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WLC 2016 : World LUMEN Congress. Logos Universality Mentality Education Novelty 2016 |
LUMEN 15th Anniversary Edition
Social Justice from the Perspective of the Contemporary
Orthodox Christianism
Ionut Ghibanu
a
*
* Corresponding author: Ionut Ghibanu, ighibanu@yahoo.com
a
Valahia University from Targoviste, Romania, ighibanu@yahoo.com
Abstract
This study presents an analysis of the concept of social justice from the perspective of the Eastern Orthodox
Christianism, showing the specificity of the Orthodox approach and the elements in common with the Western
religious and lay perspective. Social justice is one of the concepts necessary to today’s religious and political
vision, often used prudently in the East-European area, especially due to the fact that during the communist period
it was used as a current slogan, without much coverage in practice.
This concept is an essential component of the prophetic message, in the Hebrew area, but also in the Evangels’
discourse. For the Christians, social justice is a community imperative, resulting from the revealed, divine message
itself. The article presents the main elements of this concept, in its historical evolution, its development in the
Western, Catholic area, and its comparative approach in the Orthodox area. We have analysed the concept, both
theologically, theoretically, and practically, as it can be found in the conception of the Orthodox Church and as it
has been promoted by means of the social-philanthropic mission.
© 2016 Published by Future Academy www.FutureAcademy.org.uk
Keywords: Social equity; Church; social-philanthropic mission; Orthodox.
http://dx.doi.org/10.15405/epsbs.2016.09.50