THEOLOGY IN DIALOQUE
There is a growing awareness of the urgent need for the Orthodox Church and theology to dialogue with the various challenges of the post- modern world—indeed, our times demand it. This is not simply so that Orthodoxy can be en vogue or keep up with the latest trends, but because of its dialogical ethos, which is derived from its theological consciousness and from the nature of the Trinitarian Godhead. Our faith in the Triune God is not faith in a self-contained monad, but in a communion of eternal love, freedom, and reciprocal inter-penetration In a communion of mutual love and dialogue, such as that of the Divine Being, this Trinitarian mode of existence is understood by patristic theology and contemporary Orthodox theology as “Being in communion” and “Being in dialogue” (Metropolitan of Pergamon John Zizioulas). With creation, this intra-Trinitarian dialogue expands to become a dialogue between the Triune God and a created reality not of the same essence (ἑτερούσιος), and especially with the crown of creation, man. Creation, in fact, is a dialogue initiated by God—the quintessential “Other”—with created reality, a dialogue that will continue until its eschatological fulfillment, until the Kingdom of the Triune God. The central event in this dialogue of the Divine Economy is the Incarnation of the Son and Word of God. The Church, as the Body of Christ, is called to continue, through the Holy Spirit, Christ’s dialogical work of salvation within history; in the words of Metropolitan Ignatius of Demetrias, the Church is called to dialogue with whatever is not yet the Church. Thus, the Church does not exist for itself but for the world and for the sake of the world. Extrapolating from this fundamental theological axiom, we could add that it is inconceivable for theology to not dialogue with the world beyond the Church, to not—in other words—assume the “flesh” of the world, to not incarnate the Good News of the Kingdom again and again in every new situation. Dialogue is the most characteristic expression of the Church’s ethos of love, a witness to the spirit of Christian love and reconciliation.
For many years now, primarily (if not exclusively) due to historical reasons, the idea of a dialogue between Orthodoxy and (post)modernity has elicited fear and hesitation, and has been postponed in the name of so-called fidelity to the letter of tradition. But it now seems that such a meeting is considered imperative, at least among a vibrant and healthy segment of the faithful which no longer wishes to rest on the laurels of the Church’s glorious past, but to remain forever open to the refreshing breeze of the Spirit, attuned to the messages of the times. The current challenges facing Orthodoxy pose critical and often new and unexpected questions, which have no analogue in the medieval worldview, from which conservative theological thought- permanently oriented to the past – attempts to find ready answers and solutions. When the Church refuses to draw its identity primarily from the past or the present, but rather from the future, from the coming Kingdom, of which the Eucharist serves as a foretaste, then this eucharistic and eschatological identity is able to safeguard the Church from the double-edged sword of secularization and historical marginalization – from conforming to the world on one hand and, on the other, a fundamentalistic denial οf the contextual character (which derives, in part, from human factors) of the Church’s tradition and theology.
With this in mind, Orthodox theology must honestly ask itself: Can it continue to shadowbox against a strawman of the (post-)modern world and the challenges it poses for truth itself as well as for the identity of man and the world? Can it continue to condemn modern technological and scientific achievements, which entail an entirely new, universal interpretation of life, Orthodox theology itself being unable (or unwilling) to creatively and fruitfully reinterpret its own faith and inherently rejuvenative tradition using a contemporary and, of course, understandable language? Can a eucharistic awareness and the theology of the person help give meaning to human existence and the rest of creation? Can Orthodox theology afford to skirt or outright ignore contemporary anthropological concerns and the persistent questions raised by the rapid developments in the humanities (psychology, psychoanalysis, anthropology, linguistics, etc.)? Can an alert ecclesiastical consciousness demur at a sincere effort at dialogue with other Christian traditions—an effort based on the hope for unity and reconciliation in Christ—, as well as a common search for solutions to modern man’s problems? Is Orthodox theology able to articulate a message of solidarity with the persecuted Christians of all traditions in the cradles of Christianity—a message that highlights the peace and forgiveness of the Gospel as well as genuine religiosity, and thereby nurtures peace and reconciliation in regions dominated by fundamentalism and intolerance?
It is precisely these and other similar questions that the Volos Academy for Theological Studies will address this year with a series of events, lectures, book presentations, conferences, and seminars, organized in collaboration with other Orthodox or ecumenical forums, institutes, theological schools, and academies, from January-June 2013.
Below you can flip through the program or download it.
To download the program, click here .
