Mary in Modern Orthodox Theology

Abstract

Although the Eastern Orthodox approach to Mary is based on the rich devotion to the Mother of God found in the liturgical worship and iconography of the Orthodox Church, there is a deep reticence about embarking on dogmatic definition in Mariology. The thought of four twentieth-century theologians is discussed: Bulgakov, Lossky, the Romanian Stăniloae, and Evdokimov. Bulgakov’s extensive reflection on Mary began with a short book, The Burning Bush, directed against Roman Catholic Mariology, tracing its erroneous doctrine back to the Scholastic notion of pura natura, his positive exposition of Mariology being drawn from liturgical texts. Bulgakov’s reflection on Mariology is intimately bound up with his Sophiology. Lossky’s reflection on Mary sees a close link between Mary and the Holy Spirit, something developed further by Evdokimov. Stăniloae’s Mariology is puzzling, apparently absent from its natural place in his Dogmatics, although compensated for in his discussion of the intercession of the saints.