Ignatios or Eusebios: two models of patristic ecclesiology

摘要

Historically most Orthodox ecclesiology has been based on the model proposed by Eusebios, and refined by the Emperor Justinian, which sees the Church as existing in symphonia with the State. This model was adopted by the emerging Orthodox nation states in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries; ‘nation’ replaced ‘empire’, with consequent distortions. The twentieth century saw a series of attempts by Orthodox theologians to work out an ecclesiology on the basis of the vision found in the letters of St Ignatios of Antioch. This article looks at the historical context of this development, concentrating on the thought of the émigré Russian theologian, Fr Nikolay Afanasiev, of the Institut St-Serge in Paris. It argues that Afanasiev's ecclesiology was a response to the intellectual and cultural context of exile, and further argues that this context, because of its close parallels with early Christian experience, has radical and enduring consequences for Christian theology.View full textDownload full textKeywordschurch, ecclesiology, symphonia, church-state relations, exile, diasporaRelated var addthis_config = { ui_cobrand: "Taylor & Francis Online", services_compact: "citeulike,netvibes,twitter,technorati,delicious,linkedin,facebook,stumbleupon,digg,google,more", pubid: "ra-4dff56cd6bb1830b" }; Add to shortlist Link Permalink http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14742251003643833