New Issue of Theological Reflections 20.2 "Theology of the Other under Pressure of the Empire"
Dear Readers and Authors, we are pleased to introduce a new issue of Theological Reflections: Eastern European Journal 20.2 (2022). The issue theme is "Theology of the Other under Pressure of the Empire."
After the tragedy of the Holocaust, the problem of the other came to the fore in social sciences. Previously, the other had been perceived as an object of one's own power and influence, which was believed to be the cause of violence, oppression, terror, genocides, and colonial and conquest wars. The post-Holocaust world has sought to understand the other so that it is not reduced to the level of a thing to be possessed. Therefore, the other begins to be seen as a possibility of my existence and my ethical direction towards this other, marked by a sense of empathy, hospitality, solidarity, and responsibility. As such, the philosophy of the other (primarily Levinas and Derrida) was oftentimes anchored in the ideas of Christianity and Judaism, addressing the themes of racial and social injustice, refugees and immigrants, and overcoming tragic experiences.
In the midst of the ongoing Russian-Ukrainian war, the question of embracing the other is gaining new urgency and tone: is the other always a guest to be welcomed, or is the other also a threat to be stopped? To answer this question, the Eastern European Institute of Theology organized the Summer School of Theology 2022, entitled The Other under Pressure of the Empire, which brought together prominent philosophers and theologians to support Ukraine. The School welcomed participants and speakers from more than ten countries: Ukraine, the USA, Canada, Germany, Poland, Austria, Romania, Belgium, the Netherlands, England, Estonia, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, and others. Speakers of the school were prominent philosophers and theologians, such as John D. Caputo, Catherine Keller, and Miroslav Volf.
In this journal issue, we publish some of the School’s presentations translated into Ukrainian. Some of the speakers, namely Marrieta van der Tol, Myron B. Penner, Andrey Shishkov, Catherine Keller, and John Caputo are published in Ukrainian translation for the first time. We sincerely thank them for entrusting us with their writings. In addition to the published papers, this issue contains an article by Andrii Shymanovych in English, in which the author explores the anti-Western and radically anti-ecumenical theology of the Greek Orthodox thinker Christos Yannaras. We also publish reviews by Petro Selskii, Vitalii Stankevych and Anatoliy Denysenko. In the closing section, we have posted the text of the appeal of representatives of Ukrainian evangelical theological educational institutions to the world evangelical community regarding the war of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, as well as press releases of key events in the evangelical theological community that took place in the fall of 2022.
The editorial board of the journal hopes that the publication of these scholarly contributions will be a helpful resource for our readers and will stimulate thoughtful theological discussions on issues relevant to the current Ukrainian and global contexts. We thank everyone for their work and contributions to making this issue of the journal possible.
The price of this issue is 200 UAN. You can order it here https://forms.gle/hUNpU1wreVH3YagM8
Previous issues of Theological Reflections can be found at http://reflections.eeit-edu.info/
