The Mystical Theology of the Eastern Church

Vladimir Lossky established himself as one of the most brilliant 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, makes 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, inasmuch 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 the realm of human experience, that which is accessible yet inaccessible; those things understood yet surpassing all knowledge.