On “radical theology” of Constantine V: Philological remarks (original) (raw)
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Константин V versus Јован Дамаскин – теолошки погледи за иконоборството
Историја/Journal of History LV/2, 2020
The subject of the paper is the first wave of the iconoclastic movement in Byzantium (726-787). From the many possible aspects of research that can be applied to this period, here we single out the theological view. The content of the paper manifests two main goals: (1) to oppose the different theological views of Constantine V, the Byzantine Emperor, as the protagonist of iconoclasm, and John of Damascus, as the protagonist of iconophilia, presented during the first iconoclastic wave; (2) to analyze the views of the Holy Scriptures regarding the icon, while considering those views as the most relevant judge in this theological dispute. The conclusion itself will indicate some guidelines regarding the reasoning on the iconoclastic issue, while ignoring the historical resolution on the same issue.
The Cosmopolitics of Charismatic Orthodoxy: Stefan (Vasilii Karpovich Podgornyi) and His Followers
State Religion and Church in Russia and Worldwide
At the end of Russia's old regime, the transformation of society initiated by the Great Reforms of the 1860s had also transformed the Orthodox Church. After the Emancipation, former serfs found new opportunities as laborers, factory workers, entrepreneurs, and even priests, monks, and holy men. Vasilii Karpovich Podgornyi was one such serf who, after Emancipation, became a successful businessman. Inspired by traditional piety he used his entrepreneurial skills to create networks of religious communities, primarily composed of pious women. Podgornyi's remarkable success sharply split the church hierarchy. Some conservative hierarchs regarded this former serf as a suspicious figure, a pervert who took advantage of his female followers. Because of such accusations, Podgornyi spent ten years in a monastic prison. Other clergy, including Podgornyi's monastic jailers, became his strong advocates and ultimately succeeded in seeing him freed from prison. Podgornyi's movement, however, remained controversial and illustrates the sharp social tensions within the church before the Bolshevik Revolution.
Богословље / Theology, 2022
The subject of analysis in this article is the strategy of St. Justin the Philosopher in his First Apology in the process of refuting the frequent accusation of impiety, i.e. atheism, which was attributed to Christians by their contemporaries in the second century. More specifically, particular attention is paid to Justin’s effort to influence the cessation of the persecution of Christians, caused by negative perceptions, with the argument that the accusation of atheism is completely unfounded. Additionally, his theological views are evaluated in the context of his intention that in addition to reactive and apologetic effectiveness, they also have a return effect on strengthening and preserving the Christian identity and the unity of the Church. Bearing in mind that Justin’s dialogic endeavor takes place in carefully selected categories and conceptual expressions that fully correspond to the cultural milieu of his interlocutors, his apologetic theology is also valued in the context of his protreptic potential to influence the change of mind in a wider social context. As a desired result of Justin’s approach, which arose directly from his own experience of conversion, the First Apology was to bear witness to Christianity as a faith based on Revelation, which does not have a politically subversive potential, but, on the contrary, represents the embodiment of wisdom, the realized union of philosophy and piety, which is characterized by solemnity, responsibility and devotion to virtues and Tradition. ▶ Keywords: St. Justin, Apology, persecutions, protreptic discourse, atheism, pax deorum, nomen ipsum, rational faith, Resurrection Сажетак: У тексту се анализира стратегија Светог Јустина Философа у његовој Првој Апологији у процесу побијања учестале оптужбе за непобожност, односно атеизам, која је била упућивана хришћанима од стране њихових савременика у II веку. Конкретније, нарочита пажња је посвећена Јустиновом настојању да утиче на прекид прогона хришћана изазваних негативним перцепцијама, са аргументацијом да је оптужба за атеизам у потпуности неоснована. Додатно, његови богословски ставови се вреднују у контексту његове интенције да, поред реактивне и апологетске учинковитости, они имају и повратни ефекат на освешћивање, јачање и очување хришћанског идентитета и јединства Цркве. Имајући у виду да се Јустинов дијалошки подухват одвија у брижљиво одабраним категоријама и појмовним изразима, који у потпуности кореспондирају са културолошким миљеом његових саговорника, његово апологетско богословље се вреднује и у контексту његовог протрептичког потенцијала да утиче на преумљење у ширем друштвеном контексту. Као жељени резултат оваквог Јустиновог приступа, који је непосредно происходио из његовог сопственог искуства преобраћења, Прва Апологија је требало да пружи сведочанство о хришћанству као о вери заснованој на Откровењу, која нема политички субверзиван потенцијал, већ, супротно томе, представља оваплоћење мудрости, остварени спој философије и побожности, који одликује словесност, одговорност и приврженост врлинама и Предању. ▶ Кључне речи: Свети Јустин, Апологија, прогони, протрептика, атеизам, pax deorum, nomen ipsum, разложна вера, васкрсење
The paper deals with a lost iconoclastic work by Constantine V, as preserved in Apologeticus atque Antirrhetici by Nicephorus of Constantinople. The examination of this treatise shows that a) the most plausible title for Constantine’s works is not Πεύσεις but Προβλήματα; b) these texts are to be distinguished from other works ascribed to Constantine; c) Problemata combine genre features of a theological treatise and a political apology; d) Nicephorus did not possess the complete text of Problemata; e) the 3rd Problema is less coherent and more aggressive in comparison with the 1st and the 2nd.
Karl Barth`s Radically Christocentric Theological Exegesis
The European philosophical and historical discourse, 2020
The article is devoted to the study of Karl Barth`s Christocentric theological exegesis. The research was undertaken on the basis of comparative analysis of such branches of his theological system as cosmology, anthropology, amartology, ecclesiology and Mariology. The article shows that basic and the only ground for any Barth`s theological research was the person of Jesus Christ, who among other issues also has a crucial epistemological meaning.
Метафраст, 2019
In this article, the A. stydies the dogmatic aspect of the struggle waged by St. Athanasius I, Patriarch of Constantinople (1289-1293; 1303-1309), with adherents of the Arsenite schism (1265-1310), based on sources. Several basic directions were established: triadological, ecclesiological and personal charges of heresy. The main one was the triadological one, connected with the consequences of Lyons Union of 1274 and the disputes about the«Filioque» caused by it. Although objectively after the Synod of Vlacherna of 1285, the purity of dogma in the Church was restored, the sources contain traces of mutual accusations of triadological distortions, as echoes of the union. Perhaps, among other things, the accusations were caused by the indefinite position of the hierarchy in relation to the «Tomos» of Patriarch Gregory of Cyprus about the «eternal manifestation» of the Holy Spirit - an orthodox exposition of faith, rejected by arsenites. The A. put forward a hypothesis about Athanasius's more close connections with hesychasm. It is concluded that the dogmatic aspect in the struggle of Patriarch against the schism was defining, and at the same time theological arguments, especially in cases personal charges, were more likely a means of ideological struggle than an attempt to defend the truth.
The article puts forward the suggestion that the mysterious last will of Metropolitan Constantine I of Kiev, in which he ordered that after his death his body should be torn to pieces by dogs instead of receiving a proper burial, was inspired by a very specific literary text. This text is still used in the Orthodox Christian tradition; it is known as the hymnographical kanon “At the Parting of the Soul from the Body.” While nowadays this kanon is used in the course of an ordinary liturgical rite, in the 12th century, when it first appeared, it was used among some Byzantine intellectual and ascetic circles as a particular element of personal piety. The 12th century is exactly the epoch of Constantine's activities, and the description of а funeral procedure given by this kanon is very close to the last will of Constantine. The kanon “At the Parting of the Soul from the Body” has close ties to another hymn of roughly the same epoch—the “Penitential” kanon written after the 5th chapter of the “Ladder” of John Climacus. Both kanons conceal a didactic story under the structure of a hymnographic pattern. What is more important, both are from the very beginning intertwined with a distinct illustrative program: each monostrophe is accompanied by a specific picture, which discloses the contents of the text. These “comics-like” stories have no parallel among other Byzantine kanons. Finally, both kanons witness the growth of the influence of Palestinian and, more generally, Eastern ascetic traditions on the monastic practices of Constantinople and its surrounding regions. This influence was associated, most of all, with the Evergetian movement, with its strict disciplinary and fasting rules, etc. Metropolitan Constantine, who was an outstanding representative of the Byzantine intellectual elite of those times, should have been acquainted—at the very least!—with this movement. Moreover, the conflicts of the bishops in his circle with the Russian princes concerning the fasting discipline suggest that Constantine was trying to introduce the new Evergetian ascetic standards among the Russians. Thus, the literal adherence to the provisions of the kanon “At the Parting of the Soul from the Body” at the funeral of Metropolitan Constantine Ι should be interpreted as a sign of his full confidence in his ideals.