Ethical Foundations of the Russian Orthodox Church Doctrine of Political Power

In this paper we consider the ethical foundations of the Russian Orthodox Church doctrine of political power. The author aims to determine, what are the ethical principles, which could explain theological and social doctrine of the Russian Orthodox Church about political power. We consider political power as both the opportunity to decide political issues and the complex of methods of political actors to implement their will. As a result, in the study we consider both the problem of justification of political power and per se and the problem ethical limitations of its use. Using the mothodology of the Orthodox theology and hermeneutics, which assumes the study of the Church teaching from the point of view of the Orthodox theology, we conclude that political power could be regarded as an indirect God established ability, which aim is to prevent sin and to support the good by using force. Such a vision is also caused by the recognition of motivation and consequences as the key factors to call the action sinful or virtuos in the Russian Orthodoxy. Considering these facts, the consequential ethics was recognized as an ethical foundation of the Russian Orthodox Church doctrine of political power, which cuold be called the principle of feasibility. In addition, the right motivation is seen as a presupposition of the good consequence. Taking this conclusion into account, the only ethical limitation of political power is its compliance to a certain aim.