Vladimir Solovyov and Anna Schmidt: Humble Prophets of Spontaneous Russian Gnosis

The emergence of Russian religious philosophy in the second half of the 19th century largely responded to the abundance of non-Christian mysticism that had captivated the consciousness of the intelligentsia of that era. Vladimir Solovyov, often referred to as the founder of religious philosophy, set himself the task in his youth of convincing everyone of the truth of Christianity by retelling it in a philosophical, rational language. However, inspired by personal mystical experiences, Solovyov ultimately created a religious concept far from orthodox, as he did not find parallels to his revelations in church tradition. Throughout his life, the philosopher feared most of all finding himself outside the Church because only there could he find understanding, given that he was much more religious than those around him. The same can be said of Anna Schmidt, who, according to Priest Sergey Bulgakov, also had “no inclination towards heresy”. How did formal theology coexist in the minds of these thinkers with personal revelation? Was it not, from their point of view, a kind of dogmatic creativity? And is this not why it was so vividly embraced by the leaders of the religious revival at the beginning of the 20th century?