Perception of Islam in the Russian Orthodox Church in 1990's - 2010's

Abstract

Complex issue of the Muslim-Christian relations raises new questions in contemporary globalized age. Theologians, writers and establishment of the contemporary Russian Orthodox Church have different points of views on the interreligious relations - from exclusivist to inclusivist. In proposed article the author tries to understand main trends in these kinds of attitude using the scheme of the theology of religions. Scholars of religion talking about Eastern Orthodox Churches emphasize the conservatism of its creed which was generally formulated in the early Middle Ages. In comparison, current situation challenges theologians and clerics to rethink old statements and to update its creed and practice making them more competitive on religious market. Modernizing inclinations usually opposed by conservative groups of believers. Today the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC), according to particular data, is the biggest Orthodox Church worldwide. Issue of interreligious relation, which is correlated with challenge of pluralism, holds an important place in its life. Let's take a look at them from the perspective of Orthodox-Muslim relations. Analyzing the attitude of the Russian Orthodox Church towards Islam and Muslims three types of sources can be identified. The first one comprises official documents, speeches and letters of the ROC officials - patriarchs, metropolitans, archbishops and others. The second type of sources consists of theological and popular prescriptive works about the attitude of the Orthodox Christians towards Islam. The third type of sources are the results of the interviews with the ROC believers about their attitude to Muslims and Islam. The paper comments on the examples of the first and second types of sources and explains methodological and practical problems connected with the third type.