Date of Award

2001

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Political Science

First Advisor

Ellis Sandoz

Second Advisor

Cecil Eubanks

Abstract

I will use Eric Voegelin's "new science" of politics to examine whether the Russian Orthodox Church is a symbol of right order. By investigating symbols of order and disorder in Russia, we will be able to uncover the structures of consciousness of the Russian Orthodox Church leadership. The examination of the experiences of man's consciousness will in turn reveal whether he and his society are ordered correctly or incorrectly. The explanation of symbols of order and disorder and the experiences behind these symbols is presented thoroughly in the first chapter of this dissertation. The chapter will conclude with an explanation of why Eric Voegelin's "new science" of politics is the proper method to examine symbols of order and disorder. The rest of the dissertation will apply Eric Voegelin's "new science" to the Russian Orthodox Church as a symbol of right order. The conclusion it will reach is that, with the exception of the reigns of Patriarchs Philaret and Nikon, the Russian Orthodox Church has been a symbol of right order. For most of its history, the Russian Orthodox Church has been able to displace symbols of disorder in Russia; however, in the post-Petrine period, the Church has failed to compete successfully with the symbols and ideologies of the state. It is, therefore, not the church but the state, with its attempt to subordinate the church to its own authority, that has been the cause of disorder in Russia.

ISBN

9780493329888

Pages

316

DOI

10.31390/gradschool_disstheses.366

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