Abstract
The article is a personal theological reflection on ecumenism and inter-religious dialogue by one of the commission of drafters of the Ecumenical Patriarchate's 2020 social teaching text For the Life of the World: Toward an Orthodox Social Ethos (=FLOW). The text argues that FLOW, despite being innovative for Orthodoxy, needs its boundaries expanded theologically. The section on Christian ecumenism is still quite conservative in character. It acknowledges that the Orthodox Church is committed to ecumenism but it does not explicitly acknowledge the ecclesiality of non-Orthodox churches. The author puts forward a form of qualified ecclesiological exclusivism that affirms that non-Orthodox churches are tacitly Orthodox containing “a grain of Orthodoxy” (Sergii Bulgakov). Strangely, FLOW's section on inter-religious dialogue is much more radical than its section on ecumenism. The author builds theologically on FLOW's positive affirmation of other religions as containing “seeds of the Word”, in particular, Islam containing ‘beauty and spiritual truths' and Judaism as being Orthodoxy’s “elder brother.” The essay ends by sketching a Trinitarian theology of other religions drawing on ideas from Maximus the Confessor, Bulgakov, Hans Urs von Balthasar and Raimundo Panikkar amongst others.
Highlights
The article is a personal theological reflection on ecumenism and inter-religious dialogue by one of the commission of drafters of the Ecumenical Patriarchate’s 2020 social teaching text For the Life of the World: Toward an Orthodox Social Ethos (=FLOW)
A reflection on worldly being in the light of the knowledge of faith [...] is a reflection on the ’image’-and-likeness’-character of created being in relation to the divine archetype, which brings to light the watermark of divine love in every single created being in the totality of nature as a whole
This sign imprinted on nature, comes to light only when the sign of absolute love appears: the light of the Cross makes worldly being intelligible, it allows the inchoate forms and ways of love, which otherwise threaten to stray into trackless thickets, to receive a foundation in their true transcendent ground
Summary
For the Life of the World: Toward an Orthodox Social Ethos (hereafter FLOW) is in many ways a bold and innovative text in the history of Orthodox social teaching. It engages with a multitude of social issues that the Orthodox normally are silent on, from sexuality to human rights. Die Orthodoxe Kirche in sozialer und ethischer Verantwortung, Schriften des Ostkircheninstituts der Diözese Regensburg Bd. 6 (Regensburg: Pustet, 2021) (with English summary: “A Catholic Perspective on ‘For the Life of the World’", Public Orthodoxy, June 24, 2021 (https://publicorthodoxy.org/2021/06/24/a-catholic-perspective-on-for-the-lifeof-the-world/ (last accessed: October 15, 2021) and Metropolitan Emmanuel Geron of Chalcedon, “Dialogue on Dialogue”, G20 Interfaith Forum 2021, September 12, 2021
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
