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...
Authors: | ; |
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Format: | Electronic Article |
Language: | English |
Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
Journals Online & Print: | |
Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
Published: |
Oxford University Press
[2018]
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In: |
Journal of the American Academy of Religion
Year: 2018, Volume: 86, Issue: 2, Pages: 394-424 |
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 |