Misiunea Bisericii în lumea contemporană

The following will review in brief missiological concepts which have been part of the ecumenical strive for unity in the time since the beginning of the modern ecumenical movement since 1848. Meant as introductory paper for a seminar on Mission.

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the reception of the missio Dei paradigm in the Eastern Orthodox theology of mission. We will start with a short presentation of the genesis of the concept, and we will continue with its reception in the Protestant and Roman Catholic theology, as well as in the Eastern Orthodox thinking. The paper attempts to demonstrate that the contemporary way to understand the missionary theology and practice is in accordance with the Orthodox traditional missionary theology. At the same time, the article emphasizes the fact that the reception of missio Dei is connected with the view that different ecclesiastical bodies have about church itself. The conclusion includes some practical remarks about ways of applying the concept in the contemporary ecumenical missiology and in the field of spiritual missiology. Keywords: missio Dei, ecumenical missiology, Eastern Orthodox missiology, indigenization of the gospel, spiritual missiology, mission from the margins, theosis.

Pro Edu. International Journal of Educational Sciences, 2021

The volume Teologie și misiune creștină [Christian Theology and Mission] (2019, 536 p.), edited by Bibliotheca Publishing House/Valahia University Press (Târgoviște), is the result of the academic labor and effort of His Eminence Metropolitan Dr. Nifon, Archbishop of Târgoviște, in his quality of university professor at the Faculty of Orthodox Theology and Educational Sciences, Valahia University of Târgoviște, but also in his quality of Patriarchal Exarch for the relations of the Romanian Patriarchate with international Christian institutions and European institutions. This anniversary volume, edited at 20 years of service of His Eminence in the archiepiscopal see of Târgoviște, includes a series of theological and missiological studies, meant to promote the national culture and history, but also the young generations’ education under the aureole of Christian values and treasury of Orthodox culture and spirituality. Realized in a scientific, rigorous, realistic manner and approaching each topic complexly, the studies and research work integrated in this volume present pertinent solutions to sensitive challenges of today’s world context: ecological crisis, effects of globalization, economic crisis and sustainable development, spiritual theological grounds related to the concept of democracy, issues concerning migration in Europe, Christian values in politics, the role of young generations in the Church mission etc., offering an objective theological and spiritual answer. Consequently, the works integrated in the volume become true formative and educative beacons for today’s society, contributing to the understanding of changes, challenges, limits, but also of opportunities that emerged along with the political, economic, and social changes that take place worldwide through the contemporary process of globalization, by overcoming the cultural and national differences, that inevitably lead to important effects on the medium and long term.

Transformation, 2018

The article presents the current missionary formation in the Romanian Orthodox Church. I evaluated the national curricula from the faculties of Orthodox Theology, following the missionary orientated topics in each subject, and I analyzed the curricula of Missiology taught in the faculties.The article underlines the relation between the content of the Missiology curriculum and the historical context in which the Orthodox Church in Romania developed, and it explains why there are both innovative and conservative themes within the curriculum. Finally, the specificities of the orthodox missionary formation in Romania are emphasized, such as the spiritual education, the central place of the liturgy, and the focus on internal mission.

The article traces the perspectives and the predicaments of the missionary work of the Orthodox churches today. Two particular problems are brought to the fore: The poorness of mission studies and certain problems in the concept of the " missionary " local church. The article puts emphasis upon the need for sound studies, beyond outdated stereotypes, and upon the task that the voice of the young churches in the Third World is heard by the global Orthodoxy.

2013

Acta Missiologica, 2020

Background: This article aims at reflection on the Ad Gentes Decree on Missionary Activity of Vatican II with the benefit of more than half a century’s hindsight. First of all, it briefly reminds us about the document itself, the history of its creation, contents, and theological highlights . The second part of the article identifies some of the most significant changes and develop- ments that happened during the decades following the Council. The most recent project of “mission inter gentes”, as suggested by Jonatan Y. Tan, is introduced in the third section. And, finally, the concluding section attempts to answer the question of whether (or to what extent) the concept of mission among nations (inter gentes) is a consequence and creative continua- tion of how Vatican II understood mission to the nations (ad gentes) . Conclusion: The conclusion suggests that mission among nations (inter gentes) is closely linked to mission ad gentes because it represents a concrete way in which Christians can fulfil their missionary task . Ad Gentes remains an authoritative missionary document in the Roman Catholic Church but the need to go beyond this document is suggested based on explication of the inter-gentes missiological concept of Jonatan Y . Tan . Further detailed research of his work can be beneficial for both theoreticians and practitioners of Christian mission. One of the central outcomes of this article is that reflection on the missionary activity of the Church and its different concepts or projects may be relevant for researchers beyond the area of theology too, because they can study how it supports human freedom and social engagement, showing the strong potential of the Church to support functioning democratic society.

Phronema, 2024

The focus of this essay is the ecclesial analysis of the phenomenon of the Bogomoljci movement in the Serbian Orthodox Church. This movement appeared at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th centuries in the context of Serbian Orthodoxy in close contact with some Protestant groups, as a type of a missional ministry of the laity. The essay is an attempt to present the true origins, development, and the outcomes of the Bogomoljci movement, looking at both the good and the bad sides, to understand the place and the role of such lay movements in the missional work of the Church today. The essay goes a step back in order to present the foundations and the background of the phenomenon, which is traced to the occasional lethargy in the inward mission of the Church as well as the significant impact of the so-called Nazarene movement of Protestant pietism on Serbian folk Orthodoxy. The essay also compares the original Bogomoljci movement which operated between the two World Wars with the modern reinstatement which appeared in the early 1990s. Lastly, the essay points to the necessity of an objective revaluation of the consequences of this movement and possible lessons for the near and far future of the Church. In the time of an expanding growth of the Church in the Diaspora and a common romanticising of the past, the need to reaffirm some basic ecclesiological principles in Orthodox theology might be of the highest importance for a development of a healthy missional outlook.