A Churchman & A Prophet
Georges Florovsky: Russian Intellectual, Orthodox Churchman
edited by Andrew Blane
Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 1995.
(444 pages: $19.95, paper; $29.95, cloth)
reviewed by Brian McDonald
Genius has been defined as the capacity to hold contradictory ideas together for an extended period of time—without going mad. The late Fr. Georges Florovsky, the greatest theologian of twentieth-century Orthodoxy, had more than his share of this paradoxical capacity. The two major commitments of his long and fruitful life—an unwavering belief in Orthodoxy as the true Church of Christ and a deep devotion to the ecumenical movement—would seem to be in utter contradiction to one another. It is a tribute to his success in holding these antinomies together that he won the admiration of both the narrowest of traditionalist true believers and the broadest of mainline ecumenists—groups not otherwise noted for their capacity for making common cause with just anything or anybody. Georges Florovsky: Russian Intellectual, Orthodox Churchman, edited and co-authored by Andrew Blane, emeritus professor of Russian history in the City University of New York, thoroughly explores the character and thought of Florovsky and lays bare the unity beneath these apparent contradictions.
THIS ARTICLE ONLY AVAILABLE TO SUBSCRIBERS.
FOR QUICK ACCESS:
Get six issues (one year) of Touchstone PLUS full online access including pdf downloads for only $39.95. That's only $3.34 per month!
Get a one-year full-access subscription to the Touchstone online archives for only $19.95. That's only $1.66 per month!
bulk subscriptions
Order Touchstone subscriptions in bulk and save $10 per sub! Each subscription includes 6 issues of Touchstone plus full online access to touchstonemag.com—including archives, videos, and pdf downloads of recent issues for only $29.95 each! Great for churches or study groups.
Transactions will be processed on a secure server.
more from the online archives
30.5—Sept/Oct 2017
The Critical History Before, During & After Martin Luther by James Hitchcock
calling all readers
Please Donate
"There are magazines worth reading but few worth saving . . . Touchstone is just such a magazine."
—Alice von Hildebrand
"Here we do not concede one square millimeter of territory to falsehood, folly, contemporary sentimentality, or fashion. We speak the truth, and let God be our judge. . . . Touchstone is the one committedly Christian conservative journal."
—Anthony Esolen, Touchstone senior editor
