The first conference in the series “Theological Portraits,” dedicated to “Panayiotis Trembelas: Between Tradition and Renewal, Between Academia and Mission,” met with great success. The conference, which took place in the E.S.I.E.A. amphitheater in Athens, was attended and addressed by His Eminence Metropolitan of Velestinos Damaskinos—representing His Beatitude Ieronymos, Archbishop of Athens and All Greece—, as well as by His Eminence Metropolitan of Demetrias Ignatios.

    In his opening remarks, Metropolitan Damaskinos, after conveying the blessings of the Archbishop, referenced the importance of the work of P. Trembelas. Metropolitan Ignatios then briefly outlined the main approaches and events to be held by the Volos Academy for Theological Studies, while noting the need for a substantial yet critical study of the works of the great contemporary Greek theologians.
    Finally, Nikolaos Asproulis, a member of the Academy’s academic team, described the main thrusts of the conference in his short introductory speech.

 

In an exceptional paper during the first session, A. Kottadakis, a theologian and author, examined Panayiotis Trembelas’ intellectual and academic evolution. He eloquently highlighted some of the known and unknown aspects of the rich intellectual, literary, and academic career of Trembelas.
    The second session, which featured papers devoted to Biblical studies, Ioannis Karavidopoulos, Professor Emeritus of Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, discussed Trembelas’ Jesus of Nazareth and the contemporary quests for the historical Jesus. He highlighted the importance and pioneering nature of Trembelas’ eponymous work (“Jesus of Nazareth”), while also offering a brief historical overview and evaluation of the search for the historical Jesus, primarily in contemporary Western theology.
   

C. Karakolis, Assistant Professor at the University of Athens, then spoke on Trembelas’ New Testament commentaries, offering a substantial and penetrating overall view of its form and content, while also making some useful critical observations on these commentaries.
   

 

The session concluded with a paper by St. Zoumboulakis, director of the journal Nea Estia and president of the executive committee of the Artos Zoes Foundation, entitled “P. Trembelas as a Translator of Biblical Texts.” The speaker made a literary, editorial approach to Trembelas’ translations of the Biblical texts (New Testament, Psalter, etc.), pointing out both obvious and obscure translation problems (moralistic meanings, brief interpretations rather than translations, etc.).   
    

 

In the next session, on liturgics and dogmatics, Panayiotis Kalaïtzidis, ThD, teacher of religious education, explored the theme of Trembelas as a publisher of liturgical texts and made an evaluation of his work. The speaker concentrated on the problematic and often selective manner in which Trembelas used and evaluated the manuscripts in his book “The Three Liturgies According to the Athens Codices.”
    Fr. Dimitrios Tzerpos, Associate Professor at the University of Athens, speaking on the topic “P. N. Trembelas’ Contribution to the Revival of Liturgical Life in Greece,” discussed the theologian’s diverse array of contributions (with the various liturgical studies and publications of liturgical texts, his insistence on the organic liturgical unity of the sacraments, etc.) to the liturgical renewal of the Church in Greece. Fr. Dimitrios Bathrellos, Visiting Professor at the Orthodox Institute of Cambridge, then spoke on “The Dogmatics of P. N. Trembelas,” in which he referred to the place and role that particular work played in that time period in the realm of dogmatic theology, especially with regard to Western theological developments, as well as to its current potential value.
   

 

In the first afternoon session, H. Ventis, a member of the Academy’s academic team, read a paper by G. Vlantis, MA in Theology and a member of the academic team of the Orthodox Academy of Crete, entitled “The Apologetic Work of Panayiotis Trembelas,” in which he presented a critical assessment of the apologetic works written by the esteemed theologian regarding various ideological theories (atheism, etc.) and religious beliefs (Chiliasm, etc.). Fr. A. Pinakoulas, a theologian and lawyer, discussed theory and praxis in the preaching of P. Trembelas. Relying on the published sermons as well as a fair number of unpublished sermons by Trembelas, he attempted to describe the types (such as “improvised sermon”) and the parameters (existential, moralistic perspective) on which the theologian’s preaching was built.
Pantelis Kalaïtzidis, Director of the Volos Academy for Theological Studies, and Teaching at the University of Thessaly, explored the topic “Mysticism, Apophaticism, and Cataphatic Theology,” in which, through a critical review and evaluation of this sensational work by Trembelas and the reactions it provoked from Mount Athos, he discussed the theologian’s individual, harsh, and often dismissive judgments on particular figures (Dionysius the Areopagite, Symeon the New Theologian, etc.) and trends (apophaticism, mystical theology) from the history of the tradition, raising the question of whether this work of Trembelas can be regarded as an example of "post-patristic" theology.

 

 

In the last session, Georgios Galitis, Professor Emeritus at the University of Athens, spoke on “P. Trembelas: The Ecumenical Teacher,” referring to this venerable theologian’s participation and contribution in small and big events in the history of the Ecumenical Movement (such as the Conference of the WCC in Evanston, U.S.A, 1954), as compared with the current era, which is often dominated by anti-ecumenism and anti-Westernism.
The conference concluded with a paper by Fr. Evangelos Ganas, theologian and electrical engineer at the NTUA, on “Panayiotis Trembelas: The Shadow of His Era on His Work,” in which the speaker referred to the broader spiritual and theological-religious milieu of the era in which Trembelas’ multi-faceted activity and relevant interactions unfolded. It should be noted that, at the end of each session, there was learned dialogue as well as questions which contributed to a deeper understanding of the various facets of Trembelas’ work.

 

The conference was attended by a large crowd, professors emeriti (such as E. Theodorou) and professors from the Universities of Athens, Thessaloniki, and Thessaly, as well as representatives from the Brotherhood of Theologians "O Sotir," of which Trembelas was a member. It was also filmed by The Web TV channel intv.gr, which will broadcast it in the coming days.

 

To view the broadcasts click here .