Demos and Ecclesia

: An Orthodox Theology assessment of modern liberal democracy

Abstract

Combining Theology and Political Science, two areas of knowledge with such seemingly different presuppositions, is a challenge. Still, a fruitful and balanced coupling of political science and theology, and, indeed Orthodox Christian theology, may be very timely today. Almost thirty years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the issue of how Orthodox Christianity relates to liberal democracy is still theoretically relevant, not the least due to the numerous challenges facing liberal democratic systems in the West itself. This research aims to shed light on the questions of whether Orthodox Churches have a propensity to align with authoritarian rule, and Orthodoxy’s stance towards democracy and liberalism. An in-depth evaluation of literature shows that there are two main trends in Orthodox political theology: one that tries to accommodate modernity, accepting the main framework that modernity has set as regards human action and interaction; and a second trend that is openly critical. It is this second trend that, from the thesis point of view, is more fecund for a constructive Orthodox contribution to political theology. A critical historical analysis leads to rejecting the idea that Orthodoxy is at odds with modern democracy because of a supposed dependence on a centuries-long-lost “Byzantine” imperial ideal. Furthermore, it is demonstrated that the Orthodox tradition of conciliarity, collective decision-making and the strong role of popular consent all bear significant similarities to the essence of a non-authoritarian ‘democratic’ devolution of power. Orthodoxy does not challenge but has affinities to the democratic character of a liberal democratic system, while at the same time exerting constructive criticism of the excesses of liberalistic individualism, among other on the basis of the Orthodox understanding of individual rights and personhood. The proposal for an Orthodox theology based on an original understanding of what politics means is well suited to adopt a consistent critical and prophetic stance vis-à-vis modern politics, not contra the West, but rather “more than the West”. In other words, the addition of Orthodox political theology voices can benefit the development of a robust Christian theopolitical vision on the question of human existence and co-existence.

Date of Award	5 Apr 2023
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	University of Winchester
Supervisor	Andreas Andreopoulos (Supervisor) & Angus Paddison (Supervisor)