Volume 13 (2021): Edition 1 (April 2021)

The document titled For the Life of the World: Toward a Social Ethos of the Ortho dox Church, authored by a special commission of Orthodox scholars appointed by the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew is a document that can be definitely understood as a political manifesto of Eastern Orthodoxy for the 21^st century, namely for this period of history and not for a by-gone historical setting or a Christian utopia (either the Byzantine Empire or Holy Russia), a period of time with urgent problems and challenges that call for our attention. Therefore, bringing to the fore the personalist anthropological view inherent in the document itself, an attempt has been made in the text to critically reflect and highlight certain relevant aspects of the document (a positive reception of liberal democracy, human rights language, solidarity to the poor, etc.). The goal is to show how theologically important this document is for the Church witness to our pluralistic world.

In their writings on Islam, John Damascene and Theodore Abu Qurrah, both authoritative patristic saints of the Orthodox Church, took an apologetic and polemic stand in defence of the Christian truth. In the modern interreligious discourse, however, the approach to Islam is rather diplomatic, concentrating on universal human values and common aspects of religions. How does the document For the Life of the World operate in this tension? In general, it aims to build on patristic argumentation, but the approach to Islam is most positive and all-embracing, welcoming the “beauty and truths” of Islam and stressing the “common roots,” while the patristic views on Islam are silenced. The discrepancy may arouse questions on the sincerity and coherence of the modern approach in relation to the patristic tradition. This reflects wider challenges in the modern theology of the Church: how to find a discursive position in the tension between the defence of truth, characteristic for the patristic thought, and the “diplomatic” language of the modern interreligious encounters.

A large part of Christians in the world have been involved in social topics by these two pastoral documents released by the Holy See and the Ecumenical Patriarchate. Both documents bear the mark of the two Church Primates, Pope Francis and the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew who inspired them and who had already shown interest in themes such as human life, social theology, climate and ecumenism. This essay aims to offer an ecumenical common reading of the two recent documents, Fratelli Tutti and For the Life of the World. Toward a Social Ethos of the Ortho dox Church, considering the pastoral work of the two signatory Primates as authentic ecumenical bridges within the Christian world.

Orthodoxy has a long experience of cohabitation with other religions and Christian denominations. However, this experience has not always been a peaceful and easy one, especially when molded by the rise of nationalism during the second half of the 19^th century and global geopolitical forces throughout the 20^th century. A series of historical events, from Russia to the Middle East, from the Balkans to Central Europe, have shaped the Orthodox relationship to religious pluralism, redefining the religious landscape through movement of populations and migrations. These many conflicts and historical events have proved the multifaceted reality of Orthodoxy, from its role as a state religion, such as in Greece, and a majority religion, such as in Russia, to a minority religion with limited rights, such as in Turkey, or, more generally speaking, in the Middle East. It is in this very complex context that interfaith relations unfold, too often in a very violent and traumatic way.

This paper studies Guardini’s perception of Augustine, especially in his two widely unknown books on Confessions: Die Bekehrung des heiligen Aurelius Augustinus (1935), and Anfang (1944), which are contrasted by the recently published Guardini lectures: Ewigkeit und Geschichte (1955/56 and 1961/62). The author discusses Guardini’s emphasis and fascination with Augustine’s conversion (cf. Conf. VIII), as it was relevant for his existential theology. Additionally, the text explores the Augustinian perception of the phenomenon of conversion by studying the passage from In evangelium Ioannis tractatus 53 (John 12:40), where Augustine delivers a beautiful synthesis about the conversion of the heart through grace: “Conversio gratia est” (Aug., In Io. tr. 53.11). It is hoped this study will evaluate Guardini’s doctrine about the conversion of the heart using the concrete example of Augustine and also replenish and enrich his interpretation by contrasting it to the broader Augustinian corpus.