In the World, of the Church: A Paul Evdokimov Reader

by Paul Evdokimov, Michael Plekon (Editor), Alexis Vinogradov (Translator)

Paul Evdokimov (1901-1970) was a well-known writer, professor and lay theologian of the Orthodox Christian Church in France. Part of the Russian emigration in the aftermath of the Revolution, he became fully part of Western culture and life. His life experience was varied and wide-ranging, and included work in factories, rail yards and restaurants. For years he ran an ecumenical hostel for the poor, immigrants and students, thus bringing to his theological writing the Gospel's love for the world and Christ's compassion for the suffering. As professor of moral theology and St Sergius Orthodox Institute in Paris, a teacher at both the Ecumenical Institute in Geneva and the L'Institut Catholique in Paris, and official Orthodox observer at Vatican II, Evdokimov served as a bridge between the tradition of the Eastern Church and the Churches of the West. This volume brings together many of the subjects about which Evdokimov cared deeply faith and culture, the spiritual life, liturgical, eschatology, freedom and authority under the general theme of the struggle for faith in our time.

Genres: Theology

273 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 2000

About the author

Paul Nikolaevich Evdokimov (rus. Павел Николаевич Евдокимов) was a Russian and French theologian, writer, and professor of theology at St. Sergius Institute in Paris. He was an invited observer to the Second Vatican Council.

He was born in St. Petersburg, Russia on August 2, 1901, the son of an army officer who was assassinated by one of his soldiers in 1905. He was educated in a military school and served in the cavalry. He began theological studies just prior to the Bolshevik Revolution. Following the revolution, he and his family escaped from Crimea through Constantinople and settled in Paris circa 1923. Evdokimov continued his theological studies at St. Sergius Institute, studying with Fr. Sergius Bulgakov and Nikolai Berdyaev. He was among the founding members of the Russian Christian Student Movement.

He married Natasha Brunel in 1927, who died of cancer during the latter part of World War II. In 1942, he completed his doctorate in philosophy at Aix-en-Provence.

During the War, Evdokimov worked with the French Resistance. In 1954, he married Tomoko Sakai, a daughter of a Japanese Diplomat.

He reposed in Meudon, France, on September 16, 1970.

Reviews

[w gall · Rating 3 out of 5]

A book for scholars; though I have experience with theological scholarship, this one was difficult to follow. Ideas didn't seem very well connnected. What I coukd understand was helpful and edifying.