The Mystical Theology of the Eastern Church Paperback – March 1, 1997

Vladimir Lossky’s penetrating look at the mystical theology of the Orthodox Church is one of the great religious studies. Written during the WWII and circulated among a small circle of readers, it was not published until a year before the author died in 1955. It has been in print ever since.It is easy to see why the book has been in demand. Ostensibly, this is a book written about, as the title indicates, the mystical theology of the Orthodox Church. The Orthodox Church is unique among Christian denominations in that it emphasizes a mystical, divine union between the worshiper and the Christ, not simply the observance and obtaining of sacraments. Lossky explains this mystical underpinning with the help of references to the Patristic Fathers, the Gospels, and to his own considerable analytical insights.Reading of this book will be a transformative experience. Lossky discusses the many paradoxes of Christian doctrine. He does not resolve many of these paradoxes — there is no reconciliation to many of these paradoxes which in the end are simply matters of faith. His manner of discussion and presentation of the issues involved make this book required reading.The Introduction has been described by another reviewer as the most important part, and I tend to agree. In this Introduction, Lossky discusses the nature of the dichotomy between mysticism and theology and the treatment of these two approaches in the Eastern and Western Churches.Chapter Two, the Divine Darkness, is where Lossky discusses the mystical philosophy and theology of St Dionysus the Areopagite, who further differentiated the mystical/theological dichotomy between the Kataphatic, Positive theological approach of affirmation, and the apophatic, approach of negation. For those familiar with Advaita Vedanta, its correlate to Dionysus’ approach to knowing God is paraphrased with the maxim, “Neti - Neti,” — “not this, not this.”Chapter Three is where Lossky explain the Holy Trinity having its background in the mystical significance of the number three. Lossky also discusses the mystical properties of the numbers One and Two.Chapter Four discusses the processes of creation. This discussion is centered on the paradox — one of several discussed — of the world having been created from God’s energies emanating from his Essence, and the ability of the worshiper being able to know God through His energies, but unable to comprehend His essence, and yet the Bible teaching that at the same time the worshiper is able to participate in God’s essence.Chapter Five discusses the Patristic theory of world’s creation as the result of God’s Will, and the Christian paradox of the world being create out of nothing.Chapter Six discusses the nature of Man as a spiritual being, and discusses the differences of this issue between the Eastern and Western Church.Chapter Seven the Patristic prerequisites to Salivation.Chapter Eight discusses Patristic notions on the Holy Spirit.Chapter Nine discusses how the Son and the Holy Spirit is reflected in the abstract and physical institution of the Church.Chapter Ten arrives at the heart of divine union and discusses how divine union, theosis, is achieved not in life but at the Second Coming of the Christ.This book is amazing and highly recommended.

Far from dry theology, Lossky interacts with the Orthodox tradition with expertise knowledge and a genuine faith in the reality of the Father's activity in this world through His Son and Spirit, in the context of the Church. The book is worth buying just for the introduction, which outlines the meaning of theology in the Orthodox Church. Is Christian theology just neo-Platonism? Is God transcendent just because we are limited in our understanding? Is grace created or uncreated? Is deification (theosis) a Hellenic leftover or the meaning of union in Christ? Why was Christ incarnate and what does the Holy Spirit do? What do we say about how God is in Himself and how God is in relation to creation? Lossky tackles these and other pertinent subjects in this masterpiece. You will not read this book and remain unchanged, not because Lossky is such an original and innovative thinker (he is that), but because Lossky faithfully interprets the Tradition. The rest of this review is taken from the jacket of the book itself.Vladimir Lossky established himself as one of the most brilliant of Orthodox scholars in the years between his departure from Russia in 1923 and his death in 1958. His uncompromising faithfulness to Scriptural and patristic tradition, coupled with his constant concern for an articulate Orthodox witness in the West, make his works indispensable for an understanding of the theology of the Eastern Church today. In this classic study of Orthodox theology, Lossky states that 'in a certain sense all theology is mystical, in as much as it shows forth the divine mystery: the data of revelation...the eastern tradition has never made a sharp distinction between mysticism and theology, between personal experience of the divine mysteries and the dogma affirmed by the Church.' The term 'mystical theology' denotes in the realm of human experience, that which is accessible yet inaccessible; those things understood yet surpassing all knowledge.While it is not an easy read at all, it is well worth the time spent in praying and thinking through the subject from an Eastern perspective.Other books of interest include: The Orthodox Way, Byzantine Theology: Historical Trends and Doctrinal Themes, The Origins of the Christian Mystical Tradition: From Plato to Denys, Orthodox Theology: An Introduction, In the Image and Likeness of God, any Georges Florovsky books, The Mountain of Silence: A Search for Orthodox Spirituality, New Seeds of Contemplation, An Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith - Enhanced and The Orthodox Church: New Edition.Enjoy!

This book is deep enough, yet easy enough to understand the Mysticism in the Eastern Orthodox Church!

There's no other theological text like this that justifies the exclusion of the "filioque" out of the Nicene-Constantinopolitan creed. Lossky is deep, moving, and correct.