The European Christian Churches and Politics

Abstract

The article is dedicated to the methodological aspects of the study of Christian churches political role in modern Europe, conducted by the Russian religious scholar R.N. Lunkin. In the monograph “Churches in Politics and Politics in Churches. How Modern Christianity is changing European Society” he presented a number of non-trivial and important ideas for academic discourse on the traditional topic “church and politics” in the external and internal transformations context of European society. The researcher applied the methodological technique by moving from the general (the basic concepts that reveal the political role of religious institutions) through the special (the Christian churches in Europe in crisis situations) to the individual (the role of churches in specific political conflicts, the religious factor in mass migration, the position of churches in the coronavirus pandemic). The processes identified in Europe are correlated with the political challenges of the Christian churches in the Russian Federation. The monograph sets a fairly wide range of problems important for reflection, discussion, and research perspectives. To what extent is political content organic to churches as religious organizations? To what extent is the political influence of the churches possible, and what are its likely consequences? Can Christianity, in its current ecclesiastical format serve as a basis of the socio-cultural identity of the indigenous population of European countries? These and a number of other fundamental questions arise due to R.N. Lunkin's interpretation of acute and ambiguous situations with religion in modern Europe and Russia.