Alexis Torrance

To what kind of existence does Christ call us?

Christian theology has from its inception posited a powerful vision of humanity's ultimate and eternal fulfilment through the person and work of Jesus Christ. How precisely to understand and approach the human perfection to which the Christian is summoned is a question that has vexed the minds of many and diverse theologians.

Orthodox Christian theology is notable for its consistent interest in this question, and over the last century has offered to the West a wealth of theological insight on the matter, drawn both from the resources of its Byzantine theological heritage as well as its living interaction with Western theological and philosophical currents. In this regard, the important themes of personhood, deification, epektasis, apophaticism, and divine energies have been elaborated with much success by Orthodox theologians; but not without controversy.

Human Perfection in Byzantine Theology addresses the question of human perfection in Orthodox theology via a retrieval of the sources, examining in turn the thought of leading representatives of the Byzantine theological tradition: St Maximus the Confessor, St Theodore the Studite, St Symeon the New Theologian, and St Gregory Palamas. The overarching argument of this study is that in order to present an Orthodox Christian understanding of human perfection which remains true to its Byzantine inheritance, supreme emphasis must be placed on the doctrine of Christ, especially on the significance and import of Christ's humanity. The intention of this work is thus to keep the creative approach to human destiny in Orthodox theology firmly moored to its theological past.

The call to repentance is central to the message of early Christianity. While this is undeniable, the precise meaning of the concept of repentance for early Christians has rarely been investigated to any great extent, beyond studies of the rise of penitential discipline. In this study, the rich variety of meanings and applications of the concept of repentance are examined, with a particular focus on the writings of several ascetic theologians of the fifth to seventh centuries. These theologians provide some of the most sustained and detailed elaborations of the concept of repentance in late antiquity: SS Mark the Monk, Barsanuphius and John of Gaza, and John Climacus. They predominantly see repentance as a positive, comprehensive idea that serves to frame the whole of Christian life, not simply one or more of its parts. While the modern dominant understanding of repentance as a moment of sorrowful regret over past misdeeds, or as equivalent to penitential discipline, is present to a degree, such definitions by no means exhaust the concept for them. The path of repentance is depicted as stretching from an initial about-face completed in baptism, through the living out of the baptismal gift by keeping the Gospel commandments, culminating in the idea of intercessory repentance for others, after the likeness of Christ's innocent suffering for the world. While this overarching role for repentance in Christian life is clearest in ascetic works, these are not explored in isolation, and attention is also paid to the concept of repentance in Scripture, the early church, apocalyptic texts, and canonical material. This not only permits the elaboration of the views of the ascetics in their larger context, but further allows for an overall re-assessment of the often misunderstood, if not overlooked, place of repentance in early Christian theology.

Una dintre marile frumuseţi ale Ortodoxiei este că „glasul celui ce strigă în pustie” nu a tăcut niciodată: este un glas care a stăruit, o neîncetată chemare la pocăinţa profundă, trăită, pusă în lucrare de părinţii şi maicile noastre în Hristos de-a lungul veacurilor. Pentru teologia ortodoxă nu există o reconciliere sau iertare autentică în afara comuniunii cu persoana lui Iisus Hristos. Pocăinţa este atât prima poruncă a lui Hristos („Pocăiţi-vă că s-a apropiat Împărăţia cerurilor!”), cât şi primul Său dar pentru noi, de vreme ce tăria pentru împlinirea poruncilor Sale ne este în cele din urmă dăruită de El. Doar când vom conştientiza faptul că pocăinţa este un dar, şi nu o poruncă împovărătoare, vom înţelege cum sfinţii monahi ai Bisericii în special puteau vorbi cu atâta bucurie şi râvnă despre tema pocăinţei. Ei chiar au trăit-o şi au înţeles că acest dar al pocăinţei include nu doar simpla pocăinţă pentru propriile greşeli, ci rugăciune de căinţă pentru aproapele lor şi pentru lumea întreagă. Aceasta este pocăinţa după modelul Hristos (temă dezvoltată pe larg în acest studiu), o intrare în taina Pătimirii voluntare a lui Hristos pentru mântuirea tuturor.

For the Life of the World represents a landmark discussion of social ethics within the Orthodox academy in the West. This article begins by looking at the document's self-understanding as an exploratory rather than a definitive text that seeks to provoke rather than curtail discussion. The overarching matter of how even the possibility of a viable social ethos is debated in modern Orthodoxy is briefly dealt with through the lens of ethical apophaticism and cataphaticism. The document itself, a cataphatic contribution in this regard, is then examined in terms of its ethical priorities, its tone in addressing these priorities, as well as its overall theological coherence. Potential ambiguities and dissonance in the document are highlighted. A concluding appeal is made for more work on clarifying the Orthodox theological presuppositions that go into crafting Orthodox social ethics, and a positive proposal is offered, centred on an Orthodox ethos of repentance.

This article begins by summarizing the concept of ethical apophaticism in the theology of John Zizioulas and Christos Yannaras. The impetus for this concept, namely a desire to maintain the irreducibility of the human person to extrinsic ethical categories, is noted and celebrated. However, it is proposed that to do fuller justice to the understanding of the ethical and moral life in the Orthodox tradition, a certain 'ethical cataphaticsm' needs to be brought into the discussion. Some potential lineaments of what this might entail for these authors are highlighted (repentance and love) before seeking to supplement them with a discussion of the commandments of Christ through the lens of the theology of Sophrony Sakharov. It is argued that Christ's commandments provide the sure path to developing an ethical cataphaticism that can work in tandem with the insights of the category of ethical apophaticism offered by Zizioulas and Yannaras.

This article constitutes a brief reply to Timothy Pawl's clear and insightful article on Conciliar Trinitarianism (defined as the Trinitarian theology of the Ecumenical Councils from Nicaea I to Nicaea II). The two basic arguments of that article (regarding the relationship between divine persons and divine nature and the debate over possible subordinationism) are celebrated rather than challenged. I instead offer three short comments. The first concerns the limited nature of the conciliar texts for the articulation of highly developed Trinitarian theology, and thus the question of methodology as it applies to Conciliar Trinitarianism. The second comment argues that the question of strict identity in the Godhead can be extended beyond the relationship of divine person and divine nature to the question of divine nature and divine power, will, and energy. The third comment argues that Pawl gives undue weight to a line from Cyril of Alexandria for a discussion of the Holy Spirit's mode of origination, and not enough weight to the clause related to the Holy Spirit articulated at the First Council of Constantinople, which recurs in one way or another at each of the subsequent Ecumenical Councils, up to and including Nicaea II. These three comments serve more as a supplement than a challenge to Pawl's original article, providing three further avenues for scholarly deliberation on the matter of Conciliar Trinitarianism.

During the Palamite controversy on Cyprus we glimpse a generous range of both the theological as well as geo-political factors at play in the heat and immediate aftermath of the controversy. These factors are briefly discussed. On the theological level, it is argued that contrary to a certain scholarly trend that tends to see as many types of Palamism as there are Palamites, we in fact find that in spite of a striking diversity of expression, there is an impressive level of coherence among the disciples and defenders of Palamas in these sources, centred on the doctrine of deification. This is, moreover, a coherence that is not so easily found among the anti-Palamites.

Following a brief summary of the main tenets of Palamas’ theology relating to the immanent divine ἐνέργειαι, this article will explore possible precedents for such a concept in the Cappadocian Fathers. The aim is twofold: first to argue against the exclusive use of ἐνέργεια language in attempting to outline precedents for Palamite thought in the Cappadocians, and second to propose a framework for discussing the topic in terms of sanctification and deification. Through such an approach, I contend, it is possible to remain true to the Cappadocians, whilst concurrently finding striking precedents to the theology of Palamas.

In this article I attempt to approach the concept of the saint in Late Antiquity from a theological rather than a socio-historical perspective. Using the abundant correspondence of Barsanuphius and John of Gaza, I look at how they conceived of the saints, the unmistakable importance they attached to their prayers and intercessions, and how the saints fit into Barsanuphius and John’s broader Christian framework. I emphasize that the importance of the ἅγιοι is not constrained to their locality, and that their role for the two Gazan ascetics is not at all bound up with projects of self-promotion.