The Sophiology of Death (Sergius Bulgakov) - A Review

 

THE SOPHIOLOGY OF DEATH: Essays on Eschatology: Personal, Political, Universal. By Sergius Bulgakov. Translated by Roberto J. De La Noval. Foreword by David Bentley Hart. Eugene, OR: Cascade Books, 2021. Xxxviii + 198 pages.

                Eschatology is the theological concept that speaks of things yet to come. Whether those things are predetermined or not is a matter of interpretation. While eschatology focuses on "last things," it is a rather broad theological category that goes beyond whether and how Jesus might return to earth or whether there is life after death. Eschatology includes apocalyptic elements, but the two are not synonymous. What eschatology does is invite us to consider the question of how the future will unfold. That includes our own individual futures as well as the future of the universe. I for one am interested in the question of what the future might hold and expect others might as well. I locate myself theologically in the open and relational camp on matters eschatological, so I believe that the future is open and not predetermined. That theological location influences the way I read scripture and understand matters of eschatology. I must note that a colleague and I have begun work on an introductory book on eschatology. Thus, I am intensely interested in how various theologians and traditions understand this category of doctrines.

                So, with this interest in matters eschatological in mind as well as a growing interest in Orthodox theology, I asked for a review copy of The Sophiology of Death by Sergius Bulgakov. The subtitle of this book makes it clear that the essays in this book by Bulgakov have an eschatological focus.

                Bulgakov was a Russian Orthodox priest and theologian who died of cancer in 1944 while living in France in exile. Bulgakov the person offers us an interesting story because while he would become one of the leading Orthodox voices of the first half of the twentieth century, at one point, before his conversion to Orthodoxy, he was a committed Marxist. That move into the Russian Orthodox Church led to his exile from the Soviet Union. His theology, as Roberto De La Noval, the translator, and editor of this collection, suggests is "thoroughly eschatological, even apocalyptic." (p. xix). That apocalyptic dimension of his theology may have resulted from his experiences of the Bolshevist revolution that turned his world upside down and eventually forced him into exile in Paris. De La Noval's introduction is worth reading closely to get a sense of Bulgakov’s theology and life experiences as a way of coming to understand how his life is expressed in his theological writings.

                The Sophiology of Death is a collection of essays twelve essays, that include an essay that gives the book its title. As noted above it is edited, introduced, and translated by Roberto J. De La Noval, a professor of theology at Notre Dame. The book also includes a foreword by Orthodox theologian David Bentley Hart. Hart locates Bulgakov within a Russian Orthodox school that stood opposed to the dominant Neo-Palamist school (consider the writings of Vladimir Lossky). Hart writes that Bulgakov's work is something of an anomaly due in large part to the context out of which he emerged late 19th and early 20th-century Russian religious philosophy. As such, his theological views contrasted with the reigning neo-Palamite theology, which Hart suggests tends to stifle creative Orthodox theology (pp. 9-10). At the same time, it is an expression of Orthodox theology. Thus, despite his mastery of Western philosophy and theology, he remained committed to the Orthodox world. What Hart wants to do in his foreword is press on us the creativeness of Bulgakov’s work, which though thoroughly Orthodox, takes us in new directions.

                As the subtitle of the book reminds us, the essays focus on eschatology, including the question of death and its meaning. The collection is important in that it gives us a glimpse at Bulgakov's theological views, including his doctrinal category of "sophiology." De La Noval notes that Bulgakov’s theological vision is centered in his vision of Sophia, which he understands taking two forms—Divine Sophia and Created Sophia. The First is how he understands the divine essence, and the latter the creaturely world. Thus, “the divine Son can assume the lowliness of human flesh in the incarnation of Christ so as to elevate humanity, even while remaining precisely who he is, without any alteration of the divine nature” (p. xxii). I must confess that I am still trying to understand what this means, but my interest in Eastern Orthodox theology requires an engagement with what is clearly an important voice in Christian theology. For those of us in the West, there is much to learn from the East.

                In this collection of essays focusing on eschatology, we see how Bulgakov takes up questions of death, the second coming, and divine judgment. It’s important to note that he demonstrates an openness to the universal restoration of all things (apokatastasis) as articulated by theologians such as Gregory of Nyssa. It is a cautious move, but it's still an openness that is currently proving attractive to many Christians because it is a vision that seems modern but has ancient and Orthodox roots. The first of the twelve essays offers us an exploration of the antinomy/paradoxical nature of a Christian philosophy of history (eschatology and a philosophy of history are closely related). It concludes with his instructions concerning his funeral, written in 1941 three years before his death.

                In the course of the book, we encounter Bulgakov's understanding of the Kingdom of God, socialism, conditional immortality, the restoration of fallen Spirits in dialog with Gregory of Nyssa, and more. The lengthiest essay, running forty-four pages is the essay that gives the book its title— "The Sophiology of Death." In this essay, Bulgakov explores the relationship between the divine sophiology and the created sophiology (wisdom) in which he suggests that the incarnation plays the determinative role in overcoming the power of death. As such it speaks to the interrelationship of these two forms of wisdom (sophiology). While this is a deeply philosophical discussion, it is also personal because as he wrestles with the meaning of death he speaks to his own impending death from cancer (he died of throat cancer).

                Bulgakov's work is dense and filled with neologisms. While reading a theologian such as Vladimir Lossky is not easy, is much easier than reading Bulgakov (this is my second attempt at reading him, having first read his early book, Unfading Light (1917). Nevertheless, in reading these essays in Bulgakov's Sophiology of Death, we discover a brilliant mind, worth engaging. While we can piece together some of the context of certain essays, it would have been beneficial to this reader if De La Noval had attached a brief paragraph that set the context of each of these essays. Knowing whether the essay came from early in his life or later, would have helped me. Nevertheless, Bulgakov offers us a unique take on things yet to come. And for those of us who are attracted to the idea of the restoration of all things, Bulgakov offers insight that is worth considering. As noted, this is not an easy read. The neologisms by themselves can frustrate the reader. Nevertheless, this is definitely a creative expression of an ancient tradition that demands our attention, as does the larger Orthodox tradition.