The Theopolitical "Other" in the Last Judgment Paintings of Bucovina's Orthodox Monasteries

Abstract

Theopolitics is related to the interaction between theos (god) and politics, or to that between theology - the systematization of the major ideas of a given religious faith - and politics. Theopolitics is a broad attempt to understand and extrapolate political action through the multidimensional lens of geopolitics and theology. Theopolitics, like geopolitics, includes analysis of geographical, historical, and cultural characteristics that influence political behavior. Theopolitics, unlike geopolitics, extrapolates political action based on further philosophical and theological premises that God exists and acts in human history. This research paper appropriates historical scholarship on religious iconography and theology where it helpfully reminds theology of matters requiring theology’s attention, as well as where it identifies nuances in the phenomenon of religious identity formation of which theology should be mindful. However, it is primarily a history of religion endeavor. The authors engage what they perceive as a significant representation of the other in the 16th century Orthodox Christian theopolitical iconography.