Russia's Social Gospel

"The Russia Question" hosts a book talk with author Daniel Scarborough.
The late Russian Empire experienced rapid economic change, social dislocation, and multiple humanitarian crises, including two wars, two famines, and three revolutions. This book examines the response of Russia’s Orthodox Christians to these traumatic developments that was organized and led by parish clergymen. Orthodox parish priests, deacons, sacristans, and their wives and children comprised Imperial Russia’s clerical estate, a community bound together by service to the Church and an extensive system of mutual aid. By the late 19 th century, members of the Orthodox pastorate had begun to translate their own mutual aid practices into pastoral service to provide charity, education, and humanitarian relief for the beleaguered population. This book draws upon extensive archival research to examine the effects of that “pastoral movement” on Russian society and the Orthodox Church. It argues that the social work of parish clergymen shifted the focus of Orthodox practice in Russia toward cooperative social activism as a devotional activity. The consequent increase in importance of social activism for ecclesiastical life and administration altered the organizational structure of the Orthodox Church, which became more participatory and conciliar. These developments established the Church as a source of trust and mutual aid at a time of disruption and crisis. The growth of Orthodox Christian social networks also presented a challenge to Church and state authorities in late Imperial Russia. As they took on greater responsibility for social problems at the grass-roots level, parish clergymen and their supporters demanded greater freedom of association and autonomy from bureaucratic supervision. This book explores the Orthodox Christian challenge to autocratic authority, which culminated in an “ecclesiastical revolution” in 1917. Rather than weakening the Church, this revolution helped to restore the Patriarch of Moscow, who would lead Orthodox Christians through subsequent years of persecution and martyrdom.
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