Eastern Orthodox Christianity and the Just Peacemaking Approach

By referring to the Bible and the teachings of Christian Saints, we can conclude that Christianity inspires peace in the world. However, the history of Christianity shows numerous internal and external religious wars. The starting point of Christian wars goes back to the time of Constantine the Great's conversion to Christianity, who combined religion and politics and established the state religion. In the history of Christianity, the theories of Just War and Holy War have been presented to justify war. The purpose of this article is to consider the approach of Orthodox Christianity towards war and peace and then conclude which approach is accepted by this religious tradition.Research Question: which of the ethical approaches of war and peace is compatible with the orthodox theological tradition and therefore has the capacity to conceptualize the Orthodox ethical approach?

Research Hypothesis:

 It seems that the all approaches that justify war (including just war and holy war theories) are not accepted by the Orthodox churches; in this context, the Just Peacemaking Approach may help to define the practical approach of the Orthodox tradition towards peace.

Methodology and Theoretical Framework: 

The theoretical framework that is used to combine the Orthodox tradition with the Just pacifist approach is that of Reinhold Niebuhr's Christian Realism. By offering the following theoretical possibilities, Christian realism can help the orthodox Christian tradition to adopt a just pacifist approach as a basis for conceptualizing its own distinctive approach to the peace and war;1) Moving beyond Christian idealism to focus on reforming fallen society 2) providing new and useful interpretations of Christ's teachings to solve the problems of contemporary society; 3) the possibility of using new sciences to interpret and even complete the teachings of the Bible; 4) Criticism of common Christian approaches related to war and peace (including the theory of just war, holy war, pacifism and non-resistance). In terms of research method, this research follows applied modeling with qualitative research method.

The ideal of Orthodox Christianity is to avoid war and promote peace. In explaining this approach, Orthodox theologians mainly refer to the Bible and the original teachings of Christ, which include the principle of non-resistance to violence and any physical force. Therefore, the approach of Orthodox Christianity can be considered a part of the Christian pacifist discourse. In such a framework, any Christian theory to justify war is not acceptable in the orthodox Christian tradition. Therefore, the Orthodox rejects the “Just War” and “Holy War”, theories presented in Western Christianity to justify war. In the Orthodox tradition, war and any other forms of physical violence belong to human sin and is an obstacle to salvation. Peace is the begining of being a Christian and living like Christ. What comes with justice is peace. War has nothing to do with justice and is not holy in any way. Wars appear as a result of injustice and end with more injustice. Accordingly, in the orthodoxy Sharia, war and the killing of human beings are basically considered as objective evil, even if it is to fulfill “Justice” or is considered “Holy” by Shariareasons.Given these basic beliefs, it is clear that Orthodox Christianity accepts Christian pacifism. But it should be noted that pacifism is accused of passivity and utopian idealism. Because, only by condemning war and praying for peace, we cannot eliminate the institutional injustice or "structural evil" that dominates social and political life; an evil that, according to the consensus of experts, is the root of war and conflict in the modern world. Therefore, it may be argued that the Orthodox churches lack a coherent practical approach to peacemaking. In this context, it is the mission of Orthodox theologians as well as peacebuilding experts to theorize the distinctive Orthodox approach to sustainable peace and justice. As such, the Orthodox Church does not have to define its approach exclusively based on the concepts and sources of the Orthodox tradition, but it may develop based on pre-existing views, but compatible with the Orthodox tradition. Christian realism emphasizing the use of new scientific achievements and dynamic interpretation of Christian teachings to solve the problems of the contemporary world, provides the necessary theoretical framework for this work.

According to our argument, the Just peace approach has the right capacity to fulfill the Orthodox mission in order to create lasting peace. The basis of this argument is the compatibility of the orthodox tradition with the assumptions of the Just Peacemaking Approach on the one hand, and the empirical efficiency of the proposed practices of the Just Peacemaking Approach, on the other hand. The main features of the pacifist Approach to justice, which is deeply compatible with Orthodox Christianity, are: belief in non-violence, belief in the ontological unity of humanity, moral contextualism, non-secular trans-religious orientation, efforts to prevent war through justice and development. The manifestation of these adaptations can be clearly seen in the convergence of some actions, for example, in the field of providing humanitarian aid. Theoretically, Christian Realism of Reinhold Niebuhr, by shifting the focus from Christian idealism to realism, can help Orthodox thinkers to conceptualize the assumptions and practices of Just Peacemaking in orthodox teachings. Thus, Orthodox Christianity takes a practical approach to establishing lasting peace