ABSTRACT

In the United States and Europe, most Christians expect their churches to “do good”—to engage in charity such as providing food or clothing for the poor. Islam includes an obligation on each member to offer charity (zakat, literally “purification”), as well as the institution of waqf (a religious endowment) to provide benefits to individuals or organizations. But Tobias Köllner contends that the Russian Orthodox Church “has tried to avoid taking up a role as a provider of social support” (2011: 193). In fact, one priest interviewed by Köllner, a Father Vladimir, actually

opposes a Western understanding of charity in order to overcome misery, poverty, and illnesses. Referring to the Bible, he argues that misery and poverty will always exist and there is no way to prevent them. Rather, donations are perceived as a way of securing one’s own salvation, and not as a feasible way to change the world.