And the Renewal of Life. On Art, Faith, and Society

On the pages of Olga Sedakova's book, a prominent contemporary thinker, we encounter an inspiring perspective of the poet on Christianity - and a loving perspective of the Christian on free human creativity. Listening to the voices of both church and secular culture - from Pasternak to Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh, from Bonhoeffer to Averintsev - Olga Alexandrovna invariably manages to hear and convey the message of the high dignity of man and the only authority he truly aspires to - the authority of happiness. The book contains essays on the theology of creativity, the complex relationship between the Church and contemporary post-Soviet secular society, as well as on the great Christian witnesses of the 20th century. The book concludes with the essay Light of Life. Notes on Orthodox Worldview. As a preface - an essay by Maxim Kalinin about the remarkable encounter of Olga Sedakova's theology of creativity and natural contemplation in the East Syrian Christian mystical tradition.