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Abstract After the fall of the Byzantine Empire in 1453 and the following centuries of Ottoman occupation, especially in Eastern Europe and the Balkans, a series of unpredictable and difficult [...]

The present text provides a critical approach from an Eastern Orthodox perspective to the joint message issued by Pope Francis, the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, and the Archbishop of Canterbury for the protection of creation. After contextualizing the message in the framework of the various initiatives recently undertaken by the Church leaders as well as the last UN summit (COP 26) on climate crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic, the author highlights certain strong points of the text (ontological link between people and creation; solidarity for the poor, etc.), along with few shortcomings (e.g. a thin liturgical dimension; absence of an animal studies perspective). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper an attempt is made to discuss the importance of the Holy Spirit in the development ofan Orthodox political theology, by bringing into critical dialogue the recent contributions of two of the most known Orthodox theologians of the young generation, namely A. Papanikolaou and P. Kalaitzidis. It is commonly recognized that the Holy Spirit is closely related both to the very "constitution of the whole Church" in virtue of the Eucharistic event, as well as to the everyday charismatic lives of individual Christians due to the various forms or stages of ascetism. In this respect a careful comparative examination of these two important works, would highlight some invaluable elements (Eucharistic perspective, eschatological orientation, historical commitment, ethical action, open and critical dialogue with modernity etc.) toward a formulation of a comprehensive and urgently necessary political theology. This sort of political theology should have inevitable implications for the Christian perception of the communal and the individual ecclesial life. This "theo-political" program proposed by the two thinkers and founded on a robust Pneumatology, could be perfectly included, following the apostolic kerygma and the patristic ethos, into a new way of doing (Orthodox) Christian theology, that takes as its starting point the grammar of the self Revelation of God in the ongoing history of salvation ("Church and World Dogmatics"). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pareizticīgo teoloģija atšķirībā no katoļu un protestantu teoloģijām universitāšu vidē ir iegājusi relatīvi nesen (kopš 19. gs.), tāpēc modernais to ir iespaidojis daudz mazāk. Tomēr 20. gs. arī pareizticīgo teologu aprindās sākās pavērsiens no bizantiskā uz moderno un postmoderno pasaules redzējumu, precīzāk, uz kristīgām refleksijām, kam izveidojies dialogs ar šiem strāvojumiem. Vienlaikus pareizticīgā teoloģija atbrīvojās no Rietumiem pārņemtās un tai svešās sholastiskās pieejas. Tās vietā gan daudzi Austrumu baznīcu teologi ar jaunu sparu idealizēja patriarhālo Bizantijas perioda kristīgo domu. Rakstā noraidīta sholastiskā pieeja, kas nodala radīto pasauli no Dieva žēlastības; tās vietā akcentēta dievišķā-cilvēciskā sinerģija. Ticība Kristū atklātajam Dievam nosaka teoloģijas un ar to saistītās izglītības pastāvēšanas veidu. Katrs kristietis Dieva atklāsmes vēsturē ir liecinieks un ikona, līdz ar to vienīgais veids, kā teoloģijai palikt uzticīgai tās pamatiem, ir uztvert cilvēces vēsturi pozitīvi un akadēmiskajā kontekstā būt atvērtai citām disciplīnām. Rakstā teoloģija postulēta kā atvērts, attiecībās ar citām ideju sistēmām topošs projekts, ņemot vērā, ka 21. gs. par tās centrālo problēmu ir kļuvusi antropoloģija. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]