discipline " concept, which had initially been developed with regard to Western Christianity in the Early Modern period. With this aim in mind, observations will focus especially on the institution of the " electoral principle " (vybornoe nachalo), the principle of the priest being elected by the parishioners, and its development in two particular regions, namely Ukraine and the Russian North. […] in Cahiers du Monde Russe 58, 2017, no. 3, pp. 303-340.
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in Stefan Rohdewald, David Frick, Stefan Wiederkehr (eds.), Litauen und Ruthenien. Studien zu ei... more in Stefan Rohdewald, David Frick, Stefan Wiederkehr (eds.), Litauen und Ruthenien. Studien zu einer transkulturellen Kommunikationsregion (15.-18. Jahrhundert)/ Lithuania and Ruthenia. Studies of a Transcultural Communication Zone (15th-18th Centuries), (Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 2007) [= Forschungen zur osteuropäischen Geschichte, vol. 71], pp. 272-295.
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Orthodox Christianity/Theology and Human Rights
Contemporary Orthodox Christianity
Religious History of Ukraine
In its first part, this article tries to systematize information about religious life and societal activities of Christian communities, mainly the Eastern rite churches in Ukraine since Ukrainian independence in 1991. What emerges from this attempt is a picture consisting of manifold initiatives to bridge and overcome old antagonisms formerly vigorously active in a borderland society, starting from grassroots ecumenism, inclusive approaches towards religiosity, up to conciliatory historical narratives and joint socio-political organizations. This “project Ukraine” in various respects came under threat since the outbreak of the Maidan protests in November 2013, and the crisis that followed. The second part of the article therefore analyses further developments up to June 2015, and tries to explore the prospects of the named “project” and its potential for de-escalation and peace-building.
Religious History - Early Modern (RUS/UKR/POL)
In its first part, this article tries to systematize information about religious life and societal activities of Christian communities, mainly the Eastern rite churches in Ukraine since Ukrainian independence in 1991. What emerges from this attempt is a picture consisting of manifold initiatives to bridge and overcome old antagonisms formerly vigorously active in a borderland society, starting from grassroots ecumenism, inclusive approaches towards religiosity, up to conciliatory historical narratives and joint socio-political organizations. This “project Ukraine” in various respects came under threat since the outbreak of the Maidan protests in November 2013, and the crisis that followed. The second part of the article therefore analyses further developments up to June 2015, and tries to explore the prospects of the named “project” and its potential for de-escalation and peace-building.
In 'Journal of Eastern Christian Studies' 70/1-2 (2018), pp. 139-142