This dissertation argues that Eastern Orthodox theology is a framework for multidimensional social change or improvement and can inform, and be informed by the multi-disciplinary social science field of development studies. This claim will be examined by analyzing the Trinitarian theology of the Orthodox theologian Dumitru Staniloae in relation to the writings of Nobel Economist Amartya Sen and his ‘capability approach’. The argument begins by justifying EO’s interaction with development studies based on her anthropological optimism. Critical is that supernatural revelation stands very close to and builds on natural revelation. A Trinitarian theological anthropology then provides a rationale for, and integration of, three key concepts in the social sciences: agency, solidarity, and structures. This analytical framework is then used to assess the challenges of post-Communist contexts, where most Orthodox live. The Communist downfall, it is argued, involved a failure to incorporate each of these dimensions in human development. This analysis then serves to test the adequacy of, and reveal weaknesses in, Amartya Sen’s freedom-focused social evaluation framework known as the capability approach. The dissertation proceeds with examining Orthodox salvation as movement from Being, to Well-being, to Eternal-being where Well-being is, notably, the exercise of agency to develop the potentials given in Being. Agency is not individualistic, but is structured into the virtues of solidarity and incorporates the related notion of phronesis (practical reason). The virtue tradition is then postulated as a promising link between theology and development studies. The virtue tradition is analyzed in its classical background, modern human development, as well as both Protestantism and Catholicism to facilitate a comparison with Eastern Orthodoxy. This analysis shows that Orthodoxy offers a theological framework for human development in that she gives priority of practical reason to contemplation, makes virtually no separation between grace and nature, and provides a relevant method for synergizing salvation history with action on behalf of human development.

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Light from the East: Theology, science and Eastern Orthodox Tradition

The glory of God is humanity fully alive: exploring Eastern Orthodoxy as a resource for human development in conversation with the capability approach

This thesis examines the role played by non-human creation in the liturgies for the feast of Holy Pascha (Easter), of the twelve major feasts of the Orthodox Church, and of the period of Great Lent. Applying to liturgical texts and practices the methodology developed by Paul Ricoeur for biblical interpretation, the thesis argues that the kind of world opened by these liturgies allows for the participation of non-human creatures in the liturgy and thus is amenable to an ecological theology. It investigates the implications of the liturgical texts for contemporary theological reflection about salvation, incarnation, sin, and theosis in light of the ecological crisis and the frequent Orthodox claim that the liturgy is ‘cosmic’ in scope. Chapter 1 looks at the role of non-human creation in the Paschal/Pentecost season and lays out the case for the need to include all of creation. Chapter 2 focuses on the feasts of the incarnation and argues for a more inclusive theological interpretation of the incarnation. Chapter 3 examines the liturgies of Lent and Holy Week and develops hamartiological implications of the ecological crisis. The final chapter focuses on the feasts of Theophany and the Transfiguration and proposes a view of theosis that extends beyond humans.

The role of non-human creation in the liturgical feasts of the Eastern Orthodox tradition : towards an Orthodox ecological theology

Can Orthodox Christianity be characterised and classified as modern, antimodern, premodern or even postmodern? Which of these features can depict more adequately this historical branch of Christian...

Orthodox Christianity, Modernity and Postmodernity: Overview, Analysis and Assessment

The paper discusses the problem of demarcation between the dimensions of natural and the human sciences in contemporary cosmology. In spite of a common presumption that cosmology is a natural science, the specificity of its alleged subject matter, that is the universe as a whole, makes cosmology fundamentally different from other natural sciences. The reason is that in cosmology the subject of cosmological research and its "object" are in a certain sense inseparable. Any study of the universe involves two opposite perspectives which can be described as "a-cosmic" and "cosmic", egocentric and non-egocentric. Cosmology involves two languages, namely that of physical causality (pertaining to the natural sciences) and that of intentionality (pertaining to the human sciences). On the one hand the universe can be seen as a product of discursive reason, that is as an abstract "physical" entity unfolding in space and time. On the other hand the universe can be experienced through our participation in, or communion with the world understood as the natural context of living beings. This dichotomy between reason and experience, abstract construction and concrete participation, originates in the essence of human persons understood as unities of the corporeal and spiritual. On account of this dichotomy it is hard to set up a strict line of demarcation between the elements of the human and the natural sciences in cosmology. This confirms the intuition that any realistic world view is incomplete without a knowledge of what it means to exist as a human being. Conversely it is likewise impossible to understand human existence without considering its natural setting, that is the universe. We conclude that anthropology is incomplete without cosmology and vice versa.

Cosmology at the Crossroads of the Natural and Human Sciences: is demarcation possible?

Outline: What might be described as a Pentecostal worldview has become a powerful cultural phenomenon, but it is often at odds with modernity and globalization This book confronts questions of spirituality in the face of contemporary science The essays in this volume illustrate how Pentecostalism can usefully engage with technology and scientific discovery and consider what might be distinctive about a Pentecostal dialogue with the sciences The authors conclude that Pentecostals, with their unique perspectives on spirituality, can contribute new insights for a productive interaction between theology and science Contributors are Steve Badger, Donald F Calbreath, Dennis W Cheek, Margaret M Poloma, Craig Scandrette-Leatherman, James K A Smith, Mike Tenneson, Wolfgang Vondey, Frederick L Ware, Telford Work, and Amos Yong

Light from the East: Theology, science and Eastern Orthodox Tradition

Citations

The glory of God is humanity fully alive: exploring Eastern Orthodoxy as a resource for human development in conversation with the capability approach

The role of non-human creation in the liturgical feasts of the Eastern Orthodox tradition : towards an Orthodox ecological theology

Orthodox Christianity, Modernity and Postmodernity: Overview, Analysis and Assessment

Cosmology at the Crossroads of the Natural and Human Sciences: is demarcation possible?

Science and the Spirit: A Pentecostal Engagement with the Sciences

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