Bulgakov, Sergey Nikolayevich

▪ Russian economist and theologian

born June 16, 1871, Livny, Russia

died July 12, 1944, Paris, France

      economist and Russian Orthodox theologian who brought to its fullest development the philosophical system called sophiology, which centred on problems of the creation of the world and stressed the unity of all things.

      Bulgakov began his clerical training at the seminary of Oryol, Russia, but he was influenced by Marxism to break with the church and become a student of political economics. After studying in Moscow, Berlin, Paris, and London, he taught at the universities of Kiev (1901–06) and Moscow (1906–18). During this period he wrote Capitalism and Agriculture (1901) and Philosophy and Economics (1912).

      Bulgakov became disillusioned with Marxist philosophy, however, and returned to the church with a group of several former Marxists that included the philosopher Nikolay Berdyayev. Bulgakov's conversion is described in his own book The Undying Light (1917). Ordained a priest in 1918, he was prevented by the Bolshevik government from resuming his teaching and in 1923 was expelled from the Soviet Union. After two years in Prague he was made professor of theology and dean of the Russian Orthodox Theological Institute of Paris, where he taught until his death.

      Bulgakov spent the last 20 years of his life developing sophiology, a philosophical-theological system built around the concept of sophia (Greek: “wisdom”). This concept, frequently found in the works of medieval mystics and of modern Russian philosophers such as Vladimir Solovyov and Pavel Florensky, is used by Bulgakov to signify the link connecting God and the created world. His doctrines of divine wisdom, however, were strongly opposed by several Orthodox theologians and were condemned in 1935 by the Synod of Karlovci, Yugos., and by Patriarch Sergey of Moscow. Bulgakov's own bishop, Metropolitan Eulogius of Paris, and his colleagues at the institute supported him and protected his freedom to teach and to write.

      Among Bulgakov's numerous theological works are The Unburning Bush (1927), The Ladder of Jacob (1929), The Lamb of God (1933), and The Comforter (1936). Bulgakov's ideas on sophiology are outlined in Wisdom of God (1937).

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