Sergei Bulgakov

Sergei Nikolaevich Bulgakov (1871–1944) was a Russian Orthodox theologian, philosopher, and priest whose work represents one of the most ambitious systematic theological projects of the twentieth century. Beginning his career as a Marxist economist, he underwent a prolonged spiritual conversion and was ordained to the Orthodox priesthood in June 1918. Expelled from Soviet Russia in December 1922 on the "Philosophers' Steamship," he made his way via Constantinople and Prague before settling permanently in Paris in 1925, where he served as professor of dogmatic theology at the Saint Sergius Orthodox Theological Institute and as its dean from 1940 until his death. He is best known for developing a comprehensive theology of Sophia (Divine Wisdom), drawing on Vladimir Solovyov and the Russian religious renaissance, which generated significant controversy — the Moscow Patriarchate and the Russian Church Abroad both issued censures in 1935, while his defenders considered the teaching an enrichment of Orthodox tradition. His trilogy on the God-humanity relationship, culminating in works on Christology and eschatology, stands as a landmark of modern Orthodox systematic theology.