Rediscovering the Importance of the Theology of Language in the Contemporary Orthodox Discourse and Tasks

Orthodox theology, starting with the post-Nicene Fathers, has firmly linked its development to ontological thought, on the basis of which dogmatic theology has been progressively defined and the understanding of the divine economy has been deepened. Ontology, however, presupposes an inseparable relationship with logic on the one hand, and with the theory of language on the other. Since the Middle Ages, the Christian West has given importance to the logical foundation of theology, reinterpreting its ontological foundations, while the theory of language, in its applications to theology, has followed its developments accordingly. Orthodox theology, on the other hand, has developed a theology of language that is functional to the ontological arguments that have recurred in dogmatic debates. A theology of language independent of ontology was never developed in the patristic era. Developments in Orthodox theology over the last two centuries, however, have highlighted the problem of the theological understanding of the linguistic fact, as a result of which, in the 20th century, there have been attempts to define a theology of language. The recovery and development of this reflection sheds light on several problems that contemporary Orthodoxy is called to face, from the crisis of ontology that is rampant not only in secular thought but also in worldview and contemporary customs, to the ecclesiological nominalism that emerges in the background of the ecclesiastical diatribes of the present time.