Russian Wisdom Christology and Western Theology

Modern Russian Wisdom Theology is only now, through the fine translations of the principal works, becoming known in the West. It is time for an assessment of second stage of reception, which goes beyond exposition to critical dialogue. Thomas Merton's celebrated prose poem, "e;Hagia Sophia,"e; is perhaps the most significant example of Russian Wisdom Theology to date, at least in the West. This poem's poetic genre is also suggestively appropriate to the special literary genre(s) of Wisdom Theology (and Christology in particular) and aids in attending to Russian Wisdom theology was mediated. All the major "e;mysteries"e; of theology are implicated in Wisdom Theology, but a key area of contestation is whether and how Sophia/Wisdom and Christ might be thought to share a centrality. Russian Wisdom Christology offers great potential for the dialogue with feminist forms of theology and with Wisdom wherever it may be found, in all the religious and non-religious wisdom traditions.