• Aristotle Papanikolaou

    Archbishop Demetrios Chair, Co-Director of Orthodox Christian Studies Center, Fordham University

    Aristotle Papanikolaou is Professor of Theology, Archbishop Demetrios Chair in Orthodox Theology and Culture, and the Co-director and Co-founder of the Orthodox Christian Studies Center. Professor Papanikolaou received the 2012 Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching. In 2012-13, Papanikolaou was awarded a Sabbatical Grant for Researchers from the Louisville Institute to explore how Eastern Christian notions of virtue are relevant for illuminating both the plight and healing of combat veterans who experience trauma. Professor Papanikolaou’s project employs Michel Foucault’s notion of truth-telling to scrutinize and elucidate the Orthodox Christian concept of virtue ethics. The end result of this research will be an innovative and constructive vision for understanding post-traumatic stress syndrome in combat veterans.

    Papanikolaou earned his BA, Summa Cum Laude, from Fordham University in 1988. He then graduated valedictorian with an M.Div. from Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology, where he later served from 1995-2000 as Registrar and as Assistant Professor of Ethics and Theology. He received his PhD in 1998 from the University of Chicago Divinity School. He is the author of numerous articles and reviews and of two monographs: Being with God: Trinity, Apophaticism and Divine-Human Communion (2006) and The Mystical as Political: Democracy and Non-Radical Orthodoxy (2012). He is co-editor with George E. Demacopoulos of Orthodox Readings of Augustine (2008) and Orthodox Constructions of the West (2013), and he is co-editor with Demacopoulos of the Fordham University Press series, Orthodox Christianity and Contemporary Thought, and with Elizabeth Prodromou of Thinking through Faith: New Perspectives from Orthodox Christian Scholars (2008).

    Professor Papanikolaou is an Archon of the Ecumenical Patriarchate.
    Expand

More posts by the author Next Page »

Video

(Book Panel) Jordan Daniel Wood: The Whole Mystery of Christ
Creation as Incarnation in Maximus Confessor

Jordan Daniel Wood’s The Whole Mystery of Christ: Creation as Incarnation in Maximus Confessor (Notre Dame, 2022) provocatively re-reads Maximus as if he means what he says. Panelists explore the book’s promise for theology: historical, systematic, and beyond. Panel discussion with respo... Read more.
Orthodoxy and Modernity, Religion and Politics

The Death of Secularism: Russia, Turkey, and Western Cluelessness

by Aristotle Papanikolaou | ελληνικά | ру́сский | српски “Secular” is a tricky word. Most associate it with “no religion,” “absence of religion,” or “decline of religion.” At one time, it was pretty much the consensus in the Western world that with increased... Read more.
Also available in: Русский | Ελληνικά | Српски
Church Life and Pastoral Care, Orthodoxy and Modernity, Theology

Yoga and Orthodoxy

by Aristotle Papanikolaou | ελληνικά | Română | српски In the wake of advice disseminated earlier this month across a variety of Greek media channels that the practice of yoga can be helpful to manage anxiety provoked by COVID-19, the Holy Synod of the Church of Greece felt compelled... Read more.
Also available in: Ελληνικά | Српски | Română
Orthodoxy and Modernity, Public Life

Orthodox Christianity, Systemic Racism, and the Wrong Side of History

by George Demacopoulos and Aristotle Papanikolaou | ελληνικά | Română | ру́сский | српски When Archbishop Iakovos stood alongside Martin Luther King Jr. in Selma in 1965, he was maligned by many Greek Americans who took offense that their Archbishop would “fraternize with ... Read more.
Also available in: Ελληνικά | Română | Русский | Српски
Bridging Voices Project, Gender and Sexuality, Theology

“Orthodox Morality” on Sex or an Ethics of Sex? Part Two: A Theology of the Erotic

by Aristotle Papanikolaou  |  ελληνικά This essay is part of a series stemming from the ongoing research project “Contemporary Eastern Orthodox Identity and the Challenges of Pluralism and Sexual Diversity in a Secular Age,” which is a joint venture by scholars from Fordham University... Read more.
Also available in: Ελληνικά
Bridging Voices Project, Gender and Sexuality, Theology

“Orthodox Morality” on Sex or an Ethics of Sex? Part One: Dogmas v. Canons and Beliefs v. Ethics

by Aristotle Papanikolaou  |  ελληνικά This essay is part of a series stemming from the ongoing research project “Contemporary Eastern Orthodox Identity and the Challenges of Pluralism and Sexual Diversity in a Secular Age,” which is a joint venture by scholars from Fordham University... Read more.
Also available in: Ελληνικά
Ethics

Racism: An Orthodox Perspective

by Aristotle Papanikolaou  |  ελληνικά  |  ру́сский  |  српски The primary goal of the Orthodox Christian is to struggle toward theosis—deification. The word theosis often conjures up images of a super hero like Thor or a Greek god like Zeus. When St. Athanasius proc... Read more.
Also available in: Српски
Religion and Politics

Being Christian During A Trump Presidency

by Aristotle Papanikolaou  |  ру́сский When it comes to voting, I had always thought that there was never a way for Christians to vote with clean hands. Regardless of party or candidate, a Christian could not vote without being implicated in supporting principles that are counter t... Read more.
Global Orthodoxy, Religion and Politics

Putin’s Unorthodox Orthodoxy

Yesterday, the New York Times published an essay exposing and critiquing the ways that Vladimir Putin is exploiting Orthodox Christianity in order to project international significance.  In the summer of 2014, we raised these issues in an op-ed piece we wrote for a blog hosted by the Greek Orthod... Read more.
Also available in: Русский