Wisdom in Christian Tradition

Reviews / Votes

We can be grateful to the author for shedding light on the extent to which Sophiology does, and does not, live up to its claim to represent the best of the patristic tradition. * David Bradshaw, Theologia Orthodoxa * An outstanding book, which will become a standard reference in all future treatments not only of Russian sophiology but also in broader discussions of wisdom in the Christian tradition [...] The study of wisdom on this historical scale has never been undertaken before. Plested's constructive conclusions will be of great interest to systematic theologians. I expect this brilliant work to be widely read and frequently cited for many years. * Paul Gavrilyuk, Aquinas Chair in Theology and Philosophy, University of St. Thomas * A beautiful and important scholarly monument that manages to be a systematic study of the multiple Patristic theologies of wisdom, a careful evaluation of Russian sophiology's claims to be founded on Patristic teaching, and, perhaps most importantly, in its brief constructive final pages a contemporary synthesis of Patristic sophiology that corrects the doctrinal ambiguity of Russian sophiology [...] a theological and historical gift. * Brandon Gallaher, Senior Lecturer of Systematic and Comparative Theology, University of Exeter * Marcus Plested's Wisdom in Christian Tradition is not only a historical tour de force in its meticulous tracing of 'wisdom' traditions, both East and West, from the Bible onward; but it is itself a highly creative piece of constructive Orthodox theology, opening a way forward between and beyond the modern Russian Sophiologists and their detractors by re-engaging the patristic and medieval sources that underlay their debate. In the process the very concept of 'tradition' is richly reconceived. * Sarah Coakley, Norris-Hulse Professor of Divinity emerita, University of Cambridge * Marcus Plested's book entitled Wisdom in Christian Tradition. The Patristic Roots of Modern Russian Sophiology, published by the Oxford University Press offers a rich synthesis of patristics and invites the reader to rediscover important voices from the first centuries of Christianity, including the Apostolic Fathers, Irenaeus, Clement of Alexandria, Origen, thanasius of Alexandria, Maximus the Confessor, Macarius, Dyonisius the Areopagite and many others,...It is not only a monograph, but also a tool that invites the reader to reflect, to consider the meanings of an actual problem, and in the same time to discover an area of the theology that has not been the focus of sufficient contemporary research. * Iuliu-Marius Morariu, Recensiones * In all, I think that this is an immensely learned book of impeccable scholarship. * Demetrios Bathrellos, Institute for Orthodox Christian Studies, Cambridge, UK * This magnificent book, the fruit of many years of research and reflection. * Andrew Louth, Journal of Theological Studies * simply extraordinary. * Kyle McCracken, Evangelical Center for the Study of Orthodox Christianity * Plested's elegantly written book is [...] a worthy sequel to Evdokimov's L'Orthodoxie. * Norman Russell, Heythrop Journal * I am very pleased with the publication of Plested's book, and I hope that in future we can expect not only historical studies, but also studies on specific philosophical problems within the framework of Sophiology. * Kirill Karpov, The Thomist *