~ Orthodox Theological Digital Library I.M.D. ~

Synoro, Orthodoxy and modern-Greek life, issue 39, (1966), 83 pages.

The 39^th volume opens with two notes regarding the death of G. Theotokas, by Ag. Koyrtesis and Chr. Yannaras. G. Theotokas, collaborator of the magazine and one of the biggest intellectual statures of Greece, was the person that sought the self-consciousness of modern Hellenism in the sources of the Orthodox tradition. His loss marked negatively the publication of the journal.

Tassos Zannis refers to the work of the recently (at the time) ordained f. Kallistos Timothy Ware referring to the doctor from Chios and “apologist” of Orthodoxy Eustratios Argentis. Zannis presents to the readers the systematic work of f. Kallistos on Argentis which, besides the points that lights up with regard to him, offers a picture of the occupied under Turks Hellenism during the 18^th century.

Chr. Yannaras in the next essay deals with the notion of “the people of God” in the work of Makrygiannis. Observing initially in his text the development of this notion in Israel, Byzantium and Dostoyevsky, he focuses on Makrygiannis, who without contradistinguishing the religion and the homeland, does not comprehend them as terms of ethnic messianism, but as existential conditions of the individual in the frame of an ecumenical religious consciousness. He sees a kind of junction of identity and idioprosopia through which each one is placed in the cross-national entity of Christians.

Extracts of opinions of T. Papatsonis on the famous Skiathite and his contribution to the recognition that the Greeks owe to the Christian East for the configuration of the identity of the modern Greek-Orthodox man,are published under the general title “Alexandros Papadiamandis”.

Ap. Alexandridis then publishes his text “a phenomenon of modern-Greek religious life: the Christian organizations” and approaches this crucial issue (particularly during that period) first historically, by considering the organizations as offspring of the weakness of the institutionalized Church to follow her main theological and functional work disorientated from her ethnical role during the Ottoman occupation. Then he mentions the autocephalous and to Pharmakidis, passing on to Papoulakos in order to identify in the face of Kosmas Flamiatos  the first link in the chain of organized movements that later played a significant role in modern-Greek Orthodoxy. However, Alexandridis reports Ap. Makrakis as the dominating figure with which we enter the phase of organizations. His students advanced in the establishment of large Christian movements (e.g. Zoi) and of their precursors (e.g. Anaplasis). The text follows the course of organizations from the division of Zoi into Zoi and Sotiras, up to the “Orthodox Christian unions of young men and women” by Fr. Markos Tsaktani and Angelos Nissiotis. In the end, the text does not hesitate to evaluate with boldness the positive but also negative work and role of these Christian organizations.    

Iak. Mainas in the next essay “The possibilities of Christian presence in Greece today” attempts to record the causes of weakness (considering the lack of genuine Christian self-consciousness as a basic one) and to propose solutions (the end of aphasia) for the relation of Christians and society in modern Greece.

The volume is completed with five poems by N. Triantafyllopoulos, an extract from the travelling impressions ofLeonZander entitled “Pictures from Greece” and the permanent columns Comments, the Book and Letters.

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.

Synoro, Orthodoxy and Nationalism, issue 38 (1966), pp. 89.

A big hommage in the relation of orthodoxy and nationalism is included in the pages of the 38^th issue of Synoro magazine. Am. Alivizatos opens the hommage with his text “The pain of Orthodoxy” in which he attempts a short retrospection in the relationship of nationalism and the church starting from the age of Constantine the Great until today. The second published essay written by E. Chryssos refers also to the same historical dimension of the problem and brings the title “Orthodoxy and nationalism - a short contribution to the history of the problem”.

G. Theotokas in his text “Church and Nation” is recording the relation of church and nationalism during the Ottoman occupation and also the period of transition from the 19^th century to the 20^th century.

Chr. Yannaras in his text “De Oecumenismo decision and the nationalism of orthodoxy” deals with the theological and historical dimensions of the decision of Vatican Council II, which despite the fact that it presupposes the distinction of the Roman-Catholic Church from the “schismatic” ones, focused on the issue of the Church’s catholicity, recognizing it outside the canonical boundaries of the Roman Church to the Eastern churches on the base of the Eucharist, celebrated by bishops whose apostolic succession is undisputed. In this interesting text Yannaras records the weakness of churches to deal with the issue of the consolidation of their catholicity; with regard to the western church, there is the perseverance in and the temptation of papal primacy, while as far as the orthodox church is concerned, there is the reality of the transformation of the church in crutch of ethnism.

Following is Jean Daniélou’s text “The christian people according to Péguy”, translated by Keti Chiotellis, in which the detachment of culture and church in the modern world is examined. The christian people of Péguy, the immense human crowd, does not exist, because the church lost its relation to it and changed into a church of a race eg of the intellectuals or the bourgeoes. Péguy denounces as a prophet this rupture of culture and Christianity stressing the necessity of one for the other.

T. K. Papatsonis attempts to infiltrate in the thought of the famous Spanish philosopher Miguel de Unamuno in his text entitled “Peoples whose soul is deep buried” on the occasion of the abstract from Unamuno’s essay “Practical Problem”  published in the next pages of Synoro. The 100 years from the birth of the Spanish thinker (1964) who sought the purification of Christianity from are honoured with this text by Synoro magazine.

The poetic hommage of the volume concerns Matthew Mounte whose six poems are published. The volume closes with the short story by T. Romanos with the title “A usual history” and a traveler’s reflection by K. Iasonidis.

Following are the small notes on various issues of the permanent column Comments and book-reviews.

Synoro, Icon and depicting, issue 36, (1965), 65 pages.

             This issue is dedicated to the icon and its depicting, as it is announced in the title, but also includes essays in the memory of F. Kontoglou, T.S. Eliot, Clontel and Boumber. As far as the first part is concerned, there is a short historical retrospection from the period of the Old Testament up to the period of the establishment of the depiction of holy persons in the Christian world, signed by prof. I.N. Theodorakopoulos titled “Icon”.

             The iconologist and iconographer L. Ouspenski continues with his study (especially written for Synoro) titled “Thoughts for the future of iconography”. The preeminent professor distinguishes ecclesiastic painting from the other forms of church art, since its dogmatic character, as it was illustrated by the 7^th Ecumenical Council, imposes its special honor next to the Cross and to the Gospel which does not happen in the case of ecclesiastic wood carving or the art of interwovening with gold. Then he develops his arguments in favor of the use of “iconographic style”, as he calls the Byzantine style of painting, from the part of Orthodox Church, in relation to the “artistic and realistic style”, as he calls the western iconographic tradition. The text does not hesitate to attribute to a period of decline, the coexistence after the 18^th century of the two styles in certain Orthodox temples.

             The painter Al. Kontopoulos continues with the study “The importance of poetic icon” in which he examines the aesthetic function of the Icon and he considers it as being harmonized with the highest poetic creative need of man.

             Chr. Yannaras signs the last study of the issue in which he identifies the denial of image (person), the iconoclasts, with pietism and conservatism in Christianity.

             Four poems by E. Mainas and M. Mounte separate the first part of the magazine, dedicated to the icon from the second part, dedicated to the memory of important intellectual persons. Papatsonis dedicates his text to the poetry of T.P. Eliot. N. Karouzos then writes on the occasion of the repose of F. Kontoglou his text “F. Kontoglou: the Orthodox” considering that what the great author made, that is writing, iconography, poetry etc. emanated from the great root he had in him, Orthodoxy. G. Theotokas writes for the poet Clontel and Peter Levi S.J. writes for Eliot the text “The death of poets: memory of T.S. Eliot”.

             D. Stathopoulos makes a very short report on Martin Buber, Jewish philosopher, scientist of religion and sociologist.

The issue is completed with the extracts from the book of Virgil Georgky “From the twenty Fifth hour to the hour of eternity” and the short stories “Chromatic Way” of Keti Chiotelli and “Earth” by N. D. Dimitriadou.

             The issue closes with the column Comments and two book reviews.