The Orthodox Christian Studies Center at Fordham University is delighted to present another episode of its webinar series highlighting the scholarly insights and academic careers of female scholars whose research and writing explore some facet of the history, thought, or culture of Orthodox Christianity. This episode features a conversation with Karin Krause on her recent…
Continue readingStudying Byzantine Cappadocia
by Elizabeth Zanghi This past June, I visited Cappadocia in central Turkey. It was my second trip to the region, and it certainly won’t be my last, as I have decided to focus on Cappadocian art history in graduate school. “Why Cappadocia?” I am frequently asked. The best way to answer that question is to…
Continue readingThe Byzantine Origins of Gun Control
It would be difficult to overstate the significance of the Byzantine emperor Justinian for both Christian and political history because, more than any previous Christian ruler, he integrated Christian precepts into imperial legislation. Whether one looks favorably upon the Byzantine model of Church/State “symphonia” or prefers a Jeffersonian separation of Church and State, every modern…
Continue readingDon’t Confuse Autocephaly with Theology
For our entire history, secular geographies have dictated the boundaries of episcopal sees and autocephalous churches. The decisions of ecumenical councils, which occasionally affirmed these jurisdictions, were pragmatic efforts to align—and often realign—the ecclesiastical map according to shifting political realities. In short, there is nothing theologically significant about ecclesial borders.
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