Online lecture
Aristotle Papanikolaou
‘FOR THE LIFE OF THE WORLD’:
THE SOCIAL ETHOS OF THE ORTHODOX CHURCH
Thursday, February 27, 2025, 7 pm Paris time (CET)
The next lecture of the series “Liturgy after the Liturgy” will take place on Thursday, February 27th, 2025, at 7 pm (CET). Dr Aristotle Papanikolaou (Professor of Theology, Archbishop Demetrios Chair in Orthodox Theology and Culture, Co-founding Director of the Orthodox Christian Studies Center at Fordham University) will present the topic “‘For the Life of the World’: The Social Ethos of the Orthodox Church”. The lecture will be in English with live interpretation into French, and it will be moderated by Dr. Pantelis Kalaitzidis, Director of the Volos Academy for Theological Studies. The event is accessible via the Zoom platform at https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84913433453 and via the YouTube channel of the Vicariat at https://www.youtube.com/c/lalettreduvicariat . The series “Liturgy after the Liturgy” is co-sponsored by Volos Academy for Theological Studies, the Holy Metropolis of France, and the Vicariate of French-Speaking Parishes (Vicariat Sainte Marie de Paris et Saint Alexis d’Ugine, Ecumenical Patriarchate).
The text “‘For the Life of the World’: The Social Ethos of the Orthodox Church” is not a legal manual; it does not offer an “ethics” for this world; it does not offer solutions to very specific problems. It does offer, however, an alternative way for understanding what it means to be human, an understanding that is revealed to us in the Incarnation. It also offers a vision for how the Orthodox Christian should respond to the challenges of this world, a vision that is consistent with the eucharistic mode of being in the world that our Orthodox Tradition affirms is possible for humans.
One should note that the text of the Ecumenical Patriarchate “‘For the Life of the World’: The Social Ethos of the Orthodox Church” has been published as a book with commentary by Dr. John Chryssavgis and David Bentley Hart, in Greek by Akritas Publications (https://www.akritasbooks.gr/gre/yper-tis-toy-kosmoy-zois) and in English by the Holy Cross of Boston (https://holycrossbookstore.com/products/forthelifeoftheworldtowardasocialethosoftheorthodoxchurch)
Aristotle Papanikolaou is a Professor of Theology and the Archbishop Demetrios Chair in Orthodox Theology and Culture. He is Co-founding Director of the Orthodox Christian Studies Center at Fordham University, and McDonald Distinguished Senior Fellow at the Emory University Center for the Study of Law and Religion. In 2012, he received the Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching in the Humanities, and in 2024, he was named the University of Chicago Divinity School Alum of the Year. Among his many publications, he is the author of The Mystical as Political: Democracy and Non-Radical Orthodoxy and co-editor, together with Elizabeth Prodromou, of Thinking through Faith: New Perspectives from Orthodox Christian Scholars. He was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois, and he enjoys Russian literature, Byzantine and Greek music.
