ESCHATOLOGY AND HISTORY: THE THEOLOGY OF KARL BARTH AND RUSSIAN RELIGIOUS PHILOSOPHY IN THE INTERWAR PERIOD

Annotation

The article explores philosophical and theological interpretations of history within the context of the dialogue between Russian religious thinkers of the interwar period and Karl Barth’s dialectical theology. The author examines how Russian émigré philosophers (Nikolai Berdyaev, Sergei Bulgakov, Vasily Zenkovsky) responded to Barth’s radical historical pessimism, his rejection of the idea of progress, and his insistence on the absolute transcendence of God with respect to human history. While recognizing the intellectual depth and significance of Barthian theology, Russian thinkers nonetheless contested its central claim of an infinite gap between God and history, offering alternative approaches centered on concepts of freedom, creativity, and the transformative potential of human history. Special attention is given to Berdyaev’s personalist philosophy, interpreting the end of history not as catastrophe or judgment but as the ultimate realization of freedom and human creativity, as well as Bulgakov’s sophiological understanding of the connection between eternity and historical time. The author concludes that the critical engagement with Barth allowed Russian philosophers to articulate and deepen distinctive insights central to the Russian religious- philosophical tradition.

Keywords

Karl Barth, dialectical theology, Russian religious philosophy, Nikolai Berdyaev, Sergei Bulgakov, eschatology, philosophy of history, theology of crisis, freedom, sophiology, interwar period

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