Afterword

Abstract

Before modern times, the Russian Orthodox Church produced few theologians or philosophers and, accordingly, little systematic theology or philosophy. The sermons and homilies that survive from medieval Russia figure in histories of Russian jurisprudence precisely because they address issues of right and wrong and have implications for the delineation of secular and ecclesiastical power and jurisdiction. Reflecting a comment often made about the development of Russian law, reference has been made to the “profound isolation” of the Orthodox world from Western Christendom in early modern times after the fall of Byzantium. The earliest documented Russian treaties and codes of law were limited in their territorial application, the true boundaries of which remain obscure. Passive recognition of diversity in certain contexts would be a more accurate description. Christianity in its Russian Orthodox embodiment dominated, to be sure, but the Russian state was usually clever enough to be at least minimally tolerant of alternative practices and approaches.