09 — Legacy and Assessment

The closing section: what Robert Taft called “the Schmemann phenomenon” — the scale and the strangeness of his influence — together with a sober assessment of what has lasted and what has not; and a guide to the corpus itself, with the bibliographical corrections a reader will need.

Tradition: Russian Orthodox (emigration)

Schmemann’s influence is out of proportion to the size of his output. He wrote one technical monograph, one short popular book, two liturgical studies, one posthumous masterwork, and a great many essays and broadcasts; and on that basis he changed how the Orthodox in America receive communion, gave the English-speaking world its most-read Orthodox book, made “liturgical theology” a standard category in Orthodox and Western theological education alike, and became, through Radio Liberty, one of the few Christian voices audible inside the Soviet Union for thirty years.

The assessment cannot stop there, and does not. Some of his most characteristic proposals have not been received; some have been quietly reversed; a serious scholarly critique stands against parts of his historical work; and one of the closest observers of his legacy, Fr. Michael Plekon, judged in 2016 that “while his name is still officially honored, his vision is very much in eclipse” (Plekon, “The Liturgy of Life: Alexander Schmemann,” Religions 7, no. 11 [2016]: 127, p. 3). Both halves of that picture belong in an honest reckoning.

Contents

File Description
Influence and a Sober Assessment The “Schmemann phenomenon”; the scale of the influence; the eclipse thesis; the closing assessment
The Schmemann Corpus A guide to the works, with editions, translators, and the bibliographical traps

See Also