2017/03/07: The Resurrection of Logos

[Applause] The topic that we will explore today is, in many ways, one of trying to figure out some of the deepest implications of what it means to be a human being. When we first formed the OCF (Orthodox Christian Fellowship) last year, one of the discussions, one of the very first discussions we had at our weekly meeting, was one that dealt with how we see ourselves today.

How we, in our society, and especially as students, have lost something very sacred about our existence. In many currents of thought, and most certainly in our hyper-rationalized, deconstructed, postmodern world, one loses sight of the meaning of not only those things which are external to us, but in the process, we fail to understand the very core of our being. Many of you will know that recently Dr. Jordan Peterson has faced an immense set of controversy precisely for questioning the dogmas of our age.

And yet, he has also stressed the importance of the Divine individual and the Christian concept of the logos, which I will allow our speakers to elaborate upon today. A dear friend had told me once that what fundamentally divides Orthodoxy from any other kind of ideology is precisely this: the dignity of the Divine individual and what this means for us as spiritual and physical beings.

And so, I'm immensely excited to hear what our panelists have to say tonight. I’d like to introduce each of our panelists, starting with Father Theodore Kopos, who is a joint faculty member at the Orthodox School of Theology at Trinity College. Last semester, he taught a course on the human person in Orthodox theology and Orthodox tradition, and in many ways, this is something that touches upon or introduces the very core of what's being discussed today: what is the individual? What does it mean to be human?

He is also quite a positive presence at our Orthodox Christian fellowship, and we certainly look forward to hearing his perspectives tonight. Jonathan Pou is a very well-known icon carver from Quebec, as well as an editor for the Orthodox Arts Journal. Many of us were familiar with Jonathan and his work prior to this, and so it’s a great pleasure to have him here tonight.

Indeed, it is entirely appropriate — just this past Sunday, the Orthodox Church celebrated, in the spirit of unity, the Sunday of Orthodoxy, the celebration of our triumph over iconoclasm. The tradition of iconography in the Orthodox tradition is one of deep theology, and I'm very pleased that an expert on the matter is with us here today. Many of you may be interested to hear Jonathan's online discussion with Dr. Peterson; the most recent one being concerned with one of the most controversial political symbols of this day: the metaphysics of Pepe.

Dr. Jordan B. Peterson is a professor of psychology here at the University of Toronto, and I think it goes without saying that the activism of Dr. Peterson has inspired many in the room today, many who would have previously perhaps not even considered looking into the type of concepts which are going to be discussed today. Myself and many others have been deeply moved by not only Dr. Peterson's insight on matters of a political nature, but also in his insight into human nature.

The title of this discussion was influenced by Dr. Peterson's usage of the concept of the Christian concept of logos and what that means for us as individuals. I'd like to thank Dr. Peterson for joining us, and we are greatly looking forward to hearing more of your insight on this matter. Last but not least, Father Jeffrey Ready, who is the co-director of the Orthodox School of Theology, the chaplain of our Orthodox Christian fellowship, and the parish priest at the Holy Mar Bears Orthodox Mission, located at Trinity Chapel.

From the very creation of our OCF last year, Father Jeffrey has continuously blown our minds and enhanced our understanding not only of our Orthodox spiritual life but of ourselves as human beings. Apart from his remarkable pastoral qualities, his wealth of knowledge and perspective has made it only natural that we would offer his perspective on this panel tonight. I'd like to thank Father Jeffrey for h...