AN ICON’S JOURNEY FROM KYIV TO THE PACIFIC: RUSSIAN COLONIAL WARS AND ORTHODOX PIETY IN THE EARLY 20TH CENTURY
AN ICON’S JOURNEY FROM KYIV TO THE PACIFIC: RUSSIAN COLONIAL WARS AND ORTHODOX PIETY IN THE EARLY 20TH CENTURY

Summary/Abstract: The article highlights the importance of material objects and practices of mobility for understanding the complex relationships between Christianity and war. It thus explores the potential of material-oriented research for studying the sacralization of military violence, focusing on Russian Orthodox contextual theology of war and using the Russo-Japanese War (1904–5) as a case study. Special attention is given to the icon known as “the Mother of God of Port Arthur”, which is analyzed as an embodiment, a material manifestation, of the Russian Orthodox theology of war. The text is divided into four sections, (1) introducing the concept of Orthodox contextual theologies of war, (2) outlining the Russian colonial expansion project to the Pacific, (3) examining key features of Russian Orthodox theology of war in connection to the supposedly “miraculous appearance” and the mobility of the “Icon of the Mother of God of Port Arthur”, and (4) summarizing the findings and their relevance for understanding recent developments in Russian Orthodoxy.

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