Page 50 - AECA.org.uk ¦ Koinonia 66

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

48