Synoro, Orthodoxy in a changing world, issue 37 (1966), pp. 77.
Alexander Schmemann’s text “Contemporary world and ecclesiastic worship” opens the hommage of volume 37 questioning the preservation or removal of concrete liturgical elements in the contemporary worship practice. How many elements of the orthodox liturgical tradition can be maintained in the contemporary world and how well can they be maintained? Schmemann considers the developing secularism (sic) in contemporary society as the main adversative force to the reality of the transformative connection of worship and life of the faithful. In his opinion, the future of Orthodoxy is found in the search of ways of connecting liturgical life with everyday routine while their detachment, escaping from the reason of worship, alienates and marginalizes the liturgical life and slowly but firmly leads to its disappearance.
In the second essay of the volume titled “Comment by an Orthodox on the death of God” Chr. Yannaras examines the views that prevailed in the Western philosophy and proposes the apophatic theology of the East which is identified with it in terms of the refusal of the idol of God and promotes the holy reality of His presence. Using Heidegger and the Areopagite he rejects the identification of the absence of God with the death of God and identifies absence with ignorance.
“The renewal of the Church’s mission”, essay signed by Olivier Clement, stresses that the church is in the world and not from the world. The writer proposes the detachment of any kind of compulsion from the church, the abstention of clergy from any kind of political and social authority and the renewal of monasticism in a way that leads to its award as a sign of the coming Kingdom of God.
Jac. Mainas in his essay entitled “The absence of the Counselor” approaches the issue of the relation of church and contemporary world through the absence or presence of the Holy Spirit. A de-spirited church, theology and christian life perpetuates the already serious ontological crisis of the contemporary person.
The volume continues with a hommage in the poetry of D. L. Stathopoulos with the publication of poems of his collection Eptaimera, and with the publication of short stories by Matthew Mounte and Keti Chiotelli.
Following is the text titled “One of famous poet of our times: Anna Ahmatoba 1889-1966” on the occasion of her death and the presentation of Virgkil Georgy’s “In the limits of two eras: Luther’s juvenile years” by Ntina Kouroukli.
The permanent column Comments, book-reviews, critique on theatre and cinema and the publication of letters (D. Koutroumpis’ letter is among them) close the volume.