Anarchy, Eschatology and Contemporary Eastern Orthodox Christianity: A Critical and Comparative Appraisal of Pantelis Kalaitzidis’ and Davor Džalto’s Political Theologies

This article critically and comparatively examines the political theologies developed by Pantelis Kalaitzidis (b. 1961) and Davor Džalto (b. 1980), two of the most well-known Eastern Orthodox theologians and scholars. Kalaitzidis is one of the central figures who significantly contributed to a renewed approach to political theology within the Orthodox milieu. He proposed an eschatologically informed perspective to combat Christianity’s harmful forms of politicization. Džalto, a theologian and artist, recently articulated a similar approach that aims to provide a more robust eschatological political theology that he confidently labels anarchical. In order to shed light on the strengths and shortcomings of their political theologies, as well as on their relevance for the contemporary sociopolitical context, the two perspectives are systematically, comparatively, and critically analyzed.