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Home , Batonishvili, Colchis, Gelati Monastery, Ilia Chavchavadze, Ilia II of Georgia, Ioane Petritsi

Jvari Monastery, , , c. 600. Photo: Daisy Alioto.

ANNALS OF HISTORY Orthodoxy and Nationalism in Georgia

Guram Lursmanashvili

Although the Orthodox churches have The relationship between nations and explicitly condemned ecclesiastical (Orthodox) dates back at racism, or ethnophyletism, they have least to the time of the Apostle Paul, never forbidden Orthodox Christians when Jewish and Gentile followers of of shared language, ethnicity, or geog- Christ first commingled in communi- raphy from using religion as a criterion ties that would come to be called Chris- for who is “us” and who is “not us.” tian. In those communities, under the This kind of nationalism—that is, the guidance of Saint Paul, the Apostle to process by which a group of people the Gentiles, salvation evolved from a becomes recognizable to itself and to process characterized by particularism others as a nation—is not contrary to to one characterized by universalism. Orthodoxy. Furthermore, interactions As Paul proclaimed: “For as many of between Orthodoxy and nationalism you as were baptized into Christ have are not new. Rather, for two millennia, put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor nationalism in this narrow sense of the Greek, there is neither slave nor free, word has interacted with Orthodoxy there is neither male nor female; for in various forms, although it is admit- you are all one in Christ ” (Gal. tedly difficult to decide if this interac- 3:27–8). Paul’s proclamation, however, tion has been, on balance, good or bad should not be understood as a polemic for the faith. against “nations” themselves—not as

18 that concept was understood at that tic forces—nationalism and Ortho- © 2019 The Wheel. time and for the next few centuries. doxy—can cooperate. May be distributed for noncommercial use. Otherwise we would not have such www.wheeljournal.com early examples of “Christian nations” Nationalism and Orthodoxy in Geor- as the ancient nation of Georgia. gia: Beginnings In the fourth century, King Mirian of (a region in the that , a compendium would come to be part of the Georgian of texts dating from the ninth through lands) converted to Christianity after the fourteenth centuries, provide im- encountering , the baptizer portant information about how Geor- of Georgia. He then proclaimed Chris- gians have historically understood the tianity the official religion of his king- relationship between their national dom. The Orthodox Christian faith and religious identities. The Orthodox became one of the main factors in the Church of Georgia can be traced back formation of the Georgian nation af- to the Christianization of and ter this event, and remains a signifier by the Apostle Andrew in the of Georgian ethnic identity. But as first century, and by Saint Nino in the Teimuraz Buadze notes, Georgian as fourth century, respectively. The vita a religious identity preceded Georgian of prominent Georgian churchman as an ethnic identity.1 To what extent Saint Gregory of (759–861), this relationship between Georgian written in the tenth century, describes nationality and Orthodox Christianity Georgia as “those spacious lands in has been a net positive or net negative which church services are celebrated for the people of that country is up for and all prayers said in the Georgian debate. tongue.”2 From the fourth through the ninth centuries, this relatively simple Evidence for both positions can cer- criterion encountered several challeng- tainly be found in the annals of the es. country’s history, but in my view, the 1 positive results of the interaction of The and Teimuraz Buadze, Orthodoxy and nationalism in Geor- “Georgian Nation the Georgian state faced three com- and Christianity,” gia outweigh the negative ones in both mon issues that affected their relation- August 9, 2012, significance and quantity. In large ship with one another. The first was http://www. part, this is a product of Georgia’s that, after the Council of Chalcedon orthodoxtheology.ge/ relatively small sphere of influence. (451), Georgia’s southern neighbor, ქართველი-ერი- /. Even during its golden age, Georgia , separated from the unified და-ქრისტიან was never an empire like Byzantium church. From that time until the pres- 2 David Marshall or . Unlike them, Georgia nev- ent day, “Georgian” distinguished Lang, “Gregory er tried to use Orthodoxy as a tool to those who accepted the proclamations of Khandtza and secure its political interests at the ex- of the Council from those who did not. the Georgian pense of other peoples, preferring to In several cases, the Georgian Chronicles National Revival,” direct that influence inward to contain 1999, http://www. identify individuals as “Armenian by angelfire.com/ga/ and consolidate its own polity. Per- faith” despite being, for all intents and georgian/gregory. haps for this reason, nationalism and purposes, legal citizens of Georgia.3 html. Orthodoxy interact quite differently in contemporary Georgia than in the The second issue was that Georgia’s 3 Kartlis Tskhovreba: successor states of the Byzantine and common faith with the Byzantine Em- A History Of Georgia, Russian empires in Europe and Asia. trans. Stephen pire threatened the country’s indepen- Jones et al. (: In Georgia, we find a distinct model dence from . The third Artanuji Publishing, for how these increasingly antagonis- was the efforts of the Muslim 2014), 307.

The Wheel 17/18 | Spring/Summer 2019 19 King David IV of and Seljuks to conquer Georgian ter- Georgia. Fresco at ritory and to convert to Is- , lam. From my perspective, the Geor- , Georgia. gian state and the Georgian Church successfully met all three challenges, accounting for the unique relationship between Orthodoxy and nationalism in the country today.

From David IV to Tamar

In 1089, King George II was confront- ed by a major threat to the when the Seljuk Turks in- vaded Georgian lands. Tbilisi had al- ready been in the hands of Muslim rulers since the eighth century. Seeing his kingdom slip into chaos, George II ceded the crown to his 16-year-old son David, who inherited a dysfunc- tional state, a ravaged countryside, and the enormous responsibility of the church’s welfare.

King David IV acknowledged that without a strong church, it would be er George of Chkondidi. King David impossible to reconstruct Georgia. combined two offices—those of court During this period, the church hierar- chancellor and of clergyman—into chy was chosen through nepotism and a single one, Chkondidi-mtsignobar- simony, rather than on the basis of per- tukhutsesi. Henceforth, The Archbish- sonal dignity, education, or piety. The op of Chkondidi (a diocese located in result was a seriously damaged Geor- western Georgia) would be the king’s gian Orthodox Church that had lost the chief adviser and would wield broad trust of the Georgian people and was powers over the state’s domestic and effectively functioning as a state within foreign policy. Generally speaking, a state, clashing with the authority of a King David’s strategy was success- monarch. To find a solution, the king ful: by consolidating political control convened and supported the efforts of over the church, David restored his the Council of Ruis- in 1103 to people’s trust in the Georgian Ortho- restore and to reinforce the authority dox Church, achieving what his father of the Georgian church and to sup- could not. But he did not rest on this press unworthy clergymen and clerical success. hierarchs who had received their ranks through intrigue, who lived in ways David recognized that without an edu- unbecoming of clergymen, and who cated class that could develop science, displayed little or no loyalty to king technology, and culture in Georgia— and country. and, more importantly, could main- tain the careful balance of church-state After this council, the king gave enor- relations—his achievements would mous power to his friend and advis- diminish over time. Hence, from 1106

20 to 1110, the king established an acad- a flourishing of Georgian architecture, © 2019 The Wheel. emy near Kutaisi at Gelati Monastery, painting, and poetry, expressed in the May be distributed for noncommercial use. whose influence would permeate the development of ecclesiastical art as www.wheeljournal.com country and would shape the scientific well as the creation of the first major innovations, social mores, and cultural works of Georgian secular . achievements of Georgia’s golden age. Harmony reigned between Georgia’s At Gelati, the most celebrated Geor- Orthodox peoples and those of other gian scientists, theologians and phi- religions, setting a standard for- tol losophers, such as and erance in multiethnic kingdoms. The Arsen Iqaltoeli, taught the classical slaughter of pigs was forbidden in Queen . at the trivium and quadrivium to generations areas settled by Muslims, who, along Church of students until the sixteenth century, with the Jews, also enjoyed a lower tax of the Dormition, when the monastery became defunct. burden than Orthodox Georgians. Tbilisi, Georgia. Another monastery David established at Iqalto, in eastern Georgia, also flour- ished. Keenly aware that a rival to Gelati would stimulate a fruitful intel- lectual climate, David installed philos- opher Arsen Iqaltoeli as the first rector of the academy there.

According to David’s plan, the mon- asteries prepared educated people to fill the state bureaucracy as well as the ranks of the Georgian Orthodox Church, which remained one of the most important organs of the state apparatus and inspired unity among the populace. David’s successors, Demetrios I and George III, in many cases tried to continue his strategy of closely connecting Orthodoxy and na- tional identity, in order to control the state efficiently. While the reigns of both kings illustrate the continuing in- tertwining of Orthodox Christian and Georgian identity, it was during the reign George III’s daughter Tamar that the relationship between nationality and Orthodox faith took on a distinct form in Georgia.

In 1178, King George III appointed the 18-year-old Tamar (c. 1160–1213) as his heir apparent and co-ruler, in order to forestall any dispute after his death. During her reign, the King- dom of Georgia reached the peak of its power and development. In addition to military expansion, this period saw

The Wheel 17/18 | Spring/Summer 2019 21 © 2019 The Wheel. Queen Tamar’s reign may present the gia entered into decline. Unable to May be distributed for best example of the important role the withstand the Mongol invasion, Tbili- noncommercial use. www.wheeljournal.com Orthodox Church of Georgia played in si fell in 1226, and much of the former developing the Georgian nation, made strength and prosperity of the King- all the more clear in contrast with the dom of Georgia was destroyed, leaving somewhat sad story of the Mkhar- the country under Mongol dominance grdzeli brothers. These brothers were until the fourteenth century. By that Tamar’s star military generals. They time, church and state were too thor- conquered parts of present-day Ar- oughly damaged for another renais- menia and eastern Anatolia for her, sance, but they still persisted, even as and she honored them by appointing the Turks conquered Constantinople, them to the highest levels of . and tiny Georgia was gradually en- But for all that Ivane Mkhargrdzeli and closed by non-Orthodox nations. his brother Zakaria shared with regard to their military prowess and their up- Misguided Alliances ward trajectory in Tamar’s court, the two were divided by religion. By the late eighteenth century, eastern Georgia was in danger from Persia, Ivane, a high-ranking vizier in Tam- western Georgia from the Ottomans, ar’s government whom she honored and northern Georgia from various with the privilege of fostering her heir Caucasian tribes. With his kingdom and son, abided in the self-professed surrounded, King Erekle II of the superiority of his “Georgian faith” east Georgian -Ka- and appealed to Zakaria to join him kheti looked north. “Orthodox Rus- as a member of the Georgian Ortho- sia” would be Georgia’s best defense dox Church. Zakaria, whose recently against Muslim enemies, reasoned conquered lands in the southern part Erekle, who thus cultivated a close of Georgia were populated by peo- connection with the tsar. The result- ples of Armenian origin, refused. He ing treaty with Russia, signed at Geor- replied to his brother, “I will not be gievsk on July 24, 1783, guaranteed united with Georgians,” and contin- Russian protection for Georgia, much ued to profess the non-Chalcedonian to the displeasure of Persia. In fact, the © 2017 The Wheel. 4 May be distributed for Armenian Apostolic faith. That the signing of the treaty provoked the very noncommercial use. break between these brothers was one hostilities it was designed to prevent: in www.wheeljournal.com of both religion and nationality simul- 1795, Persia attacked Georgia in what taneously shows the extent to which came to be called the Battle of Krtsani- Georgian had become, by the reign of si, a direct response to King Erekle’s al- Tamar, a distinct identity in which liance with the . Russia faith and fatherland were inextricably reneged on its commitments, however, linked. and declined to help Georgia, which fell to Persia and lost its independence. That link did not break, but it did In the years that followed, Persia and transform in the following centuries, Russia jockeyed for control of Georgia. as the fortunes of the Georgian peo- By the nineteenth century, what had ple declined significantly from their begun as an alliance between Georgia apogee under Queen Tamar. After her and the Russian Empire had evolved death in 1213, the legacy of her ances- into outright Russian occupation of tor David—the unification of church both the Georgian state and the Geor- 4 Kartlis Tskhovreba, and state and the flourishing of civil gian Orthodox Church. For example, 263. society—began to unravel, and Geor- in 1811, Tsar Alexander I eliminated

22 the independence of the Georgian people’s resentment intermittently church and in place of the Catholicos— erupted in local unrest.6 At the Tbilisi the ancient of the Georgian pri- seminary in 1886, for example, a stu- mate—established a “Synodal Exarch dent, Joseph Lagiashvili, assassinated over Georgia.” This period was very the Russian rector Paul Chudetsky, 5 Paul Werth, difficult for Georgia because, as Paul who had attempted to replace every- “Georgian Werth writes: thing Georgian in the seminary—lan- guage, history, rules—with Russian and the Ethnic All Exarchs after the first (Varlaam equivalents. Notably, the students per- Fragmentation of Eristavi) were Russians unfamiliar ceived these actions as hostile attacks Orthodoxy,” Acta Slavica Iaponica 23 with local languages. Georgian was against the national interests of Geor- (2006): 84.regions in increasingly excluded from church gia, not necessarily against her spiritu- the Caucasus area administration, ecclesiastical educa- al interests. of Eurasia from the tion, and liturgy, while knowledge of the of Russian became a prerequisite A New Chapter in the Relation of 15th century BCE. for candidacy to the priesthood. Orthodoxy and Nationalism 6 Metropolitan An aggressive campaign of “dena- Anania Japaridze, tionalization” seems to have been For political scientists, historians, psy- A Short History of initiated already under Varlaam’s chologists, and sociologists, “nation- the Georgian Church, successor, while more heavy handed alism” has different and sometimes ed. Mamuka appeared in the 1880s. Matsaberidze conflicting definitions, but often they (Hauppauge, New In the Tbilisi seminary, for exam- at least agree about the historical era York: Nova Science ple, “a harsh Russianizing regime in which it emerged.7 Usually, this era Publishers, 2014). was installed,” as Russian replaced is said to begin with the French Revo- Georgian as the language of instruc- lution of 1789, which inspired peoples 7 See Ernest tion. Russian hierarchs seem to have all over Europe to fight for the right Gellner, Nations regarded the Caucasus as a “wild” and Nationalism to self-determination throughout the (Ithaca: Cornell region and were generally eager to nineteenth century. Often, a people University Press, leave for service in the Russian inte- coalesced around a single personal- 1983); Benedict rior as soon as possible.5 ity, who in subsequent generations Anderson, Imagined acquired almost mythical stature. For Communities: To Georgians, the result was a curious Georgians, that person was (and is) Ilia Reflections on the Origin and Spread of sense of loss, as it became apparent for . A political figure, poet, Nationalism (New the first time that being Georgian was and publisher who led the Georgian York: Verso, 1983); not simply the same as being Ortho- nationalist movement against Russian Anthony D. Smith, dox. For although the Russian occu- rule, Chavchavadze is often seen as Nationalism: Theory, pation meant that Georgia’s Orthodox Georgia’s “most universally revered Ideology, History (Cambridge, UK: 8 Christian identity was not in jeopardy hero.” Polity Press, 2001); (how could it be when the occupier Eric J. Hobsbawm, was Orthodox?), a new sense of na- In 1860, one of his articles declared that Nations and tional identity—one related to but not Georgians had inherited three divine Nationalism since determined by Orthodoxy—started to treasures: homeland, language, and 1780 (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge emerge among the Georgian people, faith. He not only enjoined Georgians University Press, and soon sparked protests for self-de- to preserve these treasures for future 1990). termination. generations, but also powerfully con- nected their revolutionary present to 8 Stephen Kinzer, The results were gruesome. During their past through the medium of the “On the Tallest various insurrections in 1820 alone, Georgian Orthodox faith. It appears Pedestal, a Man for All Georgians,” New around two thousand Georgians died. that in this statement Chavchavadze York Times, May 7, In the ensuing decades, the Georgian was citing Vakhusti Batonishvili, the 1998: 4.

The Wheel 17/18 | Spring/Summer 2019 23 9 Ilia Chavchavadze eighteenth-century Georgian , Bangladesh, from , and quoted in Tatia royal geographer, historian, and car- Serbia from the rest of the former Yu- Kekelia, “Building tographer who considered that three goslavia. To avoid such a fate, rather Georgian National Identity: A divine treasures of the Georgian peo- than envision Orthodox Christianity as Comparison of Two ple were “faith, language, king.” essential to Georgian national identity, Turning Points in Chavchavadze positioned Orthodoxy History,” in Religion, Admittedly, Chavchavadze almost in the Georgian national structure so Nation and Democracy completely inverted Batonishvili’s that religious differences would not in the South Caucasus, ed. Alexander statement, demoting “faith” from first undercut the unity of the Georgian Agadjanian, to third place. This inversion is how state or subject it to the agendas of ag- Ansgar Jödicke, Chavchavadze helped avoid a violent gressive foreign powers. He remem- and Evert van der rupture along religious fault ines of the bered the price Georgia had paid for Zweerde (New York: kind that, in the next century, would putting Orthodoxy above all other el- Routledge, 2015), 123. separate India from Pakistan and ements of its national identity when it signed the with Russia, leading to a century of subor- dination. A true visionary, Chavcha- vadze helped Georgia avoid making the same mistake again.

In a 1877 sociopolitical article entitled “Ottoman Georgia,” Chavchavadze envisioned a Georgian state in which believers of various religions could coexist and could equally identify as Georgians. The Georgian Christian who has been persecuted for his faith understands the importance of not persecuting those who believe dif- ferently from himself, Chavchavadze wrote, continuing: “We are not afraid of the presence of different religions in the country. Georgians who were crucified for their religion do know the value of other religions. . . . We are not afraid of the fact that our brothers who live in Ottoman Georgia believe in Mohammed.”9

Throughout history, some parts of Georgia had been occupied by the Otto- man Empire, and in those areas, many Georgians converted from Orthodoxy to Islam. Although they were still Georgians in spirit, their new religious identity would encumber their integra- tion into a free Georgia. Chavchavadze tried to solve this problem by explain- ing to his readers that national identity did not demand that one be Orthodox;

24 Muslims, too, could be Georgians. This vided Georgia into 13 dioceses, to be (Saint) Ilia Chavcha- compromise reflected a widely shared governed by a synod chaired by the vadze. hope that those in the Georgian terri- Catholicos. tories that had been incorporated into the Ottoman Empire would be able to A formal declaration of political inde- return to the Georgian state without in- pendence by the National Council of troducing any conflicts between Chris- Georgia followed less than one year tians and Muslims. later, on May 26, 1918. Freedom, how- ever, would be brief. After the Red To understand Chavchavadze’s atti- Army invaded Georgia in 1921, both tude toward Orthodoxy and nation- the Georgian state and the Georgian alism, it is essential to consider his Orthodox Church lost their indepen- © 2019 The Wheel. letter to the rector of Tbilisi seminary, dence. The church was subjected to May be distributed for Seraphim, in 1898. During this intense harassment. The atheist So- noncommercial use. period, the was cele- viet government closed hundreds of www.wheeljournal.com brated throughout Georgia in Slavon- churches. Hundreds of monks were ic. Bishop Seraphim tried to justify this killed. The ’s anti-reli- cultural imperialism by arguing that, gious policy left no space for the sym- for the Orthodox, the most important biosis of Orthodoxy and nationalism thing during the Liturgy was express- that had formerly flourished in Geor- ing one’s love for Christ. If one truly gia. loved Christ, why should it be a prob- lem for Georgians to participate in a During World War II, some of the for- Divine Liturgy conducted in Slavonic? mer cooperation between the two be- In his letter, Chavchavadze argued that gan to reemerge. In 1943, the Georgian in Georgia, the Liturgy must be cele- Church was finally recognized as inde- brated in Georgian and not Slavonic: pendent from the Patriarch- to restrict national forms of expression, ate, on orders signed by , such as the language of the Liturgy, not out of good will but for wartime would be an affront to God, who cre- political purposes. Stalin himself was ated multiple countries and nations.10 of Georgian background and had stud- 10 Vazha ied at the Tbilisi Orthodox seminary. Kiknadze, “ილია Twentieth and Twenty-First Centuries He was well aware of the significance ჭავჭავაძე და Orthodoxy held in the Georgian mind, მე-19 საუკუნის The movement toward an autocepha- and of the power of the Georgian Or- სამღვდელოება,” Iberiana lous Georgian Orthodox Church and thodox Church to arouse people po- —იბერია გუშინ, დღეს, an independent Georgian state was a litically. By authorizing the church’s ხვალ, 2007, https:// unified effort, one that Georgian cler- independence, Stalin effectively wea- iberiana.wordpress. gy and laypeople undertook hand in ponized religious piety to drive Geor- com/about/kiknadze- hand, even if these two goals were gian support for the war effort. The Or- ilia/. not achieved at the same time. The thodox Church of Georgia accordingly 11 took part in the USSR’s propaganda Gulzhaukhar first victory came in 1917, when the Kokebayeva, Yerke Bolshevik Revolution dismantled the campaign and enjoined Georgians to Kartabayeva, and in Russia. On March fight, explaining the war as a national- Аigul Sadykova, 12, Georgian clergy and laypeople in istic struggle.11 “The Evolution Mtskheta declared their church au- of Soviet Power’s This close relationship yielded neg- Religious Policy tocephalous, and in September, the during the council of Georgia elected ative consequences for the church as Patriotic War,” Asian Bishop Kirion (Sadzaglishvili) to the well as the state. More than half a mil- Social Science 11.3 rank of Catholicos. The declaration di- lion Georgians fought in World War II. (2015): 237.

The Wheel 17/18 | Spring/Summer 2019 25 Patriarch Ilia of Georgia conducting a mass as part of his pledge to increase the birth rate in Georgia, 2019.

Out of a population of around 4 mil- collapse of Soviet Union. On March lion, 300,000 died or disappeared. And 3, 1990, Patriarch of Constantinople yet this price was not high enough for recognized the autocephaly of the Or- the Soviet Union to let Georgians re- thodox Church of Georgia. Political in- store the independence of either state dependence followed on April 9, 1991, or church. The Georgian state was con- when the Supreme Council of Georgia trolled by the Soviets. It could not par- declared national independence after a ticipate in international activities with- referendum days earlier. out permission of Moscow and it was not able to manage its other activities It would be wrong to conclude from freely. The Georgian Orthodox Church this history that the close relationship could not preach to its parishioners between an autocephalous Orthodox that they were Georgians rather than church and national identity is ei- Soviets. ther positive or negative in absolute terms. Rather, the case of Georgia Such was the condition of many shows that it is necessary for Ortho- non-Russian Orthodox churches un- dox churches to distinguish between der Soviet hegemony. But unlike its national values and ethnophyletist Ukrainian or Belorussian counterparts, aspirations. The wealth of our Chris- the Church of Georgia had experienced tian heritage in nations throughout independence, albeit briefly, and it re- the world is not a tool for political claimed this independence upon the gamesmanship.

Guram Lursmanashvili graduated from the Tbilisi Orthodox Theological Academy and Seminary in 2016. Since 2017, he has studied at the National and Kapodistrian University of in the Department of Theology. He has authored and translat- ed articles related to contemporary Orthodox theology.

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