Christos Yannaras

Yannaras in 2002

Christos Yannaras (Greek: Χρήστος Γιανναράς; born 10 April 1935) is a Greek philosopher, Eastern Orthodox theologian and author of more than 50 books which have been translated into many languages. He is a professor emeritus of philosophy at the Panteion University of Social and Political Sciences, Athens.

Biography

Yannaras was born in Athens. He studied theology at the University of Athens and philosophy at the University of Bonn (Germany) and the University of Paris (France). He received a Ph.D. from the Faculty of Theology at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (Greece). He holds also a Ph.D of the Faculté des Lettres et Sciences Humaines at the Sorbonne-University of Paris IV. He has been nominated Doctor of Philosophy, honoris causa, at the University of Belgrade, St. Vladimir's Seminary, New York, and the Holy Cross School, Boston. He has been a visiting professor at the universities of Paris (the Catholic Faculty), Geneva, Lausanne and Crete. He was Professor of Philosophy at the Panteion University of Social and Political Sciences in Athens, from 1982 to 2002. He is an elected member of the Hellenic Authors' Society.

The main volume of Yannaras' work represents a long course on study and research of the differences between the Greek and Western European philosophy and tradition, differences that are not limited at the level of theory only but also define a praxis (mode of life).

Selected bibliography

In English

• The Freedom of Morality, New York (SVS Press), 1984 (ISBN 0-88141-028-4)
• Elements of Faith, Edinburgh (T&T Clark), 1991 (ISBN 0-567-29190-1)
• On the Absence and Unknowability of God: Heidegger and the Areopagite, London (Continuum, 2005) (ISBN 0-567-08806-5)
• Postmodern Metaphysics, Holy Cross Orthodox Press (Brookline, MA), 2004 (ISBN 1-885652-80-1) table of contents
• Variations on the Song of Songs, Holy Cross Orthodox Press (Brookline, MA), 2005 (ISBN 1-885652-82-8)
• Orthodoxy and the West, Holy Cross Orthodox Press (Brookline, MA), 2006 (ISBN 1-885652-81-X)
• Person and Eros, Holy Cross Orthodox Press (Brookline, MA), 2008 (ISBN 978-1-885652-88-1)
• The Meaning of Reality: Essays on Existence and Communion, Eros and History. Sebastian Press (Los Angeles), 2011 (ISBN 978-1936773039)
• Relational Ontology, Holy Cross Orthodox Press (Brookline, MA), 2011 (ISBN 978-1935317197)
• The Enigma of Evil, Holy Cross Orthodox Press (Brookline, MA), 2012 (ISBN 978-1935317289)
• Against Religion: The Alienation of the Ecclesial Event, Holy Cross Orthodox Press (Brookline, MA), 2013 (ISBN 978-1935317401)

References

• Zoumboulakis, Stavros (2010). Χριστιανοί στον δημόσιο χώρο: Πίστη ή πολιτιστική ταυτότητα;. Athens: "Hestia" Printing House.

Further reading

• Grigoropoulou, Evaggelia (2008): The early development of the thought of Christos Yannaras. Doctoral thesis, Durham University.
• Payne, Daniel P. (2006): The revival of political hesychasm in Greek Orthodox thought: a study of the hesychast basis of the thought of John S. Romanides and Christos Yannaras. Doctoral thesis, Baylor University.
• Williams, Rowan (now, Archbishop of Canterbury): The Theology of Personhood: A Study of the Thought of Christos Yannaras, from ”Sobornost” 6 (Winter 1972), pp. 415–430.
• Mitralexis, Sotiris: Person, Eros, Critical Ontology: An Attempt to Recapitulate Christos Yannaras’ Philosophy, from ”Sobornost” 34:1 (2012), pp. 33–40.
• Louth, Andrew: Some Recent Works by Christos Yannaras in English Translation, from “Modern Theology”, 25:2 (2009), pp. 329–340.
• Russell, Norman: Modern Greek Theologians and the Greek Fathers, from “Philosophy & Theology” 18,1 (2006): pp. 77–92.
• Papagiannopoulos, Ilias: Re-appraising the subject and the social in western philosophy and in contemporary orthodox thought, from “Studies in East European Thought” 58:4 (2006), pp. 299 – 330.

Online texts

• "Pietism as an Ecclesiological Heresy" (Chapter 8 of The Freedom of Morality)
• "The Ethos of Liturgical Art" (Chapter 12 of The Freedom of Morality)
• "The inhuman character of human rights" (synopsis in English of the homonymous Greek book, published by Domos, Athens 1998)
• Yannaras' lecture on "Human rights and the Orthodox Church"
• "Towards a New Ecumenism"
• "A Note on Political Theory" (St. Vladimir's Theological Quarterly, 27:1 (1983), pp. 53–56)
• "The Distinction Between Essence and Energies and its Importance for Theology" Athens, February, 1975. Translated from the Greek by the Rev. Peter Chamberas
• Read the chapter "Cantus Firmus" from the "Variations of the song of songs" in Greek" or in English
• Free PDFs of some of Christos Yannaras's writings
• First chapter of the author's book Orthodoxy and West in Modern Greece (in Greek)
• Collection of numerous articles in Greek

Book reviews

• "The Theology of personhood, a study of the thought of Christos Yannaras", a review of the book published afterwards under the title Person and Eros by Rowan Williams (a former Archbishop of Canterbury) in the journal Sobornost, No. 6, Winter 1972, pp. 415–430
• A review of Elements of Faith by Nicholas Franck

External links

• Christos Yannaras in the Saint Pachomius Library
• Christos Yannaras - OrthodoxWiki