Notes on synergy
Article summary proposed by the Contacts review with LLM assistance
This article by Olivier Clément constitutes a study in fundamental theology devoted to the concept of synergy in the Orthodox tradition. Drawing primarily on patristic sources — notably Saint Maximus the Confessor, Nicholas Cabasilas, Gregory of Nyssa, and Isaac the Syrian — the author examines the cooperation between human freedom and divine grace. The article is organized around three interdependent theological foundations: the risk consented to by God in the act of creation, the synergy of the divine and the human in Christ, and a "theandric" anthropology articulating image, likeness, and freedom. Clément shows that synergy does not involve a competing causality between God and man, but rather an encounter in love, in which humility and trust constitute man's response to the divine initiative. The contribution of the article is to situate synergy at the heart of Orthodox soteriology, in dialogue with Berdyaev, opening onto an eschatological and creative dimension.
This article has not been translated yet — it is available in its French version here.
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