I’m continuing my study of Bulgakov’s eschatology, and just today hit upon some wonderful and wonderfully speculative passages in The Bride of the Lamb.
*
In section III of the book, “Eschatology: Parousia, Resurrection, and the City of God,” Bulgakov argues that the Spirit’s kenosis culminates in the revelation of Jesus in his fulness, which is truly “a new coming of Christ into the world.” Until that culmination, Bulgakov says, Pentecost continues to unfold but remains unfinished because the Spirit must be kept “hidden” for our sake. The world must be made ready to receive its glory:
The Incarnation is accomplished in the Church and through the Church, the body of Christ in the world and the temple of the Holy Spirit. However, prior to the Parousia this sanctification and deification remain incomplete and preliminary, for the action of the Holy Spirit is as yet kenotically limited. But this kenosis of the Holy Spirit ends with the Parousia; the whole power of the Pentecost is revealed to the world. The world is sanctified, deified, and glorified by the power of the Holy Spirit, and the Parousia arrives by virtue of this action of the Pentecost. It is impossible to say what comes before and what after, for this is a single act that occurs both in heaven and on earth, signifying the end of God's kenosis and the beginning of the world's deification. The Father sends the Son into the world and, secondarily as it were, He sends with Him the Holy Spirit for the joint accomplishment of the Parousia and the transfiguration of the world. The Son wills again to carry out the will of the Father, this time by a conclusive and universal act, in order to accomplish the salvation of the world and in order to accomplish the salvation of the world and to “unite the things of earth with those of heaven,” as the liturgical hymn says. Meanwhile, the Holy Spirit accompanies the descent of the Son from heaven, surrounding Him with glory, which is the same both in heaven and on earth and which existed before the foundation of the world and is now proper to Him. The world is now ready to receive this glory, for it has already received and has Christ and the Holy Spirit who reposes upon Him (The Bride of the Lamb, pp. 404-405).
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Speakeasy Theology to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.