13158 - Orthodox Church History and Institutions

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course the student understands one of the historical forms assumed by christianity in the meeting with different Mediterranean cultures. He understand that Orthodox Christianity is the outcome of the synthesis between evangelical message and Hellenic culture. In particular he is aware of the fact that  the knowledge of this reality is an essential instrument for a real comprehension of those historical and cultural dynamics which shaped the European continent up to our days. He can also identify in a long term perspective categories, languages, complex concepts connected with the discipline, and he knows how to express them with the appropriate terminology.

Course contents

Argument: The Image of the Orthodoxy. The Shape of the Other Side of Christianity, between universality and particularity, tradition and innovation.

Aim of this course is to introduce students to the basic knowledge of orthodox Christianism in its history and institution. In this frame, the Schism with Rome will be read – in a clear distinction between historical reality and historiographic myths – not from an Occidental point of view, but with the eyes of the cultural and theological specificities of the orthodox Christianity.
The orthodox Christianity will be studied in its internal dynamics - dimension of church unity vs. plurality of churches, patriarchates vs. autocephalous churches – and in the relation with its traditional antagonists – Latins, Islamics, Hebrews. A geo-political survey on its diffusion will help understand the multi-ethnic and multi-linguistic nature of Orthodoxy, with particular attention to the Slavonic Orthodoxy (the major group today).
Finally, some characteristic aspects of orthodox identity will be presented, as the concept of ecclesiastical economy in the law and in the pastoral care; or the monastic phenomenon – so hegemonic in this church – in its doctrinal and institutional aspects; or the political theology built for the orthodox empires, which shaped so profoundly the mentality of their people; or the liturgical interest for relics and icons, an evidence of the profoundness of the role of the holy in this form of Christianity.

The second section of the course (only 12 CFU) will be dedicated to the diffusion of the orthodox Christianism between the Slavs, to the constitution in Bulgaria of a religious and cultural patrimony which will then be spread, in two different steps, towards the northern and eastern Slavs, building the so-called Slavia orthodoxa, and to the history of these churches up to the modern age.
Special attention will be dedicated to the institutional history and to the spiritual physiognomy of the Slavic orthodox monachism, especially the Russian one.

Readings/Bibliography

 For 12 CFU Course:

E. Morini, La Chiesa ortodossa. Storia, disciplina, culto , Bologna, Edizioni Studio Domenicano, 1996 (Collana Storia e Cultura , 1);

J. Meyendorff, La teologia bizantina. Sviluppi storici e temi dottrinali, nota introduttiva di L. Perrone, Genova, Marietti 1820, 1984 (“Dabar”, I: Saggi teologici, 9) = Lampi di Stampa, 1999 (= Byzantine Theology: Historical Trends and Doctrinal Themes, New York, Fordham University Press, 19792; Initiation a la theologie byzantine: l'histoire et la doctrine, Paris, Les Editions du Cerf, 1975);

H.-D. Döpmann, Le Chiese ortodosse. Nascita, storia e diffusione delle Chiese ortodosse nel mondo , Genova, ECIG, 2003 ( Dimensione Europa );

G. Dagron, Il cristianesimo bizantino dal secolo VII alla metà del secolo XI, chapters 1-5, in Storia del cristianesimo. Religione-Politica-Cultura, 4: Vescovi, monaci e imperatori (610-1054), Roma, Borla/Città Nuova, 1999, pp. 27-366 (Histoire du christianisme des origines à nos jours, tome IV: Évêques, moines et empereurs, Paris, Éditions Desclée 1993);

R. Morozzo della Rocca, Le Chiese ortodosse. Una storia contemporanea , Roma, Edizioni Studium, 1997;

J.M. Hussey, The Orthodox Church in the Byzantine Empire , Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1986 ( Oxford History of the Christian Church , Ed. H. & O. Chadwick).

For 6 CFU Course:

E. Morini, Gli ortodossi , Bologna, Società editrice il Mulino, 2002 ( Farsi un'idea , 77);

B. Petrà, La Chiesa dei Padri. Breve introduzione all'Ortodossia , Bologna, Edizioni Dehoniane, 1998;

J. Meyendorff, La teologia bizantina. Sviluppi storici e temi dottrinali, nota introduttiva di L. Perrone, Genova, Marietti 1820, 1984 (“Dabar”, I: Saggi teologici, 9) = Lampi di Stampa, 1999, prima parte: Sviluppi storici, pp. 25-153 (= Byzantine Theology: Historical Trends and Doctrinal Themes, New York, Fordham University Press, 19792; Initiation a la theologie byzantine: l'histoire et la doctrine, Paris, Les Editions du Cerf, 1975);

H.-D. Döpmann, Le Chiese ortodosse. Nascita, storia e diffusione delle Chiese ortodosse nel mondo, Genova, ECIG, 2003 (Dimensione Europa);

R. Morozzo della Rocca, Le Chiese ortodosse. Una storia contemporanea , Roma, Edizioni Studium, 1997;

K.T. Ware, The Orthodox Church , Harmondsworth, Penguin Books, 1964 ( Pelican Books , A592) (= L'Orthodoxie. L'Église des sept conciles , Brouges, Desclèe de Brouwer, 1968);

Teaching methods

Frontal lessons with readings and discussions of presented sources and of most recent bibliography.

Assessment methods

The oral examination will be composed of three questions on qualifying aspects of the religious and cultural identity of Orthodox Christianity, its institutional configuration, and connotative themes of its historical development. A discussion with the teacher will  derive from the student's answers. The preparation, for the 6 credits course, should be performed on at least three of the titles listed in bibliography. For the 12 credit course, an addiction of at least three titles from the monographic part is required.  Non-attending students must agree with the teacher an  additional preparation: a fourth (general) text for the 6 CFU course, and a fifth (monographic) one for the 12 CFU course.

Teaching tools

Presentation of textual and iconographical sources

Office hours

See the website of Enrico Morini