Ecclesiological Boundaries in the Context of the Doctrine of the Catholicity of the Church in Fr. Georges Florovsky’s Works

Abstract

The article presents an analysis of Fr. Georges Florovsky’s theological works in the field of ecclesiology. The author explains the position of the famous Russian emigrant theologian regarding the boundaries of the Church by considering the doctrine of its catholicity (collegiality) as a practical expression of church unity in doctrine and sacramentality. The author also examines Florovsky’s idea that the most appropriate image of the Church is the biblical one of a single conciliar «Body» — a mystical organism through which the Divine Mind acts at Ecumenical and local councils, making decisions concerning excommunication or restoration of the heterodox and schismatics to the Orthodox Church. In this connection, Fr. Georges asserts that the Church has a living divine-human consciousness extending into eternity.