08 — The Critique
This is the section where the collection discharges its obligation under METHODOLOGY §4.2. Evdokimov’s theology of woman has drawn a substantive Orthodox critique — the most important of it from Elisabeth Behr-Sigel, who was his friend, who began by building on his categories, and who over about a decade abandoned them. A second line of criticism concerns the genealogy of his categories: how much of the “eternal feminine” derives from Soloviev, Bulgakov and a romantic essentialism rather than from the Fathers, and how much sophiology he carried. Against both stands a serious counter-reading of Evdokimov as a prophetic voice on the laity, on marriage, and on beauty.
Tradition: Russian Orthodox (emigration)
Files
| File | Description |
|---|---|
| Behr-Sigel and the Critique of the Eternal Feminine | The friendship, the Agapia consultation of 1976, the reversal, and the substance of her objections |
| How Much Sophiology, and the Counter-Reading | The Soloviev–Bulgakov genealogy, what Evdokimov did and did not take from sophiology, and the case for him made by Plekon, Clément and his Western readers |
The Rules Governing This Section
- Name positions; adjudicate nothing. Every disputed claim is attributed to identified people with identified arguments. The collection does not declare a winner.
- Distinguish argument from practice. That an argument for a practice fails does not show the practice wrong; that a practice is right does not vindicate every argument for it. Behr-Sigel’s rejection of Evdokimov’s reasoning is not, and was not presented by her as, a simple call for the ordination of women.
- Distinguish criticism from censure. No Orthodox Church has ever censured Paul Evdokimov or any of his writings. What is reported here is scholarly and theological disagreement among Orthodox, not ecclesiastical action. This distinguishes his case sharply from that of his teacher; on the acts of 1935 see Fr. Sergius Bulgakov, which is this repository’s authority on that question.
- Report the defence as fully as the attack. Evdokimov has serious defenders, and their case is set out at the same length.
See Also
- 06 — Woman and the Salvation of the World — the exposition this section criticizes
- 09 — Legacy and Assessment — the balance drawn
- Elisabeth Behr-Sigel — the principal critic
- Women in Orthodoxy — the hub essay
References
- Behr-Sigel, Elisabeth. Le ministère de la femme dans l’Église. Paris: Cerf, 1987. English: The Ministry of Women in the Church, trans. Steven Bigham. Redondo Beach, CA: Oakwood, 1991.
- Hinlicky Wilson, Sarah. Woman, Women, and the Priesthood in the Trinitarian Theology of Elisabeth Behr-Sigel. London: T&T Clark, 2013.
- Plekon, Michael. Living Icons: Persons of Faith in the Eastern Church. Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 2002.