Building the House of Wisdom

Sergii Bulgakov – 150 Years After His Birth

Fribourg – September 2–4, 2021

International Conference hosted by the University of Fribourg, Switzerland

 

The conference is organised by the Sergii Bulgakov Research Centre at the University of Fribourg (Switzerland) in cooperation with the Orthodox Christian Studies Center of Fordham University (New York, USA), and the Volos Academy for Theological Studies (Greece).

 

Under the patronage of Rowan Williams,

Master of Magdalene College, Cambridge (2013–2020), Archbishop of Canterbury (2002–2012)

Sergii Bulgakov, Portrait by Sister Joanna Reitlinger, Paris 1936 (private collection of C. Eltchaninoff, Paris)

Sergii Bulgakov is one of the preeminent theologians of the 20th century. The international conference on the occasion of his 150th birthday (16th/28th July 1871 – 13th July 1944) aims to promote the reception of his work in Eastern and Western academic life.

 The conference explores Bulgakov’s contribution to meeting the challenges of the modern world and to build bridges between East and West. 

The colloquium brings young researchers from different theological disciplines and different ecclesiastical traditions into conversation with established Bulgakov specialists. The official language of the conference is English.

 

Conference Programme (final version)

 

Paper abstracts (final version)

 

Conference venue:
University of Fribourg, Miséricorde: Aula Magna, Avenue de l'Europe 20, 1700 Fribourg

Barbara Hallensleben, Regula M. Zwahlen, Aristotle Papanikolaou, Pantelis Kalaitzidis (eds.): Building the House of Wisdom. Sergii Bulgakov and Contemporary Theology: New Approaches and Interpretations. Münster: Aschendorff Verlag, 2024

This anthology gathers a collection of papers given at the international conference on the occasion of Bulgakov’s 150th birthday at the University of Fribourg in September 2021. The chapters, written by established Bulgakov specialists, not least the keynote speaker Rowan Williams, former Archbishop of Canterbury (2002–2012), as well as young researchers from different theological disciplines and ecclesiastical traditions, explore Bulgakov’s contribution to meeting the challenges of the modern world and to building bridges between East and West. The authors bring forth a wide range of new creative ways to critically engage with Bulgakov’s theological worldview and cover topics such as personhood, ecology, political theology and trinitarian ontology.

See more...

 

 

Main Speakers

Antoine Arjakovsky
Co-directeur du département de recherche Politique et Religions du Collège des Bernardins, Paris, France

Nikolaos Asproulis
Deputy Director of the Volos Academy for Theological Studies, Greece

David Bentley Hart
Faculty Fellow, Notre Dame Institute for Advanced Study, USA

Antonio Bergamo
Director of the ISSR of Lecce and Professor of Theological Anthropology at Sophia University Institute, Florence, Italy

Catherine Evtuhov
Professor of History, Department of History, Columbia University, New York, USA

Brandon Gallaher
Senior Lecturer of Systematic and Comparative Theology, University of Exeter, UK

Paul Gavrilyuk
Aquinas Chair in Theology and Philosophy at the Theology Department of the University of St. Thomas, Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA

Barbara Hallensleben
Professor of Dogmatic Theology and Ecumenism, University of Fribourg, Switzerland

Pavel Khondzinskii
Dean of the Theological Faculty, St. Tikhon’s Orthodox University, Moscow, Russia

Alexei Kozyrev
Dean and Associate Professor of the Faculty of Philosophy, Chair of History of Russian Philosophy, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Russia

John Milbank

President of the Centre of Theology and Philosophy, University of Nottingham, UK

Natalia Vaganova
Lecturer of Philosophy at the Theological Faculty, St. Tikhon’s Orthodox University, Moscow, Russia

Nathaniel Wood
Associate Director, Orthodox Christian Studies Center, Fordham University, New York, USA

Rowan Williams

Master of Magdalene College, Cambridge (2013–2020), Archbishop of Canterbury (2002–2012)

 

Panel Participants

Deborah Casewell, Germany

Dario Colombo, Switzerland

Justin S. Coyle, USA

Joshua Heath, UK

Caleb Henry, Canada

Austin Holmes, USA

Ivan Ilin, Russia

Nikos Kouremenos, Greece

Sarah Livick-Moses, USA

Adalberto Mainardi, Italy

Graham McGeoch, Brasil

Mark McInroy, USA

Jack Pappas, USA

Liubov Petrova, Russia

Taylor Ross, USA

Yuri Safoklov, Germany

Dionysios Skliris, Greece

Tikhon Vasilyev, Russia

 

Organising Committee

Barbara Hallensleben
Professor of Dogmatic Theology and Ecumenism, University of Fribourg (Switzerland)

Regula Zwahlen
PhD, Scientific Director of the Sergii Bulgakov Research Centre, University of Fribourg (Switzerland)

Aristotle Papanikolaou
Professor of Theology, Archbishop Demetrios Chair in Orthodox Theology and Culture, and Co-Founding Director of the Orthodox Christian Studies Center, Fordham University (New York, USA)

George Demacopoulos
Fr. John Meyendorff & Patterson Family Chair of Orthodox Christian Studies, and Co-Founding Director of the Orthodox Christian Studies Center, Fordham University (New York, USA)

Pantelis Kalaitzidis
Director, Volos Academy for Theological Studies (Volos, Greece), Member of the Executive Committee of the European Academy of Religion (Bologna, Italy)

 

 

Sponsored by:

Swiss National Science Foundation (SNF)
Orthodox Christian Studies Center, Fordham University, New York
Volos Academy for Theological Studies, Greece

Fonds de recherche du Centenaire de l’Université de Fribourg

Faculté de théologie de l’Université de Fribourg

Institut d'études œcuméniques de l'Université de Fribourg

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wassily Kandinsky, Moscow I, 1916, Oil on canvas, Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow

 Bulgakov and Kandinsky

 

 Kandinsky about Bulgakov (1911):

« Nous parlerons du mouvement religieux russe, où toutes les classes sont partie prenante. Mon ancien collègue le professeur Boulgakov y pourvoiera, spécialiste d'économie politique à Moscou, il est l'un des plus grands experts de la vie religieuse.»

Wassily Kandinsky, Franz Marc, L'Almanach du "Blaue Reiter" (Le Cavalier Bleu), Paris 1981, 9.

 

Bulgakov about Kandinsky (1914):

« La question des nouveaux chemins de l’art est très intéressante et est profondément abordé dans le travail du peintre W. Kandinsky « Über das Geistige in der Kunst, insbesondere in der Malerei ». München1912. »» 

S. N. Bulgakov, Picasso ou „Le cadavre de la beauté“, 1915