‘Breathing the Spirit with Both Lungs’: Deification in the Work of Vladimir Solov’ev
By (author) J. Pilch
This book is an examination of the teaching of the Russian religious thinker Vladimir Solov’ev (1853-1900) about divine-humanity, the term he used to express the patristic doctrine of deification.
This book is an examination of the teaching of the Russian religious thinker Vladimir Solov’ev (1853-1900) about divine-humanity, the term he used to express the patristic doctrine of deification. The first chapter examines the theme of deification in the patristic tradition and shows that he himself was extremely familiar with the writings of the Church Fathers and the doctrinal teachings of the early Church Councils. The following three chapters are devoted to specific works of Solov’ev which are analysed in detail, Lectures on Divine Humanity, The Spiritual Foundations of Life and The Justification of the Good. Of these, the latter two have, to date, received little extended scholarly study. The over-arching thrust of this work is that Solov’ev’s concept of deification started as a reflection of the mystical and cosmic expressions of deification characteristic of the late Greek patristic period but develops so to be expressed in the western terminology of grace and focuses on the active implementation of deification in the world, taking the teaching out of its original monastic context. Chapter Two reveals the significant impact of Maximus the Confessor on Solov’ev’s thought and identifies the dyothelite Christological model which Maximus develops from the dogmatic definition of the Council of Chalcedon as crucial hermeneutical principle in Solov’ev’s thought. Chapter Three shows the development of Solov’ev’s teaching about deification, examining how it expands to embrace different models of deification, adopting western as well as eastern theological approaches and finding its centre in the life of the Church. Finally, Chapter Four shows how Solov’ev’s deepening understanding of the western approach to deification through the language of grace is combined with an eastern understanding of human anthropology, enabling him to integrate realistic and moral approaches to deification, and address the whole range of human experience in terms of divine union and the Kingdom of God.
- By (author) J. Pilch
Other Titles in this Series
Studies in Oriental Liturgy
Proceedings of the Fifth International Congress of the Society of Oriental Liturgy, New York, 10-15 June 2014
Volume 28
Inquiries into Eastern Christian Worship
Selected Papers of the Second International Congress of the Society of Oriental Liturgies, Rome, 17-21 September 2008
Volume 12
Syriac Encounters
Papers from the Sixth North American Syriac Symposium, Duke University, 26-29 June 2011
Volume 20
Syriac in its Multi-cultural Context
First International Syriac Studies Symposium, Mardin Artuklu University, Institute of Living Languages, 20-22 April 2012, Mardin
Volume 23
Scribes and Scriptures
The Church of the East in the Eastern Ottoman Provinces (1500-1850)
Volume 21
Tradition and Innovation in Late- and Postbyzantine Liturgical Chant II
Proceedings of the Congress held at Hernen Castle, the Netherlands, 30 October - 3 November 2008
Volume 17
Tradition and Innovation in Late- and Postbyzantine Liturgical Chant
Acta of the Congress Held at Hernen Castle, the Netherlands, in April 2005
Volume 8
Studies on the Liturgies of the Christian East
Selected Papers from the Third International Congress of the Society of Oriental Liturgy, Volos, May 26-30, 2010
Volume 18
Aesthetics as a Religious Factor in Eastern and Western Christianity
Selected Papers of the International Conference Held at the University of Utrecht, the Netherlands, in June 2004
Volume 6
Rites and Rituals of the Christian East
Proceedings of the Fourth International Congress of the Society of Oriental Liturgy, Lebanon, 10-15 July, 2012
Volume 22
Christliche Araber vor dem Islam
Verbreitung und konfessionelle Zugehörigkeit. Eine Hinführung
Volume 7
The “Description of the Times” by Mor Michael the Great (1126-1199)
A Study on its Historical and its Historiographical Context
Volume 27
Heretics and Heresies in the Ancient Church and in Eastern Christianity
Studies in Honour of Adelbert Davids
Volume 10
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