This article discerns an ecumenical hermeneutics of receptivity towards Western theology in the writings of the Orthodox Neo-patristic author Dumitru Stăniloae (1903–1993). In so doing, the article shows that, despite its rejection of Western scholasticism, the program of the Orthodox Neo-patristic movement also included an ecumenical component which, instead of cultivating opposition between Eastern and Western Christianity, invited churches to dialogue and mutual enrichment. The exploration of Stăniloae’s notion of “open sobornicity” is the main focus of this article.
This article explores the elements of Orthodox tradition that could inspire a vision of sustainable development. Particular attention is offered to the theology of creation and its connection with anthropology as a valuable guide for sustainable development and the environmental crisis. The Orthodox theology of creation in connection with anthropology offers several models of a heathy and sustainable interaction between the world and the human person. All these theological models emerge from a Christian ethos that (i) seeks development without the destruction of nature for utilitarian and egoistic purposes, (ii) sees the sustainable development of creation in the promotion of the idea that the whole world -humans and nature alike -is a gift to be creatively returned to God rather than an object to be limitlessly exploited and consumed; and (iii) speaks of the flourishing of the human person as inseparable from communion with other human beings and from the flourishing of the whole of creation.
This article constitutes a brief response to the reflections of Kateřina Bauer, František Štěch, and Michaela Kušnieriková on helpful models of theological, moral, and spiritual discernment, emphasising that the meta-praxis of discernment is needed in order to theoretically reflect on diakrisis and its theological, spiritual, and moral aspects. The article continues with a couple of remarks on discernment in Catholicism, Protestantism, and Orthodoxy. The article focuses on (i) discernment as the art of learning and listening; (ii) the practice of discernment as an ongoing hermeneutical re-reading of the past experiences and traditions; and (iii) false forms of discernment.
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