POLITICAL THEOLOGY:
NATIONALISM, SOCIAL JUSTICE AND ESCHATOLOGY.
PROTESTANT AND ORTHODOX APPROACHES
A workshop on the topic “Political Theology: Nationalism, Social Justice and Eschatology: Protestant and Orthodox Approaches” will be held tomorrow, Friday, September 2, 14:00-16:00 local time, at the Parish rooms of the Church of St. Stephan (Erbprinzenstraße 14, 76133, Karlsruhe). The workshop takes place in the framework of the 11th Assembly of the WCC.
The participants will be Rev. Dr. Dietrich Werner (Bread for the World, Berlin, Germany) and Dr. Pantelis Kalaitzidis (Volos Academy for Theological Studies, Volos, Greece). The discussion will be moderated by Rev. Heikki Huttunen (Orthodox Church of Finland)
Confessing the incarnation of Jesus Christ means that Christians cannot remain indifferent to history. The relation of their communities to politics has always been a challenge in various contexts all over the world. The temptation of nationalism leads Churches to proximity to state authorities that affects the authenticity of the Christian message. One the other side, many Christians fight at the front line against authoritarianism and demand decisively more social justice. How should the Churches solidly shape their political attitude? What may be the coordinates of their political theology? What can we learn from the historical experience of the various Christian traditions? What are the affinities and differences between Orthodox and Protestant views on politics and what may ecumenism contribute to new understandings of political theology? And what criteria and perspectives emerge from Christianity’s eschatological vision? Such questions will be addressed at the workshop of two well-known theologians and active ecumenists, one Protestant and one Orthodox, who are also friends and collaborated many times, publishing books together: Dietrich Werner and Pantelis Kalaitzidis.
