Ioan Tulcan

The article examines the ecclesiological and theological scope of the Holy and Great Orthodox Council held in Crete in 2016. Through an analytical study, Romanian theologian Ioan Tulcan seeks to assess the significance of this conciliar event for the contemporary Orthodox Church. The central argument put forward is that this council constitutes a decisive moment for Orthodoxy, insofar as it fostered a dynamic of intra-ecclesial dialogue while concretely manifesting the universal dimension of the Church. The author highlights the council's capacity to identify and thematize the current challenges facing Orthodoxy in the contemporary world. On the theological level, the article contributes to reflection on the nature and function of councils in the Orthodox tradition, as well as on the conditions for exercising synodality at the pan-Orthodox scale.

This article examines the place accorded to reason in the knowledge of God within the thought of Saint Maximus the Confessor. The study adopts a patristic and analytical approach, drawing on the writings of the seventh-century Byzantine theologian to identify a coherent theological epistemology. The central idea is that human reason, far from being set aside in the theological endeavor, plays an active and legitimate role within it, while nonetheless remaining subject to a dynamic of transcendence and transformation. The contribution of the article lies in shedding light on the way Maximus the Confessor articulates the rational capacities of the human person with the demands of divine contemplation, thereby helping to clarify the position of the Greek patristic tradition on the relationship between reason and theology, particularly in dialogue with the apophatic currents inherited from Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite.