For most Orthodox, the practices and theological views of the early Church have a normative value extending to the present day. Of course, this can cause tensions within Orthodoxy, since there was no single view on some topics of great importance, including war and military service. Nevertheless, we may discern a certain congruency of perspective—a theological, pastoral, and pragmatic approach which is distinctively Eastern Christian or Orthodox, and which may help inform contemporary discussions of the morality of war and of various military strategies pursued in armed conflict.

The Just War theory emerged in Western Christianity and never became rooted in Eastern Christianity. Instead, in the East, there is a relatively undeveloped theology that war is sometimes forced on a nation under attack, but is only justified to the extent that the nation is defending itself from invasion.

Is it just me, or has 2017 been a year with an appalling amount of conflict? Polarized politics, rampant urban violence, pitiless terrorism, horribly destructive civil wars: while it is true that crime statistics and historical analyses show that our times are really no more conflictual than previous eras, life certainly feels tense, tenuous, and tendentious. The Peace of Christ can seem like a distant dream.

Basil the Great’s Canon 13 advised soldiers who had killed in war to refrain from receiving communion for three years. His linking the question of war with the Eucharist may seem surprising: after all, the Eucharist is often viewed through the lens of sacramental theology as a liturgical practice.

Often while being introduced I have to explain that I’m not what I’ve just been presented as: a war correspondent.

There’s a fundamental difference between those of us who cover a country or region because we want to explain it (in good times and bad), and that tribe migrating from conflict to con flict because of the thrill the process provides.

There is no “Just War” theory in the Orthodox tradition: on this much, there is widespread agreement. To be more precise, Orthodox thinkers agree that there is no Just War theory in the Orthodox tradition, in the form of distinctions between the criteria for jus in bello, or right conduct in war, and jus ad bellum, the right to go to war.

In the summer of 2017, the Russian Orthodox Church released a draft of the Catechism of the Russian Orthodox Church for church-wide discussion and review. The document is quite controversial, both because it has few predecessors—leading many to wonder whether the Church should produce official catechisms—and, in particular, because it endorses ecumenism.

Religion is often blamed for conflict, whether within a family, within a country, or between countries. Yet history and personal experience show that religious conflict is not what it seems to be. Conflict is laden with past hurts and persistent grievances. It seems at times unstoppable. This quality is a result of what is sometimes called an escalation pattern or conflict spiral, and it’s a result of two human characteristics: the need to form an identity and the capacity for memory.

The Pan-Orthodox Council held in Crete in June 2016 established its succession to the Council held in Constantinople in 1872. Both councils dealt with the topic of nationalism, which the majority of scholars agree is a modern phenomenon: nationalism, and even national identity, constitute an intrinsic feature of modernity. Yet each of the two councils addressed this phenomenon in its own way.

When I was asked by the editors of The Wheel to write something about the 500th anniversary of the Lutheran Reformation, I thought to myself: “What can I write about the Lutheran Reformation that might actually be useful to an audience of well-educated, open, and intelligent Orthodox Christians living in a Western context, who are genuinely curious about culture and the world around them?” It occurred to me that my own lived experience places me in an unusually good position to answer this question. I’m something that Orthodox don’t often encounter: I’m a reverse convert.

The Reformation is often presented in Orthodox circles as a disaster from which there is not much to be learned. My intention is to offer an alternative view. Using the work of Romanian theologian Dumitru Stăniloae (1903–93), I argue that there is something the Orthodox Church should learn from the Reformation and especially from Lutheranism: namely, that faith requires personal commitment from every member of the Church, and not only from those deciding to pursue a monastic life.