The Revival of Orthodox Mission in New Borders and the Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church

One of the critical issues emphasized at the Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church in Crete in 2016 was that of the witness of Orthodoxy in the modern world, as expressed in the Message and Encyclical of the council, and in the council document on the Mission of the Orthodox Church. This paper traces the revival of foreign mission and witness within the Orthodox Church since the late 1950s and how it came to fruition at the council in Crete.     

Orthodoxy in Unity and in Conciliarity

This article considers how the Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church faced challenges such as how the gospel relates to a pluralistic society; the Christian message in a society marked by religious pluralism, ethnic diversity, and cultural relativism; whether Christians encountering today's pluralist society should concentrate on evangelism or on dialogue; and on how conciliarity relates to the unity of the church. The article examines how the council attempted to respond to, or at least reflect on, these challenges in relation to the theological dialogue of the Orthodox Church with the other Christian churches and confessions. The bilateral theological dialogues have also increasingly led to bearing Christian witness, and an atmosphere of mutual appreciation, friendship, and fellowship has already become at least a reality. But has this development also led to a deeper mutual theological understanding? Have the profound differences between the Orthodox churches and the other churches in bilateral dialogues been clarified theologically?     

The Holy Spirit in Mission

God initiated mission and intends to achieve it by work of the Holy Spirit. Thus, mission—which God commands his church to accomplish—belongs to God, not to human agency. Prior to ascending to heaven, Jesus promised the Holy Spirit to his disciples, and asked them to wait in Jerusalem. This Holy Spirit is given to enable them to be witnesses of Jesus from Jerusalem to the end of the world. This implies that the church has to partner with the Holy Spirit to fulfil this mission. Missionaries need to consciously work together with Spirit and be directed and guided by the Spirit.     

The ‘Holy Mother’ and the shadow: revisiting Jung's work on the quaternity

Through a series of clinical vignettes, this paper considers the impact of religious belief, specifically Roman Catholicism, on the psyche and development of mind; in particular, there will be a focus on the influences of the conflation of maternal beliefs with a Catholic belief system when the loss or absence of the father is a primary factor. Further, it will be shown in case examples that split off aspects of the personal shadow such as conflicted and aggressive emotions related to mother and father can conflate with the collective numinous and religious aspects of the ‘dark side’ of the God‐representation and result in ‘religious’ persecutory symptoms. This has a debilitating effect on the emerging personality, leaving it prone to fears, anxieties and psychotic pockets of experience when there is a numinous persecutory shadow in the background that affects and limits the individual's development. The implications and findings drawn from the clinical vignettes are used to consider the impact of an interrelationship and conflation between aspects of the psyche and religious beliefs. Jung's work on the Trinity and the ‘problem of the fourth’ (Jung 1942/1948/1991) is also reconsidered in relation to the role of the feminine, the maternal and the ‘reality of matter’. A diagram of the multiple levels of the quaternity is used to elaborate and expand on Jung's concept. © 2013, The Society of Analytical Psychology     

Doukhobor ‘freedom seeker’ nudism: Exploring the sociocultural roots

This article explores the reasons behind nude protests among some groups of Canadian Doukhobors in the early twentieth century. Nude protests had never been practised by the Doukhobors until their arrival in Canada, and the reasons for this form of protest have not been sufficiently clarified in research. The author suggests that the choice of nudism as a form of protest by some Canadian Doukhobors (‘freedom seekers’) could be triggered by a combination of cultural clashes in the first years of the Doukhobor settlement in Canada, the Orthodox tradition of Holy Fools and Quaker influences. The article provides an overview of the consequences of the nude protest for the community and reports some contemporary attitudes of some Saskatchewan Doukhobors to these historical controversial protests.     

Pondering “The Mission of the Orthodox Church in Today's World”: A Protestant Missiological Reflection

The article explores “The Mission of the Orthodox Church in Today's World” (MOCT), one of the six official documents issued by the Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church that took place on the island of Crete in 2016. It is the first official Orthodox statement on mission ever published. The aim of the present article is to offer a reflection of MOCT from a Protestant missiological perspective. The article argues that MOCT interprets mission as the service of the church to the world, motivated by love. It goes on to discuss six major thematic areas of the statement, namely, the dignity of the human person; freedom and responsibility; peace and justice; peace and the aversion of war; the attitude of the church toward discrimination; and the mission of the Orthodox Church as a witness of love through service. The article seeks to provide a constructive critique of MOCT, assessing both its weaknesses and its assets. It concludes by saying that despite certain theological question marks, the new Orthodox mission document represents an invaluable contribution to the ecumenical discussion on mission and evangelism.     

The reception of Otto and Das Heilige in Japan: in and outside the phenomenology of religion

ABSTRACT

In Japan, Rudolf Otto is commonly identified as a precursor of the phenomenology of religion, claiming the sui generis nature of religion. However, the first Japanese translation of Das Heilige was published in 1927, far before the reception of the phenomenology of religion. This article divides the history of the reception of Das Heilige into three periods: before, during and after the heyday of the phenomenology of religion. It also examines both academic and lay receptions of Otto’s work, considering that its paperback version has sold over 53,000 copies. Its major findings are scholars of religion in the pre-war period framed Das Heilige according to a hierarchical dichotomy of the East and the West; post-war, phenomenological scholars empathetically interpreted the work, rejecting this ideological dichotomy; younger scholars have recently attempted more history-conscious, critical analyses; and, largely ‘non-religious’ general readers viewed it as a classic of Western thought, without being disturbed by its claim of Christian superiority.     

Speaking of the Spirit1

Since Gregory Nazianzus called it the “special difficulty” in the fourth century, we should not be surprised that speaking of the Holy Spirit still challenges theologians today. In this article I attempt definitions of the Spirit's activity in the church and the world, and its role within the life of the Trinity. I look for help in Paul's Letter to the Romans, from the Christian tradition, and from Luther's teaching, inviting all to this conversation about the Spirit's identity and place in an ecumenical context.     

The making of a sacred mountain. Meanings of nature and sacredness in Sápmi and northern Norway

A case study of sacred landscapes in the contemporary era, the article deals with a particular mountain and its rise to sacredness. Fuelled by plans of ski-slope development, the fate of Tromsdalstind caused a lively debate in local newspapers, as well as a report issued by the Sami Parliament. The report connected sacredness to Sami traditions in the past and to current laws on the protection of Sami cultural memories. This, then, was a case of sacredness constructed outside the context of organized religions and ongoing religious traditions, as well as a case of using secular laws as the primary basis for definitions of sacredness.Through this process, love for the mountain appears to have grown deeper and more religious, both for the Sami as well as for other northern Norwegians. Neither more nor less authentic than those of the past, these concepts of sacredness belong to the late modern world of law culture, nature romanticism, and to pan-indigenous spirituality as a “religion” in the making.     

Ten Theses on the Future of Lutheran Theology Charisms, Contexts, and Challenges

Although Lutheran theology is a gift to the historic church, Martin Luther's own views are specifically formulated for their 16th century context. No universal or timeless theological system based upon Luther's authority should be appealed to. Then theses are here advanced that bridge the 16th and 21st centuries and challenge us to creative construction.