Two patrologists: Vladimir Lossky and Fr. Vasily Krivoshein

Abstract

This article examines the relationship between the two prominent representatives of the patristic renaissance in the twentieth century Archbishop Vasily Krivoshein and Vladimir Lossky. Lossky is considered a proponent of the idea of the Neopatristic synthesis. On the contrary, Vassily Krivoshein, who had distinguished himself in the field of patristic studies, was skeptical of the idea, believing that the time was not yet ripe for its realization. In 1956, Lossky and Krivoshein visited the USSR as part of a delegation from the Western European Exarchate, it was their first trip to their homeland since emigration. They visited Moscow, Trinity-Sergius Lavra, Vladimir, Leningrad, and Kiev, attended the theological academies, and later they expressed their impressions of church life in the Soviet Union. Lossky and Krivoshein took an active part in international patrological congresses in Oxford, and their works received worldwide recognition. Both religious thinkers emphasized the importance of the apophatic method, though each understood its role for philosophical and theological inquiry in his own way. The article also describes the circumstances surrounding Krivoshein’s initiative, supported by Lossky, to invite Soviet scholars and church hierarchs to the Second Congress on Patrology in Oxford. The difficulties encountered by the organizers of the congress are pointed out and explained. As an appendix to this article, the author publishes a letter from Vladimir Lossky to Fr. Vasily Krivoshein, sent in 1955.