Abstract:
Using a religious studies methodology, this paper offers a detailed contextual mapping and a
structural configuration of how collective violence is justified in Orthodox Christianity. The
research design is explanatory, whereby the functional perspectives of doctrine, ethics and
worship are all investigated and probed as phenomena of lived religion and orthopraxy. While
predominantly initiatory and pedagogical, the paper also proposes a systematic platform for
advanced research on this subject, by flagging contexts, themes and areas of inquiry that a
researcher might examine in order to untangle the inner workings of the justification of
violence in the mind of the Orthodox. Given the ongoing Russian War on Ukraine, relevant
samples are drawn from this case.
CONTRIBUTION: This paper outlines the Orthodox Christian justification of violence from the
perspectives of doctrine, ethics and ritual and identifies pivotal areas of ambiguity between
orthodoxy and orthopraxy.
