[SydPhil] CHOP Research Seminar - Vassilios Adrahtas (Western Sydney): A Bridge between East and West: The Theology of John Damascene

[Catherine Wesselinoff]

The Notre Dame Centre for the History of Philosophy warmly invites you to this Research Seminar.

TIME: Thursday, April 16, 1 – 2:30 pm

IN PERSON: University of Notre Dame Australia, Broadway/Sydney Campus, Moorgate Boardroom (NDS16) 10 Grafton St, Chippendale, NSW

ONLINE: https://teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup-join/19%3ameeting_NmE2MmU0YzctNThkMi00NDJkLWE2NTQtMzBlODM1ZDIzN2Vj%40thread.v2/0?context=%7b%22Tid%22%3a%22c93ebcc3-e84c-45c4-9c7e-8607adc072ec%22%2c%22Oid%22%3a%22d57c9f6e-4977-4ef4-ab54-cde3631e83ed%22%7d

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SPEAKER: Vassilios Adrahtas (Western Sydney)

TITLE: A Bridge between East and West: The Theology of John Damascene

BIO: Dr Vassilios Adrahtas is Convenor of Greek Studies at UNSW. His specialisation is in Early Christianity, Patristics, Byzantine Philosophy, the History of Religions and Indigenous Australian Studies. He has authored and co/edited twelve books. His most recent publications are: ‘John Damascene’s Reception and Interpretation of the Corpus Areopagiticum’, in S. Ables (ed.) John of Damascus: More than a Compiler (Brill 2023); “Damascenus Neoplatonicus: Suggestions regarding a Research Agenda for the Study of Neoplatonism in John Damascene’s Oeuvre”, in E. Anagnostou-Laoutides and K. Parry (eds), Later Platonists and Their Heirs among Christians, Jews, and Muslims (Brill, 2023); (ed.) Kazantzakis in Australia! (Sydney Branch of ISFNK 2024); “John Damascene’s Arguments about the Existence of God: A Logico-Philosophical and Religio-Hermeneutic Approach”, Religions, 2024, 15(10).

ABSTRACT:
John Damascene, a Hellenised Syrian native theologian of the 7th/8th century, is a patristic figure that could arguably count as the first bridge, so to speak, between East and West. Having lived in a milieu that was changed drastically and dramatically due to the advent of Islam, he witnessed the formulation of a definitive Byzantine East and a gradually emerging medieval West; being at the same time an heir of the former and an inspiration to the latter. The present lecture will demonstrate this potentially but also actually mediating, connecting and conciliatory role of John Damascene's theology in terms of both his theological methodology and theological content. More specifically, his insistence on the rational, systematic and Summa-like character of theologising, as well as his exploration of ideas such as trinitarian coinherence (perichoresis) deserve to be further studied and put forward as a benchmark for any dialogue regarding inter-Christian unity.


Dr Catherine Wesselinoff
Lecturer | School of Philosophy and Theology
Lead, Strategic Programs and Partnerships | Institute for Ethics and Society (IES)
The University of Notre Dame Australia.
Book a meeting with me<https://url.au.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/k_2jCoV1kpfBK7P53u1fzSpzLuq?domain=outlook.office.com> <https://url.au.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/k_2jCoV1kpfBK7P53u1fzSpzLuq?domain=outlook.office.com>

Recent Publications:
"Beauty's Comeback", Debates in Aesthetics, Vol 19. No. 2, 2025, pp 35-45.
"Apophatic Beauty in the Hippias Major and the Symposium", The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, Vol. 82, Issue 1, 2024, pp 36-44.
The Revival of Beauty: Aesthetics, Experience, and Philosophy, Routledge, 2023.

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