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DEPARTMENT OF THEOLOGY

NIKOLAOS XIONIS

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PROFESSOR

Nikolaos Xionis
Section of Systematic Theology
Department of Theology NKUA 

- Τel.(+30) 210.727.5756,
Email:  n_xionis@theol.uoa.gr


  1. Curriculum vitae

Nikolaos R. Xionis was born in Volos, Magnesia, in 1964, where he attended his undergraduate studies. He then studied Theology at the Department of Pastoral Studies at the Theological School of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, where he received the degree of the same Department in 1987. He then enrolled in the Department of Postgraduate Studies of the same School and attended postgraduate courses in the Systemic Branch. In September 1990 he received a scholarship from the Erzbischöfliches Ordinariat Freiburg and went to Germany to pursue his postgraduate studies. There he enrolled in the Sankt Georgen Academy of Philosophy and Theology in Frankfurt and undertook postgraduate studies in the Sector of Dogmatics of the Branch of the Systematic (Roman Catholic) Theology. In 1993 he submitted to the Theological Faculty of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki the Diploma thesis with the on Theological and existential elements in Pascal thought and Existentialism, and was considered worthy of the specialization diploma in the Sector of Dogmatics. In 1994 he submitted his scientific dissertation to the Sankt Georgen Academy of Philosophy and Theology with the subject Die Erkentnnis Gottes nach Walter Kasper. He was considered worthy of his specialization in the Sector of Dogmatics of the Roman Catholic Church and was awarded with the academic title "Lizentiat der Theologie" (Lic. theol.). Until 1995 he remained in Germany as a scholar at the Ostkirchliches Institut in Regensburg for the writing of his doctoral dissertation.

N. Xionis worked from 1989 to 2006 as Professor of Theology in Greece and in Germany, apart from the period of his studies in Germany as a scholar and postgraduate student of the Roman Catholic Church. In the period 1996 to 1998, working in Germany as a professor of Greek Orthodox religious lessons and appointed by the Ministry of Education of the Federated State of Hesse utilized his stay there and completed the writing of his doctoral dissertation. In 1997, he submitted his Ph.D. thesis to the Department of Pastoral and Social Theology of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki on the subject God's Essence and Actions according to St. Gregory of Nyssa and was awarded a Doctor of Theology. During his two-year stay in Germany, he strengthened his infrastructure in the Dogmatics of the Orthodox Eastern Church, while expanding his studies in Western Theology by registering in the Systemic Branch of the Johann Wolfgang Goethe Universität Evangelical School and the Sankt Georgen Academy of Philosophy and Theology of Frankfurt attending seminars and lessons from the respective Systematic Branches of the above Schools.

In 1998 he was appointed Professor of Theology in the Secondary Education in Greece. Since 2000 he has been seconded from Middle Education to the Inter-orthodox Center of the Church of Greece as a scientific associate, and in the following year he was seconded to the Holy Metropolis of Kessariani, Vyrona and Hymettοs, where he worked as a secretary to the section of computerisation of the Holy Metropolis. From 2003 to 2005 he worked as a Professor of Theology in Nuremberg of the Federated German State of Bavaria, and continued his post-doctoral research. In 2005 he was elected Lecturer of the Department of Theology of the Theological Faculty of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens with a subject of "Dogmatics", in which he was appointed one year later. In 2016 he was elected and appointed Assistant Professor, while in 2020 he was elected and appointed as Associated Professor of the same Department on the scientific field of "Dogmatic and Symbolic Theology" which he serves until today.

Additionately he was appointed by the Holy Synod of the Church of Greece as a supply member of the committee on Doctrinal and Nomocanonical Matters for four years (2020-2024) and of the Special Synodical Committee for Divine and Secular Dispensation and Ecology, for three years (2021-2024).  He is also member of international scientific unios such as, the International Association of Patristic Studies and the International Association of Dogmatic Theologians. He is also member of the Steering Committe for editing the periodical "Martyria. Review of Orthodox Theology and Spirituality" of the Archbishopry of Ramnic in Rumania.

As a member of the university community, he is participating in conferences inside and outside Greece and offers his services to the School administration whenever and when requested. He teaches in Universities abroad in the context of Erasmus + programme and as Visiting Professor in the framework of the bilateral university agreements. He also contributes by offering lectures to the pastoral-teaching work of the Church, by  participating in events of Metropolises and parishes, as well as with series of broadcasts at the radio station of the Church of Greece, to which he has been a collaborator from 2010 to 2015, giving the opportunity to more people to approach the doctrinal teaching of the Church. He has written articles and monographs on the doctrinal teaching of the Orthodox Church and the patristic tradition as well as on the western theological and philosophical thought, where he emphasises the importance of Orthodox Theology on issues of contemporary concern.

B. Tutorial and Educational work

Asoc. Prof. Dr Nikolaos Xionis, during his service at the Departement of Theology has taught and teaches a variety of courses such as: Dogmatics, Philosophy, Western Theology, Christological Terminology, Issues of Ecclesiology, Theological Gnosiology, Introduction in Theology, Issues on Dogmatics, Christian Anthropology and Cosmology, Prolegomena in Dogmatics. In the postgraduate level he has taught, Issues of Dogmatic Theology, Methodology of Systematic Theology and Interpration of Dogmatic Texts, Church and Doctrine, Utterable and Unutterable of Theology, Existentialism and Theology, The pneumatology of the Orthodox Church in dialogue with the western theological tradition, Eastern and Western Spirituality.

He is also supervisor not only to a great number of Master theses but also of Doctoral Disertations having reached the highest limit that is permitted by the law for supervising.

In the framework of the teaching process and at undergraduate level, he organizes cross-sectoral cooperation seminars and postgraduate level seminars (Colloquium), giving students the opportunity to deepen further on issues of dogmatic content that are simultaneously related and problems of the modern age. Within the framework of his teaching duties, he also tries to present through his teaching, but also through the organization of special lectures by theologians, laity and clergy, of the Roman Catholic and Evangelical Church, the Western theological thinking and tradition so that the students acquire an overall knowledge of Theology. His purpose is to have a clear knowledge of faith within the ecclesiastical Orthodox tradition so that theological thinking can clearly be distinguished from the corresponding theological thinking and exclude the risk of confusion of Theology with other sciences with which he engages in dialogue. In this way he attempts to contribute constructively to the Orthodox Church's dialogue with the Heterodox Christian Churches as well as to the interreligious dialogue, without altering the faith and ignoring the tradition of the Fathers of the Church.

C. Works (indicative)

  1. The essence and actions of God according to St. Gregory of Nyssa, Ph.D., ed. Gregory, Athens 1999, p. 320.
  2. Theological and Philosophical Facts in Pascal Thought and Existentialism, Athens 2001, p. 240.
  3. Introduction Theological Anthropology. Pre-Christian, heterodox and orthodox view of man as a person, ed. Gregori, Athens 2007, p. 172.
  4. "Die Person des Menschen nach Romano Guardini", in the Scientific Yearbook of the Theological School of Thessaloniki - Department of Pastoral and Social Theology, vol. 6, Thessaloniki 1999, pp. 245-268.
  5. "Die Erkenntnis Gottes nach Walter Kasper", in ΘΕΟΛΟΓΙΑ 72 (2001), p. 116.
  6. "Thessaloniki's tradition of faith in the testimony of St. Athanasios of Alexandria", in the Scientific Yearbook of the Theological School of Thessaloniki - Department of Pastoral and Social Theology, Vol. 11, Thessaloniki 2006, pp. 129-137.
  7. On the Holy Spirit that is God and is God by Nature - Contribution to the Systematic Interpretation of the Hypostasis of the Holy Spirit in the Triadology of the Orthodox Church, ed. Ennoia, Athens, 2015, p. 364
  8. "Die Bedeutung des Begriffs personaler Freiheit bei den Kappadozischen Kirchenvätern für die Gegenwart", in Gezwungene Freiheit? Personale Freiheit im pluralististischen Europa, ed. ed. Markus Mühling, ed. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2009, pp. 82-100.
  9. "The teaching of St. Athanasios about the Holy Spirit and the heresy of the tropics (Învățătura Sfântului Atanasie cel Mare despre Sfântul Huh și erezia modaliștilor)", in the Scientific Research of the Theological Faculty of the University of Athens 44 (2009), pp. 459-470, and in the Proceedings International Conference, with the subject on "Învătăturile fundamentale de credință în spiritualitatea și cultura româneascâ", of the Constanta University "Ovidius", Dorna Arini, November 2-3, 2010, pp. 86-96.
  10. "The ecclesiological character of the sacrament of marriage", in the Scientific Research of the Theological Faculty of the University of Athens 45 (2010), pp. 423-442, and in the Proceedings of the International Conference, with the subject on "Sfintele Taine și familia creștina (The Sacred Mystery and the Christian Family)" of the "Ovidius" University of Constanza, Dorna Arini, 17-19 October 2011, pp. 54-68.
  11. "Ὁ θεολογικός λόγος: τό "κατ' ἀλήθειαν ζῆν", in the Scientific Research of the Theological Faculty of the University of Athens 46 (2011), pp. 411-436. This article was also translated into English, titled, “The Theological Word: “Living According to Truth”, in the International Journal of Orthodox Theology 5:1 (2014), pp. 85-118.
  12. "Saint Gregory Palamas and monasticism (Святой Григорий Палама и монашество)", in the Monasteries of Corfu, edited by the Holy Metropolis of Kerkyra (Corfu), Paxos and Diapontion Islands, Corfu 2012, pp. 47-51 and in the МОНАСТIРИКЕРКИРЬI (КОРФУ), edited by СВЯЩЕННАЯ МИТРОПОЛИЯ КЕРКИРСКАЯ, ПАКСИЙСКАЯ И ДИАПОНТИЙСКИХ ОСТРОВОВ, КЕРКИРА 2012, pp. 47-51.
  13. "The sickness of sin and its cure in Christ. The sacrament of the Holy Unction" suggestion in the Proceedings of the International Symposium with the subject: “Taina însănătoşirii vieţii sufleteşti şi trupeşti şi modalitate de pastoraţie a bolnavilor” of the "Ovidius" University of Constanza, Dorna Arini, October 15-16, 2012, pp. 41-58, also published in Oiakstrofion, Honorary Volume of the Eminent Metropolitan of Syros, Messrs. Dorotheos II, pp. 552-563.
  14. «Biserica şi Tradiţia în lumea contemporană (Church and Tradition in the Modern World)", in the Proceedings of the International Symposium on the subject: “Biserica si Societatea in contemporaneitate: provocari, tendinte si perspective”, the Theological School of the University Valahia of Târgovişte Romania, 5-6 June 2013, pp. 368-382.
  15. «Ecumenicitatea Besericii şi omogenizarea societăţii contemporane (The universality of the Church and the homogenization of modern society)," in the Proceedings of the International Symposium on the theme: “Globalizare, religie si educatie”, of the Theological School of the University Valahia of Targoviste Romania November 13-14, 2013, pp. 306-322.
  16. " Ὁ ἱστορικός χαρακτήρας τοῦ δόγματος. Ὁ λόγος τῆς Ἀληθείας στήν ἱστορία τῆς θείας ἀποκαλύψεως (The Historical Character of Dogma: the Word of Truth in the History of Divine Revelation)», presentation at the Fourth International Symposium on Orthodox Dogmatic Theology, entitled: “Dogma and terminology in the Orthodox Tradition Today”, (Sofia, 22-24 September 2014), published in ΘΕΟΛΟΓΙΑ85 (2014), pp. 63-76, (in greek), in ДОГМАТ и ТЕРМИНОЛОГИЯ, В ПРАВОСЛАВНАТА ХРИСТИЯНСКА ТРАДИЦ ИЯ, Маmерuaпu оm lV Меж∂унаро∂ен сuмnoзuум nо nравоспавна ∂огмаmuка, 22-25 сеnmемврu 2013, Софuя, et seq. ed. Любомuр Тенеке∂жuев, ed. УНИВЕРСИТЕТСКО ИЗДАТЕЛСТВО "СВ. КЛИМЕНТ ОХРИДСКИМ", СОФИЯ 2014, pp. 88-100 and in the Proceedings of the International Symposium: Dogma and Terminology in the Orthodox Tradition Today, edited by Ioan Tulcan, Peter Bouteneff, Michel Stavrou, ed. ASTRA MUSEUM, Sibiu 2015, pp. 21-31.
  17. "The intention as a factor for the formation of human society according to St. John Chrysostom", a paper for publication in the Proceedings of the First International Patristic Symposium held in Drobeta Turnu Severin, Romania, 7-9 October 2014.
  18. "The theology of the icon and the significance of the invocation and veneration of the saints", paper for publication in the Proceedings of the Second International Patristic Symposium, which took place at the Monastery of Saint Anna of Orsova Romania, 7-10 September 2015.
  19. "Învățător sau Pedagog? O abordare theologică a rolului de pedagog al theologului", in the Proceedings of the International Symposium on the subject: «Tinerii și educația religios-morală în contextul lumii conteporane. Contribuția Besericii la cultura universală», of the Theological School of the University Valahia of Targoviste Romania, 2-3 Ἰουνίου 2016, ed. Valahia University, Târgovişte 2016, pp. 221-230.
  20. «The Primacy and Catholicity of the Church», presentation at the Fifth International Symposium on Orthodox Dogmatic Theology, entitled: «Primacy and Primacies in the Church» (Ceraiman Monastery, Romania, 25-27 Σεπτεμβρίου 2016), pp. 80-89.
  21. "Theologia Icoanei și importanța închinării aduse Sfinților, dupa Sfântul Ioan Damaschinul", in the Proceedings of the International Symposium on the subject: "Theology, iconography, confession - the reaction of the Church through culture and spirituality", of the Theological School of the University Valahia of Targoviste Romania, 30-31 Μαΐου 2017, pp. 110–131.
  22. "Dogmatics: The science of the enlightened faith", in the Proceedings of the International Symposium on the subject:«180 years of Theological Studies in the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (1837-2017)" (9-11 May 2017), Athens 2018, pp. 581-602.
  23. "The evolution of the world and the evolutional anthropology according to the patristic tradition", in the Proceedings of the Interdisciplinary Conference, on the subject "Beginning and Evolution of the world and the man in relation to the work of Basil the Great "On the six days of creation", (17-18 October), Athens 2018, pp. 249-264.
  24. «Conditions for a Critique of the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification between Lutherans and Roman Catholics from the view of the Orthodox Theology», in the International Journal of Orthodox Theology 9:1 (2018), pp. 111-127. [https://www.orthodox-theology.com/media/PDF/1.2018/NikolaosXionis.pdf]
  25. «Cunoașterea prin credința a adevărului și formarea societății omenești, in the Proceedings of the International Symposium on the subject: «Unitateade credință și de neam în contextul unei lumi globalizate», of the Theological School of the University Valahia of Targoviste Romania, ed. Bibliothca, Târgovişte 2019, pp. 111-121.
  26. "Theological approach on the meaning of "person" in the proceedings of the Theological Scientific Meeting, ed. ΜΕΘΕΞΙΣ, Athens 2019, pp. 47–70. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Usg5-N0Z6PM]
  27. MAN AND SOCIETY, Vol. I, The creation of the world and the human nature, ed. ΕΝΝΟΙΑ, Athens 2020, pp. 406.
  28. "Interpretational pressupositions and consequenses of the western theology" in the Volume dedicated to Professor Apostolos Nikolaides, ed. Γρηγόρη, Athens 2020, pp. 249–270.
  29. "Mother of God: The Mother of the Word of God who is without mother" in the Volum dedicated to Prof. fr. Demetrios Tzerpos (+), pp 21 (to be published).
  30. "The Church in the time of pandemic: hesitations, doubts and salvation" in the Proceedings of the Scientific Conference (12-13 March, 2021), on the subject: Faith, Hope and Vision in the time of pandemic, Athens 2022, pp. 155-164. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TurucfzzBJg]
  31. «Reason, Wisdom and Sequence A course of liberation from secular isolationism», in: AGIA SOPHIA. The churches of the Wisdom of God around the world, ed. Interparliamentary Assembly on Orthodoxy (I.A.O.), Athens 2021, pp. 17-21 [https://eiao.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/HAGIA-SOPHIA-GR.pdf, https://eiao.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/HAGIA-SOPHIA-EN.pdf, https://eiao.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/HAGIA-SOPHIA-RU.pdf]

 

(greek webpage)
Tμήμα Θεολογίας ⇒  Nικόλαος Ξιώνης