Serge Bulgakov's Justification of History (original) (raw)
Related papers
Fr Sergi Bulgakov on Christianity and Judaism
Religion, State and Society, 1992
As has been the case for decades now, YMCA Press continues to make available works by Russian thinkers whose contribution can be judged only when the full range of their writings is properly accessible. In the relatively near future, and if the economic situation allows, we may see Russian publishing houses in Moscow, St Petersburg and elsewhere assuming this crucially important task, especially if they manage to publish materials that have been locked away in the archival holdings of Soviet research libraries. In any case, even if scholars and editors on Russian soil do succeed in restoring their heritage, we should still recognise the enormously valuable role played by YMCA Press from its base in Paris. This article has been prompted by the recent publication by YMCA Press of a collection of writings on Jewish nationhood and the situation of the Jewish people by Fr Sergi Bulgakov, the prominent Orthodox theologian and philosopher (1871-1944).1 The articles in the collection span the years 1915 to 1942, the most substantial of these belonging to 1941 and 1942, the very height of the Second World War. Particular features of Bulgakov's reflections upon Jewish identity and the Christian world will be treated here. However, first it is necessary to consider the way in which Russian thought has tended to focus upon cultural comparisons, surveying European, Asian and other societies and setting features of those societies in contrast to 'Russian' structures and values. This endeavour has taken Russian philosophers into the realms of social history, anthropology and theology, excursions that have impressed non-Russian readers by their very ambitiousness, but also caused doubts as to the objectivity of the project and of the eventual findings put forward. If it is indeed the case that the writings of one or another Russian philosopher in the field of historical-cultural comparisons are flawed, the fundamental reasons for this need to be studied, and these writings then set properly in the context of the more wellfounded and positive in sights of the philosopher in question. Over the years many scholars and other commentators have expressed a profoundly negative view of Russian philosophy, dismissing it as largely derivative and lacking in fully developed theories of knowledge. It has even been common practice to deny the Russian tradition the name of 'philosophy' altogether, on the grounds that it appears to lack the rigour and critical discipline that feature so prominently in Western European philosophy. In important respects Russian philosophy is indeed different in kind from Western European types of philosophy. It has tended to place less emphasis upon theories of knowledge than do other traditions, and has been shaped by different preoccupations.
By analogy to Kant’s question ‘how is knowledge possible?’, Sergei Bulgakov was driven by the following questions: how are history, economy, art, and religion possible? Bulgakov explored the ‘truths’ of modern thought—human dignity (humanism), human dependence on the material world (materialism), social equality (socialism), and striving for a better future (idealism)—that became the cornerstones of his religious worldview. In Vladimir Soloviev’s footsteps, Bulgakov developed a ‘synthetic philosophy’ that would reconcile faith and reason, metaphysics and science, and motivate Christians to engage in politics in order to build just societies. With a focus on the interplay of social and economic teachings with religious movements, his early works contribute to ‘post-secular’ reflections on the crucial role of religion in societies. The paradigm of the ‘return of the prodigal son’ motivated both Bulgakov’s personal and intellectual development: in his view, the radical departure from God in the age of modernity is an important, if not necessary step on humanity’s way back to its Father’s house, and faith is a double-sided God–human act of human religious thirst and God’s response. Thus, Bulgakov’s early works dwell on culture and history as God–human synergy within the framework of the concept of Sophia. The latter is Bulgakov’s answer to the question as to how God’s revelation, divine-human cre ativity, and the world’s salvation are possible.
Building the House of Wisdom. Sergii Bulgakov and Contemporary Theology: New Approaches and Interpretations, 2024
Sergii Bulgakov (1871-1944) is one of the preeminent theologians of the 20th century whose work is still being discovered and explored in and for the 21st century. e famous rival of Lenin in the eld of economics, was, according to Wassily Kandinsky, "one of the deepest experts on religious life" in early twentieth-century Russian art and culture. As economist, publicist, politician, and later Orthodox theologian and priest, he became a signi cant "global player" in both the Orthodox diaspora and the Ecumenical movement in the interwar period.
International Journal of Orthodox Theology, 2020
Sergius Bulgakov continues to be a contentious figure in the modern revival of Orthodox theology. His reputation continues to be damaged by the consequences of the Sophia Affair, which means that the entirety of Bulgakov's theology is yet to be fully appraised. The present article considers the development of Bulgakov's ecclesiology, emerging out of his Christology, over the course of his life. While not unrelated to his sophiology, it is not contingent on it. The paper follows the development of Bulgakov's ecclesiology, beginning with his philosophical writings, into his major contributions to the émigré journal
"Slavophile Religious Thought and the Dilemma of Russian Modernity" (2010)
Modern Intellectual History, 2010
Russian public opinion in the first half of the nineteenth century was buffeted by a complex of cultural, psychological, and historiosophical dilemmas that destabilized many conventions about Russia's place in universal history. This article examines one response to these dilemmas: the Slavophile reconfiguration of Eastern Christianity as a modern religion of theocentric freedom and moral progress. Drawing upon methods of contextual analysis, the article challenges the usual scholarly treatment of Slavophile religious thought as a vehicle to address extrahistorical concerns by placing the writings of A. S. Khomiakov and I. V. Kireevskii in the discursive and ideological framework in which they originated and operated. As such, the article considers the atheistic revolution in consciousness advocated by Russian Hegelians, the Schellingian proposition that human freedom and moral advancement were dependent upon the living God, P. Ia. Chaadaev's contention that a people's religious orientation determined its historical potential, and the Slavophile appropriation of Russia's dominant confession to resolve the problem of having attained historical consciousness in an age of historical stasis. *
The Soul of the Human Race: The Mother of God in the Theology Of Sergius Bulgakov
2013
This dissertation examines the role of the Mother of God in Sergius Bulgakov's Sophiology. It places Bulgakov's Mariology within the contexts of the Russian Religious Renaissance and Russian Sophiology. With respect to Russian Sophiology, Bulgakov systematically develops the insights on Mary proffered by Vladimir Solov'ev and Pavel Florensky. I demonstrate that his The Burning Bush (1926) should be seen as the fullest development of Sophianic Mariology initiated by Solov'ev. The influence of the Russian Religious Renaissance is evident in his emphasis on sexuality. Bulgakov incorporates the popular theory from this movement that each person 1 Rowan Williams observed in his book, Sergii Bulgakov: Towards a Russian Political Theology, that no secondary source has yet adequately treated Sergius Bulgakov's Mariology.
Sergius Bulgakov and Modern Theology
“Sergius Bulgakov and Modern Theology,” in Building the House of Wisdom: Sergii Bulgakov and Contemporary Theology: New Approaches and Interpretations, eds. Barbara Hallensleben, Regula M. Zwahlen, Aristotle Papanicolaou and Pantelis Kalaitzidis (Münster: Aschendorff Verlag, 2024), 501-520.