Source: Orthodox Ethos
May 17, 2020
Today on The Orthodox Ethos Podcast: The First of a Three-part series of interviews with Professor of Dogmatic Theology at the University of Thessaloniki, Demetrios Tselingides, on the Ecclesiastical and Spiritual Crisis We Now Face.
We are grateful to Professor Tsellingides for joining us here on The Orthodox Ethos Podcast. It is a joy and an honor for us to have him with us, not only because we have a close friendship going back nearly 20 years and he was my professor for as long at the Theological School of the University of Thessaloniki, and my doctoral thesis advisor.
Much more importantly we are honored by his presence, because we have a tremendous need in the Church today for the Patristic word, for answers to the faithful’s questions, and the challenges the Church is facing, based upon the teaching of the Holy Fathers. This is especially true for those outside of Greece, in the West, who are troubled and scandalized by the response which has been offered to date, and who are in search of consolation and clarity.
Biographical Details:
Professor Tselingidis’ depth of knowledge, his education and studies, and his diligent research and labor have made him an internationally renowned academic theologian of Orthodox Dogmatic Theology. His most important offering and characteristic, however, is his work’s fidelity to the Holy Tradition and the Deposit of the Holy Fathers, a faithfulness he acquired by following experiential theologians of our day, such as Saints Paisios of Mt. Athos and Ephraim of Katounakia. He considers himself a humble minister, always emphasizing the absolute interrelation of right doctrine with the right way of life, distancing himself from the creation of a sterile and cold academic discourse.
He is the author countless articles and seven books on Dogmatic Theology, covering a wide range of topics, including the theology of the icon, grace and freedom, critical studies of the doctrine of salvation in Luther and the satisfaction of divine justice in Anslem of Canterbury, the Soteriology of Western Christianity, and the presuppositions and criteria of Orthodox Theology. Through his many lectures, articles, and appeals to the hierarchy on pressing ecclesiastical matters such as the Orthodox-Roman Catholic, and Orthodox-Anti-Chalcedonian Dialogues, the documents of the Cretan council, and the Ukrainian schism Professor Tselingides has given much courage and consolation to the faithful.
We come to him once again, during this time of troubles that the Church of Christ is facing, troubles not on account of a virus or pandemic, but on account of the undermining of, and departure from, the Orthodox Identity, Dogma and Ethos.
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00:37 - Introduction: Professor Demetrios Tselengides
03:53 - First Question: How should we face this unprecedented situation in the Church?
04:46 - A materialist approach even by many in the Church today
05:47 - Spiritual Readiness: The Hesychast Tradition and Message
08:13 - Kingdom Deactivated on Account of our Spiritual Rubble Within
09:34 - Activating the Kingdom Within: The Parable of the Prodigal Son
11:31 - Fear, the Tool of the enemy; Rights given to him by sin
12:22 - The "Telegrams" sent by the enemy 13:13 - Man's Entire Stance: Metanoia (Repentance)
15:24 - The Uncreated Kingdom Pulverizes all the Rubble Within
16:09 - The Church is the Hospital, the Mysteries Perfect Medicine
16:56 - The Holy Icon Sanctifies Man: St. John of Damascus and St. Theodore the Studite
19:19 - Spiritual Life Deactivated Within Immediately upon a fall: The Example of Adam and Eve
21:16 - Second Question: The Canons of the Church are Spiritually Applied Immediately?
21:36 - Try this Spiritual Experiment to See for Yourself
22:44 - St. Symeon the New Theologian's 1000 Year Witness
24:24 - The "Downpayment" and the Full Remission in Confession
25:48 - The Mystery of Repentance if different from the Mystery of Confession
27:38 - Third Question: Repentance is Only the First Turn?
28:01 - Self-Visitation: Key in the Process of Repentance
28:42 - The Prodigal Son's Stages of Return
32:38 - Remission is Not Enough: Man Must Have Communion with Life
34:25 - The Spiritual Liberty Given in the "Downpayment"
36:07 - How Do We, now, with this Mindset, Approach the Spiritual Crisis?
Source: Orthodox Ethos
