The Soul of the Human Race: The Mother of God in the Theology Of Sergius Bulgakov

This dissertation examines the role of the Mother of God in Sergius Bulgakov’s Sophiology. It places Bulgakov’s Mariology within the contexts of the Russian Religious Renaissance and Russian Sophiology. With respect to Russian Sophiology, Bulgakov systematically develops the insights on Mary proffered by Vladimir Solov’ev and Pavel Florensky. I demonstrate that his The Burning Bush (1926) should be seen as the fullest development of Sophianic Mariology initiated by Solov’ev. The influence of the Russian Religious Renaissance is evident in his emphasis on sexuality. Bulgakov incorporates the popular theory from this movement that each person consists of a “spiritual bisexuality” into his Mariology. Like many of his peers, Bulgakov was an essentialist who interprets the human experience in terms of sexuality. Within this anthropological vision, Mary has a unique importance because she is the fullest manifestation of the feminine potential in humankind. I argue that the pneumatological context of his Mariology reveals the liberating and inclusive role of the feminine. Mary reveals the vocation of Christian disciples to become “Spirit-Bearers” or “Divine Mothers,” to give birth to Christ in all their thoughts, words, and actions that entail a creative engagement with the world. We are all called to be prophets like Mary. Given Bulgakov’s essentialism, this means that discipleship entails the actualization of our femininity. This actualization involves our adoption into the life and mission of the Holy Spirit, Who is the archetype for our feminine potential. The result is an anthropologically-centered vision of Mary that places Mary firmly within the human race. Mary is the fullest expression of Sophia from the perspective of humankind. This study ends with a critical evaluation of Bulgakov’s thought from the feminist and Neo-Patristic perspectives.Doctor of Philosophy (PhD