Sophiology

Ukrainian (Kyiv) Icon, Theotokos as Sophia, the Holy Wisdom, 1812.

Sophiology (from Greek Σοφία "sophia", wisdom) is a philosophical concept regarding wisdom, as well as a theological concept regarding the wisdom of God. Sophiology has roots in Hellenistic tradition and Platonism. Sophia had a major role in almost every sect of Gnostic Christianity.

Some see Sophia as a deity in her own right, others see her as representing the Bride of Christ (Revelation 19), others as a feminine aspect of God representing wisdom (Proverbs 8 and 9), and others as a theological concept regarding the wisdom of God.

Christianity

Eastern Orthodoxy

In the Orthodox Church, sophiology is often regarded as equivalent to sophianism, which has been condemned as heretical by the Patriarch of Moscow[1] and other Orthodox hierarchs, who decided to "...recognize the teaching of Archpriest Sergei Bulgakov on Sophia the Wisdom of God as heretical".[2]

Personified representations of Holy Wisdom (Ἁγία Σοφία) or the "Wisdom of God" refer in Orthodox theology to the person of Jesus Christ, as illustrated in the Acts of the Seventh Ecumenical Council (Nicaea II, 787): "Our Lord Jesus Christ, our true God, the self-existent Wisdom of God the Father, Who manifested Himself in the flesh, and by His great and divine dispensation (lit. economy) freed us from the snares of idolatry, clothing Himself in our nature, restored it through the cooperation of the Spirit, Who shares His mind..."[3] More recently it has been stated that, "From the most ancient times and onwards many Orthodox countries have been consecrating churches to the Lord Jesus Christ as the Wisdom of God."[4] There exist Orthodox Christian icons and churches which bear the name "Saint Sophia" (see Hagia Sophia (disambiguation)), but this is typically not in reference to a specific individual, saint or angel, named "Sophia". Often it is a mistaken translation of Ἁγία Σοφία, properly rendered "Holy Wisdom", a Christological title used in the Orthodox Tradition.

Wisdom Tradition

Cynthia Bourgeault explains that Sophiology is a Christian tradition in line with the Jewish Wisdom tradition. She contrasts Sophiology with Soteriology which she says is the traditional western view of Jesus as Savior. Augustine and Calvin are credited with promoting Soteriology and the doctrine of original sin, a doctrine that claims humans need cleaning and fixing, and that is what is accomplished through the sacrifice Jesus made. This follows in the tradition of the scapegoat and sacrificial lamb. Sophiology, by contrast, posits that Jesus should rather be seen as a master of consciousness, the unified one, or "I hediah" in Hebrew. According to this Sophia (wisdom) tradition Jesus came to teach a path by which people can become Enlightened Ones. Emphasis in this tradition is on the path, how Jesus was like us, and that we can do what he did. "As I am, you can become." She emphasizes the near Eastern context in which the "master of wisdom" is a recognized designation. In this ancient Jewish world-view the moshel was the one who taught the Wisdom practices. Jesus, therefore, can be seen as a Moshel who integrated various streams of thought into a new message that is rooted in and an extension of the "Wisdom" school of thought.[5]

Bibliography

See also

A mystical depiction of Sophia from Geheime Figuren der Rosenkreuzer, Altona, 1785.
People

References

  1. ↑ "The teaching of Professor and Archpriest S.N. Bulgakov -- which, by its peculiar and arbitrary (Sophian) interpretation, often distorts the dogmas of the Orthodox faith, which in some of its points directly repeats false teachings already condemned by conciliar decisions of the Church..." Moscow Patriarchate (1935) Decision No. 93
  2. ↑ Bishops' Council of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad (1935) Decision of the Bishops' Council of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad of the 17/30 October 1935 concerning the new teaching of Archpriest Sergei Bulgakov on Sophia, the Wisdom of God
  3. ↑ Acts of the Second Council of Nicea, http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/nicea2.html
  4. ↑ Sobolev, Archbishop Seraphim (1935) The New Teaching concerning Sophia the Wisdom of God. p. 121
  5. ↑ Encountering the Wisdom Jesus: Quickening the Kingdom of Heaven Within Audio CD – Audiobook, CD by Cynthia Bourgeault, https://www.amazon.com/Encountering-Wisdom-Jesus-Quickening-Kingdom/dp/1591792932/ref=cm_cr-mr-title

In other traditions

Bibliographic

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