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CHRISTIANITY IN GEORGIAN-RUSSIAN RELATIONS: THEN AND NOW
Teimuraz PANJIKIDZE
Teimuraz Panjikidze, D.Sc. (Philos.), professor, head of the Department of Religious Studies and Ethics, Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University; head of the Republican Center for the Study of Religious Problems (Tbilisi, Georgia)
Georgia and Russia: this is the order in which the issue should be discussed in conformity with the age of their statehoods and Christian Churches; Russia and Georgia: this is the order in which they should be discussed in conformity with the territories and might of these two Christian Orthodox states. They have accumulated over 200 years of experience in joint statehood. They joined their fates at the time when Christian Orthodoxy was their only ideology.
Religion was not the only factor that brought Russia and Georgia together—yet it was the magnet that pulled Georgia. Christianity was more than a faith in Georgia: it was its philosophy, its way of life, and its shield. It was Christianity that defended the state for many centuries against the inroads of numerous enemies who came to impose their religions on us. At all times, Christianity reminded the Georgians that they should preserve their tongue, their national character, and their specific features in order to remain Georgians. We have survived thanks to our Christian faith.
The above sounds bombastic, yet it is absolutely true, even though I deliberately suppressed certain facts… At one time, great Georgian writer Ilia Chavchavadze wrote: “For us Christianity is more than living according to Christ: it means our Motherland, Georgia; it means that we………………….
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