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The Comforter THE COMFORTER THE COMFORTER Sergi.us Bulgakov Translated by Boris ]akim WILLIAM 8. EERDMANS PUBLISHING COMPANY GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN I CAMBRIDGE, U.K. ID 2004 Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. All righrs reserved Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. 2140 Oak lndusrrial Drive N.E., Grand Rapids, Michigan 49505 / P.O. Box 163, Cambridge CB3 9PU U.K. Prin[ed in rhe Unired Stares of America IS 14 13 12 II IO Library of Congnsa Cataloging-in-Publication Data Bulgakov, Sergei Nikolaevich, 1871-1944. [Uceshitel'. English) The Comforccr / Sergius Bulgakov; rranslarcd by Boris Jakim. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 978-o-SolB-2112-6 (pbk.) 1. Holy Spiric. I. Tide. BT121.3.88513 2004 231'.3 - dcu www.eerdmans.com Contents 'Iranslator's Introduction vii Author's Prrface xiv INTRODUCTION: The Doctrine of the Holy Spirit in the Patristic Literature I. Early Chriscianicy II. Tertullian's Subordinationism and Stoic Philosophy 9 Ill. Cosmological Subordinationism in Arianism 15 IV. Ontological Subordinationism in Origen's Doctrine of the Holy Trinicy 18 V. Homoousianism in the Trinitarian Doctrine of St. Athanasius of Alexandria 23 VI. The Cappadocians' Doctrine of the Holy Trinicy and of the Holy Spirit 28 VII. The Western Doctrine of Homoousian Trinitarian Theology (St. Augustine) 40 VIII. The Trinitarian and Pneumatological Doctrine of St. John of Damascus 42 1. The Place of the Third Hypostasis in the Holy Trinicy S3 I. Trinitaricy and the Third Hypostasis 53 II. The Taxis or Order of the Hypostases in the Holy Trinicy 68 v ContentJ 2. The Procession of the Holy Spirit 75 I. The First Doctrines of the Procession of the Holy Spirit: dia and et (que) 75 II. The Second Epoch in the Doctrine of the Procession of the Holy Spirit. The Greco-Latin Polemic: Photian (Anti-Latin) Theology against the Latin Filioque 95 3. On the Spirit of God and the Holy Spirit 153 I. In the Old Testament 156 II. In the New Testament 159 4. The Dyad of the Word and the Spirit 177 I. In the Divine Sophia 177 II. In the Creaturely Sophia 189 S. The Revelation of the Holy Spirit 219 I. The Kenosis of the Holy Spirit in Creation 219 II. Divine Inspiration in the Old Testament 227 III. Divine Inspiration in Christ 244 IV. The Pentecost 267 V. The Gifts of the Pentecost 285 EPILOGUE: The Father 359 Index 395 vi Translator's Introduction Sergius Bulgakov's The Comforter is the most comprehensive and pro­ found book about the Holy Spirit ever written by a Russian theologian, and perhaps one of the most profound books about the Holy Spirit ever written. Bulgakov's stated goal in this book is to continue the work of St. Athanasius, who investigated the christological aspect of the Divine­ humaniry, 1 interpreting the latter as the dyadic action of the Son and the Holy Spirit, but without considering the relation between the Father and the Holy Spirit. In The Comforter, Bulgakov extends Athanasius' concep­ tion into "an inquiry into Divine-humanity as the work of the Son and the Holy Spirit, who in their indivisible Dyad, reveal the Father."2 2 The Holy Spirit is often referred to as the Paraclete, in Greek: parakletos. Raymond E. Brown has written the following: In ics rooc meaning the Greek cerm means "called [kletos) alongside [para)"; and like its Latin equivalent advocatus ("called [vocatus) to [ad)"), it has a forensic or legal use. When people are in trouble, they call in a lawyer or counsellor or advocate to stand beside them in court. 1. See p. x of che Translacor's lncroducrion for a discussion of Divine-humanicy. 2. See p. 17 of the present edition. vii Translator's Introduction The legal concexc fies che Johannine hiscory I have described wherein che members of che communicy had co defend chemselves for cheir chriscological views. Their help and surecy was che Paraclete-Spirit dwelling wichin chem who interpreted correcdy che significance ofJe­ sus.... Anocher reason for which the Spirit is "called alongside" is consolation ac rimes of crouble, whence the Consoler or Holy Com­ forter. In the context ofche Last Supper Jesus is going away. Although chis makes che hearts of his disciples sorrowful, ic is becter chac he goes away; for then the Paraclete comes Oohn 16:6-7), and they have che consolacion of one who more chan makes up for Jesus' departure.3 Akhough Bulgakov does discuss che accivicy of che Holy Spiric as Advocate, he clearly emphasizes che funccion of the Holy Spirit as Con­ soler or Comforcer, che One who has been sent co comforc chose Chrisc has left behind: "I will not leave you comfordess" Oohn 14:18). Indeed, the Russian tide, Uteshitel; cannot mean Advocace; ic can only mean Com­ forter. This explains my choice of Comforter (noc Paraclece) for the En­ glish cide. 3 Father Sergius Bulgakov (1871-1944) is the rwentiech century's most pro­ found Orchodox systemacic theologian. Born into che family of a poor provincial priest, Bulgakov had a strict religious upbringing and entered the seminary at a young age. Bue owing co a spiritual crisis, in che direc­ cion of macerialism and acheism, he did not complete his seminary stud­ ies. He chose, instead, to follow a secular course of study, which led to his matriculation at the Universicy of Moscow, where he specialized in polici­ cal economics. This marked the beginning of his relatively short-lived Marxist pe­ riod. In 1901, after which he defended his master's thesis, Capitalism and Agriculture (1900), he was appointed professor of political economy at che Polytechnical Institute of Kiev. During his years there (1901-1906), he un­ derwent a second spiritual crisis, this cime in the direction of idealist phi­ losophy and che religion of his youth. Influenced first by the philosophies of Kant and Vladimir Solovyov, 3. R. E. Brown, Tbt Churches tht Aposd., Left &bind (New York: Paulisr, 1984), pp. 106-7. viii Translator's Introduction and then by the great Orthodox theologian Pavel Florensky, Bulgakov gradually began to articulate his own original sophiological conception of philosophy. This conception was first elaborated in his Philosophy of Economy, for which he received his doctorate from the University of Mos­ cow in 1912. Later, in The Unfading light (1917), he gave his sophiological ideas definite philosophical shape. Following this, Bulgakov's intellectual output was, for the most part, theological in character. Indeed, his per­ sonal religious consciousness flowered in the following year, and he ac­ cepted the call to the priesthood, receiving ordination in 1918. These years of internal crisis and growth in Bulgakov's personal life paralleled the tumultuous period in Russian political and social life chat climaxed in the October Revolution of 1917 and the subsequent Bolshevik ascendancy. In 1918, Bulagkov left Moscow for the Crimea to assume a professorship at the University of Simferopol, but his tenure was short­ lived, owing co Lenin's banishment in 1922 of more than one hundred scholars and writers deemed incurably out of seep with the official ideol­ ogy. Bulgakov left the Soviet Union on January 1, 1923, first alighting in Constantinople, and then in Prague. Finally, having accepted Metropoli­ tan Eulogius' invitation both co become the Dean of the newly estab­ lished Saint Sergius Theological Institute and to occupy the Chair of Dogmatic Theology, he settled in Paris in 1925. Here, until his death in 1944, he was to make his most fruitful and lasting contributions to Or­ thodox thought. During the theologically most productive period of his life, Bulgakov produced six books, grouped into two trilogies. The works of the so-called little trilogy, The Friend of the Bridegroom (1927),4 The Burning Bush (1927), and Jacob's Ladder (1929), are efforts to capture the glory, the uncreated light streaming from John the Baptist, the Mocher of God, and the holy angels. The great trilogy, On Divine Humanity, consists of volumes on Chriscology (The Lamb of God, 1933), pneumatology (The Comforter, 1936), and ecclesiology and eschatology (The Bride of the Lamb, published poschumuously, 1945).5 On Divine Humanity is Bulgakov's magnum opus, representing the summation and crowning achievement of many years of philosophical and theological inquiry. 4. Published by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2003, in Boris Jakim's rransla- ti on. 5. Published by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2002, in Boris Jakim's rransla- ti on. ix Translator's Introduction 4 The Comforter, the middle volume in the great trilogy,6 is encyclopedic in its scope and variety. It has historical sections, treating the development of the doctrine of the Holy Spirit in patristics and then the development of the doctrines of procession in the early patristic and later Byzantine pe­ riods. It touches upon the place of the Holy Spirit in the Holy Trinity and explores Old and New Testament notions of the Spirit of God and the Holy Spirit. The concluding chapter deals with the mystical revelation of the Holy Spirit, in His gifts and finally in the Pentecost, which is consid­ ered to be unending. Throughout this book, we find rigorous philosophi­ cal and theological thought illustrated and buttressed by the evidence of Scripture and Church tradition (especially prayer).7 Central to Bulgakov's thought in Tbe Comforter, as well as in the en­ tire great trilogy, are the concepts of Divine-humanity and Sophia, con­ cepts that are crucial for modern Russian philosophy and theology, start­ ing with Vladimir Solovyov.8 Divine-humanity is rooted in the Creed of Chalcedon, which defines the dual nature of Christ, divine and human, and expresses the process whereby man cooperates with God, leading to the transfiguration of humanity and fusing the enrire human community into a heavenly Church without barriers between dominations.
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