Orthodox Christianity and Human Rights
edited by A. Bruning and E. Van Der Zweerde
Orthodox theology and the Orthodox Churches had, and continue to have an ambiguous relationship towards the concept of Human Rights: principal approval often stands alongside serious criticism. This is especially true for those Orthodox Churches which have their centre in a country of the former Soviet sphere. On the one hand, especially since the fall of Communism they enjoy religious freedom that forms a central element within the framework of Human Rights. On the other hand, the transformation process of the 1990s and the challenge of pluralism and globalization have all confronted them with aspects of freedom that could not but affect their stance towards the Human Rights concept in general. This also means, that doubts and reservations related to this concept came to the fore again, which had yet existed already decades before. These reservations focused on such issues as Church and secular society, Church and state, furthermore on the understanding of central terms such as “freedom”, “dignity”, “rights” – central also for an Orthodox anthropology, that needs to be reconciled with the partly differing approaches behind the Human Rights concept.The chapters of this volume try and explore as much the philosophical and theological as the social, historical and practical aspects of this complex relationship. Based either on the discussion of differing theological concepts, or on empirical and concrete case studies respectively, they clearly show the tensions and fractures that do exist. On the other hand, in this way they also hint at possibilities to overcome these tensions, to continue a dialogue that already has begun, and to avoid the numerous misunderstandings between East and West which currently tend to form a hindrance to this dialogue at various points.
- Edited by A Bruning
- Edited by E Van Der Zweerde
Other Titles in this Series
Christliche Araber vor dem Islam
Verbreitung und konfessionelle Zugehörigkeit. Eine Hinführung
Volume 7
Rites and Rituals of the Christian East
Proceedings of the Fourth International Congress of the Society of Oriental Liturgy, Lebanon, 10-15 July, 2012
Volume 22
The “Description of the Times” by Mor Michael the Great (1126-1199)
A Study on its Historical and its Historiographical Context
Volume 27
Heretics and Heresies in the Ancient Church and in Eastern Christianity
Studies in Honour of Adelbert Davids
Volume 10
Studies in Oriental Liturgy
Proceedings of the Fifth International Congress of the Society of Oriental Liturgy, New York, 10-15 June 2014
Volume 28
Inquiries into Eastern Christian Worship
Selected Papers of the Second International Congress of the Society of Oriental Liturgies, Rome, 17-21 September 2008
Volume 12
Syriac in its Multi-cultural Context
First International Syriac Studies Symposium, Mardin Artuklu University, Institute of Living Languages, 20-22 April 2012, Mardin
Volume 23
Syriac Encounters
Papers from the Sixth North American Syriac Symposium, Duke University, 26-29 June 2011
Volume 20
Scribes and Scriptures
The Church of the East in the Eastern Ottoman Provinces (1500-1850)
Volume 21
Tradition and Innovation in Late- and Postbyzantine Liturgical Chant
Acta of the Congress Held at Hernen Castle, the Netherlands, in April 2005
Volume 8
Tradition and Innovation in Late- and Postbyzantine Liturgical Chant II
Proceedings of the Congress held at Hernen Castle, the Netherlands, 30 October - 3 November 2008
Volume 17
Studies on the Liturgies of the Christian East
Selected Papers from the Third International Congress of the Society of Oriental Liturgy, Volos, May 26-30, 2010
Volume 18
Aesthetics as a Religious Factor in Eastern and Western Christianity
Selected Papers of the International Conference Held at the University of Utrecht, the Netherlands, in June 2004
Volume 6
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