Orthodoxy and “Radical Orthodoxy”: Understanding of “Mediation” and Prospects of Collaboration

2019 ◽  
Vol 29 ◽  
pp. 171-183
Author(s):  
Vasiliy A. Shchipkov
Keyword(s):  
Opposite Effect ◽  
General Information ◽  
Christian Theology ◽  
Religious Philosophy ◽  
Radical Orthodoxy ◽  
The World ◽  
Conservative Christian ◽  
The Voice ◽  
The Church ◽  
Christian Denomination

The article critically examines the concept of “mediation” used by the modern conservative Christian philosophical and theological movement “Radical Orthodoxy” (arose at the end of the 20th century among Anglican and Catholic philosophers) and also puts the question about the prospects of dialogue between Orthodox tradition and the “Radical Orthodoxy”. The article gives general information about this movement and contemporary researches on it. It is noted that the term “Orthodoxy” in its name does not indicate a connection with Orthodoxy or any Christian denomination but is used in the sense close to the concept of Christian tradition and placed in a postmodern context. “Radical Orthodoxy” considers Christian theology a universal “mediator” which is designed to replace secular meta-discourse and strengthen the voice of Christianity in the world today. The author notes that the idea of universal mediation is connected with the gnostic approach to theology. Analyzing the principles of philosophical and theological constructions in this movement the author draws a parallel between the proposed concept of “mediation” and the fact that the authors of “Radical Orthodoxy” of all the themes of Russian religious philosophy showed special interest in gnostic Sofia. The article analyzes the origins of this view of Sofia and identifies the margins beyond which the Church considers sophiology to be a heresy. “Radical Orthodoxy” sophiologizes the concept of “mediation” in order to protect it from the threat of its “adaptation” to secular reality and to establish an ideal mediator which possesses the maximum possible explanatory theological flexibility. Nevertheless, this approach has some vulnerabilities, since its way of theologisation of secular discourse can lead to the opposite effect – the secularization of theology, which was sometimes done by Russian religious philosophers of the 19th-20th centuries. In conclusion the author argues that a successful dialogue between representatives of the Orthodox tradition and the “Radical Orthodoxy” is more promising in the socio-political plane than in the theological one.

William of Auvergne and the Manichees

Traditio ◽  
1993 ◽  
Vol 48 ◽  
pp. 63-75 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roland J. Teske
Keyword(s):  
Thirteenth Century ◽  
Twelfth Century ◽  
Christian Theology ◽  
Latin West ◽  
The World ◽  
The University ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Universe ◽  
The Church ◽  
Scholarly Attention

William of Auvergne became a master of theology in the University of Paris in 1223 and was appointed bishop of Paris by Gregory IX in 1228. William governed the church of Paris until his death in 1249, while continuing to write the works which constitute his immense Magisterium divinale et sapientiale. Despite the fact that he was the first of the thirteenth-century theologians to appreciate the value of the Aristotelian philosophy that poured into the Latin West during the last half of the twelfth and the beginning of the thirteenth century, his writings have not received the scholarly attention they deserve. Étienne Gilson has sketched well the impact of the influx of Greek and Arabian philosophical works into the Christian West: Up to the last years of the twelfth century, when the Christian world unexpectedly discovered the existence of non-Christian interpretations of the universe, Christian theology never had to concern itself with the fact that a non-Christian interpretation of the world as a whole, including man and his destiny, was still an open possibility.

Semyon Frank

2020 ◽  
pp. 494-509
Author(s):  
Philip Boobbyer
Keyword(s):  
Political Thought ◽  
Social Philosophy ◽  
Christian Theology ◽  
Religious Philosophy ◽  
Revolutionary Movement ◽  
Christian Realism ◽  
Professional Philosopher ◽  
Modern Thought ◽  
Primary Focus ◽  
The Church

Semyon Liudvigovich Frank was a proponent of ‘all-unity’, who sought to overcome the polarities in modern thought through a universal philosophical synthesis. Jewish by background, he was drawn to Marxism in his youth; but after some involvement in politics he grew disenchanted with the revolutionary movement. After 1905, he embarked on a career as a professional philosopher. He converted to Orthodoxy in 1912. Following deportation from Russia in 1922 he lived in Germany, France, and Britain. His main works of religious philosophy were written in emigration, although his underlying philosophical outlook was formed before the revolution. Most of the main themes in Christian theology were addressed in his work, even though theology was not his primary focus. Ontological questions were his main preoccupation. He saw his ideas as belonging to the Platonist tradition. His thinking was antinomian; following Nicholas of Cusa, he sought to demonstrate the ‘coincidence of opposites’. There was an apophatic tendency in his work, as well as an experiential emphasis. He saw evil as a kind of non-existent reality. He rejected charges of pantheism. There were echoes of Vladimir Soloviev’s thought in his writings, but this similarity only became clear to him after his philosophical system was formed. His outlook on the church was ecumenical, although he remained loyal to the Moscow Patriarchate. His social philosophy was personalistic and his political thought gradualist; he advocated a kind of Christian realism or humanism while warning against utopianism.

scholarly journals Trinitology towards Challenges of Pluralistic Theology of Religion Systematical, Moral and Theological Reflection

2014 ◽  
Vol 9 (2(16)) ◽  
pp. 167-181
Author(s):  
Ignacy Bokwa
Keyword(s):  
Immanuel Kant ◽  
Jesus Christ ◽  
Practical Importance ◽  
Far East ◽  
Theological Reflection ◽  
Christian Theology ◽  
The World ◽  
Doctrine Of The Trinity ◽  
The Church ◽  
The Trinity

Nowadays pluralistic theology of religion is rightly regarded as one of the greatest threats to Christianity. It specifically concerns Christology. A threat to the Christian belief in the Trinity, which is created by pluralistic theology of religion, is seen more rarely. Many scholars consider pluralistic theology of religion as a further step of the modern fight against Christianity and the Church. The increasing spread of religions of the Far East plays a significant role. Pluralistic theology of religion refers to the basic ideas of Buddhism, trying to create a universal religion of the world. Pluralist theology of religion treats every religion of the world with affection- with the exception of Christianity. It is Christianity that is supposed to be tolerant and to adapt to other religions by means of losing its own identity. Pluralistic theology of religion relativizes the Person of Jesus Christ, undermining the uniqueness of the incarnation of God. Jesus of Nazareth was only a prominent man standing near Reality itself (God). Since Jesus Christ was not an ontological Son of God, the doctrine of the Trinity is being undermined. Representatives of pluralistic theology of religion reject the idea of a personal God, at the same time hitting in all monotheistic religions. From their point of view, God is for the human mind unattainable reality which no revelation is able to bring. Various religions are only stages of searching for the final Reality itself. Father, Son and Spirit are nothing more than a projection of human yearnings and religious pursuits. Faced with such claims, Christian theology cannot remain silent. One should be reminded of development of faith in the Triune God in the life of the Church. This is a theoretical- scientific dimension of the problem. It also has its practical and existential meaning. Although Immanuel Kant claimed that the doctrine of the Trinity has no practical importance, contemporary theological reflection presents a new aspect of this problem. Communio- theology comprehends the mystery of the Trinity as an event of constant communication in which Father gives Himself to the Son and so they create the Holy Spirit. The mystery of diversity reconciled in the unity stands at the beginning of every reality. The mystery of the Holy Trinity has its significance not only inside (life of the Church) but also outside (life of the secular, political and economic community). Nowadays the latter has a special meaning in particular. It is a theological and moral surface of the reflection, showing that one should not be afraid of multiplicity and diversity but treat them as an opportunity. In the era of new conflicts and divisions that are increasing and the renewal of the old traumas, it turns out that appeals of the representatives of pluralist theology of religion are fake and are supposed to challenge the principles of Christianity, whereas Christian theology offers modern societies interesting proposals acceptable not only for those who believe.

Creation

2019 ◽  
pp. 178-195
Author(s):  
Matthew Puffer
Keyword(s):  
Jesus Christ ◽  
Christian Theology ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
New Creation ◽  
Limited Role ◽  
The World ◽  
In Christ ◽  
Access To Knowledge ◽  
Good And Evil ◽  
The Church

Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s theology of creation is rooted in the confession that Jesus Christ is the mediator. Apart from Christ’s mediation human beings cannot perceive God’s creation, because our postlapsarian world manifests only a fallen creation in which good and evil are confused and intermixed. Whereas Bonhoeffer in his student years affirmed a limited role for the orders of creation, his subsequent writings on the theology of creation can be read as a response to and reaction against the orders of creation. Although human beings have no unmediated access to knowledge of God’s creation, and know the world as fallen creation only through Christ’s redemption, in Christ they are empowered by the Spirit, incorporated into Christ’s body the church, and made a new creation. Only in light of the hoped-for eschatological fulfilment of the new creation may Christian theology speak of the beginning of God’s ways as Creator.

On African Theology

1984 ◽  
Vol 37 (3) ◽  
pp. 359-374 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adrian Hastings
Keyword(s):  
Christian Theology ◽  
Word Of God ◽  
Contemporary Culture ◽  
African Theology ◽  
Contemporary World ◽  
The World ◽  
Edward Schillebeeckx ◽  
The Church ◽  
Church Doctrine

Edward Schillebeeckx in The Understanding of Faith (1974, 154) defined or described theology as ‘the critical self-consciousness of Christian praxis in the world and the church’. Others may prefer another definition, but it can be agreed that Christian theology is not revelation and it is not church doctrine; both of these while inevitably formulated within time yet lay claim to, and acquire, a certain degree of timelessness which is neither possible nor desirable for ‘theology’. Theology rather requires a continuous contemporaneity. It is a ‘critical self consciousness’ — an extended intelligent response of men of faith both to the word of God and to their own world. At times it may appear to concentrate more upon that word, as found in the Scriptures, while interpreting and applying it aptly and acutely in the light of contemporary culture; at other times theology will appear to concentrate more upon the contemporary world, or upon some part of it decisively significant for this theologian or the group of christians of which he or she forms part, interpreting it and judging it in the light of scripture. Behind appearances theology, to be true to itself, has always to do both.

The Spirit, Religions, and the World as Sacrament: A Response to Amos Yong’s Pneumatological Assist

2007 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 251-261 ◽  
Author(s):  
James Smith
Keyword(s):  
Radical Orthodoxy ◽  
The World ◽  
Theology Of Culture ◽  
The Church

AbstractThis article responds to Amos Yong’s critique of the author’s Introducing Radical Orthodoxy by focusing on two themes: (1) his analysis of the tension between my creational, participatory or sacramental ontology and my more antithetical assertions regarding the Church as a unique polis; and (2) the question of apologetics, dialogue, and interreligious engagements. In response, I develop an intensity account of participation that applies to both ontology and theology of culture.

scholarly journals Who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God: Kenosis of leadership

2020 ◽  
Vol 76 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hlulani Mdingi
Keyword(s):  
Imago Dei ◽  
Christian Theology ◽  
Christian Faith ◽  
The Real ◽  
The Core ◽  
The World ◽  
The Creation ◽  
Service To Others ◽  
The Church

Leadership is at the core of Christianity; it operates from the paradigm of God’s revelation to humanity through creation. The creation of the world and the creation of Imago Dei are markers of the service that God has maintained from creation to the fulfilment of soteriology (Gn 1:26, 3 and I Cor 15:42). The early church’s worship of Christ, at least in the Didache, stemmed from the fact that this Hebrew prophet was a servant of God and was YHWH in the flesh. The early teachings of the church were service to the world. This article contends that Christianity faces a crisis because of neglect of the nuclei of Christian theology and faith oriented around the real or physical person of Christ and service to others. The emphasis of this article focuses on kenosis as a prerogative of true Christian faith and leadership. A kenotic model of leadership is service to humanity and the world. The article seeks reflection on the theological importance of kenosis, which interacts with creation and creature. This approach will highlight underlying theology for leadership as it relates to the person of Christ.

Review of Frank D. Macchia's Baptized in the Spirit: A Global Pentecostal Theology

2008 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-4 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clark H. Pinnock
Keyword(s):  
World Wide ◽  
Christian Theology ◽  
People Of God ◽  
Guiding Principle ◽  
The People ◽  
Spirit Baptism ◽  
Pentecostal Theology ◽  
The World ◽  
Doctrine Of The Church ◽  
The Church

AbstractFrank Macchia's Baptized in the Spirit is a significant volume in Christian theology written by a leading American Pentecostal theologian. The book sheds light on topic after topic, employing Spirit baptism as the guiding principle. Macchia argues that, more than empowerment, Spirit baptism justifies and sanctifies, renews and empowers the people of God and will go on doing so until creation is turned into the dwelling place of God. He develops a doctrine of the church as a Spirit-baptized and gifted fellowship, a sign of grace in the midst of the gracelessness that is in the world. The book represents an important maturation of Pentecostal thinking that engages a world-wide conversation.

Nature and Grace: Why this Catholic Delineation of the 'Supernatural' is Important for Pentecostals

2009 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 111-122
Author(s):  
Ralph Del Colle
Keyword(s):  
Human Experience ◽  
Christian Theology ◽  
Divine Agency ◽  
Secular World ◽  
Nature And Grace ◽  
The World ◽  
Christian Witness ◽  
The Church

AbstractThe traditional Catholic distinction of nature and grace is utilized to examine the importance of maintaining the 'supernatural' character of grace as Christian theology is increasingly concerned about the modality of divine agency beyond the church and the necessity of Christian witness in the world in all dimensions of human experience. The inseparability but distinction between grace and faith experience is employed in service of a common Catholic and Pentecostal witness to the signification of the supernaturality of grace to counter any tendency toward religious naturalism in the effort to promote Christian witness in the secular world.

Rembrandt Reads the Gospels: Form, Context and Theological Responsibility in New Testament Interpretation

1997 ◽  
Vol 50 (4) ◽  
pp. 399-413 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clive Marsh
Keyword(s):  
Biblical Interpretation ◽  
Christian Theology ◽  
Christian Doctrine ◽  
Constructive Theology ◽  
The Bible ◽  
The World ◽  
History Of ◽  
Biblical Scholar ◽  
Road Story ◽  
The Church

Art is part of the history of the church, and relates to spirituality and to the practical expression of Christian faith. It illustrates theological loci and biblical themes. Often, the art which fulfils this function does so with the conscious intent of the artist; sometimes not. Attempts have been made, however, to argue that art not only illustrates theology, but also contributes to it. Even so, systematic theologians and biblical scholars — when they do talk to each other — still converse on the basis of largely word-centred approaches to their tasks. I am neither systematic theologian nor biblical scholar, precisely because I attempt to keep a foot in both camps. I am even less of an art critic. Yet it is clear that in the world of art there is a whole area of exploration yet to be ventured into not only historically (have we really sufficiently explored how biblical interpretation and doctrinal theology have been influenced by art?) but also from the perspective of constructive theology (what contribution can art past and present make to the very reformulation and expansion of Christian doctrine?). This paper offers a brief reading of three paintings by Rembrandt, of the Emmaus Road story in Luke 24.13–35. The theological significance of the changing interpretations of the passage is drawn out and the implications of the use of the paintings, in terms of the creative use of the Bible in Christian theology.

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