The Sophiology of Death

“A fascinating collection of brilliant essays—most previously untranslated—by this most remarkable and original of twentieth-century theologians, getting to the heart of the relationship between the created and the uncreated, between death and life. It is an indispensable resource, complementing the reading of Bulgakov’s major works.”


—John Behr, University of Aberdeen and Vrije University





“In this judicious selection of Bulgakov’s eschatological essays, which traverse the speculative, political, pastoral, dogmatic, and personal, Roberto De La Noval offers Anglophone readers a true gift. His graceful translation retains throughout the urgency, force, and bright delicacy of Bulgakov’s singular voice as the volume extends an invitation—even an imperative summons—to contemplate together the griefs and consolations of endings in history, time, and death.”


—Jennifer Newsome Martin, University of Notre Dame





“A master of multiple sources—philosophical, theological, liturgical, scriptural, and patristic—which he synthesizes in order to leave no theological stone unturned without a response, Sergius Bulgakov is the Aquinas of our time. Roberto J. De La Noval’s masterful translation of these essays further reinforces Bulgakov’s genius and ongoing relevance for our contemporary questions.”


—Aristotle Papanikolaou, Fordham University





“Bulgakov’s essays on the Apocatastasis in this volume are not only gorgeous, learned, and stimulating, but very probably, and importantly, correct. His homily on the Dormition, while probably mistaken, is nonetheless essential reading for anyone who wants to think seriously about Mary. It is a delight to have the works collected here available in English: Roberto De La Noval deserves gratitude for his fine work in translating them; and Bulgakov deserves something approaching homage for having written them.”


—Paul J. Griffiths, author of Regret: A Theology and Why Read Pascal?





“Perhaps no twentieth-century theologian is quite as much in the ascent as Sergei Bulgakov. Not only does he represent a fundamental option for Eastern Orthodox theology, but he represents more broadly a model for a form of theological speculation, disciplined by the theological tradition, marked by a deep reading of Scripture, and with due recognition of the human fragility and failure, a theology grounded in the resurrection of Christ who will be all in all. This new volume of essays, beautifully translated by Roberto De La Noval, will only add to Bulgakov's high reputation. It will also remind readers that eschatology is not simply a theme in Bulgakov's writings, but at once its central energy and milieu. The collection shows once again the marvelous conjunction of theological imagination and fidelity to the tradition in the thought of Bulgakov, while sounding an indelible note of existential pathos without ever calling attention to the I.”


—Cyril O’Regan, Huisking University of Notre Dame





“There are authors who are not bound to their time. They speak from heart to heart, even from beyond the threshold of death. Father Sergius Bulgakov belongs to these witnesses of divine wisdom. For all those who discover with him the mystery of death, new perspectives of life as ‘fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the household of God’ (Eph 2:19) will open up.”


—Barbara Hallensleben, University of Fribourg