Panel: THEOLOGIES AND PRACTICES OF RELIGIOUS PLURALISM. THE QUESTION OF (IN)EQUALITY THROUGH THE PRISM OF THE INDIVIDUAL VS. THE COLLECTIVE



357.5 - ORTHODOX THEOLOGIES OF PLURALISM

AUTHORS:
Papanikolaou A. (Fordham University)
Text:
Orthodox Christianity has often understood itself through a creative tension between person and community, individual freedom and collective belonging. Throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, Orthodox theologians developed concepts such as sobornost' and personhood to articulate a vision of human life grounded in relationality and communion. These concepts have also shaped Orthodox engagements with modernity, society, and political life. This paper explores how contemporary Orthodox theology approaches the reality of pluralism. It examines the theological resources within the Orthodox tradition for thinking about difference, diversity, and coexistence.