- Plato's Timaeus, Sextus Empiricus, Aristotle's Physics, Natural philosophy, Porphyry, Iamblichus, and 24 moreSt Basil the Great, Simplicius, Patristic Theology and Late-Antique Philosophy, Church and Power, Councliar History, History of Church Councils, Neoplatonism, Damascius, Syrianus, Aristotle, Plato, Cyril of Alexandria, Plotinus, Ammonius, John Philoponus, Alexander of Aphrodisias, Stoics, Gregory of Nyssa, Space and Time (Philosophy), Time and Eternity, Parmenides, Heraclitus, Philosophical Scepticism, Archytas, Philosophy of Motion, and Philosophy of Timeedit
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This article aims to explore the subject of migration within the horizons of imperial unicity by reviewing the historical roots and modern modifications of cosmopolitan ideology. It intends to detect its theoretical foundations and test... more
This article aims to explore the subject of migration within the horizons of imperial unicity by reviewing the historical roots and modern modifications of cosmopolitan ideology. It intends to detect its theoretical foundations and test them against the Orthodox missionary goal to become a citizen of the kingdom of heaven.
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This article aims to elucidate certain aspects of Basil the Great’s philosophy of nature. In particular, it endeavors to scrutinize the issues clustering around the notion of time. Basil’s creative attempt to introduce Christian... more
This article aims to elucidate certain aspects of Basil the Great’s philosophy of nature. In particular, it endeavors to scrutinize the issues clustering around the notion of time. Basil’s creative attempt to introduce Christian philosophy of nature is presented as being firmly rooted in the prior philosophical tradition especially that of Aristotle, the Stoics and Philo of Alexandria. His philosophical exegesis of the creation narrative appears unique and innovative in that he arrived at a new understanding of time and creation. His careful and subtle scrutiny of the notion of one day is the focal point of this study. It demonstrates that Basil’s one day is the unit of measure and the principle of order of created things which provides a new explanatory framework for the natural phenomena. It also links Basil’s cosmology with his ethics and eschatology.
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Fourth-century Christian eschatological thought lost a vital dynamism stemming from the tension between the social conditions of Christians, defined by the imperial pressure of persecution, and eschatological expectations of the Kingdom... more
Fourth-century Christian eschatological thought lost a vital dynamism stemming from the tension between the social conditions of Christians, defined by the imperial pressure of persecution, and eschatological expectations of the Kingdom of God on earth. The new historical horizons, marked off by the conversion of Roman imperial authorities to Christianity, brought into being the idea of concurrence and harmonious coexistence of powers and dominions of the earthly and celestial kingdoms. Basil the Great and Gregory of Nyssa, among others, are credited with the introduction of a “classical” version of the early church’s eschatology associated with the triumph of Christ in the earthly domain under the stewardship of the Christian rulers. Their eschatological speculations introduced a new unprecedented level of philosophical subtlety to the Christian mindset. This chapter aims to tackle the most foundational elements of eschatological thought of these two Great Cappadocians and to give a brief analysis of their mystical apprehension of the consummation of all beings under the dreadful judgment seat of Christ.
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This article aims to investigate the conceptual underpinnings and contents of the Christian legal tradition. It also intends to provide a brief review of how Orthodox nomic thought functions in the age of fragmentation (i.e.... more
This article aims to investigate the conceptual underpinnings and contents of the Christian legal tradition. It also intends to provide a brief review of how Orthodox nomic thought functions in the age of fragmentation (i.e. denominationalism). How should an Orthodox Christian react to heterodox faith? How should s/he receive a non-Orthodox preaching and teaching? These questions have become focal in the context of the fractured Christendom. This is a key issue that by and large determines the future of the ecumenical movement. This article aims to shed light on the issue at hand and intends to offer a possible solution to it.
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ISEC Leadership
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EVIL AND SPIRITUAL COMBAT IN A TIME OF PANDEMIC
December 11
Conference Schedule
All Events via Zoom. We follow Eastern Standard Time
Panel Schedule: Virtual James Chapel, Virtual Stewart Room & Virtual Bonhoeffer Room
December 11
Conference Schedule
All Events via Zoom. We follow Eastern Standard Time
Panel Schedule: Virtual James Chapel, Virtual Stewart Room & Virtual Bonhoeffer Room
Research Interests:
The global pandemic has destroyed lives and ravaged society. It has revealed systemic patterns of inequity, violence and neglect, and has lent urgency to address the ecological damage that intensifies fires, floods, and storms. What... more
The global pandemic has destroyed lives and ravaged society. It has revealed systemic patterns of inequity, violence and neglect, and has lent urgency to address the ecological damage that intensifies fires, floods, and storms. What happens to Orthodox theology, liturgy and practice in these circumstances? How does the church respond to natural and human disaster ? Where do we turn for guidance and how do we serve the people and majesty of God’s Creation?
The Conference will take place on Friday, December 11th 2020 via Zoom.
We call on scholars, religious leaders and social activists to offer academic papers related to the conference theme. Please email us a short abstract (200 words), email address and mailing address before November 15.
A day-long gathering (9.00 am to 6.00 pm—with registration beginning at 9), will focus on the various ways the Eastern Orthodox Church, over past centuries and in recent times, has theologized on the questions of the meaning, origins and significance of evil in the modern world and on the role of physical and spiritual combat of evil. This conference will thus address the central topics of ethics, spirituality and asceticism.
We believe that this conference topic will be of great interest to scholars, religious leaders and social activists because of its enormous significance for the life of the world and the meaning of life that is faithful to authentic sources of Christian ethics and spirituality.
The conference conveners plan to produce a scholarly volume of papers presented that will continue the ground-breaking approach characteristic of previous conferences.
The Rev. Dr. Conrad Fischer, Chair of ISEC
Please email your submission to:
The Rev. Dr. Sergey Trostyanskiy
st2399@utsnyc.edu
The Conference will take place on Friday, December 11th 2020 via Zoom.
We call on scholars, religious leaders and social activists to offer academic papers related to the conference theme. Please email us a short abstract (200 words), email address and mailing address before November 15.
A day-long gathering (9.00 am to 6.00 pm—with registration beginning at 9), will focus on the various ways the Eastern Orthodox Church, over past centuries and in recent times, has theologized on the questions of the meaning, origins and significance of evil in the modern world and on the role of physical and spiritual combat of evil. This conference will thus address the central topics of ethics, spirituality and asceticism.
We believe that this conference topic will be of great interest to scholars, religious leaders and social activists because of its enormous significance for the life of the world and the meaning of life that is faithful to authentic sources of Christian ethics and spirituality.
The conference conveners plan to produce a scholarly volume of papers presented that will continue the ground-breaking approach characteristic of previous conferences.
The Rev. Dr. Conrad Fischer, Chair of ISEC
Please email your submission to:
The Rev. Dr. Sergey Trostyanskiy
st2399@utsnyc.edu
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
This volume presents the work of contemporary Orthodox thinkers who attempt to integrate the theological and the mystical. Exciting and provocative chapters treat a wide variety of mysticism, including early Church accounts, patristics... more
This volume presents the work of contemporary Orthodox thinkers who attempt to integrate the theological and the mystical. Exciting and provocative chapters treat a wide variety of mysticism, including early Church accounts, patristics (including the seemingly ever-popular subject of deification), liturgy, iconography, spiritual practice, and contemporary efforts to find mystical sense in cyber-technologies and post-humanism.
Table of Contents (v)
Preface and Acknowledgements (vii)
Abbreviations (ix)
Introduction: Mysticism and its Historical Manifestations (1)
Sergey Trostyanskiy and Jess Gilbert
I. MYSTICAL THEOLOGY AND CHURCH MOTHERS AND FATHERS (9)
I.1. The Relation Between the Incomprehensibility of God and the Naming of God in the Theology of Pseudo-Dionysius (11)
Theodore Damian
I.2. Toward an Understanding of Maximus the Confessor’s Mystical Theology of Deification: The Spiritual Sabbath / Eighth Day Sequence in Two Hundred Chapters on Theology (27)
Jess Gilbert
I.3. Mystical Theology in the Writings of Gregory of
Nyssa and Dionysius Areopagite (51)
Eirini Artemi and Christos Terezis
I.4. Analogy in the Mystical Theology of Gregory of Nyssa: Transcending Negation and Affirmation (69)
Robert F. Fortuin
I.5. Recapitulative Reversal and the Restoration of Humanity in St. Irenaeus (85)
Don Springer
I.6. Kindling Divine Fire: The Mystical Sayings of St. Syncletica (99)
V.K. McCarty
II. LITURGY, SACRAMENTS, AND ICONS (115)
II.1. The Kingdom of the Holy Trinity and the Movement of a Community in the Sacrificial Spirit of Christ: The importance of Father Dumitru Stăniloae’s Mystical and Ascetic Vision of the Holy Liturgy (117)
Ciprian Streza
II.2. The Sacraments of the Church: Basis of Spirituality, Building Blocks of the Kingdom (145)
Philip Zymaris
II.3. The Mystery of Representation: Theodore the Studite on Seeing the Invisible (169)
Sergey Trostyanskiy
III. CONTEMPORARY PRACTICE AND APPLICATIONS (191)
III.1 Understanding My Avatar: Cyberbeing, Bio-Digital Personhood, and Fictional Transcendences from an Orthodox Perspective (193)
Inti Yanes-Fernandez
III.2. A Theory of Practice: A Meditation on Practice Itself (217)
Mark W. Flory
III.3. The Prayer of the Heart as Method of cognitive-behavioural Psychotherapy (237)
Cameron McCabe
III.4. Orthopraxis and Theosis: The Role of Ritual in the Training of the Mind (249)
Anthony Perkins
Table of Contents (v)
Preface and Acknowledgements (vii)
Abbreviations (ix)
Introduction: Mysticism and its Historical Manifestations (1)
Sergey Trostyanskiy and Jess Gilbert
I. MYSTICAL THEOLOGY AND CHURCH MOTHERS AND FATHERS (9)
I.1. The Relation Between the Incomprehensibility of God and the Naming of God in the Theology of Pseudo-Dionysius (11)
Theodore Damian
I.2. Toward an Understanding of Maximus the Confessor’s Mystical Theology of Deification: The Spiritual Sabbath / Eighth Day Sequence in Two Hundred Chapters on Theology (27)
Jess Gilbert
I.3. Mystical Theology in the Writings of Gregory of
Nyssa and Dionysius Areopagite (51)
Eirini Artemi and Christos Terezis
I.4. Analogy in the Mystical Theology of Gregory of Nyssa: Transcending Negation and Affirmation (69)
Robert F. Fortuin
I.5. Recapitulative Reversal and the Restoration of Humanity in St. Irenaeus (85)
Don Springer
I.6. Kindling Divine Fire: The Mystical Sayings of St. Syncletica (99)
V.K. McCarty
II. LITURGY, SACRAMENTS, AND ICONS (115)
II.1. The Kingdom of the Holy Trinity and the Movement of a Community in the Sacrificial Spirit of Christ: The importance of Father Dumitru Stăniloae’s Mystical and Ascetic Vision of the Holy Liturgy (117)
Ciprian Streza
II.2. The Sacraments of the Church: Basis of Spirituality, Building Blocks of the Kingdom (145)
Philip Zymaris
II.3. The Mystery of Representation: Theodore the Studite on Seeing the Invisible (169)
Sergey Trostyanskiy
III. CONTEMPORARY PRACTICE AND APPLICATIONS (191)
III.1 Understanding My Avatar: Cyberbeing, Bio-Digital Personhood, and Fictional Transcendences from an Orthodox Perspective (193)
Inti Yanes-Fernandez
III.2. A Theory of Practice: A Meditation on Practice Itself (217)
Mark W. Flory
III.3. The Prayer of the Heart as Method of cognitive-behavioural Psychotherapy (237)
Cameron McCabe
III.4. Orthopraxis and Theosis: The Role of Ritual in the Training of the Mind (249)
Anthony Perkins
Research Interests:
Peace, tranquility, and calm, both physical and mental, are necessary conditions of well-being. This is the reason Orthodox liturgical life is centered on eirenic topics. We constantly pray and supplicate for peace. Yet, the real life of... more
Peace, tranquility, and calm, both physical and mental, are
necessary conditions of well-being. This is the reason
Orthodox liturgical life is centered on eirenic topics. We
constantly pray and supplicate for peace. Yet, the real life of
human beings is often deprived of peace. Ongoing military
clashes, revolutions, rebellions, and civil unrest
are common phenomena of our civilization.
Hence, peace is not to be easily found on earth.
Once this exterior peace is found, we rejoice. Yet, the exterior
calm is only part of the whole blessed life. The enemy can also
approach us from within, bypassing the body and infesting
the soul through corrupted logoi. Even the most distinguished
spiritual athletes, i.e., the ascetic monks, thus engage in a
continuous contest with the corrupted logoi, induced by
malignant spiritual powers, to obtain peace. Hence, a
dispassionate state, a tranquil and blessed contemplative
repose, is the eschatological expectation and hope for us.
Even more to this: as soon as we give up our spiritual contest,
as soon as we lose ground, we face spiritual death. The questions of this
conference are about the meaning of peace, calm, and tranquility;
about the legitimacy of violent response to corrupted societal
structures from the Orthodox perspective; about violence in general;
about our theological and metaphysical apprehension of peace
and war; and about our spiritual contest to achieve true
peace and harmony with the neighbor in and through God.
We call on scholars, religious leaders, lay people and social activists to
offer academic papers related to the conference theme. Please email us
a short abstract (200 words), including your email address and mailing
address, before November 15, 2023.
necessary conditions of well-being. This is the reason
Orthodox liturgical life is centered on eirenic topics. We
constantly pray and supplicate for peace. Yet, the real life of
human beings is often deprived of peace. Ongoing military
clashes, revolutions, rebellions, and civil unrest
are common phenomena of our civilization.
Hence, peace is not to be easily found on earth.
Once this exterior peace is found, we rejoice. Yet, the exterior
calm is only part of the whole blessed life. The enemy can also
approach us from within, bypassing the body and infesting
the soul through corrupted logoi. Even the most distinguished
spiritual athletes, i.e., the ascetic monks, thus engage in a
continuous contest with the corrupted logoi, induced by
malignant spiritual powers, to obtain peace. Hence, a
dispassionate state, a tranquil and blessed contemplative
repose, is the eschatological expectation and hope for us.
Even more to this: as soon as we give up our spiritual contest,
as soon as we lose ground, we face spiritual death. The questions of this
conference are about the meaning of peace, calm, and tranquility;
about the legitimacy of violent response to corrupted societal
structures from the Orthodox perspective; about violence in general;
about our theological and metaphysical apprehension of peace
and war; and about our spiritual contest to achieve true
peace and harmony with the neighbor in and through God.
We call on scholars, religious leaders, lay people and social activists to
offer academic papers related to the conference theme. Please email us
a short abstract (200 words), including your email address and mailing
address, before November 15, 2023.
Research Interests:
FULLY HUMAN; THEOLOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY AND HUMAN FLOURISHING IN THE 21ST CENTURY