Orthodox Theology and Spirituality

This study explores common ground and affinities between Christian Orthodoxy and Pentecostalism in theology, spirituality, cosmology, anthropology and the understanding of rites and sacraments. The focus is on the understanding and perception of the Holy Spirit, with regard to spiritual experience, personal transformation and the life of the Church. It also reflects on the African religious heritage of Christianity in the formation of these forms of spiritual experience and expression. The role and development of African Instituted Churches is taken into view, aware of their common heritage with Pentecostalism and of their distinctness. The context of ecumenical exchange between Pentecostalism and the Roman Catholic Church and Orthodox Churches in the 20th century is considered as background for the realization of convergences. The growing awareness in both Pentecostalism and Orthodoxy of their common ground, based in the hermeneutics and spirituality of early Christianity is recognized and recommended as field for further engagement. The common affirmation of both Churches of a spiritual world view in contrast to the positivistic ‘naturalistic’ world view of secular Enlightenment – as distinct from the spiritual branch of Enlightenment in which Pentecostalism is rooted through Pietism – is recognized as common ground for mutual understanding and critical difference to mainstream Western secularism. This study thus aims at fostering a better mutual understanding of Pentecostal and Orthodox Churches and of their epistemological agreements with regard to the challenges of secular cultures.

This text concentrates on Metropolitan Kallistos’s way of translating the Philokalic tradition into language accessible to the Christians living in current Western world. Themes like the relationship to the spiritual guide, watchfulness (nepsis), stillness (hesychia), and invocation of the name of Jesus are interpreted in this light. It shows how Metropolitan Kallistos proposes to unite the life of work and of prayer, how to seek for Christ everywhere, and through that seeking and finding, making the secular sacred.

In questo breve studio mi propongo di mostrare i legami esistenti tra la vita di Francesco d'Assisi e la tradizione ascetica ortodossa e presentare, attraverso ciò, le basi principali della stessa Ortodossia. La mia analisi non è nuova 1 ma ha un suo particolare approccio preferendo concentrarsi su pochi essenziali punti che, a mio avviso, hanno una profonda eloquenza interconfessionale: il valore della tradizione, la fuga mundi, la pratica dell'orazione personale e della liturgia comunitaria, l'amore per il creato.

In this volume of Essays in Ecumenical Theology Ivana Noble engages in conversations with Orthodox theologians and spiritual writers on diverse themes. These include the discovery of the human heart, what illumination by divine light means, the relationship between prayer and attitudes and acts of social solidarity, the problematic nature of sacri cial thinking as the way to express redemption through Christ, the ecological dimension of theological anthropology, the need for freedom to coexist with love for others and why institutions need to turn not only to their own traditions but also to the Spirit that blows where it wills. Readership All interested in Christian theology and spirituality, both Orthodox and Western, in ecumenism, and in the search for shared human values. For more information see brill.com

A kötet "a legnagyobb bizánci misztikusként" számon tartott Új Teológus Szent Simeon (949-1022) fennaradt himnuszkötetének magyar fordítását tartalmazza, magyarázatokkal és utószóval. Simeon himnuszait tanítványa, a később a latin-görög egyházszakadáskor nagy szerepett játszott Nikétasz  Sztéthatosz szerkesztette meg és adta ki egy kötetben, és alighanem kicsit át is írta őket egy magasabb nyelvi regiszterbe helyezve az eredetileg népnyelven (démotiké) írt verseket. A magyar fordítás megpróbálta Nikétasz kiadását hűen visszaadni, ideértve a lapszéli jegyzeteket is, amelyek jól mutatják, hogyan küszködött Nikétasz tanítójának őszinteségével, valamint radikális teológiájával és társadalomkritikájával. Simeon a bizánci költészetben is úttörő volt, egyike volt az elsőknek, akik bevezették a népi hangsúlyos verselést a magasabb irodalomba. Mindamellett független szelleme a maga választotta versmértéket sem tűrte, versei időről-időre prózába fordulnak. A fordítás során megpróbáltam, amennyire csak képes voltam erre, a magyarban visszaadni az eredeti versmértéket, amit viszont igyekeztem elrontani, valahányszor Simeon is szándékosan elrontotta. A fordítást kíséri egy tanulmány Simeon életútjáról és tanításáról, valamint számos magyarázó jegyzet is. A kötetet Oláh Mátyás eredeti kődörzsöletei és Simeont ábrázoló festett ikonja díszítik.

La “perfezione” (teleiótes) fin dai tempi del NT e soprattutto dal tempo della vita terrena di Gesù Cristo è stato l’imperativo e l’obiettivo principale dei membri della chiesa, una chiesa che nei primi secoli ha vissuto e praticato i precetti evangelici e apostolici esclusivamente “nel mondo”.
L’insegnamento dei padri dei primi quattro secoli sulla questione della perfezione spirituale ha nel complesso un chiaro fondamento biblico, essendo soprattutto basato sulle parole di Gesù, ma anche sull’AT. La perfezione cristiana costituì una questione centrale anche nella primitiva letteratura monastica, la quale, come si è già accennato, adottò lo sviluppo teologico della perfezione spirituale dagli autori precedenti e in particolare da quelli della scuola alessandrina, Origene e Clemente di Alessandria, considerata anche la vicinanza geografica dei grandi centri del monachesimo egiziano al grande centro spirituale del cristianesimo primitivo, Alessandria.

This article explores how the Hesychast practices of prayer expand the notion of lex orandi as well as bringing lex orandi and lex credendi into an equal relationship of mutual exchange. It concentrates on the contributions of two theologians of the Neo-Patristic renewal, Vladimir Lossky and Fr Dumitru Stăniloae. Their understanding of the relation between the apophatic and the kataphatic dimensions of spiritual life and theology helps to expand the notion of lex orandi and to rediscover the antinomic character of the lex credendi, foundational for the discernment of what is and what is not Christian orthodoxy.

The article analyses two ways in which the symbol of Jacob’s ladder is used for understanding a spiritual journey of a Christian, one from the Sinai desert, the other from the Communist Romania.

Článek zkoumá způsoby, jakými se symbol Jábobova žebříku objevuje ve výkladu dynamiky křesťanského života. Věnuje se dvěma příkladům,  Janu Klimakovi, sinajskému pouštnímu otci, a Petre Ţuţeovi, rumunskému pravoslavnému mysliteli, který prošel komunistickým vězením.

The chapter examines how  illumination and freedom interact in the theology of the Uncreated Light, foundational for Orthodox spirituality, and it explores a possible contribution of that theology to a current search for political theology in an Orthodox key.

Παρεξηγημένος στην εποχή του, ως φορέας μιας «νέας θεολογίας», ο Συμεών ο Νέος Θεολόγος επηρέασε με το έργο του κορυφαίους κατοπινούς νηπτικούς και έγινε αντικείμενο επισταμένης μελέτης. Ωστόσο, η ακροβατική διαλεκτική που διαπερνά τη θεολογική του κατάθεση, οι αντιφάσεις που εντοπίζονται στο έργο του και η «βιτριολική» κριτική που ασκεί στην Εκκλησία του καιρού του, καθιστούν ιδιαίτερα δύσκολη την οποιαδήποτε προσπάθεια «οριστικής» ταξινόμησης και αξιολόγησής του. Ποιός ήταν τελικά ο Συμεών; ΄Ενας ιδιότυπος εκφραστής της νηπτικής και ησυχαστικής παράδοσης της Ορθόδοξης Εκκλησίας; ΄Ενας εκκεντρικός μυστικιστής με νεοπλατωνικές και ιδεαλιστικές ροπές; ΄Η ένα ανεπίλυτο θεολογικό «αίνιγμα» το οποίο επιζητεί διαρκώς την προσοχή μας και προκαλεί ανοιχτά όλες τις θεολογικές μας σχηματοποιήσεις;  Το βιβλίο αποπειράται να δώσει απαντήσεις σε όλα τα παραπάνω ερωτήματα.

This third installment in Romanity Press's “Breaks and Links” series is an answer to Greek theologian Pantelis Kalaitzidis's critique of Father John Romanides and Christos Yannaras in his 2013 article “The Image of the West in Contemporary Greek Theology.” The present essay argues that while Kalaitzidis's critique of Yannaras's quasi-phyletist “logos” concept is apt (as far as it goes), his attempt to discredit Father John Romanides's work as phyletistic and even racist is not grounded in any of the Greek-American theologian's published works. The essay counters Kalaitzidis's claims by offering an account of Father John's teachings about race and the “threefold path of purification, illumination and glorification” of man which is the healing of his noetic energy.

The chapter offers a comparison of an Orthodox and a Roman Catholic approach to the foundations of sacramental theology. With each theologian the author analyses an underlying epistemology, a type of relational and symbolic understanding of God, and then asks how these influence preference either for the church or for the world as a starting point for sacramental theology. In her conclusion she suggests how both approaches could complement each other.

Almost one millennium has passed since Saint Symeon the new theologian has reposed and yet we marvel whenever we muse over his writings. Saint Symeon left us a steeped legacy in orthodox teaching, the renewal of the spiritual life and hesychasm.  His writings and specially his hymns indicate his close relation to God. Albeit his life was marked by conflicts with the hierarchy of his time and was culminated by his exile, the church restored his dignity and offered him an archbishopric which he refused and later after he died the church canonized him as a saint. This research explores saint Symeon’s intimacy with God and how he achieved it. My study starts with a biography of saint Symeon and then surveys his teachings about preparation for spiritual life, his instructions on the Jesus prayer, his experience of the Divine Light, his perception on the fruits of mysticism and ends with a conclusion.

Vladimir Lossky (1903-1958) About Tradition and Traditions.
News of his Thought in the Context of Contemporary Theological

Vladimir Lossky (1903-1958) is an outstanding theologian of the Russian
diaspora and, also, one of the most important Orthodox theologians of the
twentieth century. In the present study we are stoping on the notion of
tradition in his thinking, which we are analyzing in relation with other
theological concepts: Church , Scripture and dogma. Also, our analysis is
done through the work of other religious philosophers and theologians of the
twentieth century to demonstrate how Lossky was concerned to make
„dogmatic for today's man” (D. Stăniloae).

As in the case of the christology of the other non-Chalcedonian Oriental Orthodox Churches, Ethiopian christology is usually nicknamed as monophysite christology. Disproving such a pejorative designation, this thesis contends that the christological position of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church (EOTC) should be termed as miaphysite christology. Besides, the thesis proves the orthodoxy of Ethiopian christology, demonstrating how it is based on the christology of St. Cyril of Alexandria (+ 444).
The introductory part of the book, the first chapter, presents background information on Ethiopian christology and a brief review of the works conducted on the christology of the EOTC by Ethiopian and foreign scholars. The second chapter is devoted to the historical aspects of christological controversies in Ethiopia. Having showed the establishment and development of the non-Chalcedonian christology in Ethiopia, it discusses the internal disputes which strengthened the EOTC’s christology. It is the purpose of the third chapter to present a detailed christological exposition according to the Ethiopian tradition. The chapter deals with the teaching of the EOTC about the mystery of the incarnation and the perfect union of the two natures in Christ as expounded in the writings of Ethiopian theologians. By doing so, it presents Ethiopian christology as miaphysite christology.
In the fourth chapter, the theological importance of the Ethiopian miaphysite christology is briefly discussed. This chapter also argues for the orthodoxy of Ethiopian christology by showing how it is opposed to the known christological heresies. The last chapter gives a brief overview of modern christological dialogues with special reference to the christology of the EOTC. Finally, the conclusion succinctly summarizes the main ideas and arguments of the book.

Pr. Dr. Vasile Gafton, Omul în lume, icoană a Chipului lui Dumnezeu sau iluzie a propriilor gânduri, prefaţă de IPS Dr. Laurenţiu Streza, Ed. Andreiana, Sibiu, 2017, 200 p., ISBN 978-606-989-013-4 Credinţa autentică este întotdeauna la început şi acest început se manifestă printr-o perpetuă iniţiere în învăţătura de credinţă, aprofundând aspecte tot mai rafinate ale înţelegerii dogmei pe măsură ce reuşim să ne purificăm, exorcizând proprii idoli ai prejudecăţilor noastre. Aşa cum ne-a obişnuit deja prin meditaţiile sale asupra Spovedaniei ca probă a maturităţii duhovniceşti -deopotrivă a preotului şi a penitentului -, asupra morţii, ca prag între vieţi, dar şi asupra textelor biblice cu caracter didactico-poetic, Părintele Vasile Gafton realizează şi de această dată un pas remarcabil în identificarea şi mai ales problematizarea unor teme mai puţin accentuate în antropologia ortodoxă. Sub titlul Omul în lume, icoană a Chipului lui Dumnezeu sau iluzie a propriilor gânduri, autorul reuneşte o suită de observaţii clădite pe convingerea că "doar acceptarea unui singur gând, acela al lui Hristos, poate realiza ceea ce îşi propune psihanaliza sau oricare alt demers psihoterapeutic sau chiar teologic" (p. 28). Nevoia omului de recunoaştere socială, necesitatea de a se simţi special, unic şi important nu pot fi satisfăcute decât în propriul for interior, ţesând o lume a gândurilor care de fapt ne izolează de restul semenilor. În acest context înţelegerea importanţei pe care ne-o acordă Dumnezeu (p. 25) devine un imperativ terapeutic pentru toţi cei amăgiţi de iluzia propriilor gânduri. Eseul intitulat "Câteva elemente de antropologie paulină" (p. 30-73) aduce în atenţia cititorilor o sinteză asupra principalelor afirmaţii cuprinse în epistolele Apostolului Neamurilor, cum ar fi delimitarea între "omul din afară" şi "omul lăuntric", relaţia dintre materie şi suflet, "uniunea lor dinamică, perihoretică, de nedesfăcut, prin care omul este constituit ca fiinţă aflată în perpetuă mişcare, mişcare ce îi este imprimată de către Creatorul său" (p. 56), permanenta raportare a omului la Dumnezeu, precum şi dialogul dinamic cu mediul. Toate acestea sunt premise pentru realizarea unei radiografii spirituale, care ne ajută să înţelegem cum interacţionează şi se intercondiţionează puterile sufleteşti. Subliniind etapele în care apar şi se concretizează gândurile (p. 74-80), dar şi distincţia dintre realitatea gândurilor şi cea trăită, confuzia şi autoiluzionarea de care suntem izbăviţi prin lucrarea restauratoare a Mântuitorului (p. 81-110), autorul atinge o problemă foarte delicată şi actuală, dictată de complexitatea relaţiilor sociale, impersonale prin natura lor, care se substituie simplităţii fireşti a relaţionării personale (p. 111-126). Fie sub influenţa mediului, fie ca urmare a retragerii harului, omul ajunge să îşi împuţineze / răcească credinţa şi să îşi piardă dorinţa de mântuire, o desensibilizare faţă de un aspect esenţial al vieţii noastre, iar redobândirea acestei dorinţe este în ultimă instanţă consecinţa unei lucrări de autodescoperire sub asistenţa divină (p. 127-142) prin credinţa, ai cărei indicatori formali sunt "apropierea" şi "îndepărtarea" noastră de Dumnezeu (p. 143-151). Ultimele patru materiale care întregesc volumul sunt tot atâtea îndemnuri la îmbrăţişarea unei gândiri simple, debarasată de "zorzoanele spiritului", eliberată de înşelarea construită prin propriile impresii, pentru a asculta şi a înţelege cum se cuvine chemarea spre Împărăţia lui Dumnezeu, gata de a ne asuma "un angajament existenţial legat de încercarea de a ne modela propriile noastre vieţi după exemplul" celor care s-au nevoit pe calea armonizării propriilor gânduri cu cele ale lui Dumnezeu (p. 195), asemănându-se pe cât posibil Chipului după care au fost creaţi. Aşa cum se indicase cu modestie în prefaţă, textele nu au menirea de a trata exhaustiv temele şi nici de a da răspunsuri clare, ci, mai degrabă, de a sugera întrebări, teme de discuţii şi, cel mai important, noi perspective asupra vieţii noastre spirituale, dar, în urma lecturii, cititorul ajunge inevitabil să îşi evalueze propria stare, problematizând aspecte considerate de altfel epuizate sau neinteresante, ceea ce conferă o valoare deosebită muncii depuse de autor pentru realizarea acestui volum. Asist. Dr. Dragoş Boicu

Publicata in ”Hai cu noi”, publicație a Parohiei ortodoxe ”Sf. Voievozi” Săvinești, an 2015, ianuarie, nr. 29, pregatita pentru sustinere publica (mici modificari) pe 19 ianuarie, cu prilejul Sedintei administrative cu preotii Protopopiatului Piatra-Neamt

Článek zkoumá, v čem východní ikonopis a západní umění mohou obohatit vztah člověka k prostoru a k transcendenci. Soustředí se na pojetí ikon u Leonida Ouspenského, Pavla Florenského a Paula Evdokimova. Vyzdvihuje jejich participační pojetí, ale zároveň ukazuje dva problémy, Jednak výlučnost, s jakou se takto pojaté ikony staví do kontrastu se západními (čímž je obvykle myšleno ne-pravoslavnými) obrazy, dále pak narušení boholidské synergie, které se projeví jak ve vztahu ke stvořené skutečnosti na ikonách, tak ve vztahu k tvořivosti ikonopisců. Za pomoci dvou současných pravoslavných teologů, Assaada E. Kattana a Richarda Schneidera, ukazuje, jak je tyto problémy možné překonat.

The chapter explores Ouspensky‘s, Florensky’s and Evdokimov’s notions of an icon. With the help of contemporary Orthodox theologians such as Assaad Kattan and Richard Schneider, it challenges the confrontational attitude towards Western art which also thematises relations to space and to transcendence.

Through the cross we know that God loves us but do we love God?  This is a question that needed to be answered individually.  Do I love God?  How do I know I really love God?  This is a hard question that we cannot be well versed without temptation or trials.

Humility in liturgical life", in Humility [To become one 2], Athens; Akritas 2001, p. 53-98. Republishe in Hagios Spyridon 4 (2014) 2-9, 5 (2014) 2-11, 6 (2014) 2-12

«Ἡ ταπείνωση στὴ λειτουργικὴ ζωή», στὸ Ἡ ταπείνωση, [Ἵνα ὦσιν ἕν 2], ἐκδ. Ἀκρίτας, Ἀθήνα 2001, σελ. 53-98. Ἀναδημοσίευση στὸ Ἅγιος Σπυρίδων 4 (2014) 2-9, 5 (2014) 2-11, 6 (2014) 2-12.

The article focuses on the hermeneutics of an Orthodox theologian Fr John Breck and raises three questions: First, whether the often exaggerated conflict between allegory and typology could be overcome by an expansion of the literal-historical meaning to include other ways of meaning possibly intended by the biblical authors. Second, how the spiritual-contemplative reading that was kept more firmly in sight by the pre-critical methods of interpretation could be recovered today. Third, what kind of synthesis between the pre-critical and the critical methods of interpretation is possible/necessary if we want to maintain that the main attention should not be given to the text of the Bible as such but to the life-giving Logos and the vivifying Spirit testified by the text, so that the word of God could truly remain a lamp to our feet and a light to our path (Ps 119:105).

La “perfezione” (teleiótes) fin dai tempi del NT e soprattutto dal tempo della vita terrena di Gesù Cristo è stato l’imperativo e l’obiettivo principale dei membri della chiesa, una chiesa che nei primi secoli ha vissuto e praticato i precetti evangelici e apostolici esclusivamente “nel mondo”. L’insegnamento dei padri dei primi quattro secoli sulla questione della perfezione spirituale ha nel complesso un chiaro fondamento biblico, essendo soprattutto basato sulle parole di Gesù, ma anche sull’AT. La perfezione cristiana costituì una questione centrale anche nella primitiva letteratura monastica, la quale, come si è già accennato, adottò lo sviluppo teologico della perfezione spirituale dagli autori precedenti e in particolare da quelli della scuola alessandrina, Origene e Clemente di Alessandria, considerata anche la vicinanza geografica dei grandi centri del monachesimo egiziano al grande centro spirituale del cristianesimo primitivo, Alessandria.

Исцељење у теолошком речнику не односи се искључиво на излечење од какве физичке или психичке болести, већ описује однос човека са Богом. Због тога се Црква назива лечилиштем јер је она уједно и простор и догађај у коме се тај однос остварује.