Michel Leplay

This article by Michel Leplay focuses on Paul Evdokimov's work on marriage, drawing on the book *Sacrament of Love*. It takes the form of a personal testimony and an analytical rereading: the author, a Protestant theology student in Paris in 1948-1949, traces his discovery of Evdokimov's teaching and offers a commented overview of it. The central idea is that Evdokimov articulates a theology of marriage that is simultaneously anthropological, ecclesiological, and sacramental, rejecting any hierarchy between virginity and conjugal life, and grounding conjugal love in the dynamic of eros transfigured into agape. The article makes a twofold contribution: it situates Evdokimov's thought within the context of the twentieth-century Orthodox theological renewal and highlights its ecumenical relevance, particularly for dialogue with Protestant traditions on baptismal priesthood, the pastoral care of divorce, and charismatic anthropology.