Journals of Faculty of Orthodox Theology, Babes-Bolyai University (Romania)
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UN TEXT MISIONAR PROBLEMATIC: IOAN 20, 23 ȘI ACURATEȚEA TRADUCERII CELOR DOUĂ VERBE PRINCIPALE (φίενται ȘI κεκÏάτηνται)
No full textUna dintre temele centrale ale Ortodoxiei este sacerdotalismul, taina preoției ce reiese din acest text ioaneic, în care apostolii sunt trimiși la misiune, investiți fiind cu puterea de a lega sau dezlega păcatele oamenilor. Problema care se ridică este legată de traducerea celor două perfecte "‚φίημι ("a lăsa, a ierta") și κÏατÎω ("a ține"), care în unele manuscrise ale Noului Testament (Codex Sinaiticus ; Codex Alexandrinus ; Codex Bezae ), în câteva lecționare și în unele ediții critice (Westcott and Hort ; Nestle"™s Greek New Testament ), apar a fi verbe la perfect. Potrivit gramaticii limbii Noului Testament, perfectul prezintă o acțiune trecută și încheiată pentru observator. Astfel că Iisus îi înștiințează pe apostoli că vor trebui să-i ierte pe toți aceia care au fost deja iertați. Potrivit acestui scenariu, întreaga lor misiune se rezumă la autentificarea acțiunilor care s-au consumat deja în numele lor pentru binefacerea poporului. Cercetarea de față se concentrează asupra acestei problematici, subliniind rolul indicativului prezent al celor două verbe principale precum sunt întâlnite ele în tradiția bizantină a manuscriselor Noului Testament și în Codex -ul Vaticanus . Contextul lărgit al versetului prezintă suflarea Duhului Sfânt peste apostolii prezenți, de către Hristos Cel Înviat, transformându-i pe aceștia într-o creație nouă, specifică post-pascală, oferindu-le prin aceasta puterea și autoritatea necesară de a ierta păcatele. De aceea consider că prezența perfectului în logica acestui text, nu poate fi decât rezultatul unor greșeli ale scribilor. Diferența dintre prezentul "‚φίενται și perfectul "‚φÎωνται este dată de schimbarea a două litere în interiorul cuvântului, o eroare care s-ar fi putut înregistra în lumea scribilor Noului Testament. Stabilirea indicativului prezent al acțiunii, devine o sarcină stringentă în lumea ortodoxă a studiilor biblice, deoarece în logica acestei moșteniri patristice, întregul nostru program misionar câștigă credit
Pantelis Kalaitzidis, Orthodoxy & Political Theology (Doxa & Praxis), Geneva: World Council of Churches Publications, 2012, 148 pp.
Get PDFNine decades after patenting the topic of "political theology" as a notion that speaks about the way how the love for the neighbour from the Gospel can be transmuted in the political life, the work of professor Pantelis Kalaitzidis, from Volos Academy brings an Orthodox perspective on this topic. Since the beginning of the discussions about this subject, there were also some Catholic approaches of it, protestant and ecumenical ones, and recently, it was published an interesting collective volume that summarizes the Orthodox perspective from multiple perspectives.
Keywords: Pantelis Kalaitzidis, Political Theology, Orthodox Theology, Eastern Christianity
 
Autonomy and Orthodox Diaspora from the Point of View of the Documents Adopted by the Holy and Great Council
Get PDF Since the beginning of the debates on the topics which could be discussed at the Orthodox Church"™s Synod, autocephaly, autonomy, the Orthodox diaspora and the diptychs were part of the proposed themes. Their analysis during the preparatory process highlighted the fact that Orthodox Churches cannot reach a consensus regarding two of them: autocephaly and diptychs. Under these conditions, the Synaxis of the Orthodox Church"™s primates, convened in Constantinople in 2014, decided to withdraw them from the agenda. Out of the four above"mentioned themes only Autonomy and the Means by Which it is Proclaimed and The Orthodox Diaspora were kept for debate and approval. In this paper I will briefly analyse these two documents, emphasising the contribution of the Synod to the clarification of the topics, highlighting some fundamental elements, and aspects that are as yet unresolved.
Keywords: autonomy, diaspora, Holy and Great Council, Canon Law, canons, synodality, diptych
The First Doges of Venice, Representatives of the Byzantine Administration
Get PDFThe purpose of this study is to present the origins of the Venetian rulers and the relationship of the first doges with the Byzantine Empire. The fact that the first doges were officials of the Byzantine administration is an obvious form of Byzantine civilization over Venice. On the other hand, the accentuation of the Byzantine matrix of the Venetian doge is capable of shedding light on the role the doges have on universal history. The fact that the Doges adopted the ideological hegemony of the Byzantine emperors, as well as numerous forms of protocol and ceremony, inspired the Venetian rulers to impose the North-Adriatic state as the main economic force of the Mediterranean Sea. The special status that Venice acquired on the Byzantine route explains today's separatist tendency of the Veneto region, which also includes Venice. As all these tendencies find the answer in the past, it is necessary to research some important aspects of the relationship between Byzantium and Venice during the Middle Ages.
Keywords: Venice, Byzantine Empire, Doges, Middle Age
THE RELIGIOUS DIALOGUE BETWEEN THE ORTHODOX CHURCH AND THE JEWISH CHRISTIAN COMMUNITIES
Get PDFMy paper deals with the necessity of existing cultural, social and religious dialogues between the leaders of the messianic Judaism movement and the metropolitan Orthodox Church, based on an honest, reverent and respectful approach, in order to present to this marvelous Jewish Christian community, the spirituality of the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Body of Christ, that is the Orthodox Church. The elimination of the dichotomy fundamentalism vs. liberalism is a goal that has to be accomplished, so we can develop a constructive ecumenical dialogue that promotes our Holy Tradition of the Apostolic Orthodox Church. Last part of my research contains several suggestions regarding means of improving the dialogue while accepting the fact that both messianic Judaism and Orthodox Christians inherited specific authority, doctrines, practices and above all, a complementary Christian Tradition
TERTULLIAN AND SAINT CYPRIAN ON PRAYER
Get PDFPrayer is one of the renewing aspects of the Christian religion. It summarises the whole Gospel. St. Cyprian presents the evangelical precepts/ teachings as the foundation of the path to salvation. Tertullian shows that prayer is considered by Christians offering spiritual sacrifices, which replaced the older offerings to the idols and pagan deities. Prayer is following the exhortation of the Saviour, for true worshipers, to worship God in the Holy Spirit and truth. Prayer teaches patience, suffering for the Lord; it helps to the removal of God"™s wrath, it helps watching and praying for enemies and persecutors, washing our sins, casting temptations, quenching persecutions, lifting the fall; it offers support for the weak, attack and defence weapons for Christians
THE FREEDOM OF GOD AND THE FREEDOM OF MAN IN FATHER DUMITRU STĂNILOAE"™S THEOLOGY
Get PDFGod is the supreme Mystery of existence, He is by His own power above existence. God is the tripersonal super-essence of spiritual nature, above all spirituality that we may understand or imagine. He is the one Who brings everything into existence and that is why there is a fundamental difference between God and creation; the origin and the existence of the creation depend on the will and the creative work of God. As personal super-essence and super- existence, God is completely free because He cannot be closed into a reference system; He is the ultimate instance of all His decisions and acts. Man, created in the image of God reflects at the level of creation the freedom of God. As created existence, he is part of a reference system of the created world, which depends on God in its existence and becoming. As personal existence, in the image of God, the human person is capable of an existence that is not entirely enclosed into the reference system of the created nature; he is called to the free communion with God and it is the ultimate instance that decides his thoughts, acts and words. Man guards and increases his freedom or loses it according to the manner in which he professes it. For within the freedom of man the possibility to state the freedom is involved, at the same time renouncing it. The paradox of the freedom of man consists of the fact that man gives up his freedom through his own freedom because of pride or because he leaves the communion with God, Who offers him the true freedom
THE DANISH EXPERIENCE, FROM THE LAST THIRD OF THE 19TH CENTURY TO THE PRESENT
Get PDFIn the last three decades of the 19th Century, Denmark experienced a mayor cultural struggle, a spiritual fight, which has profoundly influenced the way of thinking and the situation for the Christian Faith until the present. In this struggle, Christianity and Conservatism expressed themselves on one side, Atheism, Materialism and Individualism on the other. One of the signs was an intense debate about the relationship between faith and knowledge. In this case the Protestant Bishop Martensen presented a very interesting answer to Atheist claims. Another was the demand, from the Radical side, for "œschools without confession", that is without any connection with Christianity at all. Finally, there was the question, if upbringing and education should take place in absolute freedom. In the old Orthodox countries, young people as well as parents, schools and the Church will face many of the same problems and questions. All of this asks the question, how can the Church handle a general cultural conflict
THE SPLENDOUR OF THE DEIFIED FLESH
Get PDFSaint Paul refers to Christ"™s ability to radiate his divine light of himself while other OT luminaries like Moses could only reflect that light. This experience of theosis is being, also, described as "œtransformation into unveiled glory" (2 Cor. 3.7-18). By this verse deification through the vision of God becomes an immanent and mystical event. This aspect of deification as transformation into glory (glorification) is both an inward quality of spiritual knowledge and an outward radiance. The nature of the glory of Moses and the visible splendour shining from his face from his direct contact with God (Exod 34.29) signifies God"™s visible, divine presence. As all believers encounter God directly (with unveiled faces) through the Spirit"™s presence they reflect this glory as mirrors and are themselves glorified in the process (from glory to glory). The transformation into this glory is not only noetic but also embodied because it is a visible manifestation. The noetic enlightenment is associated with participation in divine glory in 2 Cor 3-4 and is correlated to the somatic experience of glory in 2 Cor 4:16-5:5. Paul speaks also of this epistemic process of contemplation which generates the ontological mirroring process. And, because for us there is no veil over the face, we all see as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, and we are being transformed (μεταμοÏφοÏμεθα) into his image (τὴν αá½Ï„ὴν εἰκόνα) with ever- increasing glory. But Luke is the only evangelist to use the word "œglory" (doxa) and the only to mention that Jesus and the three apostles went up the mountain specifically to pray (Lk 9:29-31). This is a detail in spiritual tradition of hesychasm which was richly developed, the vision of light at the culmination of intense periods of prayer is the deification of our nature. This light is an enhypostatic symbol, the uncreated radiance of God, a divine energy. This manifestation of Christ in the divine nature is not something external to ourselves. It is interiorized through the life of ascetism and prayer. Christ will radiate within us. But this pneumatic nature of Christ"™s luminous body is experienced through Eucharist as well. This holy sacrament accesses the divine light, veiled by Christ"™s visible body. Also, Sebastian Brock extends forms of light comparison to the internal light of Mary"™s womb when bearing Jesus. Christ"™s light transforms her body in which He resided, as it "šgleams from within"™. In her, the light-bearing Christ is "šwoven"™ as a garment. Speaking of the hesychast method of prayer and transformation of the body, Gregory Palamas also uses this Pauline theology of 2 Corinthians in Tr. I.2.2. But he adds that "œWe carry this treasure in earthen vessels" (2 Cor. 4:7). So we carry the Father"™s light in the face (prosÅpon) of Jesus Christ in earthen vessels, that is, in our bodies, in order to know the glory of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, during the hesychast controversy, St Gregory Palamas defends the reality of the encounter with God of those monks who reported seeing a vision of light at the culmination of intense period of prayer. For the light is nothing less than the uncreated radiance of God "“ a divine energy accesible to the senses. This manifestation of Christ is not something external to ourselves
LUKE"™S ORIGINAL VISION ON TRANSFIGURATION STORY (LUKE 9: 27-36)
Get PDFOur study is trying to identify the main instruction of the Transfiguration story, reflecting St. Luke"™s point of view, using both patristic opinions and helpful modern commentaries. Apostle Luke depicts an original version of the Transfiguration Mountain: eight days passed after the promise of seeing the Kingdom of God; the transfiguration of Christ happens while He was praying; the noun ἔξοδονpoints out Lucanic original vision etc. The foremost kerygma that the disciples are about to learn is that of their own personal transfiguration, the only path of rediscovering the lost Image of a liturgical membership. The presence of the most towering prophets of the Old Testament here on the mountain, certify that before you enter into the Kingdom of God, you have to cross the Golgotha scene, a journey that all of us have to take in order to inherit eternal life. Trying to achieve a proper exegesis of the Sacred Texts is not easy to reach, that is why our work is far from being accomplished