The Social Concept of the Russian Orthodox Church, by Metropolitan Jonah (Paffhausen), lesson 7
Summary:
Lesson 7. BASIC PRINCIPLES of the attitude of the Russian Orthodox Church toward the other Christian confessions (https://mospat.ru/archive/en/2000/11/s2000e13/).
Sections III.3-III.8. Church and State.
Quotes:
St. Justinian: “The greatest blessings granted to human beings by God’s ultimate grace are priesthood and kingdom, the former (priesthood, church authority) taking care of divine affairs, while the latter (kingdom, government) guiding and taking care of human affairs, and both, come from the same source, embellishing human life.”
The Epanagoge (later 9th century): “The temporal power and the priesthood relate to each other as body and soul; they are necessary for state order just as body and soul are necessary in a living man. It is in their linkage and harmony that the well-being of a state lies”.
Topics covered include:
a. Mutual, non-interfering spheres of activity of Church and State: Mutual support without intrusion; Church has persuasive power, State has coercive power.
b. Examples of varying Church-State relations in history and modern times.
c. The Church’s response to ungodly States. Attempts to remove religion from personal, family, and cultural life.
Russian Orthodox Cathedral of St John the Baptist in Washington, DC
October 27, 2020
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