A contextualisation of Afanas′ev against the background of Russian theological tradition, within the ecclesial life of Russia, Serbia and France in his own day would not be complete without some attempt to situate him in regard to contemporary Russian ecclesiology. For side by side with Afanas′ev other Russian theologians, indebted to the same sources and moulded by the same ecclesiastical background, were devoting their attention to the issue of the Church. A consideration of these writers, and notably of N. A. Berdiaev, S. N. Bulgakov and G. V. Florovskii, should indicate both what is common and what is distinctive in Afanas′ev's use of the resources of a shared tradition: ecclesiology in Russian garb. At the same time, such an enquiry will serve to prepare for a final investigation of the ecumenical potential of Afanas′ev's work. For the degree of representativeness which his vision can claim within his own tradition must be of importance in an evaluation of the significance of his thought for Orthodox-Catholic rapprochement.

Nikolai Aleksandrovich Berdiaev (1874–1948)

Berdiaev was born in Kiev on 6 March 1874, the second child of a military family. Though his mother was half-French, and considered herself rather Catholic than Orthodox, his father's background was suffused by the religion of the Russian church. Both Berdiaev's paternal grandmother, and one of his great grandmothers became nuns. His own conscious acceptance of Christianity came slowly and almost imperceptibly, under the subterranean influence of the heroes of the novels of Tolstoi and Dostoevskii.