Description
Offers a groundbreaking analysis of the transformation of conciliarity in modern Orthodox Christianity
Conciliarity has long been a defining feature of Orthodox Christian identity, shaping governance, theology, and communal life. The Wiley-Blackwell Companion to Conciliarity in Modern Orthodox Christianity offers a comprehensive examination of how this foundational principle has evolved from the nineteenth century onward. Bridging theological inquiry with historical and sociopolitical analysis, this volume brings together leading scholars to explore the paradigm shift in Orthodox ecclesiology, moving from a hierarchical model centered on the bishop to a more dynamic, participatory understanding of conciliarity as embracing both leadership and laity.
Filling a critical gap in English-language scholarship on modern Orthodox ecclesiology and conciliar thought, the Companion provides crucial insights into key historical moments, including the 1917-18 Moscow Council and the 2016 Council of Crete, while also addressing ongoing challenges such as inter-Orthodox conflicts, the role of the laity, and ecumenical relations. The contributing authors use historical analysis and contemporary case studies to highlight diverse expressions of conciliar and synodal practice across global Orthodox communities, from traditional heartlands in the Middle East, Russia, Greece and Romania to diaspora and missionary contexts in Africa, the Americas and Western Europe.
An essential reference for understanding the past, present, and future of conciliarity in the Orthodox Church, The Wiley-Blackwell Companion to Conciliarity in Modern Orthodox Christianity:
- Explores previously under-researched aspects of Orthodox ecclesiology, connecting historical, theological, and sociopolitical perspectives
- Covers a broad geographical range, including Eastern and Oriental Orthodox traditions across the Middle East, Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Americas
- Addresses key contemporary issues such as inter-Orthodox relations, lay participation, and the role of women in the Church
- Includes interdisciplinary approaches, incorporating elements of political theology, church governance, and environmental and ecumenical studies
The Wiley-Blackwell Companion to Conciliarity in Modern Orthodox Christianity is an essential resource for graduate students and scholars in theology, ecclesiology, church history, and ecumenism. It is also a valuable reference for clergy, church leaders, and members of ecumenical organizations such as the World Council of Churches seeking insights into the evolving role of conciliarity in modern Orthodox Christianity
Table of Contents
Notes on Contributors xi
Foreword xix
Acknowledgments xxii
Introduction 1
I. The Orthodox Conciliar Tradition 11
1 The Conciliar Tradition in the Early Church and Byzantine Empire 13
Michel Stavrou
2 Conciliarity in Monasticism as Mutual Obedience 28
Anna Briskina- Müller
3 Conciliarity and Orthodox Choral Traditions 40
Ivan Moody
Precursors of the Conciliar Renaissance 51
4 “For It is a Sobor.” The 1721 Reform of Peter the Great 53
Olga Tsapina
5 Orthodox Churches and Conciliarity in the Habsburg Empire 68
David Heith- Stade and Thomas Mark Németh
6 Conciliarity and the Orthodox Churches in the Ottoman Empire and Balkan National States in the Nineteenth and early Twentieth Centuries 82
Paul Brusanowski
7 The Break- up of Empires: Orthodox Nationalism, Autocephaly, and Conciliarity 95
Ionuț Biliuță
8 Orthodoxy and Conciliarity in the Russian Empire, 1825– 1916 111
Alexey Beglov
The 20th Century Conciliar Renaissance 125
9 The 1902 and 1904 Encyclicals of the Ecumenical Patriarchate and the Pan- Orthodox Conciliar Process: Overcoming National and Political Divisions, and Promoting Orthodox Unity 127
Natallia Vasilevich
10 The Council of the Orthodox Church in Russia, 1917– 1918 141
Aleksandr Kravetskii and Scott M. Kenworthy
11 Gendering Conciliarity: Uncomfortable Historical Experience and Modern Gender Battles 155
Nadezhda Beliakova
12 Reviving Orthodox Conciliarity through the Holy and Great Council of Crete 2016 172
Maxim Vasiljević
13 The Orthodox Diaspora, the Holy and Great Council of Crete, and the Search for Church Unity 190
Dimitrios Keramidas
II. The Theological Vision 203
14 Aleksei Khomyakov, the Slavophiles, and the Origins of Sobornost 205
Basil Lourié
15 Sobornost in the Discourse of the Russian Church in the Second Half of the Nineteenth Century 219
Paul Valliere
16 Fr. Sergiy Bulgakov’s Re- dimensioning of Conciliarity/Sobornost 230
Manuel Sumares
17 Nicholas Afanasiev: Conciliarity and the Eucharistic Assembly 245
Anastacia Wooden
18 The Question of Conciliarity in the Ecclesiology of John Zizioulas 257
Demetrios Bathrellos
19 Sabornost in Twentieth- Century Serbian Theology 270
Vladimir Cvetković
20 Open Sobornicity in Dumitru Stăniloae 282
Viorel Coman
21 Sobornost: Orthodox Perspectives in the British Isles 294
Andrew Louth
22 Catholicity in Modern Orthodox Ecclesiology 306
Paul Ladouceur
23 Egalitarian and Totalitarian Lines Within the Structure of Sobornost: From Khomyakov’s Anti- Hierarchicalism to Karsavin’s Hierarchical Soborny Personalities 318
Dmitry Biriukov
24 Sobornost: Political and Eschatological Dimensions 330
Davor D?alto
Contextual Approaches 343
25 Three Orthodox Women theologians and their Approaches to Conciliarity 345
Irina Paert
26 Sobornost and Ecology 358
Elizabeth Theokritoff
27 Synodality and Mission in Late Modernity 371
Athanasios N. Papathanasios
28 Conciliarity and Paradigm Change in Orthodox Ecclesiology 384
Andrey Shishkov
III. Local Conciliarities 397
29 Conciliarity and Russian Orthodox Mission in the Late Imperial and Revolutionary Periods 399
Alison Ruth Kolosova
30 Eastern Orthodox Conciliarity in North America: Archbishop Tikhon Bellavin and the First North American Council of 1907 413
Aram G. Sarkisian
31 Conciliarity and Western European Orthodoxy in the Twentieth Century 425
Sebastian Rimestad
32 Sobornicity, Synodality, and Conciliarity in the Romanian Orthodox Church 436
Cristian Sonea and Răzvan Perșa
33 Conciliarity in Ukrainian Orthodoxy 449
Nicholas Denysenko
34 Orthodoxy and Synodality in Africa: The Chalcedonian Orthodox 462
Evi Voulgaraki- Pissina
35 Synodality and Conciliarity in the Life of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church (Indian Orthodox Church) 479
Jossi Jacob Ponodath
36 The Inter- Council Assembly of the Russian Orthodox Church: An Advisory Board Under Patriarch Kirill 490
Andrei V. Psarev
Conciliarity from Below 499
37 Conciliarity from Below in the Coptic Orthodox Church of Egypt and the Ethiopian Orthodox Täwaḥǝdo Church in the Nineteenth– Twenty- First Centuries 501
Ralph Lee
38 The Russian Student Christian Movement as an Expression of Sobornost in the 1920s– 1930s 513
Ulyana Gutner
39 The Russian Student Christian Movement and its Conciliar Practices After World War Two 523
Cyrille Sollogoub
40 Conciliarity and the Orthodox Youth Movement in the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch 531
Elias El Halabi
41 Digital Opportunities and Challenges to Conciliarity in the Orthodox Church 545
Jacob Lassin
Ecumenical Engagement 557
42 The Moscow Council of 1917– 1918, the Second Vatican Council, and Ongoing Reflection on Synodality in the Roman Catholic Church 559
Peter De Mey
43 Conciliarity in the Anglican Tradition 574
Paul Avis
44 Conciliarity in Eastern Orthodox– Catholic and Oriental Orthodox– Catholic Dialogue 586
Johannes Oeldemann
45 The Dialogue Between the Oriental Orthodox Churches and the Eastern Orthodox Churches 603
Christine Chaillot
Index 615
