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The title of the paper recalls a well-known statement by Saint Isaac the Syrian about charity. It is widely assumed that charity and compassion are properly directed towards our fellow human beings. This paper explores their extension to all of creation by St Isaac and other Fathers and saints (both ancient and modern) and outlines a theological rationale for this extension. Contemporary Orthodox accounts of our responsibility towards the non-human creation often focus upon our role as priests of creation. In this paper, I argue that such a sacramental approach is necessary but not sufficient. Without careful qualification, the priesthood metaphor (like the dominion and stewardship metaphors) is too anthropocentric to offer a viable basis for genuinely compassionate care for creation. For Saint Isaac, compassion for all creatures was expressed primarily through prayerful concern. I argue that such prayerful concern entails righteous action. Finally, I briefly explore the practical meaning of righteous action in relation to an environment compromised by anthropogenic climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyzes Orthodox influence on developing national identity in modern Ukraine. The authors state that the factor of national specificity of Christianity is evident if we consider nations, especially in Central and Eastern Europe. In addition, Christianity influences the development of national cultures and has acquired the national characteristics of a particular community. Also, the war in Ukraine, which was started by the Russian Federation on 24 February 2022, has significantly impacted socio-cultural processes in Ukraine, the functioning of national identity, and the religious situation, especially regarding the Orthodox churches. Authors pay attention to the reference to the topic of national identity in the documents and sermons of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine to show how the Orthodox hierarchies treat these issues. In addition, they study the ideologies that the Russian Orthodox Church creates and tries to impose through the faithful of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church churches of the Moscow Patriarchate as a dominant cultural, religious, and political discourse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the forms of female asceticism preserved in the so-called extended recension of the Life of St. Nino – a young Christian Virgin who converted the eastern Georgian kingdom of Iberia in the beginning of the fourth century. This study attempts to reinterpret the traditionally-established point of view about the origins of this composition and investigates several aspects of early Georgian Christianity. According to traditional scholarly opinion, the Vita of St. Nino was composed during the eighth and ninth centuries in order to reinforce the cult of the holy virgin who converted Iberia but the contextualization of the vita into the literary realm of late antiquity reveals more ancient origins of various episodes and layers of the vita. We see martyrs, missionaries, miracle workers, prophets and apostles in the images of Nino and her fellow women. Nino is a typical representative of the female ascetic community formed in early Christendom. Apparently, after the invention of the Georgian alphabet, the literary interactions between Georgians and other eastern Christian peoples intensified. As the Martyrdom of the holy Queen Šušanik reveals, already in the fifth century Georgians had translated the acts of martyrs which certainly influenced the subsequent development of Georgian literature. Of course, the Life has an overwhelmingly legendary and fictional character but its 'sacred fictions' originated much earlier than has generally been thought in scholarship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ecclesial communities that separated themselves from the Orthodox Church of the Roman Empire in the aftermath of the Fourth Ecumenical Council (the Council of Chalcedon of 451) are known today as the Oriental Orthodox or Non-Chalcedonian Churches. They comprise the Coptic Orthodox, Syrian Orthodox, Apostolic Armenian, and Tewahedo Ethiopian Churches. Attempts to reunite them to the imperial Church were abandoned in the mid-sixth century and were only resumed unofficially in 1964 and then officially in 1985. The Official Consultation was suspended in 1994 after a strong protest from the Holy Community of Mount Athos concerning the theological implications of the Agreed Statements and has only recently been resumed. The issues discussed in the two books under review include the compatibility of different understandings of the key terms of Christology, the role of contextual theology, and the non-negotiability of the status of ecumenical councils. Both books make important contributions to what is still an intensely debated problematic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A unique figure in the Orthodox Church, André Scrima was a bridge-personality among Christians and between Christianity and other religions. In his early works, bearing witness to a "spiritual inheritance" and a "blessing of grace" that he had personally received, he stressed the inner dimension of Eastern Christianity represented by Hesychastic spirituality -- a perennial divine inspiration manifested across history. But both as a spiritual figure and a professor of comparative religion, he oriented his reflection toward considering the religious plurality of the world from a Christian perspective. Searching for the "lieu théologal" of hospitality for others' spiritualities became one of the main purposes of Scrima's reflections which occasionally dealt in a sympathetic as well as critical manner with Traditionalism. This paper aims to highlight the interest raised by an Orthodox reflection on the so-called "esoteric" side of his Tradition which leads to a hermeneutic of religious diversity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the spirituality of Saint Benedict which depend upon the mystery of the Incarnation in the Christian. It highlights the incarnational foundation and incarnational theology of Christianity. It presents views of Ioan Moga , assistant professor at the Institute for Historical Theology at the Catholic Theological Faculty of University of Vienna, on liturgical life of the Orthodox Church.

In the following study we will try to identify some dogmatic aspects and practical issues which have resulted from the dialogue between the Eastern Orthodox Churches and the Oriental Orthodox Churches, that occurred between the 1960's and the 1980's, just in the beginning of the theological dialogue, in the so-called unofficial dialogue. We will mainly underline the non-theological factors that shaped the bilateral relations between these Christians over the centuries and when the dialogue was initiated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After the Shoah, the Catholic-Jewish dialogue has reached considerable intellectual depth, existential honesty, theological advancement and thematic width. The Orthodox Church, however, has hardly started its process of reconciliation. At the heart of the problem is the patristic argumentation on the forsakenness of the Jews, which in the Early Church was organically connected with the truth of Christianity. The patristic authors, however, were largely ignorant of the theological developments of Rabbinic Judaism and thus based their reasoning on mistaken presuppositions. In our times, this is especially clear with the patristic argument that it is perpetually impossible for the Jews to return to rule their Holy Land and Jerusalem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study focuses on ananalysis of a Jewish genus expression, found in a kontakion with a still doubtful paternity. This expression gave rise to an entire academic discussion, often with contradictory opinions, on the Jewish origin of Romanos. This study contributes to this debate by bringing forth new evidence from both West and East, which can make up a new tool for evaluating the expression itself. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 1999, the Roman Catholic Church and the Lutheran World Federation signed the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification, one of the main points at issue at the time of the 16th‐century Reformation. This article seeks to offer an Orthodox perspective on the Joint Declaration, through presenting an "Orthodox" approach to the doctrine of justification as the doctrine is set out in the text of the Joint Declaration. The article then discusses how this approach is reflected in the three international and regional dialogues between the Orthodox Church and the churches of the Reformation that took place almost simultaneously with the dialogue leading to the Lutheran–Catholic Joint Declaration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relationship and abiding tension between the two educational traditions of exothen and kath'imas education in Byzantium is a theme that persisted with greater or lesser intensity for over a thousand years. Examining the writings of Saint Gregory Palamas in the Hesychast Controversy one discovers the rekindling of this debate during the mid-fourteenth century. What stands out in this particular instance of the debate is Gregory's articulation of a dual-epistemological theory of knowledge, and the effect this has for understanding the relationship between philosophical and theological knowledge as embodied in the two educational traditions of Byzantium. Gregory's teachings with respect to the distinction between the uncreated essence and uncreated energies of God ultimately provide the underlying basis of this dual-epistemology and its ramifications for resolving the tensions of the exothen and kath'imas educational traditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The image of our Lord Jesus Christ as 'Pantokrator' (Παντοκράτωρ, which means 'ruler of all'), as depicted in the ecclesial space is existentially relevant because it portrays him as both transcendent master of the cosmos and immanent giver of peace; a state that all Christians are called to cultivate, through God's grace and their own striving, in order to participate in the kingdom of heaven. This typically Byzantine image--while appearing in functioning Catholic churches throughout Italy--is part of the shared tradition of the undivided Church of the first millennium and is more frequently used in the Orthodox Church. This article addresses mosaics of the Pantokrator in the Byzantine art of Italy, specifically in the cathedral of St Mark's in Venice, and in Sicily's Cappella Palatina and Monreale cathedral. The article argues that the typically Orthodox image of Christ Pantokrator should inspire all Christians who include it in their artistic repertoires to bring it to the foreground, as the peace bestowed by the Pantokrator is especially needed in our tumultuous modern society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this article is to outline the consistent apologetic function and literary value of the acta describing the trial and execution of St Justin Martyr and his disciples in Rome (aspects which have largely been overlooked by scholarship hitherto). To this end, it will examine whether the most authentic recensions echo the apologist's understanding of the rapports between Christianity and pagan philosophy. Moreover, it will discuss the editors' articulation of Christian identity through their representation of Justin and his disciples, including the influence of the New Testament in this regard. It will also highlight the editors' censure of paganism via their negative depiction of Quintus Junius Rusticus (a descendant of a Stoic martyr, an influential philosopher himself, and the urban prefect who served as Justin's judge). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite its many strengths, Engelhardt's After God displays two surprising features: an affinity for voluntaristic ethics and a tendency to oppose Eastern Orthodoxy (as a purely revealed religion) to philosophy. Neither of these is in keeping with the mainstream of Eastern Orthodox tradition. Here, I offer a modest corrective. I begin with the figure of Socrates as presented in the Apology and Phaedo, highlighting the role that faith plays for Socrates and the reasons why he was widely admired by the early Church. I then describe more broadly the attitude of the Greek Church Fathers to philosophy, showing that, although they were cautious of its potential errors, they nonetheless embraced the ideal of philosophy as a way of life dedicated to the pursuit of wisdom. For many, in fact, Christianity is itself simply the true philosophy, an attitude that led many of the most eminent patristic and Byzantine theologians to draw extensively on philosophical sources. Finally, I discuss the Euthyphro dilemma, contrasting the voluntaristic approach favored by Engelhardt with the Platonic approach adopted by the mainstream of Orthodox tradition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Starting from the investigation of the documents issued by the Bishops who participated in the Holy Pan-Orthodox Council held in June 2016 in Crete, the author speaks in this research about the way in which ecumenism is understood from the perspective of this important event. The article tries to answer the question 'How did the event influence the Orthodox attitude towards ecumenism?' analysing documents, Mission of the Orthodox Church in Today's World and Relations of the Orthodox Church with the Rest of the Christian World, he shows that the dialogue entailed by ecumenism is perceived nowadays, according to the documents of the World Council of Churches, like a pilgrimage of justice and peace, and he highlights the main topics of this perception. Therefore, he shows that, according to the documents, a real and fruitful dialogue with other Christian faiths must be based on the Trinitarian witness, the Bible, the Tradition, the Creed and the teaching of the Seven Councils and that, among its main topics, one must definitely mention the witness, love, dialogue, the fight against discrimination or the care for the future of the Earth. The relevance of the ecclesiological background and of its understanding for the future of this dialogue is also mentioned. The documents are investigated in a deductive and comparative-analytic way by the author. If before the Council there was no official general attitude of the Orthodox space regarding ecumenism, nor an official document on this topic - although between 1968 and 1998 (the year when the Georgian and Bulgarian Orthodox Churches withdrew from the WCC), all the Orthodox Churches were members of the WCC - after this event, there is an official position and a list of main topics that could be developed and principles that should be respected for a fruitful dialogue in the future, at least for the Churches that took part in the Council. By analysing the aforementioned topics, by correlating them with other texts dedicated to the Council of Crete, and also by emphasising the perception of the Orthodox Church about ecumenical dialogue and its developments starting from the aforementioned event, the research brings into attention a sensitive topic and highlights some of its important, but not enough highlighted, aspects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Especially within the framework of collapsing multi-national empires, the end of the Great War brought about certain ethnically-charged processes meant to engender solidarity, which were completed through a translation of power centers and the emergence of new states, or the refashioning of extant ones. The present research examines the mobilization of national groups towards the end of 1918, through an analysis of a social-professional group that was deeply involved in the processes of national identification: the middle clergy. In order to narrow down this broad object of analysis, our research prioritizes the examination of the Romanian archpriests, who interceded between communities (parishes), ecclesiastical institutions, and the local and central state administration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: John Henry Newman spearheaded one of the first modern retrievals of the Christian doctrine of deification. This article argues that, precisely because of the early date of Newman's rehabilitation, his treatment is not tinted by the polemics surrounding theosis that developed in the late nineteenth century between Eastern and Western Christianity. To Newman, deification is not an Eastern doctrine, it is not cause for division between East and West, and it does not supplant justification. Instead, it arises from a broad patristic consensus, it is a tool for union among the churches, and it provides resources for understanding justification properly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Following a period of decline beginning in the early eighteenth century, the Orthodox Church in Russia held a general council in Moscow from August 1917 to September 1918. More than 500 clergy and laity met, prayed and discussed numerous issues relating to the church’s life and witness. The Moscow Council was prompted by various trends of renewal which were growing ever stronger among the clergy and laity. Political circumstances at the time also made the Council possible: a preparatory preconciliar process was initiated in 1905, in parallel with the first revolution against Emperor Nicholas II, and the Council itself was convened in 1917, in parallel with the establishment of a Provisional Government. However, it was precisely such political events which led to the premature interruption of the Council. The main items on the Council’s agenda were linked to the reformation of church structures and the implementation of conciliar provisions at every level of church life: parish, deanery, diocese and autocephalous church. Special attention was given to the renewal of the pastoral ministries of priests and bishops, and to that of committed laity. In a way, the Moscow Council was a kind of ‘first encounter’ of Orthodoxy with contemporary societies, secularised or on the road to secularisation. Its legacy is therefore of great interest to all Christianity today. This article aims to analyse the Council and the main decisions made, in the light of ecclesiology, and to provide a primary bibliography at the end of the text. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines modern Orthodox Christianity as a postcolonial movement as of October 2017. Topics include traditional Orthodoxy as a marker of communal identity, the struggle for meaning and relevance after years of theological and cultural captivity, and the perceived threats to Orthodox teaching and practice. Also discussed are tradition by negation, the Balkan independence movements in the 19th century, and intellectual hegemony.

The article provides information on Constitutional Agreement approved by Georgian government for Constitution of Georgia and Orthodox Eastern Church. Topics discussed include risks of the domination and religious issues, Civil Integration Committee and international law, and religion of Orthodox Christianity.

This paper addresses the way that religious affiliation and conversion shape ongoing tensions over historical periods of exile, resettlement, exodus and elimination in a small town on the Eastern Polish border. I explore how local Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Christian’s negotiations of a troubled past are materialized and managed through narrating family histories of conversion, In particular, this paper focuses on the compromises that enable mixed faith marriages and the conflicts that emerge over the burial of religious converts. In these negotiations, members of both congregations deploy the local model of “neighbourliness” and the ideal of the borderlander, to greater and lesser success. Day-to-day the practice of considered neighbourliness helps local people to acknowledge and minimize religious and ethnic difference. However, conversion brings the realms of religion and relatedness into conjunction in a risky manner: marriage may offer an opportunity to enhance neighbourly connections, but burial is an event where the tensions over histories of conflict become apparent disrupting neighbourly relations and practices. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The Orthodox Church is known for its liturgical aesthetics. The rich liturgical cycle consists of several liturgical offices celebrated throughout the year, complete with icons, chant, polyphony, and powerful ritual gestures. The Divine Liturgy is the external symbol of the typical Orthodox liturgy. The liturgical celebration profoundly shapes the inner and outer lives of the liturgical participants, as liturgy is a constant and repetitive rehearsal of dying and rising to new life. This article examines the most salient patterns and instances of dying and rising to new life in Orthodox liturgy and concludes with a reflection on how engaging this process might have a greater impact on the daily lives of Orthodox Christians today. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article explores territorial jurisdiction according to Eastern Orthodox Church in line with the relationship between the church and state. Topics covered include the symphonia between Church ad state or between Emperor and priesthood according to Saint Maximos, impact of Emperor Constantine's conversion to Christianity and his support for the Christian Church on the Church's universal mission, system of patriarchates and imperial structures and the notion of Emperor-Empire-Church.

This essay offers an overview of the history of the relations between science and Eastern Christianity based on Greek-language sources. The civilizations concerned are the Byzantine Empire, the Christian Orthodox communities of the Ottoman Empire, and modern Greece, as a case study of a national state. Beginning with the Greek Church Fathers, the essay investigates the ideas of theologians and scholars on nature. Neoplatonism, the theological debates of Iconoclasm and Hesychasm, the proposed union of the Eastern and Western Churches, and the complex relations with the Hellenic past all had notable impacts on the conception of science held by the Byzantine Orthodox. From the sixteenth through the eighteenth centuries, the Christian Orthodox world did not actively participate in the making of the new science that was developing in modern Europe. It had to deal with the assimilation of scientific ideas produced by Western Christianity, and its main concern was the "legitimacy" of knowledge that did not originate directly from its own spiritual tradition. Finally, with regard to the Greek state, beyond the specific points of contact between the sciences and Orthodox Christianity--pertaining, for example, to materialism, evolution, and the calendar--the essay presents the constant background engagement with religion visible in most public pronouncements of scientists and intellectuals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay considers some of the major theological differences between Eastern and Western traditions of Christianity and puts forward proposals about how these might be related to the divergent trajectories of the formal study of nature in these two cultural contexts. A key difference lies in the "other-worldly" orientation of Eastern Orthodoxy and its emphasis on deification, which contrast sharply with ideas of original sin and fall--redemption theology in the West. These latter ideas came to play a significant role in the rise of Western science, with the sciences being understood as part of a practical redemptive exercise that could help alleviate the material consequences of original sin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Though Eastern Christians generally regard the Western part of the Church to have split from Orthodoxy permanently in 1054, there have been calls by some to modify the date of this as regards the Anglo-Saxon Church. These Orthodox lay scholars and bishops argue that the Anglo-Saxon Church was more closely aligned with the Orthodox East rather than the Roman Catholic West, as evidenced by the canonisation of St Edward the Confessor and advocacy for the canonisation of King Harold II. This article questions these assertions by looking at the evidence provided by Anglo-Saxon connection to the Western Church, as well as the migration of Anglo-Saxons to Byzantium following the Battle of Hastings, as described in theJátvarðar Saga. It concludes by discussing what implications these findings have for the Orthodox Church in its canonisation of a technically non-Orthodox saint. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the present article is to analyse the way in which the main Christian traditions define the charismata, or the gifts of the Holy Spirit. As we shall see, the definitions provided by the Catholic, the Eastern Orthodox or the Reformed Theologies are very broad, while in Pentecostal theology charismata have a rather technical meaning. Finally, we will observe that a good clarification of the concepts in question could help the development of the interfaith theological dialogue, from the pneumatologicalpoint of view. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Some outstanding contributions notwithstanding, much recent scholarship in Western European languages concerning art and the sacred has been quite prolific but has generally avoided discussion of specifically liturgical music, a particular problem when dealing with the sacred music of the Orthodox Church. The present discussion aims at establishing some bases for furthering this discussion, drawing not only on recent commentators but especially commentary on the question of liturgical singing by the Fathers of the Church. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the Republic of Georgia, Baptists are marginalized minorities vis-à-vis the powerful Georgian Orthodox Church. In recent years, Baptists have adopted ‘culturally relevant’ reforms, incorporating Orthodox symbols and sensibilities into worship and administration. These reforms also include the deployment of a historical narrative identifying them as authentic members of the ostensibly Orthodox national community. Based on ethnographic fieldwork among Georgian Baptists, I investigate how they use history to constitute new frames for interpreting themselves as appropriate to local contexts. Revising their history has helped constitute a viable national identity by ‘localizing’ Baptist faith and experience in the Georgian Orthodox milieu. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The author presents a perspective of an Orthodox Christian about the context of the "The Church: Towards a Common Vision" (TCTCV) document of the World Council of Churches (WCC). Topics discussed by the author include how the document serves as an acknowledgement of the ecumenical councils that helped to maintain orthodoxy, how modern ecumenical movement is driven by a contradiction, and the solid ecumenical relationships of the Orthodox Church.

The article offers information on Mother Maria Skobtsova, who was born in 1891 in Riga in the Russian Empire and experienced world wars, the Russian Revolution, and family problems. It informs Mother Maria was recognized as a saint of the holy Orthodox Church in 2004 by the Ecumenical Patriarch for her efforts towards humanity during wars. It also discusses Maria's motherhood-of-God love.

The article discusses panorama of marriage and family in Orthodox Church. Topics discussed include similarities and differences between the Catholic and Orthodox perspectives of the nuptial rite and of marriage, aim of Christian marriage and family is salvation, and marital relationship between man and a woman.

The essay examines the central role that pleasure plays in a wide range of conceptualisations of happiness or ‘good life’, from Epicurean hedonism, to Christian asceticism, to contemporary cases of pastoral and philosophical counselling. Despite the apparent moral chasm between hedonists and ascetics, a look at the practices promoted by Epicurus and the Christian monastic fathers reveals striking similarities. The reason is that, at a fundamental level, both parties agree that one should reject the vulgar pleasures that society glorifies, and develop a refined attitude that seeks the appropriate and natural pleasures, while ignoring the harmful or unnecessary ones. And such an attitude can only be acquired through moral training, either by philosophical instruction and reflection, or by pastoral counselling. We highlight some important parallels regarding the connection between pleasure and happiness, as conceived by Epicureans and monastic fathers of the Eastern Orthodox Church. We begin by discussing elements of Epicureanism that can also be found in its rival philosophical schools and Christianity, mainly the emphasis on forming the right conception of happiness and acting in accordance with it. We then examine the connection between morality and happiness in the Christian Orthodox monasticism. We argue that Christian ascetic ethics not only condone some types of pleasures, but in fact require them as elements of happiness in this life that play an instrumental role for the Christian soteriological dogma. The argument has wider philosophical significance because it shows that pleasure is indeed a fundamental conceptual ingredient of happiness across different normative ethical contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Any community supposedly identified with a "single" kind of Christianity is likely to contain conflicts and divisions due to the different logics and temporalities associated, respectively, with ecclesiastical institutions, popular practices, and scriptural texts. These conflicts may extend even to basic ontological assumptions. This article looks at clashes concerning popular practices surrounding relics and icons in Eastern Orthodoxy. It asks what are the ethical stakes when people insist on the powers of material things even in the face of withering criticism and contempt from inside and outside their church. That criticism, which can have both theological and atheistic bases, often focuses on the allegedly instrumental reasoning and selfish motives of people who expect to receive divine intervention from objects such as relics and icons. I argue that popular practices that focus on the agency of objects may above all be responding to material properties as ethical affordances. These affordances provide ways of treating the world as ethically saturated. In the Eastern Orthodox context, this may be one way for ordinary villagers to take lofty theological claims about the divine nature of humans in concrete terms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While there has been much scholarship on Orientalism in relation to Islam and other non-Christian religions, the relationship between Orientalism and Eastern forms of Christianity has rarely received any scholarly attention. Late nineteenth and early twentieth-century scholarship and travel writing from the United States and Britain contain countless descriptions of Eastern Christianity that make use of Orientalist tropes, but also attempt to reconcile what the authors saw as two mutually exclusive categories: Oriental and Christian. This article argues that the rhetoric employed in these accounts portrays Eastern Christianity using somatic language as a body that paradoxically lies between life (Christianity) and death (the Orient), and can only be resuscitated by Western intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]