Nikolaos Loudovikos
Encyclopedia
Protopresbyter  Fr. Nikolaos Loudovikos (in Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...

 π. Νικόλαος Λουδοβίκος) is a Greek theologian, priest
Priest
A priest is a person authorized to perform the sacred rites of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, rites of sacrifice to, and propitiation of, a deity or deities...

, psychologist
Psychologist
Psychologist is a professional or academic title used by individuals who are either:* Clinical professionals who work with patients in a variety of therapeutic contexts .* Scientists conducting psychological research or teaching psychology in a college...

, author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...

 and professor
Professor
A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...

.

Fr. Nikolaos Loudovikos was born in Volos
Volos
Volos is a coastal port city in Thessaly situated midway on the Greek mainland, about 326 km north of Athens and 215 km south of Thessaloniki...

, Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....

 in 1959. He studied Psychology and Education at the University of Athens, Theology at the University of Thessaloniki, Philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...

 at the University of Sorbonne in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

, Philosophy and Roman Catholic Theology at the Catholic Institute of Paris, Philosophy and Protestant Theology at the University of Cambridge
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...

 (England). He holds a Ph.D from the Department of Pastoral Theology of the University of Thessaloniki in 1989. The title of his dissertation was: The Eucharistic Ontology in the Theological Thought of St. Maximus the Confessor.

He has worked as a researcher at the Tyndale House (Cambridge)
Tyndale House (Cambridge)
Tyndale House is an independent biblical studies library with a Christian foundation. Founded in 1944, it aims to provides specialist resources in support of research into the Old Testament, New Testament and relevant historical backgrounds.-Description:...

 and has taught and lectured at the Centre for Advanced Religious and Theological Studies (CARTS) of the Department of Theology at the University of Cambridge, at Durham University
Durham University
The University of Durham, commonly known as Durham University, is a university in Durham, England. It was founded by Act of Parliament in 1832 and granted a Royal Charter in 1837...

, as well as at other Universities and Research Centers. Today he is a Professor of Dogmatics and Philosophy at the Superior Ecclesiastical Academy of Thessaloniki, Research Assoociate and Author for the postgraduate program of Theology at the Hellenic Open University in Patras
Patras
Patras , ) is Greece's third largest urban area and the regional capital of West Greece, located in northern Peloponnese, 215 kilometers west of Athens...

, Greece, and a Visiting Lecturer at the Institute for Orthodox Christian Studies at the University of Cambridge.

Fr. Nikolaos Loudovikos is member and co-secretary (Orthodox) of the Saint Irenaeus Joint Orthodox-Catholic Working Group.

Quotes

"Fortunately, Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...

 is neither Platonism
Platonism
Platonism is the philosophy of Plato or the name of other philosophical systems considered closely derived from it. In a narrower sense the term might indicate the doctrine of Platonic realism...

 nor Stoicism
Stoicism
Stoicism is a school of Hellenistic philosophy founded in Athens by Zeno of Citium in the early . The Stoics taught that destructive emotions resulted from errors in judgment, and that a sage, or person of "moral and intellectual perfection," would not suffer such emotions.Stoics were concerned...

. Everything in our body and soul is created by God, and as such absolutely sacred. It is up to my own freedom to get angry, fall in love, play, create, eat, rejoice, be sorrowful, in such a manner that will bring me continuously closer to the divine source of my being: this is what Incarnation
Incarnation
Incarnation literally means embodied in flesh or taking on flesh. It refers to the conception and birth of a sentient creature who is the material manifestation of an entity, god or force whose original nature is immaterial....

 means. God does not call me to escape from this world, but to transform it into a place of His manifestation"

"Anselm
Anselm of Canterbury
Anselm of Canterbury , also called of Aosta for his birthplace, and of Bec for his home monastery, was a Benedictine monk, a philosopher, and a prelate of the church who held the office of Archbishop of Canterbury from 1093 to 1109...

 says: Why did the Incarnation happen? So that the Son of God
Son of God
"Son of God" is a phrase which according to most Christian denominations, Trinitarian in belief, refers to the relationship between Jesus and God, specifically as "God the Son"...

 could be punished in the place of man. Gregory the Theologian says: Incarnation happened, "because humanity must be sanctified by the Humanity of God". Quite the contrary in other words. And the Theologian continues: the only thing God wants, is to stop wear. Now try and build legalism
Legalism (theology)
Legalism, in Christian theology, is a sometimes-pejorative term referring to an over-emphasis on discipline of conduct, or legal ideas, usually implying an allegation of misguided rigour, pride, superficiality, the neglect of mercy, and ignorance of the grace of God or emphasizing the letter of...

 on a position such as that of the Greek Fathers! It is impossible. That's why many of my fellow students in France marveled at us Greeks, saying: «vous êtes anarchistes» (you are anarchists)!"

External links

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