Is Orthodox Theology Against Reason? 

Can you cite a westerner that explicitly or implicitly teaches theology without praxis?

"Speculations ad infinitum" meaning... what exactly? Reflection upon the faith and speculating in every new era is a necessity of theological life. If reflection never ceases then neither does speculation, and vice versa.

@@Crystal_Falcon I think the point that the commenter was probably making is not that they teach theology without Praxis, but rather that the theologians themselves are often just academics, and either do not have a thorough, spiritual life, and devotion, to Jesus, or do not have a spiritual life at all. Yet may still be looked to as some sort of Authority. If that’s not the point that the other comment or was making, I would certainly make that point.

@@GuitarJesse7 I disagree. I think the point the commenter was probably making was that they teach theology without praxis because he associates theology without praxis to “the problem” of why the West has an “obsession with reason”, ultimately destroying any meaningful spiritual life, apparently. Happy to be corrected by the commenter if I misunderstood him/her. Anyways, can you cite an official Western authority (a doctor of the Catholic Church, eminently recognized theologian, etc) that doesn’t have a “thorough spiritual life, devotion to Jesus, or do not have a spiritual life at all”?

@@GuitarJesse7 "the theologians themselves are often just academics" Well no, many academic theologians are also priests or pastors in whatever confession they belong to... but if they are not ordained or monastics, so what? There is nothing at all wrong with that, and academic theology is good. Theology that struggles with nuance and pushes boundaries by critical reflection is necessary. Without an intellectually rigorous and critical theology,all youll get is a theology of arrogant moralism, using flashy foreign language for concepts it reduces to vacuous apophatics, and ignorantly slinging meaningless rhetoric. " ... do not have a thorough, spiritual life, and devotion, to Jesus" Ah yes, the classic characteristic of academic Christian theologians, a lack of devotion to Jesus... what rubbish. And of course you have no way of judging these peoples spiritual lives as less "thorough" than yours. Do you actually mean that the academic must not be devoted to God as much as Elder Whosit because the academic might acknowledge errors in their tradition, or validity in other traditions, or adopt a view based on history or reason against authority, whereas the "spiritual" person who "is devoted to Jesus" is triumphalist about their tradition, decries all others as demonic, and never lets history or reason have any say when an authority is to be invoked (some council, or saint, or some elder somewhere, etc)? Please tell me it isnt so! "Yet may still be looked to as some sort of Authority" Yes, someone who has great academic knowledge on a subject of theology or Church history is an authority by their reliability or the strength of their arguments. Its a kind of authority based on reason, not the rejection of it. And actual learning on an issue does make someone more of an authority, in this sense, than some monk or whatever. And indeed, what use is an authority that claims to bind your reason but is manifestly false? The Orthodox mock Vatican 1's claims about the papacy, saying no one should bind their conscience to them but should instead study the history themselves. But then, on any number of other issues, despite Orthodoxy having no magisterium, academics in the Orthodox world are widely regarded as less Orthodox if not outright wicked for thinking and questioning on certain things. Hypocrisy at its finest, but perhaps one shouldnt use reason here...