Georges Florovsky was the most influential Orthodox theologian and historian of the twentieth century. He was also a leading ecumenist and is regarded as one of the founding spirits of the World Council of Churches. And yet today, forty years after his death, he has been all but forgotten in Protestant and Roman Catholic circles. In this lecture, I will attempt to show the continuing importance of the neo-patristic synthesis of George Florovsky for Christians in Hong Kong today. Florovsky himself distained the idea theological “relevance” and preferred to speak of the “breaks and links” (or “breaches and bonds”) in the tradition of the Church. But, I argue that by grounding himself in the teachings of the church fathers and mothers he offers a unique and irreplaceable approach to Christian thinking in our post-Christian world.
Speaker
The Rev. Prof. Philip L. Wickeri
Advisor to the Archbishop on Theological and Historical Studies
Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui (Anglican)
Co-organizers:
Divinity School of Chung Chi College, CUHK
Centre for Christian Studies, CUHK
Email: centre-cs@cuhk.edu.hk │Tel/Signal: 3943 8155