Bridging the Ecclesial, the Academic, and the Political
by Will Cohen In a 2015 address at the University of Munich, Metropolitan John Zizioulas observed that “[t]he agenda of Theology is set by history.” By “history” he meant the concerns and questions particular to a given age, as he underscores in adding, “This was known to the Fathers of the Church who were in…
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In modern times the appropriateness of the established Epistle Lesson (Ephes. 5:20-33) in the rite of marriage has been questioned. How is it perceived by the contemporary listener and what does it say about spousal relationships? At a basic level this established passage can be understood within the context of the household code adapted to…
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by Mark Arey The recent visit of the President and First Lady to the Vatican raised again the question of head coverings for women in the Christian context. Many Christians perpetuate a theology of women’s submission to men that is symbolized by head coverings, based on a Scriptural text (First Corinthians 11:3-16). In 11:5, Paul…
Continue readingby Bryce E. Rich, Fr. Robert M. Arida, Susan Ashbrook Harvey, David Dunn, Maria McDowell, and Teva Regule The title of the working document “The Sacrament of Marriage and Its Impediments” appears to promise a meaningful teaching on the spousal relationship. Instead, much of the document is devoted to a particular, modern vision of family. Beginning with the…
Continue readingIn preparation for the Great and Holy Council to be held on Crete in June, 2016, the Orthodox bishops have issued a preconciliar document on the sacrament of marriage. The document’s main thrust is to illuminate the core teaching on marriage and its sanctity from the Orthodox perspective. Marriage is a dominical institution reserved for…
Continue readingby Fr. Robert M. Arida, Susan Ashbrook Harvey, David Dunn, Maria McDowell, Teva Regule, and Bryce E. Rich The document on marriage does not refer to its long and complex history and accompanying theology. What is offered to the faithful and to the world is a statement that bases marriage on a particular understanding of…
Continue readingby Rev. Dr. Patrick Viscuso, Perry T. Hamalis, David Heith-Stade, Rev. Dr. Chrysostom Nassis, Rev. Dr. Alexander Rentel, and Christos Tsironis According to the theological vision of the Church, the bond of love is to be found at the core of marital life. Marriage is viewed within the framework of love, which is the core…
Continue readingby Maria McDowell The upcoming Great Council, decades in the making, is an opportunity for Orthodoxy to present to the world a vision of the fruitfulness of love ripened through relationships in which we are simultaneously co-workers in one another’s deification and co-workers with God through whom all creation bears life. The Synod is an…
Continue readingby David C. Ford, Mary Ford, Rev. Dr. Philip LeMasters, Philip Mamalakis, and Alf Kentigern Siewers “The sacred nature of the God-established union and its lofty spiritual content explain the Apostle’s affirmation in Heb. 13:4. That is why the Orthodox Church condemned any defilement of its purity (Eph. 5:2-5, 1 Thes. 4:4, Heb. 13:4ff)” (Chambesy…
Continue readingby Fr. Alexander Rentel (This essay was originally delivered as a public talk at the June 2015 Fordham/OTSA conference on the upcoming Great and Holy Council of the Orthodox Church. It was part of a panel on canonical impediments to marriage.) When examining marriage, starting with the liturgy provides an antidote from a legalistic affliction, which is…
Continue readingby Ashley Purpura (This essay was originally delivered as a public talk at the June 2015 Fordham/OTSA conference on the upcoming Great and Holy Council of the Orthodox Church. It was part of a panel on canonical impediments to marriage.) According to Orthodox canon law and theology, the ideal Christian marriage among laypeople is union between faithfully…
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(This essay was originally delivered as a public talk at the June 2015 Fordham/OTSA conference on the upcoming Great and Holy Council of the Orthodox Church. It was part of a panel on canonical impediments to marriage.) It will no doubt be useful for the Council to focus on harmonizing canonical impediments to marriage—especially marriages where one…
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Public Orthodoxy is a publication of the Orthodox Christian Studies Center of Fordham University
