Wisdom in Christian Tradition The Patristic Roots of Modern Russian Sophiology

by Plested, Marcus

• ISBN13: 9780192863225
• ISBN10: 0192863223
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2022-10-31
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

Following a survey of the biblical and classical background, Wisdom in Christian Tradition offers a detailed exploration of the theme of wisdom in patristic, Byzantine, and medieval theology, up to and including Gregory Palamas and Thomas Aquinas in Greek East and Latin West, respectively. Three principal levels of Christian wisdom discourse are distinguished: wisdom as human attainment, wisdom as divine gift, and wisdom as an attribute or quality of God. This journey through Wisdom in Christian Tradition is undertaken in conversation with modern Russian Sophiology, one of the most popular and widely discussed theological movements of our time. Sophiology is characterized by the idea of a primal pre-principle of divineâhuman unity (âSophiaâ) manifest in both uncreated and created forms and constituting the very foundation of all that is. Sophiology is a complex phenomenon with multiple sources and inspirations, very much including the Church Fathers. Indeed, fidelity to patristic tradition was to become an ever-increasing feature of its self-understanding and self-articulation, above all in the work of its greatest exponent, Fr Sergius Bulgakov (1871â1944). This âunmodern turnâ (as it is here christened) to patristic sources has, however, long been fiercely contested. This book is the first to evaluate thoroughly the nature and substance of Sophiologyâs claim to patristic continuity. The final chapter offers a radical re-thinking of Sophiology in line with patristic tradition. This constructive proposal maintains Sophiologyâs most distinctive insights and most pertinent applications while divesting it of some its more problematic elements.

Author Biography

Marcus Plested, Professor of Greek Patristic and Byzantine Theology and Henri de Lubac Chair, Marquette University

Marcus Plested completed his undergraduate work in Modern History at Merton College, Oxford in 1992 and went on to gain a D.Phil in Theology, again at Merton, graduating in 1999. Between 2000 and 2013 he taught at the Institute for Orthodox Christian Studies (Cambridge Theological Federation)
(serving as Principal and Academic Director) and at the Faculty of Divinity of the University of Cambridge (as Research Associate and Affiliated Lecturer). He has held research fellowships at the Center of Theological Inquiry and the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, NJ. He was appointed
to his current position at Marquette University (Milwaukee) in 2013.

Table of Contents

Introduction
1. Modern Russian Sophiology and its Discontents
2. Prolegomena
3. Wisdom and Paideia
4. The Golden Age of Patristic Sophiology
5. The Greek East
6. The Latin West
7. Sophiology Revisited