What do you think?
Rate this book
On the Tree of the Cross: Georges Florovsky and the Patristic Doctrine of Atonement
"Thou hast redeemed us from the curse of the Law by Thy precious Blood. By being nailed to the Cross and pierced with the Spear, Thou hast poured immortality on mankind. O our Saviour, glory to Thee. " — Troparion for Holy Friday“Atonement” is a contested but inescapable term in contemporary English-language theological discussion. The doctrine of atonement has received little attention in Orthodox Christian circles since the work of Fr Georges Florovsky, who labored to clarify and promulgate the Orthodox teaching on atonement on the basis of his theological leitmotifs of neo-patristic synthesis and encounter with the West. Florovsky saw the doctrine of the person of Christ as the key to apprehending the pattern and the unity of God's redemptive work. Hence he always sought to follow the Church Fathers in weaving together the themes of creation and fall, incarnation and atonement, deification and redemption, liturgy and asceticism, in the variegated yet seamless robe of true theology.The present volume is inspired by Florovsky's legacy. It is composed of two parts. The first is a collections of papers on atonement by contemporary theologians from a patristic symposium in honor of Florovsky held at Princeton Theological Seminary and Princeton University in 2011. The second part is a collection of writings on atonement by Florovsky himself, including previously unpublished manuscripts and other works otherwise hard to access. This book offers incisive and informed neo-patristic voices to any contemporary discussion of atonement, thus responding to the perennial legacy and task to which Fr Georges Florovsky exhorted Orthodox theological reflection.
217 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 10, 2020
10 people are currently reading
62 people want to read
About the author
Matthew Baker
3 books1 followerMatthew Baker was adjunct professor in Theology at Hellenic College/Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology and received his Ph.D. posthumously from Fordham University.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
March 27, 2020
Phenomenal. This work is split up into two parts: the first is a number of essays from a variety of contributers on looking at how the Fathers, East and West, viewed the atonement (Liturgically, holistically, through creation, through asceticism etc) while also relating it to the neo Patristic synthesis of Florovsky.
The second is a number of essays and writings from Fr. Georges Florovsky. Florovsky focuses on the Cross as the defeat of not only death but also the infusion of true life for Christ is Life itself. He resists reducing the atonement to a juridical category, seeing it as making Christ's work a merely moral or psychological subject. Christ's death is intimately weaved with the total pattern and fulfillment, not only of reality itself, but of the whole life of Christ (incarnation, suffering, death, resurrection, Ascension). For Florovsky, Atonement is rendered as redemption. This redemption *must* have occurred in history. It cannot be a mere myth. Florovsky examines a number of key points of the importance of the Cross, most notably being the sacramental aspects.
Overall, excellent book. It thoroughly refutes the idea that the Eastern Fathers had radically different views compared to the Western Fathers. It also puts to bed the idea that the Eastern Church has no proper understanding of Atonement. This is in opposition to the claim that the Eastern Church focuses on the Incarnation as the climax of salvation. This latter claim is extremely far from any semblance of truth.
The second is a number of essays and writings from Fr. Georges Florovsky. Florovsky focuses on the Cross as the defeat of not only death but also the infusion of true life for Christ is Life itself. He resists reducing the atonement to a juridical category, seeing it as making Christ's work a merely moral or psychological subject. Christ's death is intimately weaved with the total pattern and fulfillment, not only of reality itself, but of the whole life of Christ (incarnation, suffering, death, resurrection, Ascension). For Florovsky, Atonement is rendered as redemption. This redemption *must* have occurred in history. It cannot be a mere myth. Florovsky examines a number of key points of the importance of the Cross, most notably being the sacramental aspects.
Overall, excellent book. It thoroughly refutes the idea that the Eastern Fathers had radically different views compared to the Western Fathers. It also puts to bed the idea that the Eastern Church has no proper understanding of Atonement. This is in opposition to the claim that the Eastern Church focuses on the Incarnation as the climax of salvation. This latter claim is extremely far from any semblance of truth.
November 4, 2020
Scholarly. If you can handle that, Orthodox Christian converts from both Roman Catholicism and Protestantism can make real progress in putting behind them the western Christian paradigms concerning the atonement. Put concisely, it posits a dual atonement; that of nature and that of our wills. The latter requires endurance!
March 16, 2017
Not being a scholar, I can't comment on the scholarship of the authors, but I found the book OK as far as being able to read it, but I can't say that it resolved for me some of the issues raised. For example, a majority of Orthodox authors today reject any "juridical" thinking in Orthodox Christianity regarding redemption. The book shows that the issue is far from that clear in the Patristic writings where they do include some juridical images taken from the Scriptures. Rather than "juridical" thinking being purely "Western" the fact is there are degrees of this thinking in many Patristic writers East and West. It may be the case that no one idea/theology can capture the diversity found in the Patristic authors regarding their understandings and imagery of redemption, even if some consensus can be found.
July 22, 2016
The doctrine of atonement is a tricky one as its origin in the English language is due to Tyndale improperly translating the Greek word for reconciliation. But what exactly is atonement? Some see it as the "at-one-ing" of God and man, by Christ's saving work. Others use it in conjunction with terms like expiation (making reparations for the guilt of wrongdoing) and propitiation (the act of appeasing God). When put with words like that, it's no wonder some scholars squirm and feel uncomfortable. In large part, Eastern Orthodoxy has steered clear of the term atonement and viewed it as an incorrect Western notion. However, one man, Fr. Georges Florovsky, devoted his life to clarifying and spreading the Orthodox teaching of atonement and showing that the division between East and West on the subject of atonement isn't as clear cut as many like to make it out to be. The book On the Tree of the Cross tackles this subject.
On the Tree of the Cross is divided into two parts. The first part of the book is a collection of papers which were delivered at the First Annual Patristic Symposium in Honor of Fr. Florovsky. The second part of the book is a collection of Fr. Florovsky's writings on atonement, much from previously unpublished and/or untranslated works. Some authors of the papers from the first part include Fr. John Behr (Dean of St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary), Archimandrite Irenei Steenberg (Director of the Institute for Orthodox Studies), and Fr. Matthew Baker (Memory Eternal). In one paper, we see St. Irenaeus' view on atonement, with Jonah as a key example. In another paper, the Ascetic Fathers are our guides to atonement, both personal and intercessory. In the writings of Fr. Florovsky, we are presented with four writings that give us a small sample of his work. They were written over decades of time, but what is clearly seen in all of them is Christ's atoning sacrifice throughout all of Creation.
There were sometimes I had a difficult time reading Fr. Florovsky's works, but I attribute much of that too it being a translation from another language. That quibble aside, I thoroughly enjoyed reading the papers in the first part of the book. With all the references to Patristic writings, it felt like this book was compiled with me in mind. If you love Patristics, like myself, and want a better understanding of atonement, then I highly recommend this book. I leave this review wondering if there will be future books from other Annual Symposiums in Honor of Fr. Florovsky. I know I would be a customer if so!
On the Tree of the Cross is divided into two parts. The first part of the book is a collection of papers which were delivered at the First Annual Patristic Symposium in Honor of Fr. Florovsky. The second part of the book is a collection of Fr. Florovsky's writings on atonement, much from previously unpublished and/or untranslated works. Some authors of the papers from the first part include Fr. John Behr (Dean of St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary), Archimandrite Irenei Steenberg (Director of the Institute for Orthodox Studies), and Fr. Matthew Baker (Memory Eternal). In one paper, we see St. Irenaeus' view on atonement, with Jonah as a key example. In another paper, the Ascetic Fathers are our guides to atonement, both personal and intercessory. In the writings of Fr. Florovsky, we are presented with four writings that give us a small sample of his work. They were written over decades of time, but what is clearly seen in all of them is Christ's atoning sacrifice throughout all of Creation.
There were sometimes I had a difficult time reading Fr. Florovsky's works, but I attribute much of that too it being a translation from another language. That quibble aside, I thoroughly enjoyed reading the papers in the first part of the book. With all the references to Patristic writings, it felt like this book was compiled with me in mind. If you love Patristics, like myself, and want a better understanding of atonement, then I highly recommend this book. I leave this review wondering if there will be future books from other Annual Symposiums in Honor of Fr. Florovsky. I know I would be a customer if so!
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews