ТИПИКОН ИВЕРСКОГО МОНАСТЫРЯ НА АФОНЕ: ПРЕДПОСЫЛКИ И ПАРАЛЛЕЛИ

Author(s): Salome ZVIADADZE / Language(s): Russian Issue: 51/2021

The paper deals the preconditions and parallels of the typicon of Iviron monastery, similarities and differences between them. It shows that the typicon Gregory of Khantsta developed in the 9th century was based on the typicon of the Lavra of Sabbas the sanctified in Palestine. Presumably, it would have been adjusted to the conditions of the Khantsta Monastery. The experience Father Gregory received during his trip to Greece could also be included at his discretion. The Typicon of the Iviron Monastery in Athos was probably developed at the end of the 10th century. Georgian scientists have found that it was developed account for the traditions established on Athos. The lifestyles of the brethren in Khantsta and Athos are essentially the same. This can be explained by the fact that the rules of life in Orthodox Christian monasteries were in general strictly determined and they have remained valid up until now.

Teologia ca ştiinţă şi mărturisire în viziunea Părintelui profesor dr. Ioan Ică. Biserica Ortodoxă Română (BOR) în dialog cu Biserica Evanghelică din Germania (EKD)

Author(s): Valer Bel / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 09/2021

In his didactic activity and scientific research, Father Ioan Ică always emphasized the need to study the sources and to renew theology in accordance with patristic theology in order to elaborate a professing theology in the context of today’s world. In this regard, Father Professor Ioan Ică remains a model of akriveia and theological scientific seriousness. As a sign of appreciation and gratitude for his hard work in the field of theological education and in the service of the Church, we will briefly present the results of his research and reflections on theology as a science and confession, as per his university courses and studies on this topic.

Cu ochii în soare, cu nasul la stele şi cu mirarea în suflet

Author(s): Răzvan Ionescu / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 09/2021

The article evokes the personality of Father Professor Ioan Ică Senior, starting from a reading suggestion made by the Reverend Professor himself to the Theology students, namely Jeni Acterian’s Journal. Father Professor Ioan Ică Senior, a renowned teacher transferred in the early 90s from Sibiu to Cluj, was haloed by the precious translations and studies he published at Deisis, the prestigious publishing house run by his son. Tall, imposing, volcanic, theatrical at times, never given over to routine and boredom, always with a thin smile, piercing black eyes joyfully narrowing when the disciple understood deep meanings and flinching when the disciple seemed to stray off. Father Ică had an insatiable appetite for books and intellectual performance.

La Plecarea unui Senior al Teologiei Dogmatice româneşti

Author(s): Constantin Necula / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 09/2021

This text is an evocation of Reverend Professor Ioan Ică Senior, on his departure from this life. For many generations of students and – later – priests, Father Ică Senior was the Theology Professor par excellence. Explosive in knowledge, he ignited in his students the love for Jesus Christ, the Holy Fathers or modern theologians. He was, for a long time, the one who supplied the students with the latest book released or who explained for them, in a christian note, the multitude of changes in the world we live in. Optimistic and lucid, the Reverend Father was one of the great Christian spirit coaches that the Romanian academic theology ever had.

Însemnătatea teologiei dogmatice în contemporaneitate. In memoriam Părintele Profesor Ioan Ică sr

Author(s): Grigore Dinu Moş / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 09/2021

The study is an apology of dogmatic theology, in the face of the multiple attacks that come today not only from a secular ideological area, but even from the position of other theological disciplines, which want to be free from the rigors of dogmatics. The significance of dogma, its central character both in the academic theological system and in the life of the Church, results from the multitude and importance of its functions: the hermeneutic function of dogma in relation to the Holy Scripture, absolutely necessary to remain within Orthodoxy; the function of founding, determining and guiding the spiritual life; the contemplative and cultural function of dogma. The study shows the baselessness of the accusations brought against dogmatic theology, the superficiality and ignorance that made them appear. A truly subtle trap is highlighted: the anti-intellectual pathos and the dictatorship of emotions that the present era destructively propagates are not real allies of Orthodoxy which, unfortunately, largely identifies danger in the rigidity of scholasticism (and sometimes even in reason itself), not in the postmodern dissolution that truly threatens the dogmatic articulation of faith. But first of all, the patristic position (significantly undisputed in the eastern space until the end of the twentieth century) reaffirms that dogmas are necessary for salvation.

Идеје евроазијства и „руски Христос“ Достојевског

Author(s): Neda Andrić,Jovan Radojević / Language(s): Serbian Issue: 38/2021

In this paper, through a review of the most important ideas of the philosophy of Eurasianism related to concepts of nationality, personality and Orthodoxy, we point out their connection with the world of ideas of F. M. Dostoevsky. The main part of the paper is dedicated to an analysis and observation of the connections between the idea of national culture, nationality, and the idea of Dostoevsky’s "Russian God", as well as Nikolai Trubetzkoy's key ideas about national culture as the only possible one, based on Orthodoxy as the only form of Christianity that preserves the original teaching and tradition. The notion of the "Russian Christ", recognized by Oscar von Schultz in the works of Pushkin, Lermontov, Turgenev, Chekhov and Dostoevsky, is especially present in the novel “The Possessed” through the character of Shatov. The character’s micro-monologue about the "Russian God" is a special focus of our analysis in the light of the phrase “Russian Christ”. This phrase expresses a specific understanding of Christianity that Russia received from Byzantium. Moreover, this specificity has been characteristically reflected, both in the literature and in the character and features of the Russian people, through the dominant kenotic principle.

РЕЛИГИЈСКО ВЕРОВАЊЕ КОД ГРАЂАНА СРБИЈЕ

Author(s): Adrijana Maksimović / Language(s): Serbian Issue: 31/2019

Religious belief is the intellectual dimension of religiosity. This dimension of religiosity subsumed under conventional religiosity. Religious belief we operationalizedthrough the following indicators: do you believe in God, in life after death, hell, heavenand sin. Religious beliefs were measured with respect to education, gender, rural / urbanand belonging to religious confessions. The basic hypothesis from which we started wasto be expected that with increasing levels of education reduces the degree of religious beliefs that women are more religious than men, it is in the countryside greater degree of religious beliefs in relation to the city and that of members of Islamic religion degree of religious beliefs higher than the Orthodox, Catholics and Protestants. The results show thatconfirmed our theoretical assumptions

Sf. Ioan Gură de Aur Despre numele de „cimitir” și despre crucea Domnului și Dumnezeului și Mântuitorului nostru Iisus Hristos

Author(s): Ioan Gură de Aur / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 07/2021

This sermon, On the name of the Cemetery and on the Cross of our Lord and God and Saviour Jesus Christ, can be considered, in our opinion, an encomium of the Holy Cross, a patristic argument for its veneration by the Orthodox Church. A formidable weapon against the devil, the Holy Cross removed the tyranny of death and opened the doors of the Kingdom to us; through the Cross, the cemetery becomes a place of comfort: from the abode of death, it transforms into a place of rest and sleep, where those asleep are placed with the (objective!) hope of resurrection. The meanings of the Holy Cross and of the Savior’s descent into hell are highlighted by St. John with such a realism that seems to project us right to the scene. Also, the explanations he gives for the practice of performing, on Good Friday, the divine services outside the city walls, underline the importance that St. John Chrysostom attaches to a “geographical imitation” of the central acts of the work of salvation accomplished by Christ, which could also help us to better understand and be aware of its spiritual meanings.

Reflecţii asupra legăturii mistice dintre martyrion-ul creştin şi Altarul euharistic

Author(s): Simeon (Ştefan) Pintea / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 07/2021

In the Romanian Patriarchate, 2021, the commemorative year of those asleep, offers us the opportunity to reflect on the liturgical and cultural value of cemeteries. In this context, we cannot overlook those graves and cemeteries that shelter the bones of the martyrs of the Christian faith. From the beginning of Christianity, they had a special prestige in the piety of the Church. This comes out clearly, especially from the connection between Christian martyrdom and the celebration of the Eucharist. In this article we aim to present how the relics of the martyrs entered the structure of the Eucharistic Altar, while emphasizing the theology that was the basis of this process.

Łemkowska architektura sakralna na przykładzie cerkwi greckokatolickiej w Łosiu - ikonostas

Author(s): Bernadetta Wójtowicz / Language(s): Polish Issue: 1/2007

Уводник

Author(s): Filip Ivanović / Language(s): Serbian Issue: 1/2021

The editorial introduces the special issue in the memory of Dr. Amfilohije Radović (+2020), Metropolitan of Montenegro and the Littoral, by giving brief notes on Radović's life, education, and thought, with special reference to his interest in Byzantine philosophy and theology, and contemporary philosophical anthropology. In addition, the editorial gives a panoramic view of articles contributed to the special issue.

Metropolitan Amfilohije’s Views on St Gregory Palamas and Orthodoxy: A Return to Palamism

Author(s): Constantinos Athanasopoulos / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2021

In what follows, I examine the views of Metropolitan Amfilohije’s views on St Gregory Palamas and Orthodoxy, primarily focusing on his PhD thesis, which was defended at the University of Athens, Faculty of Theology in 1973, and published in Thessaloniki in the same year. I claim that his views there not only show him defending Palamas, but also highlight the need for a strengthening of Palamism in Greece and abroad. Some of the problems, which he identified in 1973, exist in Orthodoxy today and his suggestion that all contemporary Orthodox intellectuals should persist in the Philosophy and Theology of Palamism seems to be the only way to solve these problems, even today.

Извори за изучавање раних екумениских погледа Амфилохија Радовића: Јустин Поповић

Author(s): Vladimir N. Cvetković / Language(s): Serbian Issue: 1/2021

The paper aims to analyze the early ecumenical views of Amfilohije Radović with reference to the influence exerted on him by his spiritual father Justin Popović. This investigation is important because Radović’s ecumenical engagement is often a matter of controversy, which results in conflicting views. Sources for studying Radović’s early ecumenical views are: his correspondence with Justin Popović on ecumenism, his engagement in editing and publishing Popović’s book Orthodox Church and Ecumenism, and finally, his article written as a report from an inter-Orthodox conference held in September 1972 in Thessalonica. In addition to Radović’s similarity with Popović's views, the paper also aims to show their differences, i.e. their different interpretations of the same phenomena.

The Authority of Canons at the Birth and Rebirth of the Russian Patriarchate: St Meletius Pigas at the Council of Constantinople in 1593 and St Hilarion Troitsky at the Council of Moscow in 1917

Author(s): Enrico Morini / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2021

Two Councils dealt with the birth and rebirth of the Moscow Patriarchate: the general Council of Constantinople of 1593 and the local Council of Moscow in 1917. In the course of the discussions two speakers based their arguments in favor of the Russian Patriarchate on the authority of canons: they were the Patriarch of Alexandria Meletius Pigas and the archimandrite, later bishop and martyr, Hilarion Troitsky. Despite the common recourse to the most ancient and authoritative canonical sources, the perspectives of the two speakers appear different. Meletius Pigas refers to the structure of the universal Church, that is to the number and order of the Patriarchal Sees, and he adapts all the legislation he quotes to this end. On the other hand, Hilarion Troitsky considers exclusively the particular Church and rather sees in those same canons the primary intent of safeguarding the ecclesiastical autonomy of local jurisdictions and, above all, the need for a Primacy in them.

The Paradoxical Death through Cryothanasia or Playing God. A Moral-Theological Approach

Author(s): Sorin-Grigore Vulcănescu / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2022

In the 21st century a new paradigm is developing — transhumanism. Scientific discoveries and technological development in various areas, especially those such as bioengineering, biotechnology and nanomedicine, push this paradigm towards a new revolution and a new approach towards life and death. Currently, hundreds of people in the terminal stage of an incurable disease turn to the services of cryogenics institutes, hoping that in the future, with the development of medicine and nanotechnology, they will be awakened and healed. If today cryopreservation is possible only after the declaration of death, the right of premature cryopreservation by euthanasia — cryothanasia is requested, by which it is assumed that death could become a reversible process.

Prayer – a Manifestation of Faith and an Expression of the Love for God

Author(s): Nicuşor Tucă / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2021

Prayer is essential in knowing God, is a way of communing with Him, and perfect help for spiritual progress. God descends to us by His uncreated energies, and we, by prayer, let ourselves be filled with the fruits of these divine energies. For the Orthodox Christian, each prayer occasions the entering into dialogue and the confession of the faith in the Holy Trinity. For the Orthodox Christian, each prayer is an opportunity for entering into dialogue and confessing the faith in the Holy Trinity. Prayer is the first manifestation sprung from faith, is an answer following God’s calling to collaboration. Prayer is the main means by which man has drawn God’s revelation of Himself and by which man has expressed the thirst for dialogue with God. The Christian prayer has in Christ an eternal foundation, because He ascended with the human body and made it eternal on the right side of the Father, remaining eternally God and eternally man. The One supporting the relationship between the rightly-glorifying faith and prayer is the Holy Spirit. Thanks to the Holy Spirit, in the Orthodox Church, lex credendi and lex orandi constitute an entirety expressed in different forms. All the Church prayers are expressions in a doxological (meaning: of maximal glorification) form of the rightly-glorifying faith.

The Importance of Church Iconography

Author(s): Vasile Miron / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2021

The holy icons and church painting represented on the inner walls of the holy places of worship never had a decorating role but a purely religious and teaching-educational purpose. Through these sacred images, the Church opened a way of communion with God and His saints and produced a way of initiation and guiding the believers into knowing the teaching of faith and the rules of moral life. Each icon and each holy painted scene expresses, intuitively, a historic or dogmatic truth, a moral-Christian principle, a deep meaning, and a rich content of religious ideas, revealing and guiding for the spiritual building and growing of the believers. The instructive-educational importance of the holy icons and of the church painting has always been acknowledged by the Holy Church and, that is why, they are so much used in the Christian cult and in the religious life of Orthodox Christians.

Aspecte religioase şi politice în portretele voievodului Mircea cel Bătrân

Author(s): Laura-Liana Turcan / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 11/2021

The intention of this text is to emphasize the presence of the historical-political element on the walls of churches painted with icons, as well as the links that exist between the historical context and the religious image. The images can bring information about both political and family history and last but not least about the founding gesture of the voivode. We will try to analyze from a historical and iconographic point of view some portraits of Mircea cel Bătrân, the ruler of Wallachia. In this sense, the portraits of the ruler, those from the Cozia Monastery, from the Episcopal Church from Argeş, the Brădet hermitage and the Church from Cotmeana will be analyzed.

The Role of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew in Christian Geopolitics

Author(s): Tetiana Trush / Language(s): English Issue: 17/2022

This article will deal with the role of the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew in the restoration of independence of the Orthodox Church in Ukraine and a struggle with those, who do not want this independence. Nowadays we are witnessing cardinal changes in Ukraine. These changes are connected with the restoration and struggle of Ukraine for its independence both in the political arena and in the arena of the national church project. Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew has given invaluable help to Ukraine in this direction. Therefore, the article will highlight the way which Ukraine has come to receive Tomos. The questions, which are painful for both Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and Ukraine, will be brought up. The presentation of Tomos to Ukraine is a solution of the global scale that has lasted for centuries. Tomos rises as a kind of cord against the encroachment of Russians on Ukrainian lands, church, culture. The events of 2018 at the Council of bishops of the Ecumenical Patriarchate are important from the geopolitical point of view. Patriarch Bartholomew says about the spiritual care of the Ukrainian church, confirms the status of the Constantinople Patriarchate, that the Ecumenical Patriarchate has the right to resolve conflicts of the clergy and grant the status of autocephaly and nobody else. The consequence of this was the restoration of independence of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. In fact, Patriarch Bartholomew violated a ” common opinion” which is not supported by anything that Kyiv and Ukraine are in canonical subordination to the Moscow Patriarchate. Secondly, a deep, for many century established tradition according to which Moscow and Constantinople made agreements behind Kyiv back about its destiny. All this will be discussed in this article.

Open Hermeneutics: André Scrima’s «éclatement de la parole “en moi”» (I)

Author(s): Daniela Dumbravă / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2022

Towards the end of the 1960s, in the well-known Enrico Castelli (1900-1977) colloquia, while intensively discussing the topic of demythologization, scholars concluded that theological language is fundamental in exploring it. Thus, the topic of the analysis of theological language: the Name of God, became prevalent for them and they began to think that a distinction between the terms religious and theological would be desirable, avoiding scandalous formulas for the field of theology. According to Karl Jasper, God is just a chest of something indicible. André Scrima presents himself in the debate with an original proposal, namely to think of theological language, in the broadest sense of this concept, as enclosing religious discourse. In the beginning, speaking theologically should happen in the Name of God, Scrima asserts; at Jasper’s antipodes, he places the Name of God as the origin and mystery that generates speaking theologically. This article aims first of all to bring the question of theological language back into the academic space that is more interested in the phenomenological issues promoted in Enrico Castelli’s thought laboratory in Rome.