Reading Notes from Bulgakov's The Bride of the Lamb
For any of those interested in reading along (in full or in part) with Bulgakov’s The Bride of the Lamb (first published posthumously in 1945), below are links to each section on which I will reflect (following the book’s table of contents for easy use with paper or digital books). In addition to these reflections below, this collection of basic texts introducing Sophia and Sophiology might be helpful along with some background on Sergius Bulgakov’s life and thought here and here. These reading notes are all subscriber posts only:
Chapter 1. The Creation of the World “Out of Nothing”: 1. Cosmism & 2. Dualism
Chapter 1. The Creation of the World “Out of Nothing”: 3. The Sophianicity of the World: a. Platonism & b. Aristotelianism
Chapter 1. The Creation of the World “Out of Nothing”: 3. The Sophianicity of the World: c. Patristics
Chapter 1. The Creation of the World “Out of Nothing”: 3. The Sophianicity of the World: d. Western Theology (Thomas Aquinas)
Chapter 1. The Creation of the World “Out of Nothing”: 3. The Sophianicity of the World: e. “Creation Out of Nothing” & f. The Eternity of Creation and the Temporality of Its Being
Chapter 1. The Creation of the World “Out of Nothing”: 4. The World Soul and Its Hypostases
Chapter 1. The Creation of the World “Out of Nothing”: 5. The Eternity and Temporality of Man
Chapter 3. Evil: 1. Creaturely Limitedness and Imperfection
Chapter 3. Evil: 2. Creaturely Freedom as the Possibility of Good and of Evil
Chapter 4. God and Creaturely Freedom: 1. Divine Providence with Regard to the World
Chapter 4. God and Creaturely Freedom: 2. Divine Providence with Regard to Man
Chapter 4. God and Creaturely Freedom: 3. Divine Causality and Creaturely Freedom
Chapter 4. God and Creaturely Freedom: 4. The Problem of Predestination & 5. God and Creaturely Freedom
Chapter 5. The Church: 1. The Essence of the Church
Chapter 5. The Church: 2. The Church as a Sacramental and Hierarchical Organization
Chapter 5. The Church: 3. The Limits of Sacramentalism
Chapter 5. The Church: 4. Grace
Chapter 6. History
Chapter 7. Death and the State after Death
Chapter 8. Parousia, Resurrection, and the City of God: 1. Introductory Comments & 2. The End of This Age
Chapter 8. Parousia, Resurrection, and the City of God: 3. The Parousia
Chapter 8. Parousia, Resurrection, and the City of God: 4. The Transfiguration of the World
Chapter 8. Parousia, Resurrection, and the City of God: 5. The Universal Resurrection
Chapter 8. Parousia, Resurrection, and the City of God: 6. Judgment and Separation
Chapter 8. Parousia, Resurrection, and the City of God: 7. The Eternal in the Temporal (On the Eternity of Bliss and Torments)
Chapter 8. Parousia, Resurrection, and the City of God: 8. The City of God
Original note with this project now posted at the end here:
A few Orthodox Christian friends kindly asked me to help lead a group of lay people who want to read and discuss Sergei Bulgakov’s The Bride of the Lamb together. Several folks from outside of the Orthodox church have joined us as well, but our purpose remains to seek spiritual edification as we read together. And yes, we are the blind leading the blind. However, what are we to do? There are a couple within the group who have actual training on the topics and languages involved, so we will hopefully find our way together reasonably enough. Bulgakov is thought by a few scholars these days to be the twentieth century's foremost Russian Orthodox theologian, and The Bride of the Lamb is widely regarded as Bulgakov's magnum opus. It was written in his final years and published shortly after his death (and the wonderful accounts of his deathbed transfiguration). Bulgakov was and remains controversial, of course, but his only real counterpart theologically, Georges Florovsky, was a younger theologian who Bulgakov recruited and recommended as his own life-long colleague and his greatest critic at the St. Sergius Orthodox Theological Institute (where Bulgakov served as the dean). For an account of their relationship, see “Georges Florovsky and Sergius Bulgakov: ‘In Peace Let Us Love One Another’” by Paul Ladouceur from the book The Living Christ: The Theological Legacy of Georges Florovsky, eds. John Chryssavgis and Brandon Gallaher, London: T&T Clark, 2021, pages 91-111 (available for free download from the author at academia dot edu).
This is a book that I’ve given up on several times in the past decade. However, I recently made it through the book finally and have circled back through it again more than once now. On this slow reading with several others, I will plan, with each assigned section every two weeks, to summarize a few key points along with some simple responses or reflections of my own. I’ll keep this very brief and post these as subscription content here every two weeks so that any interested subscribers of mine can also read along, share ideas, and ask questions if they wish (see the first installment here). Meanwhile, I will still share one or two other essays of my own each month as subscription content unrelated to this book read. My apologies for the prospect of subscription content showing up three to four times a month as emails for the coming twelve months, but that is the plan. I hope that you, dear subscribers, will survive.