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2021 ◽  
Vol 48 (4) ◽  
pp. 118-132
Author(s):  
Jolanta Kraśniewska

Abstract: The article describes, taking as its main starting point the encyclical Fides et ratio, the importance of the way of thinking appropriate to the culture of the Christian East in the relationship between reason and faith. The encyclical of John Paul II has many different aspects, including the not often emphasised ecumenical and dialogical aspects. The Pope, who held Eastern (Orthodox) Christianity in high esteem and appreciated the Slavic cultural code, also positively points to this method of discovering the truth. In this context, the anthropology of the heart is particularly important (metaphysics of the heart, mysticism of the heart or spirituality of the heart), which enriches and complements the Western way of thinking and of discovering anthropological and theological truth. The anthropology of the heart also appears in the West and for this reason it has an ecumenical significance which is important for the dialogue between Catholicism and Orthodoxy.


2021 ◽  
pp. 206-226
Author(s):  
Stephen R. Shaver

The second of three chapters exploring spatial imagery, Chapter 8 explores the motif of containment—the idea that Christ’s body and blood are “in” or “under” the bread and wine. The CONTAINER image schema has two significant entailments for eucharistic presence: transitivity (if A is in B and B is in C, A is in C) and concealment (something inside an opaque container cannot be seen). Transitivity enables Christians who take the eucharistic elements into their bodies to understand Jesus in turn to be inside them. Concealment facilitates reflection on the fact that the body and blood of Christ are not accessible to the senses. Roman Catholic and Lutheran traditions make significant use of containment imagery; Reformed and Eastern Orthodox traditions have been reticent but have been willing to use it on occasion. The chapter also gives specific attention to transubstantiation as a special combination of change and containment motifs.


2021 ◽  
pp. 183-205
Author(s):  
Stephen R. Shaver

This is the first of three chapters exploring motifs based on spatial imagery. It argues that much Christian language about eucharistic presence is based on the primary metaphor CHANGE IS MOTION (and, to lesser extents, CHANGING IS BEING MADE and CHANGING IS BEING BORN). Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox traditions rely heavily on change imagery, while Lutheran and Reformed traditions have been cautious about its use partly because of an insistence that the eucharistic elements remain bread and wine. The chapter argues that the change motif should form part of a multiply metaphorical ecumenical theology of eucharistic presence and that there are resources in Lutheran and Reformed traditions that can facilitate its acceptance. It also argues that high-sacramental traditions in turn should be willing to affirm that the consecrated elements are bread and wine—though not ordinary bread and wine.


2021 ◽  
Vol 78 (4) ◽  
pp. 396-407
Author(s):  
Brandon Gallaher

The article is a personal theological reflection on ecumenism and inter-religious dialogue by one of the commission of drafters of the Ecumenical Patriarchate's 2020 social teaching text For the Life of the World: Toward an Orthodox Social Ethos (=FLOW). The text argues that FLOW, despite being innovative for Orthodoxy, needs its boundaries expanded theologically. The section on Christian ecumenism is still quite conservative in character. It acknowledges that the Orthodox Church is committed to ecumenism but it does not explicitly acknowledge the ecclesiality of non-Orthodox churches. The author puts forward a form of qualified ecclesiological exclusivism that affirms that non-Orthodox churches are tacitly Orthodox containing “a grain of Orthodoxy” (Sergii Bulgakov). Strangely, FLOW's section on inter-religious dialogue is much more radical than its section on ecumenism. The author builds theologically on FLOW's positive affirmation of other religions as containing “seeds of the Word”, in particular, Islam containing ‘beauty and spiritual truths' and Judaism as being Orthodoxy’s “elder brother.” The essay ends by sketching a Trinitarian theology of other religions drawing on ideas from Maximus the Confessor, Bulgakov, Hans Urs von Balthasar and Raimundo Panikkar amongst others.


2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 31-58
Author(s):  
Rytis Jonaitis

In Medieval Europe, Lithuania remained a pagan state the longest, officially accepting Catholic baptism only in 1387. But the country had already been influenced by Christian culture, Orthodox from the East and Catholic from the West, since the 11th century. It should be noted that this influence was not the same: Catholicism was mostly brought ‘by fire and sword’ in the role of the Teutonic Order while the spread of Orthodox Christianity could be more peaceful. It is frequently stressed that the Ruthenian Orthodox Christians were close neighbours of the pagan Lithuanians, settling in Lithuania as subjects of the grand dukes. While the Catholics needed to be invited, the Orthodox Christians from the Ruthenian lands were already subjects of the grand dukes. Thus, communities of both branches of Christianity: Eastern Orthodox and Western Catholic, had settled here and were interacting in a still pagan environment in pagan cities ruled by pagan dukes. This article, in seeking to present the circumstances of the settlement of one of the early Christian communities in Vilnius, the Orthodox one, and its development, examines this community through data from the burial site it left and the interpretation of those data.


2021 ◽  

The Orthodox Christian Church is one of the largest religious groups within Christendom, second only to Roman Catholicism. Historically, it traces its origins to Christ and claims an unbroken line of fidelity to the teaching of the apostles and their successors. It consists of over a dozen autocephalous Churches, each of which is led by a Patriarch or Metropolitan Archbishop who together lead the Orthodox Church around the world in a conciliar ecclesial government, with the Patriarch of Constantinople recognized as the “first among equals.” The oldest among these Churches are in the Middle East (e.g., Alexandria, Antioch, Jerusalem) and the Mediterranean (e.g., Greece, Cyprus, Constantinople), as well as many in Central and Eastern Europe (e.g., Russia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Georgia, Albania, Romania, Poland, as well as the Czech Lands and Slovakia). It also contains a number of autonomous, or self-governing, churches in Asia (e.g., China and Japan). Thus, the Eastern Orthodox Church is rich in ethnic and cultural diversity, while being united in doctrine and worship. To many in the West, however, and especially to those in the English-speaking world, it remains an enigma that is often confused either with Roman Catholicism or with a syncretic mixture of Christianity and Eastern religion. This article provides a brief sample of works from the Orthodox intellectual tradition that are likely to foster greater collaborative engagement with contemporary academic philosophy. As a whole, the collection attempts to help readers answer three questions. First, what are the views of the Orthodox Christian Church, especially those that are more distinctive of Orthodox Christianity? Second, how have these views been explained and defended in historical philosophical and theological discourse? Third, how have these views been explained and defended in contemporary philosophical and theological discourse? The presentation is divided into seven sections: General Overviews and Historical Context; Metaphysics and Philosophy of Language; Epistemology and Philosophy of Religion; Moral Psychology and Character Formation; Normative and Applied Ethics; Social, Cultural, and Political Philosophy; and Nineteenth- and Twentieth-Century Russian Religious Philosophy. The selections within each section are principally designed to be of use for contemporary English-speaking academic philosophers by providing a representative presentation not only of topics but also of eras (e.g., ancient, medieval, modern, and contemporary), areas of jurisdiction (e.g., Middle Eastern, Byzantine, Slavic, etc.), and schools of thought (e.g., analytic philosophy, Continental philosophy, etc.).


Religions ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (11) ◽  
pp. 998
Author(s):  
Jonathan Cole

Kathryn Tanner maintains that political theologies based on the Trinity are not only unsound, but potentially dangerous. Her primary concern is that the Trinity, by definition, cannot serve as a “model” for human socio-political organization. Miroslav Volf, while sharing Tanner’s sense that Trinitarian political theologies are fraught, nevertheless, maintains that the Trinity can serve as a “vision” for human socio-political relations, albeit not as a “program”. This article brings Tanner and Volf into conversation with Eastern Orthodox philosopher-theologian Christos Yannaras, whose Trinitarian political theology regards the Trinity as the “prototype” or “archetype” of a mode of existence in which humans can participate by transcending their natures, with the aim of realizing truth. This article argues that Yannaras offers a novel way of conceptualizing Trinitarian political theology which escapes Tanner and Volf’s criticisms, on the one hand, and offers Social Trinitarianism a fresh and fertile perspective that could advance its discourse.


2021 ◽  
pp. 62-93
Author(s):  
Eugen J. Pentiuc

This chapter analyzes the Scriptures in several hymns prescribed for Holy Tuesday, whose theme is faithfulness (loyalty), as shown by the three Jewish youths thrown by Nebuchadnezzar into a fiery furnace but saved by divine intervention, of an angel/son of God (Dan 3). The Theodotion version, which replaces the Septuagint of Daniel in Eastern Orthodox tradition, underscores the three youths’ unconditioned faithfulness (Dan 3:17–18), compared to the seven Maccabee brothers’ martyrdom (2 Macc 7). Thus, the three youths prefigure Christ’s perfect faithfulness tested through suffering up to the cross. Moreover, the lection Job 1:13–22 prescribed for this day points to Job as another type of the faithful Christ. The lection Matt 25:1–13 (parable of the ten bridesmaids) reminds one again of watchfulness, this time as prerequisite to faithfulness. The hymnographers interconnect the fiery furnace episode with the burning bush story (Exod 3).


2021 ◽  
pp. 200-214
Author(s):  
Erica Cruikshank Dodd

Byzantine art, born in the Middle East, is still alive in the area. The oldest Christians in the world—Armenians, Copts, Georgians, Syrian, and Eastern Orthodox—still have vital communities in the Middle East that express themselves through later forms of “Byzantine” artistic language. Byzantine art developed through four historical periods in this area: (1) early formation and growth in the Middle East; (2) art under the Muslim conquest; (3) the continuing Christian art under Islamic domination; and (4) the Crusader period. Despite these cataclysmic changes, an artistic language led by Constantinople developed in this area and survives in the modern world, somewhat erratically, but distinctive nonetheless.


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