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Document Details :

Title: Vladimir Solov'ëv and His Philosophy of the Universal Church
Author(s): SOLOVIOVA, Tatiana
Journal: Journal of Eastern Christian Studies
Volume: 57    Issue: 1-2   Date: 2005   
Pages: 47-66
DOI: 10.2143/JECS.57.1.2003116

Abstract :
Vladimir Solov’ëv’s personality enchanted contemporaries and his thought greatly influenced Russian intelligentsia in the twentieth century. After a period of militant nihilism he rediscovered Christianity and decided to devote his life for the benefit of the Church. His works (particularly Lectures on Divine Humanity) were described as the best apologia of the Christian dogma on God-Man. Much of his time he spent writing and working for the unity of the Catholic and Orthodox Churches and is rightly considered a precursor of the future ecumenical movement. He was also the first in Russia to speak about the importance of the social mission of the Church and the shortcomings of the official Orthodoxy. His advocacy of the Christian theocracy stirred many debates in the society but did not win support. His later years he dedicated to ethics and aesthetics, thus creating Russia’s first system of Christian philosophy. This article dwells on the development of Solov’ëv’s vision and his main beliefs, some of which proved erroneous, some prophetic.