Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion of the course students will be able:
- To familiarize students with specific aspects of the foundations of the Christian faith, on the basis of the life and the cultural records of the Church (Christian literature and art).
- A closer and more thorough study into specific topics of the Dogmatics of the Orthodox Catholic Church.
- Specific topics of the Orthodox faith are presented, interpreted and discussed. These topics are related to certain consequences of Christological dogma and the teaching about the Church and the Holy Spirit on the life of the ecclesial community
- These themes are inextricably connected to the contemporary inter-Orthodox conversation about the Church.
Course Content (Syllabus)
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
Specific topics of the Orthodox faith are presented and interpreted. These topics are related to the connection of Christology and Pneumatology with Ecclesiology and also are inextricably connected to the contemporary inter-Orthodox conversation about the Church.
SCHEDULE OF LECTURES:
1) The Christocentric Ecclesiology of patristic theology.
2) The discussion about Christ and the Church in contemporary theology.
3) Patristic and contemporary descriptions, icons and schemata about the Church.
4) The Divine Economy in Christ and the work of the Holy Spirit.
5) The issue of “two Economies” in the Church Fathers and in contemporary theology.
6) The unity of Christology and Pneumatology in Orthodox Ecclesiology.
7) The issue of ecclesiastical authority according to the Church Fathers and the contemporary theological conversation.
8) The meaning and the source of the ecclesiastical authority.
9) Bearers of the ecclesiastical authority.
10) The authority of the Bishop and the limits of his authority.
11) Synodal authority. Contemporary speculations about synodality.
12) The position of the prótos as first among equals in Orthodox theology and life.
13) The Ecclesiology of communion.
Keywords
Christ, Divine Economy, Church, Holy Spirit, authority, bishop, synod, Ecclesiology of communion.
Additional bibliography for study
- Β. Τσίγκος, Δογματική της Ορθοδόξου Εκκλησίας, εκδ. Ostracon, Θεσσαλονίκη 2019.
Β. Τσίγκος, Ἐκκλησιολογικές θέσεις τοῦ ἁγίου Θεοδώρου τοῦ Στουδίτου. Αύθεντία καί πρωτείο, ἐκδ. Ορθόδοξος Κυψέλη, Θεσσαλονίκη, 2009.
- Δ. Τσελεγγίδης, Προϋποθέσεις και κριτήρια του ορθοδόξως και απλανώς θεολογείν. Θεολογικές και Εκκλησιολογικές προσεγγίσεις, εκδ. Π. Πουρναρᾶ, Θεσσαλονίκη, 2013.
- Α. Γιέφτιτς, Ἡ Ἐκκλησιολογία τοῦ Ἀποστόλου Παύλου, ἐκδ. Γρηγόρη, Ἀθήνα 1984.
- Δ. Τσελεγγίδης, Προϋποθέσεις και κριτήρια του ορθοδόξως και απλανώς θεολογείν. Θεολογικές και Εκκλησιολογικές προσεγγίσεις, εκδ. Π. Πουρναρᾶ, Θεσσαλονίκη, 2013.