The reception of palamite theology in the sophiology of S. N. Bulgakov

The article discusses the main avenues of reception of the theology of Gregory Palamas in the sophiology of Sergei Bulgakov and reveals the nature and boundaries of the application of the Palamite discourse in the sophiological conception depending on the stage of development of theological thought of Sergei Bulgakov. It is shown that the theology of Gregory Palamas gradually became increasingly more important for the conceptual structure of the sophiology of Sergei Bulgakov, which is reflected in a change in the way that Sophia was defined. To the original platonic language of sophiology, corrections were gradually introduced in the spirit of the Palamite “energy” definition. Sergei Bulgakov’s final refusal in his sophiological conception to follow the logic of palamism is connected with the incompatibility of the ontological disposition given by him in his theology of the Trinity with the fundamental theological thesis of Gregory Palamas on the difference between uncreated energy and divine essence.