Abstract:
As the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Orthodox Christians globally reacted to the possibility of contagion and risk in dialogue with theological positions about materials, their own long history which includes surviving previous pandemics and plagues, governmental and civil expectations and edicts, and pious - but often unofficial - understandings about protection and the sacrality of religious artefacts and the space of the temple. This article draws upon primary ethnographic research amongst Orthodox Christians in the UK, Serbia, Greece and Russia, as well as news articles about and primary ecclesiastical documents from Orthodox Churches more widely, to highlight commonalities and divergences in Orthodox Christian responses to the pandemic. Examining both the theological basis, and socio-political differences, this article considers how the Orthodox theology of apophaticism and relationality impacts wider discourses of contagion (both positive and negative), and consequently compliance with public health initiatives. Comparison across diverse Orthodox settings suggests that Orthodox Christians are concerned with the neighbour - both in terms of who may be watching (and reporting) them, and who may fall sick because of them.
摘要:
随着COVID-19大流行的到来,在全球范围内,东正教徒在与神学立场有关材料的对话中对传染和风险的可能性做出了反应,他们自己悠久的历史,包括幸存下来的流行病和瘟疫,政府和公民的期望和法令,和虔诚的-但往往是非官方的-关于保护和神圣的宗教文物和寺庙的空间的理解。本文借鉴了英国东正教徒的主要人种学研究,塞尔维亚,希腊和俄罗斯,以及更广泛的关于东正教教会和主要教会文件的新闻报道,强调东正教基督徒对这一流行病反应的共同点和分歧。考察两者的神学基础,和社会政治差异,本文考虑了凋亡和关系的东正教神学如何影响更广泛的传染病话语(积极和消极),并因此遵守公共卫生倡议。不同东正教背景的比较表明,东正教徒与邻居有关-无论是从谁可能在监视(和报告)他们的角度来看,谁会因为他们而生病。