History of Eastern Orthodox theology in the 20th century |
20th century Eastern Orthodox theology has been dominated by neo-
According to Michael Angold, the "rediscovery of [Palamas'] writings by theologians of the last century has played a crucial role in the construction of present-day Orthodoxy.[4] Bishop Kallistos (Ware) has predicted that "the twentieth century will be remembered as the century of Palamas".
After the Russian Revolution, many Orthodox theologians fled Russia and founded centers of Orthodox theology in the West. The most notable of these were the Orthodox Theological Institute of St. Serguis in Paris and Orthodox Seminary of St. Vladimir in New York.[5]
Daniel Payne asserts that, in the 1940s, "Russian émigré theologians rediscovered the ascetic-theology of St. Gregory Palamas." From this rediscovery, according to Payne, "Palamas' theology became the basis for an articulation of an Orthodox theological identity apart from Roman Catholic and Protestant influences. Florovsky and Lossky opposed the efforts of the Slavophile movement to identify a uniquely Russian approach to Orthodox theology. They advocated instead a return to the Greek fathers in what Florovsky called a "Neo-Patristic Synthesis".[6] Payne characterizes the work of
Metropolitan Hilarion Alfayev identifies five main streams within the theology of the “Paris school”.
The first, associated with the names of Archimandrite Cyprian (Kern), Fr. Georges Florovsky, Vladimir Lossky, Archbishop Basil (Krivocheine) and Fr. John Meyendorff, was dedicated to the cause of “Patristic revival.”
The second stream, represented in particular by Fr. Sergius Bulgakov, is rooted in the Russian religious renaissance of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century; here, the influence of Eastern patristics was interwoven with German idealism and the religious views of Vladimir Soloviev stream.
The third prepared the ground for the “liturgical revival” in the Orthodox Church and is related to the names of Fr. Nicholas Afanassieff and Fr. Alexander Schmemann.
Characteristic of the fourth stream was an interest in Russian history, literature, culture and spirituality; to this stream belong G. Fedotov, K. Mochulsky, I. Kontzevich, Fr. Sergius Tchetverikoff, A. Kartashev and N. Zernov, to name but a few.
The fifth stream developed the traditions of Russian religious philosophical thought and was represented by N. Lossky, S. Frank, L. Shestoff and Fr. Basil Zenkovsky.
One of the central figures of “Russian Paris” was Nicholas Berdyaev, who belonged to none of these...[8]
According to Michael Gibson, "Lossky’s paradigm pivots on a double-sided narrative that posits a theological failure of the West characterized as ‘rationalist’ and ‘philosophical,’ the antithesis of which is the unbroken Eastern theological tradition of pure apophaticism and mystico-ecclesial experience."[9]
Lossky's main tenet of the Mystical Theology was to show through reference to the Greek Fathers works of the ancient Church that their
Lossky, like his close friend Father