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The World's Christians. Douglas Jacobsen
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Название: The World's Christians

Автор: Douglas Jacobsen

Издательство: John Wiley & Sons Limited

Жанр: Религия: прочее

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isbn: 9781119626121

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СКАЧАТЬ Orthodox churches began to appear in the 1800s as the Muslim Ottoman Empire, which had controlled most of Eastern Europe during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, began to weaken. As the boundaries of the Ottoman Empire slowly slipped back like a receding glacier toward Turkey, the various peoples of Eastern Europe one by one reasserted their older national and Orthodox religious identities. The result was the creation of a new European map of Orthodoxy that merged nationhood and religious affiliation. This is when, for example, the modern Greek state and the Greek Orthodox Church were created, and the same dynamic was at work in Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia, and elsewhere. The typical pattern was for political independence to come first, followed by a local declaration of ecclesiastical autonomy, and then an affirmation of independence from other Orthodox churches. Thus, for example, Greek political independence was restored in 1832; this was followed by a declaration of Greek Orthodox Church autonomy in 1833, and autocephalous status was granted in 1850. In Romania the process was slightly different, with ecclesiastical independence coming first (1865), national independence next (1877), and finally Romanian Orthodox autocephaly in 1925.

In the twentieth century, the Orthodox nations of Russia and Eastern Europe faced yet one more bitter trial: life under Communist rule. In 1917, Communists took control of Russia and, after World War II, they extended that control to almost all of Eastern Europe. These Communist regimes were atheistic and ideologically opposed to religion. Under Communism, individuals were discouraged from belief in God, many churches were closed, and the religious education of children was often banned. This last restriction was especially harmful for Orthodoxy since the nurture of faith during childhood undergirds the Orthodox process of becoming Christian. Many churches declined in membership and attendance, sometimes drastically, but Orthodoxy managed to survive. Since the fall of Communism in 1990, a revival of Orthodox faith has been underway, most prominently in Russia, but also in most of the other countries of Eastern Europe and the Balkans. (See Figure 1.5 for an outline of key events in Orthodox history.)

But the issue of nationalism remains, and nationalism in the modern Orthodox experience has sometimes verged on worship of the nation itself. Orthodoxy’s future will be determined largely by how it handles this issue. George Tsetsis, an Orthodox theologian associated with the Ecumenical Patriarchate, says:

Schematic illustration of Key events in Orthodox history.

Figure 1.5 Key events in Orthodox history.

If Orthodoxy is to give a convincing concerted and united Orthodox witness in today’s pluralistic world, then the rediscovery of an Orthodox conscience … that goes beyond ethnic and national cleavages is, I believe, an urgent matter. Orthodoxy will be credible only when all local autocephalous and autonomous Orthodox churches are able to speak and act as one single body and not as separate ethnic or national entities.³

This plea to move beyond divisive nationalism is both a harsh judgment and a high ideal. It is a sentiment that comes from deep within the Orthodox community itself, and it reflects a genuine dilemma: how to balance the love of God and all people with a valid love of one’s nation. With nationalism on the rise worldwide, Orthodoxy will have to buck that trend if it is to become more globally unified as one of Christianity’s four contemporary mega‐traditions.

SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER READING

1 Alfeyev, Hilarion (2011). Orthodox Christianity, Vol. 1: The History and Canonical Structure of the Orthodox Church. Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press.

2 Angold, Michael (ed.) (2006). The Cambridge History of Christianity: Eastern Christianity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

3 Binns, John (2002). An Introduction to the Christian Orthodox Churches. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

4 Chryssavgis, John (2004). Light Through Darkness: The Orthodox Tradition. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis.

5 Clapsis, Emmanuel (ed.) (2004). The Orthodox Churches in a Pluralistic World: An Ecumenical Conversation. Geneva: WCC Publications.

6 Louth, Andrew (2013). Introducing Eastern Orthodox Theology. Downers Grove, IL: IVP.

7 McGuckin, John Anthony (2008). The Orthodox Church: An Introduction to its History, Doctrine, and Spiritual Culture. Oxford: Blackwell.

8 Parry, Ken (ed.) (2004). The Blackwell Companion to Eastern Christianity. Oxford: Blackwell.

9 Ware, Timothy (1997). The Orthodox Church. London: Penguin.

NOTES

1 1 Gregory Palamas, The Triads, ed. John Meyendorff, trans. Nicholas Gendle (Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 1983), pp. 34–5.

2 2 John of Damascus, Three Treatises on the Divine Images, trans. Andrew Louth (Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 2003), p. 106.

3 3 George Tsetsis, “Ethnicity, Nationalism and Religion,” in Emmanuel Clapsis (ed.), The Orthodox Churches in a Pluralistic World: An Ecumenical Conversation (Geneva: WCC Publications, 2004), pp. 148–58; quote from p. 156.

2 The Catholic Tradition

With more than a billion members, the Catholic tradition is the largest by far of the four Christian mega‐traditions, and its “catholicity” – its willingness to embrace difference and to learn from others – has added incredible variety to the Catholic tradition. Rather than forcing people to choose between one style of faith or another, Catholicism has opted to be a tradition of “both/and.” Whatever is seen as having spiritual merit and value can be incorporated into Catholicism, even when the opposite emphases are also present within the tradition. Accordingly, both celibacy and marriage are seen as laudable, both retreat from the world (monasticism) and service to the world (social action) are encouraged, and both scientific inquiry and belief based on faith alone are affirmed. Catholicism’s both/and stance has also allowed it to adopt and adapt various ideas and practices that originated in other Christian traditions. Some forms of Catholicism can thus look and feel quite Orthodox (veneration of icons and the respect given to Mary), while others can look and feel quite Pentecostal (speaking in tongues and belief in miracles), or even Protestant (Bible study by individuals in small groups). This same commitment to catholicity has also allowed Catholicism to welcome and appreciate spiritual insights and practices offered by many non‐Christian religions and cultures.

Catholicism has been a global faith for a longer period of time than any other Christian tradition. Up until the mid‐1400s almost all Catholics lived in Western Europe, but then its realm of influence expanded rapidly, first to the west coast of Africa and later to Asia and the Americas. Today Latin America is the demographic center of the Catholic world, the home of two‐fifths of the world’s Catholics. Western Europe has the second largest number of Catholics, followed by Sub‐Saharan Africa and East Asia. (See Figure 2.1.)

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