Nothing is as characteristic of the Christian as working for peace

This article by Michel Stavrou examines the attitude of the Orthodox Church toward war and violence, from its apostolic origins to the end of Byzantine civilization. Drawing on historical and theological study, it offers a critical reexamination of several notions commonly associated with Eastern Christianity. The author demonstrates that the military saints of the Byzantine calendar were primarily martyrs who had refused to fight, rather than sanctified warriors. He also reexamines the concept of "symphony" between the Church and the Empire to show that the Eastern Fathers, in many cases, condemned homicide unconditionally, without endorsing the ideology of holy war. The contribution of this article lies in restoring a fundamentally peaceful Eastern patristic tradition, one that has often been obscured by political or apologetic readings of Byzantine ecclesiastical history.