Journals of Faculty of Orthodox Theology, Babes-Bolyai University (Romania)
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Unity and Identity
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The foundations and principles of Catholic theology as unity and identity, require a permanent turn to the unique message of Christ, a message that we need to announce with courage and conviction. Therefore, it is legitimate to speak about the need for a certain unity of theology. Thus we must bear in mind that the concept of unity needs to be carefully understood so as not to be confused with uniformity or with an individual style. The unity of theology and the whole Church, as professed in the Creed, must be closely linked to the idea of catholicity, as well as to holiness and apostolicity. Uniqueness and identity come from Christ, Savior of the world.
The theology of unity and identity that wants to be "Catholic" must participate in the catholicity and in the unity of the Church, which ultimately is based on the trinitarian unity of God himself. "œThe fact that there is one Saviour shows that there is a necessary bond between catholicity and unity. As it explores the inexhaustible Mystery of God and the countless ways in which God"™s grace works for salvation in diverse settings, theology rightly and necessarily takes a multitude of forms, and yet as investigations of the unique truth of the triune God and of the one plan of salvation centered on the one Lord Jesus Christ, this plurality must manifest distinctive family traits".
Theology is catholic in the richness of the plurality of its expressions, protagonists, ideas and contexts and, therefore it is born from the attentive listening of the Word of God, it is incardinated in the communion of the Church and it is oriented to the service of the truth.
Keywords: unity, identity, Catholic theology, holiness, apostolicity, Jesus Christ, Trinit
Ingeborg Gabriel, Peter G. Kirchschläger and Richard Sturn (eds.), An economy that supports life. Economical and business ethics reflections following Pope Francis [In German], Matthias Grünewald Verlag, Ostfildern 2017, 353 pp.
No full textThe Gathering of Many Teachings. Religious Backgrounds of Adult Education in Romania (16th -18th centuries)
Get PDFAlthough the history of the 16th -18th centuries fails to offer comprehensive information about the contemporary interest in adult education, there is evidence of initiatives to provide adult instruction, undifferentiated, yet concurrent with the education provided to children and young people. This paper gives insight into the old Romanian literature on the territory of Moldavia and Wallachia, in order to identify and analyze ideas, reflections and pedagogical solutions relevant for the continuing and adult education. While the religious educational aims and contents prevailed during the 16th century, being in close connection with the cultural activity of the time, mainly carried out within the churches and monastic schools, and intended to educate the upper class, the period between the end of the 17th century and the beginning of the 18th century showed the tendency to diversify the content, for reasons related to the need of population, regardless their social class, to access the scientific and practical knowledge of that time. The historical research will consider both texts that capture the general movement of ideas of the time, and the criticism accumulated in the Romanian cultural space, structured in a distinct direction of historical research on education, the history of education. We will resort to historical arguments in order to establish the main directions relevant to the specificity of continuing and adult education that stand out within this period: a. elements of religious education for adults in the Slavonic literature (16th-17th centuries) ; b. diversifying the ideas of adult education in the content of religious texts in order to disseminate moral and social cohabitation norms with educational value, through multiplication of translations into Romanian of biblical writings (end of 17th century - first half of the 18th century); c. the appearance of the first instructional and practical textbooks for adults (second half of the 18th century).
Keywords: religious education for adults, moral education for adults, practical textbooks 
The Jesuit and Patristic Spirituality in Karl Rahnerʼs Spiritual Theology
Get PDFIn the Jesuit theologian Karl Rahner"™s life and work, philosophy, spirituality and systematic theology are harmonized for the benefit of the increasingly desacralized and secularized man of the late modernity. Familiarization with the great world"™s philosophers, from Plato to Aristotle up to Blondel and Heidegger, with Ignatian spirituality and with the Eastern and Western Fathers of the Church decisively helped Rahner in his endeavour to free the Catholic theology from the "œcaptivity" of scholastic rationalism and objectivism and to redirect it "œexistentially", by a genuine turn, from an abstract God, isolated in the transcendent and irrelevant for the Christian life, to the concrete man, "œhearer of God"™s word". The spiritual experience of the most influential Catholic theologian of the 20th century was conveyed in an original way, by pastoral guidance, through lectures and his monumental work, on many generations of Catholic servants and believers.Setting out the Ignatian and Patristic sources of Karl Rahner"™s spiritual theology, this article outlines, against its background, the odyssey of yesterday"™s and today"™s Christian experience, at the same time emphasizing the profound ecumenical dimension of patristic spirituality.
Keywords: Karl Rahner, Jesuit, Spiritual Exercises, Ignatian spirituality, Church Fathers, existential experienc
Olimp N. Căciulă, Euharistia ca jertfă [Eucharist as a Sacrifice], trans. Ioan Ică sr., Deisis, Sibiu, 2016, 410 p.
No full textA Canonical and Theological Reconsideration of the Document "œThe Importance of Fasting and Its Observance Today" of the Holy and Great Council of Crete
Get PDFIn this paper, being the first part of my analysis, I tried to examine the first four paragraphs of the document "œThe Importance of Fasting and Its Observance Today" of the Holy and Great Council of Crete from canonical and theological point of view by taking into consideration its development, the pre-conciliar debates, and its final form. Having in mind this vast period of time needed for the final form of the text of the Holy and Great Council, we can assert the total victory of the theologians and circles with conservative theological visions, because the idea of changing and adapting fasting periods was totally removed from the inter-Orthodox debate. The official document of the Holy and Great Council is an attempt of theological argumentation of the practice of fasting, highlighting, with several biblical and patristic quotations, the general importance of the institution of fasting, but without any practical clarification. The text contains more than 26 biblical, patristic and liturgical quotations. Almost 40% of the text of the document is represented by quotes and different references, showing a lack of originality and actuality. Despite that, the documents emphasises that fasting in the Orthodox Church has many dimensions: historical-theological(fasting as divine commandment given in Paradise); ascetic-spiritual(fasting as great spiritual endeavour and the foremost expression of the Orthodox ascetic ideal); canonical(the foundation of fasting are the apostolic precepts, the synodal canons, and the patristic tradition as a whole); soteriological(the great significance of fasting for our spiritual life and salvation); and liturgical(fasting is according to the liturgical Tradition of the Orthodox Church, culminating with the Holy Eucharist).
Keywords: Holy and Great Council, Fasting, Canon Law, Canons, Tradition, Postmodern Society
 
The Mission of the Orthodox Church in Postmodernity
No full textThe article presents the characteristics of the postmodernity and its consequences on the issues of identity, pluralism, and communion. As an "œunstable" philosophical current it enters in contact with the "œstability" and authority of the orthodox teachings, and consequently, the ideological conflict is very possible. Therefore, the article gives a theological answer to the above-mentioned issues, proposing at the same time some orthodox attitudes towards contemporary postmodern society.
Keywords: postmodernity, mission, protean identity, emerging churches, postmodern communities, ecclesiolog
The Religious Policy of Emperor Heraclius (610-641) in regards to Hebrews
Get PDFOur study sets out to discuss the religious policy of Emperor Heraclius ( 610-641) in regards to Hebrews. Before the relic of the Holy Cross was reinstalled in Jerusalem (31 March 630), Emperor Heraclius's relations with the Hebrews do not seem to be tense. Starting with 630, Heraclius retaliates against the Hebrews as a punishment for their collaboration with the Persians, as well as for their involvement in the massacre of Christians when Jerusalem was conquered by the Persians (614). The Emperor issued an edict for the forced conversion of Hebrews to Christianity. The scope of this edict covered the entire Byzantine Empire, but it was only enforced in Cartagena (May 31, 632). Saint Maximus the Confessor condemns Heraclius's decision to forcibly convert Cartagena Hebrews to Christianity. Heraclius's decree was contested among the Hebrews. Their forced christening caused their migration to Persia. Also, Heraclius's anti-Hebrew policy determined them to facilitate the Arab expansion in Byzantine territories.
Keywords: religious policy, emperor Heraclius, Hebrews, conversion, baptis
How Does the Truth Appear?
Get PDFStarting with Husserl"™s phenomenology and advancing to Jean-Luc Marion"™s and Jean-Yves Lacoste"™s phenomenology and to the revealed theology, this paper aims to answer the question: "œHow does the Truth appear?" Husserl"™s phenomenological reduction made the appearance of God, who remained in an absolute transcendence, impossible; but John"™s Gospel states that Christ is the Truth. We accept both of these opinions and offer the following answers: the religious phenomena, which have to do with a religious life and knowledge, could appear after one ignores or weakens the Husserlian epoché; God could appear if the phenomenological reduction became a reduction to givenness; the religious phenomena could appear after a theological counter-reduction, which separated itself from phenomenological rigor and belonged to theology.
Keywords: Christ, Truth, transcendental reduction, phenomenological reduction, eidetic reduction, reduction to givenness, theological counter-reduction, faith, grace, God, transcendence, Edmund Husserl, Jean-Luc Marion
 
Reorganization of the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy into the Kyiv Theological Seminary in 1817
Get PDFThe question of how the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy could be transformed, or reorganized, into the Kyiv Theological Seminary has caused and causes many scholars and historians a tremendous boom. Thanks to the great efforts of the son of the Moldavian Ruler Metropolitan Petro Mohyla, the Kyiv Brethren School transformed into the Collegium, which caused great irritation and dissatisfaction with both the Order of the Jesuits and the Polish domination. This article"™s idea is that the creation of the Kyiv Theological Seminary was not only a rejection of secular sciences, but also a result of reorganization.
Keywords: Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, Kyiv Theological Seminary, History of Church, Eastern Orthodox Churc