On the 13th of
June, 2019, at 12:00, a session of the Dissertation Committee of
Tbilisi Theological Academy and Seminary, working under the aegis
of the Autocephalous Apostolic Orthodox Church of Georgia, was held
at the Patriarchate of Georgia. The session heard the defense of
the thesis of the doctoral student Tsotne Chkheidze, titled: “A
Theological Analysis of the Symbolic Acts of the Old Testament
Prophets”.
The supervisor of
the thesis was PhD, President of Gelati Academy of Sciences,
Metropolitan Ioane (Gamrekeli), the official assessors – PhD in
Theology, Professor Archdeacon Demetre (Davitashvili) and PhD in
Theology Irakli Orjonia.
The chairman of the session was
PhD in Historical Sciences, Professor, Metropolitan Anania
(Japaridze).
The members of the
commission were:
Metropolitan Shio (Mujiri), PhD
in Theology;
Metropolitan Stephen
(Kalaijishvili), PhD in Theology;
Archpriest Maxim (Chanturia), PhD
in Theology, Professor;
Edisher Chelidze, PhD in Theology
and Philology, Professor;
Sergo Vardonasidze, PhD in
Theology and History, Professor, Rector of St. Andrew the
First-Called Georgian University of the Patriarchate of
Georgia;
Giorgi Andriadze, PhD in
Theology.
During the
presentation of the thesis, the PhD student expressed his special
gratitude to the Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia Ilia II,
through whose highest authority and blessing the Dissertation
Committee was founded and the Doctoral Department was established
at Tbilisi Theological Academy and Seminary. Tsotne Chkheidze
thanked the Rector of Tbilisi Theological Academy and Seminary, PhD
in Theology and Philology, Professor, Protopresbyter Giorgi
Zviadadze, who had made the presentation of his candidature for the
educational programme of Doctorate and whose prayers and blessing
enabled him to take the Doctoral programme. The Doctoral student
noted that with the special efforts of Protopresbyter George
Zviadadze, the academic and scientific environment conducive for
the academic process has been created at this school, students have
every condition to ensure a successful study in all three stages of
teaching. The candidate also extended his gratitude to Metropolitan
Ioane Gamrekeli, PhD in Theology, Professor, President of Gelati
Academy for his dedication to the work.
The reviews and
opinions of the members of the commission brought to light the fact
that the works of complex nature, dedicated to the Old Testament
prophets’ symbolic actions, are written by researchers working
outside the Church, who do not consider the Holy Fathers’ exegesis
and interpret biblical passages arbitrarily.
The scientific
novelty of the presented dissertation is to discuss the issue on
the basis of the Church Fathers' interpretations, namely:
1) the notion of a symbolic
action;
2) a new definition of the
term;
3) an analysis of biblical
episodes as based on the methods of theological research.
The Dissertation
Committee assessed the work of Tsotne Chkheidze as excellent.
According to the opinion of the members of the commission the
presented dissertation was one more step forward in the path taken
by Tbilisi Theological Academy and Seminary and the Rector’s
contribution in this success is the greatest.
