Father Sergei Bulgakov, visionary of Wisdom
Article summary proposed by the Contacts review with LLM assistance
This article by Father Boris Bobrinskoy, delivered on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the death of Sergius Bulgakov (1944), offers a study that is both commemorative and critical of this major Orthodox theologian, the first dean of the Saint Sergius Institute in Paris. Drawing on a biographical and doctrinal approach, the author traces Bulgakov's spiritual journey — from his conversion to his priestly ordination — to show that his sophiology proceeds from an authentic mystical experience rather than from abstract speculation. The article examines the principal articulations of the sophiological system, from created Wisdom to uncreated Wisdom, while assessing the theological limitations of this construction. Bobrinskoy argues for a trinitarian and christological rebalancing of sophiology, thereby rehabilitating Bulgakov against the hasty condemnations he suffered, while acknowledging the necessity of a rigorous and benevolent ecclesial critique of his work.
This article has not been translated yet — it is available in its French version here.
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