The Pillar and Ground of the Truth: An Essay in Orthodox Theodicy in Twelve Letters

Princeton University Press, March 2004. Paper Back. New. We want to say that it's the theological study of the twentieth century (one paragraph of this work, it might Be argued, equals one volume of other theological works). It was created, conceived, designed and performed by Fr. Pavel Florensky, polymath -- astute as a mathematician, physicist, semiotician, theologian, art historian, engineer, priest and poet, who opens his title page with a quote from Gregory of Nyssa: ''Knowledge becomes love.'' Standing as the most elaborated work of Russian Symbolist theology, The Pillar & Ground of Truth is a series of dialogues (or perhaps prose poetry) seeking to justify the possibility of ascertaining divine truth in this sinful world. ''The whole book can be considered an exploration of the epistemological, ontological and moral implications of two central Christian doctrines - Trinity and Incarnation'' (from the Introduction). Applying his universe of knowledge to his general theme (''living religious experience as the sole legitimate way to gain knowledge of the dogmas'') Florensky examines this through ''an ever growing ball of threads of contemplation, a clot of penetrations, ever congealing, ever intruding into the essence of the subject studied...an aggregate of the processes of thought which mutually reinforce and justify each other.'' (!) In a spiritual mood, with extensive reference to patristic tradition (''only by passing a damp sponge over the ancient writings can one wash them with living water and decipher the letters of the church literature'') this creative reading of life in liturgy (''the heart of human activity'') connects with Solovyov, Berdyaev, Shestov, Bakhtin and many others. Allowed to teach at Moscow University even after the Revolution, dressed in his priestly cassock, eventually his eminent reputation in physics and mathematics was not enough, and he was imprisoned and executed, a faithful martyr of the Church. Patrick Henry Reardon in a recent review said ''while this book is recommended with enthusiasm, the prospective reader is warned to gird his loins for some tough going, for this is a most challenging work. All together, the book is more than 600 pages long, with refinements of thought lodged in nearly every line, and it will not yield its riches in a single reading.'' Might we add that the book contains 1056 footnotes and 30 addenda? Passing over one paragraph on one page in the book finds the names Tchaikovsky, Edgar Allan Poe, St. Maximus the Confessor and Dostoevsky... are you ready for this? 595 pp.