Orthodox Dogmatic Theology: The Experience of God, Vol. 1: Revelation and Knowledge of the Triune God

by Dumitru Stăniloae

'Staniloae seeks always to indicate the inner coherence of dogmatic truth and the significance of each dogma for the personal life of the Christian. It is the theologian's task to make manifest the link between dogma and personal spirituality, to show how every dogma responds to a deep need and longing in the human heart, and how it has practical consequences for society. Dogmas, he is convinced, do not enslave but liberate; theology is essentially freedom.' Kallistos Ware

Genres: Theology, Christianity, Nonfiction, Religion, Christian, Philosophy, Spirituality

467 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 1989

About the author

Dumitru Stăniloae (Romanian pronunciation: [duˈmitru stəniˈlo̯aje] was a Romanian Eastern Orthodox priest, theologian, academic, and professor. Father Stăniloae worked for over 45 years on a comprehensive Romanian translation of the Philokalia, a collection of writings by the Church Fathers, together with the hieromonk, Arsenie Boca, who brought manuscripts from Mount Athos. His masterpiece, The Dogmatic Orthodox Theology (1978), makes him one of the most reputed Christian Theologians of the second half of the 20th century. He produced valuable comments on the works of the Fathers of the Church, such as Gregory of Nyssa, Maximus the Confessor, or Athanasius the Great.

Reviews

[Catherine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very worth the time and effort to read deeply. I never thought it would be possible to find joy in reading dogmatic theology, but while this does require close attention, Staniloae is clear and transparent - far more than some Orthodox theologians I've read over the years. He was active during the Soviet period in Romania and suffered greatly. His words echo back to the Early Fathers yet are firmly placed in recent times.

This is a deep meditation on the relationship between God, us, each other, and creation. There are 5 other books in this series and am looking forward to reading the others. This is not a text to rush through but to take one's time to absorb and ponder.

[G Walker · Rating 4 out of 5]

The notes from this section are for the whole set. This is a great set overall. It has some week points... mostly associated with the publisher. I genuinely do believe that a higher quality of production could be made - especially for such an important contribution to theology. Perhaps when it is done, HC would consider making it in a nicely bound single volume or even a two volume set.
His Trinitarian approach and theological method is brilliant and refreshing. His exposition and commentary on apophatic and catophatic models is spot on... And I do believe that he has a healthy (dare I say biblical and historically sensitive) balance to the two. Deeply edifying.
His theology (content and methodology) is very pastoral... he draws the reader into his theology and shows time and time again, how and why it matters for day to day living. Theology for Staniloae is NOT an abstraction, it is concrete relational, it matters every day and every context. Intimacy with God is where he is driving his reader - and he does a good job and providing them with the tools and resources that they need to get there. The first three volumes are especially helpful in this...
So far, I have only had the chance to engage four of the six projected volumes, but I eagerly await the remaining two.

[Kristofer Carlson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This, the first of six volumes of Staniloae's Orthodox Dogmatic Theology (or half of the first of three volumes in the original Romanian), is focused on the Revelation and Knowledge of God. Staniloae deals with the problem of Scripture and Tradition in an interesting way when he says "the Church is Christ as fullness of revelation", having its continuous effectiveness through him, by the Holy Spirit. Thus Scripture and Tradition are not two halves of the same coin, but parts of an indivisible whole; thus the role of the Church is the preservation of revelation, as well as the means by which it is expressed in and to the world. Theology is therefore an Ecclesial service, with the Divine Liturgy the paradigmatic example.

Staniloae provides a wonderfully concise description of the essence/energies distinction---the being and operations of God. The being of God is transcendent; the operations of God are immanent; and both are uncreated. We know God through His operations, through the ways in which God reveals Himself; but we can never know God in His transcendence, in His fullness.

From there we proceed to a discussion of the superessential attributes of God (which are only rarely discussed by Protestant theologians), and which correlate to the essence of God. Only after this do we come to a discussion of the essential attributes of God, which correlate to the energies, the operations, and the divine dispensations of God.

This can be a tough read at times, and Staniloae has the academicians habit of inserting (but not translating) quotes from foreign languages. Of course, being European, he likely expects his audience to know more than one language.

[Marcas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thrillingly Life affirming from the wonderful Met Kallistos as usual in the first chapter but Staniloae doesn't live up to the billing regrettably, imho.

[Phillip Stoffregen · Rating 5 out of 5]

What can you say about a book like this? This is one of those books that takes a long time to read and digest. It took me three and a half months of somewhat regular reading to finish it. For me, as a westerner, it is a paradigm shifting book, and the way he uses certain words is not the same way that westerners do, so I struggled at time to follow Staniloae. However, when I took the time to read and contemplate his words, I was always blessed. I appreciated how his approach to apophaticism was very well balanced. While he is eastern in valuing apophatic theology, he does not think that cataphatic theology is altogether useless (which at least seemed to me how Lossky felt about cataphatic theology). I also appreciated his eastern perspective on the attributes of God and the Trinity. I have already purchased volume 2 of Staniloae's dogmatics, but it will probably be a while before I try to tackle it.

[Shea Layton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Difficult for me to read and didn't understand half of it but what I did understand was absolutely mind-blowing. I learned more about marriage from this book than almost any other, and it was barely discussed at all. The Trinity is the source of EVERYTHING!

I did a video based on what I learned from this book:
https://youtu.be/PpK7BESWrEY?si=IAync...

[Marcelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great theologian of the East, only now are his works being made available in English. His depth is stunning, comparable to Vladimir Lossky.

[Jay D · Rating 5 out of 5]

Corrects Romanides

[Silouan · Rating 5 out of 5]

“In the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit prepared the coming of the Word in the flesh, and the Word, having once become incarnate, prepares the coming of the Spirit who will, until the end of the world, prepare for the second coming, in glory, of the incarnate Word, risen and exalted. "Through the mouth of the prophets the whole of the Old Testament is a preliminary Pentecost in view of the appearance of the Virgin and her Fiat." After-wards, ‘Pentecost appears as the ultimate purpose of the trinitarian economy of salvation.’”

“The Word and the Holy Spirit are the two persons who together accomplish and jointly bring to fulfillment the whole of revelation and of its efficacy until the end of the world. To use the expression of Saint Irenaios, they are ‘the two hands of the Father,’ that is, the two active persons. Together they render the Father more and more transparent: ‘The brightness of the Trinity radiates outwards progressively.’ Between the Word and the Holy Spirit exists a continuous reciprocity of revelation and both bring about a common revelation of the Father, and a common spiritualization of creation.”

“The basis of faith in the Trinity, however, is Christ, as a revelation of the Trinity made concrete and brought to its climax. Saint Cyril says: ‘That is why God says, 'Behold, I am laying for the foundations of Zion a chosen stone, a cornerstone, and precious' (Is 28.16, LXX).’”

“Through the incarnate Son we enter into filial communion with the Father, while through the Spirit we pray to the Father or speak with him as sons. For the Spirit unites himself with us in prayer. "It is the Spirit in whom we worship, and in whom we pray... Therefore, to adore of to pray in the Spirit seems to me to be simply himself offering prayer or adoration to himself." But this prayer which the Spirit offers, within us, he offers to himself in our name, and into this prayer we too are drawn. Through grace the Spirit identifies himself with us so that, through grace, we may identify ourselves with him.
Through grace the Spirit eliminates the distance between our "I" and his "I," creating between us and the Father, through grace, the same relation he has by nature with the Father and the Son. If in the incarnate Son we have become sons by grace, in the Spirit we gain the consciousness and boldness that come from being sons.”

[Luke Eshleman · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is perhaps the best work if systemic theology I have read to date. I wish I had the time to leave a detailed review. For now, here are a few quotes:

"The operations, therefore, are nothing other than the attributes of God in motion — or God himself, the simple One, in a motion which is, on every occasion, specific, or again, in a number of different kinds of motion, specified and united among themselves. God himself is in each of these operations or energies, simultaneously whole, active, and beyond operation or movement. Thus his operations are what makes God’s qualities visible in creatures, creating these with qualities analogous, but infinitely inferior, to God himself, and then imparting his uncreated operations or energies to them in higher and higher degrees."

"By deciding, therefore, to act outside himself in conformity with his being, which is to say, as the good that is eternal interpersonal communion, God makes use of his power to create persons who are to move towards the perfection of communion with him and among themselves. This movement is to come from themselves on the one hand, while on the other hand created persons are to be placed within this movement by God himself through his coming to meet them. For this purpose he both implants in them a natural power of movement towards himself and also strengthens this natural created power of theirs with the uncreated power of his benevolence which comes to meet them."

"If God manifests his power outwardly in order to raise up other persons to communion with him (or to the good), he is putting into operation, from within his omnipotence, both the power to create persons limited in being and in their own natural power, as well as the gradual bestowal of his uncreated power in degrees corresponding to the measure of their capability to make use of it and so as not to be overwhelmed by it. This is the kenosis or condescension of God in the manifestation of his power. On the other hand, the created beings are wonderful, for they are capable of receiving God wholly within themselves. God has created a being capable of becoming god through grace, a nature capable of being, with this end in view, the nature of a divine hypostasis."

[Will Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fr. Dumitru Staniloae, an Orthodox theologian, presents a philosophy of time that is deeply rooted in the Orthodox tradition. He argues that time is not just a measure of duration but is an essential aspect of the created world, reflecting the ongoing creative activity of God.

Staniloae maintains that time is a dynamic reality, characterized by movement, change, and growth, which are all aspects of the divine life that permeates the world. Thus, time is not a mere sequence of events, but a dynamic and organic process that connects all beings with God and each other.

Moreover, Staniloae emphasizes that time is not a linear progression towards an ultimate end, but rather an unfolding of divine creativity that constantly reveals new aspects of God's love and beauty. Therefore, the present moment is always pregnant with possibilities for growth, transformation, and communion with God and others.

According to Staniloae, the ultimate meaning of time is revealed in the person of Jesus Christ, who unites God and humanity in a dynamic relationship of love and self-giving. Thus, time is not an abstract philosophical concept but a concrete and personal encounter with God in the midst of daily life.