Sunday, October 30, 2005
SOPHIOLOGY
There is a paper online in a pdf file by Mikhail Sergeev titled "Divine Wisdom and the Trinity: A 20th Century Controversy in Orthodox Theology". It was delivered at the World Congress of Philosophy in Boston, August 1998.
The paper presents the Soloviev/Bulgakov conception of the Trinity incorporating the concept of wisdom or Sophia as the connection between God and creation. Georgii Florovskii's objections to Sophiology are presented as well.
I found it telling that Florovsky stated "...the interpretations of the Church Fathers should still remain unsurpassed while modern philosophy [which Sophiology is considered to be] is nothing but a return to paganism of the ancient Greek thought."
Oddly enough, I've just begun THE APOCALYPSE EXPLAINED by H. M. Feret, O.P., published in 1958 with a Nihil obstat and Imprimatur as well as a Westmonasterii. The book begins by describing the social conditions of the Roman Empire at the time the Apocalypse was written, which comes close to describing the religious environment we have today. According to Fr. Feret, the Apocalypse was written partly to encourage the faithful in the face of pagan persecution.
Which essentially, it would seem, makes George Florovsky's objections to Sophiology correct considering that what we are seeing today is a rise in Paganism using Sophiology to suggest a new hypostasis of God in the form of the Divine Feminine.
