Sophia, the Wisdom of God: An Outline of Sophiology (Library of Russian Philosophy)

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Summary: Introduction to the Greatest Modern Orthodox Theologian
Review: At the beginning let me say that Bulgakov's sophiology has nothing to do with the imagination of a feminine deity. The kernel of his doctrinal speculation is this: Sophia, or Wisdom, is the divine "ousia," conceived not as a philosophical abstraction but as an unfathomable fullness of life. Creation occurs when God "releases" this fullness into autonomous being (and therefore into multiplicity and becoming). So in a real sense, his sophiology is simply an extended speculation on the doctrine of creation "ex nihilo," and, I will add, the only adequate exposition of this doctrine that I have ever seen. But more significantly, sophiology proves to be a doctrinal key that unlocks the whole of traditional Christian dogma and opens its treasures for us moderns to appropriate in a deep and heartfelt way instead of as a dead letter. (Similarly, it could save those who are tempted to unbelief because the traditional doctrinal formulations mean nothing to them -- and this without following the false and destructive path of the postmodern theologies). Sophiology has profound ramifications in every dogmatic field, which this work only begins to address (most of Bulgakov's theological oeuvre is as yet untranslated into English, but a much deeper treatment of some of these themes can be found in "The Bride of the Lamb" translated by Boris Jakim.) Bulgakov himself was reviled and accused of heresy and "gnosticism" (a handy epithet for those with no understanding of his work) and then forgotten by most of the Orthodox world. His works remained in Russian and in the French translations of Constantine Andronikoff. Perhaps through the Institut Saint-Serge (of which he was the first Dean), his legacy has exercised a covert influence on the leading proponents of Orthodox thought in the west (such as Olivier Clement), but he still awaits rehabilitation and the veneration he deserves as an unparalleled theologian, speculative thinker, priest, and man of God.