Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed Research Articles

The Pastor as Physician of Souls in Gregory of Nazianzus’s Oration 2:16–34

Abstract Gregory of Nazianzus is known for his role in the Pneumatomachian debates of the fourth century and the resultant Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed. He is less well known for his Oration 2, which was simultaneously a personal defense of his initial flight from the pastorate and also a pastoral theology which highlighted the dangers, difficulties, and duties of those called to the ministry. The oration is long, containing 170 sections, and so the focus will be on a smaller portion, highlighting the theme of the pastor as the physician of souls. After dealing with a few preliminary matters—such as the setting for the oration and other introductory issues—the article moves to an analysis of sections 16–34 of Gregory’s Oration 2.

“We exalt you Mother of the True Light,” Coptic Hymn or Creed; and the Date of Origin.

Today in the Coptic Church a text precedes the Creed during several services of the Liturgy of the hours. This text has become known as the “Introduction to the Creed,” [IttC] and is generally recited in the same manner as the Nicene-Constantinopolitan creed that follows it.

Polish view of the Contemporary Orthodox Church Law – problems on the way to systematization

Orthodox church law is comprised of elements that regulate the life of the Church at various levels. The theological decisions, oroses, canons and canonical letters, which concern the Church globally, obviously focus on doctrine. Still, they also characterize the theological aspects of ecclesiology, primarily expressed in the Orthodox Church’s fundamental confession of faith – the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed. Although a number of the canons of the ecumenical councils and of the Holy Fathers, historical and contemporary resolutions passed by various local Orthodox Churches and other ecclesiastical authorities and institutions pertain to the universal sphere in many aspects, the vast majority of them set specific organizational standards of church life in the local perspective: the local Church, basic administrative units (dioceses, metropolises or exarchates), but above all in basic organizational structures, which include parishes and monasteries.
 This article presents the problems experienced when systematising contemporary Orthodox church law.
 This research aims to present a model for systematizing church law and to direct further research towards a comprehensive systemization of church law, including both the universal code and the legislation of specific Orthodox autocephalous churches.
 The methodology of this work is based on analysing legal acts and analyses already conducted by authoritative canonists.
 While focusing on the legal code of the autocephalous churches, the following questions were addressed: discrepancies resulting from the source corpuses adopted in various local churches and the lack or omission of information on significant organizational and systemic issues. The difficulties presented in this article provoke further research into organizing Orthodox church law. The fundamental problem is the absence of a standardized legal code for the universal Orthodox Church and a standardized compilation of ecclesiastical laws to be applied in autocephalous churches. The provisions of universal church law do not sufficiently organize issues of mutual intra-church relations, and in particular, the obligations and boundaries of the prerogatives of local autocephalous church structures.
 This process of systematization should include updating legal provisions by means of recognizing provisions that have been canonically repealed by later canons of the same rank or higher as invalid.

Keperdanaan Allah Bapa Dalam Wacana Teologi Kontemporer

This article is aimed to discuss the rejection of the primacy of the Father in the doctrinal structure of the Trinity emerging in contemporary theology and tries to defend the necessity of a balanced reflection regarding the unity and the plurality of the above doctrine. The teaching of the Fathers of the Church, particularly formulated in the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed and held in the Latin Tradition regarding the primacy of the Father as well as the origin of the Son (“begotten, not made; consubstantial with the Father”) and of the Holy Spirit (“who proceeds from the Father and the Son”), as depositum fidei needs to be well conserved. Precisely expressing more maturely and more completely, the mystery of God revealed through the message of Jesus Christ and reflected by the Church following the teaching of the Apostles, this profession of faith is still an expression of authentic faith in God of Jesus Christ.

Incarnate De Spiritu Sancto: Aquinas on the Holy Spirit and Christ’s Conception

Incarnate De Spiritu Sancto: Aquinas on the Holy Spirit and Christ’s Conception Dominic Legge O.P “She was found to be with child of the Holy Spirit.” (Matt 1:18) “And the angel said to her, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God.’” (Luke 1:35) THE GOSPELS OF Matthew and Luke connect the conception of Christ to the Holy Spirit. Likewise, the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed professes that “by the Holy Spirit,” the only-begotten Son of God was “incarnate of the Virgin Mary.” But what, precisely, does this mean? Some scholars have recently found important clues in other allusive passages of sacred Scripture to the conception of Christ.1 In Exodus, the cloud “abode upon” the tent of meeting, “and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle (Exod 40:35).”2 Might the words of the angel Gabriel allude to that mysterious cloud associated with the Holy Spirit, the descent of which accompanies the presence of the Lord (the child who is God and man) [End Page 173] in his tabernacle, the womb of the blessed Virgin?3 One might think of the opening lines of Genesis, with their references to “the Spirit of God” who “was moving over the face of the waters” (Gen 1:2), and to the breath of God that brought the clay of Adam’s nature to life. Might Gabriel’s words refer to this life-giving Spirit, active in the first creation of Adam, now also active in the first moment of the new creation in Christ?4 Indeed, one might rightly wonder whether Gabriel’s message—“The Holy Spirit will come upon you,” and “the power of the Most High will overshadow you”—makes reference to all three persons of the Trinity, for St. Paul tell us that the Christ the Son is the Power of God (1 Cor. 1:24), and the Father is the Most High.5 Saint Thomas Aquinas was highly interested in these sorts of references to the persons of the Holy Trinity. He regards the conception of Christ not only as a Christological mystery, but as a Trinitarian one as well, where the Holy Spirit’s action is at center stage. Unfortunately, his account of the Holy Spirit’s place in Christology is seriously underappreciated, leading to a common critique that Aquinas does not say enough about the Holy Spirit.6 Some contemporary exegetes and theologians approach [End Page 174] this mystery as if Aquinas’s traditional claims about Christ’s supernaturally elevated human knowledge and power leave little place for the Holy Spirit’s role in Christology.7 Rightly understood, however, Aquinas offers a scripturally and dogmatically satisfying and coherent solution: a rich Spirit-Christology.8 The Holy Spirit’s role is absolutely indispensable in the mystery of Christ in general, and, as this article will show, of his conception in particular. Yet Aquinas accounts for this without compromising the central place of Christ’s identity as the Word, or endangering the consubstantial unity of the triune God. In examining Christ’s conception, we will see this Spirit-Christology at work and will discern some of its features. This article has four sections: a preface, followed by a three-part analysis of Christ’s conception de Spiritu Sancto. The preface identifies the theological frame within which Aquinas sets this subject. From there, the first main part discusses the preparation of the Blessed Virgin Mary for this wondrous conception. The second part then examines Aquinas’s account of the Spirit’s presence and activity in Mary at Christ’s conception. Finally, the third part outlines the Holy Spirit’s role (and those of the other divine persons) in bringing about the conception of Christ, [End Page 175] understood as the first moment of the visible mission of the Word. Taken together, these sections will enable us to answer the question: What does this mystery of Christ reveal about the Holy Spirit and, indeed, about all of the persons of the Holy Trinity? I. A Preface: The Theological...

"СОЦИОЛОГИЯ ОНТОЛОГИИ": ЗНАЧЕНИЕ СОЦИАЛЬНЫХ АСПЕКТОВ БОРЬБЫ ЗА СИМВОЛ ВЕРЫ НА ПЕРВОМ ВСЕЛЕНСКОМ СОБОРЕ

The process of adoption of the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed is well documented and studied in modern literature. As a rule, it becomes the subject of research in religious studies or theological discourses. However, it raises philosophical problems. Interdisciplinary research allows us to see a tool in the struggle for church authority and power in a theoretical debate on the central principles of Christian dogma: “copyright” on the ontological basis of the teachings of the Church automatically increased the importance of its owners in the church hierarchy. Acknowledging the growing cultural influence of the Church, the confrontation of the opposing groups during the First Ecumenical Council was an important milestone in the struggle for the right to form the central meanings of the new social reality, as well as identities and institutions, which were based on it. The article analyzes the factors that ensured the victory of the party of Alexander Athanasius and ultimately led to the adoption of the Orthodox Symbol of Faith...

Tři výhrady biskupa Synesia vůči křesťanství: duše, svět a vzkříšení

Synesius rejected the ideas of the generation of the soul after the body, of the corruptibility of the world, and of the resurrection understood too literally in 411 AD. The objections by the future bishop can be evaluated differently in each particular case. His reservations about certain impiously gross ideas concerning the resurrection (of Christ, or humanity?) were quite expectable by the Christian authors of the day and cannot therefore be viewed as a legitimate argument of Synesius against the faith of the Church. In contrast, the idea of the eternity of the world is part of non-Christian Platonism in the strictest sense. Yet another type of Cyrenaean’s disapproval of some of the (allegedly) ecclesiastical concepts is his rejection of the notion of bodies existing before their souls. It even seems that this strange issue could have been a mere strategy on Synesius’ part creating a false problem for Theophilus to ensure that his future bishop did not object to anything too serious. It was not actually an official article of faith, since the Church of the day still only held the relatively vague Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed as dogma, which was only relevant extremely generally in relation to the themes of the resurrection and eternity. From a rhetorical point of view, Synesius as an experienced sophist created to his advantage an interface between the public and private in Ep. 105. He was able to avoid the possible danger caused by his objections thanks to the formally private status of the letter addressed to his brother. He consequently allows both Theophilus and the church in Libya to fully publicly know his actual philosophical positions.

The Witness of Bartholomew I, Ecumenical Patriarch. Edited by William G.Rusch. William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2013.

The Witness of Bartholomew I, Ecumenical Patriarch. Edited by William G.Rusch. William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2013.

Panel Presentation on The Church : Towards a Common Vision

The Church: Towards a Common Vision (TCTCV) (1) is the result of a very long process of study conducted by the World Council of Churches (WCC) and its Commission on Faith and Order. Two primary and several other important documents lie in its background. The first is Baptism, Eucharist, and Ministry, completed and sent to the churches for comment and reception in 1982. (2) It was an exciting convergence document that made a substantive contribution to the mutual recognition given especially to baptism by many churches around the world. While the sections on eucharist and even more so on ministry were more problematic than was baptism, they also pointed to new possibilities that were embraced by many denominations, especially within the Protestant world. The second document that helped to set the stage for the study of the church was the Faith and Order report, Towards Koinonia in Faith, Life, and Witness: A Discussion Paper, which was prepared for the Fifth World Conference on Faith and Order in Santiago de Campostela, Spain, in 1993. (3) It brought together the latest thinking on koinonia that was found in two other studies that had recently been completed by Faith and Order: Church and World: The Unity of the Church and the Renewal of Human Community, (4) and Confessing the One Faith: An Ecumenical Explication of the Apostolic Faith as It Is Confessed in the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed (381). (5) The Fifth World Conference on Faith and Order was called, in particular, so that the churches might take stock of all that had been achieved to date through ecumenical dialogue. It was a way to mine the previous thirty years of work done by Faith and Order, as well as the growing number of bilateral dialogues. Also, it came just over three years after the massive changes that came with the overthrow of so many Communist governments in Central and Eastern Europe, as well as the movement of many Western preachers, revivalists, evangelists, and mission agencies into these regions that were previously unreachable by Western Christians. This conference, then, was intended to take stock of where the churches stood and, further, to point to future directions for the WCC and especially for the work of Faith and Order. (6) In such a context, it should come as no surprise to realize that topics such as koinonia, renewal, evangelism, proselytism, religious freedom, interreligious dialogue, and moral and ethical issues (including care for the environment) would all surface at this Fifth World Conference. While delegates were divided into four groups, it quickly became clear that one of the important issues facing Faith and Order and recognized by all four groups was that ecclesiology was a subject much in need of study in such a way as to take into consideration all the Faith and Order studies that had led to the current discussion on koinonia. As a result, the Fifth World Conference did just that. (7) The Conference noted that the Commission on Faith and Order had completed sufficient study on issues that might have relevance to a new study of the church. Its work could be used as one possible resource, but others would be drawn from other aspects of the work of the WCC and from various bilateral agreements that were beginning to emerge on the issue of ecclesiology. It was believed that the experiences of the united and uniting churches in various parts of the world might open up new ways of thinking about the church, to say nothing of what might be learned from the various churches emerging around the globe in regions that were relatively new to Christianity, namely, the global South. The hope was that an ecclesiological statement that recognized both unity and diversity in this gift from God might be a useful tool for demonstrating the essential unity of all Christians everywhere. (8) A committee was established, and the work began. What resulted was The Nature and Purpose of the Church, completed in 1998. …

Scripture, Creed, and Empire: Negotiating the Challenges to Find Norming Norms

Given the recent (since 9/11) widespread attention across academic disciplines paid to the theme of Empire, the author considers a primary question which emerges: What might we learn from and about the Bible which was composed in the context of Empire and has functioned in communities which both benefited from and suffered under imperial rule? Attention is given to critical ‘re-readings’ of the New Testament in light of the reality of the Roman Empire and its overriding, pervasive imperial rule. Consideration is given to the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed (325/381 B.C.E.) and Christology for ‘hidden transcripts’ of the radical alternative message of the Gospel vis-a-vis the power of emperor and Empire.

Christian Mission Reread in the Freedom of the Spirit

General impression Certainly present statement will mark a milestone in ecumenical--and Christian--concept mission and evangelism. It does not reveal a mere aggiornamento--a simple update--to reality changing contexts, but it is result experience a living organism, experiencing the below in view the Above. The word and concept life, already present in rifle, is not mere rhetoric, for, in my own personal perception, document is a result itself--the a community people that is looking for best way to break out and share the first fruits kingdom. Thus, authority and range document certainly emerge experience Christian body that is revitalized and renewed continuously by power Spirit. In this regard, text has not been product a mere technical process exploration and interpretation a reality foreign to body. Quite contrary! The statement emerges reality body itself; this body, conscious its and being, proceeds to describe, interpret, and provide insights on matter. This concept life, present throughout length and depth document, necessarily evokes Holy Spirit--the life-giving ([TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII.])--according to Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed. And it is this Spirit that leads human beings through their most sublime and most miserable realities to become reacquainted, renewed, relinked, reinterpreted, and finally reconfigured in present reality. From this perspective, I would have no objection to consider document as moved by Spirit ([TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII.]) as it is born and grows reality of below seeking that from Above. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Not only does concept evoke divine Spirit: breadth and maturity concepts, audacity and effortlessness in their articulation, and finally opening and reception a plethora traditions, modes, and ways seeing, accepting, and interpreting same reality all reveal that content, structure, and articulation text have been made in an experiential and necessarily pneumatic harmony. Also, affirmative and positive tone constantly refers to attitude created by Spirit in an organism that is formed by His constant presence and action. Thus, ten concluding affirmations statement clearly seal multi dimensional concept mission as the extension life already in this realm, and towards future one. Aspects to consider Regarding content declaration, I would like to highlight some concepts that, according to my understanding, build originality text: 1. The sub-version an old theological and missiological pattern, according to which mission is based on an anthropocentric and religious parameter: in text results are clear that reading key whole reflection is no longer human beings--or their religion--but God. In my view, this displacement is absolutely necessary and constitutes major goal main rereading Christian mission. Finally, we return to base and origin--and end--of all things: that is, God. Indeed, it is more than clear that Christian mission--that coming out to the other--is an image erotic divine creative impulse. The text refers to act creation itself, in which God by natural and ecstatic love ([TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII.]) place to the other to heterousion--liber et liberaliter--through his energies. Indeed, we Orthodox speak about energies or uncreated progresses ([TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII.]). The origin--and end--of Christian mission is that loving God, who still being who-he-is comes out and becomes participable to created. Indeed, God comes out his essential intimacy and inner life--through his progresses--which paradoxically are God himself--remaining ontologically unmutated, and wants to be participable to his creatures, as he gives to them existence, life, logic, wisdom, and deification. …

Spirit, Church, Resurrection: The Third Article of the Creed as Hermeneutical Lens for Reading Romans

Abstract Recent focus on the theological interpretation of Scripture has encouraged exegetes to explore the church's doctrinal confessions as constructive hermeneutical resources for reading Scripture. Taking its cue from this suggestion, this essay places Paul's letter to the Romans in dialogue with the third article of the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed in order to discern both how the creed might illuminate important but oftneglected themes in Paul's theology, as well as how Romans might in turn clarify, deepen, and even transform our reading of the creed. Among the various insights to emerge from this dialogue are (1) a renewed emphasis on the importance of pneumatology, ecclesiology, baptism, and resurrection in Paul's theology in Romans and (2) the salutary (supplemental?) nature of Paul's Israel-shaped theology vis-à-vis the creed's inattention to Israel's election.

Spirit, Church, Resurrection: The Third Article of the Creed as Hermeneutical Lens for Reading Romans

Abstract Recent focus on the theological interpretation of Scripture has encouraged exegetes to explore the church's doctrinal confessions as constructive hermeneutical resources for reading Scripture. Taking its cue from this suggestion, this essay places Paul's letter to the Romans in dialogue with the third article of the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed in order to discern both how the creed might illuminate important but oftneglected themes in Paul's theology, as well as how Romans might in turn clarify, deepen, and even transform our reading of the creed. Among the various insights to emerge from this dialogue are (1) a renewed emphasis on the importance of pneumatology, ecclesiology, baptism, and resurrection in Paul's theology in Romans and (2) the salutary (supplemental?) nature of Paul's Israel-shaped theology vis-à-vis the creed's inattention to Israel's election.

Precreation Discourse and the Nicene Creed: Christianity Finds its Voice in the Roman Empire

AbstractExploring the emergence of creedal statements in Christianity about non-time before creation, called precreation rhetorolect, this essay begins with the baptismal creed called the Roman Symbol and its expansion into the Apostles’ Creed. These early creeds contain wisdom, apocalyptic, and priestly rhetorolect, but no precreation rhetorolect. When the twelve statements in the Apostles’ Creed were expanded into the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed, the first three statements added precreation rhetorolect. God the Father Almighty not only creates heaven and earth, but God creates all things visible and invisible. Jesus Christ is not only God’s only Son, our Lord, but the Son is begotten from the Father before all time, Light from Light, and true God from true God. Being of the same substance as the Father, all things were made through the Son before he came down from heaven, the Son was incarnate by the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, and became human. With these creedal additions, a precreation storyline became the context for a lengthy chain of argumentation about belief among fourth century Christian leaders.

The Oneness-Trinitarian Pentecostal Dialogue: Exploring the Diversity of Apostolic Faith

The Nicene Creed and the subsequent development of Trinitarian orthodoxy have been regarded by many as essential to the apostolic faith of the churches. For example, the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed without the filioque clause was made the starting point of the World Council of Churches' Commission on Faith and Order study program entitled, “Towards the Common Expression of the Apostolic Faith Today.” Not so well known, however, is the existence of a growing movement of Pentecostal Christians globally that seeks to preserve the apostolic faith of the churches in significant measure by rejecting the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed along with the Trinitarian dogma that historically it had supported. Commonly called Oneness or Apostolic Pentecostals, they are estimated to have from 14 to over 17 million followers globally and growing rapidly in Mexico, China, and the United States.1

Magna Charta on Ecumenical Formation in Theological Education in the 21st century ‐ 10 Key Convictions1

1) Ecumenism as an urgent need in theological education basis of the WCC affirms: The World Council of Churches is a fellowship of churches which confess the Lord Jesus Christ as God and Saviour according to the scriptures and therefore seek to fulfil together their common calling to the glory of the one God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. In the constitution of the WCC the concern for ecumenical theological education therefore receives a high priority: it is defined as one of the primary purposes and functions of the WCC to nurture the growth of an ecumenical consciousness through processes of education and a vision of life in community rooted in each particular cultural context (WCC Constitution para. III). ecumenical movement from its very beginning and even before the founding of the WCC in 1948 (cf. history of World Council of Christian Education) had a profound impact on the understanding of Christian education in general and ministerial formation for future ministers and priests in particular. If the ecumenical movement as a whole is about strengthening common witness and promoting new forms of the visible unity between churches of different denominational and confessional traditions then the scandal of churches remaining in disunity and using distorted images of sister churches in one's own educational materials and publications needs to be overcome, with foremost priority in the area of theological education and ministerial formation. strengthening and pursuit of church unity in theological education is a gospel imperative for any church joining in the affirmation of the church as being one, holy, catholic and apostolic in its essence (The Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed [381]) (interdenominational or ecclesial dimension of ecumenical formation). emergence of interdenominational or non-denominational institutions of theological education in the '50s and '60s which was intentionally supported by the Theological Education Fund (TEF) of the IMC as well as the introduction of distinct courses and curriculum models on ecumenism and the ecumenical movement was a consequence of this ecclesiological insight. emphasis on interdenominational cooperation in theological education as well as the development of proper teaching materials on ecumenism remains an indispensable and in many places still lacking component of the theological education of pastors and ministers. There is no future for the ecumenical movement as a whole if there is no commitment to ecumenical formation processes in formal and non-formal theological education programmes of WCC member churches. If theological education fails to be guided by an ecumenical vision of a church renewed in mission and service to the whole of humankind there will be a serious shortage in terms of a new generation of Christian leaders, pastors and theological teachers carrying on the ecumenical vision and commitment into the 21 st century and a widening gap and estrangement between the majority clergy and ever fewer experts on the ecumenical movement and ecumenical theological discourse which can already be observed in a number of member churches. 2) Contextualization of theological education Ecumenical formation in theological education is guided by the vision of the church truly united and serving the renewal of the human community. Therefore, ecumenical formation reaches beyond the realm of issues of inner church unity in addressing fundamental questions of the human family and the survival of the whole earth. Being inspired by the ecumenical vision of God as the owner of the whole earth (oikumene) as well as the eschatological vision of a new heaven and a new earth, theological education in ecumenical understanding will always try to respond to the pressing needs of social contexts and to be related to issues of human survival both in global and in local environments. Relating theological education to the realities of particular social and cultural contexts, liberating theological education from any captivity of certain social milieus, cultural one-sidedness and spiritual blindness to religious values existing in certain indigenous traditions has been a major emphasis of the WCC in the programme on theological education (PTE) since the sixties (social or contextual dimension in ecumenical formation of theological education). …

Begotten in Eternity But Incarnate in Time: Historical, Theological, and Liturgical Issues Underlying Greek and Latin References to the Son in the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed

Begotten in Eternity But Incarnate in Time: Historical, Theological, and Liturgical Issues Underlying Greek and Latin References to the Son in the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed

Scholasticism and New Philology: Giles of Viterbo, O. E. S. A. (1469–1532), On Divine Generation

From the earliest Christian centuries, the doctrine of divine generation brought forth an abundant and controversial literature. From the Father-Son terminology in the Old and New Testaments, to the Gospel of John's repeated naming of Christ as,unigenitus a patre, only begotten of the Father, to the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed's proclamation of “God from God, Light from Light, True God from True God, begotten not made, of one essence with the Father,” to the Council of Chalcedon's proclamation that the divine Son was “begotten before all ages of the Father according to the Godhead,” the articulation was vast and prolific. Further, the formula that emerged victorious and enduring in late antiquity still challenged and urged later theologians to write treatises on the doctrine for centuries to come.Thatthe Father is presented as uniquely the Father of the Son, and the Son uniquely the Son of the Father is a dogmatic formula based on revelation, buthowGod begets God without either making himself or another God was a question formulated to approach theologically the complexities of the divine Trinity, particularly the relation among the three distinct divine persons in one divine nature.

Faith and Order Paper no 153 (New Revised Version), 1996 - Confessing the One Faith: An ecumenical explication of the apostolic faith as it is confessed in the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed (381)

HTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies is an acclaimed journal with broad coverage that promotes multidisciplinary, religious, and biblical aspects of studies in the international theological arena. The journal’s publication criteria are based on high ethical standards and the rigor of the methodology and conclusions reported.

Historical Dictionary of the Orthodox Church by Michael Prokurat, Alexander Golitzin, and Michael D. Peterson

Historical Dictionary of the Orthodox Church. By Michael Prokurat, Alexander Golitzin, and Michael D. Peterson. [Religions, Philosophies, and Movements, No. 9.] (Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press. 1996. Pp. xvii, 440. $89.00.) Students of the Christian Church may avail themselves of such fine reference works as the three-volume Encyclopedia of the Lutheran Church (1965), the eighteen-volume New Catholic Encyclopedia (1967 et seq.), the eight-volume Coptic Encyclopedia (1991), or the renowned Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church,written largely from a British and Anglican perspective (1786 pp.; 3rd ed., 1997). The book here under review is a more modest but entirely welcome reference work on the Orthodox tradition and meets a long-felt need. Of the three authors Dr. Prokurat and Dr. Golitzin are both assistant professors of theology, while Mr. Peterson is a professional librarian; all three are associated with theological institutions in the United States. An introductory essay discusses, among other things, the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed (without the Filioque) as the basic statement of Orthodox belief, the world-wide distribution of Orthodox believers, the perception of Orthodoxy by contemporary Western historians and the media, and future challenges; among the latter the authors see a need for a united witness of Orthodoxy on the international scene. It is one of the strong points of this book that it does not limit its coverage to the Greek-speaking Orthodox churches, but rather gives equal attention to the Orthodox churches of the Balkans and Eastern Europe. Thus we find articles not only on John Chrysostom or Photius, but also on the Doukhobars or Alexander Nevskii. While biblical matters have been excluded-justifiably so, given the ready availability of various Bible dictionaries and commentaries-the chronological scope is also impressive: from Justin Martyr or Gnosticism in the second century to Archbishop Iakovos or the ecumenical movement in the twentieth century. The last 150 years receive, relatively, more attention than earlier centuries; thus the article on Georges Florovsky takes up a whole page, that on Constantine the Great only half a page. There are articles not only on historical figures and events but also on theological concepts, liturgical practices, and religious institutions. Important personalities of the West, such as Augustine of Hippo or Charlemagne, are not overlooked. Some technical terms are explained such as autocephalous, Filioque, or Kyrie eleison. Controversial subjects are not avoided; thus it is pointed out that the meeting of the Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras (q. …