Marios Benisis - “St. Nicodemus of Mount Athos: His theological stands and its reception during the theology of the 20th century"

Through this short presentation we will try to find out if St. Nicodemus is the key stone of the Patristic edifice of his era. Through the relevant bibliography, we will illuminate the personality of Nicodemus focusing on his Patristic, Hagiological, liturgical and canonical contribution. 

We will examine the historical context of his era and highlight the association between the Ecclesiastical Tradition and the Neo-Hellenic Illumination, the contribution of Nicodemus in the spiritual rebirth of the Greek nation and lastly the rise to prominence of the manifold life-work of Nicodemus. We will also refer shortly to his biography, while we will note down his contribution in the Philokalia Movement, in order to understand his theological magnitude of achievement. Throughout the following sections, we will demonstrate that Nicodemus was an adept in Scriptures and the Orthodox dogma, having the mystical experience as a basis and the anterior Fathers of the Church as secure indexes to his theology.

In continuity of the triad of the great Fathers and Saints, Maximus the Confessor, Gregory Palamas and Mark of Ephesus, Nicodemus combining the mystagogical character of Maximus, the Hesychasm of Gregory and the anti-Latin spirit of Mark achieves to represent not only the orthodox sense of his time but also to eradiate his spirit outside Mount Athos and Greece, throughout the international Christian world, especially in the 20^th century.