Doctrine of Sophia, the Wisdom of God

“The Greeks seek wisdom: we preach Christ crucified. It is a temptation for the Jews to be a stumbling block, but for the Greeks to be foolish, but we ourselves are called, Jews and Greeks, Christ, God’s Power and God’s Wisdom.” In his books “The Burning Bush” and “The Groom’s Friend,” Prof.-Prot. O. S. Bulgakov expounds the doctrine of the Mother of God and John the Baptist 1, which, in essence, is only a development of the doctrine of Sophia and “Sophia” shared by their author. This teaching has become quite widespread in circles close to the Academy of Religious Philosophy and the Paris Theological Institute, and requires careful analysis, because it affects and distorts the very foundations of our faith. Sophia is a Greek word meaning “wisdom”, “wisdom”. Wisdom is one of the properties of God. “God is only wise” (Rom. 14:26; 1 Tim. 1:17). He alone gives real wisdom to people, and earthly wisdom is demonic wisdom (James 1:5, 3:15; 1 Cor. 12:8). Since every attribute of God, except the personal, belongs to each of the Persons of the Holy Trinity, then the Father is wise, the Son is wise, and the Holy Spirit is wise. But when the word “Wisdom” is used as a proper name, then this means the Second Person of the Holy Trinity on the basis of the inspired words of the Apostle Paul that “we preach Christ, the power of God and the wisdom of God” (1 Cor. 1:23–24). From the first centuries, Christianity called the Second Person of the Holy Trinity the Wisdom of God, and attributed to Him all the texts of the Holy Scriptures, where the Wisdom of God is spoken of not only as a property, but also as a personal principle. But recently a religious and philosophical movement has appeared that wants to see in Sophia the Wisdom something other than the hypostatic Word of God. A whole special teaching about Wisdom-Sophia is being created. “Divine Sophia,” writes Archpriest. Bulgakov in “The Burning Bush” is the eternal self-revelation of the Most Holy One. Trinity, Glory of God, Divine world of eternal essences, Divine All, Revelation of the Father in the Only Begotten Son and in the Holy Spirit" 2. The world was created by the wisdom of God, and therefore it is, in the author’s words, “created wisdom.” And “in the Mother of God, heavenly and created Wisdom, the Holy Spirit living in Her, were united with the created human hypostasis”; therefore, “this is created Wisdom, glorified and crowned in heaven as the Queen of Heaven.” Thus, according to the author, the Illustrious Mother of God “is a creature, but no longer a creature,” unites in Herself the Divine and created principles 3 . But since the author pursues the idea that the fullness of man is a combination of male and female images, then in the book “Friend of the Bridegroom” he puts John the Baptist in correspondence with the Mother of God, who is “the very human Sophia, Wisdom in man,” and, as the chosen child of Wisdom, the “head” of the human race. The Forerunner and the Mother of God represent the Church, “represent Wisdom in human nature,” and lead “all the children of Wisdom.” And since the author claims that the incarnation of God is possible only through the acceptance of God and the meeting with God, “they express the human side of the incarnation of God” 4 . Giving such a new interpretation of the concept of Wisdom, Rev. Bulgakov naturally encounters the already established understanding of Wisdom as the Second Hypostasis, based on the Holy Scriptures and patristic works. Therefore, in order to prove that his teaching is ecclesiastical and Orthodox, he asserts: 1) that in liturgical songs and among the Holy Fathers, the Wisdom of God does not always mean the Second Hypostasis of the Holy Trinity, and 2) that such an understanding of the Wisdom of God does not agree with and even directly contradicts not only some church prayers, but even the Holy Scriptures. He considers “a positive teaching on this issue to be an as yet unresolved task of Orthodox theology” and tries to clear the way for solving it in the spirit he desires. Archpriest S. Bulgakov says that the teaching about the Wisdom of God, only as the Son and Word of God, is, in essence, an Arian teaching. The Arians, in order to confirm with the Holy Scriptures their teaching that the Son of God was created, attributed to Him a verse where in the name of Wisdom it is said: “The Lord created me.” And St. Athanasius the Great, and after him the other Holy Fathers, instead of pointing out that these words do not at all refer to the Second Hypostasis, began only to explain how the expression “created” should be understood here. Thus, the Arian explanation allegedly entered into the patristic works 5. But is it possible to think that none of the Holy Fathers would pay attention to the fact that here simply nothing is said about Christ at all, and that everyone explaining this text was engaged in vain idle talk, without touching on the essence of the issue? And is it natural to assume that the fighters for Orthodoxy, who carefully discussed every expression and arrangement of words so that there would be no Arian thought in them, suddenly so easily accepted the Arian interpretation and, not being convinced of its correctness, did not even try to study it more carefully? After all, due to the expression “created” used in the Greek Bible, the explanation of this text was not so simple, and it took many contexts to figure out how to understand this text in connection with all the others talking about Christ. It would be much easier to point out that it is not relevant than to stop arguing about its understanding. However, Fr. Bulgakov admits that not only the Arians, but also St. Athanasius himself did not doubt for a minute to attribute this passage directly to the Word. True, St. Athanasius also speaks about the wisdom manifested in creation, the imprint of God’s Wisdom, but this does not in the least contradict the fact that God’s Wisdom is the Son of God. “All things came into being, and without Him nothing came to be” (John 1:3), and in creating, the Creative Word put His stamp on everything. Man, created in the image and likeness of God, in his soul, breathed into him by God, also has the imprint of the Trinity; but pointing out his mental abilities does not at all mean changing the doctrine of the Prototype. The concept of wisdom, as a property, and Wisdom, as a Person, cannot be confused. “The Word of the Lord,” or “God,” is sometimes called the expression of God’s will. In words, a person expresses his thoughts and desires. But is it really because of this reflection of the Divine in man that Prof. Will S. Bulgakov deny that the Hypostatic Word of God is the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, and still seek the roots of such a teaching from the Holy Fathers - although the Church definitely believes and confesses that the Son of God is His Eternal Word? Saint Athanasius the Great taught so definitely that the Wisdom of God is the Hypostatic Word that it is in vain to look for another teaching from him. Saying that the wisdom manifested in us is the image of God’s Wisdom, he adds “as our word is the image of the true Word - the Son of God.” Thus, if prof. Bulgakov is inclined to think that he is preaching the teaching that the Great Athanasius shared, then he must either admit that the Second Hypostasis of the Holy Trinity is called the Wisdom of God, or understand by the words “Word” and “Son of God” something different from the Second Person. Just as definitely, the Wisdom of God meant the Second Person of the Most Holy Trinity of St. Basil the Great and Gregory the Theologian. They knew that some saw in the name Wisdom only the personification of an impersonal property; but they rejected such an interpretation. “But let us not answer in this way,” says St. Gregory the Theologian, “although some before us presented this as something solid. On the contrary, let us assume that these are the words (pronounced in the name of Wisdom) of the Savior Himself - the true Wisdom.” Thus, he believes that a teaching that does not recognize the Wisdom of God as a Person can only be presented as true, and at the basis of his interpretation of Holy Scripture he puts (he does not say “suppose,” but affirmatively, “put”) the teaching that Wisdom is the Savior Himself. Prot. S. Bulgakov knows and even quotes these words, refuting his teaching; but instead of admitting that he teaches the opposite of what the Holy Fathers taught, he continues to assert that they, not wanting to themselves examine the question of what Wisdom is, with some incomprehensible ease accepted the Arian explanation, on all other issues while at the same time fiercely fighting the perverters of the true faith. It is even more incomprehensible why this “Arian” teaching was so embedded in the patristic works that Prof. Bulgakov found only two Church Fathers who called the Holy Spirit Wisdom, but in general and always it is the Son of God who is called Wisdom. However, these two Holy Fathers - Theophilus of Antioch, who said about the Holy Spirit that He, being “the beginning and wisdom and power of the Most High, descended on the prophets,” and Irenaeus of Lyons, who expressed that the Father always has “Word and Wisdom, Son and Spirit,” firstly, did not mean to give here the exact teaching of what is the Wisdom of God; and, secondly, both God the Father and the Holy Spirit can be called Wisdom without any contradiction and in full agreement with the fact that Wisdom, as a Hypostasis (Person), is precisely the Second Person of the Trinity, the Son of God. Why and in what sense the Holy Spirit can be called Wisdom was clearly explained by Blessed Didymus the Blind, which was translated into Latin by Blessed Jerome. “The Holy Spirit,” they say, “has one community of nature and will with the Son, the Trinity is inseparable and inseparable. since the Spirit of wisdom and truth inseparably abides with the Son, and He Himself is essentially Wisdom and Truth. And the Son, being essentially Wisdom and Truth, is inseparable from the Father, Who is proclaimed by the words of Scripture to be the only Wisdom and Truth. The Holy Spirit was sent from Wisdom and Truth, having an inseparable being with the same Wisdom and Truth.” Thus, the unity and inseparability of nature make all the properties of God common, except for personal characteristics (birth and procession). Therefore, when we attribute any property to One of the Persons of the Trinity, we attribute it to All Three Persons. Calling the Son of God Hypostatic Wisdom is not a denial, but an affirmation of the fact that both God the Father and the Holy Spirit are wise and Wisdom. But at the same time, calling the Father and the Spirit wise, we do not deny, but affirm that Hypostatic Wisdom, Wisdom as a Person, is precisely the Son of God. Many properties and names of God, belonging to all Three Persons, are attributed primarily to One of Them. God is the Father, God is the Son, God and the Holy Spirit. However, in the trisagion prayer the Father is called God, as the Beginning of everything; The Son is called strong because he defeated the devil, although the Father and the Spirit can also be called strong; and the Holy Spirit is called in this prayer the Immortal, as giving life to everything, although both the Father and the Son are equally immortal. So, despite the fact that each of these three names could equally be applied to each of the Persons of the Holy Trinity, to the entire Trinity, or to one of Her Persons, the Church, addressing this prayer to the Trinity, calls each Person by a special name, and condemned as heresy the addition to this prayer of the words “crucified for us,” referring it only to the Second Person. This increase, made by the Monophysites, is still maintained by the Armenians who broke away from the Orthodox Church, otherwise they have long ago turned away from Monophysite errors. Similar in the prayers “The Most Holy Trinity”, “Lord grant” and “The Day Has Gone” (Vel. Compline), God the Father is called Lord, 6 the Son is called Master, and the Spirit is called Holy, although each of them is both Lord and Master and Saint. But if these names of the Persons of the Holy Trinity in this sense are used only in some prayers, and in others many of them refer indifferently to each Person of the Trinity, then those names that primarily and even exclusively call One of the Persons often express the property of Each of Them. Strictly speaking, only the names Father and Son accurately define the distinctive properties of Him from Whom every family in heaven and on earth is named (Eph. 3:15), and His True Only Begotten Son. But this can no longer be said about the name of the Third Person. The Spirit is and holy is God the Father, the Spirit and holy is the Son begotten of Him, holy is the Spirit who comes from God the Father. However, although each of the Three Persons, like the entire Trinity, could be called the Holy Spirit, this name is predominantly adopted by the Third Hypostasis. Comforter God the Father, “God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction” (2 Cor. 1:3–4), Comforter God the Son 7, Comforter Holy Spirit (John 14:16–17, 26, 15:26). But this name, according to the words of Jesus Christ Himself, is the Third Person of the Holy Trinity. It is to Him that Orthodox Christians turn with the prayer “Heavenly King” - and, although all the names and epithets in it could be attributed to each Person and to the entire Trinity, it seems here that a question or dispute about who this prayer is addressed is hardly possible. Likewise, although each of the Persons and the entire Holy Trinity could be called Wisdom, this name is primarily given to the One who is also called the Word. God the Father creates everything through His Son. Therefore, the Son, through whom all things were created, is called, among other names, the Word, the Power of God and Wisdom 8. It is called the Word because through Him the Trinitarian God expressed His will. By power - because through Him God’s will has been fulfilled and is being fulfilled. Wisdom - because by Him and in Him the manifold wisdom of God was revealed and appeared, first in the creation of the world, and then in the Incarnation (Eph. 3:9-11). In the creation of the world, the wisdom of God appeared, for God “created all things with wisdom” (Ps. 103:24), and when the earth was filled with His creation, “he made man in wisdom, that he might rule over the creatures created by Him, and that he might rule the world in honor and righteousness” (Wis. 9:2–3). All this was by the Word “and without Him was nothing” (John 1:3). But the wisdom of God was fully revealed in Christ Jesus, when through Him the mystery of the will of God, hidden from eternity in God, was revealed (Eph. 1:9, 3:9), and He became for us “wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and deliverance” (1 Cor. 1:30). The Church headed by Him, in numerous prayers and songs, confesses the Wisdom of Him, and no one else, calling the Savior so because it was through Him that the manifold wisdom of God was revealed, which the Church is called to proclaim (Eph. 3:10). The expression “wisdom of God” is used either as an impersonal name for one of God’s properties, as well as “the goodness of God,” “the omniscience of God,” “the omnipotence of God,” or as the Name of the Second Hypostasis. The Son of God, and not the Father and not the Holy Spirit, is called Wisdom in the Eucharistic prayer of the liturgy of St. Basil the Great. “You gave birth to Wisdom and Power and the Hypostatic Word of the Father, pure Mother of God, who received from Your most pure blood into your church and was thus united inseparably,” we turn to the Mother of God 9 . “Wisdom and the Word in Your womb, conceived beyond words, Mother of God, You gave birth to the world, containing the world, and You held in your arms the all-encompassing nourisher of all, both the Creator and the Lord” 10. “Having rejected all passionate filth, let us embrace a wise mind worthy of the divine kingdom, which You have foretold as Your Apostle, O Wisdom of all,” the Church turns to Christ on Holy Monday (1 Troparion, 9th Canto). “Oh, great and sacred Easter, Christ. Oh, Wisdom, and the Word of God, and Power. Give us the opportunity to partake of You in the eternal days of Your kingdom,” all Orthodox Christians cry to Him on the bright days of Easter, and the clergy at every Divine Liturgy 11. “With the word we made heaven together and the earth: with the Father we were and with the word I bear everything, as the Word, Wisdom and Power, and the Image, both active and equal,” Christ appears to be speaking in the three-canticle of Compline on Holy Tuesday 12. But with particular force the Church points to Christ as the Eternal Wisdom in the canon of Great Thursday and its modifications - the canons of Compline on December 22 and January 4. “The all-guilty and life-giving immeasurable Wisdom of God created a church for itself from the pure, unskilled Matera: for in the church he clothed himself bodily, Christ our God was gloriously glorified,” it says on Holy Thursday 13. The second part of this troparion in the canons of the forefeasts of Christmas and Epiphany reads as follows: “Having been surrounded with a bodily church, Christ our God was gloriously glorified” 14 ; “Now the streams of Jordan are coming, enriching the earthly with Divinity for renewal.” “The mystical guide prepares His soul-nourishing meal, and the immortal Wisdom of God dissolves the cup of the faithful, let us approach piously and cry: gloriously glorified is Christ our God.” “The magicians are the secret guides, the first-fruits of God’s Wisdom is convened from the tongues, which were previously silently nourished mysteriously, in the wordless manger the secret meal lies, and they strive for it with the gift of traveling, the shining star.” “By teaching all the secrets, they call together those who exist from the tongue of God, Wisdom, to the light in the darkness before the unlighted ignorance, leading to the knowledge of the truth” 15. “Let us hear, all the faithful, calling together with high preaching the uncreated and natural Wisdom of God, crying out: taste and, knowing that I am Christ (in the Greek triodion: that I am good), cry out: gloriously glorified is Christ our God” 16. No matter how you read “Christ az” or “good az” here, it is still clear that by Wisdom we mean Christ, calling to taste His Body and Blood. “Holding the uncontrollable and high-water of the abyss, bridling the waters of the abyss, and the sea-challenging Wisdom of God pours water into the laver, and washes the feet of the servants of the Master.” The second parts of the corresponding troparions of the canons of the forefeasts of Christmas and Epiphany, which have literally the same first half, read as follows: “The Wisdom of God, like rain descending on the fleece, dwelt in the womb of the Virgin.” “Divine Wisdom is coming to the Jordan, receiving baptism from the hand of a servant” (Song V, Troparion 1). “The Father, before all others, gives birth to Wisdom, the first-fruits of the ways, in works now created in secret: the Word is uncreated by nature, I appropriate the voices, which I have now received” 17. “The Creator, born of the Father before the ages, is born of the Virgin, this Wisdom is the Word of God and Power. In the same way, knowing the One Son, we magnify the God-man” 18. The passages cited are enough to be convinced that the Church in the Wisdom of God sees the One who, having created the world together with the Father, subsequently, being born of the Virgin, drew the Magi to the manger in which he lay, was humbly baptized by John on the Jordan, even more humbly washed the feet of the disciples, and, finally, offered us a mysterious meal - the Body given for the life of the world and the Blood shed for it. If any of the above troparions does not directly say that we are talking about Christ, this is clearly visible both in meaning and in connection with the rest of the service of these days. It is possible to cite many more prayers where the Word of Christ is called Wisdom. So, for example, it is very clearly and expressively said that Christ is the Wisdom of God in the service of the Midsummer. And where can you find that in church hymns someone else, or something other than Christ, is called Wisdom (not to mention, of course, wisdom as a property)? Prot. Bulgakov says that there is a double meaning in the 1st troparion of the 1st song of the canon of the Great Fourth - “The all-guilty and bestowing immeasurable Wisdom of God created a church for Himself from the pure, inexperienced Matera”; but where is the double meaning here, when in the second part of this troparion it is clearly explained that this church is a body, and Christ was clothed in it, who is called, therefore, “the all-guilty and bestowing immeasurable Wisdom of God.” It is equally, or even more clearly, clear that it is Christ that is spoken of in the rest of the troparia of the canon of Great Thursday, given here. As an example of prayers, where sometimes Christ and sometimes the Mother of God are called Wisdom, Archpriest Bulgakov refers to “the service of Sophia to the Wisdom of God, which is sung in the great Novegrad.” But in order to assert on the basis of prayers that this or that belief is recognized by the Church, one must point to the prayers accepted by the entire Church. Sofia's service is exclusively local in nature. Even in Russia it is known and sung only in a few churches, and it is completely unknown to the rest of the Local Churches. It was compiled no more than 3 centuries ago, by a person who had neither theological knowledge nor hierarchical authority, who, in addition, according to the remark of the researcher of this service A. Nikolsky, “did not form a clear and distinct concept of Hagia Sophia,” that is, in other words, he himself did not understand what he was writing about. Is it surprising then that the expressions used in this service are more than inaccurate? Professor Bulgakov's evidence is weak! Church teaching cannot be based on sayings that, like the prophecies of the Pythia, are not understood by either those who speak or those who listen. If the use of Sophia’s service has not brought harm so far, it is only because those who listened to it, as well as those who served, were in living unity with the Church, and did not stop their attention on incomprehensible expressions that obscured the meaning, contrary to the teaching expressed in other church prayers. But it cannot serve as proof of church teaching. The only question that arises is whether its further use is admissible. Archpriest Bulgakov is also embarrassed by the request in the prayer singing at the beginning of the teaching of the youths “to give them His Wisdom, which sits on the throne, and plant it in their hearts, so that He may teach them what is pleasing before Him, let us pray to the Lord.” He sees in this petition proof that the Church does not see the Second Hypostasis in Wisdom, since this is incompatible with the prayer for Her being sent down and implanted in hearts. But is Fr. embarrassed? Bulgakov, saying a prayer during the liturgy before the consecration of the gifts: “We also offer You this bloodless and verbal service and ask, and pray, and pray, send down Your Holy Spirit on us and on these gifts that are set before us.” Does he see in this prayer a denial of the fact that the Holy Spirit is the Third Person of the Holy Trinity? Praying to God the Father for the sending down of the Eternal Wisdom or the Holy Spirit, we honor in Them not forces serving God, but Persons equal and consubstantial with God the Father. Therefore, although we sometimes ask for the sending of Them, just as Jesus Christ said that He was sent by the Father and from Him will send the Holy Spirit (Jn. 5:30, 15:26), but at the same time we personally turn to Them with prayers to come and give us the gifts characteristic of Them: “O Heavenly King, Comforter, Soul of truth, who art everywhere and fulfill all things, treasure of good things and Giver of life, come and dwell in us and cleanse us from all filth, and save, O Good One, our souls,” we pray to the Holy Spirit 19. “Fill everyone with wisdom and Divine strength, Hypostatic Wisdom of the Most High, Mother of God for the sake of those who cry out in faith: Our father, God, blessed art thou.” “Teacher of wisdom, Giver of meaning, Punisher of the foolish, and Defender of the poor, strengthen and enlighten my heart, O Lord; Give me a word, the Father’s Word: for I will not hinder my lips, even as I call You: Merciful, have mercy on me, fallen,” 21 we pray to the Son of God, calling Him Hypostatic Wisdom and Giver of Wisdom. All worship of the Orthodox Church is imbued with the idea that Christ is the Eternal Wisdom of God and the Source of wisdom, consubstantial and equal in honor with the Beginning Mind - God the Father, and the Comforter Spirit, sanctifying and life-giving. The more you look for evidence to the contrary, the more you can find more and more confirmation of what has been said, especially if you take not individual phrases, but the meaning of the entire prayer or service. Archpriest Bulgakov, if he still does not want to admit that the Wisdom of God and the Word of God are One and the Same Person of the Holy Trinity, all that remains is to say that the compilers of church hymns were under the influence of the same Arian teaching as Athanasius the Great and the rest of the Fathers of the Church, and, having completely rejected the Holy Tradition, seek confirmation of their teaching only in the Holy Scriptures. In a special study attached to “The Burning Bush”, prof. Bulgakov made an attempt to prove that in the Holy Scriptures the Wisdom of God means something different from the Second Person of the Holy Trinity. How correct the conclusions he made will be seen from a consideration of the relevant passages of Holy Scripture. Wisdom is most spoken about in the books “The Proverbs of Solomon”, “The Wisdom of Solomon” and “The Wisdom of Jesus, the Son of Sirach”. Human wisdom, real wisdom, is a reflection of the image of God in man. Therefore, the more pious and godly a person is, the more wise he is, from a spiritual point of view, and just as “the revelation of the Holy Spirit in the heart and mind of believers is so closely related to their soul that it is not easy to distinguish the fruits of the natural understanding of the soul from the voice of the Holy Spirit” 22, so with such people it is sometimes difficult to separate their natural wisdom from the grace-filled gifts of the Wisdom of God. This explains why sometimes in the Holy Scripture some expression can be understood in both senses, just as in many sayings of both the New and Old Testaments and the Fathers of the Church, when the word “Spirit”, “in the spirit”, “filled with the Holy Spirit” is mentioned, it is difficult to find out whether the Hypostasis of the Holy Spirit is meant here, or simply the grace-filled animation of man 23 . Therefore, focusing our attention on those places where Wisdom is more or less clearly spoken of as a person, in accordance with other places, we will try to find out who is meant here. At the beginning of the book "Proverbs of Solomon" wisdom is spoken of as a property, and it is explained how people can acquire it. “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; understanding is good to all who do it; but godliness toward God is the beginning of affection” (Prov. 1:3). In Chapter III, wisdom can be understood as not just ordinary human wisdom. “Blessed is the man who gains wisdom, and mortal is he who gains understanding. It is better to have this bath than gold and silver treasures. The most honest is the most valuable stone: nothing resists it wickedly. She is gracious to all who approach her, but anything honest is unworthy of her. The length of God's life and the years of life are in her right hand, and in her soul are wealth and glory: from her mouth comes truth, but she carries law and mercy on the tongue. Her path is good and all her paths are peaceful: the tree of life is to all who hold on to her and worship her, for the Lord is strong” (Proverbs 3:13-18). From whose lips does the truth come? Whose ways are good, who is the source of life? Who is being spoken about here if not the One who said about Himself: “I am the way and the truth and the life” (John 14:6; see also John 1:4, 17, 5:26, 7:18, 8:40, 51, 11:25). After several chapters, which talk about wisdom as a property, again about Wisdom as a Person, we read in Chapter VIII. From Her Person it is said (v. 4ff.): “I pray to you, O men, and give My voice to the son of man. Understand, kindness, deceit, and apply your heart to non-punishment. Listen to Me: the honest river will flow and I will bring it out of the right mouth. For My throat shall learn the truth, but lying lips are abominations before Me: all the words of My mouth are with righteousness, nothing in them is obstinate, nothing is corrupt. All rights are to those who understand and rights to those who gain understanding” (Prov. 8:4–9). Isn’t that what the incarnate Son of God said? “If you continue in My word, you will truly be My disciples and understand the truth... Who of you convicts Me of sin. If I speak the truth, why do you not believe Me? (John 8:31–46). Having spoken further about the superiority over earthly riches and the moral height of Her teaching, Wisdom continues: “My advice and confirmation, My reason, My strength. By me kings reign and the mighty write the truth: By me the great men are magnified, and by me the rulers hold the earth” (Wis. 8:14–16). Who is this that holds all the earth? “Bearing all things with His power” (Heb. 1:3), according to the Holy Scriptures, He is the Son of God, to whom the words are addressed: “Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a scepter of righteousness, a scepter of Thy kingdom... Thou hast loved righteousness, and thou hast hated iniquity” (Ps. 44:7, 8; Heb. 1:8–9). “I love Me who love Me, but those who seek Me will find grace” (Wis. 8:17), says Wisdom. “He who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and appear to him Myself,” says Christ at the Last Supper (John 14:21). Let us further, with the help of parallel texts, compare the revelations of Wisdom about herself with the testimony of the New Testament: Further, the book of Proverbs says: “Wisdom built herself a house and established seven pillars” (IX). The House of Wisdom is the Body of Christ, or the Most Holy Virgin Mary, who gave birth to this Body (more specifically, Her womb that contained the Son of God), Who is called the Village of the Most High, the Incontainable God, and other similar names. The indication of the 7 pillars of the house was made in order to indicate with a sacred number the greatness and steadfastness of the House that Wisdom created for herself. Archpriest Bulgakov, without rejecting the interpretation accepted by the Church that the House means the Mother of God, nevertheless concludes from this that by Wisdom here one cannot mean Christ, since the Word of God did not create a Mother for Himself. However, it is clear to everyone that the incarnation of the Son of God did not take place without the participation of Himself. It cannot be said that the Chosen One of God was prepared only by the influx of the Holy Spirit and the favor of the Father, for Archangel Gabriel proclaimed this: “The Holy Spirit will come upon You and the Power of the Most High will overshadow You.” Mary became the Matter of God when the Holy Spirit not only descended on Her, but also was overshadowed by the Power of the Most High, which name is given in Holy Scripture (1 Cor. 1:24) and in the holy works of the Second Hypostasis, the Son and Word of God. Thus, it is quite appropriate to say that the Son of God created a house for Himself, and this is directly expressed in the canons of Holy Thursday and its corresponding pre-festivities of Christmas and Epiphany 25. This in no way denies the participation of the remaining Persons in the matter of the Incarnation, just as in general when always speaking about the action of One of the Persons of the Holy Trinity, we also recognize the participation of the others 26. The Son of God also affirmed the pillars of His House, that is, the virtues and steadfastness of His Mother, not only giving Her His divine help, but also teaching Her by His word and personal example during His earthly life. Further words of the book of Proverbs also directly point to Christ: “You have sacrificed your sacrificial offering (compare Heb. 9:26) and dissolved your wine in your cup and prepared your meal. He sent his servants to the chalice with a high sermon, saying: “Whoever is foolish, let him turn aside to me; and to those who demand intelligence, he says: “Come, eat my bread and drink the wine I have dissolved for you. Leave foolishness and live and reign forever, and seek understanding, let you live and improve your understanding in knowledge” (Prov. 9:2-6). It was Christ who made a sacrifice - Himself - sent His apostles to preach the Gospel to all those who do not know the truth and calls everyone to taste His Body and drink His Blood, promising those who worthily eat this bread and drink this cup the kingdom of heaven and eternal life (Heb. VIII, IX; Matt. 28:19; Mark 16:15; Matt. 26:26-28; Mark 14:24-25; John 6:27-58; A careful consideration of this passage in the book of Proverbs, in which Rev. Bulgakov especially bases his objections against the fact that Wisdom is Christ, which leads to an even stronger conviction that it is Christ that is being discussed here. It is clearly expressed here that Wisdom saves people by making sacrifices and feeding those who want to be saved with Her Body and Her Blood. This directly relates to the Second Hypostasis. Even if by the house created by Wisdom we mean the Church, which comparison is also found in Holy Scripture (Heb. 3:1-6), then even then the Name Wisdom refers to Christ, Who said: “I will build My Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” Although “God created all things” (Heb. 3:4), He creates everything through His Son, “In Whom all things were made,” and in Him He arranges the work of salvation. When it is said that Wisdom, who created the house, offers a mysterious life-giving broth, here by Wisdom we cannot mean the Father or the Holy Spirit, but the One who offered His Flesh and Blood in almost the same expressions. This speaks of the economy of God and His Executor. Further in the book of the Proverbs of Solomon, lessons and advice related to moral life are taught, and no more is said about wisdom as a Person. In the book “Wisdom of Solomon” a lot is also said about Wisdom in the same terms as in other sacred books about Christ. “The radiance is an ever-present light and an immaculate mirror of God’s actions and the image of His goodness” 27. “God loves no one except this one who abides with Wisdom” 28. “Love the Master of all: for He is the mystery of God’s cunning and the finder of His works” 29. “Whoever knows Your will, if You had not given Wisdom and sent Your Holy Spirit from on high 30. Without presenting the entire teaching about Wisdom set forth in this book, in order to shorten this article, we will focus our attention only on those places that seem to Archpriest Bulgakov to be incompatible with the understanding of Wisdom as the Second Person of the Holy Trinity. The first thing that seems to him not to relate to the Word of God is that Wisdom “makes the friends of God and the prophets” (Wisdom 7:27). He says that these words rather refer to the gracious action of the Holy Spirit. But let us put next to them the words of the Gospel: “And he went up to the mountain and called them as he wished: and he came to Him. And he made the twelve, that they might be with Him, and that he might send them out to preach” (Mark 3:13–14). “This is not what I say to you, servants, for a servant does not know what his Lord is doing; But others said to you, for all that I heard from My Father told you. You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you, that you might go and bear fruit” (John 15:15–16). And about whom it is said: “He who descended, He is also He who ascended above all heavens, that he may fulfill all things. And he gave to him, too, who were apostles, and who were prophets, and who were evangelists, and who were shepherds and teachers” (Heb. 4:11). Isn’t this also about Christ? Particularly contrary to the understanding of Wisdom as a Hypostasis, according to Archpriest S. Bulgakov, are the texts: “I have loved this and sought from my youth and sought to bring myself a bride and was a lover of her beauty” (Wis. 8:2). “For I will bring these judges to live with me, knowing that I will be an adviser to the good and a consolation of worries and sorrows” (Wis. 8:9). “God of the Fathers and Lord of mercy... give me, by Your throne, the sitting Wisdom... Even if anyone is perfect in the sons of men, Your absent Wisdom will not be counted as anything... Send You from the holy heavens and from the throne of Your Glory send You: so that the living will work with me and let us know what is pleasing in Your sight" (Wis. 9:1–10). These texts, in the eyes of Archpriest Bulgakov, are incompatible with the understanding of Wisdom as the Second Hypostasis, “because neither the desire to take her as a bride or accept her into cohabitation, nor prayers for the gift and sending of her from the height of the Throne of Glory of God to man can in any way be attributed to Her.” Yes, of course, they are incompatible, if this is understood in a literal and crude material sense. But this must be understood spiritually. The desire to take Wisdom as a bride and cohabit with Her expresses the intention to devote one’s entire life to God and the fulfillment of His will. God cannot literally be the groom or the bride of anyone. However, Christian virgins who dedicated their lives to God and went to torture or monasticism believed that they became, as it were, brides of Christ. According to church tradition, Christ Himself called the Great Martyr Catherine and many others His bride, which is why the church expresses the mood of the martyrs in this way: “I love You, my Bridegroom, and seeking You, I suffer, and I am crucified, and I am buried in Your baptism” 31. But if virgins who have dedicated their lives to God can call Christ their groom, why can’t young men with a similar mood call Her their bride? After all, in both cases the same idea is expressed that a person, leaving everything earthly, strives for God, “be cleave to the Lord; you are one spirit with the Lord” (1 Cor. 6:17), regardless of gender. If the girls, renouncing earthly blessings and expressing that in return they were acquiring the Heavenly Bridegroom, pointed to the One who suffered for us and raised everyone with Himself, then the young men, in similar circumstances, turning their mental gaze to God, among His many names expressing His various properties, saw that God is also called by the names of those of His properties that, according to the philological structure feminine gender, although both Himself and His and, in general, anyone’s properties do not actually belong to any gender. Therefore, they symbolically represent their devotion to God as love for the bride, and finding the path they should follow as finding the bride. So St. Cyril, the first Slovenian teacher, while still a boy Constantine, after fervent prayer for the granting of wisdom to him, saw in a dream a beautiful girl who promised not to leave him and told him that she was Wisdom - Sophia. In a similar vision, St. Gregory the Theologian saw Purity and Chastity, which finally prompted him to choose virginity and a life that is characterized, in the best possible way, like this: “I despised everything I had, preferring Christ above all else; His teaching created for me a hundred honey; I called upon Wisdom and gave Her my voice.” In the Holy Scriptures, the Prophet Isaiah, having said on behalf of the Messiah: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me” and “For I am the Lord, love righteousness and hate robbery,” then continues in the first person: “Let My soul rejoice in the Lord: for He has clothed Me with the robe of salvation, and clothed Me with the robe of gladness. Like a groom, lay a crown on Me, and like a bride, adorn Me with beauty” (Is. 61). These words clearly express that about Christ Jesus “there is neither male nor female” (Gal. 3:28), and that, with a spiritual understanding, those differences that exist in bodily human nature are destroyed. Nevertheless, we must understand all expressions about our union with Christ spiritually, and strive to fulfill what is commanded to us “if we live in the Spirit, let us walk in the Spirit” (Gal. 5:25). Therefore, even having accepted into ourselves His most pure Body and His most honest Blood, we ask for even closer communication with Him - complete spiritual unity, which will be fully achieved only in the next century. “O great and most sacred Easter in Christ! About Wisdom and the Word of God, and Power! Grant us the opportunity to partake of You in the eternal days of Your Kingdom.” In the Book of “Wisdom of Solomon” (Chapters X and XI), the actions of Divine Providence are attributed to the Wisdom of God, which guided the history of the Old Testament Church. “This primordial father of the world, the only one created, preserved”, then she helped and preserved all the righteous, including “do not abandon the devoted righteous, but deliver him from sin: go down with him into the ditch and do not leave him in chains”, after which the whole people “deliver the venerable people and the blameless seed from those who insult the tongue”, leading them through the Red Sea and the uninhabited desert and finally settling to the holy land. But, when talking about the death of the firstborn, it is not about Wisdom, but about the almighty Word of God (Wis. 18:15). Many times the Word came to people. “Joseph was quickly sold as a slave. Having humbled his nose in chains, iron has pierced his soul: until His Word came, the Word of the Lord was more flaming than him” (Ps. 105:17-19). “And I cried out to the Lord, even when they were in sorrow: and I saved them from their needs: I sent my Word and healed them” (Ps. 106:20). Outlining the history of the Jewish people, the psalmist in Psalms 104 and 106 says that God prospered them and instructed them with His Word, His Speech. Thus, the Old Testament says what God does with His Word, His command, what He does with His Wisdom. Outlining the history of the Jewish people (before coming to the Promised Land), the psalmist praises God, who saves His people with His word, and in the Book of Solomon it is usually said about the same deeds that they were accomplished by God’s Wisdom. In the Book of “The Wisdom of Jesus, the Son of Sirach,” the deeds of Wisdom described in the previous book are, as it were, completed—Wisdom dwells in Israel and is established in Zion. Here again the doctrine of the pre-eternity of Wisdom is repeated in expressions reminiscent of Solomon - “before the age from the beginning I created Me, and even until the age I will not fail” (Sir. 24:10); “Wisdom was created first of all, and the understanding of wisdom from everlasting” (Sir. 1:4). What is new here is the indication of how Wisdom was created: “I breathed out from the mouth of the Most High.” What comes out of the mouth of men? – The word, if you speak, and the spirit (breath), if you blow. What is being said here? About the Word of the Lord, i.e. the Son of God, or about the Spirit of His mouth, i.e. Holy Spirit? (Ps. 33:6). “And, like darkness, it covered the earth,” Wisdom speaks further about Himself. “Send Your Word to the earth,” says Psalm 147; “His Word flows with speed: He who gives His snow like a wave, and sprinkles darkness like ashes” (Ps. 147:4–5). Both Jesus, the Son of Sirach, and the psalmist are talking here about the same thing, about the providential activity of God, accomplished through the Hypostatic Word, the Son of God. The Holy Spirit abides inseparably with the Father and the Word, sealing and enlivening what the Father does through the Son. Therefore, in the Old Testament, in which only partially and gradually the Holy Trinity was revealed, sometimes it speaks only about God the Father, without mentioning the other Persons of the Holy Trinity, and sometimes, when presenting the same events, more or less clear indications of Them are made. For example, when talking about the journey of the Jews from Egypt to the Promised Land, Psalm 77 says about miracles that they were performed by God, but in Psalms 104–106 it is added to this that God performed them with His Word. So here, in Psalm 147, it speaks of the providential activity of God, through the Word and the Spirit, and of the economy of God, and the Word is what is called Wisdom in the Book of the Wisdom of Jesus Sirach. Indicating that the revealed faith is contained by the people of Israel, the psalm says: “Proclaim your word to Jacob, your justifications and destinies to Israel: do not do this to every tongue, and do not show your destinies to them” (Ps. 147:8–9). Sirach speaks about this in the name of Wisdom: “All people and tongues are money-grubbers; with all these things will I seek peace and in whose inheritance will I be established? Then the commandment of Me, the Creator of all, and He who created Me, established My tabernacle and said: Dwell in Jacob and inherit in Israel... In the tabernacle of the saints you served before Him and thus became established in Zion” (Sir. 24:6-11). The same thing is said in the book of the prophet Baruch, but it also refers to “the last days of these” (Heb. 1:2). “God did not choose these, nor gave them a cunning way: and they perished, not having wisdom, perishing for their lack of advice. Who went up into the sky and took Yu and carried Yu from the clouds? Who will cross over to the land of the sea, and find Yu, and take Yu for the chosen gold? 32. “There is no one who leads Her way, nor one who thinks Her path. But knowing all the news, Yu, who invented Yu with His meaning, creating the earth in eternal time... This God is ours, will not be imputed to Him. Find out every way of cunning, and give it to Jacob His servant, and to Israel, His beloved. For this reason he appeared on earth and lived with men” (Bar. 3:28–38). The Old Testament ends with the fact that the One who was invisibly among the chosen people and “ruled their affairs by the hand of the holy prophet” (Wis. 11:1), apparently dwells among the people. “And the Word became flesh and dwelt in us, and we saw His glory, the glory of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). The glory of Him was revealed, about whom it was unclearly spoken “in the law of Moses, the prophet and the psalmist” (Luke 24:44). Again the sacred books proclaim the eternity and existence of the One about whom they write with God. But they already directly say that the Word, in Whom all things were, by whom God proclaims His will to people, is His Creative Power, born by God the Father before all ages, His beloved Son, who abides inseparably with Him, is of one honor to Him, and, by the unity of will, creates “all things that He (the Father) Himself creates” (John 5:20). And the Co-Original Word descended to earth, not seeking the fulfillment of His will, separate from the Father, but Their one common will, the accomplishment of the work, “which the Father gave to the Son, that he should do it” (John 17:4). The Holy Spirit, dwelling with Him who is Consubstantial, was always inseparable from the Word, and the very conception was accomplished, for the Holy Spirit came upon the Virgin Mary (Luke 1:35). Few at first learned about the coming to earth of the One whose deeds were spoken of in secret in the Old Testament as the deeds of the Word and Wisdom of God. But “as the body prospered, the manifestation of the Divine also prospered in Him for those who saw it (Athanasius the Great - on Arian, III). When the time came for him to preach, and the Lord was baptized in the Jordan, although he did not need to be washed, he “went down into the water giving more than receiving” 33, the Father testified that the one being baptized was His Beloved Son, and the Holy Spirit, confirming this, descended in bodily form onto the Flesh of Him with Whom He is always inseparable in Divinity. Repeatedly, although expressed differently, the Lord spoke about the consubstantiality and equality of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. “Behold my servant, whom I have pleased, my beloved, whom my soul has pleased; I will put My Spirit on Him” (Matthew 12:18); “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for the sake of anointing me” (Luke 4:18), Christ said about himself. But at the same time he said about the Holy Spirit: “I will send Him to you”; “He will glorify Me, because He will receive of Mine” (John 16:7, 14). “The Son cannot do anything for himself unless he sees the Father doing it”; “I came down from heaven, not to do My will, but the will of the Father who sent Me” (John 5:19, 6:38), the Lord taught; but also: “The Father judges no one, but the Son gives all judgment, so that everyone honors the Son as they honor the Father”; “I and the Father are one” (John 5:22–23, 10:29). Before the Ascension, Christ commanded: “Go therefore and teach all languages, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19). Fulfilling this command, the apostles throughout the world spread the good news of the coming to earth of the One whom in their inspired writings they called the Son of God, the Word, the Power and the Wisdom, “who came to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and deliverance” (1 Cor. 1:30). They proclaimed that “There are three who testify in heaven: the Father, the Word and the Spirit, and these three are one” (1 John 5:7), that “God of old, who was spoken by the Father as a prophet, was manifold and manifold, in these last days he spoke to us in the Son, whom he has appointed an heir to all, in whom also he has created the worlds” (Heb. 1:1–2). The work of the apostles was continued by their successors. The spiritual unity with Christ of people still living on earth is expressed in their fulfillment of the will of God. “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word: and My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our abode with him” (John 14:23). A life pleasing to God results in an expansion of knowledge and understanding of the will of God and the laws He established and the acquisition of Wisdom. “Wisdom does not enter into an evil-doing soul; it dwells in a body guilty of sin” (Wisdom 1:4). For sin drives away the Holy Spirit, separates from God, “For the Holy Spirit of punishment will run away from flattery and be taken away from foolish thoughts” (Wisdom 1:5). “For a stubborn mind separates you from God” (Wis. 1:3). The vicious cannot have communion with God: “God is light and in Him there is not a single darkness. Even if we speak as if we are in fellowship with Him and walk in darkness, we lie and do not create the truth” (1 John 1:6). But a weak person cannot completely get rid of sin and become righteous on his own. Desire and effort belong to Him, and God does it if a person strives for Him and trusts in Him. “To man is the offer of the heart, and from the Lord is the answer of the tongue” (Prov. 16:1). “Without Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5), said Jesus Christ. “I have lifted up my eyes to the mountains, from there my help will come” (Ps. 120:1). It is necessary to pray to God to send us help and strength to understand His holy will and fulfill it, to give us His grace-filled gifts. Prayers for this are expressed in the form of requests for the sending of one or another gift, or we pray to God Himself to come to us. “O God, attend to my help, Lord, strive for my help” (Ps. 69:2). “Heavenly King... come and dwell in us.” We turn in prayer to the entire Trinity or its individual Persons. When asking for the descent of the Holy Spirit to us, we either turn to Him directly, or we ask God the Father to send Him. Church prayers about this have their meaning in the Holy Scriptures. Speaking about the descent of the Holy Spirit on the apostles, Jesus Christ called it the sending of the Holy Spirit from the Father, also from Himself (John 14:16, 26, 15:26). The Lord repeatedly said about Himself that He was sent by God the Father (John 3:17, 5:23–30, 6:29–57, 7:16, 17:8–25, 20:21). The Holy Scriptures speak in similar terms about the help given by God, both to the whole world and to individual people. “Thou shalt follow Thy Spirit, and they shall be created, and renew the face of the earth” (Ps. 103:30), “Do not cast me away from Thy presence, and do not take Thy Holy Spirit from me; Strengthen me with the Lord’s Spirit” (Ps. 50), prayed the King and Prophet David, leaving a model of the prayer of repentance for all true worshipers of God for all time. And his son, King Solomon, wanting to do the will of God, prays to God to send down His Wisdom, who sits before the Throne. The mystery of the Trinity is fully revealed only in the New Testament, and therefore the Old Testament righteous men and prophets, speaking about the Word and the Holy Spirit, did not clearly imagine that these were Persons of the Holy Trinity consubstantial with God the Father. The New Testament removes the veil that lies over the Old Testament (2 Cor. 3:14), and, reading it, we see in it indications of Christian dogmas. If the Jews, saying in the synagogues: “By the Word of the Lord the heavens were established, and by His Spirit was all their strength” (Ps. 33:6), having until now a veil on their hearts (2 Cor. 3:15), can only see here an indication of how God created the world, then the Christian Church in this text has confirmation of its teaching that all three Persons of the Holy Trinity participated in the creation peace. If those who recognize only the Old Testament by the Word of God and the Spirit mean only the impersonal powers of God, then we, taught by the gospel, know that “God is the Word” (John 1:1), and together with Him and the Father we glorify the Holy Spirit. The New Testament teaches us that He who humbly lived on earth and died on the cross is in reality the Only Begotten Son of God, the Hypostatic Word, the Hypostatic Power and Wisdom of God, the Door, the Way and the Truth, and the Life of all who believe in Him. True, not only in the Old Testament, but also in the New there are many expressions that seem to belittle Christ in comparison with God the Father. These expressions served as a stumbling block for many of those who, paying attention only to them and not wanting to accept God's Revelation in its entirety, created the doctrine of the inequality of the Persons of the Holy Trinity. Athanasius the Great and other holy Fathers of the Church, filled with wisdom and illuminated by the Holy Spirit, gave extensive interpretations of how to understand the places where Christ is spoken of in a derogatory manner. “All humiliating sayings and deeds,” says Saint Athanasius, “understand that they were written about the body of Christ, but all glorious writings are about the Divinity of the Word.” The totality of all expressions, both Old and New Testaments, explained according to Holy Tradition, gives us clear church teaching, which it contains with steadfastness. But, wanting to put their conclusions above all else, not wanting to come to terms, some persistently preached their conclusions drawn from a tendentious selection of passages of Holy Scripture. This is how heresies appeared and were created, this is how the Body of Christ - His Church - was torn apart by discord. False teachings that distort the doctrine of the Trinity and the God-manhood of Christ have troubled the Church from its founding, and manifested themselves with particular force in Arianism. “Who is Yours, O Savior, the robe of discord. Arius, Thou art the one who, like the Trinity, cut off the one-honest principle into division: this one who denies Thee to be one of the Trinity, this one teaches the Mother of God not to speak to Nestorius. But the council at Nicaea, the Son of God preached Thee, O Lord, with the Father and the Spirit with the throne” 34. The Holy Fathers who participated in the First Ecumenical Council and their successors in the struggle against Arius and other heretics exposed all the false teachings that arose at that time and proved their contradiction to God's Revelation. They confirmed, with the help of God, the Orthodox faith, they confirmed faith in the unity of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Without hesitation they called the Second Hypostasis the Son of God, the Word and Wisdom, often using one name instead of another. The Arians tried to interpret some passages of Holy Scripture in the sense they desired, as confirming their teaching that the Son of God was not born, but created, and since God the Father is called the Wise (Rom. 14:26; 1 Tim. 1:17), they created the concept of the uncreated wisdom of God the Father, in contrast to the Personal Wisdom - the Son of God. On the contrary, Athanasius the Great and other holy fathers pointed out that the Holy Scripture does not speak about various wisdoms, but that the wisdom of God is Hypostatic Wisdom, Creative Wisdom, the Creative Word, born of God the Father. When we talk about a person, we can imagine a sage in his soul who does not know how to either apply or express his wisdom. “Wisdom is hidden and treasure is not revealed, but there is benefit in both. It is better for a man to hide his violence than for a man to hide his wisdom” (Sir. 20:30–31). The human word expresses thought and will, but does not itself possess creative power. The Word of God not only proclaims the will of God, but also creates it: the Wisdom of God not only creates plans and projects, but also brings everything to fruition. “The Lord has done whatever He pleases” (Ps. 134:6, 113:11). “That speech was born, that commanded it, and it was created.” “By the Word of the Lord the heavens were established, and by the Spirit of His mouth all their strength” (Ps. 33). “Thou hast created all wisdom” (Ps. 103). God not only creates, but also instructs people: “Whoever knows Your will, if You had not given Wisdom and sent Your Holy Spirit from on high” (Wis. 9:17). The Holy Fathers defended the Orthodox faith from heretics, identified and proved the true Orthodox faith. For centuries, the Church saw in them “orthodox mentors, the rule of faith, pillars of the Church.” And suddenly, in our days, we are told that, strictly speaking, they fought only with some points of heretical teachings, while at the same time falling under their influence on other issues, that our patristic teaching is to a large extent an Arian teaching. What can you answer to this? Should we point out that this contradicts Christ’s promise that the gates of hell will not prevail against the Church? Should we ask for what virtues did the Lord give the preachers of newly discovered truths greater insight than the apostles, and a better understanding of the Holy Scriptures than the Fathers of the Church? Or simply denounce them in ignorance (if this is not a conscious deception), since Christ was called Wisdom by the Holy Fathers who lived long before the advent of Arianism, who attributed to Christ the text that the Arians allegedly interpreted for the first time. Thus, among the names of the Second Hypostasis, St. also mentions “Wisdom”. Justin the Philosopher, who, speaking about Her, also cited a text from the Proverbs of Solomon (Proverbs 8:21–36), speaking about Wisdom 35. They call Christ Wisdom, and attribute to Him what was said about Wisdom in the Old Testament, St. Dionysius of Alexandria 36 and St. Cyprian of Carthage, who saw evidence here against the Jewish faith 37. The Son of God is named Wisdom in the Creed, which St. Gregory the Wonderworker, Bishop of Neocaesarea, received a revelation from John the Theologian, who appeared to him with the Mother of God. True, St. Theophilus of Antioch and St. Irenaeus of Lyon, speaking about Wisdom, meant not the Second, but the Third Hypostasis, the Holy Spirit. But still, they are immeasurably far from the current so-called Sophian teaching, for they definitely called Wisdom One of the Persons of the Holy Trinity, and did not at all create some kind of teaching full of uncertainties, and opening the way to the most arbitrary guesses and conclusions. Referring to the Holy Spirit the name of Wisdom, they did not stand in conflict with the rest of the saints. fathers on the question of the essence of Wisdom. At the beginning of this study, patristic sayings show in what sense the Holy Spirit can be called Wisdom. In addition, St. Theophilus of Antioch and Irenaeus of Lyons lived at a time when Christian truths were just beginning to be dogmatized, and there was still no precise dogmatic terminology. And on other issues, one or another father could initially express his opinion, which, however, was not accepted after the Church. But when some teaching is preached as an undoubted truth by almost all the teachers of the Church, accepted everywhere without objection, confessed “from end to end of the universe” in countless numbers of prayers and chants, thus becoming the property of the entire Church, then there can be no doubt about the truth of such a teaching. The Holy Spirit, who guides the Church “into all truth,” does not allow any false teaching to take root in the Church. Is it possible to think that the teachings professed by the Church from its foundation to the present day suddenly turned out to be erroneous? After all, both Saints Theophilus and Irenaeus in Wisdom saw the Hypostasis, the Face, only they attributed this name to the Spirit, consubstantial and inseparable with the Word. But since this name belongs primarily to the Word Itself, then both before them and after them, the Word Itself was and is still called by this name. The cited texts of the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments show how much what is said about Wisdom is consistent with what is said about Christ. By the power of Christ, the Wisdom of God, the apostles and their disciples overcame the Greek wisdom, bringing into captivity every thought to obey Him (2 Cor. 10:5). The apologists of the Jews denounced what was written about Wisdom. Firmly believing that Wisdom is the Son of God, the Fathers of the Church defended Orthodoxy from heretics. The martyrs and martyrs were inspired by love for the Lord of Glory crucified for us when they confessed before everyone that the wisdom of this world is madness (2 Cor. 1:19), and for this they were subjected to terrible torment and death. “The prophets preached, the apostles taught, the martyrs confessed, and we believed.” In honor of the incarnate Wisdom, churches 38 were erected, along with which the Door through which She came to earth was also glorified. “By wisdom we were saved” (Wisdom 9:19) Orthodox Christians trusted in Her, crying out in churches: “We do not boast in wisdom and power and wealth, but in You, Hypostatic Wisdom, Christ” (Irmos 3 p. 4 voices). If there was an icon where Wisdom was represented sitting on a throne, and behind Her an image of Christ standing, then this only indicated the two natures of the Savior, and not that these were different Persons, just as the severed head in the hands of John the Baptist does not at all express the idea that he had two heads, but only indicates the type of his death; double images of the same thing in different shades were widespread in ancient iconography. But the new theological philosophers are not satisfied with the ancient teaching. They want something new. And what do they give instead of living, personal Wisdom, Which, by Her example and invisible gifts of grace, makes wise and strengthens believers? First of all, there is some kind of uncertainty, reminiscent of the teaching they so like, that God is Nothing 39 . The way opens for philosophical research and the most arbitrary conclusions, but in the direction already outlined. Sophia is the feminine principle of the Divine. Corresponding to her is the created Sophia, the feminine principle in the world created by God. Parallelism is strictly observed - everywhere, in accordance with the masculine, there is a feminine principle. Contrary to the teaching of the apostles that in Christ Jesus “there is neither male nor female” (Gal. 3:28) and divisions and differences are smoothed out among those who have put on Christ, they even want to divide the Divinity into male and female halves. For this they use the doctrine of the Holy Spirit, but still do not identify Him with Sophia. They need Sophia as something connecting the Divine and the creature. Creation is “Sophian” to varying degrees, and the highest degree of created Sophia is the transition to Uncreated Sophia. The Mother of God “is a creature, but is no longer a creature,” 40 writes Professor Bulgakov. God and humanity in this teaching become something unified, but not because people are the children of the One Father and obey Him with love, but because humanity, in its highest manifestation, is a transition into the Divine. Depending on the different degrees of sophia, Divinity and humanity are a series of degrees of one great ladder, the top of which is God, and the bottom are the brightest representatives of sin and untruth in humanity. But just as humanity needs the Divine to fully exist, so God needs humanity and its individual representatives. This is what the preachers of “Sophianism” are already writing quite transparently about. To compare God and man is their goal, which, perhaps, is still unclear to many of them. Sometimes this is expressed quite clearly. “Make religion divine-human,” Vladimir Solovyov called in his speech in memory of Auguste Comte. Until now, in his opinion, attention has been paid only to the first part - to the divine. Now we need to pay attention to the second part, to make religion more human, to elevate humanity. Representatives of “Sophianism” are working on this. Treatises are written in which the idea is expressed that the Mother of God and John the Baptist were almost as necessary for redemption as Christ Himself. They, according to the teachings of the “Sophians,” were Sophians to the highest degree. And behind them come the rest of the representatives of humanity, a suitable place is found for each, according to the degree of his “sophia”. In the future, a staircase may emerge that, from the outside, resembles the system of eons of the Gnostic Valentinus. There are also a number of degrees, and in each there are two eons - masculine and feminine. But even more than external similarities, the new philosophers have a spiritual closeness to the ancient heretics - the Gnostics. Both there and here the desire to comprehend all the secrets of the higher world, to find the exact place for everything in the scheme they invent. The human mind leads and prevails in this. The Holy Scriptures, revealed truths, are adapted to the teachings created by human imagination; only what is suitable and consistent with these teachings is taken from them. But in order to conquer their minds to the Faith, to be imbued with the spirit of Orthodox teaching and in the spirit of its reflections and philosophies - they don’t want to think about this. Indeed, where is the “divine-humanity” of religion if a person believes in God more than in himself? In addition, God usually revealed himself to people through people, His chosen ones, prophets, apostles, and “why can they know better than us? Can’t we, like them, be rewarded with the highest knowledge?” Thus, even if they are not expressed openly, they are practically put into practice by those who think of discovering the secrets of the Higher World mainly through their own research. However, modern philosophers do not hide the fact that they consider our time to be the advent of an era of “extraordinary revelations”, and write about this in their works. They also do not hide their sympathy for the Gnostic heretics, whom they do not hesitate to rank among the teachers of the Church, and often praise even more than the holy fathers. Gnosis means knowledge in Greek. The first heretics passionately strived for knowledge, for comprehension of the mysteries of God with the human mind and human wisdom, who could not comprehend the depths and were not satisfied with the simplicity of the presentation of Christian teaching. After them, this was repeated many times in history. The French Revolution gave rise to the cult of the worship of Reason. The Russian revolution should, in the opinion of those ideologically associated with it, give the triumph of wisdom. But not the Wisdom that the prophets and apostles preached; They seek glory, and do not preach Its science. “True philosophy is given through the Son,” said Clement of Alexandria 41. Having come to earth, the Son of God, who brought the science of God to people, warned that the sinful “world” would not believe in Him, and the preachers of His teachings would be persecuted. Often, speaking about Himself in the third person (Matthew 8:20, etc.), the Son of Man said: “For this reason the Wisdom of God said: (in another Gospel it is in the first person: “For this reason, behold, Az”) I will send prophets and apostles to them, and from them they will kill and marry” (Luke 11:49; Matt. 23:34). But the persecuted disciples of the Word remember that their Teacher and Lord said: “The servant of his Lord is not sick. If you cast me out, you will also be cast out” (John 15:20). Therefore, they remain faithful to Him, both during persecution and when they hear others being offended by Christ. “And Wisdom was justified from all His children” (Luke 7:35; Matt. 11:19). “Blessed is he who is not offended because of Me” (Matthew 11:6; Luke 7:23). And what can we say about the seekers of another Wisdom? Let us quote the words of Athanasius the Great. “Where did they find it generally said in the divine Scripture or from whom did they hear that there is another word and other wisdom besides this Son, and therefore they invent such inventions. For everything visible and invisible came into being through Him, and without Him nothing came to be. The saints have no idea about anyone else or anything else, and they do not invent words or wisdom, which Scripture does not show by name or deed, and which only these heretics name. For this is their invention, their Christ-fighting assumption; they use the name of the Word and Wisdom for evil, while inventing something else for themselves, these pitiful people deny the true Word of God, the true and only Wisdom of the Father. So, if in the Divine Scriptures no other wisdom is found except this Son, then we have not heard anything like it from the Fathers; The heretics confess and have written that there is wisdom uncreatedly co-existing with the Father, which actually belongs to Him and creates the world: then this Son will be the same One who, according to them, is eternally co-existent with the Father. So in everything their mind is darkened, they deny true Wisdom and seek non-existent wisdom, like the Manichaeans, they invent for themselves another God, and deny the true God” 42. “We must say to the perverters of the honest dogmas of the Church and the correct meaning of the Scriptures: sober up your drinking from your wine (Joel 1:5), so that you, having beheld the radiant beauty of the truth, may exclaim with us to the Son: truly art thou the Son of God” 43. Truly Christ is “a stone of stumbling and a stone of offense; and whoever believes in Him will not be put to shame” (Rom. 9:33). “The Jews ask for a sign, and the Greeks seek wisdom; But we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews, and foolishness to Greeks, to those who were called themselves, both Jew and Greek, Christ, the Power of God and the Wisdom of God” (1 Cor. 1:23-24). “Having enjoyed the holiday, I taught Ti, the Savior, the verb to Judea: how is this message written, without studying. Not understanding that You are Wisdom, glory to You" 44. I showed the theological inconsistency of these books in the article: “Veneration of the Mother of God and John the Baptist and the new direction of Russian religious and philosophical thought.” "The Burning Bush", page 189. Quotes and thoughts included: See The Bridegroom's Friend, pp. 213-216. "Burning bush". Excursion II. In the prayer “Grant, O Lord...” at the beginning the entire Trinity is called Lord, and in the words “blessed art thou” – God the Father. Synaxarion of Monday of Pentecost. John of Damascus. Exact presentation Orthodox Faiths, I, XII - Oh God. names. Theotokos, 9th paragraph of the canon to St. Nicholas, ch. 2. Bogorodichen sedalen Cheese Tuesday. 3rd tr. 9th paragraph of the Sunday Canon. Sunday songs after communion. Song 2, 2 tr. 2nd Three Songs. Canto IX, 2 tr. Vel. Thursday IX canto 2 tr. December 22, Compline. Canon to the Guardian Angel, 7 p. 4 tr. Kontakion of the week is raw. Metropolitan Anthony: “The Teaching of the Church about the Holy Spirit.” Canons of Great Thursday, December 22 January 4, 1 p. 1 tr. See above. Prem.VII, 26; compare: “Who is the brightness of His glory and the image of His Person, bearing all kinds of power” (Heb. 1:3). Compare: “He who loves Me, will be loved by My Father” (John XIV, 21). Prem.VIII, 4; compare: “All that was, and without Him nothing would have happened.” “The Son cannot do anything for Himself unless He sees the Father doing it; Whatever He does, the Son also creates in the same way. For the Father loves the Son and shows Him everything that He Himself does” (John I:3, V:19, 20). Prem.IX, 17; compare: “The verbs that you gave to me, you gave to them.” “The Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, will teach you all things and will remember to you everything that He has spoken to you” (John XIV: 26). Compare: “Who will ascend to heaven? That is to say, bring Christ together. Or who will go down into the abyss? That is, to raise Christ from the dead” (Rom. X, 6, 7). Epiphanius of Cyprus. "Against the Semi-Arians." Stichera on “Lord, I have cried...”, week. Holy Father of the Ecumenical Council. Dialogues Triphono Judeo. Afan. Vel. De sententia Dionusii. "The Legend of Sophia Tsaregr." Vilenskaya P. B. Karsavin: “St. Fathers and Teachers of the Church,” p. 27; Berdyaev, “The Path”, No. VII, p. 53, etc. "The Burning Bush", page 191. Athanasius the Great, “Second Word against the Arians,” 39–40. Cyril of Alexandria. “Push.” Ev. John", ch. I. Glory on the verse of Vespers of Mid-Pentecost. You might be interested in: