Emil Hilton Saggau – författare

The Eastern Orthodox Churches in post-communist Eastern Europe are embroiled in long-running conflicts over ownership of territory, saints, sites, nations, and history. These often violent conflicts reflect political and national rivalries, most explicitly in former Yugoslavia and Ukraine. They are often understood as simplified ethnic-national tensions with religious overtones, but, as this book demonstrates such an assessment overlooks the deeper theological and historiographical framework.Nationalisation of the Sacred offers a detailed analysis of the theological backdrop to these conflicts. It analyses how various strands of Eastern Orthodoxy have adapted to the contemporary political context, a process where history, memory, and politics are transformed to fit the needs of rival nations and churches. The book provides an in-depth analysis of this process and the transformations in church-related conflicts in post-communist Montenegro, where the Serbian Orthodox Church has been pitted against a rival Montenegrin church and Montenegrin government.Additionally the book provides an up-to-date and unique analysis of Eastern Orthodox historiography, modern Serbian theology, religion in Montenegro more broadly, and the roots of the violent clash between Orthodox believers and the Montenegrin government in 2019-2021.

The cult of St. Jovan Vladimir, historical ruler of Duklja in the early eleventh century, is one of the oldest Slavic saint's cults in Southeastern Europe. Over time, the cult developed into a number of distinctive offshoots, and played a significant role in church- and nation-building in the region. St. Jovan Vladimir has become a symbol of nationalism in several of the region's modern states, but also a source of transnational cooperation between Orthodox, Catholic and Muslim religious communities. This study show the crossroads of national and religious movements in the many cults, sites and litterature. This book is the first of its kind to assess the origins and evolution of the many cults, and their literature and sacred sites, from the death of St. Jovan Vladimir to the current revival across Southeastern Europe. It offers important new insights into the historic building blocks of nationalism and contemporary religion, and will appeal to all those interested in the religious and cultural history of the region.

Throughout the past years, the Orthodox world has seen numerous political and theological confrontations. New borders have been shaped by churches and states. This only increased in light of the Russian-backed conflict in Ukraine from 2014 and onwards, which has led to new theological lines of thinking, geopolitical confrontations, and an acute need for diplomatic handling of crisis. At the centre is the Russian Orthodox Church’s global role and its effects in Ukraine. The confrontations are born out of a complex entanglement of church politics, theological differences, legal tensions, national allegiances, and the very concrete political and military clashes between nation states. In light of the war in Ukraine, Global Orthodoxy has seen new fault lines in the making. This volume gathers chapters that shed light on these entanglements and their political, theological, and geopolitical consequences. The book is not limited to the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, but also includes papers focusing on other nations, churches, and aspects (theological, theoretical, geopolitical, empirical etc.).

Throughout the past years, the Orthodox world has seen numerous political and theological confrontations. New borders have been shaped by churches and states. This only increased in light of the Russian-backed conflict in Ukraine from 2014 and onwards, which has led to new theological lines of thinking, geopolitical confrontations, and an acute need for diplomatic handling of crisis. At the centre is the Russian Orthodox Church’s global role and its effects in Ukraine. The confrontations are born out of a complex entanglement of church politics, theological differences, legal tensions, national allegiances, and the very concrete political and military clashes between nation states. In light of the war in Ukraine, Global Orthodoxy has seen new fault lines in the making. This volume gathers chapters that shed light on these entanglements and their political, theological, and geopolitical consequences. The book is not limited to the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, but also includes papers focusing on other nations, churches, and aspects (theological, theoretical, geopolitical, empirical etc.).

This book delves into the dynamic interplay of popular culture and political theology, examining three key areas of interaction: engagement with liturgy and scripture, film and television, and music. From depictions of Jesus in South Park and Family Guy to Beyoncé’s Lemonade, from cinematic scandals to portrayals of atheists and holy fools in film, from Islamic pop music to Bible-themed cookbooks and church yoga practices, this book explores how religious individuals and communities incorporate popular culture into their political theologies across diverse sets of beliefs and practices. In this way, the book heralds a renewed focus on popular culture’s theological potential and its impact on the collective imagination. This volume will captivate researchers in theology, religious studies, cultural studies, media studies, and sociology of religion, as well as general readers intrigued by religious themes in contemporary culture.