Moscow: The worst public theology!
PT 3305
My heart is breaking. Like so many of us around the world, our hearts ache for the Ukrainian victims of a war they did not ask for. But, it gets still worse. My heart is completely sundered by the public theology of Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill.
In Ukraine, the populace cowers in subway tunnels and under bridges to protect themselves from callous missile strikes on civilian targets. Those who did not die in the first bombardments of their apartment buildings are now on the road. They are fleeing their beloved country. The Russian military seems heartless, ruthless, murderous.
In the midst of the mayhem, what should we expect from our public theologians? Not the worst public theology. But, alas, that’s what we get.
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Enter: the Worst Public Theology
Let’s go to the Russian Orthodox Church in Moscow for the worst public theology.
So, what does Patriarch Kirill do? Does he intervene with President Putin to plead for peace? To stop the war? To reconcile Russians with Ukrainians? No.
In a recent Sunday sermon the Moscow Patriarch excoriated the people of Ukraine for holding gay pride parades. Are you kidding? No, I’m not kidding. I’m not spreading false news.
The Moscow Times via Newsweek reports that Kirill sees the destruction of Ukraine as judgment against the liberal values adopted by western societies. Kirill called the military action in Ukraine a conflict about things “far more important than politics.” And, he insinuated that the embrace of progressive western values would lead to the end of civilization.
Where in Moscow is the heartbeat of compassion? Where in the cathedral is confession of national complicity in international injustice? Where in the church do we find the love of God embodied?
Are we beholding a Byzantine version of Caesaropapism here? George Weigel writing in First Things would nod affirmatively.
It should be no surprise that Patriarch Kirill has attempted to provide cover for Putin’s unprovoked and brutal aggression against Ukraine, which Kirill has long insisted is part of the Russkiy mir, the “Russian world.” The war in Ukraine, he said on the fourth day of the Russian invasion of its neighbor, had been caused by “dark and hostile external powers,” the “forces of evil,” and “the attacks of the evil one.”
Because Ukraine is in the grip of “the evil one,” Russia is justified in obliterating its land, its people, and its future as a democracy. Thus speaketh the worst public theology.
What is Sin? Oh, I give up.
In patiently grinding out my Patheos series on sin, I took the matter very seriously. I thought that a careful analysis of human behavior in light of sin could be of value to the wider public outside the church. I thought an explication of human sinning could be a worthwhile contribution the public theologian could make to the common good.
I gave special attention to self-justification and scapegoating both at the individual level and the political level. I went so far as to try to predict military aggression in Ukraine based on what we have learned about cursing in political rhetoric. I had hoped that Christian doctrine could be illuminating for wider public discussions of justice and injustice, peace and war, progress and regress. I had hoped that thoughtful intelligible theological thinking would make an edifying contribution to public discourse. But, now my heart is breaking over my folly.
How, I ask, could the Moscow patriarch stoop to such a level of pettiness that tacitly endorses Russian imperialism? How could he callously trivialize the profound concept of sin just to serve his own ecclesial if not national interests? How could a church leader acting in the capacity of a public theologian squander an opportunity for global witness to God’s love for the victims? God’s justice rendered in judgment? God’s promise of the Prince of Peace? In a moment of international crisis with blood flowing in the streets, all this vicar of Christ can do is spread homophobia. My heart is rent in grief.
Our friends and family members who have grown up LGBTQ have already endured hurt after hurt from prejudice. They should find solace in the church where the gospel is proclaimed and where Jesus’ followers are bound together in love. But, instead, the Moscow church only piles on responsibility and guilt for war. This is crushing the already downtrodden.
For Christians the world over, this would be an embarrassment if it were not for the scope of its tragedy.
Enter: Metropolitan Tikhon
The position taken by the Moscow Patriarch is not that taken by Orthodox Christians everywhere. Not by a long shot.
His Beatitude, Metropolitan Tikhon, wrote an Archpastoral Message on behalf of the Orthodox Church in America. “I ask that the hostilities be ceased immediately and that President Putin put an end to the military operations. As Orthodox Christians, we condemn violence and aggression.” A Christian heart still beats. Thanks, Your Beatitude.
Enter: National Association of Evangelicals
On March 11, 2022, the National Association of Evangelicals wrote a letter to Patriarch Kirill. 100 signatures. It included a paragraph with heart. Actually a broken heart.
With broken hearts, we are making an earnest plea that you use your voice and profound influence to call for an end to the hostilities and war in Ukraine and intervene with authorities in your nation to do so. We all are witnessing the tragic and terrible loss of innocent civilian life and the grave dangers of escalation posing the deepest threats to peace in the world. Moreover, we grieve for the ways the body of Christ is being torn asunder by warring factions. The peace desired by our common Lord demands that this immoral warfare end, halting the bombing, shelling, and killing, and withdrawing armed forces to their previous boundaries
Thanks, dear evangelical colleagues.
Enter: Pope Francis
Meanwhile, back in the 1st Rome, another Christian heart still beats. “In Ukraine, rivers of blood and tears are flowing,” Pope Francis announced on Sunday while addressing followers in St. Peter’s Square. “This is not just a military operation but a war which sows death, destruction and misery.” Francis also referred to Ukraine as a “martyred country” and urged other nations to offer humanitarian aid to its people.
That’s pubic theology I can live with. Thanks, Your Holiness.
I look forward to the next gay pride parade in Moscow. Instead of spouting the worst public theology, I hope to see Patriarch Kirill marching.
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Ted Peters is a Lutheran pastor and emeritus seminary professor. He is author of Short Prayers and The Cosmic Self. His one volume systematic theology is now in its 3rd edition, God—The World’s Future (Fortress 2015). He has undertaken a thorough examination of the sin-and-grace dialectic in two works, Sin: Radical Evil in Soul and Society (Eerdmans 1994) and Sin Boldly! (Fortress 2015). Watch for his forthcoming, The Voice of Public Christian Theology (ATF 2022). See his website: TedsTimelyTake.com.
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