Silent Witness as Civic Theology: Zurab Kiknadze and the Ethics of Public Religion in Post-Soviet Georgia

Journal article

In post-Soviet Georgia, the renewed visibility of religion in the public sphere has generated ambivalent effects, fostering both social cohesion and identity-based exclusion. This article focuses on the work I Am the Way by Georgian Orthodox thinker Zurab Kiknadze to explore how a non-instrumental, ethics-based conception of public religion can be sociologically conceptualized. Drawing on a qualitative, hermeneutic-narrative method, the analysis identifies two core motifs in Kiknadze’s thought—“spiritual journey” and “silent witness”—and interprets them through the lenses of public religion theory (Casanova), lived religion paradigms (McGuire, Ammerman), and post-secular debates (Habermas). The findings indicate that Kiknadze understands faith not as a marker of dogmatic or ethno-political belonging but as a practice contributing to ethical continuity and the reconstruction of social trust. Within this framework, “silent witness” is defined as a form of faith grounded in consistency, humility, and action-oriented conviction; it is proposed as a transferable sociological mechanism that supports trust, reconciliation, and inclusive citizenship in transitional societies. Centering on the Georgian case, this article offers a conceptual contribution to rethinking the public role of religion in post-authoritarian contexts within an ethical framework.

Authors: Öztürk, GM

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: MDPI
• Journal: Societies
• Volume: 16
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 30-30
• Article number: 30
• Publication date: 2026-01-15
• Acceptance date: 2025-10-27
• DOI: 10.3390/soc16010030
• EISSN: 2075-4698
• ISSN: 2075-4698
• Language: English
• Keywords: identity; Georgia; nationalism; silent witness; public religion; sociology of religion; Eastern Orthodoxy; social cohesion