Revolt Against the Modern World: Theology and the Political in the Thought of Justin Popovic

Abstract

This paper offers a critical overview of the relation between theology and the political in the opus of Justin Popović, a major Christian churchman, intellectual and saint of the Serbian Orthodox Church. The author endeavours to demonstrate that, in order to procure a sound and balanced evaluation, it is necessary to view his critique of the political from the perspective of fundamental presuppositions of his theology proper. Fr Justin’s theology does not equate the political with politics in the narrow sense. His approach to the political is neither a religionized (geo)politics nor a theology of politics. Rather, it is a pre-eminently Christological hermeneutic of the life-world of the political, set in a polemical style. In this sense, alongside other interests and concerns, his theology addresses the problems of Europe and Russia, ecumenism and Serbian socio-cultural history. It does so in terms of the predetermining value and criterion of Christ the God-man, set in thoughts which are effects of Popović’s lifelong biblical, spiritual and ascetical experience.