Metropolitan Sergius (Stragorodsky) as a Critic of Sophiology of Archpriest Sergius Bulgakov. On the History of the “Sophia Dispute”

The article discusses some circumstances related to the church polemics surrounding the book of Archpriest Sergius Bulgakov “The Lamb of God”, published in Paris in 1933, and the participation of the deputy locum tenens of the Patriarchal throne, Metropolitan Sergius (Stragorodsky), who issued two decrees in Moscow in 1935, exposing the theological errors of the professor of dogmatic theology at the Holy Trinity Orthodox Theological Institute. In the conditions when the Synod was forcibly disbanded, the decrees were not a unilateral opinion of Metropolitan Sergius, but were signed by “joining” hierarchs, giving them the character of conciliar acts. The role of the Photian Brotherhood in preparing these decrees is noted, in particular, its leader A. V. Stavrovsky, who prepared and sent to Metropolitan Eleftherius of Vilnius and Lithuania, who took care of the foreign parishes of the Moscow Patriarchate, a “report” outlining the views of Fr. S. Bulgakov. The article explores the inconsistent reaction to the condemnation of Bulgakov by representatives of the Russian emigration, revealing the reasons why Metropolitan Sergius issued the decrees, among which is his trust in the young members of the Photian Brotherhood who remained faithful to the Moscow Patriarchate in emigration and proposed a significant program of Orthodox mission in Western Europe using the French language and Western rites, up to the establishment of the French diocesan Orthodox Church. The article uses materials from the memorial edition issued by the Moscow Patriarchate in 1947 in memory of Patriarch Sergius, as well as new sources recently introduced into circulation — letters and documents that reveal new aspects of the history of the “Sophia dispute”. Certain aspects of the criticism of the teaching of Sophia by V. N. Lossky are also considered, which are related to the decrees of Metropolitan Sergius.

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