The Concept of Neopatristic Synthesis at a New Stage

Abstract

The structure of G. V. Florovsky’s concept of neopatristic synthesis is analyzed and reassessed here in light of the current state of philosophy and theology. As a result, the concept receives a new configuration, in which its core is formed by the ancient Orthodox idea of the Living Tradition, understood as the union of the work of the Church Fathers and the hesychast practice. As for the idea of Christian Hellenism, which formed the core of the previous configuration, it has been relegated to the periphery of the concept. This article reveals the philosophic potential of the concept that has not yet been realized—its hermeneutical aspects, its connection with the mainstream of phenomenology, and so forth. The new configuration is then projected onto the situation of Russian philosophy. I demonstrate that the concept possessed vast conceptual, epistemological, and methodological resources capable of stimulating the creation of a new philosophic formation that would be distinct from the modernist thinking of the Silver Age. However, those resources have remained untapped.