This book brings together essays by contemporary Orthodox theologians and scholars on Orthodox Christianity that analyze various aspects of the complex relationship between anarchism, both as a concept and as a political philosophy, and Orthodoxy. As many studies have already shown, the dominant theological approaches in Orthodox political theology have been characterized by the search for some kind of "symphonia," where a "harmonious" and (mutually) beneficial cooperation between the Church and the State has been sought. Although one can see many alternative attempts in contemporary Orthodox political theology to move away from traditional, monarchical, and (autocratic) symphonic models, the fact remains that most of those approaches still tend to provide theological articulations that rationalize and ultimately defend the dominant ideological systems (such as those of the "nation state" or "liberal democracy" for instance).There has been, however, another, marginal and marginalized tradition in Orthodox Christian political theology which can be labelled as "anarchist." The purpose of this volume is to gather contemporary voices in and on Orthodox theology that explore this tradition in the history of Orthodox Christianity, or that themselves employ an "anarchist" approach to the socio-political sphere (including the Church in its institutional functioning).
Davor Dzalto is professor in religion and democracy at University College Stockholm.
Although the scholarship on Christian anarchism includes an already wide diversity of contributions, Orthodoxy has generally been under-represented in it. This important volume helps redress that gap. With chapters on content ranging from Gregory of Nyssa, St Maximus the Confessor and Holy Foolishness to 'Spiritual Aristocracy', the Gospel of Mark and Orthodox and Anarchism in Latin America, this book illustrates how fruitful a research area this can be, further enriching the growing scholarship on religion and anarchism. --Alexandre Christoyannopoulos, author of Christian Anarchism (2010) and co-editor of three volumes of Essays in Anarchism and Religion (2017-2020) This book provides another way of thinking about how Orthodox Christianity and the principles of freedom and equality for all are not mutually exclusive. Given the current state of the world, including the Russian attack on Ukraine, such creative proposals are needed now more than ever. Provocative, insightful, traditional--a must read. --Aristotle Papanikolaou, Archbishop Demetrios Chair in Orthodox Theology and Culture, Fordham University; co-founding director, Orthodox Christian Studies Center
