Through Sensus Fidelium to Deification: Listening to the Voice of the Faithful in Eastern Orthodoxy

The most significant challenge facing Eastern Orthodoxy is the laity's lack of engagement with their faith. In this article, I argue that this issue can be overcome by reintroducing the practice of consulting the laity in matters of faith (sensus fidelium). I begin by focusing on the benefits o...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Maican, Petre (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Wiley-Blackwell [2019]
In: Modern theology
Year: 2019, Volume: 35, Issue: 2, Pages: 285-300
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains:B Orthodox Church / Clericalism / Layman / Sense of faith
IxTheo Classification:CB Christian life; spirituality
KDF Orthodox Church
RB Church office; congregation
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Summary:The most significant challenge facing Eastern Orthodoxy is the laity's lack of engagement with their faith. In this article, I argue that this issue can be overcome by reintroducing the practice of consulting the laity in matters of faith (sensus fidelium). I begin by focusing on the benefits of sensus fidelium, as developed by Roman Catholic theology. I then move to demonstrate that sensus fidelium is also part of the Eastern Orthodox heritage. In the third section, I show the main risk the implementation of sensus fidelium raises, namely, confiscation by ultraconservative groups. Finally, I deal with this risk in the last section by placing the criteria for discerning the authentic voice of the laity in relation to the doctrine of deification.
ISSN:1468-0025
Contains:Enthalten in: Modern theology
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1111/moth.12446