R. Demetrios Harper
Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary, Theology, Faculty Member
- Antiochian House of Studies, Byzantine Philosophy, Faculty MemberAristotle University of Thessaloniki, School of Modern Greek Language, Department Member, and 5 moreadd
- Patristics, Byzantine Studies, Patristics and Late Antiquity, Greek Patristics, Eastern Christianity, Systematic Theology, and 16 moreByzantine Philosophy, Philosophical Theology, Philosophy Of Religion, Medieval Philosophy, Modern Philosophy, Medieval Church History, Ancient Philosophy, Ethics, Christian Ethics, Kantian ethics, Virtue Ethics, Intellectual History, Church History, Self Determination, Autonomy and heteronomy, and Personal and Moral Autonomyedit
- Interdisciplinary scholar, author, and academic editor specializing in Patristics, Byzantine philosophy and theology,... moreInterdisciplinary scholar, author, and academic editor specializing in Patristics, Byzantine philosophy and theology, Christian ethics, and modern philosophy. Expertise in research, writing, and public speaking, and proven experience in undergraduate and graduate teaching. More than thirteen years working in the areas of copy editing, proofreading, and translation, five years of post-doctoral research, and three years serving as assistant editor of a peer-reviewed academic journal.edit
Front cover, back cover, and table of contents for "The Analogy of Love: St Maximus the Confessor and the Foundations of Ethics."
Research Interests: Ethics, Patristics, Systematic Theology, Theological Ethics, Virtue Ethics, and 15 moreTheological Anthropology, Byzantine Studies, Moral Theology, Immanuel Kant, Moral Philosophy, Maximus the Confessor, Byzantine Philosophy, Kantian Moral Theory, Kantian ethics, St Maximus the Confessor, Eastern Orthodox Theology, Greek Patristics, EASTERN ORTHODOX MORAL THEOLOGY, Byzantine Theology, Byzantine Philosophy, Orthodox Dogmatics, Philosophy of, and The Analogy of Love: St Maximus the Confessor and the Foundations of Ethics
"The Analogy of Love examines the ethical dimensions of St Maximus the Confessor's theological synthesis in order to retrieve an authentically Christian sense of virtue. Demetrios Harper considers the legacy of Immanuel Kant for... more
"The Analogy of Love examines the ethical dimensions of St Maximus the Confessor's theological synthesis in order to retrieve an authentically Christian sense of virtue. Demetrios Harper considers the legacy of Immanuel Kant for contemporary approaches to morality, which tend to see morals as abstract imperatives divorced from the flow of human existence. Against this background, he argues that Maximus provides us with the alternative of a quintessentially Christian approach to morality: one in which love constitutes the core of both ontology and morals, enabling the gathering of the splintered parts of human nature into a single, consubstantial whole, initiating them into the cosmic Ecclesia of Christ."
Research Interests: Ethics, Patristics, Systematic Theology, Theological Ethics, Virtue Ethics, and 15 moreTheological Anthropology, Byzantine Studies, Moral Theology, Immanuel Kant, Moral Philosophy, Maximus the Confessor, Byzantine Philosophy, Kantian Moral Theory, Kantian ethics, Byzantine Theology, St Maximus the Confessor, Eastern Orthodox Theology, Greek Patristics, EASTERN ORTHODOX MORAL THEOLOGY, and The Analogy of Love: St Maximus the Confessor and the Foundations of Ethics
Christos Yannaras is one of the most significant Orthodox theologians of recent times. His work engages not only with issues of philosophy and theology, but also takes in wider questions of culture and politics. With contributions from... more
Christos Yannaras is one of the most significant Orthodox theologians of recent times. His work engages not only with issues of philosophy and theology, but also takes in wider questions of culture and politics. With contributions from established and new scholars this collection considers the four main strands of Yannaras’ work - philosophy, theology, ethics and culture - and reflects on the ways in which Yannaras has engaged and influenced thought across these fields.
Research Interests: Patristics, Orthodox Theology, Theological Anthropology, Theology and Culture, Political Theology, and 18 morePersonalism, Byzantine Theology, Political Theology and Contemporary Society, Christos Yannaras, Eastern Orthodoxy, Philosophy and Theology, Theology and philosophy, Eastern Orthodox Christianity, Eastern Orthodox Theology, Greek Patristics, Byzantine Theology, Philosphical Theology, Christian Theology and Philosophy, Postmodern Culture and Religion / Theology, Yannaras, Anthropology and Theology, Demetrios Harper, Reuben Demetrios Harper a Andreas Andreopoulos
"It is in Christ that time and eternity, history and metaphysics, hold together. This Christological conviction-and the relational understanding of reality that it entails-unites Andrew T.J. Kaethler and Sotiris Mitralexis's extraordinary... more
"It is in Christ that time and eternity, history and metaphysics, hold together. This Christological conviction-and the relational understanding of reality that it entails-unites Andrew T.J. Kaethler and Sotiris Mitralexis's extraordinary collection of essays. By no means do the authors agree on every point. But the relational ontology of love on display in this book flows from a shared, ever-deepening movement into the triune God of history."-Hans Boersma, J.I. Packer Professor of Theology, Regent College
This book explores the relationship between being and time-between ontology and history-in the context of both Christian theology and philosophical inquiry. Each chapter tests the limits of this multifaceted thematic vis-à-vis a wide variety of sources: from patristics (Maximus the Confessor, Gregory of Nyssa) to philosophy (Kant, Kierkegaard, Heidegger) to modern theology (Berdyaev, Ratzinger, Fagerberg, Zizioulas, Yannaras, Loudovikos); from incarnation to eschatology; and from liturgy and ecclesiology to political theology. Among other topics, time and eternity, protology and eschatology, personhood and relation, and ontology and responsibility within history form core areas of inquiry. Between Being and Time facilitates an auspicious dialogue between philosophy and theology and, within the latter, between Catholic and Orthodox thought. It will be of considerable interest to scholars of Christian theology and philosophy of religion.
This book explores the relationship between being and time-between ontology and history-in the context of both Christian theology and philosophical inquiry. Each chapter tests the limits of this multifaceted thematic vis-à-vis a wide variety of sources: from patristics (Maximus the Confessor, Gregory of Nyssa) to philosophy (Kant, Kierkegaard, Heidegger) to modern theology (Berdyaev, Ratzinger, Fagerberg, Zizioulas, Yannaras, Loudovikos); from incarnation to eschatology; and from liturgy and ecclesiology to political theology. Among other topics, time and eternity, protology and eschatology, personhood and relation, and ontology and responsibility within history form core areas of inquiry. Between Being and Time facilitates an auspicious dialogue between philosophy and theology and, within the latter, between Catholic and Orthodox thought. It will be of considerable interest to scholars of Christian theology and philosophy of religion.
Research Interests:
This paper briefly explores the ontological ethics of St. Maximus the Confessor in light of the modern shame/guilt distinction. As many prominent commentators have affirmed, a virtue-based or ontological sense of ethics is intrinsic to or... more
This paper briefly explores the ontological ethics of St. Maximus the Confessor in light of the modern shame/guilt distinction. As many prominent commentators have affirmed, a virtue-based or ontological sense of ethics is intrinsic to or at least presupposed by the Confessor's great theological synthesis. Appropriating but simultaneously transcending Aristotelian and Stoic naturalism, Maximus establishes the chief virtue of love as the ontological locus of being, the δύναµις that enables the eschatological wholeness of nature and a genuine reciprocity between rational beings. Inasmuch as every authentic virtue constitutes a manifestation of love and its nature-constituting properties, the habituation of virtue and the resulting disposition occurs in relation to an 'other'. The activity of virtue is an ontic movement towards one's Creator and fellow creatures, achieving a functional community of nature and a perichoretic relationship with the divine. Conversely, an unvirtuous disposition and the habituation of vice facilitate a rupture in nature and movement towards solipsism, a reality that is represented par excellence by Maximus's discussions of the ontological mechanisms involved in humanity's fall. As this essay proposes, the reciprocal or relational approach to virtue manifested in the Confessor's synthesis is consistent with the criteria of certain modern ethical approaches that affirm the natural superiority of shame over the individuating emotion of guilt. Indeed, it seems quite probable that Maximus would have great sympathy for Bernard Williams's endorsement of shame as an ethical emotion, insofar as it implies that the subject who undergoes shame is the member of a community who fails to live or act in a " cooperative or self-sacrificing manner. " The ethical dimensions of the Confessor's synthesis, therefore, constitute a very interesting and provocative alternative to the majority of contemporary Christian approaches to morals, which, in Kantian fashion, typically fixate upon the autonomous fulfilment of abstracted principles and rely on the inner-directed or insular emotion of guilt to correct behavioural lapses. In his provocative and challenging work, Shame and Necessity, Bernard Williams argues for the inherent inadequacy of modern approaches to morality, outlooks that are dependent, in his view, upon modes of 'inner-directedness and guilt'. (1) Following Nietzsche's spirited critique of European morals in his Genealogy of Morals, Williams argues that the Judeo-Christian tradition has bequeathed a moral psychology to the modern western human that is primarily guided by
Research Interests: Patristics, Virtue Ethics, Shame Theory, Anthropology of Christianity, Moral Theology, and 12 moreChristian Ethics, Anthropology of Eastern Christianity, Maximus the Confessor, Byzantine Philosophy, Bernard Williams, Byzantine Theology, Eastern Orthodox Theology, EASTERN ORTHODOX MORAL THEOLOGY, Shame and Guilt, Byzantine Theology, Byzantine Philosophy, Orthodox Dogmatics, Philosophy of, Eastern Orthodox Virtue Ethics, and Eastern Orthodox Anthropology
Abstract and cover.
Research Interests: Patristics, Philosophical Theology, Virtue Ethics, Orthodox Theology, Moral Theology, and 14 moreByzantine Theology, Eastern Orthodox Christianity, Eastern Orthodox Theology, Greek Patristics, Philosophy of Religion, Philosophical Theology, Moral Philosophy, Greek Patristics, Byzantine Theology, Systematic and Philosophical Theology, Saint Maximos the Confessor, EASTERN ORTHODOX MORAL THEOLOGY, Byzantine Theology, Byzantine Philosophy, Orthodox Dogmatics, Philosophy of, Byzantine Christianity, Maximos the Confessor, Christian Virtue Ethics, and Aristotle and Christianity
Research Interests: Moral Psychology, Patristics, Virtue Ethics, Self-Determination Theory, Anthropology of Christianity, and 13 morePersonal and Moral Autonomy, Byzantine Studies, Moral Theology, Byzantine Philosophy, Subjectivity, Christian Theology, Byzantine Theology, Self Determination, Eastern Orthodox Theology, Greek Patristics, Saint Maximos the Confessor, Maximos the Confessor, and Autonomy and heteronomy
Research Interests: Patristics, Virtue Ethics, Self-Determination Theory, Stoicism, Anthropology of Christianity, and 9 moreMoral Theology, Christian Ethics, Anthropology of Eastern Christianity, Maximus the Confessor, Byzantine Philosophy, Determinism, Byzantine Theology, Greek Patristics, and Christian Theology/Ethics
Research Interests: Ethics, Medieval Philosophy, Medieval Studies, Virtue Ethics, Eastern Christianity, and 15 moreMedieval Church History, Personal and Moral Autonomy, Byzantine Studies, Christian Ethics, Byzantine History, Byzantine Philosophy, History of Eastern Christianity, Anthropology of ethics and morality, Byzantine Theology, Self Determination, Eastern Orthodox Christianity, Eastern Orthodox Theology, Moral Anthropology, Morality and Personhood, and Autonomy and heteronomy
Research Interests: Patristics, Virtue Ethics, Natural Law, Self-Determination Theory, Stoicism, and 16 moreOrthodox Theology, Anthropology of Christianity, Christian Ethics, Anthropology of Eastern Christianity, Maximus the Confessor, Determinism, Byzantine Theology, St Maximus the Confessor, Eastern Orthodox Theology, Greek Patristics, Saint Maximos the Confessor, EASTERN ORTHODOX MORAL THEOLOGY, Byzantine Theology, Byzantine Philosophy, Orthodox Dogmatics, Philosophy of, Christian Theology/Ethics, Byzantine Anthropology, and Eastern Orthodox Virtue Ethics
In the latter portion of The Triads, St. Gregory Palamas describes deification as an event that is inclusive of the entirety of man’s being, inasmuch as he becomes “entirely God in his soul and body by grace”. This bold assertion on the... more
In the latter portion of The Triads, St. Gregory Palamas describes deification as an event that is inclusive of the entirety of man’s being, inasmuch as he becomes “entirely God in his soul and body by grace”. This bold assertion on the part of St. Gregory is demonstrative of the way in which he consciously follows in the footsteps of his theological forebearer, St. Maximus the Confessor, by synthesizing Evagrian-style spirituality with Biblical anthropological presuppositions. Man qua being, for Palamas, can only be defined as such to the extent that he possesses both soul and body, both of which are eternally predetermined for deification. The ascetic life and the practice of the virtues therefore constitute not a rejection of the body or its powers, but rather function as a way of redirecting man away from an inordinate obsession with the physical world that he may become receptive to the deifying grace of God. In his rigorous defense of the practitioners of hesychia, Palamas makes it clear that he considers prayer and the ecstatic experience of the uncreated light to be events that are inclusive of man’s entire hypostasis, even asserting that man’s bodily senses become capable of participating in this foretaste of the eschata. My paper shall focus upon Palamas’ ‘eschatological’ view of the body and his insistence on the relevance of man’s somatic dimension in the spiritual life. I shall also strive to illuminate the ontological presuppositions of his synthesis that enable his anthropological perspective, with particular emphasis on those which he received from his predecessors. Finally, I will argue that the Incarnation is a sine qua non of his theology and, consequently, of his eschatology of body.
Research Interests: Patristics, Systematic Theology, Orthodox Theology, Theological Anthropology, Byzantine Philosophy, and 18 moreHesychasm, Later byzantine theology, especially Gregory Palamas, Theosis, Patristics and Late Antiquity, Gregory Palamas, Byzantine Theology, St Gregory Palamas, Eastern Orthodoxy, Theology of the Body, Eastern Orthodox Christianity, Eastern Orthodox Theology, Greek Patristics, Byzantine Theology, especially Gregory Palamas and Palamites, Greek Patristics, Byzantine Theology, Byzantine Hesychasm, Byzantine Theology, Byzantine Theology, Byzantine Philosophy, Orthodox Dogmatics, Philosophy of, Maximos the Confessor, and Byzantine eschatology
Research Interests: Philosophy Of Religion, Patristics, History of Christianity, Philosophical Theology, Orthodox Theology, and 12 moreEastern Christianity, Philosophy of History, Theory of History, Immanuel Kant, Maximus the Confessor, Eschatology, Byzantine Theology, Theology of History, Eastern Orthodox Theology, Kant and Religion, History of Christian Thought, and Byzantine Theology, Byzantine Philosophy, Orthodox Dogmatics, Philosophy of
Research Interests: Patristics, Anthropology of Christianity, Natural Theology, Maximus the Confessor, Hesychasm, and 11 moreGregory Palamas, Byzantine Theology, Theology of the Body, Eastern Orthodox Christianity, Eastern Orthodox Theology, Gregory Palamas and Late Byzantine Theology, Late Byzantine Theology, Byzantine Hesychasm, Byzantine Theology, Orthodox Anthropology, John Meyendorff, and Orthodox Personalism
Research Interests: Patristics, Philosophical Theology, Eastern Christianity, Philosophy of History, Theory of History, and 19 moreMoral Theology, Alasdair MacIntyre, History and Theology, R.G. Collingwood, 20th century Russian School and Neopatristic Theology, Modern Russian Theology, Byzantine Theology, Georges Florovsky, Theology of History, R.G. Collingwood, philosophy of history, Eastern Orthodox Theology, Saint Maximos the Confessor, EASTERN ORTHODOX MORAL THEOLOGY, Byzantine Theology, Byzantine Philosophy, Orthodox Dogmatics, Philosophy of, Russian Theology, Florovsky, Fr. Georges Florovsky, Paris school of Russian theology a Maximos the Confessor
Research Interests: Stoicism, Eastern Christianity, Christian Ethics, Aristotle's Ethics, Byzantine Philosophy, and 10 moreStoicism (Philosophy), Byzantine Theology, Stoic ethics, Ancient Philosophy and Christianity, Ancient Greek Philosophy (Plato/ Aristotle), Epicurean and Stoic Philosophy, Early Christianity and Philosophy, Byzantine Theology, Byzantine Philosophy, Orthodox Dogmatics, Philosophy of, Christian Theology/Ethics, Christianity and greek philosophy, and Aristotle and Christianity
This essay examines Christos Yannaras’ critique of modern moral sensibilities and his arguments for the retrieval of what he terms a “Eucharistic ethos,” an approach that affirms an essentially ontological model of morality in which love... more
This essay examines Christos Yannaras’ critique of modern moral sensibilities and his arguments for the retrieval of what he terms a “Eucharistic ethos,” an approach that affirms an essentially ontological model of morality in which love and interpersonal communion function as the highest moral criteria. The point of departure is Yannaras’ genealogy of western epistemology and metaphysics, perhaps most concisely expressed in his thoughtful but challenging work Heidegger and the Areopagite. As he argues, Medieval Scholastic rejection of apophaticism inaugurates the reduction and eventual death of ontology, which, although diagnosed by Nietzsche, culminates in the solipsistic moralism of Immanuel Kant. This Kantian-style narcissism is the functional impetus, consciously or unconsciously, within modern moral sensibilities. The way back from the slow retreat into subjective individualism, as Yannaras suggests in his Freedom of Morality, is the re-establishment of a “Eucharistic ethos” in which ultimate human concerns again become the foundation for morality, as opposed to abstracted laws designed as markers for individual achievement. As I argue throughout, Yannaras’ makes a real contribution to Christian ethics and, moreover, finds himself in the illustrious company of thinkers such as Alasdair MacIntyre and Bernard Williams in recognizing and diagnosing the extent to which contemporary moral sensibilities have the tendency to be detached from authentic human concerns. Finally, in an attempt to build on Yannaras’ proposals, I critically discuss his own ontological suppositions, arguing that aspects of his personalist perspective work to seriously undermine his efforts to retrieve a Eucharistic ethos and, consequently, require reconsideration if his approach to morality is to have enduring resonance.
Research Interests: Systematic Theology, Philosophical Theology, Orthodox Theology, Theological Anthropology, Ethical Theory, and 18 moreAlasdair MacIntyre, Christian Ethics, Immanuel Kant, Personalism, Maximus the Confessor, Byzantine Philosophy, Kantian ethics, Byzantine Theology, Christos Yannaras, St Maximus the Confessor, Eastern Orthodox Christianity, Eastern Orthodox Theology, McIntyre Alasdair, EASTERN ORTHODOX MORAL THEOLOGY, Modern Orthodox Theology, Yannaras, Byzantine Anthropology, and Eastern Orthodox Virtue Ethics
Research Interests:
Research Interests: Medieval Philosophy, Philosophy Of Religion, Late Antique and Byzantine Studies, Medieval History, Medieval Theology, and 15 moreMedieval Church History, Personhood, Personal and Moral Autonomy, Byzantine Studies, Byzantine History, Charles Taylor, Byzantine Philosophy, Greco-Roman Religions, Self Determination, Eastern Orthodox Christianity, History of Philosophy, Selfhood and Personhood, Morality and Personhood, Autonomy and heteronomy a Christopher Gill
Session Chairs: Alexis Torrance and Perry Hamalis.
