Book
Review
Modern Orthodox Thinkers –
From the Philokalia to the present.
Andrew
Louth. £19.99. SPCK, 2015. Paperback. ISBN: 978-0-281-07127-2.
Dimitris Salapatas
(Published in KOINONIA, The Journal of
the Anglican and Eastern Churches Association, New Series, No. 66,
Allsaintstide, pp. 47-49 and
https://www.academia.edu/18889331/Book_Review_Modern_Orthodox_Thinkers_From_the_Philokalia_to_the_present)
Fr
Andrew Louth has recently published his new book Modern Orthodox Thinkers – From the Philokalia to the present, published
by SPCK. This book endeavours to give an introduction to the modern Orthodox
theological discourse and its representatives, making it the ‘standard handbook
on the ways of Orthodox theology in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries,’ as
stated by Fr John Behr.
This
book is a revised version of a number of public lectures the author gave
between 2012 and 2014 at the Amsterdam Centre for Eastern Orthodox Studies
(ACEOT), following his previous book (Introducing
Eastern Orthodox Theology, SPCK, 2013), which was also based on public
lectures Fr Andrew gave in Amsterdam. However, his new book gives ‘a history of
Orthodox thinkers, rather than a
history of Orthodox thought, or
theology,’ (p. xiii.) who were influenced in one way or another by the Philokalia, returning therefore Orthodox
thinkers and thought to ‘a theology rooted in the Christian experience of
prayer, and all that that entails by way of ascetic struggle and deepening
insight – nourished by the Fathers (and Mothers) of the Church.’ (p. xiii.).

Fr
Andrew has endeavoured to give a catholic overview of the influence of the Philokalia from various Orthodox points
of view; thus, he examines the influence this significant book has had for
theologians in Russia, the Russian diaspora in the West, Greece and the West, observing
how these representatives actually come in contact with each other, producing
this new group under the name ‘Modern Orthodox Thinkers,’ including theologians
such as Fr Sergeii Bulgakov, Niloai Berdyaev, Fr George Florovsky, Paul
Evdokimov, Fr Alexander Schmemann, Metropolitan John of Pergamon (Zizioulas),
Christos Yannaras, Elisabeth Behr-Sigel, Olivier Clement, St Silouan and Fr
Sophrony, concluding with Metropolitan Kallistos of Diokleia, who has an
unparalleled impact on the English-speaking Orthodox. This conclusion is
significant, since Metropolitan Kallistos is closely connected to the Philokalia, ‘both by spearheading the
translation of the Philokalia from
Greek to English and by presenting in his own theological reflections what
might well be called a ‘philokalic’ vision of theology.’ (p. xiv.). Interestingly
enough, the author has chosen theologians from various backgrounds; not all of
them are professors, giving examples of theologians who are bishops, priests,
laymen, and also men and women. Furthermore, the fact that the author has
personally met and spoken to many of the theologians examined in this book, is
significant, bringing a further understanding of who they are and what
theological interests they have.
For
each theologian, examined in this book, the author gives a brief background
history and then some theological topics, which characterise the works of the
specific person. This is a very interesting approach, identifying each
theologian with a certain key topic, adding to it a number of other issues
examined by each one of them. However, we could argue that in some cases the
author could have considered and examined other theological thoughts, which
have made the theologians unique in their field. Personally, I would of liked
it if for example in Fr Sergeii Bulgakov’s case, where the author examines the
nature of theology, identifying him as a ‘liturgical theologian’ (p. 57) and
then briefly looking into Sophiology, he could argue Bulgakov’s ideas on
limited intercommunion, proposed during a conference of the Fellowship of St
Alban and St Sergius in the 1930s. I would think that this is a more
revolutionary and exciting path to follow. Although not accepted, practically
and theoretically by both the Anglicans and the Orthodox, it is an idea still
discussed in ecumenical gatherings. Additionally, when looking at the
examination of Metropolitan Kallistos of Diokleia and his theological vision of
the Philokalia, it is interesting to
see that Fr Andrew also explores the issue of personhood and the mystery of the
human. Anthropology is currently the central theme of the Official Dialogue
between Anglicans and Orthodox, in preparation for the fourth official
statement. However, the author might have liked to examine a more exciting and
thought provoking topic, i.e. women and the priesthood, whereby the Metropolitan
has altered his initial view on this, questioning the Tradition of the Orthodox
Church, promoting the idea of re-evaluating this topic within Orthodoxy. Despite
the author referring to this crucial issue for modern theology, he does not try
to examine it in depth. Nevertheless, this examination of additional topics
could be seen as a future project, continuing the understanding of modern
Orthodox theology.
This argument shows that perhaps
a greater number of theological issues could have been examined for each
theologian, in order to make it a more complete work; this would, however, be
problematic, in respect to the great size of the book which would be produced.
Nevertheless, it is a significant book, allowing for the initial examination of
modern Orthodox thinkers, evidently showing and highlighting that noteworthy
theologians exist in our epoch, permitting for the furtherance and blossoming
of theology today, which strives to argue and find solutions to difficult and
noteworthy questions. This book can be used as a serious and compact source of
modern Orthodox theology, on a university level (also due to its fantastic
further reading section) but also by those who are interested in current
theological trends, not only in respects to the Orthodox world, but on a
pan-Christian level.