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CORNELIU C. SIMUȚ
CORNELIU C. SIMUȚ is professor of historical and systematic theology at Emanuel University of Oradea, Romania, and associate research fellow at the University of Pretoria, South Africa. He also works as senior vice-chancellor postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Pretoria, where he investigates the notion of ecodomy as ancestry and education in Eastern Orthodox Christianity and Indigenous African Religions by means of decommunistization and decolonization.
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Protestantism, 1840-1940: Hungarian Calvinists, British Evangelicals, & German-Austrian Pietists during the
Spiritual Renewal of Protestant Churches in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Oradea and Warsaw: Emanuel University Press and Sciendo, 2021.
The concept of resonance is applied to denote this tangential relationship as an eco-social constructivist understanding of reality. Two proponents, one scientist and one theologian, have been chosen who share this view of a holistic reality, and the objective is to determine the degree of resonance viable of these magisteria. A method of polycentric hermeneutics is thus pursued. Although we referred to the concept of consilience regarding von Humboldt’s enterprise, it is not in the authors’ scope to achieve this with science and theology as disciplines sui generis. However, if resonance becomes vital in understanding reality, faith is inevitable (Anselm). If a creation theology seeks a degree of plausibility, it requires the feedback-loop methodology of science. We all share one earth: the closer we all come to a shared end, the closer we also come together and relativise differences. The naturalist Edward O. Wilson suggested that science and religion should set aside their differences to save the planet. Resonance has the potential to let new horizons emerge in our mutual endeavour to come to grips with reality and to map out certain tangentially overlapping magisteria. Contribution: Through resonance, the thought constructs of a scientist and a theologian are juxtaposed. An iterative hermeneutics’ importance is emphasised in the theology and science discourse, if faith seeks understanding and leads to awe. And the conclusion is that the ‘spiritual dimension’ and the ‘natural dimension’ do not only overlap but are tangential, as they engage with the same reality.
common features of these three confessional theologies and similar patterns of thought in the
secular world, with the intention of finding ecological issues that are common not only to the three confessional theologies but also to secular philosophies. Thirdly, the initial investigation of Christianity’s three main confessional theologies, followed by the comparison between these confessional theologies and secular philosophies of nature, is completed by the concrete proposal that, in order for contemporary ecological issues to be met with viable solutions, a common public attitude about nature, which goes beyond confessional theologies and secular
philosophies, needs to be pursued globally in an ecodomic (constructive and edifying) manner. Contribution: Despite the numerous theories about concrete ways to improve the current state of nature, this article is an attempt to go a step beyond the established theological and philosophical perspectives on the world towards a constructive public attitude which is meant to be characterised by the real possibility of immediate action.
University in a Vibrant Democracy – Carrying the Conversation Forward’ was held at the Faculty of Theology, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa. A wide range of scholars from African and non-African countries provided variegated perspectives on how tertiary theological and religious education could contribute positively to the development of contemporary societies – African and non-African. This article focuses on the colloquium’s African contributors by means of the concept of ecodomy, envisaged as a constructive process. Whilst the attending academics came from Europe, the USA, South Africa and Ghana, this article takes into consideration only the contributions provided by African scholars. The purpose of this selection is to identify ecodomic or constructive ways to argue in favour of university education in the fields of theology and religion which share the potential to be applied across the whole African continent. Bearing in mind that Africa has been dealing with decolonisation awhile, these African contributions investigate issues such as contextualisation, science, practice, illumination and holism from the governing principle of decolonisation, which is also the overarching societal umbrella for academic development in Africa. This study concludes with an assessment and a proposal written from an exclusively South African vantage point which demonstrates the viability of tertiary theological and religious education for the ongoing ecodomic development of African societies.
theology as an academic field has a future in university and society by implementing a concrete programme of decolonisation which is adapted – by means of education – to the specifics of various local contexts including those in Africa. If the answer to this question is positive – and the colloquium contributors, as well as the authors, of this article do believe to be so – then one
must find out how theology should be done in the university, how theology should work in society and what (kind of) theology should be taught in the university so that its impact in society is continuously transformative and permanently relevant to human life and human
existence in Africa and throughout the world.
as dogmatically founded on as well as anchored in christology, revelation, and soteriology.
interviews as well as articles published in famous Italian newspapers such as La Repubblica and Corriere della sera. Moreover, his book The Soul and Its Destiny (2007) has been sold in over two hundred thousand copies which is a record for a theological work by any standards. Since he is still unknown to the English-speaking world, this paper investigates Mancuso’s notion of freedom, particularly freedom of conscience and freedom of religion, in the general context of his religious philosophy which focuses on the concept of soul. In Mancuso, a Catholic by (his own) confession, reality is essentially material, so everything which exists in the world and the universe is part of this material reality. The human being is no exception, thus its natural constitution is thoroughly material. Everything pertaining
to the human being, including the idea of soul, is material. However, the fact that ideas, such as the soul, can be conceived within the materiality of the human
being is indicative of the latter’s capacity for spiritualization; consequently, spirituality is also part of and constitutive of materiality. Hence, Mancuso’s belief that the soul is material, and so is everything traditionally accepted as spiritual, including ideas such as God and freedom. Since freedom can be connected to matter and
materiality through the concept of soul, Mancuso argues that the reality of freedom is innate in every human being; men and women, however, must become aware of it and then live it out in their daily lives by promoting as well as defending freedom of conscience and freedom of religion. Both types of freedom are compulsory not
only for the good of humankind in general, for peace, and security, but also for every particular human being who can lead an authentic life only by practicing freedom of conscience and freedom of religion without fearing repression of any sort.
and literally referring to the process of building a house or, by extension, a community, can also point to “any constructive process” as Geiko Müller-Fahrenholz demonstrated in his famous book entitled God’s Spirit. Transforming a World in Crisis, published in 1995. As a constructive process within the extremely complex phenomena of indigenous African religions, ecodomy is
far from easy to shrink into a theoretical definition. Nonetheless, it can be evaluated based on a fundamental aspect which is common to all indigenous African religions; in this particular case, this common denominator was found in the idea of ancestry and more particularly in the role played by ancestors in specific African contexts. Despite the various approaches to indigenous African religions, four main perspectives can be singled out as providing distinct patterns of ecodomy based on the concept of ancestry. First, there is the approach of John S. Mbiti, an Anglican Protestant with an English cultural background, who believes that the idea of ancestry can be useful to contemporary African societies if one retained the idea of remembrance although he is much more interested in defending his Christian convictions rather than his native African culture. Second, Issiaka P. Lalèyê, writing from a Roman-Catholic angle with strong cultural connections with France, focuses on the reality of death as fundamental to the reality of ecodomy, and especially on the specific need that people go through a good death before they become ancestors. Third, Jacok K. Olupona, now at Harvard Divinity School teaching African religious traditions, provides a perspective which is much more religious in nature compared to Mbiti and Lalèyê because he not only writes from a non-Christian perspective, but he also decisively focuses solely on African religions; hence his conviction that the aspect which can contribute to the peace, prosperity, and security of African societies in connection with the notion of ancestry as ecodomy is the practical reality of ritual as found in indigenous African religions. Fourth, Israel Kamudzandu, who teaches New Testament Studies and Biblical Interpretation at Saint Paul School of Theology, indicates that the idea of ancestry can go beyond indigenous African religions into establishing relevant liaisons with other religions, notably Christianity, by using the role of ancestors as mediators between God and humanity. Although radically different, these four perspectives share the common goal of using the notion of ancestry and the specific role of ancestors in various indigenous African religions as ecodomic or constructive attempts to provide the immensely different spectrum of African societies with concrete religious ideas that can instill peace, prosperity, and security in
virtually all African communities.
active in the media by giving interviews and writing short articles for famous Italian newspapers, such as La Repubblica. In all his endeavors, Mancuso attempts to provide contemporary society with a view of God which is essentially human and profoundly anthropologic in nature in the hope that such an understanding of God will make sense of humanity’s current issues and struggles. Despite the rather controversial fame he acquired in Italy, Mancuso is virtually unknown to the English-speaking public, so this paper is an attempt to present him to those who are not only versed in English theology and philosophy of religion, but also to those who still believe that theology and philosophy of religion may be valuable instruments for the information and transformation of today’s society.
Orthodox Church—focused on a rhetoric that, on the one hand, takes Romanians back to their Thracian, Dacian, and Roman ancestors, while on the other hand, seeks to inculcate the idea that an unflinching adherence to this specific ancestry, which is described as Christian by nature and birth, must be kept at all costs. Thus, this specific kind of rhetoric attempts to build a protective fence around Romanians, who are taught that they need to preserve their Eastern Orthodox Christianity and their allegiance to the Romanian Orthodox Church mostly because, since their ancestors were Christians, they are in fact born Christian. The process of building this protective wall around Romanians is described by means of the term ‘ecodomy’ and, unlike its general use in contemporary debates as focusing on positive aspects, the particular focus of the Romanian Orthodox Church on ecodomy based on the idea of ancestry is
going to be revealed mostly through a chain of negative connotations. Thus, the contemporary rhetoric of the Romanian Orthodox Church based on the notion of ancestry as ecodomy—one may even call it negative ecodomy—is going to be explained in connection with three fundamental aspects, namely church, nation, and culture, all intended to preserve not only the influence of the Romanian Orthodox Church in nowadays Romanian society, but also a set of privileges in its relationship with the state.
a natural approach to death as part of his own existence, he must put aside religious persuasions and, in doing so, adopt a perspective that allows him to embrace death fearlessly. Religion cannot simply be erased, which means that it has to be studied in order for man to move beyond it; having done so, man should be able to elevate himself above religion which offers him the chance to seek the truth within his own humanity. The externality of religion, therefore, should be excluded from man’s quest
for meaning; when this happens, death becomes internal, inherent to man’s most intimate existence and also the most fundamental aspect of truth. In other words, traditional religion must turn itself into some sort of lay (specifically secular) philosophy which only retains religious language and imagery to explain that religion is not needed for man’s contemporary approach to death. Fear of death can be dealt with successfully if aging and death are seen in the light of meaningful relationships which are able to transform the finitude of life in the eternity of existence as reflected in the memories of
those who survive the deceased.