THEOLOGY AND PHILOSOPHY IN THE BYZANTINE EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM. CONSIDERATIONS ON THE METHOD OF ORTHODOX THEOLOGY
THEOLOGY AND PHILOSOPHY IN THE BYZANTINE EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM. CONSIDERATIONS ON THE METHOD OF ORTHODOX THEOLOGY

Summary/Abstract: In a stark contrast to western scholasticism, the Church of Byzantium refused any new synthesis of Hellenism and Christianity and remained committed to the first such synthesis perfected during the patristic period. Even though it did not aim at eliminating Hellenism altogether, it is undeniable that there was in fact an almost permanent tension between conservative theologians and humanist philosophers. In Byzantium the theological education was less specialized and more spontaneous in character; it was diffuse and closer to one’s life, much more personal and liturgical. Byzantine theology had never been a school-theology – it had never been taught in schools or universities. The monasteries and not Byzantium’s secular humanist or conservative circles were the place that nurtured theological creativity and produces the great Byzantine theology. Philosophy had always had a theological, ascetical, and spiritual sense, as well as a gnoseological and speculative dimension. What was deemed as ‘true philosophy’ was the love of God Who is Wisdom itself, and living a rational life, free from passions. In contemporary society it would be inconceivable to revive the Byzantine educational system, to elude the scientific character of theology or to create two poles within theology – science and discourse versus spiritual experience, prayer, and contemplation – because it would reiterate the very mistake scholasticism had made in its tendency to break away from spirituality, only in the opposite direction.

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