Oriental and Eastern Orthodox: questions

[kirk yacoub]

Dear John,
Yes, the Russians are different. Studying Russian history will show a very definite tug-of-war between "westernizers" and those preferring to remain
"asiatic". This is even shown in the history of Russia after 1917. Stalin most definitely based himself on the anti-western attitudes that could be summed up as "asiatic", whereas Lenin and his co-thinkers were very pro-western in terms of economics and science.
The tensions in Orthodoxy in Russia can also be divided between the two poles of east and west, with the addition that Russian history of wars, invasions, internal betrayals and the attempt to import ideas has sharpened all this. Also, the problem of how to deal with the Soviet state
led to bitter and deep-seated problems. What seems to be true for both Greek and Russian Orthodoxy is that turbulent history has bred suspicion on top of a sense of rightness, a complex concoction.
Internal dissensions never help, and Russian Orthodoxy has had plenty of those. I'm thinking now of the monastic dispute between those who favoured total poverty and hesychastic prayer, and the advocates of following a western model of owning estates etc.
A vast subject! But at least we have the spiritual writings of many Greek and Russian saints to remind us that, at its heart, Eastern Orthodoxy is about Christ and our relationship with Him.
With prayers,
Kirk Yacoub