THE LOGOS IN THE PULPIT. ONTOLOGICAL FOUNDATIONS OF ORTHODOX HOMILETICS IN DIALOGUE WITH PHILOSOPHY AND SCIENCE
THE LOGOS IN THE PULPIT. ONTOLOGICAL FOUNDATIONS OF ORTHODOX HOMILETICS IN DIALOGUE WITH PHILOSOPHY AND SCIENCE

Summary/Abstract: This study explores the ontological foundations of Orthodox homiletics, focusing on the role of the Logos as both divine revelation and existential event. The homily, far from being a mere didactic or rhetorical discourse, is understood as a mode of participation in the divine Word, in which ontology and communication coincide. The paper situates Orthodox homiletics within a wider dialogue between theology, philosophy and science, arguing that the preacher’s word must be simultaneously rational,sacramental and transformative. Drawing from patristic sources such as St.Athanasius, St. Gregory Palamas and St. Maximus the Confessor, alongside modern thinkers like John Zizioulas, Paul Ricoeur, Ludwig Wittgenstein and Basarab Nicolescu, the article proposes that Orthodox preaching embodies a synthesis of ontology and epistemology, a theology of Logos that speaks both to faith and reason in the contemporary world. Furthermore, the study emphasizes the epistemic humility and hermeneutical openness required of the preacher in a pluralistic age, suggesting that authentic homiletic discourse must integrate symbolic, dialogical and relational dimensions in order to communicate divine truth as an event of communion and transformation within the human condition.

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