Sergii BULGAKOV, The Apocalypse of John: An Essay in Dogmatic Interpretation, trans. Mike Whitton, eds. Barbara Hallensleben, Regula Zwahlen, Munster: Aschendorff Verlag GmnH & Co, KG, 2019. pp. 56,00 € pb. ISBN 978492129422. Reviewed by Walter N. SISTO, D'Youville.

Mike Whitton's translation of Sergii Bulgakov's The Apocalypse of John: An Essay in Dogmatic Interpretation is a wonderful addition to the growing library of Bulgakov texts available in English. In this text, readers will encounter Bulgakov's last and most mature theological treatise on eschatology, ecclesiology, and Revelation.

The text is based on a series of lectures that Bulgakov gave on the Book of Revelation but later developed into an epilogue to his The Bride of the Lamb (BL). (1) In this text, Bulgakov develops ideas that in his opinion he insufficiently presented in BL. It was published posthumously in Russian by Bulgakov’s disciple and colleague at St. Sergius Orthodox Theological Institute, Lev Zander.

This translation includes Bulgakov's dogmatic treatise on the Book of Revelation, and four excursus on topics related to the end times including the "Eucharistic Parousia" and one annex on Bulgakov's iconographer and disciple Sister Joanna. The book ends with paintings of Sister Joanna of the apocalypse that Bulgakov's theology inspired.
This text is unique in as much as it provides a comprehensive and invigorating dogmatic treatise on the Book of Revelation from an Eastern Christian sophiological perspective. Sophiology provides Bulgakov with tools to unlock what he believes is the meaning of many allegorical statements in Revelation. For instance, he interprets the elders and beasts in heaven that surround the throne of God in chapter 4 to signify "Created Sophia, the world of heavenly prototypes, a created heaven connecting the Divine world, Divine Sophia, with the created world." (36) Bulgakov in this text provides a succinct overview of many of the sophiological ideas addressed in his minor and major trilogies such as eternity and time (39), Godhumanhood (106) and Mary as the hypostatic humanity of Christ (152), the eschatological sophianization of creation (205). However, this text is not strictly a Sophiology of Revelation but rather a dogmatic interpretation of the Book of Revelation that employs his sophiological method. For example, in "Excursus I: Even so come" Bulgakov argues that the last words of Revelation are a dialogue between the two sophias. The result is an important insight into how Creaturely Sophia represented in Mary and the Church function with Divine Sophia at the end of time that is ambiguous in BL.

Chapter 20 illustrates Bulgakov’s theological expertise and intellectual acuity. For example, Bulgakov theologizes chapter 20 of the Book of Revelation and what he deems to be "the focus of the whole of Revelation and its most original teaching: the thousand-year reign of Christ. He confronts the theological problem that Christ's reign on earth and the first resurrection poses for Christian eschatology because it is unclear how this reign and resurrection correspond to the Second Coming of Christ and the Final Resurrection.  In a characteristically Bulgakovian manner, he criticizes Orthodox theologians for largely ignoring or allegorizing the 1,000-year reign of Christ and the first resurrection. Moreover, literal and allegorical interpretations do not succeed in solving the theological problem: the truth oscillates between the literal and allegorical perspectives: the thousand-year reign of Christ and the first resurrection will occur in history but we cannot fully comprehend what that will entail.  Nevertheless, Bulgakov quandaries how to reconcile the first resurrection with the final resurrection. Bulgakov will not entertain the thought that there is no first resurrection because the author of Revelation is clear that "they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years." (20:4-5) Nevertheless, there is a difference in these resurrections. In the "first resurrection," the souls come to life, but remain incorporeal, separated from the body. (169) Bulgakov following St. Paul's tripartite anthropology (1 Thessalonians 5:2), argues that the soul and spirit of the dead are united and raised. (170) The body, however, remains outside the reach of the soul-spirit composite until the final resurrection.  What this means and how the soul-spirit composite function is a "mystery of the future." The intimacy and presence of the saints in the life of a believer provide some analogy, for the resurrected soul-spirits will be apparent and intimately involved in human life. They will be spiritually transparent to the world.  Heaven comes to earth in an incipient manner. This is made possible in part by the overthrow of Satan before the thousand-year reign; Satan is no longer a distraction and obstacle to this relationship of the soul to the spirit. (171) The chapter continues to discuss a multitude of implications for the "first resurrection" in light of the final resurrection.

Although this text is replete with antinomies that may challenge readers, Bulgakov tends to describe the antinomy as opposed to provide a clear, concise response to particular theological issues and dogmas addressed in Revelation, this text is an essential read for individuals interested in Bulgakov, Sophiology, or the theology of Revelation. Bulgakov is a controversial theologian and this text does not avoid controversy (e.g., he advocates apokatastasis and the redemption of the Devil and demons (88; 268)). Despite his controversy, this book is a masterpiece. Although future additions may benefit from publishing the three additional unpublished excurses that are included with manuscripts of The Apocalypse of John and providing the detailed annotations that were left out of this text, Whitton and the editors should be commended on their work in this text.