On the Tree of the Cross

Description

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 collection of papers on atonement by contemporary
scholars 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unpublished manuscripts and other works otherwise hard to access.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.