St Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary - Events - Orthodox Education Day Education Day Articles 2002

The Future of Orthodox Theology

John H. Erickson, Dean
St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary

We live in a rapidly changing world. Languages once confined to distant corners of the world now can be heard almost daily on our streets and in our stores. Foods that once seemed quite exotic now are common fare, with tacos catching up with hamburgers in franchise sales. A host of new words and expressions have entered into daily use in just a few decades: internet, cyberspace, “virtual community,” genetic engineering, globalization. Now we even have specialists in “futuristics.” And few of us after September 11, 2001, need to be reminded about how small the world has become and how vulnerable we all are.

How is Orthodoxy to respond to this changing world? What is the future of Orthodox theology? A first and most obvious answer is that we must uphold “the faith once delivered to the saints,” that we look to Jesus Christ, “the same yesterday, today and tomorrow,” that we remain steadfast in the Tradition which has sustained Orthodox Christians throughout the ages. This is easy to say. It is harder to say precisely how we should demonstrate this fidelity here and now. Orthodox theology has precious resources to draw on, in the Scriptures, in the writings of the Fathers of the Church, in the witness of the saints. But our nostalgia for the past, however glorious this may have been, should not cause us to forget another obvious and important truth: that Christ sent his followers into the world to “make disciples of all nations,” to proclaim the Word in each new cultural context. Orthodox theology in the future must remain faithful to Tradition, but for this very reason it must also be committed to mission. Dull repetition is not enough. In the future, Orthodox theology must address a host of questions that would have been unimaginable even a generation ago. It must faithfully proclaim the Word of God, but in ways that will engage all the new words - and the realities behind them - that we encounter and use in daily life today.

Of the issues that Orthodox theology will face in the future, ethical issues immediately spring to mind. New biological and medical technologies raise important questions about the meaning of life itself. These technologies on the one hand may advance the quality of life, or at least prolong it. But they also may undermine the sanctity of life from its earliest moments.

New information technologies also have to be taken into consideration. In our churches today, “traditionalists” and “modernists” may differ on many issues, but both groups seem to be quite at home with the internet, and they reach wide audiences through well-designed websites. So far we have used these technologies to spread our theological words, but we have not yet ventured a theological word about the significance of these technologies themselves.

Issues surrounding the relationship between Christianity and culture also must be considered anew. Over the centuries Orthodoxy has shown its remarkable capacity to adapt to diverse cultures and even to transform and transfigure them. But sometimes we Orthodox Christians are tempted to identify our faith with a particular culture, possibly even a past culture or an imaginary culture, so that it is hard for us to envision the possibility of new cultural expressions of Orthodoxy. Will there ever be a truly American expression of Orthodoxy? Much here depends on what it means to be Orthodox and what it means to be American – questions which also call for reexamination.

In addressing these and many other new issues, Orthodox theology can draw on many resources. Today many well-educated men and women, laity as well as clergy, are eager to share their faith with others. In addition, in a world where “book theology” has been losing its persuasive power, Orthodoxy’s living theology of sanctity and its “theology in color” of the icon can offer quiet but eloquent testimony to the faith we hold. The future of Orthodox theology will depend in large part not only on our willingness to address challenging new issues but also on our ability to recognize the resources provided by our own Tradition.