Amsterdam Lectures 2012-13:
The Ways of Modern Orthodox Theology: Part I
Lecture IX: Modern Orthodox Dogmatic Theology
1: Fr Dumitru Stăniloae
Life: born in 1903 in Vlădeni, (present) district of Braşov, southern Transylvania.
High school in Braşov, then to Sibiu, where he was recommended to the bishop,
Nicolae Bălan. To university in Cernăuţi to study theology. Left after a year and
transferred to Bucharest, to study Romanian literature. Soon returned to
Transylvania, and studied theology at Sibiu from 1924. 1926: to Athens for a
doctorate on Dositheos of Jerusalem. 1928: continues studies abroad, at Munich,
Berlin, Paris, and Belgrade, working on St Gregory Palamas (and seeking out
manuscripts). 1929: began teaching dogmatic theology at the Andrea Şaguna
Theological Academy, where he remained until 1947. 1929: translates, at the behest
of bishop Nicolae, Androutsos’ Dogmatics. 1930: marries and is ordained deacon;
1931: ordained priest. 1931: (again at the behest of Bishop Nicolae) began long
association with the cultural and religious journal, Telegraful Român, which lasted
until 1945. 1934: meets Nichifor Crainic. After the war, relieved of his position at
Sibiu, and after a delay is appointed to the chair of dogmatic and symbolic theology at
the Faculty of Theology in Bucharest in 1948, which he held, with a break, until 1973,
when he retired. Under the Communist régime, he becomes involved in the group of
Christian intellectuals called Rugul aprins, ‘The Burning Bush’. In 1958, arrested,
along with other members of ‘The Burning Bush’, and condemned to 5 years’
imprisonment, much of it spent in the notorious prison camp at Aiud. On release
eventually reappointed to his chair in Bucharest, though with difficulty and after some
delay. Soon permitted to travel, and accepted many invitations to lecture abroad,
visiting Rome and meeting Pope Paul VI in 1975. After his retirement in 1973, such
visits abroad continued, and he began to publish his major works in Romania. 1990
appointed to the Romanian Academy. 1993: died on 5 October, a few months after
his wife, and a few weeks before his 90th birthday.
Works:
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Much journalistic work in journals such as Telegraful Român and Gândirea
(‘Thought’).
Massive work of translation of the Fathers, pre-eminent among which was his version
of the Philokalia, much expanded compared with the original Greek version, with
introduction and commentary.
In his retirement, two major ‘textbooks’: Orthodox Dogmatic Theology, 3 vols.
(1979) and Orthodox Spirituality (originally published as ‘vol. 3’ of Orthodox Moral
Theology in 1979, vols. 1 and 2 never existed). Also, various other books.
Theology:
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Deeply ‘philokalic’, that is, inspired by the vision of the Philokalia. The deepest
influence on his theology is probably St Maximos the Confessor, much of whose
work he translated (both within the Philokalia, and independently).
Importance of the doctrine of creation, and of the human position in the cosmos as
microcosm (or as Stăniloae prefers to put it, ‘macrocosm’)
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Apophatic theology
Sacramental theology, based on the Three Mysteries of Creation, Incarnation, and the
Church
(This is only a selection, corresponding to what I discuss in the lecture.)
Bibliography:
Works by Fr Stăniloae:
Teologia Dogmatică Ortodoxă, 3 vols., Bucharest: Editura Institutului Biblic şi de Misiune as Bisericii
Orthodoxe Române, 1979 (second edition, 1996–7). English translation: published as The Experience
of God, Brookline, MA: Holy Cross Orthodox Press, trans. Ioan Ionită and Robert Barringer (as was
vol. 2 and 5; vol 3 by Ionită alone). First volume has no subtitle and was published in 1994
(corresponds to part I, first half of Romanian vol. 1). The remaining volumes have subtitles: II: The
World: Creation and Deification (2000); III: The Person of Jesus Christ as God and Savior (2011); V:
The Sanctifying Mysteries (2012). Vols IV and VI are expected soon. German translation: Orthodoxe
Dogmatik, 3 vols., trans. Hermann Pitters, Zürich: Benziger Verlag/Gütersloh: Gütersloher
Verlagshaus Gerd Mohn, 1984–95 (the only complete translation as yet).
Spiritualitatea Ortodoxă: Ascetica şi Mistica, Bucharest: Editura Institutului Biblic şi de Misiune as
Bisericii Orthodoxe Române, 1992 (anastatic reprint of original edition: Theologia Morală Ortodoxă,
vol. 3: Spiritualitatea Orthodoxă, Bucharest, 1981). English translation: Orthodox Spirituality, trans.
Archimandrite Jerome (Newville) and Otilia Kloos, South Canaan, PA: St Tikhon’s Seminary Press,
2002.
Theology and Church, trans. Robert Barringer, Crestwood, NY: St Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 1980
[collection of essays]
Iisus Hristos sau Restaurarea Omului, Craiova: Editura Omniscop, 1993 (first published, Sibiu, 1943)
Ortodoxie şi Românism, Bucharest: Editura Albatros, 1998 [collection of articles from Telegraful
Român, originally published in 1939]
The Victory of the Cross, Oxford: SLG Press, no date (Fairacres Pamphlet no. 16).
Eternity and Time, Oxford: SLG Press, 2001.
Details of other works, both in Romanian and in translation, including all his translations can be found
in Persoană şi Comuniune: Prinos de Cinstire or in Father Dumitru Stăniloae, A Worthy Disciple of
the Classical Patristics (see below).
Works about Fr Stăniloae:
A.M. Allchin, Obituary for Fr Dumitru: Sobornost 16:1 (1994), 38–44.
Emil Bartos, Deification in Eastern Orthodox Theology. An Evaluation and Critique of the Theology of
Dumitru Stăniloae, Carlisle: Paternost Press, 1999.
Maciej Bielawski, The Philokalical Vision of the World in the Theology of Dumitru Stăniloae,
Bydgoszcz: Wydawnictwo Homini, 1997.
Marc-Antoine Costa de Beauregard, Dumitru Stăniloae: «Ose comprendre que Je t’aime», Paris: Le
Cerf, 2009 [first edition: 1983]
Charles Miller, The Gift of the World. An Introduction to the Theology of Dumitru Stăniloae,
Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 2000.
Dumitru Stăniloae: Tradition and Modernity in Theology, ed. Lucian Turcescu, Iaşi: Center of
Romanian Studies, 2002.
Persoană şi Comuniune: Prinos de Cinstire. Preotului Profesor Academician Dumitru Stăniloae 1903–
1993, ed. Mircea Păcurariu and Ioan I. Ică jr., Sibiu: Editura şi tiparul Arhiepiscopiei ortodoxe Sibiu,
1993.
Gheorgh F. Anghelescu and Cristian Untea, Father Dumitru Stăniloae, A Worthy Disciple of the
Classical Patristics (Bio-Bibliography), Bucharest: Editura Enciclopedică, 2009.