Russia's Social Gospel: The Orthodox Pastoral Movement in Famine, War, and Revolution [Paperback]

The late Russian Empire experienced rapid economic change, social dislocation, and multiple humanitarian crises, enduring two wars, two famines, and three revolutions. A “pastoral activism” took hold as parish clergymen led and organized the response of Russia’s Orthodox Christians to these traumatic events. InRussia’s Social Gospel, Daniel Scarborough considers the roles played by pastors in the closing decades of the failing tsarist empire and the explosive 1917 revolutions.“Russia’s Social Gospelthoughtfully and expertly adds an important piece to the puzzle of this complex, historically contingent thing we call Russian Orthodoxy.”—Patrick Lally Michelson, Indiana University“A combination of solid archival research and compelling historical interpretations.”—Irina Paert, University of Tartu“The author’s scholarship is detailed and his prose lucid. . . . This is an exceptional chronicle.”—Publishers Weekly“A fascinating glimpse into an often overlooked discourse in Russian church history. . . . Scarborough has taken great pains to put the archival resources at his disposal into a coherent narrative that challenges both the conception of the late imperial Russian Orthodox Church as a monolithic entity and the inability of grassroots initiatives of the time to work toward true democratization. . . . A well-researched and broad approach that highlights fascinating aspects of Russian religious history.”—H-Russia“A fresh and in-depth look at activities that have previously been largely dismissed as ineffective by historians. . . . Russia’s Social Gospel presents a convincing argument based on extensive use of new primary sources.”—The Russian Review“Stimulating. . . . It both synthesizes the extensive scholarship of the last generation that has offered a more nuanced interls