The Social Nature of Prayer in a Church of the Unchurched: Russian Orthodox Christianity from Its Edges
The Russian Orthodox Church portrays itself as a hierarchically ordered and socially influential public religion, but occupies quite a tenuous position in contemporary Russian society. Following Marcel Mauss's idea of prayer as a social phenomenon, we argue that lay intercessory prayer as a w...
| Published in: | Journal of the American Academy of Religion |
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| Authors: | ; |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Oxford University Press
[2018]
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| In: |
Journal of the American Academy of Religion
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| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Russisch-Orthodoxe Kirche
/ Layman
/ Prayer
/ Social role
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| RelBib Classification: | AG Religious life; material religion KBK Europe (East) KDF Orthodox Church |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (Verlag) Volltext (doi) |
| Summary: | The Russian Orthodox Church portrays itself as a hierarchically ordered and socially influential public religion, but occupies quite a tenuous position in contemporary Russian society. Following Marcel Mauss's idea of prayer as a social phenomenon, we argue that lay intercessory prayer as a way of assuming social responsibility is key to extending the Church's reach into the lives of casual believers (so-called zakhozhane). Although individualization of religious practice does occur in post-Soviet Russia, contemporary Russian Orthodox prayer is less about personal self-cultivation than about claiming and exercising competence within interpersonal networks. The notion of prayer as practical competence helps to understand the role of lay prayer in a clerically dominated church, and explains the enduring role of established, mainstream denominations as ambient faith in a secular society. |
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| ISSN: | 1477-4585 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: American Academy of Religion, Journal of the American Academy of Religion
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1093/jaarel/lfx055 |