Theology of the history of archpriest George Florovsky: the path of freedom, heroism and tragedy

Archpriest George Florovsky was the first one in modern Orthodox thought who attempted to develop a scientific aspect of history from the theology point of view. This article is devoted to his inheritance in this field. The following important ideas are formed by archpr. G. Florovsky: the idea of history as a becoming eternity, the idea of its progressive, discrete and impulsive character, its ecclesiocentricity, and its connection with eschatology and its inner antinomianism. He pays special attention to the concept of «event», to which he refers as acts of both Divine intervention in history and the feat of man. According to Florovsky, an event-feat fundamentally rises above both random actions of people, and also over the manifestations of nature that belong to evolution and are deprived of freedom. They are events as acts of freedom that create history - it is the path of novelty and unpredictability. This contradistinction of personal freedom and natural necessity, which also takes the form of an antinomy between the individual and social, is an unsolvable problem for Fr. George. Despite attempts to resolve it, he remains in the capture of the logical dualism: «freedom or necessity». Florovsky, however, remains the pioneer in the area of theology of history in modern Orthodox theology, and his inheritance is important for us. It is especially so if concerning the relevance of this new branch of theology which is among other things so important for solving the problems facing ecclesiological thought.