- Kraljice Natalije 45
11000 Beograd, Srbija
- Religion, Justin Popović, Maximus the Confessor, John D. Zizioulas, Medieval Serbia, Nikolaj Velimirović, and 31 moreGeorges Florovsky, Nicetas of Remesiana, Dionysius the Areopagite, Christian Neoplatonism, Cappadocians, Gregory of Nyssa, Patristics, Sergius Bulgakov, Orthodox Theology, Thomas F. Torrance, Neoplatonism and late antique philosophy, Athanasius, Eunomius, Greek Patristics, St Basil the Great, Origen, Early Christianity, Patristic Studies, Serbian history, Patristics and Late Antiquity, Late Antique and Byzantine Studies, Neoplatonism, Basil of Caesarea, Theology, Historical Theology, Christology, Byzantine Studies, Russian Orthodoxy, Augustine, Late Antiquity, and Systematic Theologyedit
- I am a senior research associate at the Institute of Philosophy and Social Theory of the University of Belgrade, Serb... moreI am a senior research associate at the Institute of Philosophy and Social Theory of the University of Belgrade, Serbia. I obtained my MA by thesis in theology from Durham University (2002) and a PhD in Philosophy from the University of Belgrade (2007). I had been a research or a teaching fellow at universities of Los Andes (Colombia), Princeton (USA), Aarhus (Denmark), St Andrews (Scotland, UK), Oslo (Norway) and Niš (Serbia). My research interests include Patristics, Ancient and Byzantine Philosophy and Orthodox Theology. Among my most recent publications are the monographs Justin Popović: A Synthesis of Tradition and Innovation (In Serbian, 2021) and two edited volumes: one with Dragan Bakić, Bishop Nikolaj Velimirović: Old Controversies in Historical and Theological Context (Institut for Balkan Studies of SASA and Sebastian Press, 2022) and another with Alex Leonas, Studies in St Maximus the Confessor's Opuscula Theologica et Polemica (Brepols, 2023).edit
The book is the result of the author’s ten-year-long research of the work of Justin Popović. After the Prologue, which explains the book’s genesis, the reader is introduced to Justin’s life and writings. The work then chronologically... more
The book is the result of the author’s ten-year-long research of the work of Justin Popović. After the Prologue, which explains the book’s genesis, the reader is introduced to Justin’s life and writings. The work then chronologically retraces Justin’s inspirations and places them in relevant historical contexts. We learn how he lived and interpreted the Bible from his earliest childhood. The author focuses on Justin’s relationship with his mentor Nikolaj Velimirović and shows how he follows Velimirović’s example regarding the critique of nationalism in the church, drawing on Russian philosophical thought, the critique of European humanism, and developing the concept of Svetosavlje. He recounts Justin’s journey from Saint Petersburg and Oxford to Sremski Karlovci, Athens and Bitola to Belgrade, showing how he created a philosophical-theological synthesis combining the elements of conventional theology, Russian religious philosophy, and the ideas of the old Church Fathers. To provide insight into his ecumenical inclinations, the book analyzes Justin’s relationship with non-Orthodox churches and traditions, retracing his views from his Oxford writings to proposals addressed to the Holy Synod of the Serbian Orthodox Church (SOC). The reception analysis focuses on how Justin’s ideas evolved among his disciples, who are today bishops of SOC, and international authors. In this way, the work offers a historical overview of Justin’s life with a focus on his academic interests while also providing insight into the 20th-century European and global events reflected in his opus.
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On the occasion of the 130th anniversary of the birth and the 45th anniversary of the repose of Justin Popović, the Center of Church Studies and the International Center for Orthodox Studies have published a collective volume titled Saint... more
On the occasion of the 130th anniversary of the birth and the 45th anniversary of the repose of Justin Popović, the Center of Church Studies and the International Center for Orthodox Studies have published a collective volume titled Saint Justin the New of Ćelije and the Orthodox World, edited by Professor Dragiša Bojović and myself. The book contains works by 30 scholars from Serbia and abroad.
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The volume gathers works dedicated to the topic of ecumenism discussed by the recently canonized saint of the Orthodox Church, the archimandrite Justin Popovic, also known as St Justin the New of Chelie. In addition to the German... more
The volume gathers works dedicated to the topic of ecumenism discussed by the recently canonized saint of the Orthodox Church, the archimandrite Justin Popovic, also known as St Justin the New of Chelie. In addition to the German translation of the well known work of St Justin The Orthodox Church and Ecumenism, published for the first time in Greek in 1974, the present volume offers the translation of two letters. One is addressed to his spiritual disciple having been written in 1964 and deals with ecumenism and the planned Great Orthodox Council. The other letter is addressed to the Holy Synod of the Serbian Orthodox Church from 1976 in regard with the summoning of the great council of the Orthodox Church. The volume includes also the translation of St Justin’s notes on ecumenism from 1972 published recently as Notes on Ecumenism (2010).
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More than a century after the pioneering works of the Russian patristic scholar, Sergey Epifanovič, the modern studies on Saint Maximus the Confessor have experienced a sudden and massive expansion evident in the production of articles,... more
More than a century after the pioneering works of the Russian patristic scholar, Sergey Epifanovič, the modern studies on Saint Maximus the Confessor have experienced a sudden and massive expansion evident in the production of articles, monographs, theses, as well as in the organization of major international conferences. Together with Augustine, Maximus has become one of the most studied ancient Christian authors in the third millennium.
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The ancient world invented the psogos (ψόγος), a speech about or a written account of somebody made for the purpose of insulting, degrading, or otherwise criticising the person in question. Sometimes, psogoi are the only preserved... more
The ancient world invented the psogos (ψόγος), a speech about or a written account of somebody made for the purpose of insulting, degrading, or otherwise criticising the person in question. Sometimes, psogoi are the only preserved accounts of somebody’s life. An antipode to psogoi were panegyrics, another form of ancient speech that praises someone beyond good measure and conspicuously omits anything that might cast a critical light on their hero. There are many modern equivalents of both psogoi and panegyrics which deal with the life of Bishop Nikolaj. If an uninformed reader came across samples of both, providing such strikingly opposite and polarising images of him, they would be much confused. As it happens, Nikolaj appears as both a Christian saint and a heretic, nationalist and anti-nationalist, ecumenist and anti-ecumenist, fascist and anti-fascist, communist and anti-communist, democrat and anti-democrat. Clearly, then, a reader of these accounts, no matter whether they are psogoi of or panegyrics to Bishop Nikolaj, can learn much more about the authors in question and their attitudes towards Nikolaj than about the churchman himself. In this sense, many decades after his death, Nikolaj continues to fulfil the words of apostle Paul to be all things to all people (1 Cor 9: 19). He seems to serve both the need of some people to attribute to him the things they cherish and praise him for, and the requirement of other people to attribute to him the things they condemn and attack him for.
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This collection of thematically organized original studies presents and discusses the notion of gender in patristics, that is, in the early Christian authors, usually referred to as Fathers of the Church. The Fathers of the Church have... more
This collection of thematically organized original studies presents and discusses the notion of gender in patristics, that is, in the early Christian authors, usually referred to as Fathers of the Church. The Fathers of the Church have not dealt with the notion of gender as different from the notion of sex and for them these two notions were synonymous. Moreover, the patristic authors shared the Christian late antique worldview on gender as a combination of ancient philosophical views on the sexes, of the wisdom of the Old Testament as well as of the new Christian message.
The Greek ancient world has dealt with the one-sex model developed in the history of medicine, beginning with Aristotle and Galen. In the one-sex model the differentiation between the sexes was drawn based on the position of their genitals. It was perceived that men have their genitals outside the body, while women have their genitals inside the body. Thus, female and male were homologues. The difference in the position of genitals of male and female inspired Aristotle to define the difference between men and women in terms of deprivation or lack. Thus, according to Aristotle due to lacking the possibility for rational and active action, that was allegedly man’s attribute, the woman was considered to be a lesser man. The differentiation between men and women led to their separation and it served for the denial or restriction of women’s rights in society.
The Old Testament’s message was quite different. The account of the creation of the human being from the Book of Genesis stated that God created humankind ‘in his own image’ (Gen. 1: 26-27), and that God created them as ‘male and female’ (Gen. 1: 27), and as ‘man and woman’ (Gen. 2: 23). This ac- count indicates the natural equality of men and women, and the consequence of this natural equality of men and women is their reliance to each other, ex- pressed through marriage and family.
The New Testament not only repeats the message of the Old Testament with regards to equality and interdependence, but it affirms it as an historical fact. By interpreting the Old Testament message, Jesus Christ reminded Pharisees that God created humanity from the beginning as male and female in order for two to become one (Matt. 19: 4-6). Jesus’ message was not confined to marital life, but to the broader strata of the Jewish society. The biblical fables of the Samaritan woman, whom Jesus Christ asks for drink (John 4: 1-26) and of the Canaanite woman, who begged Jesus to heal her daughter (Matt. 15:21–28), point to the multi-faceted oppression of women in ancient Israel, as well as to the liberating capacity of the new Christian religion. However, these stories reveal the traditional hierarchal order of Jewish society and Jesus’ role as emancipator of women discriminated on gender and ethnic grounds, but also that these acts of liberation of discriminated women led to the trans- formation of both the privileged and discriminated. The new religion brings a transformative impact to the relationship between Jews and Gentiles or be- tween apostles and neophytes as oppositions confined to these times, as well as to the general oppositions between chastity and adultery, lord and servant, man and woman and finally, God and human being.
These two authorities that are behind the writing of the Church Fathers, namely the ancient philosophical tradition and the Judeo-Christian religious belief, were often contrasted, as it is in regard to the question of the status of women in the ancient society. Although it is very common to describe early Christian authors in patriarchal terms, they were quite critical of the autocrat- ic authority exercised by patres familias in the Greco-Roman world. However, this does not mean that the Church Fathers were always free from the stereo- types that existed in the world of late antiquity.
The four articles gathered here together within the topic ‘Patristics and Gender’ go beyond the time of Jesus Christ and his apostles and they cover the period from the second to the the seventh century. The articles also go beyond the topic of Christian marriage, dealing either with strategies for the symbol- ic construction of women or with the question of the status of the sexual and gender differences in the human primordial state as well as in the Kingdom of Heaven.
The article of Vladimir Cvetković is an overview of how the patristic authors in three different periods addressed the issue of gender. Cvetković argues that in the first pre-Constantinian period of Christian Church characterized by frequent persecutions of Christians, the imperative for both male and female martyrs was to behave ‘manly’ at the moment of their violent death, as it is described in the accounts of these prosecutions known as martyrologies. The second period, which Cvetković analyzes, pertains to the fourth century when the Christian Church gained freedom and the way to witness Christian faith is displayed no longer through martyrdom but through ascetic life. By relying on the account of Macrina the Younger, Cvetković demonstrates how virginity as the highest Christian norm proliferated new gender roles for women. Finally, Cvetković maintains that authors such as Dionysius the Areopagate and Maximus the Confessor developed the model of erotic attraction between loving persons by which one person learns how to die for himself and to live for another person.
The point of departure of Maria Munkholt Christensen’s article is the Socratic ideal of practicing death already in this life. Munkholt Christensen applies the Socratic ideal to Christian women from the fourth and the fifth centuries, who reconciled in their philosophy the Platonic body-soul dichotomy and longing for transcendence with the Christian message of sacrifice. The author points to three different strategies of associating classical with Christian philosophy: replacing ancient philosophy with Christian, or particularly biblical tradition, like in the Life of Macrina; integrating elements of Platonic wisdom into the overall biblical world-view, like in the Life of Marcella; and inserting the Platonic heritage into Christian literature without pointing to Platonic sources, like in the Life of Syncletica. Finally, Munkholt Christensen argues that three Christian women – Macrina, Marcella and Syncletica – are united in their attitude towards gender and death. They freed their own souls from a life defined by their female sex and they were passionless and fearless on the brink of death.
The articles of Sotiris Mitralexis and Emma Brown Dewhurst are complementary, because their readings of the seventh-century Byzantine author Maximus the Confessor go into the same direction of interpreting sexual and gender differences as nonessential human properties.
Sotiris Mitralexis points to an ambiguity in Maximus the Confessor’s Ambiguum 41 as to whether the distinction of the sexes was intended by God or whether it is a product of the Fall. Mitralexis argues that according to Maximus’ own exposition the properties of being male or female are not included in the human logos, meaning that they were not originally properties of hu- man nature. As the sexual differences were not included in the original plan they will be also according to Mitralexis omitted in the eschatological state. Mitralexis points that Maximus’ stance about the genderless logos of humanity is interpreted nowadays in several directions: as unusual but fully compatible with the patristic mainstream, as advocating marriage between a man and a woman, and as endorsing gender fluidity, transgenderism and same-sex relationships. Although for Mitralexis the looking for a solution for the nowadays gender issues at a seventh-century author is anachronistic, also the literal readings of Maximus’ text that overlooks its potential implications for today’s world would be erroneous.
The final article of Emma Brown Dewhurst is also focused on Maximus the Confessor’s Ambiguum 41. Similarly to Mitralexis, Brown Dewhurst characterizes properties of being a male or a female as not intrinsic to original human nature, but rather being the modes of existence, introduced to human nature after the Fall, as means of reproduction. Brown Dewhurst further argues that in spite of the usefulness of this mode of existence in the present age, it will be removed in the eschaton, because the physical reproduction would not occur in the future age. However, Brown Dewhurst went further than other Maximian scholars in claiming that the differences between sexes will not only be removed in a metaphorical manner, but that this removal will also include the elimination of bodily sexual characteristics. Brown Dewhurst identifies the sexual differences and division with human gnomic and proairetic wills, as well as with the passions, that were introduced into human life as the consequence of the Fall, but also as instruments to bring people into line with a holy way of living.
The Greek ancient world has dealt with the one-sex model developed in the history of medicine, beginning with Aristotle and Galen. In the one-sex model the differentiation between the sexes was drawn based on the position of their genitals. It was perceived that men have their genitals outside the body, while women have their genitals inside the body. Thus, female and male were homologues. The difference in the position of genitals of male and female inspired Aristotle to define the difference between men and women in terms of deprivation or lack. Thus, according to Aristotle due to lacking the possibility for rational and active action, that was allegedly man’s attribute, the woman was considered to be a lesser man. The differentiation between men and women led to their separation and it served for the denial or restriction of women’s rights in society.
The Old Testament’s message was quite different. The account of the creation of the human being from the Book of Genesis stated that God created humankind ‘in his own image’ (Gen. 1: 26-27), and that God created them as ‘male and female’ (Gen. 1: 27), and as ‘man and woman’ (Gen. 2: 23). This ac- count indicates the natural equality of men and women, and the consequence of this natural equality of men and women is their reliance to each other, ex- pressed through marriage and family.
The New Testament not only repeats the message of the Old Testament with regards to equality and interdependence, but it affirms it as an historical fact. By interpreting the Old Testament message, Jesus Christ reminded Pharisees that God created humanity from the beginning as male and female in order for two to become one (Matt. 19: 4-6). Jesus’ message was not confined to marital life, but to the broader strata of the Jewish society. The biblical fables of the Samaritan woman, whom Jesus Christ asks for drink (John 4: 1-26) and of the Canaanite woman, who begged Jesus to heal her daughter (Matt. 15:21–28), point to the multi-faceted oppression of women in ancient Israel, as well as to the liberating capacity of the new Christian religion. However, these stories reveal the traditional hierarchal order of Jewish society and Jesus’ role as emancipator of women discriminated on gender and ethnic grounds, but also that these acts of liberation of discriminated women led to the trans- formation of both the privileged and discriminated. The new religion brings a transformative impact to the relationship between Jews and Gentiles or be- tween apostles and neophytes as oppositions confined to these times, as well as to the general oppositions between chastity and adultery, lord and servant, man and woman and finally, God and human being.
These two authorities that are behind the writing of the Church Fathers, namely the ancient philosophical tradition and the Judeo-Christian religious belief, were often contrasted, as it is in regard to the question of the status of women in the ancient society. Although it is very common to describe early Christian authors in patriarchal terms, they were quite critical of the autocrat- ic authority exercised by patres familias in the Greco-Roman world. However, this does not mean that the Church Fathers were always free from the stereo- types that existed in the world of late antiquity.
The four articles gathered here together within the topic ‘Patristics and Gender’ go beyond the time of Jesus Christ and his apostles and they cover the period from the second to the the seventh century. The articles also go beyond the topic of Christian marriage, dealing either with strategies for the symbol- ic construction of women or with the question of the status of the sexual and gender differences in the human primordial state as well as in the Kingdom of Heaven.
The article of Vladimir Cvetković is an overview of how the patristic authors in three different periods addressed the issue of gender. Cvetković argues that in the first pre-Constantinian period of Christian Church characterized by frequent persecutions of Christians, the imperative for both male and female martyrs was to behave ‘manly’ at the moment of their violent death, as it is described in the accounts of these prosecutions known as martyrologies. The second period, which Cvetković analyzes, pertains to the fourth century when the Christian Church gained freedom and the way to witness Christian faith is displayed no longer through martyrdom but through ascetic life. By relying on the account of Macrina the Younger, Cvetković demonstrates how virginity as the highest Christian norm proliferated new gender roles for women. Finally, Cvetković maintains that authors such as Dionysius the Areopagate and Maximus the Confessor developed the model of erotic attraction between loving persons by which one person learns how to die for himself and to live for another person.
The point of departure of Maria Munkholt Christensen’s article is the Socratic ideal of practicing death already in this life. Munkholt Christensen applies the Socratic ideal to Christian women from the fourth and the fifth centuries, who reconciled in their philosophy the Platonic body-soul dichotomy and longing for transcendence with the Christian message of sacrifice. The author points to three different strategies of associating classical with Christian philosophy: replacing ancient philosophy with Christian, or particularly biblical tradition, like in the Life of Macrina; integrating elements of Platonic wisdom into the overall biblical world-view, like in the Life of Marcella; and inserting the Platonic heritage into Christian literature without pointing to Platonic sources, like in the Life of Syncletica. Finally, Munkholt Christensen argues that three Christian women – Macrina, Marcella and Syncletica – are united in their attitude towards gender and death. They freed their own souls from a life defined by their female sex and they were passionless and fearless on the brink of death.
The articles of Sotiris Mitralexis and Emma Brown Dewhurst are complementary, because their readings of the seventh-century Byzantine author Maximus the Confessor go into the same direction of interpreting sexual and gender differences as nonessential human properties.
Sotiris Mitralexis points to an ambiguity in Maximus the Confessor’s Ambiguum 41 as to whether the distinction of the sexes was intended by God or whether it is a product of the Fall. Mitralexis argues that according to Maximus’ own exposition the properties of being male or female are not included in the human logos, meaning that they were not originally properties of hu- man nature. As the sexual differences were not included in the original plan they will be also according to Mitralexis omitted in the eschatological state. Mitralexis points that Maximus’ stance about the genderless logos of humanity is interpreted nowadays in several directions: as unusual but fully compatible with the patristic mainstream, as advocating marriage between a man and a woman, and as endorsing gender fluidity, transgenderism and same-sex relationships. Although for Mitralexis the looking for a solution for the nowadays gender issues at a seventh-century author is anachronistic, also the literal readings of Maximus’ text that overlooks its potential implications for today’s world would be erroneous.
The final article of Emma Brown Dewhurst is also focused on Maximus the Confessor’s Ambiguum 41. Similarly to Mitralexis, Brown Dewhurst characterizes properties of being a male or a female as not intrinsic to original human nature, but rather being the modes of existence, introduced to human nature after the Fall, as means of reproduction. Brown Dewhurst further argues that in spite of the usefulness of this mode of existence in the present age, it will be removed in the eschaton, because the physical reproduction would not occur in the future age. However, Brown Dewhurst went further than other Maximian scholars in claiming that the differences between sexes will not only be removed in a metaphorical manner, but that this removal will also include the elimination of bodily sexual characteristics. Brown Dewhurst identifies the sexual differences and division with human gnomic and proairetic wills, as well as with the passions, that were introduced into human life as the consequence of the Fall, but also as instruments to bring people into line with a holy way of living.
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In order to mark 125 years from Justin Popović’s birth and 40 years from his repose the Centre for Byzantine-Slavic Studies of the University of Niš, the Faculty of Orthodox Theology of the University of Belgrade and the Institute for... more
In order to mark 125 years from Justin Popović’s birth and 40 years from his repose the Centre for Byzantine-Slavic Studies of the University of Niš, the Faculty of Orthodox Theology of the University of Belgrade and the Institute for Philosophy and Social Theory of the University of Belgrade venture to organize the international conference “Thought and Mission of St Justin Popović”, in Belgrade from 10th till 11th May 2019.
As a monk, cleric and saint of the Orthodox Church, as a professor of the University of Belgrade and as cofounder of the Serbian Philosophical Society, Justin Popović (1894–1979) is widely acknowledged as one of the greatest Orthodox theologians of the twentieth century. Despite unanimous recognition of Justin Popović’s undeniably great intellectual and spiritual achievements, certain dimensions and aspects of his work remain either unobserved or represent an occasion for varying interpretations.
The aim of the conference is to highlight the dimensions and aspects of Justin Popović’s work which have not been sufficiently explored or remain subject to divergent – sometimes conflicting – interpretations, and to dialogically evaluate the contribution of his thought not only to Orthodoxy, but to Christian theology and spirituality in general. In this sense, the conference is a forum for responsible critical consideration and formulation of new scientific-methodological approaches, and for more subtle interpretations of Justin Popović’s legacy: particularly in regard to his critique of humanism and non-Orthodox Christian denominations. As well, the conference strives to find ways to carefully distinguish between Justin Popović’s authentic spirituality and philosophical-theological thought and its reduction, instrumentalization and ideologization within frameworks of non-critically affirmed politics of power, cultural or of other kind. Not least, the conference represents an collective embodiment of collegial good will to support and to nurture the legacy of Fr Justin as Saint, Theologian, Philosopher, Culture critics, and as a remarkable witness of Christ the Godman — addressing all ends of the world.
As a monk, cleric and saint of the Orthodox Church, as a professor of the University of Belgrade and as cofounder of the Serbian Philosophical Society, Justin Popović (1894–1979) is widely acknowledged as one of the greatest Orthodox theologians of the twentieth century. Despite unanimous recognition of Justin Popović’s undeniably great intellectual and spiritual achievements, certain dimensions and aspects of his work remain either unobserved or represent an occasion for varying interpretations.
The aim of the conference is to highlight the dimensions and aspects of Justin Popović’s work which have not been sufficiently explored or remain subject to divergent – sometimes conflicting – interpretations, and to dialogically evaluate the contribution of his thought not only to Orthodoxy, but to Christian theology and spirituality in general. In this sense, the conference is a forum for responsible critical consideration and formulation of new scientific-methodological approaches, and for more subtle interpretations of Justin Popović’s legacy: particularly in regard to his critique of humanism and non-Orthodox Christian denominations. As well, the conference strives to find ways to carefully distinguish between Justin Popović’s authentic spirituality and philosophical-theological thought and its reduction, instrumentalization and ideologization within frameworks of non-critically affirmed politics of power, cultural or of other kind. Not least, the conference represents an collective embodiment of collegial good will to support and to nurture the legacy of Fr Justin as Saint, Theologian, Philosopher, Culture critics, and as a remarkable witness of Christ the Godman — addressing all ends of the world.
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A collection of G.V. Florovsky's papers and official documents on ecumenism.
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A collection of G.V. Florovsky's papers, letters, official documents and interviews on ecumenism.
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A Collection of Jean-Claude Larchet's theological papers translated into Serbian.
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The paper examines some of the main metaphysical concepts of the thought of Dionysius the Areopagite and Maximus the Confessor, such as unity, differentiation, movement, limit, logoi, in the context of the metaphor of circles and radii.... more
The paper examines some of the main metaphysical concepts of the thought of Dionysius the Areopagite and Maximus the Confessor, such as unity, differentiation, movement, limit, logoi, in the context of the metaphor of circles and radii. However, the metaphor or analogy of circles and radii is the most persistent model in Neopla- tonism, used to describe in geometric terms the relationship between the One and successive emanations, between the soul and the senses, and between God and the created world. This article demonstrates how Dionysius and Maximus employed the analogy in order to explain the relationship between the the first principle, such as the divine essence in Dionysius and the Logos of God in Maximius, and subordi- nate realities such as the divine activities and processions, or the logoi of creation. It begins with the analysis of simple diagrams that appear in some Greek and Slavonic manuscripts of Dionysius‘ works On the Divine Names. The paper goes on to exam- ine more complex diagrams involving a circle or square centre, outer circumference, concentric rings, multicoloured radii and twisted cruciform bands that accompany the Instructions of Dorotheus of Gaza in many Greek and Slavic manuscripts. The paper argues that these new diagrammatic elements are employed to visualize com- plex ideas such as the Holy Trinity as unity of differentiations, the ontological limit of creation set by divine providence, the triadic structure of logoi of beings and the double movement of procession and reversion. Since many of these complex ideas cannot be explained by the texts of Doreotheus‘s Instructions, they are explained by the text of Maximus the Confessor, which, together with Dionysius and Dorotheus, was part of the monastic readings in the 14th century on Mount Athos and in the Balkans. Maximus‘ identification of the centre of the circle with the Logos of God, and of the radii with logoi, leads to a possible explanation of more complex diagrams involving a circular or square centre, outer circumference, concentric rings, multico- loured radii and twisted cruciform bands.
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The article aims to explore the possibility of employing the doctrines developed by the Church Fathers in solving a number of contemporary questions in the application of the artificial intelligence. The article first points to employment... more
The article aims to explore the possibility of employing the doctrines developed by the Church Fathers in solving a number of contemporary questions in the application of the artificial intelligence. The article first points to employment of the AI in the surveillance and security systems, autonomous weapons, such as killer drones and robots, and public administrations. Next, it is argues that in spite to the ethically problematic AI employment, it is possible for AI to acquire some very positive knowledge about the humankind, that is consistent with the principles of Christian, and particularly patristic anthropology. From being employed in these three sectors, AI may acquire the knowledge about the principal dogmas of the Christian Church, namely the dogma of divine incarnation in the human form, the dogma of the death of God on the cross and his subsequent resurrection and the dogma about the equally of humankind in front of God. Finally, the article focuses on four artificial intelligence (AI) questions regarding: a) the consequences of rapid intelligence explosion or the fast take off, b) the ontological status of cyborgs and uploads, c) the future relations of artificial superintelligence and humanity, and d) the way of aligning the goals of super intelligent machines and humanity. In proposing solutions to these problems, the article applies patristic argumentation about God as Creator who creates humanity according to his image and likeness, about the soul-body relationship originating from the Origenist controversies, about the Chalcedonian definitions of two unconfused and undivided natures of Christ known as Dyophysitism, and about the Dyothelite doctrine of will as natural and personal capacity.
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The link between biblical exegesis and philosophy was established first in the Septuagint project, and by authors such as Aristoboulos of Alexandria and Philo, and subsequently developed by New Testament authors and exegetes, such as... more
The link between biblical exegesis and philosophy was established first in the Septuagint project, and by authors such as Aristoboulos of Alexandria and Philo, and subsequently developed by New Testament authors and exegetes, such as John, Paul, Justin the Martyr and the Valentinian Gnostics. The rationale that justified this link resides in a strong belief that the truth of the Logos of God equally inspires natural theoria as well as biblical allegoria. Maximus the Confessor (580–662) belongs to the line of biblical interpreters who hold that since Christ the Logos is the author of the Bible and of the cosmos or creation, the words or logoi of the Bible and the creation correspond one to another.
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The aim of this article is to explore the relationship between the notions of ‘logos of well-being’ and the ‘mode of existence’ in Maximus the Confessor. In pursuing this goal the article addresses the problem of how to understand the... more
The aim of this article is to explore the relationship between the notions of ‘logos of well-being’ and the ‘mode of existence’ in Maximus the Confessor. In pursuing this goal the article addresses the problem of how to understand the logos of well-being, which defines the mode of existence on the one hand and on the other how losely it is bound to the logos of nature. Although it is possible to contrast the mode of existence to the logoi embedded in its nature, the question arises as to how one’s mode of existence can be established by acting in accordance with the individual being as well as universal logoi. In answering this question, I intend to interpret certain scenes from the science-fiction film Annihilation as the backdrop against which the relationship between the logos of well-being and the mode of existence will be portrayed. I will first draw a parallel between Maximus’ expression ‘assimilation of particulars to universals’ and examples of individual beings as a combination of different species and genera that appear in the film. Secondly, I will attempt to demonstrate the uniqueness of the mode of existence by analysing the hypothetical existence of two individual beings that share the same logos of nature and the mode of existence. Thirdly, I will argue that the dis- passionate relationship between beings defines one’s mode of existence that in return activate the logoi of one’s nature. The result of this investigation is to demonstrate that by acting in accordance with the logos of well-being, the human being establishes its own mode of existence – one that is always in compliance with the divine will.
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The aim of this paper is to analyse how Maximus the Confessor understands the unity between the body and soul, and how he fits this unity in the general frame- work of the fivefold divisions or distinctions that exist in the world.
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Focusing on three historical examples of a different understanding of Christian identity, the paper seeks to address the role of contemporary concepts of sex and gender in the creation of Christian identity. In the first case study,... more
Focusing on three historical examples of a different understanding of Christian identity, the paper seeks to address the role of contemporary concepts of sex and gender in the creation of Christian identity. In the first case study, focused on the literary representations of the Christian martyrdom from the second and third centuries, special emphasis is placed on the demand for the 'manly' or 'masculine' way of witnessing faith. The second historical example relates to the creation of a wider ascetic movement in the fourth-century Asia Minor, and its specific focus is on Macrina the Younger. In her Vita, Gregory of Nyssa distinguishes between Macrina's gender identity based on her virginity on the one hand, and her social role as a widow, and 'mother' and 'father' of her monastic community on the other. Finally, the focus is shifted towards Dionysius the Areopagite and Maximus the Confessor, whose teachings about ecstasy, as a way to transcend oneself in the movement towards the loved one, provide the basis for establishing a theology of marriage and creating a Christian identity based not on sexual or gender roles, but on the uniqueness of human nature.
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The paper aims to analyze the relation between the notion of love or desire (eros) for God, and the notion of distance (diastema) between God and the created beings in the works of St Gregory of Nyssa. These two notions are interrelated... more
The paper aims to analyze the relation between the notion of love or desire (eros) for God, and the notion of distance (diastema) between God and the created beings in the works of St Gregory of Nyssa. These two notions are interrelated on different levels, because distance that separates God from the created beings is traversed out of desire for God of the latter. First, the distance as temporal interval will be investigated, which separates the present day from the Second Coming of Christ, which is elaborated by Gregory in his early work On Virginity. The focus will then be shifted to the distance between good and evil, that Gregory explicates in the works of his middle period such as On the making of man, Against Eunomius III and The Great Catechetical Oration. Finally, the distance as an inherent characteristic of created nature that never disappears will be analyzed by focusing on Gregory’s later works, such as Homilies on the Song of Songs, On perfection and The Life of Moses.
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The aim of this article is to explore the way in which Maximus the Confessor determines the limits of the created beings by their principles (logoi) and modes (tropoi). The complex matrix of delimitations in Maximus is connected to his... more
The aim of this article is to explore the way in which Maximus the Confessor determines the limits of the created beings by their principles (logoi) and modes (tropoi). The complex matrix of delimitations in Maximus is connected to his view of God as fashioner, provider and judge, which again directly corresponds to categories of being, movement and difference (Ambiguum 10,19). God predetermined for each created being what it would be, and how, and how much it would be. In a series of reflections in Ambiguum 10,36-7, Maximus elaborates on this threefold circumscription of the created world: at the level of essence by limiting the double movement of extension and contraction,
at the level of individuals by limiting their quantity and at the level of accidents that pertains to the quality of individual beings. The article attempts to reconcile two seemingly contradictory positions one exposed in Ambiguum 10,19 according to which creation provides the knowledge of God as Holy Trinity on the basis of being, movement
and position, and the other from Ambiguum 10,36-7 where it is argued that the limits imposed on the created essence resemble the mode of existence of the unlimited reality. I argue that a possible solution to this problem may be found when taking into account the difference between the creaturely logos of nature, by which God imposed limitations on creation and the mode of existence, which remains within the power of rational created beings. The creaturely mode of existence is modeled by God in accordance to divine three-hypostatic mode of existence and its full realization can be attained only in conformity with the logoi of nature.
at the level of individuals by limiting their quantity and at the level of accidents that pertains to the quality of individual beings. The article attempts to reconcile two seemingly contradictory positions one exposed in Ambiguum 10,19 according to which creation provides the knowledge of God as Holy Trinity on the basis of being, movement
and position, and the other from Ambiguum 10,36-7 where it is argued that the limits imposed on the created essence resemble the mode of existence of the unlimited reality. I argue that a possible solution to this problem may be found when taking into account the difference between the creaturely logos of nature, by which God imposed limitations on creation and the mode of existence, which remains within the power of rational created beings. The creaturely mode of existence is modeled by God in accordance to divine three-hypostatic mode of existence and its full realization can be attained only in conformity with the logoi of nature.
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This paper investigates three types of unity between God and creation in the works of St Maximus the Confessor. Following Maximus’ claim that God is beginning as creator, middle as provider, and end as goal, this paper argues that, in... more
This paper investigates three types of unity between God and creation in the works of St Maximus the Confessor. Following Maximus’ claim that God is beginning as creator, middle as provider, and end as goal, this paper argues that, in each of these three stages, God forms different kinds of unity with created beings. I will show that the first type of unity, between God as creator and created beings, is based on the relationship between the Logos and the logoi of beings, in which the Logos serves as the centre of all logoi. The second kind of unity, between God as provider and created beings, is established on divine providence, which causes created beings to converge towards each other by the singular force of their relationship to God as both their origin and their final goal. Finally, the unity between God as end and created beings, based on full participation, presupposes the ceasing of the natural activities of created beings, and liberation from the constraints of their natural definition or horos.
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The aim of the paper is to elucidate the role of time and eternity in the theology of icons, by focusing on the artistic language of Orthodox iconography. The Orthodox iconography has developed a specific artistic language in order to... more
The aim of the paper is to elucidate the role of time and eternity in the theology of icons, by focusing on the artistic language of Orthodox iconography. The Orthodox iconography has developed a specific artistic language in order to express very complex theological and metaphysical issues such as the relationship between time and eternity. By using exclusively artistic elements such as light, colours and perspective, this symbolic language finds the appropriate way to visually articulate specific dogmatic themes that link the historical with the eschatological realm. The light is the essential element of the icon, because the light is identified with the uncreated energies of God that constitutes the future reality. While light gives this eternal perspective to the saints and events, the sketches made according to eikonismos preserve the likeness of the depicted image with the saint. Colours symbolically represent the diapason from being as a divine gift conferred to every creature at the creation to the eternal well being as a gift of God conferred to the holy people and angels at the end of time. The combination of inverse, central and axonometric perspective scales persons and objects according to geometry of value and position, rather than to a spatial geometry. The divine eternity causes the lack of spatial and temporal distance between persons and objects and their position and value depends on the relation with God.
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The paper aims to explore St Maximus the Confessor’ teaching on movement in the light of his ancient philosophical sources. Maximus’ employment of Neoplathonic terminology for the purpose of exposing his theological thought implies a... more
The paper aims to explore St Maximus the Confessor’ teaching on movement in the light of his ancient philosophical sources. Maximus’ employment of Neoplathonic terminology for the purpose of exposing his theological thought implies a direct or indirect influence of ancient thinkers on his work. In examining the themes of ancient philosophical heritage in Maximus, the paper proposes a fourfold division of his sources. The first source is pagan authors, such as Aristotle, Plotinus and Proclus, whom Maximus might know directly. The second source are ancient philosophical doctrines that through Christian authors such as Origen, St. Gregory of Nyssa, St. Nemesius of Emesa or Dionysius Areopagite already entered the Christian tradition, and which are transformed to a certain extent. The third source are the Christian Neo-Platonists of Alexandria Academy, like John Philoponus, Elias, David and Stephen of Alexandria who attempted to interpret previous philosophical tradition in conformity with certain Christian principles, and the fourth source are the Christian authors, who independently of previous philosophical traditions shaped their metaphysical views. The focus of the paper is on the first three sources.
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The paper aims to analyze St Maximus the Confessor’s reflections on time in his Centuries of theology and economy II, 85-93. At the beginning, the paper places the Centuries’ chapters in the historical context of St. Maximus’ works,... more
The paper aims to analyze St Maximus the Confessor’s reflections on
time in his Centuries of theology and economy II, 85-93. At the beginning, the paper places the Centuries’ chapters in the historical context of St. Maximus’ works, linking them with insights previously exposed in his early works, such as On Difficulties and Questions to Thalassius. Then, in three separate sections, the papers deals with issues on time outlined in the Centuries. First, the paper differentiates between time, age (aion) and the divine eternity embodied in the Logos of God. Further, the paper analyzes St. Maximus’ distinction between the end of the world, in which the creation reaches its fullness, and the deified state of creation that exists in eternity. Finally, by focusing on the heritage of Christ’s incarnation, which persists here and now, through the faith of the saints, it seems that time, age and the Kingdom of God, perceived as a beginningless and endless eternity, simultaneously coexist.
time in his Centuries of theology and economy II, 85-93. At the beginning, the paper places the Centuries’ chapters in the historical context of St. Maximus’ works, linking them with insights previously exposed in his early works, such as On Difficulties and Questions to Thalassius. Then, in three separate sections, the papers deals with issues on time outlined in the Centuries. First, the paper differentiates between time, age (aion) and the divine eternity embodied in the Logos of God. Further, the paper analyzes St. Maximus’ distinction between the end of the world, in which the creation reaches its fullness, and the deified state of creation that exists in eternity. Finally, by focusing on the heritage of Christ’s incarnation, which persists here and now, through the faith of the saints, it seems that time, age and the Kingdom of God, perceived as a beginningless and endless eternity, simultaneously coexist.
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The article aims to elucidate the role and the function of wisdom in the work of Maximus the Confessor. This polyvalent term occurs frequently in Maximus’ works and it links various fields of his thought, i.e. aretology, cosmology,... more
The article aims to elucidate the role and the function of wisdom in
the work of Maximus the Confessor. This polyvalent term occurs frequently in
Maximus’ works and it links various fields of his thought, i.e. aretology, cosmology,
epistemology, and eschatology, in a single theological vision. Maximus employs the
notion of wisdom in his explanation of several interdependent processes such as the
practice of virtues and the natural contemplation that lead to salvation as the
appropriation of wisdom in its fullness. Moreover, Maximus connects these two
practices with the divine activities of providence and judgment on the one hand, and
the function of human cognitive faculties of mind and reason on the other hand. The
divine revelation of wisdom and the corresponding human appropriation of wisdom
taken together are reflected in the unity of God and man, in which man fully realizes
the image of God.
the work of Maximus the Confessor. This polyvalent term occurs frequently in
Maximus’ works and it links various fields of his thought, i.e. aretology, cosmology,
epistemology, and eschatology, in a single theological vision. Maximus employs the
notion of wisdom in his explanation of several interdependent processes such as the
practice of virtues and the natural contemplation that lead to salvation as the
appropriation of wisdom in its fullness. Moreover, Maximus connects these two
practices with the divine activities of providence and judgment on the one hand, and
the function of human cognitive faculties of mind and reason on the other hand. The
divine revelation of wisdom and the corresponding human appropriation of wisdom
taken together are reflected in the unity of God and man, in which man fully realizes
the image of God.
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The aim of this article is to elaborate on T. F. Torrance’s reception of Athanasius of Alexandria. The article is structured in accordance to the threefold division of God’s Incarnation present in the seventh-century monk Maximus the... more
The aim of this article is to elaborate on T. F. Torrance’s reception of Athanasius of Alexandria. The article is structured in accordance to the threefold division of God’s Incarnation present in the seventh-century monk Maximus the Confessor, that is: incarnation of God in the created order, incarnation of God in the letters of the Holy Scripture, and finally the incarnation of God in the person of Jesus Christ. The main reason for this structure is the similarity of Torrance’s reading of Athanasius with the Maximian ontological framework. One may notice the corresponding order of progression in all three realms of the divine incarnation. It always begins with reason (λόγοs) and faith (πίστιs) and progresses in accordance with the nature (κατα φύσιν) of the things toward the divine realities expressed as truth (αλήθεια). The final result and the purpose of the incarnation is deification or θεοποίησηs that includes the introduction of the deified in the centre of the divine life, the loving relationship between the Father and the Son.
Research Interests: Patristics, Systematic Theology, Orthodox Theology, Christology, T.F. Torrance, and 3 moreDoctrine of God, Christology, Soteriology, Historical Theology, Biblical Studies, Dogmatic Theology, Analytic Theology, Continental Theology, Biblical Theology, Thomas F. Torrance, Karl Barth, John Calvin, Systematic Theology, St Athanasius the Great (of Alexandria), and Greek Patristics
ST MAXIMUS THE CONFESSOR’S TEACHING ON MOVEMENT by Vladimir Cvetković SUMMARY: The article aims to present how the Byzantine scholar St Maximus the Confessor perceived the notion of movement (kinesis). St Maximus exposed his... more
ST MAXIMUS THE CONFESSOR’S TEACHING ON MOVEMENT
by
Vladimir Cvetković
SUMMARY: The article aims to present how the Byzantine scholar St Maximus the
Confessor perceived the notion of movement (kinesis). St Maximus exposed his teaching
on movement in the course of his refutation of Origenism, which regarded the movement
of created beings away from God as the cause of breaking the original unity that existed
between the Creation and the Creator. By reversing Origen’s triad ‘rest’ – ‘movement’
– ‘becoming’ into the triad ‘becoming’ – ‘movement’ – ‘rest’, St Maximus viewed the
movement toward God as the sole goal of created beings, finding in the supreme being the
repose of their own movement. In addition to the cosmological view of the movement, St
Maximus developed a psychological and an ontological view on movement, relying on
previous Christian tradition. By transforming and adapting Aristotelian and Neoplatonic
notions to the basic principles of Christian metaphysics, St Maximus creates a new Christian
philosophy of movement which he supported primarily with the views of the Cappadocian
Fathers and Dionysius the Areopagite.
by
Vladimir Cvetković
SUMMARY: The article aims to present how the Byzantine scholar St Maximus the
Confessor perceived the notion of movement (kinesis). St Maximus exposed his teaching
on movement in the course of his refutation of Origenism, which regarded the movement
of created beings away from God as the cause of breaking the original unity that existed
between the Creation and the Creator. By reversing Origen’s triad ‘rest’ – ‘movement’
– ‘becoming’ into the triad ‘becoming’ – ‘movement’ – ‘rest’, St Maximus viewed the
movement toward God as the sole goal of created beings, finding in the supreme being the
repose of their own movement. In addition to the cosmological view of the movement, St
Maximus developed a psychological and an ontological view on movement, relying on
previous Christian tradition. By transforming and adapting Aristotelian and Neoplatonic
notions to the basic principles of Christian metaphysics, St Maximus creates a new Christian
philosophy of movement which he supported primarily with the views of the Cappadocian
Fathers and Dionysius the Areopagite.
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in: D. Bojović, Zbornik rаdovа sа konferencije o Sv. Nikiti Remesijаnskom održаnog u Beloj Pаlаnci, 27. mаjа 2006, (Proceedings of the conference on St. Niceta of Remisiana held in Bela Palanka on 27th of May 2006), Niš: Centаr zа crkvene... more
in: D. Bojović, Zbornik rаdovа sа konferencije o Sv. Nikiti Remesijаnskom održаnog u Beloj Pаlаnci, 27. mаjа 2006, (Proceedings of the conference on St. Niceta of Remisiana held in Bela Palanka on 27th of May 2006), Niš: Centаr zа crkvene studije 2006, 115-126.
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During the twentieth century, the relationship between theology and science had been debated in the Serbian public within three conceptual frameworks: (1) the founding of the University of Belgrade, (2) Serbian post-Second World War... more
During the twentieth century, the relationship between theology and science had been debated in the Serbian public within three conceptual frameworks: (1) the founding of the University of Belgrade, (2) Serbian post-Second World War theological apologetics, and (3) Neo-patristic theology. The twenty-first century, especially in the last couple of years, saw three different instances in which scientific issues were a matter of theological debates that gained the attention of the wider public. These debates were on (1) the theory of evolution and creationism, (2) the means of distributing Holy Communion in the time of the COVID-19 pandemic, and (3) vaccines against the Coronavirus. This paper presents an overview of the three instances of theology and science debates in the Serbian Orthodox Church in the twenty-first century, as well as some key factors whose interplay shaped these debates to a great extent.
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This article aims to analyze the conditions that led to the election of the Serbian Patriarch Porfirije (Perić) in February 2021 as well as his policy during his first years in office. First, the article outlines Patriarch Porfirije’s... more
This article aims to analyze the conditions that led to the election of the Serbian Patriarch Porfirije (Perić) in February 2021 as well as his policy during his first years in office. First, the article outlines Patriarch Porfirije’s spiritual journey from his archaeol- ogy studies in Belgrade to his election as Serbian patriarch. Next, the focus shifts to the challenges that the Serbian Orthodox Church faced in the last decades, especially its status in North Macedonia, Montenegro, and Kosovo. The article concludes by offer- ing some perspectives on Patriarch Porfirije’s approach to the problems of the Serbian Church in North Macedonia, Montenegro, and Kosovo.
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The aim of the paper is to analyse the views of Klaus Buchenau, Stefan Rohdewald and Julia Anna Lis on the Serbian Orthodox Church. The paper argues that authors form their attitudes towards Serbia and the Serbian Orthodox Church along... more
The aim of the paper is to analyse the views of Klaus Buchenau, Stefan Rohdewald and Julia Anna Lis on the Serbian Orthodox Church. The paper argues that authors form their attitudes towards Serbia and the Serbian Orthodox Church along the lines of the German press, which portrays the Serbian Church as nationalistic, violent, bigoted and backward.The paper embarks on the task to investigate the motifs of the authors for such negative views on the Serbian Church, by arguing that authors build their scholarly constructs on the political narratives of global Western dominance on the one hand, and on the revision of German historical responsibility for the two world wars on the other hand.
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The paper aims to critically assess the significance and contribution of the monograph Scaffolds of the Church authored by Cyril Hovorun. The paper offers a short, but as detailed as possible presentation of Hovorun’s book and points out... more
The paper aims to critically assess the significance and contribution of the monograph Scaffolds of the Church authored by Cyril Hovorun. The paper offers a short, but as detailed as possible presentation of Hovorun’s book and points out to the ecclesiological novelties that this book brings. Then, the focus is shifted to a more detailed analysis of the fifth chapter of the book dedicated to the notion of hierarchy. Here is considered the philosophical settings in which the concept of hierarchy have been developed, as well as the hierarchical models that the Church has adopted throughout its history. Finally, contemporary ecclesiological teachings exposed by both Metropolitan John N. Zizioulas and the author of the book, Archimandrite Cyril Hovorun have been discussed through the prism of traditional hierarchical models.
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Почивши митрополит црногорско-приморски Амфилохије Радовић (1938-2020) је свакако изузетна појава у историји Српске православне цркве, како по свом књижевном опусу, тако и по својој 35 година дугој архипастирској служби. У погледу... more
Почивши митрополит црногорско-приморски Амфилохије Радовић (1938-2020) је свакако изузетна појава у историји Српске православне цркве, како по свом књижевном опусу, тако и по својој 35 година дугој архипастирској служби. У погледу екуменског деловања постоје супротстављени ставови о његовом ангажману. Са једне стране, иако су му се признавале неке заслуге за улогу коју је имао у православно-католичком дијалогу 2003. годи- не, Радовић је сматран ”анти-западњаком” и ”српским националистом”, што је по аутоматизму значило и анти-екуменистом. Са друге стране, Радовић је оптуживан од неких црквених фракција у Србији, не само да је екумениста, већ да и је и филопаписта, те да заједно са својом колегом са студија у Риму, садашњим Патријархом цариградским Вартоломејом, ради на разбијању православне саборности, и потчињавању православне цркве римском епис- копу. Овај рад стога има за циљ да испита екуменско становиште Амфилохија Радовића, ограничавајући се на период од његових постдипломских студија у Риму 1964. године, па до боравка на Светој Гори 1974. године. То је свакако формативни период за младог богослова, када он под духовним старатељством свог духовног оца Јустина Поповића и развија стој став према екуменизму. Пошто је мало његових објављених радова из тог периода,главни фокус ће бити на његовој преписци са Јустином Поповићем, која је објављена у другој свесци 23. тома Поповићевих Сабраних дела. Затим ће у центру наше пажње бити издавање књиге Православна Црква и екуменизам Јустина Поповића у Солуну 1974. године на грчком и на српском језику коју као преводилац и уредник потписује Амфилохије Радовић, уз Атанасија Јевтића. На крају ће бити протумачен Радовићев рад из 1972. године „Међуправославни богословски симпозијум, Солун, од 12-16. септембра 1972. Његов ток уз кратка размишљања“,4 у коме он поред детаљног извештаја са солунске конфернције износи по први пут и своје виђење екуменизма.
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Целта на този текст е да изследва как богословието, разгърнало се в хода на ХХ и XXI в. в православната диаспора, формира отношението на православната теология към Запада. Ще анализирам проявите на православното богословие сред диаспората... more
Целта на този текст е да изследва как богословието, разгърнало се в хода на ХХ и XXI в. в православната диаспора, формира отношението на православната теология към Запада. Ще анализирам проявите на православното богословие сред диаспората в три фази: руското емигрантско богословие от 20-те и 30-те години на ХХ в. в Париж, гръцката постколониална теология от 60-те и 70-те в Атина и американската теология на православната диаспора от първите две десетилетия на XXI в.
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The paper aims to investigate the influence of Saint Justin of Ćelije on Metropolitan Amfilohije Radović and his scholarly contribution to the studies of Saint Gregory Palamas. The paper commences with the claim of Amfilohije Radović,... more
The paper aims to investigate the influence of Saint Justin of Ćelije on Metropolitan Amfilohije Radović and his scholarly contribution to the studies of Saint Gregory Palamas. The paper commences with the claim of Amfilohije Radović, presented in his doctoral dissertation dedicated to the triadology of St. Gregory Palamas, that he owes his knowledge of the church fathers, including Palamas, to his spiritual father Justin Popović. The paper deals with three aspects of Justin Popović’s influence on Amfilohije Radović. First, Justin’s Christology based on the patristic sources is examined as the basis for Radović’s Trinitarian theology. Second, the notion of integral knowledge that Justin borrows from the authors of the Russian religious renaissance and transforms it with the help of ascetic fathers serves to explain the notion of ‘unknown knowledge’ that Radović finds in Palamas. Third, Justin’s ascetic experience and practice of hesychastic prayer of the heart is considered as the basis for understanding Palamas’ theology as presented by Amfilohije Radović.
Research Interests: Patristics, Orthodox Theology, Serbian history, Trinitarian Theology, Later byzantine theology, especially Gregory Palamas, and 7 moreJustin Popović, Patristics and Late Antiquity, St Gregory Palamas, Christian Studies, Српска црквена историја (Serbian Church History), Serbian Orthodox Church, and Serbian and of the West --- Philosophy of Religion ---- Orthodox Theology: Anthropology
The paper aims to investigate how Metropolitan Amfilohije Radović and Bishop Atanasije Jevtić understand the Kosovo Covenant and how this understanding inspires their active role in creating the policy of the Serbian Church towards... more
The paper aims to investigate how Metropolitan Amfilohije Radović and Bishop Atanasije Jevtić understand the Kosovo Covenant and how this understanding inspires their active role in creating the policy of the Serbian Church towards Kosovo. The way these two scholars understand the Kosovo Covenant may help to answer the question whether the Kosovo Covenant is only a temporary obstacle to the political realization of Kosovo's independence from Serbia, or whether it is a permanent category in the Serbian self-understanding. The paper examines first the sources of Amfilohije's and Atanasije's understanding of the Kosovo Covenant, which include the folkloric and liturgical tradition connected to the Kosovo battle, as well as the writings of Petar II Petrović Njegoš, Nikolaj Velimirović, and Justin Popović. The paper analyses further the works, articles, sermons and public speeches of both clerics related to the Kosovo Covenant from the 1980s to the present.
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The paper aims to analyse the sermons and writings of the bishop and recently canonized saint of the Serbian Orthodox Church Nicholai Velimirović in regard to democracy. Due to his critique of Europe for abandoning Christianity as its... more
The paper aims to analyse the sermons and writings of the bishop and recently canonized saint of the Serbian Orthodox Church Nicholai Velimirović in regard to democracy. Due to his critique of Europe for abandoning Christianity as its centre of civilization, and slipping into the barbarity of the two world wars, some scholars maintained that Velimirović condemns European democracy. The analysis is focused on two periods from Velimirović's life, the first one that comprises the period of his studies abroad, the WWI and interwar period, and the second one which includes the period of the WWII and Velimirović's subsequent emigration in the USA.
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The paper aims to interpret the lecture of Bishop Nikolaj Velimirović “Nationalism of St. Sava” in the light of the claims proposed by contemporary scholarship according to which the author utilizes the personality of Saint Sava in order... more
The paper aims to interpret the lecture of Bishop Nikolaj Velimirović “Nationalism of St. Sava” in the light of the claims proposed by contemporary scholarship according to which the author utilizes the personality of Saint Sava in order to promote Serbian nationalism, fascism and anti-ecumenism. Taking into account the wider context of Nikolaj's work, the paper claims that by relying on St Sava’s historical example, Nikolaj intends to offer a solution to certain contradictions of the Yugoslav interwar society. First, the paper argues that Nikolaj’s idea of Saint-Savian nationalism praises not the Serbian or the Yugoslav nation, but the universal Christian ideal of holiness. Then, the paper refutes charges of fascism against Nikolaj by arguing that the parallel he draw between Hitler and St Sava aimed to promote a national church. Nikolaj maintains that only a national church is able to secure the stability and prosperity of society and the state, Yugoslav as well as German, as it demonstrates the case of Saint Sava who ensured the prosperity of the Serbian medieval state through the independence of the Serbian church. Finally, the paper argues that Nikolaj’s critique of the Roman Catholic Church is not an expression of anti-ecumenism, but an appeal to Yugoslav Catholics to seek independence from Rome, by following the historical example of St Sava and to unite them with the Orthodox into a national Yugoslav church.
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The aim of the paper is to present the original view on the soteriology and Christology of the contemporary Serbian Orthodox theologian Archimandrite Justin Popovic. In contrast to the Orthodox dogmaticians who preceded him and to some... more
The aim of the paper is to present the original view on the soteriology and Christology of the contemporary Serbian Orthodox theologian Archimandrite Justin Popovic. In contrast to the Orthodox dogmaticians who preceded him and to some extent influenced his Dogmatics, the approach of Justin Popovic to Christological themes was rather innovative, less in terms of form, and more in terms of content. The paper shows that Justin Popovic challenged the traditional pattern of Catholic-Protestant academic theology that perceives Christology as the study of the person of Christ, and soteriology as the study of Christ’s works toward salvation. Justin Popovic approaches these two theological disciplines from the perspective of the mystery of godliness, in which the knowledge of Christ’s person and his work are not only inseparable, but also ungraspable. The paper demonstrates that the salvation of the human race in Justin Popovic’s thought is not postulated as deliverance, or “redemption” from death and sin, but as deification. Finally, focusing on the Mystery of Christ, the term of the Apostle Paul, which Justin Popovic uses extensively, the paper argues that the Incarnation of Christ is the greatest expression of divine love for the world, even greater than the creation. According to Justin Popovic, God created the world in order to enter into it in human form and to bring it into the mystery of divine eternal love of God that exists in the Holy Trinity.
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The paper aims to examine St Justin’s usage of St Maximus’ doctrines of logoi and of five basic ontological divisions, as well as his usage of some of Maximus’ key concepts, such as the logos of being and the Mystery of Christ. The... more
The paper aims to examine St Justin’s usage of St Maximus’ doctrines of logoi and of five basic ontological divisions, as well as his usage of some of Maximus’ key concepts, such as the logos of being and the Mystery of Christ. The investigation is not limited to textual analysis of the aforementioned Maximian themes and concepts in the work of St. Justin. It also explores how Saint Justin, in-spired by St Maximus’ model of circle and radii, based his critique of humanism and humanistic ecumenism, substituting homo europeicus with the God-man, and the humanistic ecumenism with Theo-humanistic ecumenism.
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The paper aims to study ecumenical views of St Justin the New of Chelie. In doing so it will discuss the personal and official correspondence of St Justin from the late period of his life. In addition to Abba Justin’s books The Orthodox... more
The paper aims to study ecumenical views of St Justin the New of Chelie. In doing so it will discuss the personal and official correspondence of St Justin from the late period
of his life. In addition to Abba Justin’s books The Orthodox Church and Ecumenism and The Notes on Ecumenism, the letter to Risto (now Metropolitan Amfilohije) Radović from
1964 as well as three letters for the Holy Synod of the Serbian Orthodox Church in the seventies years (1971, 1974 and 1977) provide new material for the study of this subject. Unlike his published books, these letters contain references to specific events in the Orthodox world in relation to ecumenism. The paper also provides a historical overview of the ecumenical movement of the fifties and sixties of the last century, relying on the testimony of St Justin’s long-lasting friend and associate Archpriest Georges Florovsky. On the basis of the relationship between Fr Justin and Fr Georges, especially during the WWII, that this paper attempts to reconstruct, it will be argued that Fr Florovski acquainted Fr Justin with the interwar history of the participation of the Orthodox Church in the ecumenical movement. This paper also argues that St Justin’s views on ecumenism should be considered as reactions to post-war developments in the ecumenical movement, which are not in accordance with the teachings and practices of the Orthodox Church, as well as to the deviations from the stance held by Orthodox delagetes at previous ecumenical gatherings.
of his life. In addition to Abba Justin’s books The Orthodox Church and Ecumenism and The Notes on Ecumenism, the letter to Risto (now Metropolitan Amfilohije) Radović from
1964 as well as three letters for the Holy Synod of the Serbian Orthodox Church in the seventies years (1971, 1974 and 1977) provide new material for the study of this subject. Unlike his published books, these letters contain references to specific events in the Orthodox world in relation to ecumenism. The paper also provides a historical overview of the ecumenical movement of the fifties and sixties of the last century, relying on the testimony of St Justin’s long-lasting friend and associate Archpriest Georges Florovsky. On the basis of the relationship between Fr Justin and Fr Georges, especially during the WWII, that this paper attempts to reconstruct, it will be argued that Fr Florovski acquainted Fr Justin with the interwar history of the participation of the Orthodox Church in the ecumenical movement. This paper also argues that St Justin’s views on ecumenism should be considered as reactions to post-war developments in the ecumenical movement, which are not in accordance with the teachings and practices of the Orthodox Church, as well as to the deviations from the stance held by Orthodox delagetes at previous ecumenical gatherings.
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Research Interests: Patristics, Orthodox Theology, Ecumenical Theology, Reformed theology, Maximus the Confessor, and 4 moreThomas F. Torrance, Athanasius, Ecumenism, and Doctrine of God, Christology, Soteriology, Historical Theology, Biblical Studies, Dogmatic Theology, Analytic Theology, Continental Theology, Biblical Theology, Thomas F. Torrance, Karl Barth, John Calvin, Systematic Theology
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The relationship between Europe and the Serbian Church in the last couple of centuries has been shaped by the main historical circumstances of the European continent, such as: the nineteenth century imperial dominance, the WWI, the... more
The relationship between Europe and the Serbian Church in the last couple of centuries has been shaped by the main historical circumstances of the European continent, such as: the nineteenth century imperial dominance, the WWI, the Yugoslav interwar period of limited democratic prosperity, the WWII and the communist revolution, followed by the communist rule, the collapse of communism, the breakdown of Yugoslavia and the decade of wars, and, finally, the period of the last fifteen years characterized by political and economic turbulences. The nineteenth and early twentieth century European scholarship mostly viewed the Balkans and its Orthodoxy in colonial fashion as a historical primitive form of Western Christianity, suitable as a tool for the unity of Western Christians, whose proselytizing mission should progress over the Orthodox world toward the non-
Christian Orient. The recent German scholarship on Serbian Church follows this fashion to some extent. The perspective of the Serbian Church on Europe confirms the European colonial approach to the Balkans. Similarly to third-world scholars, who by attending the first-world academe challenged the Western scholarly perspective toward their countries, a generation of Serbian theologians educated in the Western Europe at the beginning of the twentieth century, like Velimirović and Popović constructed ‘Europe’ from their national perspective, which opposes the picture of Europe dominant in the Western canonical formation. Since self-fashioning processes always develop by differentiation from an ‘other’, their construction of the European other also affected their representation of Orthodox identity. Velimirović, and especially Popović considered the Catholic and
Protestant Christianity, deemed by western Europeans as progressive and superior in comparison with Orthodoxy, a departure from the true nature of Christianity. A new generation of Serbian theologians and churchmen educated in the seventies and eighties in Greece and Western Europe continued the work of constructing ‘Europe’ and ‘Europeanness’ in opposition to Orthodox identity. The western interventions in the Yugoslav wars during the nineties of the last century just deepened the sense of Europe and the West as hostile other. Whether western interventions in the Balkans took the form of cultural enlightenment, political and military liberation or economic prosperity, it is considered by most of the Serbian churchmen and laypeople now, that they are driven not by Christian altruistic, but by imperialistic motives.
Christian Orient. The recent German scholarship on Serbian Church follows this fashion to some extent. The perspective of the Serbian Church on Europe confirms the European colonial approach to the Balkans. Similarly to third-world scholars, who by attending the first-world academe challenged the Western scholarly perspective toward their countries, a generation of Serbian theologians educated in the Western Europe at the beginning of the twentieth century, like Velimirović and Popović constructed ‘Europe’ from their national perspective, which opposes the picture of Europe dominant in the Western canonical formation. Since self-fashioning processes always develop by differentiation from an ‘other’, their construction of the European other also affected their representation of Orthodox identity. Velimirović, and especially Popović considered the Catholic and
Protestant Christianity, deemed by western Europeans as progressive and superior in comparison with Orthodoxy, a departure from the true nature of Christianity. A new generation of Serbian theologians and churchmen educated in the seventies and eighties in Greece and Western Europe continued the work of constructing ‘Europe’ and ‘Europeanness’ in opposition to Orthodox identity. The western interventions in the Yugoslav wars during the nineties of the last century just deepened the sense of Europe and the West as hostile other. Whether western interventions in the Balkans took the form of cultural enlightenment, political and military liberation or economic prosperity, it is considered by most of the Serbian churchmen and laypeople now, that they are driven not by Christian altruistic, but by imperialistic motives.
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Рад има за циљ да на трагу изјаве Eпископа Атанасија Јевтића, да је Свети Ава Ћелијски јеванђеоски богослов, истражи који су јеванђоски аспекти Авиног богословља и шта значи бити јеванђеоски богослов. Ова тема ја посебно важна у општем... more
Рад има за циљ да на трагу изјаве Eпископа Атанасија Јевтића, да је Свети Ава Ћелијски јеванђеоски богослов, истражи који су јеванђоски аспекти Авиног богословља и шта значи бити јеванђеоски богослов. Ова тема ја посебно важна у општем контексту савременог православног богословља, које донекле доводи у питање богословска стремљења „повратка Оцима“ у дведасетом веку,
зарад једног новог промишљања целокупне православне традиције на основу и унутар Јеванђеља. Такође, важно је испитати јеванђеоске поставке богословља
Јустина Поповића, у контексту историје српског богословља двадесетог века. Становиште да Ава Јустин својим интересовањем за светоотачко богословље представља у неку руку претечу „неопатристичкој синтези“ Флоровског, које
заступа низ савремених аутора у Србији, треба помирити тврдњом да је он јеванђеоски богослов. Рад ће покушати да одговори на ова питања усредсређујући како на Јустиново виђење значаја и улоге Јеванђеља и Светог писма, тако и на
његову антропологију, сотириологију и тријадологију.
By relying on the statement of Bishop Athanasius Jevtić that
Saint Justin of Chelie is an evangelical theologian, this paper aims to investigate the evangelical aspects of Justin’s theology, analyzing what does it mean in his case to be an evangelical theologian. This theme is particularly important in the overall context of contemporary Orthodox theology, which somehow undermines the theological tendencies of “the return to the
Fathers” in the twentieth century, for the sake of a new understanding of the entire Orthodox tradition as a reflection on and within the Gospel of Jesus Christ (Behr). It is also important to examine the evangelical settings of Justin Popovic’s theology in the context of the history of Serbian theology of the twentieth century. There is an unanimous agreement among Serbian scholars (Lubardic, Vasiljevic, Cvetkovic, Djogo) that by his interest in patristic theology Abba Justin is a forerunner of the “neopatristic synthesis” of Georges Florovsky. Therefore, this paper investigates whether the claim that Justin is an evangelical theologian may be reconciled with the tendencies, which see him predominantly as a patristic or neo-patristic scholar. The paper will attempt to answer these questions by focusing on Justin’s vision of the importance and the role of the Gospel and the Holy Scriptures, as well as on his anthropology, soteriology and Trinitarian theology.
зарад једног новог промишљања целокупне православне традиције на основу и унутар Јеванђеља. Такође, важно је испитати јеванђеоске поставке богословља
Јустина Поповића, у контексту историје српског богословља двадесетог века. Становиште да Ава Јустин својим интересовањем за светоотачко богословље представља у неку руку претечу „неопатристичкој синтези“ Флоровског, које
заступа низ савремених аутора у Србији, треба помирити тврдњом да је он јеванђеоски богослов. Рад ће покушати да одговори на ова питања усредсређујући како на Јустиново виђење значаја и улоге Јеванђеља и Светог писма, тако и на
његову антропологију, сотириологију и тријадологију.
By relying on the statement of Bishop Athanasius Jevtić that
Saint Justin of Chelie is an evangelical theologian, this paper aims to investigate the evangelical aspects of Justin’s theology, analyzing what does it mean in his case to be an evangelical theologian. This theme is particularly important in the overall context of contemporary Orthodox theology, which somehow undermines the theological tendencies of “the return to the
Fathers” in the twentieth century, for the sake of a new understanding of the entire Orthodox tradition as a reflection on and within the Gospel of Jesus Christ (Behr). It is also important to examine the evangelical settings of Justin Popovic’s theology in the context of the history of Serbian theology of the twentieth century. There is an unanimous agreement among Serbian scholars (Lubardic, Vasiljevic, Cvetkovic, Djogo) that by his interest in patristic theology Abba Justin is a forerunner of the “neopatristic synthesis” of Georges Florovsky. Therefore, this paper investigates whether the claim that Justin is an evangelical theologian may be reconciled with the tendencies, which see him predominantly as a patristic or neo-patristic scholar. The paper will attempt to answer these questions by focusing on Justin’s vision of the importance and the role of the Gospel and the Holy Scriptures, as well as on his anthropology, soteriology and Trinitarian theology.
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St Justin the New on the Mystery of Personhood This paper seeks to explore in a preliminary manner the range of Justin Popović’s early works with the special focus on the issue of person and personhood. The scrutiny of the mystery of... more
St Justin the New on the Mystery of Personhood
This paper seeks to explore in a preliminary manner the range of Justin Popović’s early works with the special focus on the issue of person and personhood. The scrutiny of the mystery of person and personhood is without doubt an issue that may gather together different aspirations of entire Orthodox theology of the twentieth century. This issue is often associated with the contemporary Orthodox thinkers such as the Metropolitan of Pergamon John Ziziulas and Professor Christos Yannaras. However, the problem of personhood played a central role in the thought of Serbian theologian Justin Popović (1894–1979). Popović’s view of personhood, especially in his early works, is a creative synthesis of Russian religious thought of the nineteenth and early twentieth century and patristic, primarily, ascetic worldview. Abba Justin is linked to Russian religious thinkers of his time by the same questions, issues and aspirations, but not necessarily by the same responses to these questions. He merges sometimes abstract and romanticized Russian philosophical and theological thought with the ascetico-patristic tradition. Therefore, he offers the spiritual and ascetical insights of the Fathers of Syrio-Egyptian deserts as a solution to the problems of the Europeans at the beginning twentieth century. The mystery of personhood in his work is manifested through the mystery of human infinity, the mystery of human love and the mystery of sobornost or catholicity.
This paper seeks to explore in a preliminary manner the range of Justin Popović’s early works with the special focus on the issue of person and personhood. The scrutiny of the mystery of person and personhood is without doubt an issue that may gather together different aspirations of entire Orthodox theology of the twentieth century. This issue is often associated with the contemporary Orthodox thinkers such as the Metropolitan of Pergamon John Ziziulas and Professor Christos Yannaras. However, the problem of personhood played a central role in the thought of Serbian theologian Justin Popović (1894–1979). Popović’s view of personhood, especially in his early works, is a creative synthesis of Russian religious thought of the nineteenth and early twentieth century and patristic, primarily, ascetic worldview. Abba Justin is linked to Russian religious thinkers of his time by the same questions, issues and aspirations, but not necessarily by the same responses to these questions. He merges sometimes abstract and romanticized Russian philosophical and theological thought with the ascetico-patristic tradition. Therefore, he offers the spiritual and ascetical insights of the Fathers of Syrio-Egyptian deserts as a solution to the problems of the Europeans at the beginning twentieth century. The mystery of personhood in his work is manifested through the mystery of human infinity, the mystery of human love and the mystery of sobornost or catholicity.
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Политички ангажман Мартина Хајдегера или "случај Хајдегер" више је од пола века повод за дебату око његовог дела. Дијапазон становишта врло је широк и протеже се од становишта да Хејдегерово филозофско дело представља надолазећу... more
Политички ангажман Мартина Хајдегера или "случај Хајдегер" више је од пола века повод за дебату око његовог дела. Дијапазон становишта врло је широк и протеже се од становишта да Хејдегерово филозофско дело представља
надолазећу идеологију нацизма, преко становишта да је то само заблуда филозофа слична Платоновој у Сиракузи, до оних који у Хајдегеровом политичком ангажману виде његов покушај да немачки Универзитет заштити од експериме-
ната нацистичког режима. Наше интересовање биће усмерено на Хајдегерово учење о смрти у "Бивствовању и времену". У његовој анализи овог феномена или егзистенцијала многи су видели својеврсну етику смрти која је инспирисала масовну производњу смрти у нацистичким конц-логорима. Иако нема онолики значај у анализи тубивствовања као тубивствовање-у-свету, брига и времени-
тост, анализа смрти заузима важно место у његовом делу. Смрт представља пут од бриге према временитости и у њој се чини ослобађање од неаутентичног бивствовања ту-бивствовања и од безличности. Човек је бивтсвовање-ка-смрти. Кроз смрт се ту-бивствовање ослобађа онога "ту" и открива хоризонт бивствовања у Постојећем, а слобода за смрт постаје слобода од фактичке смрти. Хајдегерово учење је најцеловитија анализа смрти од антике и средњовековља, али и најболнија за човека, јер филозофска вера у бесмртност (вечност) душе бива замењена становиштем по коме је смрт највиша инстанца човековог бивствовања, његова закљученост и оствареност.
The political engagement of Martin Heidegger or "Heidegger's case" is for more than a half of century the reason of the scholarly debate about his work. There are wide ranges of attitudes about his work: from those, which in his work see the incoming ideology of nazi movement; the moderate stances see in his political engagement just an error of a philosopher like Plato's in Syracuse. The attempts to justify his political engagements show that Heidegger tried to protect German University from the experiments of Nazis regime. We will focus in this article on Heidegger's analysis of the phenomenon of death in his Being and Time. In his analysis of the phenomenon of death many scholars have seen the ethics of death, practiced in the massive production of death in Nazis' concentration camps. In spate of the fact that analysis of death is not one of the main pillars of his work such as: Being-in-the-world, Care and Temporality, death has great significance. Death is the way from Care to Temporality and in death Dasein finds the liberation from the inauthentic being and they-self. Man is being-towards-death. Through death Dasein is liberating from the "Being-there" and opens the possibility of Being-a-whole. The freedom-towards-death is a connection to potentiality-for-Being. The Heidegger's analysis of death is the most expanded elaboration of death after the Antiquity and Middle Ages and the most painful because the faith in immortality (eternity) of human soul is replaced with a standpoint in which the death is the highest possibility of human being.
надолазећу идеологију нацизма, преко становишта да је то само заблуда филозофа слична Платоновој у Сиракузи, до оних који у Хајдегеровом политичком ангажману виде његов покушај да немачки Универзитет заштити од експериме-
ната нацистичког режима. Наше интересовање биће усмерено на Хајдегерово учење о смрти у "Бивствовању и времену". У његовој анализи овог феномена или егзистенцијала многи су видели својеврсну етику смрти која је инспирисала масовну производњу смрти у нацистичким конц-логорима. Иако нема онолики значај у анализи тубивствовања као тубивствовање-у-свету, брига и времени-
тост, анализа смрти заузима важно место у његовом делу. Смрт представља пут од бриге према временитости и у њој се чини ослобађање од неаутентичног бивствовања ту-бивствовања и од безличности. Човек је бивтсвовање-ка-смрти. Кроз смрт се ту-бивствовање ослобађа онога "ту" и открива хоризонт бивствовања у Постојећем, а слобода за смрт постаје слобода од фактичке смрти. Хајдегерово учење је најцеловитија анализа смрти од антике и средњовековља, али и најболнија за човека, јер филозофска вера у бесмртност (вечност) душе бива замењена становиштем по коме је смрт највиша инстанца човековог бивствовања, његова закљученост и оствареност.
The political engagement of Martin Heidegger or "Heidegger's case" is for more than a half of century the reason of the scholarly debate about his work. There are wide ranges of attitudes about his work: from those, which in his work see the incoming ideology of nazi movement; the moderate stances see in his political engagement just an error of a philosopher like Plato's in Syracuse. The attempts to justify his political engagements show that Heidegger tried to protect German University from the experiments of Nazis regime. We will focus in this article on Heidegger's analysis of the phenomenon of death in his Being and Time. In his analysis of the phenomenon of death many scholars have seen the ethics of death, practiced in the massive production of death in Nazis' concentration camps. In spate of the fact that analysis of death is not one of the main pillars of his work such as: Being-in-the-world, Care and Temporality, death has great significance. Death is the way from Care to Temporality and in death Dasein finds the liberation from the inauthentic being and they-self. Man is being-towards-death. Through death Dasein is liberating from the "Being-there" and opens the possibility of Being-a-whole. The freedom-towards-death is a connection to potentiality-for-Being. The Heidegger's analysis of death is the most expanded elaboration of death after the Antiquity and Middle Ages and the most painful because the faith in immortality (eternity) of human soul is replaced with a standpoint in which the death is the highest possibility of human being.
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The paper underscores that the 14th-century conflict that unfolded on Mount Athos, commonly referred to as the Hesychast controversy, was marked by a growing fascination with the writings of Dionysius the Areopagite. The theme that... more
The paper underscores that the 14th-century conflict that unfolded on Mount Athos, commonly referred to as the Hesychast controversy, was marked by a growing fascination with the writings of Dionysius the Areopagite. The theme that captured the attention of the Hesychast Athonite monks was the metaphor of the center of circle and radii, by which Dionysius the
Areopagite portrayed the relationship divine essence, divine energies and divine procession. A number of Greek and Slavonic manuscripts of the Dionysius’ Divine names produced from the 14th century onwards included circle diagrams. The diagrams of the circle that accompanied
the DN 2.5 and DN 5.2 manuscripts varied in form, shape and color. The essay investigates the way in which of Dionysius’s notions of divine unity and divine differentiations are expressed by center, radii and circumference of a circle. The focus of the essay is on two sets of diagrams.
The first set of diagrams consists of two circles that accompany DN 2.5 in the Slavonic translation of Divine Names produced by the elder Isaiah in 1371 (Gilferding’s collection in St Petersburg’s National Library). The second set of diagrams consists of three circles that accompany DN 5.2, DN 5.6 and DN 5.8 in the Greek manuscript number 261 from the collection of the Dionysiou monastery on Mount Athos from mid 14th century. The essay
commences from the analysis of simple diagrams in which the circle’s center is identified with God, and the radii with divine energies or divine procession, and advances by investigating more complex diagrams that include radii in the form of line segments, outer circumference and concentric rings. Cvetković argues that these new diagrammatic elements are employed to
visualize complex ideas important for the Hesychast theology and spirituality such as the essence as united unity, energies as differentiated unity and the Holy Trinity as unity of differentiations, but also divine processions as differentiated unity of creation.
Areopagite portrayed the relationship divine essence, divine energies and divine procession. A number of Greek and Slavonic manuscripts of the Dionysius’ Divine names produced from the 14th century onwards included circle diagrams. The diagrams of the circle that accompanied
the DN 2.5 and DN 5.2 manuscripts varied in form, shape and color. The essay investigates the way in which of Dionysius’s notions of divine unity and divine differentiations are expressed by center, radii and circumference of a circle. The focus of the essay is on two sets of diagrams.
The first set of diagrams consists of two circles that accompany DN 2.5 in the Slavonic translation of Divine Names produced by the elder Isaiah in 1371 (Gilferding’s collection in St Petersburg’s National Library). The second set of diagrams consists of three circles that accompany DN 5.2, DN 5.6 and DN 5.8 in the Greek manuscript number 261 from the collection of the Dionysiou monastery on Mount Athos from mid 14th century. The essay
commences from the analysis of simple diagrams in which the circle’s center is identified with God, and the radii with divine energies or divine procession, and advances by investigating more complex diagrams that include radii in the form of line segments, outer circumference and concentric rings. Cvetković argues that these new diagrammatic elements are employed to
visualize complex ideas important for the Hesychast theology and spirituality such as the essence as united unity, energies as differentiated unity and the Holy Trinity as unity of differentiations, but also divine processions as differentiated unity of creation.
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Paper presented at the Annual International Colloquium at the Faculty of Orthodox Theology, University of Veliko Tarnovo, 29-30, October 2015, Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria.
http://www.uni-vt.bg/1/?page=10378&zid=23
http://www.uni-vt.bg/1/?page=10378&zid=23
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Since Mossman Roueché has published three texts, consisting of logical compendia and a handbook of Aristotelian-Porphyrian logic, found among Maximus’s writings and falsely attributed to him by S.L Epifanovich, numerous Maximian scholars... more
Since Mossman Roueché has published three texts, consisting of logical compendia and a handbook of Aristotelian-Porphyrian logic, found among Maximus’s writings and falsely attributed to him by S.L Epifanovich, numerous Maximian scholars hastened to structure the Confessor’s perception of created reality in accordance to the Porphyrian tree. The passages from Maximus’ own writings, such as Amb. 10,37 (1177bc) Oroi diaforoi (PG 91, 149ff) and Oros enoseos (PG 91, 214ff), seem to substantiate the claim that his view on created reality may be explained by means of the Porphyrian tree. However, the application of the Porphyrian tree to Maximus immediately creates some problems. Therefore, Torstein Tollefsen’s critique of Eric Perl’s stance that the Logos of God is the highest universal, just points out the fact that the Porphyrian tree model does not presuppose the exclusive place for the Logos of God. In his assessment of Tollefsen’s position, Melchisedec Törönen has challenged the entire application of the Porphyrian tree to the Logos-logoi theme, claiming that this connection is due to the double identification of the logoi with Platonic forms, and the Platonic forms with species, whose final result is the identification of the logoi with species. In his reply to Törönen’s criticism Tollefsen denied his direct identification of logoi with the taxonomy of the cosmological immanent order, stating that the logoi as divine conceptions of beings become act of will ‘when’ God creates the cosmos. According to Tollefsen, although the logoi are ontologically different realities from the genera and species, they served God as paradigms for creating the latter.
The paper aims to propose a more dynamic view of logoi of creation than the Porphyrian tree model implies. By reflecting upon Tollefsen’s argumentation that the preexisting logoi of universals, genera and species, and individuals function as models for creating the world, I argue that the universals have their mode of existence subsumed under the mode of existence of the logoi of individuals. This particularly means that every logos does not have a corresponding tropos or mode of existence. The universal and particular logoi that correspond to one single mode of existence should not be perceived any more as individual segments in the taxonomic order, but rather as the moments through which created beings accomplish their divine purpose. Thus, by connecting logoi with the movement of both God and of the created being, I claim that the Porphyrian tree model is a deficient tool to express the created reality, and especially its relationship to God, in Maximus. Looking for an alternative model to the Porphyrian tree model, I propose a circle model, which Maximus borrowed from Dionysius the Areopagite. By applying the circle model both authors found solutions to two important problems: 1) the problem of the relationship between the one and the manifold, and 2) the problem of the relationship between universals and individuals.
With the help of the circle diagrams that accompany a dozen of Slavonic medieval translations of Dionysius the Areopagite and Dorotheus of Gaza I attempt to recreate the complex matrix of delimitations, movement and rest of created beings in Maximus’ thought. The most basic form of the circle model, usually referred to as Doreoteheus’ circle in the Paleoslavic literature, assumes that God is the centre of the circle and that the individual human beings are placed at the circumference. By employing the model of circle with movement from the centre of the circle toward circumference along the radius and back from the circumference toward the centre, I describe two sets of movements in Maximus, the ongoing movement of procession (proodos) and expansion (diastole) of one Logos in many logoi and the returning movement of conversion (epistrophe) and contraction (systole) of many logoi in one Logos. By means of Dorotheus’ circle diagram from Dečani monastery manuscript no. 75, which consists of three concentric circles, I explain the threefold structure of logoi of being, well-being and eternal being as well as the relationship between Logos of God and logoi of universals and individuals. On the basis of Dečani diagram I argue that: a) the movement of expansion is a movement of the divine creative act, in which God creates the world in accordance to logoi of universals, genera and species, and individual rational beings according to their proper logos; b) the movement of contraction is a corresponding movement of rational crated beings, who finding themselves undivided from the rest of the created world due to the unity in logoi of universals, returns to the Logos of God, who is both their cause and end; c) the movement of procession is a movement from God, who through his creative act, endows rational beings with being, goodness or well-being and eternity or eternal being, and finally d) the movement of conversion is a movement of human beings, who by coupling their being with the goodness or well-being reach the eternity or eternal well-being.
The paper aims to propose a more dynamic view of logoi of creation than the Porphyrian tree model implies. By reflecting upon Tollefsen’s argumentation that the preexisting logoi of universals, genera and species, and individuals function as models for creating the world, I argue that the universals have their mode of existence subsumed under the mode of existence of the logoi of individuals. This particularly means that every logos does not have a corresponding tropos or mode of existence. The universal and particular logoi that correspond to one single mode of existence should not be perceived any more as individual segments in the taxonomic order, but rather as the moments through which created beings accomplish their divine purpose. Thus, by connecting logoi with the movement of both God and of the created being, I claim that the Porphyrian tree model is a deficient tool to express the created reality, and especially its relationship to God, in Maximus. Looking for an alternative model to the Porphyrian tree model, I propose a circle model, which Maximus borrowed from Dionysius the Areopagite. By applying the circle model both authors found solutions to two important problems: 1) the problem of the relationship between the one and the manifold, and 2) the problem of the relationship between universals and individuals.
With the help of the circle diagrams that accompany a dozen of Slavonic medieval translations of Dionysius the Areopagite and Dorotheus of Gaza I attempt to recreate the complex matrix of delimitations, movement and rest of created beings in Maximus’ thought. The most basic form of the circle model, usually referred to as Doreoteheus’ circle in the Paleoslavic literature, assumes that God is the centre of the circle and that the individual human beings are placed at the circumference. By employing the model of circle with movement from the centre of the circle toward circumference along the radius and back from the circumference toward the centre, I describe two sets of movements in Maximus, the ongoing movement of procession (proodos) and expansion (diastole) of one Logos in many logoi and the returning movement of conversion (epistrophe) and contraction (systole) of many logoi in one Logos. By means of Dorotheus’ circle diagram from Dečani monastery manuscript no. 75, which consists of three concentric circles, I explain the threefold structure of logoi of being, well-being and eternal being as well as the relationship between Logos of God and logoi of universals and individuals. On the basis of Dečani diagram I argue that: a) the movement of expansion is a movement of the divine creative act, in which God creates the world in accordance to logoi of universals, genera and species, and individual rational beings according to their proper logos; b) the movement of contraction is a corresponding movement of rational crated beings, who finding themselves undivided from the rest of the created world due to the unity in logoi of universals, returns to the Logos of God, who is both their cause and end; c) the movement of procession is a movement from God, who through his creative act, endows rational beings with being, goodness or well-being and eternity or eternal being, and finally d) the movement of conversion is a movement of human beings, who by coupling their being with the goodness or well-being reach the eternity or eternal well-being.
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The aim of this paper is to explore the way in which Maximus the Confessor determines the limits of the created beings by the logoi. The delimitations imposed by logoi serve to define the natural borders of created beings, but also to... more
The aim of this paper is to explore the way in which Maximus the Confessor determines the limits of the created beings by the logoi. The delimitations imposed by logoi serve to define the natural borders of created beings, but also to help created beings to exceed their limits. The created beings that are naturally limited by their beginning and end, tend to become both beginningless and endless. The beginning and end of created beings are connected with their activity and movement, while their beginninglessness and endlessness pertain to their passivity and rest (ever-moving rest). In a series of geometrical images dispersed throughout his opera, Maximus identifies the movement of created beings with a straight line, and the passivity or ever-moving rest around God of the created beings with a circle. With the help of these geometrical analogies, this paper intends to recreate the complex matrix of delimitations, movement and rest of created beings in Maximus’ thought.
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Lecture 'Sex, Gender and the Creation of a Christian identity' is presented at the Institute for Philosophy and Social Theory, University of Belgrade on 22nd of November 2018. Abstract: In his presentation on sex, gender and the creation... more
Lecture 'Sex, Gender and the Creation of a Christian identity' is presented at the Institute for Philosophy and Social Theory, University of Belgrade on 22nd of November 2018.
Abstract: In his presentation on sex, gender and the creation of a Christian identity, Vladimir Cvetković provides a brief overview of Christian views concerning sexual and gender identity in the early Christian and patristic period. Focusing on particular historical cases, Cvetković draws attention to a set of challenges that individuals face in attempting to define their Christian identity either by accepting or by opposing their gender roles.
Abstract: In his presentation on sex, gender and the creation of a Christian identity, Vladimir Cvetković provides a brief overview of Christian views concerning sexual and gender identity in the early Christian and patristic period. Focusing on particular historical cases, Cvetković draws attention to a set of challenges that individuals face in attempting to define their Christian identity either by accepting or by opposing their gender roles.
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1 (2015) 1
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Research Interests: Theology, Patristics, Early Christianity, Augustine, Greek-Catholic Churches, and 11 moreChurch History, Augustine of Hippo, Origen, John Chrysostom, Origen of Alexandria, Patristic Exegesis, Patristic Studies, Patristics and Late Antiquity, Church and State, Catholic Church History, and Greek Patristics
Lecture delivered at the Theologische Fakultät, Philipps-Universität Marburg, on 10 July 2017.
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The light is the essential element of the icon. The purpose of the light is not to decorate a depicted scene or person, but to establish their true and eternal identity as transfigured in the Kingdom of Heaven. The light testifies the... more
The light is the essential element of the icon. The purpose of the light is not to decorate a depicted scene or person, but to establish their true and eternal identity as transfigured in the Kingdom of Heaven. The light testifies the transition of the creation not only from non-being to being, but also from being to eternal being or eternal existence in the Kingdom of God. Theologically, this light has its origin in the divine and uncreated light that emerged at Christ’s transfiguration on the Mount Tabor and it is identified with the divine and uncreated energies of God.
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This is the Call for Papers to the Panel: Platonism and Christian Thought in Late Antiquity and Byzantium: Rivals, alliances, or merely a continuum? The panel is part of the 18th Annual Conference of the International Society for... more
This is the Call for Papers to the Panel: Platonism and Christian Thought in Late Antiquity and Byzantium: Rivals, alliances, or merely a continuum? The panel is part of the 18th Annual Conference of the International Society for Neoplatonic Studies, to be held in Athens, Greece, June 10-14, 2020. Panel Abstracts should be submitted to Vladimir Cvetkovic and Panagiotis Pavlos, by the end of January 2020. Accepted papers will be notified by February 20, 2020. Conference website: https://www.isns.us/ISNS-2020/
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Call for Papers International conference THE THOUGHT AND MISSION OF ST JUSTIN POPOVIĆ Belgrade, Serbia 10th – 11th May 2019 Dear colleagues, We are pleased to invite you to participate in the international conference “The Thought... more
Call for Papers
International conference
THE THOUGHT AND MISSION OF ST JUSTIN POPOVIĆ
Belgrade, Serbia
10th – 11th May 2019
Dear colleagues,
We are pleased to invite you to participate in the international conference “The Thought and Mission of St Justin Popović” planned to be held in Belgrade, Serbia, from 10th to 11th of May 2019. The conference is organized to mark 125 years from Justin Popović’s birth and 40 years from his repose. As a monk, cleric and saint of the Orthodox Church, a professor of the University of Belgrade and the cofounder of the Serbian Philosophical Society, Justin Popović (1894-1979) is widely acknowledged as one of the greatest Orthodox theologians of the twentieth century. However, despite the unanimous recognition of Justin Popović’s intellectual and spiritual stature, the various aspects of his works are still unexplored or a matter of different, sometimes contrasting, interpretations. The aim of the conference is to explore underresearched and disputed aspects of Justin Popović’s voluminous works, as well as to appraise his contribution to Christian theology and spirituality.
International conference
THE THOUGHT AND MISSION OF ST JUSTIN POPOVIĆ
Belgrade, Serbia
10th – 11th May 2019
Dear colleagues,
We are pleased to invite you to participate in the international conference “The Thought and Mission of St Justin Popović” planned to be held in Belgrade, Serbia, from 10th to 11th of May 2019. The conference is organized to mark 125 years from Justin Popović’s birth and 40 years from his repose. As a monk, cleric and saint of the Orthodox Church, a professor of the University of Belgrade and the cofounder of the Serbian Philosophical Society, Justin Popović (1894-1979) is widely acknowledged as one of the greatest Orthodox theologians of the twentieth century. However, despite the unanimous recognition of Justin Popović’s intellectual and spiritual stature, the various aspects of his works are still unexplored or a matter of different, sometimes contrasting, interpretations. The aim of the conference is to explore underresearched and disputed aspects of Justin Popović’s voluminous works, as well as to appraise his contribution to Christian theology and spirituality.
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The paper aims to critically assess the significance and contribution of the monograph The Scaffolds of the Church authored by Cyril Hovorun. The paper offers a short, but as detailed as possible presentation of Hovorun’s book and points... more
The paper aims to critically assess the significance and contribution of the monograph The Scaffolds of the Church authored by Cyril Hovorun. The paper offers a short, but as detailed as possible presentation of Hovorun’s book and points out to the ecclesiological novelties that this book brings. Then, the focus is shifted to a more detailed analysis of the fifth chapter of the book dedicated to the notion of hierarchy. Here is considered the philosophical settings in which the concept of hierarchy have been developed, as well as the hierarchical models that the Church has adopted throughout its history. Finally, contemporary ecclesiological teachings exposed by both Metropolitan John N. Zizioulas and the author of the book, Archimandrite Cyril Hovorun have been discussed through the prism of traditional hierarchical models.
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Luke Steven's recent monograph Imitation, Knowledge, and the Task of Christology in Maximus the Confessor is a revised doctoral diss. supervised by Sarah Coakley at the Uni of Cambridge. The author develops a certain 'likeness... more
Luke Steven's recent monograph Imitation, Knowledge, and the Task of Christology in Maximus the Confessor is a revised doctoral diss. supervised by Sarah Coakley at the Uni of Cambridge. The author develops a certain 'likeness epistemology', arguing that for Maximus the Confessor the knowledge of God is the result of the achieved likeness of God. S. promises to offer a new route in approaching Maximus' Christology, which is focused on Maximus' notion of imitation and restricted to the rhetorical tools, which Maximus employs in his letters. In the first chap., S. demonstrates that the knowing-by-likeness methodology is not Maximus' invention, but it is deeply rooted in previous pagan Greek, and also Christian tradition. S. skilfully presents how authors such as, Clement and Alexandria, Origen, Athanasius of Alexandria and the Cappadocian fathers successfully combined ancient like-by-like optical theory, mediated through Aristotle, with enigmatic or allegorical exegesis. In the second chap., the author argues that Maximus adopted this method from Gregory Nazianzen, to whom he dedicated most of his Difficulties. However, according to S., Maximus went a step further than Gregory developing his 'likeness epistemology' in three main directions, namely 'knowing by love', 'knowing by virtue' and 'unknowing by likeness'. Thus, a human being knows God through love and virtue, because God is the love and virtue per se, but also by human desire for God that captures something of the divine transcended reality. The third chap. is dedicated to the theme of deification as process of attaining the likeness with God. practice of Christology in his letters. The fourth chap. is focused on the topic of praise and persuasion as rhetorical devices employed by Maximus in his letters. S. analyses two letters of Maximus, the 2 nd letter on love to John the Cubicularius and the 2nd letter to Thomas.
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In March 2024, I will be conducting a two-week course on Russian Religious Philosophy as a New Ideology of the Russian State at the Institute of Philosophy, National Sun Yat-sen University in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. This opportunity to serve... more
In March 2024, I will be conducting a two-week course on Russian Religious Philosophy as a New Ideology of the Russian State at the Institute of Philosophy, National Sun Yat-sen University in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. This opportunity to serve as a visiting professor at the National Sun Yat-sen University has been made possible through a mobility grant provided by the Open Society University Network (OSUN). The inaugural lecture, scheduled for March 11, 2024, will delve into The First Philosophical Letter of Piotr Chaadaev (1828) and the subsequent response to this letter by Alexei Khomiakov (1836).
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An international conference entitled "The Right-Wing Parties and Intellectuals in Interwar South Eastern Europe: Between Conservatism and Fascism" was held in the Great Conference Hall of the Hotel Majestic in Belgrade on 7-8 April 2022.... more
An international conference entitled "The Right-Wing Parties and Intellectuals in Interwar South Eastern Europe: Between Conservatism and Fascism" was held in the Great Conference Hall of the Hotel Majestic in Belgrade on 7-8 April 2022. The conference was part of the ongoing project "The Serbian Right-Wing Parties and Intellectuals in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, 1934-1941" supported by the Science Fund of the Republic of Serbia, PROMIS, Grant No. 6062708, SerbRightWing.
Over the two days 24 papers were presented both on-site and online via Zoom (three presenters were, unfortunately, unable to join us) divided into seven thematic panels. There was a nice mixture of both established and emerging scholars from the field coming from a number of countries. Professor António Costa Pinto from the Institute of Social Sciences, University of Lisbon, delivered a keynote lecture “Building Dictatorships in the Era of Fascism. A Global View” on the second day of the conference.
The organizers, Dragan Bakić, Dušan Fundić and Rastko Lompar from the Institute for Balkan Studies SASA, would like to extend their thanks to all the participants. It is their intention to publish an edited volume consisting of the conference proceedings which will, hopefully, be out in print next year.
Over the two days 24 papers were presented both on-site and online via Zoom (three presenters were, unfortunately, unable to join us) divided into seven thematic panels. There was a nice mixture of both established and emerging scholars from the field coming from a number of countries. Professor António Costa Pinto from the Institute of Social Sciences, University of Lisbon, delivered a keynote lecture “Building Dictatorships in the Era of Fascism. A Global View” on the second day of the conference.
The organizers, Dragan Bakić, Dušan Fundić and Rastko Lompar from the Institute for Balkan Studies SASA, would like to extend their thanks to all the participants. It is their intention to publish an edited volume consisting of the conference proceedings which will, hopefully, be out in print next year.
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The primary objective of this panel is to examine the reception of the Neoplatonism within the religious contexts of the Balkans during the 14th and 15th centuries, with a particular emphasis on exploring the concept of hierarchy and the... more
The primary objective of this panel is to examine the reception of the Neoplatonism within the religious contexts of the Balkans during the 14th and 15th centuries, with a particular emphasis on exploring the concept of hierarchy and the interplay between the one and many. The panel aims to delve into the impact of Neoplatonic metaphysical concepts on the Christian and Islamic traditions in the Balkans, exploring their influence on theological and philosophical doctrines, religious rituals, artistic and architectural creations, as well as medical practices. Particular emphasis will be dedicated to the Neoplatonic concept of hierarchy, specifically examining its manifestation in two mystical and monastic movements of the era: Christian Hesychasm, originating with the monks of Mount Athos, and Islamic Sufism, embraced by the Ottoman military during their Balkan campaigns. The panel also aims to scrutinize the Italian Renaissance's adoption of Neoplatonic hierarchies by investigating the introduction of medical practices into the Balkans during the 15th century. Dionysius the Areopagite is credited with originating the concept of hierarchy to elucidate the process through which holiness is conveyed from God, often referred to as the One, to the subsequent created reality. Given that the term was not employed within the Christian tradition prior to Dionysius and was also not present in the Islamic tradition, essays concentrating on these traditions tend to use the term ‘hierarchy’ in a flexible manner to illustrate the connection between the one and many.
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Within Oxford Patristics Conference 2024 and on the double event of a) the 70 th anniversary and retirement of Torstein Theodor Tollefsen, Professor of Philosophy at the University of Oslo, and b) the release of his new book on The... more
Within Oxford Patristics Conference 2024 and on the double event of a) the 70 th anniversary and retirement of Torstein Theodor Tollefsen, Professor of Philosophy at the University of Oslo, and b) the release of his new book on The Christian Metaphysics of St. Maximus the Confessor: Creation, World-Order, and Redemption (Turnhout: Brepols 2023), the present Call invites for papers discussing key topics within St. Maximus the Confessor's Christian philosophical legacy.