Eastern Christian Research Articles

Later Platonists and Their Heirs Among Christians, Jews, and Muslims. Edited by Eva Anagnostou-Laoutides and Ken Parry. Texts and Studies in Eastern Christianity, Volume 27. Leiden: Brill, 2023. xvii and 550 pp.

Later Platonists and Their Heirs <i>Among</i> Christians, Jews, and Muslims. Edited by Eva Anagnostou-Laoutides and Ken Parry. Texts and Studies in Eastern Christianity, Volume 27. Leiden: Brill, 2023. xvii and 550 pp.

The Heirs of Theodore. Aḥob of Qatar and the Development of the East Syriac Exegetical Tradition. By Seth M. Stadel. Texts and Studies in Eastern Christianity 28. Leiden: Brill, 2023. xv + 472 pp. $198.00.

The Heirs of Theodore. Aḥob of Qatar and the Development of the East Syriac Exegetical Tradition. By Seth M. Stadel. Texts and Studies in Eastern Christianity 28. Leiden: Brill, 2023. xv + 472 pp. $198.00.

Deconstructing Theology or Prophetic Theology? A Comparative Protestant and Eastern Orthodox Christian Perspective

The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to depict, in its main elements, the conception of a Protestant “deconstructive theology”, and, secondly, to present the prophetic aspect of Eastern Christian Orthodox theology in comparison with it. According to the method of “deconstructive theology” as a method, the Scripture must be dismantled in order to be fresh and new. In the Orthodox understanding, the work of theology is understood to be, in the first place, a personal relationship with and experience of God, both from a mystical and sacramental perspective, and, through this, an actualisation of the work and message of God’s Revelation, making it present in the context of each historical and cultural circumstance. As will be presented below, this achievement could be completed only within the Church. Thus, Orthodox theology must deliver the eternal word and life of Jesus Christ, addressed to the contemporary context, in order to guide the Church and the Faithful toward the Kingdom of God. It is hoped that this comparative endeavour may be beneficial for general understanding between Christians, through placing in conversation two different perspectives regarding theology, which seldom encounter one another.

Mitri Raheb (ed.), In the Eye of the Storm: Middle Eastern Christians in the Twenty-First Century

Mitri Raheb (ed.), <i>In the Eye of the Storm: Middle Eastern Christians in the Twenty-First Century</i>

Los primeros escritos cristianos en latín

Tertullian, the first known Christian author to write in Latin, was active in Africa at the end of the second century. In the same region, anonymous martyrial writings in Latin were already circulating prior to his words (Acts of the Scillitan Martyrs, ca. AD 180). Although some have atributed to Pope Victor the title of the first Latin Christian writer in Rome, this claim lacks conclusive evidence. It is possible that the earliest Roman Christian works in Latin were the translations of 1 Clement and Hermas, while the earliest Latin translatinos of the NT would have taken place in Africa. This suggests that the Latinisations of Christian communities in Africa preceded those in Rome, which would be explained by the local linguistic configuration and the steady flow of Greek-speaking Eastern Christian migrants to the imperial capital.

The Cult of the Theotokos and the Pokrov (Intercession) Service

The article examines the development of the Virgin cults in Byzantium, which included the veneration of icons, relics, and dedicated feasts. These cults were also expressed in the texts of special services found in Menaions. Among the key elements in the establishment of feasts dedicated to the Virgin Mary was her garment, represented in icons of the Pokrov (Intercession) with a protective function. Narratives and tales about the Nativity of the Virgin, her Life, and Assumption continued to evolve over the centuries, with various versions emerging across the Eastern Christian tradition. Some of these texts appear in the manuscripts of the Kyivan Metropolitanate.The formation of iconographic depictions of the Theotokos in Byzantium and their representation in the Kyivan Metropolitanate is also briefly discussed. Two centers of Marian cults in Constantinople – Blachernai and Chalkopratea – housed important relics associated with the Theotokos: her garment and belt. These relics were said to have originated in the Holy Land and were transferred to Constantinople, though different versions of this transfer exist. A story from 860 recounts how Constantinople was saved from a Rus’ invasion through the protection of the Mother of God’s garment, which was kept at the Blachernai shrine. This narrative appears not only in Byzantine sources but also passed into Ruthenian historical accounts, recurring from the Middle Ages into the early modern period.The narrative surrounding the Dormition and Assumption of the Virgin, as reflected in Menaions and iconography of the Kyiv Metropolitanate, highlights the interaction between texts and images dedicated to Marian cults, which is central to this study. The formation of the Intercession cult and its associated iconography was significant in the Kyivan Metropolitanate’s religious culture. In the absence of Byzantine models that would standardize this iconography, the image of the Intercession evolved flexibly. Initially, the Intercession icon depicted the vision of Andrew the Fool, to whom the Mother of God appeared in a dream with her maphorion, symbolizing protection. This vision was commemorated with a feast on October 1 in the Menaions.The study examines the texts of services dedicated to the Intercession from the 14th to the early 17th century, up to the publication of the Anthologion (1619) at the Kyiv-Cave Monastery. These Menaion texts not only depict the image of the Intercession but also emphasize the Virgin’s protective role for a prince and his army. From the 15th century, a new visionary figure – Roman the Melodist – appears in Intercession icons, holding a scroll and standing at a pulpit, symbolizing his vision of the Virgin, who gave him a kontakion in a dream. Thus, two visionary themes were integrated into a single iconography that circulated in the Kyivan Metropolitanate. A new version of the Intercession iconography emerged in the 17th century, influenced by the Western depiction of Mater Misericordiae. In this version, local political leaders are shown under the Virgin’s maphorion or cloak, emphasizing her protective role.

Difference of Approaches to the Concept of Equality: Western Tradition and L.S. Senghor

In this paper, the authors present a comparative perspective of the notion of equality in the Western school of scientific thought—a notion that became the cornerstone for specific scientific concepts in Western social and political philosophy—and the non-Western approaches to equality, taking as an example of the latter the ideas of the Senegal politician and philosopher L.S. Senghor. Such a comparison is of interest because the African thinker, although he had studied in France and enjoyed political recognition there, understood the concept of equality in postcolonial context quite differently from the Western philosophers. Other African postcolonial political figures (e.g., J. Nyerere) have also addressed the equality concept, but it is Senghor’s ideas that demonstrate so openly the African alternative to the Western approach. Senghor’s concept of equality is inseparable from his postcolonial political activities: during this period of his life, he introduced a notion of Civilisation de l’Universel, Civilization of the Universal, which was based on this concept. According to Senghor, such a civilization should evolve through the use of dialogue on equal terms, integrating the values of different civilizations of the West and East. He juxtaposed this notion with the one of civilisation universelle, Universal Civilization, the evolution of which is based exclusively on Euro-American values and can, in its technocrat rush, distort human nature, leading to the demise of humankind. Trying to resolve the dichotomies of Eurocentric approach, born of the gap between rational and intuitive thinking, Senghor adopts a concept of equality as unity, which brings him close to the Eastern Christian tradition of interpreting equality. It is in sharp contrast to Euro-American social tradition, which focuses solely on rational and ideological conceptualizing.

Myrrha Lot-Borodine on the concept of theosis

The article is devoted to the presentation and analysis of the views of the prominent Russian-French female theologian Myrrha Lot-Borodine concerning the Eastern Christian conception of theosis. First, I present a history of the appearance of her works in this field. Then, the aspect of theocentrism of Eastern Christianity is discussed as well as its specificity as a tradition which combines both cataphatic and apophatic approaches. The analysis role of body in theosis is also shown. Lot-Borodine was one of the first theologian who dedicated her work on deification, and a brief reception of her publications on this topic is displayed.

The impact of geopolitical processes in Bosnia and Herzegovina on urban development and cultural identity

The historical-geographical development of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BH) in the area of the fusion of Western and Eastern Christian civilizations and the Orient resulted in ethnic and religious heterogeneity, occasional political crises and ethnic conflicts that shaped the cultural identity and character of the entire development. BH was separated from the Yugoslav community in the conditions of the civil war. After the war in 1995, a complex administrative-territorial organization of the new state was established, based on the ethnic and religious affiliation of the population. At the same time, the transition of the socialist social system took place, as well as other geopolitical processes and social changes in the Western Balkans initiated by globalization. The paper focuses on cultural disintegration and changes in urban identity and development of cities through the analysis of the six largest urban centers as indicators of social changes in BH. The results of the analysis suggest that there has been a cultural differentiation of society, which is reflected in changes in the ethnic and religious structure of the population and their spatial distribution. Economic stagnation and depopulation of urban centers, as a consequence of the civil war and social reforms, were confirmed by a comparative analysis of statistical indicators of economic and demographic development. Cultural changes were determined by relevant scientific methods and approaches: historical-geographical method, comparative analysis of statistics of demographic indicators and changes in spatial distribution, ethnic and religious structure of the population, and economic changes by analysis of employment in sectors of the economy. The scientific results of previously published papers devoted to some of the mentioned problems, primarily economic development and population dynamics in BH and its large cities, were also taken into account. In this paper, social changes are observed through the cause-and-effect relationships of geopolitical and cultural processes (political, economic and cultural disintegration), social and economic reforms (ownership transition and deindustrialization) and their manifestations on cultural identity and the development of urban centers.

Understanding God’s (im)mutability and (im)passibility: A Greek patristic point of view

The purpose of this article is to demonstrate that patristic theology has resolved the problem of God’s immutability, which is affirmed paradoxically Holy Scripture. This resolution has been achieved through clarifying of the distinction between God’s essence and his uncreated energies. The Eastern Fathers successfully synthesized key theological concepts: the changelessness of God and his dynamic activity in relation to creation. This synthesis is most profoundly articulated in the Palamite doctrine of the uncreated energies. These energies, while emanating from the changeless essence of God, are nevertheless subject to change. According to this teaching, God is a Trinity of Persons who exists on two primary planes: within himself and in his self-revelation, both in the realms of Theologia and Economia. He is unchangeable in essence, yet changeable, alive, active, and ever-new in his providential action of saving the world through his energies. Because he is transcendent, he can be immanent, instilling in the souls who love him a deeper thirst to know and experience him more profoundly.Contribution: The dogmatic formulas in Eastern Christianity are apophatic, antinomic and paradoxical because they encompass essentially contradictory aspects of a living and inexhaustibly rich reality. Thus, by their very nature, dogmas express everything: the infinite and the finite united – without losing their own being in all their dimensions.

Федеративная модель Церкви в православном богословии

The author continues his study of the ways in which the political concept of federation is used to describe church organisation, this time taking as a basis the texts of Orthodox authors. These writers borrowed the idea of a federative structure of early Christian communities from Protestant historians of the 18th century and from subsequent works of Protestant scholars, for whom such notions became a component of the prevailing doctrine. In the writings of Russian theologians the concept of federation seems to have travelled the same path as in the West, having come into use against the background of a general fascination with political projections in theology and having lost its relevance under the influence of various criticisms. In Greek theology the picture turns out to be much more complex. In the course of the development of Greek historiography in the nineteenth century, federalism and democracy were declared to be the characteristic features of the model of organisation of the Eastern Christian Church, developed through the synthesis of the new religion and Hellenistic culture. In the twentieth century these ideas were revised. In modern Orthodox theology there is an agreement on the incorrectness of describing the Church using the concept of federation. Nevertheless, this image has come to be used as a polemical cliché in intra-Orthodox discussion, which is used to denote any form of rejection of the monocentric model of Church unity.

Поздневизантийское духовное наставничество в письмах митрополита Халкидонского к монахине Евлогии

In Late Byzantium, spiritual correspondence served as a form of spiritual guidance. One form of imparting guidance was through correspondence between a spiritual father and a spiritual child. The 14 unpublished letters from the Metropolitan of Chalcedon to his spiritual daughter, nun Eulogia, found in the codex Paris, BnF, gr. 1372, ff. 155–170v, constitute the extant segment of spiritual correspondence during the Late Byzantine period. Selected by Eulogia herself and transcribed at her request, these letters evolved into a section of a collection of ascetic treatises designed for a monastic audience. The main theme of these little-studied letters is the exploration of Eulogia’s soul and her experience of monastic life. The Metropolitan serves as a vigilant supervisor meticulously noting even the subtlest emotional fluctuations of his correspondent. Within the epistolary narrative, the metropolitan performs a number of functions: therapeutic as a doctor, educational as a counsellor, prayerful as an intercessor before God, and reconciliatory as a mediator between God and Eulogia. The mentioned aspects are characteristic features in the depiction of a spiritual father in the Eastern Christian tradition. The article illustrates how employing these guiding models the spiritual father endeavors to regulate the emotional and physical experiences of his spiritual daughter. The hierarch emphasizes the necessity of struggle with depressive despair through daily confession before God and discourages the adoption of elevated hesychast practices. Furthermore, the hierarch revises the monastic rules of life advising Eulogia who is grappling with a physical ailment to exercise moderation in the number of prayers and genuflections, while also emphasizing the importance of maintaining a healthy balance in terms of food and sleep. Thus, the spiritual father serves as a regulator of ascetic practices demonstrating his desire to personalize Eulogia’s relationship with the sacred and to shape the most suitable path for her to experience monastic spiritual life. The spiritual letters themselves serve as instruments of influence as their function extends beyond communication and maintaining social connections. These spiritual messages are meant to be reread and comprehended during which the spiritual child was again and again immersed in the discourse of instructions.

Civilization in the Face of Sociology

The article is a brief overview of the concepts that exist in sociological science from the moment of its inception to the present and related to civilizational issues. The peculiarities of this branch of knowledge, which arose during the Great Industrial Revolution, in the era of the formation of nation-states, led to the fact that for a long time sociologists did not use a civilizational approach, the idea of civilization prevailed as a certain stage in the development of society, opposing “barbarism”, in the age of Enlightenment (F. Guizot), and in the twentieth century (N. Elias). At the same time, it is possible to identify a certain attitude to civilizational issues in Marxism, and in an alternative approach to it, which the author calls technological (D. Bell, O. Tofler with J. Gelbraith adjacent to them), and in the concept of the “world-system” by I. Wallerstein, and in geoeconomics by F. Braudel. The article analyzes the contribution to the sociology of civilizations of the classics of the civilizational approach (N.Y. Danilevsky, O. Spengler, A. Toynbee, P. Sorokin). Special attention is paid to the “civilizational turn” in sociology in the 1970s, primarily related to the works of Sh. Eisenstadt and continued at the beginning of the XXI century by Aronson, as well as the concept of Russian civilization in the works of sociologists D. Nielsen and I. Yakovenko. The article raises theoretical questions about the civilizational approach from a sociological perspective, first of all, the scientific possibilities to identify specifically cultural and value cores of various civilizations, including Russian, to define Russian civilization in relation to the concepts of Eastern Christian civilization and Soviet civilization, as well as the degree of its universalism and autarkism.

Contribution to the Study of the Scene of Abraham’s Hospitality in Eastern Christian Art – the Programmatic and Symbolic Aspect of the Scene

The article deals with the selected examples of the scene of Abraham’s hospitality in Eastern Christian and Serbian Medieval art. The paper analyzes the meaning of the scene and looks at the examples in the old refectory of the Monastery of St. Catherine on Sinai (fig. 1), in the chapel of King Dragutin Nemanjić in Đurđevi Stupovi near Ras (fig. 2), in the Church of the Mother of God in Dragaljevci near Sofia (fig. 3) and in the Church of St. Dimitrius in Boboševo (fig. 4) near Ćustendil. As it illustrates one of the key moments of the Holy history, the scene of Abraham’s hospitality has been frequently depicted in art since the earliest times. Due to its significance, its has been attracting the attention of scholars since ancient times and has been widely studied in international and Serbian historiography in terms of iconography and meaning. Therefore, the article discusses selected examples of the scene of Abraham’s hospitality in Eastern Christian and Serbian Medieval art which are characterized by certain iconographic and conceptual peculiarities. Abraham’s hospitality is an important, ancient, very often depicted and multifaceted theme, and the teaching about it represents the fundamental dogma of Orthodoxy – in this scene the image of the Holy Trinity is symbolically recognized. The article examines the position of this scene in the painted programme of the mentioned monuments and the dependence of the symbolism of this scene on the position it occupies in the painted programme of the church. Depending on the context in which this event is depicted in art, it carries a different meaning, i.e. different nuances of meaning. Selected examples of the scene of Abraham’s hospitality are placed in a specific conceptual context through examining their appropriate programmatic and conceptual analogies and by taking into account the place of their depiction in the given monuments. In this sense, the article places special emphasis on the fresco of Abraham’s Hospitality in the Chapel of King Dragutin Nemanjić in the Đurđevi Stupovi Monastery.

Old Testament translations in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and their contexts

From the 15th century onwards, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a multiconfessional and multicultural state. Apart from Lithuanians, its population comprised Ruthenians (the ancestors of Belarusians and Ukrainians), Poles, and smaller Jewish, Tatar, and Karaim communities. After its Christianization, Lithuania officially fell under the jurisdiction of the Roman Catholic Church, but most of its inhabitants were of the Eastern Christian rite. Reformed Protestantism spread among the nobility at the turn of the 16th and 17th centuries, while Lutheranism flourished in Lithuania Minor. Smaller ethnic groups also had their confessional communities. All confessional groups had their sacred books. This article gives an overview of Christian vernacular translations of the Old Testament that were read in the Grand Duchy between the 15th and the 18th centuries. It briefly discusses the circumstances of the translation of the Old Testament into Ruthenian (the Skaryna Bible), Old Church Slavonic (the Ostrog Bible), Polish (the Brest, Nesvizh and Gdansk Bibles) and Lithuanian (the Bretkūnas, Chylinski and Quandt Bibles) as well as their characteristic features.

Prawosławna ikona na przecięciu duchowych i politycznych dróg. Wybrane problemy

This paper is meant as a commentary on less obvious developments of Western and Eastern Christian spirituality. It can hardly be denied that religions have their connections with this world: history, geography, culture, and accordingly develop in symbiosis with their environment. The reverse of that is the influence which religious beliefs exert on cultural endeavours, a most spectacular example of which is the art of painting. In this vein, the author examines the political and cultural context of the partition into the Catholic and the Orthodox Christianity, together with the differences between Western and Eastern spirituality, to search then for the correspondences between the political and cultural formation and the modes of artistic expression. Finally, some possible connections are established between the politically and historically-shaped spiritual traits of the Catholic and Orthodox Church, and the rules which inspired Western religious painting and the writing of icons, respectively.

Bessarion on the Value of Oral Teaching and the Rule of Secrecy

Cardinal Bessarion (1408–1472), in the second chapter of the first book of his influential work In calumniatorem Platonis, attempted to reply to Georgios Trapezuntios’ (1396–1474) criticism against Plato in the Comparatio Philosophorum Platonis et Aristotelis. Bessarion investigates why the Athenian philosopher maintained, in several dialogues, that the sacred truths should not be communicated to the general public and argued in favor of the value of oral transmission of knowledge, largely based on his theory about the cognitive processes. Recently, Fr. Bessarion Kouotsis has argued that Cardinal Bessarion’s reasoning draws primarily on the “Disciplina Arcani”, i.e., the rule of secrecy, which was an established practice of the Early Christian Church, aimed at protecting and preserving the core elements of the religion from outsiders. While I find Kouotsis’ approach interesting and thought-provoking—for instance, the idea that Bessarion’s argumentation was likely influenced by Eastern Christian views on the rule of secrecy—I intend, first of all, to discuss why Bessarion did not explicitly mention it. Moreover, I would like to argue that Bessarion’s good knowledge of the long Platonic tradition and Eastern mysticism, encompassing both pagan and Christian elements, should also be considered a significant source. Furthermore, I would like to question Kouotsis’ implicit argument that Bessarion’s views were dominated by his training in Orthodox theology and discuss the possibility that Pletho’s (1355–1454) teaching was the obvious influence for Bessarion’s defense of secrecy. After all, we should bear in mind that Anastos has already pointed out Pletho’s reverence for the rule of secrecy. Finally, I would like to support that Bessarion, in the specific text, focused predominantly on the epistemological and cognitive aspects of oral teaching, resorting to the rule of secrecy only to enhance his views.

Проект «Апофатика» Гора Чахала. Религиозная тема в искусстве российских новых медиа 2010-х годов

The article is devoted to the consideration and art criticism of the Apophatica multimedia art project (2016), the author of which is the Moscow artist Gor Chakhal. For several decades, he has been addressing religious topics in contemporary art, defining his work as Christ‐centered. This trend has long been of deep interest in world and Russian art, but its comprehension, place in the artistic process, and functional significance have not yet been definitively determined and differ in Russia and other countries. In this article, the Apophatica project is considered from the point of view of some traditions of Eastern Christian art, such as hierotopy. Additionally, an attempt is made to integrate the project into the innovative world context of art that addresses Christian themes, which is not easy with the difference in terminology. Many foreign researchers prefer the term ‘spirituality’. Apophatica is an example of a modern statement by a Russian artist on the theme of the eternal dialogue between man and God in the language of fine arts.

ʿAlāʾ al-Dīn al-Bājī's (d. 714/1314) critique of the Pentateuch and the plurality of Christian Bible recensions

The present article discusses the Muslim legal scholar and theologian al-Bājī (b. 631/1233) and his polemic against the Pentateuch, which he read in at least two Christian Arabic translations, which were in use among the Melkites. It aims to identify the recensions of the Pentateuch that al-Bājī had access to, and to understand how the differences between these recensions contributed to his view that the shared Jewish and Christian scripture had undergone changes. The article suggests that al-Bājī used a combination of arguments to undermine especially the Christian conception of divine revelation, pointing out apparent inconsistencies and illogicalities in the biblical stories themselves as well as text-critical cruxes caused by discrepancies between different versions that circulated side by side within the Eastern Christian communities. Finally, some of the “irrationalities” he describes seem to be particular of the copies of the texts he had in front of him.

Westernism Genesis in Russian Art as a Reflection of the Fatality of National Policy

The scientific goal of this paper aims to use interdisciplinary analysis to show how reforms of Peter I had a devastating impact on Russia. These reforms had a devastating impact on Russia, which was the last state stronghold of the OrthodoxSlavic world, in favor of Protestant models of Roman-German civilization. The aggressive rejection of Eastern Christianity characterized these models. The political system’s transformations are most clear in its cultural and ideological sphere, where art becomes a means of self-expression for those in power. The author of the article, thus, focuses on architecture as a major type of art and shows the completely pro-Western nature of the country’s reform. And if the power and society were one before Peter I reform, then since the XVII century they became divided into alienated civilizations. Moreover, the Russian authorities subjected the field of art to Western influence, leading to an indirect “foreign yoke.” This fostered antagonistic contradictions within society, culminating in the events of 1917, when the “Alien” power was finally overthrown.