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Russian Society and the Orthodox Church: Religion in Russia after Communism. By Zoe Knox. London: Routledge Curzon, 2005. x + 257 pp. £70.00 cloth.
Dr. Knox's overall review of ecclesiastical politics in Russian society since the collapse of the Soviet Union is a revised version of her doctoral dissertation, written at Monash University in Australia, and, in its positive aspects, follows sequentially the fine work completed in 1966 by the late Jane Ellis, The Russian Orthodox Church: Triumphalism and Defensiveness (New York: St. Martin's, 1966). The entire period since 1966 has not been considered in an English language monograph until now, so Dr. Knox must be recognized for making a foray into what has become a contentious and complicated sphere of Russian public debate. The book is written in a journalistic style with a noticeable repetition of its basic themes. It is more likely to be of interest to a general readership than research scholars.
The author's strategic approach to the subject is first to define (interpret may be a better word) an abstract concept she refers to as "civil society" and then determine if the Russian Orthodox Church is living up to the lofty standards of democracy, toleration, and ecumenism set by the concept. Thus, the reader is presented with what political scientists call a paradigm. Facts are deployed to fit the model. The chapters that follow outline a highly select history of the Church and discuss, if only briefly, some of its more obvious political and financial...