Methodology of social teaching of the Ecumenical Patriarchate

author: Bogdan Gulyamov

Urgency of the research. Orthodox social doctrine at the beginning of the XXI century became an arena of confrontation between humanistic and fundamentalist theological strategies, which directly affects the fate of social doctrine as an independent academic discipline and as part of Christian ethics. Today, the authority of the Catholic and Orthodox churches, the development of dialogue between religious and secular worldviews, and the fate of interreligious dialogue increasingly depend on the content and form of presentation of social doctrine. The significant development of Christian humanism of social teaching in Orthodoxy at the beginning of the XXI century in opposition to fundamentalism is only beginning to be analyzed by scholars, while this topic has great theoretical and practical significance for social philosophy, religious studies and philosophy of education.

Target setting. The formation of the theoretical foundations for the new Orthodox humanism within the social doctrine of the Ecumenical Patriarchate makes the task of systematic analysis of both the positive features of such humanism and its limits urgent. Since such humanism of the social doctrine of the Ecumenical Patriarchate is largely determined by the methodology of formation of social doctrine, it is important to analyze such a methodology. This analysis is important given that social teaching is only gradually being freed from the status of religious knowledge, which is proposed from the standpoint of authority, and acquires the features of classical scientific rationality, which may be acceptable in university discourse.

Actual scientific researches and issues analysis. The discussion of the methodology of constructing social doctrine usually takes place only within the framework of the discussion on the struggle between the tendencies towards fundamentalism and liberalism. The emergence of a new social doctrine of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in early 2020 led to a series of important discussions organized by the Greek Archdiocese in the United States and attended by leading Orthodox theologians of today, John Chryssavgis, Bishop Maxim Vasiljević, Professor Aristotle Papanikolaou, Hank Hanegraaff, Brandon Gallaher, Phil Dorroll, Carrie Frederick Frost, Philip Mamalakis, Nicolas Kazarian, Elizabetha Kitanovic, Professor George Demacopoulos, Martin Johnson, Gayle Woloschak & Dr. Tim Patitsas. However, the analysis of the main methodological features of the social doctrine of the Ecumenical Patriarchate has not yet been carried out.

The research objective. The aim of the study is an analysis of methodological principles of building the social doctrine of the Ecumenical Patriarchate and compares them with the methodologies of social doctrines of other churches. The objectives of the article are to comprehend the peculiarities of the relationship between tradition and rationality, monologue and dialogue in the formation of social doctrine.

The statement of basic materials. Orthodox social doctrine as a discipline is formed without the elements of scholastic thinking that are characteristic of Catholicism. This is due to the fact that social doctrine in Orthodoxy is thought of as an expression of tradition, not the teaching of the church. Also, the methodology of the social doctrine of the Ecumenical Patriarchate was significantly influenced by the fact that the initial principle for all reflections was the value of the dignity of the individual. The absolutization of this value has made it possible to create a Christian humanism that opposes the ideological extremes of modern cultural wars, including the abuse of the idea of human rights. The ROC uses methodological anti-scholasticism in the construction of social doctrine to legitimize the ideas of Orthodox fundamentalism. Against this background, the social doctrine of the Ecumenical Patriarchate is becoming a worldview alternative, critical to the development of Ukrainian theology and education.

Conclusions. The new social doctrine of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, proposed in March 2020, has significant methodological innovations. This social doctrine is new because of the deduction of all specific moral and legal principles from the main value of the dignity of the human person. A positive theological view of the historical perspective is also important. The formation of social doctrine ceases to be scholastic. The social doctrine of the Ecumenical Patriarchate is characterized by significant dialogue, a combination of communitarianism and personalism, missionary openness and social diakonia.

Keywords: social doctrine of the church, personalism, communitarianism, social justice, social solidarity.

 

References:

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