Georges Florovsky

Georges Vasilievich Florovsky (Russian "Георгий Васильевич Флоровский") (August 23, 1893, Odessa - August 11, 1979, United States) was an Eastern Orthodox theologian, historian and pioneering ecumenist. He is considered, along with Sergei Bulgakov, Vladimir Lossky and Dumitru Stăniloae, to be one of the most important Eastern Orthodox theologians of the 20th Century.

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. One of his most prominent critics was Nikolai Berdyaev, the religious philosopher and social critic.

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 was fired as Dean in 1955. ref|1 Among the most prominent students and successors of Florovsky is metropolitan John Zizioulas.

ee also

*Philosophers' ship

Works

* Eastern Fathers of the Fourth Century. Paris, 1931.
* The Ways of Russian Theology ( [http://www.myriobiblos.gr/texts/english/florovsky_ways.html online] )
* The Catholicity of the Church [http://www.fatheralexander.org/booklets/english/catholicity_church_florovsky.htm online]
* The Lost Scriptural Mind [http://www.fatheralexander.org/booklets/english/scriptural_mind.htm online]
* On Church and Tradition: An Eastern Orthodox View [http://www.fatheralexander.org/booklets/english/church_tradition_florovsky.htm online]
* St. John Chrysostom. The Prophet of Charity [http://www.orthodoxytoday.org/articles4/FlorovskyChrysostom.shtml online]
* The Ascetic Ideal and the New Testament. Reflections on the Critique of the Theology of the Reformation [http://www.stpaulsirvine.org/html/ascetic_ideal.htm online]
* The Limits of the Church, Church Quarterly Review, 1933 ( [http://www.fatheralexander.org/booklets/english/limits_church.htm 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) [http://www.orthodoxinfo.com/phronema/florov_fathers.aspx online]
* St Gregory Palamas and the Tradition of the Fathers, 1961 [http://www.myriobiblos.gr/texts/english/florovski_palamas.html online]
* Revelation and Interpretation [http://www.fatheralexander.org/booklets/english/revelation_interpretation.htm online]
* Scripture and Tradition: an Orthodox View [http://www.fatheralexander.org/booklets/english/sipture_tradition_florovsky.htm online]
* The Work of the Holy Spirit in Revelation [http://www.fatheralexander.org/booklets/english/holy_spirit_revelation_florovsky.htm online]
* Holy Icons [http://www.fatheralexander.org/booklets/english/ikons_florovsky.htm online]
* Collected works published 1972 by Nordland Pub.:
**"Collected Works. Volume 1: Bible, Church, Tradition"
**"Collected Works. Volume 2: Christianity and Culture" [http://www.fatheralexander.org/booklets/english/christianity_and_culture_florovky.htm excerpts online]
**"Collected Works. Volume 3: Creation and Redemption" [excerpts online]
**"Collected Works. Volume 4: Aspects of Church History" [http://www.fatheralexander.org/booklets/english/aspects_church_history_florovsky.htm 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"

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 ( [http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0354/is_1_45/ai_99699590 FindArticles online Version] )

References

* Andrew Blane, ed., George Florovsky--Russian Intellectual and Orthodox Churchman (Crestwood, NY: St Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 1993), pp.109ff.

External links

* [http://pages.sbcglobal.net/c.parks/florovsky.html Collected Works of Fr Georges Florovsky, in part online]
* [http://www.sain.org/WINDOW/Ecclesio.txt Lewis Shaw, "Georges Florovsky's Model of Orthodox Ecclesiology"]
* [http://www.orthodoxinfo.com/ecumenism/florovsky.aspx Bishop Chrysostomos of Etna, "Protopresybter Georges Florovsky"]
* [http://www.romanity.org/htm/rom.29.en.f_georges_florovsky.htm John S. Romanides, "F. Georges Florovsky, the theologian in service of the church in ecumenical dialogue"] Lecture at St. Vladimir's Seminary 23 May 1980
* [http://www.hds.harvard.edu/library/bms/13001/bms13001florovsky.html Harvard Divinity School Faculty Writings File: Georges Florovsky]
* [http://libweb.princeton.edu/libraries/firestone/rbsc/aids/florovsky.html Princeton University Library: George Florovsky Papers]
* [http://www.krotov.info/engl/berdyaev/1937_424.html Nikolai Berdyaev, Ortodoksia and Humanness] , 1937, Critique of Florovsky's "The Way of the Russian Church"