Tag Archives: Staniloae

Dumitru Staniloae: The Rational and Apophatic Knowledge of God

For the past two months I have been reading the first volume of the dogmatics of Dumitru Staniloae in concert with the Fellowship of St Maximus. Staniloae enjoys the reputation of being the finest Orthodox theologian of the 20th century. He … Continue reading

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Dumitru Staniloae: Does God Remember the Damned?

In the midst of his exposition of of Christ’s individual judgment upon the soul, Fr Dumitru Staniloae observes that “while the Holy Fathers make Christ’s judgment dependent upon human beings’ works during their lives on earth, the funeral prayers and … Continue reading

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Dumitru Staniloae: The Impersonality of Catholic Purgatory

Dumitru Staniloae presents the traditional Orthodox vision of hell and eternal damnation so forthrightly that it takes one’s breath away. He remorselessly pursues the gift of freedom to its logical end. The Son of God welcomes all sinners in love … Continue reading

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Dumitru Staniloae: Damnation and the Phantasmagoric Effervescence of Passion

It is a terrifying vision. Death arrives. The soul is sundered from the body. The sinner begins the climb up the ladder of judgment to hear the eschatological decision of Christ. Angels stand on the upper right, demons on the … Continue reading

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Dumitru Staniloae: Judgment of man by Man

The mystery of paradise and hell is the mystery of freedom. Orthodoxy Christianity, explains Dumitru Staniloae, views the Last Things through the prism of communion, and “because disposition toward communion is a matter of freedom, the question of paradise and … Continue reading

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Dumitru Staniloae: What is Freedom Good For?

“Holy Scripture shows that life on earth is the arena in which the human person decides his fate for eternity, for after death he cannot change his fate” (The Fulfillment of Creation, VI:30)—this is a foundational premise from which flows … Continue reading

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Dumitru Staniloae: Personhood and the Immortality of the Soul

God has constituted the human person as a unity of body and soul. The soul cannot be reduced to matter. It permeates the material body and is joined to it yet also transcends it. The soul is what makes a … Continue reading

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Dumitru Staniloae: Surrender unto Death

Death is the great enemy of humanity. Only by an act of sustained denial do we not see it for what it is—the destruction of personal identity, the destruction of love and community, the destruction of meaning and hope. Atheists … Continue reading

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