THE BIBLE CIRCLE from the Faculty of Letters, History and Theology, supported by Prof. lecturer Ioan Mihoc, hosted on Thursday, May 13, 2021, from 17:00-19:00, on the Google.meet platform, the LAUNCH OF THE BOOK OF Father Constantin Pogor: Gospel of the Eucharist. Short commentary on the Gospel according to John, Mitropolia Oltenia Publishing House and Craiova University Publishing House, 2020.
This work inaugurates the collection "Holy Scripture for all" (SSPT), initiated by Rev. Constantin Pogor. In the The introductory word, PSS acad. Irineu, the Metropolitan of Oltenia, expresses the urgent imperative to "work as diligently as possible in the Lord's vineyard and to know as much as possible the Holy and divine Scriptures" (p. 7). "The Good News of our salvation - His Eminence points out - needs to be condensed and transposed pertinently into the words and feelings specific to each generation" (p. 7).
The pastoral-exegetical commentary made by Fr. Constantin Pogor, in a "living, current and dynamic" reading of the Gospel according to John. The author is the parish priest of the Romanian Orthodox Parish "Saint Andrew the Apostle and the Mother Hierarch" (Gent-Aalst, Belgium). Doctor of theology from 2012 al Catholic University of Louvain (Belgium), Fr. Pogor teaches the Old Testament, in French, at Institute of Orthodox Theology "Apôtre Paul" (Brussels, Belgium) and at "Dumitru Stăniloae" Orthodox Study and Research Center (Paris, France). Between 2015-2019, he taught at Faculty of Protestant Theology, within University of Strasbourg (France).
Proposing a "selective, comprehensible and dynamic spiritual reading" of the Fourth Gospel, father Constantin Pogor especially remembers the "teachings and information useful to the soul" (p. 22), highlighting, therefore, the pastoral dimension of the John text. In fact, the present commentary is made in the light of two thematic perspectives: identity and purpose: "If the first perspective introduces us to the question of the identity of the main character, that is, that of the origin of Jesus of Nazareth, the second horizon dwells on the purpose or finality of His mission" (p. 25).
As a Gospel addressed to some readers called by the Holy Apostle John to deification, Fr. C. Pogor highlights the way in which it "breathes" the Mystery of the Holy Eucharist, noting from the beginning that "the signs of Jesus, His precepts and especially His Resurrection from the dead converge together towards the Eucharist" (p. 26).
The presentation of the book was followed by a theological debate remarkably supported by the author, Fr. Constantin Pogor, to which fathers teachers Constantin Jinga and Iosif Stancovici contributed, together with the undersigned. During the dialogue with the author, the participating students had the opportunity to reflect on the pericopes from the Gospel of John, used liturgically during Pentecost.
Rev. Lect. John Mihoc
