ABSTRACT

This book, authored by an international group of scholars, focuses on a vibrant central current within the history of Russian legal thought: how Christianity, and theistic belief generally, has inspired the aspiration to the rule of law in Russia, informed Russian philosophies of law, and shaped legal practices.

Following a substantial introduction to the phenomenon of Russian legal consciousness, the volume presents twelve concise, non-technical portraits of modern Russian jurists and philosophers of law whose thought was shaped significantly by Orthodox Christian faith or theistic belief. Also included are chapters on the role the Orthodox Church has played in the legal culture of Russia and on the contribution of modern Russian scholars to the critical investigation of Orthodox canon law.

The collection embraces the most creative period of Russian legal thought—the century and a half from the later Enlightenment to the Russian emigration following the Bolshevik Revolution.

This book will merit the attention of anyone interested in the connections between law and religion in modern times.

chapter |20 pages

Introduction

A Russian conception of legal consciousness

chapter 2|16 pages

Vasilii Malinovskii

A Russian Christian on war and peace

chapter 3|29 pages

Mikhail Speranskii

Statesman, jurist, and Christian thinker

chapter 4|21 pages

Aleksandr Kunitsyn

Pioneer of natural law in Russia

chapter 5|19 pages

Konstantin Pobedonostsev

Law, religion, and Russian conservatism

chapter 6|19 pages

Boris Chicherin

Christian modernist

chapter 8|20 pages

Leonid Kamarovskii

Christian values and international law

chapter 9|20 pages

Vladimir Soloviev

Faith, philosophy, and law

chapter 10|30 pages

Between law and theology

Russia's modern Orthodox canonists

chapter 11|23 pages

Pavel Novgorodtsev

Natural law and its religious justification

chapter 12|20 pages

Sergei Kotliarevskii

The rule of law in Russian liberal theory

chapter 13|20 pages

Nikolai Alekseev

Advocate of social justice and global peace

chapter 14|21 pages

Ivan Ilyin

Philosopher of law, force, and faith

chapter |4 pages

Afterword