Encounter Between Eastern Orthodoxy And Radical Orthodoxy

This book presents the first debate between the contemporary movement Radical Orthodoxy and Eastern Orthodox theologians. Leading international scholars offer new insights and reflections on a wide range of contemporary issues from a specifically theological and philosophical perspective. The ancient notion of divine Wisdom (Sophia) serves as a common point of reference in this encounter. Both Radical and Eastern Orthodoxy agree that the transfiguration of the world through the Word is at the very centre of the Christian faith. The book explores how this process of transformation can be envisaged with regard to epistemological, ontological, aesthetical, ecclesiological and political questions. Contributors to this volume include Rowan Williams, John Milbank, Antoine Arjakovsky, Michael Northcott, Nicholas Loudovikos, Andrew Louth and Catherine Pickstock.

The Palgrave Handbook of Radical Theology is the definitive guide to radical theology and the commencement for new directions in that field. For the first time, radical theology is addressed and assessed in a single, comprehensive volume, including introductory and historical essays for the beginner, essays on major figures and their thought, and shorter articles on various themes, concepts, and related topics. This book is a seminal work for the radical theology movement. It clarifies origins and demonstrates the exigency and utility of current figures and issues. A useful and essential guide for newcomers and veterans in the field, this volume serves as both a reference work and an introduction to omitted or forgotten topics within contemporary discussions.

The fourteenth-century Greek hesychast and controversialist, Gregory Palamas, has been so successfully cast as 'the other' in Western theological discourse that it can be difficult to gain a sympathetic hearing for him. In the first part of this book, Norman Russell traces the historical reception of Palamite thought in Orthodoxy and in the West, and investigates how 'Palamism' was constructed in the early twentieth century by both Western and Eastern theologians (principally Martin Jugie and John Meyendorff) for polemical or apologetic purposes. Russell argues that we need to go behind these ideological constructions in order to gain a true perception of the teaching of Gregory Palamas. In his recent survey of Palamite scholarship, Robert Sinkewicz noted that it is now time to raise the larger questions. The second part of the book attempts to do this, following the contours of Palamas' thinking in three areas: his relationship to tradition, his philosophy, and his theology. Russell shows that Palamite thought, when freed of misunderstanding and misrepresentation, has the potential to enrich our understanding of divine-human communion. This study contributes to the changing paradigm of scholarship on Palamas, nudging it towards the point at which Palamite thought can be used fruitfully by contemporary Western and Eastern theologians without the need to subscribe to what has been regarded as 'Palamism'.

Providing a metaphysical grounding for liturgical participation, this book argues that “active participation” in the liturgy must be understood principally as our participation in God’s act, particularly in the act of Christ, and only secondarily as our ritual involvement. Utilizing Neoplatonist philosophy, Kjetil Kringlebotten proposes that this should be understood in terms of theurgy, which is the human participation in divine action, which finds its consummation in the incarnation of Christ. Without the incarnation all acts will remain extrinsic and imposed but acts can become real and intrinsic precisely because the incarnation makes possible true union with the divine, a metaphysical union-in-distinction, without confusion, because this union is not extrinsic. Through union with Christ, as the one common focus of the divine-human relation, we can have true union with God and may offer true worship. In order to make sense of active participation, then, we need to understand theology in theurgic terms, where theurgy is understood not as a mechanical “coercion” of God but as a participation in His act, in creation and through Christ as the true theurgist, the “master theurgist,” Whose work transforms our act and the liturgy.

This Companion provides an unrivalled view of the field of modern Christian thought, from the Enlightenment to the twentieth century and beyond. Written by an outstanding team of theologians and philosophers of religion, it covers the following topics within Christian thought: Key figures and influencers Central events and movements Major theological issues and key approaches to Christian Theology Recent topics and trends in Christian thought Each entry is clear and accessible, making the book the ideal resource for students of Christian thought and history and philosophy of religion, and a valuable reference for professional theologians and philosophers.

Rowan Williams says that David Bentley Hart "can always be relied on to offer a perspective on the Christian faith that is both profound and unexpected." The Hidden and the Manifest, a new collection of this brilliant scholar's work, contains twenty essays by Hart on theology and metaphysics. Spanning Hart's career both topically and over time, these essays cover such subjects as the Orthodox understanding of Eucharistic sacrifice; the metaphysics of Paradise Lost; Christianity, modernity, and freedom; death, final judgment, and the meaning of life; and many more.

Over the last two decades, the American academy has engaged in a wide-ranging discourse on faith and learning, religion and higher education, and Christianity and the academy. Eastern Orthodox Christians, however, have rarely participated in these conversations. The contributors to this volume aim to reverse this trend by offering original insights from Orthodox Christian perspectives that contribute to the ongoing discussion about religion, higher education, and faith and learning in the United States. The book is divided into two parts. Essays in the first part explore the historical experiences and theological traditions that inform (and sometimes explain) Orthodox approaches to the topic of religion and higher education—in ways that often set them apart from their Protestant and Roman Catholic counterparts. Those in the second part problematize and reflect on Orthodox thought and practice from diverse disciplinary contexts in contemporary higher education. The contributors to this volume offer provocative insights into philosophical questions about the relevance and application of Orthodox ideas in the religious and secular academy, as well as cross-disciplinary treatments of Orthodoxy as an identity marker, pedagogical framework, and teaching and research subject.

The Sense of the Universe deals with existential and phenomenological reflection upon modern cosmology with the aim to reveal hidden theological commitments in cosmology related to the mystery of human existence. The book proposes a new approach to the dialogue between science and theology based in a thorough philosophical analysis of acting forms of subjectivity involved in the study of the world and in religious experience. The uniqueness of this book is that it uses recent advances in phenomenological philosophy and philosophical theology in order to accentuate the existential meaning of cosmology as the discourse that ultimately explicates the human condition. The objective of the book is not to make a comparative analysis of the cosmological scientific narrative and that of the Bible, or the Fathers of the Church (in what concerns the structure of the universe), but to reveal the presence of a hidden theological dimension in cosmology originating in the God-given ability of humanity to discern and disclose the sense of creation. The book contributes to the synthesis of appropriation and incorporation of modern philosophical ideas in Christian theology, in particular its Eastern Orthodox form.

This book seeks to answer the question, "What is holiness?" What do we talk about when we talk about holiness? We might describe many things as holy, but as Socrates says, what is "the essential aspect, by which all holy acts are holy?" Sanctum Sanctorum gives an account of the holy from within the Christian participatory tradition, and argues that holiness is included in a special category of divine names that Christian metaphysics calls "transcendentals" (which are five: being, one, truth, goodness, and beauty). Moreover, holiness stands in a hierarchical relationship to the other five transcendentals, as the culmination or concentration of the rest. Only by understanding holiness as the "head" of the transcendentals, as "the" transcendental, can one account for all the complexity the idea of the holy conjures. Therefore, holiness is the transcendental of the transcendentals. It adds the aspect of reverence to existence and, as such, it is constituted by the formula sanctum sanctorum (Holy-of-holies) which extends from the divine nature through the triune life to all creation.

Buschart and Eilers identify six critical areas—Scripture, theology, worship, spirituality, mission and culture—where contemporary Christians are retrieving aspects of our Christian past for life and thought today. The result is a fascinating tour and wise reflection on how Christians might receive, employ and transmit the treasures of their past.