Online lecture by Rev. Dr. Graham McGeoch

in the “Time for action” series

On Wednesday, February 9, 2022, Rev. Gr. Graham McGeoch, Professor at the Faculdade Unida de Vitória, Brazil, gave his online lecture on "Russian émigré Theology and Theology of Liberation in Latin America". This was the second lecture in the series "Time for Action", organized for the first half of 2022 by Volos Academy for Theological Studies, and it was given in English with interpretation into Greek. The event was moderated by the renowned Professor Paul Ladouceur of the University of Toronto.

The speaker pointed out the topics that are common in these two theological currents, Russian émigré theology and theology of Liberation, such as the ‘option for the poor’, human freedom and dignity, and the action of God through history. The presence of these common themes demonstrates the influence of important theologians of both these movements to their counterparts, such as e.g. Nikolai Berdyaev, Juan Luis Segundo and Leonardo Boff. The exchanges between the two currents are largely due to their common presence and contact in Paris, a city with a great symbolic capital that provided opportunities for communication between Christian traditions, but also between the Christian and the secular, often revolutionary thinkers. "I might ask whether is it possible to expand the restricted use of the term Russian Émigré Theology to include ‘peripheries’, like Latin America, where Russians settled?" the speaker concluded. "Is this Russian Theology (with its own internal concerns), which wrestles with the Russian Religious Renaissance, moving in a decisively different direction to the secular Liberation Theology? Or are the discussions of human freedom in Russian émigré Theology and Liberation Theology familiar ideas and concepts being discussed in unfamiliar combinations and contexts?”

In the interesting discussion that followed, questions were raised about the reception of specific writers of the two currents, the use of theology in supporting or undermining the authoritarian regimes in Latin America, the problem of the language barriers and the translations as well as the spread of theological thought through literature, and ultimately about the intersection of theology with movements such as communitarianism, pacifism and anarchy.

The video of the event, along with the discussion, is posted on the Volos Academy for Theological Studies YouTube channel. https://www.youtube.com/user/VolosAcademy, you can also watch it here.

The next event of the cycle "Time for Action" will take place on Wednesday, February 23, at 7.00 p.m. (Athens time). The speaker will be Ekaterini Tsalampouni, Associate Professor of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and member of the Board of Directors of Volos Academy, and the topic will be "Christian apocalyptic texts and climate change: a proposal of ecological critical biblical interpretation".