Georges Florovsky and St Justin Popović: Brothers in arms for the Neopatristic Synthesis

The aim of the paper is to offer an overview of the long-lasting friendship between Georges Florovsky and St Justin Popović, as well as of their common project to build an Orthodox theological synthesis on the basis of the patristic tradition. The paper focuses on three periods from Florovsky’s and Popović’s lives, from late 1910 and to early 1920, from late 1920s to late 1930s, and finally on 1940s. I argue that in the first period both authors developed their theological visions relying on Solovyov and Florensky, on the one hand, and in opposition to the ecclesial nationalism of the Slavophiles and conservative Orthodox hierarchs, on the other hand. Further, I investigate how during the late 1920s and 1930s both authors searched for an Orthodox synthesis mostly in dialogue with their Orthodox predecessors, especially Solovyov, Florensky and Bulgakov, as well as the modern western philosophical tradition. The focus will shift then to the 1940s, which was characterized by frequent meetings between Florovsky and Popović in Belgrade, Yugoslavia. I argue that in this period the Church Fathers became for both authors the golden standard for Orthodox theology, and the idea of the neo-patristic synthesis developed in the full scale.Special Issue: Philosophy in Neopatristics. New Figures and New Interpretations (Guest Editor: Teresa Obolevich