Sophiology

What better way to approach systematic theology than to use the writing method they taught us in junior high – the 5 w's?¹

The first sentence of the Wikipedia article on Sophiology can act as our starting point. Sophiology – “from Greek Σοφία Sophia (wisdom)(in Bulgarian and Russian: София) is a philosophical concept regarding wisdom as well as a theological concept regarding the wisdom of God.

Why?

I didn't set off to be living proof that dissertation topics are obscure – I really didn't! In choosing my theme for further study in the field of theology, I hoped to bring to light a relatively unknown idea that could be a resource for contemporary theologians. I felt that these voices from the East (both tied to church tradition and yet free to engage their mind and interact with contemporary thinkers) might just hold a key for bringing Wisdom out of her marginalization and into the lexicon of the wider church. I hoped that this the concept of Sophia might lead not only to a re-thinking of certain preconceived notions about God and God's relationship to the world, but that it could also lead to changes in contemporary practices in the realms of ethics, inter-faith and ecumenical relationships. In short, I had hoped that my work might find some resonance with readers today.

Vladimir Solovyov (on a good hair day)

Now, two years in to my research, I understand better both the problematic areas of Sophiology and the resources that it offers for those who both desire to remain within the framework of orthodox (though probably not Orthodox) Christian thinking and yet come to new interpretations of the church's teachings for the modern world.

Regarding my desire to find something useful for ethical questions, because of the limits of writing a dissertation at a state-sponsored university, I'm having to put these sorts of “practical” questions aside for the moment. While early versions of my dissertation outline were full of attempts to apply my research in concrete ways to wider questions, I eventually came to understand that this will need to remain outside of the bounds of my dissertation as such. For now, these ideas sit in folder on my computer, waiting for proper attention until after I get the major work (in the area of theology as such) done.

When? / Where? / Who?

Pavel Florensky and Sergei Bulgakov in the painting
 "Philosophers" by Mikhail Nesterov

The theological movement that I'm studying is rooted in the intellectual environment of late 19^th and early 20^th century Russia. The concept of Sophia, the Wisdom of God, permeated the philosophy, theology and even poetry of the period; part of my task is to describe why it was an attractive idea at the time. I'll then be then tracing the concept through the lives and thought of three fascinating individuals - one of Russia's most famous philosophers, Vladimir Solovyov, one of Russia's most gifted and unusual talents, Father Pavel Florensky, and Archpriest Sergei Bulgakov, the former Marxist economics professor whose entire worldview in his mature years was formulated around Divine Wisdom and who, therefore, developed Sophia as a full-fledged philosophical-theological concept.

What = Wisdom?

Theologian, Bulgakov scholar, and Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Rowan Williams, has said that “Father Bulgakov's thought has often seemed impenetrable to the casual Western reader, or even the not so casual Western reader.”² Sometimes Dr. Williams' works can feel the same way, so as you can imagine, I have my work cut out for me. That's even more true if another Bulgakov scholar, Catherine Evtukhov, is right that Bulgakov was careful never to give a complete and final definition of who/what Sophia was.



I think that Evtukhov is wrong, though, and my dissertation sets out to show Bulgakov really does have a well-defined theology of Divine Wisdom that flows through every major area of systematic theology he touches (and he touches them all.) Yet, saying that Sophia is important for these thinkers is not the same as saying who or what she is. And here I'll do my best to give a short summary. The best starting point from which to understand Wisdom in Sophiology is through a rather unusual Biblical text, from Proverbs 8 and 9. (NIV. Particularly important verses for the Sophiologists are in italic):

8.1 Does not wisdom call out? Does not understanding raise her voice? 
2 At the highest point along the way, where the paths meet, she takes her stand; 
3 beside the gate leading into the city, at the entrance, she cries aloud: 
4 “To you, O people, I call out; I raise my voice to all mankind. 
5 You who are simple, gain prudence; you who are foolish, set your hearts on it.
6 Listen, for I have trustworthy things to say; I open my lips to speak what is right. 
7 My mouth speaks what is true, for my lips detest wickedness. 
8 All the words of my mouth are just; none of them is crooked or perverse. 
9 To the discerning all of them are right; they are upright to those who have found knowledge. 
10 Choose my instruction instead of silver, knowledge rather than choice gold, 
11 for wisdom is more precious than rubies, and nothing you desire can compare with her.
12 “I, wisdom, dwell together with prudence;  I possess knowledge and discretion. 
13 To fear the LORD is to hate evil; I hate pride and arrogance evil behavior and perverse speech. 
14 Counsel and sound judgment are mine; I have insight, I have power. 
15 By me kings reign and rulers issue decrees that are just; 
16 by me princes govern, and nobles—all who rule on earth.
17 I love those who love me, and those who seek me find me. 
18 With me are riches and honor, enduring wealth and prosperity. 
19 My fruit is better than fine gold; what I yield surpasses choice silver. 
20 I walk in the way of righteousness, along the paths of justice, 
21 bestowing a rich inheritance on those who love me and making their treasuries full. 
22 “The LORD brought me forth as the first of his works, before his deeds of old;  
23 I was formed long ages ago, at the very beginning, when the world came to be. 
24 When there were no watery depths, I was given birth, when there were no springs overflowing with water; 
25 before the mountains were settled in place, before the hills, I was given birth, 
26 before he made the world or its fields or any of the dust of the earth. 
27 I was there when he set the heavens in place, when he marked out the horizon on the face of the deep, 
28 when he established the clouds above and fixed securely the fountains of the deep, 
29 when he gave the sea its boundary so the waters would not overstep his command, and when he marked out the foundations of the earth. 
30 Then I was constantly at his side. I was filled with delight day after day, rejoicing always in his presence,  
31 rejoicing in his whole world and delighting in mankind....
9.1 Wisdom has built her house; she has set up its seven pillars. 
2 She has prepared her meat and mixed her wine; she has also set her table. 
3 She has sent out her servants, and she calls from the highest point of the city, 
4 “Let all who are simple come to my house!” To those who have no sense she says,“Come, eat my food and drink the wine I have mixed. 
6 Leave your simple ways and you will live; walk in the way of insight.”

After reading this passage, you might ask - "What is this Wisdom?" Is it some sort of being? If so, is the being created or Divine? Perhaps it's not a being at all, but simply a poetic personification of one of God's attributes? While Biblical scholars tend to lean toward that last answer today, that does not mean that there is universal agreement. The situation is even more complicated for the Russian thinkers mentioned above because they also have a multifaceted tradition of Wisdom in the Orthodox church to deal with, along with (at least in some cases) their own (mystical) experience of Sophia (Yes, for them Wisdom is “She”).

For the Orthodox, theology
can be captured in icons. So
when two icons of Sophia  
(such as these two here) 

have such different symbolic
meanings, this indicates a
 lack of theological clarity.

Where do the Sophiologists end up in their theological development? Well, we cannot really say except in the case of Bulgakov.⁴ Still, I'll be writing perhaps 200 pages on that question. But, to put it very succinctly, Bulgakov interprets Sophia as the essence of God (the divine substance or “ousia” for those of you interested in Trinitarian theology,) at the same time both part of the Godhead and (in its created, as opposed to Divine, aspect) the substance of the world (this is panentheism, for those of you interested in developments in later 20^th century theology).⁵


This approach to theology was quite controversial at the time, though political concerns (related to the divisions of the Russian church's representatives abroad that occurred because of the Revolution) were of at least as important here as theological ones. I know that I am certainly not fully convinced by the approach of the Sophiologists. Yet, on the other hand, I'm impressed by Father Bulgakov's devotion to challenging an ossification of the church that equates orthodoxy with teaching that is wholly static. At the same time, Bulgakov had no interest in joining those hypercritical of the church, rejecting its teachings outright. Bulgakov shows himself to be a true modern moderate who can make, with a creative approach that rejects long-out-dated stereotypes, orthodox Christianity intellectually interesting and engage in mutually-enriching dialog with the modern world.


That's why I'm continuing my work. And since I find Bulgakov interesting not just when he deals directly with Divine Wisdom, in the coming months I hope to finish a side project that I've been working on for a long time. Bulgakov wrote a small book called On the Gospel Miracles that has yet to be translated into English. If I can figure out the technical side of things, I'll be publishing this annotated translation on Amazon in early 2012.

* * *
1With a 6^th added on for good measure...and without the “h” since writing about the “how” of Sophiology, the methodology, is giving me headaches. I wanted to spare you that pain.

2 “Creation, Creativity and Creatureliness.” Speech for the Wisdom of Finite Existence Study Day organized by the St Theosevia Centre for Christian Spirituality, Oxford. 2005. http://www.archbishopofcanterbury.org/99

3 Sergei Bulgakov. Philosophy of Economy. trans. and ed. Catherine Evtukhov. Yale 2000.  10-11.

4Solovyov died without having systematized his thought. Florensky's life was cut tragically short when he was executed under Stalin.

5In highlighting some of Bulgakov's major themes, I see one more reason why I was attracted to Sophiology – these same topics are quite important to one of my favorite contemporary theologians, Jürgen Moltmann.