Sophia as a World Soul in the Worldview of Russian Sophiologists and Gregory of Narek
The article is devoted to the analysis of the image of Sophia the Wisdom of God as a World Soul, which is the focus of the all-unity concept of Russian religious philosopher Vladimir S. Solovyev – the founder of Russian Sophiology. As a unique innovation in the context of research works on sophiology, the article actualizes and pays attention to the work by the ancient Armenian philosopher and theologian of the 10th century Gregory of Narek – «The Book of Lamentations», which expresses ideas revealing the image of the World Soul in a deep philosophical and theological context. The purpose of the article is to show by means of a comparative analysis of ideas of Russian sophiologists concerning the World Soul, mainly V. S. Solovyev and S. N. Bulgakov, P. A. Florensky, E. N. Trubetskoy, S. N. Trubetskoy and Gregory of Narek, that the Bible is the conceptual source of their ideas. In order to carry out such an analysis, the most important sophiological images of the World Soul as an Animate Being and a Feminine Divine Person with a unifying, binding and life-giving power are considered. The study shows the identity and community of the ideas of Sophia the Wisdom of God as a World Soul by Russian sophiologists and Gregory of Narek.
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