Sergei Bulgakov

Sergei Bulgakov (Livny, 1871 – Paris, 1944) was a Russian Orthodox theologian, philosopher and economist. He began as a Marxist involved in the economic debates of the late nineteenth century, moved away from materialism towards idealism, and ended up building one of the most influential systematic theologies of the twentieth century. His significance lies in trying to join philosophy, economics and faith within a single vision of the world.

Born into a family of rural priests, he attended the seminary in Oryol but left in 1888 after losing his faith. He then studied law and political economy at Moscow University, where he moved in the circles of so-called legal Marxism. In 1900 he published Capitalism and Agriculture, which tested Marx's theory against farming, and it brought him recognition as a leading Russian Marxist. Around the same time he began to drift away from Marx: his reading of Kant and, above all, of Vladimir Solovyov led him back to idealism and eventually to the Orthodox Church.

He took part in politics after the 1905 revolution and sat in the Second Duma in 1906, but he soon withdrew from active politics to concentrate on philosophy and theology. Two Cities and later Unfading Light mark that shift. In 1922 he was expelled from Soviet Russia together with other intellectuals and settled in Paris, where he taught and wrote until his death.

His theology rests on sophiology, a doctrine of Sophia, the divine Wisdom that mediates between God and creation. For Bulgakov the Church is the place where that Sophia becomes present in the world, and the sacraments ground the hierarchy without any need for extraordinary signs. His influence reached twentieth-century Orthodox theology and the dialogue between East and West.