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Dans cet article l’auteure interroge la dynamique oecuménique, dans la liturgie et ailleurs, en tant qu’échange et partage des dons propres à chaque Église soumis au principe de réalité avec les obstacles et difficultés éventuelles.... more
Dans cet article l’auteure interroge la dynamique oecuménique,
dans la liturgie et ailleurs, en tant qu’échange et partage
des dons propres à chaque Église soumis au principe de réalité
avec les obstacles et difficultés éventuelles. S’appuyant sur
les pensées du philosophe Jean-Luc Marion et du théologien
Louis-Marie Chauvet, elle insiste sur « les principes de partage
non-causal et non-utilitaire des dons », ainsi que sur l’enjeu
d’une « non-possession » de ceux-ci, empruntés à Mère Maria
Skobtsova. Si l’oecuménisme consiste en un partage de dons
réciproques, accueillis avec bienveillance mais qui peuvent
aussi être des fardeaux, cela requiert un certain ascétisme, voire
même un souci de purification pour que ce partage reste sain.
Il en va de nos relations entre Églises comme de notre relation
à Dieu. L’auteure propose, pour cela, d’apprendre et de développer
davantage le discernement, s’appuyant sur les expériences
antérieures, pour laisser émerger une dialectique non synthétique.
Cette dernière apparaît comme une méthode nécessaire en
théologie oecuménique pour éviter les méta-constructions « qui
empêchent les gens de voir ce qu’il y a à voir ».
The article explores relations between the gift and the given. It combines Jean-Luc Marion's and Louis-Marie Chauvet's critique of the instrumentalization of the gift and of an exaggerated visibility of what comes from God, with Mother... more
The article explores relations between the gift and the given. It combines Jean-Luc Marion's and Louis-Marie Chauvet's critique of the instrumentalization of the gift and of an exaggerated visibility of what comes from God, with Mother Maria Skobtsova's notion of non-possession applied also to spiritual wealth. With the assistance of these authors, the article interprets the ecumenicity of liturgical and theological tradition as a common heritage. Thus, it moves beyond assumptions that specific ecclesial groups could “own,” for example, the Easter Triduum, icons, biblical consciousness, or the right and proper manners of conversion, and as their “property” share it with others. It argues that if an ecumenical method is to remain dialogical at all levels, it needs to work both with the positive and the negative aspects of the common heritage, engage in the common process of discernment, and with regard to the multi-layered specificities of each legitimate position move beyond a search for synthesis.
This article shows how Western and Eastern Christianity impacted not only on the Christianisation of the Central Europe, but also on Modern imagery of revival and of unity. It focusses on the complex relations between the Orthodox Church... more
This article shows how Western and Eastern Christianity impacted not only on the Christianisation of the Central Europe, but also on Modern imagery of revival and of unity. It focusses on the complex relations between the Orthodox Church and the Czechoslovak (Hussite) Church, paying special attention to the instances when one tradition lived inside the other one, while inviting a reflection on what such experience can teach on Christian diversity and unity.
The chapter has a form of conversation with the main author of the book, Jiří Hanuš. It focuses on the role of universities in current Western and then more specifically Czech society, on what they need to preserve from their medieval and... more
The chapter has a form of conversation with the main author of the book, Jiří Hanuš. It focuses on the role of universities in current Western and then more specifically Czech society, on what they need to preserve from their medieval and modern history, and on their different contributions today. It considers the international scene, looks at the ways of comparison, the modes of collaboration and the common challenges universities are facing.
The chapter examines how illumination and freedom interact in the theology of the Uncreated Light, foundational for Orthodox spirituality, and it explores a possible contribution of that theology to a current search for political... more
The chapter examines how  illumination and freedom interact in the theology of the Uncreated Light, foundational for Orthodox spirituality, and it explores a possible contribution of that theology to a current search for political theology in an Orthodox key.
The text analyse how Jacques Derrida uncovers and interprets the work of the Catholic Orientalist, Louis Massignon. It traces how the influence of Massignon complements his Levinasian interpretation of the claim of the other, especially... more
The text analyse how Jacques Derrida uncovers and interprets the work of the Catholic Orientalist, Louis Massignon. It traces how the influence of Massignon complements his Levinasian interpretation of the claim of the other, especially the other in need, such as a migrant. Derrida’s own experience of not fitting easily into a narrowly defined national and religious group is shown as resonating with Massignon’s experience of the hospitality that came from others and led to his conversion and a life-long involvement on behalf of others. And finally, the chapter seeks to articulate what kind of inspiration we can get from these experiences in order to cultivate a non-nationalist approach to what a home is and can be.
This article written for a broader audience, concentrates on the question of what role the experience of pandemic plays and can play for the church as one diversified people of God living in different churches. First it offers a... more
This article written for a broader audience, concentrates on the question of what role the experience of pandemic plays and can play for the church as one diversified people of God living in different churches. First it offers a methodological reflection on the different dimensions of experience. It works with the analysis of Franz Brentano, and it expands his methodology using insights from Martin Heidegger and David Tracy. With the help of this methodology it considers the following areas: Relationship of the state to the church and church representatives during the pandemic in the Czech Republic;  relationship of the society towards values and needs which people view as connected to the churches;  spiritual and theological competences across the churches; relationship to the virtual and physical reality which sheds light on the meaning of the iconicity of the church.

Tento příspěvek věnovaný širšímu publiku se věnuje otázce, jakou roli zkušenost pandemie hraje a může hrát pro církev coby jeden, byť rozrůzněný Boží lid, a pro církve v nichž tento lid žije. Nabízí nejprve jednu metodologickou úvahu o tom, co tvoří zkušenost.  Text vychází z kritického uchopení zkušenosti a jejích různých dimenzí u Franze Brentana, které doplňuje o vhledy Heideggera a Tracyho. Za pomoci této metodologie analyzuje vztah státu k církvím a jejím představitelům během pandemie v české republice; vztah společnosti k hodnotám a k potřebám, které lidé mají s církvemi spojené; duchovní a teologické kompetence napříč církvemi; vztah k virtuální a k fyzické realitě, který osvětluje význam ikonicity církve.
The first part of this issue of the Acta Universitatis Carolinae Theologica is dedicated to the theme of discernment. The articles are part of the project ‘Theological Anthropology in Ecumenical Perspective’ (Charles University Research... more
The first part of this issue of the Acta Universitatis Carolinae Theologica
is dedicated to the theme of discernment. The articles are part
of the project ‘Theological Anthropology in Ecumenical Perspective’
(Charles University Research Centre No. 204052), and their first drafts
were presented at a conference ‘How Discernment between Good and
Evil Shapes the Dynamics of the Human Journey’ held in the Monastery
of Bose in May 2019, and organised in cooperation with the Monastery.
Pope Francis in his recent apostolic exhortation Gaudete et exultate: on the Call to Holiness in Today’s World (19 March 2018) takes the Beatitudes as “the light from the Master” on holiness. Holiness, which is “the most attractive face... more
Pope Francis in his recent apostolic exhortation Gaudete et exultate: on the Call to Holiness in Today’s World (19 March 2018) takes the Beatitudes as “the light from the Master” on holiness.  Holiness, which is “the most attractive face of the Church” but not a property to be found only within the church,  is, according to him a call “present in various ways from the very first pages of the Bible“, and for Christians most visible in the beatitudes.  His own typology of the signs of holiness in today’s world is based in them.  Their humble way stemming from the inverted perspective Jesus brings, sits well with the emphasis on the importance of those who often remained invisible, never got canonised, often even known by wider audiences, and whom people today owe the decisive turning points of their lives.  There is a variety there, when holiness perceived through the beatitudes is reflected in people, in the poor in spirit, those who mourn, the meek, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers, those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake.  Yet we could also say that this variety is joined together by Jesus’ inverted perspective in which the first are last and the last first, in which God acts when it is least expected and when the divine action is claimed it may not be there the way it is claimed. 
In this article I am going to explore the contribution of two modern authors, Leonardo Boff and Mother Maria (Gysi), to such understanding of holiness. Their personalities, contexts and traditions are very different, but, as I will argue, in their overlap they can help us see how the end point of human life can become visible in its centre.
In this article I will concentrate on the question of whether shifts in mainstream religiosity in society go hand in hand with growing problems when it comes to agreeing on human values and on joint action in times of need. As an example... more
In this article I will concentrate on the question of whether shifts in mainstream religiosity in society go hand in hand with growing problems when it comes to agreeing on human values and on joint action in times of need. As an example I will consider responses to the recent refugee situation. In the first part I will present some data on this situation, with particular attention to the Visegrad countries. In two of these four countries, namely Poland and Slovakia, there is still strong attachment to traditional religion, whilst in the other two, the Czech Republic and Hungary, secularization came early and atheism or agnosticism has been the dominant conviction for several generations. I will ask what role in the changes is still played by the Communist past, and why in Western European countries a similar decline of traditional religions and rise of new forms of religiosity tend to dominate. Then I show how a dimensional theory of religion could help in examining the current religious scene. Here I refer to empirical research mapping the shifts in the religious terrain in Europe, and use multidisciplinary tools for interpreting the current picture. I use the Czech Republic as an example, since both Western and Eastern European paradigms of the coexistence of secularization, post-secularization and re-composition of religion can be found there. My particular question remains as to how the rising emphasis on spirituality is compatible with the inability to offer a common and effective response to the situations of crisis in society. I also ask what can be done about the underplayed dimensions of religion, ones that could aid us in taking the changes seriously without romanticizing the religion of the past and dreaming of its return.
What is characteristic of this time, the middle of the second decade of the 21st century in Europe? In the autumn of 2017, where do we stand? In this chapter I first sketch some external and internal factors which during the last decade... more
What is characteristic of this time, the middle of the second decade of the 21st century in Europe? In the autumn of 2017, where do we stand? In this chapter I first sketch some external and internal factors which during the last decade have impacted on the ecumenical situation in Europe. Then, I consider in a little more detail challenges to ecumenism in a time when Christianity is not centre-stage and ask which new possibilities might be developing the previous experiences and visions. Here I consider different expressions of ecumenism: as an ecclesiological conviction; as a political force; as a missional and educational principle; as a principle underlying Christian spirituality.
This article is a form of a dialogue between three theologians from different contexts and traditions. They discuss the very concept of novelty, differentiating between a fashion change which comes and goes without leaving a lasting mark,... more
This article is a form of a dialogue between three theologians from different contexts and traditions. They discuss the very concept of novelty, differentiating between a fashion change which comes and goes without leaving a lasting mark, and what Thomas Kuhn calls a paradigm change. They look into how a helpful newness expanded theological horizons of the last century and what theologians of our century have inherited as an unfinished business. They speak about the Spirit and the inspiration, about discernment, embodiment, about giving life, and about how a helpful newness transforms the memory of tradition while keeping it alive.
This text concentrates on Metropolitan Kallistos’s way of translating the Philokalic tradition into language accessible to the Christians living in current Western world. Themes like the relationship to the spiritual guide, watchfulness... more
This text concentrates on Metropolitan Kallistos’s way of translating the Philokalic tradition into language accessible to the Christians living in current Western world. Themes like the relationship to the spiritual guide, watchfulness (nepsis), stillness (hesychia), and invocation of the name of Jesus are interpreted in this light. It shows how Metropolitan Kallistos proposes to unite the life of work and of prayer, how to seek for Christ everywhere, and through that seeking and finding, making the secular sacred.
H παρούσα μελέτη επικεντρώνεται στον τρόπο με τον οποίο ο Μητροπολίτης Κάλλιστος μεταφράζει τη φιλοκαλική παράδοση σε γλώσσα προσιτή στους χριστιανούς που ζουν στον σημερινό δυτικό κόσμο. Θέματα, όπως η σχέση με τον πνευματικό, η νήψις, η... more
H παρούσα μελέτη επικεντρώνεται στον τρόπο με τον οποίο ο Μητροπολίτης Κάλλιστος μεταφράζει τη φιλοκαλική παράδοση σε γλώσσα προσιτή στους χριστιανούς που ζουν στον σημερινό δυτικό κόσμο. Θέματα, όπως η σχέση με τον πνευματικό, η νήψις, η ησυχία και η επίκληση του ονόματος του Ιησού ερμηνεύονται υπό το φως αυτό. Περιγράφεται επίσης, ο τρόπος με τον οποίο ο Μητροπολίτης Κάλλιστος επιχειρεί να συνδέσει τη ζωή της καθημερινότητας με τη ζωή της προσευχής, καθώς κι ο τρόπος με τον οποίο μπορεί να αναζητήσει κανείς τον Χριστό παντού, μεταμορφώνοντας, μέσα από την αναζήτηση και τη συνάντηση αυτή, το κοσμικό σε ιερό. 

The text "Reception of Philokalia, the Meaning of Prayer, the Neptic Tradition in the Work of Metropolitan Kallistos Ware" concentrates on Metropolitan Kallistos’s way of translating the Philokalic tradition into language accessible to the Christians living in current Western world. Themes like the relationship to the spiritual guide, watchfulness (nepsis), stillness (hesychia), and invocation of the name of Jesus are interpreted in this light. It shows how Metropolitan Kallistos proposes to unite the life of work and of prayer, how to seek for Christ everywhere, and through that seeking and finding, making the secular sacred.
In the first volume of Essays in Ecumenical Theology Ivana Noble depicts differences between what she calls a sectarian outlook and one which engages in the search for common roots, dialogical relationships and shared mission in a world... more
In the first volume of Essays in Ecumenical Theology Ivana Noble depicts
differences between what she calls a sectarian outlook and one which
engages in the search for common roots, dialogical relationships and shared mission in a world that has largely become post-Christian, but often also post-secular. Drawing on both Western and Orthodox scholarship, and expressing her own positions, Noble sketches what ecumenical theology is, how it is linked to spirituality, the methods it uses, how it developed during the twentieth century, and the challenges it faces. Specific studies deal with controversial interpretations of Jan Hus, Catholic Modernism, the problematic heritage of the totalitarian regimes, and responses to the current humanitarian crisis.
Research Interests:
Does a direct experience of God and the associated grace-filled transformation make people infallible, or can even saints still be wrong when they interpret who can be saved and who cannot, what forms of life people should choose, which... more
Does a direct experience of God and the associated grace-filled transformation make people infallible, or can even saints still be wrong when they interpret who can be saved and who cannot, what forms of life people should choose, which political systems, figures and positions they should support? This article examines what St Gregory Palamas says on the nature of the saints' experience and knowledge, how stability and progress are interrelated in his notion of deification, and what the consequences are of his differentiation between knowledge coming from above and natural knowledge. Among the reasons for the appreciation of St Gregory Palamas in twentieth and twenty first century theology is undoubtedly his emphasis on the real presence of God in creation, and, in particular, in the human experience of being reached, purified, and transformed by God, who through his grace joins to himself whom he wishes. It could be argued that his essence-energy distinction, or his accounts of the psychosomatic techniques of prayer, all serve this one goal: to defend the reality of divine-human communion. Preserving divine simplicity, on the one hand, and the possibility of human deification, on the other, Palamas argued that the eschatological divine fullness of life can irrupt into this life, as in the case of Christ's Incarnation. Through Christ, it can transform people who are found worthy to see this fullness in terms of the uncreated deifying light. In this article, I will examine the epistemological consequences of the direct experiences of and participation in God. My basic question will be: according to Palamas, does the experience of the deifying light make holy men and women infallible in their theological statements, in their discernment of what are, and what are not, good morals or even good political decisions?
Cet article analyse la façon dont la spiritualité hésychaste a été interpretée par deux théologiens orthodoxes, le Père Lev Gillet (1893-1980), et le Métropolite Kallistos Ware (*1934) , qui ont vécu et travaillé en Occident. Chacune des... more
Cet article analyse la façon dont la spiritualité hésychaste a été interpretée par deux théologiens orthodoxes, le Père Lev Gillet (1893-1980), et le Métropolite Kallistos Ware (*1934) , qui ont vécu et travaillé en Occident. Chacune des deux approches doit être comprise dans le contexte de leur chemin de vie : les impacts de la Révolution Bolchevique et la Seconde Guerre mondiale et la découverte de l’Orthodoxie comme une force vivante et libre au milieu des expériences de la mort, de l’émigration et de la pauvreté – de même que dans la vie universitaire, où les gens aussi cherchent des sources pour nourrir leur vie entière. Ainsi, la responsabilité pastorale s’exprime pour des gens de divers milieux. Dans de tels contextes, l’hésychasme est cultivé comme un chemin de kénose et de libération vers l’amour de Dieu. La prière jaillie du silence, l’invocation du nom de Jésus, ou encore la pratique de la direction spirituelle, soutiennent le chemin vers la maturité chrétienne, qui n'est rien moins qu’un processus de déification et d'humanisation, celui-là même que nous a ouvert notre Sauveur.
Článek pracuje s analýzou současné společnosti, jak ji představuje Zygmunt Bauman, a klade si otázku, jak biblické obrazy Malkísedeka, Árona a Jetra, kněží, kteří byli konfrontováni s nejistotou, zanikáním starých světů a zrodem nových,... more
Článek pracuje s analýzou současné společnosti, jak ji představuje Zygmunt Bauman, a klade si otázku, jak biblické obrazy Malkísedeka, Árona a Jetra, kněží, kteří byli konfrontováni s nejistotou, zanikáním starých světů a zrodem nových, mohou inspirovat dnešní služebníky evangelia a církve. 

The article takes Zygmunt Bauman's analysis of current society, and asks how the biblical images of the priests which experienced dying of old worlds and rising ofthe new ones, such as Melkisedech, Aron or Jethro, could inspire current ministers of the Gospel and of the Church.
While the New Testament Christians rightly rejected the concept of deification as divinisation of the powerful, in the next generations two themes associated with deification re-emerged: the radical unity with God visible in the saints... more
While the New Testament Christians rightly rejected the concept of deification as divinisation of the powerful, in the next generations two themes associated with deification re-emerged: the radical unity with God visible in the saints who became by grace who Christ is by nature, and the unity of love among creatures recreated through Christ-like kenosis. In my lecture I will explore more closely the content of these themes as it emerged in the spiritual advice on how to live  a life relying on God’s grace which makes us alive – and in the two senses mentioned above – which deifies. I will bring into conversation insights learned from the Hesychast and the Ignatian traditions, as well as from modern and post-modern philosophical mysticism, Wittgenstein and Derrida in particular. The experiential approach will help me not to approach the doctrine of theosis/deification from the point of view of a “final product” –  a deified human person, a deified creation. My main attention will be given to the process of deification, to a journey including struggles with darkness, the discernment of spirits, the kenotic losing of oneself, as well as the paradoxical encounters with the light. In attending to these elements I will ask how the personal/ascetic and the communal/liturgical expression of the journey overlap and create one whole, as well as to how a need for a radical solidarity with others gradually replaces any remains of individualism and exclusivism. In the conclusion I will consider the hermeneutical problem of how to hear and understand the experience of the journey of deification when it includes stages which we have not lived through ourselves. At the same time I will show that exploring the doctrine of deification through its experiential roots helps in appreciating the gradual and pluriform nature of our understanding of what becoming by grace what Christ is by nature may mean.
The article explores contributions of Orthodox theologians, such as Fr. Georges Florovsky, Fr Sergius Bulgakov, Mother Maria Skobtsova and Fr Dumitru Stăniloae to understanding of Christian unity.
В статье рассматриваются какие импульсы для христианского единства, которые мы можем найти у православных богословов, таких как отец Георгий Флоровский, отец Сергий Булгаков, мать Мария Скобцова и отец Думитру Станилоэ. The article... more
В статье рассматриваются какие импульсы для христианского единства, которые мы можем найти у православных богословов, таких как отец Георгий Флоровский, отец Сергий Булгаков, мать Мария Скобцова и отец Думитру Станилоэ.

The article explores contributions of Orthodox theologians, such as Fr. Georges Florovsky, Fr Sergius Bulgakov, Mother Maria Skobtsova and Fr Dumitru Stăniloae to understanding of Christian unity.
The article examines where the modern concept of landscape came from and how it developed to bear both a physical and a symbolic meaning, associated in theology with the interrelationship between human beings, nature and God. Through... more
The article examines where the modern concept of landscape came from and how it developed to bear both a physical and a symbolic meaning, associated in theology with the interrelationship between human beings, nature and God. Through close readings of the biblical and theological texts operating with the neighbouring images, such as the earth, the garden and the land, it examines various modes of human beings’ relationship to their surrounding and through that to God, various interplays between nature, culture and eschatology. It shows why speaking about landscape (both physical and symbolic) is outside of property relations and how it helps in addressing issues of human and ecological solidarity. While the article pleads for human responsibility in relation to other people, nature and God, it also shows that such responsibility is possible because the divine creative energies continue to flow to this world, because Messiah comes to restore the broken forms of communion among people, nature and God, and the Spirit transforms us and accompanies us as we cooperate with the messianic work.
The text offers a personal-biographical reflection on how my notion of ecclesiality developed. Employing Paul Ricoeur's hermeneutical circle it depicts shifts in understanding of ecumenical relations and in recognizing others precisely as... more
The text offers a personal-biographical reflection on how my notion of ecclesiality developed. Employing Paul Ricoeur's hermeneutical circle it depicts shifts in understanding of ecumenical relations and in recognizing others precisely as others, something I claim as a necessary step towards any genuine unity.
Cette contribution explorera plutôt sur l'importance accordée à la conversion en tant que réponse à une crise. Tout d'abord, j'esquisserai la crise à laquelle Jean Hus faisait face au tournant des XIVe et XVe siècles. Ensuite,... more
Cette contribution explorera plutôt sur l'importance accordée à la conversion en tant que réponse à une crise. Tout d'abord, j'esquisserai la crise à laquelle Jean Hus faisait face au tournant des XIVe et XVe siècles. Ensuite, j'éluciderai ce que signifiaient pour Hus la conversion, la metanoia, un changement du coeur et des comportements. Je conclurai en m'interrogeant sur ce que nous, qui faisons face à une crise différente au sein de l'Église et de la société, pouvons apprendre de Hus.

This contribution focuses on conversion as a way of responding to crisis. First, I will sketch the crisis Hus was facing at the turn of the 14th and the 15th centuries, then will spell out what conversion, metanoia, a change of heart and of one’s life practices, meant for him. In the conclusion I will ask what we, facing a different crisis of the church and of society, can learn from Hus.
Bibliography - books, articles, entries, pastoral and artistic texts, exhibitions
Research Interests:
Theologica 6:2 (2016), 47-65. This article looks at the theme of hospitality with a focus on the work of two twentieth-century French philosophers, Emmanuel Levinas and Jacques Derrida. It begins with a presentation of some of Levinas'... more
Theologica 6:2 (2016), 47-65.

This article looks at the theme of hospitality with a focus on the work of two twentieth-century French philosophers, Emmanuel Levinas and Jacques Derrida. It begins with a presentation of some of Levinas' Jewish writings relevant to the theme. These writings display Levinas' understanding of the nature of freedom in regard to the other, who holds me hostage. Yet, the article argues, this leaves Levinas still to some extent bound by the I, even the I as hostage. The dilemma is further investigated with reference to Jacques Derrida, starting with his own reflections on Levinas. The article then outlines Derrida's own ideas on hospitality, asking how to reconcile the impossible demands of pure hospitality with the conditional forms it takes in our societies. The conclusion asks what the two writers have to say to European societies in their current encounters with refugees and migrants.
Contacts: Revue Française de l’Orthodoxie, 68:255(2016), 348-351. L’article propose un analyse des points positives et négatives du Saint et Grand Concile orthodoxe a partir du perspective des autres églises chrétiennes. The article... more
Contacts: Revue Française de l’Orthodoxie, 68:255(2016), 348-351.
L’article propose un analyse des points positives et négatives du Saint et Grand Concile orthodoxe a partir du perspective des autres églises chrétiennes.
The article offers an analysis of the positive and the negative points of the Holy and Great Orthodox Council from the perspective of other Christian churches.
Research Interests:
The article is an expanded and updated version of the study published in Czech in Teologická Reflexe in 2013. On the examples of three theologians from different background, Tillich, Florovsky and Congar, it explores how tradition is... more
The article is an expanded and updated version of the study published in Czech in
Teologická Reflexe in 2013. On the examples of three theologians from different background, Tillich, Florovsky and Congar, it explores how tradition is related to the future, when and why it works with a notion of eschatological future, when and how it creates utopic visions. A prime attention is given to the works in which the theologians reacted to each other, and thus the Protestant, the Orthodox and the Catholic notions are brought into a conversation.
Research Interests:
In this paper I will explore three different visions of ecumenism found in three Orthodox thinkers of the last century, Nikolai Berdyaev, Fr Sergius Bulgakov and Vladimir Lossky. With the exception of Bulgakov, they are not the most... more
In this paper I will explore three different visions of ecumenism found in three Orthodox thinkers of the last century, Nikolai Berdyaev, Fr Sergius Bulgakov and Vladimir Lossky. With the exception of Bulgakov, they are not the most frequently cited figures in relation to the ecumenical movement, and yet they all were deeply engaged in conversations and cooperation with Christians from other churches, and tried to spell out what these relationships meant for them and in what sense they made visible both already existing and desired unity. As they all are related to the controversial figure of Vladimir Solovyov, I will first briefly turn to him. Then I turn to Berdyaev's discovery of creative and free Orthodoxy, which should be instrumental in overcoming the divided life of the Christian world, followed by Bulgakov's sophianic and pastoral concepts of unity, and finally to Lossky's mystical-eschatological reading of the Christian sources and his devotion to various saints which did not follow divisions into confessional camps. In the conclusion I will ask what of these ecumenical visions could be fruitfully revived to provide inspiration in our search for unity, and strengthen our focus on what is experientially real.
Research Interests:
The article shows how the figure of Jan Hus was used in the modern search for identity in the Czech churches and Czech society. It concentrates on how the ideology critique and the ecumenical re-evaluation of his case helps to move from... more
The article shows how the figure of Jan Hus was used in the modern search for identity in the Czech churches and Czech society. It concentrates on how the ideology critique and the ecumenical re-evaluation of his case helps to move from seeing Jan Hus as divisive to seeing him as uniting.
Research Interests:
This article looks at the starets-disciple relationship as presented by Mother Maria Gysi (1912-1977), a Swiss intellectual, later an Orthodox nun who in the mid-1960s started a small monastery in England. The first part of the article... more
This article looks at the starets-disciple relationship as presented by Mother Maria Gysi (1912-1977), a Swiss intellectual, later an Orthodox nun who in the mid-1960s started a small monastery in England. The first part of the article sketches her life story, then we look at how she encountered and interpreted the Russian charism of starchestvo, and in that context we explore in more detail the relationship between a starets and his or her disciple as she understood it. In the conclusion we ask how this relationship can be fruitfully understood by people from other Christian traditions.
Research Interests:
Mentoring, Contemporary Spirituality, Spirituality, Spiritual Leadership, Christian Mysticism, and 38 more
This article explores how the Hesychast practices of prayer expand the notion of lex orandi as well as bringing lex orandi and lex credendi into an equal relationship of mutual exchange. It concentrates on the contributions of two... more
This article explores how the Hesychast practices of prayer expand the notion of lex orandi as well as bringing lex orandi and lex credendi into an equal relationship of mutual exchange. It concentrates on the contributions of two theologians of the Neo-Patristic renewal, Vladimir Lossky and Fr Dumitru Stăniloae. Their understanding of the relation between the apophatic and the kataphatic dimensions of spiritual life and theology helps to expand the notion of lex orandi and to rediscover the antinomic character of the lex credendi, foundational for the discernment of what is and what is not Christian orthodoxy.
Research Interests:
Orthodontics, Theology, Practical theology, Systematic Theology, Philosophical Theology, and 50 more
NOBLE, Ivana. “Το μέλλον της ορθόδοξης “διασποράς” υπό το πρίσμα μιας παρατηρήτριας”, in Peter DE MEY and Michel STAVROU (eds), Καιρός συνεσταλμέωος το λοιπόν... Η μέλλουσα Πανορθόδοξη Σύνοδος. Ζητήματα - διλήμματα – προοπτικές, Athens:... more
NOBLE, Ivana. “Το μέλλον της ορθόδοξης “διασποράς”  υπό το πρίσμα μιας παρατηρήτριας”, in Peter DE MEY and Michel STAVROU (eds),  Καιρός συνεσταλμέωος το λοιπόν... Η μέλλουσα Πανορθόδοξη Σύνοδος. Ζητήματα - διλήμματα – προοπτικές, Athens: Enploe editions, 2015, 273-302.

This is a Greek version of the article “L’avenir de la « diaspora » orthodoxe”, Contacts 65:243 (Julliet-Septembre 2013), 477-497.The study examines the  grounds and the challenges for the future of Orthodoxy in the West after the fall of Communism and in the face of jurisdictional division and tension.
Research Interests:
The article explores the nature of the process of a creative and faithful mediation of tradition, as described by Russian émigré theologians, Mother Maria Skobtsova and Fr Georges Florovsky. It looks at how these figures, who had lost the... more
The article explores the nature of the process of a creative and faithful mediation of tradition, as described by Russian émigré theologians, Mother Maria Skobtsova and Fr Georges Florovsky. It looks at how these figures, who had lost the physical possibility of preserving the old forms of religious and intellectual life that had been destroyed, sought for creating new ones, and how they reflected on the process. It shows how Florovsky’s desire to formulate (neo)patristic synthesis as basis of any sound Orthodox theology, a basis for rebirth and affirmation of life,  coexisted with his criticisms of the pseudomorphosis of tradition directed towards other streams of renewal from pre-Revolution Russia, and why for Mother Maria the roles of traditionalists and innovators were inverted. The concept of progress and regress, of history, eschatology and mythology are revisited, as the notion of tradition is expanded beyond its synthetic grasp, so as to include the plurality of the actual and legitimate voices into its polyphonic symphony.
Research Interests:
Christianity, Russian Studies, Theology, Historical Theology, Systematic Theology, and 31 more
Orthodox theology in Western Europe in the 20th century is a fascinating phenomenon. Owing to the revolution in Russia and the economic and political migrations of Orthodox believers from many other European and Middle Eastern countries,... more
Orthodox theology in Western Europe in the 20th century is a fascinating phenomenon. Owing to the revolution in Russia and the economic and political migrations of Orthodox believers from many other European and Middle Eastern countries, the very small Orthodox communities of Western Europe began to grow. The encounter of the migrants with the West provoked new questions, and brought new imperatives to draw on existing sources. In order to ground the theological developments and emphases, the first part of this article sketches the historical, cultural, political, and ecclesiastical contexts of the movements of Orthodox theology to the West in the 20th century. The second part looks at particular people and the major theological themes that concerned them, whilst the third part considers the challenges for the 21st century. For the version with pictures, view http://ieg-ego.eu/en/threads/crossroads/religious-and-confessional-spaces/ivana-noble-tim-noble-orthodox-theology-in-western-europe-in-the-20th-century
Research Interests:
Religion, Christianity, Modern History, European Studies, Theology, and 57 more
The article explores how three representatives of the Neo-Patristic synthesis, Georges Florovsky, Alexander Schmemann and John Meyendorff, found within tradition permanent reference points, such as Christian Hellenism, Greek fathers of... more
The article explores how three representatives of the Neo-Patristic synthesis, Georges Florovsky, Alexander Schmemann and John Meyendorff, found within tradition permanent reference points, such as Christian Hellenism, Greek fathers of the 2nd and the 3rd Centuries or Byzantine Theology . It explores problems arising from making these reference points superior to tradition in other periods of history and especially in Modernity.
Research Interests:
Christianity, History, Development Studies, Theology, Historical Theology, and 28 more
The article presents Florovsky’s annotations on a manuscript of his work on Patristics and Modern Theology, giving a new interpretation to his thought, and looking at his pre-War Jesuit contacts.
Research Interests:
Dialogue, Orthodox Theology, Eastern Christianity, Jesuit history, Catholic Theology, and 29 more
This chapter looks at how dialogue between theologians of the Christian East and West would be enriched by a non-synthetic approach (giving up making syntheses of once own positions or of those of the other), where difference was valued... more
This chapter looks at how dialogue between theologians of the Christian East and West would be enriched by a non-synthetic approach (giving up making syntheses of once own positions or of those of the other), where difference was valued and not seen as something to be overcome.
Research Interests:
Christianity, Theology, Systematic Theology, Philosophical Theology, Dialogue, and 29 more
Cet article examine l'avenir de l'orthodoxie en Occident après la chute du communisme et à la face du partage des compétences et de la tension.
Research Interests:
Religion, Sociology of Religion, Russian Studies, Religion and Politics, Contextual Theologies, and 39 more
This is an English version of the article “L’avenir de la « diaspora » orthodoxe”, Contacts 65:243 (Julliet-Septembre 2013), 477-497. The study examines the grounds and the challenges for the future of Orthodoxy in the West after the... more
This is an English version of the article “L’avenir de la « diaspora » orthodoxe”, Contacts 65:243 (Julliet-Septembre 2013), 477-497. The study examines the  grounds and the challenges for the future of Orthodoxy in the West after the fall of Communism and in the face of jurisdictional division and tension.
Research Interests:
This article investigates how the practice of hesychasm, especially Jesus Prayer meved beyond Orthodox circles, and how it enriched bot Orthodox and other theologies.
Research Interests:
Christianity, Spirituality, Christian Mysticism, Orthodox Theology, Prayer, and 38 more
The article investigates how the eschatological and the utopic emphases meet in the concepts of tradition in three leading theologians of the twentieth century, the Russian Orthodox George Florovsky, the Protestant Paul Tillich and the... more
The article investigates how the eschatological and the utopic emphases meet in the concepts of tradition in three leading theologians of the twentieth century, the Russian Orthodox George Florovsky, the Protestant Paul Tillich and the Roman Catholic Yves Congar. It shows the achievements of these theologians, such as Tillich’s participatory notion of the ultimate reality that needs a permanent purification by prophetic critique, Florovsky’s rehabilitation of the living tradition to which we go forwards and not backwards, and which we experience in the liturgy and sacraments as coming from the realm of God, and Congar’s emphasis on the centrality of the Holy Spirit holding together the unity and the open plurality of tradition. At the same time it tracks where each of the concepts lies open to reification of tradition, to utopic dreams and to justifications of power interests, and how awareness of their weak points can help in seeking for a better balance between the non-reifiable eschatological and the symbolic-utopic dimensions of tradition.
Research Interests:
Článek zkoumá, v čem východní ikonopis a západní umění mohou obohatit vztah člověka k prostoru a k transcendenci. Soustředí se na pojetí ikon u Leonida Ouspenského, Pavla Florenského a Paula Evdokimova. Vyzdvihuje jejich participační... more
Článek zkoumá, v čem východní ikonopis a západní umění mohou obohatit vztah člověka k prostoru a k transcendenci. Soustředí se na pojetí ikon u Leonida Ouspenského, Pavla Florenského a Paula Evdokimova. Vyzdvihuje jejich participační pojetí, ale zároveň ukazuje dva problémy, Jednak výlučnost, s jakou se takto pojaté ikony staví do kontrastu se západními (čímž je obvykle myšleno ne-pravoslavnými) obrazy, dále pak narušení boholidské synergie, které se projeví jak ve vztahu ke stvořené skutečnosti na ikonách, tak ve vztahu k tvořivosti ikonopisců. Za pomoci dvou současných pravoslavných teologů, Assaada E. Kattana a Richarda Schneidera, ukazuje, jak je tyto problémy možné překonat.

The chapter explores Ouspensky‘s, Florensky’s and Evdokimov’s notions of an icon. With the help of contemporary Orthodox theologians such as Assaad Kattan and Richard Schneider, it challenges the confrontational attitude towards Western art which also thematises relations to space and to transcendence.
Research Interests:
Religion, Christianity, Aesthetics, Iconography, Philosophy Of Religion, and 40 more
The article analyses two ways in which the symbol of Jacob’s ladder is used for understanding a spiritual journey of a Christian, one from the Sinai desert, the other from the Communist Romania. Článek zkoumá způsoby, jakými se symbol... more
The article analyses two ways in which the symbol of Jacob’s ladder is used for understanding a spiritual journey of a Christian, one from the Sinai desert, the other from the Communist Romania.

Článek zkoumá způsoby, jakými se symbol Jábobova žebříku objevuje ve výkladu dynamiky křesťanského života. Věnuje se dvěma příkladům,  Janu Klimakovi, sinajskému pouštnímu otci, a Petre Ţuţeovi, rumunskému pravoslavnému mysliteli, který prošel komunistickým vězením.
Research Interests:
Anthropology, Asceticism, Contemporary Spirituality, Spirituality, Monastic Studies, and 28 more
Článek analyzuje vztah já – ten druhý; nebo častěji v plurálu já – ti druzí, já – svět v Čapkově trilogii Hordubal - Povětroň - Obyčejný život. Dokládá, že pro Čapka, podobně jako později pro Lévinase, je nemožné mluvit o identitě jako o... more
Článek analyzuje vztah já – ten druhý; nebo častěji v plurálu já – ti druzí, já – svět v Čapkově trilogii Hordubal - Povětroň - Obyčejný život. Dokládá, že pro Čapka, podobně jako později pro Lévinase, je nemožné mluvit o identitě jako o něčem, co má člověk sám ze sebe a sám pro sebe. V závěru autorka ukazuje, že přitom Čapkova radikalita, která vychází z humanistických pozic, se do značné míry překrývá s Lévinasovou radikalitou, jež roste z kritiky jejich nedostatečnosti.

The article analyses relationship “I“ -  “the other“; or rather in plural “I“  - “the others“, “I“  - “the world“ in Čapek‘s trilogy Hordubal - Meteor – The Ordinary Life. It shows that for Čapek, similarly as later for Levinas, it is impossible to speak of identity as of something an individual has from within oneself and for oneself. In the conclusion the author demonstrates that Čapek‘s radicality growing from his humanism largely overlaps with Levinas’s radicality that grows from criticism of humanism’s inadequacy.
Research Interests:
Anthropology, Theology, Literature, Cosmology (Anthropology), Émmanuel Lévinas, and 41 more
The chapter examines changes from modern secularity to postmodern new religiosity where skepticism towards institutions remains. It investigates which forms of symbolic mediation of religious meaning might be still successful in this new... more
The chapter examines changes from modern secularity to postmodern new religiosity where skepticism towards institutions remains. It investigates which forms of symbolic mediation of religious meaning might be still successful in this new setting, and how this mediation is nourished by bodies of religious practice, in the case of Christianity, the churches.  It points out that the mistrust towards religious institutions affects Christianity also from within, and it is related to the shifts in the confessional belonging, bringing the experience of plurality and temporality within this very concept of confessional belonging which in the past used to emphasize the distinctive singularity and permanence. Finally alternative, models of Christian belonging are explored reaching before and beyond the confessional model.
Research Interests:
Religion, Christianity, Sociology of Religion, Religion and Politics, Contemporary Spirituality, and 46 more
This article looks at the Czechoslovak Hussite Church and the complex and hard road it took in trying to form one distinct but united body out of elements of Roman Catholicism, Orthodoxy and Protestantism.
Research Interests:
The article (from Journal of European Baptist Studies 6 (2006), 5-19) summarises a contemporary state of Hus studies, it analyses the main themes in his theology, and rises a question concerning past and present non-doctrinal factors... more
The article (from Journal of European Baptist Studies 6 (2006), 5-19) summarises a contemporary state of Hus studies, it analyses the main themes in his theology, and rises a question concerning past and present non-doctrinal factors contributing to proclaiming someone a heretic or a saint.
Research Interests:
Legitimacy and Authority, Theology, Czech History, Medieval Studies, Medieval Theology, and 31 more
Jan Hus’s position is compared to those of Augustine, Bernard and Joachim, on which background questions concerning Hus’s influence on the understanding of the kingdom, the church, its authority and of the apocalyptic themes in the... more
Jan Hus’s position is compared to those of Augustine, Bernard and Joachim, on which background questions concerning Hus’s influence on the understanding of the kingdom, the church, its authority and of the apocalyptic themes in the Bohemian Church are examined.
Research Interests:
In this article published in The Bohemian Reformation and Religious Practice, Vol. 4., eds. DAVID, Zdeněk V. a HOLETON, David R., Praha: Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic Main Library, 2002, 127-141. Ivana Noble (Dolejšová)... more
In this article published in The Bohemian Reformation and Religious Practice, Vol. 4., eds. DAVID, Zdeněk V. a HOLETON, David R., Praha: Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic Main Library, 2002, 127-141. Ivana Noble (Dolejšová) examines roots of Hus’s emphasis on orthopraxis as a complement to orthodoxy, and the types of eschatology underlying this process. She asks the following questions: What role is played by the institutional church in Hus’s understanding? That is to say, is it worth struggling for the improvement of the institution or is the institution in the end dispensable? Does Hus make a distinction, as did Joachim de Fiore, between the spiritual and the institutional church? Will the church institution last till the end of the time? She explores Hus’s apocalyptic imagery when he speaks of the works of the Antichrist in his time, asking as to what degree we can draw a line of thought from Hus to later Hussite Chiliasm. Understanding of the eschatological elements in Hus’s notion of orthopraxis, and the role of the apocalyptic imagery in his thought, the author argues, is of a considerable importance not only for the sake of drawing an historically accurate portrait of Hus’s theology, but also for reconsidering his influence on the further developments of the church.
Research Interests:

And 30 more

In this volume of Essays in Ecumenical Theology Ivana Noble engages in conversations with Orthodox theologians and spiritual writers on diverse themes. These include the discovery of the human heart, what illumination by divine light... more
In this volume of Essays in Ecumenical Theology Ivana Noble engages in conversations with Orthodox theologians and spiritual writers on diverse themes. These include the discovery of the human heart, what illumination by divine light means, the relationship between prayer and attitudes and acts of social solidarity, the problematic nature of sacri cial thinking as the way to express redemption through Christ, the ecological dimension of theological anthropology, the need for freedom to coexist with love for others and why institutions need to turn not only to their own traditions but also to the Spirit that blows where it wills. Readership All interested in Christian theology and spirituality, both Orthodox and Western, in ecumenism, and in the search for shared human values. For more information see brill.com
""Who are People? Theological Anthropology Ecumenically." Jak porozumět tomu, co znamená být a stávat se člověkem ve vztahu k Bohu − a odtud pak ke všemu ostatnímu: k lidem, živočichům, rostlinám, krajině a kultuře, k různým formám... more
""Who are People? Theological Anthropology Ecumenically."
Jak porozumět tomu, co znamená být a stávat se člověkem ve vztahu k Bohu − a odtud pak ke všemu ostatnímu: k lidem, živočichům, rostlinám, krajině a kultuře, k různým formám sociálního a politického života? Těmito otázkami se zabývá kolektivní monografie Kdo je člověk? V mezioborové perspektivě autoři rozvíjejí rozhovor nad Biblí a jejím výkladem v různých křesťanských tradicích, ukazují, v jakém smyslu je předpoklad lidské svobody nezrušitelný a konstruktivní, co znamená bytí člověka ve vztazích, v řeči, v příbězích, v krajině, v symbolech a rituálech, a jak ony přispívají k tomu, kým člověk je a kým se stává. První část knihy, nazvaná "Rodíme se do života, který tu byl před námi", se z různých úhlů zaměřuje na základní souřadnice, v nichž se odehrává lidská existence. Kapitoly druhé části, zastřešené názvem "Jsme těmi, kterými se stáváme", se soustřeďují na klíčové otázky teologické antropologie, nahlížejí člověka z hlediska biblických výpovědí a křesťanského kontextu. Kniha nabízí nejen vrstevnatý rozbor zdrojů lidského sebeporozumění, ale je i pozváním k vlastnímu zamyšlení nad podstatnými otázkami naší existence: Kdo jsme? Odkud jsme přišli? Kam směřujeme?
Эта книга – продолжение монографии «Пути православного богословия на Запад в ХХ веке», написанной той же группой исследователей и изданной ББИ в 2016 году. Авторы предлагают свой оригинальный взгляд на современное православное богословие,... more
Эта книга – продолжение монографии «Пути православного богословия на Запад в ХХ веке», написанной той же группой исследователей и изданной ББИ в 2016 году. Авторы предлагают свой оригинальный взгляд на современное православное богословие, рассматриваемое ими как полифоническое явление, в котором органично и целостно сосуществуют и богословское наследие отцов, и молитвенная практика исихастов, и деятельная духовность нестяжателей, и творчество мыслителей-модернистов, таких как В. Соловьев, П. Флоренский, С. Булгаков, Н. Бердяев и др.
In the first volume of Essays in Ecumenical Theology Ivana Noble depicts differences between what she calls a sectarian outlook and one which engages in the search for common roots, dialogical relationships and shared mission in a world... more
In the first volume of Essays in Ecumenical Theology Ivana Noble depicts
differences between what she calls a sectarian outlook and one which
engages in the search for common roots, dialogical relationships and shared mission in a world that has largely become post-Christian, but often also post-secular. Drawing on both Western and Orthodox scholarship, and expressing her own positions, Noble sketches what ecumenical theology is, how it is linked to spirituality, the methods it uses, how it developed during the twentieth century, and the challenges it faces. Specific studies deal with controversial interpretations of Jan Hus, Catholic Modernism, the problematic heritage of the totalitarian regimes, and responses to the current humanitarian crisis.
Research Interests:
Kniha zkoumá metody a témata pravoslavné teologie, jak se rozvinuly ve 20. století na Západě. Soustředí se na novopatristickou syntézu, hesychasmus, slavjanofilství a soviální angažmá, na sofiologii. Odkrývá pluralitu pravoslavných hlasů... more
Kniha zkoumá metody a témata pravoslavné teologie, jak se rozvinuly ve 20. století na Západě. Soustředí se na novopatristickou syntézu, hesychasmus, slavjanofilství a soviální angažmá, na sofiologii. Odkrývá pluralitu pravoslavných hlasů a brání ji před redukcí na jedinou formu.

The book looks at Orthodox theologies in the West, especially Neo-Patristic Synthesis, hesychasm, Slavophilism and social engagement, and sophiology. It shows the plurality of Orthodox voices against attempts at reductionism to one form.
Research Interests:
The book investigates major currents of Modern Orthodox theology, including its use of patristic theology and tradition. Starting with the Neo-patristic synthesis, it shows other complementary ways of appropriating the mind of the... more
The book investigates major currents of Modern Orthodox theology, including its use of patristic theology and tradition. Starting with the Neo-patristic synthesis, it shows other complementary ways of appropriating the mind of the Fathers, such as Hesychasm, Slavophilism, and Sophiology.
Research Interests:
Авторы книги, современные богословы и историки, попытались представить в емкой и динамичной форме сложную, полную конфликтов и драматических коллизий, историю отношений православия с западным миром, начиная с падения Византии и заканчивая... more
Авторы книги, современные богословы и историки, попытались представить в емкой и динамичной форме сложную, полную конфликтов и драматических коллизий, историю отношений православия с западным миром,
начиная с падения Византии и заканчивая современной ситуацией в диаспорах Англии, Франции, Германии и США. Важное место в исследовании занимают темы православной миссии на Западе, движений обновления в дореволюционной России, гонений на церковь в советской России, судьбы русской эмиграции и опыта новомучеников. Книга предназначена широкому кругу читателей.
Research Interests:
Russian Studies, Religion and Politics, Orthodox Theology, Christian Orthodoxy and Nationalism, Russian Orthodox Church, and 38 more
The story of Orthodox Christianity's relationship with the West plays a pivotal role in the construction of Orthodox identity. That story took a decisive turn in the 20th century. Suddenly, Orthodox thinkers, particularly those from the... more
The story of Orthodox Christianity's relationship with the West plays a pivotal role in the construction of Orthodox identity. That story took a decisive turn in the 20th century. Suddenly, Orthodox thinkers, particularly those from the former Russian Empire, found themselves living in foreign lands and looking at Orthodoxy through the other end of the looking glass - the West. It was from there that Orthodox theologians were faced with the greatest challenge to their collective religious identity: What did it mean to be Eastern Orthodox outside of the East?
Research Interests:
Christianity, European History, European Studies, Russian Studies, Theology, and 67 more
Kniha stopuje, jak se pravoslaví dostávalo na Západ díky prvním pravoslavným misiím, ale pak zejména kvůli nucené emigraci statisíců věřících. Jak na Západě pravoslavná teologie zpracovávala byzantské, ale i ruské a osmanské dědictví, a... more
Kniha stopuje, jak se pravoslaví dostávalo na Západ díky prvním pravoslavným misiím, ale pak zejména kvůli nucené emigraci statisíců věřících. Jak na Západě pravoslavná teologie zpracovávala byzantské, ale i ruské a osmanské dědictví, a jak se v rodila nová témata.

It is in Czech. English and Russian translations are fortcoming.

The book investigates how Orthodoxy got the the West thanks to the fisrt missions but then especially due to the forced emigration of hunderds of thousands of believers. It aslks how the Orthodox theology in the West worked with the Byzantine but also Russian and Ottoman heritage in the West nd how in this setting new themes were born.
Research Interests:
Christianity, History of Christianity, Orthodox Theology, Eastern Christianity, Russian Orthodox Church, and 24 more
Krátké ranní meditace, které v obyčejném životě hledají neobyčejné věci, byly nejprve vysílány pro ČRo3 Vltava v letech 2000-2012. V knize jsou uspořádány podle liturgického roku a doplněny poezií a litografiemi autorky. Short... more
Krátké ranní meditace, které v obyčejném životě hledají neobyčejné věci, byly nejprve vysílány pro ČRo3 Vltava v letech 2000-2012. V knize jsou uspořádány podle liturgického roku a doplněny poezií a litografiemi autorky.

Short meditations gathered in the book were originally broadcasted as Thoughts for the Day by the Czech Radio 3; in the book they are accompanied by poetry and litographs, and organised so as to follow the liturgical year. The title of the book is taken from the following meditation:

Soul/Tyre Repairs
Pilsen used to have a beautiful bridge. It was not as old and magnificent as the Charles Bridge, and yet it had its own charms, and it was pleasing to walk accross it.  The bridge connected the centre with Roudná. For many years it was closed for cars, so you could pass from one end till the other only by foot. And this freedom from heavy trafic made space for grass to grow through its ancient stones. There were statues of the saints on the bridge, and when people leaving the small local pubs wondered home, from time to time, they could have a conversation with them. Behind the bridge, when you entered Roudná, there was a small house with a shabby sign: Soul/Tyre Repairs. In the mid 1980s some clever head gave an orderd to move the statues away and to destroy the bridge. Maybe it was a functionaire that wanted to decorate his garden with the saints instead with the nomes, to feel grander or to prevent the uncontrollable streams of poetry, the exchange of feelings and ideas, supported by this old stone friend with kind light of its lamps. However, the inefficiency of the ending regime caused that the bridge was but half destroyed,and for the subsequesnt years the other half sticking into the air was a memorial of the violence done on the past, on the present, on he beauty. The Soul/Tyre Repairs remained in their place. And the part of the bridge that remained lead from there stright to the skies. Maybe it worhed as a runway for repaired souls, maybe as a soul ski-jump. Maybe it was a witness to the promise of redemption. I do not know. With the bridge being half destroyed the poets, lovers, thinkers as well as night solitaries lost the connection they knew, and when you carried yur soul/tyre to the Sul/Tyre Repairs you had to find a new way – or to be found in a new way.
In the mid 1990 the bridge was rebuilt, the statues returned, but the old stnes were gone. There is no more grass growing through, cars returned and you can walk only on its side pavements. Roudná has changed. The pub at the corner where you could always find a man on whom all the files rested, is no longer there. Perhaps the man is no longer there either. And who knows what has happened to the Soul/Tyre Repairs. But, believe me, it was there when I needed to see its sign, when I needed to laugh, to look upintothe skies and say: So, from you one can get upwards, above the river, above the roofs of the old houses, above meaninglesness of the attempts to destroy, above my despondency and laments.
Research Interests:
Looking at the themes of the world, memory and the ultimate fulfilment, the book seeks to recover the symbolic languages which can assist a dialogue and mutual learning on the boundaries between theology, politics and arts. Contents:... more
Looking at the themes of the world, memory and the ultimate fulfilment, the book seeks to recover the symbolic languages which can assist a dialogue and mutual learning on the boundaries between theology, politics and arts.
Contents:
Preface
Introduction: Culture as a Theological Theme
PART I: THE WORLD
Chapter One: Images of the World in Karel Čapek and Isaac Bashevis Singer
1. The Transcendent in the Ordinary
The World as a Factory
The World as a Garden
The World as an Open Horizon
2. A Vanished Past in the Mosaic of the Present
Roots that Were Moved
Shadows of Hope
Forces Playing in the Universe
3. Concluding Remarks
Chapter Two: Theologies of the World
1. What Lies beyond Secularisation?
2. The World as a Gift
All that is Seen and Unseen
Cosmic Nature and Humanity
The Image of God
The Fall and Renewal
3. The World as a Task
Divine – Human Cooperation
Utopia as a Symbolic Mediation of Hope
The Journey of Deification
4. Concluding Remarks
PART II: MEMORY
Chapter Three: Heritage of Totalitarian Cultures in Folk Music
1. Vladimir Vysotsky: Interplay of the Historical and the Archetypal
Losers’ Point of View
The Tragic Human Condition
Tell Me Where Is the Land Lit with Icon-Lamp Light
2. Jaromír Nohavica: Breaking and Healing in Retrospective
Memory as a Burden
God, Where Have You Been?
Glimpses of Redemption
3. Concluding Remarks
Chapter Four: Redemptive Memory in Theology
1. Victimhood as a Positive Identity
2. Remembering God
Christ as the One Who Remembers
Redemptive Re-Membering
God Siding with the Victim
Doctrine versus Experience?
3. Giving Back the Past
Liturgical Remembering
Historical Remembering
Two Eschatological Horizons
4. Concluding Remarks
Part III:  THE ULTIMATE FULFILMENT
Chapter Five: Figuring the Ultimate Fulfilment in Central European Cinema
1. Guiding Desires in extremis according to István Szabó and Vladimír Michálek
Mephisto
Forgotten Light
2. Kieślowski’s Journey towards What is Real
Liberty
Equality
Fraternity
3. Concluding Remarks
Chapter Six: Love as the Ultimate Fulfillment in Theology
1. Estrangement of Love or Ambiguity of Conversion?
2. The Spirit as the Giver of Love
Human Freedom without Love
Love outside and inside of the Body of Christ
Kenosis of the Spirit
Two Hands of the Father
3. The Spirit as the Giver of Conversion
Disordered Inclinations in the Light of Love
Discernments of the Spirits
Restored Communion
4. Concluding Remarks
Conclusion
Bibliography
Index
Research Interests:
Christianity, Cultural Studies, Theology, Systematic Theology, Philosophical Theology, and 54 more
This book (published in 2010) is an adapted translation of the Czech edition (Po Božích stopách: Teologie jako interpretace náboženské zkušenosti; Tracking God: Theology as an Interpretation of Religious Experience). It offers an... more
This book (published in 2010) is an adapted translation of the Czech edition (Po Božích stopách: Teologie jako interpretace náboženské zkušenosti; Tracking God: Theology as an Interpretation of Religious Experience). It offers an introduction to some of the fundamental themes in theology, such as divine revelation, human experience, tradition, authority, historical and cultural contexts, and theological methods. It draws on and compares the Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant sources.
Research Interests:
Religion, Christianity, Theology, Christian Education, Historical Theology, and 37 more
Kniha se zabývá vztahem mezi teologií jako vědou a teologií jako reflexí křesťanské duchovní cesty. Kritéria vědeckosti: historická přesnost, pojmová přísnost, systematická jednota a interpretační jasnost jsou pak zahrnuta do... more
Kniha se zabývá vztahem mezi teologií jako vědou a teologií jako reflexí křesťanské duchovní cesty. Kritéria vědeckosti: historická přesnost, pojmová přísnost, systematická jednota a interpretační jasnost jsou pak zahrnuta do zkušenostního přístupu k teologii, v němž je zachováno pravidlo, že odborná reflexe vychází z žité náboženské praxe. Za pomoci fenomenologické, hermeneutické a epistemologické metody pak zkoumá základní teologická témata, jako zjevení, autoritu, dějinný a kulturní kontext. Vždy vychází ze zkušenosti zachycené ve svědectví Písma a církevních otců, pak vedle sebe klade příklady moderní a postmoderní protestantské, katolické  a pravoslavné interpretace, aniž by usilovala o jejich syntézu. Místo toho se snaží uvést jednotlivé hlasy do kritického, ale i tvořivého rozhovoru. V poslední kapitole se ve větším detailu věnuje otázkám, v jakém smyslu se zkušenost, jako teologické téma, vrátila do moderního diskursu, kde brala inspiraci z religionistiky, filosofie a psychologie náboženství, a čím může ze své tradice sousedním oborům přispět.
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This book by Ivana Dolejšová (Noble) applies Derrida's, Lyotard's and Levinas' critique to the field of apologetics as it seeks for a non-ideological interpretation of Christian faith and practice. Looking at six figures: Justin Martyr,... more
This book by Ivana Dolejšová (Noble) applies Derrida's, Lyotard's and Levinas' critique to the field of apologetics as it seeks for a non-ideological interpretation of Christian faith and practice. Looking at six figures: Justin Martyr, St Augustine, St Francis of Assissi, Jan Hus, John Henry Newman and George Tyrrell, it shows the variety of the apologetic discourse in history, while at the same time a kind of family resemblance of the epistemological foundations, which are not foundationalist, in which praxis comes before reflection, knowledge has a participatory character, and is always unfinished, open, irreducible to a system. The book then turns to the changes that took place in Modern religious epistemology and led to foundationalism (epistemologically grounding Modern fundamentalism). It shows also alternatives to foundationalism stemming from the very same period.  Tracking a way from Kant to Hegel to Current Anti-Realism on one side, on the other side from Kant to Kierkegaard and to various forms of current Realism, it attempts to move beyond this polarisation. With the help of the late philosophy of Wittgenstein it sketches a kind of non-foundationalist foundations which could help apologetics out of the ideological captivity.
Research Interests:
Religion, Christianity, Philosophy Of Religion, Theology, Systematic Theology, and 57 more
This handout focuses on the political, cultural and religious forces which formed the Central Europe at the time of the disintegration of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. As it follows the rise of the new national states as well as new... more
This handout focuses on the political, cultural and religious forces which formed the Central Europe at the time of the disintegration of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. As it follows the rise of the new national states as well as new struggles for a local ecclesial identity, it asks the following questions: (1) What are the specific features of Central Europe which impact upon ecclesial self-determination in this region? (2) How did the Eastern and Western influences contribute to the struggle for national independence in the late Austro-Hungarian Empire? (3) What other influences impacted on the conflict within the Roman Catholic Church after World War I, after the fall of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and the formation of the independent Czechoslovakia? (4) How did new schisms emerge, and how did they affect the churches and societies in the region?  (5) What has been the journey from a mutual estrangement to cooperation, and various practical forms of communion?
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This powerpoint presentation focuses on the political, cultural and religious forces which formed the Central Europe at the time of the disintegration of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. As it follows the rise of new national states as well... more
This powerpoint presentation focuses on the political, cultural and religious forces which formed the Central Europe at the time of the disintegration of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. As it follows the rise of new national states as well as new struggles for a local religious identity, it looks at some of the reference points that played an important part in this process. This presentation is then further developed in a handout with the same title. 
• What are the specific features of Central Europe which impact upon ecclesial self-determination in this region?
• How did the Eastern and Western influences contribute to the struggle for national independence in the late Austro-Hungarian Empire?
• What other influences impacted on the conflict within the Roman Catholic Church after World War I, after the fall of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and the formation of the independent Czechoslovakia?
• How did new schisms emerge, and how did they affect the churches and societies in the region? 
• What has been the journey from a mutual estrangement to cooperation, and various practical forms of communion?
Research Interests:
This presentation shows examples of Czech Films in the last decades which explicitly or implicitly deal with Christ symbolism. The main attention is given to Vladimír Michálek’s film The Forgotten Light (1996). First its inspirational... more
This presentation shows examples of Czech Films in the last decades which explicitly or implicitly deal with Christ symbolism. The main attention is given to Vladimír Michálek’s film The Forgotten Light (1996). First its inspirational sources are looked at: a novella The Forgotten Light (1934) by a Czech Roman Catholic priest Jakub Deml (1934); and a French novel by George Bernanos, Diary of a Country Priest (1936). Then the presentation explores how some of the classical Christological themes are transposed in Michálek’s attempt to communicate with a post-secular but largely also post-Christian audience. The presentation suggests the following themes for a discussion (after having seen the film): What does standing in persona Christi mean for post-secular people? How are the divine and the human revelation related?  What aspects of the kenotic Christ can we see in the film? Can we find any images/metaphors of Christ glorified in the film?
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This is an expanded English translation of the presentation that follows the main schools and figures in both Western and Eastern Christian Theology over the centuries. Its aim is to enable students to follow the main challenges and... more
This is an expanded English translation of the presentation that follows the main schools and figures in both Western and Eastern Christian Theology over the centuries. Its aim is to enable students to follow the main challenges and discussions which were going on in various traditions at the same time.
Research Interests:
Religion, Christianity, Intellectual History, History of Thought, History of Ideas, and 41 more
Tato ptrezentace ukazuje hlavní školy a postavy jak západní tak východní křesťanské teologie v historickém přehledu. Jejím cílem je pomoci studentům sledovat základní výzvy a diskuse v různých tradicích ve stejnou dobu. This... more
Tato ptrezentace ukazuje hlavní školy a postavy jak západní tak východní křesťanské teologie v historickém přehledu. Jejím cílem je pomoci studentům sledovat základní výzvy a diskuse v různých tradicích ve stejnou dobu.

This presentation follows the main schools and figures in both Western and Eastern Christian Theology over the centuries. Its aim is to enable students to follow the main challenges and discussions which were going on in various traditions at the same time.
Research Interests:
These sketches were done in 2013-2016, and most of them will appear as illustrations in the brochure: Who is My Neighbour? Churches – Refugees – Migrants (in Czech), Tim Noble et al., IES, Praha, 2016. Tyto skici vznikly v letech... more
These sketches were done in 2013-2016, and most of them will appear as illustrations in the brochure: Who is My Neighbour? Churches – Refugees – Migrants (in Czech), Tim Noble et al., IES, Praha, 2016.
Tyto skici vznikly v letech 2013-2016 a většina z nich  se objeví jako ilustrace v brožurce: Kdo je můj bližní? Církve – uprchlíci – migranti, Tim Noble a kol., IES, Praha 2016.
Most of the sketches  will appear as illustrations in the brochure: Who is My Neighbour? Churches – Refugees – Migrants (in Czech), Tim Noble et al., IES, Praha, 2016.
Většina skic se objeví jako ilustrace v brožurce: Kdo je můj bližní? Církve – uprchlíci – migranti, Tim Noble a kol., IES, Praha 2016.
Research Interests:
The file contains my Biblical Litographs from years 2007-2015. They include: Hagar, Jacob, Moses, Elijah, The Great Father Jesse, Gabriel, Mary Meets Elisabeth, Joseph Shares His Dream, The Baptism of Jesus, A Journey towards the Mountain... more
The file contains my Biblical Litographs from years 2007-2015. They include: Hagar, Jacob, Moses, Elijah, The Great Father Jesse, Gabriel, Mary Meets Elisabeth, Joseph Shares His Dream, The Baptism of Jesus, A Journey towards the Mountain of Transfiguration, A Woman Caught in Adultery, A Samaritan Woman at the Well, Zacheus, Crucifixion, Descent into Hell, Noli me tangere, Ascention, Pentecost, With the Moon under Her Feet, Pantokrator and others. The file also includes various posters of and invitations to exhibitions.
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When Karl Marx said that religion is the opium of the people, he continued that it is also the heart of a heartless world. He meant it negatively. For him religion was an illusion people had to grow out of in order to be free to strive... more
When Karl Marx said that religion is the opium of the people, he continued that it is also the heart of a heartless world. He meant it negatively. For him religion was an illusion people had to grow out of in order to be free to strive for a socially just world. Or, still further, they had to be helped out of this illusion. In our conference, we want to turn the theme round and look at the heart of a heartless world positively, but also critically. What is it that renews life and gives life its best energies? Is it religion? In which sense yes, in which sense no? Is it helpful to work with the contrast between the heartless world and the healthy interiority? What are the positive negative potentials of this metaphor? What can we gain when we speak about the heart as a psychosomatic organ and a place of encounter with God?
The conference will investigate the reasons for the separation between human interiority and exteriority, between the mystical and the socio-political dimensions of being human. Starting with a critical evaluation of the contribution of Karl Marx to theology, we will move to study more inclusive notions of what is central in the human life. Taking inspiration from the hesychast notion of the heart and from St Maximus the Confessor’s theology of mediation, we will explore the integrative role of the heart and its symbolic capacity for joining people together for the common good. We will also ask how the relation between human interiority and the cosmic and the political is and can be mediated by Christian liturgy.
We will then engage with the hermeneutics of places, in particular of cities. Our investigation as to what it might mean to speak about the heart of a city will have a practical side: a study trip, and a reflective side including presentations on how cities contribute to who people become, and how they are shaped by who people are in their hearts, as well as more general guidelines for what is central in a hermeneutics of a place. Finally, we will look at how the polarity between human exteriority and interiority is overcome in literature, and what we can learn from the engagement with it.
Research Interests:
This is an introductory presentation to the XIIth International Doctoral and Postdoctoral Conference, organised this time by Charles University Centre of Excellence (Prague, Czech Republic): Theological Anthropology in Ecumenical... more
This is an introductory presentation to the XIIth International Doctoral and Postdoctoral Conference, organised this time by Charles University Centre of Excellence (Prague, Czech Republic): Theological Anthropology in Ecumenical Perspective (UNCE No. 204052 (HUM/012) in collaboration with Monastery of Bose (Magnano, Italy) in Monastery of Bose in 22-25 May 2019. It shows why the theme: “How Discernment between Good and Evil Shapes the Dynamics of the Human Journey” is approached through the embodied forms of discernment rather than via a conceptual analysis. It emphasizes two necessary sensitivities: one towards the context of the discernment; the other towards the wisdom passed through the ages. Both together help us to see conditions in which one is capable or not capable of a sound discernment, as well as the ever evolving multitude of possibilities supporting and strengthening human intellectual, emotional, moral and spiritual growth. Christian narrative, it argues, helps to identify our immature and broken humanity with that of Adam and Eve, who opened themselves to a knowledge of good and evil they were not capable of handling, because they have not yet grown into a freedom of the Spirit. Mary as the second Eve, and Christ as the second Adam, teach and help us in their different ways to discover a different path of discernment, that in which God is not replaced, love is not broken, and goodness of creation is restored. There discernment is directed towards the ultimate end, the telos of creation. From that perspective human maturity is perceived as a complete overlap of deification and humanisation.
This is an opening presentation for the international conference Contemporary Images of Holiness: Introduction (Prague, 24-27 May 2018). The conference has been part of the University Centre of Excellence: Theological Anthropology in... more
This is an opening presentation for the international conference Contemporary Images of Holiness: Introduction (Prague,  24-27 May 2018). The conference has been part of the University Centre of Excellence: Theological Anthropology in Ecumenical Perspective UNCE No. 204052 (HUM/012).
Research Interests:
This opening presentation from the International Doctoral and Postdoctoral Conference "Risks of Hospitality" (Prague, 20 May 2016) compares the dream of Pope Francis of a hospitable Europe as he expressed in while receiving Charlemagne... more
This opening presentation from the International Doctoral and Postdoctoral Conference "Risks of Hospitality" (Prague, 20 May 2016) compares the dream of Pope Francis of a hospitable Europe as he expressed in while receiving Charlemagne Price (2016) and the dream of Martin Luther King of a non-racist America presented in his famous speech in 1963; and drawing on Jacques Derrida and Louis Massignon it shows how the conditioned hospitality, through its religious roots draws on the unconditional hospitality, and what challenge this presents to human identity.
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Lecture at the 19th consultation of Societas Oecumenica: Just Do It? Recognition and Reception in Ecumenical Relations, Helsinki, 30 August 2016. It analyses the dualities: the holy – the not holy, the catholic – the sectarian, the... more
Lecture at the 19th consultation of Societas Oecumenica: Just Do It? Recognition and Reception in Ecumenical Relations, Helsinki, 30 August 2016.
It analyses the dualities: the holy – the not holy, the catholic – the sectarian, the apostolic – the rootless within ourselves and our various ecclesial homes. Making use of Paul Ricoeur's disstinctions between the three stages: the first naivety, the pre-critical stage, which is dominated by the immediacy of belief, in this case, where the church as one, holy, catholic and apostolic is to be found;  the breaking and disorienting stage, where, with the difficult spiritual and ecclesial experiences the time of reason comes back, the impact of the divisions of the church finally hits home, and various non-recognitions have to be encountered, existentially, theologically, spiritually; and the third stage, called by Ricoeur the “second naivety” is a post-critical equivalent of the pre-critical immediacy of meaning, an unfinished stage, as long as we live. The paper tracks how the post-critical return of the Church as one, holy, catholic and apostolic affects ecumenical relations, criticizes notions of supra-ecclesiality; and responds to the  challenge of multiple belonging. In the conclusion the nature of a connection between non-possession and hospitality is explored, and it is asked in which sense we can see this connection as central for  an ongoing recognition of others.
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This presentation first raises the question of the point of view from which we speak about “the ecumenical”. It shows that the various ideas and notions of what the ecumenical might mean that were round in the first part of the 20th... more
This presentation first raises the question of the point of view from which we speak about “the ecumenical”. It shows that the various ideas and notions of what the ecumenical might mean that were round in the first part of the 20th century influenced the hopes with which the Orthodox engaged with theologians of other Christian traditions in the West, and also the forms of that engagement. It tracks how in relation to others Orthodox theologians attempted to formulate what they saw as “the fundamental principle of Orthodoxy” with which they entered into the ecumenical movement; but also how different these formulations were. Then examples are given of various forms of engagement with others which led to diversified models of ecumenism. The reception and critique of 20th century Orthodox theology is placed into this context. In the concluding part the presentation summarizes those methods and themes in Orthodox theology of the 20th century that have enriched Western theologians, and those that have provoked critique.
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This presentation opened our conference "Tradition and Innovation – Reflection on Different Streams of Orthodox Theological Thinking in Exile and its Impact on Ecumenical Dialogues". It provided a context for the following discussions on... more
This presentation opened our conference  "Tradition and Innovation – Reflection on Different Streams of Orthodox Theological Thinking in Exile and its Impact on Ecumenical Dialogues". It provided a context for the following discussions on how the themes of tradition and innovation occured among the Slavophiles, in Hesychasm, Neopatristics, Sophiology, or the movement for social reform. It considered the complementarity of various Western and Eastern notions of tradition, recovering its plurific nature, undertanding of tradition as historical process as well as iconic light.
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The opening presentation of the conference summarised ways in which the 20th Century Orthodox theology reflected the main ideologies of this time, Nazism and Communism, and asked where tools for reflection were missing and why. It saught... more
The opening presentation of the conference summarised  ways in which the 20th Century Orthodox theology reflected the main ideologies of this time, Nazism and Communism, and asked where tools for reflection were missing and why. It saught answers to a question of how the mystical and liturgical tradition of Orthodoxy can be combined with the engagement in social and political struggles of Orthodox countries today.
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This presentation opened the conference with the same title, investigating the following questions: Where are the borders of what we consider still as Christian (in doctrine, ritual, spirituality, ethics)? What lies beyond the borders?... more
This presentation opened the conference with the same title,  investigating the following questions: Where are the borders of what we consider still as Christian (in doctrine, ritual, spirituality, ethics)? What lies beyond the borders? How did such borders develop? What kind of "translation" of values and attitudes helped us in the past to expand our borders? What kind of discernement of what is and what is not “of God“ was active within the process of "translation"?  The prestentation worked with various images of roots and borders that impact upon this discussion.
Research Interests:
The long-lasting coronavirus pandemic has brought the search for right judgment about situations and about human responses to them to the forefront of our attention. It has been interesting to see how quickly the clichés about each person... more
The long-lasting coronavirus pandemic has brought the search for right judgment about situations and about human responses to them to the forefront of our attention. It has been interesting to see how quickly the clichés about each person having their own truth and their own right to do whatever they like to achieve their dreams have hit their limits and fallen apart, even if those who hold them have often not changed their patterns of behaviour unless forced to do so. The text introduces the theme of discernment. It goes back to its Greek and Latin roots, and shows how the need of discernment re-emerges in modern philosophical tradition.
This text points out some of the important things theologians can learn from reflecting upon landscape, such as the importance of the particularity of the place, of time and its intervals, or the divine-human synergy. It spells out why... more
This text points out some of the important things theologians can learn from reflecting upon landscape, such as the importance of the particularity of the place, of time and its intervals, or the divine-human synergy. It spells out why this particular physicality gives language to our desires, informs our utopian imagery, and grounds the symbolism describing human spiritual journey.
The text compares two dreams of better world, one expressed by the Pope Francis in his Charlemagne Prize speech in 2016, where he spoke about hospitable Europe, open tothose who come in need, and the other preached by Martin Luther King... more
The text compares two dreams of better world, one expressed by the Pope Francis in his Charlemagne Prize speech in 2016, where he spoke about hospitable Europe, open tothose who come in need, and the other preached by Martin Luther King 59 years earlier during the March in Washington for Jobs and Freedom focussed on hospitality in terms of racial equality.  And while those who expressed the dreams were facing periods of darkness, the article argues,  they grew out of the belief that Christ brings new life to every period in history. Thus both of the dreams have had a prophetic power, they have given direction to people, and grounded hopes in tangible possibilities of change.
90 years after Berdyaev published his text "Salvation and Creativity", a tribute to Vladimir Solovyov, we still struggle with discerning a genuine humility from its caricatures. For Berdyaev the caricatures were related to those political... more
90 years after Berdyaev published his text "Salvation and Creativity", a tribute to Vladimir Solovyov, we still struggle with discerning a genuine humility from its caricatures. For Berdyaev the caricatures were related to those political or religious claims which deprived people of freedom. In the aftermath of Bolshevik revolution, the time of overwhelming horror and despair, Berdyaev described the human vocation in terms of co-participating in the deed of God's creation. This grounded a difference between Christ-centred genuine spiritual ascent in which freedom was placed before humility and people were inspired and unabled to have loving relationships with God and with each other, and blind obedience claiming humility but in fact exploiting and perverting humility while creating another form of loveless slavery. The text asks what we can learn from Berdyaev in our struggles and where his affirmation of human nature directed in love towards God and towards others may help us.
The text considers the role of the detail in ecumenical encounters, in reading theological texts, understanding art, or making sense of one's life. It argues that the forgotten or excluded fragments of traditions be belong to or against... more
The text considers the role of the detail in ecumenical encounters, in reading theological texts, understanding art, or making sense of one's life. It argues that the forgotten or excluded fragments of traditions be belong to or against which we pose our identities can have transforming potential, and that sensitivity towards details can help us overcome ideological pictures of ourselves and others.
The text draws on Wittgenstein's remarks concerning how difficult it is for people to understand each other. It shows how the theme deepens from the early remarks in the Tractatus to the Philosophical Investigations and to the... more
The text draws on Wittgenstein's remarks concerning  how difficult it is for people to understand each other. It shows how the theme deepens from the early remarks in the Tractatus to the Philosophical Investigations and to the correspondence at the end of his life. The text reflects on different aspects of understanding penetrating our whole lives as well as the symbolic structures we accept as our own or make an effort to distance ourselves from.
The text explores the interconnections between the renewal of Pneumatology in Eastern and Western theology in the 20th century. It challenges the cliche that while the Christian West lost explicit theology of the Spirit, it has always... more
The text explores the interconnections between the renewal of Pneumatology in Eastern and  Western theology in the 20th century. It challenges the cliche that while the Christian West lost explicit theology of the Spirit, it has always remained in Orthodoxy intact. While drawing on different sources, ranging from patristic doctrines to modern philosophy or the charismatic renewal, both Western and Eastern theologians, the text argues, needed each other's discoveries to overcome their own reductions.
The text explores the ideological links which made a shift from Communism to Neo-Liberal Market Capitalism rather smooth. It points out that the coming economic crisis can be seen aslo as a crisis of the ideology. While solutions to the... more
The text explores the ideological links which made a shift from Communism to Neo-Liberal Market Capitalism rather smooth. It points out that the coming economic crisis can be seen aslo as a crisis of the ideology. While solutions to the crisis are not easily at hand, the crisis functions also as a crossroad: it may lead to a strengthenning the ideological basis, or it may provide an opportunity to consider the factors which have lead to such a state, and bring along a more forceful ideology critique.
The text considers how to oppose the rule "publish or perish", with its difficult consequences: overproduction of words and texts in which authors often repeat themselves; narrowing down people's interests according to what may be useful... more
The text considers how to oppose the rule "publish or perish", with its difficult consequences: overproduction of words and texts in which authors often repeat themselves; narrowing down people's interests according to what may be useful for their projects; genuine exchange of ideas and discoveries being replaced by competition for the financial sources.
The text explores what philosophy can contribute to theology in trying to deal with a rising of mistrust among nations, cultures and religions. It asks about how to hold together the fact that no one who is not God can have God's point of... more
The text explores what philosophy can contribute to theology in trying to deal with a rising of mistrust among nations, cultures and religions. It asks about how to hold together the fact that no one who is not God can have God's point of view on the world, and the faith that images that break in through prayer, worship, listening to the Scriptures, or through everyday experience bears some relevant witness to whom people encounter as God, and to the perspective they ascribe to their God.
The text sketches the overlap between theology and culture, provided we do not understand either in a reductionist manner. Taking a classical definition of culture by Edward Tylor, according to which culture includes knowledge, beliefs,... more
The text sketches the overlap between theology and culture, provided we do not understand either in a reductionist manner. Taking a classical definition of culture by Edward Tylor, according to which culture includes knowledge, beliefs, arts, morals, law, customs and other capabilities people acquire and share within society, it shows that such culture passes on or questions also themes developed and guarded by theology, while theology has within its own discourse also a cultural dimension, not merely as a context to theology, but as an integral part of its mediation.
The text looks into how the space in front of the temple, the profanum, became in some forms of secularisation a defining place, turning inward the demonic faces which once were facing outward from the temple. It relativizes the... more
The text looks into how the space in front of the temple, the profanum, became in some forms of secularisation a defining place, turning inward the demonic faces which once were facing outward from the temple. It relativizes the mechanistic "inside" and "outside" polarised mentality, whether operating with inside and outside of God's holiness and grace, or inside and outside of rationality and utility. It argues that a discernment of what is and is not of God, what is or is not reasonable, good and supportive of life needs to be made on a different basis.
This article focuses on the work of Czech Jesuit Cardinal Tomáš Špidlík (1919-2010), continued in his pupils, both in Rome, where he taught for most of his life, and in the Czech Republic. It explores in particular how studies of... more
This article focuses on the work of Czech Jesuit Cardinal Tomáš Špidlík (1919-2010), continued in his pupils, both in Rome, where he taught for most of his life, and in the Czech Republic. It explores in particular how studies of hesychasm marked their understanding of deification. It asks in which sense their work can be seen as a Western attempt to rehabilitate the doctrine of deification in its experiential and theological complexity, where they contribute to the renewal of the communication between the Christian East and the Christian West, and what are the complications present in their attempt expressed against the background of uniatism.