06 — Theology in Hymnody

Romanos was a theologian who sang. This section sets out the doctrine carried by his verse: an orthodox, post-Chalcedonian Christology and a rich Mariology woven through biblical typology, and a theology of repentance and compunction that makes the dramatized sinner a mirror for the worshipper.

The kontakia are not decoration on doctrine; they are doctrine, preached and sung. Romanos teaches the Incarnation and the Theotokos through paradox and figure, and he teaches repentance through the voices of the Harlot, the Prodigal, and the foolish virgins. This section reads the hymns for what they confess and what they ask of the hearer.

Files

File	Description
christology-and-mariology-sung.md	The orthodox Christology and Mariology set to verse; the Incarnation, the Theotokos, and biblical typology
the-theology-of-repentance.md	Compunction (katanyxis), tears, and the eschatological summons; the dramatized sinner as a mirror for the congregation

See Also

• Today the Virgin — the Christology and Mariology of the Nativity hymn
• The Dramatic Dialogues — the penitents whose voices carry the theology of repentance
• Orthodoxy: Church Fathers — the patristic doctrinal tradition Romanos versifies
• The Akathist Question — the Mariological hymn at the disputed edge of the corpus