Everything about Georges Florovsky totally explained
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 didn't 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'd 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. Among the most prominent students and successors of Florovsky is
metropolitan John Zizioulas.
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