Church of the Holy Spirit, The

by Nicholas Afanasiev, Vitaly Permiakov (Translator), Michael Plekon (Editor)

The Church of the Holy Spirit , written by Russian priest and scholar Nicholas Afanasiev (1893–1966), is one of the most important works of twentieth-century Orthodox theology. Afanasiev was a member of the “Paris School” of émigré intellectuals who gathered in Paris after the Russian revolution, where he became a member of the faculty of St. Sergius Orthodox Seminary. The Church of the Holy Spirit , which offers a rediscovery of the eucharistic and communal nature of the church in the first several centuries, was written over a number of years beginning in the 1940s and continuously revised until its posthumous publication in French in 1971. Vitaly Permiakov's lucid translation and Michael Plekon's careful editing and substantive introduction make this important work available for the first time to an English-speaking audience.

Genres: Theology, Church

327 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2007

Reviews

[Fr. Nicholas Blackwell, O. Carm. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m so glad I read this book! He has deep insights into the royal priesthood, the Eucharistic assembly, ministries, and holy orders. Many of his thoughts I’ll be returning to for meditation. His particular style of getting deep into the scriptural reality of the apostolic area gives a certain profoundness to the topics I just listed previously. That is why his thoughts on these topics, and I would say, are pretty spiritually nourishing and work with those who hold a sacramental understanding of faith. Two significant issues I have with him are the regular bashing he gives on scholastic theology, which, per his background, is understandable. Still, the other big issue is that he rejects any form of law in the church. His rejection of the place of law in the church is rooted in the empirical principle from Rome. However, when he begins to treat this topic in the book's last chapter, he loses that specificity in his writing and begins to speak in a very generic sense from Scripture. He places love versus law not in the Judean sense but in the general abstract sense that came from Roman thought. Overall, it is a fantastic book and a must read, I believe.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

While Afanasieff and I would take different positions on a number of the topics he addresses in this little-known classic, The Church of the Holy Spirit is one of the most through provoking texts I have ever read. While at times the prose are dense, the ideas Afanasieff presents (especially in the first half of the book) make reading well worthwhile.