Molecularity and ‘Sobornost’ on the way to church unity: archpriest Sergey Bulgakov’s theological controversy on the question of eucharistic communion with the non-orthodox

Abstract

The article examines the theological content of the controversy that unfolded between the leaders of the Fellowship of St. Alban and St. Sergius in connection with the proposal of Archpriest Sergiy Bulgakov on the "partial intercommunion" – the Eucharistic communion of Anglicans and Orthodox, members of the Fellowship of St. Alban and St. Sergius. The Fellowship was founded at the second Anglo-Orthodox Congress in St. Albans in 1928. Bulgakov put forward a proposal for communion at one of the annual conferences of the Fellowship in 1933, i.e. after five years of its existence. According to Bulgakov, partial intercommunion could not replace the whole reunion of churches, but could serve as its beginning. Bulgakov's proposal for communion caused a heated discussion that lasted for three years. Opinions were divided on both the Anglican and Orthodox sides. The discussion was preserved on the pages of the Journal of the Fellowship and in the confidential correspondence of the members of the Executive Committee and the Paris Group, which was conducted in English. The main exponents of the opposite positions were Archpriest Sergey Bulgakov and Archpriest George Florovsky. At the heart of these disagreements was a different idea of the nature of the Church. Both sides assumed that the Church is one and catholic ("sobornaya"), but they understood the content of these concepts differently. In Florovsky's understanding, "sobornost" should have a dogmatic basis, while Bulgakov believed that "sobornost" has a mysterious-charismatic basis. In practical terms, the discussion turned around two possible ways of the ecumenical movement and their combination: the "diplomatic" method of reunification and the "molecular" action. The translation of several documents from the correspondence of the members of the Executive Committee of the Fellowship and the Paris Group is published as an appendix for the first time: a confidential note by A.F. Dobbie-Bateman to the members of the Executive Committee, letters from A.V. Kartashev and Archpriest George Florovsky, as well as a letter from N. Zernov, which outlines the discussion of Bulgakov's project at a meeting of the Brotherhood of Saint Sophia on October 29, 1933 in Paris.