PHENOMENOLOGY AND SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION WITHIN ORTHODOX THEOLOGY

The philosophical perspective held by the theologian affects the theological interpretation given to experience. The philosophical understanding that supports Western contemporary interpretation and social construction of experience is no longer sustainable given the outdated perspective scholasticism that is dominant in the West. I suggest that an alternative view a phenomenological method of interpretation is not only more sustainable for Orthodox theological interpretation but that is reflects more accurately the Patristic perspective upon which Orthodox theology depends. To demonstrate this I investigate two contemporary Orthodox theological issues Ecology and Canon Law from a phenomenological perspective. Within these topics I investigate language as participatory not descriptive; epistemology as being not knowing; and interpretation as continual not fixed.