For the Life of the World? And of the Church too! Quality of Ethics as a Diagnostic Key for the Orthodox Church

2021 ◽  
pp. 095394682110580
Author(s):  
Vasileios Thermos
Keyword(s):  
Social Ethics ◽  
Great Benefit ◽  
Three Dimensions ◽  
Orthodox Church ◽  
Historical Significance ◽  
The World ◽  
Diagnostic Key ◽  
The Church

This article attempts an overall assessment of the Ecumenical Patriarchate document on Orthodox social ethics, For the Life of the World, articulated along three dimensions: a) Radicalism, in terms of the radical reminders on Orthodox morality that the document succeeds in highlighting, b) Pervasiveness, with regard to the question on how the principles exposed in the document are (or should be) valid across all local Orthodox Churches, and c) Consistency, as the inner harmony between these principles and other aspects of Orthodox ecclesiastical life. It is opined that this document is of historical significance and that it can be of great benefit for the entire Church, if applied. Amidst an advanced modernity and on a critical crossroad with post-modernity, a renewal of Orthodox social ethics that both takes under consideration scientific findings and speaks a contemporary ‘language’ that faces subjectivity seriously, was especially necessary. Hereafter, what is at stake is the degree this document will be disseminated, accepted and influential.

The Orthodox Preference for Democracy: An American Response to “The Church in the Public Square” (Section II), in For the Life of the World: Toward a Social Ethos of the Orthodox Church

2021 ◽  
Vol 78 (4) ◽  
pp. 418-430
Author(s):  
Jonathan Tobias
Keyword(s):  
Orthodox Church ◽  
The Public ◽  
Clear Preference ◽  
Public Square ◽  
Modern Age ◽  
The World ◽  
The Church ◽  
Social Ethos

In For the Life of the World: Toward a Social Ethos of the Orthodox Church, there is a clear preference for the “democratic genius of the modern age.” This preference for democracy is due, in part, to the long experience of the Orthodox Church with other governmental forms, especially autocratic and authoritarian states.

Violence, War, and Capital Punishment in For the Life of the World: Toward a Social Ethos of the Orthodox Church

2021 ◽  
pp. 095394682110453
Author(s):  
Philip LeMasters
Keyword(s):  
Capital Punishment ◽  
Orthodox Church ◽  
Moral Reflection ◽  
Power Structures ◽  
The World ◽  
Underlying Causes ◽  
Causes Of Violence ◽  
Spiritual Resources ◽  
The Church ◽  
Social Ethos

In response to the challenges presented by violence, war, and capital punishment, For the Life of the World: Toward a Social Ethos of the Orthodox Church argues that foundational liturgical, canonical, and spiritual resources invite the Church to manifest a foretaste of the fullness of God’s peace amidst the brokenness of a world that remains tragically inclined toward taking the lives of those who bear the divine image and likeness. It also summons the Church to engage people and power structures toward the end of enacting practical reforms that ameliorate the underlying causes of violence, a task especially urgent in light of the powerful weapons and technologies employed by governments today. While reflecting distinctive Orthodox sensibilities on the topics it addresses, the document also presents points of commonality with other Christian traditions of theological and moral reflection, especially concerning the obligation to take realistic initiatives in peacemaking.

10. The mysteries

2019 ◽  
pp. 91-98
Author(s):  
A. Edward Siecienski
Keyword(s):  
Orthodox Church ◽  
Special Significance ◽  
The World ◽  
The Church

The Orthodox church has blessings and ceremonies for every occasion, but among the various rites of the church, seven have taken on a special significance. ‘The mysteries’ describes these seven sacraments of the Orthodox church—baptism, chrismation (confirmation), the eucharist, reconciliation (confession), the Anointing of the Sick, marriage, and Holy Orders. The Orthodox conviction is that Christ himself is encountered in each of the seven mysteries, and it is he who provides believers with the grace needed for their particular ministry or state of life. For the Orthodox, sacraments are not just ceremonies or celebrations that mark important milestones in one’s Christian journey; they are manifestations of Christ’s ongoing presence in the world.

Mary in the Hymnody of the East

2019 ◽  
pp. 105-121
Author(s):  
John Anthony McGuckin
Keyword(s):  
Literary Tradition ◽  
Virgin Mary ◽  
Eastern Orthodox ◽  
Christian Tradition ◽  
Orthodox Church ◽  
The World ◽  
The New Testament ◽  
Unbroken Line ◽  
The Church

Beginning with a notice of the major Marian hymnal elements in the New Testament text, this study goes on to consider how the most ancient Christian tradition of celebrating the role of the Virgin Mary in the salvific events the Church commemorates at prayer runs on in an unbroken line into the earliest liturgical examples from the Byzantine Greek liturgy. The study exegetes some of the chief liturgical troparia addressed to the Theotokos in the Eastern Orthodox Church ritual books. It analyses some of the more famous and renowned poetic acclamations of the Virgin in Byzantine literary tradition, such as the Sub Tuum Praesidium, the Akathist, and the Nativity Kontakion of Romanos the Melodist, but also goes on to show how the minor Theotokia (or ritual verses in honour of the Virgin), taken from the Divine Liturgy and from the Eastern Church’s Hours of Prayer, all consistently celebrate the Mother of God’s role in the salvific work of Christ in the world.

scholarly journals PERSEKUSI TERHADAP GEREJA

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adi Putra
Keyword(s):  
New Testament ◽  
General Public ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Historical Literature ◽  
The World ◽  
The New Testament ◽  
The Will ◽  
The Church

This article explains that persecution is not only happening or experienced by the general public, but it is also experienced by the Lord's Church. This opinion is evidenced by evidence of information obtained from the Bible, especially the New Testament and also in the Church's historical literature. Then discussed further with the church because the church fellowship is different from the world or does not come from the world. Because the Church has been chosen and set apart by God to live differently from the world or live like Christ. And because Christ had already experienced it, then the later Church which is a follower of Christ also experiences similar things. And this writing is endowed with perspectives that have many benefits for the Church. As described above, there are at least five benefits. Such as: the empowerment of the Church may imitate the suffering that Christ has undergone or rather the Church has done the will of Jesus; persuasion helps spread the gospel in the world, persecution of the church can be a means of God to filter and filter out which true believers and non-believers, the quality of the church's faith will be further enhanced through persecution, and persecution of the church can help the church to bear fruit.

scholarly journals ICONS, SMUGGLING AND MCDONALDIZATION OF CULTURE

Muzealnictwo ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 58 (0) ◽  
pp. 0-0
Author(s):  
Joanna Tomalska-Więcek
Keyword(s):  
Western Europe ◽  
Capital City ◽  
Eastern Orthodox ◽  
Orthodox Church ◽  
Multicultural Society ◽  
Artistic Value ◽  
The World ◽  
Grand Duchy Of Lithuania ◽  
Polish Culture ◽  
The Church

Culture undergoes constant changes. Although today, Poland is an almost ethnically homogenous country, ages ago, the dialogue of cultures took place not only on the borderlines of the First Polish Republic but also in the then capital city of Cracow. In 1390, Slavic Benedictine monks who used Old Church Slavic language settled in the church of the Holy Cross in Krakow. Francis Skaryna (Francysk Skaryna), a pioneer of Belarusian printing and later the founder of the first printing house in Eastern Europe in Vilnius, published the first Cyrillic prints in the world in Cracow and in the early 16th c. also studied there. Poland was a great example of a multicultural society. In the early 16th c. the Catholics and the Protestants, the Jews and the Armenians, the Tatars and the Karaims lived in Poland. After the Union of Lublin, the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania formed one of the biggest countries in Europe at the time; it was inhabited by the Poles, the Lithuanians, the Ukrainians and the Belarusians. In the mid-16th c. Poland became a shelter for multitudes of religious dissenters in Western Europe, such as the Lutherans, the Calvinists, and other Protestants. Today it is useless to seek traces of such multiculturality in many museums. In museums which collect paintings related to the Eastern Orthodox Church, places of monuments connected with Polish culture are frequently occupied by late icons of mediocre artistic value smuggled from Russia. The article attempts to explain this phenomenon in the context of the transformation of modern museology.

scholarly journals A Comparative Study of to Alfa Kai to Omega in the Greek New Testament (Revelation 1:8) and Asante-Twi Bible

2020 ◽  
pp. 70-77 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emmanuel Foster Asamoah
Keyword(s):  
New Testament ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
Biblical Hermeneutics ◽  
Bible Translation ◽  
The Bible ◽  
The World ◽  
Greek New Testament ◽  
Future Revision ◽  
The Church

Bible Translation has been a means the Church uses to bring the Gospel into the language of the recipients to help improve the quality of life of the indigenes. Nonetheless, it must be noted that all over the world most Bible translation materials have experienced numerous revision exercises. An example of this is the Asante-Twi versions of the Bible which has witnessed two revision works; one on the whole Bible in 2012 since its publication in 1964, and a revised New Testament version published in 2013. Even with the recent revised ones, there still exist translation problems, for some words are strange or foreign to the Asante-Twi speaking people; clear example is Revelation 1:8 which is the focus for this study. Using Mother-tongue Biblical Hermeneutics methodology, this thesis delves into the meaning of the Alfa ne Omega no in the Asante-Twi context and its usage in Revelation 1:8; vis-à-vis an exegesis of the Greek word to alfa kai to omega to find its equivalence in the Asante-Twi. It was found from the study that Ahyεaseε ne Awieeε no is the best rendition of to alfa kai to omega . This work has thus added an Akan translation and interpretation of Revelation 1:8 to the knowledge of the field of mother-tongue hermeneutics; and it is being recommended that in the future revision of the Asante-Twi Bible, the Bible Society of Ghana should consider using Ahyεaseε ne Awieeε no to translate to alfa kai to omega (to alpha kai to omega) in Revelation 1:8.

scholarly journals Doing Orthodox Political Theology Today Insights from the Document For the Life of the World: Toward a Social Ethos of the Orthodox Church (2020)

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 16-30
Author(s):  
Nikolaos Asproulis
Keyword(s):  
Liberal Democracy ◽  
Political Theology ◽  
Byzantine Empire ◽  
Orthodox Church ◽  
Eastern Orthodoxy ◽  
The Poor ◽  
The World ◽  
The Church ◽  
Made In ◽  
Social Ethos

Abstract The document titled For the Life of the World: Toward a Social Ethos of the Ortho dox Church, authored by a special commission of Orthodox scholars appointed by the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew is a document that can be definitely understood as a political manifesto of Eastern Orthodoxy for the 21st century, namely for this period of history and not for a by-gone historical setting or a Christian utopia (either the Byzantine Empire or Holy Russia), a period of time with urgent problems and challenges that call for our attention. Therefore, bringing to the fore the personalist anthropological view inherent in the document itself, an attempt has been made in the text to critically reflect and highlight certain relevant aspects of the document (a positive reception of liberal democracy, human rights language, solidarity to the poor, etc.). The goal is to show how theologically important this document is for the Church witness to our pluralistic world.

The Johannine Vision of the Church

2018 ◽  
pp. 98-118
Author(s):  
Andrew Lincoln
Keyword(s):  
Eternal Life ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Son Of God ◽  
Presence Of God ◽  
Primary Function ◽  
The World ◽  
God's Mission ◽  
The Church

This chapter focuses on how the Johannine writings envisage the identity and life of the believing community. In the Gospel’s narrative the primary function of Jesus’ followers is the continuation of God’s mission of salvific judgement for the world that has been decisively inaugurated through Jesus. Accompanied by the divine Spirit, they are to be witnesses to the truth of God’s verdict of life for the world established in the mission, death, and resurrection of Jesus. This witnessing community is to be identified by its distinctive belief in Jesus as the Messiah who is the Son of God, its following him in discipleship, and its experience of the Spirit who mediates the presence of God and Christ. The Spirit also shapes the community’s worship and mediates eternal life in the present. Such life has the quality of love, which is to be manifested in the community members’ unity and their willingness to lay down their lives for one another.

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