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Important issues Από τον Τύπο Completed the International Conference in Strasbourg
Important issues Από τον Τύπο Completed the International Conference in Strasbourg | Completed the International Conference in Strasbourg |
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.jpg "behr_(8).jpg") The international conference "Being Human, Becoming Divine: Elisabeth Behr-Sigel’s Contributions to the Church" took place from August 31 to September 3, 2011 at the St. Thomas Ecumenical Center in Strasbourg, France. The conference was organized by the Ecumenical Institute in Strasbourg, the “Faith and Order” Secretariat of the WCC, the “Women in Church and Society” Program of the WCC, and the Volos Academy for Theological Studies of the Holy Metropolis of Demetrias.
Elisabeth Behr Sigel was, perhaps, the greatest Orthodox woman theologian of the 20th century. Born in Strasbourg in 1907 to a Jewish mother and a Lutheran father, she studied theology at the Protestant Faculty in Strasbourg. She then went to Paris, where she came into contact with the Russian Orthodox diaspora. She met and married a Russian immigrant and engineer, Andre Behr. Her exposure to Russian theology and spirituality led her to join the Orthodox Church.
.jpg "behr_(3).jpg") Behr-Sigel knew, influenced, and was influenced by some of the most important theological figures of the era (Metropolitan Evlogy, Vladimir Lossky, Paul Evdokimov, Lev Gillet, Maria Skobtsova, etc.). She was active in the resistance movement during the Nazi occupation. A member of the editorial board of the magazine Contacts and a lecturer at the Theological Faculty of St. Sergius and the Catholic Institute of Paris, Behr-Sigel taught worldwide and published many books and articles in English, French, and German. She devoted the last decades of her life to the role of women in the Orthodox Church and became known for her tireless ecumenical activity. She died, having lived a long and full life, in 2005. Her book, The Ministry of Women in the Church, is available in Greek, as well as a number of her articles published in Synaxis and Kath’Odon..jpg "behr_(1).jpg")
The conference began with recollections from members of Behr-Sigel’s large family (three children, many grandchildren and great grandchildren), her son and one of her two daughters, as well as two grandchildren. Their initial comments, as well as their presentations and participation in the conference, shed a great deal of light on various aspects of EBS’s life and work.
The conference’s first paper, presented by Elisabeth Parmentier, professor at the University of Strasbourg, recounted the history of the Theological School of Strasbourg, where EBS studied from 1927 to 1931. The school, due to its location and the history of the city, was very open to dialogue. EBS was among the first students accepted by the school.
.jpg "behr_(4).jpg") The second paper, by Olga Lossky, dealt with EBS’s activities during World War II. The speaker stressed EBS’s great faith despite setbacks and difficulties during the war. EBS never hesitated to offer help to the persecuted Jews, ignoring the risks and consequences. Olga Lossky, an accomplished author, has written, among other things, the biography of EBS, which was recently published in English with the title: Towards the Endless Day: The Life of Elisabeth Behr-Sigel..jpg "behr_(2).jpg")
The next presentation was by Fr. Michel Evdokimov, EBS’s personal friend and colleague. He examined the influence of Russian theology in EBS’s life and work. EBS dealt systematically with the major Russian theologians and devoted her PhD to the thought and theology of Alexander Bukharev.
Teva Regule, doctoral candidate in liturgical theology, spoke about ecclesiology in EBS’s work, emphasizing that her theological thought revolved around Gal. 3:28. For one to live and walk in Christ, one must place sacrifice, passion, forgiveness, hope, and love at the center of one’s life. .jpg "behr_(5).jpg") Valerie Karras, a professor at Southern Methodist University, and an Orthodox theologian, presented EBS’s use of the Fathers in her anthropology. The speaker underlined the fact that EBS focused her theology on the Holy Trinity. EBS utilized the sources, stressed the necessity of their contextual analysis and at the same time took a critical stance toward them with regard to their teaching about the two genders. She also pointed out the importance of re-reading and re-interpreting many passages of Scripture. .jpg "behr_(7).jpg")
Maria McDowell, Th.D., an academic collaborator at the St. Nina Quarterly journal, analyzed the concepts of person and icon and how they were connected with the issue of the ordination of women.
Sarah Wilson, Th.D., and Fellow of the Ecumenical Institute in Strasbourg, worked on EBS’s theology in her doctoral dissertation. In her paper, she spoke about EBS’s writing of the lives of modern saints (Juliana Lazarevskaya, Mother Maria Skobtsova, Bukharev, Tikhon of Zadonsk, etc.) and, more generally, on the place of the saints in the Lutheran Church.
.jpg "behr_(9).jpg") Amal Dibo, a professor at the American University in Lebanon and a friend of EBS, discussed the way in which EBS read and interpreted the “signs of the times.” EBS, according to Amal Dibo, tried, through her theology, “to reconcile the state of God with the state of man,” i.e. the vision and experience of the Kingdom with social reality and its problems.
The last speaker, Antoine Arjakovsky, professor at the College des Bernadins, in Paris, spoke about Sophiology as a source for EBS’s anthropology. He emphasized, among other things, that EBS was greatly influenced by sophiological views of Sergius Bulgakov, which she supported publicly with a journal article at a time when these views were being challenged by other important theologians and close friends.
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The last session allowed the delegates who did not present a paper the opportunity to speak about EBS, her personality, and the significance of her contribution to Orthodox theology.
.jpg "behr_(11).jpg") All the delegates agreed that EBS was an ecumenical figure who courageously and honestly dialogued with other Christian traditions as well as with the great and important theological and social issues of her time.
From Greece participated Ms Katerina Karkala-Zorba and Dr. Eleni Kasselouri-Hatzivassiliadi, as a member of the organizing committee and a representative of the Volos Academy for Theological Studies.
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