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The paradoxical person of the Lesbian-Feminist exists as an intersectional being, living both within the world of the feminist movement and within the queer movement. The feminist movement seeks to deconstruct patriarchy and harmful gender binaries that have perpetually disenfranchised women. When studying queer theory, it becomes clear that the main goal of the queer movement is to deconstruct binaries and gender roles in their totality. This project is unique as it attempts to identify the Lesbian-Feminist as the space in which both of these movements coexist. The Lesbian-Feminist is concerned with both bringing about the full equality of women and working for the full inclusion of LGBTQ people in politics, society, and the church. This research will be situated within the context of theological discourse as we think of the revolution in relation to the person and work of Jesus. Jesus dismantled unjust systems and harmful hierarchal power dynamics and, in doing so, showed us how to truly be the kin-dom of God on earth. Jesus exemplified justice, love, and radical equality, attributes that Christians do not always exemplify as they tend to perpetuate the dominant social structure with its leader, the white, heterosexual, Christian male. The work of the liberation theologian, specifically that of the queer or the feminist theologian, carries on the work of Jesus by continuing to dismantle and disrupt these dominant power structures and social constructions that exclude and deny the full humanity of anyone who is in the margins. Just as Jesus held full equality in divinity and humanity, the Lesbian-Feminist incarnates God's presence in the world in both her queerness and her womanhood. It seems clear from the recent surge in misogynistic, crassly anti-woman rhetoric and behavior in our culture that there remains a significant amount of work to be done and that we do not live in a post-sexist society. The reaction and resurgence that was the 2017 Women's March brings to light and rebels against all that seeks to keep us divided along lines of gender, race, and socio-economics. The March, as a gathering of the margins, was a chorus of voices making clear that we will not allow sexism, racism, homophobia, and xenophobia to turn this country backward. Therein lies the importance of the Lesbian-Feminist, that as an intersectional force bringing together two movements, she also brings together the entire revolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This entry examines the laws and other regulatory instruments of a range of Christian churches in Great Britain, many of which also have a global reach. These legal instruments are pervasive in the lives of churches and regulate their ministry and government, doctrine, worship and rites of passage, church property, and relations with the state. These laws are examined here in the wider context of what churches share juridically in the form of the Statement of Principles of Christian Law, issued in Rome in 2016 by an ecumenical panel of jurists and theologians and currently feeding into the work of the World Council of Churches (see Doe 2021).

As the first quarter of the twenty-first century comes to an end, the world continues to witness an increasing and almost unprecedented challenge caused by corruption and the injustices it brings to global society. These challenges are clearly presented both to the global community and the church. The question arises: how best can Christians and the church demonstrate their calling as one which includes speaking against corruption and injustice? Scholarship has engaged fruitfully with this question, on both the themes of justice and corruption. Theologians, both lay and ordained, have identified a need to consider corruption and lack of justice as an issue not only for the secular world but also the church. This article is a biblical, theological, and ethical discourse on justice and corruption, and a proposal for a model for the church to respond to corruption and injustice so as to bring about a just social order and make the gospel relevant today. This article draws on public and systematic theology to present theological-ethical perspectives on justice and corruption. Questions about justice and corruption in light of God’s plan for humanity and the rising ethical anomalies in a global society are two issues which every society has struggled with throughout human history. The article begins with an attempt to define and explore the meaning of and interplay between justice and corruption from a biblical, theological, and ethical perspective. Then it locates the role of the church and, building from a Christian traditional framework and modern church practice, proposes ways in which the church can see itself as an alternative community, one that uses prophetic utterance and creative action to respond to the two distinct but related issues of justice and corruption that impinge upon twenty-first century communities. In drawing on the need for church to set an example by actively caring for justice and the common good, the article calls for a renewed ecclesiological attention to justice and corruption by the church, and encourages it in equipping and sending ministers and or lay people so as to create space for addressing the refusal of justice that allows corruption to flourish. Through its discussion, this article also seeks to help the church to work towards crafting a new life characterized by a flourishing, just, and corruption-free global society.

World Christianity as a historical phenomenon emerged in the last quarter of the twentieth century, showing the global reaching of Christianity physically, numerically, and characteristically. Even though the number of Christians at the beginning of the twenty-first century (around thirty-three percent of the world’s population) has not changed much since the beginning of the century before, the demographic shift and intercultural nature of Christianity have changed its appearance. In just a century, Christianity truly became a world religion (Robert 2009; Kim and Kim 2016). Consider the demographic shift: at the beginning of the twentieth century, as many as eighty percent of Christians lived in the global North, that is, Europe and North America. By the first decade of the twenty-first century, however, at least sixty percent of Christians were from the global South regions (Johnson and Ross 2009: 8), largely previously considered non-Christian except for migrants from the North. While mainly produced by the modern missionary movement from the West, various characteristics of world Christianity have also shown the indigeneity of the different forms of regional Christianity. Assuming that world Christianity is still in transition, especially in theology, this article deals with theological developments relating to the world Christianity phenomenon. It first offers a brief empirical analysis and historical description, then explores the theological phenomena surrounding world Christianity. Two theological developments – in particular, contextual theology and intercultural theology – are identified as the main branch of world Christianity’s theology. The study concludes with a suggestive doctrinal-theological foundation to anchor the theology, namely the doctrine of incarnation.

Missio Dei represents a missiological attempt to articulate a theocentric concept of mission with reference to the missionary nature and act of the triune God. This attempt arose as a reaction to the ecclesiocentric understanding of mission which was predominant within the Western global missionary movements in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. This article briefly reviews the historical, biblical, and theological context of such an attempt, and then highlights an ongoing polarity in the employment of trinitarianism within missio Dei. The article concludes with a reflection on the implications of missio Dei for the church and Christian life in a contemporary, globalized society.

It is a statement of the obvious to say that Christianity is not necessary for democracy to exist. It is no less true, but perhaps less obvious, to say that democratic politics is intrinsic to the practice of Christianity, and democracy, broadly understood, is a way of enacting fundamental Christian commitments. Both these claims guide this article. Because it is not always clear what is meant by the term ‘democracy’, the article begins with an extended definition. Because it is even less clear how the Bible and democracy relate, the article then examines the scriptural precedents for a commitment to democracy. The article closes by outlining the key modern theological arguments that exhort active Christian involvement in democratic struggles for justice and liberation as well as responsibility for developing and sustaining democratic political systems. The essay as a whole outlines a theological grammar of democracy, providing a means to evaluate theologically whether or not a particular polity or form of politics is democratic. The one-line summary of this entry is that democracy is the political form of neighbour love, particularly in how it incorporates love of enemies.

This article provides a comprehensive and in-depth Christian theological account of human migration by drawing on various biblical and theological resources. In so doing, it focuses on five key theological themes that lie at the foundation of migration theologies: the Bible, God, Christ, the Holy Spirit, and the church. Despite the apparent variations and differences among various kinds of migration theology, these five theological themes are frequently adopted, discussed, and addressed by many theologians. Although theologians tend to regard migration theology as a subcategory within the larger category of theological studies, it should be noted that before theology as an academic discipline was established, humanity had already experienced different forms of migration; migration preceded theology. Since humanity’s experience of migration became the nesting ground for reflecting on and questioning God, it is not too much to say that theology was born out of human migration. As an academic discipline in theological studies, migration theology has exponentially grown in recent years with the increase of many different theological voices and perspectives (Groody 2022; Carroll R. and Bacote 2021; Cruz 2021; Phan 2020; Rieger 2020; Ahn 2019). The explosive growth of theological work on migration in recent years is not accidental. According to the World Migration Report 2022 (International Organization for Migration 2022), there were around 281 million international migrants in the world in 2020, 128 million more than there were in 1990 and over three times the estimated number in 1970. It is no wonder that social scientists Stephen Castles, Hein de Haas, and Mark J. Miller call the present time ‘The Age of Migration’ (2014). The recent expansion of migration theology is therefore a reflection of our world today. Given that migration touches so many aspects of life and society on a global scale (Groody 2009: 664), this article adopts an interdisciplinary approach in exploring various ideas and perspectives of migration theology.

Baptism (from the Greek baptizo: to immerse, to submerge) is a ritual that is practised in practically all Christian churches and communities. It involves a person being immersed in water – or having water poured over them – along with the spoken trinitarian formula. This article outlines the origins of baptism, its development throughout history, its meaning and practice, as well as the ecumenical-theological problems that emerge.

The terms ‘deaconess’ and ‘deacon’ refer to an office of service in the church that exists today and dates back to the first century. The terms themselves are derived from the Greek verb, diakonein, and its cognate nouns diakonos and diakonia. Diakonein meant to serve or to minister. The noun diakonos, or deacon, meant servant or minister. This article will trace the development of the diaconate historically and theologically for both men and women. The approach will be chronological as the roles of deacons and deaconesses changed over time in the church and society – from the early role of deacons as assistants to bishops to the present diverse roles of deacons and deaconesses in various Christian denominations and churches today. Much of the literature on deacons concentrates on the deacon’s liturgical roles. While not forgetting their important liturgical roles, this article will concentrate on the deacons’ and deaconesses’ role and the role of the church in the care of the poor. Woven into the historical development of the diaconate will be relevant scriptural citations and interpretations, the life and experience of the community of faith within which deacons and deaconesses worked, and social scientific engagement and interactions with the topic.

The theme of ‘church’ in the New Testament raises four central questions, the answers to which are essential for Christian theology. The questions are there for all, because of the text; but the answers are of different importance, due to the different traditions: (1) what is the relationship of ‘church’ to Israel and to contemporary Judaism? (2) what is its relationship to Jesus and his call to discipleship? (3) how did Christianity develop in its earliest times, and what structures of community building and leadership did it develop? (4) what images and motifs of the church emerge; what theological concepts are developed to represent the nature and mission of the church? These questions are also those of the first Christians – although they are not always asked and answered directly, rather indirectly. All four questions remain relevant today. The first question is about Jewish-Christian relations, which are shadowed by the history of anti-Judaism but illuminated by the righteousness of God – ‘for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable’ (Rom 11:29). The second question becomes a problem in modern times, in view of the suspicion that the church is the institutionalized betrayal of Jesus, as Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900) wrote, saying that the power of faith would take the place of freedom of belief (The Antichrist 41–50). The third question, on the one hand, compels biblical exegesis to deal with an accusation (which has been repeatedly raised since David Hume, 1711–1776) that missionary monotheism is aggressive because it does not accept the cultures of the people it seeks to convert; on the other hand, it also leads to denominational controversies such as how important the episcopal ministry is for the church, or whether this ministry is testified to in the New Testament or not. The fourth question leads to the examination of what self-understanding the first believers have of themselves and the community they form ‘in Christ’. The church exists for the sake of the gospel; the gospel is spoken and heard, taught and learned, received and passed on in the church. Therefore, the church is not a subject of the New Testament writings that can be separated from their forms and contents. Methodologically, the connection between the origins and intended receptions of the New Testament writings and their direct and indirect statements about the church must be reconstructed. In this process, significant correlations between the history of the pre-Easter Jesus movement, the post-Easter mission, and the oldest theologies of the church become apparent. The New Testament does not contain a tract ‘church’; there is no single or even dominant concept of ‘church’. Rather, it contains many reflections on the nature and mission of the church, and the common belief – in the one God through the Lord Jesus Christ in the Holy Spirit – is combined with a variety of forms of being church that do not divide but unite (Alexeev, Karakolis, and Luz 2008). However, from the beginning there are disputes about the true faith which lead to exclusions and inclusions – and from the beginning there are many bridges that connect different traditions, in order to resolve hard conflicts and to create new relationships.

This brief article delineates Orthodox pastoral theology by chiefly emphasizing the organic connection between Liturgical/sacramental life and social/pastoral involvement in the Christian Orthodox tradition. It shows how Orthodox pastoral theology, in encompassing the entire life of the Church, mirrors the holistic character of Orthodox theology. An aspect that is immediately evident is that Liturgical and/or spiritual life is central in the Orthodox tradition even in matters pertaining to ‘practical’ theology. At the same time, it remains equally important for the Orthodox tradition to never come to perceive Liturgical life in isolation, without its societal, pastoral component. For Orthodox Christians, Liturgy has a clear practical involvement as it essentially prepares the faithful through the sacramental communion of the Eucharist for a full and tireless involvement in the life of the community, sending them back into the world into a context which retains a Liturgical character, although less explicitly. For if Liturgy comes to be seen as generator of praxis, pastoral involvement too becomes sacramental, as the Liturgy is made whole through the complementary ‘sacrament of the brother’, the ‘Liturgy after the Liturgy’. A tension becomes apparent between the rejection of the world on the one hand and social ‘incarnational’ involvement on the other.

The Christian, or liturgical, year sets human lives within God’s story of creation and salvation, sanctifying moments, days, years, and lives. Calendar and hourly time become God’s time as the Christian year encompasses and intermingles past, present, and future. Following the key themes of this encyclopaedia, this entry will provide an overview of the scriptural roots of the Christian year, along with its historical development in communities within a range of traditions, Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant. Note that the present diversity of theologies and practices of Christian communities throughout the world makes it impossible for one essay, even focused on only one practice, to comprehensively present all understandings. The diversity of humanity is exhibited in the Christian year through a variety of debates arising from the value that a church or tradition might place on observing various holy days; how the Christian calendar is related to other calendars; whether the gospel and the Christian year itself is considered countercultural, assimilated to colonizers’ calendars, or accommodated to Indigenous calendars; and how much society and environment should affect an understanding of the Christian year. The theological implications of this practice of ‘hallowing our days’ through observing the seasons of the year centred around Jesus (Paschal mystery/Easter and incarnation/Christmas) are a constant reminder of God’s presence. The practice of the Christian year and some interactions with science and the natural world will be considered. Ultimately, the Christian year is an ever-deepening cycle which, alongside or in contrast to the seasons of nature, can grow faith in individuals and communities now and into the future.

The theological approach to the Bible called dispensationalism has had a long and controversial history in the Christian church, and its impact on the global church over the last century and a half can hardly be denied (Bingham and Kreider 2015: 69–100; Blaising and Bock 1993: 9–56; Magnum 2007; Crutchfield 1992). The movement emerged in the nineteenth century and has captured the imagination of many since then, as it contends that the Bible’s storyline is set in an eschatological and apocalyptic frame revealing God’s plan to restore the creation to wholeness, at both individual and corporate levels. The roots of the movement reached back into the millennialism of the early church. Dispensationalism’s emphasis on Israel’s role in God’s plan throughout the eras to come has been a distinctive feature of the movement in all its expressions. Dispensationalism’s focus on the relationship between nations, with special attention to Israel as a people, means it highlights a corporate dimension of salvation (Vlach 2023). This emphasis has led many to see it as a way of seeing those relationships in current and future political realities. The way dispensationalism sees Israel in relationship to the church and these political dimensions has made the movement a topic for discussion and debate across Christianity. After defining what dispensationalism is, this entry examines the three basic forms within it, followed by the way the church outside of the tradition has interacted with the movement.

As the uniquely Christian form of worship, the Eucharist is studied by ‘systematic’ theologians in terms of its coherence with revelation as a whole, and by ‘dogmatic’ theologians in light of historic definitions that still impact the churches of today. Examination of ‘eucharistic sacrifice’ thus presents scholars and students with a cross section of systematic and dogmatic theology as practised within the church at large and among the still separated churches that comprise present-day Christianity. While few would deny connection between ‘Eucharist’ and ‘sacrifice’, historic language of ‘sacrifice’ concerning the central act of Christian worship has often been tantalisingly imprecise. This article explores the relation between the multifaceted phenomenon of sacrifice in Old Testament religion and its development in Jesus’ own understanding of his ministry and death, and in the New Testament church’s practice of the Eucharist. Having identified three distinct motifs of ‘eucharistic sacrifice’ (thanksgiving, sacrificial banquet, propitiatory sacrifice), the article examines their roots in the text of the New Testament and the ways in which they have taken form in the worship and theology of the church. The historical review that forms a major part of the article builds up to the sixteenth-century clash between Martin Luther (joined by all other contemporary Protestants) and the Roman Catholic Church. Moving back into ‘systematic’/’dogmatic’ gear, the question is raised whether the Orthodox account of the relation of Eucharist to sacrifice might supply a path towards overcoming sixteenth-century antinomies, leading to an examination of the treatment of this topic in historic and recent Roman Catholic, Anglican, and Lutheran theology. As the article deliberately adopts an eirenic approach to a long-controversial area of theology, its author admits that the material covered here still ignites strong passions within divided Christianity.

There is an obvious convergence, in the spaces used for Christian worship, between the practice of architecture and the concerns of Christian theology. Even the most utilitarian of spaces – an old warehouse, a community hall, a converted office building – when adapted for use in Christian worship, require decisions that involve theological judgement. What prominence is given to the worship band, the preacher’s lectern, a communion table? How are the seats arranged? Does the arrangement suit an audience of spectators or a gathered community entering into fellowship with one another and with God? Are any symbols of the faith to be included – a cross, a font, a decorative banner? The way spaces are configured for worship reveal theological judgements, often made unwittingly. At the other extreme from the converted warehouse, almost every detail of the Gothic cathedral – the cruciform plan, the use of light, the statuary, the representation of the Trinity in trifoils and of the four evangelists in quatrafoils, and so on – reveals design decisions that are explicitly theological. However elaborate or simple the architecture, whether purpose-built for Christian use or not, the spaces used for Christian worship speak of theological meanings and values. The convergence between architecture and theology extends well beyond buildings used for worship, however. Everything that we humans build is a response, whether acknowledged or not, to God’s cultural mandate to fill the Earth and subdue it. Everything we build prompts the question: how are we to inhabit wisely the world that God has made? This article examines first the biblical mandate to inhabit the Earth and considers the role of architecture in responding to that mandate. It then explores the architecture of the temple, followed by a consideration of how architecture dedicated to worship has evolved within the Christian tradition. The biblical injunction to seek the welfare of the city is then considered, alongside the role that architecture and urban design play in the wellbeing of a city’s inhabitants. Finally it examines the ways in which architecture might prompt fresh reflection and offer new insight into the subject matter of Christian theology.

This article is a theological analysis of African American preaching as a genre of Christian discourse. After first recognizing the particular influences of African culture, American slavery, other religious traditions, and the role its practitioners have played in defining its traditions and cultural form as sacred speech, this article explores its nature, function, and scope, and gives a brief genealogical account of African American preaching in North America. Following this historical treatment, this article discusses contrastive hermeneutical perspectives on biblical interpretation, theological emphases (e.g. God, salvation, eschatology, suffering, human freedom, etc.) privileged by its practitioners, and then details rhetorical approaches germane to its communal influence, social relevance, and theological shaping within contexts of Black religious life and beyond. As a theo-rhetorical discourse esteemed for its persistent calls for justice, ecclesiastical reform, spiritual redemption, and moral and ethical responsibility, this article will also consider contemporary trends, theories, and innovations on the horizon in African American homiletic theory and practice.

The centre of Christian liturgy is the revelation of God in Jesus of Nazareth. In the first section of this article, the understanding of this liturgical centre is unpacked within different denominational contexts (mystery celebration, proclamation event, sacred play, staging of the gospel, etc.). Concepts of time and spatiality within liturgy, which are not only functional but also theologically enriched, are presented. The second section deals with the liturgical assembly and its structures, and the significance of assembly for the liturgy is explained. The place of assembly is addressed before looking at roles and ministries in worship. The third section explores the Bible and liturgy. It examines the different ways in which the Old Testament and New Testament are received in liturgy (e.g. readings and pericope systems, biblical prayers, readings of the Psalms, and sermons). The function of the Bible and place of intertextuality in liturgy (anamnetic, catechetical, etc.) are discussed. The fourth section focuses on different rites and textual forms and the significance of bodies in liturgy. The importance of different media for worship is unpacked before discussing different text types (oration, acclamation, etc.). The fifth section is devoted to the dynamics and diversity of liturgy. It briefly turns to historical phenomena and then demonstrates the factors at work in the dynamics of liturgy (top-down, bottom-up). The sixth section centres on theology and liturgical scholarship, in which different concepts of theology of liturgy and liturgical theology are explained. It also shows how liturgy has been reflected differently at different times in church history. Finally, current questions of liturgical scholarship on worship are explored.

Conciliarity is central to the identity of the Christian church. This article discusses the meaning of the word ‘conciliarity’ and its relation to ‘synodality’ through the lens of the church’s experience of councils (synods) at the local, regional, and universal levels. It offers ten scriptural ‘roots’ for the experience of councils and conciliarity in the church. It describes the church’s experience of councils and conciliarity in the pre-Nicene era, at the Council of Nicaea (325), and up to the rupture in communion between East and West (1054). There is a brief analysis, drawn from the church’s experience in the first millennium, of the conditions for the recognition of a council as ‘ecumenical’. The trajectory of the general councils of the Western church, convened by the Pope, is then followed through to the Second Vatican Council (1962–1965) highlighting debates around conciliarism and the contemporary Roman Catholic understanding of conciliarity. The article then turns to a discussion of councils and conciliarity as understood in Eastern Orthodoxy, the churches of the Reformation, and the Anglican Communion. A section on the World Council of Churches shows how ‘conciliar fellowship’ is central to its understanding of its own identity. A concluding section on ‘conciliarity, conversation and consensus’ returns to the model of the disciples on the road to Emmaus as central to an ecumenical understanding of the conciliarity of the church.

This article examines the phenomenon of bishops in Christian theology, church history, and the present role, work, and identity of a bishop. The article tries to answer the questions: ‘what does a bishop do?’ and ‘what is a bishop for?’ The approach to answering this question assesses scriptural, historical, theological, liturgical, and ecumenical material, but it concentrates on the ministry of a bishop as an ecclesial practice, looking at it phenomenologically, functionally, and experientially. The role of bishops in the church and especially in church unity has been extensively discussed in ecumenical dialogue during the past century. But surprisingly – and in contrast to the literature on the ministry of priests and even (more recently) deacons – little has been written about the actual work and role of a bishop in the church and about what it is like to be a bishop: the unique episcopal experience (Avis 2015). The article begins by looking at the origins of episcopacy in the New Testament and in the early Christian era, and goes on to survey the variegated evolution of episcopal ministry in the worldwide church. The article then concentrates on the common tasks and responsibilities of bishops, how the episcopate is related in theology and practice to the ministries of priests, deacons, and lay people in the church, and the role of bishops in the public square. In conclusion, the article briefly examines the way that the ecumenical movement and its theology has treated the perceived promise and problem of episcopacy for Christian unity.

Trauma theology is a theological discipline that seeks to both do theological justice to traumatic experiences and also to reimagine theologies in the light of such experiences. Whilst suffering has always been of interest to Christian theology, trauma theology distinguishes between suffering and trauma, noting the specific impact trauma has on the embodied life of trauma survivors. Envisioning trauma experience as an earthquake that shatters theological landscapes, trauma theology sees its work as that of construction of reimagined theologies in the wake of these experiences. This article outlines the development of the discipline, its primary approaches and methodologies, alongside the key areas of discussion and debate.

The Christian theology of charismatic gifts has a rich and complex history, relating to many different biblical, historical, and ecclesial traditions. This article will examine these traditions and seek to discover their unique insights and contributions to the broader theology of charismatic gifts. Special attention will be given to overarching themes and theological tensions that emerge from the discourse on charismatic gifts. The goal is not to use the disparate voices of the various confessional traditions to articulate an ecumenical theology of charismatic gifts but rather to set the stage for ecumenical dialogue on the topic of charismatic gifts. While this brief survey does not intend to be exhaustive, it endeavours to address significant movements and representative thinkers that have shaped the theology of charismatic gifts throughout the church’s history.

Book Review: V.P. Vorobev, R.L. Iliev. Human Rights in Judaism and the Jewish Legal Tradition. Moscow: “Nazionalnoe Obozrenie” Publ. House, 2018. 248 p. (In Russian).V.P. Vorobiev and R.L. Iliev analyse the causes associated with the emergence of the concept of human rights and its understanding, referring to Judaism, which largely identified the modern definition of «human rights». The publication will be useful for all those interested in human rights issues.

The author subjects to thorough consideration the gradual change in the status of the Patriarch of Constantinople from the bishop of a minor town to the Ecumenical Patriarch possessing a certain set of administrative privileges. After giving a definition of the status of a bishop and ecclesiastical provinces in the ancient Church, the author, basing his conclusions upon canonical sources and their expositions in the Early Byzantine period, proceeds to develop the idea that the change in the bishop’s status went through several successive stages and that each new stage had its own causes, not the least important of which were of political nature. After both Rome and Constantinople, as political centers of the Roman Empire, received in the 4th century certain «privileges of honor» peculiar to capital cities, these privileges were consecutively modified into mandate of power. This process took several centuries to reach completion and was connected with the activities of the Emperors Zeno I and Justinian the Great (5th–6th centuries) who legally secured the new status of the bishop of the capital city and granted him the title of Ecumenical Patriarch. After the patriarchate of Photius and the confl ict with the bishops of Rome the Patriarch of Constantinople receives the right to intrude — in certain cases — into the canonical jurisdiction of other Churches, which becomes the key change in understanding the nature of supremacy. In later times this tendency was enhanced and reached its climax in the 20th century when the Ecumenical Patriarchate began testing the ground to expand its authority to the whole of the Orthodox world, with the further perspective of turning into a kind of «Orthodox Rome».

Merold Westphal's hermeneutic epistemology developed in the work "Whose Community? Which Interpretation? Philosophical Hermeneutics for the Church" (2009) represents an organic synthesis of the basic principles of the hermeneutic project of Hans-Georg Gadamer and the dialogic ethics of Søren Kierkegaard, which marks the incipiency and formation in the late period of the work of the original version of the existential hermeneutics of religion of well-known American theologian. Westphal's desire to overcome the "relativism of hermeneutics" becomes a prerequisite for the further development and application of the tradition of hermeneutic analysis in theology. The attribute "existential" for own methodology Westphal "gained" on the basis of the study and reinterpretation of Kierkegaard's legacy. The same happened with the Westphal's understanding of the specifics of the application of hermeneutic analysis in theology. Gadamer's hermeneutics is perceived by Westphal in the context of Kierkegaard's intentions, for which it is primarily understood as the practice of personal participation (existential presence) in the interpretation and realization of God's will, which generally defines the Westphal's non-typical perception of the Scripture. Therefore, in this case we are talking about the life of the text as a way that, to a certain extent, resounds with the Kierkegaard's interpretation of the human existence as a process of constant formation of the personality of a human being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]