Holy Rus': The Rebirth of Orthodoxy in the New Russia by John P. Burgess (review)

In his highly readable volume, Burgess provides a systematic account of the lived religious experiences of ordinary Russians and how they interact with and shape the structures that the official Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) has developed since 1991. His central research question is whether "re-Christianisation [is] actually taking place and if so, just what difference does it make (…) for people's lives individually and as a nation?" (p. 16). Burgess uses the somewhat ambiguous term "Holy Rus" to refer to the ROC's aspirations for itself and the Russian people. This aspiration obviously involves attracting Russians to the Church and encouraging them to participate in its rituals and to accept its beliefs and values as their own.

Burgess argues that social initiatives in a wider sense can be seen as a contribution to realizing the Church's vision of Holy Rus and has consequently included chapters on the ROC's missionary activities, religious education at various levels, drug rehabilitation programs, and the canonization of the new martyrs in 2000 in his monograph. The author seeks to explain the Church's understanding of all these topics and includes the relevant historical background in each chapter.

Burgess works his personal experiences into the narrative and draws extensively on his Russian contacts' views. This gives his book a light touch, which makes it accessible to a non-expert audience. At the same time, the volume's academic credentials are sound as it discusses many under-researched topics, e.g., the ROC's missionary concept of 2007, pre-baptismal catechization, and the values that the canonization of the new martyrs project. The book also contains many interesting and little known statistics.

The author's background as a Presbyterian minister and theologian is felt throughout the book. Burgess regularly compares Russian Orthodox views and beliefs with those prevalent in his own religious tradition and thus teases out Russian idiosyncrasies. He does not take the secular approach that political scientists and sociologists would take. This, however, does not mean that he condones everything that the ROC and its members do. Burgess rightfully criticizes numerous trends inside the Church, e.g., the lack of a self-critical movement in Orthodox comparative theology and sectology which prevents the ROC from asking itself why other religious organizations are also successful in Russia (p. 84). He also points out the Church's failure to identify publicly and criticize "unjust social structures that contribute to poverty, broken families, social delinquency, drug and alcohol abuse and other social crises" (p. 107).

One might, however, wonder if the idea that the ROC is being reborn and that there is a new Russia, which is prevalent in the book's title and throughout the text, is still valid. To be sure, the book is written for an American or Western audience for whom Russia is indeed a 'new' and exotic country. But does this mean that readers need to be fed the narrative that Russia has only just emerged from the ruins of the Soviet Union and that the repressive state laws on religion have only recently been revoked? It has been thirty years since Gorbachev allowed more religious freedom and liberal laws on religion were adopted even before the USSR collapsed in 1991. Thirty years is a long time, and we would hardly call a person celebrating their thirtieth anniversary a 'new born.' So, why do we do it for Russia and its Orthodox Church? It is probably time to move beyond this narrative.