俄罗斯哲学与东正教

东正教于公元988年从拜占庭帝国传入俄罗斯。狭义的、具有独创性的俄罗斯哲学传统形成于19世纪初。从东正教传入到俄罗斯哲学的产生,相隔了八百多年,这段时期被弗洛罗夫斯基神父称为“俄罗斯式的沉默”,“俄罗斯思想的姗姗来迟的觉醒”。[1]但他认为,这个长期的沉默只发生在哲学上。在其他领域,如绘画、建筑、文学等,俄罗斯思想都获得了具体的表达。确实,直到19世纪之前,在俄语中甚至没有形成一套哲学的专业术语。如果说有零星的哲学思想,它们也只是表达在与宗教相关的语境中。尽管如此,以东正教为核心的俄罗斯民族自身的精神传统毕竟是俄罗…     

俄罗斯东正教的特点

东正教从拜占廷帝国传入俄罗斯后,迄今已有一千余年的历史,在其传播和发展过程中,适应俄罗斯的国情,形成了自己的鲜明特点,这些新特点表现为俄东正教与多神教的混合;俄东正教重视对圣徒、干尸和圣像的崇拜;俄东正教的排他性和不宽容;俄东正教的依附性;俄东正教的传教术等。     

The Russian Orthodox Church as moral norm entrepreneur

Conflicts over religious symbols in the public sphere, gay marriage, abortion or gender equality have shown their disruptive potential across many societies in the world. They have also become the subject of political and legal debates in international institutions. These conflicts emerge out of different worldviews and normative conceptions of the good, and they are frequently framed in terms of competing interpretations of human rights. One newcomer voice in conflicts over rights and values in the international sphere is the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC), which in recent years has become an active promoter of ‘traditional values’ both inside Russia and internationally. This article studies the ideational prerequisites and dynamics of Russian Orthodox ‘norm protagonism’ in the international arena.     

State policies towards religion and the Russian Orthodox Church in China

This article examines the history and current state of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) in China. It analyses both the declared and actual approach of the Chinese authorities towards Orthodox believers in China, as well as the attitude taken towards that approach by the authorities in Russia, where the ‘Orthodox factor’ plays an increasingly prominent role in domestic and foreign policy. The author shows that Russia’s most senior political leaders assist the ROC to strengthen the status of the Chinese Autonomous Orthodox Church (CAOC) and create better conditions for Chinese Orthodox believers. That effort has elevated the ‘Orthodox question’ to become an important issue of bilateral relations. As a result, and despite a lack of enthusiasm from the Chinese side, conditions could be created in the coming years for the normal functioning of the CAOC. At the same time, the Chinese Government is likely to consider it not as an autonomous part of the ROC (as the Orthodox canon considers it) but as one of the ‘patriotic religious organisations’ registered first at the provincial, and possibly later at the national level.     

Translating Islam into the language of the Russian state and the Orthodox Church

ABSTRACT

This contribution analyses the discursive strategies exercised by Russia’s state-appointed Islamic authorities. It draws on a linguistic corpus that consists of speeches and sermons by Mufti Ravil’ Gainutdin, the head of a major Muslim Spiritual Directorate in Moscow. A multi-levelled analysis shows that the mufti’s lexical and rhetorical choices correspond to the discourse of the Russian Orthodox Church elites. This affinity is a discursive strategy that allows Gainutdin to position himself as the authoritative leader of Russia’s Islamic community and to construct Islam as Russia’s ‘familiar’ and ‘traditional’ religion.     

The Human Rights Debate in the External Relations of the Russian Orthodox Church

Abstract

This article analyses the ideological and institutional context of the document The Russian Orthodox Church's Basic Teaching on Human Dignity, Freedom and Rights (Osnovy ucheniya Russkoi Pravoslavnoi Tserkvi o dostoinstve, svobode i pravakh cheloveka), issued by the Bishops' Council of the Moscow Patriarchate in 2008, with the particular aim of shedding light on its nature as an instrument of the external relations and foreign politics of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC). Through a documentation of the milestones in the Russian Orthodox human rights discourse and through a semantic analysis of the key terms used, the article shows how the ROC's rhetorical self-positioning vis-à-vis the liberal human rights regime changes over time and shifts from an outright opposition to a more conciliatory attitude. The article is based on internet sources, in particular various websites related to Russian Orthodox institutions, as well as observations and interview material.     

Morality and HIV/AIDS: a Comparison of Russian Orthodox Church and Secular NGO Approaches

Abstract

This paper compares the different moral approaches taken by the Russian Orthodox Church and secular NGOs to the HIV/AIDS crisis in Russia. The paper consists of two parts. The first is a brief summary of the theoretical approach of the project. In this section I outline the theory of moral breakdown that helps provide a coherent framework to the emerging, but yet under-theorised, subdiscipline of the anthropology of moralities. In doing so, I show how this theory provides legitimacy to this choice of topic for a proper study of local moralities. The second section provides a brief background on the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Russia, and then moves on to an analysis of the moral discourses and practices of the Russian Orthodox Church and secular NGOs, and how they have influenced the way these institutions approach the HIV/AIDS epidemic.