Trinity College
Dr Marietta van der Tol & guest Lucy Ash combine to introduce two books on Christianity and nationalism in contemporary Russia. Please note the atypical time and venue.
About
The Inter-Religious Research seminar celebrates and discusses an edited collection in tandem with guest author Lucy Ash:
The Many Faces of Christianism: The ‘Russian World’ in Europe
Volume Editors: Marietta van der Tol, Sophia Johnson, Petr Kratochvíl, and Zoran Grozdanov | Political and Public Theologies 7. Brill, 2025.
Is the Russian invasion of Ukraine a ‘Holy War’? This book offers insights into the complex ideology of the Russki Mir or ‘Russian World’, which must be understood as Russian-shaped world order or peace—but above all, a claim to the sacred.
The collected essays describe how Far Right politics in Europe and its resonances with the Russian World nod to the changing meaning of Christianism, defying and transforming the categories of religion and politics, and challenging common conceptions of the role of Christianity in European politics.
The Baton and the Cross: Russia’s church from pagans to Putin
Lucy Ash, Icon Books, 2024
For more than a millennium, the Russian Orthodox Church has shown astonishing survival skills—from the Mongol yoke to tsarist demagoguery and enlightenment, from Soviet atheism to the chaotic 1990s. Now again, it is at the right hand of power, sanctifying Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
Combining historical research with vivid present-day reportage, in The Baton and the Cross author Lucy Ash explores the impact the Church is having on millions of lives—from the tower blocks of big cities to far-flung villages in Siberia. Delving into the underbelly of politics, state security and big money, Ash shows how these forces have formed an unholy alliance with Orthodoxy in the dystopia of twenty-first century Russia.
Lucy Ash is an award-winning presenter of radio and TV documentaries. An expert on Russia and post-Soviet countries she was first sent to Moscow by the BBC in 1990 and has been covering the region’s social, political, and cultural issues ever since. The Baton and the Cross is her first book.
Practicalities
This event will be hosted at Trinity College, Cambridge. It is organised as an extension of the Inter-Religious Research seminar series, convened by Professor Esra Özyürek.
Light refreshments will be available before the seminar. Please note the later than normal start time.