The Comforter

 

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).

Boris Jakim is the foremost translator of Russian religiousthought into English. His published translations includeworks by S.L. Frank, Pavel Florensky, Vladimir Solovyov,and Sergius Bulgakov.

Paul Valliere
"The doctrine of the Holy Spirit has traditionally been the weak link in trinitarian theology. Of the attempts by modern theologians to remedy this deficiency, Sergius Bulgakov's The Comforter is the most magisterial and, arguably, the most interesting. The book exemplifies the dazzling synthesis of patristic theology, ecclesiastical piety, and modern intellectuality that is Bulgakov's signature.The Comforter is the most satisfying of the three volumes of Bulgakov's dogmatic trilogy On Divine Humanity — smoother than The Lamb of God, more integrated than The Bride of the Lamb. It is Bulgakov at his best. In this translation the indefatigable Boris Jakim has also given us his best. It will be a long time before Russian theology finds an English-speaking interpreter as faithful and skilled as Jakim."

David Bentley Hart
"Sergius Bulgakov was among the most original and brilliant of twentieth-century theologians — and among the most controversial. We still have much to learn from him and about him, and Boris Jakim's translations of his major theological works are a marvelous gift to English-speaking theologians. This edition of Bulgakov's learned, profound, and very lovely treatise on the Holy Spirit is especially welcome and especially illuminating."

Robert Bird
"In The Comforter Sergius Bulgakov moves from a rigorous analysis of Christian tradition concerning the Holy Spirit to a poetic myth that is both a personal confession of faith and a fertile point of departure for future theological speculation. Boris Jakim's authoritative translation makes Bulgakov's groundbreaking text available in English for the first time."

Slavic and East European Journal
"Boris Jakim has offered us an excellent and timely English translation of Sergius Bulgakov's dense treatise, The Comforter. . . The culmination of Bulgakov's dogmatic writings, this unique work has an apologetic agenda of restating Christian anthropology and Trinitarian dogma within the framework of the sophiology Bulgakov developed in earlier writings."

Pneuma
"The caliber of Bulgakov's scholarship and the brilliance of his intellectual acumen are both fully evident in The Comforter. . . His writing is steeped in devotional language and holy awe."