Notes on Contributors
Pavol Bargár
(*1981) is an Associate Professor in the Protestant Theological Faculty of Charles University. He studied theology in Bratislava, Prague, and Heidelberg, and Jewish–Christian relations in Cambridge. He led the research project ‘Myth as a Significant Medium of Narrative Theology.’ Among his research interests are the relation of theology and culture, missiology, and intercultural theology. He currently serves on the executive board of the International Council of Christians and Jews (ICCJ), and is a vice-president of the Central and Eastern European Association of Mission Studies (CEEAMS). He most recently authored Embodied Existence: Our Common Life in God (Cascade, 2023) and co-edited, with Peter Jonkers, The Faith and Beliefs of “Nonbelievers” (CRVP, 2024).
Viorel Coman
(*1984) is a Patriarchal Counsellor within the Romanian Orthodox Church and an Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Orthodox Theology in Bucharest. He is a former post-doctoral Research Fellow of the Research Foundation-Flanders (FWO) at the Theology Faculty of the Catholic University of Leuven in Belgium. His research projects investigated the interaction between the Orthodox Neo-Patristic movement and the French Catholic Ressourcement movement, using the methods of receptive ecumenism (2017–2020) and the contribution of André Scrima to the ecumenical turn in Orthodox–Catholic relationships (2020–2023). Dr. Coman regularly publishes in the fields of Orthodox Trinitarian theology, contemporary Orthodox theology, ecumenism, and systematic theology. His most recent book is entitled Bridge-Builder between East and West: André Scrima and the Ecumenical Turn in Orthodox-Catholic Relationships (Brill, 2024). He is a member of the European Academy of Religion (EUaRE) and the International Orthodox Theological Association. Dr. Coman is a former secretary of Societas Oecumenica.
Denisa Červenková
(*1972) studied Czech language, literature and religious studies at the Philosophical Faculty of Charles University and later theology in Verona (Italy) and Prague. Has been a member of the Congregation of Carmelite Sisters of St Teresa since 1996. She is a pastoral co-worker of the Academic Parish in Prague. She teaches in the Catholic Theological Faculty of Charles University, and works in the area of Christian spirituality and theology of religions. She is author of Jak se křesťanství stalo náboženstvím (2012), Náboženství jako teologický fenomén (2013), Křesťanství a ostatní náboženství (2015), Etika mezikulturního a mezináboženského dialogu (2018) and joint author of Mezi duší a duchem—enneagram a křesťanská spiritualita (2015) and To opravdové zůstává (2018).
Ondřej Fischer
(*1962) lectures in the Department of Theological Ethics of the Protestant Theological Faculty of Charles University and in the Department of Theology and Philosophy at the Jabok College of Applied Social Studies. He studied theology at Charles University and at the University of London. He is interested in professional ethics, with a focus on virtue ethics, spirituality, and anthropology that can be used by those in the helping professions. He is the author of Profesionalita, ctnosti a etika povolání (2022).
Pavel Hošek
(*1973) is a Professor in the Protestant Theological Faculty of Charles University, where he is head of the Department of Religious Studies, and vice-president of the Czech Christian Academy. His doctorate from 2002 was on C. S. Lewis and the value of religion. He started work the following year in the Department of Religious Studies of the Protestant Theological Faculty of Charles University. In 2005 he was ordained a preacher in the Brethren Church. His habilitation work was entitled “Theological Presuppositions of Inter-Religious Dialogue.” His interests include the relation between theology and culture, the relation between theology and religious sciences, and the presuppositions and possibilities of inter-religious dialogue. He is the author of the following books: Evangelium podle Bohumila Hrabala (2024), Chasidské příběhy (2022), Ve víru Velkého tance (2021), Sloužím tajnému ohni (2020), Evangelium lesní moudrosti (2019), Je to náš příběh (2018), Evangelium podle Jaroslava Foglara (2017), Islám jako výzva pro křesťany (2016), Cesta do Středu skutečnosti (2014), V dobrých rukou (2013), Kouzlo vyprávění (2013), A bohové se vracejí (2012), Židovská teologie křesťanství (2011), Cesta ke kořenům (2010), Na cestě k dialogu: křesťanská víra v pluralitě náboženství (2005), C. S. Lewis: mýtus, imaginace a pravda (2004).
Petr Jandejsek
(*1975) is a lecturer in the Ecumenical Institute of the Protestant Theological Faculty of Charles University and at Jabok College of Applied Social Studies. He studied social work and theology in Prague and Cambridge. He focuses on systematic theology, contextual Christology, liberation theology, and human rights. Among his publications is the book Christologie z pomezí: Jacques Dupuis, Roger Haight a Jon Sobrino (2019).
Kateřina Kočandrle Bauer
(formerly Kateřina Bauerová) (*1971) is a lecturer in the Ecumenical Institute of the Protestant Theological Faculty of Charles University. She spent five years as a member of a research team investigating Orthodox theology in the West. She is currently part of the team in the project ‘Theological Anthropology in Inter-Cultural Perspective.’ She teaches and publishes in the fields of ecumenical systematic theology, Russian Religious Philosophy, and Christian spiritual theology. She is the author of Znovuobjevení symbolu u Louis-Marie Chauveta (2010), and joint author of Mnohohlas pravoslavné teologie ve 20. století na Západě (2016), Wrestling with the Mind of the Fathers (2015), The Ways of Orthodox Theology in the West (2015).
Ondřej Kolář
(*1978) is a lecturer in the Department of Systematic Theology of the Protestant Theological Faculty of Charles University and also pastor in charge of the Evangelical Church of the Czech Brethren parish in Kobylisy in Prague. He studied theology in Prague and Vienna, and undertook post-graduate studies in Tübingen and Erlangen. At the heart of his interests lies eschatology and its relations to anthropology and soteriology. Within his work for the Central European Centre of Mission Studies he has also investigated systematic theological approaches to mission and the ethics of mission. He is the author of Štěstí jako téma současné teologie (2023).
Tabita Landová
(*1978) is Associate Professor of Practical Theology and head of the Department of Practical Theology at the Protestant Theological Faculty of Charles University. She has led research projects on ‘Hermeneutics of the Liturgical Tradition of the Unity of Brethren’ (GAAV), ‘The Preaching and Homiletics of Jan Augusta in the Context of the Homiletics of the Unity of Brethren’ (GAČR), and ‘Rites of Passage in Czech Protestantism.’ Her teaching, research, and publications are in the field of practical theology, with a focus on homiletics, liturgy, and rituals. She is the author of the books: Liturgie Jednoty bratrské (1457–1620) (2014), O službě slova, víře a spasení: reformní kazatelství Jana Augusty v kontextu homiletiky Jednoty bratrské (2020), and Rituály na křižovatkách života a víry: křest, konfirmace, svatba, pohřeb (in print).
Ivana Noble
(*1966) is Professor of Ecumenical Theology and head of the Ecumenical Institute in the Protestant Theological Faculty of Charles University. She is a priest of the Czechoslovak Hussite Church and former president of Societas Oecumenica. For five years she was in charge of a research project on Orthodox theology in the West. She led the project ‘Theological Anthropology in Ecumenical Perspective,’ and is currently in charge of a Charles University Centre of Excellence Research Project, with members from all three theological faculties of the university, focusing on ‘Theological Anthropology in Inter-Cultural Perspective.’ She teaches and publishes in the fields of ecumenical systematic theology, fundamental theology, Orthodox theology, hermeneutics, theology of culture, theological anthropology, political theology, and Christian spirituality. Among her books in English are Essays in Ecumenical Theology 2 (2022), Essays in Ecumenical Theology I (2019), Tracing God: Theology as an Interpretation of Religious Experience (2010); Theological Interpretation of Culture in Post-Communist Context (2010); Accounts of Hope: A Problem of Method in Postmodern Apologia (2001).
Tim Noble
(*1962) is an Associate Professor in the Ecumenical Institute of the Protestant Theological Faculty of Charles University, where he specialises in missiology, contextual theology, and Latin American Liberation Theology. He studied theology in London, Belo Horizonte, Brazil, and Amsterdam. He has led research projects on ‘Latin American Liberation Theology: Perspectives and Challenges,’ and ‘The Churches’ Response of Welcome to the Migrant Other.‘ His research interests include Latin American Liberation Theology, missiology, theology and film, Ignatian spirituality, and theology and culture. He also teaches at the International Baptist Theological Study Centre in Amsterdam. He is author of Liberation against Entitlement. Conflicting Theologies of Grace and Clashing Populisms (2022), Mission from the Perspective of the Other. Drawing Together on Holy Ground (2018), and The Poor in Liberation Theology. Pathway to God or Ideological Construct? (2013).
Libor Ovečka
(*1950) is a Roman Catholic priest, a former member of the Salesian order. Prior to 1989 he studied philosophy and English in the Faculty of Arts of Charles University, theology secretly in Prague, moral theology in Erfurt and was involved in underground teaching of theology for the Salesians. After November 1989 and the end of the Communist régime, he gained his doctorate in theology in Passau. He was a co-founder and first director of the Jabok College of Applied Social Studies. He is the author of “Člověče, bylo ti oznámeno, co je dobré …” Česká katolická morální teologie 1884–1948 (2011).
Aristotle Papanikolaou
(*1966) is Professor of Theology and co-founder of the Center for Orthodox Christian Studies at Fordham University in New York. He studied theology at Fordham, Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology, and the University of Chicago. His interests lie in Eastern Orthodox Theology, Trinitarian theology, and religion in public life. He is the author of The Mystical as Political: Democracy and Non-Radical Orthodoxy (2012) and Being with God: Trinity, Apophaticism and Divine-Human Communion (2006).
Mireia Ryšková
(*1950) is a Czech Catholic theologian. She studied history of art in the Faculty of Arts of Charles University and at the same time studied Catholic theology as part of the underground courses led by the Salesians. She then went on to study theology in Erfurt and Passau. She was a co-founder and deputy director of and lecturer in the Jabok College of Applied Social Studies. She has also taught at the Protestant Theological Faculty of Charles University on the programme of Theology of Christian Traditions, New Testament studies at the Theological Faculty of the University of South Bohemia, and she also teaches at the Catholic Theological Faculty of Charles University. Among her books are List Koloským (2019), Pavel z Tarsu a jeho svět (2014), Doba Ježíše Nazaretského (2008), První list Tesalonickým (2007), and she edited the book Hledání Boží tváře (2020).
Zdenko Širka
(*1980) works at the Protestant Theological Faculty of Charles University, the Jabok College of Applied Social Studies, and St John’s Pedagogical College. He studied theology in Bratislava, Tübingen, and Prague. He has undertaken research projects on ‘The Hermeneutics of Experience in the Christian Tradition’ and ‘Transformations of Tradition: Implications for Ecumenical Theology’. Currently he takes part in the research projects ‘Theological Anthropology in Inter-cultural Perspective’ and ‘Beyond Security—Role of Conflict in Resilience-Building’. He teaches and publishes in the fields of hermeneutics, ecumenical theology, Orthodox theology, and theological ethics. He is author of Transcendence and Understanding: Gadamer and Modern Orthodox Hermeneutics in Dialogue (2020) and Člověk, bohočlověk a církev: výběr ze spisů Justina Popoviće (2022).
František Štěch
(*1980) works at the Protestant Theological Faculty of Charles University. He studied theology in České Budějovice, Nijmegen, Amsterdam, and New York. He is currently leading an international team researching theology and contemporary culture at the Protestant Theological Faculty of Charles University. He has previously contributed to a number of other research projects. He teaches and publishes in the fields of fundamental theology, systematic theology, and religious education. He is author of Tu se jim otevřely oči: Zjevení, víra a církev v díle kardinála Avery Dullese, SJ (2011).
Martin Vaňáč
(*1972) is a lecturer in the Ecumenical Institute of the Protestant Theological Faculty of Charles University. He teaches and publishes in the fields of the history of Christianity and ecumenism. He studied History in Prague, Konstanz, and Brno, and studied theology in the Catholic and Protestant Theological Faculties of Charles University. From 2006–2018 he also worked for the Centre for the History of Czech Theology at the Catholic Theological Faculty of Charles University. He was a member of the team for the project ‘Theological Anthropology in Ecumenical Perspective.’ He is co-author of Biografický slovník katolických teologických fakult v Praze 1891–1990 (2013).
Michaela Vlčková
(*1978) works at the Theological Faculty of the University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice, where she teaches and publishes in the field of liturgy. She studied theology and liturgical theology in České Budějovice and Olomouc. Her interests are in liturgical rites in the context of ritual studies and liturgical theology. She is the author of Tělo, čas a prostor v liturgii (2017), and Žehnání matky, Význam obřadu v Čechách a na Moravě vé v 16.–21. století (2015).