The Burning Bush: On the Orthodox Veneration of the Mother of God

by Sergius Bulgakov, Thomas Allan Smith (Translator)

Overview

Translated by Thomas Allan Smith

In The Burning Bush — the first component of his "minor theological trilogy" — the great Russian Orthodox theologian Sergius Bulgakov explores the place of Mary the Mother of God in Orthodox theology and devotional practice, in the process critiquing certain aspects of Roman Catholic Mariology. Drawing heavily on the Orthodox Church's liturgical texts and iconography and on his own developing Sophiology, Bulgakov offers a rich explanation of the unique, mysterious role played by the Mother of God as the realization of the human capacity for divinization.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780802845740
Publisher:	Eerdmans, William B. Publishing Company
Publication date:	04/10/2009
Pages:	216
Product dimensions:	6.20(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Sergius Bulgakov (1871-1944) is widely regarded as the twentieth century's leading Orthodox theologian. His other books include Relics and Miracles, The Unfading Light, The Burning Bush, The Lamb of God, The Comforter, Jacob's Ladder, and Churchly Joy (all Eerdmans).


Thomas Allan Smith is associate professor of the history and theology of Eastern Christianity at the University of St. Michael’s College, Toronto.

Table of Contents

A Note from the Translator vii

Introduction xi

From the Author 3

The Burning Bush 5

1 The Absence of Personal Sin in the Mother of God 7

2 The Power of Original Sin for the Mother of God 15

3 The Catholic Dogma of the Immaculate Conception of the Mother of God 47

4 The Glorification of the Mother of God 65

Excursuses

1 On the Glory of God in the Old Testament 117

2 The Old Testament Doctrine of the Wisdom of God 131

3 The Doctrine of the Wisdom of God in St Athanasius the Great and Other Church Fathers 143

Endnotes 157

Index 184

Editorial Reviews

Boris Jakim
"In this book, unique in the Russian Orthodox literature, the great theologian Sergius Bulgakov illuminates various aspects of the Church's veneration of the Mother of God. Like all of Bulgakov's devotional books, this is not a work of abstract theologizing, but a work of prayer, opening up a vision of the mystical reality that forms the foundation of our relations to the Ever-Virgin and her relation to us. Thomas Allan Smith's translation is superb, and in his first-rate introduction he does an excellent job of elucidating Bulgakov's sophiological approach."

Myroslaw Tataryn
"Thomas Allan Smith and Eerdmans deserve an immense debt of gratitude for providing a long-awaited English translation of this pivotal work of the leading Russian Orthodox theologian of the twentieth century. Even more, Smith's translation is careful, nuanced, and yet preeminently readable. . . Western Christians and non-Christians alike often see Orthodoxy as a fascinating, exotic, and mysterious form of Christianity. The Burning Bush, in Smith's translation, helps the reader recognize both Orthodoxy's inner coherence and rationality and its rootedness in a profoundly sublime appreciation of creation's beauty and magnificence. . . Smith's list of Bulgakov's sources is a simple yet indispensable tool for the scholarly reader. This translation will serve us all well for decades to come."

From the Publisher