Synods of the Orthodox Church
When is a Synod of the Church considered Ecumenical? An Ecumenical Synod is one : 1. that is convened with the permission of an Emperor of the Roman Empire, extending over an Ecumenical (pan-Roman) range, and of course a pan-Christian range. The participating Bishops were the representatives of worldwide Orthodoxy. 2. whose rulings have been […]
Faith and Science as a Theological Problem
Introduction We shall now attempt to approach this topic, from within the perspective of the Orthodox Patristic Tradition. In this way, a historical-spiritual perspective is opened up, which simultaneously reveals the variation and the difference between the world that we have voluntarily incorporated ourselves in, with the world of our Romanian (Hellenic-Orthodox) tradition. 1. Problem, […]
Orthodoxy and Sociopolitical “Deaconship”
Introduction The argument is often stated that Orthodoxy does not provide the solutions one might expect for the structuring and organization of life in society; that it is merely “a religion of the hereafter”, with exclusively meta-historical aims, outside of the solid, historical reality – of “here and now”; that it is limited exclusively to […]
Paradise and Hell according to Orthodox Tradition
On the Last Sunday of Lent “we commemorate the Second and Incorruptible Coming of our Lord Jesus Christ”. The expression “we commemorate” of the Book of Saints confirms that our Church, as the Body of Christ, re-enacts in its worship the Second Coming of Christ as an “event” and not just something that is historically […]
Philokalian Distinction Between Orthodoxy and Heresy
1. Introduction It is a known fact that a precise definition of Orthodoxy as a Church is impossible, because “Orthodoxy-Church” is a Divine-human magnitude and, as far as its divine element is concerned, it supersedes every intellectual-logical conception. So, if we wished to somehow define Orthodoxy, we could say the following: Orthodoxy is the presence […]
In Prayer and Fasting
In Prayer and Fasting (Worship and Ascesis as the coordinates of Orthodox spiritual living) 1. Spiritual life and ecclesiastic theology The composition of the Church’s life – in its local and its universal manifestation – has a unique and steadfast objective: to be the members’ path towards theosis (deification); the “thorough” (1 Thess. 5:23) incorporation […]
Preface
Several years ago I had compiled a number of my studies, which had originally been written in German for poemantic purposes, as an aid for German visitors in Greece, who desired to learn about the Orthodox faith and tradition. That book, “LEBEN IM LEIBE CHRISTI” (Life in the Body of Christ), Athens 1990, and its […]
The redemptive dialogue between created and uncreated in history
History, according to one point of view, is the eternal “carriage of world reality”, which takes every man from the first moment of his life, and transports him to his eternal destination. Man, as a persona, i.e. a God-created, free being, deposits his acts (RES GESTAE) in History and at the same time he self-actualizes […]
Introduction: Christianity as a Church throughout History
1. The origin and the revealing of the Church The characterization of the Church by the Apostle Paul as the “Body of Christ” and Christ as Her “Head” (Coloss.1, 24:18) brought the Church into a direct association with Christ. Being joined to the eternal Logos of God, the Church is likewise eternal and pre-existent before […]
THE MISSION OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
The Holy Spirit was not revealed in the same manner in which the Son was revealed; He remains unapproachable to man. He is however recognized in His divine energies, through the gifts which He bestows upon the faithful. He is “the treasury of good things and the bestower of life”, according to the prayer of […]