On October 23, 2023, Tbilisi
Theological Academy and Seminary held a public lecture. Ivan
Ulitchev, Doctor of the Department of Systematic Theology and
Philosophy in Don Theological Seminary, delivered the lecture on
the topic: “Personal Theology and Orthodox Tradition”. In his talk,
the researcher reviewed the ancient and the Christian teachings
about a human being. He spoke about the essence of a person as an
individual who has his free will and noted that the perception of
the essence of a person became possible only with the doctrine
which proclaimed that the world and man are creations of the
Supreme God. Ivan Ulitchev spoke about the concepts - an individual
and a personality: “Until we free ourselves from an egocentric
limitation of our own “self”, we remain only individuals but not
persons. When we take the path of deification, i.e., when we are
freed from the limitations of our individual existence and our
hearts are filled with love - we devote ourselves to God and to the
neighbor, that is when a person is born. In other words, we find
ourselves when the “myself” encounters the “You” of God and the
“you” of our neighbor, because it is precisely in the process of
deification, which we have been created for, when we can open our
hearts to each other completely, sincerely and without
selfishness.”
Doctor Ulitchev spoke about the
importance of words and deeds in the life of a Christian and ended
his speech with the following words: “I want to say that the
spiritual experience of the Orthodox Church gives priority not to
words (although the power of words based on experience is very
important), but to life itself in God, communion with Him.”
The speaker quoted the words of
Saint Isidore of Pelusium: “A godly life without words is more
beneficial than words without a righteous life. Because remaining
silent helps you and shouting is a hindrance. But if the word and
the deed agree with each other, it is already the highest
philosophy.
The topic of the lecture was very
interesting for the audience. The speaker comprehensively answered
their questions.