Constantin Necula
Bio
Constantin-Valer Necula, priest, lecturer, journalist, editor; born on 19th July 1970 in Brasov; graduate of the Faculty of Theology "Andrei Saguna" in Sibiu (1991 - 1995); postgraduate studies in 1997; PhD in theology in 2004; specialized in catechesis - homiletics and Christian pedagogy.
Position statement on the issue
THE PARADOXES OF EVOLUTIONISM OR THE SHADOW OF LIGHT OF THE
DIVINE PEDAGOGY
Long have I pondered on how I should write about evolutionism and
its connection with today's world as a pre-text for such public
debates. In my capacity as a priest, I must confine myself to the
realm of personal confessions and admit that the insufficiency
displayed by the system evolutionism would propose to my young soul
somewhere in between 1985 - 1989, made me turn to God. It is not
about how good some people can be and how less good others will be.
It is rather about how great an ego, a stranger to heavens or human
fulfilment, grew inside me, seeded by the idea of evolutionism and
its genetics, which would somehow erode my very morale and
immortality. It is, therefore, to Darwin and, perhaps, even more
likely, to those who extolled his theory that I owe my revelation
of God. I also owe them the joyful realization that being the image
of God's praise "at least, even though I bear the wounds of sins"
as the orthodox hymn wonderfully puts it, opens inside me the
blessed immortality my soul had been longing for. Meanwhile, I have
realized that I am not the sole representative of my generation,
whose discovery in Jesus Christ of the meaning of our existence,
beyond the whim of some airs of biological knowledge, has come
about because of evolutionism. The creative dynamics, on the
grounds of which the Church has embraced me in its work of
redemption, not as one individual, but as one of many others, while
respecting my uniqueness as a person, overwhelms me time and time
again. Here I stand, happy to have moved on from an individual to a
person, from an ideological comrade to a brother in redemption to
many, a great many. Hence, in order to speak about evolutionism and
its impact on my world, I ought to attempt to write a grateful poem
to God for His infinite wisdom contained in His great pedagogy.
What it has taught me is that He awaits us all, that He surrendered
himself to death in order to re-embody His image in us, that He
resurrected, thus decompressing logical thinking systems and
turning them into meta-logic. I have learned that He stands next to
our Father. Had evolutionism quenched my thirst, I would have never
longed for more, unwound in God's Grace. That is why I cast a
warm-hearted eye on each and every struggle of the human spirit.
And I pray God to replenish it in the clarity of His Grace. I
confess to the good it has done to me, pushing me out of the cage
of my zoology towards the brightly shining shores of the hope in
Heaven.
Prof Constantin Necula
Published papers
His notable works include sermons anthologies: Iată, Mirele vine
(2000); Iubi-Te-voi Doamne (2001); De ce eşti trist, popor al
Învierii? (2002); Praznicar (2004); Privegheri (2003); Iubesc
Doamne, ajută neiubirii mele! (2005); collections of studies and
articles on homiletics and catechesis: Contribuţia şcolii Teologice
Ortodoxe de la Sibiu la dezvoltarea pedagogiei moderne:
Întemeietorii; Mitropolitul Andrei Şaguna (2006); Sarea Pământului,
I, (2002); Ascultă, Israel!- Activitatea învăţătorească a
profeţilor în Vechiul Testament (2003); Paştele Crucii (2003); Să
ne merităm Ortodoxia (2004); Porţile Cerului, 2 vol. (2007);
Îndumnezeirea maidanului -pastoraţia Bisericii în spatele
blocurilor (ed. II-a, 2008). He is also the author of series of
books for children and youth: Căluţul lui Dumnezeu (2003); De
dragul Evangheliei (2003), Tinereţea Ortodoxiei (2004); Calea
virtuţilor (2005); Ogorul cu îngeri (2005); Împreună spre întâia
Spovedanie (2006); Să ne rugăm 8 zile cu Sf. Ioan de Kronstadt
(2006); Marcellino, o minune de băieţel (2007); Să ne rugăm 8 zile
cu Sf. Nectarie (2007); Să ne rugăm 8 zile cu Părintele Arsenie
Boca (2007); Provocările străzii (2007); Gânduri şi miride (2009);
Gheorghe Lazăr - Învietorul (2009).Translations: Sf. Ambrozie, Viu
va fi sufletul meu (2000); Sf. Simeon Metafrastul, Viaţa Sfântului
Spiridon (2007); Sf. Daniil Stâlpnicul (2007); Sf. Grigorie cel
Mare, Benedict de Nursia (2008); He has contributed with over 180
articles to magazines and hundreds of articles to local and
national and newspapers, has written 37 studies in Romanian and
foreign languages (French, Italian and German) and 100 reviews, has
delivered 150 conferences at home and abroad (20 of which are
gathered in a volume) and has made appearances in special
programmes on national and international radio and TV stations.
