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International Congress
THE DIALOGUEBETWEEN SCIENCE AND RELIGIONIN THEORTHODOX WORLD
Bucharest, Romania,
ABSTRACTS
Religious-Morality's Comprehension of Natural-Scientific Paradigm Fr. Apollinary (A. G. Dubinin), D.A. Pahom Russia
The direct connection between human morality and development of the natural science always exists. In the contemporary secular world the connection is particularly tight. The religion morality is the unique constant form of the human morality. Thus the religion morality like the invariable value interacts with upcoming natural scientific knowledge. We are going to base our study on the Christian (especially Orthodox) natural scientist opinion upon relationship between historical accumulated knowledge and transcendent vision. The discussed problem became actual soon after Renaissance when unique and indivisible knowledge began to disintegrate. However monotonous process of scientific investigation is always followed by personality with high passionarity. Those considered to be some what like "datum of culture" extending and then supporting its level. The investigation goal is to keep and extend that knowledge very much. From our point of view we'd like to consider the question about undivided connection of the abstract science evolution with theological problems. On the one hand the new empiric data and natural scientific information follow to increasing of "KNOWLEDGE ENTROPY". But on the other hand the Theological Philosophy and especially the Religious Culture can keep in the process of "KNOWLEDGE ENTROPY". We'd like to develop our thesis about existence of the Balanced Morality Law i.e. summed value of the spiritual in a society is a constant. It should be interesting in our study to discuss the special periods when the spiritual was temporarily covered but indeed there were periods of wisdom and conscience accumulation. It's well known historical periods during natural science crisis when the world cultural treasury was enriched by development of the religion, the humanities, the philosophy.
Between Kant and Dionysius the Areopagite: the Condition of a Dialogue in Between Two Worlds Stefan Afloroaei Romania
I have taken the first words of the title of this paper from a letter sent by the Romanian philosopher Lucian Blaga to a friend in which he wrote that as a metaphysician and interpreter he places himself between Kant and Dionysius the Areopagite. This confession epitomizes much of Romanian philosophy ever since the time of the Junimea society. It is situated, somewhat inevitably, between two great traditions, i.e. the Patristic tradition and the Western critical tradition. The two are not mutually exclusive, as one may think at first sight, but coexist, albeit in often tense conditions. I will focus on this aspect and also on the dialogue that it facilitates between philosophy and theology and will refer to the writings of Romanian philosophers such as Lucian Blaga, Mircea Vulcanescu and Constantin Noica.
Cosmology and Genesis Evgenia Antonopoulou & Eleni Rovithis-Livaniou Greece
It will be shown that the synchronous cosmological theories are not in opposition, contrast and confront with the description about the creation of the world, as is given in Genesis.
Immanuel Kant, "Religion Only Within the Limits of Human Reason" - A Recovery of Philosopher Work from the Comptemporary Open Transdisciplinary Science-Religion Dialogue Mircea Bertea Romania
Under the conditions in which the ontology, the foundation and principles of the epistemology are essentially influenced by Science and Religion (more specifically, by Religion and Science), re-reading the classics and re-discovering them from a new post-modern hermeneutical perspective is necessary. Thus, our paper intends to be not only a re-discussion of the works of one of the most important philosophers of the world, but also a rediscovery of a "shocking work" (shocking not only to the times and people for which it was written) from a post-modern perspective. Religion only within the limits of human reason is a famous work that puts the spotlight onto the human beings and their possibility of reaching true knowledge, and is considering the idea of God as an unapproachable transcendental. Some of the most important questions this paper seeks to answer are: can this courageous thesis belonging to Kant be accepted today and what is the real meaning behind it, can this unapproachable transcendental be approached by means of human reason.
Problems and Perspectives of Science and Religion Dialogue in Russia Alexei Bodrov Russia
1. Science and religion dialogue in Russia has much in common with such dialogue in the West however there are many essential peculiarities connected with the Russian religious tradition, culture, history, etc. Some of them might be helpful for the dialogue while others may create additional problems. Some peculiarities are connected with the Orthodox tradition and common with other Orthodox countries like Romania or Greece. Others are unique for Russia and connected with its recent political, social and economical developments. 2. Russia now stands on the frontier of choosing its strategy for cultural development. It is one of the most important and painful issues. The dialogue between science, philosophy and religion is most important in this situation. There is rapidly growing fundamentalism in the church life in Russia. It is a new phenomenon and it actively tries to influence the secondary education. What we lack is holistic vision of science, philosophy and religion. 3. Russia needs to develop its intellectual-cultural milieu for the promoting of science and religion dialogue. The milieu that would facilitate different forms of the dialogue and tolerate various views. Establishing and supporting reputable centers for science and religion dialogue that foster relevant activities in different forms and on various levels, cooperate with Western and Eastern centers and specialists to provoke and facilitate dialogue on local level and in specific cultural environment is very efficient strategy of development. 4. There is definite lack of systematic theological education in Russia and hence there are very few qualified theologians involved in the science and religion dialogue. It is so despite the fact that there are many priests whose first education (at Soviet times) was in natural sciences or humanities. The good thing is that the new generation of priests seems to be more open and more interested in the subject. 5. Russian school of physics was and partly still is very strong and many leading physicists and other scientists were interested in religion even before the fall of the Soviet regime and hence many of them became involved in science and religion dialogue. Younger generation of scientists has much better access to the theological education – whether it is formal or self-education. 6. The third and probably the largest group of participants of science and religion activities are philosophers. Normally they also do not have any formal theological education however they are influenced by the great tradition of Russian religious philosophy and culture and it helps to find common language with other participants. In many cases philosophy is used as ‘topos’ (and language) of dialogue between science and religion in Russia. 7. St. Andrew's Biblical Theological Institute in Moscow tries to reach as many seminaries, theological departments and colleges as we can and we work with them thought different projects - book distribution, summer theological institutes, special courses for secular school teachers, conferences, etc. And the result is better than we expected. There is great need and many opportunities for international intra-Orthodox and interconfessional cooperation. Collaboration with ADSTR is especially important since Romania and Russia have similarities in our recent history and have much in common in our Orthodox heritage.
Orthodox Religious Experience in Science and Religion Dialogue Daniel P. Buxhoeveden USA
History I had to believe, the Resurrection I knew for a fact. I did not discover, as you see, the Gospel beginning with its first message of the Annunciation, and it did not unfold for me as a story which one can believe or disbelieve. It began as an event that left all problems of disbelief because it was direct and personal experience. --Metropolitan Anthony Bloom
Science offers a specific view of 'reality that is filtered through sense knowledge and understood through the limitations of human reason. Philosophy too is dependent on the same human reason to assess claims of knowledge. Science attempts to separate the object of study from the knower, so knowledge is always something removed and filtered through sensory apparatus specific to our adaptation as an animal. This is why proof is so fundamental to scientific method and why certainty is always elusive. The materialist insists on the totality of these constraints and so must reduce Reality (defined here as the totality of that which is or can be) to these restrictions. The empirical sciences cannot inform us about that which is greater, only that which is in the same plane of existence. To paraphrase the British philosopher, Mary Midley, a child cannot design an adult or a thief an honest person. An attempt to ascend beyond mere humanity is an illusion unless there is revelation of the transcendent God, and this ultimately lies in the experience of God. In order for dialogue to be genuine, each side must bring forth that which it really is, that which makes it what it is. Science brings its empirical data and models, the experience of science, and Orthodox Christianity brings its theology and its experience, borne over two thousand years of Church tradition. Without the experience of God theology would be philosophy, and without revelation humans cannot beyond their nature side. The argument to incorporate religious experience in the discussion between religion and science, and in particular that of Orthodoxy is (1) that there cannot be full and true dialogue between scientific and religious people unless acknowledgement is made of the role played by substantive religious experience, (2) that if the dialogue is concerned with the greater issues of the human condition such as meaning and purpose, it cannot omit the human experience, (3) unlike attempts to frame certain religious concepts in a scientific paradigm, religious experience in traditional Orthodox Christianity does not infringe on science because it is not in competition with scientific method. In contrast to science and philosophy, knowledge of God does not depend on bodily senses, it is relational (personal) and immanent. Christianity must not be relegated to mere philosophy nor cast as an alternative form of natural science. The experiential aspect of Orthodoxy is a great strength that informs science and the human condition in a sober, profound, and substantive manner.
Synergy in Science-Theology Dialogue. The Connection between the Physical and General Preservation of the World as a Part Element of God. The Decisive Role of Non-created Energies over Created Energies Mircea Florin Caracas Romania
There may be asked the question: where are to be found the energies of peace, joy, happiness that are part of the human soul? They cannot be explained through a ratio of created energies but only through the synergy of created and non-created energies. The aspects taken into consideration in the paper start from those classical energetic, that is the simple application of the preservation law in the general case, with extending the analysis of energetic processes that take place in the human body, meaning energetic metabolism, influence factors, classical and modern possibilities of intensifying its. A critical view is taken onto para psychological theories regarding psi energies and psi energetic fields. With the aim of making matters clear, there are briefly mentioned the well-known principles of thermo dynamics and the exergetic expressions of thermo dynamics principles with the definition of energy and exergy and the description of the oxidative energetic activities and of the regulating activities that take place in the human body through the nervous system. On the other hand, analyzing the scientific aspects related to the theological dogmas, it is absolutely necessary and useful to consider physical preservation as a part of the general preservation of the world, that is as a main aspect of God.6 Out of the three aspects of the unitary divine grace: preservation-communion-governing, useful to the understanding of the paper are developed: those of preservation, cooperation. Understanding the relation of love that settles the communion, of kindness and of love of God, as well as the man's participation, involves the correct understanding of synergy aspects. Man, created after God's Face and called at God's Resemblance, is, in fact, the man called at the communion of love. Out of the three stages of the soul completion, that is purification, passionless and illumination, there are brought into discussion the first two conditions of soul equilibrium and rest, regarded in a dynamic direction. Starting with the sources-the writings of St. Maximus the Confessor. St Grigorie Palama, St. Damaschin and of the Pious Paisie Aghiorâtul as a basis, there are gradually stated the conditions of soul equilibrium completion, through the point of view of the person humanization, of the peace steadiness, of the anxieties cease, of getting the state of reliable peace, serenity, of making peace with oneself, with the others, with God, from the point of view of personal soul satisfaction condition. In establishing an order of the soul powers, in getting the man's self confidence, only due to the role of the non-created energies, there are higher and higher levels, the highest state of daring being the love daring. There are pointed out levels of equilibrium, such as: the equilibrium of freedom and sovereignty, the equilibrium of the rest, the equilibrium of the feeling, the equilibrium of the joy of equilibrium, the equilibrium of non-worldly peace, as many steps towards the man's perfection. The force of the gradually earned peace of the human soul, does not come from the contribution of the created energies, no matter which the known intensifying factors above mentioned, but only from the communion of the created and non-created energies, by caring and by love of God. Admitting the divine law in the universe and the finality of life, we admit the essential existence in our life of God's energies that permanently brings us equilibrium and transforms us, in the process of godhood.
Passing to the Limit - Landmarks for a Christian Hermeneutical Dialogic Approach Florin Caragiu, Fr. John Downie Romania
The concept of experience itself has its roots in the idea of limit (peira). The traditional key-concepts of empeiria and experientia help us win an understanding about the process of gaining knowledge as progressing, going forward by forging into the limit (H. Maldiney, V. Ciomos). In many situations, the border conditions appear decisive for the structural modeling. As a prerequisite for every hermeneutic approach is then the establishing of the limits of the method of research. By its nature, the limit refers also directly or indirectly at the goal of research and at the same time circumscribes and gives an orientation to the methodological means chosen to attain it. In the same time, the very concept of definition comes from the Latin finis that means limit (Fr. Pomazansky). The way of understanding the limit is essential for the architectonic of human knowledge. Fr. Ghelasie considers the human condition as a boundary between the created nature and the divine Prototype of man. The embodied Prototype or Incarnated Limit is the Son of God made flesh, as the sole Interceder in Himself between God and creation. The Christian Orthodox hermeneutics emphasizes the liturgical dimension of the limit or boundary - place of the "Truth made flesh" or "partaking with Truth". The mysteries of the origin and end of time and of this world are interpreted in accord with the specific understanding of the limit. The models of reality, the paradoxes and antinomies of language, the intensive and extensive meanings assigned to the concepts used in an interpretative approach should be consistent with the limits assumed in the respective methodology. The limit can be understood as an opening in some or as a closure. The concept of limit is linked with that of the horizon of knowledge that underlies the dynamics of research. The organization and complexity of a system are coherent with the boundary data that are fundamental for the development of the natural processes and regulate also the possible consistent extensions to a wider perspective and context. The reductive and prospective approaches have both to do with the idea of limit structurally determined (we have in view the operational and local character specific to outward sciences) or indefinitely projected into the answerable field of the dialogic enfolding of reality. The problem of limits is thus finally linked with the personal identity, dialogue and prospective approaches have both to do with the idea of limit structurally determined (we have in view the operational and local character specific to outward sciences) or indefinitely projected into the answerable field of the dialogic enfolding of reality. The problem of limits is thus finally linked with the personal identity, dialogue and communion. The concept of limit (with its consistent transgressing) is met by the requirement of consistency and incompleteness of a system of rational knowledge (Gödel). Man's vocation or calling as a being created in the image of God can be fulfilled by a liturgical passage to limit while remaining into the limit (V. Ciomos). According to the patristic teaching, man's deification does not change his nature, but makes him partaker of the divine energies, assimilated without any loss of identity into the body of Christ. The process is dynamic as the limits are extending together with man's knowledge and spiritual growth by the action of the divine grace. The limit can refer to the ever enlarging horizon of knowledge and also as the place of the meeting and partaking between God and creation. The openness of the limit expresses in theology the difference or otherness of the created nature with respect to the divine nature, with the possibility of personal encounter and partaking.
Difficulties of Revelation and Boundaries of Rationality Fr. Ioan Chirila Romania
God reveals Himself to man through the intermediary of creation (natural revelation), as well as through the Word (supernatural revelation), two ways of manifestation that interlace, while being both indispensable. A religion exclusively natural, based on the idea of God's subsistence inside creation as an immanent reality leads to pantheism, while a faith exclusively based on rhetorical resources of the Book render abstract and artificial the religious reflection to its dissolution into reason. Religion is not a logical involvement into the existential, nor a psychological panacea providing answers and solutions to all the rationally unsolved situations, but a fundamental operation appropriated by acknowledging our belonging to an absolute ultimate reality, to an absolute alterity. Within the sphere of reason, constant methodological slavery leads to a total diffusion of the individual's boundaries, thus the article exposes attitudes of exceeding boundaries within the sphere of anthropological discourse, resuming to Romanian researchers and asserting that, in order to quit the area of perpetual errors, the intellect has to join the heart, this way it can be brought to its preconceptual purity which transgresses discursive reason and quits the harmonies of judgment in order to become, in itself, the dwelling of God.
Interdisciplinary Research on Science and Orthodoxy: Specific Features and Opportunities Dan Chitoiu Romania
Given the current state and the features of interdisciplinary research on science and religion in general and on science and Christianity in particular, it is necessary to reflect on whether there is enough evidence in favour of specific research focused on the interactions between science and Orthodoxy, and Eastern Orthodoxy. The elements that support such a claim are related to the particular features of Orthodox spirituality, which is rooted in the Byantine Tradition, on the one hand and to the current state of fundamental scientific research. The specific nature of Orthodox spirituality is best illustrated by the Palamite hesychasm. In the context of the hesychast controversy in the 14th century, St. Gregory Palamas laid down some of the key components of the Eastern attitude on man, the world and God. Among them, actual experience is exceptionally important for the Orthodox view on understanding. Other examples may also be provided, yet we will only focus on the doctrine of uncreated energies or the relationship between mind and body in understanding. Moreover, frontier science has acknowledged the limits of the classical model of understanding the world and boldly resorts to other models of rationality that can provide a presentation of reality that goes beyond the boundaries of old explanations. The specific feature of science is that it relies on experimenting as the favoured method of research, which could bring certain difficulties in the dialogue with a way of understanding the world which is based on the Revelation. However, the meeting between science and Orthodoxy is not only possible but also particularly productive given that scientific research finds in the Christian East a gnoseological methodology which observes similar principles (one can maintain that the hesychast experience has the features of research).
Orthodox Contributions to Psychotherapy: Their Unique Theological, Scientific, and Clinical Significance Archbishop Chrysostomos / Fr. Patapios USA
This study contrasts, at a global level, the teachings of psychoanalysis and the Eastern Church Fathers on the world, man, and the psychotherapeutic dimensions of the Orthodox Christian religion. Emphasis is placed on the unique way in which Orthodox theological precepts address, confront, and encompass the therapeutic and heuristic concerns of psychotherapy, centering on the concept of theosis, or the transformative union of man with God. Drawing on the Orthodox hesychastic tradition and its methodology for spiritual transformation, the paper sets forth the implications of that methodology for the cognitive sciences and a more expansive understanding of human epistemology and the spiritual aspects of psychotherapy. Finally, the study attempts to evaluate the place, significance, and effectiveness of Orthodox psychotherapy in secular psychotherapy, as well as its limitations in application to the clinical setting.
On the Ontological Reality of Logoi of Creation Valetin Cioveie Romania
During the most part of the XIXth and XXth century the historiography of science presented us the work and person of Isaac Newton as divided without the possibility of reconciliation between the most incredible man of science and the private believer, this second part being irrelevant for the physical achievements of Newton. We know today that not only the motivation of his scientific research, but also specific concrete influences upon it were truly religious in nature. There was just one Newton: a brilliant mathematician, physicist, and philosopher deeply structured by his (heretical) theology. In the Eastern Christian tradition there seem to be also an obvious dichotomy between religion/theology and science, but science remains in a shadow of interest. Not only we do not have in this tradition an important modern scientific work similar to Principia, but for the dominant monastic tradition science is totally left aside from the spiritual education. In this paper I begin with the position of St. Gregory Palamas, who gives science a limited place in the spiritual evolution and I analyse his conception and the reasons for it. The symbol on which I will focus most part of my presentation is that of logoi of Creation, as the ontological and epistemological reason for the unity between science and theology. For the signification of this symbol I go back to St. Maximus, but the main goal of the paper is to propose an interpretation of these logoi of Creation with the help of the ontology of Mihai Şora and the notion of unfolded universe of David Bohm. These logoi of Creation unified – as St. Maximus says – in Christ, The Logos, offer the true reason why science and theology, knowledge of Creation and theosis, should be one unique endeavor of human soul (integrative model of science and religion).
Economics and Religion. A Christian - Orthodox Perspective Fr. Petre Comsa, Costea Munteanu Romania
Traditionally, the reaction of many mainstream economists to the effort to integrate theology and economics demonstrated the difficulty of doing so in a way that could be broadly recognized as legitimate. This state of things is simply an indication of a broad consensus within the field of economics that methods, norms, and even concerns construed to be related to religious belief have no place in the scientific study of economics. Recently, the situation seems to be changing, however. A decade ago, a group of Christian Catholic social thinkers engaged in dialogue with free-market economists concerning the morality of market activity. As a result, this interdisciplinary exchange inspired the conception of a new subdiscipline that sought to synthesize central aspects of theology and economics, thereby giving rise to a new body of scholarship termed economic personalism. In its Catholic-inspired version, economic personalism is a science of the morality of markets. The general idea is to promote a humane economic order that benefits from market activity but does not reduce the human person to just another element in economic phenomena. This paper suggests that, under such circumstances, the Christian-Orthodox contribution to further development of this new field of investigation could consist in bringing forward the teaching of the Holy Fathers of Eastern tradition. It is argued that, in this way, the moral dimension which dominantly defines the Catholic vision of human person could be surpassed and even transfigured by the spiritual dimension which fully informs the Orthodox vision. Moreover, this pre-eminence of the spiritual determinants of the human person is expected to result in a number of significant changes in the way economic personalism is currently conceived as a scientific discipline (in terms of its subject matter, basic conceptual principles, epistemological status, and general mission).
Knowledge as Inner Word Ioana Costa Romania
Some distinct excerpts of ancient literature point to the fact that knowledge, seen as written word, has to be internalised (id est swallowed) in order to become true knowledge, beyond words (either spoken or written). One of the most ancient pieces is Ezekiel 3,3 (the vision of the scroll, written on both sides, that tasted sweet as honey in the prophet mouth) ; Ez. 3,3 probably influenced Zechariah 5,1-4 (vision of a scroll, in TM, or a sickle, in LXX). A work of late Antiquity, that had a huge impact on medieval studies - being used as a school text - was Martianus Capella's De Nuptiis Philologiae et Mercurii; the religious lore of this work is of considerable interest. An emblematic image is that of Philology, as allegoric bride, forced to vomit up a number of books in order to attain immortality. The Christian feast of Whitsun is a symbol of revealed knowledge; the feast overlaps the Jewish harvest festival of Shavuot, the Pentecost (that marks the day the Torah was given to the Jewish people at Mount Sinai.). These feasts, nevertheless the orthodox rituals, attest some of the original connections between written word and inner word, as total knowledge. The human being as a partner of GodNicolae Dabija R. of Moldova
I come from a space where God suffered the greatest of humiliations. The Holly Father was thrown out of the Churches; there were placed stables, party houses, clubs, hospitals for sinful diseases, birds colonies and myriads of bats. Some people with their hands dirty of blood tried, gun-handling, to enter into Heaven and, using sophisticated stairs, to claim onto icons, through their hidden part. They wanted to climb up there with their own blinded tanks or with the automatic weapons hanging upon their throats. But it didn't work. Because those who wanted to arrest God so that they could take His place, even if they had previously filled in His arrest warrant, were no more able to do it, since the One up there first took their minds away, then took their power away. But we have survived. We survived through love and suffering. These times were ordeal times for the people living in this part of Europe and even for the ones living outside Europe. Many times in this period of deportations and organized starving, of arrests and tortures, of humility and prison, we were tempted to believe that God had deserted us but He was waiting for us behind a door that we were desperately pushing towards Him, while the door was opening towards us. My uncle, Serafim Dabija, superior of the Zloti Monastery, was arrested in 1947 in Church during the Liturgical office. The guilt for which he was incriminated was, I quote, from the sentence's text, "having built a monastery for anti-soviet purposes". In the view of the new masters of Basarabia after 1940, God himself was the greatest "anti-soviet element". How then their empire could not have fallen? In the Siberian camp, nearby the northern pole, where he executed his sentence, my uncle was preaching first to the birds and to the beasts, then to the people. This was a sign that the Church was with him, that it did not remain in Zloti. This was a sign that the Church is not a simple building, but a living being. From the experience of the former USSR, of which the actual Republic of Moldova was a part, I would find myself entitled to state that: I do not believe in the meaning of the revolutions which stimulate the most the human vices and which animalize the human being, instead of perfecting him. I believe too that there is no point for a revolution if it could not improve the inside of the human being. The other ones are regrettable losses of time, human lives and hopes. I also believe that it is not quite the society that should be changed, but rather the human being from within, including with the help of scietific data. It is not the economical differences between our countries and the Occident that is frightening, but the interval between our mentalities. I see the unity of a forthcoming Europe into a recovered harmony between religion and science, an important step for its spiritual unity.
Orthodox Church and Astronomy in Common Fightagainst Astrological SuperstitionMilan S. DimitrijevicSerbiaIn the fight against superstition and credulity Orthodox Church and Astronomical science have a common adversary - Astrology. In this common task, the Orthodox Church and Astronomy are partners which could help mutually to educate people and suppress superstition.A number of cannons of the Orthodox Church as for example 24th canon of Ankir council (314 AD), 36th canon of Laodice council (360 AD), canons of holy Basil the Great and of Gregory of Nyssa condemn any fortune-telling and their techniques including astrology. In canons 65 and 72 of holy Basil the Great fortune-telling, which is the destruction of human liberty, equals with murder.Astrology attacks human liberty and free will. Decisions which a man makes himself are ceded to an astrologer. A free man becomes in such a way astrologer's "client" without liberty to make decisions according to his own free will, without astrologer. In such a way a man also throw away the responsibility.For example Holy Maxim the Greek says: "If by movements of stars and by their conjunctions we receive the gifts of God, than our reason and the free will of our souls depend on zodiacal properties, and by them are directed toward the virtue or toward the culpable life, and than the apostolic sermon becomes needless, and our faith becomes needless...Nobody than should care about virtue or to try to avoid vices... Such one should not have the fear of the Judge since his justification will be that he is forced by the evil master who against his will forced him to different vices."We will discuss here the disagreement of Astrology with modern science and with Orthodoxy and review the arguments of Orthodox Church and Astronomy against this superstitious belief.Knowledge as the Result of Going beyond Science and Religion Liviu Druguş Romania
What is beyond science and religion, after going between them and across them? In my opinion the transdisciplinary results of these trips is knowledge, more knowledge and better and clearer knowledge. The paper is a bit challenging one by wondering if "science" and "religion are the right words we need to describe our attempts to more clear and precise knowledge. My hypothesis is that underlining the links, similarities and differences between Science and Religion, we risk forgetting to go beyond them. My proposal is to pick up the barrier between them and to start to think them together, far beyond any institutional arrangements, group interests or individual ambitions. Of course, many others are working to this project. I am describing here only some remarks and (new?) proposals The Uncreated Energies and the Mystery of CreationVictor Eugen Gelan Romania
In the present paper, I will point out the importance of the doctrine of the uncreated energies, as it is exposed in the writings of Gregory Palamas. The isihast theology is fundamental in the orthodox thinking, which conceives the world as a creation of God. Even though this teaching is explicitly exposed for the first time in the writings of Gregory Palamas, it was also a system of thought and a way of life in the first centuries of the Christian era. The roots of this doctrine are to be found in the Gospels and in the mystic experience of uniting with God. Understanding this doctrine of the Church Fathers concerning uncreated energies implies on the one hand understanding the world, and on the other hand understanding the relation between the Creator and his creation. Can the world as a creation of God be known by means of sciences? Is it possible for the scientific thinking to pass beyond showing us how the world is and finally tell us what the world is? The scientific activity is concerned only with the descriptive level or is it concerned with understanding too? Is it concerned only with the "how" of the things or with their "why" as well? Can the theological doctrine of the uncreated energies be at the same time of any interest for the scientific understanding and explanation of the world? The relation between science and theology can be reconsidered from the point of view of the uncreated energies. Both theology and science are concerned with the reality humans are dealing with, of which they are part and that they are trying to understand better. We can talk about many realities or many levels of the same reality. The way the human subject experiences reality differs from the different levels of the same reality as described by theology and science. Those levels are parts of the same reality only because they relate to the same general human conscience. How can the orthodox teachings about the uncreated energies help understanding reality? What is the meaning of the scientific approach from the point of view of this doctrine? Those are some of the questions that my paper attempts to answer.
The Orthodox Church of Georgia Marina Sh. Gigolashvili, L. Sh. Shengelia Georgia
The orthodox church of Georgia is one of the ancient Christian churches was founded in Iberia (Georgia) in IV AD. Christianity in Georgia was preached by Jesus Christ's apostles: Andrew called the First, Simon Canaanite, Mathathias and Bartholomew. Among them apostles Simon Canaanite, Mathathias and Bartholomew are buried in Georgia (New Athon, Gonio). Soon after the declaration of Christianity as a state religion in IV A.D. in Georgia, the Mtskhetian archbishopric was established (Mtskheta is the ancient capital of Georgia during IV B.C.-V A.D.). Since the V century Georgian Orthodox Church has been an independent (autocephalous) that hierarchically is a separate unit. In this time there were 5 archbishops, who were the leaders of the world's Christian churches: Pope, the archbishop of Constantinople, Antiochia, Alexandria and Jerusalem. In the same V century it was decided that Georgian autocephalous church would be to take the sixth place among the above mentioned churches. Italian missionaries during their visit to Georgia at XII Century marked that Georgians kept a lot of relics. Among them was the largest part of Life-Giving Cross on which Christ was crucified and the nails with which the Christ's was crucified. Because of permanent wars between Georgia and other non-Christian countries during many centuries and then the occupation of the Russian Empire in 1801, a large number of sacred things, together with the treasure of Georgia, have been either lost or destroyed. The nail with which the Christ's hand was crucified was sent in Russia and now this nail is kept in the museum of archbishopric in Zagorsk (Russia). The Life-Giving Cross was lost in 1800, after the death of the last Georgian King George XII. In Georgia there are preserved the greatest sacred things: Christ's robe (is buried under the Svetitskhoveli Cathedral in Mtskheta) and Our Lady's robe is protected in the Museum of History in Zugdidi, together with other sacred things. In the IX Century the archbishop of Jerusalem let the Georgian church in Mtskheta to chrism blessing, whereas the other archbishoprics had got blessing from the archbishop of Jerusalem and were obliged to pay the high contribution. During a long of period of time Georgians were privileged and had honor to own the keys of the church of Christ's tomb – the Keys of Jerusalem. Georgians lost their right at the end of XVth century. Franciscans deprived Georgians of the right. Georgian Orthodox Church from the very beginning up to nowadays has constantly been keeping true diophysit-chalkedonical confession. Whereas the Christian world was shaken by sectarian (heretic) movements, Georgian church remained unsullied for ever.
Transdisciplinary Aspects in Bioethics: the Technological Development Today – an Approach from an Orthodox Perspective Fr. Ştefan Iloaie Romania
The unprecedented development of the bio-medicals technologies in the last three decades drove the modern man to face some questions regarding Bioethics (the Ethics of life), of a life that lies today, because of the technological development - at the intersection of human decision: to accept or not the malformed embryo? To give birth to a child regardless of age barrier? To accept the maternity as a lending? To cut off from the medical devices the one you love, being sure that you are not killing him? To reproduce through cloning one of your organs that has been affected by cancer? Questions of medicine, theology, science, philosophy, law, sociology… Questions of conscience! Is there a general attitude of various disciplines, or even a transdisciplinary attitude, towards technological development? Step by step, the knowledge and technological development have offered the possibility for man to self-surpass himself: from the threshold of the hut to the round of Earth and the infinity of the Universe was, in fact, only a step: the step of surpassing the finite and plunging into the infinite; after finishing the immediate exploration of nature, man has oriented towards himself: from the discovery of the atomic elements to the plastic representation of the human genome was another stage: the mystery of the human individuality becomes a simple sketch that lies, simple and discreet but conclusively, in the vicinity of the immense research laboratories; finally, the blending of the two goals: uncovering the veil that was hiding the infinite and the veil from above the mystery of man - and their fulfillment through various and sophisticated technologies, is building another stage that modern man is about to step on: from creature he tends to become a creator, from man god, from finite infinite, especially when the ideological, social and economic contemporary context are urging him to do this. A couple of centuries have passed since the split between the research and the theological process of knowledge. The growing autonomy of the man's power in front of the supernatural power, offered by the technical revolutions, creates the false symptom of unlimited power in dominating the natural phenomena. The effort of putting everything under control, of offering a life that is organized even in the smallest details, reduces man's freedom of action and offers him the fake image of master and ruler of things and of world. ("…The conception that, in its essence, technology is just something that man can handle still persists. But, according to my opinion, this is impossible. Because, by its essence, technology is something that man cannot automatically submit." – Martin Heidegger). Beneficiaries of the top-technology, caught in the infernal rhythm of daily life, always tempted by searching the immediate goal, introduced in the endless circuit of the Internet, having our life temporary sustained by last-generation medical devices, circulating in cars conducted through satellite, waiting to have the world at our feet by pressing "enter" on the keyboard of a computer, many of us forget that this manifestations that fill our lives and are considered meanings in themselves, do not uncover anything but the absence of a meaning and our need of a meaning, if they are not doubled by the spiritual power of living in Christ. Of principle, the human power of action doesn't contravene the intervention of God in creation, the research and the discoveries are left by Creator's will. The great and, in fact, the only problem of technology is the goal we use it for, is it really serves the man as a being that relates with God, or if, on the contrary, it causes and maintains the estrangement from God. If looked upon in the authentic meaning of the relation between man and God, technology is goof in itself, being a result of searching the truth, of researching the unknown, of surpassing the precedent knowledge. But outside the relation with the divine, technology transforms man from user into slave, taking away from him the freedom that only the sons of God possess. In a world that is changing permanently, the Christian needs to find again the stability of values, for himself but for others, too. One of the greatest challenges of our times for society, institutions, persons, individuals is the question: How can we achieve such a moral and proceeding desideratum in a social context that is rather opposed to imposing some restrictive rules, in which the opinion of the individual is preferred to that of the community, even the ecclesial one? About Materiality in Science and in Orthodoxy Fr. Razvan Andrei Ionescu Romania
Science talks about material world. But what means "materiality" in Science? The concept of materiality evolved from the classical perspective of the modern science to the contemporary one of the quantum physics. Today materiality is no longer seen as in the modern world, a sort of "dematerialisation" of the object of scientific investigation is to be seen in contemporary research. The Christian theology is the Spirituality not isolated from the material world, but the theology of the Incarnation of God. God became one of us, a human being, in the Person of Jesus Christ. After His Resurrection, Jesus came to the Apostles through the closed doors and eats with them. A new kind of materiality is to be taken into consideration concerning the presence of God in the world through the Incarnation and Resurrection. The intact bodies of the saints give us the comprehension of a Spirituality that expresses itself through the materiality and not in the exterior of it. In the same time, materiality in no longer a simple natural manifestation because through the materiality God Itself can be experienced. Dealing with the concept of "materiality" involves Science and Theology in the effort of a more comprehensive perspective. We propose a complementary scientific and theological view. Convergent and divergent aspects concerning the scientific and theological perspectives will be underlined.
Theology and Science / Science and Theology. Some Thoughts HE Metropolitan Iosif Romania
The topic of Theology and Science is not the one of an alternative: "faith or reason", or "theology or science". Such a crumbing of knowledge is already rejected since the Holly Fathers, as being the symptom of the human being's failure into decay. There is, certainly, an antinomy of Science vs. Theology, but this is not the kind of conflict that might be resolved dialectically, this contradiction is not without solution and, into this meeting, Theology ought to be able to stand with dignity and using of Modern means, as it ought to have something to say nowadays that should be worthy of listening to Father Dumitru Staniloae treated of these topics, bringing a new attention upon the Holy Fathers' patrimony, especially on the wisdom taught and spread by the great Capadocians (St. Gregory of Nyssa, St. Basil) and by St. Maximus the Confessor.
Naturalism and Divine Action: a Western Dilemma and an Orthodox Response Christopher C. Knight UK
In recent Western thought, the problem of divine action has been conceptualized as that of whether and how God can affect the workings of a world characterized by obedience to "laws of nature". This conceptual framework has led to the predominance of a model in which a "causal joint" must be assumed and, if possible, identified, which my be seen as allowing God - implicitly seen as having no intrinsic connection with His creation - to use the laws of nature as tools for His purposes. In this paper, an alternative approach - set out more fully in the author's recent book, "The God of Nature" - is outlined. This approach takes its bearings both from an expansion of the concept of naturalism and from the incarnation thinking of the Eastern patristic tradition. The "neo-Byzantine" model that is proposed invokes the implicit understanding of teleology found in St. Maximus the Confessor, which is interpreted here, not primarily in the philosophical terms of the patristic era, but in terms of insights from the world of contemporary science (relating to both the anthropic cosmological principle and the concept of evolutionary convergence). When expanded in terms of the implicit notion of "higher" laws of nature to be found in some patristic thinking, this provides a perspective in which the western notion of the supernatural becomes superfluous, yet all that was attributed to supernatural intervention by the Western medieval tradition may be understood in terms of what would, within the Western framework, be called God's "general" providence as creator. Theologically, this framework may be interpreted in terms of the notion - underdeveloped or even forgotten in Western theology - of the world as a "fallen" one, and its empirical character as "subnatural." Just as the sacraments or mysteries have often been seen, in Orthodox theology, as manifestations of the true, "natural" state of the world (i.e. of its pre-fallen or eschatological state), so here what has been analyzed in Western theology in terms of "special" divine action is seen in comparable terms. Miracles may be seen, not in terms of interference with the laws of nature, but as manifestations of "laws of nature" that reflect – more fully than those that are scientifically explorable – the divine presence in all things.
Models, Parables, Analogies, and other Signs Jean Kovalevsky France
Reality is a very difficult concept, and one can find scores of definitions. Even in science, reality appears to us differently in quantum physics dealing with ultimate compounds of matter and in physics of more or less condensed matter composed of a large quantity of atoms or molecules. Christian truth or reality is, on the contrary well identified; but, by no means does it correspond to realities in science. When trying to describe these realities in words or intelligible signs (such as graphs or mathematical formulae), the situation becomes more involved. If the object is in some known category, understanding the description is simple and, generally, there is no ambiguity. But for inaccessible realities, one or several additional steps are to be made, which necessarily imply distortions, biases, and simplifications. The problem is that the recipient of such descriptions is Man with his brain, his imagination, his cultural experience, his sensibility, etc., and one must use a description that is compatible with his mental structure. Parables, models and analogies are the tools for this. In physical sciences, the material world is basically described by a few fundamental laws of nature, which are assumed to characterize relations in matter. They are theoretical statements about reality, a transcription of it. To describe how some physical ensemble behaves, one uses constructions designed to present an object or a phenomenon in a way that is conceivable by our mind. They are called models; some examples will be given. In life sciences, there are also models, but they are generally not consequences of some postulates, but descriptions using analogies, diagrams, pictures, or geometric representations. In religions, the knowledge is even more difficult to transmit. For instance, a mystic experience is not transmissible to someone who has not experience it. Only analogies can provide some kind of approach. Our Christian faith is essentially based on the Gospel. Jesus Christ continuously uses parables for His teaching. The principle of parables is the same as in models and analogies used in science: with the help of everyday experience of man, they lead him to the understanding of divine realities. In conclusion, if there exists such a similarity in the way that scientific and divine realities (despite their fundamental differences) are presented, it is because they are conveyed to man constrained by his limited background.
The Rationality of the World and the Human Reason Expressed in the Father Dumitru Staniloae's Theology as Links in the Dialogue between Theology and Science Adrian Lemeni Romania
Father Dumitru Staniloae is a great contemporary theologian who developed in the actual context the integrative dimension of the Orthodox Tradition. In this perspective, he recovered the patristic and the ecclesial dimension of the living theology. This theology developed the consciousness of the dialogue. Father Dumitru Staniloae was very opened to the new discoveries of science (especially in physics). By his theology, Father Dumitru Staniloae valorized the genius of synthesis of the Romanian Orthodoxy and his thought could be a real interface in the dialogue between theology and science. In the present paper I tried to emphasize two significant aspects of the Father Dumitru Staniloae's theology: a) the internal relationship between natural and supernatural b) the dynamic reciprocity between human being and world, between the rationality of the world and the human reason. These aspects were underlined also by the contemporary scientific research. In this perspective, the theology of Father Dumitru Staniloae could be a good opportunity to realize a honest dialogue between theology and science. Father Dumitru Staniloae shows that all creation (world and human being) is structured and sustained by Logos. There is a strong relationship between natural and supernatural, there is a deep meaning of the rationality of the world and of a human being which are accomplished in the Supreme Person: Jesus Christ. The deep rationality of the world can not be exhausted by an analytical knowledge. There is reciprocity between discursive knowledge and contemplation, between reason and faith. In this perspective is possible to assume a good dialogue between theology and science.
Laws of Nature and Laws of Physics Sebastian Mateiescu Romania
I propose to understand the meaning of reality by taking into account the feature of eternity. What is real is to be understood as whatever shares the feature of eternity. Therefore, only God seems to be real in this sense since He is the only eternal "Being". But we are told by the Orthodox doctrine that there is life after death, and this life will last forever. Shall we conclude that God is not the only eternal "Being" and that also the created beings can be called eternal? Yes, we are free to draw this conclusion but still have to emphasize one last thing: God has no end but also no beginning. Therefore, as an uncreated "Being" God has reality in itself. The created beings share with God only the feature of lasting forever and this is the gift of life that God gave them. God is eternal in itself, while the created beings are eternal only because God wants to preserve them forever. This preservation is due to the action of the uncreated divine energies. It is an essential feature of this action that it is concerned with the being of one thing and not with the different modes (tropoi) of this being. In other words, these energies initially act upon the being of one thing, by preserving its proper identity, while the modes (tropoi) of this being can be changed. We have being and this being is preserved by the divine energies, but we can live in different modes: we can share Adam's first mode of being, the one before he has eaten from the apple, when his body was full of the divine energies, or we can live in a different mode, as Adam himself did after the sin he committed, when he needed a body from flesh and skin. In the last case, the action of the divine energies is only to preserve the being. But Jesus Christ made possible for us to accomplish a new mode of being, the holiness. In this case, the energies act also upon our mode of being, and in this way we can reach Adam's first mode of being. This is not a natural way of being because it is a gift God gave us after Adam's sin, when we reached our new natural mode of being. Since the Orthodox doctrine stresses that only this mode of being because it is a gift God gave us after Adam's sin, when we reached our new natural mode of being. Since the Orthodox doctrine stresses that only this mode of holiness will last forever, it seems obviously to infer that the properties of this supra-natural mode should be understood in terms of the divine energies. But Science is concerned only with what is natural, and rejects to inquire the supra-natural mode of being. Since we accepted that what is real is eternal, and the eternal mode of being is a supra-natural one (holiness), the reality of nature is assured by the divine energies. Therefore, since the final laws of nature are also the laws of reality, they should be understood in terms of the action of the divine energies. Consequently, the laws Science provides us become the laws of one mode of being, the natural one, which have the property of being not eternal. We propose to call these laws, the laws of Physics instead of calling them the laws of nature.
The Rationality of Creation - Open Approaches to Contemporary Science by Orthodox Theology Sorin Mihalache Romania
The computational model of the Universe presents the data about the physical reality as forming a continuous flow of information. The physical objects and bodies in the Universe operate like computers, storing information (like memory devices), processing data and supplying information, while consuming various types of energy. The whole Universe is viewed as a continuous flow of information which is an expression of its underlying laws. On the other hand, human reason is able to provide mathematical explanations for the laws of the universe. In the view of the Eastern Patristic theology, the harmonious fabric of the Universe is a book whose letters and syllables are the bodies of the physical world with their different features. Creation is the first Scripture. All things are the expression of a single Word, Christ, who is present in everything. From a theological perspective, the fact that the rationality of the Universe can be penetrated and grasped by human reason shows that the world was made for man. Yet this also indicates that the world was made with great goodness and wisdom, as a Work open towards its Author, as the window to God.
Religious Sculpture and its Significance in the History of the Orthodox Romanian Church Radu Moraru Romania
As it is well known, sculpture is beyond the art itself a form of expression and a fundamental opportunity of communication for certain historical periods and areas of human activity, an expressive and persuasive interface in the relation of man with God. Since ancient times, along with paintings and sometimes more than that, the sculpture represented the universe of indefinable expressive forms that space and time have been humanized by the eternal force of human art and faith. This reality of religious and secular culture of Europe, with analyses, descriptions and applications of the phenomenon in the religious institutions of the Romanian Orthodox Church represent the object of research within the present paper, research conducted from the perspective of dialogue between science and religion Well known and eminently famous due to the paintings of the historical Romanian Orthodox monasteries, religious institutions of our country preserve value for both space of architectural and sculptural religious representations. Description of history and of the signification of religious sculpture in the history of the Orthodox Romanian church, in a perpetual form (science)-meaning (religion) dialogue is the main objective of our research.
The Universe as Communion: Orthodox Theology, Scientific Cosmology and Philosophy at the Crossroads of the Human Spirit Alexei V. Nesteruk UK
In the background of the overall decline of Christianity in Western Europe there is an imminent task for the Orthodox Christian community and its theology to rearticulate its values and existential meaning, in particular, through a different way of engagement with science. This requires not only to revive and renew some traditional ideas dating back to Greek Patristics, but actually to rephrase them in a contemporary philosophical language accessible to the Western thought, the language which is also suitable for analyzing scientific ideas. This language is being developed independently in philosophical theology of a phenomenological kind and its application to the science-religion dialogue will imply a sort of a "phenomenological turn" in this dialogue. It is a very timely move because the modern Western dialogue between science and theology suffers from a fundamental methodological flaw: it does not account for the contingent facticity of one and the same human subjectivity whose intentional correlates comprise scientific outlook as well as religious experience. Phenomenological turn makes explicit the hidden noetic pole (that is inward incarnate hypostatic human subjectivity) of all articulations in science and theology. However to overcome the irresolvable difficulty of classical phenomenology of stopping any access to the transcendent God through the claim for its immanent constitution by the ego, phenomenology itself must take a "theological turn" in order to retain the transcendence of the Divine in the conditions of the ongoing spiritual unification of reality by the scientific reason. Here comes the old Patristic stance that any philosophical predication of God needs faith sustained not on the grounds of private beliefs, but endorsed by the ecclesial presence (as anticipation of the Kingdom as its coming into history not through observation but through expectation). Theological transcendence in the conditions of postmodernity (when the coherence of beliefs should conduct towards the coherence of truth) requires the ecclesial presence as eucharistic communion in community. Scientific milieu, taken in itself, cannot provide any similar conditions for transcendence, for it is deprived of the Eucharist as a thanksgiving communion with the Creator of all. However, the sense of existence through communion with the universe as a whole, that is the event of unavoidable and contingent entanglement between humanity and the universe, overrides the scientific conviction of immanence with the universe and retains transcendence with respect to the mystery of the incarnate existence. It is in this sense that the excess of intuition while dealing with the whole universe makes cosmology similar to theology in method and content. To explicate this similarity the old patristic teaching should be brought to a new light through contemporary philosophical language, that language which also explicates the sense of cosmology and its relation to theology. The mediation between Orthodox theology and science as two different modes of human subjectivity, working in different intentionalities, can be conducted by using a language of contemporary phenomenological theology, in order to bring them to the unity in one and the same human spirit.
Modern Science and the Patristic Tradition
Argyris Nicolaidis Greece
We explore our relationship to nature, the images we have built of nature. We present two historical approaches of the man-nature relationship i) the ancient Greek or pagan approach, where we encounter the sacred nature ii) the modern - western approach, where the autonomy of the human spirit and human practice is emphasized. The study of the Modern Science (Relativity Theory, Quantum Mechanics, Cosmology) demonstrates though nature as a dense web of evolving relations. In practice there is an ongoing dialogue between nature and the human being, resulting in an endless semeiotic process (C. S. Peirce). The profound affinity between anthropos and cosmos is one of the cornerstones of Patristic Tradition (Saint Maximos, Saint Gregory of Nyssa). The distinction between essence (ουσία) and energy (ενέργεια), suggested by Saint Gregory Palamas, provides also the framework for a novel epistemological framework, within which to explore the implications of the new findings.
The Concept of Energy in Quantum Physics and in Orthodox Theology Alexander Omarchevski Bulgaria
At very first sight, the concepts of energy in physics, and more precise in quantum physics, and the Orthodox theology are completely different. But is it just like that? In the present paper I shall try to attract arguments favoring the statement of possibility in finding of a common ground. For that purpose I shall employ as sources both the views of the Church Fathers as St. Maximus the Confessor, St. John of Damascus, St. Gregory Palamas, Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite, etc. and of some modern eminent theologians, for to compare these to the views of some outstanding representatives of the quantum physics.Being myself a theologian I could possibly admit some gaps or unpunctuality in the solely physics section, therefore I would previously ask my physicist colleagues for a condescendence. If I succeed in finding at least some points of contact between these two realms of the human knowledge, so I shall consider that task of mine for a realized one. I shall examine more precisely the attempts of defining the energy in theology and physics, also the distinction between essence and energy in the Orthodox theology, specifically in the Palamitic one, and therefore the quantum physics’ response concerning that matter. In Orthodox theology and physics the concept of energy is used through a conversed proportion of a kind: on one hand, the physicians are excessively using that concept and agree its reliability, but do not advance any clear articulation of its meaning; on the other hand, some of the Church Fathers do propose a complete articulation of its meaning, but the contemporary Orthodox theologians do not completely agree for its reliability. That poses the question for a parallel discussing of the meaning of the term “energy” in both contexts, also its eventual reliability and value. That aspect can be placed into the context of the continuing interest at studying the conflict/dialogue between science and religion.
The Science-Religion Debate in Bulgaria between the Wars Ilya Petrov Bulgaria
The article analyses, from a modern perspective, the reaction of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, in particular of Exarch Stefan I, to the developments in physics and biology that have occurred between the World Wars.
Transdisciplinary Top-Down and Bottom-up Search Window and the Synergistic Interactive Knowledge in the Science-Religion Dialogue Ioan Pop Romania
The knowledge search window was introduced as a methodological concept to explain the bottom-up/top-down mechanism of the synergistic contextual communicational process to achieve knowledge from a transdisciplinary perspective in the science-religion dialogue research. Generally, this dual approach of knowledge is present in the non-theological and pure scientific knowledge as well. The top-down perspective is understood as a philosophy of living with a specific language and with strong communicational skills in the knowledge based society. At the same time the bottom-up perspective works to reach knowledge, by the integration of new semiotic products in systems based on the synergistic synthesis with complexity increased performance, and to achieve skills in a transdisciplinary apprenticeship relation. Transdisciplinarity as understanding (top-down approach), learning and practicing it (bottom-up approach) is based on an active process, occurring either intentionally or spontaneously, that enables to control information, thus to question, integrate, reconfigure, adapt or reject it. In the knowledge based society, flexible, unlimited, infinitely extensible information can assure the fulfillment of the spiritual needs, at the same time with the material ones. In the synergistic contextual communicational approach the transdisciplinary top-down and bottom-up perspectives are working to harmonize the ranks of authority in a symmetrical and complementary interaction state, depending of the context, to avoid potential conflicts by building bridges, working together in an assumed/negotiated harmony, in the same time avoiding the possible disharmony states. Ever the science and theology came to be regarded as separate disciplines there has been no general agreement as to what the relationship between the two might be. Are they competing sources of knowledge? If so, which of them would win? Or, are they complementary, and, if so, how? Considering the problem as a debate, like a part of a process whereby potential oppositions between the two sides can be reconciled in the new context of a knowledge based society, the paper tries to give an answer, proposing the transdisciplinary approach of the knowledge search window.
Human Destiny between Science and TheologyAccording to Orthodox TraditionMagda Stavinschi, Fr. George Istodor Romania
The human being has his own special place into this world, either from the religious or scientific perspectives. This recognition of the human being as a paramount of God's creation, as the only rational being able to have his own intellectual autonomy or, from the naturalistic – atheistic perspective, as the being which stands on the top of the trophic chain, raises as well questions and answers. The fundamental questions refer to the origin of the human existence (where do we come from?), to the purpose of our existence as well as to the teleological dimension of our existence (where do we go?). These questions cover the human destiny as he could understand it within his terrestrial life. Any serious discussion of human destiny should involve an approach of human freedom. So, in respect to it, we might discuss about destiny, on many levels: a level where the lack of freedom also known as destiny appears as an implacable reality, the human being is crushed by a predetermined reality (an impersonal god or a cosmic force); another level is the one where destiny is understood as call towards accomplished freedom made by the personal and living God of the Christian revelation. Both the scientific and theological discourses ought to make good use of their specific means and methods in their competency domains and ought take good care to delimit the authentic corpus of their approach from the pseudo-scientific or occult elements which are the parasites of the two perspectives. Our purpose is to tackle with the question of destiny taking into account both the cosmic influence exerted upon the human being and his own theological place held within this world.
An overview of Bioethical Issues in Modern Medicine from an Orthodox Patristic Perspective Fr. Gregory Telepneff USA
This lecture focuses on several bioethical issues in medicine as they relate to the witness of the Orthodox Church Fathers and their teachings on the human body, illness, and the spiritual dimensions of the biological life of the human being. In particular, attention is given to the ethical and spiritual dilemmas raised by the excessive prolongation of life by artificial means in contemporary medical practice and the resolution of these dilemmas in terms of the Patristic witness and an Orthodox understanding of the meaning, scope, and dimensions of life and death. In connection with these "end of life" issues, the lecture addresses the question of bioethical concerns with "beginning of life" issues; that is, matters related to fertility and efforts to overcome impediments to childbirth, and how Orthodox Patristic teaching confronts research in this area. Finally, the lecture speaks in general to the developing field of genetic engineering and its bioethical implications from the standpoint of Orthodox teaching on the physical body and the imperfections of a fallen world.
The Cosmology of the Gnostics and the Orthodox Church Efstratios Theodossiou Greece
An interesting scientific subject in the debate between Science, Theology and Church is the cosmology of the Gnostics. Especially, this is quite interesting in the field of the Orthodox world since the heretical philosophy of the Gnostics grew up in the Eastern Church. The majority of the Gnostics believed that in parallel with the simple preaching of Jesus Christ, there was another one complicated and mystic. This sophisticated teaching - according to them - was the true one of the Orthodox dogma and belonged only to the Apostles and to some distinguished masters of the Christianity. The Gnostics condemned as heretical, but now it is quite interesting to look for the cosmological meanings of their peculiar teachings.
Knowledge in Artificial Intelligence vs. Knowledge in Orthodoxy Stefan Trausan-Matu, Florin Caragiu, Adrian Lemeni Romania
One implicit assumption in Artificial Intelligence (AI) knowledge-based systems is that we are able to elicit all the knowledge a human has, and to represent this knowledge in a formal language, understandable by a computer. Knowledge representation is a key constituent of designing symbolic AI computer programs, which try to exhibit the performances we usually associate to humans. Such programs are centered on a so-called "knowledge base", which is supposed to contain all the knowledge needed to solve a problem. Both the programs and the knowledge base are based on a written text, usually respecting a given formal, unambiguous language. Therefore, for developing such knowledge-based systems, the needed knowledge must be elicited and codified in that formalism. In AI's perspective, this might be accomplished either from human experts or from written texts or collections of data (databases). The experience in building knowledge bases, however, proved that this activity is extremely difficult. Even if a person is willing to share his/her knowledge, it is very difficult for him/her to specify what knowledge has and to represent it in a formal language. Moreover, in many activities, there is a large amount of commonsense or tacit knowledge and many times we even are not aware of its presence. These kinds of knowledge are obvious extremely difficult to conceptualize and describe in a formal language. The assumption that a knowledge-based AI is possible is, evidently, in opposition with the position of the majority of religions, which state that our knowledge is limited. For Orthodoxy, in particular, knowledge has a larger scope and, as St. John Chrysostom said, the true knowledge is a measure of the experience of the Holy Spirit. He said also that (religious) texts are for us a second way of getting knowledge, because we lacked the first way, the experience of the Holy Spirit, the dialog with God. Moreover, God has made man in His image and likeness (Genesis 1:26) and, therefore, representing the whole men’s' knowledge becomes evident an unreachable limit.
Logoi of Beings and Information: Contemplating on 'All That Is' in the 7th and 21st Century Nikos Tsiopinis USA
I intend to present the main argument of my dissertation. I claim that both logoi (7th century Maximus the Confessor) and information (20th century Claude Shannon et al.) are representing in their respective eras culminations of cultural paradigms that lay hold of "all that is", presenting thus, claims of universal validity. To substantiate this claim, I will take a transdisciplinary approach, using the sociological theory of knowledge developed by Peter Berger in his earlier writings (the Social Construction of Reality, the Sacred Canopy). In relating Science and Religion with this approach, I would like to engage the thought and thinking of the patristic with that of the post-modern era and find if and where there are areas of pollination.
The Cosmogony of John the Exarch from its Book "Shestodnev" Milcho Tsvetkov Bulgaria
Some analysis of the book "The sixths days" (Shestodnev) from one of the greatest Bulgarian orthodox scientists and theologian form 9-10 centuries - John the Exarch (July 31, c+892 AD) is presented. Digging from the translated books and works of St Basil the Great and St John of Damascus into Slavonic Joan Exarch described some basic lows of the nature and human been following Aristotle. The astronomical cosmogony and stellar constellations nature is also included in this very early even for the Meadville Europe tractate.
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