128 International Journal of Orthodox Theology 11:2 (2020)

urn:nbn:de:0276-2020-2069

Ketevan Rcheulishvili

Orthodox Theology and Postmodernism:

An Attempt to find Contact

Abstract
This article is an attempt to criti-
cally understand the relation of
Orthodox theology to modern
thinking, based on an analysis of
the views of two prominent Or-
thodox theologians of the 20th
century, Sergei Bulgakov and
Georges Florovsky. The study
shows that the vision of both
thinkers is based on the Orthodox
apophatic tradition, the specificity Ketevan Rcheulishvili is PhD
of which is the “epistemological Student in Sociology at Ilia
State University, Tbilisi, and
openness” towards its contempo-
PhD student at the Faculty of
rary philosophical discourse in Social Sciences of Kassel Uni-
each individual epoch. Based on versity, Germany
 Orthodox Theology and Postmodernism: 129
An Attempt to find Contact

the research, I argue that this specificity of the apophatic tradi-

tion provides a great opportunity to connect Orthodox theology
with postmodern thinking.

Keywords
20th Century Orthodox Theology, Modern Philosophy,
Apophaticism, Postmodernity, contingency.

1 Introduction: Modernity, Postmodernity and

Modern Theology

Tensions between Religion and Modernity were considered to

be something self-evident by most scholars of Western social
theory of the 20th century.1 Nowadays, after the postmodernity
declared the end of “the great narratives,”2 all the key concepts
and narratives of Western social theory, including modernity,
modernization or secularization, have been put in doubt.3 As
Niklas Luhmann points out in his “Observations on Modernity,”
the modern society in postmodernity has perceived the contin-
gency of its “self-description.”4 For Luhmann, the main feature
of postmodernity is contingency, that is the idea that everything
that happens is neither necessary nor impossible, and therefore

1 Cf. Karl Gabriel "Jenseits von Säkularisierung und Wiederkehr der

Götter." Aus Politik und Zeitgeschichte 52/2008 (2008): pp. 9-15;
see also: Christel Gärtner, Gert Pickel (eds.), Schlüsselwerke der
Religionssoziologie, (Wiesbaden : Springer-Verlag, 2019), pp. 5-8.
2 Jean-François Lyotard, The Postmodern Condition: A Report on
Knowledge (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press,1984).
3 Christel Gärtner, Gert Pickel (eds.), Schlüsselwerke, pp. 6-7.
4 Niklas Luhmann, Beobachtungen der Moderne (Opladen: West-
deutscher Verlag, 1992), p. 7.
130 Ketevan Rcheulishvili

might be otherwise (“ist auch anders möglich“).5 It is perhaps

no coincidence that this “quasi-theological”6 concept has sud-
denly embraced the realms of modern law, economics, and
technology, as well as the political, social, and cultural sciences,
and has almost unanimously been declared a meta-narrative of
modernity.7
Although postmodernism (as well as modernism) is the off-
spring of European thinking, tensions between Western theo-
logical discourse and modern and postmodern philosophical
discourse continues ever since.8 Western Christian churches
have long been sceptical of modernity and modernist values.9
Postmodernism, which focusses on the alleged entire lack of

5 Niklas Luhmann, Funktion der Religion (Frankfurt am Main: Suhr-

kamp, 1977), p. 187.
6 Niklas Luhmann, Die Wissenschaft der Gesellschaft (Frankfurt am
Main: Suhrkamp, 1990), p. 332.
7 See e.g. Niklas Luhmann, Beobachtungen, p. 93; Hans Joas, "Das
Zeitalter der Kontingenz,” in: Katrin Toenls, Ulrich Willem (eds.)
Politik und Kontingenz (Wiesbaden: Springer VS, 2012), pp. 25-37;
Markus Holzinger, Kontingenz in der Gegenwartsgesellschaft: Di-
mensionen eines Leitbegriffs moderner Sozialtheorie (Bielefeld:
transcript Verlag, 2015); Michael Makropoulos, "Kontingenz As-
pekte einer theoretischen Semantik der Moderne,” European Jour-
nal of Sociology/Archives Européennes de Sociologie 45/3 (2004),
pp. 369-399; Richard Rorty, Christa Krüger, Kontingenz, Ironie und
Solidarität. (Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp, 1993); Michael Th.
Greven, Kontingenz und Dezision: Beiträge zur Analyse der politi-
schen Gesellschaft (Wiesbaden: Springer, 2000).
8 See James K. Smith, Who's Afraid of Postmodernism? Taking Der-
rida, Lyotard, and Foucault to Church (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker
Academic, 2006), 18-19; Russell Ronald Reno, "The Return of Ca-
tholic Anti-Modernism,” First Things 18 (2015),
[Link]
return-of-catholic-anti-modernism (accessed 22 July 2020)
9 See e.g. Darrell Jodock (ed.), Catholicism Contending with Moderni-
ty: Roman Catholic Modernism and Anti-Modernism in Historical
Context (Cambridge, New York:Cambridge University Press, 2000).
 Orthodox Theology and Postmodernism: 131
An Attempt to find Contact

confidence and contingency, has often been demonized by

modern Western theologians and described as “anti-
humanism,”10 “anti-Christianity,”11 “moral relativism,”12 etc.
However, there also are more constructive approaches, which
are predominantly imbued with existential, phenomenological,
and deconstructionist philosophical traditions.13
On this background, it is not surprising that Orthodox theology
and the Orthodox Church, which for a long time has been cut off
from Western thinking due to historical and political circum-
stances, are sceptical of modern and, moreover, postmodern
thinking. The Orthodox Church is often criticized in modern
scientific and public discourses for its “anti-modernist”, “anti-
Western”, “anti-rationalist” sentiments.14 Many scholars also

10 Thomas Storck, Postmodernism: Catastrophe or Opportunity-or

Both?
[Link]
m=4061 (accessed 2 July 2020); Kenneth L. Schmitz, "Postmodern-
ism and the Catholic Tradition," American Catholic Philosophical
Quarterly, 73/2, (1999), pp. 233-252.
11 See Brian D. Ingraffia, Postmodern Theory and Biblical Theology:
Vanquishing God's Shadow (Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press, 1995), 6; See also William Grassie, ”Postmodernism: What
One Needs to Know," Zygon: Journal of Religion and Science 32/1
(1997), pp. 83-94.
12 See David F. Wells, Losing Our Virtue: Why the Church Must Re-
cover Its Moral Vision (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publish-
ing, 1999); Josh McDowell, Bob Hostetler, The New Tolerance
(Carol Stream IL: Tyndale House, 1998), p. 208.
13 See e.g. Carl A. Raschke, Postmodern Theology: A Biopic, (Eugene,
OR: Wipf and Stock, 2017); Smith, Who’s Afraid.
14 See Vasilios Makrides, “Orthodox Anti-Westernism Today: A
Hindrance to European Integration?,” International Journal for the
Study of the Christian Church 9/3 (2009), pp. 209-224; “_”,“The
Barbarian West”: A Form of Orthodox Christian Anti-Western Cri-
tique,” in: Andrii Krawchuk, Thomas Bremer (eds.) Eastern Ortho-
dox Encounters of Identity and Otherness (New York: Palgrave
132 Ketevan Rcheulishvili

criticize its tendency toward nationalism;15 they criticize the

collaboration of local Orthodox Churches with the state, which
seems to be contrary to the principles of modern secular
state.16 In modern debates, issues such as the role of the Ortho-
dox Church in social work, its attitude towards human rights,
European values are also actively discussed.17

Macmillan, 2014), pp. 141-158; Kristina Stoeckl,“Modernity and its

Critique in Twentieth Century Russian Orthodox Thought,” Studίes
in East European Thought 58 (2006), pp. 243–269; See also: Vasi-
lios N. Makrides, “Orthodox Christianity, Modernity and Postmo-
dernity: Overview, Analysis and Assessment”, Religion, State &
Society 40:3-4 (2012) pp. 248-285, 258.
15 George E. Demacopoulos, Aristotle Papanikolaou, "Orthodox Na-
ming of the Other: A postcolonial approach,” in: George E. Demaco-
poulos, Aristotle Papanikolaou (eds.), Orthodox Constructions of
the West (New York: Fordham University Press, 2013), pp. 1-22,
11; Vasilios N. Makrides,"Why are Orthodox Churches particularly
prone to Nationalization and even to Nationalism,” St Vladimir’s
Theological Quarterly 54, 3/4 (2013), pp. 325-352.
16 See e.g. Daniel P. Payne,“Spiritual security, the Russian Orthodox
Church, and the Russian Foreign
Ministry: Collaboration or cooptation?,” Journal of Church and
State, 52/4 (2010), 712–727; Nikos Chrysoloras, "Why Orthodoxy?
Religion and Nationalism in Greek Political Culture." Studies in
Ethnicity and Nationalism 4/1 (2004), pp. 40-61.
17 See e.g. Giuseppe Giordan, Siniša Zrinščak (eds.), Global Eastern
Orthodoxy: Religion, Politics and Human Rights (Cham: Springer,
2020); Vasilios N. Makrides, Jennifer Wasmuth, Stefan Kube (eds.),
Christentum und Menschenrechte in Europa: Perspektiven und
Debatten in Ost und West, Erfurter Studien zur Kulturgeschichte
des Orthodoxen Christentums (Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang Edi-
tion, 2016); Andrii Krawchuk, Thomas Bremer (eds.), Eastern Or-
thodox Encounters of Identity and Otherness: Values, Self-
Reflection, Dialogue (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2014); Ale-
xander Agadjanian, “Liberal individual and Christian culture: Rus-
sian Orthodox Teaching on Human Rights in Social Theory Per-
spective,” Religion, State, and Society, 38/2 (2010), pp. 97–113.
 Orthodox Theology and Postmodernism: 133
An Attempt to find Contact

Ironically enough, there is no official document that would ex-

press an unified position of the Orthodox Church on any of the
above issues.18 The Orthodox Church has neither officially de-
fined a unified position on modern society and modern values,
nor on the status of the Pan-Orthodox Church of Crete 2016 and
its resolutions19, nor even on the issue of Ukrainian autoceph-
aly.20 Furthermore, the Orthodox Church does not have an uni-
fied position on its own internal ecclesiastical canonical is-
sues.21 However, these “open positions” of the Church are not
the result of the growing complexity of modern society. ‘Vague-
ness’, ‘lack of system’, and ‘leaving things open’ deeply perme-
ate through both Orthodox theology22, and its attitudes toward

18 See Vasilios Makrides, "Why does the Orthodox Church Lack Sys-
tematic Social Teaching?,” Skepsis. A Journal for Philosophy and In-
terdisciplinary Research 23 (2013), pp. 281-312.
19 Răzvan Perșa,”The Canonical Tradition of the Orthodox Church and
the Holy and Great Council between Reception and Rejection,”
Studia Universitatis Babes-Bolyai-Theologia Orthodoxa 62/1
(2017), pp. 39-72; Vasilios Makrides, "Zwischen Tradition und Er-
neuerung. Das Panorthodoxe Konzil 2016 angesichts der Moder-
nen Welt." Catholica 71/1 (2017), pp. 18-32.
20 See Regina Elsner, “Orthodox Church of Ukraine: Challenges and
Risks of a New Beginning,” Russian Analytical Digest 231 (2019),
pp. 9-13.
21 Lewis J. Patsavos,The Canonical Tradition of the Orthodox Church,
[Link] (ac-
cessed 2 July 2020); Vasilios Makrides, “Why does”, p. 298.
22 See John Meyendorff, Byzantine Theology: Historical Trends and
Doctrinal Themes (New York: Fordham University Press, 1983),
79; Protopresbyter Michael Pomazansky, Orthodox dogmatic theo-
logy: A Concise Exposition, trans. and ed. Hieromonk Seraphim Ro-
se (Platina, CA: Saint Herman of Alaska Brotherhood, 2009), p. 9,
See also: Norman Russell, "Modern Greek Theologians and the
Greek Fathers,” Philosophy and Theology 18/1 (2006), pp. 77-92,
78.
134 Ketevan Rcheulishvili

the issues of different social, political, or cultural significance.23

This seems even more contrasting and paradoxical on the back-
ground of the strictly defined dogmatic teaching of Orthodox
theology.
The present study is an attempt to reconsider this ‘unsystemat-
ic’ or ‘inconsistent’ relationship to modern thinking and mod-
ern values of Orthodox theology, based on the analysis of the
ideas of two prominent representatives of the 20th century Or-
thodox theological movement, Sergei Bulgakov (1871-1944)
and Georges Florovsky (1893-1979). I will try to present the
aspects of ‘inconsistency’ and ‘ambivalence’ in the attitude of
these thinkers towards modern thinking, which, on the one
hand, calls for an creative interpretation and re-actualisation of
Orthodox theology in the light of modern thinking and modern
historical context, but, on the other hand, excludes the possibil-
ity of any logical, systemiatic, or methodological link between
philosophical (rational) thinking and theology.
I will try to show that this ‘contradiction,’ or ‘inconsistency,’
does not only permeates the attitude of the Orthodoxy towards
modernity but is entirely specific of the Orthodox perception of
world, being based on apophatic tradition, that is, negative the-
ology. Negative theology may be described through its specific
‘openness’ to the process of cognition; a kind of ‘perspectivism’
that arises from the assumption that cognition is not only an
intellectual experience based on logical causality, but rather is
the fact that human reason can also cognize through spiritual
contemplation24. Thus, the apophatic tradition evokes a “cogni-

23 See Vasilios Makrides,"Why does”, pp. 281-312; Efthymios Nicolai-

dis, Eudoxie Delli, Nikolaos Livanos, Kostas Tampakis, George Vla-
hakis, “Science and Orthodox Christianity: An Overview”, Isis
107/3 (2016): pp. 542-566.
24 John Meyendorff, Byzantine Theology, p. 77.
 Orthodox Theology and Postmodernism: 135
An Attempt to find Contact

tive attitude” that constantly calls on the philosophical reason

to ‘open up the perspective’ by ‘reminding’ it of the ‘possibility
of being otherwise’ (“Auch-anders-möglich-Sein”). In this sense,
the apophatic attitude comes very close to the consciousness of
contingency that is characteristic of the postmodern world. The
starting point for contingency is that everything happens and is
known in the light of a possible alternative. Thus, what can be
considered ‘unsystematic’, ‘contradictory’, or as ‘irrationalism’
from the perspective of modernism, becomes visible in a com-
pletely different dimension in the postmodern perspective. This
view opens the way for us to understand and analyse the speci-
ficity of the positions and approaches of the Orthodox Church
on various issues from the perspective of this ‘epistemological
openness.’25
The fact that contingency is really relevant in modern reality is
evidenced by the current events caused by the COVID-19 pan-
demic, which is surprisingly consistent with the metaphor cho-
sen by Niklas Luhmann for contingency: “Midas Gold of Con-
temporary Life,”26 which, like COVID-19, is spread by one touch.
The contingent reality and self-perception created in the condi-
tions of the pandemic are really like “discourse without a fu-
ture”.27 On the background of this pandemic recent events have
become evident to the modern public, which switched to
‘online’ platforms, these specific ‘indeterminacies’ or ‘inconsist-
encies’ of the Orthodox Church, whose response to the pandem-
ic can be described as a contingent spectrum of decisions in
which “mutually exclusive” decisions are placed side by side
“without any hindrance”, for example: on the one hand, the

25 See Christos Yannaras, On the Absence and Unknowability of God:

Heidegger and the Areopagite (London: T&T Clark, 2005), p. 60.
26 Niklas Luhmann, Beobachtungen, p. 94.
27 Ibidem, p. 13.
136 Ketevan Rcheulishvili

closure of churches, the cessation of worship, and the post-

ponement of the Easter (Greece, Romania), and on the other
hand, giving Eucharist by a common spoon and maintenance of
public worship in a completely unchanging manner (Belarus,
Bulgaria, Georgia)28.

2 Methodology

In the present paper, I will analyse the vision of Sergei Bulgakov

and Georges Florovsky on the tradition of the Holy Fathers and
their relation to modern thinking in the light of the apophatic
tradition. However, I consider Apophaticism from the perspec-
tive of both the philosophical and the theological traditions.
On the one hand, I will try to show that Orthodox apophatic
teaching itself (which is often characterized as an anti-
rationalist, or anti-philosophical approach29) is in fact always
meant to enter into dialogue with its contemporary philosophi-
cal visions and categories, and to define itself by these philo-
sophical categories. This becomes evident in Ideas of both Bul-
gakov and Florovsky each of whom tries to present Orthodox
Apophaticism from different traditions of Western philosophy.
In this section, I discuss the differences of opinions between
these thinkers on the relationship between modern thinking

28 Catherine Newman, “Orthodox Christians celebrate Easter amid

COVID-19 pandemic” [Link]
19/Bulgarian-Christians-celebrate-Easter-amid-COVID-19-
pandemic-POOLofstoI/[Link] (accessed 10 July 2020).
29 See Brian Duignan (ed.), History of Philosophy: Medieval Philoso-
phy: From 500 CE to 1500 CE. (New York: Britannica Educational
Publishing, 2011), 27-28; See also: William Franke, “Apophasis
and the Turn of Philosophy to Religion: From Neoplatonic Negative
Theology to Postmodern Negation of Theology,” International
Journal for Philosophy of Religion 60/ 1/3(2006), pp. 61-76.
 Orthodox Theology and Postmodernism: 137
An Attempt to find Contact

and the Orthodox theology (the tradition of the Holy Fathers). I

will try to show that this difference of opinion, often interpret-
ed as “pro-Western” and “anti-Western” narratives, is largely
due to the influence of different Western philosophical tradi-
tions on them rather than their pro-Western, or anti-Western-
based theology.
On the other hand, I will try to show that on the background of
these differences of opinion, in the attitude of both thinkers we
can reveal their unifying specific ‘openness’ to the process of
cognition and interpretation, based on Orthodox apophatic
teaching. This ‘openness’ is manifested in the specific ‘incon-
sistency’ and ‘ambivalence’ expressed in thoughts of these two
thinkers, and to some extent makes secondary the difference of
opinion that emerges between these two thinkers in terms of
their philosophical visions. I will try to show that this specific
‘openness’ of the cognitive perspective is particularly visible
from the perspective of postmodern thinking, in which it can be
described through the concepts of contingency.
Understanding the Apophaticism from both a philosophical and
a theological perspective can be seen as a methodological
guideline of the present study. Based on this, I will try to look in
depth at the specifics of this ‘lack of system’ and ‘inconsistency’
and show that Apophaticism also enters into dialogue with
postmodern thinking, as latter opens new dimensions of read-
ing of these specific ‘indeterminacy’.
In the present study, I refer to the works of Sergei Bulgakov and
Georges Florovsky, and on their vision of modern philosophy,
the tradition of the Holy Fathers, and an understanding of
Apophaticism.30 I may also refer to the material that the sec-

30 Sergei Bulgakov, Unfading light: Contemplations and speculations

(Grand Rapids, Cambridge: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2012);
138 Ketevan Rcheulishvili

ondary literature offers on the theological visions developed by

these two thinkers. Furthermore, I endorse the view of the
German sociologist and system theorist Niklas Luhmann, as
well as that of the sociologist of religion, Hans Joas, and other
authors’ views on the phenomenon of contingency and its im-
portance in Western postmodern thinking.

3 20th Century Orthodox Theology in Modern Discourse

The renaissance of Orthodox theology in the 20th century

emerges from the desire for self-determination of Orthodox
theology in relation to modern thinking and Western philoso-
phy. It is associated with the names of two theological-
philosophical movements that are closely related to each other,
both historically and ideologically. One is a theological move-
ment called the “Russian School”31 (also known as the “Russian
Religious Renaissance”). The other one is the theological
movement known as its successor, the “Neo-Patristic Synthe-
sis.” The ‘Russian School’ was founded at the end of the 19th

The Lamb of God (Grand Rapids, Cambridge: Wm. B. Eerdmans

Publishing, 2008); Georges Florovsky, Collected Works of Georges
Florovsky, Volume 1: Bible, Church, Tradition: An Eastern Ortho-
dox View (Belmont, MA: Nordland 1972); Volume 3: Creation and
Redemption (Belmont, MA: Nordland, 1976); Volume 4: Aspects of
Church History (Belmont, MA: Nordland 1975); Georges Florovsky,
‘Spor o nemetskom idealizme’, Put’ 25 /12 (1930), pp. 51–80.
31 See Rowan Williams, “Eastern Orthodox Theology,” in: David F.
Ford (ed.),The Modern Theologians: An Introduction to Christian
Theology Since 1918 (Massachussets: Blackwell, 2005), pp. 572-
587, 572; Aristotele Papanikolaou, “Orthodox Theology in the
Twentieth Century”, in: Staale J. Kristiansen, Svein Rise (eds.), Key
Theological Thinkers: From Modern to Postmodern (London, New
York: Routledge, 2016), pp. 53-64, 53-54.
 Orthodox Theology and Postmodernism: 139
An Attempt to find Contact

century.32 Its main representatives are Russian philosophers

and theologians who emigrated to Paris, including Vladimir
Soloviev, Sergei Bulgakov, Pavel Florensky, etc. The name of the
representatives of this movement is connected with the estab-
lishment of the so-called “Paris Theological Seminary”, which
was later joined by members of the movement known as the
‘Neo-Patristic Synthesis’: Georges Florovsky, Vladimir Lossky,
John Meyendorff, Dumitru Stăniloae and others. According to a
common view, the name ‘Neo-Patristic Synthesis,’ was given by
Georges Florovsky to his theological program in order to sepa-
rate its predecessor from the Theological-Philosophical
School.33 However, raising the issue in this way does not change
the fact that the name of the Florovsky program itself reflects
the main spirit that connects it with the predecessors – theolo-
gians.34 The idea of ‘synthesis’ of the teaching of the Holy Fa-
thers with the Western philosophy is first found in one of the
first representatives of the ‘Russian School’, Vladimir Solo-
viev.35 Despite of the differences of their opinions, the repre-
sentatives of the ‘Russian School’ and ‘Neo-Patristic Synthesis’

32 Aristotele Papanikolaou,“Contemporary Orthodox Theology,” in:

John A. McGuckin (ed.) The Encyclopedia of Eastern Orthodox
Christianity (Hoboken, NJ: Wiley-Blackwell, 2011), pp. 142-146,
142.
33 Aristotele Papanikolaou, “Contemporary”, 143; Rowan Williams,
“Eastern”, pp. 574, 581.
34 See Paul L. Gavrilyuk, Georges Florovsky and the Russian Religious
Renaissance (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014), pp. 25, 38-
39; Aristotele Papanikolaou, “Eastern Orthodox Theology” in: Chad
Meister, James Beilby (eds.), The Routledge Companion to Modern
Christian Thought (London: Routledge 2013), pp. 538-548, 541.
35 Dmitrij Belkin, Die Rezeption [Link]'evs in Deutschland [The
reception of V. S. Solovyov in Germany], PhD Dissertation, Tübin-
gen 2000, [Link] (accessed 10 July
2020), p. 15.
140 Ketevan Rcheulishvili

have in common the re-actualization of the tradition of the Holy

Fathers of the Orthodox Church.36
One of the reasons why these two schools have long been con-
sidered as opposed to each other within the modern theological
discourse refers to their affiliation with the Orthodox canonical
tradition. Representatives of the ‘Russian School’, Vladimir
Soloviev, Sergei Bulgakov and Pavel Florensky, often stay be-
yond the canonical tradition because of their sharp ‘philosophi-
cal orientation,’ while representatives of the Neo-Patristic Syn-
thesis are often considered the ‘authentic’ successors of the
patristic tradition37. However, in recent discussions, such a
distinction is less important and, in some cases, even rejected.38

36 Andrew Louth, "Sergei Bulgakov,” in: Staale J. Kristiansen, Svein

Rise (eds.), Key Theological Thinkers: From Modern to Postmod-
ern (London, New York: Routledge, 2016), pp. 341-351; Viorel Co-
man,"Revisiting the Agenda of the Orthodox Neo-Patristic Move-
ment,” The Downside Review 136/2 (2018), pp. 99-117, Calinic
Berger, “Florovsky's " Mind of the Fathers" and the Neo-Patristic
Synthesis of Dumitru Stăniloae,” The Journal of Eastern Christian
studies 69/1-4 (2017), pp. 25-50, 26; See also Rowan Williams,
“Eastern”, 572; Aristotele Papanikolaou, “Orthodox Theology in the
Twentieth Century,” pp. 53-64.
37 Cf. Aristotele Papanikolaou, ”Eastern”, 538; Brandon Galla-
her,”‘Waiting for the Barbarians’: Identity and Polemicism in the
Neo-Patristic Syhnthesis of Georges Florovsky,” Modern Theology
27/4 (2011), pp. 659-691, 660.
38 Paul Gavrilyuk, Florovsky, 3; Calinic Berger, “Florovsky’s”, 26;
Matthew Baker, "'Theology Reasons'–in History: Neo-patristic Syn-
thesis and the Renewal of Theological Rationality,” Theologia 81
(2010), pp. 81-118; Aristotele Papanikolaou, “Orthodox Theology
in the Twentieth Century,” pp. 57- 58; Nikolaos Asproulis, “Metro-
politan Kallistos Ware of Diokleia, between the Neo-patristic syn-
thesis and the Russian Religious Renaissance: an example of the
reception of the patristic tradition”, International Journal for the
Study of the Christian Church 19/4 (2019), pp. 212-229.
 Orthodox Theology and Postmodernism: 141
An Attempt to find Contact

While from the perspective of Orthodox canon, ‘Neo-Patristic

Synthesis’ is given a certain advantage in terms of proximity to
the patristic tradition, by contrast, many modern scholars pre-
fer the ‘Russian School’ for its proximity to modern philosophi-
cal thinking.39 Most scholars agree that the ‘Neo-Patristic Syn-
thesis’ created the dominant theological paradigm within which
Orthodox theology still invokes today.40 However, the assess-
ment of the activities of its representatives is still a controver-
sial topic and for the most part it is considered in the context of
the confrontation with the activities of the ‘Russian School’.41
One of the main controversial issues relates the main task of
‘Neo-Patristic Synthesis’: is it about to understand the theologi-
cal tradition in relation to the historical context of their modern
era and thus bring it closer to the modern thinking tradition or,
conversely, to restore the authentic tradition of the Holy Fa-
thers through the “liberation” from Western influences and
Western culture (‘Babylonian captivity’)? For example, Georges
Florovsky considers a program of his ‘Neo-Patristic Synthesis’
to be “more than just a collection of Patristic sayings or state-
ments.” He argues that is should be rather the ‘creative reas-
sessment’ of the “Mind of the Fathers” to be “addressed to the

39 Cf. Matthew Baker,”Theology”, 81; Paul Valliere, “Russian Religious

Thought and the Future of Orthodox Theology,” St. Vladimir’s The-
ological Quarterly 45 (2001), pp. 227-241, 232; Pantelis Kalaitzid-
is, "From the "Return to the Fathers" to the Need for a Modern Or-
thodox Theology,” St. Vladimir's Theological Quarterly 54/1
(2010), pp. 5-36.
40 Brandon Gallaher, “Waiting”, p. 659; Gavrilyuk, Florovsky, p. viii;
Pantelis Kalaitzidis, "From the Return”,p. 7.
41 Brandon Gallaher, ‘Waiting’, p. 660; Pantelis Kalaitzidis, "From the
“Return”, p. 7.
142 Ketevan Rcheulishvili

new age, with its own problems and queries.”42 But in other
cases, Florovsky sees the liberation of Eastern Orthodox theol-
ogy from Western “Babylonian captivity” and “pseudomorpho-
sis” as the main task of ‘Neo-Patristic Synthesis.’43 Whereas the
first formulation represents a definitely modernist idea, the
second one sounds, indeed, quite anti-Western and anti-
modernist.
Consequently, some scholars believe that the ‘Neo-Patristic
Synthesis’, as opposed to the representatives of the ‘Russian
School’, established the anti-Western and anti-modernist para-
digm of Orthodox self-determination, which still influences
modern Orthodox identity.44 Among them are scholars who
analyse the anti-Western sentiments of ‘Neo-Patristic Synthesis’
from the perspective of a postcolonial approach. They link the
attempt of representatives of ‘Neo-Patristics’ to portray the
uniqueness of their tradition with their colonial (Ottoman and
Soviet) experience.45 On the other hand, there are scholars with
the opposite opinion who do not support the strict separation
of these two schools and believe that one cannot unequivocally
call the ‘Neo-Patristic Synthesis’ an anti-Western or anti-
modern movement.46

42 See Andrew Blane, Georges Florovsky: Russian Intellectual and

Orthodox Churchman (Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir’s Seminary
Press,1993), p. 154; See also: Georges Florovsky, Bible, pp. 105-
120, 105-108, 114;
43 Georges Florovsky, Aspects , pp. 157-182.
44 Cf. Brandon Gallaher, ‘‘Waiting”, pp. 660-663; Pantelis Kalaitzidis,
“From the Return”, pp. 12, 20-21; Cf. Aristotele Papanikolaou,
“Eastern”, George E. Demacopoulos, Aristotele Papanikolaou, "Or-
thodox Naming”, pp. 1-22.
45 George E. Demacopoulos, Aristotele Papanikolaou, "Orthodox Na-
ming”, pp. 1-22.
46 See e.g. Paul Gavrilyuk, Georges Florovsky, pp. vii, 3, 9-11; Calinic
Berger, “Florovsky's”, p. 26; Matthew Baker, "Neopatristic Synthe-
 Orthodox Theology and Postmodernism: 143
An Attempt to find Contact

Remarkably, the Orthodox Church does not have a common

position on this separation either. One of the most famous
scholars of Orthodox theology, Paul Gavrilyuk, points to Sergei
Bulgakov, and that there are mutually exclusive views within
the Orthodox Church regarding the assessment of his activities:
On the one hand, Bulgakov’s teachings have been repeatedly
accused by the Russian Orthodox Church of heresy, and on the
other hand, there is a small group of Orthodox enthusiasts, who
within the Patriarchate of Constantinople, consider the issue of
canonization of Bukgakov as a saint.47 There is an ambivalent
attitude not only towards the representatives of the ‘Russian
School’, but also towards the representatives of the ‘Neo-
Patristic Synthesis’, who are generally considered to be think-
ers closer to the Orthodox canonical tradition.48

4 Apophatic approach as a methodological landmark

Modern academic discussions on Orthodox Theology of the 20th

Century focus on the understanding (hermeneutics) and inter-

sis and Ecumenism: Toward the “Reintegration” of Christian Tradi-

tion,” in: Andrii Krawchuk, Thomas Bremer (eds.) Eastern Ortho-
dox Encounters of Identity and Otherness (New York: Palgrave
Macmillan, 2014), pp. 235-260; Coman,”Revisiting”, pp. 99-117;
Matthew Baker, "Theology Reasons”, pp. 81-118; Louth, "Sergei
Bulgakov,” pp. 341-351.
47 Paul Gavrilyuk, "Bulgakov's Account of Creation: Neglected As-
pects, Critics and Contemporary Relevance." International Journal
of Systematic Theology 17, no. 4 (2015), pp. 450-463, 450.
48 Cf. Athanasius Yevtich, “Fr. George Florovsky on The Boundaries of
the Church,” trans. Nicholas Pantelopoulos.
[Link]
boundaries-of-the-church (accessed 15 July 2020).
144 Ketevan Rcheulishvili

pretation of the tradition of the Holy Fathers.49 In the view of

the authors of both the ‘Russian School’ and the ‘Neo-Patristic
Synthesis’, the Orthodox identity and its relation to the modern
world are linked to the understanding of the tradition of the
Holy Fathers.
According to the theologian Efthymios Nicolaidis, the legacy of
the Holy Fathers has always been one of the main landmarks of
the crisis period, according to which Byzantine theologians and
thinkers tested the validity of spiritual, theological or philo-
sophical visions of this or that era. However, Nicolaidis also
points out that the attitude of the Holy Fathers themselves has
never been consistent and unambiguous with regard to the
philosophical tradition, in particular, in relation to Hellenistic
or Pagan philosophy. Moreover, their attitude was often con-
tradictory.50
It is noteworthy that the call for a ‘Return to the Holy Fathers’
in the 20th century Orthodox theological movement is also
linked to the self-determination of Orthodoxy in relation to the
modern philosophy. In the present article, the views of the two
thinkers Sergei Bulgakov and Georges Florovsky can also be
considered as being contradictory to each other. However,
their approaches are problematic from a methodological point
of view. This problem is related to the eclecticism, ambiguity,
and lack of system of these authors’ thinking, which is reflected
in the attempt to reconcile philosophical categories and meth-
ods with theological contents and theological approaches.51

49 Cf. John A. McGuckin, “Patristics,” in: John A. McGuckin (ed.) The

Encyclopedia of Eastern Orthodox Christianity (Hoboken, NJ:
Wiley-Blackwell, 2011), pp. 440-442; Pomazansky, “Orthodox”, p.
9; Russell, “Modern”, p. 77.
50 Efthymios Nicolaidis et al., “Science”, pp. 548-549.
51 Cf. e.g. Rowan Williams, “Eastern," pp. 577, 582-583; Louth, “Bulg-
akov”, 345; Paul Gavrilyuk, “Georges Florovsky“, pp. 220, 263-264;
 Orthodox Theology and Postmodernism: 145
An Attempt to find Contact

This eclecticism and contradiction is not only characteristic of

the way of thinking of these theologians, but also of the specific-
ity of the Orthodox patristic tradition in general.52 This specific-
ity is often explained by the apophatic tradition of Orthodox
theology, which differs substantially from the method of philo-
sophical, rational reasoning.53
Apophaticism, or negative theology, is a Christian teaching
based on Neoplatonic philosophy (Plotinus), first found in Cap-
patocial Fathers in the IV century, and further developed sys-
tematically in the works of Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite
(V-VI centuries). In the Byzantine patristic tradition, we find the
latest manifestation of Apophaticism in the doctrine of Gregory
Palamas (XIV century). Apophatic theology, influenced mainly
by the works of Dionysius the Areopagite,54 is also developing
in the Western Christian tradition (both scholastic and mysti-
cal), with thinkers such as John Scotus Eriugena, Thomas Aqui-
nas, Meister Eckhart, Nicholas of Cusa and Jakob Böhme. Ac-
cording to apophatic theology, the cognition of God is impossi-
ble in terms of notions, insofar as each notion makes its infinity
definite, thus, the cognition of God is possible precisely through

Brandon Gallaher, "Georges Florovsky,” in: Staale J. Kristiansen,

Svein Rise (eds.), Key Theological Thinkers: From Modern to
Postmodern (London, New York: Routledge, 2016), pp. 353-372;
52 See Efthymios Nicolaidis et al., “Science”, pp. 547-548, Brandon
Gallaher, “Waiting”, 666-667; Matthew Baker, ”Theology Reasons”,
p. 88; Georges Florovsky, Creation, pp. 21-40, 33.
53 Cf. Matthew Baker, ”Theology Reasons”, 88; Vasilios Makrides,
"Why does”, pp. 297-299; Dumitru Staniloae, Orthodox dogmatic
theology: The Experience of God,Vol.1: Revelation and Knowledge
of the Triune God (Brookline, MA: Holy Cross Orthodox Press,
1998), pp. 95-96.
54 See Brian Duignan (ed.), History of Philosophy, pp. 27-31.
146 Ketevan Rcheulishvili

the negation of these definitions.55 However, Apophaticism is

not understood as a ‘denial’ of cataphatic (i.e., affirmative) the-
ology, but as a ‘replenishment’ of it.56 What is remarkable about
the Eastern Orthodox apophatic tradition is its ‘hard-to-name’,
‘paradoxical’57 content. If Apophaticism in the Western philo-
sophical and theological tradition is predominantly speculative
as a way of perception of God (via negativa), which uses nega-
tion as its ‘method,’58 Apophaticism in the Eastern Christian
tradition is not only a certain method, a theoretical category of
cognition, but also a kind of “spiritual state,” “direct experi-
ence,”59 “the existential attitude,”60 which permeates theology
and whose immediate purpose is ‘not to deny the content of any
evidence, but to go beyond proving and refuting that content’.61
In the Eastern Christian tradition, Apophaticism is often under-

55 Justin M. Lasser, “Apophaticism,” in: John A. McGuckin (ed.) The

Encyclopedia of Eastern Orthodox Christianity (Hoboken, NJ:
Wiley-Blackwell, 2011), pp. 38-39; Nicholas Bunnin, Jiyuan Yu
(eds.), “Negative Theology,” in: The Blackwell Dictionary of West-
ern Philosophy (Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2004), pp. 465-466; Eliza-
beth A. Livingstone (ed.),“Apophatic Theology,” in: The Concise Ox-
ford Dictionary of the Christian Church (Oxford: Oxford University
Press, 2013), p. 30.
56 See Bunnin, Yu, “Negative Theology”, pp. 465-466; Dumitru Stani-
loae, Orthodox, p. 95.
57 Justin M. Lasser, “Apophaticism,” pp. 38-39.
58 Cf. Christos Yannaras, “On the Absence”, pp. 59-60.
59 Dumitru Staniloae, Orthodox, pp. 95-96.
60 Vladimir Lossky, The Mystical Theology of the Eastern Church
(Crestwood: St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 1976), pp. 39, 238;
Dumitru Staniloae, Orthodox Spirituality: A Practical Guide for the
Faithful and a Definitive Manual for the Scholar (South Canaan, PA:
St. Tikhon’s Seminary Press, 2002), p. 230.
61 Vladimir Cvetković, ”Maximus the Confessor’s View on Participa-
tion Reconsidered”, in: Daniel Haynes (ed.), A Saint for East and
West: The Thought of St. Maximus Confessor in Eastern and West-
ern Christian Theology (Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock, 2019).
 Orthodox Theology and Postmodernism: 147
An Attempt to find Contact

stood as a personal relationship with God, man’s ‘mystical un-

ion with God,’ which does not allow the mind to ‘intellectualize’
the divine revelation.62 Thus, Apophaticism is often seen “as a
check on kataphatic or assertive theology or philosophy.”63
The rise of Apophaticism in modern Orthodox theological dis-
course is linked to the representatives of the 20th century theo-
logical movement,64 who in turn were inspired by the
Apophaticism of Gregory Palamas and the idea of re-actualizing
it in the context of the modern era of his teachings.

5 Apophaticism in the Thinking of 20th Century

Orthodox Theology

Most scholars of Orthodox theology believe that the new theo-

logical movement, especially the ‘Neo-Patristic Synthesis’,
transformed an Apophaticism into a determinative category of
the identity of Orthodoxy, as well as a source of understanding
of the patristic tradition.65
As far as Apophaticism is associated with refraining from ra-
tional reasoning in the Eastern Christian tradition, the special
role given to this tradition by modern scholars is often inter-
preted as a tendency to separate Orthodox theology from West-

62 Vlasimir Lossky, Mystical, p. 28; Aristotele Papanikolaou, “Eas-

tern”, p. 544; Rowan Williams, “Eastern," pp. 579-580.
63 Justin M. Lasser, “Apophaticism”, pp. 38-39.
64 See Aristotele Papanikolaou, “Contemporary”, p. 144; Gavrilyuk,
Georges Florovsky, pp. 143, 157.
65 Cf. Matthew Baker, “Theology Reasons”, 81; Aristotele Papaniko-
laou,”Eastern”, p. 544; Andrew Louth, Introducing Eastern Ortho-
dox Theology (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2013), pp.
32-33; Pantelis Kalaitzidis, "From the Return.”
148 Ketevan Rcheulishvili

ern, philosophical tradition of thinking and its anti-

rationalism.66
However, we must consider one important aspect of this tradi-
tion. The method by which both the Holy Fathers and modern
Russian theologians discuss Apophaticism and highlight its
special role in theology is not apophatic, but rather cataphatic,
that is, based on positive (affirmative) reasoning. As Aristotele
Papanikolaou points out about Apophaticism of one of the rep-
resentatives of Neo-Patristic Synthesis, Vladimir Lossky, “Ironi-
cally, Lossky the anti-rationalist presented a well-reasoned,
highly speculative apophatic theology.”67 Indeed, all that is de-
bated in the reasoning of these authors about Apophaticism is,
in fact, a cataphatic way on Apophaticism. Cataphatic way in
itself is nothing more than a positive discussion of theological
truths, which are mainly based on the categories or methods
borrowed from philosophy.68 Thus, any attempt to discuss
Apophaticism from the outset requires its linking to philosophi-
cal categories.69
Indeed, all that is to be found in the theological reasoning of
Bulgakov and Florovsky at the same time resonates with the
philosophical categories, visions, and representations of their
modern epoch. The method of reasoning of both of them, as
well as the conceptual apparatus, is largely nourished by mod-
ern thinking. Their ‘spoken language’ is built on the categories
of their modern philosophy, such as: antinomy, synthesis, sub-

66 Cf. Pantelis Kalaitzidis, "From the Return”; George E. Demacopou-

los, Aristotele Papanikolaou, "Orthodox Naming,” p. 16; Valliere,
“Russian Religious Thought”, 299-300; Aristotele Papaniko-
laou,”Eastern”, pp. 544-545.
67 Aristotele Papanikolaou,”Eastern”, p. 545.
68 See Efthymios Nicolaidis et al., “Science”, pp. 548-549; Matthew
Baker, “Theology Reasons”, p. 88.
69 See Christos Yannaras, On the Absence, p. 60.
 Orthodox Theology and Postmodernism: 149
An Attempt to find Contact

jectivism, existentialism, historicity, historicism, etc. It is on the

basis of these philosophical categories that Bulgakov and Flo-
rovsky try to convey theological content and offer synthetic
concepts such as “Church as the Presence of Christ in History”70
(Bulgakov), “Antinomic Reality of History and Eschatology”71
(Bulgakov), “Catholic Consciousness of Holy Fathers” 72 (Flo-
rovsky), “The Existential Character of the Holy Fathers’ Tradi-
tion”73 (Florovsky), “Christ as a Historical Person”74 (Flo-
rovsky), “Pseudomorphosis of Eastern Theology”75 (Florovsky),
and others.
As many scholars point out, the influence of the ideas of Ger-
man idealism on the Russian religious renaissance is particular-
ly important.76 Theologian Rowan Williams notes that the di-
rection of the development of Russian religious thinking in the
20th century was largely determined by the philosophy of Hegel
and Schelling. At the same time, Williams emphasizes the influ-
ence of the ideas of Neoplatonism and German mysticism on the
representatives of German idealism. “German idealism arrived
in Russia in close connection with German mysticism – both the
Catholic mysticism of the medieval and post-medieval Rhine-
land and the quasi-hermetic Protestantism of Jakob Böhme.”77
Neoplatonism and Germanic mysticism, as mentioned above,

70 Sergei Bulgakov, The Lamb, p. 409.

71 Sergei Bulgakov, Unfading, p. 207.
72 Georges Florovsky, Bible, p. 44.
73 Ibidem, p. 108.
74 Ibidem, p. 13.
75 Georges Florovsky, Aspects, p. 21.
76 Aristotele Papanikolaou, “Contemporary”, p. 142; Rowan Williams,
“Eastern," p. 572; George E. Demacopoulos, Aristotele Papaniko-
laou, "Orthodox Naming,” p. 14; Paul Gavrilyuk, Florovsky, pp. 14-
15, 96.
77 Rowan Williams, “Eastern," p. 572.
150 Ketevan Rcheulishvili

are the main sources of the Western apophatic tradition. Thus,

it should come as no surprise that their influence on the philo-
sophical thinking of German idealism also resonated with the
Orthodox apophatic tradition of Russian theology. Consequent-
ly, it is conceivable that the idea of the re-actualization of
Apophaticism in 20th-century Orthodox theology is not only
based on the theological tradition of “returning to the Holy Fa-
thers”, but also can be motivated by philosophical ideas intro-
duced through German idealism. In this sense, the religious
renaissance of the 20th century can be said to be a kind of a
meeting point between the Western and Eastern traditions of
Apophaticism.
On this background, it is difficult to discern where the line runs
in Russian theological thinking between these two traditions:
which ideas come from the West and which ones come from the
East. In this context, the figure of Gregory Palamas and his doc-
trine are a kind of watershed, as the teaching of Palamas is
linked to one of the most recent dogmatic disputes between the
Western and the Eastern Chritianity. The Western Church did
not canonically recognize the doctrine of Palamas. Perhaps this
is one of the additional reasons why the re-actualization of
Gregory Palamas’ Apophaticism by Russian theologians pro-
voked anti-Western associations. Palamas’ doctrine is related to
the ancient distinction between the essence and energies of
God. Whereas the essence of God remains completely unknown
and inaccessible to man, man’s cognition of God, his deification
(theosis), is possible through the sharing of divine energies, that
is in an apophatic way, through mystical union with God. This
knowledge of God, according to Palamas, “becomes recogniza-
ble as not only an “intellectual” experience of the mind alone
but also as a “spiritual sense,” which conveys a perception nei-
ther purely “intellectual” nor purely material. In Christ, God
 Orthodox Theology and Postmodernism: 151
An Attempt to find Contact

assumed the whole of a man: soul and body; and the man as
such was deified.”78
Thus, Russian theologians try to construct the cataphatic way of
the Apophaticism of Palamas, through modern philosophical
concepts and categories, which, in turn, are imbued with the
tradition of Western Apophaticism. In doing so they try not lose
the basic idea that underlie Palamas’ teachings: their attempt is
to create synthetic concepts that go beyond this “intellectual
experience” that at the same time does not completely leave the
realm of the reason.
In this endeavour, each thinker views the task of re-actualizing
the Apophaticism of Palamas from a different philosophical
tradition. If Bulgakov is closer to the tradition of German ideal-
ism,79 and tries to find a matching Apophaticism in the meta-
physical dimension, Florovsky looks at the idea of “Christian
philosophy” with more scepticism that is characteristic of exis-
tentialism, and, following in the footsteps of Kierkegaard, sees
the first task of the re-actualization of Palamas’ Apophaticism in
escaping “the intellectualism” characteristic of German ideal-
ism.80

78 John Meyendorff, Byzantine, p. 77.

79 See Paul Gavrilyuk, Florovsky, p. 119; Paul Gavrilyuk, “Bulgakov,
Sergius (Sergei) (1871–1944)”, in: John A. McGuckin (ed.) The En-
cyclopedia of Eastern Orthodox Christianity (Hoboken, NJ: Wiley-
Blackwell, 2011), pp. 77-78; Louth, "Sergei Bulgakov,” pp. 341-351,
341.
80 See. Georges Florovsky, “Spor”, pp. 51–80.
152 Ketevan Rcheulishvili

6 The idea of Apophaticism and its re-actualization with

Sergei Bulgakov

Sergei Bulgakov devotes the First Section of his first systematic

work Unfading Light entirely to apophatic theology, in which he
reviews both Eastern and Western traditions of Apophaticism.
It is noteworthy that in Western Apophaticism he also discusses
the philosophy of Kant, Hegel, Fitche, and Schelling. In this re-
view, the author’s focus is on the specifics of Western Apophati-
cism, in relation to which and in the light of which Bulgakov
wants to highlight the specifics of Eastern Apophaticism. For
Bulgakov, the specificity of Western Apophaticism, as well as
the Hegel and Schelling’s interpretations of Apophaticism, is
that their systems close the process of cognizing God in the
speculative, intellectual realm and leave no place beyond the
reason, due to which God is no longer transcendental, but be-
comes completely immanent to the human reason.81 Bulgakov
notes on Hegel’s interpretation of Apophaticism: “If there is a
mystery in Divinity or ignorance about it, it is only because it
has not succeeded in completely revealing itself — in generat-
ing itself in the world process or basing itself in the totality of
logical thinking.”82
This aspect reflects for Bulgakov the main difference between
the Western and the Eastern apophatic traditions, which can be
traced back to the teaching of Palamas. The specificity of West-
ern speculative Apophaticism, which, as Bulgakov points out, is
still based on Meister Eckhart,83 is the ‘transfer’ of God and the
process of his cognition entirely to the realm of the speculative

81 Sergei Bulgakov, Unfading, pp. 145, 151-152.

82 Ibidem, p. 151.
83 Ibidem, pp. 167-170.
 Orthodox Theology and Postmodernism: 153
An Attempt to find Contact

reason,84 where there is no difference between essence and

energy, the unknowable and knowable; There is no difference
between a creator and a creature.85 Thus, Western Apophati-
cism leads to the idea of rational cognition of God: “Here God
lets himself be known, he showed what he is; here he is dis-
closed.” 86 It is noteworthy that Bulgakov criticizes Soloviev for
the same thing as the representatives of German idealism: “In
this respect Vladimir Soloviev unexpectedly draws near them,
and, in general, sins by the excessive rationalism in his theolo-
gy.”87
Bulgakov actually unites the whole of Western Apophaticism
under one philosophical tradition, one model of thinking:
“Without exaggeration one can say that in Eckhart the whole
spiritual development of the new Germany is deposited as in a
kernel, with its Reformation, mysticism, philosophy, and art: in
Eckhart is included the possibility of Luther, Böhme, Schelling,
Hegel, Schopenhauer, Hartmann-Drews, Wagner, and even Ru-
dolph Steiner”88
As we can see, Bulgakov is trying to show that the Western
Apophaticism cannot take us beyond the “intellectual realm” to
which Palamas refers: “Here in principle there is no place for
that “inaccessible light” in which God lives. Here there are no
boundaries separating the people from Mount Sinai, where
even the “friend of God” Moses is given to see only “the back of
God.”89

84 Ibidem, pp. 151-152, 170

85 Ibidem, p. 145.
86 Ibidem, pp. 151-152.
87 Ibidem, p. 152.
88 Ibidem, p. 170.
89 Ibidem, p. 151.
154 Ketevan Rcheulishvili

Although Bulgakov’s attempt to distinguish between Western

and Eastern Apophaticism can be considered successful, he
himself is inclined to turn Apophaticism into theological-
philosophical concepts. Bulgakov tries to build Palamas’
Apophaticism in the form of philosophical metaphysics based
on sophiology (at the time developed by Soloviev).90 In this
sense, Bulgakov still remains somewhat in the tradition of Ger-
man idealism. It was Bulgakov’s sophiology that became the
main subject of criticism by representatives of Neo-Patristic
Synthesis, Georges Florovsky and Vladimir Lossky. According to
the assessment of the latter, this doctrine eluded the Orthodox
theological dogma and tradition, as its origins were not Christo-
logical but philosophical.91

7 Re-actualization of the idea of Apophaticism by

Georges Florovsky

Georges Florovsky takes the task of re-actualization of Gregory

Palmas’ teachings to a completely different dimension: for him,
the manifestation of specificity of Orthodox Apophaticism is no
longer associated with its philosophical foundation, but rather
with the release of this idea from philosophical and metaphysi-
cal ‘captivity.’ The latter undermines the revelational character
of apophatic theology and its feasibility in the process.92
However, Florovsky almost does not change the conceptual
apparatus and the conceptual framework developed by the
‘Russian School,’ rather he constructs his own argumentation

90 Aristotle Papanikolaou, “Eastern,” pp. 540-542.

91 See Georges Florovsky, Aspects, pp. 175-177; See also Brandon
Gallaher, “Waiting”, 661; Papainkolaou, “Eastern,” p. 544. Paul Ga-
vrilyuk, Florovsky, p. 221.
92 Georges Florovsky, Creation, pp. 21-40, 24.
 Orthodox Theology and Postmodernism: 155
An Attempt to find Contact

around them.93 Florovsky’s criticism of German idealism in

many ways echoes Bulgakov’s criticism that is linked to its radi-
cal rationalism and formalism.94 Following in the footsteps of
Bulgakov, Florovsky also criticizes the speculative theology
developed by the representatives of German idealism that
aimed to achieve absolute cognition of God and the world, and
sought to philosophically establish the Christian faith.95 The
notion of history, first introduced by Bulgakov into Orthodox
theological discourse, also plays a central role in Florovsky’s
thought. Most importantly, it is Florovsky who shares the idea
from Soloviev and Bulgakov about the re-actualization of the
teachings of the Holy Fathers and the need for “creative return
to Patristic sources.”96 What is new in Florovsky’s thinking, is
the paradigm shift, as Paul Gavrilyuk calls it in his book Georges
Florovsky and the Russian Religious Renaissance: Florovsky goes
beyond the metaphysical tradition of German Idealism and
offers us a qualitatively different way of thinking. Whereas For
Bulgakov each concept elaborated by him is important and val-
uable as the part of his theological-philosophical system, which
have to offer a “creative interpretation” of the Palamas’
Apophaticism97, for Florovsky, by contrast, the meaning of each
concept is defined in relation to its historical context: the value
of each concept is measured by how well it meets the needs of
the modern era. As Florovsky points out, the theology of the
Holy Fathers is not only about cognition, but also about the

93 See Paul Gavrilyuk, Florovsky, pp. 3-4.

94 Georges Florovsky, “Spor,“ pp. 51–80.
95 Ibidem, p. 51.
96 Georges Florovsky, Aspects, p. 173, Cf. Paul Gavrilyuk, Florovsky,
pp. 38-39, 113.
97 The concept of antinomic relation of reason and faith, philosophy
and religion, history and eschatology is important as a means for
exposing the antinomy of cataphatic and apophatic ways.
156 Ketevan Rcheulishvili

unity of cognition and life. Florovsky calls this the “existential

character” of Patristic Theology.98 In the doctrine of Gregory
Palamas, too, Florovsky attaches great importance to his exis-
tential character:
“What is the theological legacy of St. Gregory Palamas? St.
Gregory was not a speculative theologian. He was a monk and a
bishop. He was not concerned about abstract problems of phi-
losophy, although he was well trained in this field too. He was
concerned solely with problems of Christian existence. As a
theologian, he was simply an interpreter of the spiritual experi-
ence of the Church. Almost all his writings, except probably his
homilies, were occasional writings. He was wrestling with the
problems of his own time.”99
In this sense, Florovsky approaches the tradition of existential-
ism, and he shares to some extent even its aphilosophical, anti-
rationalist stance.100 The influence of existentialism is also re-
flected in the liberal Protestant theology of this period, which is
predominantly associated with one of the most important fig-
ures of the Protestant movement of the 20th century, Karl Barth.
It is also important to note that Florovsky had a personal ac-
quaintance with Barth and also expressed some sympathy to-
wards his views.101 In this sense, Florovsky’s call for a neo-
patristic program, in which he speaks of the “intellectual captiv-
ity to the philosophical paradigms of the West”102 and which is
often interpreted as an anti-Western narrative, is very close to
the visions of Kierkegaard, Nietzsche or Heidegger on the crisis
of European thinking, and resonates with the criticism of exis-

98 Georges Florovsky, Aspects, p. 17; Georges Florovsky, Bible, p. 108.

99 Ibidem, pp. 113-114.
100 Georges Florovsky, “Spor.”
101 See Rowan Williams,”Eastern,” 581; Matthew Baker, “Theology
Reasons”, p. 112.
102 Paul Gavrilyuk, Florovsky, p. 224.
 Orthodox Theology and Postmodernism: 157
An Attempt to find Contact

tentialism towards German idealism.103 However, although

Florovsky shares the criticism of existentialists: Kierkegaard,
Barth, and his contemporary Russian existentialist Lev Shestov
on German rationalism, he also distances himself from this
“Protestant criticism” insofar as the latter, in Frolovsky’s view,
cannot go beyond the dualistic perspective posed by the di-
chotomy of philosophy-theology.104 In his essay “On the Crisis
of German Idealism”, Florovsky notes that obviously one will
not be able to escape the idealism by negation. The only way
out is to return to the Holy Fathers.105
In this sense, Florovsky’s approach to particular concepts bor-
rowed from ‘Russian School’ or existential philosophy, such as
history, antinomy, existentialism or subjectivism, is neither
systematic nor consistent, nor does he aim to build a systematic
vision.106 For Florovsky, the starting point for the “creative re-
assessment” of the patristic teachings is to enter “The Mind of
the Fathers”,107 that constantly resonates with the historical
needs of that era. This can be achieved, however, not in a form
of systematic knowledge, or through philosophical speculation,
but apophatically, in the form of direct contact with God, only
and exclusively within the experience of the church and living
Tradition.
“[T]he teaching of the Fathers is a permanent category of Chris-
tian existence, a constant and ultimate measure and criterion of
right faith. Fathers are not only witnesses of the old faith, testes

103 Cf. Matthew Baker, “Theology Reasons,” p. 86, See also: Paul Gav-
rilyuk, Florovsky, p. 201.
104 Georges Florovsky, “Spor”; Cf. Matthew Baker, “Theology Reasons,”
pp. 85-87; Paul Gavrilyuk, Florovsky, pp. 106-109.
105 Georges Florovsky, “Spor,” pp. 52, 79.
106 Cf. Paul Gavrilyuk, Florovsky, pp. 108; 202-203.
107 Georges Florovsky, Bible, p. 107.
158 Ketevan Rcheulishvili

antiquitatis. They are rather witnesses of the true faith, testes

veritatis. “The mind of the Fathers” is an intrinsic term of refer-
ence in Orthodox theology, no less than the word of Holy Scrip-
ture, and indeed never separated from it.”108

8 Apophaticism as a connective link

On the background of these different philosophical traditions

and perspectives, what unites both thinkers when discussing
the apophatic tradition (in cataphatic way) is the specific pur-
pose of their reasoning. It is this purpose that essentially distin-
guishes their reasoning from purely philosophical research, and
connects it to the apophatic tradition of the Holy Fathers.
Whereas philosophical reasoning is intended to explain and
define something logically and methodologically based on a
particular philosophical perspective, the theological (cataphat-
ic) reasoning of the Holy Fathers is intended to expand the per-
spective of human cognition in order to realize the dimension of
spiritual contemplation.109 Thus, the specific purpose of cata-
phatic way is to demonstrate the boundaries of rational, philo-
sophical reasoning and to “give way” to Apophaticism.110 This
aspect also manifests the subtle difference between the West-
ern and Eastern traditions of Apophaticism. If the cataphatic
way on Apophaticism in the Western tradition serves to define

108 Ibidem.
109 See Sergei Bulgakov, Unfading, pp. 79-101; Georges Florovsky,
Bible, pp. 108-199, Georges Florovsky, Creation, pp. 21-40; See also
Efthymios Nicolaidis et al. “Science,” p. 548.
110 Cf. Vladimir Lossky, Mystical Theology, pp. 39-40; 238-239;
Dyonisius the Areopagite, On Divine Names, 4. XI.
[Link]
m#38 (accessed 21 July 2020)
 Orthodox Theology and Postmodernism: 159
An Attempt to find Contact

Apophaticism, in Eastern tradition, cataphatic way is only a

kind of ‘reference’ to Apophaticism as the ‘possibility of cogni-
tion to be different’, without the latter’s logical or methodologi-
cal foundation. Christos Yannaras, a successor of the Neo-
Patristic School, states: “It is precisely the emphasis on the pos-
sibility of knowledge that sets Apophaticism apart from any
positivism about knowledge, that is to say, from any norm of
absolutizing of the rules of presuppositions needed for ascer-
taining the validity of any formulation of knowledge.”111
The main purpose of both Bulgakov’s and Florovsky’s discus-
sions is to show the limitations of their reasoning, and not to
deny the importance of the reason, or rational thinking, but to
maintain the ‘openness’ of the cognitive perspective, which
serves to give way to spiritual foresight for Apophaticism. It is
this purpose that can be derived from the reasoning of both
theologians. This ‘reference’ to Apophaticism, is the moment
when logical reasoning seems to cease and there appears a cer-
tain ‘openness’ to the process of cognition.112
This moment becomes particularly visible in the hermeneutical
vision of each thinker regarding the method of “creative inter-
pretation” of the Holy Father’s tradition. Neither Bulgakov nor
Florovsky offers answers to the questions: What method may
we apply to provide a creative interpretation of the tradition of
Holy Fathers? What method is there to enter the “Mind of the
Fathers”? What method should the patristic hermeneutics be
based on?
Bulgakov, who tries to develop a philosophy (metaphysics) of
the personal relationship with the God of man,113 at the same
time points out the impossibility of a personal relationship with

111 Christos Yannaras, On the Absence, p. 60.

112 Ibidem.
113 Cf. Aristotele Papanikolaou, “Eastern”, p. 540.
160 Ketevan Rcheulishvili

the “living God” through philosophy and philosophical method.

“[…] for philosophy only an abstract absolute exists, […] and
with its own powers, without a leap over the abyss, philosophy
cannot cross over from “intellectual God,” and “intellectual love
for him,” to personal love for the living God.”114 What does this
abyss mean, and what could Bulgakov have in mind in the met-
aphor “leap over the abyss” that he repeatedly uses in his
book?115 It is noteworthy that this metaphor is found in the
work of Dionysius the Areopagite “On the Divine Names’, which
speaks of the “leap” from the intellectual contemplation of God
into spiritual contemplation, as the logical transition from the
first to the second is impossible.116
It is in this sense that Bulgakov uses the metaphor of the abyss
to indicate a “discontinuity” between rational thinking and be-
lief, which he interprets as a relationship between cataphatic
and apophatic theology.117 It is this abyss, this discontinuity, or
antinomy that exists between Apophaticism and cataphatic
way. Whereas cataphatic way remain within the realms of “in-
tellectual experience” while indicating the boundaries of human
reason, the basis of Apophaticism, as Bulgakov points out, is a
mystical contemplation: “All of it is a mute negative gesture
directed towards heaven.”118 The purpose of Bulgakov’s cata-
phatic way, as the realization of the limits of own reason, is well
seen in his reasoning, where he speaks of the “fatal antino-
mism" of philosophical consciousness and of “mythical or dog-

114 Sergei Bulgakov, Unfading, p. 81.

115 Ibidem, pp. 10, 15, 107, 110, 154.
116 Dyonisius the Areopagite, On Divine Names, 7. III.
[Link]
m#38 (accessed 21 July 2020); Cf. Sergei Bulgakov, Unfading, pp.
153-154.
117 Ibidem, pp. 106-110.
118 Ibidem, p. 111.
 Orthodox Theology and Postmodernism: 161
An Attempt to find Contact

matic basis” of every authentic philosophy.119 He notes: “there

never was and never can be a noncontradictory rational meta-
physics that has to do with the ultimate problems of the world’s
being.”120 According to Bulgakov, the main task of the reason is
not to solve this antinomy or to escape from it, but to “accept
it.” “The task of thought here is precisely to lay bare the an-
tinomy, to stumble into its cul-de-sac and to accept with the
spiritual effort of the humility of reason that it is above reason:
this will be the highest act of understanding.”121 However, for
Bulgakov, realizing this antinomy does not mean giving up phil-
osophical thinking within the realms of theological endeavour.
Rather, for him, it means philosophical thinking based on “intel-
lectual honesty” recognizing the intuitive, super-rational origin
of own foundations.122 Thus, for Bulgakov, religious philosophy
is precisely this “leap into ignorance”: “Philosophizing, like any
creative activity, demands courage from the human being: he
must leave the shore and set out swimming into the unknown;
the result is not assured. It is possible that he will not return to
shore, be lost and even perish in the waves. But only such a
journey promises some kind of discovery. The freedom of phi-
losophizing, like any freedom, has in itself a certain risk, but its
regal dignity consists in freedom. ”123
As for Florovsky, the “openness” of the perspective appears in
another dimension. He does not even make this event the sub-
ject of philosophical discussion, but tries to turn this “open-
ness” into his own approach to the ideas of the ‘Russian school.’
According to Gavrilyuk, Florovsky constantly avoids the philo-

119 Ibidem, pp. 104, 91.

120 Ibidem, p. 197.
121 Ibidem, p. 198.
122 Ibidem, pp. 90-94.
123 Ibidem, p. 94.
162 Ketevan Rcheulishvili

sophical approach of the ‘Russian school,’124 while at the same

time consciously maintaining the very conceptual apparatus
and the same problems that they pose.125 Moreover, despite his
attempts to separate himself from the ‘Russian school’, which
he linked to the initiation of a ‘Neo-Patristic program’, he called
his theological program, in line with Soloviev’s idea, a ‘Neo-
Patristic Synthesis’. It is conceivable that Florovsky’s goal in
this case is not a principled rejection of the philosophical ap-
proach of the ‘Russian school,’126 but rather a call for the open-
ness for Soloviev and Bulgakov’s sophiology, which is prone to
the closure. By maintaining the same conceptual apparatus and
the same problems and only changing the relation to them, Flo-
rovsky tries to free these notions from the shackles of their
‘systematics’. As Gavrilyuk notes, the philosophy of Florovsky’s
history contradicts his own theological epistemology, although
he did not attempt to eliminate this inconsistency.127 If Bulga-
kov still tends to be systematic, Florovsky, on the other hand,
on the example of his own ‘lack of system’ or ‘inconsistency’
shows an example of the ‘openness of perspective’ that Bulga-
kov speaks of and the explanation of which he considers as one
of the main goals of his philosophical attempts of sophiology. In
this sense, Florovsky does not oppose Bulgakov, but he rather
tries to leave Bulgakov’s approach open.
Paul Gavrilyuk describes Florovsky’s ‘Neo-Patristic’ approach to
the tradition of the Holy Fathers as an endless, ongoing herme-
neutical effort: “[…] the patristic synthesis remains incomplete
and requires a genuinely new synthesis to be undertaken in

124 Paul Gavrilyuk, Florovsky, pp. 91-92.

125 Ibidem ,pp. 91-92, p. 133.
126 Aristotele Papanikolaou, “Eastern”, p. 543; Paul Gavrilyuk, Flo-
rovsky, pp. 118-119, pp. 132-156.
127 Ibidem, pp. 230-231, p. 264.
 Orthodox Theology and Postmodernism: 163
An Attempt to find Contact

each generation. Thus, Florovsky did not complete his synthesis

because he could not do so in principle, because the neo-
patristic synthesis required an ongoing hermeneutical ef-
fort.”128
This open perspective is the starting point for the patristic
hermeneutics that these two theologians of the 20th century lay
the groundwork for. This is hermeneutics without a definite
method, the purpose of which is understanding, creative inter-
pretation, but not by a pre-determined method, but by a living,
ongoing process, without any foresight of the future.

9 Apophaticism in a post-modern perspective?

How can we describe the specifics of Orthodox Apophaticism

from the perspective of modern thinking, or what can we com-
pare it to? Above we have talked a lot about the understanding
of Apophaticism in different traditions and with different think-
ers. Obviously, this knowledge gives us some idea of Apophati-
cism, although it is still far from our historical context and only
leads to a certain approximation to it as a more or less abstract
concept, but not as a living experience given in a particular his-
torical context. It is this notion that underlies the calls of Bulga-
kov and Florovsky: the need for the translation of patristic
teaching into the language of modernity and its creative under-
standing in a given historical context. It can be said that the
‘creative reading’ proposed by these authors themselves is a
historical contextualization of the tradition of the Holy Fathers,
as a new dimension of patristic hermeneutics.129

128 Ibidem, p. 97.

129 Cf. Calinic Berger, “Florovsky’s”, p. 26.
164 Ketevan Rcheulishvili

However, how can this creative understanding be achieved if

there is no logical, systematic, methodological connection be-
tween rational thinking and spiritual contemplation? Many
researchers in modern discourse draw attention to this meth-
odological insufficiency.130 However, it is noteworthy that it is
this methodological ‘uncertainty’ that brings their approach
closer to the contemporary post-modern self-perception, from
the perspective of which it is possible to read this ‘uncertainty’
in a completely new dimension.
The specificity of this methodological ‘indeterminacy’ is that on
the one hand Apophaticism (i.e. cataphatic way on Apophati-
cism) is always meant to enter into dialogue with its contempo-
rary philosophical thinking, and to describe itself by particular
philosophical categories, however, as Apophaticism implies
going beyond “intellectual experience”, its description is always
intended to leave the cognitive perspective open. This openness
of the perspective is manifested alongside logical reasoning, as
an unfounded assumption of spiritual experience (such as “leap
into ignorance”, “enter the Mind of the Fathers”, etc.) which is
perceived from the perspective of the reason as neither inevita-
ble nor impossible, therefore contingent. This ‘epistemological
openness’ does not contradict rational thinking and logic,131 but
draws the focus from logical causality to “otherwise possible”;
from the way of thinking, which is prone to closing its perspec-
tive – to the possibility of its ‘openness.’ This specificity, how-
ever, becomes more visible and perceptible from the perspec-
tive of postmodern thinking, since the latter, besides rational
reasoning, leaves the space for the optional and the possible,
which is, essentially, contingency. As the philosopher Karen

130 Ibidem, pp. 27-28; Paul Gavrilyuk, Florovsky, p. 220; Rowan Wil-
liams “Eastern”, p. 577.
131 Christos Yannaras, On the Absence, p. 60.
 Orthodox Theology and Postmodernism: 165
An Attempt to find Contact

Gloy points out, postmodernism has replaced the notion of a

“one reason” with a “plurality of types of reason” without even
having defined them.132 This is the specificity of the postmod-
ern approach: its purpose is not to establish, to define, but to
leave these borders open, with reference to the possibility of
the optional “being otherwise”.

10 Postmodernism – as an age of contingency

Modern thinking is almost inconceivable without considering

the pluralities that, as Gloy points out, are called “plurality of
types of reason” and “plurality of rationalities”. When any
knowledge or particular concept is characterized by an infinite
variety of variations and versions,133 modern times are increas-
ingly described with concepts such as unfinishedness, ambiguity,
multiplicity, liquidity, etc.134 Among them is the notion of con-
tingency, which has been described by modern social theorists
as one of the most symptomatic events of the modern era.135
Niklas Luhmann, one of the first social theorists to portray con-

132 See Karen Gloy, Vernunft und das Andere der Vernunft. Abstract
(München, Freibung: Alber, 2001), p. 4.
133 See Gerhard Gamm, "Die Flucht aus der Kategorie,” in: Heinz O.
Luthe, Rainer Wiedenmann (eds.) Ambivalenz: Studien zum kultur-
theoretischen und empirischen Gehalt einer Kategorie der Er-
schließung des Unbestimmten (Opladen: Leske + Budrich, 1997),
pp. 35-63.
134 See e.g. Jürgen Habermas, Die Moderne-ein unvollendetes Projekt
(Leipzig: Reclam, 1994); Zygmunt Bauman, Liquid Modernity
(Cambridge: Polity, 2000); Shmuel Eisenstadt, “Multiple Moderni-
ties,” Daedalus 129/1 (2000), pp. 1-29.
135 Markus Holzinger, Kontingenz, 13; Niklas Luhmann, Beobachtun-
gen, p. 93, Toens, Willems (eds.), Politik, p. 11; Michael Makropou-
los, “Kontingenz”, p. 398; Greven, Kontingenz, p. 15.
166 Ketevan Rcheulishvili

tingency as the starting point for the functioning of the social

system,136calls contingency “Modern Society’s Defining Attrib-
ute” (“Eigenwert der modernen Gesellschaft”).137 After Luh-
mann, a number of theorists began to talk about the so-called
contingent era of modernity. Philosopher Gerhard Gamm talks
about the uncertainty of modern times and points to the para-
doxical process of simultaneously growing differentiation and
diffusion: ’the more differentiated, accurately and more varia-
bly we can describe objects and events, the more indetermi-
nate, difficult to predict and ambivalent is our knowledge of
how systems or objects will actually behave’.138 Sociologist
Hans Joas points out that the modern era is marked by a special
increase in “sensitivity” to contingency.139 It is noteworthy that
the “high sensitivity” to the contingency, as a novelty of the
postmodern era, is emphasised by Joas in the context of the
“antiquity” of the concept of contingency, which is still found in
Aristotle’s Hermeneutics.140 In doing so, the author seeks to
draw our attention to a new dimension of contingency. Accord-
ing to Joas, in modern era contingency becomes visible in the
form of increase in the capacity and the options for individual
action.141

136 Niklas Luhmann, Funktion, pp. 187-188, See also Michael Makro-
polous, “Kontingenz,” p. 370; Oliver Jahraus, Armin Nassehi, Mario
Grizelj, Irmhild Saake, Christian Kirchmeier, Julian Müller (eds.),
Luhmann-Handbuch: Leben–Werk–Wirkung (Stuttgart, Weimar:
Metzler 2012), pp. 75-76.
137 Niklas Luhmann, Beobachtungen, p. 93.
138 Gerhard Gamm,"Die Flucht”, p. 35
139 Hans Joas, “Das Zeitalter,” pp. 25-37, p. 27
140 See Peter Vogt, Kontingenz und Zufall: Eine Ideen- und Begriffsge-
schichte (Berlin: Akademie Verlag, 2011), p. 21.
141 Hans Joas, “Zeitalter,” pp. 33-34.
 Orthodox Theology and Postmodernism: 167
An Attempt to find Contact

Aristotle defines contingency (“endechomenon”) as an event

that is "neither necessary nor impossible."142 Even in this defi-
nition, its negative nature is seen, which, on the one hand, frees
it from the realm of the necessity of the “reason” and, on the
other hand, takes it beyond the limits of “natural causality”.143
From the Enlightenment onwards, contingency has been
viewed as an unequivocally negative phenomenon, having no
“essence”, as something imperfect to be improved by “human
science and technology.”144
As Michael Makropoulos points out, the positive connotation of
the notion of contingency in modern thinking, its “de-
dramatization” is linked to Niklas Luhmann’s name: contingen-
cy no longer appears to him as a “curse” that has to be “over-
come”.145 This concept is gradually invading political, social and
cultural theories as an inseparable reality of modernity, and at
the same time a necessary category and meta-narrative of the
perception of this reality.
The specificity that modern authors attribute to modern mani-
festations of contingency is, on the one hand, related to the
growing contingency of reality in society and, on the other
hand, to the ever-increasing prospect of understanding it. Con-
tingency, as a concept, can be said to be contingent in itself as

142 See Niklas Luhmann, Beobachtungen, p. 96; Hans Joas, “Vorwort,”

in: Peter Vogt, Kontingenz und Zufall: Eine Ideen- und Begriffsge-
schichte (Berlin: Akademie Verlag, 2011), pp. 11-16, p. 12.
143 Cf. Niklas Luhmann, Funktion der Religion, p. 187; idem, Beobach-
tungen, p. 96.
144 Cf. Ludwig Siep, “The Value of Natural Contingency,” in: Marcus
Düwell, Christoph Rehmann-Sutter, Dietmar Mieth (eds.), The Con-
tingent Nature of Life: Bioethics and Limits of Human Existence
(Dordrecht: Springer 2008), pp. 7-15, p. 9; Makropolous, “Kontin-
genz,” pp. 378-380; Niklas Luhmann, Beobachtungen, p. 56.
145 Michael Makropoulos,”Kontingenz,” p. 370.
168 Ketevan Rcheulishvili

Luhmann wisely points out:146 we can freely call it by another

name, or we can find a prototype of a modern understanding of
contingency in another notion, such as antinomy, paradox, am-
bivalence, etc. However, the novelty that postmodernity has
added to this event from its historical and cultural context is
that it has shifted the focus from the definition of this concept
to what remains beyond this definition in the form of ellipses
(…). It can be said that this is the essence of the modern under-
standing of contingency.147
Thus, in the study of contingency, the emphasis turns from its
conceptualization, historical-philosophical or genealogical
analysis to the process of direct relation to contingency.148 In
this sense, contingency can be described as being in an ongoing
process of life and thinking that intersect with each other con-
tingently.
As Joas points out, ‘one does not have to share the specific
premises of ‘postmodernism’ in order to consider more con-
vincing the view of history, society and self, which pays the
greatest attention to the possible towards the real and to the
non-obvious and not necessary character of the real.’149
In this sense, contingency is also characterized by intersubjec-
tivity, insofar as it is perceived as an event even without its
description and definition as a unified historical context. Ac-
cording to Luhmann, it is this intersubjectivity that creates the
impetus for understanding contingency and thus trying to over-
come it. However, the paradox of this intersubjectivity is that as
soon as we begin to search for any “necessity” (be it values,

146 Cf. Niklas Luhmann, Beobachtungen, p. 7.

147 Cf. Oliver Jahraus et al. (eds.), Luhmann, p. 76.
148 See Toens, Willems (eds.), Politik 15. Joas, “Zeitalter,” pp. 34-35.
149 Hans Joas, “Vorwort”, p. 11.
 Orthodox Theology and Postmodernism: 169
An Attempt to find Contact

truth, validity, etc.) in it, we are immediately led to contingen-

cy.150
Thus, one of the main problems in the modern study of contin-
gency is the methodological complexity of its “grasping” insofar
as it is constantly strained by empirical analysis. In contrast,
empirically, contingency is increasingly being felt, and the per-
ception of contingency is growing.151
On this background, what Luhmann’s system theory gives a
modern understanding of contingency is a new concept of the
“Kontingenzbewältigung” (“coping with contingency”), which
implies not an ontological confrontation with contingency, but a
friendly relationship with it.152 As Luhmann points out, under
the conditions of contingency, growing complexity “[T]he prem-
ise of organization is the unknownness of the future, and the
success of organizatons lies in the treatment of this uncertain-
ty”153 The concept of coping with contingency, offered by Luh-
mann, implies overcoming of contingency in a way which does
not eliminate the perception of contingency.154
Hans Joas notes that “the result of “sensitivity” to contingency is
not relativism, but “contingent certainty”, which provides in-
sight into the contingency of one’s own existence.”155 The de-
scription of this state of contingency, according to Joas, is no

150 Niklas Luhmann, Beobachtungen, p. 94.

151 Toens, Willems (eds.), Politik, p. 13, p. 17; Markus Holzinger, Kon-
tingenz pp. 11-12.
152 Cf. Niklas Luhmann, Beobachtungen, 103-104; Oliver Jahraus et al.
(eds.), Luhmann, pp. 66, 76.
153 Niklas Luhmann, Organization and Decision, trans. Rhodes Barrett
(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2018), p. X.
154 Cf. Niklas Luhmann, Beobachtungen, p. 95; Oliver Jahraus et al.
(eds.), Luhmann, pp. 76-77; Niklas Luhmann, Organization, pp.
134, 149.
155 Hans Joas, “Zeitalter,“ p. 35.
170 Ketevan Rcheulishvili

longer possible in the old-fashioned way, using historical-

philosophical meta-narratives, but its description is possible
only in the form of a description that is characterized by “con-
tingent certainty”. It is in this sense that Joas calls modernity
the era of contingency.156
In the modern discourse of contingency, the emphasis of the
research turns from the methodological issues to the direct
relationship with contingency, the process of “dealing with”
it,157 whereby the personal dimension of this relationship is
accentuated.158 The personal dimension of “dealing with” con-
tingency represents the way in which contingency is ap-
proached from the perspective of the possibility, and not from
the perspective of the necessity.

11 In lieu of a conclusion

From the perspective of postmodern thinking, which is charac-

terized by “high sensitivity” to uncertainty and contingency, we
can comprehend Apophaticism and its role in the self-
perception and everyday practice of the modern Orthodox
Church. The perception of contingency may resemble the return
of the idea of Apophaticism and its re-actualization in postmod-
ern thinking. The philosopher Kurt Wuchterl also mentions this
in his book “Contingency or the Other of Reason”, in which he
cites negative theology as one of the forms of encounter with

156 Ibidem, p. 36.

157 Toens, Willems (eds.), Politik, p. 15., Oliver Jahraus et al. (eds.),
Luhmann, p. 76; Joas, “Zeitalter,” p. 35.
158 Hans Joas, “Zeitalter;” Oliver Jahraus et al. (eds.), Luhmann, p. 54;
Kurt Wuchterl, Kontingenz oder das Andere der Vernunft: Zum
Verhältnis von Philosophie, Naturwissenschaft und Religion
(Stuttgart: Steiner Verlag, 2011).
 Orthodox Theology and Postmodernism: 171
An Attempt to find Contact

contingency (”Kontingenzbegegnung”).159 From a postmodern

perspective, Apophaticism can be described as a ‘cognitive atti-
tude’ that can be characterized by the awareness of the possi-
bility of cognition ‘being different’, characteristic of contingen-
cy. In this sense, what can be taken from the latest approaches
of the study of contingency to the modern study of Orthodox
practices is the emphasis on the current process and the obser-
vation of Orthodox practices from the perspective of the ongo-
ing process. This type of observation would focus not on defin-
ing “indefinite” issues, positions, and approaches specific to the
Orthodox Church, but on the process, forms, and practices of
“leaving them open”. The focus of the observations would have
been transferred to the growing world of rationalization to
study the forms of “coexistence with these indefinite states” or
“indefinite positions”, as well as “dealing with them”, which we
might encounter in the practice of the Orthodox Church.
This paper is a kind of suggestion on the basis of which we can
observe Orthodox practices in a new way, the “inconsistency”
and “lack of system” that characterize them, to which certain
analogies and a new apparatus of description (a new cataphatic
way) can be found from the perspective of postmodern think-
ing. The notion of contingency itself is in this case only an ap-
proximate orientation to describe the phenomenon that can be
found in Orthodox practice. 160

159 Kurt Wuchterl, Kontingenz, pp. 236-266.

160 I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the supervisors of
my thesis, Ms. Ketevan Gurchiani and Mr. Johannes Weiß, for the
tremendous help provided in the research conducted to create this
article, for their consultations, as well as for my constant inspirati-
on and encouragement in the process of research, without which it
would be unthinkable to create this paper. In addition, I would like
to thank each and every respondent of my research, a cleric or a
172 Ketevan Rcheulishvili

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tion in the research process.
This work was supported by Shota Rustaveli National Science
Foundation (SRNSF) [PHDF-19-2794, Aspects of Contingency in
the everyday life of the Eastern Orthodox Church Community (Case
of Georgia)].
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