You know therefore nothing about Russia, to say such a stupid thing.
Martin M
1 month ago
Funny that Putin admires Catherine the Great, given that she had not a drop of Russian blood in her veins. Maybe Russia could have another German ruler.
By what measure? Maybe it’s you who doesn’t understand Russia, or Christianity.
Milton Gibbon
1 month ago
The piece overlooks the glaring contradiction in its examples. The anti-establishment outliers don’t mask a pretty straightforward history of church-state intertwinement. The break with the past which the Soviet regime made was notable as the best exception but then if the government is avowedly atheist this isn’t exactly a break so much as a different category. The church-state relationship has always been far closer than in the West (partly due to foreign, non-Christian dominion during the medieval period) but then the Orthodox tradition comes out of a history of caesaro-papism which extended almost into the modern era. The Russian Orthodox church took on the mantle of this tradition after the fall of Constantinople and with the threat of outside forces it positioned itself as the other pillar of the state. It wasn’t nefarious or subtle about it. The writer is holding them to a Western European standard – like a Protestant bemoaning the luxury of the priestly/ascetic class of Rome. It would be better to see this “largesse” in the context of a restored tradition dating back to Constantine. While I am critical of certain aspects of this restoration (one of my favourite quotes being that the post-communist Russian Orthodox church is closer to “goldliness than godliness”) I am very happy it has taken place.
There’s also a strand of “mysticism” in Russian Orthodoxy which goes beyond even the Roman Catholic tradition. One might conclude that the greater degree of mystical veiling, the greater the attempt to “pull the (golden) wool over the eyes”.
What other world? It’s just nonsense, and looks to have had the “desired effect”. There’s nothing ‘special’ about mystics other than their own inability to deal with the real world. That can be done whilst having a spiritual outlook on life.
Yes. Me too. Sad, though, too. The wolf put on the sheep’s clothes one feels only for being finer, much more impressive than his own.
While a sheep wearing wolf’s dentures, come to think of it, could only hope to look ridiculous?
Tony Buck
1 month ago
Only a revitalised Orthodox Church can save and heal Russia, and Ukraine.
UnHerd Reader
1 month ago
I can never understand why Russia is always compared to the West, when it couldn’t be more different. We don’t constantly compare China, Japan or India with the West. Russia is, like those countries, a world of its own. I agree with Milton Gibbon’s assessment below, and the comparison with the Byzantine empire. The problem is that we simply do not understand Russia, nor do we even try. We just repeat the same old things.
David Eades
Russia has at times masqueraded as a European country (even though it is patently obvious that it isn’t one).
Janet Baker
1 month ago
The author recognizes that “any religion, passionately embraced, gives people a motive to sacrifice personal interests and even their lives; that is one reason why earthly rulers find religion’s use so attractive. But faith also gives people the courage to oppose state power, at vast personal cost, in ways that send a dazzling moral signal.” Would that we had allowed that dynamic balancing act in the West. Russia will benefit from the unity of Church and state, and we will continue to suffer from the liberal rebellion, the separation of the two. We will continue to have moral codes coming from everywhere and sputtering out long before they reach the human heart. Russia and Orthodoxy are sending a unified message to their people, and they stand a chance to win because of it.
Gordon Arta
1 month ago
The primary, if not exclusive, objective of all religious organisations is the preservation and expansion of the organisation, and the powerbase of its elite; they develop symbiotic relationships with secular powers to further that objective. The founding principles of the religion can be invoked, adapted, ignored, or contradicted to fit. Thus Putin has promised the Russian Orthodox Church greater wealth, greater influence over selected non-political social and family matters, and an expansion of the Church’s empire over Ukraine. In return, Kiril offers Putin divine justification, and the support of his followers. The other religions operate in exactly the same way. But what the author is alluding to, and hoping for, is not the Russian Orthodox Church, it’s the few within it, as there are a few in all religious organisations, for whom religious principles and morality are more important than the organisation and its elite.
David Morrison
1 month ago
Given that the evangelical wing of U.S. Christianity just played a significant role in electing a convicted felon and serial liar, I don’t believe I can say anything about Putin’s paying for ecclesiastical blessings.
This reads like Kirili has 2 outcomes, should he, or any cleric, oppose Putin. 1. Resist pressure from the tzar and eventually be deported and killed, or, 2. Move to Paris and make alot of noise. Probably be surreptitiously poisoned, as are other expat enemies of the regime.
Nevermind Orthodoxy – can Russia preserve her precious soul. “May bloodshed end,” and that’s my prayer ….
Does Russia even have a soul. The evidence suggests not.
Why despise Russia because of Putin and other Russian rulers ?
Indeed, Russians – like all men – are precious to God, may the actions of their leaders change for the good.
Because its people put those rulers there, and keep them in place.
You know therefore nothing about Russia, to say such a stupid thing.
Funny that Putin admires Catherine the Great, given that she had not a drop of Russian blood in her veins. Maybe Russia could have another German ruler.
Olaf Scholz ?
Pick a drunk lying under a tree in a German park. That person would be better than Putin on every metric.
Russia has never been a truly Christian country.
Though containing many inspiring Christians.
By name only
Is there any country you can say has been?
By what measure? Maybe it’s you who doesn’t understand Russia, or Christianity.
The piece overlooks the glaring contradiction in its examples. The anti-establishment outliers don’t mask a pretty straightforward history of church-state intertwinement. The break with the past which the Soviet regime made was notable as the best exception but then if the government is avowedly atheist this isn’t exactly a break so much as a different category. The church-state relationship has always been far closer than in the West (partly due to foreign, non-Christian dominion during the medieval period) but then the Orthodox tradition comes out of a history of caesaro-papism which extended almost into the modern era. The Russian Orthodox church took on the mantle of this tradition after the fall of Constantinople and with the threat of outside forces it positioned itself as the other pillar of the state. It wasn’t nefarious or subtle about it. The writer is holding them to a Western European standard – like a Protestant bemoaning the luxury of the priestly/ascetic class of Rome. It would be better to see this “largesse” in the context of a restored tradition dating back to Constantine. While I am critical of certain aspects of this restoration (one of my favourite quotes being that the post-communist Russian Orthodox church is closer to “goldliness than godliness”) I am very happy it has taken place.
There’s also a strand of “mysticism” in Russian Orthodoxy which goes beyond even the Roman Catholic tradition. One might conclude that the greater degree of mystical veiling, the greater the attempt to “pull the (golden) wool over the eyes”.
Well, no – since many mystics are sincere and otherworldly people.
What other world? It’s just nonsense, and looks to have had the “desired effect”. There’s nothing ‘special’ about mystics other than their own inability to deal with the real world. That can be done whilst having a spiritual outlook on life.
Yes. Me too. Sad, though, too. The wolf put on the sheep’s clothes one feels only for being finer, much more impressive than his own.
While a sheep wearing wolf’s dentures, come to think of it, could only hope to look ridiculous?
Only a revitalised Orthodox Church can save and heal Russia, and Ukraine.
I can never understand why Russia is always compared to the West, when it couldn’t be more different. We don’t constantly compare China, Japan or India with the West. Russia is, like those countries, a world of its own. I agree with Milton Gibbon’s assessment below, and the comparison with the Byzantine empire. The problem is that we simply do not understand Russia, nor do we even try. We just repeat the same old things.
David Eades
Russia has at times masqueraded as a European country (even though it is patently obvious that it isn’t one).
The author recognizes that “any religion, passionately embraced, gives people a motive to sacrifice personal interests and even their lives; that is one reason why earthly rulers find religion’s use so attractive. But faith also gives people the courage to oppose state power, at vast personal cost, in ways that send a dazzling moral signal.” Would that we had allowed that dynamic balancing act in the West. Russia will benefit from the unity of Church and state, and we will continue to suffer from the liberal rebellion, the separation of the two. We will continue to have moral codes coming from everywhere and sputtering out long before they reach the human heart. Russia and Orthodoxy are sending a unified message to their people, and they stand a chance to win because of it.
The primary, if not exclusive, objective of all religious organisations is the preservation and expansion of the organisation, and the powerbase of its elite; they develop symbiotic relationships with secular powers to further that objective. The founding principles of the religion can be invoked, adapted, ignored, or contradicted to fit. Thus Putin has promised the Russian Orthodox Church greater wealth, greater influence over selected non-political social and family matters, and an expansion of the Church’s empire over Ukraine. In return, Kiril offers Putin divine justification, and the support of his followers. The other religions operate in exactly the same way. But what the author is alluding to, and hoping for, is not the Russian Orthodox Church, it’s the few within it, as there are a few in all religious organisations, for whom religious principles and morality are more important than the organisation and its elite.
Given that the evangelical wing of U.S. Christianity just played a significant role in electing a convicted felon and serial liar, I don’t believe I can say anything about Putin’s paying for ecclesiastical blessings.
Huh? I have no idea what you just said.
This reads like Kirili has 2 outcomes, should he, or any cleric, oppose Putin. 1. Resist pressure from the tzar and eventually be deported and killed, or, 2. Move to Paris and make alot of noise. Probably be surreptitiously poisoned, as are other expat enemies of the regime.