26. Internal Questions of the Orthodox Church Pastoral and Mission (in English) (original) (raw)
Related papers
Opening Space for a Culture of Dialogue and Solidarity
International Review of Mission, 1999
In 1982, the central committee of the World Council of Churches adopted a statement Mission and Evangelism: An Ecumenical AfJirmabion. This statement responded to a request of the Fifth Assembly of the WCC in Nairobi (1975) to prepare a policy statement on mission and evangelism for the WCC. A long process of discussion and reflection followed, and the statement finally adopted incorporated the insights gained at the world mission conference in Melbourne (1980) under the theme Your Kingdom Come. The statement opens with the call to mission and the call to proclamation and witness as basic dimensions of the ecumenical movement. It then presents seven ecumenical convictions which touch the different fields of ecumenical missionary activity.
Mission(s) and Politics: An Orthodox’s Approach
Politics, Society and Culture in Orthodox Theology in a Global Age
continue to exhibit a premodern mentality. This image of Orthodoxy is readily cultivated by conservative circles even within Orthodox Christianity but is almost more pronounced in Protestant Christianity, for example, where Orthodoxy is quickly and easily viewed in this way. This overlooks the fact that the challenges posed to Christianity today as a whole by postmodernity, secularisation, and globalisation, need to be dealt with urgently in Orthodox Christianity as well and are indeed being actively discussed. Drawing attention to this is also one of the intentions of this volume of essays. These challenges include questions such as the compatibility of the Orthodox Church and its theology with modern moral concepts and democratic values or the acceptance of human rights in Orthodoxy. While such questions used to be quite often met with great scepticism in Orthodox churches and were deliberately left ambiguous, things began to change in recent times when it became clear with, among other things, the publication in March 2020 of the document For the Life of the World: Toward a Social Ethos of the Orthodox Church. The document was composed by a special commission of Orthodox scholars appointed by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and blessed for publication by the Holy and Sacred Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate. This highly significant document, already translated into fifteen languages, addresses-along with its social sensitivity and its concern for inclusion-contemporary social and moral issues, challenges, and other issues in an unusual way for the Orthodox Church. These issues include poverty, racism, human rights, democratic values, reproductive technology, new forms of marital and family life, and the environment.10 They are issues that are ever-present on a 9 Cf. the recent "Declaration" by eminent Orthodox theologians who oppose the "
Pro Edu. International Journal of Educational Sciences, 2021
The volume Teologie și misiune creștină [Christian Theology and Mission] (2019, 536 p.), edited by Bibliotheca Publishing House/Valahia University Press (Târgoviște), is the result of the academic labor and effort of His Eminence Metropolitan Dr. Nifon, Archbishop of Târgoviște, in his quality of university professor at the Faculty of Orthodox Theology and Educational Sciences, Valahia University of Târgoviște, but also in his quality of Patriarchal Exarch for the relations of the Romanian Patriarchate with international Christian institutions and European institutions. This anniversary volume, edited at 20 years of service of His Eminence in the archiepiscopal see of Târgoviște, includes a series of theological and missiological studies, meant to promote the national culture and history, but also the young generations’ education under the aureole of Christian values and treasury of Orthodox culture and spirituality. Realized in a scientific, rigorous, realistic manner and approaching each topic complexly, the studies and research work integrated in this volume present pertinent solutions to sensitive challenges of today’s world context: ecological crisis, effects of globalization, economic crisis and sustainable development, spiritual theological grounds related to the concept of democracy, issues concerning migration in Europe, Christian values in politics, the role of young generations in the Church mission etc., offering an objective theological and spiritual answer. Consequently, the works integrated in the volume become true formative and educative beacons for today’s society, contributing to the understanding of changes, challenges, limits, but also of opportunities that emerged along with the political, economic, and social changes that take place worldwide through the contemporary process of globalization, by overcoming the cultural and national differences, that inevitably lead to important effects on the medium and long term.
Th is conference under the title "Th e Forthcoming Council of the Orthodox Church: Understanding the Challenges" has broached the most important questions and issues for the Great Council in preparation, such as the common liturgical calendar, autocephaly, autonomy and diptychs, the future of the supposed Orthodox "diaspora, " relations between Orthodoxy and other Christian churches, and also ethical and social questions and the contemporary practice of fasting. For all of these major questions, this conference has benefi ted from the presence and the analyses-both penetrating and stimulating-of ecumenical observers, Roman Catholic and Protestant, which has itself permitted a fruitful interaction in a spirit of openness and ecumenical understanding. As Peter De Mey indicated in his presentation:
Theology & Culture Vol. 8, 2024
Globalization, immigration, refugees, and technological development have contributed to the creation of pluralistic societies. A key characteristic of these societies is the coexistence of individuals or groups of different religious traditions. The coexistence of different religious communities is not a new situation in History. Many times, the religious communities that had been living in the same place had managed to coexist peacefully. At other times moderation and simple tolerance prevailed. However, it is not uncommon that suspicion, fanaticism, bigotry, and violence prevail among believers of different religious traditions. The interreligious dialogue between the religious representatives has established, at an institutional level, the need for peaceful coexistence. The Orthodox Church actively participates in interreligious dialogues on a local and global level. In addition, the Orthodox has been living together in the same place with people of other religions for many centuries. This paper aims to highlight the theological conditions for the participation of the Orthodox Church in inter-religious dialogue as another form of witnessing. The basic methodology is based on the form of human communication.Τhis work emphasizes the interreligious dialogue of life and action as key factors in cultivating harmonious coexistence. It then examines in which ways the Orthodox Church’s communication factors, such as preaching and Christian education, can cultivate in Christians the importance of interreligious and intercultural dialogue.
Actas del Congreso Internacional de Arquitectura Religiosa Contemporánea 5 (2017)
2017
PLANTEAMIENTO El 31 de octubre de 2017 se cumplieron cinco siglos desde que Martín Lutero clavó sus tesis en la puerta de la iglesia del castillo de Wittenberg (Alemania), iniciando un proceso reformador del cristianismo que ha marcado la historia de Occidente. Durante los últimos años venimos asistiendo a un progresivo redescubrimiento del impacto que tuvo la Reforma en la construcción de la modernidad. Sin embargo, el estudio de su influencia en la arquitectura religiosa del siglo XX apenas ha sido abordado, aunque su influjo —ya sea por oposición o por aproximación, tanto en los edificios realizados para el culto reformado como en la arquitectura católica— haya sido enorme. Es difícil explicar la escasa producción teórica acerca de la arquitectura protestante a lo largo de estos quinientos años de historia. Acaso la clave se encuentre en la esencia misma del protestantismo, que resituó al hombre como el único lugar en el que Dios habita. En efecto, enfatizando el libre albedrío, según el cual el ser humano puede decidir libremente sus propias creencias respecto a la realidad de Dios, los reformadores volvieron su mirada al Jesús que enseña que Dios no vive en ningún templo, sino entre las personas que se congregan en su nombre. Los edificios, por tanto, serían solo lugares para la reunión circunstancial de los creyentes. Durante el último siglo, importantes arquitectos trabajaron para las Iglesias reformadas, sobre todo en Centroeuropa y EEUU. Resulta imposible subestimar la obra de Otto Bartning, de Olaf Andreas Gulbransson y, en general, los hitos de la arquitectura protestante alemana de entreguerras. Las lecciones de Erik Bryggman, Alvar Aalto o Sigurd Lewerentz —entre muchos otros— siguen vigentes. Pero ¿cómo deberíamos leer, por ejemplo, las iglesias unitarias, metodistas o pentecostales de Frank Lloyd Wright, Eero Saarinen o Philip Johnson? ¿Cómo han influido las aproximaciones ecuménicas realizadas desde finales del siglo XIX? En la actualidad, el foco de la Reforma se ha desplazado a otras partes del mundo, en especial, a Latinoamérica y el Extremo Oriente. Es necesario plantear una visión conjunta de la influencia global de la arquitectura reformada y de las transferencias espaciales entre las distintas confesiones cristianas. Además, ¿cómo abordar el desafío de los templos interconfesionales? ¿De qué manera se está reinventando hoy la arquitectura cristiana frente a las transformaciones culturales y tecnológicas en curso? El V Congreso Internacional de Arquitectura Religiosa Contemporánea que se celebró en Santiago de Chile entre el 23 y 27 de agosto de 2017, fue, sin duda, un buen momento para intercambiar puntos de vista sobre estas cuestiones. APPROACH On October 31, 2017, five centuries have passed since Martin Luther nailed his theses on the door of the castle church in Wittenberg (Germany), initiating a reforming process of Christianity that has marked the history of the Western Civilization. During the last few years we have witnessed a progressive rediscovery of the impact of the Reformation on the construction of modernity. However, the study of its influence on the religious architecture of the twentieth century has hardly been approached, although its influence - whether by opposition or approximation, both in the buildings made for the reformed cult and in Catholic architecture - has been enormous. It is difficult to explain the scarce theoretical production of Protestant architecture throughout these five hundred years of history. Perhaps the key lies in the very essence of Protestantism, which resituated man as the only place in which God dwells. Indeed, emphasizing free will, according to which man can freely decide his own beliefs about the reality of God, the reformers turned their eyes to the Jesus who teaches that God does not live in any temple, but among the people who are Congregate in his name. The buildings, therefore, would be only places for the circumstantial meeting of the believers. During the last century, important architects worked for the Reformed Churches, mainly in Central Europe and USA. It is impossible to underestimate the work of Otto Bartning, Olaf Andreas Gulbransson, and, in general, the milestones of German Protestant architecture between the two wars. The lessons of Erik Bryggman, Alvar Aalto or Sigurd Lewerentz - among many others - are still valid. But how should we read, for example, the Unitarian, Methodist, or Pentecostal churches of Frank Lloyd Wright, Eero Saarinen, or Philip Johnson? How have the ecumenical approaches made since the end of the 19th century influenced? At present, the focus of the Reformation has shifted to other parts of the world, especially Latin America and the Far East. It is necessary to propose a joint vision of the global influence of the Reformed architecture and the spatial trans-fers between the different Christian confessions. In addition, how to address the challenge of interfaith temples? How is Christian architecture being reinvented today in the face of ongoing cultural and technological transformations? The V International Conference on Contemporary Religious Architecture held in Santiago de Chile from August 23 to 27, 2017 undoubtedly was a good time to exchange views on these issues.