Consciousness of death in the worldview of S. N. Bulgakov: personal and dogmatic aspects

Annotation

The article deals with the thanatological aspect of S. N. Bulgakov’s life and thoughts. The work proves that the problem of death pervades the life and work of the Russian philosopher. When turning to autobiographical works, one can see the scale of the death presence in Bulgakov’s childhood, as it claimed lives of his many brothers and sisters, grandfather, father and mother. Death is declared by him as a «teacher», a nostalgic source of religious philosophizing. A special dramatic force affected the fate of Bulgakov was the death of his son Ivashka, which probably induced his turn to Christianity and priesthood. The article notes aspects of spiritual death in the creative path of the philosopher, his attitude to the revolution of 1917 in Russia. The work also touches upon the subject of «sophiology of death» elaborated by Bulgakov, noting as its specificity the construction of kenotic theology on the basis of his own anthropological experience of death.

Keywords

S. N. Bulgakov, death, love, sophiology, God, man, kenosis.

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