John S. Romanides
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John S. Romanides was an American-born Greek Orthodox priest and professor who, for a long time, represented the Greek Church to the World Council of Churches. He was born in Piraeus, Greece, in 1928 but his parents emigrated to the United States when he was only two months old. He grew up in Manhattan. A graduate of the Hellenic College, Brookline, Massachusetts, and of the Yale Divinity School, he received his Ph.D. from the University of Athens.
From 1956 to 1965 he was Professor of Dogmatic Theology at the Holy Cross Theological School in Brookline, Massachusetts. In 1968 he was appointed as tenured Professor of Dogmatic Theology at the University of Thessaloniki, Greece, a position he held until his retirement in 1982. His latest position was Professor of Theology at Balmand Theological School, in Lebanon.
Among other things, he has contributed many insights, some controversial, into the cultural and religious differences between Eastern and Western Christianity, and how these divergences have impacted the ways in which Christianity has developed and been lived out in the Christian cultures of East and West. Several of his articles can be found at the www.romanity.org website. Among his books are: 1) The Original Sin, 2) Dogmatic Theology of the Orthodox Church, 3) Romiossini (in Greek).
His theological works emphasize the empirical (as opposed to intellectual-contemplative) essence of Orthodox Theology. He identified Hesychasm as the core of Christian practice and studied extensively the works of 14th century hesychast and theologian St. Gregory Palamas.
His research on Dogmatic Theology led him to the conclusion of a close link between doctrinal differences and historical developments. Thus, in his later years, he concentrated on historical research, mostly of the Middle Ages but also of the 18th and 19th centuries.
Father Romanides died in Athens, Greece, in 2001.
