Journal Theological Reflections Invites Submission to the Next Issue 22.1 The Sacred and the Secular in the Theopolitical Reference Frame of Central and Eastern Europe

Dear colleagues, Theological Reflections: Eastern European Journal of Theology is pleased to invite you to submit articles for publication in the next issue (22:1) on the topic: “The Sacred and the Secular in the Theopolitical Reference Frame of Central and Eastern Europe.”

Christian presence and activity in the political space are carried out in the context of the Christian's responsibility both to the eternal city of God and to earthly society. Since Augustine, the church, as the earthly manifestation of God's rule, has found its calling in sanctifying and strengthening relationships based on domination and submission. This approach, which was the basis of state formation, radically influenced the church's role in social and political life.

Since the Enlightenment, leading philosophers and scholars have postulated that traditional theological dogmas, liturgical rituals, and sacred practices are products of the past and have no place in the modern era. Secularization, along with bureaucratization, rationalization, and urbanization, transformed medieval agrarian societies into modern industrial nations. Gradually, religion was pushed out of the political and public space and into private life. The sacred that permeated worldview, its intellectual foundations, and institutional forms seemed to have finally given way to secularized Western society.

However, at the end of the last century, the process of "desecularization" (P. Berger) or "the great return of religion" (V. Yelenskyi) began, and its role is steadily increasing in European and world politics. The growing political weight of religion and religious institutions is a paradoxical process, given the ongoing secularization, which is weakening its role in everyday life. 

Although the complex intertwining of religion and politics in the modern world has long been the focus of several academic disciplines, the editorial board of the journal considers it appropriate to devote this issue to the peculiarities of theological and political discourses in the post-theistic context of Central and Eastern Europe, where, on the one hand, the interaction of Christian churches with civil society is growing. On the other hand, churches are increasingly becoming participants and instruments of populist political movements, mainly on the right.

For a theological reflection on these issues, the editorial board invites authors to submit articles that address the following matters:

• Peculiarities of the return of the sacred to public space in post-communist countries
• Rethinking the dichotomy of the sacred/secular in contemporary political theology
• Political populism, Christianity and threats to democracy
• The relationship between human rights and Christianity in the socio-cultural matrix of Central and Eastern Europe
• A new reading of the intersection of religious authority and political power in the cultures of Central and Eastern Europe
• Sacralization of political power: theological fallacies and political threats
• The interaction of the secular and the sacred in contemporary art and fiction of the region
• A theological perspective on the concepts of desecularization and post-secularity, as well as their manifestations in the political sphere

We accept original and overview articles, as well as reviews that cover this complex topic. The length of the article should not exceed 5,000 words. 

The deadline for submission is February 15, 2024. The date of publication of the issue is April 15, 2024.

Manuscripts can be submitted electronically via the journal's website http://reflections.eeit-edu.info/about/submissions.  Guidelines for authors are available here http://reflections.eeit-edu.info/guidelines. Should you have any questions, please contact us by e-mail: reflections@eeit-edu.info.