Here are two articles that came in my inbox today. They are not giving the same analysis, but in reading either or both it becomes clear that to us Westerners that there is a major spiritual ‘re-conquest’ element to this.
Moscow has to be restored spiritually for it sits as a ‘third’ alongside Constantinople and Rome historically (Jeff Fountain’s article).
It is a synthesis of Russia’s national and spiritual aspirations. It’s not just Russia, it is “Holy Russia”, part religious project, part extension of Russian foreign policy. Speaking of Vladimir’s mass baptism, Putin explained: “His spiritual feat of adopting Orthodoxy predetermined the overall basis of the culture, civilisation and human values that unite the peoples of Russia, Ukraine and Belarus.” He wants to do the same again. And to do this he needs Kyev back.
And in the words of Putin himself:
The spiritual choice made by St Vladimir [988AD] still largely determines our affinity today. In the words of Oleg the Prophet about Kyev, “let it be the mother of all Russian cities”.
https://unherd.com/2022/02/putins-spiritual-destiny/
https://us9.campaign-archive.com/?e=f5c999e39e&u=65605d9dbab0a19355284d8df&id=4bc71b39d6
Thank God Christendom is unravelling. It gives us hope for the future.
Then this makes the invasion all the more dangerous in my opinion. For whenever acts of aggression are justified for religious/spiritual ie. a crusade like reasons then they are poisoning the well of Christianity to an ever greater degree. So I feel that rather than unravelling Christendom (in my very limited opinion) this invasion makes it’s malevolent influence ever more tangled up in Europe. The government of Jesus Christ is peace and his intention to eradicate war as portrayed in Isaiah 9:2-7 which is immensely powerful and visionary. I guess God is allowing this to happen for his purposes but maybe we should have been able to stop it as his people, perhaps we’ve really failed big time and it’s not his will!. Collateral damage or the end justifies the means is always for me a always very flawed and dangerous approach . Not that you are saying that of course because you wouldn’t but some may see it so. Putin clearly does! It’s easy for us to watch and see how it unfolds at a distance and be circumspect but how would we feel about it if we were there? Immensely interesting articles and post. Thank you.
I wonder how much the language of warfare has affected modern expressions of faith, and by that infusion have sort of infected world views along the way?
I know that many of my peers and family still default to “armour of God” type languages and I have witnessed charismatic services where leaders were “knighted” with an actual sword for an anointing to “battle in the heavenlies”…in one prayer conference I was actually given a crossbow arrow as a “prophetic act” because I was devoted to prayer…it sort of feels a little bit like asking for an “AK-47 of Peace”…
I notice a lot of the russian fighters are basically very young men conscripted as fodder, 17-18 year olds being sent into the teeth of defiance…hopefully mercy triumphs over judgement, and the Ukraine defense minister has set up a hotline for Russian mothers to call and check on their sons well being.
If Kyev has been playing dangerously close to pagan ideas like mercy and empathy maybe those ideas will spread like covid among the next generation.
I cannot imagine what affect it would have on my faith to be told I was going to liberate devil worshippers and then to find them full of empathy and giving me a glass of water and feeding me.
Well, this is top of mind, of course. Sigh. Sigh again. Really folks?! This is where we are at right now?! A baby boomer whose name means ‘ruler of the world’ is trying annihilate a country led by a Gen X’er whose name means ‘ruler of the world’. How to understand this?
The church in all of this? Well yeah. The Russian church has been Putin’s best cheerleader for years on some grounds that he restores and upholds patriarchy. Murder, assassinations, jailing of dissent does not matter much to that church. All good.
In generational terms, it is an old, corrupt white man destroying another country in the name of his own ego. He wants to wipe away the future for those who come behind him. What will Ukraine inherit should they survive this. . . destroyed infrastructure, shattered housing, loss of trade, inability to move supplies around. It is staggering. Heating? Gone. Electrical power? Gone. Bridges and roads? Gone. Housing? Gone. Social, political and physical infrastructure? Gone. The cost of rebuilding will be breathtaking whether it is tomorrow or a decade from now. The cost to the environment is unspeakable.
The Baby Boomers already have some problems with what they are leaving behind for next generations. Many young people recognize that they will have a life time of struggle due to climate catastrophes. The economy could be permanently depressed. One weather disaster will follow after another much like we saw in BC this past year where some people evacuated 2X, once for wildfires and a second time for flooding after suffering through an historic heat wave. Some of my students feel hopeless. Some tell me they feel doomed. Some surprise me with how hopeful they are. I tell them we have all the tools we need to make necessary changes. It is a matter of will not technology right now.
I suspect Putin is both homicidal and suicidal at this point. After all, he is an autocratic leader facing humiliation. Not good. The question is, with all his nuclear arsenal, does he intend a murder/suicide and how many will he murder? Ukraine? Europe? All of us? This kind of ego does not allow much wiggle room.
I am reminded Martin of your call that 2022 is going to be year when the playing field is leveled, for once. Ummmm. . . . is this what that looks like? I hope so. Trying to believe so. We sure need that right now. And so do the Ukrainians most of all.