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Sophiology (Russian:Софиология; by detractors also calledSophianism(Софианство) orSophism (Софизм)) is a controversial school of thought in theRussian Orthodox tradition ofEastern OrthodoxChristianity that holds that Divine Wisdom (orSophia—Greek: σοφία; literally translatable to "wisdom") is to be identified with God's essence, and that this Divine Wisdom is in some way expressed in the world as 'creaturely' wisdom.[1] This notion has often been characterized as introducing a feminine "fourthhypostasis" into theTrinity.[2]
Personified representations of Holy Wisdom (Ἁγία Σοφία) or the "Wisdom of God" refer inOrthodox theology to the person ofJesus Christ, as illustrated in the Acts of theSeventh Ecumenical Council (Nicaea II, 787): "Our Lord Jesus Christ, our true God, the self-existent Wisdom of God the Father, Who manifested Himself in the flesh, and by His great and divine dispensation (lit. economy) freed us from the snares of idolatry, clothing Himself in our nature, restored it through the cooperation of the Spirit, Who shares His mind..."[3] More recently it has been stated that "From the most ancient times and onwards many Orthodox countries have been consecrating churches to the Lord Jesus Christ as the Wisdom of God."[4]
Sophiology has its roots in theearly modern period, but as an explicit theological doctrine was first formulated during the 1890s to 1910s byVladimir Solovyov (1853–1900),Pavel Florensky (1882–1937) andSergei Bulgakov (1871–1944).[5] For Bulgakov, theTheotokos was theworld soul and the “pneumatophoric hypostasis”, a Bulgakov neologism.[6][further explanation needed]
In 1935, parts of Sergei Bulgakov's doctrine of Sophia were condemned by thePatriarchate of Moscow[7] and the Bishops' Council of theRussian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia.[8] Although Bulgakov was censured by these jurisdictions, a committee commissioned byMetropolitan Eulogius (Georgiyevsky) of Paris to critique Bulgakov's Sophiology found his system questionable, but not heretical, and issued no formal censure (save for a minority report written by two members of the committee,Georges Florovsky andSergei Ivanovich Chetverikov).[9]
Alexis Klimoff summarized Georges Florovsky's principal objections to Sophiology as follows: "Sophiology diverges from traditional (patristic) Orthodox teaching on fundamental questions like creation; [it] falsely claims to be sanctified by historical precedent; [it] represents a retreat from the reality of a historical religion into the abstractions of speculative philosophy; [its] sources are not only non-patristic, but to a significant degree non-Orthodox (Protestant mysticism) and non-Christian (the occult)."[10]
Thomas Merton studied the Russian Sophiologists and praised Sophia in his poem titled "Hagia Sophia" (1963).[11] The Roman CatholicValentin Tomberg in his magnum opusMeditations on the Tarot incorporated many Sophiological insights into his Christian Hermeticism, pairing the Holy Trinity (Father-Son-Holy Spirit) with the Trino-Sophia (Mother-Daughter-Holy Soul), which together he called “The Luminous Holy Trinity”. The book's 2020 Angelico Press edition includes an introduction written byRobert Spaemann, a favorite theologian ofPope Benedict XVI[citation needed], while its other editions feature an Afterword byHans Urs von Balthasar.Pope John Paul II elevated von Balthasar to cardinal after having von Balthasar had endorsed this book and the pope himself photographed with Tomberg's book on his desk and said by Richard Payne, the original English publisher, to have kept a copy on his nightstand.[12][citation needed]
Johnson (1993) and Meehan (1996) noted parallels between the Russian "sophiological" controversy and theGender of God debate in westernfeminist theology.[13][14]
