opening line of Orthodoxy and the Religion of the Future (xix)

(Continued from part 4.)

It is likely that Orthodoxy and the Religion of the Future, unlike Nihilism, was never intended as a grand philosophical statement. Continue reading →

Platina, CA. Winter 1969-1970.

(Continued from part 3.)

In the 1960s, for some time after his conversion, Eugene worked on an ambitious project, a book of religious philosophy that was to be titled The Kingdom of Man and the Kingdom of God. This book was never finished — only one chapter was polished to the degree where it could be (posthumously) published as a stand-alone text (Nihilism: the Root of the Revolution of the Modern Age, 1994). However, many of the themes that Eugene raised here would eventually resurface in Fr. Seraphim’s later writing. Continue reading →

The old Russian Orthodox cathedral in San Francisco.
It looks like a refurbished Protestant church because it is one;
in those years, the diocese could not afford a new building.

(Continued from part 2.)

Eugene stumbled into Orthodoxy by chance (or “chance”). He heard something about it, attended a service in a small church that served the Russian community in San Francisco at the time, and stayed. Within a year or two, Christian themes had crept into his correspondence and thinking. His growing Orthodox zeal played a major role in his decision not to pursue a doctoral degree (although his resentment at academia’s treatment of Gi-ming Shien also had a lot to do with it). Continue reading →

(Continued from part 1.)

When contemplating what Fr. Seraphim became, it is useful to keep in mind that Eugene Rose spent much of his youth studying philosophy and classical culture. He graduated from Pomona College in 1956 (two years ahead of Kris Kristofferson) and majored in Oriental Languages, which in the 1950s would have entailed considerable study and academic rigor. In 2017, Pomona had an acceptance rate of around 10%. Continue reading →

St. John Climacus, The Ladder of Divine Ascent
Mt. Sinai, 7th century

Fr. Seraphim (Rose) was a hieromonk of the Russian Orthodox Church (Outside Russia) during the 1970s. He had no Russian background (born Eugene Dennis Rose, into a Protestant family in San Diego) and no connection to Russian culture. However, by the end of his life, and in the years following his death in 1982, he became one of the most striking writers, ascetics and preachers in 20th-century Church history. The trajectory of his life was so unusual that (so an Orthodox Christian would say) it could only have happened by a direct act of God. Continue reading →