Between the Icon and the Idol

"Mrowczynski-Van Allen argues that the revolutionary socialists and the national socialists were both heirs of the liberals whose primary project was to offer the world a humanism without God. . . . The author recommends a Christocentric reading of history and a Christocentric reading of the human person as an icon of Trinitarian love and creative generosity."

--Tracey Rowland, John Paul II Institute for Marriage and Family



"In a wide-ranging work that takes intelligent account of figures ranging from Marx to Dostoevsky, from Schmitt to Solovyov, and from Voegelin to Grossman, Mrowczynski-Van Allen offers a remarkable rereading of the theological construction of the modern state and how it is the case that only a non-dualist Christian theology can counter the insane oscillation of the modern state between liberalism and totalitarianism."

--John Milbank, Centre of Theology and Philosophy



"The author's profound Christian convictions, as well as his love and knowledge of Russian culture, serve as a guide through a fascinating and complex philosophical task at the intersection of literature and theology. . . . Through this work the author shows us that we have a choice: to bow to the idol of the modern state or to live in the exercise of our own nature of the image of love."

--Konstantin Antonov, St. Tikhon's Orthodox University



"This book is ecclesial practice in the face of the inhumanity of secular totalitarianism, one that dares to offer the world a lesson in how to learn again to 'breathe with two lungs.' I hope this book will do more than spark a new debate. I hope it will help provoke a new practice for a church too 'domesticated' by liberal categories, a church that needs to free herself from this bondage and learn anew the joy and glorious freedom of being the church."

--Mons. Francisco Javier Martinez Fernandez, Archbishop of Granada, Spain