Course

Eastern Christian Theology – Byzantine Orthodox

Eastern Christian Theology has developed within different communities. In the Byzantine Orthodox community it developed within the Byzantine Empire, but also outside the Empire, primarily within the Arabic cultural world. With its roots embedded in Jewish religious beliefs the Byzantine culture flourished in Byzantium until the fall of Constantinople, when the Ottoman Empire overshadowed Christianity in its geographical cradle. In Russia the Church continued to blossom until the beginning of the twentieth century, when the Bolsheviks made orthodox Christianity its major enemy and later an essential but crippled partner. The course introduces the two major centers of Byzantine Christianity, with their characteristic theology and history.

Hovorun, Cyril. 2008. Will, Action and Freedom: Christological Controversies in the Seventh Century. Leiden and Boston: Brill (203 p, excerpts).
Available as eBook via EbscoHost for students and staff.

Pospielovsky, Dimitry. 1998. The Orthodox Church in the History of Russia, Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press (413 p). Selected Readings.

Runciman, Steven. 1985. The Great Church in Captivity: A Study of the Patriarchate of Constantinople from the Eve of the Turkish Conquest to the Great War. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press (454 p). Selected Readings.

Samuel, Vilakuvelil C. 2003. The Council of Chalcedon Re-Examined. London, UK: British Orthodox Press (374 p).

Selected primary texts in translations (200 p) or in Greek/Slavonic (100 p).

The schedule is available at the latest one month before the course starts. We do not recommend that you print the schedule as some changes may happen.

Open the Schedule

Michael Hjälm

Head of Department of Eastern Christian Studies, Doctor of Theology, Senior Lecturer

michael.hjalm@ehs.se

Grades

A = Excellent, B = Very good, C = Good, D = Satisfactory, E = Sufficient, Fx = Insufficient, F = Insufficient

Examination Format

  • Seminars
  • Written examination

Godkända kurser för en kandidatexamen i teologi/religionsvetenskap, 180 hp, där minst 150 hp utgörs av teologi/religionsvetenskap eller motsvarande. Dessutom kunskaper i engelska motsvarande kraven för grundläggande behörighet.

Attendance at lectures and seminars is mandatory at Stockholm School of Theology.

Established by Subject Representative College at Enskilda Högskolan Stockholm on March 22, 2017.