Orthodoxy, the Environment, and Ecumenism
The Huffington Ecumenical Institute proudly presents the 3rd Ecumenical Symposium “Orthodoxy, the Environment and Ecumenism.” This important ecumenical conversation will focus on the Christian responses to the environmental crisis. Please join us for this informative and interactive conversation.
Date:
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Time:
Registration 4:30 p.m.
Conference 5:00 p.m.
Reception 7:00 p.m.
Place:
Loyola Marymount University
University Hall 1000, Ahmanson Auditorium
1 LMU Drive
Los Angeles, CA 90045
Special Guest Rev. Dr. John Chryssavgis
Deacon of the Ecumenical Office of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America
About the Event
Christianity and the EnvironmentGod created man in his own image: male and female he created them. And God blessed them, and said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.” (Genesis 1). Christian responses toward the natural world have often been complex, for humanity partakes both of the breath of God and of the earth of which we are made. Certainly, ‘the heavens reflect the glory of God:’ the natural world can be a kind of revelation of God. On the other hand, the Scriptures also portray a tragic human tendency to make a god out of nature itself, mistaking creation for its Creator. However, in fleeing the potential seductions of the material world Christians have sometimes been guilty of faithless stewardship of God’s creation, failing to cherish it as a God-given task.
The works of the great Patristic writers are venerated by Orthodox and Catholic Christians alike. In them lie insights which cast light on our ecological crisis. For these spiritual giants, material creation is good, beautiful and blessed, as it awaits its ultimate transfiguration in Christ, the Eternal Word.
The eminent concern of His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I for the environment has earned him the soubriquet ‘The Green Patriarch.’ He describes the sacredness of material creation as being ‘offered to humanity as a sacrament of communion and thanksgiving,’ but also of the ‘sinful abuse of its natural resources by a world that… has failed to recognize when enough is enough.’ The dramatic degradation of our natural environment calls all humanity to responsibility. In this work, Christians have important things to contribute.
Dorian Llywelyn, S.J.
Biographies of Symposium Participants
Rev. Dr. John Chryssavgis, Deacon of Ecumenical Office of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America and Advisor to His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I on environmental affairs B.A. University of Athens , 1980; Ph.D. University of Oxford , 1983. Chryssavgis served as personal assistant to the Greek Orthodox Primate in Australia (1984–94) and was co-founder of St. Andrew’s Theological College in Sydney (1985), where he was sub-dean and taught Patristics and Church History (1986–1995). He was also lecturer in the Divinity School (1986–1990) and the School of Studies in Religion (1990 –1995) at the University of Sydney . In 1995, he was appointed professor of Theology at Holy Cross School of Theology and directed the Religious Studies Program at Hellenic College until 2002. He established the Environment Office at the same school in 2001. He has also taught as the visiting professor at Patristics at Balamand University in Lebanon . Chryssavgis has written several books and numerous articles in several languages on the Church Fathers and Orthodox Spirituality. He lives in Brunswick, Maine.
To read his address please click on the following title,
A New Heaven and A New Earth - Chryssavgis.Douglas E. Burton-Christie, LMU Professor of Theological Studies M.A., Oxford University , 1980; Ph.D., Graduate Theological Union , 1988. Professor Burton-Christie, a Catholic theologian, teaches in the area of Christian Spirituality. His primary research interests are in the areas of ancient Christian monasticism, the relationship between spirituality and the natural world, and spiritual writing. He is the author of “The Word in the Desert: Scripture and the Quest for Holiness in Early Christian Monasticism” and the founding editor of Spiritus: A Journal of Christian Spirituality.
To read his address please click on the following, A World of Sacrament.
Eric D. Perl, LMU Associate Professor of Philosophy, Ph.D. Yale, 1991. Professor Perl, an Orthodox Christian, teaches philosophy focused on Neoplatonism, Ancient Philosophy, and Plato. He is the author of “Theophany: The Neoplatonic Philosophy of Dionysius the Areopagite” and an essay, “The Togetherness of Thought and Being: A Phenomenological Reading of Plotinus.”
To read his address please click on the following, Presentation for Orthodoxy, the Environment, and Ecumenism.
Video and Pictures soon to come...check back soon.