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The founder of modern Russian philosophy, Vladimir Solovyov (1853-1900) is widely considered its greatest practitioner. Together with Dostoevsky and Tolstoy, he is one of the towering intellectual figures in late-nineteenth-century Russia, and his diverse writings influenced much of the non-Marxist tradition of twentieth-century Russian thought. Philosopher, journalist, poet, and playwright, Solovyov was also a mystic who claimed to have had three visions of Divine Sophia. [HEIDI: NOT ITAL] This personification of wisdom with golden hair and a radiant aura echoes both the eternal feminine and the world soul. Rooted in Christian and Jewish mysticism, Eastern Orthodox iconography, Greek philosophy, and European romanticism, the Sophiology that suffuses Solovyov's philosophical and artistic works is both intellectually sophisticated and profoundly inspiring.

Judith Deutsch Kornblatt brings together key texts from Solovyov's writings about Sophia: poetry, fiction, drama, and philosophy, all extensively annotated and some available in English for the first time (with assistance from the translators Boris Jakim and Laury Magnus). In the comprehensive introductory essay that encompasses the book's first half, Kornblatt establishes the historical, philosophical, religious, and literary context of Solovyov's Sophiology, emphasizing its connection to contemporaneous religious and philosophical thought as well as other social and cultural trends in Europe and the United States-for example, Solovyov's reactions to his changing world ran parallel to and sometimes intersected with those of Darwin, Nietzsche, and William James.

Sophiology is once again finding enthusiasts both in Russia and among seekers around the world. The definitive introduction to Solovyov's wisdom and its profound impact on Russian thought and culture, Divine Sophia makes Solovyov's mystical visions and literary "re-visions" of Sophia accessible to scholars and lay readers alike. Solovyov's wisdom writings captivated several generations of poets and philosophers during the pre- and postrevolutionary periods in Russia and abroad. In particular, his Sophiology had a profound influence on such major figures of Russia's Silver Age as Alexander Blok, Andrei Belyi, Pavel Florensky, and Sergei Bulgakov. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

The Bridge Between Heaven and Earth
Introduction to the Material

Judith Kornblatt gives an introduction and annotated commentary on Vladimir Solovyov's Sophianic writings.She begins with a brief and skillful introduction to 19th century Russian and European philosophical movements.She notes, like CS Lewis, that European man by this time was both an extreme rationalist and an extreme irrationalist.Denying the Christian God, and yet placing unreasonable demands upon Science, the skeptic had turned into a "materialist magician" (29).This is not as paradoxical as it seems, for Solovyov would attempt to recapture what Plato and Aristotle meant by form, substance, and essence.Much European philosophy and science, however, had denied the concept of essence for a stricter materialist position (science moreso than philosophy).The reason for this materialism was tied to the role of alchemy.They wanted to bend, shape, and transform matter (and since humans were simply matter, they could remake them, too).This is the scene on which Solovyov wrote:men were highly skeptical and highly superstitious.

Solovyov's Philosophy:
Solovyov was one of the early proponents of "Sophiology."Sophia, loosely constructed at this point, was the bridge between 1) heaven and earth; 2) the members of the Trinity (e.g., how the Trinity relates to one another), and 3) the relation between the two natures of Christ.(Of course, I am offering a Bulgakovian reading of Solovyov).

Analysis of Solovyov:
While I am definitely sympathetic to Sophiology and consider it a breathtaking move in Trinitarian and theotic discussions, it is hard to consider the early Solovyov orthodox.It would take the later Sergei Bulgakov to give a better reading.Solovyov, in his earlier days, made overtures to paganism and at times appeared to engage in witchcraft and devil-worship.Indeed, it is hard to put a positive spin on his early Kabbalism.However, despite the gnostic-sounding references, Solovyov's "Sophia," whatever else she may be, was certainly no gnostic.She appeared to Solovyov as a very sexual Russian maiden.

Analysis of the book's structure and editorials:
I bought this book thinking that it was a collection of Solovyov's writings that Kornblatt edited.It was that, but it was more of Kornblatt's analysis of Solovyov's writings.There is nothing wrong with that, and Kornblatt did a masterful job, but that wasn't exactly how the book was advertised.Kornblatt, again it must be noted, did a fine job.One quibble:she kept referencing St Maximus the Confessor and St Gregory of Nyssa as "closet gnostics."This simply won't do.Their quasi-divine writings stand in savage contradiction to gnosticism.

Conclusion:
This is definitely a good introduction to Sophiology and Solovyov.However, it needs to be immediately supplemented by Sergei Bulgakov.


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What is the meaning of love's intense emotion? Solovyov points to the spark of divinity that we see in another human being and shows how this "living ideal of Divine love, antecedent to our love, contains in itself the secret of the idealization of our love."

According to Solovyov, love between men and women has a key role to play in the mystical transfiguration of the world. Love, which allows one person to find unconditional completion in another, becomes an evolutionary strategy for overcoming cosmic disintegration. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

A great read
Soloviev, a brilliant Russian Orthodox philosopher of the late 19th century, covers a lot of ground in this little book.Love is held up as the shatterer of egoism and the means by which an individual becomes a bearer of the "all-unity" of the cosmos, gathering together all the elements of the world together within himself and thereby becoming an absolutely unique, absolutely irreplaceable, "absolutely significant" individual who transcends the laws of nature and triumphs over the forces of decay and death.For anyone who suspects that love is about more than just blind sexual instinct, or economics, or anything less than insight into the heart of reality, this book simply can't be passed up.Even if you end up not agreeing with everything here, you'll no doubt be moved by the beauty of the cosmic vision of love he presents.

Solovyov, transference and the Grail search.
If you are searching for the Grail in the mystical experience of love and the transference, this is the book for you.The title says it all. Solovyov explores and uncovers the reason there is such archetypal emotional power in love even though the divine, cosmic source is not consciously recognized and understood. It is the failure to recognize the source behind the emotion which results in such tragic disillusion and despair. Finding the true source can be - should be life transforming. ... Read more

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These lectures, given by Solovyov in St. Petersburg in 1878, mark a seminal moment not only in Russian but also in world philosophy. Dostoyevsky, Tolstoy, and other luminaries were in the audience. It was recognized by everyone that something astonishing had occurred.The young philosopher, mystic, and visionary, Solovyov, had given unexpectedly concise, intellectual expression to the reality of the evolution of consciousness and religion. He had spoken movingly of the actualization of Divine Humanity in eternity and time, of the divine world and the fall of spiritual beings into sin, of the origin and meaning of the natural world, and the incarnation of Christ, leading to the redemption of the visible and invisible worlds in the full revelation of Divine Humanity. Sophia, whom Solovyov experienced three times in his life, inspires this great work. He conceives Sophia in a variety of ways: as the eternal ideal prototype of humanity, as the world soul actively engaged in actualizing this idea, and as the fully developed divine-human being. This Sophia is both the active principle in the process of creation and its realized goal: the kingdom of God. ... Read more

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Solovyov Preaching Russia's mystical mission

"... Even more decisively, Bulgakov theological magnum opus, the trilogy On Divine-Humanity, is becoming ever more recognized as a significant scholarly contribution that rekindles some of systematic theology's most fundamental questions, and offers innovative insights for the future of the theological enterprise." Nadia Delicata, Theandros



Russian Religious Thought:
As Russia entered the modern age in the nineteenth century, many Russian intellectuals combined the study of Western philosophy with a return to their own traditions, culminating in the novels of Tolstoy and Dostoevsky and Vladimir Solovyov religious philosophy.
Exploration of the central issues of modern Russian religious thought by studying the work of Solovyov and other religious philosophers who developed his ideas in the early twentieth century as Florensky, and S. Bulgakov, generally placed in the contexts of both Western philosophy and Eastern Orthodoxy, presents a substantially new perspective on Russian religious thought. The work of these philosophers, influenced virtually all aspects of modern Russian tradition, and many aspects of twentieth-century Soviet culture, and enhanced a rich philosophical tendency devoted to issues of community, humanity and even divinity, that transcend Russian boundaries and national Russian historical eras.

Russia's Mystical Mission:
Alternatively apocalyptic and nihilistic, Russians strove to justify culture and discover Russia's mystical mission, demanding all or nothing. Impatient with the slow processes of history, distrusting authority while haunted by a vision of unity, great thinkers, as Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Federov, and Solovyov created an original and vital religious philosophy that culminated in the Russian Renaissance of the twentieth century. The fruit of these heroic figures, included Florensky, Berdyaev, Bulgakov, etc., was cut short by the 1917 Revolution. Underground, a great philosophical and spiritual rebirth (renaissance) was occurring. In recent years, however, their works have been available in self-published editions.

Divine Humanity:
Solovyov lectures which started early in 1878 marked an intellectual and spiritual revival, not only of Imperial Russia but for Europe and the world. To a packed audience, which included two of his great contemporaries Tolstoy and Dostoevsky attending to the young speculative thinker first lecture in St. Petersburg, he launched his view on humanity's epic journey. He was offering a new meaning to the need for an evolution of religious consciousness using a philosophical portrayal of Sophia as the active tool of the creative process as the active wisdom of God to realize his eternal goal. Meanwhile Solovyov's 'Divine Humanity' described a motivating philosophy greatly needed to defend theological portrayals of the fall, original sin, and the redemption by Christ in a soteriological synergy, a free cooperative effort with God, he called Divine Humanity.

Sufism's Divine Humanity:
Man; Do you Man consider yourself a trivial thing,
while the great universe is involved in you ?
Man; Who attempts to resemble God within the Human Capacity.
Man; Who even approaches the limits of divinity,..!
Ikhwan El Safa (Brotherhood of Purity)
Now, compare this with Psalm 8:5,6;
- What is man that though shouldst remember him,
mortal man that though shouldst care for him?
- Yet thou has made him little less than a god,
crowning him with glory and honor.

Russia's heart and soul
Reading Soloviev's plea to his fellow Russians at the end of the 19th century to draw out and develop their own culture independent of Western influences appears now as a cry unheeded which should have been.Looking at Russias history durning the last century up into the present it seems fairly obvious how little Russia has been able to take it's own course either by outside pressure from the West, pressure from within which desires it to be Westernized, or a combination of the two.Soloviev shows how the West has fallen to the three temptations which Christ faced and was able to stand up against and while doing so advancing.While Russia has not fallen totally to such temptations but has remained static.Soloviev unfolds a positive, divine following, course Russia can take that would contrast and help overcome the negative, divine neglecting, course taken by the West.Reading this gave me a new appreciation of what Russia holds in itself if it were allowed to flourish unhinderred and by extension how other cultures too could bring much more to humanity as a whole if they were helped to find their own way of life, that best suits their character, rather than having a "best" way of doing things.

Incredibly Persuasive
This is the first book by Solovyev that I have read, and also the first by an Orthodox Sophiologist.It is intellectually thorough, honest, and complete.I am absolutely impressed with it.The author begins by acknowledging the failures of materialism, rationalism, capitalism and it's excessively individualist tendencies, and leads us step by step to the spiritual realm and how much we depend on it.He does not try to sever Christianity from it's roots in hellenistic philosophy, but integrates the two in a most beautiful and consistent way.I have to say that his arguments in favor of the Christian Religion are simply the most persuasive that I have ever heard, and he never resorts to the blind repetition of dogmatic assertions about how it is the one true faith, like so many other so-called mystics.Instead, he uses his education and wit to persuade the reader (he's so smooth that you don't even know that he is trying to persuade you, and maybe he isn't) that Christianity is actually the culmination of all of man's religious history which came before it.This is truly an outstanding read. ... Read more

Product Description
Vladimir Solovyov (1853–1900) was one of the most remarkable figures of the 19th century. He was the most important Russian speculative thinker of that century, publishing major works on theoretical philosophy, the philosophy of religion, and ethics. He also wrote profound religious verse, much of which is translated into English here for the first time. Included are all of the short lyric poems; Three Meetings, an autobiographical poem of mystical visions; The White Lily, a comical—mystical play, a genre invented by Solovyov; and a ground-breaking essay (translated into English for the first time) on Solovyov’s poetry by the eminent theologian Sergius Bulgakov. The most important poems are sophianic, in that they express a personal relation to Sophia, whom Solovyov encountered several times during his life. This book presents an aspect of Solovyov’s work that most readers are unaware of; it enables us to watch a spiritual genius plumbing the depths of cosmic truth. ... Read more

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This original translation of a key prophetic and apocalyptic work, written by Russia's greatest philosopher at the end of the nineteenth century, characterizes in bold strokes and with astonishing prescience the challenges that mankind faces as 'progress' races to bring history to an end, calling us to vigilance and resistance to evil. The passing of more than a century since it was first written has not caused this remarkable text to lose any of its lustre; indeed, it is more relevant today than when it was first penned.Solovyov describes three main trends of his (and our) time: economic materialism, Tolstoyan abstract moralism, and the kind of hubris that has grown so rampant in contemporary society. For him, over a century ago, the first was all too present, and about to explode in the rise of the Communist State. A hollow moralism, or a 'meaning' with no core, was beginning to develop and would soon replace almost all vestiges of traditional values. As for hubris, greed, and evil well-disguised as good, this is the touchstone of society at the turn of the twentieth to the twenty-first century, and is precisely what Solovyov describes as the apocalyptic precursor of the Antichrist.Vladimir Solovyov (1853-1900), one of the greatest philosophers of the nineteenth century. He helped establish a rich tradition of Russian spirituality, inspiring a whole generation of thinkers, who followed his many-faceted spirit into diverse realms, bringing together philosophy, mysticism, theology, poetry, and powerful visionary experience with a trenchant social message. Solovyov was also a prophet, having been granted three visions of Sophia, Divine Wisdom. ... Read more

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War and Christianity:Three Conversations by Vladimir Solovyov
I read War and Christianity and would highly recommend it to anyone interested in reading on the Anti-Christ.It is amazing how accurate the political and social scene is of our day to fit this scenario.We truly are heading towards this.It is the best analysis I have read on the two books reviewed.It certainly will keep your interest.

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Publisher: London Pub. for the University Press., ltd., by Hodder ... Read more

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p i s s e d
Theis incomplete and the publisher should be made aware of the bad reproduction. Some of the text is'nt even English. ... Read more

Product Description
Originally published in 1915. This volume from the Cornell University Library's print collections was scanned on an APT BookScan and converted to JPG 2000 format by Kirtas Technologies.All titles scanned cover to cover and pages may include marks, notations and other marginalia present in the original volume. ... Read more

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Vladimir Solovyov (1853-1900), one of the greatest philosophers of the nineteenth century. He helped establish a rich tradition of Russian spirituality, inspiring a whole generation of thinkers, who followed his many-faceted spirit into diverse realms, bringing together philosophy, mysticism, theology, poetry, and powerful visionary experience with a trenchant social message. Solovyov was also a prophet, having been granted three visions of Sophia, Divine Wisdom. Less known in the anglophone world than Berdyaev (who was a pupil of his), Solovyov has a contribution of the first importance to offer to Western thought at its deepest level.Solovyov came from a rich and not yet fully understood tradition; his erudition was stupendous. Like his predecessors he was extremely sensitive to such problems as the religious meaning of history, of creativity, of culture. It is important to emphasize a general link between Solovyiev and preceding currents of Russian thought, for his Christian philosophy in a sense embraces them all. Dostoyevsky and Leo Tolstoy sat at his feet.The differences between the Orthodox, Roman, and Anglo-Catholic and many of the Protestant Churches are not found in relation to the great dogmas or articles of the creed. Soloviev has a vital and unique message to Christians of all denominations; he offers a basis for reunion rarely suggested in Western Christianity, and this explains the motivation for this masterly study of Soloviev as playing a role in the Christian East similar to that played by John Henry Newman in the Christian West. ... Read more

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newman and soloviev
Most revaling book concentrates on Solovievs spitituality and goes deep in all aspects of his life. Comparisons with Newman are cogent and pregnant with possibilities , but perhaps need another book. this part is fairly briefly developed . Great stimulus for understanding the 3 wings of european spirituality. ... Read more

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Less known in the anglophone world than Berdyaev (who was a pupil of his), or Martin Buber, Vladimir Solovyov (1853-1900), philosopher, mystic, poet, has nevertheless a contribution of the first importance to offer to Western scholarship.He came from a rich and not yet fully understood tradition; his erudition was stupendous. Like his predecessors he was extremely sensitive to such problems as the religious meaning of history, of creativity, of culture. It is important to emphasize a general link between Solovyov and preceding currents of Russian thought, for his Christian philosophy in a sense embraces them all. Dostoyevsky and Leo Tolstoy sat at his feet.Godmanhood is the problem of restoring all mankind; it is a concept of salvation as a process of becoming divine.The differences between the Orthodox, Roman, and Anglo-Catholic and many of the Protestant Churches are not found in relation to the great dogmas or articles of the creed. Solovyov has a vital and unique message to Christians of all denominations; he offers a basis for reunion rarely suggested in Western Christianity. ... Read more

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This book is the seminal work in which Solovyov developed his religious philosophy. In it, he undertakes a stunning critique of positivism, by which he understands the entire philosophy of Western rationalism, which he sees as setting up a conflict between reason and faith, and reason and nature. In the modern period, he finds abundant evidence for reason's war against nature in Western philosophy from Descartes to Hegel. 'Positivism', the leading philosophy in his time, Solovyov also finds repugnant. In its place, he proposes his great theme of total unity -- which was to become the dominant theme in Russian philosophy. This is the work that launched Russian religious philosophy and is a must for anyone interested in the subject. ... Read more

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Publisher: London, ConstableSubjects: PeaceAntichristNotes: This is an OCR reprint. There may be typos or missing text. There are no illustrations or indexes.When you buy the General Books edition of this book you get free trial access to Million-Books.com where you can select from more than a million books for free. You can also preview the book there. ... Read more

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This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

They pretend they are paying us, and we pretend we are working
This book published in 1987 paints a disastrous picture of the state of the Soviet Union just before the fall of the Berlin Wall. It is an exemplary illustration of a country completely controlled by one party, without free elections, without freedom of speech, without freedom of movement; in one word, without democracy.

The Soviet Union was a country controlled by the secret service, which was heavily represented in the Politburo (the military didn't have a delegate).
The overall atmosphere was one of desperate disillusion. The country was paralyzed by an immense bureaucracy with a Nomenklatura system for the top jobs. The majority of the people saw no better future ahead. It was lethargy and cynicism all around: `they pretend they are paying us and we pretend we are working.'
As an act of protest, the whole population seemed on the brink (or over?) of committing collectively suicide through alcoholism: `Russian drunkenness has grown to epidemic proportions and has tragic and ominous consequences. There has been a sharp drop in male longevity. Infant mortality has risen as sharply. Of the babies born in 1982, one out of six (16.5 %) was abnormal. A full 85 % of all felonies such as murder, rape, and armed robbery were committed under the influence of alcohol.'
`In 1985 three tank crewmen with the soviet occupying forces in Czechoslovakia traded their tank for a case of vodka.'

These devastating population statistics served as a basis for Emmanuel Todd's clairvoyant book `The Final Fall: An essay on the decomposition of the Soviet sphere'.

This book contains also a wealth of information on more or less important historical figures, like Mrs. Furtseva, General Jaruzelsky, President H. Amin of Afghanistan, E. Shevarnadze, Y. Andropov and others.
It is a must read for all those interested in the history of Russia and of one party States.

The Persistence of Despotism in the Russian Soul
This review is based on the paperback edition (1988). The book focuses on Communist politics, especially in the 1970's and 1980's, but is much more than that. It probes the Russian psyche, making it timeless. Solovyov and Klepikova (hereafter SK) comment: "During the many centuries of their servile existence, the common people of Russia have become used to interpreting mercy as weakness, sadism and barbarous treatment as strength, and fear as respect." (p. 36).

"Every time a totalitarian system in Russia is weakened or destroyed, it arises again, in response to a special kind of need, to `popular demand'...Because totalitarianism in Russia is...a unique form of populism...the people's distrust and fear of freedom." (p. 257). SK accurately predicted that, after the fall of Communism, Russians would increasingly favor a return of authoritarianism (p. 266). Leon Trotsky once said: "Every policeman knows that although governments change, the police remain." (p. 86).

Soviet anti-Semitism is examined: "Stalin, though, had become an anti-Semite long before, most likely as a reaction to the disproportionate part take by Jews in political life (by no means merely among the Bolsheviks but across the whole pre-revolutionary spectrum, except for such extreme right-wing organizations as the pogromist `Black Hundred'.)(p. 133).

SK's discussion of Poland may as well have been copied out of a Polish history book! "Poland has always been the most unruly of the Russian empire's subject nations...The Polish uprising of 1831 was put down by Emperor Nicholas I, who had been so stern and cruel in Russia that he was nicknamed `Nick the Stick'. Yet in 1863, his liberal son, Emperor Alexander II, who two years before had abolished serfdom in his own country, used no less cruelty in `pacifying' Poland. We find the same amazing consistency in our own century. In 1920 Lenin...[then] Stalin...in the military pact with Hitler, and...again...at Yalta" (p. 109).

Interestingly, SK see Polish military successes not as Polish imperialism but as defense against perennial Russian imperialism: "A glance at the history of Russo-Polish wars, which covers several centuries, includes several defeats that deeply injured Russian imperial vanity, from the capture of Moscow early in the seventeenth century to that of Kiev and Minsk and the Red Army's humiliating defeat near Warsaw in 1920, sometimes called `the miracle on the Vistula River'." (p. 110). SK attribute the Katyn massacre to "...the Russians' traditional military fear of the Poles." (p. 110). Furthermore, "And does not Stalin's twofold fear of Poland--his own, compounded by the traditional Russian dread--explain the Red Army's failure to help the Poles (actually, its betrayal of them) in August 1944? The Warsaw Uprising itself was the result of a carefully thought-out Soviet provocation." (p. 110).

SK elaborate on the Soviet assassination attempt against Pope John Paul II (p. 103, 106, 117, 126). The mysterious murders of prominent Poles in the early 1980's, notably Father Jerzy Popieluszko, were part of a Soviet plan to destabilize Jaruzelski in favor of a more Soviet-servile successor (pp. 127-129).
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one of the only books on Yuri
This is a niche book for those interested in the late communist period of the Soviet Union.This was the period after the stagnation of Breznev.He was suceeded by a succesion of rulers.Andropov and Chernenko.THis book details the many assets that Andropov brought with him to the Kremlin.His acitvities as head of the KGB.And most astonishing the fact that he was a reformer, who died to soon.An important work.Autopsy of an empire by Dmitri Volkogonov also has insights on the Andropov period. ... Read more