"Church and World Dogmatics": The Ecumenical Need for a Paradigm Shift in Modern Orthodox Theology and Education.

Although it seems that modern Orthodox theology has finally overcome (or not?) the so-called "Babylonian or scholastic captivity", it seems to havefallen prey to a newform of captivity. This means that the glorious patristic and Byzantine past continues to be its basic point of reference, determining the method but also the content of modern theology. If this is the case, the distinction between Church dogmatics and Church and World dogmatics (P. Valliere) could be used here to describe the current situation in modern Orthodox theology, at least in the Greek milieu. Although more or less a schematic one, this distinction provides us with a good hermeneutical toolfor exploring the methodology, content, and perspective of contemporary theological education and curricula, and possibly the means of articulating a new perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]