Bulgakov’s teaching on sophiology is highly controversial. The attempt to understand it properly is hindered by the highly political controversy surrounding it in the 1930’s. <ref>For commentary, texts and a fuller account of the sophiological controversy see Antoine Arjakovsky, Essai sur le père Serge Boulgakov (1871-1944), philosophe et théologien chrétien (Paris: Les Éditions Parole et Silence, 2006), pp.99-125 and La génération des penseurs religieux de l’émigration Russe: La Revue ‘La Voie’ (Put’), 1925-1940 (Kiev/Paris: L’Esprit et la Lettre, 2002), pp.433ff., N. T. Eneeva, Spor o sofiologii v russkom zarubezh’e 1920-1930 godov (Moscow: Institut vseobshchei istorii RAN, 2001), Igumen Gennadii (Eikalovich), Delo prot. Sergiia Bulgakova: Istoricheskaia kanva spora o Sofii (San Francisco: Globus Pub., 1980), Bryn Geffert, ‘Sergii Bulgakov, The Fellowship of St Alban and St Sergius, Intercommunion and Sofiology’, Revolutionary Russia, 17:1 (June 2004), pp.105-41, ‘The Charges of Heresy Against Sergii Bulgakov: The Majority and Minority Reports of Evlogii’s Commission and the Final Report of the Bishops’ Conference’, ''St Vladimir’s Theological Quarterly'', 49.1-2 (2005), pp.47-66 and especially Alexis Klimoff, ‘Georges Florovsky and the Sophiological Controversy’, ''St Vladimir’s Theological Quarterly'', 49.1-2 (2005), pp.67-100.</ref> It should be noted that by 1931 there existed three separate Russian Orthodox jurisdictions in Europe: [[ROCOR|Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia (Sremski Karlovtzy Synod)]] under [[Anthony (Khrapovitsky) of Kiev|Met. Anthony (Khrapovitsky)]]; the [[Church of Russia|‘Patriarchal’ church]] answering ultimately to [[Sergius I (Stragorodsky) of Moscow|Met. Sergius (Stragorodsky)]] of Moscow (of which the young [[Vladimir Lossky]] was a member); and the [[Patriarchal Exarchate for Orthodox Parishes of Russian Tradition in Western Europe|Russian Church in Western Europe]] (Bulgakov’s own jurisdiction as well as the church of [[Georges Florovsky]]) under [[Eulogius (Georgievsky) of Paris|Met. Evlogy (Georgievsky)]] that was under the jurisdiction of the [[Church of Constantinople|Patriarch of Constantinople]] -- though in 1934, Metropolitan Evlogy was privately reconciled to Metropolitan Anthony, and in 1935 he went to Karlovtzy for a special reunion conference, at which time the schism betwen him and ROCOR was healed<ref>[[Kallistos (Ware) of Diokleia|Timothy Ware]], ''The Orthodox Church'' (London: Penguin Books, 1964)p. 184.</ref> In 1936, Metropolitan Evlogy again cut his ties with ROCOR, quite possibly because of the controversy over [[Sophianism]].<ref>Protopresbyter George Grabbe, ''Toward a History of the Ecclesiastical Divisions Within the Russian Diaspora'', Living Orthodoxy, Vol. XIV, No. 4, July-August, 1992, pp. 37-39</ref>

The commission quickly broke into factions. In June of 1936 the majority report (prepared by Vasilii Zenkovskii, Anton Kartashev and others) rejected the charge of heresy but had serious objections about Sophiology. The minority report of 6 July, 1936 was prepared by Fr Sergei Chetverikov and signed by Fr [[Georges Florovsky]], who despite his personal respect for Fr. Sergius, remained an ardent critic of Sophianism for the remainder of his life. Meanwhile, the Church Abroad formally accused Bulgakov of heresy in 1935.

Bulgakov responded to the heresy accusation in his ''Dokladnaia zapiska Mitropolitu Evlogiiu prof. prot. Sergiia Bulgakova'' (Paris, 1936). Archbishop Seraphim then rebutted Bulgakov in his ''Zashchita sofianskoi eresi'' (Sofia, 1937). No final report was prepared on the sophiology controversy by the commission set up by Bulgakov’s own jurisdiction. However, Met. Evlogy convoked a bishop’s conference on 26-9 November 1937 to bring closure to the matter. The bishops in their statement were working from reports by Archimandrite Cassian (Bezobrazov) and Chetverikov and they concluded that the accusations of heresy against Bulgakov were unfounded but that his theological opinions showed serious flaws and needed correction.

==Books in English==

*''The Bride of the Lamb''. Eerdmans, 2001. (ISBN 978-0802839152)

*''The Comforter''. Eerdmans, 2004. (ISBN 978-0802821126)

*''The Friend of the Bridegroom: On the Orthodox Veneration of the Forerunner''. Eerdmans, 2003. (ISBN 978-0802849793)

*''The Holy Grail and the Eucharist''. Lindisfarne, 1997. (ISBN 978-0940262812)

*''The Lamb of God''. Eerdmans, 2007. (ISBN 978-0802827791)

*''The Orthodox Church''. St Vladimir's, 1997. (ISBN 978-0881410518)

*''Philosophy of Economy''. Yale, 2000. (ISBN 978-0300079906)

*''Sophia, the [[Holy Wisdom|Wisdom]] of God: An Outline of Sophiology''. Lindisfarne, 1993. (ISBN 978-0940262607)

==Notes==

==External links==

*[[w:Sergei Bulgakov|''Sergei Bulgakov'' on Wikipedia]]

[[Category:Priests]]

[[Category:Modern Writers]]