John S. Romanides

John Savvas Romanides (Greek: Ιωάννης Σάββας Ρωμανίδης; 2 March 1927, Piraeus – 1 November 2001, Athens) was an Orthodox Christian priest, author and professor who represented the Greek Church to the World Council of Churches. Born in Piraeus, Greece, on 2 March 1928, his parents emigrated to the United States when he was only two months old. He grew up in Manhattan, graduating from the Hellenic College, Brookline, Massachusetts. After attending Yale Divinity School, he received his Ph.D. from the University of Athens.

From 1956 to 1965 he was Professor of Dogmatic Theology at the Holy Cross Theological School in Brookline, Massachusetts. In 1968 he was appointed as tenured Professor of Dogmatic Theology at the University of Thessaloniki, Greece, a position he held until his retirement in 1982. His latest position was Professor of Theology at Balamand Theological School, in Lebanon. Romanides died in Athens, Greece on 1 November 2001.

Romanides contributed many speculations, some controversial, into the cultural and religious differences between Eastern and Western Christianity, and how these divergences have impacted the ways in which Christianity has developed and been lived out in the Christian cultures of East and West.

His theological works emphasize the empirical basis of theology called theoria or vision of God, (as opposed to intellectual-contemplative) as the essence of Orthodox Theology. He identified Hesychasm as the core of Christian practice and studied extensively the works of 14th century hesychast and theologian St. Gregory Palamas.

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