Science and Eastern Orthodoxy

Science and Eastern Orthodoxy
Author: Efthymios Nicolaidis
Publisher: JHU Press
Total Pages: 289
Release: 2011-12-15
Genre: Science
ISBN: 1421404265

People have pondered conflicts between science and religion since at least the time of Christ. The millennia-long debate is well documented in the literature in the history and philosophy of science and religion in Western civilization. Science and Eastern Orthodoxy is a departure from that vast body of work, providing the first general overview of the relationship between science and Christian Orthodoxy, the official church of the Oriental Roman Empire. This pioneering study traces a rich history over an impressive span of time, from Saint Basil’s Hexameron of the fourth century to the globalization of scientific debates in the twentieth century. Efthymios Nicolaidis argues that conflicts between science and Greek Orthodoxy—when they existed—were not science versus Christianity but rather ecclesiastical debates that traversed the whole of society. Nicolaidis explains that during the Byzantine period, the Greek fathers of the church and their Byzantine followers wrestled passionately with how to reconcile their religious beliefs with the pagan science of their ancient ancestors. What, they repeatedly asked, should be the church’s official attitude toward secular knowledge? From the rise of the Ottoman Empire in the fifteenth century to its dismantling in the nineteenth century, the patriarchate of Constantinople attempted to control the scientific education of its Christian subjects, an effort complicated by the introduction of European science in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Science and Eastern Orthodoxy provides a wealth of new information concerning Orthodoxy and secular knowledge—and the reactions of the Orthodox Church to modern sciences.

Science and the Eastern Orthodox Church

Science and the Eastern Orthodox Church
Author: Professor Daniel Buxhoeveden
Publisher: Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.
Total Pages: 238
Release: 2013-06-28
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1409481611

Science and the Eastern Orthodox Church explores core theological and philosophical notions and contentious topics such as evolution from the vantage point of science, Orthodox theology, and the writings of popular recent Orthodox critics as well as supporters. Examining what science is and why Eastern Orthodox Christians should be concerned about the topic, including a look at well known 20th century figures that are considered holy elders or saints in the Orthodox Church and their relationship and thoughts about science, contributors analyse the historical contingencies that contribute to the relationship of the Orthodox Church and science both in the past and present. Part II includes critiques of science and considers its limitations and strengths in light of Orthodox understandings of the experience of God and the so called miraculous, together with analysis of two Orthodox figures of the 20th century that were highly critical of science, it's foundations and metaphysical assumptions. Part III looks at selected topics in science and how they relate to Orthodox theology, including evolution, brain evolution and consciousness, beginning of life science, nanotechnology, stem cell research and others. Drawing together leading Orthodox scientists, theologians, and historians confronting some of the critical issues and uses of modern science, this book will be useful for students, academics and clergy who want to develop a greater understanding of how to relate Orthodoxy to science.

Light from the East

Light from the East
Author: Alexei V. Nesteruk
Publisher: Fortress Press
Total Pages: 302
Release:
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 9781451403572

In this unique volume, a new and distinctive perspective on hotly debated issues in science and religion emerges from the unlikely ancient Eastern Orthodox Christian tradition. Alexei Nesteruk reveals how the Orthodox tradition, deeply rooted in Greek Patristic thought, can contribute importantly in a way that the usual Western sources do not. Orthodox thought, he holds, profoundly and helpfully relates the experience of God to our knowledge of the world. His masterful historical introduction to the Orthodox traditions not only surveys key features of its theology but highlights its ontology of participation and communion. From this Nesteruk derives Orthodoxy's unique approach to theological and scientific attribution. Theology identifies the underlying principles (logoi) in scientific affirmations. Nesteruk then applies this methodology to key issues in cosmology: the presence of the divine in creation, the theological meaning of models of creation, the problem of time, and the validity of the anthropic principle, especially as it relates to the emergence of humans and the Incarnation. Nesteruk's unique synthesis is not a valorization of Eastern Orthodox thought so much as an influx of startlingly fresh ideas about the character of science itself and an affirmation of the ultimate religious and theological value of the whole scientific enterprise.

Scientism

Scientism
Author: Tom Sorell
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 217
Release: 2013-07-04
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 113484123X

First Published in 2004. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

Orthodox Christianity and Modern Science

Orthodox Christianity and Modern Science
Author: Vasilios Makrides
Publisher: Brepols Publishers
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2019
Genre: Religion and science
ISBN: 9782503576169

The first volume of the new series Science and the Orthodox Church focuses on the nature of the relationship between modern Science and Orthodox Christianity with its centuries-old tradition. Orthodoxy today shares a variety of--sometimes ambiguous--attitudes towards modern Science shaped by the texts of the Church Fathers, medieval and modern theologians and scholars, as well as contemporary social realities. On the other hand, modern Science, which sprung from the seventeenth-century quest by Western-European philosophers for rationality, is faced with crucial and uneasy questions about the meaning of life and the position of Humankind within the natural world. The main goal of the volume is to define the patterns of the Science-religion relationship in the Orthodox world, especially in the light of the most recent trends in both Science and Theology. Is this a relationship of dialog or conflict? Of integration or independence? What is the impact of the revival of patristic studies and new theological currents on the relationship? But also what is the relevant impact of new scientific discoveries on the image of the Human and the Universe? Has the modern Science-religion dialog in the West influenced Eastern Christianity in its effort to create new perspectives and concepts in response to new challenges? These questions are crucial for understanding and mapping the current science-religion dialog in the Orthodox world, and apart from recording given views and opinions.

Holy Men of God

Holy Men of God
Author: Theodore Sabo
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2021-11-30
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 9781685073374

"Holy Men of God is a history of the kings, priests, and monks of Eastern Orthodoxy, an intriguing subject especially for Western readers. It focuses on the violent and luxuriant worlds of Byzantium and medieval Russia, taking its readers from the Iconoclastic crisis, the last church fathers, the Bogomil heretics, the God-intoxicated Hesychasts, and the flowering of Russian saints under the Mongol yoke, to the quarrel between the Possessors and the Non-Possessors, the bizarre persecution of the Old Believers, the twilight of the Ottoman Empire, the spiritual classic The Way of a Pilgrim, and the death on a Greek peninsula of the solitary monk Silouan. Central to its plot are the quarrelsome figure Symeon the New Theologian and the final schism between the Eastern and Western churches in AD 1054. Throughout the book the quiet sanctity of the Eastern church is contrasted with the neurosis and sadism of the Russian and Byzantine monarchs. This interplay helps the reader better appreciate the strength and resilience of a church that has been repeatedly exposed to chaos and catastrophe up to the present day"--

The Eastern Orthodox Church

The Eastern Orthodox Church
Author: John Anthony McGuckin
Publisher: Yale University Press
Total Pages: 361
Release: 2020-03-17
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 030025217X

An insider’s account of the Eastern Orthodox Church, from its beginning in the era of Jesus and the Apostles to the modern age In this short, accessible account of the Eastern Orthodox Church, John McGuckin begins by tackling the question “What is the Church?” His answer is a clear, historically and theologically rooted portrait of what the Church is for Orthodox Christianity and how it differs from Western Christians’ expectations. McGuckin explores the lived faith of generations, including sketches of some of the most important theological themes and individual personalities of the ancient and modern Church. He interweaves a personal approach throughout, offering to readers the experience of what it is like to enter an Orthodox church and witness its liturgy. In this astute and insightful book, he grapples with the reasons why many Western historians and societies have overlooked Orthodox Christianity and provides an important introduction to the Orthodox Church and the Eastern Christian World.

Introducing Eastern Orthodox Theology

Introducing Eastern Orthodox Theology
Author: Andrew Louth
Publisher: InterVarsity Press
Total Pages: 194
Release: 2013-10-11
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0830895353

With an estimated 250 million adherents, the Orthodox Church is the second largest Christian body in the world. This absorbing account of the essential elements of Eastern Orthodox thought deals with the Trinity, Christ, sin, humanity, and creation as well as praying, icons, the sacraments and liturgy.

A Guide to Orthodox Psychotherapy

A Guide to Orthodox Psychotherapy
Author: Chrysostomos (Archbishop of Etna.)
Publisher:
Total Pages: 154
Release: 2007
Genre: Psychology
ISBN:

In 2000 the American Psychological Association, in an important attempt to bring religious issues and traditions to the attention of psychotherapists, included in its Handbook of Psychotherapy and Religious Diversity a chapter on psychotherapy with Eastern Orthodox Christians. This chapter discusses the pivotal efforts of Metropolitan Hierotheos and Archbishop Chrysostomos to bring together the ancient teachings of the Christian East with the science of modern psychology. In this work, the relationship between psychology and religion is analyzed. It presents an analysis of the teachings of the Eastern Church Fathers on the world, man, and the psychological aspects of the union of man with God. Archbishop Chrysostomos works into his presentation the extent of his own research as well as the writings of Metropolitan Hierotheos, which include attempts to evaluate the place, significance, and the effectiveness of Orthodox psychotherapy in secular psychotherapy and its application in the clinical setting.