Georges Florovsky

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Georges Vasilievich Florovsky (Russian Георгий Васильевич Флоровский) (August 23, 1893, Odessa - August 11, 1979, United States) was an Eastern Orthodox theologian, historian and early ecumenist though later he rejected the movement and it's aims[1].

1 Life
2 Works
3 Literature
4 External links

[edit] Life

Florovsky was born in Odessa as the fourth child of an Orthodox priest. Inspired by the erudite environment in which he grew up, he learned English, German, French, Latin, Greek, and Hebrew while still a schoolboy . At eighteen, he started to study philosophy and history. After his first graduation, he taught for three years at high schools in Odessa and then made his full graduation including the licensia docendi at all universities in the Russian empire. In 1919, he began to teach at the University of Odessa, but his family was forced to leave Russia in 1920. The young Florovsky realized at that time that there would be no return for him, because Marxism did not accept the history and philosophy he taught. Florovsky thus became part of the great emigration of the Russian intelligentsia, which also included Nikolai Berdyaev, Sergei Bulgakov, Nicholas Lossky, his son, Vladimir Lossky, Alexander Schmemann, and John Meyendorff, the latter two of whom later followed Florovsky as Dean of Saint Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary.

In the 1920s, he had a close personal and vocational friendship with Nikolai Berdyaev. The two became somewhat more distanced in later years, largely through Berdyaev not understanding Florovsky entering Holy Orders, and also through Florovsky's critical attitude towards Berdyaev's philosophy of religion in his own "Ways of Russian Theology".

In 1925, Florovsky was appointed professor for patristics at the St. Serge Institute of Orthodox Theology in Paris. In this subject, he found his real vocation. Patristics became for him the benchmark for Orthodox theology and exegesis, as well as a source for many of his contributions and critiques of the ecumenical movement. Despite not having earned an academic degree in theology (apart from several honorary degrees he was awarded later), Florovsky would spend the rest of his life teaching at theological institutions.

In 1932, Florovsky was ordained priest of the Orthodox Church. During the 1930s, he undertook extensive researches in European libraries and wrote his most important works in the area of patristics as well as his magnum opus, Ways of Russian Theology. In this massive work, he questioned the Western influences of scholasticism, pietism, and idealism on Russian theology and called for a re-evaluation of Russian theology in the light of patristic writings. The work was received with either enthusiasm or condemnation - there was no neutral attitude to it among Russian emigrés. Among the critics were Sergei Bulgakov, the head of the St. Serge Institute and prominent exponent of the Russian theological tradition of the 19th century, as well as Nikolai Berdyaev, exponent of the religious renaissance of the 20th century.

In 1949, Florovsky moved to New York City to take a position as Dean of Saint Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary. Florovsky's oversight of the development of the theological curriculum led to the Board of Regents of the University of the State of New York granting the Seminary an Absolute Charter in 1953. He retired as Dean in 1955. Among the most prominent students and successors of Florovsky is metropolitan John Zizioulas.

[edit] Works

Eastern Fathers of the Fourth Century. Paris, 1931.
The Ways of Russian Theology (online
The Catholicity of the Church online
The Lost Scriptural Mind online
On Church and Tradition: An Eastern Orthodox View online
St. John Chrysostom. The Prophet of Charity online
The Ascetic Ideal and the New Testament. Reflections on the Critique of the Theology of the Reformation online
The Limits of the Church, Church Quarterly Review, 1933 (online)
Following the Holy Fathers (Excerpt of The Collected Works of Georges Florovsky Vol. IV, "Patristic Theology and the Ethos of the Orthodox Church," Part II, p. 15-22) online
St Gregory Palamas and the Tradition of the Fathers, 1961 online
Revelation and Interpretation online
Scripture and Tradition: an Orthodox View online
The Work of the Holy Spirit in Revelation online
Holy Icons online
Collected works published 1972 by Nordland Pub.:
- Collected Works. Volume 1: Bible, Church, Tradition
- Collected Works. Volume 2: Christianity and Culture excerpts online
- Collected Works. Volume 3: Creation and Redemption [excerpts online]
- Collected Works. Volume 4: Aspects of Church History excerpts online
- Collected Works. Volume 5: Ways of Russian Theology, Part I
- Collected Works. Volume 6: Ways of Russian Theology, Part II
- Collected Works. Volume 7: Eastern Fathers of the Fourth Century
- Collected Works. Volume 8: Byzantine Fathers of the Fifth Century
- Collected Works. Volume 9: Byzantine Fathers of the Sixth to Eight Centuries
- Collected Works. Volume 10: Byzantine Ascetic and Spiritual Fathers
- Collected Works. Volume 11: Theology and Literature
- Collected Works. Volume 12: Philosophy
- Collected Works. Volume 13: Ecumenism I: A Doctrinal Approach
- Collected Works. Volume 14: Ecumenism II: An Historical Approach

[edit] Literature

Andrew Blane: Georges Florovsky. Russian Intellectual and Orthodox Churchman, ISBN 0-88141-137-X
Peter A. Chamberas, Georges Vasilievich Florovsky : Russian intellectual historian and orthodox theologian - 1893-1979 - Religious Historians, East and West, Modern Age, Winter 2003 (FindArticles online Version)