Resilience: Orthodox Theology and Spirituality Engaging in Dialogue with Postmodern Society

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue will be dedicated to the theme of resilience in current Orthodox theology and spirituality. Resilience in this context will be explored in the following ways:

1. as long-term care for that which holds human personal and collective life together and gives it meaning and direction;
2. as a gift and an ability to recover after having encountered situations that are in radical discord with human faith, the desire for truth and justice, and human well-being;
3. as mechanisms that help in negotiating conflicts and crises, and thus contribute to healing processes;
4. as a gift and a task to adapt to new circumstances, to integrate insights from dark times, and whatever is left and/or rediscovered from spiritual practices and their theological interpretations.

In these aspects of resilience, the focus will be on personal as well as communal life in its different dimensions. Authors are welcome to explore possibilities of ecclesial life that are sustaining and sustainable in times of institutional crisis, church authority abuse scandals for violent political aims, sexual abuse, and entanglement in nationalism, xenophobia, racism, or sexism. Articles can address developments in current Orthodox political theologies, theological cultural anthropologies, or in different forms of liberative theologies. Studies in Orthodox spirituality could analyse particular practices helping or harming resilience while also focusing on settings or figures both from within and outside of traditional religious structures. The dialogue with postmodern society may include not only recognition of the common social and political realities that Orthodox Christians share with everyone else, but also instances or possibilities of fruitful mutual exchange in the field of art, philosophical reflection, and spiritual search, often marked by the ambivalences of our age, and may provide helpful examples through which postmodern thought can critique Orthodoxy.

We request that, prior to submitting a manuscript, interested authors initially submit a proposed title and an abstract of 200–300 words summarizing their intended contribution. They should send it to the Guest Editor, Prof. Ivana Noble <noble@etf.cuni.cz> and Dr. Zdenko Širka <sirka@etf.cuni.cz>, or to the Assistant Editor of Religions. Abstracts will be reviewed by the Guest Editors for the purposes of ensuring proper fit within the scope of the Special Issue. Full manuscripts will undergo double-blind peer review.

Deadline for abstract submission: 15 December 2024

Deadline for full manuscript submission: 1 June 2025

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Prof. Dr. Ivana Noble
Dr. Zdenko Širka
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Religions is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• Orthodox theology
• Orthodox spirituality
• postmodern society