The Spirit of the Grand Inquisitor: On the Ukaz of Metropolitan Sergius Condemning the Theological Views of Father Sergius Bulgakov

by Nikolai Berdyaev

On September 7, 1935, the Moscow Patriarchate delivered an ukaz against the sophiology of Father Sergii Bulgakov. On October 30, a similar condemnation was published by the Russian Church Outside of Russia (ROCOR), headquartered in Serbia, except this time Bulgakov’s teaching was labeled not simply “foreign” to Orthodoxy but outright heretical.

Nikolai Berdyaev

Nikolai Alexandrovich Berdyaev (1874–1948) was an existential philosopher and Orthodox intellectual. His writing reflected an abiding concern with social and cultural issues, even as his early engagement with Marxism gave way to an interest in Christian spirituality. He spent the latter part of his life in Paris.

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