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Important issues Δελτία Τύπου Seminar-Roundtable Discussion
Important issues Δελτία Τύπου Seminar-Roundtable Discussion | Seminar-Roundtable Discussion |
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"Theology and History: Methodological concerns in response to contemporary issues of Christian anthropology "
.jpg "semin_(9).jpg") On Saturday, May 28, 2011, from 10:00 AM until 2:30 PM, the Academy for Theological Studies held a successful seminar-roundtable discussion devoted to "Theology and History: Methodological concerns in response to contemporary issues of Christian anthropology."
The main speaker was Konstantinos Agoras, Assistant Professor at the Hellenic Open University. The roundtable discussion featured Ioannis Kourempeles, Associate Professor in the Department of Theology at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, and Haralampos Ventis, doctor of theology and a member of the academic team of the Academy for Theological Studies.
Marios Begzos, Professor of the Theological School at the University of Athens, who was scheduled to participate, was unable to attend due to elections for dean of the Theological School of the University of Athens.
.jpg "semin_(76).jpg") The Director of the Academy, Dr. Pantelis Kalaïtzidis, began by thanking all those attending for their presence. He then stressed in his brief introductory comments that the Academy for Theological Studies has always tried, with its conferences and publications, to explore critical issues related to the identity of Orthodox Christianity in relation, for example, with the eschatological dimension of the Church, Orthodoxy’s encounter with modernity, the Church’s relationship to culture, etc.
Next, the main speaker, Professor Konstantinos Agoras,
.jpg "semin_(20).jpg") addressed the methodological question in theology, making mention of the impetus for, and manner and parameters in which we do theology. He insisted on the urgent need for theology to be associated with history, in the framework and perspective of the history of salvation, having as the decisive or even exclusive point of reference the incarnate person of God the Word, Jesus Christ, in history. How one answers the question of method in theology (the "whence" and "how")—speaking, in other words, about its paschal foundation (the Incarnation, the Passion, the Cross, the Resurrection, the glorious Ascension and Second Coming)—determines in a radical way the Christian character of theology, and describes its illimitability in relation to philosophy and culture. The iconological identity of both man (as an icon of the icon of God, i.e. Christ, the only perfect man), as well as of the Church (as an icon of the Trinity to the extent that it shares proleptically in the Kingdom) should be defined in the same perspective and through the same Christocentric prism..jpg "semin_(39).jpg")
Assoc. Prof. I. Kourempeles, in his brief remarks, highlighted some key points in the presentation by Prof. Agoras, in which there was a convergence of views (such as the non-negotiable Christocentricity of theology), making specific reference to the significance in this perspective of the enhypostatic theology of Leontius of Byzantium, as well as the contemporary agony of Western theologians (such as Dupuis), who want to highlight the central place of the person of Christ in theological methodology.
.jpg "semin_(65).jpg") Dr. H. Ventis, in his brief remarks, commented on the main speaker’s paper, highlighting certain skewed views that have arisen in the history of Orthodox theology, such as, for example, the underestimation of the significance of the incarnation of God in real history, referring to a kind of de-incarnation which, although its reality is accepted theoretically as an axiom, it nevertheless does not stand as an argument and does not assume the implications of this fact for man and his movement within the struggle of history.This was followed by an open discussion. It should also be noted that Prof. K. Agoras had distributed parallel texts (of Fr. J. Behr and D. Wendebourg), which were used as supplements during his presentation. For more photos, click here . |
