Russian Orthodoxy and the Russo-Japanese War

Description

How should Christians think about the relationship between the exercise of military power and the spread of Christianity? In Russian Orthodoxy and the Russo-Japanese War, Betsy Perabo looks at the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-5 through the unique concept of an 'interreligious war' between Christian and Buddhist nations, focusing on the figure of Nikolai of Japan, the Russian leader of the Orthodox Church in Japan. Drawing extensively on Nikolai's writings alongside other Russian-language sources, the book provides a window into the diverse Orthodox Christian perspectives on the Russo-Japanese War - from the officials who saw the war as a crusade for Christian domination of Asia to Nikolai, who remained with his congregation in Tokyo during the war. Writings by Russian soldiers, field chaplains, military psychologists, and leaders in the missionary community contribute to a rich portrait of a Christian nation at war. By grounding its discussion of 'interreligious war' in the historical example of the Russo-Japanese War, and by looking at the war using the sympathetic and compelling figure of Nikolai of Japan, this book provides a unique perspective which will be of value to students and scholars of both Russian history, the history of war and religion and religious ethics.

Betsy Perabo is Professor of Religious Studies at Western Illinois University, USA.

"[There] is a lot of rich material here which reveals a diversity of views about this war, which will be of interest to specialists both in Russian Orthodoxy and in Christian ethics about war ..." * Journal of Orthodox Christian Studies * [In] less than two hundred pages this book sheds light on a mostly unknown war from a mostly unknown perspective. It would be a most useful addition to courses on military history, Russian history, and Christian ethics. * Canadian Slavonic Papers * Russian Orthodoxy and the Russo-Japanese War will be welcomed by non-Russian specialists of political theology as it relates to ideas of a "just war," and this is precisely what Perabo set out to do with her book. * The Russian Review * [A] valuable read for students and scholars of both history of war and religion and religious ethics, as it provides an historical example of the Russo-Japanese War by looking at the war through the interesting and sympathetic person of Nikolai of Japan. * Japanese Journal of Religious Studies * [A] well-written, accessible, and thought-provoking study that advances scholarship on both the history of this early 20th-century war and the political theology and war ethics of the Russian Orthodox Church ... She offers insights into Russian religiosity and politics-from religious freedom and missiology to military martyrdom and Russian exceptionalism-that are just as relevant for understanding today's issues as they were a century ago ... I recommend her book to scholars and general readers alike. * Reading Religion * In discussions on war, Christian theological ethics gets stuck on debates about criteria for just war, the legitimacy of "holy war" rhetoric, the pacifist option, or the just peacemaking alternative, often at the expense of the lived theology of those caught in war's crossfires. In highlighting the response of Bishop Nikolai of Japan to his own personal catch-22 of war, Betsy Perabo expands the Christian imagination on the relation between holiness and war in a way that is grounded in the tradition of thinking on divine-human communion-theosis. * Aristotle Papanikolaou, Archbishop Demetrios Chair in Orthodox Theology and Culture, Fordham University, USA * Perabo's compact study of the Orthodox Church's complicated and often contradictory attitudes to the Russo-Japanese War goes well beyond the conflict itself to provide fascinating insights into the much broader question of Christianity and violence. A fascinating contribution to Russian history, its reflections are no less valid today. * David Schimmelpenninck van der Oye, Professor of Russian History, Brock University, Canada *