Paul Gavrilyuk, 'Epistemological Contours of Florovsky's Neopatristic Theology', Journal of Eastern Christian Studies, 69 (2017), 11-24.
This paper explores the ecclesiological and epistemological underpinnings of Florovsky’s neopatristic synthesis.
I discuss Florovsky’s account of the norms and sources of theology – in particular, revelation, experience, scripture, and tradition. Central to Florovsky’s account of theological knowledge is a cat-egory of “ecclesial experience”, which had significant precedents in Russian theology, especially in the work of Pavel Florensky. I then argue that Florovsky’s theory of theological knowledge is a peculiar version of social epistemology, grounded in ecclesiology. I draw attention to his engagement with the work of the nineteenth-century Russian theologians Ivan Kireevsky and Aleksei Khomiakov...
I discuss Florovsky’s account of the norms and sources of theology – in particular, revelation, experience, scripture, and tradition. Central to Florovsky’s account of theological knowledge is a cat-egory of “ecclesial experience”, which had significant precedents in Russian theology, especially in the work of Pavel Florensky. I then argue that Florovsky’s theory of theological knowledge is a peculiar version of social epistemology, grounded in ecclesiology. I draw attention to his engagement with the work of the nineteenth-century Russian theologians Ivan Kireevsky and Aleksei Khomiakov...
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