Marcus Plested
The Master Builder
Demetrios Koutroubis
and The Renewal of Theology in Modern Greece
Demetrios Koutroubis (1921–83) was a wholly remarkable figure: one of the greatest, but also one of the least well known, Orthodox theologians of the modern era. Variously described as a lay staretz, a monk of the world, and a latterday Socrates, Koutroubis is a figure who deserves much more attention than he has hitherto been afforded. Humble and self-effacing, he had no official position in either the Church or the academy, wrote relatively little, and had absolutely no interest in his own reputation or any sort of worldly recognition. But he revolutionized theology and Church life in Greece and beyond, sparking a true renaissance of patristic, liturgical, missionary, and monastic endeavour — a renaissance often referred to in Greek circles as the ‘theology of 1960s’. He was a major inspiration behind some of the most prominent theologians, philosophers, bishops, and monastics associated with this movement. one of those he had the greatest impact on, the renowned theologian and philosopher Christos Yannaras (1953–2024), went so far as to declare that theology in modern Greece can be divided into the period ‘before Koutroubis’ and ‘after Koutroubis’.
A bridger of worlds, he was a convert to the Roman Catholic Church in his youth who on his return to Greece from ten years of studies and travels abroad brought the fire of the French patristic ressourcement (return to the sources) movement with him into Orthodoxy. He was also instrumental in introducing the theology of the Russian diaspora into the modern Greek context. A confessed Anglophile, he spent his few last years in England close to the Shrine of the Mother of God at Walsingham near which he is buried. But for all this, he remains mostly unrecognized, even in Greece. This relative obscurity was very much of his own doing. His role, principally, was one of building up others, hence the book’s title, The Master Builder. While those whom he mentored went on to great things, he himself chose to remain hidden.
Following the Introduction by Marcus Plested, the book is divided into three sections: two studies of the man himself, recollections and reflections by four of his friends, and a review and appreciation of his theological writings by Fr Andrew Louth followed by the translation into English of three of his distinctive theological studies.
- 192 pages, 20.3 x 13.0 cm, two black and white photographs, Denise Harvey (Publisher), 2024