ABSTRACT
Church-state relations in Eastern Orthodoxy have provoked many debates among theologians, scholars, and policy-makers. Currently, however, there is no consensus about which one of the past and present models of church-state relations can be considered properly Orthodox. This chapter analyses the various concepts, models, and principles of church-state relations in the Orthodox world from a historical perspective in order to suggest a typology that can assist the dialogue and mutual understanding between the participants. Generally the issue of church-state relations in the Orthodox world splits the academic community into two camps. One defines them as symphony, the other as caesaropapism. The Orthodox concept of church-state relations was also influenced by the proximity of the Patriarch of Constantinople and the Roman pope to the throne of the Byzantine basileus. The ideal of Byzantine symphony was challenged many times throughout centuries. In the beginning, it was attacked by the iconoclast emperors who tried to establish full control over the church.
